The Cat and the Crow

The minute they were off the bus, Takeda explained that this trip to Tokyo, and one more to Shinzen, would be the last chance to get practice in with these teams before the national prelims. Coach Ukai wanted them to spend as much time as they could working on their new total offense and total defense rotations, as well as everything else.

Kei was already thinking ahead. He wanted to practice his blocking, and Kuroo was the best when it came to read blocking. What he’d found odd was that none of the squad was out to meet them, not even Kuroo. And he wasn’t the only one to notice. But, considering they were a little late due to a traffic tie-up on the way, Kei figured they were already practicing.

“Come on, guys,” Daichi said, clapping his hands for attention. “Let’s get our stuff put away and get to the gym. We have work to do.”

“Yeah!” they all responded, and took off.

“Wonder why they didn’t come to meet you,” Tadashi said from beside him, as they unloaded their stuff in the team room and changed into their practice clothes..

“Dunno,” Kei replied. “We arrived late, so camp already started when we got here.”

“Would that have really stopped them, though? Even Kuroo?”

“I don’t know,” Kei repeated quietly. He knew how excited Kuroo was to see him again, and vice versa. They’d even been texting about it nearly the entire trip here. Akaashi was also happy he was coming, and had said he was looking forward to seeing him again. Bokuto had been strangely silent.

“Look, we gotta hurry down to the gym,” Kei said, looking at the clock on the wall. He picked up the cooler pack he’d brought with him, filled with the pork dumplings, dipping sauce, and manju. “I need to take a side trip to the kitchen, but I’ll be there, okay?”

“Okay,” Tadashi replied. “Hurry.”

“Right.”

A little bit later, Kei was walking into the gym, along the sidelines, to get to his team. He saw that Nekoma was playing Ubugawa, and Fukurodani against Shinzen. Nekoma was almost done playing, so Karasuno would be using that court as soon as they were ready. Picking up his pace a bit, he’d almost made it past the second court, when he heard a ball slamming hard to the ground, and someone shouting his name. Out of the side of his eye, he saw the ball careening toward his head, and he quickly put up his arm to block it.

Strays happen all the time, so Kei was about to shrug this one off as an accident. But once the ball cleared his vision, he noticed a couple things: Bokuto was staring hard at him, and both Kuroo and Akaashi were staring at Bokuto. Confused, he kept going, and met up with his teammates for warm-ups.

[Something’s… Off]

“Tell me you weren’t aiming that,” Akaashi confronted Bokuto after winning their set. They had a few minutes until their next practice set against Ubugawa, and Akaashi had to practically drag Bokuto off the court.

“Oh, he was aiming,” Kuroo confirmed, having met up with them. “That was so obviously intentional, even the coaches noticed.”

“Yeah, so I aimed that spike. He was looking sleepy, so I decided to wake him up a little.”

Kuroo blinked. He hadn’t expected Bokuto to admit it, at least not right away, nor did he expect that angry tone of voice. While it was an obvious excuse for a blatant hit, he still hadn’t expected it. Covering his surprise, he took a minute to scrub his towel over his face and head. When he looked at Akaashi, he saw an expression he almost never saw: anger. Did he know what was going on with Bokuto?

“I don’t know what your problem is,” he said, turning back to Bokuto. “But you’ve been acting weird ever since I got back from Miyagi.”

Bokuto focused that owl-like glare on him, looking both angry and offended. But instead of talking, or even shouting, he just turned and stalked off, leaving both Akaashi and Kuroo staring after him.

“Do you know why he’s acting that way?” Kuroo asked quietly.

Akaashi shrugged. “I have my suspicions,” he answered vaguely, squinted in the direction Bokuto had gone. “I’m going to catch up to him and try to get him calmed down before the next set.”

“Right. Don’t need him going full emo-mode…” he paused when Akaashi shook his head.

“That’s not emo-mode, or sad-mode. This is something entirely different.” He started off after Bokuto. “See you at lunch!”

“Yeah. Right.”

Rejoining his team, he sat with them in the bleachers, taking a break before their next set. He sat next to Kenma, who was more asleep than awake, but at least acknowledged his presence with a grin. Kuroo grinned back, and then set his sights on a certain blonde middle blocker. From what he could see, Tsuki was fine, unfazed by the spike Bokuto had sent his way. In fact, Tsuki’s complete attention was on the ball every time it went up, and he was reacting almost immediately.

“You’ve taught him well, Master Blocker,” Kenma said quietly. “He’ll be a formidable foe if we get to play them at nationals.”

“Not if, Kenma. When. When we play them.”

“You’re still so certain about that.”

“I have a feeling this year will be our chance.”

“Hmmm,” Kenma agreed vaguely. Then, after a few minutes’ silence, “Keep your eye on Bokuto.”

“What? Why?”

“Nothing serious. Not really. Just a suspicion,” Kenma answered cryptically. “What do you think would cause Bokuto to act completely against his loud, boisterous nature?” When Kuroo didn’t immediately answer, Kenma said quietly, “think about it, okay?”

It didn’t take him long to figure it out, at all. And now, he had to figure out a way to fix this before things went spiralling out of control.

[BFF vs. BF]

At lunch, they met in the little courtyard behind the cafeteria. Except, Bokuto was noticeably absent. Akaashi was apologetic, and stayed long enough to compliment Kei on the dumplings and manju. He asked if he could take a few for Bokuto, and then left, offering yet another apology.

“Is something wrong?” he asked Kuroo, who looked both sad and irritated. Maybe even a little angry. “Is it about this morning?”

“You knew he was aiming for you, right?”

“Not at first. But when I saw his eyes, I knew it wasn’t an accident.”

“Yeah,” Kuroo agreed, reaching over to run his fingers through Kei’s hair.

“I thought he liked me,” Kei said thoughtfully. “I guess I read it wrong, and he hasn’t liked me much at all.”

“It isn’t that,” Kuroo tried to assure him, moving closer so he could wrap his arms around him. “Not completely, anyhow. This is all on me, and he’s starting to take it out on you.”

“But, I’m the newbie, the interloper,” Kei said sadly.

Kuroo reached up, and gently took Kei’s face in his hands, making sure he had all of his attention. “Stop it. None of this is your fault. Don’t you dare go blaming yourself. I’ll figure out how to fix this.”

“But, I…” Kei wasn’t able to finish that. Kuroo leaned in to kiss him deeply.

“No buts,” Kuroo said once they caught their breath. “It’s not your fault. Understand?”

Kei could only nod, and kept his thoughts to himself.

The rest of lunch was spent quietly, with Kuroo trying desperately to lift Kei’s spirits. He encouraged him on his read blocking, spoke fondly about last weekend, and managed to get a laugh or two after a particularly funny joke. But the mood hadn’t lifted completely, and it was time to go back.

It was just his luck that the first set after lunch would be against Fukurodani. As soon as he started warming up with the team, Kei stole a glance at Bokuto, who didn’t look any different from this morning. He wished he had Tanaka’s mental fortitude right now, because once Bokuto caught him looking, he sneered, and Kei knew he was in for a rough time.

[Subbed Out]

By the middle of the set, it was plainly obvious that Bokuto was gunning for Kei. Every cross-court shot, every line shot, was slammed in his direction. He’d had to tape his fingers from the amount of times the ball grazed his hands on a one-touch. Everyone playing saw what was happening, and yet there wasn’t much to be done to stop it. Minor injuries didn’t usually stop games, or even practices. It wasn’t until a particularly nasty cut shot glanced off his fingers and hit his head, causing him to land funny and practically topple both himself and Daichi.

“Time! TIME!!” Coach Ukai yelled, running over to the refs and meeting with the Fukurodani coaches, while Takeda-sensei ran out onto the court.

“Are you alright?” he asked as soon as he got there.

Kei nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“There’s a fairly large abrasion where the ball hit your face. How about your feet and ankles? It looked like you landed weird. Are they okay, too?”

Kei walked a few steps. “Fine, mostly. My toes are tingling, though.”

Kiyoko came over, handing him an ice pack and a towel for his face, as well as his glasses.

“How are your eyes?”

“They’re fine,” he answered, taking his glasses and putting them on. “I can still play.”

“I know you can, but I’d rather be one hundred percent sure, okay?” Coach Ukai said as soon as he joined them. “Go get checked out. Narita, get out here!”

As soon as the substitution was made, Kei left with Yachi to go to the nurse’s office. He didn’t notice how everything had stopped in the gym, nor that Bokuto had also been subbed out. He didn’t see Akaashi grab Bokuto by the jersey and drag him out of the gym, and that neither of the Fukurodani coaches stopped him. And he didn’t see Kuroo, who was clearly torn between wanting to punch his best friend in the face, or following Kei out of the gym.