The gym buzzed with energy.
A week had passed since Seiwa's win over Fukuhara Tech, and the whole school had taken notice. Posters, chants, and excited whispers followed the team through the halls.
They weren't underdogs anymore.
They were contenders.
But with the spotlight came something else.
Pressure.
And cracks, slowly forming beneath the surface.
A New Kind of Problem
"Yo, did you see that spike?" Arai boasted, tossing his water bottle into his bag after practice. "I swear, the Fukuhara blockers didn't even know what hit them."
"You missed three serves in the second set," Yuuto muttered, wiping sweat from his neck.
Arai scowled. "Yeah, and you flubbed two of your own. What's your point?"
Renji glanced between them from across the gym. Practice had ended ten minutes ago, but the tension still lingered.
Asuka noticed it too. "Hey," she said gently. "Relax. We won, remember?"
Yuuto didn't answer.
Neither did Arai.
Renji sighed.
Winning had changed something.
Not everyone could see it yet—but Renji could feel it.
The team was drifting.
Growing Pains
The next few practices were… sharp.
The sets were crisp, the attacks strong, but the chemistry? Uneven.
Yuuto was more aggressive than usual, demanding faster sets from Renji. Arai grew frustrated every time the spotlight shifted away from him. Even Kenji, the usually quiet middle blocker, had started voicing complaints when he wasn't in the starting lineup.
Coach Anzai noticed, of course.
"Good skills," he said after a scrimmage, "but where's the teamwork?"
No one had an answer.
A Quiet Talk
After everyone else had left the gym one night, Coach Anzai pulled Renji aside.
"You're the setter," he said, voice low but firm. "You don't just control the ball. You guide the team."
Renji looked down. "I know. I just… I don't want to overstep."
"You're not overstepping," Coach replied. "You're leading."
Renji absorbed the words.
Leadership had never come naturally. He wasn't loud like Yuuto, charismatic like Arai, or even admired like Asuka.
But when the team was in rhythm—it started with him.
And if the rhythm was off?
Maybe he had to be the one to fix it.
Calling It Out
The next day, after practice, Renji didn't leave.
Instead, he stood at the center of the court, arms crossed.
"Guys," he said quietly, "can we talk?"
Yuuto raised a brow. "What's up?"
"We're winning," Renji began, "but it doesn't feel like it."
The others exchanged glances.
Renji continued, voice gaining strength. "We're supposed to be a team. But lately it's like we're playing to outshine each other."
Arai folded his arms. "We're playing to win."
"No," Renji said, meeting his eyes, "we're playing to prove something. Individually. Not together."
Silence.
Asuka stepped forward. "He's right. I've felt it too."
Yuuto let out a slow breath. "So what do we do?"
Renji looked around the circle of tired, talented, frustrated teammates.
"We reset," he said. "We talk more. We trust more. And we stop thinking the next match is about us—it's about Seiwa."
Mending the Bonds
That weekend, Coach Anzai did something rare.
He canceled practice.
Instead, he booked the team a day out at the beach.
Not to play.
To be together.
They played beach volleyball in the sand, no coaches, no drills—just laughter, mistakes, teasing, and joy.
Yuuto taught Kenji how to do a jump serve. Arai got buried in the sand after losing a penalty game. Renji, to everyone's surprise, was actually good at beach volleyball.
Even better?
He was loud.
Asuka smiled from the sidelines. "Told you it was in you," she said when Renji joked mid-rally.
He grinned. "Guess I'm still learning."
Refocus
Monday came. Practice resumed.
But something was different.
Yuuto high-fived Kenji after a block.
Arai encouraged Asuka after a rare miss.
Renji called the plays, louder now, with confidence.
The cracks hadn't disappeared—but they were filled with something stronger.
Understanding.
Unity.
Respect.
Closing Scene
As the team gathered after practice, Coach Anzai gave a rare smile.
"Good. You're starting to get it."
"Get what?" Yuuto asked.
"That volleyball," the coach said, "isn't just about talent. It's about trust."
He glanced at Renji.
"And now that you're trusting each other again—we're ready."
Renji looked at his team.
No longer fragments of skill and ego.
But a unit.
Ready for the next challenge.
End of Chapter 13
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To Be Continued