Volleyball Tournament Part 3

Walking into the gym, Axel was about to walk over and relax with Ann, Makoto and Shiho when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Turning around, Axel gave Mishima a confused gaze and said, "What's up?"

Mishima turned left and right, making sure no one could hear him, then whispered, "Come with me. We need to talk."

Axel's confusion only grew as he quickly followed Mishima to a deserted part of school.

Checking the surroundings one last time, Mishima turned to Axel with an extremely serious expression and said, "Can I trust you?"

Seeing the current expression on Mishima's face, Axel quickly realised the seriousness of the talk they were about to have.

Axel gave Mishima a small nod while his face showed an equally serious look.

Mishima stared at Axel for a couple seconds as if he was trying to discern if he was lying or not.

Suddenly, Mishima's expression eased up as he muttered, "I dragged you here because of some… issues."

"Issues?" Muttered Axel, confused but still quiet so Mishima could continue.

Seeing Axel waiting for the rest, Mishima began recounting everything that has been happening lately. About how Kamoshida has been verbally abusing Shiho, even to the point of swearing. How he's been extremely tough on her during training, bruising and injuring her. Finally, Mishima even talked about how he's been harassing not only Shiho but Ann as well.

By the end of Mishima's explanation, a pressure suddenly erupted from Axel as a dangerous light danced in his eyes. Cracks appeared on the concrete as Axel clenched his hands into a fist and grit his teeth.

Mishima backed up in fear and awe, watching as the new kid who was usually all smiles and kindness looked ready to kill someone.

It took a couple seconds for Axel to realise that he was starting to lose control. Closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths and managed to calm down.

Axel stared at Mishima, who was still staring at him with a mix between fear and awe, and said, "Thank you for telling me this, Mishima. I just don't understand why you had to be so secretive about it."

Mishima shook his head to regain focus again and muttered, "This school… doesn't care. Kamoshida has been abusing his power for years and everyone just ignores it. The teachers, the principle and even the parents. Nothing matters because Kamoshida's gold medal brings prestige to this rotten school. We can't just talk about this openly unless your prepared to be expelled."

The pain and disappointment in Mishima's voice allowed Axel to see just how much he was risking. Taken back, Axel just stared and said, "Then why risk it?"

Mishima only sighed and said, "I don't know. I'm just… tired. Tired of keeping secrets." Pausing, Mishima released a self-deprecating laugh and continued, "Plus, I feel like I can trust you. Even though we've only known each other for what? A couple hours?"

Axel felt touched by the faith Mishima had in him. A stupidly large grin appeared on his face as he held out his fist toward Mishima and said, "Thanks bro!"

Taken back by Axel's sudden change, it took a couple seconds before Mishima responded by pounding Axel's fist with his own while wearing a similar grin on his face.

"Anytime!"

---

Quarter of an hour later, the games resumed as everyone got into their teams. A teacher holding a megaphone waited for the students to become quiet before saying, "Ok everyone! Please listen carefully! The first 'Teachers vs Students' game will be starting shortly! Can we please have the team lead by Axel come down and get ready?"

Releasing a sigh, Axel lightly slapped his cheeks and said, "Let's do this." Before walking towards the court with his team in tow.

Everybody present stared at the team in surprise as each and everyone of them looked extremely serious and focused. Even Kawakami was tense because of the vibe the team was giving off.

On the court, everyone got into position while ignoring the murmuring from the students.

Suddenly, a roar of laughter rang out in the gym.

Axel glared at the figure coming towards them and muttered, "Kamoshida…"

Kamoshida didn't even glance at Axel as he kept his focus on Ann and smiled.

Secretly glancing at his team, Axel saw Ann, Shiho and Mishima slightly tremble before resolving themselves to stand and fight.

The referee looked at both teams a couple times before raising his arm and yelling, "Begin!"

With the ball still in hand, Kamoshida looked over at Ann and said, "Don't worry, I'll take it easy!"

Before anyone could react, Kamoshida effortlessly served a fastball, quickly earning the first point for his team.

Axel stared in disbelief at the sheer speed and power Kamoshida was able to apply in the volleyball.

However, this only served to fire Axel and his team up.

For almost half an hour, a game of back and forth played out on the court as everyone stared with baited breaths, refusing to look away for even a second.

Originally, everyone expected for Kamoshida to easily wipe the floor with the other team but contrary to popular thought, Axel and co managed to score 2 points in a row, earning a temporary lead.

This irritated Kamoshida greatly. Even though he managed to hide it, he started taking the game more seriously, which pushed the team to there limits.

Mishima was panting in the back, slightly swaying as if he was in the verge of passing out, red marks all over his arms.

Ann wasn't any better as she even had small bruises from having to dive on the floor to keep the ball in play.

Shiho and Makoto were relatively better than everyone else as they only panted slightly and had a light sweat.

Kawakami was the worst as she looked like she would pass out, even though she didn't move as much as everyone else.

Axel was the best as he had a calm breathing pace and barely worked up a sweat, only slightly annoyed about the pain in his arms.

However, the thing everyone had in common was the fire that was present from the beginning still continued to burn brightly in their eyes.

Even though they were tied, the referee yelled, "Last serve! You guys are almost out of time! Score is 12 - 12."

Suddenly, Kamoshida glared at Axel and said, "Lets finish this!"

Kamoshida released the ball high into the air and leaped after it. He fiercely swung his arm down and roared, "GOLDEN SERVE!!!"

Gritting his teeth, Axel used as much power as he could and directly met the attack in an attempt to gain control.

However…

*BANG*

'Argh!!!'

The serve was stronger than he thought as he felt his skin burn from the pain. Pushing through, Axel tensed his muscles and launched it into the air.

Yet this was a mistake as he launched it way too high. Kamoshida smirked as he knew that if it continued on its descent, it would eventually end up out of bounds on his side of the court, basically guaranteeing the win.

Everyone almost lost hope when suddenly, Axel screamed, "TACTIC 13!!!"

Almost immediately, Kawakami went pale as she yelled, "DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" Causing Ann, Makoto and Mishima to freeze in place.

However, Shiho completely ignored her as she started sprinting towards Axel and jumped.

Then, under the eyes of the everybody present, everyone watched in horror as Axel cupped his hands down low, caught Shiho's feet mid-jump and launched her into the air with every ounce of strength he could muster while screaming, "GO!!!"

Shiho was launched at least a couple storeys off the ground. But there was no fear on her face, only determination. Using the momentum from the launch, Shiho forward flipped with a spin and smashed the ball down with an over-head kick.

As her spin came to a stop, Shiho stared at the roof for a second before closing her eyes and falling. She could hear all sorts of people screaming but she ignored them as she started to think.

She thought about Ann, her problems, Kamoshida, Volleyball. Her thoughts continued to get more and more erratic until one thought appeared.

Axel, the new kid. He somehow managed to wiggle his way into her heart. However, Shiho was quickly dragged out of her inner thoughts as she suddenly heard a loud and manly roar.

"I FUCKING GOT THIS!!!"

The feeling of weightlessness was replaced by a warm embrace accompanied with an addicting masculine smell and a rather loud thud.

Shiho opened her eyes, only to see Axel with sweat pouring down his face and arms. Taking a deep breath, Axel glanced down at her, smiled and said, "We won."