Crows: First Impressions

The first time Kageyama met Hinata, they were on opposite sides of the court. At first, all he could see was a weak team with a shrimpy captain who liked to talk big. Basically, he found him really annoying. Yet somehow, over the course of the game, he gained a small bit of respect for the 162cm boy. Even if he did talk big, and had an irritating personality, on the court he truly shone. No matter how terribly they were losing, he didn't give up for even a second. Wanting to stay on the court as long as you possibly could, at the very least, that was something Kageyama could acknowledge.

He was the one losing, by a large margin at that, but the intensity in his eyes made Kageyama feel like a butterfly pinned to a corkboard. And when he attacked, when he jumped, he flew. That moment of shock upon seeing that had frozen him in his tracks, along with everyone else. Even if he was an annoying shrimp, Kageyama couldn't help but respect him. Plus, that spike had gotten past him, which was pretty impressive. So when the shrimp said he'd beat him someday, Kageyama just smirked.

Of course, since fate was such a bitch, they ended up on the same team. Just because they were forced together, though, didn't mean he was just going to get along with him.

The first time Daichi met Hinata, the freshman was being yelled at by Kageyama. All the while, he just kept smiling and laughing, seeming more amused as he argued back than genuinely angry. Kageyama didn't seem to be on the same wavelength though, since he seemed honestly irritated. So Daichi threw them both out and said that if they wanted to be on the team, they better learn to get along. Even if Hinata had that part down, Kageyama had to learn as well if things were going to work. They had better figure things out soon so the team could play some volleyball already!

Sugawara's first impression of Hinata was a combination of exasperation and confusion. He and Kageyama were arguing, and even if Hinata seemed to think it was pretty fun, Kageyama clearly didn't agree. Hinata didn't have any problems with accepting and getting along with all the over-the-top personalities of the team members, but his easy-going excitability (and wasn't that an oxymoron) just irritated Kageyama. The confusing part was when Suga spoke up. The second he heard Suga's voice, Hinata's smile dropped off his face, and now that he looked, Suga realized that those eyes he thought were brown, were actually a luminescent orange, giving an eerie feel to them. The sheer intensity of that stare focusing on him made him shudder.

("Sugawara?"

"Yes?"

"Good! Glad I got the right place!")

After that confusing exchange, Hinata quickly returned to normal, and though Kageyama looked confused for a moment he soon went back to his previous snarliness. Suga decided that if it was important, he'd find out someday, and for now, why not help them out. They seemed as though they would make good members, once their issues were worked out.

Tanaka's first impression of Hinata was that he was a pretty funny guy. A really energetic shrimp with bright hair and a brighter personality. He was really easy to get along with as well, though the fact that he held no interest in the sweet, beautiful manager~ was incomprehensible, it was nice to not have to defend her from more wild beasts. He figured that he might as well help him out, and he didn't regret it. That freak quick of theirs was pretty impressive, too. This would definitely come in handy when they were fighting against those overpowered bastards…

Nishinoya's first impression of Hinata, was that of someone meeting a comrade in arms. They were pretty much the same size, and they quickly bonded over the shared suffering of having almost no height. He especially appreciated Hinata's understanding of what a libero was. The libero was the one who didn't let the ball touch the floor, not the shortest person on the team, and it was rare to find someone who got that. So Hinata was definitely great, and pretty fun to hang around as well!

Tsukishima's first impression of Hinata was an annoying shrimp who was exhaustingly hot-blooded and irritated him to no end. Someone who he definitely couldn't get along with, nor did he even want to. Though, he at least acknowledged the other's capabilities in volleyball, even if his receives could make anyone cringe. That freak quick was useful, after all.

Yamaguchi mostly just followed after Tsukishima, so he made fun of Hinata, but he also acknowledged the other for his hard work. He thought that the determination to not give up even with the obstacles standing in one's way was something he could respect, even though Hinata was shrimpy and exhaustingly energetic. Watching his interactions with the others was good entertainment, anyways.

Mostly, Ennoshita and co thought Hinata was both amusing and someone you had to keep a handle on. Overwhelmingly energetic, yet also weirdly relaxed in how he accepted things with ease. Though, they did notice he had a weird tendency of making sure Suga-san was happy, since they spent a lot of their time observing the rest of the team. It definitely wasn't a crush, so they ended up just asking him. Turns out Hinata felt he owed Suga-san for helping him a few years ago, and since they were on the same team figured he could at least help him out.

(Well, that was part of it at least. Hinata may have left out a few things.)

Asahi's first impression of Hinata was that he was intimidatingly excitable, but also a very nice person. Hinata had encouraged him to return to volleyball, and when he was backing Asahi up, the ace couldn't help but feel more confident in himself. Even though Hinata got into a lot of trouble and could be really overwhelming, he was a good guy.

Annoying Thuggish Guys

"Hey, cutie." Hinata cringed slightly at the way those words sounded slimy coming from this weirdo. He wasn't sure why he was being bothered like this, but these guys were weirdly persistent. When a large hand trailed down his spine to squeeze his butt, he actually cringed. Sure, sexual harassment-sama used to do this sort of thing every now and then, but it was friends teasing each other. He was pretty sure that one didn't get to this stage when you had just met.

Honestly, why did so many people insist on making fun of him, even complete strangers did!

Irritably, his eyes began to glow brighter, and unseen to the men, his hair grew a couple inches before he forced his magic under control, making it return to its previous length. He had stayed in this form too long without getting a little release, if his magic was attempting to push him into his hybrid form without his consent like this.

"Hey, we aren't really friends, so I don't think we know each other well enough for something like that." Bringing a hand down, he grabbed the irritant's wrist in a claw-like vice grip. His control had slipped enough that his strength was a little higher than usual, and considering how absurdly athletic he was it was already quite high, so the man flinched in pain, jerking away.

"Bastard!" Now much angrier, he made to grab the orange-haired boy, his fellow goons reacting in response to one of their fellow's anger and becoming violent as well. Naturally, Hinata didn't see a good reason to allow this, and so he jumped. Taking advantage of their shock at his absurd height and airtime, his left foot landed on goon #1's shoulder for barely a second before he pushed off again, springboarding up to a nearby low-hanging roof. Glancing behind himself, he cackled slightly at their shocked and angered expressions, though when he noticed them beginning to pursue him, he moved faster, leaping across the roof-tops with a fluid grace that wouldn't look off on a cat, rather than a raven such as himself.

After a few minutes of this, he stumbled and slowed a bit at the pulse his magic gave off, and this time it wasn't just his hair, he actually felt his wings attempt to emerge before he regained control. He was going to have to both focus on running away, and on keeping control of his form, which was an exhausting endeavor when you were still and focused.

Suddenly, things got a whole lot harder.

Odd Sleeping Places

"Hinata! Hey, where are you!" Suga called, beginning to feel slightly worried at not having found him yet. He hadn't shown up to morning practice, so after school ended with still no sign of him, he went looking for him. The others had figured they might as well help, and so were looking around as well. Though several of them wouldn't admit it, they felt a bit worried about the orange-haired ball of sunshine in human form. After all, there was something about him you couldn't help but get attached to. Asahi was panicking, Nishinoya and Tanaka were freaking out and creating a variety of unrealistic scenarios that really didn't help his nerves, and Kageyama and Tsukishima were busy being Tsunderes.

Finally, they all met up underneath a particularly large tree, and were about to see if anyone knew where they could find Hinata outside of the school, when a leaf fell on Asahi's nose, making him look up in surprise. His expression made an abrupt transition from confused to freaking out, and everyone else looked up in response to this.

Only to see Hinata draped across a tree branch, one arm hanging down, and fast asleep. Several people choked on their own saliva at this, and Asahi made a loud, distressed keening sound. Somehow, Hinata seemed to hear this, waking with a jerk and frantically looking around to find the source of his friend's distress. Naturally, he lost his balance, and fell off the edge of the tree branch. The more worry-inclined members of the club nearly had a heart attack, but luckily before Asahi fainted, Hinata smoothly twisted in mid-air, grabbing onto a tree branch and swinging himself around to land in a crouch on another.

The general consensus from the team who was still in shock was, 'why can't he be that graceful when we're playing volleyball', though they felt nothing but relief at him being okay. Well, at least until the irritation set in.

"You, dumbass!" This was, of course, Kageyama. "Why the hell are you sleeping in a tree!?"

Hinata looked down, and spotting Asahi who didn't seem any worse for wear aside from the way he appeared to be almost crying, relaxed, hopping down to the next branch underneath him, and continuing this process until he reached the last one a couple feet off the ground, jumping off and landing with no visible effort. This close, the previous worry returned, because he looked exhausted. His skin, usually a light golden color, now looked paler and almost sallow. Deep purple circles lined the underside of his eyes, and even as he seemed fairly energetic, there was a clear exhaustion there that they had never seen before.

"But, I always sleep in trees…" He trailed off at their looks, seeming confused. Without warning, he turned to Asahi. "Why did you sound so upset earlier, Asahi-senpai? I was so worried I woke up!"

Daichi finally spoke. "He was panicking because we couldn't find you and were worried, and when we did, you turned out to be up in a tree! So then, what do you have to say for yourself?" The dark atmosphere surrounding him was enough to make even Hinata look slightly impressed, which made Daichi feel unreasonably proud, considering how ridiculously hard it was for Hinata to even notice intimidation tactics.

"Ah, I had a long night. These weirdos were bothering me, and so when I was chased near this school around 5, I managed to run in and lose them by climbing this tree. I decided to sleep here, because it's a pretty good tree, I guess I didn't wake up in time for school. Don't worry, next time I'll just stay awake until school starts!" He sounded inordinately pleased with himself for having come up with this idea, completely missing everyone's terrifying expressions. Nishinoya and Tanaka now resembled Deva statues.

"What was that about weirdoes bothering you?" Kageyama snarled irritably.

"Yeah, I was walking back home for dinner, and these annoying guys surrounded me. They were starting to act like sexual harassment-sama, but we weren't friends so I wasn't going to go along with it. I springboarded off one of the taller ones shoulder, and jumped on the roof to run away. There were a lot of them though, so each time I got away from one I ran into another. It was pretty irritating, like when those kids would try to beat me up except taller." He grouched, saying a lot of serious things like he was talking about the weather. Really, it showed just how tired he was, because usually even when he was dealing with that sort of situation he still sounded energetic.

"Hey, can you remember what they looked like?" Tsukishima asked casually, sounding like he didn't particularly care. In his pocket though, he had a recorder so he could properly remember all the details. It certainly wouldn't be related to him if the details "coincidentally" made their way to the police.

"Why?" Hinata tilted his head questioningly, the sheer adorability, forcing them to look away.

"Curiosity, and I want to make sure to avoid them," was his smooth reply. Hinata nodded, satisfied with this reasoning, and began listing off everything he could remember of them. It was actually pretty impressive, the sheer amount of information he had retained.

There were 16 guys, and he was able to list off the facial features, clothes, hairstyle, body type, and how each ones voice sounded, for a few he could even give their names, due to having heard the men calling to each other. Actually, it was really impressive, that he had managed to notice and remember all of these things despite the situation he had been in.

"Hey, why don't you have that kind of memorization when it comes to schoolwork?" Yamaguchi muttered, but Hinata heard him, and gave an irritated huff.

"I could, but it's really boring, and not related to volleyball." He said this as though he thought it was perfectly reasonable, oblivious to the dead fish eyes he was receiving. Sugawara, bless him, spoke up then.

"You do realize that if your grades aren't up to par, you won't be allowed to play, right?"

Now Hinata was the one sporting dead fish eyes.

"What."

"Hey," Kageyama interrupted, having been silent ever since Hinata's explanation as to what happened. Who's that 'sexual harassment-sama' you mentioned?"

"Yeah!" Nishinoya added, "what kind of name is that, anyways?"

"Eh, it's not his real name. I just started calling him that after this one incident a while ago. We're childhood friends, but I haven't seen him in a while. He's a really respected person from where I come from, but he's actually a brat who keeps saying I belong to him."

"What." The entire team's voice said as one.

"Like I said. A real brat. He really hasn't changed since we were kids."

"Well, whatever," Daichi finally said, the topic of conversation beginning to irritate him, "just don't worry us like that again."

"Alright!" Hinata said cheerfully, "I'll make sure I don't sleep in any trees where you might see me."

Eyebrow beginning to twitch, the captain felt a headache coming on. "That's really not what I meant."

Before de-aging

"Why me?" Otsuki muttered to himself angrily, staring at the sleeping form of his childhood friend. Seriously, why did Hinata have to be so overpoweringly sexy? When he hit second maturity at sixteen, he had only become so overpoweringly attractive that it couldn't be ignored anymore. He hadn't enjoyed dealing with it at the time, thinking it was bad enough, but now he wished he had been more grateful. Because when Hinata reached his third, and final, maturity at 21, his features had taken a turn for the stunningly seductive. Now everyone around their age had taken notice, and were attempting to move on him, to which Hinata was completely oblivious. So it was up to Otsuki to defend his chastity.

Their species underwent three separate maturities. The first took place at eleven, and their magic would abruptly strengthen during it, though their appearance wouldn't change much, their abilities when it came to absorbing and utilizing information increased drastically. Second maturity, at sixteen, improved control over their magic, along with sharpening their features and making them considerably maturer, and in Hinata's case, attractive. Third maturity, at 21, increased their cognitive abilities, augmented their physical ones, and completely matured their features into those of an adult. Their magic would increase drastically as well, and this final maturity was especially important in that ones magic drastically increased bone density, getting rid of the previous crippling fragility.

In-between these sudden transitions, their appearance would change very little. Their height was generally almost done increasing when they hit second maturity, though sometimes they could gain another centimeter or two. Hinata had only recently come to terms with knowing he would never grow taller than his current 164cm.

Anyways, before he hit sixteen, Hinata's magic had actually concealed his appearance. Before sixteen, where you gained control, magic was mostly instinctive, borderline sentient, reacting in order to protect its wielder. Hinata, due to his mother's words, had thought his appearance would cause others to hate him, and so his magic reacted to this fear without him knowing and made it nearly impossible to focus on his appearance enough to look at him properly. You were aware of him, but you simply didn't think on his appearance. As he grew closer to his second maturity, this began to weaken enough that extremely observant people might notice him, and once he reached it his magic no longer acted on its own, completely under his control and considering him old enough to defend himself, thusly letting people look at him properly for the first time.

Otsuki dealt with many problems during that time. People eventually got the hint, though.

Anyways, when he was de-aged, Hinata's magic would revert as well, so he would be protected until he was sixteen at least. However, when he reached that age, Otsuki wouldn't be able to protect him from lecherous eyes this time. He stared at Hinata's face, eyes trailing over delicate features, a few orange strands of hair delicately resting across his face, and full lips that he knew from experience tasted delicious. Gradually, his face began to turn red, and he started having trouble staying still. Without thinking, he leant closer, but just as he was about to kiss the other, Hinata rolled away. This snapped him out of it, and he quickly left (aka fled) before he repeated the action that earned him this nickname.

Ultimately, Hinata would probably be fine. No one stood much of a chance against him considering his absurd strength, though he hated people getting hurt so Hinata probably wouldn't use it unless someone else was at risk, but that was making him worry more, things aren't going to be okay, are they? Well, he usually brought out the protective instincts in just about everything, so hopefully he'd be alright.

Pudding Cats that are Unusually Observant

"Hey, hey~! What're you playing?" Kenma Kozume looked up to see the sun personified jumping around him, occasionally looking excitedly at the game he was currently working on. The introvert began to feel exhausted just watching him, and thus he spoke.

"Eh~, it's a new RPG that recently came out." He then went back to his game, attempting to clearly display disinterest in the other.

"Oh, cool! I was jogging and got lost, but then saw you, so I came over!" Sunshine seemed to think this was a good enough reason to approach a random person on the street.

'Stranger danger…' Kenma thought dryly, while saying that "I'm lost as well, so I sat down and started playing this game," before continuing to not respond. He wasn't good with people, and they tired him out, but they always got fed up when he didn't give a proper response. This guy should be the same, no matter how cheerful his personality was.

However, the orange-haired boy instead continued the one-sided conversation despite the lackluster response, and gradually, Kenma actually began to enjoy the other's presence. As if sensing the change (animals were very sensitive, did you know?) Hinata seemed even more excited, eventually giving out his name and getting a "Kozume Kenma" in return.

After a while of this, Kenma looked up when Hinata abruptly went silent, finally getting a good look at the other, and almost blushing when he did. He had spent a lot of time around Kuroo, who was a naturally attractive person, but this guy was on a whole other level. When he had looked up earlier he was so focused on his bright personality that he somehow didn't notice, but now that Hinata was still, even someone as apathetic as himself couldn't help but notice just how inhumanly good-looking he was. Seriously, he had seen photoshopped models that looked average in comparison. This was ridiculous.

Currently, orange eyes were locked onto his volleyball uniform, though he knew from that angle Hinata couldn't see which team he was on. After a few moments of staring, during which Kenma noticed the "Karasuno" on his shirt, a slow, predatory ("Sexy", his hormones whispered. "Shut up, that's out of character" he replied) grin grew on his face. He had really nice lips. And skin. And teeth. His bone structure was also rather attractive, and the bright hair and abnormal eye color matched him well-

No. Stop it. Bad thoughts.

For once, even if it came in handy as the setter of Nekoma, he wished he weren't quite so observant. Because this was very distracting.

"Hey, is your team strong?" Hinata's voice was much calmer, and there was a far greater intensity to it. It was like facing off with a bird of prey.

"It was, then it went downhill for a while. I think it's pretty good right now, though." His voice and blank expression gave none of his internal feelings away.

"Eh~, that's pretty cool. Do you like playing volleyball, Kenma?"

"It's really exhausting, but my friends play it."

"Oooh~, So you really like it then!" Somehow, Hinata was getting weird messages from his words.

"That's not what I said."

"But it is what you feel." Kenma's golden eyes widened the slightest bit in shock, but of course Hinata caught it. Ravens had sharp eyes.

"Eh, don't worry about it though~, cause you're really pretty cool, Kenma!" He seriously couldn't see how that related to the previous topic, but Kenma went along with it anyway. He blinked in shock, however, when an arm came down across his shoulders. Tilting his head to see, he gave a small huff at seeing it was Kuroo. Hinata relaxed at seeing this (and when had he tensed?), going back to bouncing around energetically.

"Oya oya? Kenma, who's this chibi-chan?" Bedhead, as dubbed in Hinata's mind, asked.

"Kuroo. This is Hinata." Was Kenma's bland reply.

"Nice to meet you, bedhead!" Was Hinata's cheery reply, before he turned back to Kenma. "Since he found you, looks like you aren't lost anymore! I'm gonna go find my way back home, so see ya around!" Turning, the energetic teen began to run away, though he abruptly turned back, shocking the two. "I've got this weird feeling we'll see each other again soon, though I'm not sure why. My instincts are pretty good though, so I guess we'll meet again, Kenma, Bedhead!" This time, he really did leave, and the two looked slightly impressed at his speed.

"Oya, that was an experience." Kuroo smirked in amusement, before he seemed to remember something.

"Hey, was he calling me bedhead?"

"It seems he understands you well."

"Ooh, that hurts, Kenma!"

The pudding haired boys lips twitched slightly, and he gave a lazy blink. "You know, I'm somewhat looking forward to our next game against Karasuno."

"Oh? That's new. Then, it seems I'm getting excited too."

Neither paid any attention when a raven flew overhead in the direction their rival school was in, already heading back together.

Omake: Several years in the future, group meeting

A large gathering of college students, who were all volleyball lovers, though they also were involved in other subjects, were sitting together with a serious atmosphere surrounding them. Also involved as he was, Otsuki the golden-haired pretty-boy raven prince was also present, though no one noticed his looks considering how much time they spent around Hinata.

Even though quite a few of them went to different colleges that were far away from each other, most of the teams had somehow ended up going to the same places as their teammates. Quite a few of them had ended up together as well, such as Bokuto and Akaashi, Lev and Yaku, Oikawa and Iwaizumi, and several other people. They were meeting like this for the same reason though.

Bokuto was the one who spoke, standing dramatically as he did so. "Obviously, none of us are getting anywhere as things are! Sabotaging each other's attempts like we have been clearly is setting us back as well, which essentially means one thing!" He paused for effect. It was somewhat ruined with his next, tearful sentence though. "I don't care who he's with, or how many, just as long as I'm one of them! He's so oblivious that without all of us attempting to convince him, he probably won't ever notice a thing! Rather than setting each other back along with everyone else and ourselves, we should push forward together!"

The rest of the group nodded in agreement. A few years ago they wouldn't have agreed to this. However, things were becoming desperate. They had been attempting to get him to notice their affections for years, Otsuki even longer than the rest, and it was beginning to wear on them. Now with a full understanding of his density, they knew this was their only option. Sure, some of them had gotten with each other, and they were happy and loved one another wholeheartedly. But considering both partners wanted him, things were only magnified by each other. Having experienced it, their dreams abruptly got a lot more explicit, and often included threesomes.

To be blunt, so long as they got him, it was fine if the others did too. They couldn't handle it much longer.

"Then," Akaashi spoke up, voice cool as ever, "we are in agreement. Rather than get in each other's way, we will provide support. All for the sake of getting Hinata to notice us."

There was a loud chorus of agreements.

"Man, Iwa-chan," Oikawa muttered to his partner, "who would have thought things would escalate to this point, ne?"

"It couldn't be helped. We stood no chance." Iwaizumi gracefully admitted defeat.

"True, Chibi-chan really isn't someone you can resist so easily, ha~."

A/N: characters are introduced, and you see what will occur a few years into the future. We also have a nice flashback/explanation kinda section.