Chapter 1

He didn't think that anything couldn't be normal again after he finds an injured crow next to the vending machine.

xxx

Crows had a tendency to gather around Karasuno at times. No one was really sure why, but most never even minded it, let alone paid attention. Especially for Kageyama Tobio, Karasuno's genius setter, and one of the well-known duo in volleyball alongside the second-year, Ennoshita Chikara.

As the once-nicknamed "King of the Court" by his former team of Kitagawa Daiichi, Kageyama brought back Karasuno to its former glory by going through the Inter-High Tournament and reaching the top as one of the top four teams.

He couldn't help but feel that something was off from all of those games he had played, though. In away, the sunshine that was supposed to make volleyball gleam with appeal was lacking.

One day, when Kageyama found a tiny, injured crow huddling next to the vending machine where he usually gets his drinks, he was surprised. When he saw the injured wing, the surprise took him further. He was sure that crows take care of their young, as he had learned from Ennoshita just the day before. (But he wasn't even sure if this crow was as young as he had thought it to be. It looked like it was supposed to be full grown, yet he couldn't even tell. It was so tiny.)

Making up his mind, he sighed and, once he chose a drink, he bent down to gently pick up the tiny bird. As soon as he picked it up, he immediately expected some sort of retaliation (since he was still worried about the fact that animals hated him), and he quickly closed his eyes.

When nothing happened, he reluctantly opened one of his eyes to look at the crow. It didn't do anything except look at him with its unusually big eyes, and it gestured to its broken wing. (In the back of Kageyama's mind, he wondered why it was so small compared to other crows. Was it still a baby?)

Blinking multiple times, it took him a few moments to realize that this was the first animal that hadn't tried to attack him in any form. It was like a burst of sunlight had just passed through him, and he jumped up and whooped. (Immediately after, however, he looked around his surroundings quickly to see if there wasn't any witnesses.)

Grinning, he picked up his bag and jogged towards the club room just across the gym. He felt that somebody was able to help the crow out in the club, and he also hoped that they didn't take his smile the wrong way once he went inside.

Once he entered the club room with an air of excitement still about him, he found Tanaka and Nishinoya lazing around the room, and Sugawara was reading a book with his headphones on. They looked up at him, surprised about his sudden appearance, and they immediately flinched. (When they saw his smile and the bird that looked like it was injured, they thought he had tried to get revenge by hurting an animal [which was super cruel and nobody was supposed to do that] - because who didn't know that animals hated him? And was it just them or was he holding a baby crow in his hands - ?!)

Not wanting to confirm everybody's [fear-induced] suspicions, Sugawara cleared his throat and spoke up.

"…Kageyama? What's wrong?" he asked a bit tentatively, removing one of his headphones and giving him a concerned look. The younger setter suddenly remembered the reason why he was there in the first place.

"I-I found this injured bird," Kageyama stammered, "and I thought that someone around here can help it, and… well…"

The room was quiet for a passing moment. The three were so wrong in their judgment. Fortunately, Noya broke the silence and sighed loudly in relief.

"Oh, good! I thought you hurt the bird on purpose or somethi - GAH!" Tanaka slapped a hand over his mouth and laughed loudly. (Kageyama swore there was a hint of nervousness in his laugh.)

"Ah, well… bring it here," Sugawara said, and motioned for Kageyama to sit next to him. "I know a thing or two about helping birds, but not as much as Ennoshita-san."

"Right…" Kageyama made his way to the older setter, and sat down next to him. Putting down his book, Sugawara examined the bird with interest.

"It's so tiny… It's wing is slightly injured, but I'm sure it's not that bad as it seems," he said brightly. Gently taking the bird from Kageyama's hands (and was unaware of the other boy's reluctance; Kageyama took a sudden liking to that bird), Sugawara examined the bird further and, after a moment's pause, blinked in confusion.

"…that's strange," he muttered. By that time, Noya and Tanaka already made their way next to the older boy and looked over his shoulder.

"What is it?"

"Lemme see - argh, Noya! Your hair's in the way!"

"What did you say?! Don't disrespect the hair - "

While the two were bickering, Kageyama glanced upward at Sugawara. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Before the older boy could answer, the door to the room burst open, and Daichi, along with Asahi, entered the room, carrying bags of lunch.

"Osu," the captain greeted, only to be met with more bickering from Noya and Tanaka. He immediately glared at the two.

"Oi, you two! Stop with the fighting - "

"Asahiii! Did you bring the snack you promised me?"

"Ah! I forgot! Ohmygoshi'msosorryi'mtrashipromisetobringitnexttimeiswear - "

"Oh my God, someone get Asahi some water - "

"Will everybody please shut up for a minute and let me handle this in peace?" A calm voice cut through the confusion, and the boys (besides Kageyama) looked up at Sugawara in surprise, who didn't even take his eyes off of the bird.

"Now where was I…" Holding up the bird against the light, he peered at its injured wing. Now intrigued, the rest of the boys in the room went and looked over his shoulder.

"…do you see that? That feather right there… is it just me, or does it look a bit… orange to you?"

The boys huddled and looked intensely at the bird in Sugawara's hands. Sure enough, a tiny down feather had a light streak of orange on it. It wasn't enough orange where one can see it with a quick glance, but when it's looked at further, then it's visible.

"…but why - " Before Asahi could finish his sentence, the bird squirmed, suddenly jumped up and hopped his way over to Kageyama. It then hid behind him, as if it was spooked from all the stares it was receiving.

The group all blinked together in surprise, and one by one, they all began to laugh.

"It looks like the crow likes you!"

"D-Does it really…?" Kageyama twisted around to look at the tiny crow, and scooped it up. He stared at it, and it stared back. After a moment's passing, it cheeped at him. Kageyama felt immediately felt

thunderstruck. An animal really likes me! OH MY GOD -

Before he managed to think any further, Sugawara broke though his thoughts. "Now, now, that's enough," he chastised, and, got up with a smile. "I'll go see if we have anything that could help the bird's wing, okay?" He went to the closet of the club room, where the first aid kit was located.

"We'll go out for a bit!" Noya called, and Tanaka got up with him. The two shared sneaky smiles, and without missing a beat, Daichi grabbed the two's back collars and smiled ominously.

"Please don't harass Kiyoko-san in front of the others, got it?" he asked, albeit nicely. The two flinched, and Daichi sighed and pushed Asahi towards them.

"Babysit them for me."

"But why - "

"He'll do a bad job at it!" Tanaka shot back, and earned himself a glare from Daichi.

"Then I'll be the one to watch you two! Now, go on! Pretend I'm not there!" Pushing the two ahead (while dragging an unwilling Asahi along with him), the group bickered and closed the door, leaving Kageyama on his own with the bird as he stared after them. The boy sweat dropped. He's so much like a dad… what the heck…

The club room was quiet. Clouds slowly passed by as he watched them through the window, light filtering through. He wondered what was taking Sugawara so long.

"They're loud, don't you think?" a voice suddenly asked, and Kageyama nodded absently.

"…yeah…"

It took him a moment to realize that the voice didn't belong to Sugawara.

Kageyama immediately jumped up, and looked around the room. "W-Who's there?!"

"Here!"

"Where?!"

"Over. Here!" There was a cheep of a bird, and Kageyama looked down at his feet in surprise. It was the crow. It stared up at him with its large eyes.

"Finally, I can talk at last! If I talked to you while the others were there, I was sure to have caused a scene!"

The setter stared at the crow, and jumped backward in surprise until his back met with the wall.

"T-The bird talks…" he stammered. But that's impossible! As if he had heard his thoughts clearly, the tiny crow huffed.

"Well, yeah! What kind of tengu am I if I can't talk?" After finishing its sentence, the bird ruffled its feathers and looked back up at him, as if it was grinning.

"The name's Hinata! Nice to meet you, Kageyama Tobio!"

/ chapter 1 end /

And there it is - my very first story about these volleyball nerds *awkward single tear* (and of course it needed some kind of fantasy twist *headdesks*) This is actually a pretty short chapter that it's almost like some sort of prologue, ugh... I'll have the other chapters be longer than 1500 words next time! I swear!

Please critique and review; I'll appreciate it very much!

See you in the next chapter!