Crows Like Shiny Things (Hinakage)

When Emotions go Wild

Standing at the edge of the road, Hinata could feel Kageyama's grip on his hand tightening. There was... hesitation in his eyes. Hinata didn't even have to ask, he knew Kageyama was so not sure about that.

Caressing Kageyama's arm with his wing, Hinata tried to comfort him in his own quiet way.
"Maybe... you should stay here at first. Just so... you're not gonna be in danger."
Hinata gave a quiet nod, backing off of Kageyama and slinking back to the shadows of the trees around.
"Good luck, Tobio."
"Thanks."

Taking a deep breath, the setter took a few steps backwards, before running towards the small river parting the humans from the forest, jumping across in one swift motion.
"I'll come get you. I promise."
"You better do."

Kageyama rolled his eyes halfway amused, and turned his back to Hinata. His heart was racing within his chest. People were busy working in the fields on the other side of the road, no one was paying him any mind- why should they, they were way top engrossed in the bountiful harvest they had grown.
There they were.

The large lanterns, separating his village from the sandy path towards the school. Feeling nauseous at this point, Kageyama stopped in his tracks.
This was his moment.

The only thought that went through his mind as he passed the lanterns was one he hadn't thought a single time during his years growing up in this place.

Fuck the elders.

***

On her way back home from school, Kiyoko stopped once again at the shrine dedicated to the spirits and gods who blessed this village with their gifts.
She took a couple of steps up, bowing at the entrance, before settling down on the wooden planks marking the shrine itself.

"Spirits and gods alike, please continue to bless us with your favor..." she mumbled, folding her hands and lowering her head.
"I pray for the bird folk, the humans, and all the other creatures that roam this realm... may luck be a constant in our future."

***

"...Tobio."
A man stopped the moment he recognized the black haired boy in front of him, frowing to the very core.
"...you're here. Why are you here."

That voice alone, the distant yet oh so formerly comforting voice of one of the adults he had grown up with, evaporated all his bravado. Kageyama swallowed down the lump in his throat. He stood there, holding his stance, fists clenched and head lowered like a little kid that had been caught hand- in-cookie-jar.
"I want to see the elders."
That was all he managed to press out. Because that was what he was. A kid. A teenager. A teenager currently so overwhelmed with emotions that he couldn't decide wether to scream, laugh or cry. Or all together at once.

"Is that Tobio...?"

"What is that wretched child of misfortune doing here?"

"Get the elders, get the elders...!"

"His return will damn us all...!"

"How did he survive...?! Witchcraft! I knew he was mingling with the spirits, how else could a boy his age survive in the forest...!"

Kageyama could hear the whispers going through the slowly but surely forming crowd of onlookers. But nobody dared to do the first step towards him, to shoo him out like they did so in the first place.

Commotion.

Kageyama looked up, surprised, watching his mother push and shove her way inbetween the crowd, storming towards him. Only seconds later he found himself embraced in a tight hug that he thought would feel so comfortable, that he had yearned for all those months and yet...