The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

The last day of the training camp finally arrived. The players were so excited, not just because they would be out of the torture soon, but also because they would have a chance to get the revenge they wanted against the university team that beat them on the first day.

This time, they all wanted to see how much improvement they had during the camp and whether it was possible or not to go as far as the best 4 teams in Tokyo in this tournament.

However, there were two people who seemed not as excited as the others.

One of them was Akira who had a dark circle around his eyes. He spent the last night sleepless, kept thinking of the scenario of losing Yuki to the professional team. Even though he kept encouraging Yuki to do it, that didn't mean the coach was willing to do so. Right now, the team was short of players, and the glasses boy was the best defensive player on the team.

His presence alone worth almost all the players on the court combined.

And the other one was, of course, Yuki. Even though he had already consulted everything to Maria and received so much feedback from the woman, he still felt no matter what decision he made, it wouldn't be perfect.

Personally, he didn't want to accept the offer. However, by rejecting the offer, it would look like he was ungrateful to the old man, and some of his teammates might think he was arrogant for doing that. The dilemma he faced right now was something that gave him a headache all night long.

Thirty minutes before the game, Sekine arrived first before the university team came. All the players greeted him politely, yet the old man's eyes wandered around for a while until they landed on the glasses boy. After staring at each other for a while, he finally dropped the bomb.

"So, what is your decision? Do you accept my offer to join a professional team?"

'A professional team?!'

All the eyes widened in shock as they heard the news. It wasn't just the content that they didn't expect, but also the timing. The fact that Sekine asked for confirmation meant the old man and Yuki had already talked about this, and they didn't like that they were kept in the dark by their kouhai. However, before they could say anything, it was Riku who reacted first.

"What do you mean joining a professional team, old geezer?! Kobayashi is our teammate, and you cannot snatch him like that!" The blonde boy exclaimed.

"Shut up, Riku!" The old man raised his voice, making everyone wince unconsciously. "You know how amazing your friend's talent is, right? It would be a waste if he spent it on this team. If he joined a professional team, he would be able to shine more there, making it easier for him."

All the players there bowed their heads unwillingly, knowing that the old man was right. Still, they were so frustrated by the fact that they didn't know anything about it until the end and couldn't do anything to keep one of their best players on the team.

"So, what do you think, Yuki?" The old man asked again.

Yuki sighed, his head remembering what Maria told him yesterday.

"Whatever the decision you make, make sure it is coming from your heart, not from the other people's opinion. At the end of the day, their opinion doesn't matter, as you are the one who does the action. And don't be afraid of offending someone with your decision. Just explain clearly why you decided that, and if they don't accept it, that was their problem, and not you.

Just remember, you will never be able to satisfy everyone with your decision."

Holding her words as his principle, Yuki took a deep breath once again before smiling, shaking his head firmly. "I am sorry, Jiisan. I cannot accept your offer."

"EH?!"

Not just the players, but even Sekine and Akira were stunned at his decision. In their mind, this wasn't something Yuki could refuse. For any player who wanted to be a professional player, being offered to join a professional team – even though it was still a junior one was like a dream came true.

Only a stupid person would refuse the offer, and the fact that Yuki just did that put him immediately into that category.

"You might think I am stupid, right?" Yuki smiled, could see what everyone thought. "But if you think about it, I am still a completely rookie in this sport. I have just trained for less than two months, so to join a professional team, I think I am not ready for that leap yet right now."

Sekine furrowed his brows, not liking his reasoning. "No one is born ready, Yuki. Sometimes, you need to be brave enough to jump through the cliff even though you don't know whether you can arrive at the other side or not."

"I know, Jiisan. But in this case, I think it is a bit early for me to join a professional world." Yuki smiled at the old man. "Besides, I still owe the team something big, you know?"

"Eh? You owe us something?" Everyone looked at each other confusedly. "Are you sure, Kobayashi?"

"Yeah." Yuki nodded at his teammates. "Everything happened inside the team… The walkout of the third-year members is my fault. If I jumped the boat right now without helping the team recover… I don't know, it seems irresponsible, right?" He shrugged.

All the players, especially the sophomore one were touched by his concern. Honestly, they were not that mad about Yuki didn't tell them about the offer, or whether Yuki would join a professional team or not. They all knew his condition in the orphanage, and if it would help him, they would let him go so easily.

They were just desperate to keep the team running, and if Yuki was out, they would have no chance to be one of the top four teams in this tournament.

"What a fool…" Sekine shook his head. Yuki smiled when he saw the old man's reaction. He knew Sekine wasn't mad or disappointed, but just too surprised about his decision. Before he could say anything though, the old man suddenly muttered, "One day per week."

"Eh?" Yuki was confused.

"One day per week… I will go to Tsunemori to coach you and see your progress." His words shocked all of them. "But just one day in a week, okay?! Even if you beg me with tears on your face, I won't make it two days!"

"Jiisan!" Yuki's smile went ear-to-ear. "Thank you very much!" He bowed his head deeply, showing his gratitude to the old man.

"Man… It is good to have a private trainer…" Riku muttered, staring at Yuki enviously. "I also want to have one too." The others nodded in agreement. Still, they all knew that if Sekine went to the school, they would also get the benefit of it. There was no way the old man would only train one person and leave the others alone watching from the sideline.

After the drama was over, Akira clapped his hands, his face was full of smiles. While Yuki's decision was unexpected, he was happy that he didn't lose his best player. But now, they had some business to do here.

"Well, since everything is over, let's prepare ourselves for the next game. Don't forget, if you lose, I will double up the count of your punishment. So, show me how much you improve this week and win the game, understand?!"

"YES, COACH!"