Try Your Luck

Chapter 2

The crow was fine.

At least, that's what Kuroo wanted to believe, but, the bird's attitude could have convinced him otherwise.

After Kuroo had roughly bandaged the leg using whatever first-aid skills he knew, he set about throwing whatever garbage he had on the floor and desks into the closet so the crow couldn't reach it. After all, he hadn't exactly had time to animal-proof his house before the bird's arrival.

The entire time, the crow seemed to judge him from where it sat on the living room table, watching Kuroo rush around and mumble incoherently.

When all was finished, Kuroo stood in front of the living room, hands on his hips and marveling his work. It had gotten late, but the college student definitely felt a lot more productive than he had in weeks.

"What do you think?" he grinned down at the bird.

The crow seemed to scoff, exhaling pompously through its nose before making an effort to rise again.

"Wait, no, you can't get up yet!" Kuroo lunged forward, hands enveloping the sleek, black body as gently as he could. "Sorry, but you need to stay put until you're better. Here, I'll get you some food."

The crow seemed a bit ruffled and displeased, but didn't struggle, settling itself back down on the glass tabletop without another word. Kuroo gave the bird a final glance before heading into the connecting kitchen to grab something from the fridge.

Something.

Kuroo squinted at the remnants of his fridge: a half-finished slice of mackerel, a bowl of rice, and two bowls of fruit. Right. He hadn't exactly had the time to take care of his meals after his educational existential crisis.

Kuroo tapped on the fridge door in contemplation, wondering if he should make a quick run to the grocery store to grab cooking materials. He chanced a look back at the living room. The bird was still staring at him in a way that was strangely human-like--and quite honestly, judgmental.

I'll just have to make do, Kuroo thought as he grabbed everything in the fridge into his hands and made his way to the crow.

"Here," he said, placing the rice and fish in front of the bird. "I know it's not much, but I promise I'll get something better for you tomorrow."

The crow eyed the food, got up on shaky legs and half-fluttered, half-jumped onto the couch next to the window, refusing to take another look at Kuroo.

"Hey, you have to eat something," Kuroo chided, picking up a piece of fish with his chopsticks and offering it to the bird. "Say ah."

The crow made a short caw in defiance, swiveling its head away from Kuroo. Kuroo slumped, bringing the chopsticks to his mouth to eat the food instead.

"Maybe you just don't like fish? I heard crows eat just about everything though..."

He turned to reach for the fruit containers, opening them up and offering the contents to the bird. "How about some of this?"

The bird side-eyed the bowl, its yellow eyes scrutinizing the apples, pears, oranges, and the like. Then, without another sound, it grabbed a few strawberries from the bottom with its beak.

"You like strawberries?" Kuroo beamed, making an effort to move the rest of the items in the container aside so that the crow could have easy access to the small, red fruit.

"Well, it's not the most nutritious, but at least you're eating something," Kuroo smiled, setting the bowl closer to the bird. He propped his elbows onto one of the couch cushions and let out a deep sigh, looking out of the window. "The moon is pretty tonight."