Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to these characters. There is a scene and dialogue in this chapter that was used and given a twist from the Haikyuu! volume 4 manga and the anime season 1 episode 12. I don't own those either.
Golden Week breezed by in a blink for many of the students of Nekoma High School, however the underclassmen of the Volleyball Club would disagree to an extent. Kuroo was sitting in his class during lunch, reflecting over their so-called 'training camp' that they just had. The more he thought about it, the more he was growing frustrated and concerned about the third years' attitudes. He was worried that they would drive Kenma to leaving the club, which would be detrimental to the team and its future. Though he had to admit, it seemed that Kenma handled their bullying tactics a bit better than he had before.
Kuroo's eye narrowed and his fists clenched in aggravation. Regardless of who was on the receiving end of the third years' behavior, and how well they were dealing with it. It should not be happening period, and no matter how many times he tried to block Kenma and the other first year members from the upperclassmen's sights they were like vultures.
Which was an ironic image given that they were supposed to be cats. However, this was not 'playing with their prey' as a cat would, this was 'looking for a carcass to pick at' and they had their targets marked. It's why he couldn't keep trying to provoke the upperclassmen so that they directed their attention on himself and not the others. They just wouldn't be deterred for long; it was frustrating and he also couldn't provoke them too much or they would be even nastier to everyone. Quite simply put, they needed some kind of authority figure that the third years couldn't lord over.
Their club's temporary sponsor was incredibly useless in reigning in the third years so that wasn't an option at this point. They only poked their head in here and there as a part of their obligation, Kuroo could only hope that a permanent sponsor would be appointed soon. 'Something needs to change and soon. If not, then we're all going to need to hang on until the end of the term. Then the third years will retire and we can finally start becoming the team we should be.'
Shaking his head, he looked at the clock and saw that lunch was almost over. Packing up his empty bento, Kuroo began trying to figure out some kind of scheme to help the club survive.
As the days in the week passed, Kuroo had a lot on his mind. Yesterday was another rough day in the club, and Kenma along with a few of the other members were pushed almost to their limits in regards to their tolerance. Looking out the window, he couldn't help but reflect on what happened…
At the end of practice, he and Kenma walked to the river and sat down looking at the sunset. Turning his head towards his younger friend, Kuroo could tell that Kenma was contemplating his future in the club.
"You're a keen observer and everything you suggest makes sense."
Kenma was silent with his knees to his chest and his head resting on his arms. He frowned in frustration then said, "I don't wanna say anything. Every time I do, the third years tell me not to have a smart mouth. Then they made me run almost twice as much as the other rookies!"
Kuroo heaved a sigh, "Those third years are all going to retire from the club soon, and rumor has it that Coach Nekomata may be returning… So don't quit on me ok? The third years may not have a clue, but the first and second years know how good you are. You'll be a big asset to the team. I know you will."
When he didn't respond a for a moment, Kuroo began to worry that Kenma was unwilling to hold on any longer. Then he heard a whisper, "The only way someone can make you feel small or inferior is if you allow them to…"
He was surprised to hear those words from his childhood friend, especially since it sounded like he wasn't saying that to Kuroo directly. It was more like he was reciting something that he heard to himself.
Kenma looked over at him with a barely there smile on his face, "Something that a friend said to me over a week ago..."
The chime of the bell snapped Kuroo's attention back to the present. Taking a deep breath, and feeling glad that it was Friday and classes were now done for the day. He glanced down at the new bane of his existence, there on his desk were the instructions for a new project. Normally he wouldn't stress too much over something like this, but he had a feeling that Matsumoto-sensei was in a particularly evil mood when he dreamt up this one.
'I may have several weeks before the due date, but with the Inter-High Preliminaries coming up and all the training weekends we are going to start having… If I don't start this now, I'll have a hell of a time finishing on time.' He ran his hand through his hair in frustration and gathered up his things.
Kuroo and Kenma were finally heading home after practice, and surprisingly their upperclassmen had not focused their unpleasant attitudes on the first and second years, but on each other. A nice turnaround for once.
"I wonder what caused the third years to rip into each other the way that they did today?" Kuroo wondered.
"Apparently, the captain attempted to put the moves on some girl and was brutally shut down. The others saw the whole exchange."
Kuroo blinked in surprise, and a Cheshire-cat-like grin spread across his face in smug satisfaction. "So 'Mr.-I-can-get-any-girl' was soundly rejected, eh?" He then proceeded to chuckle with glee. "I wish I could have seen it!"
Kenma raised a brow at his friend's amusement, but couldn't help grinning a bit himself. Normally he wouldn't condone such a reaction, however in this case, it really couldn't have happened to a better person. Then he remembered that Kuroo looked a little stressed when he arrived at practice earlier.
"Ano, Kuroo?"
"Ah?"
"You looked a little stressed out before practice today. Is everything all right?"
Kuroo groaned in remembrance of his project that he needed to try to get a jump start on. "I have a project that was assigned today, and it's going to be an irritant I know it."
Glancing up at his friend in confusion, "What's the assignment?"
"We have to find a legend, and write about the beginning of it. Which means chances are that later we will be assigned to write about the rest of the tale." Kuroo said with a frown.
Feeling even more confused, Kenma was starting to think that he wasn't getting the full picture. "Ano, why would writing about a legend be irritating? Sounds fairly simple."
"The problem is, is that with the assignment came a list of legends that we could not report on. Which of course were all the more well-known ones, so we have to find an obscure legend." Rubbing the back of his neck, Kuroo looked up at the darkening sky.
Kenma froze in the middle of the sidewalk, causing Kuroo to pause and look back at him in concern. "Kenma?"
Looking up at Kuroo, Kenma grimaced a bit. He was a little nervous about the two meeting, but he wanted to help Kuroo out and he kind of owed him for all the help he provided him with his assignments in the past. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, opening the current text conversation he had with her. Typing a quick inquiry about if he could bring Kuroo with him tomorrow to their study session, mentioning the assignment that Kuroo had and needed help with. Finishing the message, he looked it over and pushed send. He just hoped that she would be able to get back to him soon.
"Kenma, what are you doing?" Kuroo asked again.
"Texting your potential savior." Kenma paused looking up at Kuroo's baffled expression, and before he could continue his phone gave a chime. Seeing that he got a response, Kenma opened the message to read the confirmation for the adjustment in their plans. "My study partner lives on a shrine, and they have a variety of legends that you could possibly use for your assignment. She said that she would be happy to help you, so you'll come with me tomorrow morning. Knowing her, she'll insist that we get our studying done first so bring your homework. Afterwards she'll help you with choosing a legend."
"Really?" Kuroo was stunned, here he was sure that he was going to have to either go live in the library for a while or run from shrine to shrine to find what he needed. Instead Kenma offers up a solution that just saved him hours of work. Observing the nod of confirmation that he received from Kenma, he felt relief wash over him. Then a sly and curious grin began to stretch across Kuroo's face as he leaned down closer to Kenma, "Your study partner is a girl? What's her name? And does Kenma maybe have a crush that I don't know about?"
Kenma gave him a deadpanned look, "No I don't have a crush on her, she's more like an older sibling, and her name is Kagome." Kuroo blinked and felt his spine straighten at the name, triggering an old memory of a little girl with big blue eyes and wide smile that he still had hopes of finding. He was jolted back as Kenma's voice continued, "My new game has arrived, so I need to go pick it up. See you in the morning Kuroo."
"Yeah, see you in the morning." Kuroo waved, and continued his trek home. 'Stop getting your hopes up, it's probably not her…' Taking in a deep breath before releasing it, he looked up and couldn't help but think, 'But… what if this time is different?'