𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖

lx - fashionably late

Suddenly, the gym door was slid open and a familiar voice rose. "Hey, they're still at it!" Saeko grinned as she stepped in. "We totally made it. Not bad at all," She turned to smirk back at her charges.

"Big Sis!" Nishinoya beamed, causing Asahi blink at him in confusion.

"Wait, that's your sister?"

"Nah, she's Ryuu's sister," the libero corrected the ace, making him O with his mouth.

"You're right," Suga piped up from beside Asahi. "I can see the resemblance."

"Glad they made it in one piece," Tanaka huffed with a smirk as the two failures panted at the door.

"So the stars are showing up fashionably late? How annoying~" Kuroo drawled as he sort of sneered in their direction from beside Kenma.

"Oh hey, you guys made it," Crow nodded to them as he walked past them with his refilled water bottle. "Glad you were smart enough not to fail two times in a row."

"O-of course we wouldn't!" Hinata scoffed.

"So how'd the games go?" Kageyama asked eagerly, but suddenly flinched when Crow's aura darkened.

"I'm so glad you guys are here," He smiled creepily. "Cause I don't have to be middle anymore."

"Y-you were middle?" Kageyama unintentionally stuttered, a bit shocked by the change in the usual demenor of the ravenette.

"Yeah. It was awful," Crow's expression fell to a scowl, which he tossed at Keishin as well as his middle finger.

"So we lost?" Hinata surmised.

"Ha, no way," Suga laughed as he joined the three talking. "While Crow does hate being middle, that doesn't mean he's not good at it. We beat everyone except Nekoma and Fukurodani. We're about to play Shinzen again, and with you guys," Suga grinned at the failures. "We'll totally be able to wipe the floor with them!"

And that they did. With the lineup returning to their usual set up, Karasuno was able to win soundly over Shinzen with a score of 25 to 14. "I was able to graze it but it got away from me!" Some of the Shinzen boys complained.

"What the hell is up with number nine and ten's fast attack?!"

"Oi," Tanaka growled as Kageyama and Hinata watched them complain. "Don't act all cool, flunking tardy boys."

"One lap of diving drills!" Shinzen's captain called, resounding yessirs being thrown back at him as he started them off.

"I'm so glad we haven't had to do too many of those. Winning 7 out of nine sets is pretty good, all things considered," Daichi commented as the team made their way off the court.

"I'm starving!" Nishinoya complained.

"Looks like it's Ubagawa verses Nekoma over there," Tanaka obvserved once they had gone over and grabbed their waters and towels. "That might be the last match for the night," He supposed, glancing at the clock on the wall. "Considering the time."

"Yeah," the libero agreed. Thus, most of the team's eyes wandered to the match, meaning they got to witness the newbie slap the ball down and get a point.

"Wow.." Asahi breathed as he stood with Suga and Crow on either side.

"That number 11," the setter murmured. "At first glance, it's hard to tell because he's slouching, but he's pretty tall. He might be over 190cm tall," He thought out loud.

"His arms and legs are so long.."

"Who the heck is he?"

"Inuoka just yelled that his name is Lev," Crow informed, taking a drink of his water.

"Oh, right," Suga sweatdropped. Soon, Nekoma walked away as the victor with 25 points to Ubagawa's 20 points, meaning the latter had diving drills to do.

"HEY HEY HEY, CROW WANNA HANG BACK FOR A BIT?" Bokuto dashed over to the ravenette, who deadpanned at him. "Akaashi doesn't wanna do anymore, so I was hopinggggg that you'd set for me!"

"...I guess," The ravenette shrugged, which immediately brought a huge grin to the owl's face.

"AH HELL YEAH, LET'S GO!"

"No." Fukurodani's coach bonked him. "We're done for the day, and so are you. Crow, right?" He smiled a strained smile. "You can tell him to back off if he's being too much."

"It's fine, I don't mind," The ravenette replied. With that, Bokuto was dragged away while complaining and then everyone bid their opponents their thanks before heading up to the rooms that had been prepared for them for the night.

"CROW!" Bokuto found him later, once everyone was settling down. "Wanna go to the gym? I finally got away from my coach."

"You're going to the gym?" Yaku poked his head out of the bathroom. "Can I come? I could use the practice."

"Sure Yaku! Now we just need a blocker..." Bokuto hummed, holding his chin while looking thoughtful.

"I'll go grab one of the latecomers, he'll be good practice for you," Crow patted the ace on the shoulder as he passed him.

"SURE THING, THANKS A LOT CROW! MEET IN THE GYM, YEAH?" The ace hollered after him. The ravenette rolled his eyes at the loudness of the owl, but continued forward until he arrived at Karasuno's room.

"Is Kageyama in here?" Crow asked as he stepped inside the door, glancing around to find that he was, in fact, there.

"Yes," the first year nodded, looking up at him from his seat on the futon he had claimed. "What's up?"

"Come block for a bit, I'm sure you haven't gotten enough exercise for one day," He gestured with his head to follow him, and then he disappeared back into the hallway. The setter took a second to digest his words before scrambling up and darting after him.

"Coming in," Crow called once the two had arrived at the gym entrance, shoving open the door to reveal Bokuto and Yaku cranking the net back up and getting the balls out.

"Hey! Took you long enough," The libero grinned cheekily.

"Is that your setter?" Bokuto leaned back as he cranked, only for the crank to come off and make him stumble. "Oh shi--"

"You're such an idiot," Crow caught him in the nick of time, and immediately the two others present sweatdropped at the hearteyes the owl was giving to the ravenette.

"But I'm your idiot!" Bokuto winked, and just like that, Crow dropped him. "Hey! Not cool!"