𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖

vii - line up

"So," Daichi said the next day at practice as everyone sat in a circle in the gym. "About the lineup for the practice match..." He trailed off for a moment before showing a whiteboard court with names. "I think we should go with this."

It had Asahi in one as a wing spiker, Sawamura in two as the opposite, Hinata in three as a middle, Tanaka in four as a wing spiker, Kageyama in five as the setter, and Tsukishima in six as a middle. "Crow will be our libero, so he'll switch out with Hinata and Tsukishima when they're in the back row."

"Cool," Crow mumbled, yawning.

"We want to use Kageyama and Hinata as a set," Daichi went on, but at those words, the two in question glared at each other. "And Tsukishima is one of the very few tall players we have. I wanna see how they fare against Seijoh."

"Fiiiine," He breathed, not really caring.

"Haha, looks like we really do have another Crow!" Tanaka smacked Hinata on the back. "The first time he came on the court as a middle in a game, everybody thought it was us throwing it, but then we won!" The cueball laughed heartily.

"H-Hang on," Takeda held his hand out with a book in his hand that was entitled Volleyball How To. "Mind if I review the positions?"

"Go for it."

"Setters," He listed. "Their primary task being setting for spikes, they're playmakers who orchestrate a team's offense. Wingspikers: the nucleus of a team's offense, they're also all-rounders who can handle both attack and defense," He went on. "Middle blockers: they block opposition attacks and also score points via quick attacks. Also, they act as decoys to lure in opposition blocks," The advisor lowered the book and looked at Daichi. "Is that okay?"

"There are other positions, like ones that specialize in defense such as Libero, but that'll do for now," He assured him with a knowing smile.

"Listen up Hinata," Kageyama stood, pointing at him. "You're the greatest decoy!"

"The greatest..." He seemed excited, then sort of deflated. "De...coy?" He was suddenly on all fours. "I'm not too happy about this.."

"We'll rack up a bunch of points using quick attacks and make the opposition's defense focus on you," The setter told him. "That'll make things easier for the other spikers."

"Oh!" The ginger seemed to get into it a bit more.

"If a bunch of tall guys like Tsukishima were to stupidly fall for your tricks, wouldn't it feel great?" Kageyama smirked devilishly.

"Whoa, that sounds really good!"

"Suga," Crow nudged him, causing the setter to glance at him and instantly smile.

"You wanna get some reps in, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Then come on, I'll set for you," The official setter beamed. Thus, as everyone was freaking out--mostly Hinata after Kageyama pushed a bunch of pressure on him--Suga hit at Crow, who returned the ball to him so he could set it. Doing so, Suga watched as Crow spread his wings.

He wasn't the only one. Hinata's eyes widened as his upperclassman soared, hitting the ball right in front of the ten foot line. "S-sugoi..." He whispered, drawing Kageyama and Daichi's attention over to the ravenette. He was just landing, but the ball had just smacked the ceiling and came crashing back down.

"Whoa, somebody's pent up," Ennoshita chuckled.

"Suga, toss for me too!" Asahi jogged over.

"How high is Crow's vertical?" Kageyama suddenly asked Daichi, causing the captain to pause as he tried to recall the exact number.

"Last time we checked, it was..." He trailed off. "349cm."

"It's up to 354cm now," Crow called over to them. "Got it measured before school started back up."

"Ah, good to know!" Daichi hollered back as Kageyama's jaw dropped. That was the highest reach he'd ever heard of, let alone seen. Even Shiratorizawa's ace only had a 345cm jumping reach. Yet Karasuno wasn't in the top four, or even all that well known?

"He was injured during the last preliminary rounds," Daichi answered his thoughts before grimacing. "Don't worry about it. Hey Suga, I'm coming too!"

"Sure!"

"Get in line."

~*~

As Kageyama was traversing the halls at lunch time, he passed a fairly out-of-the-way stairwell. He wasn't even paying it any mind until, in the corner of his eye, a flash of dark hair was registered. Pausing to see what it was, he was startled to find that Crow was heatedly making out with some girl against the wall.

What?

It was definitely Crow, he'd recognize that medium length black hair and practically perfect body anywhere. Was that his girlfriend? The notion didn't sit well with the setter for some reason, but since he had no reason to intrude, Kageyama went on his way.

"Hm?" Daichi turned to face him at practice later. "Does Crow have a girlfriend?" He repeated the question that had been posed to him. "Not that I know of," The captain frowned suddenly. "I swear," He shook his head before marching over to the stage, where low and behold, Crow was laying and eating another bento that Asahi had provided. "You better not be sleeping around again, Crow."

"What?" The ravenette raised an eyebrow. "I'm not. Where'd that come from?"

"Kageyama asked if you had a girlfriend, so he probably saw you doing something with a girl."

"What a perv," Crow hummed. "I made out with a few girls today, but I don't sleep around in school."

"You're hopeless," The captain sighed, facepalming with a shake of his head. "What am I going to do with you? I should just tell Udai-san."

"He doesn't care. I'll even call him for you."

"Then maybe I should call up Coach Ukai?" Daichi's eyes glinted, knowing that would get to the stoic second year. It did.

"...You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

"What's this about Coach Ukai?" Kageyama looked extremely interested in the topic as Crow looked more annoyed than usual.

"He'll break out of the hospital just to kick my ass," Crow groaned, flipping over onto his back with a thud.

"Oh, he's in the hospital again?" The two questioned, so the second year just shrugged.

"Yeah, as far as I know. I mean, I didn't see him at his house yesterday so I would assume so."

"You went to his house?" Daichi squinted at him.

"Yeah," Crow raised an eyebrow. "I needed to blow off some steam, and he has a net set up in his backyard. Plus I have a key from when I used to live with him, so it's fine."

"Are you Coach Ukai's grandson?" Kageyama questioned. Immediately all in the vicinity deadpanned.

"I wish I was," He sighed, moving his arms so that they were resting under his head as he gazed up at the rafters of the stage. "He just took me in off the streets."