𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖

lxxvii - barbecue

On the last day, right after going for a penalty lap with Crow sitting against the wall with his arm over his eyes and his teammates around him, panting, Daichi stepped up. "Don't give up guys!" He encouraged, looking more serious than someone trying to encourage another would normally be. "We have to survive."

"Dai-san?" Tanaka looked surprised at his tone, everyone else also glancing at their captain with curiosity and confusion written all over their faces.

"I just happened to overhear this," He uttered gravely, almost like he was ashamed of it or something. "So I thought I should keep quiet, but..."

"N-nanska?!" The cueball asked worriedly.

"When all of these practice matches are over," The captain of Karasuno looked at each of his teammates, his face as serious as it could get. And then, he said it. "The coaches are apparently going to treat us to a barbecue!"

"Bar-"

"Be-"

"Cue?!" The three idiots gasped.

"Of course it's a fucking barbecue," Crow scoffed to himself, pushing off the ground so that he was standing. Then he deadpanned at the weirdness in front of him with Nishi, Hinata and Tanaka doing a weird dance as they chanted meat, and then Kageyama sort of joined in. "Good god, stop before you hurt yourselves, or better yet, before I hurt you."

"DON'T BE SUCH A DOWNER CROW!"

"YEAH!" The two second years snorted hot air at him, making him recoil for a second.

"Let them have their fun, Crow," Daichi smiled at him as he placed his hand on the ravenette's shoulder. "They need something to keep them going, don't you think?"

"Whatever," He sighed, shrugging off the captain's hand and walking over to retrieve his water bottle from Yachi.

"Does Crow have something against barbecues?" Hinata asked with a thoughtful tilt of his head. The others thought about it for a moment, then looked amongst themselves to see if anyone else could think of anything. No dice, so they all shook it off and got ready for their match against Fukurodani next.

Crow was distracted the entire time during the match, so much so that Keishin eventually pulled him out. "What is wrong with you?" He demanded as the second year sat beside him with the number one card in his hand, in case he needed to switch back in for Daichi who had gone in for him.

"Sorry, it's not a big deal, just some past stuff," He murmured, but his eyes were distant, so much so that Keishin was a bit creeped out. Sighing, he patted his cousin on the back.

"Don't let it get you out of sorts, you're scaring your team."

"...I'll try," Crow stood up suddenly, scaring both the coach and the faculty advisor. "I'll be back in a few," He nodded to them, shoving the number card at the coach and dashing out of the gym faster than anyone could process.

"W-wait!" Takeda attempted to call after him, but he was too far gone to have heard him, or heeded his words. Barbecues brought up bad memories for Crow for two reasons. One of those reasons was the story behind a large scar on his deltoid that was usually covered by his sleeves. The smell of barbecue always reminded him of the smell of his charred flesh when the first yakuza he'd met had kidnapped and branded him. When he'd escaped, he'd cut the seared skin off himself.

When he'd become more capable, Crow had gone back and wiped out that gang. That didn't help much, other than the minor satisfied feeling he'd gotten in the moment he had killed them all.

The second reason barbecues brought up bad memories was back when he was a kid, when he was still with his parents. His father had been grilling steak for dinner that night, and Crow himself had been with his mother, chatting about something he couldn't remember.

But then, she'd suddenly flown into a rage right after his father went to the bathroom. From what he recalled, she'd been yelling about how he didn't look right, and where was her baby, there was an imposter; stuff like that. She had shoved him towards the grill, then dragged him by his hair and attempted to burn his face. However, instead of his face, Crow had managed to save his face by sacrificing his hands.

He clenched them at the thought, feeling the lines on them that had faded as he had grown. At the time of the incident, he was four. Even though it was so long ago, the ravenette knew he'd never forget it. Just like he'd never forget anything of his stay with his godforsaken devils of parents.

When Crow returned to his senses from the flashbacks, he was in the bathroom, almost dryheaving as he leaned against the counter. His hands were burning. His shoulder felt like it was on fire. He could smell his skin being charred.

No, it's just your imagination, he reminded himself as he shook his head. Turning on the water, the feeling of the liquid running over his hands made all of the images and feelings fade, allowing Crow to focus and regain his usual countenance.

Thus, he flipped the water back off and exited the bathroom, returning to the gym. Apparently he'd been gone a while, considering they were done with the Fukurodani game, losing at 22-25. Not bad, all things considered. Wait, Crow paused mid-step, was this game my version of emo mode? Shit...

"Hey Crow-kun, feeling any better?" Takeda asked, being the first to spot the second year since everyone else had dispersed to do some last second practicing before training camp officially ended.

"Yes, thank you sensei," Crow bowed slightly, and the faculty advisor smiled.

"Glad to hear it! We were all pretty worried when you ran off like that earlier," He informed him. "But Ukai-kun explained that you probably needed some time to sort yourself out."

"Nice of him," The ravenette hummed.

"Mhm," Takeda nodded. "And you got back right in time for the barbecue to start!"

"Sounds good," Crow nodded, and so the two headed outside just as everyone was asked to gather around by the coaches.

"Thank you for all your hard work in this week-long training camp!" Nekomata told the boys as stomachs rumbled their desire for him to stop talking and let them loose. "Tasty food smiles at the sound of hunger," He mused. "Feel free to repair your muscles as much as you wish!"

"THANKS FOR THE FOOD!" Everyone dived at the food, and Crow sweatdropped at the chaos. Oh well, he thought as he leaned against the door to the gym, let them have their fun, I'll wait until it settles down a bit.

It ended up taking a while, but eventually Crow got to eat his fill, and then it was time for everyone to pack up and head back to their home bases. "Well," Kuroo smirked as everyone gathered to see Karasuno off. "See ya next time."

"Yeah," Daichi agreed. "Till next time!"

"BYE CROW!!"

"Bye," He peaced at the owl, then at his Nekoma partners. Yaku grinned as he waved, and Kenma just nodded with a slight smile. With that, Crow turned and made his way down the stairs, and thus the summer training camp at Shinzen High School was officially complete.