Chapter Text
The watch on Kenma Kozume’s wrist softly beeps two times, indicating that it’s two in the afternoon. Kenma yawns again as he walks into the coffee shop, walking up to the counter and giving the man behind it a nod. “Morning, Ukai.”
“Kenma,” Ukai acknowledges in response. “The usual?”
“Yeah,” Kenma says, pulling out his wallet. He lays four dollar bills on the counter, says, “Keep the change, you know where to find me,” and, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to look like he hasn’t just woken up, walks over to the left corner of the coffee shop.
Tetsurou Kuroo takes one look at Kenma and says, “Mornin’, sunshine.”
“Damn,” Kenma complains, flopping down beside Tetsurou. “I was kinda hoping you wouldn’t call me out on it this time.”
“Don’t worry, Ken-Ken,” Tooru Oikawa chimes in from the chair to the right of the couch, a smug smile on his face. “We all know about your unhealthy sleeping habits.”
Kenma fixes Tooru with his stinkiest glare, then tilts his head to greet the other two members of the group. “How’s it going, Tobio and Bo?”
“You aren’t going to ask me how my day was?” Tooru gasps, clutching his heart in faux despair.
“Or your oldest, favoritest friend?” Tetsurou chimes in.
“I only ask non-assholes,” Kenma grumbles.
“I’m so honored,” Bokuto says, beaming. “Anyways, my day’s been pretty good! I gotta audition on Monday, so like, send me all your good luck vibes.”
Tobio just shrugs. “‘m fine,” he says in typical Tobio fashion.
Tooru sighs his long-suffering older brother sigh. “Y’know, Tobes, usually when someone asks about your day, you’re supposed to give some sort of details. Maybe something interesting that happened in your day, something good, something bad…”
“Nothing interesting happens to me,” Tobio says flatly. “I kind of wish something interesting would happen.”
“Well…” Tetsurou starts, but before he can even finish the sentence, the door to the coffee shop bursts open. Ukai starts to greet the customer, but he just dashes straight in, rain dripping from every piece of fabric on his tuxedo-clad body. Blinking rapidly, he says, “Kenma,” his voice trembling.
Kenma whirls around, eyes wide. “Shouyou?” he asks, his voice coated in shock.
“That’s me,” Shouyou Hinata says. “It’s… good to see you.”
Kenma blinks, then says, “Come sit down. You remember Tetsurou and Tooru, and then this is Koutarou Bokuto, who went to school with Tetsurou, and you know Tobio…”
Shouyou’s face suddenly scrunches up as though he’s smelled something bad. “Tobio.”
“Shouyou,” Tobio offers in response, his face dark.
“Could’ve gone my whole life without seeing you again,” Shouyou seethes.
“Same to you. As if I’d want some annoying dumbass following me around all the time,” Tobio responds.
“Well, you did want something interesting to happen to you…” Bokuto says. Tetsurou hides his chuckle behind his hand.
“Anyways,” Kenma says, breaking through the obvious tension, “sit down. Bo, can you grab him some coffee or something?” Bokuto nods, heading off towards the counter. Once Shouyou settles in, Kenma says, “So I think I speak for all of us when I ask what the hell’s going on?”
“I ran out on my wedding,” Shouyou says sadly, staring at the ground. “Don’t you even laugh, Tobio.”
“I wasn’t going to,” Tobio protests, but the mirth in his eyes says otherwise.
“You ran out on your own wedding?!” Bokuto splutters, eyes wide. “So what, you got to the altar and you were just like, ‘no thanks’?”
“I didn’t make it that far,” Shouyou says sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I, uh, bolted before I walked down the aisle. And I know we haven’t talked in forever, Kenma, but I don’t know anyone else in the city, and I didn’t know who else to go to…”
“Because I’m the only one who wasn’t invited to the wedding,” Kenma deadpans.
Shouyou winces. “I was kind of hoping we could ignore that part.”
“Nice going, dumbass,” Tobio says, smirking.
Tooru leans over and whispers, “I haven’t seen him this animated in ages,” to Tetsurou, who raises his eyebrows in response, looking pleased.
“So, Shrimpy,” Tetsurou says, leaning forward, his arms resting on his knees. Shouyou frowns slightly at the old nickname. “Why’d you run out? I’d say cold feet, but it doesn’t really seem like you regret it.”
“I don’t,” Shouyou groans. “I really… I don’t know! I love her, but maybe not… not the way I’m supposed to. And I couldn’t do that to her! She’s great! Cute, a total sweetheart, like most guys’ dream girl.”
“Wait…” Bokuto says slowly. “Girl?”
“…yeah?” Shouyou says. “Why?”
“Well, you hung out with the Gay Brigade in high school,” Tooru interjects lazily. “So I guess all of us just kind of figured…”
Shouyou tilts his head to look at Kenma. Kenma just shrugs. “You didn’t know?”
“I guess I never really thought about it,” Shouyou says. “Tobio too?”
“Tobio’s the gayest of us all.” Tooru rolls his eyes.
“I don’t think you can say that when you answered the phone with Mariah Carey blasting in the background yesterday,” Tobio snaps.
“He’s close,” Tooru amends.
“That would explain a lot,” Shouyou says thoughtfully. Then his eyes light up. “Hey, do you think…”
“That you’re gay?” Tetsurou interjects. Shouyou nods. “Then yes,” Tetsurou says, and everyone else nods emphatically.
“Or at the very least, not straight,” Kenma says. “One time in high school you spent a good thirty minutes talking about the color of a certain person’s eyes…”
“Shut up we don’t talk about that,” Shouyou says extremely quickly, his teeth gritted.
Tetsurou laughs, throwing an arm around Kenma’s shoulders. “Well, that would explain the whole not wanting to marry a woman thing.”
“But I still think I like women!” Shouyou says. “Maybe! Or maybe I just need time to figure it all out, and if I’m married I can’t do that so easily.”
“How old are you anyways, 24?” Tooru asks. “You’re still a young one, in the prime of life. Why, when I was your age - “
“Stop trying to act old, Tooru,” Kenma gripes, rolling his eyes. “You’re only like two years older.”
“A gentleman never tells his true age,” Tooru says.
“Hey, that's what my grandma always says!" Bokuto says in an awed tone.
“Anyways,” Tooru says. “My point is Shrimpy here has time to figure it out. And he definitely doesn’t need to be rushing into marriage if he’s not sure.” Shouyou shivers, and Tooru’s expression softens. “And firstly, why don’t we get Shrimpy to your apartment, Kenma? He looks like he could use a change of clothes.”
.
An hour later, all six of them are seated in Kenma’s apartment, Shouyou bundled up in one of Kuroo’s old hoodies. Shouyou’s cellphone rings and he bites his lip, fear evident in his wide eyes.
“You don’t have to answer it,” Kenma points out.
“I have to face it sometime,” Shouyou responds. He presses the answer button and lifts the phone to his ear. “Hi, Dad. I’m at Kenma’s apartment. Yes, Kenma Kozume from high school. Yes, I know how much the wedding cost… I know, I know, I know! I’m sorry! I’ll make it up to you… what do you mean, you can’t support this? I can’t marry someone I don’t love! No, I won’t learn to love her! Okay, fine, I don’t need your money anyways. I’m gonna stay here with Kenma and like, get a job and stuff!”
Kenma’s face goes blank and he mouths, “Stay with Kenma?”
“Looks like you got yourself a roommate,” Tetsurou cackles.
“Having a roommate is fun,” Bokuto chimes in. “You can like, laze around and watch porn together.”
Tetsurou chokes and nudges Bokuto frantically. “We do not do that.”
Bokuto winks and nods his head, mouthing, “We totally do.”
“I guess I’m missing out then,” Tooru says, smirking. “Tobio, cover your innocent ears.”
Tobio scowls as Shouyou jumps back in. “Whatever. I don’t need you anyways! It’ll be fun being on my own. And kinda scary too, but I’ll get through it, because it’s better than doing something I don’t want to do for the rest of my life!” He presses the end button rather aggressively, breathing heavily, and the rest of the group nervously turns to look at him.
“So…” Bokuto says nervously.
“Sorry, guys,” Shouyou says, hanging his head. “It’s just… my whole life, everyone’s told me, you’re a shoe, you’re a shoe! And today I just stopped and I said, what if I don’t want to be a shoe? What if I wanna be a jersey? Or like, a kneepad?”
“Is this some kind of gay metaphor?” Tooru asks.
“Bro, I totally get it,” Bokuto says, nodding vigorously. “It’s tough, but sometimes you just gotta figure out what part of a volleyball uniform you wanna be, y’know?”
“You two are on a totally different level,” Kenma mumbles.
“Wait… you play volleyball, Koutarou?” Shouyou asks, peering at Bokuto. His face suddenly lights up with recognition. “Oh my god, you’re Koutarou Bokuto!”
“Yeah, little dude!” Bokuto says cheerily.
“Former national player! You were like, the ace!” Shouyou says, practically jumping off the couch with all the bouncing he’s doing. “You’re one of my favorite players ever! Oh my god, I can’t believe you’re here. I can’t believe you saw all of that.”
“Man, don’t worry about it!” Bokuto tells him. “I’ve had worse meltdowns over losing my toothbrush. Ask Tetsu.”
“An 8.5 on the Richter scale,” Tetsurou says dryly.
“So you go by your last name?” Shouyou asks.
“Bo, usually,” Bokuto says, shrugging. “Everyone who meets me says it’s more fitting than a long-ass name like Koutarou. Feel free to call me Bo.”
“I get to call a national ace Bo?” Shouyou says, looking as though he’s going to faint. “This might be the best day of my life.”
“You said the best day of your life was when we made it to the national tournament,” Tobio says, frowning.
“Well, this is a close second!”
“Not to break up this love fest,” Kenma interrupts, “but we have some important things to discuss. Namely, where Shouyou will be staying.”
“Oh, right,” Shouyou says, red creeping up his neck. “Uh, sorry, Kenma. I should’ve asked before telling my dad I was gonna stay here. I can like, go get a hotel or something if you want.”
“No, I don’t mind,” Kenma says. “One condition, though. You have to get a job.”
“A job?” Shouyou squeaks, his eyes about to bug out of his head.
The other four just blink, exchanging concerned looks. Tobio says slowly, “Dumbass, have you never had a job before?”
“Well, I helped out at a hot dog stand for a summer when I was like, fifteen,” Shouyou says, looking embarrassed. “But I’ve always been in school and then when I graduated my parents wanted me to have some time off to relax and stuff, and then I was going to get married, so I thought I’d figure it out after…” He fidgets a little on the couch. “What, do all of you have jobs?”
“Well, yeah,” Tooru says. “That’s how we buy stuff.”
“Tooru’s a professional nerd,” Tobio grunts.
“I am not,” Tooru protests. “I’m a high level astronomist at the American Museum of Natural History.”
“By that, he means he gives tours at the planetarium,” Kenma says, half-smiling. “I work at this start-up video game developer. Tobio works at a boring office. Bo occasionally gets acting jobs. And who knows what Tetsurou does.”
“I’m an accountant,” Tetsurou says, rolling his eyes.
“A what?” Shouyou asks.
“You know, the person who creates budgets, records transactions, analyzes accounts… you know what, never mind.”
“So if your parents aren’t supporting you anymore, you’ll have to support yourself,” Kenma says calmly. “Honestly, if you talked to Ukai downstairs, he’d probably hire you. It’s a decent job for a beginner.”
“Yeah!” Shouyou says brightly. “I could serve coffee and get tips and serve little lattes with hearts in them for people to post on Snapchat!”
“Maybe start off with learning to make coffee, shrimpy,” Tetsurou says.
“Okay!” Shouyou says. “Kenma, you have a coffee machine?”
“Yeah,” Kenma says. “Corner of the counter. And the coffee mix is in the cabinet above it.”
Shouyou bounds over to the coffee machine, grinning from ear to ear. Tetsurou raises his eyebrows at Kenma. “You have a coffee machine and yet you buy coffee from Karasuno every damn day?”
Kenma shrugs. “My life philosophy, Tetsu. Why do for yourself what you can get others to do for you?”
“Hell yeah,” Tooru says emphatically. “Especially in bed.”
“Suddenly I’m tempted to change my life philosophy,” Kenma says, groaning.
“Are we sure this is a good idea?” Bokuto stage-whispers, but when Shouyou comes back with a mug in hand and asks who wants to be his test subject, Bokuto is the first to volunteer. He takes a big, long sip, and immediately starts to cough loudly.
Shouyou stares at him, big eyes shining. “Is it good?” he asks hopefully.
“Yeah, man,” Bokuto says, holding up one shaking thumb. “It’s so good my body can’t even handle it.”
Tetsurou claps him on the back. “Yeah, nice try, dude.”
“Anyone else want some?” Shouyou asks, smiling.
“I’m good,” the other four say, almost in unison.
Shouyou frowns. “Your loss,” he says, taking a sip of the other mug he had prepared. He doesn’t even flinch.
“Did he kill off his taste buds?” Tooru whispers in horror.
“By the way, Shrimpy,” Tetsurou says, “Kenma’s hosting a New Year’s Eve party on Monday night. Hope you don’t mind since, y’know, you’ll be living here.”
“By that he means I’m being forced to host the party while he and Tooru do all the planning,” Kenma says.
“You have the biggest apartment!” Tooru says.
“A party?” Shouyou says, practically bouncing up and down. “That sounds like so much fun! I love parties. Who all is coming?”
“The six of us,” Kenma mutters.
“I invited a few people from work,” Tobio adds.
“I’m bringing this girl I’ve been seein’,” Bokuto says. “Man, I know you guys’ll like this one.”
“Yeah, I’ll like her for the entire few hours of our acquaintance,” Kenma mumbles. Tetsurou elbows him.
“I invited some co-workers as well,” Tooru says loftily.
“Great,” Tetsurou groans. “Invasion of the nerds.”
“I’ll have you know that… shit. I can’t even argue with that,” Tooru replies glumly. “Bo, do us all a favor and invite some of your hot actor friends.”
“I’ll text the hot actor group chat right now,” Bokuto says eagerly, whipping out his phone. “They’re all usually busy, though.”
“…wait, that exists?” Shouyou says, furrowing his eyebrows. “I’m excited to hang out with everyone though! And meet all your friends!”
“Funny you assume we have friends outside of this room,” Kenma says.
“I have people at work I hate less than people in this room,” Tobio says, pointedly staring at Shouyou.
Shouyou sticks out his tongue in response. “You wish you hated me.”
“You could cut the sexual tension in this room with a knife,” Tetsurou mutters under his breath to Kenma, who just grins into his hand.
“Well, I’ve got to go,” Tobio says, scowling still. “I’ve got work stuff to do. Y’know, like a real adult.”
“Me too!” Shouyou says, jumping up to beat Tobio to the door.
“You don’t even have a job,” Tobio says.
“Dumbass, I’m going to go get one!” Shouyou says, running out of the apartment.
Tobio glances back at the group bewilderedly before he takes off running behind Shouyou, yelling something that sounds like “You’re not gonna beat me downstairs! It was my idea first!”
Kenma just blinks. Tooru says, “Twenty bucks those two fuck before the month is up.”
“Fifty before the week is up,” Tetsurou says.
Tooru’s eyes glint mischievously. “You’re on.”
Bokuto glances at the door, then back at the other three. “You mean Shouyou and Tobio? Damn, I never woulda guessed!”
Kenma sighs deeply. “I’m surrounded by idiots.”
.
By the time the New Year’s Eve party rolls around, Shouyou is almost fully settled in, save for a few boxes he’s decided are meant for another time. Tetsurou and Bokuto are the first to show up, due to the fact that they live just across the hall. Shouyou bounds over to them, a grin on his face. “I have news! Good news!”
Bokuto gasps. “Did you and Tobio,” he starts, but before he can finish, Tetsurou slaps a hand over his mouth.
“Did me and Tobio what?” Shouyou asks, brow furrowed.
“He wanted to know if you’ve seen Tobio,” Tetsurou says before Bokuto can speak. “We haven’t seen him all day.”
“Well, of course you haven’t, silly! He’s been at work all day.” Shouyou grins. “Anyways, speaking of work, guess who got a job!”
“Ukai hired you?” Tetsurou asks.
“Kenma put in a good word for me!” Shouyou exclaims, jabbing a thumb back at the blonde boy behind him.
Kenma sighs. “I did.”
“Hey, how come you’re never that nice to me?” Tetsurou pouts.
“Kenma’s nice to me!” Bokuto says, ruffling Kenma’s hair.
“Being mean to Bo is like kicking a puppy,” Kenma mumbles under his breath.
“What was that, my favorite friend?” Bokuto asks.
“Just said I appreciate our friendship,” Kenma says.
“I thought I was your best friend!” Tetsurou complains.
“Well, yeah, but best friend and favorite friend are different,” Bokuto pronounces, letting go of Kenma to walk over to the couch and throw himself down on it. “People are coming at 9, right? That means we have a whole hour to help you guys get ready.”
“True, and as one of the people who insisted we throw this party, Tetsurou can do his part,” Kenma says, thrusting a bag of streamers at Tetsurou. Tetsurou just catches the bag and heads over to the wall. “Where’s Tooru?”
“Probably got lost,” Bokuto says.
“He comes here every day,” Kenma points out.
“Probably got lost,” Bokuto repeats. Kenma just dips his head in acknowledgment.
“Does Tooru get lost a lot?” Shouyou asks from where he’s dumping cake mix into a pan.
“Once he called me to ask me what his apartment number was. He'd gone to the wrong apartment,” Tetsurou answers.
“Got it,” Shouyou says.
“Anyways, Shou, when do you start working?” Bokuto asks, propping himself up to listen better. “I mean, I guess not tomorrow, since it’s New Year’s Day… after that?”
“Yeah!” Shouyou says, beaming. “My first day working a real job. It’s gonna be amazing!”
“What’re you gonna do about mean customers?” Tetsurou asks.
“Mean… customers?” Shouyou says slowly. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, back when I worked at Subway in like, eleventh grade, people were total assholes for no reason about the stupidest little things,” Tetsurou says. Upon seeing the sad and shocked look on Shouyou’s face, though, Tetsurou quickly backtracks, saying, “I’m sure times have changed since then though!”
A knock sounds on the door. Before anyone can say come in, though, Tobio walks in, a frown on his face. Shouyou points at him. “I found him, Bo!”
“You what?” Tobio says.
“We were just hoping you’d get here soon,” Tetsurou says. “Shouyou missed you.”
“I did not say that!” Shouyou squawks.
Tobio raises his eyebrows. “Uh, so, what should I do?”
Kenma assigns him to balloon duty, which basically consists of Tobio huffing into empty balloons until Kenma points out that they’ve got a helium pump. After another ten minutes of the five of them working to put up the decorations and get the food prepared, Tooru stumbles in the door, panting heavily.
“Sorry, I would’ve been here like half an hour ago, but I got lost,” Tooru says, hanging up his coat on the coat hanger.
“You come here like every day,” Kenma points out.
“Your point?” Tooru replies. “Kenma, honey, I still use my GPS to get to the grocery store down the road.”
Kenma just throws a roll of streamers at his head. “Get to decorating.”
Tooru obliges, and the six spend the next few hours frantically hanging streamers, finishing foods, setting out drinks, and storing away Kenma’s various gaming systems. By the time nine o’clock rolls around, the room finally looks like the site of a party - white and gold streamers hung across the walls and ceiling, a round table stocked with finger foods, another table with various drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, and balloons decorating the ceiling. Bokuto scans the room and then says, “Hey, where’s the mistletoe?”
“Bo, mistletoe is kind of a Christmas thing only,” Tooru explains.
“Ohhh,” Bokuto says thoughtfully, and then, “Well, shit. There goes my plan to get the girl I invited under the mistletoe for that sexy midnight kiss. Guess I’ll have to come up with some other plan.”
“You could just charm her with your cool personality,” Shouyou suggests.
“That’s always plan number one,” Bokuto says with a wink. “But hey, never hurts to have a backup.”
“I don’t see why you even need a backup,” Tobio complains. “With you, it’s like you just smile at someone you like and they fall into your arms, just like that.”
“Aw, is Tobio jealous?” Bokuto says, latching onto Tobio’s arm. “Don’t worry, I can give you pointers. First of all, it might help if you stopped looking so grumpy all the time - “
“I do not look grumpy,” Tobio interjects, scowling.
“You do too!” Shouyou says, poking Tobio’s cheek. “Like even right now, your face is so scary! It’s no wonder boys don’t want to talk to you.”
Tobio looks like he’s going to say something back, but before he can, someone rings the apartment. Kenma sighs in relief. “Thank god that didn’t escalate,” he says, pressing the button to let the first of the guests up.
Tooru’s guests are the first to show up, perfectly timely. He introduces one of them as Dr. Hanamaki, but the man slaps him on the arm and says, “No need to be so formal, Tooru. Name’s Takahiro. It’s nice to meet some people outside of all these museum freaks.” When someone else from the museum voices a complaint, Takahiro sticks his tongue out. “Oh, get over it already. You know it’s true.”
Tetsurou eyes Takahiro warily. “You’re a lot more normal than I’d expect.”
“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Takahiro says. “Probably why Tooru clings to me so much.”
“I do not!” Tooru protests, pushing out his lower lip.
“Are you and Tooru, like, a thing?” Shouyou asks, bouncing up and down.
“Me and Tooru?” Takahiro asks, laughing. “God, Tooru wishes. I’m happily taken, actually. But all two of us gay guys at the museum gotta stick together, yeah?”
“Makki!” Tooru whines, putting his head on the other man’s shoulder. “You know, you could just leave your man and be with me. I’m pretty and funny and smart! Or we could make it a three-way. I’m sure Mattsun wouldn’t mind.”
“Poor Mattsun,” Kenma mumbles. Tetsurou elbows him, but can’t fully hide his grin.
“Is your boyfriend coming, Takahiro?” Bokuto asks eagerly.
“He should be on his way,” Takahiro says. “And no, Tooru, I am not asking him for a threesome or any other form of three-way.”
“That’s no fun,” Tooru pouts.
“You know, Tooru,” Tobio says, “if you invade that relationship, you won’t be available if somehow Hajime Iwaizumi shows up in your life.”
Shouyou looks puzzled. “Hajime Iwaizumi?”
“Hajime is the love of my life,” Tooru says dramatically.
“He’s some random model or something Tooru’s sure he’s destined to be with,” Tetsurou says.
“Just because you don’t understand true love, Tetsu, doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t experience it,” Tooru shoots back.
Bokuto shrugs. “Maybe one day. But right now, I gotta experience life.”
“That sounds so cool, Bo!” Shouyou says, practically vibrating with excitement. “I wanna experience life too!”
“Dumbass, you already are,” Tobio says, elbowing Shouyou to get him to stop bouncing at his side.
“Especially now that I’m not living at home!” Shouyou says, undeterred. The rest of the crew can only just shrug and concede that to him.
Tobio’s coworkers show up next, though only a small number of them, and they look to be somewhat of a ragtag crew: one boy with his hair sticking straight up into a turnip shape, a tall, grumpy-looking blonde boy, and a tiny boy with a bit of colored hair in the front. The tiny boy immediately zooms into the room, bypassing introductions, and the tall boy rolls his eyes. “That’s Noya, he forgets his manners. I’m Kei Tsukishima and this is Kindaichi. Who knows if he even has a first name.”
“It’s Yuutarou,” Yuutarou Kindaichi says.
“You can call Kei Tsukki if you want,” Tobio says.
“You absolutely cannot,” Kei says, glaring daggers at Tobio.
“Good to know, Tsukki,” interjects Tetsurou, a sleazy smile on his face. For a moment, Kei looks annoyed, but then that annoyance fades into something a little softer. Tetsurou’s expression softens a little too. “Let me get you a drink, huh?” Tetsurou asks, and Kei just nods and follows him.
For just a second, Kenma’s gaze follows the pair as they walk off. He bites his lip, though, and then turns back to the rest of the group.
“Is this guy as miserable to work with as he is to be friends with?” Shouyou asks Yuutarou.
“We’re not friends,” Tobio says, but Shouyou just ignores him.
“Guess you get the King of the Office treatment too, huh?” Yuutarou asks. “Wants everything to be done perfectly, even if he can’t do it perfectly himself.”
“Why did he bring people who don’t even like him?” Bokuto stage-whispers to Tooru.
Shouyou and Tobio continue arguing, at least until Shouyou grabs Tobio’s sleeve to drag him off to some corner of the apartment to argue in, leaving behind Bokuto, Tooru, and Kenma. Yuutarou mutters something about going to get some food and takes off. The door sounds again. This time, a pretty brunette girl walks in, smiling from ear to ear. “Hey there, Koutarou,” she says brightly.
“Koutarou?” Kenma mumbles to Tooru, who just smirks.
“‘Manda!” Bokuto exclaims, practically throwing himself at the girl. Once he backs off, he grins, bringing the girl over to meet his friends. “Amanda, these are my pals, Kenma Kozume and Tooru Oikawa. Guys, this is Amanda Hinson.”
“Hi,” Kenma offers, staring at Amanda’s shoes.
“Nice to meet you,” Tooru says, offering a hand and a wide smile. “So you’re the girl our little Bo has been seeing! Now, you’d better be treating him well, because baby Bo deserves the world. If I see even an inkling of treating our Bo wrong, I’ll have to -“
“Tooru!” Bokuto yelps, holding Amanda’s hand with a look of indignation. Amanda just looks between Kenma and Tooru with wide eyes.
“Nice to meet you too?” Amanda says.
Bokuto quickly leads her away, muttering something about Tooru having suffered a brain injury recently, and Tooru just grins. Kenma sighs. “You know, you didn’t have to do all that.”
“Tetsurou wasn’t here to do it, so someone had to.”
“Or we could’ve just let Bo have this.”
Tooru rolls his eyes. “It’s not like this is going to last beyond tonight."
“It could,” Kenma replies petulantly.
“You know Bo. Now that we’re on the subject of significant others, though, where’s Lev?”
Kenma shrugs, his eyes trained on the ground again.
“It’s New Year’s Eve,” Tooru starts in, but before he can finish, Tetsurou grabs Kenma’s arm and pulls him to the side.
“I was gonna go get some food, but I heard your conversation with Tooru and it got me thinking,” Tetsurou says quietly. “Where is Lev?”
“He’s not going to make it.”
“He’s not going to make it because he’s busy tonight or because you aren’t together anymore?”
Kenma squirms uncomfortably, but Tetsurou keeps his gaze on him. Finally, Kenma says, “Fine. We broke up.”
“How long ago?!” Tetsurou exclaims.
“Like, two weeks, three weeks.”
“And you didn’t tell me?” Tetsurou’s expression changes to one of hurt.
“It’s not a big deal,” Kenma says irritably.
“It kind of is, Kenma! You don’t have to go through these things alone, you know?”
“I said it’s fine, Tetsurou,” Kenma says, a hint of finality in his voice. “You looked like you were having a good time talking to Glasses over there. I don’t want to interrupt that.”
“You’re not interrupting, okay? You’re more important. If you want to talk, or just don’t want to be alone tonight...”
Kenma just shakes his head. “I’m fine, Kuro,” he says softly. “I want you to have a good time tonight. So please, make my night better, and go back to Glasses.”
“Fine,” Tetsurou says in an equally soft tone. He lifts one hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind Kenma’s ear. “Come find me if you need me.”
“Yeah, of course.”
Meanwhile, Tooru, who had been left alone, wanders over to where Bokuto and Amanda are sitting. Bokuto groans, hanging his head. “Tooru, please.”
“I was just filling in for Tetsu!” Tooru exclaims. “I’ll be normal now.” He winks at Amanda and says, “Tooru Oikawa, pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“I thought acquaintance was that procedure you do where they stick needles in you,” Bokuto says.
Amanda laughs, squeezing his shoulder. “Acupuncture.”
“Close enough!”
“Tell me about yourself, Miss Amanda,” Tooru says smoothly, settling in on Amanda’s other side. As Amanda starts to talk about her new job at the bank, Bokuto mouths “stop flirting with her!” to Tooru.
“I’m honestly just grateful to be able to provide money for my parents,” Amanda finishes, brushing a strand of hair behind her left ear. “Since they paid for all my treatments as a kid, y’know? It’s the least I can do.”
“That’s honestly one of the sweetest things I’ve ever heard,” Tooru says, and Bokuto’s glare intensifies. Tooru sighs. “Listen, Amanda, don’t go anywhere, okay? I want to hear more. But I have something, uh, important to tell Bo here, okay?”
Tooru pulls Bokuto to the side and gives him a harsh stare. “Bo. Old buddy, old pal, I don’t know if you remember, but I’m gay. As in, I am not attracted to women, okay?”
“Coulda fooled me,” Bokuto mumbles.
“Okay, no, no, don’t go all emo Bo, please,” Tooru says, which just makes Bokuto frown more. He quickly follows it up with, “I can tell she really likes you! And she seems like a sweetheart. I’m just… a little worried.”
“Bout what?”
“About tomorrow,” Tooru says softly. “About when she wakes up in your bed across the hall and you promise to call her and you never do.”
“I’m not ready to commit!”
“I know that, Bo. I do. But does she know that?”
“I dunno,” Bokuto says miserably. “God. I need to just get on Tinder and put ‘hookups only’ in my bio or somethin'.”
“You ever think you’ll meet someone you want to commit to?” Tooru asks quietly.
“I dunno,” Bokuto repeats. “Like, man, she’s perfect. She’s smart and sweet and has been through so much. She’s so strong. She’s perfect! I wanna be with her. But I don’t wanna be with her, ya know? Not forever."
“She is pretty perfect,” Tooru muses, putting a hand on Bokuto’s shoulder. “Just… maybe not perfect for you. But that doesn't mean no one is."
Bokuto’s trademark grin makes its way back onto his face and he shakes his head. “I dunno about someone being perfect for me,” he says, “but I guess it is kinda cool to think about, huh? I’ll talk to her later, let her know I’m not lookin’ for anything serious. Thanks, man.”
Oikawa just nods as they head back to where Amanda is sitting. On the other side of the room, in the hallway between the bathroom and a bedroom, Shouyou and Tobio are still engaged in heated discussion. “You don’t know me, idiot,” Tobio says, teeth clenched. “Maybe you knew me a little in high school, but I’m not the same as I was back then.”
“Yeah right,” Shouyou hisses. “You act just as much like a king as you did back then! You haven’t changed one bit.”
“You don’t know me at all,” Tobio says again, a challenging glint in his eyes. He moves a step closer to Shouyou, breathing hard.
Shouyou leans up so that their faces are merely inches apart. “Maybe you should let me get to know you then,” he says before he leans closer, close enough that their lips connect.
For a second, Tobio stands still as a statue, his hands seemingly glued to his side. Eventually, though, just as Shouyou’s about to pull away, he holds onto Shouyou’s face, kissing back with just as much vigor. They continue on like that for a second before Shouyou pulls away, his face red. “You’re not gonna beat me at this too,” he says.
“My apartment’s just down the street,” Tobio says, challenging.
“We can’t just leave the party!” Shouyou squeaks. “They’ll all notice…”
“Then we tell them we got drunk and went to Waffle House,” Tobio says. “Not like I haven’t done it before.”
Shouyou grins in response, a genuine smile that reaches his eyes. “Fine. You’re on.”
The two look to make sure that no one’s watching before they stumble out the door, walking at nearly inhuman speeds to evacuate the party.
Just a bit later, just as the clock is about to strike twelve, Tetsurou turns to Kei on the couch in the middle of the apartment. “Ya know, usually I kinda hate these parties. Kenma and I usually camp out in someone’s room with plates full of food and let Tooru and Bo party it up. I always convince Kenma to throw them for some godforsaken reason, though.”
“The guy with the half-dyed hair?” Kei asks.
“Yeah, my best friend,” Tetsurou says with a nod. “Don’t tell Bo, though.”
Kei raises an eyebrow. “Known him a while?”
“Almost my whole life,” Tetsurou says. “We grew up beside each other.”
“I’ve got one of those too. Tadashi. He’s a big dork, though. Kind of like you.”
“I’m offended, Tsukki, darling.”
“Call me that one more time and you’re definitely not going to be kissed at midnight.”
“Well, now I’m expecting to be kissed at midnight,” Tetsurou says, grinning.
As the words leave Tetsurou’s mouth, Kenma creeps out of the room he’s been hiding in, empty plate in hand. He heads back to the food table, where Tooru, who’s been standing there for a bit, shoots him a sympathetic look. “Tetsurou, huh?”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kenma mutters.
“I just mean you two spent almost every New Year’s Eve together,” Tooru says. “Even when Lev was around. Which I get you don’t want to talk about, but I’m assuming you broke up. Anyways! It’s not like I’m getting kissed at midnight either, so if you want someone to commiserate with, I’m your guy.”
“What happened to your threesome?”
“Unfortunately I have experienced yet another rejection at the stingy hands of Makki and Mattsun.”
“Truly a travesty.” Kenma rolls his eyes, but motions towards the corner. “I’m gonna go sit over there with my Switch. Guess you can join me.”
“I’d be honored, Ken-Ken.”
“If you never call me that again.”
As the clock strikes twelve, Tetsurou gives Kei a noisy smack on the lips. Kei glares, but there’s something in the twinkle of his eyes that shows he’s not entirely displeased. Bokuto kisses Amanda lightly on the cheek and whispers something like, “Thanks for hanging out tonight.” Tooru attempts to kiss Kenma’s cheek but Kenma slaps him away. “I’m not that desperate,” he informs Tooru.
“Well, I am,” Tooru says, pouting.
Across the street, Shouyou kisses Tobio again and rolls over in the bed. “It’s the new year!” he exclaims.
“Go to sleep, dumbass,” is Tobio’s only response.
.
The morning after at around six AM, Shouyou stumbles into the apartment only to find Kenma sitting with his back against the couch, Breath of the Wild on the TV. Shouyou jams his hands in his pockets awkwardly. “You’re already up?”
“Haven’t slept,” Kenma hums. “Where’ve you been?”
“Got drunk,” Shouyou says, his voice hiking up an octave. “Went to, uh, IHOP. I mean, uh, Waffle House.”
“You did not.” Kenma presses pause on his console and turns around to observe Shouyou. After a second of staring, he says, “You had sex with Tobio.”
Shouyou’s face immediately goes to the deepest shade of red. “I did not!”
“You’re a terrible liar. Well, guess Tetsu won the bet.”
“You - I - well - yes, okay, I had sex with T-Tobio, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now! It was really good,” Shouyou whines. “I want to do it again, but…”
“Don’t.”
“What do you mean?” Shouyou asks curiously, walking over to sit beside Kenma against the couch.
“You’re not the type to do no-strings-attached stuff,” Kenma says. “Neither is Tobio, for that matter. You’re both going to get attached. Are you ready for that?”
“N-no,” Shouyou stammers.
“Thought so.” Kenma pauses thoughtfully. “Shouyou, have you even had sex with a guy before?”
“…also no.”
“Remember how you said you didn’t know if you were straight?”
“…wow, I guess this does mean I’m not straight, huh?”
Kenma smacks his face against his palm. “Well, at least this helped on your path to self-discovery.”
“Hey, cool, I like boys!” Shouyou says, his body thrumming with excitement. “Like you, and like Tetsurou, and like Tobio, and like Tooru! We’re like a big club!”
“Bo likes guys too,” Kenma says quietly. “But I don’t think he knows, so don’t tell him.”
“Oh my god, that’s so cool!” Shouyou whisper-yells. “We’re a big gay club! Only I like girls too, so maybe I’m not fully gay.”
“Tetsurou’s like that too. Same for Bo.”
“Hey, nice!” Shouyou says. “Variety is like, the spiciness of life. Where’d Tetsurou go, by the way?”
“He went to take Kei home,” Kenma mumbles. “He’s probably back by now. Haven’t heard from him, though.”
Shouyou frowns. “Sorry, Kenma!”
“Nothing to be sorry about,” Kenma says, setting down his Switch controller. “I’m gonna go sleep now.”
Down the street, Tooru sighs into the phone. “It sounds like a one-night stand, Tobio. Have you seriously never had any one-night stands in your 24 years?”
“Yes!” Tobio says immediately, then groans. “No.”
“It’s where you sleep with someone and then you don’t talk to them again,” Tooru says. “Believe me, I’ve had enough of them. Let’s see, there was Miya back in eleventh grade, Sam in senior year, and then in college…”
“Okay, Grand King, I don’t want to hear about your conquests,” Tobio says grumpily. “But I can’t exactly avoid Shouyou. He lives with Kenma now and we hang out there all the time. Plus, now he’s kind of friends with my friends.”
“I’m not saying you have to. Just don’t sleep with him again.”
“But I liked it.”
“Just give it time, Tobio. Get to know him first or whatever,” Tooru says. “If it’s meant to be, it’ll be. Just like me and Hajime.”
Tobio snorts. “Yeah, that’ll happen.”
“O ye of little faith! When Hajime and I get married, you’re doing our best man speech, no matter how shit-faced you are.”
“Deal.”
“Now go back to sleep, Tobio. And stop worrying about this. You’re the commitment kind of guy, ya know? So just end it here. And maybe you’ll pick it up again sometime in the future.”
“Okay,” Tobio says. His voice sounds somewhat unsure, though.
A couple of hours later, in the apartment that Bokuto and Tetsurou share, Bokuto finishes the pancake he’s making. “I only burnt the edges this time!” he exclaims brightly.
Tetsurou smirks. “Definitely progress.”
“Soon it won’t be burnt at all,” Bokuto says, putting it on a paper plate and heading over to the counter. “Maybe next week.”
“So what happened to that girl you were with? Amanda?” Tetsurou asks. “She was pretty hot. You didn’t want to…?”
“She was too nice,” Bokuto says miserably. “Like, a total saint, I’m telling ya! And so I was just like, I can’t do this, and I told her that she’s great an’ all but I’m not lookin’ for a relationship. She was totally cool about it too, so we just did friendly things for the rest of the night. What about you and Glasses Boy? You looked pretty cuddly on that couch!”
“I don’t sleep with people when I first meet them, Bo.”
“Why not?” Bokuto says, eyes wide. “It’s a great way to get to know ‘em!”
“Not exactly my style,” Tetsurou says. “Plus the social awkwardness is kind of a huge deterrent.”
Bokuto’s eyebrows crease. “You squirt them with laundry detergent?”
Tetsurou laughs. “No, no, deterrent. Anyways. I walked him home, like the gentleman I am.”
“So you’re serious about him? Man, that’s so cool!”
“I… well, I can’t say that yet. It’s only been like, one time. So who knows.”
“He’s good-looking an’ everything!” Bokuto says. “Smart, kinda sarcastic, blonde… reminds me a lot of someone I know, actually.”
Tetsurou frowns. “Wh… what? Who?”
“And everyone says I’m the dumb one,” Bokuto says, shoving a pancake into his mouth.
.
Later that day, Kenma heads down to the coffee shop, half to get a coffee and half to see Shouyou, who’s currently working. Ukai just glances at Kenma and says, “Shouyou, get Kenma his usual.”
Shouyou turns to Kenma with wide eyes, mouthing “usual?” Kenma just mouths back “hot chocolate” and heads back to the couch, settling down in his usual spot beside Tetsurou. Tetsurou’s hand automatically comes down to stroke Kenma’s hair. “Sorry I left ya alone last night.”
“It’s fine,” Kenma says. “Tooru kept me company.”
Tetsurou practically spits out his coffee. “Tooru?”
“We’re friends,” Kenma mumbles, staring at the table.
“Ken-ken and I are super close now,” Tooru says, beaming from ear to ear.
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
Shouyou comes back to the table and hands a mug to Kenma. “Gah, working’s so tiring,” he says, collapsing down in a chair. “How does anyone ever do it?”
“You’re gonna have to do it the rest of your life, dumbass,” Tobio says.
“Oh shit, I never thought about that,” Shouyou says, looking stricken.
Tooru grins, giving Tobio a non-subtle thumbs up and taking a sip of his black coffee. Bokuto immediately takes the opportunity to launch into a story about the audition he has tomorrow, which he’s definitely going to get, and things are back to normal. At least for now.