𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚌𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚢 𝚐𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚝 [𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯]

37 - CHAMPIONSHIP

"Oh, so it is you guys." Yusei blinked, seeing the blonde he had met the other day. He smiled brightly at the ace.

"It sure is! I'm really excited to play you Udai!" He said, energy radiating off of him. Yusei yawned, his eyelids drooping.

"Feelings mutual, Atsumu-kun." he replied, then peaced out to rejoin his team. Atsumu watched him go, his eyebrow twitching angrily.

After a quick warm up, the two teams lined up on the sides of the court before the starting lineups were introduced. Once they were all on the floor, the teams bowed and shook hands.

Getting into their respective places, the down referee signalled that all was well and that the table was ready for the match to start. Nodding, the up referee held his hand out and, with a puff of air into his whistle, signalled the serve.

It was Atsumu's serve. He had taken four steps back, which meant it was going to be a float. Yusei's eyes narrowed in on him, knowing it was going to be powerful from the time he had played against him during the three on three. He didn't disappoint.

Slamming it over the net, the ball flew fast and hard, straight at where the setter was coming up from. Jiga took a step to the side, receiving it nicely. Atsumu gritted his teeth, eyes on the ball as Nishioka stood under it.

The three front row hitters started their approach, discombobulating the other team as Jiga went for a slide hit while Ozaki when for a middle quick and Yakoya made for an outside shoot.

It was one of their new combination plays, and it was one of the riskiest. It all depended on whether the setter and the spikers were able to sync.

Posing to strike, Nishioka's eyes watched the two hitters in front of him before shooting it out to Yakoya. It almost seemed too fast, but at the last second, the middle blocker connected.

The other libero, coincidentally also named Akagi, didn't let the hit land. Atsumu set it over to his outside, who managed to get the kill. The Inarizaki stands went up in cheers, clearly impressed.

Yusei yawned. "How boring," he mumbled, rubbing his eye. Kanai squinted at him.

"Don't get sleepy on me, Udai!"

"I'm nooooot," he whined back, tossing him a look that stopped his mouth in its tracks. He wasn't playing around, Yusei really did think it was boring. So he was planning to spice it up..

Nodding in acknowledgment, Kanai turned his attention back to the other side of the court, where Atsumu was getting ready to serve again. This time, when the whistle was blown, he served it at Akagi.

Using his hands, Anaguma's libero received the ball with ease. Their setter sent it to Jiga, who put it away before the other libero could even move for it. "Nicely done," Yusei patted Akagi and Jiga on the back, both of whom whipped out smug grins. "Now go serve up a good one, I'd suggest serving a line shot but it's up to you if you think you can handle it or not," Yusei challenged Jiga, who nodded as his grin grew.

"We'll see, won't we?" He said, grabbing the ball off the floor and making his way over to the end line. Waiting there, the signal was given for him to commence. He paused for a second, his eyes darting towards his demon king.

Letting out a breath, his game returned forward as he tossed the ball up and approached. Putting all of his power into it, the ball shot towards the other side. Jiga's stomach jolted into his mouth as it hit the tape.

And then dribbled over, landing smack-dab on the sideline. Both sides looked shocked, and it seemed like slow motion to Jiga as Yusei turned towards him, a genuinely impressed look on his face as he jogged over to him, cheers going up all around them.

They high fived, both having huge grins on their faces. "You did good, son," he told him, and he nodded.

"Thanks dad."

The rest of the match was just as intense as it had started, climbing far over twenty five in each set. Every point was hard won, especially the last one.

Anaguma had taken the first set, and Inarizaki made a come back in the second and won that one, only to have Anaguma take the third. Now into the fourth set, it was at a deuce: 25-25.

Yusei was in middle back, with Yakoya serving and Ozaki in left back. That left Jiga, Nishioka and Kataoka in the front. As they waited for the whistle, Nishioka's mind was racing.

At the whistle, Yakoya sent over short serve, making the libero dive for it. The ball shot into the net, rolling down the rope until it eventually fell. Atsumu managed to get it out to Aran, who spiked it. Yusei picked it up almost effortlessly, barely even moving.

Then, something unexpected happened. Nishioka pulled off the net and approached as it he were about to hit it. Aran and Suna went up to block him, but then he just tipped it over.

"NISHIOKA YOU BEAUTIFUL BASTARD!" Kanai roared from the bench, laughing heartily as the team shook and praised the setter. That made the score 26-25, it was a break. Both teams had already used both time outs, so no matter how much he wanted to, the other coach was not able to stop their flow.

After the little cheering session, Yakoya went back to serve again. This time the libero got the ball up better, allowing Atsumu more options. Opting for their middle, the dyed blonde set a quick for Suna.

Kataoka got a one touch, but it looked like it was gonna be a lost cause with how far it was going. Yusei didn't care, racing after the ball. Stretching out his arm just as the ball was descending, he shot it back where he had come from.

"Nice hussle!"

"Holy shit, that was incredible!" The stands went wild as Ozaki sent the ball back as a chance ball, high enough to give Yusei time to get back into position.

Their libero received the ball, and Atsumu set his twin. Osamu was shut down, the ball spiralling towards the floor and bouncing before he even landed.

And thus, the game was ended at 27-25.

"We did it-" Jiga broke off as he had turned towards where Yusei was supposed to be. He wasn't on the court. Kanai's eyes darted around, trying to find him. The last place he saw him-

All eyes on both sides of the court widened. Yusei was laying against a pillar, blood staining his face. When he landed after getting the ball, he had rolled and bashed his head against the pillar, effectively knocking him out.

"Y-Yusei?"

(Deadchi, meet your new friend Udied.)