Clawed & Flawed: A Nekoma Story

Chapter 15

Monday – 9 P. M.

The group split up at the train station and went their separate ways. Kuroo and Kenma walked the girl home. The moonlight was dimmer than the night before as a sheet of cloud covered the majority of the sky. The weather forecast had predicted light drizzle from midnight all through the morning. The wind grew colder and stronger although it was almost the end of spring.

"Thanks again for lending me the jacket. I'll return it after a wash," Shiro bowed.

"It's no big deal. Return it whenever. I should be heading home now," Kenma raised a hand to wave goodbye.

"We went home pretty late today. Did your mom leave any food out for you?" Kuroo asked.

"Hmm... Probably not. It's okay though. I'll have a cup ramen and go to bed. Don't worry about me."

"What do you mean don't worry?! Do you know how much sodium and artificial seasonings are in those? Or are you just saying that so you can skip on dinner and play games all night?"

'There he goes again,' he sighed at the never-ending lecture.

"How about I cook us some dinner?" Shiro interrupted the one-sided argument.

"Good idea! Now you don't have any excuses," the captain grinned.

"Ugh, fine. I just wanna have a shower and hide under my blanket," he complied and followed his junior into the house.

Shiro made some tea for her guests as they waited for the main course. She took off the jacket and put on the apron. The two old friends muttered amongst themselves as she continued to cook dinner. She tied her hair into a ponytail and tossed her sweaty cap into the wash. The sound of knife cutting against the board filled the air along with the sound effects from Kenma's game.

"Hahaha... Did you drain your character's stamina in one go? It flops on the ground just like you!" the senior chuckled.

"Shut up, I'm still getting used to the controls."

'Hmm... they don't look like the type that gets along together, but I guess they do go way back,' she imagined while flipping the food.

The rice cooker began to let out its fragrant steam. Kuroo shifted his attention from his friend's game and stood next to his host.

"Need any help?" he had his hands in his pocket as he loomed over the tiny classmate.

"Geez, you tall bastard. What are you? An umbrella?"

"Hahaha... Thanks."

"Ergh, you can help with the rice," she handed him a scooper.

He portioned them into three bowls before serving them on the table, "Hey, Koinu-chan."

"Hmm?" she turned the stove off.

"You said that you've played in tournaments before, right?"

"Yeah."

"And it looks like you still like to play volleyball. Why don't you join a girls' team or something? I mean we would've liked you to join us, but you can't play for a boys' team and Nekoma don't have one for girls."

Shiro placed the plates of vegetable and salmon, "Being a manager and looking after my grandpa is enough work for now. Besides, I haven't been playing as a starting player since middle school."

"Why not?"

"Um, personal differences? I think I pissed off my old coach one too many times. I pushed my luck and it bit me right back."

'I can kinda see that,' Kuroo kept it to himself.

"But your form is pretty polished, and you catch up with everyone well," Kenma turned his game off.

"Well, I kept practicing even though they hardly ever put me in the court. The player you saw today wasn't the player I was back then."

"So, what's the problem? You improved your skill to suit the team, right?" the captain dug into his meal.

"Even then, they found it too hard to sync with me. Although my skill is up to par, I still play the game by heart. It makes it harder for the rest to follow my tempo."

"So, what did you do next?"

"Nothing, I was benched for the rest of my first and second year. Then I got kicked out from the girls' volleyball team for fighting with a senior."

The middle blocker almost choked on his rice and quickly washed it down with tea, 'Can't say I'm not surprised that she would do something like that. But even then, her stubbornness knows no boundary."

"That aside, how did you keep up with your form? You don't look rusty at all," Kenma nibbled on his vegetable.

"On the contrary, the boys' team was lacking players and they are not afraid to be ambitious. So, I snuck in to join their practice by pretending to be one of them. It worked for a while."

'Ah... There it is. The birth of her alter ego,' the boys thought and shared a mutual understanding.

"But how bad was your performance before?" Kuroo's eyes narrowed with curiosity.

"Um, I'd say 80% of my tosses scored us a point. But the 20% would be enough to put pressure on my teammates and that was enough to sub me out. My coach gave me a nickname; the odd one."

"Why?"

"He said I looked like basketball or soccer player. Not that I did it on purpose, obviously!"

"I guess I would've been fuming too if I was your coach."

"Well, I think it was just an unfortunate experience. They're one of those 'by-the-book' type of team. I had a hard time following their rhythm and same goes for them."

"Why didn't you just listen then?"

"I short-circuit if I think too hard."

"I think I understand what you mean," Kenma finished the last of his rice.

"You do?" his friend raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it's like when you're able to type perfectly on a keyboard just by glancing at it every now and then. But if someone told you to do it without looking, you tend to panic under the pressure."

"Geh, of course you have to be a geek about it."

Shiro sighed, "I definitely don't miss the part where your whole body aches after though."

"Go on and have a hot bath. Kenma and I will take care of the dishes."

"Why am I getting dragged along? I wanna take a shower too."

"Are you sure?" the homeowner had glimmers in her eyes.

"Of course, you can rely on us. Don't slack off, Kenma. You do the washing and I'll dry them."

"Eh? That barely sounds fair. This was your idea in the first place."

"Shut up and start washing. We don't have all night. I heard that it's gonna rain later."

"You can take the spare key on top of the table near the shoe rack to lock the gate. The front door has an auto lock," Shiro ordered before disappearing upstairs with a towel in hand.

Kenma sighed as Kuroo watched his friend complete the chore with a grin. The two friends started to discuss the former's new boss battle he was stuck on. Shiro ran the hot bath as she scrubbed her skin and shampooed her long lock.