𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖

xcviii - sleepy report

The drive back to Karasuno was mostly silent, considering almost all of the players fell asleep within minutes of them leaving the parking lot of the gym. Crow wasn't sleeping, though, having taken up residence in one of the single seats at the front, across from Kiyoko and Yachi. He was just staring out the window when Takeda suddenly spoke up. 

"No surprise, they're fast asleep."

"'Cept me," Crow muttered. 

"Of course you're not," Keishin rolled his eyes. "But you can't blame the others. They fought two matches with powerful opponents," He shifted slightly, sitting up straighter as he gazed at Takeda, who was driving. "I'm thankful to you, Sensei."

"What?!" The advisor flinched at the sudden praise. "Where did that come from?!"

"The fact that a team like ours, which hadn't done well for a while, got to do so many practice matches with the powerhouse schools from Tokyo... All I can say about that is that we were blessed."

"Less blessed and more like someone threw my name around," Crow glanced at Takeda, who flushed. 

"I-it wasn't just your name! I used the old coach Ukai's name as well!"

"Shut it Crow, I'm trying to thank sensei, not scold him," Keishin snapped, making Crow scoff but hold his hands up in surrender boredly. 

"Alright."

"Good," Keishin sighed, giving his cousin one last look before returning his focus to the driver. "The fact that we were able to regain our connection with Nekoma is a much bigger deal than you or the team realizes. You did an amazing thing."

"No way! Negatory! Nah, no!" He heavily denied, then took a breath and smirked slightly. "After we win tomorrow, then you can shower me with praise all you want."

"That's a deal," the coach grinned with a laugh. 

"Are you gonna praise me for my connections too Keishin?"

"No way in hell asshole, you don't need any goddamn encouragement."

"I'm just saying."

The rest of the ride was silent as the three that were still awake looked out their respective windows, just enjoying the scenery until they finally arrived back at Karasuno. "All right," Keishin told the now somewhat awake team. "Get your things and head straight to the gym for a meeting," He instructed. 

"Right," They all drawled sleepily in return, heading to the gym like a horde of slow sleep deprived zombies. 

"You totally drooled," Kageyama told Hinata with a distasteful expression. "Gross."

"My drool isn't gross!" The ginger defended himself. 

"Oh, they're back!" a voice called, causing everyone to pause as they saw three of the girls' team members running towards them. "Congrats on making it to the finals!" The front one waved. 

"Hey, Michimiya," Daichi greeted her with a smile. "How did you know?"

"They just announced it on the school announcements," She told him as she and her two friends stood in front of them. "That's amazing! The fact that you were able to beat Seijoh and made it to the finals is just.. is just.. Amazing!" She finally settled on a word. "It's insane!"

"Your lack of vocabulary is insane," One of her friends commented. 

"Oi, boys volleyball team!" more voices were heard from above, which was definitely unusual. Everyone looked up, and surprisingly, a lot of the student body was still around even though it was after hours. "That was amazing!" They called from the windows. 

"Congrats!"

"Hinata, Kageyama, well done!" One of the first year teachers yelled from her classroom. 

"Sensei!" Hinata beamed. 

"Thanks!" Kageyama called up to her. 

"I'm going to cheer you on tomorrow!" Some more students cheered. 

"You better win!"

"Do your best!"

"You guys all stayed late for us..." Daichi blinked with a surprised smile. Michimiya suddenly gasped. 

"M-Sta Miyagi is gonna start!" She said, making everyone else gasp. Thus, whether they liked it or not, the team was herded into the faculty office and placed in front of the TV, where the sports section of the news was just starting. 

"Good evening," The lady started, and everyone parroted it back politely. "Today, the Sendai Municipal Gymnasium in Tomizawa hosted the quarter and semifinals of the Miyagi prefectural qualifiers for the National High School Volleyball Tournament, otherwise known as the Spring Volleyball Tournament. In the first match, Karasuno High School defeated the powerhouse school, Aoba Johsai High School, earning them a spot in the finals for the first time in years. Wow, that is certainly surprising," the news lady sighed as several photos of Seijoh's team after the match were aired. "To think that Seijoh would be eliminated.."

"Precisely. With Oikawa-kun at the lead, they are an extremely well-balanced team, so it's sad that we won't be seeing them in the finals," Another anchor commented gruffly. 

"Come on! Show us a little more!" Tanaka complained as he squatted in front of the TV. "We actually won!"

"Yeah! Yeah!" Hinata agreed from beside him. 

"Stop showing just Seijoh!" Nishinoya added from Tanaka's other side.

"Sorry guys, we gotta win a few more to get the headlines," Daichi commented with a knowing smile. 

"Next, we have the second round of the semifinals," The lady went on. "In this match, the school garnering attention rightfully won and moved toward the finals."

"Now the headliner arrives," Keishin said as Shiratorizawa appeared on the screen. 

"It would be Shiratorizawa Academy that has won this tournament the last three years. They are led by Ushijima Wakatoshi, who has played for the under-19 national team." The scores were then shown on the screen, 25-20 and 25 to 21. "Looks like they had no problem winning straight through the semifinals."

"Yes," The other anchor agreed. "This year, they've gathered members that just might promise them victory at Nationals. I think we can expect great things from them."

"It'll be interesting to see how high Karasuno can climb against the powerful Shiratorizawa Academy," The lady finished off. "You can watch the finals live on this channel tomorrow at 11AM, the match that will determine the Miyagi Prefecture representative... Be sure not to miss it!"

"Alright guys, let's go to the gym..." Daichi trailed off after the program finished, looking around at his teammates in confusion. "Where are Crow and Tsukishima? I could have sworn they were with us."

"They stepped out," Kinoshita said, exchanging a look with Ennoshita. Immediately Daichi understood and sighed. 

"Well, I'm sure they'll head to the gym when they're done, if they aren't already there."