Scratch

Chapter 5:

Not-so-Oblivious Protagonist

Kenma waved goodbye, watching as Kuroo slowly walked into the vet clinic. Apparently, Kuroo was in the middle of hiring - he wanted to be able to make his clinic a 24 hour one, so if anyone had any emergency, the time wouldn't matter. More employees would help in general, in case he ever got sick or needed to take a day off. Kenma thought it was a good idea, considering Sugar's labor wouldn't exactly follow a nine-to-five work schedule.

There was one person inside the clinic, sitting in on the couch, legs crossed and looking bored, probably the new hire. He was tall and lanky, with smooth dark hair, the complete opposite of Kuroo. He looked wholly unimpressed, even when his new boss walked through the front door.

Kuroo had mentioned the guy's name once before, but Kenma had already forgotten. Something that started with an A… Akaashi, his brain supplied helpfully. Not that Kenma really needed to know, or cared.

Kuroo looked over his shoulder and gave him a mischievous grin, before sneezing twice. Kenma pretended not to notice and laughed instead at the ridiculous face Kuroo made while sneezing. Eventually, after a few minutes of watching the clinic, he scurried back to his car to drive back to his apartment.

On the drive home, Kenma decided that the time he spent with Kuroo really wasn't bad. Yeah, sure, Kuroo was really annoying and full of oxymorons, but it wasn't terrible or anything. Even though Kenma didn't feel one hundred percent comfortable with Kuroo, he was still the one person he felt most comfortable with. The exception being Shouyou, of course. Which was intriguing, considering they only met a few days ago. Kenma didn't really understand why Kuroo enjoyed talking to him, or being with him. Just another thing to add to the list of things he didn't understand about his newest friend.

Then again, he didn't know why he liked Kuroo either, but he did. Eventually, after thinking about it for way too long (like, four minutes), Kenma credited all this weird stuff to life not making sense in general. Because really, when has life ever made sense for him?

Never, that's when.

… But it's not entirely unpleasant, this time.

The rest of the day went undisturbed, and surprisingly Friday did as well. Kenma had went to work, barely got anything done, played some games, and went home. Just like normal. He took care of his pets, watched the news, ate dinner, read a book. Now that he thought about it, his life wasn't really that exciting.

Without thinking, Kenma took his phone and sent a quick text of 'Hi' to Kuroo. He cursed himself the second he realized he actually sent it. His phone said it was 8pm, so Kenma was sure that Kuroo would text back almost immediately. But, after a couple minutes of fiddling with apps on his phone, there wasn't a reply. Frowning, he wondered why Kuroo hadn't texted back. Then again, he reminded himself, he isn't completely attached to electronics.

Kenma ignored the weird feeling he got in his chest. He wasn't going to pretend he didn't know what it was - that was reserved for oblivious protagonists in romance movies and books, he was just going to ignore it, that's all.

"Oh! What is this weird feeling I have? What… is this feeling?"

He snorted to himself, earning a startled look from Clyde. Kenma shushed him, mumbling aloud that he was just thinking about something, not that his cat could understand. He wondered if cats could feel love. It was obvious that they felt lust, or the need to mate, or whatever… but love? Kenma concluded, scientifically, that they probably did feel something along the lines of love, but not what humans would consider love.

Glancing at his phone again, he found that he had been talking to himself about nothing for a good fifteen minutes. He shook his head, he really was boring, wasn't he? Unlike before, he acknowledged that his life wasn't boring, it was filled to the brim with people. Years ago, he never thought that he would have friends, much less a bunch of employees.

Suddenly, his phone made a ding! loudly, and Kenma let out a high-pitched squeak. He quickly picked it up and looked at it. He felt his stomach drop when it was only an email from his secretary. Then, he frowned when he realized he was disappointed. Hmph. He shouldn't be disappointed! It was only Kuroo, and he probably was busy, or something. It's not like it was required for to text Kenma back.

(Really, he wouldn't… mind, if Kuroo texted back.)

Grumbling, he pushed everything out of his mind. He already knew he was crushing on the other guy, he wasn't going to be stubborn and deny it. It was pretty sad though, considering it had been only a couple days, but what could he do?

He could play video games, and forget about it, that's what he could do. And that's what he did, until 11pm when he fed his cats again and went to bed. Without a text from Kuroo. He buried his face into the pillow and groaned.

"Why is everything obnoxious?" he asked no one in particular.

Colin and Lynn looked up at him simultaneously from their spots on the bed and meowed in response. Kenma couldn't help but smile: at least his cats were always there. At last, he finally fell into a deep sleep. Unfortunately, he couldn't exactly pick who he dreamed about.

Kenma woke up to Clyde pouncing on him to get up. Still half-asleep, he attempted to push his cat off of him, to no avail. It didn't help when the other cats banded together to jump on him, either.

"Are you guys hungry?"

As if in response, Clyde meowed enthusiastically. Of course. Shoving him and the rest of the cats off of him, he grabbed his phone from the charger. The time said nine am, and Kenma couldn't help but notice the lack of texts.

Subconsciously pouting, and maybe worrying a little bit too, Kenma made his way to the kitchen and fed all his cats, once again. He remembered to feed Sugar separately, so she could continue to eat enough for her kittens as well, feeling proud of himself. When Kenma stood in his kitchen, watching his cats eat, he felt a distinct feeling of not knowing what to do next. It was a Saturday, and he wasn't required to work, but he didn't know what he should be doing.

Out of everything he could be doing, he decided he would visit the vets - for some medicine for Sugar, of course. She seemed to be aching a little bit, and he wasn't sure what type of pain killers he could give her. He definitely wouldn't go to see if Kuroo was there, definitely not.

Oh, who was he joking?

Taking a quick shower and getting ready for the day, he sighed, and half smiled to himself. It was funny how much one person could change someone. Life changed quickly, and when suddenly one of his cats was pregnant, so did he. Not that Kenma had changed, per se, but he felt like he did things differently. Before, he would avoid going out on Saturdays if he didn't really need to.

He'd have to hit Kuroo for that.

Making sure all was well in his apartment, he opened his door slightly. Kenma peeked his head out the door, noticing with relief that there was no one in the hallway. He opened the door the rest of the way, and continued his quest of the day - visit the vet office.

It kind of made it easier to do unusual stuff when he pretended he was a protagonist of a game. He kept that to himself, though.

Even before he was ever inside the clinic, he knew Kuroo wouldn't be there. Kuroo was the main doctor, and if there weren't any patients, then he would usually be in the lobby - which he wasn't. Sighing, Kenma braced himself to talk to the noisy receptionist instead.

Before he could even fully make it into the lobby, the receptionist - what was his name again? - had spotted him and squealed, waving him over.

"Oh my gosh! It's the pregnant kitty guy that Kuroo totally thinks is cute!" he shrilled, jogging over to Kenma.

Kenma stiffened, unsure of what to do in such close proximity to - he read the man's crooked name tag - Oikawa. He was vaguely aware he should at least say something. Stuttering, he mumbled a hello.

"Oh you're just too cute!" Oikawa flashed a bright smile. Winking, he asked, "Are you here for your cat, or for Kuroo?"

"Um… both?"

Oikawa raised his eyebrow in curiosity, "Go on."

"Sugar seems to be aching. And, uh, I wanted to make sure, um, that," Kenma coughed, "Kuroo is okay. He didn't answer my texts."

Kenma, by now, had been blushing profusely. When he saw Oikawa grinning with a strange look in his eye, he took a step back. He had seen enough of the discovery channel to know that the look on Oikawa's face was predatory, and that he had fallen into some sort of trap.

"I completely understand!" the receptionist said with glee. "He always answers his texts, so it must be frightening for him not to, right? WELL, you're in luck, because I know exactly where he is!"

Oikawa paused for effect. He looked at Kenma who, although extremely anxious, looked curious. He smiled and continued.

"He's at home, sick. He was okay yesterday morning but got sicker as the day went on," he explained. He saw Kenma's face scrunch up in confusion. Because Oikawa was such a great friend, he decided to help.

With a dramatic sigh, he continued talking.

"He probably forgot to charge his phone, or was sleeping. He was pretty delirious." Oikawa paused again, letting this sink in. "I bet he'd love it if you visited him. He's a sucker for being taken care of, like the big baby he really is."

Kenma looked up at Oikawa, his eyes wide. "N-no, I don't think - "

"Nonsense!" Oikawa exclaimed. "I'm sure he'd love it. Here, let me call his home phone right now, I'll tell him you're coming over!"

"N-no, please don't," Kenma protested weakly, watching as the receptionist jogged away to look for the home phone number. If only Oikawa wouldn't tell Kuroo directly, he could've lied and said he would go. Rubbing his temples, Kenma sighed in defeat. It wasn't like he had anything better to do, and he did kind of want to see Kuroo.

Besides, that's what friends do, right?

"Alrighty! I told him you'd be over in a half hour!" Oikawa announced, ripping Kenma out of his thoughts. He cringed, realizing exactly what this meant:

1. He'd be going to Kuroo's house.

2. Alone.

3. Kuroo would be sick; possibly delirious.

and quite possibly, worst of all...

4. Kenma would have to take care of him.

"U-um, I don't know where he lives," Kenma said, trying to talk his way out of the situation. Unfortunately, Oikawa wasn't having any of it.

"Well, good thing I have a detailed map on how to get to his apartment, huh?"

Kenma couldn't ignore the very obvious gleam in his eyes. Oikawa knew something, and damned if it wouldn't screw Kenma over for the rest of his life. It seemed like trouble followed him everywhere now. There wasn't really much he could do at this point, especially when this crazy person was staring so intently at him. He sighed, whimpering slightly.

"Do I have to go?"

"Well, yeah. I already told him you were gonna come," Oikawa explained. Despite acting like he was stupid, he could be an evil genius when he wanted to. Kenma briefly wondered if anyone else had noticed, before the receptionist began to guilt-trip him even more: "You don't wanna disappoint a sick person, do you? That would be mean!"

Kenma shuffled his feet slightly out of anxiety. He shook his head to appease the other man, although he just didn't want to disappoint Kuroo in general. They were both silent for a little while, sizing each other up, before Oikawa smiled his celebrity actor smile, and shoved the map he had mentioned earlier into Kenma's hands.

Having second thoughts, Kenma struggled and his eyes were wide in fright when Oikawa physically pushed him out of the clinic. He waved at Kenma, shouting, "Tell me how it goes!" with a wink. He blew Kenma a kiss, right as the automatic door slid closed. For a moment, he didn't move, but under the close scrutiny of Kuroo's friend, Kenma turned and left.

Oikawa giggled to himself; he really was a great friend, he deserved an award or something.