In the end, it took the Konan team almost an hour—around fifty minutes, to be more exact—to take down Team A and win the first game. Although Team A managed to create some problems, as the game progressed, the quality difference between the two teams proved to be the decisive factor. It also didn''t help that Konan, a veteran team that had just won the national tournament, was ying against a team that had formed only thirty minutes before this game, which put the odds significantly in favor of the host team.


    Still, even after losing the game, no one in the building thought poorly of orughed at Team A. After all, what they achieved in just one hour of ying against Konan High today was far better than what most schools in Tokyo could manage. Going toe-to-toe against the best team in the country was a feat that only a few teams had managed to achieve, and the fact that they did so was enough for them to receive praise from others.


    "Good job, Yuki! Now, sit down and watch how my team will go further than yours," Riku grinned at his friend.


    Yuki, who had just drunk a bottle of water to quench his thirst, snorted in amusement. "Well, let''s see how it goes. Don''t just talk the talk without walking the walk, okay?"


    After letting Konan''s yers rest for fifteen minutes, Sato rose from his seat once again and announced, "Good job, Team A! Now, Team B! Tanaka! Agostini! Ichiro! Koda! Ishida! And Ryo! Get ready!"


    When the names of the next team were announced, the reactions varied; there were groans from the yers whose names were not called yet and excitement from those who would soon be on the court. Now that Yuki had done his job and wouldn''t have to y again for a while, he finally had time to analyze theposition of the new team that would be ying next.


    ''Tanaka is not an aggressive yer, but he is a solid defender in the back. It will be difficult for him and Ishida to bnce the defense, given that Riku, Ichiro, Koda, and Ryo are all aggressive yers. Once they take the initiative to attack, it will be interesting to see if they can prate Konan''s wall or not.''


    True to his prediction, the beginning of the second game was quite one-sided in favor of Konan. It took Team B a while to adjust their defense, allowing Ishida to takemand and coordinate everyone''s positions before they finally started to put up a fight.@@novelbin@@


    BAM!


    "Oh! Nice save, Ishida!"


    Konan''s new yer, wearing jersey number 16 and who had just reced Arizawa for this game, scowled when he realized he had been baited into sending a spike straight to the libero. Still, he didn''t have time toment that, as the other three attackers on Team B''s side began their run-up, ready to attack simultaneously.


    "Keep your eyes on the spikers! Don''t let them escape easily!" Hikaru tried to takemand.


    Unfortunately, it was clear that among all the Konan yers—whether on the court or still on the bench—he was probably the one with the least experience in the game. He was bold enough to takemand on the front line, yet he also failed to realize that the attack started from the second ball.


    When Riku noticed that Hikaru wasn''t paying attention to his movements, he smirked slightly before extending one of his arms higher, touching the ball first before flicking it to the area behind Hikaru.


    Thud!


    "Oh! A dump!"


    "Nice kill, Agostini!"


    "We finally scored! Come on!"


    Watching the y unfold, Yuki couldn''t help but smirk. Even though they weren''t on the same team, it seemed Yuki and Riku shared the same thought. Among all the Konan yers present, Hikaru was the only one who wasn''t on the team when they yed against each other. So, just as Yuki did in thest game, Riku''s best strategy was to target the blocker before he could adapt to the blonde boy''s ying style.


    "He is an interesting fellow, isn''t he?" Aizawa, who was next to Yuki, suddenly struck up a conversation. "Even though I''ve only yed with Akihiro-kun for a few minutes, I can see his characteristics. While Akihiro-kun is hot-headed, he is still smart enough to recognize his surroundings, even when his emotions are running high, making it difficult to fool him with fancy ys. Compared to him, this is…"


    Aizawa trailed off as Riku managed to trick Hikaru once again, forcing him to go to the left while the blonde boy sent a quick ball to the middle. Watching this, the yers who overheard the conversation chuckled awkwardly, clearly understanding what Aizawa meant by that.


    "H-He is not that bad!" Sawada interrupted, feeling the need to defend his senpai. Everyone turned to look at Sawada, awaiting his exnation. "Hikaru-senpai is still pretty new to this game, having only been ying for six months! Even the coach said he is a genius! If it weren''t for Akihiro-san, he would be the main middle blocker for the team."


    ''Ah, so that''s the case,'' Yuki realized. ''Six months ago must have been when the winter tournament was about to begin, so he was probably ted to rece the middle blocker at that time. But Akihiro''s arrival changed everything, and now he has to be content as a bench yer. Now that he has a chance, he wants to showcase why he deserves the position more than Akihiro, which is why he is ying so aggressively. He wants to make a point here.''


    Well, understanding was one thing, and sympathizing was another. This case was quite simr to that of Sawada and Harada. While Yuki didn''t know the dynamics between the two, just by observing how Harada treated the younger boy, it was clear that there was no animosity between them. Harada knew that a talented setter hade to challenge his position, and instead of being bitter, he chose to be the bigger person and take the boy under his wing—somethingpletely oppositepared to thepetition for the middle blocker position.


    ''It seems that even on a championship team, there will always be internal problems like this,'' Yuki sighed.


    BAM!


    The sound of the ball hitting someone''s hand made Yuki wince unconsciously, momentarily distracting him from his thoughts. He turned to the court to see Riku running across to pick up the wild ball.


    "Sorry, Agostini! My bad!"


    "Don''t worry, I got it!"


    Konan''s two blockers on the front line tensed, anticipating where Riku would send the ball. Unfortunately, they still couldn''t grasp the essence of Riku''s ying style, as they were too focused on watching the other yers to pay attention to the one controlling the ball. Seeing that the opponent''s attention wasn''t on him, Riku didn''t hesitate and jumped, spiking the ball himself to catch everyone off guard.


    BAM!