𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖

xciii - collision

The next ball came and Hinata hit it back over, but Waku South got it up. It was a sloppy pass though, so their setter underhanded it high and to the outside. "Takeru, finish it off!"

"Don't fuck up," Crow muttered as Hinata and Tanaka crowded close to him so they could block together. Then, with a count of three, they went up right as Takeru was gaining air. Crow made sure that his hands and each finger were stretched out imposingly, daring the Waku South player to hit it at him. However, Takeru had a different plan in mind and blasted the ball off Hinata's hand.

"Fuck, of course he targets Hinata," Crow cursed with a slight sneer on his lips after landing as the point was assigned. Suddenly, his ear twitched and he whipped around to glare at his cousin, who instantly stilled and went white as a sheet. 

"W-WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM NOW, HUH?!"

"You're on thin fucking ice, Keishin," The ravenette narrowed his eyes further in warning. "You'd better keep his name out of your mouth if you know what's good for you."

"It was just a passing thought that I said out loud, cut me some slack!" Keishin protested, but Crow was already turning around and returning to his position for the next play. "Ah, geez, that guy still has a good ear on him after all," He grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck with a pained face. Plus, the pain of Tenma's death is still relatively fresh, so of course he would be able to pick his name or former nickname out of a conversation closeby him. 

No doubt he's always reminding himself of him, and the reason he's gone.

The next time that Takeru went up for a hit, only Crow went up to block. Keishin's eyebrows raised, but then a smirk overcame his face as Takeru hit into Crow's hands and got rejected so hard it was still on the first bounce when the spiker landed. 

"WOOOOOOOO THAT'S CROW-SAMA FOR YA!"

"LET'S GO GUH GO GO CROW!"

"No matter what you do," Crow muttered, making eye contact with the other team's captain. "You'll never be as good as he was." 

Before Takeru could react further than intaking breath, the ravenette was already walking away. "Damn, what was that about?" The guy scrunched his face as he scratched his head. After that, play went on, and even though Waku South was getting attacks up, barely any of their own attacks were making it past Crow. 

Of course, attacks did get through, but it was very seldom that it happened while Crow was on the front line. It was a different story when he was on the backline, though. Waku South's attacks would get through, but unless it was blasted off into the bleachers like the first one had been, then Crow--the tool picker upper at that point--would usually at least get the ball back up before it hit the ground. (Making the ball go out by hitting it on someone's hand is called tooling in case anyone was wondering). 

On one particular play, right after Takeru tooled Hinata again and the ball went flying, Crow dove and got the ball back close enough for Nishinoya to follow up. Right as Crow was going to pass it back over since no one else seemed close enough, he realized he had miscalculated as Tanaka came barreling towards him. 

It was obvious that the cueball had nothing on his mind except getting that ball back over the net before it touched the ground, so obviously the ravenette wouldn't fault him. It wasn't until impact that Tanaka even knew what was about to happen. And just like that, there was a collision. 

"C-Crow?"

"Crow!"

"Crow-san!"

"Nani nani?" The crowd asked as they looked over at the court Karasuno and Waku South.

"He collapsed!" A player called back. 

"Crow-sama did?!"

"Nanda?" Iwaizumi looked up from messing with his bag. Oikawa's eyes were wide from the stands, clenching the railing in his fists as he gazed at his savior, lying on the ground, not moving. 

"They collided, right after they hit the ball back over the net." He told his teammate without turning to look at him, too focused on the sight. Iwaizumi responded to the information, but Oikawa didn't hear him. 

He never would have thought that the almighty Crow would get hurt playing volleyball of all things. He knew the guy was involved in some shady stuff, but even then Crow always came out on top and managed to walk off any injury easily. 

There's no way he's just laying there for shits and giggles, he wouldn't do that during practice, let alone a game! the Seijoh captain thought to himself, his jaw clenching. Crow actually got knocked out just now!

Then, there was movement. "Shit.." Crow grumbled as he rolled over onto his back, putting a hand on his face. "That hurt."

"WHERE WERE YOU HIT?!"

"Is my hand just a decoration to you?"

"Well, at least your comebacks are still right on time," Keishin sighed with a shake of his head, but Takeda still marched right over there and squatted down in front of the ravenette. 

"Crow-kun, where are you right now?"

"Sendai City gym," Crow answered, now moving to sit up so that he could face the advisor. 

"Who are we playing right now?"

"Waku South."

"Right," Takeda breathed a sigh of relief, but suddenly his eyes went firm. "But since you hit your head, please go to the infirmary."

"Seriously?" Crow raised an eyebrow, glancing at his cousin, who shrugged. 

"Don't look at me, you're the one that passed out for like a minute."

"Fine, whatever," Crow stood up, wincing again as he touched his head. "I've had worse."

"I know you have, but an injury is still an injury," Takeda told him sternly. "Let the medics look you over to make sure you're alright."

"I already said fine," The ravenette waved it off, glancing over at Kiyoko, whose hands were trembling as she clenched them together. 

"Crow.." Tanaka stepped towards him, but before he could even say anything, the dude shot him an amused look. 

"Don't even. You just knocked out the guy every yakuza syndicate in the country wants to at least knock out. Don't worry about it, you still have a game to win," He nudged his chin towards where the Waku South players were congregating. "If you're losing when I come back, I'll kick your asses."

"H-Hai!" Tanaka yelled as Crow and Keishin headed off the court.