Chapter 15: Kick and Roll

"This is pretty boring..." Kurt complained as he watched Chiko and Gantes walking back towards their side of the court.

Now that the only decent player in their opposing team is gone, he was not as inspired as before. He'd rather stop the game instead of continuing playing with two noobs who have no slightest idea about sepak takraw.

However, the injured Yang on the other side was still full of smiles while gritting in pain. There were still lights of hope in his eyes and for some reason, Rino hated it. Those friendly and warm cheers, those encouraging words, those blind trust to your team.

Rino absolutely despised it.

"This fool thinks a miracle will happen if he trusts enough. What an idiot." Rino mumbled to himself with a disgusted gaze. He scoffed at the unyielding players of the other team and thought,

"Just like what Santi always says, If one wants to win, all he needs is himself. Get good, become the best, and you won't have to trust or depend on anyone. One must not be a piece of heavy baggage!"

Finally, Chiko and Gantes repositioned themselves, in their eyes were unyielding determination to win. For once, somebody trusted them to their fullest, it is finally time to get serious.

"Gantes, since you are bigger, you will be the main defender at the front and I will be responsible for the side." Chiko calmly instructed and Gantes quickly nodded.

Pak-Pak!

"You can leave it to me. I will show them the true power of this giant fluff!" Gantes added while slapping his big bouncy belly.

Seeing that both teams are in position, Rino nodded towards John as a signal to start the toss.

Yang on the other side was still limping in pain and he could only truly hope for a miracle. Although honestly speaking, he already felt like they have lost.

However, now that they are at the bottom, he believes that there is nothing else to go but upward.

"You can do it! Fight till the end! Aho-aho!" Yang tried his best to cheer only to quickly kneel back because of his hamstring injury.

And finally, John tossed the ball high towards Rino, to which the latter quickly responded with a simple but forceful inside kick.

Pang!~

His aim was the far right corner to test how fast could Chiko adjust from his initial position.

"It's out, right? This is going out, right? It's out! It should be!" Gantes hurriedly shouted as he watched the ball fly over him.

He was unable to gauge properly just how far the ball will reach according to its current speed. He judged that it will go out of bounds. Chiko and Yang thought otherwise.

"Chiko get it! It is still inside!" Yang was quick to estimate and as he said, the ball was about to land on a corner edge of the line.

"Don't worry. I got it!" fortunately, Chiko was also quick to respond, with his current position, he was able to react properly and received the ball with another inside kick - but it failed.

"It was another spinning serve?" Chiko belatedly realized as he watched the ball bounced away from his location caused by the initial spin applied by Rino.

"Darn it. I forgot about their spinny techniques." Chiko grumbled to himself.

"Chiko and Gantes, according to my observation and experience, you can counter their spinny technique by positioning yourself properly. You happen to face the outside direction and as a result, the majority of spinning serves would result in an out of bounds. Try to always face the net's direction and tilt your body a little forward when receiving. Calm down yourselves and focus on controlling the ball by letting the ball hit the center of your inside foot to stop the ball's rotation." Yang calmly instructed and the two immediately listened.

Rino on the other hand was getting more irritated listening to the hopeless struggle of the newb team before him.

"Unfortunately, your last-minute lesson will be just in vain. Listening to your counter plan makes me want to puke considering that you don't even have a real experience yourself." Rino loudly said towards Yang. But the latter just ignored him and continued giving tips to Chiko and Gantes. Right now is not the time to argue and instead, he focused to seize every opportunity to teach his two new friends the ropes of sepak takraw.

As it turns out, his three years of solo playing sepak takraw were never wasted. Though he was injured and unable to play, he was still able to contribute to his team with even little information based on his experience.

Yang felt like he was never alone all this time.

The score is now 2 against 7, still in favor of Rino's team. In order for Chiko and Gantes to win, a miracle literally has to happen.

Chiko got the ball and proceeded to their turn of three more services.

"Allow me to be the tekong this time." Gantes stood inside the service circle excitedly and did an awkward stretching exposing his fluffy belly.

"Sure. I am slowly getting the hang of the ball anyway." Chiko agreed and repositioned himself immediately.

Yang watched them with an anxious gaze. The three wickedly smiling opponents were literally a mismatch against them but since they insisted, they have no choice but to face this dominating fire.

"I am starting," Chiko said and threw the ball gently towards Gantes.

"Easy..." Gantes confidently said as he received the ball and sent it arching towards the opponent's field with an inside kick. After observing the basic style of inside kick, Gantes was able to perform it thanks to his natural athletic senses.

Pang!~

Fortunately, the ball passed over the net safely and reached Rino's side of the court. The latter calmly received the ball by passing to John. And like naturally flowing water, their movement was smooth but with constant energy.

Kurt knew the drill and positioned himself on a striking spot, waiting for John's set up for a kill.

"Higher!" Rino shouted and John quickly adjusted his tossing kick.

Pong!~

It was a high toss just above Kurt's head - a perfect recipe for a powerful strike.

With the motion in a perfect set, Kurt jumped with his left leg raised higher. His body twisted horizontally in mid-air while his right foot came over with a powerful swing.

It was a beautiful roll spike!

PAAANG!!!~

It was a beautiful kick and Gantes was too mesmerized to react.

"Mine!" Seeing Gantes not showing signs of moving, Chiko immediately adjusted to the ball's trajectory.

"N-no it's mine!" Gantes, snapped and tried his best to catch the ball, and as a result-

Thud!~

Kurt's aim was the center space between Chiko and Gantes. And as he expected, both of them went after the ball and bumped into each other like two balls, except the other one is a bigger ball and sent Chiko back like a ball hitting a solid wall.

Fortunately, they were both not injured as Chiko and Gantes managed to adjust their body before the impact.

"Darn it. He is just playing with them." Yang understood Rino's intention through the game and could not help but grit his teeth. Chiko and Gantes have no experience with this sport at all and their mistakes were actually normal for beginners.

Slowly, Yang could feel the pressure. The stakes were high and any signs of hope are still vague.

The score is now 2 against 8 and Rino's team is just 4 points away from winning this informal match. Chiko's team has two more remaining serves and Yang hoped to see improvement in their next kick.

"We should do that high kick serve too." Gantes suddenly suggested.

"Are you crazy?" Chiko hurriedly replied. He knew exactly the consequences of performing those difficult kicks without a well-trained body.

"You don't know me but I can actually do those cool kicks too you know. Back in my Cebu days, performing a double summersault was just a piece of cake to me. Does that high kick serve? Eaaasy."

"You should know the consecquences right?" Chiko asked. He did not like this idea.

"Just do it. I will show you. We will never win against them with those normal-ass kick. I need to show them my true power!" Gantes confidently replied while doing his awkward stretching routine - again.

As usual, his fluffy belly never missed this slight air time opportunity and said high to Chiko's eyes.

Chiko looked at Yang who recovering on the side. He wanted to get his approval but the latter's face seems to show that he is unsure about it as well.

"Whew... Well, here goes nothing." Chiko has decided to trust Gantes.

The big guy inside the service circle replicated the proud pre-serve body position with his left hand raised high as a target for Chiko's throw.

"Are sure about that height?" Chiko asked to confirm. For him, the height demand for Gante's spike serve was too high. He was not sure if Gantes could actually hit the ball at this rate.

"Just. Do. It. Not sponsored." Gantes seriously replied with a determined gaze at the ball in Chiko's hand.

Chiko threw the ball at the specified height towards Gantes. The latter quickly reacted with a spike serve after confirming the ball's height and distance.

Gante's foot forcefully lifted up and just when his feet were about to hit the ball, his hamstring ached, his hip twisted and a series of cracking sounds came, his back ached, his black slacks were ripped from below - revealing his cute bear-printed undergarments and the big guy immediately lost his balance.

THUUUD!~

"..." Chiko.

"..." Yang.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!~

Rino and his team rolled at the ground while bursting into laughter. The scene of a big fluffy guy failing to kick the ball because he ripped his pants was just truly absurd. The loud bang and minor ground vibration only added to the comedy they witnessed.

"Oooouch. My back, my hip, my legs, they hurt! Damn. Agggh!" A pained Gantes grumbled while laying down at the ground with his black slacks ripped vulgarly. Slowly, he turned his big heavy body to face the roof and added,

"I missed my old body. huhuhu."

And yes. Another player has been benched due to injury and Chiko is left to play alone against the three experienced sepak takraw players.

Yang estimated that their chance of winning was absolutely zero.