The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

'Japan National Team, huh?'

It was already dark, not just outside, but also inside the gymnasium. Like how they usually ended the day, the lights in the gymnasium were switched off after 9 PM, and the players were already inside their sleeping bags, curling around as they tried to sleep quickly. Even though it was a fulfilling week, the training camp still took a toll on them.

The fatigue accumulated from their training forced their body to take a rest the moment they could do it, and that was probably why they fell asleep quickly without even chatting anymore the moment they were allowed to.

However, amidst the quiet night, there was only one person who seemed to be a bit restless there, and that was Yuki. He kept recalling the conversation with Sekine and Akira about the thought of joining the professional team and the prospect of being the representative of the national team in the future.

"Go join the team, Kobayashi," Akira said after Sekine left the conversation. "Even if he looks like that, Sekine-sensei is one of the pioneers of professional volleyball athletes in Japan. He learned the fundamental rules for volleyball coaching in Italy for almost 20 years, and since he returned to Japan, so many famous players appeared under his wing, only second to Honda-sensei from Matsukita.

If he said you should join the team, that means he recognizes your talent. So, join the team and aim higher, Kobayashi."

Yuki groaned once again when he remembered those words. It wasn't like he didn't want to, but everything happened so quickly that his head couldn't keep up with what was happening.

Just two months ago he lost all of his family and had to flee to Tokyo to start a new life, then now he was called one of the most talented players and the future national player by a big-shot in the volleyball community in this country.

What a roller-coaster experience.

'Should I call Obaasan to ask about her opinion?' He mused.

Even if people sometimes forget about it due to the maturity he always showed, Yuki was still a teenager. Just a few months ago, he was still in middle school, so for anyone to ask him to make a life-changing decision right now, it was a bit too much for the glasses boy to do it alone.

He needed an adult to talk to right now, either just as a listener or it would be better if one could give him advice on what he should do now.

For a moment, Yuki wanted to talk to Aiko. However, he rejected that idea, knowing the matron would be so excited and encourage him to do that without hesitation, thinking it would bring him to a successful way quickly.

Then, he remembered how Kato had given good advice before the game against Shimoyawata and wanted to talk to her, yet he rejected the idea once again considering Kato was also a teenager like him too.

When he was about to give up and decided to sleep first, though, Yuki suddenly remembered something. Without hesitation, he jumped off his sleeping bag, startling Riku next to him.

"Urgh… What is wrong with you, Kobayashi?" The blonde boy groaned, his eyes still closed tight.

"Sorry, I need to make a call first."

Without waiting for his friend's response, Yuki went outside of the gym quickly to find a quiet place. After walking for a while he arrived at the quiet canteen that looked a bit shabby with only a small lamp that was a bit dimmed already in the middle of it as the source of light. On a normal day, this place would be crowded, or not so quiet like this no matter what time of day it was.

However, since this was a golden week, there were so many students here that went back home, leaving the canteen peacefully at night.

Yuki unlocked his phone quickly, looking out at the time zone first before sighing in relief. After that, his hand flew with agility, moving quickly to find a single name he saved on his contact. The moment he saw it, he pressed the call button without hesitation.

*Beep…* *Beep…*

With the beeping sound that could be heard from his phone, Yuki waited patiently, sitting there while keeping his eyes on the name on his phone. After a while, someone finally picked up his call.

"Ciao, Yuki-kun!" A soft voice greeted him.

"Buonasera, Maria-san."Yuki smiled a little. "Come stai?"

"Sto bene, grazie!" Yuki could hear the surprise and delighted reaction from the tone he heard. "I see you start picking up Italian too. Good job!"

Yuki snorted. "It is just for a simple daily conversation and I am still not doing that well, Maria-san. Don't praise me too much." They switched the conversation to an English one.

"Oh, don't sell yourself short! It is incredible already that you are taking the initiative to learn by yourself. It wouldn't be too long before you talk fluently with me and the others." The person on the other side said casually. "Anyway, as much as I and the girls love receiving your call, it is not a social call, right? You have already done that earlier this week, after all.

Did you tell us at that time that you will have a training camp? What happened? Something went wrong? Should I call Akira-sensei? Or should I – "

"Maria-san!" Yuki cut her words before she could go overboard, sighing exasperatedly while a small, fond smile curled on his mouth unconsciously. "I am okay! Calm down!"

Yeah, the one he just called was Maria, the matriarch of the Silvestri that sponsored his education. Yuki called her since he knew she was a former player too, and he wanted to hear her opinion about this. What he didn't expect though, was to get bombarded by a million questions like that the moment she had a chance to do that.

He remembered Aiko was the same, and his deceased mother also did the same for him when he was in middle school. It seemed that was a mother's instinct to fuss over her children.

"Sorry about that one, Yuki-kun." Her tone was sheepish. "So, what's up?"

Yuki took a deep breath before starting to explain. "So, it is like this…"

After that, he spent about thirty minutes retelling the story of how Sekine gave him personal training, their conversation about the professional world, and even to the point of the last conversation together with Akira too about how he should go to a professional team and not waste his time in his school.

Maria on the other side of the call didn't say anything when he told the full story, just kept humming to show she was still listening until he finished talking.

"So…" Yuki coughed, his voice hoarse after telling the story. "What do you think, Maria-san?"

There was silence for a moment before the woman asked carefully, "Before I give my opinion, can I ask what is holding you back from accepting the offer?"

"I don't know. Everything, I guess." Yuki sighed tiredly. "Everything happened so fast that I couldn't even proceed with what was going on. I don't even know whether I am enjoying the sport or not, yet the others keep pushing me to do it. It is so frustrating, I guess."

Maria snorted at his answer. "You are so like Mattheo that it scares me a bit."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He also had an astronomical leap during his early career, went from doing a construction job to keep his orphanage alive to having more than a thousand euros per month wage. He was like a blind chicken at that time, didn't know what was right and what was wrong."

"So, what did he do?" Yuki asked, immersed in the story.

"He talked to a lot of people, of course."Maria snorted. "But his condition back then is not like you right now. He was a legal adult his 18, eager to have a high-paying job that the moment he was encouraged by his matron to do that, he accepted Akira-sensei's offer instantly."

Yuki nodded – even if Maria couldn't see it, agreeing with her words. The condition was different. Even though he entered a professional team, it would still be a junior team and he wouldn't get paid for it, nothing different than playing in Tsunemori right now.

The only advantage was he would be in a professional team with professional treatment from the training facility to everything he did on a daily basis. Still, he didn't know whether he was ready to make a commitment for a professional life or not.

"So, what do you think I should do?"He asked, his tone was lost.

"Well, usually, I will advise you to follow your heart or to do what you want or what you like. But it seems this time you don't even know what you want to do, right? In this case, you can do this…"