Chapter Text
Kenma considers himself lucky. Despite the obvious work it took for him to get to where he was now, there are some things in Kenma’s life that he knows happened by chance. One of these things is his home. A fifteen-minute train ride away from his favorite cat cafe in Harajuku, a spacious apartment with floor-to-ceiling windows, and a neighborhood that, luckily, isn’t too loud, but isn’t quiet enough to give him the creeps at night. Not to mention the bakery downstairs. The smell of fresh bread and caramel wafts through the floor somehow and makes Kenma crave sweets. It’s a wonder that he hasn’t visited it before, but his schedule hasn’t allowed for it at all until recently. Another lucky thing for Kenma, he’s got more free time starting tonight. Maybe he’ll finally beat his high score in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Damn Lightning Cup. Kenma puts his hair up— Mario Kart requires only the highest quality of focus— and is about to press play when a sudden, loud thud comes from the wall behind him, his controller almost slipping from his hands. The only other apartment in the building is empty. Is someone moving in? He pauses the game and sets his controller aside. If someone is moving in, it might be a good idea to- what was it called?- “make a good first impression,” as Shouyo had told him once when he was first interviewing for jobs.
“When I get to Rio, I’m going to have to get a job right away,” Shouyo says, voice tinny through the speaker of Kenma’s phone. He’s carding his fingers through his hair, a nervous habit the energetic boy picked up from god-knows-where.“Maybe stop tugging at your hair,” Kenma can’t help but smirk a little, “First impressions won’t matter if you’re bald.”
“KENMA, I WILL COME OVER THERE,” Shouyo yells.
There’s silence for a moment as both boys look at each other. Then, they burst into giggles.
Much, much later, Shouyo calls Kenma again, at an ungodly hour of the morning (which is fine, he was awake anyway) and excitedly tells him that he did it— he got a job.
“Good for you.”
Kenma is smiling when the call ends with the orange-haired man promising to call again.
Kenma blinks back to reality. What was he going to—? Oh. Yeah. First impressions. He looks at the time. It’s not too late. Kenma could bake an apple pie— his favorite— and if it turns out bad (it won’t), he can just say that the bakery downstairs has better ones (although Kenma has never been there before). Yes. It’s a good plan.
Kunimi swears that he owned less than this. He’s done moving boxes, but at what cost? It’s too late for dinner, but not late enough to go to sleep. Speaking of, he still has to set up the futon. Compared to volleyball practice whenever Oikawa was angry and still captain of Aoba Johsai, Kunimi thinks that the whole process of moving is ten times worse (okay maybe he’s being dramatic, Oikawa was ruthless whenever he was mad).
(Somewhere in Argentina, Oikawa sneezes.)
Kunimi is about to have a “screw it” moment and allow himself to fall asleep on the couch when a knock at the front door startles him from his exhaustion. He opens the door to find— wait. He’s seen this guy before. And he’s holding an apple pie and shuffling his feet.
“Hi,” the familiar man starts quietly, “I’m the guy next door. My name is Kozume Kenma. This is for you,” he holds up the pie.
“Uh, thanks, Kozume.” Very articulate, Kunimi.
“Kenma is fine.”
“Then, thank you, Kenma. Please, come in. Sorry for the mess, I’m just moving in.”
“That’s fine. Pardon the intrusion.”
Kunimi tells Kenma that he can put the pie on the kitchen counter while he gets the plates and utensils. It’s when they’re sitting down and sharing the pie that Kunimi remembers to ask.
“Kenma, you’re familiar somehow. Where have I seen you before? You didn’t go to Aoba Johsai.”
Kenma blinks up at Kunimi. Oh, that’s kind of cute. Wait, what?
“It might have been because I played volleyball in high school. I was Nekoma’s setter. We played against Aoba Johsai maybe once or twice. You played middle blocker, I think?”
“Yeah, I did. Good to see you again. My name is Kunimi Akira. Akira is fine.”
“Good to see you, Akira.”
The two exchange small smiles, both remembering each other’s quiet nature.
“What brings you to this neighborhood?”
Kenma tilts his head to punctuate the question.
“I, uh, run the bakery downstairs.”
“Oh,” Kenma says, his eyes widening, “I'm sorry for my apple pie then. It probably isn’t as good as the ones you sell.”
“Actually, I really like it. So, uh, don’t apologize.”
“Oh, that’s good. I’m glad.”
Akira refuses to say anything out loud about it, but the way that Kenma’s eyes light up at the praise is just a little bit adorable. Okay, maybe a lot.
So he might be a bi disaster, sue him.
Akira decides to pointedly ignore his inner bisexual panic, smiling as he replies, “I’ll have to treat you to a pie from my bakery sometime.”
“Okay, I’ll look forward to it.”
The two men finish their slices of pie, Kenma offering to do the dishes to allow Akira to unpack further. Akira politely tells Kenma that he’d feel bad for making a guest do a chore. The blond shakes his head, saying that he knocked on Akira’s door with the intention of helping his new neighbor out in whatever way he could.
Shit. He’s cute as hell.
Akira gratefully accepts.
It’s almost ten pm when Kenma and his new neighbor get done unpacking, but Akira is the opposite of a bother. Kenma has found, throughout the evening, that Akira is— borrowing words from Shouyo— low-key his type. Kenma tries not to think about it too hard as he and Akira plan to meet again for dinner tomorrow, as a thank you for helping the other man unpack.
Kenma also tries not to think about him too hard as he slips into bed that night, but ultimately fails when Shouyo texts him about the said neighbor.
Shouyo: so? how’d it go?? did being a good neighbor work??? :D
Kenma: i think so
Kenma: we’re on a first-name basis
Shouyo: :D!!!!!!!!!
Shouyo: IS HE CUTE
Kenma: ...
Shouyo: he IS cute!!!!!! WGATS HIS NAMW
Kenma: kunimi akira
Shouyo: WAIT hold on
Shouyo: kozume+kunimi= kozukuni
Shouyo: K O K U
Kenma: why are you like this
Kenma: all i did was bake him an apple pie
Shouyo: yOU BAKED HIM A PIE?!?!?!?!?!
Shouyo: YOURE IN LOVE LOVE HUH KENMA
Kenma: im going to leave you on read
Shouyo: ASHAJKHFL I LOVE YOU TOO!!!!!!
Kenma: i h8 u
Shouyo: OSHJFKDKFLFL NO U DONT
Kenma: no I don’t