The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Yuki sighed, closing his flip phone before putting it on his desk. Then, he rolled over on his bed, staring at the roof silently as he pondered what he just found out on the internet, especially about the Silvestri couple.

It seemed he didn't have to worry too much about Mattheo. Even though his volleyball career was not the best, outside of the court, the Italian man had done so much for his community. He had his own foundation that helped children who dropped out of school to continue picking up their studies again, and it helped more than 30 people already in the last decade.

More than that, at least six young professional players were expressing their gratitude toward the man because he helped them get out of the slumps. And when Yuki checked their background, he felt a kinship with them, since they were all coming from an orphanage in their late teenager just like him.

Yuki was relieved that Mattheo had such a bright track record in this regard. Not that he didn't trust the Italian man, of course, but at least he knew Mattheo knew what he was doing. Still, that basically answered one of his concerns, and he needed to address the second one.

'Let's talk to everyone when dinner is ready.'

An hour later, all the children and Aiko had gathered to eat dinner together like usual. Chatters and laughter echoed in the small dining room as all the children exchanged conversations about how their days went while Aiko was still busy in the kitchen. After all the residents of the orphanage sat, he coughed a little, gaining everyone's attention.

"So… There is something I want to ask…"

"Is this also the reason why you look so rumpled today?" Mei, the youngest child asked innocently while scooping rice to her plate. Yuki gawked at her words while the others were trying their best to hold back their laughter.

"Well… Yes, basically." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, a bit embarrassed someone noticed his dazed state. He thought he was sneaky enough to go unnoticed, but it seemed he was wrong here.

Still, he put a file on the table, and everyone had their eyebrows raised at it. As the oldest one, Aiko took the file from its place and read it for a second before she stared at Yuki with sparkling eyes. Based on her reaction, the children knew it was good news, so they rushed quickly toward the older woman, trying to take a look at the file.

"Hey, don't push around!"

"I am here first!"

"What do you mean you are here first? I am the one who sits next to Obaasan! I should have looked at it first!"

"Hey, you are the older one! You should be the last one here!"

"What do you mean by that?!"

Yuki chuckled at their antic while Aiko could only sigh helplessly as she took away the file secretly from the table, letting the children finish their squabble first. After arguing with each other for a while, they finally remembered why they were doing this in the first place before rubbing their head sheepishly, trying to look at Aiko innocently.

"Obaasan… Do you mind reading the file for us?" Aina asked. This was the best solution, with none of them having the privilege to look at the paper yet everyone would know the content of it from listening to what Aiko said.

Aiko snorted in amusement at her 'not-so-innocent' look before coughing, putting the file back before reading it loudly.

"Letter of Sponsorship. Student's name, Kobayashi Yuki. Sponsor's name, Mattheo Silvestri…"

The more she read the content of the file, the more the children's eyes widened in surprise. Yuki cringed a bit, inwardly trying to calm himself down. The biggest fear he had right now was for anyone here to react negatively toward him, either from envy or jealousy. However, what he was afraid of didn't happen.

"That is amazing, Yuki-nii!" Hina squealed.

"Yeah! With this, you don't have to worry about paying the school anymore! And you even receive pocket money! Man, I am so jealous!"

"Yeah! It is so much! We can buy a lot of things with it!"

"What do you mean by us? That is Yuki-nii's money, you idiot!"

Even though the words jealousy were thrown a lot, there was no heat in it as everyone was genuinely happy for Yuki. They bombarded him with questions, asking what kind of powers Mattheo had, and what the Italian man wanted in return for sponsoring his study.

Yuki answered all the questions patiently, telling the story of his first time meeting Mattheo, the conflict in the volleyball team, the conversation he had with the Silvestri couple earlier in the day, to the research he did about Mattheo before going to dinner.

Everyone listened attentively as Yuki recounted the story, sometimes interrupting here and there if there was something they didn't understand. As he finished, the room fell silent. The children's eyes were wide with excitement, their faces aglow with anticipation. He could see the wheels turning in their minds as they processed the magnitude of what was being offered to him.

Aiko was the first one to react after a while, rising from her seat to engulf him in a bear hug. "You deserve it, my boy. Congratulation. I am so proud of you."

This was the second time someone said they were proud of him today, and while it was nice, Yuki couldn't help but feel embarrassed. He felt that he didn't do anything worthwhile to get this sponsorship as the only reason Mattheo did this was due to pity and some sort of kinship.

And bless Aiko, the matron noticed his under-the-weather mood and asked, "What's wrong, Yuki-kun?"

All the celebrations and excitements died down immediately, all the eyes turned at him concernedly.

"It is nothing." Yuki smiled, trying to look normal. However, no one was fooled by his fake smile as they kept staring at him intently. After a while, he finally sighed, gave in to the silent pressure from his little siblings before saying lowly, "Just think I didn't do anything special at all."

Aiko furrowed her brows before flicking his forehead. "Why are you saying that? Mattheo-san chooses to support you because he sees something in you, and that is your wonderful character. Even though you have just lived here for two months, I am proud of myself to say I have a good grasp on you, and Mattheo-san is right.

You will always be willing to sacrifice yourself for any children here, and I cannot be prouder of you than that. So, no matter what happens, you will always be a special kid in my eyes."

Yuki had a lump in his throat for a moment, tears piling up in the corner of his eyes. He could also see from the corner of his eyes the children nodding at him, chiming in with words of encouragement.

"Yes, Yuki-nii! You are the best!"

"Just don't forget to buy us more toys in the future, okay?"

"Taro, you idiot!"

Yuki let out a small chuckle, a small burden in his heart was lifted a bit. Still… "Aren't you worried I will abandon you guys?"

The squabble stopped immediately as all eyes turned to him, looking at the boy with incredulous expressions. Then, Mei, the youngest out of all the children there stepped up and without hesitation, she headbutted Yuki, catching off everyone's guard.

"What's wrong, Mei-chan?" Yuki blinked, still baffled at the sudden attack from the girl. It wasn't hurt, per se, and he would have laughed if only the situation wasn't serious.

Still hiding her face on his chest, she took a glance at Yuki before asking, "Are you going to leave the orphanage?"

"What? Of course, no!" Yuki denied it quickly.

"Then, there you go." Mei smiled smugly, an expression that was unfit to be on a young girl. "It is not like you are going anywhere. This would only give you more free time to spend with us. You don't have to work anymore, right?"

Silence settled over the room as everyone was stunned by Mei's train of thought. Still, she was right, as slowly, all the children nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, Yuki-nii! You will still have more free time to spend with us! Maybe, you can ask Kato-neechan and Riku-niichan to come here too!"

"Yeah! I want to show them my drawing!"

"Me too!"

Amidst the chatter around him, Yuki finally laughed, feeling full of relief. It was as if all the weight on his shoulder finally disappeared, letting him breathe more freely. Mei was right. It wasn't like he was going to abandon them. He felt a bit silly right now for overthinking about it.

Still, with two of his biggest concerns answered, Yuki no longer hesitated.

'With this kind of support from my new family, maybe Sachi-baasan is right. I should try to listen to my heart instead of overthinking the pros and the contras of it. And my heart knows what I want to do.'