𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖

lxxxv - bathroom

In the morning, Karasuno was playing Shinzen, and the scores were 16 to 21 respectively. Kageyama had just fudged a freak quick to Hinata, causing the faculty advisor to sweatdrop. "It appears that the fast attack's success rate is still about 70%."

"Nothing's going to fix that," Keishin said, his arms crossed. "Except more practice."

Kageyama, Hinata and Crow got their fair share of more practices throughout the weekend, and even when they got back, Keishin arranged for a few practice games with the neighborhood association. Practice, practice, and more practice.

September soon ended, and with it came another chance to play the Fukurodani Group at Shinzen high this time. During their last match with Nekoma, Hinata aimed for Kenma's low block, only for it to go out and give the cats the win. "We can't let our guard down around them anymore," Kuroo smirked as he stood with Kenma, who nodded.

"Mm. But then again," His eyes shifted from the ginger to the ravenette. "We couldn't from the start."

"True that."

With that, everybody started helping take down the nets and put away the balls. It was a sort of therapeutic process for Crow, since he was able to sort of check out as he did his tasks absentmindedly. And then Hinata sneezed. "Even in Tokyo, it's cold at night!"

"That's because you didn't put on a jacket after getting soaked with sweat," Kenma reminded him when the boy suddenly brightened.

"I'm looking forward to the actual matches!" He grinned.

"Yeah.." Kenma narrowed his eyes at the ginger for a moment. "I've been thinking that lately..."

"Thinking what?" Hinata raised an eyebrow.

"You're fun to play against, so I'd like to face you in a real match," The cat revealed. "A match where losing means an instant game over."

"Let's do it," Hinata agreed. "A match with no do-over."

"These guys don't realize how bad most no-do-overs are, in real life at least," Crow mumbled to himself as he leaned against the wall. "Game overs really mean game over in life. Shit," He ran a hand through his hair before marching out into the night.

"Hey hey Tsukki!" Bokuto's voice sounded. "You absolutely have to beat Ushiwaka and come here to Tokyo!"

"Why's that?" Tsukishima sounded like he was being shaken, which wasn't unusual for the bird.

"I have an overwhelming winning record against you, so if you score an overwhelming win against Ushiwaka, that's an over-overwhelming win against Ushiwaka for me!" He exclaimed. Crow found himself relaxing, finding the owl's reasoning to be absurd, but cute.

"I'm sorry," Tsukishima and Akaashi's voices meshed together. "I don't quite get what you mean."

"Then I'll be the best! Hey hey hey!" Bokuto yelled, his footsteps sounding more like jumps. Chuckling to himself, Crow shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up at the sky. A little under two weeks before the qualifiers begin, he thought. 

Bring it.

~*~

Finally, October 25th arrived: the start of the qualifying tournament. "We're here!" Hinata exclaimed. "Back at the Sendai City Gymnasium once again! We're gonna get our revenge!"

And then he was war-crying and running, causing Kageyama to snap. "That's a false start, boke!"

"It sometimes feels like Hinata and Kageyama act entirely on automatic reflexes," Yamaguchi commented.

"They're like insects."

"Pffft-" Tanaka and Nishi snorted at how deadpan the blonde had said that. But then Hinata stopped, looking absolutely positively scared for his life. The Jozenji team was in front of the doors, so of course their captain noticed the ginger.

"Huh?" He brightened. "If you're here, then that means.." His eyes flashed to where the rest of the team stood, or more, where Kiyoko stood. "Hey, cutie with the glasses! Make sure to give me your digits today! Haha, she's so cute when she gets shy." Terushima mused as the manager looked away from him. Tanaka and Noya instantly went into goddess avenging mode, making a mad dash at him to rip the dude to shreds.

"Stop it! Jeez," Jozenji's manager shoved Terushima away before bowing to the two. "I-I'm terribly sorry about that!"

Tanaka and Nishinoya froze midair. Crow's eyebrows raised. "Oh, they stopped," Yamaguchi also seemed surprised.

"Amazing. They're frozen in midair," Tsukishima snickered, then frowned as the playboy moved around Hinata and Kageyama with squinted eyes.

"Is that...? Whoa, it is! Crow-sama, how've you been bro?!" Terushima asked. "Man, we're almost the same height now, that's crazy!"

"Good to see you too, Teru," Crow inclined his head. "Still as much of a playboy as usual, I see."

"Haha yeah, can you blame me?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "You do the same thing, ya know."

"Not really. I've never intentionally sought out someone; they come to me and I give them what they want, just like you did," He shrugged.

"Fair enough," The fake blonde snickered. "Then I'll see you in the first round, kay? Good luck dude!" He waved, jogging back to his manager and going inside to join the rest of his team.

"WE'RE GONNA BEAT ALL OF THEM!" Hinata and Kageyama suddenly shouted, running like they were going to trample the entire building.

"They sure are hyper," Suga commented.

"Thanks to them, I can stay calm," Daichi breathed. Thus, the rest of Karasuno went inside the building and got their stuff put down and an area claimed as their spot. A bit later, Crow headed to the bathroom, only to blink at what he was seeing. Oikawa and Iwaizumi were standing opposite of Ushiwaka as Hinata stood slightly between them.

"A-Actually, Karasuno will be the team winning this..." He tried to assert himself, but the glares he got from all three players made him shrink and back away. "Well, u-um..AHH! I'm so sorry!" He shouted as he backed into Aone from Date Tech. Crow sighed, and then stepped up.

"Don't be too hard on Hinata for running his mouth," He said, coming to stand between Aoba Johsai and Shiratorizawa's players. "He might be green, but I can assure you the rest of us are not. Let's end this here and meet on the court at a later time."

"Hmph, and that's exactly when we're going to crush you," Oikawa scoffed, giving his friend the stink eye. "If you make it to us, that is."

"We'll see," Crow shot him a knowing look before nodding to Iwaizumi, who returned the gesture before grabbing Oikawa's collar and dragging him with him back to their team.

"Crow," Ushiwaka addressed, so the ravenette turned his attention to him. "If you don't make it to the finals, I'll make you regret it."

"...I'm sure you will," Crow felt a jolt go through him, but he kept his expression neutral. Then, turning away from him, he tapped Hinata. "Come on Hinata, you needed to use the bathroom too, right?"

"U-uh, hai!" He quickly scrambled after the ravenette, entering the restroom to do their business. As he did, he felt that he had missed a golden opportunity to show the Shiratorizawa ace that Crow wasn't just his to mess around with. But no, the ginger shook his head, determination in his eyes, I'll just have to show him at the finals!

Meanwhile, a ways away from the Sendai City Gym, someone picked up a Monthly Volleyball magazine, flipping through it until they arrived at the page they'd heard about. A smirk pulled at their lips at the name on the article. "So, you're also in Miyagi, huh?" The smirk on the person's face twisted. "...Guess I should pay you a visit, Crow."