Second Life for the Ace!

"Ren-san, left! Jump with me, now!"

*BAM!*

"Chance ball! Senpai!"

"I got it!"

"Yori-senpai! Left!"

*BAM!*

"Shit! Fall back!"

"Agostini, go with me and Ren-san! Quicker!"

It was in the middle of the second set when Tsunemori finally could put up a decent fight against Matsukita. While they were still down by five points, they didn't give the so-called second-best team in the country easy points anymore, kept causing trouble and resisting their wave of attacks days and nights. Even though they knew they were outclassed by Matsukita, they were currently united by one same thought, make their opponent remember Tsunemori would drag them down to death before they could win the game.

Honestly, their sudden stubborn approach to the game stunned all the members of the Matsukita team there. The bench players kept murmuring at each other, confused about what was going on.

"Why are they suddenly treating this game like a life-or-death matter?" One of them voiced his confusion.

"Yeah. And they are getting loud now. All the thing I heard from the first set was their freshmen kept playing alone, but this set, I cannot even turn around without hearing their shouts."

"Oh, I barely noticed that one!"

"The question is, why start now? Why not do that from the beginning?"

Honda who heard that just shook his head, smiling softly as his eyes wandered far away, reminiscing something from his past.

'It is not like they didn't want to do this since the beginning, but more like they just know how should they do all of this in the last couple minutes.' He thought. 'It has been a long time since I ever seen something like this. As a coach of a strong team, it would be difficult to witness something like this… The moment when a team leveled up this quickly…'

Meanwhile, on Tsunemori's bench, Akira rose from his seat, trying to hide his trembling hands by crossing them in front of his chest. He had this big smile on his face, his heart swelled with pride. This was it. The team that he wanted. The team that all the players there were willing to work hard and showed their love for the game, showing unity as a team to fight together for a win. They weren't acting like a bunch of kids on Sunday morning getting dragged into a piano lesson by their mother anymore, something that Akira would be grateful for the rest of the day.

The problem that had been plaguing the team for such a long time… It finally started to get cured…

Unfortunately, while they managed to put up a decent fight, Matsukita still didn't give them a lot of chance to attack, let alone overturn the score. Matsukita really showed them that there was a reason why only one school in the country could beat them, and it wasn't Tsunemori. And to prove that point, they only put a single gun to kill Tsunemori, and it was called Takeuchi Gondo.

"Amagi!"

"Got it, Senpai!"

Seeing Gondo start his run-up, Amagi didn't hesitate to send a slow, high ball toward his direction, letting his captain kill it with his powerful spike. Since it wasn't a quick attack, Yuki and Ren were able to gather together to create a wall in front of the net while asking for the others to be prepared.

"Agostini! Fall back! Wait for the ball! Ren-san, follow my lead! One! Two! Three! Now!"

Under Yuki's command, Ren jumped as the main blocker while his kouhai next to him also did the same, trying to close any gap that could leak the ball. They read Gondo's timing perfectly that the ball would bounce back to Matsukita's floor if it wasa normal hitter who did it.

Unfortunately, Gondo was a different beast. A second before he slammed the ball, the captain of Matsukita suddenly turned his eyes quickly, changing his target into Yuki's fingertip. Yuki wanted to retreat his hand, yet the ball was still quicker to come in his direction before he could do anything about it.

*BAM!*

"OUCH!"

Yuki winced when he felt a sudden pain stung on his finger. He didn't even notice the ball that went far out of bounds. Seeing that, Akira took action took action immediately and approached the referee.

"TIME OUT!"

-0-

"Are you sure it doesn't hurt anymore?" Megumi asked, her face concerned. Yuki had a sweat drop a little, feeling a bit of déjà vu thinking something like this had happened before.

"Don't worry, Megumi-senpai. I am okay." He tried to reassure the older girl. "Still, the pain is getting worse the more I receive the spike. Damn, that giant is a monster." He rubbed his sore nails while glancing at Gondo on the other side.

"Well, Gondo is not the best hitter in Japan for nothing," Akira commented nonchalantly. However, his words triggered interest from both Yuki and Ren who had already faced Matsukita's captain a lot today.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Akira nodded. "Not a lot of players could withstand his spike, and if there was someone who could resist his power, he is smart enough to aim for a block-out, and I have to say that he is good at it too."

"Block-out?" Yuki asked, still not familiar with a lot of terms in this sport.

"It is when the hitter aims at the specific spot of your block so that it could bounce out of the court and give the opponent a point, just like what they did to us several times today," Riku explained. "Still, I think what amazes me is the setter. That bastard is playing with us like we are a bunch of fools."

"Oh, yeah. I notice that too." Yuki nodded.

They chatted for a while, discussing how troublesome their opponent was until Akira finally coughed, asking for his players' attention.

"Well, I am sure you all notice that we are outclassed in every aspect today." All of them nodded at his words. "But it is not like we cannot do anything against them. Do you want to listen to my thoughts?"

Yuki didn't know about the others, but he was intrigued right now.

"Everyone noticed our defense cannot stand against their offense, right?" Seeing the nods of agreement, Akira continued, "Well, you might also notice the soul of their offense are the setter and Gondo, so, let's target them."

"Target them?"

"Yes." Akira nodded. "For the setter, I don't have to tell you how to do that, right? Just make sure he couldn't get the second ball, either by forcing him to receive our spike or aiming the ball to the direction where he was so it could bounce far away."

"What if he is in the front?" Yuki asked. For all he knew, the setter could hide himself next to the blocker so that he could be protected from the first touch.

"If that is so, we will target Gondo," Akira answered. "You might not notice this, but Gondo is always protected by one or two players who are ready to save the ball for him so that he can join the attack quickly. That is what we are going to aim for next."

Yuki stared at the others, unsure of this new strategy. "How?" He finally asked. While yes, he didn't notice that, it was because Matsukita players were too good at receiving the ball. There was no way they – Tsunemori in this case would be able to target Gondo before they could get through his bodyguard.

Akira grinned, seemed that he had already thought about it. "Well, this is where our heavy hitter would contribute. Are you ready to play again, Noriyuki?"

All the eyes turned to the third-year boy far in the corner of the bench. The captain of the team who hadn't spoken anything since he was scolded to death by Akira just nodded slightly, his eyes were blazing with determination.

"Please, leave it to me, Sensei."

-0-

Noriyuki took a deep breath, slapping his face repeatedly. His focus was completely locked into the game as he tried to forget all the unpleasantries before. Inwardly though, he was grateful that he had a chance to watch his friends play from the sideline.

He witnessed how Yori took over his role as a captain in the game and Noriyuki had to admit he was amazed by his friend. The setter kept staying active and communicating with each other, becoming the bridge needed to connect all the players on the court while still doing his role as the orchestrator of the team's offense. He also witnessed the rise of his other good friend, Yoshi who fell into the same slump as he was and became the pillar of the team again.

That was the sight that could only be seen when he was on the bench when he had the chance to analyze everything without getting distracted by his other duties. And while it hurt, Noriyuki had to admit that compared to Yori or Yoshi, he was far from the ideal captain that the team needed.

At that time, his face darkened, his expression turned gloomy as depression hit hard. A little thought in the corner of his head even told him to give up, trying to make him think that volleyball wasn't just a thing for him. However, Noriyuki suddenly saw a glimmer of hope from inside the court. That was when he saw his teammates kept attacking back-and-forth, yet not a single point was produced due to the lack of a powerful hitter on the court.

That was when he remembered his other status on the team.

"YORI! HERE!"

Everyone was surprised, not expecting Noriyuki to shout that loudly to ask for the ball the first offensive chance the team got. To make it more surprising, this was his first shout of the game since he was completely mute in the first set. But his friends were all grinning, excited for Noriyuki's comeback.

'Welcome back, Noriyuki!'

Yori tossed a slow, high ball to the left side. Noriyuki gritted his teeth, starting his run-up to generate all the power inside him for the ball that came in his direction.

'I might not be the captain of the team anymore…' He jumped. 'But I am still the ACE OF THE TEAM!'

*BAM!*

The ball traveled fast like a laser, piercing through the area guarded by Gondo and Matsukita's libero in the back left. Gondo tried to move back to give room for his libero to receive the ball, yet the protection he expected didn't come in time, forcing him to receive the ball by himself.

"Shit! Tono!"

"Got it!"

The player with jersey number 4 tried to cover up his mess, yet since his position wasn't that good, he could only save the ball from falling to the ground, but not to the extent of aiming it at his teammates to initiate an attack.

"Sorry!"

"Don't worry about it!"

"Chance ball!"

One of Matsukita's players was forced to give an easy ball to Tsunemori since they had already spent all three chances to touch the ball before. He was clever enough to send it to Yori to snatch the setter's right for the second ball. Unfortunately, Tsunemori played with two setters right now, and Riku was ready to back him up.

"Nice pass, Senpai!" Riku grinned, still having a chance to observe the entire court first before making a decision. 'The blocker is leaned toward Noriyuki-senpai, but I can go for a quick with –"

"Riku! Here! Again!"

The shout from the captain snapped his attention and inner monologue. When the blonde boy saw Noriyuki's state though, he was surprised by the sheer amount of pressure his captain radiated. The hungry predator gazes from the ace convinced him that even though there were four blockers in front of Noriyuki, Riku would still give the ball to him.

'Well, don't disappoint us, Captain!'

Seeing the perfect pass flying in his direction, Noriyuki grinned. He knew since the first day that Riku was a quality setter, not just because of how good the set was, but also because Riku understood what his teammate wanted. With this kind of ball, while it would invite the blockers to come at him, Noriyuki was able to gather his power at the maximum level before finally jumping, coiling his arm back before unleashing it like a fast whip, his favorite kind of play.

'I hope you like this one, Bastard!'

*BAM!*

It was another powerful spike straight to Gondo. However, this time, no one was close enough to cover him, forcing Matsukita's captain to receive the ball by himself one more time. But unlike before, his current position was not favorable to receive it perfectly. The ball just scratched his arms before it went out of the line without anyone could save it.

Silence settled on the court as all eyes were on Noriyuki. The one who was in the spotlight panted heavily, his face flushed red in excitement. It was as if someone just breathed him a second life, resurrecting him from death. At that time, he knew, that his volleyball career wasn't over yet.

-0-

"YOSSSHAAA!"

"Goddamnit, Noriyuki! Finally!"

"Come on!"

All the Matsukita players could only shake their heads, knowing it was impossible for them to save that ball. They weren't that worried though, considering the 5 points lead that they still had until now. What they regretted the most was that the earlier play would raise Tsunemori's spirit astronomically. But that wasn't something they couldn't handle.

There was only one person who was unhappy among them.

"Amagi." Gondo suddenly called the setter, he tried to loosen up the tension on his neck. "The next play, you know what to do, right?"

Amagi gulped nervously, bobbing his head up and down frantically. While Gondo was a firm captain, Amagi could tell it was just a façade the captain set to lead the team. Normally, Gondo was an easy-going and approachable guy, and that was why anyone close to him – including Amagi, they were not afraid of their captain no matter how many times they got scolded.

However, there were several occasions where Amagi found his captain turned serious, angered, or motivated by something. And when that happened, he noticed Gondo would always loosen up his neck first. That was the sign that the captain was all for business, something that happened right now.

"That guy…" Gondo furrowed his brows at Noriyuki, seemed unhappy that he was targeted by Tsunemori's ace. "I swear I would destroy him before the game is over for this humiliation!"

Tsunemori High 9 12

Matsuyama Kita High 25 17