Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to these characters. Any use of the anime or manga in this story is not mine either. They belong to their original creators.

As team Karasuno approached Shinzen High for the summer training camp, the excitement began to build. The boys have been practicing and training relentlessly since the verbal smack down that they had received from Nekoma's petite manager. The next test for the team would be to try to put all the pieces that they had been working on together. Daichi was aware of Asahi and Nishinoya practicing a fair amount together after school. The other crows have been diligent in their practices as well—except for Tsukishima. However, while everyone was aware that Hinata was training hard, no one was entirely sure just what all his training involved. The younger crow was wearing weights everywhere for some reason, but his speed didn't seem to be restrained all that much.

Once the bus parked at the school, the boys all exited and were met by some of Nekoma's members.

"Kenma!"

"Hi, Shoyo."

Kuroo grinned at his fellow captain in greeting and looked at the tiny middle blocker that Kagome had begun to train. Taking note of the weights that the crow was wearing, he hummed in thought. "Well, it looks like this training camp will be very interesting."

Daichi looked towards Hinata, "Do you know what kind of training Kagome-san has had Hinata doing?"

"Not a clue. But everything she assigns has a purpose, and she's far from through with him. The real question here is… when will you notice the results of her training?"

Confused, Daichi turned back to Kuroo. "What do you mean?"

"Kago-chan is a big believer in never revealing everything that you can do. It's something that her sensei pounded into her skull when she trained with him."

"If you think this all that it takes, then you'll go no further than you currently have, because you've already showed your hand. Every school here has seen your abilities and have already made adjustments to counter you." Daichi frowned as Kagome's words echoed through his mind as he considered the first year in question. "You think she'll teach Hinata to do the same."

"Oh, that's a certainty. Not even I know every trick she has up her sleeve—"

"Hey! Where's the Skytree? Oh! I bet that's the Tokyo Tower!"

Kenma winced a bit, "Um, no. That's just an ordinary transmission tower…"

Kuroo smirked at the first year's error and leaned over in Daichi's direction, "Hey what's with you guys mistaking transmission towers for the Sky Tree? Don't you have transmission towers in Miyagi? This is feeling like déjá vu."

Daichi groaned internally before coming to the defense of his teammates, "To everyone in Miyagi, all transmission towers look like the Tokyo Tower."

Sugawara winced at Daichi's poor justification, "Isn't that a gross overstatement? We're in Saitaima…"

"Oi, Hinata!" Lev dashed down to meet the group and greet his friend. "Did you grow any taller?"

"Lev…" Kenma sighed.

"What kinda question is that?! No grows in just a few weeks!" Hinata scowled.

"I grew two millimeters!" Lev proudly announced.

"Ack!"

Kuroo grinned, "Come on, let's get you guys settled in."

The crows gathered all their belongings off of the bus and made their way to the stairs up to the school entrance. Hinata's eyes landed on a familiar petite figure up ahead and straightened his shoulders to steady his nerves before making a beeline for her.

"Kagome-sensei."

She turned and he could feel her scanning his form, looking as if she could see every minute and hour that he had dedicated to her instructions. The world seemed to hold its breath, waiting for the verdict of the Tiny Tyrant—would he be deemed worthy, or would she smear him into the pavement? Hinata could barely hold himself still as his anxiety began to rise.

Smiling gently, Kagome finally stopped messing with her student. "Hinata-kun, I see that you have grown." She really shouldn't mess with the poor boy as much as she had, but he made it way too easy as he melted into a puddle of relief.

Looking to the rest of the crows, she raised a brow as she looked them all over. "In fact, it seems that you all have grown." The teens all puffed their chests with pride. "I look forward to seeing the results of your progress this week."

Determination grew within all the boys—crows and cats alike. This was the week for them to show everyone what they have been working on, and to develop themselves even further. As they began to enter the high school to get their things settled before practice began, Kagome called out to Hinata once more.

"Ne, Hinata-kun. Our practice will begin at 6am before breakfast. Don't be late."

"H-hai!"

All the teams gathered in the gyms where their practice matches began. Karasuno faced Fukurodani first, with Bokuto loudly declaring that their goal for the training camp was to have zero penalties. Something that Kuroo, of course took issue with.

"Stupid horned owl…"

Kagome giggled as she urged him onto the next court for their match against Shinzen. She couldn't help but glance over and watch the crows during their match. Hinata had to take the weights off of his arms for the match, but she nodded in approval when she saw that weights on his ankles remained. He ran forward and Fukurodani prepared themselves for the super-fast quick attack that the duo was known to favor. However, the toss that was sent to the small crow was not the same old toss and it fell short. Kagome slowly grinned as she watched the second attempt go too far and Hinata reached out with his left hand to bump it just barely over the net. The toss was different, it was stopping mid-air—it seemed that Karasuno's setter had been practicing how to improve his 'ultimate set.' Slowly as the match progressed the other teams watched as Karasuno attempted several new attacks that crashed and burned.

"Did they just try a synchronized attack?"

"They flubbed that big time."

Asahi attempted a jump serve that went out of bounds, much to his frustration. Then suddenly Nishinoya leapt forward to the front of the court after Suguwara's receive went of course.

Naoi and Nekomata were stunned, "He jumped from the back zone and into a libero's jump toss?" The exuberant libero stood frozen on the court as he processed that he had jumped to far forward and bypassed the ball completely.

Bokuto watched them with an easy grin as he wondered what the heck was wrong with his opponents. "Hey, hey, hey. What's up with them today? Are you guys alright?"

Kagome grinned at the match as she took in all the changes that Karasuno displayed. Naoi, like the rest of the teams, wondered what the heck happened to the crows—fearing that they weren't feeling well or somehow had gotten worse.

Nekomata laughed in delight, "They are doing very well, I think. Crows are onimvores. Whether they're in the depths of a forest or in the middle of Kabukicho, they'll just grab anything they can eat. They exploit anything stronger than them in order to survive."

"They are in the early stages of an evolution."

"Correct, Kagome-chan. And an astonishingly fast one at that. I guess we have your words of encouragement to thank for this development." Nekomata paused and considered one crow with a frown. "Well, not all crows are evolving. It seems that one is refusing to join the rest of the flock."

Naoi and Kagome looked over at the tallest crow with a sigh. Tsukishima seemed to just be going through the motions, and not giving his all in the match. An unfortunate outcome given the teens potential.

"Either he'll realize that he needs to improve, or he'll continue to be left behind. The choice is his."

As the practice matches began to wind down, all that was left was Shinzen and Ubugawa. Several players watched the final stages of the match and Kagome grinned as some of the younger crows took mental notes of the two teams.

"That was an amazing serve!" Hinata and Yamaguchi were shocked at how Ubugawa was able to shut out Shinzen after they managed to receive their serve.

Coach Ukai smirked "Serve-and-block. Destroy the opponent with the serve, and then try to limit the opponent's attack space and block. It's an ideal attack method the is second to a service ace."

Ogano scowled in frustration at Gora, "Fish lips…."

"Broccoli."

Kagome rolled her eyes and giggled as Kuroo was not one to be left out when mockery was involved. "Stop it. You're being rude to food."

"What did you say!?"

Kuroo waved them off with a grin as he snagged Kagome on his way out of the gym. "Ne, Kago-chan. Are you gonna come and hang out with us in Gym 3? I need to work on Lev's receives."

"Not tonight, I'm on the dinner rotation."

He pouted for a moment, "Well I guess I can forgive you for that."

Raising a brow at the rooster head, she deadpanned, "How magnanimous of you."

"Aren't I though?"

"Don't push it, Rooster Head."

Kuroo cackled as they went their separate ways.

Bokuto was not thrilled. He wanted to work on his spikes, but Kuroo was unable to block for him since he had to work on Lev's training.

"Kuroo! I need someone to block, what's the point of practicing my spikes if no one blocks?!"

"I told you airhead! I can't block for you tonight."

"Well who else is gonna block for me?"

Kuroo groaned in frustration and noticed movement in the corner of his eye outside of the gym. Finally, a way to shut up the stupid owl.

"Oi! You, Karasuno guy… You, with the glasses!" Kuroo mentally kicked himself for not knowing the taller first year's name, but it is what it is. "Can you block for us?"

Tsukishima stopped and frowned at the upperclassmen as they began to beckon him to the gym. "I'm about to go to bed. Sorry."

The third years were stunned, why the heck would he be turning in so early? "Hey, hey, hey. We can't work on our spikes if there's no one to block. Come on."

"Why me? Why not someone from Fukurodani?"

Akaashi stepped up to the doorway in hopes of helping the 3rd years lure the middle blocker into practicing with Bokuto. "There's no limit to Bokuto's spike training. So everyone always runs away."

"And I'm busy training this guy, so I can't help."

Lev was sprawled on the floor in misery, "I told you, I can help you block!"

"Shut up! If you want to be a Nekoma regular, then you need to be able to receive a ball worth a damn!" As Lev whimpered in a corner, Kuroo looked back to the blonde and pointed at the frustrated owl. "He may not look like it, but he's among the top 5 spikers in the country. It's be great practice for you too."

Bokuto puffed up his chest in pride at his ranking.

"But he somehow didn't make it into the top three…"

Kuroo patted him on the back as he flinched at Akaashi's words. "Don't mind him."

"If you want to roast me, then scram!"

"And since you are a middle blocker, shouldn't you practice to improve your blocking?"

With that last dig from Kuroo, Tsukishima marched into the gym, every step radiating with annoyance. Bokuto gave a wide grin and a thumbs up, he had a middle blocker for practice.