Haikyuu!! - Crows' Shadow

Chapter 7

"Oh, Kaoru-san's not here," Hinata rocked on his heels as peered into the gym early the next morning.

"Idiot, remember yesterday?  We lost," Kageyama had a very annoyed look on his face.

"R-Right," the orange head shrinked away with a chuckle.  "Anyways, let's go practice!"

--

"Good morning, senpai," Kaoru bowed her head a bit to the second-years passing her as she walked down the hallway.  For some reason, it felt more quieter...probably because Hinata and Kageyama weren't there?  Well, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, anyways, and Kaoru enjoyed the old silence.

Although...it was odd now.  The silence was...like a gap.

"Oh, Kaorucchi!" Misa suddenly appeared to her right, wrapping her arm around the chibi Suga's neck.  "What's up, you didn't go to the guys' practice?"

Oh, that's right, she doesn't know.  So Kaoru took a brief second to udpate her senpai before they moved on.

"Ehh?!  Daichi's such a stickler at times, that Papa Crow," Misa made a face, sighing.  "So I can't convince you at all to join the girls, ey?" she made a dry grimace.

Kaoru shook her head.  "Maybe I'll just go and watch the mock tournament.  Koshi said that he really wanted me to attend since it might be one of the few chances to go."

"Well, you have to be a member to go the event, though," Misa reminded her.  "And yeah, if you go...

"You'll see me crush Trashikawa's school~"

"Misa-senpai, you're killing the plants with your negative aura..."

---

 Oikawa sneezed as he dropped the ball.

The fangirls in the background twittered anxiously.  "Oh my, does Oikawa-kun have a cold?"  "I hope not..."

His ever-pleasing smile and wave convinced them that he was fine...until Iwaizume chucked the ball at his head.

---

"Oh, Kaoru-san!" Hinata suddenly ran up to the two of them.  "We missed you at practice this morning!  And Kiyoko-san was looking for you!"

Kaoru tilted her head.  "Now, why would that be...-"

"SHE MUST BE TRYING TO STEAL YOU AWAY FROM ME AGAIN," Misa's grin grew even wider.

Hinata shrinked away, but Kaoru reassured him, "This is normal, Shouyou-san.  Speaking of which, where's your partner...?"

"H-He's not my partner!" Hinata blushed, his hands curled into fists in front of him.  "He's an overbearing setter king who tosses for me!"

"Who is an overbearing king...?" said ravenette suddenly appeared behind Hinata ominously.

"H-Hiee!!!" Hinata hid behind Kaoru.

"Kaoru-san," Kageyama bowed his head a bit in Kaoru's direction, then at Misa.  "Tanaka-san."

"It's Misa-senpai to you!" Misa surprised everyone by flicking him in the forehead.  "Tch, all you freshies are full of energy~  Well, I'm off!"

Kaoru waved, as did Hinata, while Kageyama just stood there, fuming.

"Oya, oya, if it isn't the king and shrimp who have ticked off their senpai...and the shadow," Tsukishima noticed Kaoru after a bit.

"You were almost invisible again," Yamaguchi laughed.  "Were you even at practice?"

Kaoru shook her head.  "I was talking with Misa-senpai."

"Well, looks like Kiyoko-san is going to be gone for a month, which means she'll be gone during the mock tournament, so she wanted you to take her spot temporarily," Kageyama explained.

Kaoru raised an eyebrow.  "Really now?"

"Yeah!  And-hey!  You took what I was going to say!" Hinata shook a fist at Kageyama, then immediately shrank back.

The bell rang, signaling that classes were starting, so the five of them parted ways to go to their respective classes.  "Come to practice later, okay, Kaoru-san?" Hinata gave a childish smile and a wave.

Kaoru nodded.  "Okay," she sat down in her seat.

==

"Suga!  You've got a visitor!" someone opened the door and called to the setter who was in the middle of talking to some of his classmates.

When Sugawara got to the hallway, he was greeted by his cousin.  "What are you doing on this side?" he smiled, ruffling Kaoru's hair.  "How's class?"

"Class was fine," Kaoru had a faint blush on her cheeks, "But you forgot to take your lunch this morning."  She held out a bento that was almost identical to the other one in her hand.

"Oh, I did," Koushi's eyes grew wide a little.  "Thanks for remembering!" he took the bento.

"Also...do you know where I can find Kiyoko-senpai?" Kaoru shifted her feet, slightly nervous.

"Sure, she's in the last classroom down this hall," Sugawara pointed her in the right direction.  "I assume the others told you about that thing?"

Kaoru nodded, walking off.

"Hey, hey, hey, Suga!" two of his classmates came up behind him and caught him in a headlock.  "Who was that cute first year?  Aren't you a little old to be accepting feelings from someone as cute as her?"

"Yeah, yeah, she's more of my type," the other boy laughed.

The usual smile on his face disappeared as Sugawara slipped from the boy's grasp and twisted his arm in an almost playful way.  However, his face had a very annoyed look as he gave a forced smile and said, "Don't think you can hit on my cute cousin like that~"

"E-EH?!"

"Woaaah!  Someone got the happy Suga mad!"

"That's scary..."

Kaoru sneezed as she entered the classroom her older cousin had mentioned earlier.  "Kiyoko-senpai," she called out respectfully.

The beautiful ravenette looked up from her book and gave a hint of a smile when she saw who it was.  "I was looking for you earlier," she nodded, motioning Kaoru over.  "I need your help in managing the volleyball club while I'm gone for a month to go somewhere with my family."

Kaoru sat down in front of Kiyoko, nodding slowly.  "Sure, I'll do it...but...does Coach and Sensei know?"

"I already notified them, but some people on the team don't know-"

Their conversation was cut short by some loud yelling, and two familiar second-years ran into the classroom.  "KI-YO-KO-SAA-AN!!!" Nishinoya and Tanaka ran in.  "WHY ARE YOU LEAVING US TO GO ON A TRI-"

Kiyoko swiftly sent books flying into their faces.  "Like I said, some didn't know until recently, so I'm leaving the club in your hands."  Then she added with a slight blush, "Please take care of them."

Kaoru nodded.  "I'll do my best!"