𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖

xciv - demigod

"On a scale of one to dying, how bad is it?" Keishin asked as he walked Crow to the medic office. The question made Crow's face scrunch up as he turned his head to look at his cousin. 

"One, obviously," He scoffed, then sighed as he hand his hand through his hair. "Though getting knocked out, even if only for a second, was a surprise."

"Yeah, what was up with that?" Keishin laughed, shaking his head. "I thought you were supposed to be this almighty demigod that was impossible to break down!"

"I'm not a demigod, dummy," Crow rolled his eyes, but his lips quirked up. Then he punched his cousin's side, causing the dude to tumble over. 

"UNCALLED FOR, JACKASS!"

"There are children present, shut up."

~*~

"Hey hey, let's all calm down," Daichi took control of the situation once he got onto the court, smiling reassuringly at his teammates, who looked like they were all doomed. "Something like a knock to the head isn't enough to really hurt Crow, you all know that. If it was, our first practice game with our first years where Hinata almost bulldozed him would've done him in," He joked, causing the carrot head to flinch in memory of it. 

"Yeah, besides it's not like we can't beat them with Crow gone, it just means we'll all have to work a little harder," Asahi agreed, clenching his fists in front of him. "I promise I'll do my best."

"Well look at you, you actually sound like an ace for once!" Daichi grinned with a laugh as he patted the ace, who made a face at him. 

"THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ASAHI-SAN!" Nishinoya was suddenly bouncing around, and the energy was something that no one would go against, so soon the court was back to smiles and less worries. 

"Now, Tanaka," Daichi turned to look at the other left wing. The sudden call-out made the man go stiff, like he was about to get chewed out. Instead, the captain put his hand on Tanaka's shoulder and smiled. "I'm glad you didn't get hurt too. I'm actually kind of surprised, considering how hardheaded Crow can be."

"Y-yeah, for real," The cueball played it off with a huff. After that, it was time to get back to the game. Karasuno might have gotten a break, but so did their opponents. But Karasuno was already in the twenties with Waku South being at fourteen points, so with Daichi's support, Karasuno was able to close out the set quickly. 

The second set was more of a struggle than the first, neither team giving up more than two points before taking the ball back and catching right back up. Keishin ended up coming back out in the middle of the second set and had to call a time out from how antsy the team got from his appearance. "He's fine, he just fell asleep," The coach explained when everyone gathered around. 

Immediately everyone let out sighs of relief. It wasn't like Crow sleeping places was something new, and if the coach said that he was fine, then he was fine. "For now, Yachi is watching over him, so she'll bring him out when he wakes up, if he wakes up before the match ends. Takeda-sensei said you guys won the first set, and it looks like you're doing alright so far, but don't let your guards down just because you heard some good news. You don't wanna disappoint Crow," He glanced around. "Do you?"

"No sir!" The team chanted passionately. 

"Good, now get back out there and win this," Keishin smirked, crossing his arms. With that, Karasuno was rejuvenated, and their opponents noticed immediately as the crows took control of the game and finished it off at 25 to 21. 

"LETS GOOOOOOO!"

"YEAAAAAHHHH!"

"I come back to shouting, what else was I expecting?" Crow rolled his eyes at the people yelling. His voice caused everyone to face him, and then several people were running at him. "Try to hug me and I'm throwing you at the wall."

"CROW-SAN WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN?!"

"YEAH WE WERE REALLY WORRIED ABOUT YOU!"

"I don't care, worry about yourselves," the ravenette crossed his arms, glancing at the score. "Looks like you guys did a good job."

"Hell yeah we did!"

"What, did you think we'd miss you that much, mister sleepyhead?" Daichi teased as he came over. 

"Nah, I just didn't think you'd be able to beat them in straight sets without me."

"Wow, that's harsh."

"Deal with it."

"Crow..." Kiyoko addressed, causing everyone's attention to fall on her. Her eyes flitted around nervously, but as she took a deep breath to say something else, she stopped as Crow held his arms open. Eyes widening, Kiyoko pursed her trembling lips before diving into the ravenette's arms and hugging him tightly. 

"I'm fine, don't worry anymore," Crow muttered, hugging her back lightly. The boys' jaws all dropped. 

"HEY, THAT'S NOT FAIR!"

"YEAH WHY DOES SHE GET TO HUG YOU BUT WE DON'T?!"

"Cause she's Karasuno's goddess, ya dummies," Crow retorted, causing Tanaka and Noya to seize up. 

"Shoot, he's right," Nishinoya deflated as Tanaka nodded solemnly. 

"That was a really good excuse," Daichi murmured to the second year, who just glanced at him with a hum of acknowledgement. Suddenly, there was a clap. 

"Oi, we're not done yet," Keishin reminded the team, who perked up at the reminder. "Let's head upstairs and watch the rest of the match that will decide our next opponent."

"Right!" 

~*~ 

"That was a whole ride," Crow grumbled as he walked together with the rest of the team, heading down the stairs to the warm-up gym. Playing two games in one day sucked, but that's just how things were set up to go as efficiently as possible. 

The game between Aoba Johsai and Date Tech was very interesting, especially since Date Tech's third years had retired from the team. Thus, the stability wasn't really there, especially in the new setter. It was stressful seeing the guy doing the randomest and sloppiest sets known to volleyball like the guy thought it was cool. It most certainly was not. 

 Seijoh, on the other hand, had honed itself even more and was able to beat the Iron Wall in straight sets. As the two teams were leaving the court, Oikawa locked eyes with Crow. The ravenette had exchanged a nod with him, and that was that.