Clawed & Flawed: A Nekoma Story

Chapter 9

Monday – 8 A. M.

After walking to school together, Kuroo and Kenma went their separate ways as the morning bell rang profusely. The towering middle blocker took a seat at his designated table; the last seat closest to the window. Being almost 190 cm tall hindered any other student from seeing past his head should he be seated anywhere else. Since then, he had always sat at the back row of every class.

"Hey, let's switch seats," a student slumped their book bag on his table.

"Huh?" he looked up lazily.

"C'mon, just for one day," the stranger pointed at the seat in front of his.

'Wait, she looks just like Shiro with really long hair. Could she be his sister? Did he mention about a sibling? Yeah, maybe she's the one staying with the Coach' he was stunned for a split second.

"Hello?" the girl waved a hand in front of his face and batted her luscious eyelashes. "You can just say no. It's fine."

Just as she was about to turn around and yank her bag off the table, Kuroo reached out and grabbed her wrist. He stood up and changed seats without uttering another word. A classmate leaned over and whispered into the captain's ear.

"Do you know her? I heard that she was some sort of a delinquent back in London, that's why she got transferred here so suddenly. For a foreigner, she does look pretty local. I bet she can't write kanji for shit."

"Should you really be trash-talking about a new kid like that?" the subject of the conversation retorted.

"Eek! She understands me?" the random classmate retreated to his seat next to Kuroo.

"Hehehe... Nice one, Ryohei," the athlete teased; still avoiding eye contact with the girl.

The students scrambled around as their homeroom teacher entered the classroom. Kuroo managed to steal glances of the person behind him through the reflection on the window. He was still deep in his own thought; puzzling through the riddle.

'That voice, the color of the hair, those eyes, and even the confidence, or rather, bluntness to spit out a snide comment. They must be related,' he put a hand on his chin and closed his eyes.

"Kuroo?" the teacher called out.

"Huh?"

'Crap, I was zoning out and completely missed her request.'

"Yes, Yuki-sensei," he decided to reply.

"So, it's decided then. You will be in-charge of helping her around until she's fully settled in. Thank you for your contribution. Now, shall we get going with the science homework from last week?"

Students groaned and filled the air with complaints as the teacher calmly erased the whiteboard to write down a new set of questions. Everybody seemed to have forgotten about the existence of the new student altogether. Now was the only time that Kuroo could get away with talking to his classmate.

"H-hey, are you sure you're okay with sitting behind me?" he decided to ask an icebreaker question.

"Yeah, this is fine. Besides," she leaned in to whisper. "Your deltoids aren't big enough to be a distraction."

'Eek! For something so blunt, that definitely felt like a blade right into my dignity as the captain of a sports club,' he looked down at his notebook meekly.

"Don't worry though. Starting today, I'll get everyone in shape just in time for the Inter High," she casually muttered before opening her notebook. "In exchange, I want you to tutor me."

"Huh? Inter High? Everyone?" Kuroo whipped his head around and exclaimed. "Shiro?!"

"Hmm?" the girl tilted her head.

"Tetsuro! If you can't keep your eyes on the board, I don't know where else I can move you to," the lecturer scolded followed by faint giggling from his classmates.

"Do you already have a crush on the new girl? That's so unlike you, Kuroo," Yaku mouthed from the other end of the classroom.

"Erg... Shut up! It's not like that," the captain swiftly threw an eraser at his head.

"Quiet down or I'll add 10 extra questions just for you two," Yuki-sensei halted in the middle of a question. "Understand?"

"Yes, sensei," the two culprits answered while staring at each other with contempt.

Shiro sighed, folded her arms on the table, and rested her head on it. The first period of the day went on smoothly as they discussed the answer to the previous homework and proceeded to the next chapter. Kuroo felt weird not being seated at the back of the class. He caught some glances from his surrounding but decided to avoid further confrontation and focused on his own work.

He didn't even dare to glimpse at the student behind him. Her remark from earlier confirmed his much-dreaded suspicion. The memory flashed before his eyes. On her first day, he changed out of his sweaty gym clothes in front of her. That was the reason she was so flustered and appalled. One by one, the jigsaw pieces fell into place and formed a complete conclusion.

'Shiro is a girl?!' he slammed his head into his notebook.

The bang startled the girl as she woke up from her nap.

"I got away with that?" she stretched in her chair.

"Huh? Were you actually sleeping this whole time?" he tried to be as quiet as possible.

"Yeah, why else would I choose this seat? You're a perfect cover for me," she grinned and gave him a thumbs-up.

'This kid! I swear! If she wasn't a girl, I would've pounded her head and made her run laps. Wait, if she's in my class...that means...'

"H-how old are you?" he watched her reflection on the window.

"Don't worry senpai, I'm still not older than you," she rested her chin on her hand.

"How would you know that?"

"I sorta stole my grandpa's file on the team's players. I can't believe you're actually that tall. You can definitely put on more muscle. Don't worry, like I said, I have a regiment to get everyone into their best form."

"I can't believe it."

"Huh?" she straightened her back and faked a gasp at the window. "Don't tell me that you mistook me as a boy too. It's okay though. I'm used to it."

Kuroo gritted his teeth, "Not so much of a puppy after all. More like a rabid dog."

"Oh, c'mon. Don't be such a downer. I think it was pretty funny."

"I bet the coach thinks it's hilarious too. I can just see him laughing with his eyes closed and arms folded as he watched the whole crew getting bamboozled by his own flesh and blood."

His head was fuming for the rest of the day. The feeling of betrayal outweighed his embarrassment. Deep-down, he knew something about her was off from the get-go, but he went against his own gut feeling and was forced to face reality. The lunch break bell rang and the class was dismissed. Pupils began to pour out of their classes and filled up the hallways with indistinguishable chatters and distant laughter; leaving the two in an awkward silence.

"Senpai," she poked his upper arm with a pen.

'Crap, what now?' he facepalmed before turning his whole body around.

"Yes, Pinocchio-chan?" he smirked.