The Birth of A Volleyball Legend-Chapter 487: A Celebration Day
"Urgh…" Yuki groaned weakly as he went out of the building lazily. It was the afternoon, a day after the quarter-final game, and the temperature was pretty cold already. Hell, some of the weather forecasts even said that snow would fall early in Tokyo this year. However, this was still in the middle of December, so that should be the case. "Damn, the weather sucks." He grumbled grumpily.
Even though Edogawa-ku was located in the east part of Tokyo, far from the busy life of the center of the city, but at this time, the holiday atmosphere could even be felt by the people who lived there. Shops and malls were decorated with colorful lights and sparkling ornaments, getting everyone excited for Christmas. People hurried around, shopping for gifts and enjoying the festive mood. The air was filled with cheerful music and the smell of tasty treats. Despite it being early in the season, the city already felt alive with happiness and anticipation, as everyone looked forward to the holiday celebrations.
Of course, the same thing could be said for the orphanage, too. Aiko also got busy out of the sudden since some rich people started contacting her, wanting to share the happiness of the holiday together with the 'unfortunate' children. Yeah, well, for the children who were affected by the nuclear incident and the earthquake disaster in Fukushima this year, it wasn't hard to deny that they were unfortunate children. After all, not only did they lose their family, but some even had long-lasting injuries that would be hard to heal. However, right now, they were together, living under the same roof, and could celebrate Christmas like a family, and right now, they all felt that they were the luckiest orphanage in the world.
However, that would be a story for another time.
Right now, Yuki walked alone through the busy market district, braving the cold wind to get to the school. It was Sunday still, and there should be no students in the school this afternoon. However, Akira asked via group chat for all the members of the team to go, wanting to treat everyone with something nice. After all, they had just made history for the school yesterday, and the bonus the coach received from the headmaster should be a lot.
As he was walking through the bustling street, some people greeted him politely, while some of the old men there also waved at him excitedly. It seemed the news that Tsunemori High reached the semifinal of the prefectural tournament had already spread, and everyone was excited about it. This was probably the first time for a school from Edogawa-ku to go this far in a tournament, and most of the people there couldn't help but cheer for the boy to show their encouragement.
"Hey, Yuki-kun, good job killing those bastards from Nerima-ku! Those guys who always like to act almighty finally got spanked by us! Hahaha!"
"Oh, hush you! Don't teach him a bad word like that!"
"Hey, how old do you think he is?! He should be more proficient in bad words compared to me!"
"Don't listen to them, Yuki-kun. Here, a basket of apples. Use this to treat your siblings and your friends, okay?"
"Oh, here, I have a box of bread that my grandson didn't like. Tch, what a spoiled brat."
"Hey, you give him something that your boy doesn't like? How rude! Here, Yuki-kun, fresh veggies for you kids! Say hello to Aiko-san from me, okay?"
Just within a few minutes, right when Yuki left the market district, he, who didn't bring anything from the orphanage, suddenly carried so many things here; from fruit, cakes, snacks, and even fresh vegetables. With how tall the things were stacked on his hand, the boy couldn't even see what was in front of him clearly.
"Yuki-kun, is that you?" A gentle, feminine voice suddenly greeted him. There was a hint of amusement in her voice as she saw his struggle. "Why do you bring so many things here? Do you want to contribute to the celebration, too?"
"I cannot help it, Megumi-senpai." Yuki sighed helplessly. "These are the things that uncles and aunties on the district market gave to the children in the orphanage and to the team, too. They are far more excited than their usual state."
"Oh, well, the other uncles and aunties would probably say the same, they cannot help but spoil you. After all, you are the darling of the market street." Megumi smiled teasingly. Of course, she didn't let the boy suffer alone. With a swift movement, she started taking over some of the bags there and helped Yuki carry almost half of them.
Yuki sighed in relief when half of the weight lifted from his hand. He also gave the older girl his fiercest glare at the comment she had made earlier. Still, he couldn't deny that he was the darling of the market street. Not just him, but almost all the children in the orphanage were. After all, Aiko always insisted that they had to be polite and helpful toward everyone in the market district, especially since everyone was always willing to lend a hand whenever the orphanage was in a difficult time. It didn't help that the residents of the market district were always kind toward them and willing to take care of the children from the orphanage whenever they visited there, making it easier to maintain a good relationship.
It seemed that Aiko really took the quotes 'It takes a village to raise a child' close to her heart.
As they were close to the school, though, Yuki was speechless when he saw the massive banner put on top of the gate.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE VOLLEYBALL TEAM FOR REACHING THE TOP FOUR IN THE PERFECTURE TOKYO FOR THE WINTER TOURNAMENT! THE FIRST TIME EVER FOR TSUNEMORI HIGH SCHOOL IN THE HISTORY!
The bold words there were somehow enough to make him feel embarrassed. Megumi herself was speechless when she saw this, either from the surprise or another feeling. However, one common thing they thought at the same time here, was the admiration for the headmaster to work so quickly like this. It hadn't even been a day since the game was over, and today was still Sunday, but the headmaster had already put this in front of the school.
"Man, tomorrow would be crazy." Yuki couldn't help but mutter, and Megumi also nodded in agreement.
In the end, they decided to ignore the banner for now and went straight to the room that they usually used as a gathering place for the team. As they were on the street, though, they also met some of the team members like Ogawa or Okamura, but when Yuki wanted to greet them, they had this unhappy expression, as if something had just offended them. Yuki and Megumi, who didn't know the problem here, couldn't help but feel curious. However, when they entered the room, they saw someone – or some people – who they didn't expect to be there too.
"Wait, what the hell?! Why are you guys here?!"
