𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖

xviii - jerseys

"This is our starting order for the Nekoma match."

"...FUCK YEAH!" Crow cheered. "I'm not a middle!"

The whiteboard court that Keishin was holding up was laid out as follows: Kageyama in position one as setter, Tanaka in position two as a left side spiker, Hinata in three as a middle blocker, Crow in four as the opposite hitter, Asahi in five as a left side spiker, and Tsukishima in six as a middle blocker who would switch with Nishinoya.

"Celebrate while you can," Keishin smirked. "I'm gonna be working you to the bone, Crow. That goes for everyone on the court and off it. First off, I'd like to incorperate some plays when Kageyama is front row where Crow sets and Kageyama hits," He explained his thinking before moving his gaze to the third year setter. "Sugawara, in some scrimmages later, I'm going to have you work on spiking and Crow on setting so that you both get in-game experience since I will be switching you both during games sometimes, so be ready."

"...Yes sir!" Suga seemed pleasantly surprised by this arrangement, causing the other third years to smile at the sight.

"You guys haven't had much time to get acquainted, so I don't expect you to function with mechanical precision. Just because a hotshot libero and Crow are on the team, it doesn't mean that victory is a sure thing," He went on with a slight smirk. "The winner keeps the ball in play. We'll see how far this ragtag team can go. This is Crow verses its nemesis, Cat!"

"Yes sir!"

With that, practice soon started, going by in a flash as they worked on their skills from light till dark, and then it was bedtime. The next day was the day they were focusing on their serves, until Kiyoko showed up. "Sensei?" She called as she came through the doors with a few bags in her hands.

"Hey," Takeda greeted. "Are they ready?"

"Hai," She confirmed. "The uniforms have been cleaned and altered."

Thus, everyone was herded in and their uniforms were handed out. "I saw this on TV!" Hinata gasped as he held his jersey up, displaying the number ten.

"So Tenma's legend still lives," A slight smile arose on Crow's lips as he watched the ginger.

"Huh?" The ginger tilted his head when he heard him, glancing at him around the jersey. "Who's Tenma?"

"The Tiny Giant," He shrugged, not actually realizing how impactful that fact would be for the boy gawking at him.

"SO YOU'RE SAYING THE TINY GIANT WORE THIS NUMBER?!"

"Yeah," Crow furrowed his eyebrows at the raise in volume. "Dude, chill out, it's not that big of a deal."

"So I'm guessing you don't remember the reason Hinata chose Karasuno?" Daichi hummed at the ravenette. "It was because he wanted to be like the Tiny Giant."

"Oh."

"Hey! Noya-san's the only one who gets orange! That stands out!" Hinata suddenly exclaimed, taking the attention away from the tiny giant and over to the libero.

"Well duh," He grinned smugly. "That's because I'm the star!"

"The star?!"

"During a match, the libero goes on and off the court many times," Kageyama deadpanned at the simpleton. "So his is different from the others to make it obvious, dumbass."

"I-I knew that! I totally knew that!" Hinata was definitely embarrassed about that, but in the end they moved on to a much more pressing matter. "K-Kageyama's is one number higher!" He exclaimed in shock when he saw the setter's jersey.

"I knew he'd say that," Tsukishima and Tanaka smirked.

"We're first years," Kageyama reminded him. "So be grateful you're getting a uniform at all."

"I know that!" He scowled before allowing his gaze to soften as it turned back to his jersey. "Just knowing this belonged to the tiny giant makes me really happy.." He paused before glancing at Crow again. "Crow-san, how do you know the Tiny Giant's name?"

"Because I live with the bastard," He replied simply. "I've been living with him for a little over two years now."

"Y-you..."

"So you have connections with both Coach Ukai and the tiny giant?" Kageyama squinted at him, causing the second year to shrug.

"Yeah. Actually Tenma was the one to originally find me, and since he was a dependent at the time, he convinced his coach to take me in. It was quite the ride," Crow recounted fondly. "Once he got his own place, he asked if I wanted to move in with him, and since that was so much better than having an old fart that goes in and out of the hospital as a guardian, I did it."

"I-is that so.." The two blinked, taking a bit to process the information. But then, Kageyama glanced down at the jersey in Crow's hand. His lips quirked upwards: it was number 8, one higher than his own jersey.

"Speaking of Tenma," Keishin spoke up. "At the time that he was playing here, Karasuno was at its best. But for all that, Karasuno didn't beat Nekoma a single time. It ended in a losing streak," His face morphed into a smirk. "I want you to clear our name."

"Hai!" The team responded, obviously riled up.

"Okay, now lets resume practice!" The coach called.

"Yes sir!" The team scrambled to put their jerseys away as Takeda made his way over to the coach.

"That must mean that Nekoma had a good team," He murmured to him, looking curious. "What kind of team do they have now?"

"I don't know their current status," Keishin replied as he glanced at the faculty advisor. "But they've always had good receivers. They never had any stand-out players, but they also had no holes in their defense," He went on as the team went back to practicing their serves. "They're our opposite. They're called cats for a reason. Hey Crow, pick one! Top spin OR float! ONE!"

"BUT THAT'S BORING!"

"I DON'T CARE!"

"DO FLOATERS AND HIT IT AT ME, CROW!"

"Fine."

"Why can't he just listen to me?" The poor coach sighed as the redhead jumped and hit a perfect floater at Nishinoya, who tried to dig it but it shanked off his arms.

"AHHHHHK DAMMIT CROW GIMME ANOTHER ONE!"