𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖

xl - switching it up

"Our biggest problem is Oikawa's serve," Crow surmised during the two minute break between sets. "He's the only one that went on a run, so we need to shut that serve down as fast as we can."

"That's right," Keishin agreed. "Which is why we'll be switching things up. For this set--"

"NICE HEADSHOT IWA!" Crow suddenly yelled right after the Seijoh ace had headbutted Oikawa, who most definitely deserved it.

"THANKS CROW!" The two gave each other a thumbs up as the captain sprang up off the floor.

"DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM!"

"Crow, focus on your team," Keishin headlocked him again. "And don't interrupt me. Anyway," He went on without releasing the boy. "We'll have Sugawara starting this set so that Kageyama can get a break. We still need to practice a bit more to incorporate a six-two, so we'll hold off on that for now. Anyway," His voice went professional. "When Oikawa serves, we'll switch up our defense to have the best receivers in back.

"When we're up against Oikawa's super-fast serve, a moment's hesitation or any confusion is fatal. So I'd like to tackle this by using Nishinoya and Crow, our two outstanding receivers. This is a formation we have never done in practice, but I think you can pull it off," The coach told the team as Takeda held up a whiteboard court with magnetic players in a W formation.

"We'll do it," Nishinoya stated strongly, then glanced at Crow, who hummed.

"Sure, sounds like it'll be better than last set."

"I swear, you're so condescending sometimes," The fake blonde rolled his eyes as he released the ravenette. "For better or for worse, this is what we have to work with. Now," He grinned. "Take down Oikawa's monster serve, and get ready for a three set match!"

"Yessir!" The team echoed, so with that, the break ended and Karasuno and Aoba Johsai returned to the court. Seijoh was in the same rotation order as they had been in the first set, but Karasuno had a slight change. This time, Hinata was in the serving position, Crow was in position two, Asahi was in position three, Tsukishima was in four, Sugawara in five and Tanaka in six.

The first point went to the crows after a kill from Tsukishima. "Nice, Tsukishima!" Suga patted him on the arm with a bright smile, causing the blonde to blink.

"Uh, hai."

"Give us another one of those!"

"Looks like I'm up," Crow murmured as he stood a few paces behind the endline, ball in hand. Once the whistle was blown, he waited a few seconds to serve. Since Oikawa wasn't coming up from the backrow, he decided to win the point by dropping the ball short in front of Oikawa.

Kunimi managed it get it up, but because the ball was low, it forced the setter to use his platform instead of his hands. "Iwa-chan!"

"On it!" The ace yelled back, doing his approach. However, the ball got slammed back in his face since he had been aiming for Suga, who had switched with Tsukishima at the last second. "Shoot, sorry guys."

"No problem, shake it off!"

"We'll get it back."

"Coming atcha," Crow said, serving right at the whistle. This time, Iwaizumi received the ball, and suddenly him and Matsukawa were going in at the same time. Tsukishima got a finger on the hit, but that just gave Seijoh the point since it went out.

"We're fine, let's get this one," Sugawara told the team, so with a bunch of nods, everyone got ready to receive. Matsukawa served the ball over the net at Tanaka, who fumbled the pass slightly.

"Sorry!"

"I got it!" The setter called as he ran after the ball. Using his platform, he got it up high. "Crow!"

"All over it," The ravenette did his approach, hitting the ball at the pinnacle of his jump. Even though it was a backrow attack, the ball slammed straight onto Seijoh's ten foot line. The entire stadium went up in shouts, barely distinguishable.

"HOLY SHIT!"

"HOT DAMN!"

"GO CROW-SAMA!"

"LET'S GO-GU-GO-GO CROW!"

"THAT WAS A TEN FOOTER TOO!"

"KEEP IT UP KARASUNO!"

Suddenly, the stands quieted down as the person they were cheering at raised his hand, flattened it, and started lowering it with a pointed gaze. "Wow, so you have a volume controller now, huh?" The setter joked as he came over for a high five, which the ravenette gave.

"Yeah, thankfully. It's annoying that they're so loud."

"Right, but," Sugawara beamed. "It's also motivating, ya know?"

"Eh."

The whistle was soon blown, so Asahi hit the ball over the net. Seijoh ended up getting the point, so it was Oikawa's turn to serve. Bouncing the ball a few times, he observed his opponents' court. Their setup was having Asahi in right back pushed into the corner as Crow and Nishinoya took up residence, practically splitting the court.

"So that's how it is," The setter mused as he spun the ball in his hand. The referee blew the whistle and signalled for him to serve, so that's exactly what Oikawa did.

"Crow!" Suga yelled, but the dude was already on it. Easily getting the ball up and to his setter, the ravenette waited to see where he would go with it. Suga raised his hands and sent the ball to Tanaka, who tooled the block and got the point.

"ALRIGHT!" All of Karasuno cheered, having broken through Oikawa's serve on the first point. Crow glanced at the Seijoh player and made sure they made eye contact. When that was established, he raised his hand flat and shook it in a 'meh' fashion as he made a face.

A tick mark appeared on the setter's face. "Teme."

Point after point, the two teams climbed together into the double digits, never letting either side get ahead by more than two before they themselves would catch up. The next time Oikawa came around to serve, it was Nishinoya who received the ball. It was also Tanaka who was set from that receive, but this time he was shut down.

Looks like they're reading him, Crow thought, glancing at his setter as he readied himself for the next serve. As expected, the ball went to Nishinoya again. It went back and forth; the rally went on and on. However, the point went to Seijoh with a block from Kindaichi. "I'm sorry, Hinata," Suga rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I took too much time during that last fast attack."

"Oh, not at all!" The ginger shook his head. Suddenly, Sugawara's eyes widened. Kageyama had just been called over to the coach.