The Birth of A Volleyball Legend-Chapter 493: Another Strom Strikes Tsunemori High (I)

In the next three days, the training was so intense that all the Tsunemori players always left the gymnasium dead tired, on the verge of collapse. However, as time went by, the confident smile on each player's face could be seen shining brightly, showing that the result of the training was good. Even though there was no qualitative leap, they all were confident in their chance against Matsuyama Kita High right now.

Oh, the training itself was far from perfect. They still couldn't figure out the pattern of Amagi's offensive style, and it was hard to replicate Gondo's monstrous physicality, let alone face it directly. Not only that, the other Matsuyama Kita High players were also as dangerous as their captain, not a team that could be underestimated at all.

Moreover, Matsuyama Kita High was a team with an aggressive playing style, always wanting to pressure the opponent from the moment the first serve was thrown. They were quick, smart, decisive, and had a strong lineup for the service play, making it hard for the opponent to get out of their cage when Matsuyama Kita High started to turn on their engine.

Some people even said that if Konan High was the most complete team, Matsuyama Kita High must be the most overwhelming team in offense, and that was quite a high praise even for the second-best team in the country.

However, all the Tsunemori players were prepared for this confrontation. They charged their way through the semifinal stage just by relying on their unwavering will and resilience. As one of the toughest teams to beat offensively, even though they were far behind compared to Matsuyama Kita High in almost every aspect of the game, they were confident that they could drag the second-best team in the country for another endurance battle.

Also, even though the composition of the team was far different than in the past, all the players there also came with the spirit of vengeance. Even though they had only played in a friendly match, that game was the trigger that led into the complete overhaul that made the senior year members retire early. Even though no one blamed Matsuyama Kita High for that, at least, this gave them enough motivation to go to the next game with the intention of killing their opponent.

Akira himself was satisfied with the result of the training. Even though the team started off pretty slowly, with most of them still carrying the euphoria after creating history for the school and being the hottest topic for several days, they managed to get out of that state and went back to their usual self, moving on and putting all of their focus on the next opponent.

Unfortunately, not every good thing would last that long.

Right when it was two days before the game when Akira planned for the team to review Matsuyama Kita High's last game in the quarter-final together, he received bad news from one of his players. His gaze turned solemn when he read the massage on his phone, and right within a second, he asked all of the players to gather around in their usual room.

"What is wrong with Akira-sensei?" Ogawa couldn't help but mutter lowly, afraid that he would break this awkward tension.

"I don't know. It is not often for him to be so serious like this." Riku shrugged helplessly. The others frowned a little when they heard that. Riku was Akira's nephew and naturally, he would be the one who knew the coach the best here. If even the blonde boy didn't know what was going on, then, it must be something serious. "But…. If I am not wrong, it should be related to Koji-senpai's absence today."

"Koji?!" Everyone widened their eyes in shock, realizing that their ace wasn't even there. "What is wrong with him?" Everyone turned their eyes on Asahi and Okamura who were in the same class as the boy.

"We don't really know. He doesn't even come to school today." Okamura sighed helplessly.

Somehow, this gave everyone a bad premonition here. They knew that Koji was hit pretty hard in the last couple of games due to his bad performance, and even Akira sometimes scolded him publicly due to his lack of focus. Thinking about it, they also realized that in the last couple of days, besides getting angry the first time he saw Kikugawa High players during the celebration meal, Koji was so quiet, that his presence faded away to the background slowly.

Thinking about it, all of the Tsunemori players had their faces turned ugly, somehow cursing themselves for ignoring their teammate during his toughest moment.

"Shit! We are a bunch of scumbags!" Ogawa cursed out loud.

The others didn't feel much better than him. However, there was one player who was hit the hardest by this revelation, and that was Asahi. "I am the biggest scumbag, though. Not only I am his captain, but I am also his classmate. How could I not notice his mood in the last couple of days? Man, can I really say that I am a good captain here?" He chuckled hollowly with a sarcastic tone.

The others didn't know how to make the captain feel better. After all, they themselves were also in a low mood. They spent the next few minutes in an awkward silence, not even noticing when Akira and Megumi arrived at the room.

"Why do you all look so gloomy?" Megumi asked, confused.

However, for probably the first time ever, she was ignored by the players around her, as everyone turned their eyes on the head coach eagerly. Akira himself was taken aback by the sudden attention, not knowing why the players suddenly turned this aggressive. "What is going on with you guys?" He couldn't help but ask. freewebnoveℓ.com

"Sensei, please, tell us…" Ogawa asked with a solemn tone. "Do whatever the news you are going to tell us here related to Koji-kun?" All the players there hitched their breath unconsciously, leaning forward to hear what the coach would say.

Akira was surprised at the question, and when his expression turned solemn, everyone had a bad premonition that their guess earlier was correct, and there was something happened with Koji. True enough, a second later, after taking a deep breath, Akira finally dropped the bomb on the team.

"You are right, this is related to Koji-kun. Due to family reasons, he has to move to Sapporo tomorrow, so he and his parents came to me earlier to give his resignation letter for the team and thank me for his guidance. So, we will effectively lose one of our best players for the rest of the tournament."