The Cat and the Crow

Nationals (7 January 2013 - Part Two)

Just before the game versus Kamomedai, and while Kei had been distracted, Tetsu waved at Daichi to meet him at the sidelines. He knew Kei didn't want anyone to know, and this could possibly make Kei mad at him for a while, but he'd be damned if he didn't let someone else know. While he waited, his eyes zeroed in on Kei, who wasn't doing too bad, but you had to look to see the signs.

"Hey Kuroo," Daichi said as soon as he was close enough to be heard. Tetsu saw his expression go from curious to concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Before I tell you anything, act as if I'm giving you pointers or something."

Daichi immediately looked thoughtful, and nodded. Tetsu grinned at his friend. "You should take up acting," he said, earning a wry look from the Karasuno captain. "So look," he started without preamble. "I need you to really keep an eye out for Kei, alright?" he asked, pantomiming blocks, receives, and even sets as he talked. "He told me not to say anything, but I'm worried he's going to push himself too far."

"What's wrong with him?" Daichi asked pointedly, copying Tetsu, and adding a few hand signals.

"He's sick. I don't know how much, because, just from looking at him, he seems fine. He's being stubborn about it, mostly because he doesn't want to let the rest of you down."

"Our Tsuki is finally a team player," Daichi said proudly.

"Well, I think he always has been, to be honest. Just not in the way people would think." He smiled at his fellow captain. "We're seated pretty far back, but close enough that I can see what's going on. If it comes down to it, just give me this signal," and he hid partially behind Daichi so no one could see what he did. "I'll be down as fast as I can."

"I'm thinking that would happen without a signal," Daichi said wryly.

"You're not wrong," Tetsu agreed. "Oh, yeah! Kei mentioned something about Chibi-chan also looking like he was sick. Maybe you should keep an eye on him, too?"

"Great. Two of our best players," Daichi muttered. "Alright. I'm going to let Suga know. He can watch the two of them from the warm-up box. I'll show him the signal, too."

"That'll work. Thanks, Daichi. And good luck out there."

"Thanks, Kuroo."

[The 3rd set]

"I'm not injured! I can still FLY!!"

Kei felt those words go straight to his heart. This little sparkplug of a player, with seemingly endless stamina, had finally tanked with a fever. Likely because he'd done it to himself, pushing and pushing and pushing. More, more, more! Halfway through the third set, Karasuno loses their best point-getter. Takeda-sensei was telling Hinata to go to the doctor; everyone on the team was telling him to get better and they'd do their best. Even Hoshiumi-san was telling him he'd be waiting for him to return. And everyone knew what he meant by that.

Kageyama, of course, said something about being on the court longer, and that he won again. Kei only had a vague inkling of what that meant, but when he focused on the King, he saw that he agreed with Hoshiumi-san. He'd be waiting for Hinata to come back.

How can I think myself any better? I'm still playing, and I'm just as sick, if not more so than Hinata. Why am I even still playing?

Kei looked at every last one of his teammates. He saw their determination to continue fighting, to stay in the game as long as they could. In each pair of eyes, he saw the flame of hope burning. Maybe, just maybe, they could still pull off a win. Even without Hinata. But also... for Hinata.

He glanced at the scoreboard. They had work to do, and he was the furthest thing from giving up. Snatching a towel off the bench, he wiped the sweat off his face, scrubbed the towel through his hair, and tried to take a few deep breaths. But even that hurt, and there was some wheezing as well.