𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖

lxiv - spelling it out

"All right everyone, good work!" Takeda said once they had arrived back at Karasuno high school and unloaded everything.

"Thank you, sir!" They resounded before he went on.

"So, as I mentioned, there will be inspections in the gym tomorrow, so we don't have practice," He smiled. "You've all gone a long time without a day off, so please enjoy it--"

"Oh, sorry," Crow muttered, his phone having interrupted the teacher with the shrill ringtone assigned to only one person. "What do you want old fart?"

"Why the hell aren't you at the house?! You'd better not be running around taking vengance for Tenma's death this late, you bozo!"

"We just got back from a Tokyo training camp, so lay off. I'm literally on my way," Crow snapped as everyone sort of looked shocked at the only side of the conversation they could hear. Moving the phone away from his ear, he made eye contact with Takeda. "Sorry, I gotta take off."

"Oh, sure. Have a good night, Crow-kun," The faculty advisor smiled, so off the ravenette went. It took him another thirty minutes to get there, but soon he was unlocking the door and dodging a shoe that had just been thrown at him.

"You brat! At least have the decency to get hit!" Ukai shouted as the boy stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"I didn't do anything wrong so I don't know why I should allow myself to get hit," Crow retorted simply, setting his bag down and taking his shoes off. "Anyway, congrats on successfully escaping the hospital again, I really thought you were gonna kick the bucket in there."

"That's exactly what those white coats are trying to prevent from happening, moron," The old man scoffed. Then they grinned at each other before he threw another shoe at the boy, who dodged effortlessly. "Go freshen up, I can smell you from all the way over here!"

"Sure," Crow mused, then disappeared into the bathroom to do just that. When he came back out, he ended up sitting across from Ukai as he was bombarded with questions about the away games.

"Nice!" The man howled with smug laughter when he learned that they had beaten Nekoma 2/3 times. And then Crow brought up his concerns about Karasuno's current path.

"It's not my place to interfere since they were the ones to create the attack," He murmured as he explained the situation. "I can defuse fights on the court since that's my territory, but outside, all I can do is watch and maybe complain if they're too loud. Ultimately, it's their problem that they need to work out themselves so that they can grow as people and as players."

"...You've gone soft." Were the first words that came out of Ukai's mouth. Crow's jaw dropped.

"Where the hell did that come from?" He demanded, looking incredulous.

"It's true," The old man shook his head with a laugh before allowing a more serious expression to rule his face as he leaned forward, all of his attention on his charge. "Crow, you used to be involved in every single decision on the team. You'd always volunteer your thoughts, no matter the situation, because you are a leader. You might be pretty hands-off most of the time, but remember the situation with Azumane and Nishinoya? That got fixed because you intervened."

"Because that would affect the entire team, and because Nishinoya asked me to help," Crow furrowed his eyebrows, trying to make sense of what the man was trying to say.

"Haaa," Ukai sighed. "Fine, let me ask this: when do you intervene?"

"When there are fights on the court, when people are too loud, when they ask me to, or when they're too dense to see the answer right in front of them," Crow recited, then paused. "There was also the time where Kageyama first set Hinata, that was a disaster and a half. It physically pained me, so I stepped in."

"YES THAT!" Ukai exclaimed, causing the ravenette to flinch at the sudden rise in volume. "They weren't the ones to create it! You gave them the building blocks--"

"No, they already had the building blocks, I just--" Crow's eyes widened as the old man smirked. "...gave them the instruction manual..."

"Which is more than enough reason to get involved, right?" He grinned. "They were only able to make their quick attack thanks to your instructions, so while they may be the children playing with legos, you're the one that invented how to piece them together. You," He jabbed his finger at Crow. "Are the creater of the freak quick. You get a say. It is your problem just as much as it is theirs, so don't hold out on them for dumb reasons like you have been."

"...Okay," Crow breathed, then nodded resolutely. "Okay."

~*~

The next day, Crow had the most annoyed expression on his face as he was informed of last night's happenings. "What?" Asahi gasped. "They got into a fight? On the court?" He carefully glanced from Tanaka in front of him to the second year beside him, flinching at his expression.

"There's been tension between them ever since the training camp," Suga brought up, causing Tanaka to sigh and rub his head.

"I wonder if they're gonna be okay, considering the prelims are coming up soon."

"Should I go talk to them?" Crow asked, a sweet smile on his face. All blood drained from the three around him.

"I-I'm sure that's not necassary!" They exclaimed, and Suga anxiously turned for help. "Right, Daichi!?"

"Yeah," The captain agreed, his back turned on the halls as he watched the outside world. "Besides, this isn't their first fight, right?"

"Come to think of it," Tanaka piped back up. "They were fighting even before they turned in their applications."

"Oh right, I forgot about that," Asahi laughed as he sweatdropped slightly. As he watched the interaction go on, everyone recounting the dumb things the two first years had done on their first day, Crow's expression softened, and soon he had relaxed, back against the wall. I suppose I don't need to track them down right away, besides, I get to mess around with the kids today. Maybe tomorrow I can give my input, he thought to himself, glancing out the window as the wind made the trees sway. Yeah, that sounds good.