Clawed & Flawed: A Nekoma Story

Chapter 16

Monday – 10 P. M.

Shiro started to drift off into dreamland as she rested her head on the side of the tub; soaking herself in the lavender scented water. Her cheeks blossomed pink as her eyes fluttered to fight the slumber. She jolted awake as the front door shut close downstairs. The small ventilation above the bathroom allowed her to hear the loud rumbling from the sky and whirling wind swinging the tree branches violently.

She got out and patted herself dry with a towel before wrapping her head with it. The girl entered her room to put on a shirt and an oversized haori over to seal the warmth away from the chilly night. Claps of thunder began to fill the air and the early rainstorm invited itself over. After she dried her hair, she walked downstairs to get a glass of water when she found a small care package on the dining table.

Her backpack was laying in the middle, surrounded by small trinkets that she assumed her new teammates had left for her. Kuroo left a handwritten note:

'Inu-chan,

Don't get sick by falling asleep in the hot tub. You'll prune up your whole body and look like a Sphynx cat (or kitten in your case). I left you some pain-relief patches and mint candies (I don't like them, they're from Kenma). You can return my notebook by the end of this week. And I ran back home to grab you my old Nekoma sport uniform and club uniform for you to wear during club activities.

They're from my first year, I hope they fit you just fine. I didn't get to use it a whole lot since I had a growth spurt. Kenma wanted to ask if you would like to play together tomorrow night. Physical training days usually ends at 6 P.M., at most. On that note, don't forget to bring the workout plan for tomorrow.

Take care!

-Your awesome senpai-

P.S. don't tell Kenma I told you that he wanted to ask you, he'll chew my ear off. Feel free to text or call me if you need any help. Sorry for the bad handwriting.'

'Heh,' she thought as she used the pain-relief patches on her back and brought the stuff into her room.

Tuesday – 7:55 A. M.

Though the rain had started to subside, the light drizzle and gloomy sky brought about a chilly atmosphere to the classroom. The boys' uniform were well equipped with long sleeves, a layer of vest, and blazer while the girls were stuck with a considerably shorter skirt. The solemn grey morning made it harder for the volleyball club captain to keep his eyes open.

He left the desk in front of him empty for Shiro as he only had longed for his daily nap at the back seat. In order to get distracted and keep himself up, he had picked up a habit of spacing out while looking out of a window and search for things to daydream about. Kuroo figured that he would be more likely to stay up if he occupied his brain with something.

But today was not one of those days. It was five minutes away from homeroom session, and he was still struggling to find to motivation to remain alert. He stared at the school gate, wishing for something interesting and thought-provoking to occur before the drowsiness subdue him. Yaku noticed his classmate staring into the distance and decided to hassle him.

"Didn't get enough sleep last night? Don't tell me you went on a run in this morning, " the libero stood on the empty chair with his knees and watched out the window intensely. "What do you see out there that I don't?"

"I'm just trying not to sleep before lunch break. The thunderstorm didn't let me sleep well," his friend yawned; barely caring about the tear at the edge of his eye.

"You've been zoning out a lot since yesterday. Is there something on your mind? If being a captain is too hard of a task, I'll gladly take over," he grinned.

"Shut up, you'll just scare our first years away. Besides, I've just been thinking about future plans. That's all. We still need a gym uniform for the new manager. And I'm not worried about the team. Kai is a good vice-captain."

"I'll pretend that you didn't just say that. I'm still not convinced though. Does this have to do with Inu-chan, by any chance?"

Kuroo gulped though he hid his change in demeanor well, "Was that supposed to be funny? I can't tell."

"Fine, I guess I'll have to leave the romantic drama to someone else in the club. Maybe Lev, he has taken a liking to her. Although I don't approve of the gap in their abilities."

The well-built student tried to ignore his friend's attempt at forcing a respond out of him. He glared at the mostly filled up room, but there was no sign of his neighbor. He began to wonder what happened to her. Did she get soaked on the way to school? Did she wake up late?

Did she get sick from the practice? Did she give herself a fever from soaking in the hot bath for too long? Should he have done something? Maybe she got lost. He should've checked by her house to see how she was doing. He walked straight to school with Kenma out of habit, and totally forgot about her existence.

"Ah! I think I've been hanging around you for too long, I'm starting to hallucinate," Yaku stepped away from the window and rubbed his eyes.

"Huh? What?"

"T-teru teru bōzu!" he pointed at a white figure running in the school building from the gate.

< Teru teru bōzu is a Japanese handmade doll that resembles a tiny ghost. Usually made with white fabric or paper and is then hanged as a charm to ward off bad weather; like rain >

"Huh?!" Kuroo pressed his forehead against the window to take a closer look. "Yakkun, you dumbass! That's just a student wearing a white raincoat!"

"Oh... I haven't seen anyone wear those in a long time. Could it be a middle-schooler?"

"Go back to your seat. Yuki-sensei should be here any second now. We pissed her off enough already."

"Fine, fine. I still think you shouldn't stare out the window so much, unless you're manifesting for a bigger deltoid," he teased before walking away with a smirk. "Stop worrying so much about your future like an old man. You better not be making a will!"

Kuroo scrunched his nose in annoyance and pulled out his phone to look at the time. 8 A. M. Their teacher was unusually late. The rain had been going on constantly throughout the night and somewhat mellowed down in the morning. Some students and teachers would have difficulties reaching the school during days with heavy rainfall. The captain decided to doodle random things at the back of his personal journal.

There were still no sign of their homeroom teacher and decided to wait in class for their first lesson of the day. Some of the desks remained empty as the disorderly class indulged themselves with meaningless conversation with each other to fill the time. Sleepiness knocked on Kuroo's eyelids once again. It felt heavier than before, and before he knew it, his face was clipped in-between the pages of his notebook.