"I accept the offer," Yuki said, no hesitation could be traced on his face.
It was the next day, and even without confirming it first to Akira, he knew the Silvestri couple would be at school. They had been hanging around here for the last couple of days, getting dragged by Akira – who was also a PE teacher to educate the students about the life of a professional player.
Maria's face beamed in delight when she heard that, then jumped on him straight while giving her best hug to the boy, squealing happily."I know you are going to accept it! Oh, welcome to our family, Yuki-kun!"
Yuki had a sweat drop on his face when he saw Maria's excited reaction. Mattheo just chuckled a bit before saying, "Well, she was probably the most excited one when I proposed this idea. Saying that you are a good kid and some stuff like that."
As he kept rubbing Maria's back awkwardly, Yuki was touched by the woman's sincerity. Even though she only knew him for a few days and it wasn't even a full-day interaction, she still believed he was a good kid and excited to sponsor his education. If this was not screaming sincerity, Yuki didn't know what it was.
"So, what should I do?"Yuki asked after he was released from the hug.
"Well, have you filled up the form we gave you yesterday?" Mattheo asked. Yuki nodded, pulling out a file from his backpack. The Silvestri couple checked it for a moment before nodding their head in a satisfied manner. "Good. You will receive the news in the next few days."
"That's it?" Yuki raised one of his eyebrows.
"Yeah." Maria nodded. "It is easier to sponsor someone's education here rather than doing an adoption, especially for an older kid like you." She said the last part while apologizing to him.
Yuki waved his hand, dismissing her concern before asking again the same question, "So, what should I do?"
"Well, maybe… Nothing."Mattheo shrugged. "Just enjoy your school life, oh, and don't forget to exchange your contact with Maria. She will expect you to call on a weekly basis."
Yuki nodded, yet still a bit dumbfounded with how easy it was. His head still processing what just happened in the last couple of days. One moment he was under the scrutinization of the entire school, and in a blink, he had a backer to cover all his education expenses for the next three years.
If he wasn't the one who received it, Yuki would think something like this only happened in a story.
"Oh, before we part away, here is for you."Maria suddenly offered him the plastic bag she had been carrying since the beginning. "Ella and Bella are upset they couldn't see you since they have to go with their grandmother, but they have prepared something for you. Here."
Yuki took a peek inside and was touched to see a pair of volleyball shoes inside. It seems the twins also noticed the horrifying condition of his 'one-for-all' shoes that he wore at the last game and wanted to give him a present.
"Isn't it a bit too much?"
"No, dear. Don't worry about it." Maria smiled. "Even though we have already done this a lot, this will be the first time we sponsor a kid that his age isn't that far from our daughters, so they are excited about this too. Just, be ready to get spoiled in this family."
Yuki nodded once again, bowing his head deeply before shouting, "Thank you so much! I will never forget your kindness for the rest of my life!"
-0-
In the gymnasium, Riku sighed deeply, starting to feel bored. It had been a few days since Yuki didn't come again to the training session, and the situation here was getting more terrible as days went by. Only nine players and Megumi left here, and none of them could lift the mood. They were so preoccupied with their own thing that they didn't bother to take care of the team anymore.
'Is this really a team?' He sighed.
Riku even started to lose the joyful feeling of playing volleyball, something he didn't know could happen yet terrified him to no end. Still, out of respect for his uncle, he kept going to the training session every day, even with half-assed teammates around him.
"Megumi-san, what are we doing today?" He asked casually.
"I don't know. Akira-sensei said it would be a surprise today." Megumi shrugged. Riku couldn't help but furrow his brows, starting to hate a surprise in this team. Still, anything would be better than the monotonous routines they had kept doing in the last few days in the name of practice.
'I wonder what that was.' He mused.
It didn't take a long time though before his silent question was answered, when suddenly, the boy who said he was quitting the team a few days ago suddenly appeared once again here.
"Yo, Agostini!" Yuki greeted casually as if nothing happened in the last couple of days. "What are you doing, daydreaming in such broad daylight?"
It wasn't just Riku who had his jaw dropped, but almost everyone here had the same reaction. Even Hirano, the cold middle blocker who always had no expression on his face bulged his eyes in surprise to see Yuki was here.
"What are you doing here, Kobayashi?!" Riku hissed, finally woke up from his dazed state.
"Of course, training. Why are you so surprised? Aren't you going to do the same?"
Riku nodded in understanding for a second before realizing it wasn't the problem here. "Ni! I mean, I thought you were quitting the team. What happened?" By now, everyone leaned forward, wanting to know about his situation too.
"Well, it is a long story. Let's just say a miracle happens and leave it for now. I will tell you the details later when Kato-san is here."
Riku nodded in understanding as Yuki referred to a miracle in the conversation they had a few days ago. Still, Riku was surprised to see it became a reality, and now he was curious about what kind of miracles his friend was blessed with.
After a while, Akira finally appeared. He didn't look surprised to see Yuki was there, seemed that Mattheo had already informed him of Yuki's decision.
"Okay, everyone! Gather up!" He shouted. All the ten players rushed toward their coach immediately, didn't dare to let him wait. Akira stared at them one by one for a few minutes before sighing, "Well, we lose our captain and vice-captain, huh?"
The atmosphere turned somber immediately, the senior players couldn't help but have their eyes cast downward in defeat. While Yuki and Riku were not close enough to Noriyuki and Yoshi, for the others, those two were their leader. Without them around, the team suddenly felt lost and leaderless. The prospect of having to play without them on the team would be something the players here would have a hard time coming up with.
"You know what? It wouldn't be fair if I gave the chance to back out only to those two. Let me make a deal with you. If any of you feel you also want to quit, I will let you go today. No hard feelings. But after this, I hope that everyone who is still here will be the players who really want to play volleyball."
All the players – and even Megumi was stunned by Akira's announcement. The team's morale currently was low, and his first priority should be to lift it up first. However, what Akira did was the opposite, seemed to want to break the team into smaller pieces until nothing was left.
"Come on, I will give you five minutes to think."
Except for Yuki and Riku, everyone stared at each other hesitantly, didn't know what they should do. Finally, it was Yori who was the one to leave first, surprising everyone. They all thought that since without Noriyuki, Yori would be the captain of the team, the setter would stay here until the end. But after seeing Ren, another third-year student leave the team too, they all knew it was a solidarity move to support the first two who had left the team.
As for the sophomore players, they were hesitant too. But until the end, no one left the team. Seeing that, Akira sighed in relief before coughing to get everyone's attention.
"So, only eight players left, huh? Apart from five regular players and libero and middle blocker who would always rotate with each other, we only have one backup." He muttered, his face was gloomy for a second. However, his expression changed into an excited one as he clapped his hands. "But that's fine! At least, we know that all the players here are the most serious ones! Let's show everyone outside that although we are short of players, we can still make a big splash in the next tournament! Are you with me?!"
"YES, SIR!"
And with that shout, the journey of the new Tsunemori volleyball team had finally begun.