𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚌𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚢 𝚐𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚝 [𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯]

18 - GROWTH

"Welcome back guys, are we ready to get started?" Coach Kanai asked as his players came into the gym. His eyes were instantly drawn to Yusei. There was something different about him and they all could see and sense it.

The ace held a much more regal air, and he wasn't smirking or in that normal pose. No, now his hands were in his pockets as he chatted with Kataoka.

"Let's do some laps around the gym!"

"Actually.." Yusei spoke up, making everyone turn to him, "we should go on a lap around the campus. We can increase the lap count once we get used to it."

"Where's this coming from? And dude, the campus is pretty big!" Sanada reminded, and Yusei gave him a look that froze him on the spot.

"If we want to get better we need to push ourselves."

"What the hell happened to him over the break?" Kanai wondered out loud as the team went for a jog around the campus.

"He was working on volleyball, we weren't allowed to come but apparently it was really hardcore." Shino explained, making the coach frown.

"Doesn't sound like something our demon king would do..."

Yusei was, of course, the first one back. He panted lightly, grabbing his water bottle and gulping its contents.

"Hey, Udai-kun." Kanai came over to him as he wiped his mouth. "Care to tell me what's brought the change in attitude?"

"We lost." He said bluntly, "And I'm making sure it never happens again."

"We can't win everything, Udai-kun, it's okay to lose sometimes-" Kanai's eyes widened at the look on Yusei's face as he said those words.

"Can't win everything huh? Okay to loose?" The ace's eyes burned as he stared him down. "You underestimate this demon king."

~•~

"I hate you for all eternity!! Ahha ha gahhhhhh I'm dying cause a you!" Akagi complained as he was sprawled out on the floor, Miyake joining him with a groan as Yusei rolled his eyes.

"Sorry, that's just what it takes to be the best. Now let's keep going while our blood's pumping." Yusei said, offering his hands to help the liberos up.

Akagi looked weirded out but accepted his hand, and Miyake just accepted with a smile. "Thank you!" He chirped, and Yusei nodded.

The rest of practice, Yusei channelled his inner Ukai and at the end, everyone was exhausted. "What the hell did he do over the break to turn him into a fucking drill sargent?" Ozaki asked as he, Yakoya and Akagi watched Yusei and Nishi walk away.

"What are you guys doing?! Come on!" Kataoka cheered as he ran past the three with Miyake in toe.

"Huh? What's going on?!" Yakoya asked in confusion as they jogged to catch up with the two first years.

"Yusei's getting us all meat buns as a reward for our hard work today!" Miyake called back, making the three second years' eyes widen before they ran to catch up.

"Here you go." Yusei handed the bag over to Nishi after taking one out himself.

"Thanks demon king!"

"You're welcome." He nodded to those who thanked him, and they spent a few minutes just chilling outside of the convenience store, chatting.

And that day was the day when the demon king turned into the demon army.

~•~

"Hey whoa get off of me! Dude you're heavy!"

"Dog pile!"

"Go into the living room."

"Dang, you're so cold bro! Maybe we should start callin ya the ice king instead!"

"I think demon king fits better though, he's so freaking scary!"

"Thanks?"

"Thank you for allowing us over, Mrs. Udai!"

"Oh it's no trouble at all!" Mrs. Udai smiled kindly at Nishioka, "I'm just surprised Yusei suggested it! He's not usually that outgoing!"

"Oh trust me, he is. That's why he's our demon king." Nishioka sent a look of reverence at Yusei as he tried to break up the dog pile on Akagi.

"I can see you guys are meshing much more than I saw at the last tournament." Mrs. Udai noted, "Has something happened?"

"Yes actually," Nishioka nodded as Ozaki joined him. "Yusei-kun somehow knew exactly what we needed to do, and brought us together in a much more personal and tight knit way. I'm really proud of all of our growth."

"Well I am too, and I can't wait to see it in action." She encouraged, and they thanked her before Yusei herded them all into the living room.

It had been Kataoka and Yusei's idea to have a sleepover, and Yusei had volunteered his house. However, the sleepover morphed into something so much more.

Anaguma was a well oiled machine before, but now they were one body, one mind. They spent every second of the day they could with each other, taking turns for which house they were sleeping at.

Player's parents became team parents, all loving each kid equally.

Anaguma slept, ate, and breathed each other for the next few weeks, and then it was time for training camp. "What up Udai-kun!" Kuroo and Bokuto called, jogging out of the gym as Anaguma arrived. He nodded to them.

"Hey Kuroo-san, Bokuto-san."

The two were left in shock as he walked past them along with his team, their footsteps in sync as they entered the gym.

All of the teams there realized that after their defeat, Anaguma had become much more intimidating.

They weren't even talking to each other, it was as if they knew what everyone on their team was thinking as Akagi and Miyake shared their sports tape without comment, and when Kataoka couldn't find his water bottle, he didn't even need to say anything as Sadow tossed it to him.

"Udai-kun just called me by my last name, and used san instead of kun." Kuroo said to Bokuto in shock, but the owl was in no better state.

"What the hell happened to him?"

"We lost. So, we grew." Nishioka said as he passed by the two captains. "That's all there is to it."

During the week long training camp, Yusei didn't utter a single insult. In fact, Anaguma didn't talk much at all during their matches. It scared the shit out of the other teams how well they synced and the way they moved, it was so confident and fluent.

They did zero penalties that week. And Kanai couldn't have been prouder of their growth. The demon king was back, with his demon army.