"Come on, Yuki!"


    "Let''s go, Yuki!"


    "The best, Yuki!"


    The cheers kept getting louder, shouting Yuki''s name over and over again. With how they were right now, Yuki could imagine the next day would be troublesome to deal with. But for now, Yuki didn''t mind it all, letting himself enjoy the praise he deserved as he let himself sit on the floor.


    However, Riku and his teammates had another n for him. Without even asking for his concern, they grabbed his hand, forcing him to stand before picking him up on Hirano''s shoulder who was the tallest and probably strongest boy here.


    "Wha – Wait a second, what are you doi – WOAH! Hirano-senpai, put me down!" Yuki screamed, trying to bnce himself on his senpai''s shoulder.


    "No, cannot do that, Yuki." The blocker just grunted lowly. "Sensei''s order." He said it shortly. Yuki turned around to Akira''s direction immediately, which he found pretty easy from his current point of view. When he saw the coach waving at him, Yuki stared with eyes in disbelief at this betrayal.


    "Oh,e on, Yuki! It is not that bad!" Riku patted his back hard. "I swear I will give a lot of things to be in your position right now!"


    "Well, you don''t need to do anything, so how about we switch here?" Yuki asked, hopeful.


    However, Riku''s answer was the same as Hirano''s before. "Nuh-uh! This is your day, Yuki! You are the one who ys the hardest out of everyone, carrying our asses with your serve! Not that we cannot do that without you, but your presence is making everything easier, so enjoy your moment here!"


    All the Tsunemori yers nodded, knowing that Riku was right. Although they still had the confidence to beat Sumida High even without Yuki''s broken serves, they couldn''t deny that his presence made everything easier. And now that he had stripped the opponent''s defense alone for most of the game, they were willing to give the boy the flower he deserved.


    "Yuki! Yuki! Yuki!"


    Yuki could only smile awkwardly while waving his hand toward the supporters. Maria, who saw that, took out a pocket camera out of nowhere and was busy catching the moment from every angle she could think of.


    "Man, if he really wants to be a pro, he needs to get used to this kind of situation." Mattheo snorted. He was ignoredpletely by the three female members of his family who were busy joining the crowd, chanting Yuki''s name from the bottom of their lungs.


    The celebration went on for a while before Yuki realized the jolly atmosphere hadn''t quite reached the other side of the court. There, he could see some of the Sumida High yers crying while the others covered their faces, either with their jerseys or hands, trying to hide their disappointment.


    "Come on, Naomichi! Get up! You don''t need to cry, you know? You still have two years left before you graduate!" Hitoshi – the captain – tried to cheer up his kouhai. However, that only made the boy depressed more as he bowed deeply, hiding the tears that were falling from the corner of his eyes.


    "I am sorry, Senpai…"


    "Oh,e on! Don''t be like that!" Hitoshiughed – yet hisugh couldn''t quite reach himself. "You still have two more years to improve! Make sure you bring the old man to beat Konan or Matsukita in the future, okay?!" He said, his shoulder trembling.


    "I am sorry…."


    "Stop apologizing, Bastard!" Hitoshi shouted, now cannot hide the cry anymore. "I will repeat it again until it gets through your thick skull, so listen carefully! Train harder for the next two years, and if you cannot bring the old man to the glory he deserves, I wille back and kick your ass! Unlike us third-year yers, your journey just starts, don''t cry over us the old men!"


    Seeing their interaction, Yuki''s expression turned somber. The excitement here seemed to be subdued a little bit as everyone also had the same reaction. This really reminded them all of the harsh reality of this winter tournament. While for Tsunemori whose members were still either freshmen or sophomores and didn''t have to worry about retirement, for the other teams who still relied on their senior members, this would be theirst tournament. It only took one loss, and everything would be over for them.@@novelbin@@


    This was the harsh reality of the winter tournament. Stay updated through empire


    "Come on, let''s give them some respect here," Riku said, walking forward to their opponent. He was followed by the other seven yers with forest-green jerseys, offering them a handshake.


    "Good game, you all." Riku praised Tachi and the other Sumida High yers.


    Still having tears flowing down from his eyes, Tachi snorted – which he regretted immediately since his mucus made it hard for him to breathe. "No need to sugarcoat it, we are a terrible opponent – or an amazing opponent depending on how you see it. It should be good to have an easy game like this, right?"


    "Eh, I wouldn''t say that so bluntly, but you are not wrong." Riku scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "We had a bad pretty bad drawing result in thest inter-high, so this is definitely not an unwee surprise for us."


    "Oh, tell me about it." Tachi moaned weakly, knowing full well what it meant to have a bad drawing. "Well, congrattions to you. It is frustrating for me to not be able to help my senpai go further in theirst tournament, but you deserve to win."


    Meanwhile, on Yuki''s side, he also offered a handshake to Sumida High''s captain, which the captain epted willingly. "Good game. It is so frustrating that our journey stops here, but I am d we lost against you. Good luck in the tournament and try to win it all for us, okay?!"


    "Sure!"


    After the yers from both teams chatted with each other for a while, thepetitive atmosphere inside the building finally started to die down. The crowd also began to leave slowly as they all had to go back to the ss. With a quick bow and the unison shout of ''Arigatou gozaimasu!'' from all the yers there, the second-round game between Tsunemori High and Sumida High was finally over.


    Tsunemori High won their first game of the tournament, advancing through the third round with ease.