𝐓𝐊𝐎 (𝐓𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐎𝐔𝐓) • kuroo x reader

038 | 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐎𝐃 𝐊𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍

TRIPOD KITTEN

The Chief was fuming when he discovered you and Asa arriving home well past bedtime. Your feeble explanation — that you were showing Asa the places Kuroo had taken you — did nothing to convince him. For now, the Chief was going to accept your failed lie and investigate it later.

Even Asa played along, faking a yawn and praising the unseen cityscape from the observation deck. Then later, she snuck into your room and whispered, "You owe me for lying," to which you offered to get her more taiyaki as a peace offering.

At The Hideout, Kuroo had been extremely careful when caring for the kitten. It was nice getting to see her move again, even if they are only small steps.

He was careful when transporting the kitten's makeshift bed on the kitchen counter to his own room, placing it beside him on his mattress before snoozing off. When he woke, he found the cat peering down at him, caught in the act of watching him sleep.

Later that morning, Kuroo discovered that everyone had already left the house. Realization dawned — he was dreadfully late for school. With no suitable food except another banana and some water, he tended to the kitten before relocating her belongings to the living room and darting out.

You and Kuroo ended up ditching school halfway through the day, hurrying back to his house to tend to the still-injured kitten — Kuroo had toileted her earlier in the backyard, then cleaned whatever mess she made when he wasn't home.

You gathered little supplies, mainly bananas and more water while Kuroo readied her in one of his volleyball duffle bags, halfway zipped for her transport. Then, you two left his place, went back to the train station, and sought out the nearest animal hospital.

Now seated in one of the patient rooms, you and Kuroo allow the kitten to explore her surroundings on the desk while you wait for the vet's arrival. "At least she's moving better on her own," you remark, observing her movement, hindered only by her injured leg, trailing behind her like a dead weight.

"You should've seen her this morning," Kuroo says with a chuckle. "I woke up with her face right in front of mine. The first thing I saw were two big yellow eyes looking at me, then she attacked my face with a bunch of licks."

"That's cute," you say as you rest your head on his shoulder. "Take it as her way of saying 'thank you for taking care of me.'"

Kuroo notices the kitten perched at the desk's edge, her eyes fixated on you. She recognizes you as one of the people who helped her, but you hadn't slept next to her last night.

It was the boy sitting next to you who did. It makes her wonder why you're with him now rather than herself.

"She's got her eyes on you now," Kuroo remarks, nodding toward the black kitten. She tilts her head and lets out a soft meow. "Maybe she's thanking you, too."

"Or maybe she thinks that I've taken you away from her."

"I'd say the first statement could be true, only if she purred or whined," the doctor muses when she enters the room and gently closes the door behind her. "The latter, however, seems more plausible. Cats can become quite territorial, and fast, even with strangers."

You and Kuroo rise from your seats before extending respectful bows to the doctor. "Thank you for seeing us," Kuroo offers, and the physician reciprocates the gesture.