Chapter 2

He wanted reality to catch up with him sooner or later. It didn't, though.

xxx

Kageyama wasn't sure how to act in his current predicament – but he calmed himself down enough to know that causing a ruckus would only serve to catch Sugawara's attention. He was about to hiss out a question towards the crow when the said senpai walked back inside the club room, and noticed that Kageyama was now noticeably far away from the baby crow that he had seemed to like earlier.

"...are you okay?" Suga asked, blinking in confusion. Kageyama nodded hastily.

"Na- of- yes!" he stammered, and the older boy laughed.

"No need to be nervous for the baby crow. He's going to be fine," Suga reassured, and Kageyama snapped his gaze back to the crow that was staring back at him. It looked like it was still grinning at him, and soon enough, Kageyama was locked into a staring contest showdown with the crow.

...but it didn't speak.

Why isn't it talking? Kageyama thought as he was staring down at the crow. It was talking earlier. Why isn't it talking now? Was it just my imagination?

"...Kageyama?"

Speak, crow! Tell me I'm not losing my mind!

"Kageyama."

Oh my God, it's not talking. Maybe I'm deprived of sleep for coming back home from practice so late. I'm not insane, I'm just sleepy, that's all -

"Kageyama!"

Someone suddenly slapped him upside the head, and the boy nearly fell towards the floor but managed to stop himself. Grumbling under his breath, he held the back of his head and looked up to find Suga with his right hand up and his expression showing both concern and confusion.

"I've been calling your name for a while now, except you didn't answer and all you did instead was stare at the crow like he had just committed mass murder," he sighed, and got up. "Either way, the crow's fine now. I'll put go ahead and put back the kit." The older boy walked off once again, and when the third year was out of sight, the crow in front of him ruffled its feathers and examined its bandaged wing.

"He's really good at this kind of stuff!" the crow exclaimed, and jumped up and down. "I'll be able to fly in no time!" Kageyama glared down at the crow.

"Oh, now you talk!" he hissed quietly. "You made me look like an idiot, dumbass Hinata!"

"Hey! We barely met and you're already calling me that?" Hinata huffed, and stopped jumping. He (or at least Kageyama assumed that the crow was a boy) looked away, and with his wings he patted down his messy feathers and gave the ground a glare.

"'I can't decide between milk or juice. Because of that, I'm gonna go kill someone!'" the crow grumbled under his breath.

"Oi! Was that supposed to be an imitation of me?!" Kageyama hissed.

"You have the look of a serial killer!"

"I was born with this face! I couldn't do anything about it, okay?!" Before he was about to let off a string of insults that only consisted of the words dumbass, idiot, and Hinata, Kageyama stopped.

"...wait. How do you know my name? And how do you know about the drinks I choose?" he asked suspiciously. Hinata jumped, and looked away, as if he was suddenly nervous and had slipped up on some kind of truth.

"I... I see you from where I'm at all the time!" he stammered, and ruffled his feathers once more. "

...okay, now that was embarrassing.

"What the hell do you mean you see me from where you are?!" Kageyama hissed, his ears scarlet. Of all things, a crow was watching him. Like what a girl would do if she had a crush. (WHAT - ) He was sure he was going insane at the moment, but the door burst open and Tanaka ran inside.

"Yo! How's it going?!"
Kageyama stared at the wing spiker.

"...didn't you just go outside?" he asked Tanaka. The older boy sighed, and sat down, running a hand over his head. (Kageyama wondered if the senpai's lack of hair was genetic – and proceeded to mentally slap himself. He was sure Tanaka would kick his ass even if he mentioned it.)

"We passed by a hallway, Asahi was jumpscared, Noya retaliated violently, and Daichi was there to see the entire thing... you can tell what happened next," Tanaka summarized, and glanced at Hinata. "Ah, the little crow looks all better now!"

At the mention of the tiny crow next to Kageyama, the setter immediately – and unconsciously - reverted to a sour expression. Tanaka flinched.

"Whoa. What put a twist in your pants?" Tanaka asked cheekily, and laughed as Kageyama gave him a bewildered look. "I mean, I mention the crow and all of a sudden you look like you were choosing another drink in the vending machine!"

"I – what – shut up!" Kageyama stammered. "...it's nothing." The older boy rolled his eyes.

"Fine. If you've got something to tell me, then say it, okay?" he said not unkindly, and proceeded to get up. "Where's Suga?"

"Here! Help me out with something really qucikly. And, ah – Kageyama?" Suga's head popped up from the other room.

"Yes?"

"How would you feel if you brought that little crow home and took care of it for the night?"

"...and so I'm stuck with you for the night," Hinata deadpanned as soon as Kageyama parted ways from his seniors and was alone. The setter gave the crow a glare, who squeaked and hid back in the boy's jacket pockets.

"Do I have to put up with your mumbling the entire time?" he grumbled, and a sharp peck suddenly made itself known on his right hand. " - OW!"

"If only I was with that nicer boy instead," came a sigh, and Kageyama growled.

"If you shut up right now, I won't throw you out of my pocket. Got it?"

"Holy frick, that's so mean!" Hinata exclaimed, and proceeded to hop on Kageyama's arm. "You won't actually do that, would you?"

"Try me."

"Oh, fine! Be that person who decides to hurt a poor, injured, adorable - "

"Who even said that you were adorable?" the setter scoffed. Hinata huffed indignantly.

"Whatever. Are we even close to your house yet? I'm hungry..."

"Quit your whining. We're here already." Kageyama stopped at the front of his door, and was about to open the front door when the bird suddenly flew out of his pocket.

"YAY!"

"Hey, where are you goi - "

With that, the crow was gone from his sight.

...what the heck? Kageyama thought. Did he just run away?

A suppressed sigh here and the opening of his door there, and at once Kageyama felt a sense of loneliness. Over an annoying crow who talked.

He was going insane, he knew.

"I'm home..." Kageyama called, and his mom called back from the kitchen.

"Ah, you're back! Better hurry now, I'm almost done with dinner!" she called, and Kageyama gave out a small, genuine smile as he walked up to his room. His mom's cooking was arguably one of the best.

His smile still persisted as he walked into his room, in which he saw -

An orange-haired kid -

Lying on his bed -

Sleeping.

And was it just him, or did the boy have wings? And are those bandages on his left wing?

Before Kageyama could fully comprehend, the boy opened his startlingly orange eyes, and looked up at him.

"Oh, you're here already!"

…

Ah.

Kageyama knew now.

A crow flew away earlier.

And now he was here.

HI YES I'M ALIVE AND NOW I UPDATED IT AFTER 6 MONTHS I'M SORRY -

6 months of writing block is the worst. Oh, and thanks to the reviewers and the follows I received in the past too~!

I'm bad at writing long chapters, to be honest. But I'll work hard on that, I'll make sure of it!

As always, please critique and review! And maybe adding some missing pointers that I can work on can help - because I feel like I'm lacking something, but I don't know what...

See you in the next chapter!