Chapter Text
Kuroo Tetsurou has finally developed one of his best pranks of all time.
He's going to go to the Nekoma team after practice and tell them that he's dating Kenma. He’s pretty certain that their reactions are going to be hilarious . He can't wait to see them all freak out over nothing.
Because obviously he's not dating Kenma. And it's completely unbelievable that he would be.
So, later that day, he goes up to the team after practice. kenma's home sick that day, which is perfect for his clearly very cunning plan. "I have an announcement to make," Kuroo says.
"You don't have to announce that you have an announcement," Yaku says, because he's an asshole.
"Well, I wanted to make sure that I had all of your attention."
"You have it now!" Yamamoto says. "So you can just say it already."
"Fine. I'm... Kenma and I are together. Like, we’re dating."
Fukunaga blinks. "Is that all?"
"Whaaaat?" Kuroo yelps. "What do you mean, is that all?" Had they been... expecting this?
"Well, we kind of knew this was coming, Kuroo-san," Inuoka says, almost apologetically.
"Yeah! It's obvious that you love Kenma-san!" Lev says brightly, earning him an elbow to the gut.
"Shut up," Yaku hisses, to which Lev exclaims, "Well, if he's dating Kenma-san now, they both should already know that!"
It's obvious that he... what? His heart pounds louder, thudding in his ears. He has no idea what they're talking about. Why is no one shocked or even a little surprised?
Do they all think that he's in love with Kenma?! Do they all think that Kenma’s in love with him ?
Why would they think that? It's true that he's always been softer around Kenma, that his eyes are drawn to Kenma, but just to make sure he's doing okay, just because he cares about Kenma, because Kenma tends to be his focus! But platonically, of course! And that should be obvious!
He stands, shell-shocked, in front of the group.
"Is everything okay?" Kai asks quietly. "They forgot to say it, but we all support both of you, you know. We're happy that you finally figured it out."
Finally figured what out?!
“Everyone knew this?" Kuroo says, his throat dry.
The entire team nods in unison. Kuroo feels like he's going to choke.
"W-what if I had said I was dating someone else? Would you be surprised then?"
"Well, yeah! Cause you love Kenma-san!" Lev says brightly.
What the hell is going on here.
"I have to go," Kuroo stammers out, then heads towards the door, a little bit frantically. He can hear the murmurs of "That was weird" and "Is he okay?" behind him, but he can't make himself stop. He starts running as soon as he steps out of the door.
He runs all the way to Kenma's house.
Kenma's in his bed, burrowed under the covers, his game system in his hands. His hair is fanned out around him like a halo. Kuroo feels like he can't breathe all of a sudden. Has Kenma always been so pretty, so soft-looking, so...
"Hey," Kuroo manages. "Aren't you supposed to be resting? Put that game down."
Kenma sighs, then there's a press of a button like Kenma's pausing the game. Frowning, he rolls over to his other side. "What's wrong, Kuro?" he asks, because he's supremely perceptive and also knows Kuroo better than anyone in the world, Kuroo’s pretty sure.
Kuroo sags, flopping down onto the ground beside his bed.
But he doesn't know how the hell he could possibly explain this.
"I... did something stupid," he says. "And now it's making me think a lot about things."
"Hm," Kenma says. "Awfully vague. What'd you do?"
"...I..."
"Does it have anything to do with the congratulatory text I got from lev?"
Kuroo groans. Trust Lev to not be able to keep his mouth shut. "Yes."
"You told everyone we were dating? Why?"
"I thought it'd be a funny joke! But then no one was surprised and Lev said I was in love with you and -"
"Well, he's not wrong."
"...what?"
"You... love me. Right?"
Kuroo fights down the urge to say "not that way!" like a middle schooler. Instead, he looks down at Kenma, at his adorable little nose, at his beautiful eyes, at the tiny, uncertain smile tugging at his lips. Kenma’s perfect, absolutely perfect. Kuroo's chest swells.
Well, shit. Maybe Nekoma had been right after all.
"I.. guess I do," Kuroo says slowly. "Holy shit. I do. I’m in love with you."
Kenma's mouth tilts up. "Wait. You didn't know until now?"
"Cut me some slack, would you? No. I didn't."
"Hm. Well, I knew for a long time, so I guess I win this one."
"Well, you're more perceptive than me," Kuroo says softly, gently running his hand through Kenma's hair. "But hey, you didn't say anything about how you felt."
"I love you too," Kenma says sleepily, closing his eyes. "Idiot."
His words are sleepy, lethargic, and Kuroo knows that Kenma’s in desperate need of rest. He takes Kenma's game system and sets it gently on the ground, then kisses his forehead. The rest can wait until tomorrow.
For now, he'll go fix Kenma some soup to get him some form of nutrients, hopefully getting him over the bug he’s come down with, and revel in the fact that this is one prank he'll never have a punchline to.
Hm. Maybe in retrospect it actually is his best prank ever.
After all, it got him a pretty damn amazing boyfriend.