𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖

vi - takeda's introduction

"Tsukishima," Daichi addressed, causing the person and his sidekick to look at him. "How'd you like the three on three?" He questioned, a smile on his face.

"I didn't really care for it," The blonde replied lowly. "We were up against a king from an elite school. It's no surprise that we plebeians couldn't beat him," He said, turning his face away with a scowl.

"You say that," The captain hummed with a grin. "But you did get serious back there. Here," He held up the over shirt that Tsukishima had discarded in the middle of the second set.

"CAPTAIN!" They all immediately flinched at Hinata's shout, turning to face him with confused looks.

"Nani?" He questioned, then processed that Kageyama and Hinata were holding out their club applications. So, walking up to them, he took and examined the papers for a moment. "Shimizu," He called, looking over at her, "They arrived, right?"

"Yes," She nodded.

"They?" Hinata cocked his head. Kiyoko soon came over with a box in her hands, and once she set it down and opened it, Kageyama and Hinata looked surprised as the latter gasped dramatically. It was their track suits.

"Those sizes should fit you, but let me know if you have a problem," She told them as she picked up the now empty box.

"Thank you!"

"Try it on," Suga encouraged the beanpole as he held his track jacket.

"Nah, I'll do it later," He denied.

"What, are you shy?" Tanaka pointed. "Come on, just try it on."

"Try it on! Try it on! Try it on!" The two chanted until finally he complied. "Whoa!"

"Yeah, looking good," Tanaka complimented as Hinata pranced around.

"I agree," Suga nodded. "It looks good on you."

"From now on," Daichi spoke up, gaining everyone's attention as Crow stood beside him. "You're members of Karasuno's volleyball team. One, two, go!" He pulled his track suit on.

"Welcome to the team!" The upperclassmen beamed in sync.

"Thanks!"

"Crow looks agitated," Ennoshita noticed, drawing Asahi and Kinoshita's attention as the other third years were talking.

"Well he hasn't really been moving all that much, so it's understandable since he's such an active guy," Kinoshita commented with a smile.

"Oi, Hinata," Kageyama picked up a ball from the cart. "You've had enough of a break, I take it. Let's get back to practicing quick attacks while it's still fresh in our minds."

"Sure!" The ginger immediately ran over.

"Tanaka-san, please pass for us."

"What? Already?"

"I did it!" Karasuno men's volleyball faculty advisor burst into the gym suddenly. "I arranged one!" He yelled before taking a second to collect his breath. It looks like he ran all the way from the faculty office, Crow observed as he offered him a hand. "Ah, thanks Crow-kun," Takeda smiled.

"What'd you arrange?"

"A practice match!" He exclaimed, looking extremely happy with himself as he held up a paper with the details. "Our opponents are one of the top four teams in the prefecture: Aoba Johsai High!"

"Seijoh?"

"Ack."

"No way..."

"A practice match against one of the prefecture's top four?!" Hinata's face practically sparkled with excitement at the news. Kageyama, however, looked less than thrilled.

"Aoba Johsai..." He trailed off lowly.

"Oh, you must be the Hinata-kun and Kageyama-kun I've heard so much about," Takeda smiled as he fixed his rustled clothing.

"Who's he? A teacher?" Hinata whispered to Kageyama, who shrugged slightly.

"Beats me."

"I'm Takeda Ittetsu, the volleyabll team's advisor starting this year," He introduced himself once he was standing in front of them.

"Hello," They greeted properly.

"I don't have any experience with volleyball, so I can't really coach you guys," Takeda explained, "I leave that to Crow-kun and Sawamura-kun, so I'll do my best to take care of everything else," He promised enthusiastically. "Nice to meet you."

"Hai!"

"Sensei..." Daichi trailed off as he and everyone else came over.

"Oh, I've been running all over the place trying to find us an opponent so I haven't had any time to show up here," He explained to him sheepishly.

"How'd you get such a strong team to agree?" Suga questioned.

"Don't tell me you kowtowed again..."

"I didn't!" He assured them. "I'm great at kowtowing, but I didn't do it this time," Takeda beamed, causing the two to heave a sigh of relief. "Just... They only agreed under one condition," He held the paper up.

"A condition?" Daichi moved to be able to read it, so Takeda just read it out loud.

"Kageyama-kun must play as setter for the entire match," He read. This drew a few gasps and frowns.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tanaka was immediately against it, looking pissed as usual. "They have no interest in Karasuno, but they wanna take precautions against Kageyama? They looking down on us? Turning their noses up?"

"I-It's not like that!" Takeda raised his hands in defense.

"I don't see a problem," Sugawara spoke up, drawing everyone's attention. "An opportunity like this doesn't come along too often."

"Seriously?" Tanaka furrowed his eyebrows at him. "You're our starting setter, you know!"

"I...I wanna see how effective Hinata and Kageyama's plays will be against one of the big four," He responded. Thus, with a nod, Daichi agreed.

"Please give us the details, sir."

"Okay," He hummed, looking down at the paper in his hands. "Well, this might be a bit sudden, but the match's next Tuesday," He went on as everyone gathered around. "There's not much time after school, so you'll only be playing one best of three. We'll be using a school bus to travel there."

"Hai!" The team echoed once Takeda had finished speaking.

"Dismissed!"

"Thank you, sir!"

Thus, the Karasuno team was done for the day, and everyone headed home. Well, Crow had a prior engagement, so he took a shortcut. "Oh hey Crow!" some kids greeted once he'd arrived. "I thought you weren't coming today."

"Changed my mind," He replied, letting his bag slide off his shoulder and land on the ground. "So, what do you guys want to start off with?"

~*~

"Karasuno?" Some of the Aoba Johsai players repeated when they heard the name. One look between them was all it took for them to realize the situation at hand. "Let everyone know, we need to welcome him properly or else who knows what will happen."

"Huh? What's happening?"

"If you don't know then it doesn't concern you!"