Archive of Our Own

He has been looking at himself in the mirror longer than he would like to admit. Slowly, he raises his hand to his face staring at every movement of his own reflection in the mirror, he touches his cheek and gently palms it to give himself a little bit of color, lately his skin has been paler than ever. With the touch of his fingers he goes up his nose to his eyes, he blinks a couple of times without losing the intense gaze of his light hazel eyes. He has dark circles marked under his eyes product to his last sleepless nights. He looks up at his most distinctive feature, his hair. It’s a mess as always, some strands are lifted and others are almost falling on his forehead, it really does look like a bird's nest. He rests his hands firmly on the sink and lowers his head to see the small drops of water that are not yet completely gone. When he raises his head again, his lips are forming a small smile, he shakes his head to the sides in discontent and once again, he smiles at himself.

"You can do it."

He says to himself in a soft voice because he cannot bring himself to say it out loud, much less to complete the following phrase of his self-help book about how to build up confidence and believe more in yourself. It was kind of embarrassing to shout at his reflection how beautiful and smart he was, without believing it or not, it's just as weird.

He bites his lower lip and stops immediately when he sees what his reflection does, it was a bad habit and he knew it, but he just can't stop and his lips are suffering the consequences. He tilts his head to the side a little and his dark hair gets even messier, he runs his hand over his extremely dark hair to try to style it.

With a sigh he reads the instructions on the box one last time before opening the contents of the small bottle, he brings it closer to his nose to smell it and surprisingly the smell is not horrible at all compared to other potions he has tried throughout his 23 years in his training, at school or with playing with his friends, it even kind of smells like vanilla. It’s not that much liquid from what he can see, with just a sip it would be ready.

He lifts his head to see himself in the mirror with a doubtful look asking his reflection if he’s completely sure of this, he slightly nods and that is enough to bring the bottle closer to his mouth. With another unsure blink, he fixes his gaze on his own reflection in the mirror again and without taking his eyes off himself, Kuroo Tetsurou drinks the pink liquid before he can see a small crack in his mirror.

✩ ✩ ✩

"Shit" Kenma says to himself again, failing to put on his jeans, with a jump and moving his leg wildly, finally his foot is completely free. He puts his toothbrush back into his mouth quickly as he puts a couple of red apples in his bag, he runs through his small apartment with his shoes in hand to his bathroom ready to spit out any trace of his extra mint toothpaste. He rinses his mouth and entire face again before looking at himself in the mirror, he grimaces immediately. His dark circles were begging him for eight normal hours of sleep without interruption of any of his homework, okay let's be honest... of his addiction to video games. He doesn't even bother in brushing his hair, he has no time left anymore, so he will have to settle for the messy bun hairstyle that he made before going to bed, but he makes sure to leave some dark strands of his hair with blonde tips free on the side of his eyes.

He sighs deeply before gently tapping his bathroom mirror and saying the words he had recited from memory for so many times he had been doing it. His golden eyes see through the mirror as it loses its reflection and opens up shining with its white light. He slides the small stool on his bathroom floor with his leg to climb up and reach the height of the mirror without problems. With another deep sigh, Kozume Kenma crosses to the other side.

He has to adapt his eyes in to the mirror dimension, it’s always very confusing, it seems almost a maze, but hey! If it were easy everyone would do it. Kenma runs fast while seeing the time on his watch and he forces his legs to go even faster. He couldn't afford to be late for class again, he’s in his final year and he needed all the knowledge possible to graduate as a wizard. He keeps moving staring straight ahead trying not to forget his route. Out of the corner of his left eye he can see another person walking by, he focuses his gaze again quickly, last time he spent two hours helping someone getting out of here. If they don't know how to travel through the mirrors without getting lost every five seconds, then they shouldn't even enter here in the first place. 

It was a huge advantage, he was almost arriving at the academy and he had saved himself an hour from an unbearable train ride. Almost with a triumphant smile on his face, Kenma stops for a second to catch his breath, but he immediately feels a presence, he can't help but turn his head to the right where he could see all the mirrors pointing to other parts of the city. What he could see the most were landscapes of beautiful bathrooms or cozy living rooms. However, something else caught his attention, he comes closer at a slow pace where he feels an intense gaze.

Kenma blinks before focusing his gaze on the boy in front of him, he was young, probably about his age, he looked taller than him and his hairstyle... well his hairstyle was a mess. Kenma knew he couldn't see him, but still couldn't help but think that those intense eyes were staring directly at him. The young man is beautiful and Kenma struggles not to blush. He watches him drink a liquid from a strange bottle and gets even closer being perfectly aware that it’s probably not the best idea, but he feels bewitched by that look.

He comes closer to appreciate him better, he blinks a couple of times almost with his mouth open, amazed by the beauty of the stranger. Until he hears a noise...

He must have lost his concentration completely because the mirror that separates him from the attractive stranger begins to break into thousands of pieces. Shit... this hasn't happened to him since he started traveling like this four years ago and when he was still inexperienced.

He quickly approaches and crosses to the other side without thinking twice. He has to carefully move one leg first without touching the edges of the mirror and with a jump he goes down to the bathroom almost falling into the floor in the process. There were pieces of glass scattered all over the stranger’s bathroom floor, Kenma approaches swiftly without stepping on any until reaching where the boy was sitting against the door of his bathroom, he was probably pushed by the force of the spell breaking.

"Are you okay? I didn't mean to scare you, I promise I'm not a thief or anything, I was just going through the mirrors and I don't know what happened, I’m so sorry. Did you get hurt?" He says worriedly, but the stranger was still sitting with his mouth wide open and blinking every two seconds.

Maybe he has a concussion.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to make sure if you're okay." He gets closer to him slowly, he doesn't see any cuts, but he can notice that he was barefoot, maybe he stepped on some glass. "I'm so sorry, it wasn't my intention uhh to do this, I'll pay for your mirror I promise and umm I'll clean up the mess I caused. Can you stand up?"

The boy kept staring at him with his mouth open and Kenma couldn't help but looking away, his eyes were too much for him. He refocuses on the stranger when a sound comes out of his mouth, he sees him gulps. "A- Are you an Angel?"

Yep, he definitely has a concussion.

He position himself behind the hot stranger to inspect if he has some kind of injury in his head, but everything looks normal. "Did you get hit anywhere?"

He turns back to see his face and the guy nods. "Yes" he says as he touches his chest.

Kenma frowns. Maybe it was the power of the spell? "Where exactly?"

The boy takes his hand delicately without taking his eyes off him guiding it to his chest, positioning it just where his heart is and lacing their fingers together. Kenma could feel his heartbeat pounding on his ears or maybe it was his own heartbeat, he felt his cheeks heat up.

Well, he was acting like a lunatic, it was time to call an ambulance.

He gently separates from the stranger's grip, carefully without stepping on any of the glass, he search his pockets for his cell phone, but he doesn't find it, he searches this time in his bag, he must have forgotten it at home. "Do you have a phone?"

"813-XXXX-XXXX" the stranger says quickly.

"Hmmm okay..."

He doesn't know who this stranger is, he could be a serial killer… probably, it won’t harm anyone if he just leaves. He sees the time on his watch, he can still make it to his second class. He slowly walks to the mirror as if that could make the stranger not to see him. The door was still open, he slowly lifts one leg and puts his hands on the bathroom wall.

"Wait!"

Oh no, just keep going. Before he can jump, he looks at the little bottle in the sink. He takes it in his hands puzzled as he reads the instructions... What the fuck. The guy was a lunatic indeed.

Who in his right mind decides to drink a love potion to fall in love with oneself?

He turns around just in time to stop the guy who was limping towards him with one foot, and with a grimace he approaches to help him.

"Stay back," he says with what he thought was a firm voice.

Avoiding the glass, Kenma helps the stranger to lean on his shoulder so that he can walk easily. The guy was much taller than him and definitely judging from his muscles, he was heavier than him. The stranger was practically putting all his weight on him, when he comes out of the bathroom the first thing he sees is that everything is super clean and tidy. He advances with slow steps to the sofa almost carrying the stranger who is hugging him. When he tries to pull himself out of his grip so that he could sit on the couch, the stranger grips his hands tighter around his body refusing to pull away.

“Hey, get off me” Kenma tries to separates without hurting him much trying to take his hands so that he could stop touching him, but it was useless, without a doubt the guy was much stronger than him. He feels the man shake his head against his shoulder.

Great, Kenma just wanted to get to class on time by taking a little shortcut, he wasn't expecting that a stupid stranger would drink a love potion just at the exact moment of crossing their gazes through the mirror.

He really didn't have time for this, let alone the patience to deal with a clingy stranger, but in the end this is his fault. Kenma exhales deeply before speaking again.

"Look, why don't you sit here while I go for something to check on your foot? I think you stepped on a few pieces of glasses and I have to make sure it's not a deep cut. I'll be right back."

The stranger stays silent for a moment while still hugging him. "You promise?"

"Yes, I promise. I'll just go to your bathroom and come back."

He feels the stranger's breath go through his entire body when he sighs almost in his ear. Slowly, he is released from his embrace without protests from the other. Kenma helps him lay down by keeping his foot in the air with a cushion. The boy was not even wearing socks, he prays to himself so that his foot doesn't stink. He takes his foot in his hand and he can see that he has some glass stuck there, they don't look too deep and he is grateful for that. He walks through the apartment until he reaches the bathroom, he was seriously thinking of leaving him alone, but the other half of his conscience was torturing him, he slowly turns to see the stranger again and he was already looking at him as if making sure that he was not leaving him. He looked almost like a pouting puppy, thank goodness he doesn't consider himself a dog lover.

He puts his bag on his shoulder and slowly walks to the mirror ignoring his inner voice that is literally yelling at him. The stranger was going to be fine, he only had a small glass on his foot, medical attention wasn’t necessary and if he was flexible enough he could remove it himself ... Also, those potions never lasted long, maybe 24 hours maximum. A memory from a few years ago in his class of Introduction to Magic comes to mind, those potions never worked if there was not already an existing attraction.

You can't be attracted to a stranger, right?

Ughh, alright, alright, his inner voice shouts at his conscience as he starts looking for something in the bathroom cabinet to help him. He rummages a bit among the things and finds some tweezers that can help him, before leaving the bathroom he takes the small bottle of the love potion. 

The first thing he sees when he leaves are those hazel eyes looking directly at him along with a soft smile on his face that grows larger as he gets closer. Kenma sits on the end of the sofa, he exhales deeply and gently picks up the stranger's foot to begin removing the glass with the tweezers. "They are not that deep, it will only hurt a little." He says in a soft voice.

The stranger doesn’t say anything to him, but he feels his gaze at all times, nor does he hear him complain about the pain, he even hears him laugh a little.

"It tickles" he says with a smile.

Good thing that love doesn't make you think clearly.

When he has already removed the three pieces of glass from his foot and after cleaning the wound, he begins to bandage it. But each time he gets more and more distracted with the stranger's intense gaze on him.

"What?" he says irritated.

"Sorry, I can't help but looking at you, you truly are beautiful." He simply responds.

"Whatever," he says struggling not to blush. "Try not to, you are making me nervous."

"Wait! So you are feeling it too?"

"What?"

"The butterflies in the stomach?"

Kenma rolls his eyes at him. "All I feel is impatience to get out of here as soon as possible."

As if the comment had not affected him in any way, the stranger moves a little closer to him. "What’s your name?"

"I won't tell you my name, I don't know you."

"Kuroo Tetsurou."

Kenma looks up for a small second, the stranger named Kuroo was looking at him with a unique sparkle in his eyes, no one had ever looked at him like that before.

"Umm sorry Kuroo for breaking your mirror and for hurting you, I'll pay you back, I promise."

"With what?"

"Huh?"

"What will you pay me with? Where will you take me?"

"What? Nowhere, I'll pay you with money like a normal person."

Kuroo shakes his head. "No, I want us to go on a date."

He decides to give up on talking to him, there's no point, he’s not thinking clearly because of the potion. With skillful hands, he finishes bandaging his foot.

"And? You are not going to say anything? So you suddenly come into my life, you make me fall in love with you with your concern towards me, you take care of me at every second and then you just ignore me as if nothing has happened so you can just go and leave me forever?"

Kenma raises an eyebrow at him. Kuroo was with both arms crossed. "I don’t even know your name." He says in a broken voice.

Oh no. He had no idea how to comfort people, which is why he tries to ignore these kinds of feelings. Kuroo's eyes were watery, threatening to shed tears. "Kozume Kenma, but just Kenma is fine."

Kuroo's face changes completely from sadness to pure excitement in just seconds and he swears he could heard a small gasp coming out of him. "Tetsurou! In that case call me Tetsurou."

"Kuroo, I think your leg is fine, I'm going to sweep your bathroom so I can leave, I need to go to class."

"Noooo" he says almost jumping to hug him. "Don't go, we just met."

Kenma tries unsuccessfully to free himself from his embrace. "Kuroo, I really need to go."

Kuroo rubs his head against his chest. "I will go with you, I will stay outside, please Kenma."

Shit, he doesn't want a stranger to follow him around. "You drank a love potion, it's just that. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, what you feel now is the product of the magic liquid in a little bottle."

"Don’t you see it Kenma?" He says raising his head forcing him to meet his eyes. "It was fate."

"No Kuroo, it was because I was going to be late to class and I accidentally looked at your mirror."

"That sounds like fate to me and I said you can call me Tetsurou, Kenma." Tetsu- Kuroo gently moves a strand of hair to put it behind his ear.

Yep, he definitely didn't have the patience to deal with this situation. He moves his head so that he’s no longer face to face with him and sees the bottle on the table.

"Okay, okay. I'll stay, but you have to get off me, and you can't hug me when you just feel like it."

"Sorry, sorry" he says as he pulls away and with his hand he rubs the back of his neck. "I’m moving too fast, right? It's just that I've never been in a romantic relationship before."

He was killing him. Trying to ignore his comment because he is completely sure that he is not himself at the moment, Kenma inspects the bottle in his hands. Apparently the potion only lasted about twelve hours and he could recognized the logo of the store where they sold it.

"Kuroo?"

"Call me Tetsurou, Kenma." Kuroo was sitting next to him with his body fully turned to see him.

"T- Tetsurou then, look. Ummm we can go out to the store and go buy an antidote, in my opinion I think it's the best option because the magic lasts twelve hours and I can't stay here for that long."

Kuroo has a hand resting on his cheek looking directly at him and he makes no sign as if he has heard him.

"Did you understand what I said?"

The boy laughs softly. "Sorry, I got lost in your eyes Kenma, they are very very golden."

Kenma lowers his head quickly, he was sure he was blushing, but he didn't want to give him the satisfaction to see it. He repeats his idea again and Kuroo nods.

The two get up and prepares to leave. When he goes out the door and waits for Kuroo, he looks at his surroundings, he didn't know where he was, he didn't recognize this part of the city. "Do you know where the store is?"

"Ah yes, it’s a bit far from here, we have to take two different trains, Kenma."

Luck was definitely not on his side today. He doesn’t even walk two steps forward when he feels Kuroo's hand against his intertwining their fingers.

"Ummm what are you doing?"

"I don't want us to be too far apart and I like the warmth of your hand Kenma."

"If you are cold then put your hand in your pocket and we will be walking together, it’s not necessary." He says releasing himself from his grip.

He sees him pout, but doesn't say anything, in fact he doesn't say anything else on the way to the station. This is what he should have done from the beginning, take the public transportation like a normal person and thus save himself all this mess.

"Kenma, what are you thinking about?"

"Nothing important," he says when they are sitting next to each other on the train. "And stop calling me by my name with every sentence you say."

"I like the way your name sounds on my lips,  Kenma." Kuroo says as he rests his head on his shoulder.

He knew that Kuroo Tetsurou was a murderer, he realized in the moment he saw him.

"Whatever." It's just the potion talking, it's just the potion talking.

"You mentioned you were going to class. Do you study at the academy?"

He doesn't know whether to give him personal information about his life, he doesn't know what kind of person he really is, but despite his appearance, Kuroo doesn't seem to be a dangerous person. "Yes, I'm in my final year, I need the license to take care of the family business."

"Ahhh" without taking his head off his shoulder, Kuroo wraps his arm around him. "I have already graduated, but I have failed the final exam twice in a row, if I fail one more time, I will not be able to use my magic."

"Oh" he says trying to move away from him a little. The final exam was coming, but he wasn’t nervous about it, he knew that there was a high percentage of students who failed it, but Kenma was sure of his knowledge. Life without magic would simply be more difficult and completely boring.

"You don't like to be seen together, Kenma? Why are you always too far away from me?"

"I don't like to be touched, that's all." Kuroo moves immediately, not enough though because he still feels half of his body pressed against him.

In that right moment he feels his cheeks go warm, his stomach had just growled very loudly reminding him that he had skipped breakfast this morning. Kenma opens his bag and takes out his apple, but before biting it he feels Kuroo's intense gaze. Reluctantly he pulls out his other apple and offers it to Kuroo.

"This is the best date I've ever had," Kuroo says excitedly with a big smile and a unique sparkle in his eyes after taking a bite out of the apple.

Kenma rolls his eyes before devouring his own apple. Out of the corner of his eye he watches Kuroo who is just looking straight ahead with a smile on his face as he eats the apple. It was juicy because he can see the apple juice leaking from his lips. Kuroo must have felt his eyes on him because he runs his tongue slowly over his bottom lip staring directly at him to then simply smirk at Kenma.

"You want some?" he says,  slightly tilting his head.

"I already have one" he replies trying to fighting his own thoughts.

Kuroo approaches his ear and whispers, making a shiver run through his body. "I wasn't talking about the apple."

Kenma preferred much more when he was open-mouthed and without saying a single word.

Kuroo spends the rest of the hour traveling talking about his life and asking Kenma various questions about his to get to know him more. He responds with sharps “yes” and “no” at first, but after a while he joins the conversation contributing with his own questions and information about his daily life. Kenma was ignoring Kuroo's persistent flirting attempts trying not to reveal how much he liked it. At the end of the day, it was just the potion speaking for him, someone like Kuroo Tetsurou would have never notice him in a normal situation.

"... don't you think so, my love?"

"What?" Kenma says waking up completely from his thoughts.

"That if I pass the exam I could help you with the family store." Kuroo puts his hand on his and caresses it gently.

"Ughh don't call me that again and I don't need your help, after today I don't think we'll ever talk again."

"W-what?" he squeeze his hand tighter. "Why will you say that, Kenma?"

Without making a move to separate their hands, Kenma sighs deeply. "Because when the effect of the potion passes, you will return to normal and you will not want to be with me."

"What? NO, NEVER!" he says shouting.

Kenma turns his head to both sides and sees some heads looking at them. “Shhhh shut up.”

"I don't get it. How can you doubt my feelings? Kenma, I love you." He puts his other hand on his cheek and caresses him softly. "I could never stop being with you, my life would be meaningless without you in it. My heart belongs to you Kenma, I am yours, completely yours!"

Now it was impossible to hide his flushed face. "Kuroo please, lower your voice." He says nervously avoiding the gaze of others.

Kuroo shakes his head. "No, not until you understand how much I love you. I will fight for you Kenma. I will make you fall in love with me. I swear. I will visit you every day, I will write you poems, I will give you flowers, I will tell you how beautiful and perfect you are every minute of my life, I will make you feel what no other person has made you feel before, I will kiss every inch of your body, I will make you tremble with- "

It was no longer just his face, Kenma was sure his whole body looked like a tomato. He has both hands against Kuroo's mouth to prevent him from speaking any further. He can hear the murmurs of the people near them. "Tetsurou, please. Not here."

Kuroo manages break free nimbly out of his hold. "Can't I shout from the rooftops how you've stolen my heart?" He says whispering in his ear. "Accept to go on a date with me and I swear that every word of my love for you I will say only to you, only for your ears to hear it, only for your lips to answer."

"Yes, yes, just shut up." He couldn't stop feeling a tickle in his stomach from all his sayings, but to be honest he just wanted him to shut up so people would stop looking at them and stop the scene he was making.

"Good," he says with a smile. "My lips are sealed... for now" he says with a wink.

The rest of the way is spent in complete silence apart from the loud sounds of the pounding of Kenma's heart. He concentrates on looking out the window to ignore his surroundings trying to calm whatever he is feeling. This is why he hates public transportation...

When they get off the train, Kenma is truly thankful that the store is only a couple of blocks away.

"Does your foot hurt when you walk?" He asks Kuroo when he sees him walking extremely slow a few steps behind him.

"I'm flattered that you care so much about me, Kenma." he says with a nervous smile while still dragging his feet.

Kenma lets out the air he was holding back slowly and moves closer to Kuroo. "What's really bothering you?"

Kuroo was fiddling with his fingers and was avoiding looking at his face, he could swear he was even blushing, so he starts to prepare himself for any comments that might come out of his mouth. "I- It's just that I don't want you to stay away from me when I drink the potion... I know you think I won't feel like this when I do, but I doubt my feelings for you will change."

Kenma deeply doubts that Kuroo's feelings are real, he shouldn't have hope. "Well, I think we'll see that as soon as you take it, but still..." He clears his throat and looks directly into his beautiful eyes. "We still have that date to go to."

Kuroo widens his eyes in surprise and blinks a few times before changing his expression to a softer one, an expression that overflows with pure love. "Before we go in, ummm we...  Can we hug each other?"

Kenma just shrugs and approaches at a safe pace, but in the inside he was melting. Kuroo stretches his arms around his body and brings him closer to his chest, he feels his arm go up to his head and stroking his hair, while his other hand is firmly on his hip. He just has both hands on Kuroo's back trying not to move too much so as not to break the moment. If he pays enough attention and both are extremely quiet, he can swear that he can hear Kuroo's fast heartbeat. He rubs his cheek a little on Kuroo's chest and a satisfying sound comes from his throat. He feels how Kuroo tilts his head even further to practically position it on his neck, without stopping the soft caresses.

"Kenma..." he hears him breathe calmly. "Your hair smells so good."

And he just ruined the moment...

Luckily the potion was not that expensive, because Kenma had to reluctantly pay most of it, since Kuroo didn’t bring much money with him. They were sitting on a bench in a lonely little park and Kuroo kept moving the bottle in his hands.

"Just do it already." He says clicking his tongue.

Kuroo looked at him with those bright eyes that were smiling on their own as he laced the fingers of his hand with his. "You will see how the love I feel for you will not change a bit Kenma, don’t even think that I will give up so easily in this relationship. I usually fight for the things I care about and I really care about you." With that, Kuroo looks at him straight in the eye as he drinks the potion.

His expression changes from pure disgust to confusion to surprise in just seconds after swallowing the liquid. Kuroo's eyes were wide and his mouth was equally as open. He puts his hand over his mouth to cover it and from what he can see, he is completely red from his neck to ears.

"Yeah... ummm well, I think the debt of your mirror is already paid, taking into account how much the antidote cost." He says, hiding behind the strands of his hair and withdrawing his hand from Kuroo's grip.

Kuroo doesn't change his expression and he's already afraid that the young man is going to faint from the embarrassment. "Seriously, it's fine, it could have happened to anyone, and it- it is kind of my fault, sorry."

Kuroo shakes his head to the sides without changing his surprised expression and unable to articulate a single word. "Well then umm I think this is it, I have to go... uh goodbye Kuroo."

He gets up without looking at his face and starts to walk fast to get out of there as soon as possible.

"K- Ke- Kozume!"

He turns around to see Kuroo running after him still looking like a tomato. "Kozume I- I ... oh no… this is so embarrassing. I'm so so so sorry, I didn't mean umm to- I. I can't believe I said all that, p- please forgive me."

Kenma shakes his head. "It's nothing, it was just umm the potion speaking for you." He doesn't know what else to tell him, so he keeps walking forward, ignoring the heavy weight in his heart.

Kuroo follows him a few steps behind him. "How about the... ummm?" Kenma stops and looks at him intensely, Kuroo was fiddling with his fingers and he looked clearly nervous. "I mean... uhh I know I was out of line for all I said to you and I think the best thing would be to apologize appropriately, and I would like to have a normal conversation with you, where I don't act like a complete idiot, if you accept me of course. "

Kenma fights with all his strength against the muscles of his face to avoid smiling like a damn fool, but in the end he loses. He nods while still smiling and waits for Kuroo to be by his side to continue walking together. They don't say anything to each other for a few minutes, surely the two of them were trying to process what has happened, but Kenma still has a big doubt in his mind.

"Can I ask you something?" Kuroo looks at him for a long second before nodding enthusiastically.

"Why were you drinking a love potion while looking at yourself in the mirror?" He says almost whispering.

Kuroo stops the movement of his feet, he watches him take a deep breath before putting his hands on his hips to then exhaled softly. "I doubt of myself and my abilities too much, especially now that the final exam is coming. I- I figured that if perhaps I gained more confidence in myself, I would be able to relax and pass the exam without any problems." Kuroo runs his hand through his hair messing it up even more.

"So you did it to love yourself?"

"Something like that, I needed to believe more in my decisions, I needed to improve my self-esteem." He says with a nervous smile.

Huh.

"From what you have told me, your grades are more than excellent and you are quite talented, you worry too much, that's your problem." Kenma was fiddling with the sleeve of his hoodie. "Ummm I can help you if you want."

Tetsurou looks at him for a few seconds and blinks several times before forming a big smile on his face. "And how do you plan to do that?"

Kenma rolls his eyes. "You need to relax and clear your mind, come, I'll show you." Kenma starts walking without looking back not knowing if he was following him or not.

He hears his steps getting closer and closer. "How?"

"We are going to my apartment. Don't look at me like that! We'll just play some video games, eat junk food, and I will teach you how to take a break."

"I like the way you think Kozume."

"Just Kenma is fine."

"Well Kenma, I feel like it will be a great first date." He doesn't miss the faint pink color of Tetsurou's cheeks.

"Who said it was a date?"

"You promised me!"

Kenma rolls his eyes at him. "This does not count as a date." The two were walking together almost brushing their arms. "You are the one who has to plan it, maybe after the exam to go celebrate."

"Well, I think that’s motivation enough."

"Hmm" Kenma says without adding anything else as they walked to his apartment. He misses the warmth and safety of Tetsurou's hand against his and as if Tetsurou was reading his thoughts, he slowly stretches out his fingers to touch his hand.

"I-Is this alright?"

Kenma laces his hand against his with complete confidence and ignoring the loud beat of his heart, he answers. "As if we hadn't spent the last few hours doing this."

He sees Kuroo Tetsurou's big genuine smile before looking straight ahead as they walk hand in hand together.

Huh... Apparently Tetsurou was right after all, this could indeed be the work of fate.

He feels Tetsurou's hand caressing his knuckles as he turns his head to look at his surroundings. "We kinda live a little far from each other don't we?"

More than an hour by train exactly, it would be a little bit difficult organize to go out. "It doesn't matter, I know a shortcut."