The Cat and the Crow

Author's Notes

Thank you for reading my story! I hoped you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Huge thanks to Lissi Michelle and Ally Louise, who were my cheerleaders, and second pairs of eyes. They also put up with a great deal from me talking in chat at late hours (or really early, depending), and got excited with me over Haikyuu!! and my all-time favorite pairing, KurooTsuki.

A few things about my story.

I had an idea and ran with it, which is how I write.

Karasuno does not have a specific location, other than in Miyagi, although depending on what you go by, it could either be a 30 minute dead run (uphill! - 2nd season) to Sendai (Shiratorizawa), or an hour and a half (walk/bus/bike combo - 4th season). I chose Ogawara for its specific location in my story, which is a 30 minute train ride to Sendai. Also, it has a "small town" feel compared to Tokyo.

I love the fact that trains are used so much, even if I'm not a train aficionado. It also made it easier for a long-distance relationship to work, besides calls and texts. Train fares aren't too expensive (from what I've been able to find), and being students, it's cheaper! So, from Tokyo to Sendai, it would take 3 hours (give or take).

I had them refer to the Karasuno VBC as "Team Budget" for one reason: the neighborhood fundraisers. Also, car/van trips would take roughly 4 hours to get to Tokyo... by toll road. It'd take about 7-8 hours avoiding toll roads. At one point, Takeda mentioned sharing drive time with Ukai, so I ran with the idea of them avoiding the toll roads when going to the Tokyo training camps.

Before anyone asks, no, there was no formal adoption of Kuroo, Bokuto or Akaashi by Tsuki's mother. She loved them because Tsuki did, and even more so after she learned their histories. That said, I never did write Bokuto's backstory - and waited until the end (or thereabouts) to write Kuroo's - because there isn't much of one. He was cared for, but treated indifferently. It didn't really bother him, anyway. He considers Akaashi, Kuroo, and Tsuki his family, as well as Tsuki's mom and Akiteru. This is why you see them calling her Mom and Akiteru 'Ni-san' during and after the Christmas arc.

This is a bit far down the list, but it does bear mentioning: at the time of Kuroo's proposal to Tsuki, they were 18 and 16 respectively. I specifically looked into Age of Consent laws in Japan, and found a few interesting things of note. Federally/Nationally, the age of consent is 13 years old in Japan. However, most, if not all, of the prefectures have bumped that up to 16/18, at the earliest. Additionally, I do believe that parental consent is needed (on both sides) for them to be married that soon. That wasn't a problem, so they were good to go. I decided to make it a long engagement, and they were married the year Tsuki graduated high school.

I'd also like to run a few details involved with the 2nd Epilogue that might help to clear things up, just in case anyone was curious. Or, it could possibly make things more muddy, but it is what it is.

Tetsuro and Kei were married in mid October of 2015, with Tetsuro taking Tsukishima as his surname (there's a reason! - besides that it sounds better - I just haven't written it yet). They adopted their sons, Akira and Jun (twins), in 2018 when they were two years old. Megumi's adoption was finalized in December of 2020, and they brought her home in January of 2021. She is only a year old.

Koutaro and Keiji were also married in October of 2015, with Keiji taking Bokuto as his surname. They adopted their sons, Kaoru and Chika (twins), in 2018, when they were two years old. They are discussing adopting another child, but haven't yet made that decision.