Clawed & Flawed: A Nekoma Story

Chapter 2

Saturday – 11 A. M.

The team had just finished their paired passing routine and was about to take an hour break for lunch. A practice match with a nearby high school volleyball club awaited them. Kuroo dismissed his teammates and split them into two groups; each would take turns to take a break and prepare the court for a game.

"Go walk around and come back in an hour. Now that you're enrolled here, it would be good for you to get familiar with the school. I can't believe your sense of direction was still as bad as it was years ago," the coach suggested.

The student snored as their head was resting on their knees; hands hugging them.

"You brat! Did you hear anything I just said?" he lost his patience and yelled. "And how did you even manage to sleep in that position?!"

His voice was loud enough to startle the captain and the stranger, causing the latter to fall backwards.

Coach Nekomata sighed and called out to the club captain, "Kuroo, show this kid around the school. Don't this idiot get lost again."

"Sure thing, coach. I'll teach him a thing or two about respect too while I'm at it," the tall senior reached over the rookie's shoulder and dragged them out of the gym.

"Heh, youngsters," the old man chuckled.

The two high schoolers took a stroll under the awning leading to a vending machine as the tall senior kept his junior in a gentle choke hold.

"Ack! Can you let go of me now?" the victim attempted to push the muscular arm away.

"Fine," he finally released the newbie. "I'm not usually the naggy type with newcomers, but this is for treating our coach with no respect."

"Respect?"

"I get that you're from the UK or whatever, but you can't do that here. In Nekoma High, we treat our seniors with respect. For example, call people older than you with the correct honorifics. If you don't know the person well, call them by their surname. Get it?"

" Hmm... I guess."

"Come on, let me buy you a drink since it's your first day as my junior," he gave the foreigner a huge grin. "Let me get you coffee since you managed to doze off during our practice."

"Thank you, but I prefer chocolate milk."

"Oh? Well, I guess we have more in common than we thought. Milk helps you get taller too," he managed to sneak in an insult.

"Thank you, s-senpai," after a brief pause, the kid continued. "I didn't mean to be disrespectful earlier. I was just agitated from the long flight and my parents. It's not an acceptable excuse. I'm sorry."

"No problem. Let's forget about that now," Kuroo smacked the stranger's back, gave them a box of chocolate milk, and sat on a nearby bench. "So, how long have you been playing volleyball?"

"Since I was a kid."

The fellow made the conversation nearly impossible to enjoy or even follow up, but the captain refused to let it end so abruptly. It was his last year playing for Nekoma, and he wanted to make it the best one yet. With his coach's deteriorating health, he became even more determined to encourage and improve the team in order to fulfill his promise; to make the battle of the trash heap a reality.

"What position do you play? If you don't mind me asking. As your captain, I need to get as much information about my team in order to make the best decision."

"Setter."

"Oh, that's nice. Not many people are interested in being a setter. You can replace our current regular once we graduate. His name is Kenma. He's a second-year student."

"Oh."

"So, did you move to Japan with your family?"

"No, my parents are still in London and I have no siblings."

"What? You are living alone as a freshman? That's brave of you. I don't have any siblings either."

"It's not like I have a choice. My parents sent me here to take care of a family member and keep an eye on him."

"I see, that must have been tough. As your senpai, you can ask for my assistance if you need to," he smiled.

"T-thanks."

"By the way, I couldn't guess your position just by looking at you. You're pretty short, so maybe a libero. But I couldn't see your muscles under all the long sleeves. Before you fell asleep, I could tell that you have quite a remarkable reaction speed just by the way you watch us during the practice session.

I'll have your uniforms ready by next week. We don't currently have a manager. So, I took upon the duty sometimes. For now, you can just use any shirt and shorts during club hours. Don't even think about playing in your school uniform, you'll ruin the fabric in no time."

"But..."

"Hmm?" Kuroo watched his companion from the side of his eyes as he continued to sip on his milk.

"I wasn't planning on participating in the court. I was sent here to watch you guys play. So, don't worry about my performance," the solemn kid stood up. "Thanks for the milk, I better get back to the gym."

"U-uh, okay."

'Not the friendly kind, I see. I have no idea about his skill level so far. Maybe it's better to let him watch us for the time being,' the captain tensed his eyebrows.

The captain was dumbstruck by the interaction. He watched his newest member walk away and threw the empty carton of milk in the trash can behind them without looking. The distant character intrigued him even more. Finally, someone more reserved and straight forward than Kenma, yet so difficult and enigmatic. He had found a new challenge for himself.

Kuroo smiled to himself and sighed, "Breathe, circulate the oxygen, so that the brain can function. I'll just have to persist until I succeed. No giving up now, he might be what we needed to get to the Nationals. Whoever you are, I will make the best player out of you."

A whole hour went by in a flash and everyone gathered in the gym to welcome their opponent of the day, Kazuya boys' volleyball club. Both team members bowed and started their warm up and stretching session. Coach Nekomata watched his students with that familiar nonchalant attitude as the rookie slumped themself next to him.

"You better not sleep during this practice match; I'll be watching you. Our team has done their best to get to where they are now."

"Whatever. We need to do something about that awkward giant," the onlooker directed a comment towards the tall middle blocker.

"Hahahaha... Don't be so hard on him. He's only a freshman and it's going to be his first time on the court against an outside team."

"This should be interesting then," the watcher stood up and headed to the second floor; bringing a tablet with them.

Coach Nekomata scoffed before reverting his attention back to the court, "Nekoma, the penalty for losing a set is a lap of diving drills."

"Yes, coach!" everyone shouted in unison.