-0-


    After fifteen minutes of warming up session, everyone was ready. All the Tsunemori yers stepped onto the court with their usual dark green jerseys, followed by the Konan yers with their ck-stripe white jerseys. They didn''t go into their position immediately, waiting for the result of the coin toss.


    In the end, Koji won the luck, and he chose to serve first without hesitation. As for Konan, they had the right to pick which side of the court they would y in the first. For them, it wasn''t something worth mentioning. However, for Tsunemori, being able to serve first was definitely a good thing.


    With Riku on the line, they were confident they could grab the momentum from the start and control the pace of the game to their liking.


    "Good job, Koji!"


    "Tell me, which temple did you pray to this morning?"


    "You bastard! Don''t underestimate my luck!"


    All the Konan yers were dumbfounded, didn''t expect their opponent would react this strongly just because they won the right to serve first.


    "Man, they sure are something, right?" One of them, a spiky-haired boy with a goofy demeanormented casually. "Usually, the team that would y against us would be depressed knowing their journey would end after the game, right? But they still feel confident even after knowing our reputation. It seems they have something they are confident enough it could surprise us."


    "That means it would be more enjoyable to destroy themter." The other, a boy with a tall and slender build grinned widely, showing his sadistic side.


    "Okay, stop messing around, you two!" Their captain, a boy with a lean, athletic build and curly hair scolded those two immediately. "It is not good to underestimate them! Come on, show some respect!"


    "Yes, captain~"


    The captain could only sigh helplessly as he received an unserious response from them both. Well, he couldn''t help it. Even though they all were surprised to hear the underdog story from their opponent, at the end of the day, it was clear Tsunemori wasn''t as strong as Shimoyawata or Kyoei. It should be luck that helped them to finally be able to reach this stage.


    So, there is no way they could be serious ying against such a weak team like Tsunemori.


    This was the arrogance of the best team in the country. They didn''t even see the intelligence of their opponent and just came blindly, yet they had the strength to be confident to do that. Not many teams could force them to rely on intelligence as they would just crush anyone in front of them with full power.


    All the Tsunemori yers saw the rxed and carefree atmosphere on the other side of the court and couldn''t help but frown. "We are getting underestimated." Riku clenched his fist.


    "Well, what can we do?" Yuki shrugged as if it didn''t bother him. "They have the capital to do so. We are just a bunch of small ants in front of them, right?" Then, to everyone''s surprise, his expression darkened in a second as he continued, "Let''s just show them how hurt a bunch of ants could bite them to death, okay?"


    All of his teammates suddenly had a simr smile on their faces as they nodded simultaneously. "Sure, let''s bite them to death!"


    -0-


    After waiting for the referees to get ready in their position, the game finally was about to begin. The main referee standing next to the signaled everyone to get ready, and when they all nodded at him, he blew his whistle.


    Riku who was the first one to serve took a deep breath. His eyes narrowed slightly, searching for the presence of the boy that rented freely inside his mind for thest week. The boy himself was hidden pretty tightly under the protection of two yers, which was understandable considering his important role as the initiator of their attack.


    However, Riku still wanted to try his luck and aimed his serve at the boy.


    "Okay, let me see how strong you are, Sawada!"


    *BAM!*


    All the Konan''s yers were taken aback by Riku''s bold move. However, they were still calm and did not panic. This was not the first time their opponent targeted their freshman setter. Just by the appearance alone, Sawada was the least intimidating here, so it was understandable for their opponent to do so.


    That was why there were two yers around him to protect the setter from receiving the first ball, just like the goofy boy did right now.


    *Thud!*


    "Nice receive, Shimada!"


    Riku gritted his teeth when he saw his serve was received so easily. This was the second team that was able to do that since Kyoei Gakuen did the same in the third round of the tournament. While Riku himself knew his jump serve wasn''t that good to break through a good defensive team, he started to get frustrated when the blonde boy saw it be a joke by now.


    Unfortunately, Riku didn''t have any time toment his misfortune. Since the ball didn''t fly too far from thest receiver, Sawada didn''t need to rush forward to get the ball. Yuki who was in the top right position stared at the boy intently while his peripheral vision worked hard to catch the other''s movement. He racked his brain as quickly as possible to figure out where the ball would go.


    However, before his brain could process it, someone suddenly shed from the back of Konan''s area with great speed. Yuki was stunned, didn''t know who he was. Out of instinct though, he jumped unconsciously, thinking a quick attack woulde.


    Yuki didn''t know that he was already in Konan''s trap, as instead ofing to the boy in front of him, the ball flew to the opposite wing, where the captain of the team was already in the air to greet the ball.


    "Nice set, Nobu!"


    Hirano and Koji who were still on the ground reacted. Unfortunately, they both were toote, as the Konan''s captain reached the ball first and mmed it down to the other side of the court with all his strength.


    *BAM!*


    "Yosh!" The captain clenched his fist to celebrate the point.


    "Nice kill, Matsumoto-senpai!"


    "Damn, don''t you have any mercy?!"


    "Come on, Matsumoto!"


    Amidst the celebration on the Konan''s side, Yuki stared at the two yers who yed a big role in the attack before. First, it was the boy who rushed to distract him, Lucas Silva Morais. His speed was extraordinary that Yuki was sure if he was a second behind, he wouldn''t be able to catch the Brazilian''s movement.


    And second, it was the setter, the thin, ordinary-looking boy who used Lucas''s quick speed as bait and toyed him perfectly.


    This was a perfect y, and the scariest part about this was the fact that there was nomunication on Konan''s side prior to the attack. It was as if that was just a normal operation and already in their breath.


    Yuki''s eyes turned solemn as if it was the case, the game would be far more difficult than he thought it would be.


    ''Nobuhiro Sawada… Lucas Silva Morais… Damn, this is going to be a long day…''