#nekomata grandchild perspective

[soranihimawari]

Call Me Kat

I already written several one shots for different characters from Haikyu!!, so I thought of throwing my hat into the ring of the Nekoma team. I am not sure if I want this to end in fluff crush confession or a one night encounter that turns into something a bit more serious. This might also be a three parter, so please bear with me as I write this.

Tag list: @vbcshenaningansnwritings​ @kaidasen​ 

Length: 3.8k

“But why do I have to stay with grandpa over the week?” I asked. Honestly, I didn’t understand why I was thrown into helping my grandfather watch over his volleyball team training camp. It was the second day of summer vacation and although I had an agenda of doing nothing but completing my resume for a new cat cafe close to the Nekoma campus, my parents thought it would be best to surprise trip to keep my grandfather (and the other managers/team sponsors) company. 

“I’m not even part of the girls volleball club,” I whined, but when my mother had put her foot down, I had to yield. I raised my arms up in the air and conceeded. 

“You ought to go, besides,” my fathrer said when he took a sip of his afternoon tea. “You know how to play well enough that I’m sure Nekomata-san would appreaciate your contribution.” I let out a puff of hot air and nodded.

“Alright. I’ll go, but only because I do like keeping gramps from drinking too much,” I chuckled while my mother rolled her eyes in amusement. 

“Reason why you’re also going there. Not to babysit the man, but to help him if he drinks too much with the others. You do know how good of a drinker he can be,” my mother winked at me when she sat down with another cup of tea for myself.

Thus, this was how my week had begun. I had packed my overnight dufflebag with all the feminine essentials I (or the other girl managers) needed along with three work out gym clothes as well as my overnight pajamas. On the day that I had left, I donned ruby sneakers, work out (yoga) pants in black, and a loose fitting navy shirt. It wasn’t going to be extremely hot today, but I thought leaving in the morning after a few calisthetic stretches would suffice. Tokyo had many cafes I could theoretically purchase coffee from, so I was set to jet.

I grabbed my sunscreen and my phone accessories on the kitchen counter before pressing kiss to my parents’ cheeks. I slid my apartment keys in my pocket; I began to jog toward campus in time to see that most of the other schools had arrived. Luckily I noticed the lady managers standing to the side before they were eaten alive by another one of our volleyball club member’s words of praise:

“Oh my god. Karasuno has two female managers?! They have a pretty one AND a cute one!”

I noticed Yaku run up to scold him while apologizing to the vice captain of the Karasuno team. I couldn’t help but laugh as I snuck behind the scenes to enter the gym where my grandfather asked me to help set up. Fortunately, I did hear Yaku’s apology when I stepped quietly out of ear shot.

“Oy~!” Yaku called out to his teammate, “I’m really sorry about him. Hiya Suga-san.”

I made my entrance toward the gym where our volleyball coaches for Nekoma were standing. My grandfather supervised the practice matches going on between Fukurodani and Ubugawa. Loud yells were heard when each team scored. Pretty soon, the match would be at set point. Both of the managers from Fukurodani noticed me and raised an eyebrow at each other, but not before they had to use where I stood as a point of reference for their ace.

I placed my bag down next to him before greeting him with a hug.

“Heya gramps,” I said with a small smile. “Hi sensei.” I bowed slightly in his partner’s direction.

“Shamu-neko,” the old man said with a huge grin spread across his face. “I take it you are spending time with me because your mother asked you to?” I hummed in compliance. Being gifted such a nickname because of my affection toward calico cats as child led me to identify with them since I was born with heterochroma (me left eye was hazel green while the other burned a light ice blue). It was a double recessive gene in my father’s side along with the inherited cat pupils. No wonder gramps called me that since I was seven, I thought.

“Okaasan worries too much about you. Enough to send your granddaughter to make sure you don’t overdo it during this training camp,” I reminded him with my arms folded across my chest. “If you’ll excuse me, I am going to put away my things.” Both Nekomata and his second bowed to me as I scurried off to the ladies’ dorm. 

As I opened the door to the room, I bumped into the other team managers from earlier. The one with the dark hair and glasses gave off an aura of quiet steadfastness while her blonde counterpart was going through the anxieties of being a new manager for Karasuno. Those crows are no longer flightless, I mused.

“Is this where we’ll be sharing a room, right?” I asked to make my presense known. At the sound of my firm, respectful tone, the blonde first year nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Oh, my gods!” she yelled. “You scared me.”

“I didn’t mean to,” I replied raising my arms up after I dropped my bag near the closest wall. “I’m--”

“A relative of Nekomata,” her co-manager said with an encouraging nod. “Kitty, isn’t it?”

“Kat, actually. I see you’re from Karasuno,” I said extending my hand for a formal greeting. “Kiyoko, correct?”

“Mmhm,” she said and we shook hands. “This is Hitoka-chan.” I waved when the first year when her name was given to me.

“Pleasure to meet you both. I believe it might be best for you two to head to the gyms already. I’m sure the boys from both of our teams are expecting  you to watch their preliminary games.”

We exchanged good byes and split off into different gyms when we reached the ground floor. I was lucky to find one of the gyms, gym 3 empty, but the nets needed to be raised. I asked for the keys from my grandfather after I had set up the additional nets. With the sweat I had glistening on my brow, I heard all smart talk cease to exist when a volleyball was about to whir by my head. Instead of hearing my gasp of fear, I instinctively blocked the ball with a set bump. I dropped the keys in the split second I had returned the serve, but I shook it off. My grandfather just scratched his cheek playfully as the other teams stopped their matches. 

“Lev! What did we tell you about watching where aiming that serve of yours!” Kenma was slow to anger, but everyone could tell he was reaching his limit. The ball had flown a few meters into the air before gravity slamnmed it down. Kenma, as well as the captain, Kuroo, took a breather to walk towards me. 

“Are you ok?” Kuroo asked. He wore an annoyed expression on his face as well, but I know those amber eyes of his were more trained the red marks on my forearms than anything else. Those marks usually go away, however, I took into account how Kenma eyed the impression of stripes from the ball. A few more minutes passed as each of the matches went back underway.

“It’s alright, really,” I said aloud. I picked up the keys with my left hand, “No harm done, Kenma.”  He nodded before Kuroo pulled him by his collar to return to their own game. My grandfather clasped his hands together when I waved from the arch way. 

“Damn it, that really did hurt,” I muttered when I walked back into gym 3. After retrieving a volleyball basket, I placed the keys against one of the sides of the walls of the gym. I walked back where the volleballs were placed and picked one up. I had given it several bounces before taking my place behind the boundary serving line. With one deep breath I had taken, I decided I should practice a few serves. I took a few steps back and threw the ball in the air with my right hand and with a thunderous crack of my left, I hit the ball with enough force for a theoretical service ace. When I landed back on my feet, I noticed one of the team co-coaches hanging out by the doorway. I had continued to practice several more serves before my breathing became labored. I heard an acknowledging clearing, “Ahem,” stem from the entrance way. 

“You play just as well as the old man,” he said, a different sense of pride was strewn in his voice. His ivory and black attire was recognizable: Coach Takeyuki. I bowed toward him as a short greeting. “Why you never went to pursue the sport is beyond me.”

“Thanks, but volleyball isn’t really for me. Dance and the performative arts has my soul, haha. Also, it has been a long time since I sat in on one of grandpa’s volleyball training camps, Takeyuki-sensei,” I mused. I picked up the ball to return it to the bag I had taken it from. “I’m headed back to the main gym. I finished setting these up for the boys. Care to escort me back sir?”

***

That night, at dinner, I was surrounded by a literal ray of sunshine, a tall silver haired cat, Yaku, Kuroo, and Kenma. I had begun eating without them since I was snacking throughout the day (one bowl of spicy stir fry with chicken, then later in the afternoon, I went with the other secondary managers to find ice cream tubs for us girls, which was a fun excursion). The chatter at the dining hall was quite boisterous, each team sharing funny stories about the today’s games. Apparently, Karasuno’s freak quick attack was the main subject at many tables, however, talent and sense is what makes for good rallies. It was something I heard my grandfather mention when I was younger. Although, I have seen quicks much like that before, I don’t think the speed at which the players used were impossible to the trained eye. As I lifted my cup of tea to take a sip, I noticed the smile of the tangerine haired energetic boy when he looked at me.

“Woah, your eyes are so cool,” the bright orange haired middle blocker said. He was scarfing down onigiri like there wasn’t enough rice in the world to contain his hunger. 

“Thanks, I get that a lot,” I say with a smile. I placed my cup back on the table to  raise a spoon to my lips to sip on the miso soup I helped the girls make in the kitchen hours earlier. (Cooking was a skill I learned, but also being enrolled in dance classes throughout my formative years caused me to create an atheletes diet. Besides, my grandfather and I would play a set of two on two up until this past school year. His focus was on training his clowder of cats into the best teams Nekoma has had in recent years).

“I’m really sorry about hitting you with my serve,” this tall cat was named Lev, if memory serves me correct. He seemed a bit out of it after he almost hit my head. Impulsive and brash, but he does show promise in terms of room for growth.

“You’re fine, Lev. You just need to polish up a little bit. Watch your aim too. I noticed you were a bit out of it when I came back with Fukurodani’s coach. Besides,” I placed my spoon down on my tray and gripped his shoulder. “I was able to return it and still cook dinner, I’m not as weak as you think.”

I kept drinking my soup before moving on to my rice. “Yaku and Kenma would not have to scold you if you did watch your aim though.” Lev’s bright eyes glazed over in embarrassment, yet he nodded making a promise to watch where his serves were going to land.

“If you want help with your serves, meet me in gym 3 at nine tomorrow,” I offered. I picked up my tuna stuffed onigiri and began to munch on it. I glanced at my grandfather who was seated a few tables ahead of us. I guess he must of heard Lev’s, “Really! Wow! Thanks!” walking toward us.

“Shamu-neko~” the famly patriarch called to me. At the sound of my nickname, the boys chuckled. They didn’t know, or rather, as a third year, no one really knew my family ties to the Nekoma coach (with the exception of Takeyuki and now the other coaches). I noticed his rose colored cheeks, the signs that someone had slipped the old man alcohol. He mentioned he would be drinking with them later on the phone last night, so I wasn’t too surprised.

“Call me Kat, grandpa,” I said with a huff of hot air when I took a bite of my hamburger steak. I closed my eyes and meditated on my chewing before I felt Nekomata patting my shoulder. Kuroo’s eyes went wide with either glee or fear, Kenma sort of chortled. Lev and Yaku sat staring at their food while Hinata (whose name I found out during a brief side conversation he had with Kenma) had his eyes dart back and forth between Nekomata and myself. Upon our mutual smiles after reminding each other not to stay up too late, everyone finally saw the resemblance. 

“You’re going to train Lev I hear,” the old man hiccoughed. “I’m proud of you grandchild.”

“You ought to go to bed, old man,” I mused with a smile, patting his arm. “After all, your first year almost decked me in the head with that serve of his. Oi! Takeda-sensei! Can you escort him to bed please?”

Upon hearing my strict, but pleading tone, the co-coach of Karasuno came stumbling toward my grandfather and bowed in apology. Before they left, my grandfather and I exchanged a few inside jokes which caused us to laugh a little bit. I guess my smile and wave caught the Nekoma captain who was seated with us. 

“Same smile,” Kuroo said nonchalantly. His tone was barely above a whisper, but I heard him. I glanced back up at him with a more toothy grin. I saw a small hint of color rush toward his cheeks before I began piling their empty plates on my tray.

“You guys go on ahead, I’ll clear the table,” I instructed. I noticed the underclassmen were being called by other members of their teams to head toward their shared dorm rooms. This left Kuroo and myself behind. Usually, he was very loud, sometimes obnoxiously intelligent, but he did mean well. I mean we might have had a few classes in junior high together (which might explain why he didn’t remember my last name), yet this was the first time we really saw each other outside of classes. A few minutes of clanking dishes being piled into a stack on three trays were the only noise between us as well as the sounds of our work out attire swishing against the table.

“You received that serve well,” he complimented. The raven haired cat captain stood up before mentioning, “It’s been a long time since year three in junior high, Kat-chan.” I nodded.

“Three years in Nekoma and you still haven’t apologized for almost breaking my nose with that serve of yours, Tetsuro,” I teased. The story goes a  new member of the volleyball team was practicing his serves during lunch, the ball was hit in such a way it landed on my face: hard on the nose. I was sent home after the bleeding ceased. I think it was then I decided to not pursue the same sport that encaptured my grandfather’s attention. I have Kuroo to thank for that. Damn him and his first year naivete. He did mature into a popular tom-cat though. I never really hung out with him except for training camps like this in our first year. I suppose being around him equated to me being almost injured, so I chose to avoid him every chance I got on school grounds.

“We were first years! How was I supposed to know you were the relative of Nekomata? He doesn’t say much about his family,” he explained. "Mentions his granddaughter at every game when he points out where you were sitting. But that’s it!”

I laughed a little at his defense.

“Relax, I was giving you a hard time over nothing.” I stood up to walk toward the now empty kitchen; Kuroo followed behind me with the dishes on one of the trays. I turned on the sink, grabbed the soap bottle, and squeezed a generous amount on a sponge. “Grandpa doesn’t like to talk about family much since he views all of you as his grandsons or pupils.” I shrugged it off. “After all, I have had my whole life with him, of course I wouldn’t mind if I shared him with the team. He’s a good man and a great coach.”

“Is that so? Honestly, I thought he would at least view me as a candidate to date his hot granddaughter,” Kuroo’s sarcastically sincere voice struck a chord with me. I was elbow deep in suds when I let go of a tray back into the still water.

“E-excuse me?” I asked. I was perplexd. My eyes widened in shock since honestly, I thought we’d never cross paths enough to really establish any sort of romantic ties. At least that was what I thought. Kuroo leaned against the side of the sink that had the drying racks on them. 

“You’ve come to all our games for the past three years,” he began to make his case. “You cheered for us up until our last game. Then, apparently, you come here at the request of your mom to make sure coach doesn’t overdo it.” He folded his arms across his chest. Oh, so he knew I was here thanks to sensei probably telling him, I thought. I shook my head to brush my long bangs out of my face (my long navy dyed hair was still tied in a ponytail from earlier).

“Kuroo, I came to those games to cheer for my grandfather first, his team second. He hasn’t retired coaching because this sport, volleyball, is his life. Also, how did you know I went to every game since we started high school?” He leaned in toward me as I went back to scrubbing the tray I had dropped. I was trying to focus on the task at hand, but his looming presence closing the distance between our faces caused me to feel a bit nervous. Kuroo had this blush drawing across his cheeks due to his bashful nature.

“I saw you in the stands, Kat,” he answered. “I waved to you and you always waved back with this enormous grin on your face.” His breath was warm against my cooling cheeks. Oh crap. Am I blushing as hard as he was? I thought. I swallowed thickly.

“Unbelievable,” I muttered. I rolled my eyes when I let out a sigh. I think since the day the volleyball collided in my face, I had grown a soft spot for Kuroo. Glancing upward at him made me come to terms with the bitterness I had toward this confession.

“I waved toward you for literal y e a r s; Kuroo, maybe seeing me cheer the loudest for you would have made my feelings known. Yet, you dated like three girls in second year. Watching you with them was weird, but I think it was because I wasn’t sure if I liked who you were becoming. And you know, after I spent time with you guys at end of season parties, maybe lent you my English textbook twice this last month, now you decide to tell me you want to date me? D-don’t say things you don’t mean. It’s not nice.” 

Kuroo took a step back and handed me the last bit of the glassware I had to do. He shrugged placing a hand inside his club member jacket. He pursed his lips and let out a low whistle. Kuroo glanced between the tile in the kitchen floor and me.

“I’m sorry if this came really late, but I was talking to Kenma about how kind you are yesterday (for the fifth time this week) and my best friend had to tell me that I liked you because I couldn’t shut up about how you make an entrance every time you walked into the hallway and the sun danced around you right before you dashed around a corner to avoid me. You’re nice to me and tell me these stories about when you were young and how you seldom had friends on the playgrounds too. You’re sweet to Lev because you know Yaku and Kenma would get angry at him for things like today. Bonus fact is you’ve been friends with Bokuto since elementary school! You know your limits and you have a hard time with chem, but you always call me for help when you know I have a day off...”

I dried my hands before I tucked my bangs behind my ear. I bit my bottom lip out of habit, one I was trying to break, but I didn’t. I scoffed at him in my own amusement.

“You also pretended to be with me a few times I was being catcalled on the walk home from several away games,” I mentioned, closing my eyes for a moment. I felt Kuroo reach out to me and pulled me into a side hug. I covered my smile as I reminisced the last time some other captain tried to gain my affection, but when he didn’t get the hint, Kuroo showed up and immediately called me, “babe,” and the guy ran off.

“I did, huh? Thought I’d forget, did you?”

“Mmmhm, but no I was hoping you didn’t, hah.” My eyes fluttered open and stared at the ground. He placed his head on my shoulder much like my first calico cat did when she wanted affection. He and I stood there in comfortable silence for about five minutes. 

“Five out of ten,” my tone was warm with a concealed giggle. 

“Huh?” Kuroo inquired for more elaboration. 

“I’m giving you a five out of ten for that confession of yours, Kuroo Tetsuro.” I folded my arms across my chest.

He glanced up at me in wide-eyed glee. “No way, Neko-san. That was like a seven tops!” He straightened his posture chewing the inside of his cheek in annoyance. I poked his unchewed cheek laughing.

“I’ll reconsider your rating for your confession on one condition,” my amusement took over my tone. He quirked his eyebrow at me. Curious this one, my thoughts said to me. 

“Sneak out with me tomorrow morning before I train with Lev for a sweets run?” I said in a hushed tone. You could of told me the world stopped spinning because instead of a proper answer, I felt Kuroo’s hands lift my cheeks up to face him before he began pressing his lips to each side of my face with a shit-eating grin. 

“You don’t got to tell me twice, love.” He kissed my forehead with a smile forming upon his lips.

“Call me Kat for now, let’s survive this first adventure tomorrow, then ask me out on a proper date,” I said taking a hold of one of his hands. We turned off the lights in the kitchen before walking hand in hand down the hallway to our respectful dorms. “C’mon captain. We got an early start tomorrow.”

#call me kat #kuroo x 1st person pov #nekomata grandchild perspective #long start but fluff was promised #kuroo & confessions #haikyuu!! draft #hella rough draft at 3a.m. #will tweak over the weekend.