"Agostini, I know that you are an idiot, but the level of idiocy you possess keeps giving me surprise." Yuki sighed while Riku rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "We have already had all the advantages in the world with you being under their radar for too long and could use the twins to manipulate the game to your liking, what prompted you to decide to throw it all away? Just to show off?"
"Hey, that's rude!" Riku sniffed. "It is not just to show off, but also to make a statement!"
The corner of Yuki's lips twitched in annoyance as he sent another karate chop straight to his blonde friend's head.
"Ouch! What the hell?!"
"It is me who should have said that! What the hell, Agostini?! What statement do you want to make here, that you are the biggest idiot in the room? Come on, Agostini! You are not that dumb!" Yuki ranted.
The Silvestri family who couldn't understand even a single word uttered by those two just chuckled at their antic, still had an educated guess as to why Yuki was so irked right now. "Okay, Kobayashi-kun, calm down first. We are still on the lead here." Maria said soothingly.
Yuki huffed in exasperation one more time before giving one last chop to Riku's head.
"Ouch! What the hell, Kobayashi?!" He whined, eliciting giggles from the twins.
Meanwhile, the three people who guided the crowds through the entire game in the commentary booth also saw that, and needless to say, they had a hard time holding back their laughter.
"It seems Kobayashi-kun is not happy with Agostini-kun's last play, right, Hisashi-senpai?" Keisuke Hori asked, still feeling amused.
"Well, if I was in Kobayashi's position, I too, would feel annoyed," Hisashi commented, sending his best sympathy over Yuki.
"Oh? Please, do tell me why?" Keisuke Hori asked, intrigued.
"Well, they have a solid strategy that works for the entire first set, using the twins as the deception for Agostini to manipulate the game. And you know the second most primitive rule here, if a strategy works well and is not broken, don't try to fix it. Agostini broke that rule and tried to fix something unbroken, which is why Kobayashi-kun looks so ruffed now."
Several people in the crowd nodded simultaneously at his explanation as if they understood what happened. Still, those who didn't like Yuki from the beginning just furrowed their brows, this incident just fuelled their dislike toward their junior.
"Agostini-kun had already worked so hard to carry the team until they won the first set, yet still got scolded like that? Who the hell does he think he is?"
"Yes! I don't even know what he did in this game. Does he really deserve to be the captain?"
"Now he scolds Agostini-kun to make himself look important. He is so cunning."
"Yeah. No wonder the members of the volleyball team don't like him."
Riku who heard the general opinion of the crowds chuckled richly, nudging Yuki's hips teasingly. "See, they all agree with me. Come on, don't be too harsh."
Yuki rolled his eyes in exasperation before saying, "So, you also agreed that I scold you just to make myself look important?" There was a sarcastic tone in his question.
"No way!" Riku crossed his arms, making a big X with it quickly, shaking his head rapidly to deny his accusation. "I am not that stupid, you know?" He said, hurtful."
Yuki sighed, knowing he was almost crossing the line before apologizing. "Sorry about that one. I shouldn't have said that."
Riku's features softened before he patted his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry. Even though the crowds couldn't see your role, we noticed your presence on the court. Don't listen to them."
It wasn't just an empty word to reassure Yuki. Just like he said, Riku indeed noticed Yuki's important role on the team. Besides being the twins' guardian whenever they were targeted, Yuki was also the bridge that connected everyone on the team.
Yuki would always put himself in such a position that allowed him to receive the opponent's attack and send the ball directly to Riku. More often than not, he would also try to protect the twins' attack by following them from behind to ensure if their spike was blocked, someone would be there to recover the mess. It was a difficult thing to do, trying to read the game perfectly to always cover all the area around him. However, Yuki did it so effortlessly, making it look like what he did was nothing special and made him be underestimated so much by the crowds.
To put it simply, Yuki's role was being a libero, and he was so good at it that Mattheo, the real libero on the team had no role in the first set.
"Well, if you are bothered so much by their opinion, what about trying to prove them wrong?" Riku asked, his expression turned into a mischievous one.
"Oh?" Yuki raised one of his eyebrows. "Now you catch my interest. I am all ears, so please do tell me your plan."
Riku pondered for a moment before saying, "Well, while you did a good job in the first set, you still took Mattheo's job and too focused on defending their attack. What about being more active here? Being the new pieces to add the layer of the twins' attack?"
"Hmm… Interesting…" Yuki hummed lowly.
While he was content with his role and position to defend from the opponent's attack, Yuki knew Riku was right. This conflict revolved around him, so he needed to be more active and take initiative in the offense. At least, that would show the crowds that if his team won the game, he wasn't just riding on the other's shoulder to get it done.
After a moment, Yuki nodded before saying, "You are right, Agostini. Count me in."
Hearing what Yuki said, Riku grinned, knowing the next set would be more interesting. Even though he had only been playing together with Yuki a few times, Riku knew his friend was a creative attacker. He would roam around the front line and be willing to act as bait first, and when the ball was sent in his direction, the glasses boy would always find some tricks to deceive the blocker.
In Riku's opinion, Yuki was probably the most interesting attacker he had ever partnered with. And that was why, he couldn't wait to see how much fun they would have in the next set.
-0-
"And here we go again! The next set will be started in the next few minutes, and the life of the senior team is on the line! Would they be able to pull a miracle and prolong the game to the final set, or would the freshmen team bury them alive in this set?! We will see it unveiled in the next few minutes. But for now, please, give your best cheers for the players on the court!"
The crowds exploded the moment the players went back to the court. Cheers of encouragement could be heard for the senior team as almost everyone there was rooting for them.
"Come on, Yoshi! Where is that spirit of yours in the beginning?!"
"Noriyuki! Kill them from me!"
"Yori-sama! Don't lose!"
"Come on, Koji!"
"You know, Honey, this situation reminds me of Monza." Mattheo smiled as his eyes wandered on the crowds, listening to the cheers around that weren't even directed at him.
"Oh, yes, their supporters are always the loudest and the craziest even in the league." Maria also smiled, reminiscing about their past.
"Monza is a small city in the northern region of Italy. They also have the best team in the country, and their supporters are amazing." Riku whispered after seeing Yuki's questioning gaze.
Yuki nodded in understanding before taking the ball outside of the line, ready to serve the ball. The moment he heard the whistle was blown, he took a deep breath before throwing the ball in the air, slapping the ball gently so it wouldn't cause so much rotation. He clicked his tongue in annoyance though, as Okamura suddenly moved to receive the serve.
By now, almost everyone on the senior team knew how to handle Yuki's floater serve. They just need to step forward and greet the ball directly with an overhead pass rather than waiting for it to move around and destroy their formation. And while not everyone was proficient in doing that, since Okumura could receive it perfectly, they just let the libero wander around whenever he served the ball.
"Good receive, Okumura!" Yori praised, taking over the ball while glancing around quickly to scan his teammates' whereabouts.
Yuki didn't dwell on his failure for too long, going forward quickly while keeping his eyes on Yori. In the next second, he had already moved to the left even before the opponent's setter tossed the ball. And right after that, true to his prediction, Yori gave the ball to Yoshi who was already doing his run-up, ready to attack.
Maria and Gabriella jumped, trying to block the attack. However, Yoshi was clever enough to target the younger girl who was clearly the weakest one of the two. He overwhelmed Gabriella's block, breaking the wall she created and making the ball bounce down the floor immediately.
*BAM!*
"OH! A tool! Nice spike, Yoshi!"
Tool was a term in volleyball to describe the situation when the ball was blocked, yet it still fell to the blocker's side or to the outside field to add a point for the attackers. By now, almost all the members of the senior team were ready to celebrate, especially seeing the ball was about to touch the floor.
However, what they didn't notice was for Yuki to dive down, trying to save the ball. He extended his arms far ahead, putting it on the floor so that the ball would bounce on it rather than the floor.
"A PANCAKE!" A roar suddenly exploded from the commentary booth, and everyone was surprised to see it was Hisashi who did that. Gone was the calm demeanor the former captain had since the beginning, as now, he rose from his seat while his eyes were still on the court, his hands trembled in excitement. "KOBAYASHI SAVE THE BALL WITH A PANCAKE! IT IS STILL ALIVE! WHAT A PLAY BY THE FRESHMAN TEAM!"
His excitement was understandable. A pancake was another term in volleyball when a player landed on the floor with their body in an attempt to save the ball with one open hand on the floor to allow the ball to bounce off of it. That might sound simple in theory, but in reality, a player had to be able to read the game right and jump at the right time while ready to fall to save that one ball, something that not even a professional could do every day.
However, the play wasn't over.
"Nice save, Kobayashi!"
Seeing the ball was saved, Maria reacted quickly, giving the ball back to Riku for the last attack. Being in the back, it wasn't the best position for the blonde boy to attack. However, he had no choice and jumped, spiking the ball as hard as possible to get it across the net quickly.
*BAM!*
Unfortunately – or fortunately, his spike was too short, making the ball hit the net first before it rolled down the other side of the court slowly. All the players of the senior team were surprised, rushing forward to save the ball. It was Hirano who was the closest there who managed to reach it first and made it fly high to keep the ball alive.
"Nice save, Hirano!"
"Fall back! Let us do the rest!"
Unfortunately, the ball flew too close to the net, and before anyone from the senior team could reach it first, one player from the other side of the net suddenly flashed forward, jumped, and wiped the ball first before anyone could get the ball first to make sure it fell on the senior's side, killing the play perfectly.
Silence settled over as all the eyes turned around quickly, just to see a cold gaze reflected behind the sports glasses Yuki wore. Their junior just stared at them for a moment before letting out an infuriating smirk, breaking the silence with just one short sentence.
"Well, what do you think after being beaten by the golden boy?"
Golden Boy was the nickname the senior gave to Yuki since the coach favored him so much that it drew jealousy from them. Yuki himself only knew that when Noriyuki called him that with a mocking tone in the first set after the ace was able to penetrate his defense. However, that one time was enough for him to let that horrible nickname rent freely inside his head for the entire game, and the moment he had a chance, Yuki retaliated brilliantly by using his new nickname to mock them all.
And it worked so well, as the temper of the players on the other side exploded immediately, and hell broke loose.