Work Text:
If there was one thing Kenma certainly despised as a teen, it was multiple-question answers. None of the answers were usually his own and there was never the option to pick: none of the above.
It was like he was being forced to make a decision and he was certainly one that didn't enjoy that method of coercion at all.
“Kenma-kun, do you want to go to the arcade with me? You like games right?” the young woman asks, grinning as she leans over Kenma's desk.
On instinct he recoils from his previous position and presses himself against the backrest of his chair.
His hands were still hovering over the keyboard as he thinks over his options. He wants to say 'yes' because he likes games, but he also wants to say 'no' because he's certainly not feeling up to arcades that are usually packed with people and defintely not with someone other than Kuroo. Kuroo was a man of good faith and patience, that four hours into a game wouldn't utter the words: 'You've been playing that for hours.... I'm bored....'
He thinks about it for a moment, realizing once more, none of the above would be a suitable option to pick, yet not one available at the moment.
So, he shakes his head and forces a polite smile to appear on his features, “No, thank you. I'm busy right now,” he answers as lightly as he could muster before turning his attention back to the screen in front of him.
Somewhere whilst he's running the debugging-script, she leaves him in peace.
It's a bit disappointing.
He'd like to go. But there're always so many people there. Sometimes you have to wait in line and, worse than that, she'd probably expect to hold hands while they do.
He takes a sip of his energy drink, awkwardly swallowing when a yawn unexpectedly creeps up on him.
Late nights and early starts were a usual routine, but no longer could he catch a catnap before volleyball practice like he used to.
Used to. It's been six years now.
Six years out of school, working for a gaming company as if he was born to do it. He didn't miss school, at all. The noise, the parties, the tests, the dress codes, the pressure, the people. The closest thing to missing anything, was his old team though. One by one they all drifted apart after college, each of them finding their own space.
But, he still had Kuroo.
They'd bought a place together right out of college, an efficient apartment that works for them both, each with their own room and bathroom - a luxury in this town. It was closer to Kenma's work than Kuroo, but the latter insisted it was a good incentive to keep him fit, as he's taken to jogging to work.
The ex-Nekoma Captain always reveled in the freedom of his work as a Physiotherapist. The financial freedom that came hand-in-hand with his contract with the Japanese Volleyball League appointment. It usually meant up to three months away from home every year whilst the League was touring, but otherwise, it was a stable gig with freedom.
The best part, coming home each day to Kuroo already there...
Kenma rubs his eyes a bit and sighs. A bachelor flat indeed.
He stretches out and takes another sip of his drink before continuing his work. He didn't want to be late today. He wanted to get home before Kuroo today. He wanted to surprise him a little. It was their planned movie night, after all.
It was just before four that he finally could sit back and save his work. He grabs his backpack and slings it over his shoulders before walking out.
He greets his co-workers as he leaves, being aware of Kuroo's voice in the back of his head: be nice, remember to greet them. So, he does, even once he's out of the office and he happens to walk past a couple of techs also leaving early.
“Oh, Kenma-san,” a young man from the junior division calls after him.
With a sigh, the setter turns, a pleasant business-smile in place, “Did you need something?”
“Ah... ” the young man in front of him answers awkwardly, cheeks reddening. He awkwardly tugs at his orange hair.
The hair reminds Kenma of Hinata and he can't help but smile at the memory.
“It's nothing about work...” the guy mumbles, biting his lip.
What was his name again...? Mokoto....? Maki... something with an M...Kenma muses as he patiently waits for his kouhai to continue.
“Do like to go out... on a date?” the young man clumsily blurts out, certainly louder than he expected -the expression on his face making that obvious.
Do I like to go out on dates...? The thought rings through Kenma's mind. Flashes of shojou-anime flitting through his mind. Sunsets, warm blankets, holding hands, good food, relaxing together, playing multi-player shooter games in tag-team mode.
Then again, the stereo-typical date scenario involved a lot of touching and staring into another person's eyes and awkward kissing and none of that was appealing in the slightest.
There wasn't really a ''yes'' or ''no'' answer that seemed duly applicable, so Kenma finally answers with as much conviction as he could muster: “Sure?”
He's not entirely sure why this question was this guy's business though, what kind of interest did his guy have in asking a question like that?
“S-so... you want to go out with me??” the guy almost yells in astonishment, eyes wide and a grin on his face.
Oh … ohshit -oh fuck-ohno-whatjusthappened-why-that'snotwhatImeant- “Ah... no.... no, thank you.” the non-chalant words that finally escape Kenma's lips aren't nearly as frantic as his thoughts.
“B...but... ” the guy starts but stops himself. He forces a smile and awkwardly waves before brushing past the ex-setter with an apology.
The world reels for a moment as the completely blind-sided programmer takes a moment to process what just happened. He turns momentarily, wondering if he should be polite and apologize, but decides to stick with his first option. Go home.
So, he does.
He makes it halfway home before he spots Kuroo across the road from him, bag in hand and backpack on his shoulder.
“Oi,” Kenma calls out flatly, a smile creeping on his features when Kuroo spots him.
Instantly, Kuroo's features brighten and he grins, “Kenma! You're done?” He almost runs into traffic, only to get stopped by an older man on his left. He grins sheepishly and steps back. He dramatically gestures that he'll join Kenma once the red light sets him free.
And, just as promised, the green light lights up and Kuroo jogs over.
Turns out, Kuroo finished his last appointment early and want to surprise Kenma with a snack-break at work.
They turn towards their apartment and finally head back together, falling easily into step next to each other.
“It's been a while since we walked home together,” Kuroo muses and laughs happily.
“Feels like a cheesy anime trope,” Kenma grumbles, finally allowing his business-persona to fall away.
“No ways, if this were an anime, I'd be super buff and you'd be a cute girl,” Kuroo muses.
“You are buff, moron,” Kenma counters.
“And you're definitely not a girl, but you are cute,” Kuroo replies and barely dodges Kenma's side-swipe with his backpack.
“What, it's a compliment?” Kuroo counters Kenma's glare with a grin, “I'd totally date you.”
“You keep saying that,” Kenma grumbles and suddenly remembers the two events that happened today. He sighs deeply and groans, “Ugh...”
“What?”
“I .. nothing,” Kenma says and shakes his head, training his focus in front of him, “Let's just go home.”
Kuroo studies the ex-setter for a moment before nodding to himself. He slowly takes hold of Kenma's hand, unable to stop the smile forming on his face when Kenma doesn't pull away. It was such a small thing, not flinching nor pulling away. It shows the trust is there. It shows that he cares.
“That was a perfect root A moment,” Kuroo muses, “Let's go home...”.
“I thought you said you won't subject yourself to cannibalistic anime?”
“You liked it.”
Kenma looks over, considering Kuroo's words. Ever so non-chalant and confident.
“You don't,” Kenma finally counters.
“You don't like this either,” Kuroo answers and pointedly holds up their intertwined fingers, “And you still don't let go.”
“I don't mind it if it's you...” Kenma replies with a mumble, not meeting Kuroo's eyes any further.
“Well, I hope you won't mind this then either,” Kuroo says and suddenly starts running, forcing the young man to keep pace with him.
“I knew you were going to do that,” Kenma flatly calls out, not particularly putting up a fight against being dragged through the city.
This time, Kuroo doesn't answer, he just laughs and keeps running.
Within half-an-hour they're at the apartment door, both out of breath.
“See – wasn't that – fun?” Kuroo states through his breaths.
“.... you... suck...” Kenma breathes out with a wheeze, leaning heavily on the wall next to the door.
“Admit it – that – was fun...” Kuroo says and holds up his hand, smirking when Kenma reluctantly high-fives him.
They stumble into the apartment, Kuroo finally locking the door and stacking their shoes neatly.
“I got you that weird orange drink you like,” Kuroo says, entering the kitchen.
Kenma, having taken the bags from Kuroo, was busy unpacking the contents unto the kitchen table, “Thanks,” he says, pauses with his hand in the bag and slowly pulls out a tube, “What did you do?”
The sports rub gets wriggled in front of Kuroo's face, whom tries to snatch it from Kenma – misses widely though.
“... nothing serious,” Kuroo counters and rubs his neck awkwardly, “... don't state at me like that.”
The staring doesn't stop. Talk to me, damnit.
“My shoulder's been flaring up,” Kuroo mumbles and shrugs -though the instant grimace shows a spark of pain just ran through his system, “It's nothing serious.”
“You had that injury six years ago,” Kenma says and drops the tube on the table, focusing intently on putting away all the other items now, “You didn't even think about it before you stampeded through Ikebukuro, did you?”
“Maybe I was distracted,” Kuroo counters slyly and finally sighs, “You looked stressed. Running helps to boost endorphins and -”
“Running doesn't help me,” Kenma snaps, closing the final cupboard and turns to Kuroo, “Being with you helps.”
Of course, nothing could help the blush colouring Kuroo's face.
“I'm putting you under house arrest for the weekend,” Kenma suddenly growls and points to the hallway, “Take a shower.”
“Yes, sir!” Kuroo awkwardly salutes and can't help but giggle at Kenma's serious expression, “... so serious...”
“Go!”
Once he hears the shower turning on, Kenma finally sighs and unboxes the microwave popcorn.
This was the one thing he know he can make without setting anything on fire or making it completely inedible – though, the spinach lasagne he'd made once Kuroo still wolfed down like a champ all the same.
Of course, it isn't exactly a healthy dinner by any margin, but he's not about to give Kuroo another bout of food poisoning when his intention is to actually just make him something to eat. So, he pops the bag in the microwave and sets it up.
That done, he heads over to the living room and gets Kuroo's favourite movie ready. After all, even though he'd downloaded the newest horror, he's pretty sure that Kuroo won't be up to watching a gore-fest when he's in pain.
“I'm done,” Kuroo calls, sounding a bit less energetic than he'd done half an hour ago. Hot showers always did that to him.
“In here, bring me some hand-cream and a towel,” Kenma calls back and presses play. The initial previews start and he uses the time to get some drinks ready too.
“You want a back-massage or something?” Kuroo says and lazily swings the hand-towel in a circle when he enters the kitchen.
The deadpan expression on Kenma's face makes Kuroo cringe.
“Can you grab the popcorn?” Kenma says and passes Kuroo with the drinks in hand.
They head to the living room and, as per instruction, Kuroo sits on a couch cushion in front of the TV, a bowl of popcorn in front of him and drink to his his right. On command he takes his shirt off and sets it on his lap like a blanket.
“Hey... did you …” Kuroo studies his drink for a moment, realizing Kenma'd made a chocolate milkshake for him, “I bought chocolate milk, you know?”
“Is it bad?”
“It's amazing, dude... ” Kuroo says after the first sip and grins over his shoulder, “Did you practice?”
“I watch Buzzfeed...” Kenma answers off-handedly and mixes the hand-cream with the sports rub, “It's going to be cold-”
Kuroo flinches harshly, almost spilling his milkshake when icy cold hands rest on his shoulders. But, almost instantly, he melts into relaxation as his muscles slowly get worked into submission.
“Sorry,” Kenma still apologizes all the same, focusing on the junction of Kuroo's shoulder and collarbone.
“Hmmm.... fnnneee...” Kuroo mumbles and lazily shakes his head. He lazily pops a piece of popcorn in his mouth and chews.
“Focus, this is the good part,” Kenma says and pauses his massage enough that Kuroo turns his focus on the TV. Indeed, this was the part Kuroo absolutely adored. The prepping montage that Kuroo would sometimes watch in the mornings just to psyche himself up for the day. He loved the scene, the music, the speech. It never fails to fill him with a sense of calm and readiness.
Finally Kenma continues, slowly working lazy circles on the sides of Kuroo's spine, one vertebrae at a time, taking his time to work down to Kuroo's lower back.
At a particular junction an unsolicited moan suddenly escapes Kuroo's mouth before he could stop it. He suddenly tenses up, craning his neck around, “Ah- sorry...”
Kenma, oblivious to what just happened, shrugs, “Hmmm...” is all answer he responds with and continues working.
The second time, Kuroo flinches away, “Umm... d-dude...”
“Don't tense up like that...” Kenma requests huskily, trying to pull Kuroo closer by the waist, “I just got those knots out...”
It was like he was zoned in now, and somehow manages to find that one spot in the junction between Kuroo's lower back and hip that just makes him growl deeply.
“You're doing this on purpose....” Kuroo states and breathes deeply, a shudder working its way through him.
“Doing what?” and, this time, just sliding his hands up Kuroo's back makes him writhe.
“Fuck it,” Kuroo snaps and turns around. He catches Kenma's eye and crawls over to him, leaning over him, “Can you stop?”
“I'm not doing anything.”
“Y-you're not doing nothing and you know it... ” Kuroo's eyes, glazed and half-lidded glare at him, “Stop teasing me before I do something you won't like.”
“Like what?”
“Kiss you, for starters, ” Kuroo replies angrily and shoves himself away, “.... so... ”
The thought strikes a chord within the young man, “Oh, well, I haven't kissed anybody yet so...”
“W- what....?” Kuroo stutters out, suddenly turning bright red, “You... never... not once?”
“... I don't know how,” Kenma answers non-chalantly with a shrug, “And after school, I didn't even think about it...”
“... shit,” the ex-captain growls and shakes his head as he forces his palm to his forehead in frustration with himself, “I'm sorry...”
“I won't mind.”
“Won't mind what?”
“If it's you, I won't mind.”
“... you won't mind what...?”
“Kissing you,” Kenma states and smiles in amusement when his statement causes the tips of Kuroo's ears to turn red too, “I've never learnt how and you can teach me, can't you?”
“A-are you... you're s-serious...?” Kuroo stutters suddenly and swallows hard, “Are you sure?”
Kenma stares at Kuroo for a moment before shrugging, as if it were no big deal at all.
“Oh... um, okay, do you want to … where do you want to sit?”
“Are we going to sit?”
“Do you want to stand?”
“Is that better?”
“It's the same... but... I want you to be comfortable...?” Kuroo answers unsurely, feeling his adrenaline slowly amping up his system.
“Can we just sit like this?” Kenma says and shuffles closer on his cushion, no hesitation in his movements.
“...Okay...” Kuroo awkwardly manoeuvres himself closer and an intentional giggle erupts his form, “Sorry... this is just... isn't it weird?”
“Is it?” Kenma asks and tilts his head. If there's anyone I'd want to learn this from, it's you.
The realization hits Kuroo like a brick. That Kenma never did have a close relationship with his parents, in fact, no real relationship at all. He never did have a chance to see a husband show affection to his wife, nor how lovers should communicate. He never received affection from his parents. He never received their attention either. Even more, Kenma certainly didn't enjoy physical contact from others nor did he particularly enjoy communication in general. Kenma had always been such a private person.. . But the isolation kept him from experiencing life too.
The realization makes Kuroo frown.
The reality dawns on him.
He holds out his hand, palm up to Kenma and waits.
The ex-setter studies Kuroo's palm expectantly for a moment before finally resting his own hand on top.
Kuroo meets Kenma's gaze and hold it. He slowly takes hold of Kenma's hand and turns it over. Never breaking eye contact as he does, he lowers his lips to the palm of Kenma's hand.
The soft contact, the mint and rosemary smell of the remnants of the sports rub and hand-cream, the once cold hands that were not searingly hot... He loves it. He breathes in and exhales, keeping his lips in contact with Kenma's skin.
The warmth of Kuroo's breath makes Kenma freeze.
Softly, Kuroo takes a breath, lips separating for a moment as he does.
He breathes out, warmth spreading across Kenma's palm once more.
Kenma swallows hard, suddenly breathing awkwardly.
Kuroo slowly presses his lips against Kenma's palm again, and again and again. He opens his mouth and slowly but gently bites the mound of Kenma's hand. He sinks his teeth in more for a moment before running his tongue over the skin as an unspoken apology. He pulls away languorously, marvelling at how much Kenma had leaned forwards towards him, how glazed and lust-filled his expression is, how he'd watched so intently.
Kuroo languidly blows cool air over Kenma's palm, grinning when the temperature difference makes Kenma's hand instantly close up on reflex, “How was that?”
It takes a moment for Kenma's breathing to slow down and for him to lean back, drawing his face back into a neutral expression before he answers, “I thought you said you were going to teach me.”
“Is that a challenge?”
“Yes.”