𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖

lxxv - don't give up

"All right!" Bokuto cheered. It was the next day, and Fukurodani was playing Karasuno. He had just sliced out a wicked cross shot that was almost on the ten foot line, so Keishin asked Takeda to get a time out for them.

"Even if you're not able to stop number four's spikes, at least try to touch the ball," The coach instructed as his players stood around him.

"Right!" They confirmed. Yachi stood next to Kiyoko with some water bottles in hand.

"I see," She turned to her senpai. "Even if they aren't able to stop it, if it hits their hand, the ball loses momentum?" The girl put forth, causing Kiyoko to nod in agreement.

"Right," She smiled, then held up two fingers. "There are fundamentally two ways of blocking. There's the soft block that's used in order to make the ball easier to receive and the kill block that's used to completely shut the ball out."

"Kill?" Yachi's eyes opened wide at the term. "As in killing something?"

"Yep," Kiyoko smirked evilly, meaning Yachi reeled a bit.

"We don't have to stop it?" Tsukishima suddenly spoke up, his question directed at the coach. Everyone around looked quite shocked that he'd even voiced a question.

"Nope," Keishin smirked, his arms crossed. "But if you're able to actually shut the ball out, that'd be perfect."

With that, the time out was over, and the two teams got back on the court to continue their match. "Hell yeah!" Bokuto shouted as his straight shot got them a point, making the score 14 Fukurodani to 10 Karasuno. The next time the Fukurodani ace went up, as he was winding up to hit the ball, he saw Tsukishima.

Bokuto tipped, and got the point. "You're not supposed to run away from it you know," Akaashi deadpanned at his ace, who gaped at his audacity.

"I didn't run away, I dodged it! GRACEFULLY! BIG DIFFERENCE!"

"You're a liar."

"WASHIO!" He growled at the middle before huffing. "ALRIGHT FINE! SORRY!"

"We both know there's no way he'd get around both of us, Akaashi, so go easy on 'im," Crow chimed with an amused look, and the owl gasped.

"HEY! Just because I only got one clean shot through yesterday DOESN'T MEAN--"

"Yeah it does."

"Absolutely," The two ravenettes shut him down as he tried to defend himself, leaving the poor ace shocked as he looked between the two. Fukurodani still ended up winning somehow, mostly thanks to how many errors Hinata and Kageyama's combo had. Thus, in the burning hot sun, Karasuno did their sprinting penalty before getting ready for their next game.

That next game just so happened to be against Nekoma. And, it seemed that that game just wasn't Hinata's match. When the two teams were tied at 17s, Hinata had to joust with Lev and Yamamoto, meaning the ball was shoved right back at him, making the score 18 to 17. "DAMMIT!" He yelled as Nekoma cheered. Taking a second to put his hands on his knees and breathe, Crow could see that the ginger was hating on himself.

Before he could attempt to get him out of his head, it was time for the next rally. "Chance ball!" Tanaka called.

"Got it!" Nishi jogged and got under the ball to set it to Kageyama. Hinata went for a deviant quick, which Kageyama set him. He ended up fibbing it over and getting the point, but the celebration didn't last long.

"OI!" He stomped up to his setter with an absolutely livid expression. "You held back, didn't you?!"

"Held.. back?" Kageyama repeated, his own face morphing with anger and ridicule. "Me? At volleyball?" He reached out, grabbing the ginger's practice jersey. "Say that again."

"I'll give you three seconds to cool your heads or they're getting jammed into the nearest wall," Crow stood to the side of them, his arms crossed as his face exuded zero mercy.

"TIME OUT PLEASE!" Takeda requested quickly of the referee.

"That wasn't the falling set," Hinata growled, shoving Kageyama's hand away as the setter flinched at the realization. Crow's face didn't change as he continued to watch them in case they decided to do more fighting because while Kageyama seemed to have lost his will to fight with the ginger, Hinata looked more than ready to keep pressing his point as he seethed.

"DUDE DON'T YOU DARE FIGHT HERE!" Tanaka and Daichi came over to help the situation, pulling the two apart. "CROW'S GONNA KILL YOU HINATA, JUST STOP!"

"NO!" Hinata yelled as Kageyama started walking away. "Don't give up Kageyama!"

"I told you to stop!" Tanaka held the ginger from flying at the setter. It took a second, but Kageyama turned back to Hinata, his face set sternly.

"I won't."

~*~

"Oh? Did you bring a friend today, Tsukki?" Bokuto asked with raised eyebrows as he spotted Hinata. Tsukishima turned at his question.

"Huh?" He also found Hinata, making the ginger flinch. "What happened to your partner?"

"Kageyama's practicing by himself again," Hinata explained. "I tried to get Kenma to set for me, but he bailed after just five!"

"It's pretty amazing that he stuck around for even that many," Kuroo snickered as he waltzed over.

"So--"

"Please let me practice with you!" Hinata and Lev said at the same time, scaring each other in the process.

"Lev," Kuroo narrowed his eyes warningly. "I thought you were doing recieving practice with Yaku."

"H-he said I was doing well today, so he let me go early!" The half Russian shuddered at the suspicious gaze.

"Doesn't sound like him," Crow yawned as he hopped off the stage.

"Yeah, you sure you didn't run away?" Kuroo taunted.

"No, of course not!" Lev shook his head excessively, making his captain chuckle.

"Well whatever," He grinned deviously. "Since we have the right number of people, let's play some three on three."

"Yay!"

"A match!" The two newcomers cheered before Hinata realized something. "Wait, we have seven, what about Crow-san?"

"I'd ref for you guys, but somebody already called dibs on me today," He shrugged.

"Huh?" The gym looked surprised. "Who?"

"Me!" Nishinoya poked his head in the door. "Come on Crow! We're sharing the second gym with Asahi-san!"

"Sure, I'm coming now," Crow picked up his water bottle and bag, giving the other boys a nod before following the libero out the door.

"Can't be helped I guess," Kuroo shrugged after the two were out of sight. "Come on, are we gonna play or what?"