cherry blossoms ; tobio kageyama

i.

❀

"CASPER!"

Sakura Ito sprints down the sidewalk of her quiet town, chestnut tresses flowing behind her and her skirt flouncing with every clumsy step.

It's quite the spectacle to behold: A short teenage girl flailing her arms around frantically, calling out the name of a certain friendly ghost. Not to mention her disheveled appearance does not help her case, for her school vest is off, showcasing her mis-buttoned school shirt. One of her shoelaces remains untied, and her once knee-high socks droop down to her ankles. Not to mention her missing ribbon, which she is soon to find out is no longer on her hair.

Evidently, she lives in a very quiet town, full of elders that are in retirement, trying to enjoy their evening with some peace and quiet. Though, it's disrupted by Miss Ito, which causes all heads to turn and looks of disdain being shot at her.

The young girl doesn't care less though, she has more important things on her mind: Her beloved cat, Casper, has run off to who knows where. There's many duvets and small hiding places between the old houses of her street, all of them good places to camouflage a small feline.

It piques Sakura's curiosity as to why her usually loyal cat had suddenly bounded off.

The girl had been taking her mail out of her mailbox, sifting through the sort to see if she had any letters sent to her. Though, once she looked up, she saw that her cat was no longer by her side, and saw Casper leap away from her, around a corner. Naturally, the brunette dropped everything she had in her hands and chased after the ridiculously fast cat. As soon as she rounded the corner, the white feline was out of sight, hence bringing her to her current situation:

Her voice hoarse from repeatedly calling out her cat's name, legs feeling like lead from sprinting nearly three miles. Perspiration formulates on her scalp despite the cool, autumnal weather.

Sakura lets a breath she didn't know she was holding in escape her lips. Bringing her small hand to her forehead to wipe her scalp dry, she leans against a cool brick wall that boarders a vacant park. "Quick break..." She murmurs to herself, looking up at the bruised, grey sky above her.

Meanwhile, not terribly far away walks a boy. A boy who goes by the name of Tobio Kageyama, who walks slowly with a seemingly permanent scowl on his face and hands delved deep into his pockets. His blue hues are trained on the ground, watching his tennis shoes kick a pebble along the cracked sidewalk.

The raven-haired boy grumbles to himself, quietly cursing his teammate, Tsukishima who has gotten on his last nerve.

He throws himself a little pity party, munching on the warm meat buns he had bought not five minutes ago. Goosebumps rise on his arms, despite his jacket due to the chilly weather. In one hand he carries a grocery bag filled with delicious meat buns and in the other his volleyball duffel bag. Not only is he emotionally exhausted, but physically after a rigorous three hours of practice.

"Meow...!"

The stoic boy stops in his tracks, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. Slowly, his turns around to see a small, white cat with large grey eyes, staring up at him: or more specifically, the meat bun in his hand.

"Meow...!"

Tobio shakes his head with a faint scowl. "No. This is mine." He annunciates, pointing to the half eaten treat.