Captured By The Crow

First Meeting

It was by coincidence that we actually met. I was in my second year of high school when our volleyball team took a trip from Tokyo down to Miyagi to play a team known as our former rivals called Karasuno. As usual, I was too focused on my phone to realize that I had split from the team and found myself lost in a region I had no idea how to navigate. I sat down near a street sign and opened my phone to text Kuroo so he could find me, as I often got lost and he ended up having to find me.

[Kenma]

I am lost. Help.

[Kuro]

Stay where you are.

[Kuro]

I'll find you.

[Kenma]

Thanks.

I close the text messaging app on my phone and open a solitaire app, a game I usually play just to pass the time. I had gotten good enough to clear the piles within a minute and under 100 moves, but I always tried to play another round just to see if I could get a new highscore. I was doing this when I met him. I hear footsteps behind me but I do not hear my name being called so I assume that it is just some random passersby.

"What are you doing?" I look up, a bit startled as he approaches me. I notice that he is a short male with unique orange hair, but what really catches my eye is the text on his shirt that says 'Karasuno High School'. I think to myself Kuro hurry up and find me.

"Umm...I'm lost" I manage to say. I should feel a bit nervous just talking to this random stranger but something about him just captivates me, as if I'm being pulled by some object with gravitational force.

"You're from out of town?" I just nod my head and give a 'yeah' as an answer before I go back to my game, my go to for awkward situations. He jumps down in front of me and I resist the urge to flee. For some reason, he asks about my game as if he has never played a game in his life. Surely he can't be living under a rock I think to myself.

"Huh?? Are you a volleyball player?? Those are volleyball shoes!!" He stands up and points at my bag. I look over and notice that it is partially unzipped, exposing my volleyball shoes. I nod my head yes, not exactly knowing what to expect from this stranger.

"I'm in a volleyball club too! I'm Hinata Shouyou!" I wonder why he is telling me his name, but I put two and two together, figuring that he must be a member of the Karasuno High School volleyball team, one which my team would play soon.

"I'm Kozume...Kozume Kenma" I tell him, just trying to be polite since he had already introduced himself. He introduces himself as a first year in high school and I tell him that I am a second year, which makes him jump a bit as though he was taken aback.

"Umm...do you like volleyball?" He asks me. I shrug, knowing that I am only doing it for Kuro since he was the one that convinced me to play in the first place.

"I kind of just do it" I reply. He rants on about volleyball and I can't help but look at him as he talks about his team. I occasionally answer questions he asks but I focus more on him talking, putting away my phone for now. He asks me what school I go to but before I can answer him, I hear Kuro calling my name. I pick up my bag and stand up, ready to leave with Kuro. I wave at him, smiling a little bit as I walk away. "See ya soon, Shouyou."

Kuro smirks at me as we walk to regroup with the others, no doubt surprised that I was able to interact with someone who was not part of the Nekoma High School volleyball team. We walk for what feels like forever before he finally speaks.

"So you finally made a new friend" he asks me but it comes out more like a statement instead of a question.

"I did not" I say, pulling out my phone again to distract myself, knowing deep down that I just may have made a new friend.

"You did"

"Did not"

"Did"

"Did not"

We go back and forth for what feels like an hour when he finally stops, although he knows that he won and is correct. I sigh and just think of the next few days, when we get to face Karasuno in a practice match and I get to see how well Shouyou can play volleyball.