𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖

lxxvi - food

Right as Crow and Nishinoya arrived at the second gym, Asahi was putting on his outside shoes. "Where are you going? I thought we were gonna practice together!" The libero demanded as he ran up to the ace, who blinked in surprise.

"Oh, some of the managers came by and said the cafeteria is closing soon, and eating is also important, so..." He trailed off with a sheepish look.

"For real?!" Nishi's jaw dropped. "Crap, come on Crow! We'll practice after we eat!"

"Sounds good," The ravenette chuckled, following after the two as the libero pranced along with the ace.

"Thanks for the food!" The three said once they had their meals in front of them. The cafeteria was booming, considering how many people had been rounded up by the managers. Luckily, Crow somehow managed to finish before anyone came looking for him, so he escaped back to the second gym for some peace and quiet.

"There you are!" Nishinoya waved as he sprang in the door. "You ran off without telling us where you were going, glad you came here otherwise I'd a had to track you down!" He laughed, bounding to him with a grin. "So, ready to get started?"

"Yeah, I'll toss you some and we'll work from there," The ravenette agreed. For the next two hours, Crow worked with Nishinoya and Asahi, mostly on the libero's setting with some pointers being thrown at Asahi as he served. Then, once they all felt that they had made sufficient progress, they agreed to retire for the night.

The next morning, Crow sat with his team as they ate their breakfast. "How is it that you eat so much without growing taller even a little?" Tsukishima deadpanned at Hinata, who was scarfing his enormous bowl of rice. Of course, the ginger attempted to answer, but he hadn't swallowed so all that came out of his mouth was indistingishable words and some rice. "Yeah... I didn't understand a single word you just said."

"Me neither," Crow sweatdropped, setting his chopsticks on his bowl before briefly putting his hands together. "Thanks for the meal." With that, he stood up and took his trey back to the return area.

"You sure you don't want any more?" One of the managers asked, but he shook his head.

"No, I'm all set. Thank you, though," He nodded to her, not failing to note the blush on her cheeks. However, he was never in the mood right after waking up so he disregarded it and headed to the gym. He got a bit of a snooze in before he felt someone approach him.

"You're quite popular, Crow," A familiar voice mused as the person jumped up on the stage. All the ravenette did in return was hum in agreement. "How many new flings have you had this one training camp?"

"Two, so far. I'll probably end up with three by the end of it, considering it's the fifth day and we leave on Sunday."

"Counting me already, huh?"

"I wasn't assuming it would be you. I was actually predicting that Hinata was going to attempt something, but if you want to be counted, that would be four, I suppose," Crow shrugged, finally cracking his eyes open as he sat up, facing Yaku. "So?"

"I've been busy, but I definitely want to spend more time with you," Yaku told him, their gazes locked. "You're someone who is like the wind, never staying in one place, always only a whisper that cannot be caught. So, while you're here," Nekoma's libero held his hand out. Thus, Crow extended his own hand, their fingers interlocking. Moving Crow's hand, Yaku placed it over his heart. "I want you to make me yours."

"You were mine since the moment you fell for me at the golden week match," Crow stated softly. At first, the libero's face twisted with shock, which then faded into embaressment, and finally a smirk appeared.

"You noticed that long ago, huh? You made me wait this long," Yaku crawled over him, narrowing his eyes playfully. "You'll have to pay for that, Crow-sama."

"I intend to."

~*~

Nekoma was seemingly unbeatable that day. Not a single ball managed to drop into their court as long as Yaku was in, and only the occasional tooled ball would be let through. Not even Fukurodani won a set against them. Each game, everyone could see how focused the libero was with how sharp his eyes were, and how fierce his smile was.

Both were sharp beyond compare as Nekoma was fighting Karasuno. Each point, his eyes would flick to the ravenette, though only Kenma managed to pick up on this small tick. However, the setter couldn't bring himself to be jealous, or mad, or anything of the sort. He'd prepared himself from the start to share Crow, so it didn't bother him as much as it did before Crow had shown he was interested in Kenma as well.

During their break, Kenma overheard Lev and some of the other kouhais chatting with the libero. "What's up with you today?" Shibayama commented playfully, causing his upperclassman to smirk teasingly in return.

"It's not something you toddlers would understand," The smirk turned devious halfway through the sentence, causing the giant to scoff.

"What are you talking about? Did you just get some good practice in last night or something?" He peered at him scrutenizingly, making Yaku roll his eyes with a grin.

"See, this is what I'm talking about. I didn't do anything special last night. Think about it," He tapped the side of his head. "Even I know I'm being super focused, what would cause something like that to happen?"

"DID YOU CONFESS TO ONE OF THE MANAGERS HERE?!" Another first year gasped dramatically.

"Nope," Yaku didn't seem to think much of the remark, only smirking as he mimicked the dramatics and daintily hugged himself. "I had sex with Crow~"

"YOU WHAT?!" Now everyone within hearing distance was into the conversation, Nishinoya being one of those people. Turning to Crow, he scowled angrilly as he stomped up to the ravenette.

"I TOLD YOU TO ONLY FUCK AROUND KARASUNO DAMMIT!!!"

"...Yeah, I remember," Crow blinked at him. "But that was back when we weren't planning on doing training camps with these guys regularly."

"FINE, FAIR ENOUGH!" The libero huffed, crossing his arms and sort of pouting. Then, he suddenly pointed at Yaku, who stood his ground. "I WON'T LOSE TO YOU!" Nishinoya swore loudly. A grin slid onto the Nekoma libero's face, and he nodded.

"I won't lose either."

"What. is. happening?" Crow watched the situation in disbelief, unsure of how it had gotten to this point. Suddenly, he felt someone grasp his hand, so he glanced at the person. It was Kenma, looking a bit shy but more determined as he squeezed the ravenette's hand.

"I won't lose either," He murmured. At first, all he could do was stare at him, then Crow exhaled sharply and shook his head, squeezing the setter's hand back.

"Join the club, apparently."