Crows Like Shiny Things (Hinakage)

Destiny's Trap

"So... You're telling me there's others?"

A little exhausted, the volleyball team sat together on the dusty ground they had just played a match on.
"Absolutely!! Tall guy, looked hella strong too. Village needed five men to pin 'em down good enough."
Tanaka was boasting at this point, and Hinata and Nishinoya were all ears. Daichi let out a soft laugh.
"Heard he somehow escaped."
"Uhh... Somehow is good!"
"Tanaka...!"

Kiyoko shot him a warning glance and earned herself a heartfelt laugh.
"Oh don't act as if they all didn't know."
Another look around, and Kiyoko found herself staring at multiple huge grins.
"Didn't expect you of all people to go ahead and free him. That was news for me." Daichi mused, and Suga joined with a loud laugh as well.
"Our Shimizu is at it again!! Cheers to the club manager!"
Kiyoko turned bright red as everyone around her started clapping, stuttering a little.
"A-ah, no, don't-!"
"Come on, ya did the most here! Let yourself be celebrated a little!!"

"Can we get back to the topic?!" Nishinoya whined, tossing a small pebble back and forth between his hands, "I never knew we had neighbors!"
"Me neither! Isn't that amazing?! We should inform the elders- they're gonna love this!"
Hinata was beaming at this point.

Tsukishima, who had kept quiet the entire time, finally directed the group's attention onto himself.
"Unfortunately, you can't seem to visit each other without alerting the village. You're not exactly... good at hiding in the sky, you know. You cast huge shadows with those wings of yours."
"E-excuse me?!"
"Am I wrong? It's just a matter of time until the village figures out how to shoot you out of the sky."

The team fell silent. Tsukishima was right. The two tribes couldn't exactly visit each other without flying over the village or fields, and out in the open they were an easy target to bring down.
"Aaaaa this is all just so fucked up!! What do they have against us?!"
"Traditions and fear."
Tsukishima pushed up his glasses with a soft 'Tch', looking into the round.
"I despise the lack of spiritual advancement just because some old people try to tell us spirits are bad for us."

Hinata was the first one to speak again. With his feathers puffed up, he stood up from his seat and loudly exclaimed "We should make our own village! Fuck the elders! You should come live with us!"
"Hinata language-" Suga started but Nishinoya cut him off right away, sharing the excitement.
"Aye! Just grab all the people of the village who are sick of this and make a new village! A mega village!! Fuck the elders!"
"Woooo!!! FUCK THE ELDERS!!"
"HINATA!!"

Both birds silenced and turned to Suga, who was slightly redfaced by now.
"Shhh!! What if someone hears you two?!"
Yamaguchi started giggling, and it didn't last long until the others joined in.
"Wish it was that easy..."
"Also how would we even fend for ourselves? We are all still young. A lot of us have careers we would like to step into, some of us want to go into the big city. Maybe some of us might even want to leave Japan."
Daichi's tone was serious, and everyone found themselves quiet once more. Why was this all so difficult? But it was true. Daichi, Suga and Asahi were close to graduating, Kageyama was still looking forward to a career as a professional setter and Tsukishima was already applying for universities, even tho he was still a first year. This was... not exactly possible if they all were to stay here and found a village.

People... change. They want to go out, explore the world and find their place.

They all had to come to terms with this. Someday, they were all going to go their own separate ways.

Nishinoya breathed out a deep sigh and leaned back against his treestump.
"I wish we would have the same freedom exploring the world... To learn about other cultures, gods, spirits and mysteries. Somewhere... beyond our forest."
Hinata didn't chime in and yet, it was obvious he was agreeing to him. Especially since they had been playing volleyball together, Hinata was looking forward to doing this forever. To become a true ace.

But how, when he was stuck here. He was going to marry, grow up and join the elders in their village duties. And someday, he would be one of the elders. No matter how much he tried to twist his fate, Hinata felt trapped.
No matter bird or human, his friends felt the same way.

***

Kiyoko slowly walked up the steps to their village's shrine to the elder gods, bowing at the large gate separating their land from the holy grounds.

Step by step, she approached the altar, sinking to her knees on the small cushion and folding her hands to pray.
Pray for a bountiful harvest.
Health and prosperity for birds and humans alike.
A good hunt.

When she looked at the small carved figurine, she finally broke her serious gaze and smiled.
"What have you planned for us? To have us children shoulder such burdens... To love between races, to hide a secret far beyond our own capabilities, to be the bridge between humanity and bird folk..."
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, pulling out the white feather. Kiyoko gently placed it onto the altar, an offering to the gods.

"I offer this feather, a message that has been given to me by the spirits of the forest, and I sincerely beg for your aid. Bridge the rift between beasts and humanity."

She could feel a gentle breeze ruffling her hair as she stood up, and offered a final bow to the carved statue, before turning on her heel. Kiyoko was unsure of what to do. When she was little, her mother had always told her to pray and ask the spirits for aid. But if the spirits she had been praying to were those seeking her aid, what was she supposed to do now?
Deep in thought, Kiyoko trailed off of the path to the shrine, and mixed into the lively market downtown. She had to get a few vegetables for her grandmother, and she wouldn't dare be late.

***

"Psssst...!!"
Kiyoko stirred a little, before immediately shooting up straight in bed. What on earth?! She turned towards her window, only to barely muffle her scream.
There was a... face.
Actually, she knew this face.
What in heavens name-?!

Kiyoko jumped out of her bed, nightgown and all, and rushed to open the window. The soft flaps ceased as the creature hopped into Kiyoko's room and the first thing out of his mouth was
"Where is your nest?? You humans are weird."
"Koutarou what on earth are you doing here...?!"