Three strikes, and you're out.
It all started with the neighborhood cat. He was a fat, round lump of pure black fur — and he possessed an infamous reputation of its feisty personality. Perhaps that's an understatement: that cat will scratch anyone's face up without hesitation, as easy as ripping papers into shreds. Because of that, no one in the neighborhood, including the little kids, bothered to call him anything else other than 'the cat from hell' or 'demon cat'.
Kuroo, on the other hand, calls him Maru-chan.
Of course, Kuroo was indeed the only exception to cats. Perhaps it was his wild hair that gave off a friendly vibe, who knows. Kenma was not favored by the cat, but Kuroo. The only way to tame the cat was to have Kuroo, who regularly feeds the cat with food scraps every time he comes across him. Once every few days or so? He was still oddly fat for someone who can only scavenge for spare food in trash cans. Though the cat is not particularly hostile to him, it still looks timid, almost on guard, whenever he gets super close to him. It's probably the closest anyone can get to Maru.
Of course, today is one of those days where Kuroo feels a little worried for his feline friend. Spring weather in Tokyo meant harsh rain storms, and it thunders loud enough for Kuroo to be reminded during class about how Maru was out there in the cold, probably shivering and crying for help. He planned on stopping by the QuickMart and buy a can of cat food as a message of compensation for the cold storm.
His musings halted to a stop when the school bell rings. Everyone rushed to get home immediately before the storm worsens. Kenma, like in a usual day, visits Kuroo's class after school to walk home.
"Kuroo. Let's go." Kenma slings on his backpack, and Kuroo blinks several times. He then gets up and digs into his backpack for two umbrellas and holds one out to Kenma. Kenma did not move, and only looks up at him questioningly.
"You always forget to bring an umbrella," Kuroo chides, and Kenma frowns deeply, because he was right. Sighing, Kenma takes the umbrella and heads out with him.
The storm was quite bad, the rush of muddy water are almost two inches deep, and Kuroo had to roll up the ends of his pants to keep going — and he still has to buy food for Maru. His sleeves are damp, cold air seeping into his skin, and he couldn't feel the tips of his fingers.
"You can go home if you want," Kuroo says to Kenma where the road splits. "I still have to go to the mart."
Kenma would usually tag along with wherever Kuroo goes, but the cold made him nod to a yes, and left from there.
The trip to the mart was freezing — thankfully the heaters were running within the store. He decided to dry up for a little bit before heading back out again.
Once he heads out, he searched for the cat within the neighborhood. He looked in nooks where there's a small roof where Maru possibly hid, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, he sees a small silhouette from down the road, crouching down on the side of the street with an umbrella in hand. Kuroo approaches just a little closer just to see what they were doing.
[Strike one.]
It was a boy, perhaps around his age, but he's not wearing a school uniform... Suppose Nekoma High has one of the most students in Tokyo, being near to various suburban neighborhoods, but this kid doesn't look like he goes there. He looks... Unfamiliar to Kuroo.
The boy crouches down to a box, then sets the umbrella upright, still up and open, between his rain boots to keep it still while his other hand is now free.
"Oh?"
With two hands, the boy gently lifts Maru from the box and gives him a quick warm hug, petting the cat's back lovingly. A small affectionate meow left the cat's mouth, and a brief chuckle left the boy.
Kuroo was astounded, speechless at how easily he handled Maru-chan. It was as if a once mean-looking demon cat turned into a friendly stuffed toy.
When Kuroo takes a few steps towards the two, the cat immediately jumps back to the box at the sound of splashing water. The boy jumps in surprise as well, looking briefly at Kuroo's approaching figure, then runs away before he reached any closer.
"Wait! You forgot your umbrella!" Kuroo yelled to the empty street.
When he looks over to Maru, he was still dry under the umbrella that the boy left. Perhaps he did it on purpose. There was a paper plate full of cat food, along with a little glop of — is that whipped cream? There's also a piece of yellow cake beside the cat food.
Well, at least now he knows why this cat is incredibly fat.
Crash!
Kuroo hears the loud boom of the thunder, a reminder that he should probably head home. The canned food he bought can wait for now, for he can feed it to Maru on another day.
On his way home, he wondered about that mysterious, cat-taming boy.