The Cat and the Crow

[I CAN’T BELIEVE KARASUNO IS JOINING US AT CAMP!]
[Bokuto, you said that already.]
[He’s clearly still in shock.]
[I KNOW YOU AIN’T TRYIN TO PLAY IT COOL, KUROO!]
[Seriously, is your phone set to all caps?]
[I don’t know what he did, but I can’t fix it back. That said, he’s right, you know.]
[I’M ALWAYS RIGHT!]
[You switch sides so well, Akaashi.]
[Is he wrong, though?]

Kuroo dropped his phone on his chest and chuckled. It was the night before the weekend practice camp, and he was supposed to have been asleep hours ago. It was a good thing his friends were also awake, otherwise, he’d have to go wake up Kenma, and that would likely be an unmitigated disaster. Just to make sure, he rose up to look out the window at Kenma’s house. The curtains had been left parted, and he could easily see Kenma sprawled on his bed. Yeah, just like he thought. Out cold. Sighing, he settled back down, picked up his phone and reopened the chat.

[HE COULDN’T HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP, AKAASHI.]
[Bokuto, you’re an owl. Not everyone can stay up as late as you.]
[Kenma can. But he’s already asleep. As we should be.]
[KUROO, YOU ASS! WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY ANYTHING?!]
[I was only gone for five minutes, good grief.]
[Five minutes equals five years for him.]
[AKAASHI!!]
[For the sake of at least attempting some kind of sleep: No, Akaashi. He’s not wrong.]
[I’M NEVER WRONG!]
[I appreciate your answer, Kuroo. You go get some sleep. I’m going to get the owl out of the rafters, and then attempt the same.]
[HEY! STOP IGNORING ME!]
[See both of you tomorrow.]
[You mean later.]

Kuroo muted the chat and then checked the time. It was almost 2am, and camp started at 830am. Karasuno was due to arrive around 7am. He knew he’d have to meet with Sawamura first, to explain how camp worked, but after that, he was going to meet up with Bokuto and Akaashi. He had an idea he wanted to run by them, concerning a certain blonde middle blocker. Also, he needed to get Kenma to run interference with the weirdo duo, if needed. Though, if he remembered correctly, those two would be more concerned with their game than with anything going on around them.

Rolling over, he smiled as he looked out at the moon and stars. Running on a few hours of sleep before a full day of practice wasn’t new to him. He’d done it countless times in the last couple years. But this year, things were a little different, and he wanted to see where this would lead him.

5am [alarm goes off]

Kuroo grabbed his phone and shut off the alarm. It felt like he’d only just shut his eyes to sleep a few minutes ago, and now he had to get moving or be late. In one motion, he threw the blanket off and sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He’d purposely set the alarm for as late as possible, and still be on time to meet the team at school. Kicking his legs off the bed, he stood up, scrubbed a hand through his unruly hair, grabbed a towel and a change of clothes. Just thinking about camp, and who was going to be there, motivated him to get moving. A cold shower would definitely help wake him up, too.

6am [Nekoma High]

“Glad you could make it, Cap,” Yaku said sarcastically as Kuroo entered the club room. “Thought you’d be running late.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered. “Almost did, but whatever.” Yaku snorted, and he smirked at his friend and fellow 3rd year. “Anyone show up yet?”

“No,” Yaku replied. “Though Fukurodani is due in first. Coach has been in contact with them.”

“Gotcha. Thanks for the update.”

He set his bag down and unzipped it, taking out his volleyball shoes first. Underneath them was his phone, a spare towel, an additional t-shirt and shorts for tomorrow’s practice, a smaller bag with toiletries, and at the bottom, an outfit for later tonight. If everything went as planned, then the four of them would be going out for a little while. Nothing too fancy, considering his blondie would likely not be prepared. The place wasn’t far from the school, and he knew they couldn’t be out too late, or risk getting caught.

Of course, everything hinged on blondie even agreeing to go in the first place…

Kuroo wasn’t going to worry too much about that now. “See ya at the gym,” he said as he zipped his bag and put it on the shelf. Grabbing his shoes, and one of the towels the team kept in the club room, he ran out the door and down to the cafeteria. Parents of team members had put together a breakfast for them, and he was hungry. Checking the time on the wall clock, he still had a half hour to spare. With that in mind, he chose a rolled omelet, a bowl of rice, and miso soup. Seeing they had fruit also available, he snagged a couple bananas. He joined Kai and Fukunaga at a table, and tucked in to breakfast.

7:15am [Karasuno arrives]

As he walked out to meet Sawamura, Kuroo glanced at all the other players, finding the one he was looking for. Clearly, he wasn’t much of a morning person, because the libero had to push him forward, with another player tagging along behind. They were gathering near the gym, and Kuroo went to play host.

“You guys feel free to head to the gym whenever you’re ready,” he told Sawamura and the other two 3rd years. “The rest of our players are already there, and we’ll be waiting for you.”

“Got it,” Sawamura replied. So serious, Kuroo thought as he made his way to the gym. As soon as he explained the practice rotations and penalties to the Karasuno captain, he had to talk to Bokuto and Akaashi. Luckily, Fukurodani was the first team they’d be facing this morning.

8:30am [Camp begins]

“After you and your teammates finish warming up, you’ll be in this group. Then, everyone will rotate teams every game,” Kuroo said as they stood on the sidelines.

“Sounds good,” Sawamura replied simply.

“And after each set, all losing teams have to do a flying lap around the court.”

“Mmhmm.”

Explaining a few more things, he shook hands with Sawamura, and then ambled over to where his team and Fukurodani were warming up. He quickly made eye contact with Bokuto and Akaashi, and gestured them over to him. He’d chosen a relatively private spot off the court and smiled as soon as they came over.

“Which one is he?” Bokuto asked, blatantly looking at the Karasuno team.

Akaashi moved over a bit in an attempt to cover Bokuto’s curiosity. “You’ve been deliberately vague this whole time,” he looked pointedly at Kuroo. He was also looking toward the Karasuno court, but not nearly as obvious as Bokuto.

When Kuroo didn’t answer right away, Akaashi followed his gaze, seeing a tall, lanky, blonde middle blocker in the back starting position. He was wearing a white t-shirt, a bright yellow tank with the number 11 on it, black shorts with a large white stripe down the side, and green striped white volleyball shoes. At the moment, he was receiving a serve, which was sloppy, but the rest of the team recovered.

“It’s him, isn’t it?” he asked Kuroo, turning back to look at him. “The blonde?”

Kuroo blinked a few times, as if coming out of a trance, and smiled at Akaashi. “Yeah, that’s him,” he replied simply. With a glance at the gym clock, he started stretching, and the others followed suit. “We don’t have much time, but I need you to get him to join us for lunch. I’ll ask him to join us tonight. Also, it might be difficult, seeing as how he hasn’t met either of you, and may only barely remember me, but we can at least try.”

“And if he doesn’t agree?”

“I can only hope that won’t happen. But if it does, then it isn’t like we won’t see each other again. We’ll be at Shinzen in two weeks, and camp is an entire week. I can try again, then.”

“I have an idea for that,” Bokuto said. “I’ll tell you about it later. Time to start our game. C’mon, Akaashi!” Akaashi rolled his eyes, but followed Bokuto to their side of the net. With one last, long look at Karasuno’s middle blocker, Kuroo finished his stretches, and went to join his team.