Monster || Kuroken ||

Chapter 3

"What happened to him?"

"Poor guy."

"He must have gotten into a fight. High schoolers..."

Whispers came one after another as Kuroo walked down the street towards the bus stop in front of a pastry shop, where he would board his usual bus to school. Sighing, he ignored the whispers and curious glances of passer-bys and walked on, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

Monday. The longest day of the week. Kuroo hated Mondays because it was the day where all his subject teachers would give out homework, expecting the class to finish them by the next day. The pain in his neck had mostly subsided, but moving it around still proves to be a challenge as his neck was rather stiff. He wondered if he will be able to study comfortably with his neck in this state. His mother had warned him not to move it around too much just in case it would reopen his wounds and that was the last thing Kuroo wanted.

Sitting onto the long bench at the bus stop next to another student wearing the same school uniform as him, Kuroo checked his phone for any messages from Yaku before glancing at the student next to him. It was a boy, probably in his second year, deeply indulged in some sort of mobile game on his phone. He had short, blonde hair with black roots and he did not even glance at Kuroo's direction when Kuroo sat next to him.

The bus to Nekoma High had yet to arrive. The road was pretty quiet — which wasn't unusual since most of the people living in this area are those of the older generation and have already retired.

The leaves of the trees across the street rustled gently in the morning breeze.

Kuroo glanced sideways at the boy next to him.

Maybe I should talk to him. He thought.

Besides, he had seen him several times in school before and remembered him for his blonde hair, so he wasn't too unfamiliar.

"Hi." He patted the boy on the shoulder to get his attention and smiled warmly when the guy raised his head sharply.

It was then did Kuroo notice that his eyes were quite unique. They were slightly slit like a cat's, and they peered at Kuroo curiously.

Then, to Kuroo's surprise, they widened.

"You're..." the guy started, then paused as he plugged out his earpieces. "You're the guy who saved me, right?" He stared at Kuroo.

Huh?  Kuroo looked at him blankly. All I said was hi? Since when did I save him?

Seeing Kuroo's expression, the boy responded. "Remember the thing at the alley and I almost died and you saved me from it?

What thing... Kuroo was about to ask when he remembered.

That night, the alley, those two red eyes. Before he crashed in on the monster, there was a girl.

A girl?

Kuroo's eyebrows shot up. He opened his mouth wide in surprise as realization hit him. "Wait... woah hang on, you're a guy?"

The boy looked offended. "Excuse me?"

"Uh, no I meant that night when I saw you in the alley..." Kuroo trailed off at the sight of the boy's frowning face. Deciding that he might just change the subject to avoid awkwardness, Kuroo hurriedly said, "Never mind ignore that. Anyways, you weren't hurt, right?"

It was kind of a stupid question since there were no visible wounds or bandages on the boy. But somewhere inside him just wanted to make sure he was alright.

The boy shook his head as he pressed something on the screen of his phone and the game went on autoplay. "I only got a few scratches — it's nothing. Shouldn't you worry more about yourself, Kuroo-san?" He watched the characters in the game fight.