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The team walked into the infirmary, looking for the little ginger they were nothing but worried about. They could hear their coach talking to him, and made their way to the back of the room, passing a knocked-out soccer captain on the way.

Ukai was sitting on top of the bed with Shouyou curled up on his lap. "We'll talk about your behavior and punishment later," he started as the team made their way through the curtain closing the bed off from the rest of the room.

"I can't leave him here during practice, so I think I'll take him back home. It might've been a bad idea for him to come here," the coach muttered to himself, stroking the purring ginger's head. "But, thanks for taking up for him, guys. Come by the shop tonight and I'll treat you all to meat buns."

The team celebrated quietly, but then, the thought of the ginger leaving the school hit them. "I have study hall next, so I can watch over him for a while, Coach," Daichi stated, moving closer to the bed in order to reassure his coach.

"Thanks, Sawamura. I'll tell your teacher that you're busy." Rubbing his temple, Ukai slowly began moving Shouyou off of him, but the second he stood from the bed, Shouyou began whining and mewling.

"It's okay, Shou. I'll be back soon." With a soft kiss to the ginger's forehead, Ukai walked out of the curtain, not without patting Daichi's back in gratitude.

"The rest of you should probably head to your classes!" He shouted to the team before leaving the room.

Daichi sat on the bed, immediately being grabbed by Shouyou. "Good luck, Daichi. We'll come see you during break," Sugawara said, waving goodbye to the captain and sleeping ginger. The team bid their farewells, to the two, some of them more dramatic than the others.

"When the door closed, Daichi sighed, scooting onto the bed more so Shouyou could get comfortable. The little ginger crawled onto his lap, his face planted into Daichi's broad chest. Daichi froze when he felt Shouyou licking at his shirt.

Glancing down, he noticed that the Neko's eyes were still shut. A sigh of relief left him, knowing that he didn't wake him up. He felt Shouyou's sharp claws poking at him through the sides of his uniform jacket, but it didn't hurt, so he left him be.

Eventually, the ginger relaxed again, his claws retracting and his licking coming to a stop as he started purring softly. The feeling of holding him gave Daichi a sense of peace and pride- the reason behind that pride unknown to him.

He began stroking the ginger's hair, earning a quiet meow from Shouyou. Daichi's heart leaped. As steadily as he could, he leaned back and laid on the bed properly, allowing Shouyou's tail to curl around his hand and wrist, which were laying on the ginger's waist.

His waist is small for a male...

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When Shouyou woke up, he yawned widely, hearing soft snores below him. He looked up. "Daichi-Senpai..." He muttered, pawing at the male's chest as he brought his face closer to the senpai's. Slowly, he stuck his tongue out and licked up the male's cheek multiple times.

When he didn't show any signs of waking, Shouyou began licking at his eyelids. "Shouyou, no sir!" Ukai exclaimed, causing the ginger to jump in shock. Daichi opened his eyes, wiping the wetness from them in confusion.

With a huff, Shouyou sat on the edge of the bed, his tail flicking back and forth as he touched the bandage on his cheek. "Does it hurt?"

Shouyou shook his head. "Not as bad as earlier."

"That's good, then. Everyone's changing into their practice clothes. They'll be let out early, so they can get all the cleaning done, though. "

When Shouyou tilted his head to the side in confusion, Ukai elaborated and told him everything that had happened while he had been sleeping.

"Can I go to the gym, too?" Shouyou asked, latching onto Daichi when he stood from the bed. Ukai pulled him off and lifted him up. "You can head to the gym. I gotta meet Takeda-Sensei in the teacher's office. Thanks for looking after Shou for me, and sorry he tried to eat your face," the coach told Daichi with a chuckle.

"It wasn't a problem," he waved off, walking out of the infirmary and toward the gym. "Let's go get Takeda-Sensei, yeah?"

"Yeah!"

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As the team's spiking practice ensued, Shouyou laid sprawled out in the sunspot the window made on the gym floor, staring at the team blankly. "Coach wanted me to tell you that you'll be able to join us Monday, Shouyou. Is that okay?"

Shimizu questioned, sitting down in front of the Neko to catch his attention. With a soft smile, Shouyou rolled over, bumping his head against her knee and rubbing it down her leg until he was laying flush against it.

She giggled, running her hand through his hair as she and Yachi cooed at the sight. The ginger's eyes slowly closed to the feeling of the sun warming his skin and Kiyoko's gentle fingers threading through his fur.

"Psst, Tobio, Kei, Tadashi, come 'er for a sec," Ukai whispered, ushering the first years over. They placed their water bottles and towels down before walking over to the coach.

"Well, where do I start? Shouyou needs to be groomed properly before the match on Friday or he'll end up popping the ball. I told Shimizu to tell him that we're going to get his volleyball supplies so he doesn't suspect anything, but it's been a while since he was last groomed, so it's going to take a long time at the vet."

He looked to see if the first years were still listening, then glanced at the sleeping Shouyou, who was being petted and coddled by Tanaka, Nishinoya, Sugawara, Yachi, Shimizu, and even Takeda.

"He's so energetic for a cat. I think it's from his human personality or something, but he fights the entire time. Last time, he sent one of the vets to the hospital." Tsukishima quickly brought his fist up to his mouth to suppress a laugh.

When he composed himself, he spoke. "So, since we're all first years, you think we'll be able to distract him or something?"

"That's... what I was thinking," he groaned, pinching his nose. "I'll treat you all to lunch afterward," he pressed. The first years looked at each other before agreeing. "Great! I'll meet you all at my shop tomorrow, then!"

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