𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖

lxxxvi - jozenji

"The first match has Seijoh on court B and Shiratorizawa on court A. We're up next, let's go!" Daichi called as the team headed out onto the court to face their first opponent. 

"Yessir!" They all echoed. 

"YAHOOO!" Their opponent cheered, all jumping in the air. Keishin, Takeda and Yachi all flinched at the noise, but with how hyper some of the Karasuno guys were, Crow didn't even bother to give the opposition a glance. 

"Crow-san, will you warm up with me?" Kageyama asked, holding a ball that he had gotten from the cart that had been rolled out for them. 

"Sure," the ravenette said, frowning as he moved because the french braid on his head was making him very uncomfortable. Eventually, the captains had their meeting, and apparently Jozenji chose to receive, meaning Karasuno would be serving first. 

"Hai," Takeda acknowledged, so Daichi bowed and jogged back to keep warming up. "It's finally time for the qualifiers. Everyone looks more nervous than usual. The third years look especially nervous," The advisor noted as he glanced around the team. 

"Those are so awesome!" Hinata's voice suddenly caught the team's attention. "Your new glasses look so cool, Tsukishima!"

"You've been saying that almost every day, Hinata," Yamaguchi said as he stood next to the blonde, who was putting on his new black glasses that wouldn't fall off during a game. 

"You saying they're cool messes with my self confidence, so please stop," Tsukishima told the tangerine, causing the boy to growl.

"What'd you say?!"

"Haa..." The middle blocker sighed, deciding not to pay the shrimp anymore mind as he moved out onto the court to warm up with his partner. 

"What's up with the first years looking more reliable than us?" Daichi asked, standing with the other two third years. 

"Us third years don't have time to be intimidated!" Suga smiled as Asahi cheered. A few moments later, both teams lined up on their own end lines, and when the whistle was blown, they bowed to each other. 

"Let's have a good match!" 

"We're finally at the qualifiers," Keishin said once the team had circled around for the pre-game pep talk. "Our first opponent was a semifinalist at the interhigh prelims. We've got our work cut out for us. You'd better go all out on that first serve, Azumane!" He directed, causing said person to nod. 

"Karasuno..." Daichi started as everyone put their hands in. Then he yelled "FIGHT!"

"Yeah!"

"Give us a good serve, Asahi-san!" Tanaka called as the starting lineup filed out onto the court. As stated earlier, Asahi was in the serving position. Tsukishima took up right front, and Kageyama was middle front. Tanaka stood at left front with Nishinoya behind him, having switched in for Hinata. And finally, Crow was in middle back, hands on his knees boredly.

"Get a nice solid receive!" The other team's manager yelled at her players as she sat with the coach. Then, when the lineups were checked and cleared, it was time for the game to begin. The whistle was blown, and Asahi slammed the ball over the net. 

"Man, that's intense!" Terushima laughed as his teammate almost shanked the ball. The libero managed to get it back before the point of no return, and Terushima went after it for the last hit. 

"It's coming!"

Just as that was yelled, Teru jumped up, spun around, and hit the ball back to Karasuno's side of the court. It all happened so fast that no one reacted as the ball fell. Well, no one besides Crow, it seemed. "Setter out," He called, passing the ball towards Kageyama, who snapped out of whatever trance that showing of power had put the rest of the team in. 

"Got it!" He jumped and sent the ball to Tanaka, who hit it over. 

"Whoa!" Their libero got under it, but the ball went under the net before anyone else could stop it, and thus the point was alloted to Karasuno. 

"ALL RIIIIGHT!"

Of course Asahi hit his next serve out, making the score even out at 1-1. Asahi fittingly recieved the next serve, which Crow set out to Tanaka again to see if he'd make double points. Number two on Jozenji got it, but it went into the net. However, the ball wasn't dead yet, and since number 3 couldn't reach it with his hand, he used his foot, and that got Jozenji the point. 

"Heave ho!" The stands cheered. "Heave ho!"

"You know," Suga commented from the sidelines. "It's like we're up against a really athletic baseball team during gym class."

"Yeah," Ennoshita agreed. "Their plays aren't exactly cookie-cutter, so we can't seem to read what they're gonna do."

"And the problem is none of that is happening by accident. Unpredictability is the name of the game for Jozenji."

"How does your manager survive your energy?" Crow asked Terushima when the dyejob came back to the net. 

"Huh? Oh, I dunno, maybe cause she likes us?" He grinned. "No offense by the way, but I'm so glad you aren't on our team, you'd be such a downer dude! I could smell your rain cloud from all the way at the baseline!"

"None taken. If I went to your school, I wouldn't have even applied because there is no way I would survive your energy," The ravenette replied, drawing a laugh from Jozenji's captain. 

"Energy can't kill ya, dummy! But it can make things fun~" He wriggled his eyebrows, making Crow sigh and walk back to his position. "Try and keep up Crow!"

Jozenji's number two served again, only to miss it in the net, and so Karasuno rotated so that Tsukishima was serving and Hinata switched in for Noya. In the meantime, Jozenji clowned around a bit, then finally rolled the ball to the server. "Tsukishima, nice serve!" The bench called before the blonde tossed it up and hit the ball over. 

This time, Jozenji did a normal pass-set-hit play, which surprised almost everyone on Karasuno save for Crow once again. However, he wasn't in range for that ball, so it was Jozenji's point. Tied again at 2s, the weirdness just kept coming.