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The ring was shiny and golden, a thin band around Kuroo's ring-finger. It glinted and shimmered, glowing almost radiantly against the slight tan of his skin. It was beautiful, utterly beautiful. And Kuroo had been staring at it for eight hours now.
Kenma had a full eight hours of classes that day, while Kuroo had the entire day off. And usually, Saturdays were a blessing laced with the slightest edge of a curse for the middle blocker. They were amazing because he had no reason to stress over making it to classes, he didn't have people harping on him for favors, he didn't have to do much of anything. In fact, the only obligation he had on Saturdays was practice and that wasn't for hours still. And the only downside was that Kenma wasn't there with him.
Alright, so it was a bigger downside than he had initially expected it to be, but he understood. They were taking different classes and their schedules didn't match up. And yes, okay, on most Saturdays, Kuroo spent the entire day watching Netflix shows he was only half-invested in while he waited for his boyfriend to come home so they could order Chinese takeout and cuddle while they watched The Notebook (mostly for Kuroo, though Kenma would never admit his secret enjoyment for the movie).
But the middle blocker had bigger things on his mind. Like the ring on his finger that most certainly hadn't been there the night before when he went to sleep. All he could seem to do was stare at it.
If he was being honest, Kuroo had never even considered the possibility of marriage, not that he had any assumptions about what this turn of events meant. I mean, Kenma was the first real relationship he'd had. Even in high school, he could never seem to hold onto girlfriends. Usually, they lasted for about one date on average, after which they got mad at him for forgetting to call them and thus got filed away into the enormous catalog of one-night-stands that he'd engaged in. The possibility of being tied to one person by a ring on his finger was one that hadn't even crossed his mind.
But the thing was, Kuroo was actually okay with that. It surprised a lot of people and certainly didn't please his parents who wanted a million grandchildren - adopted or not - but Kuroo had never been one for the idea of a conventional marriage system. When he was younger, it had been mostly because he couldn't imagine ever wanting to only be with one person for the rest of his life. I mean, can you imagine kissing the same person forever and ever, doing the same routine, how boring the stupid domestic life that came with marriage would be? In high school, it had sounded like hell.
And he thought Kenma felt the same way. Kenma had always said that marriage just wasn't his thing. It wasn't that he was the kind of person who liked to have random one-night-stands with attractive strangers or even the kind of person who liked dating a lot or meeting new people (he was probably the exact opposite, in truth). But, as Kuroo had understood, it sounded mundane to him. And he thought they were in agreement on that. Did he think wrong?
That being said, this was Kenma Kozume we were talking about. And Kuroo didn't even know he might possibly want everything that came with marriage until he saw the ring already on his finger. It wasn't a subject he'd thought about a lot. He'd only barely given it a passing thought when asked about it. But a million scenarios suddenly ran through his head as he stared at the small piece of jewelry decorating his finger. He hadn't even had the courage to touch it yet.
He thought about going grocery shopping with Kenma. The streamer would probably be continuously sneaking junk food into their cart as Kuroo tried to adhere to the shopping list they'd created - now more a fanciful aspiration than a reality. And the entire time Kenma would complain about his legs being tired and being cold and Kuroo would sarcastically offer him the option of sitting in the baby seat of the shopping cart, a jab both at his smaller size and his whining. And by the end, they'd probably be left with a cart full of Oreo's, mochi, and ramen, but Kuroo would just roll his eyes and accept it.
He thought about living in a house someday with Kenma. About waking his lazy kitten up with breakfast in bed, kissing him gently on the forehead to coax his sleepy eyes open. About cooking dinner for him because Kuroo held all the culinary skills in their relationship. And they would eat lazily, indulging the sweet slowness of the moments they shared. Because they would have more time, because they would have forever, forever spent with Kenma.
He thought about a wedding reception, about a probably terrible speech from Bokuto and a really good one from Akaashi. He thought about watching his mom cry all the way through because she never thought she'd see the day when her son actually found someone to cherish for eternity. He thought about dancing with Kenma for the first time as husbands with their rings pressed against one another, fingers intertwined gentle and genuinely, almost like a silent promise. And he imagined a week of lazy mornings following their wedding because Kenma was a homebody and didn't want to take a plane halfway across the world for a honeymoon.
But the image that stood out most prevalently in his mind, almost like he'd seen it happen before, like it was already a memory, was Kenma. He imagined his Kitten in a clean tux, a bright pink blush spreading across his cheeks because he wasn't used to all the attention. He imagined those honey-golden eyes glistening with tears and syrupy sweet with affection, his two-toned hair twisted up into some elaborate style that was most definitely not chosen by him. He was the most beautiful person Kuroo had ever gotten so lucky as to lay eyes on.
And Kuroo's hands would probably shake as he put the ring on Kenma's finger - maybe because he was blindingly, euphorically happy, or maybe because he was scared the oh so perfect picture was going to disappear from out in front of him. And when he kissed Kenma there might be tears resting on his lips, but they would be sweet because he would be so happy, an entire future laid out so beautifully before him. An eternity of Kenma Kozume. What the hell could be more perfect than that?
Nothing in particular snapped him back to reality, maybe it was the rushed intake of air that entered his lungs, maybe it was that synchronized with the buzzing of his phone with a notification. Kuroo's eyes briefly flicked over to the small device, but he ignored it. He could text Bokuto back later. And he certainly would. He and the former Fukurodani captain shared everything regarding their respective partners. Any way this ended, the wing spiker would certainly get a kick out of this.
Kuroo turned his eyes back to the ring as his other hand hovered over the golden band. He wanted to touch it, but something in his mind wouldn't let him, like it was too sacred to be felt, like it would disappear if he twisted it around his finger and made it real. And his hand was shaking. His hand was shaking. Kuroo had never been this nervous about anything in his life. Volleyball games were nervewracking but the adrenaline eventually pushed out any sense of fear, replacing it with an intense, unbreakable focus. And tests were easy. As long as you studied, you were sure to ace them. But he couldn't touch a damn ring.
And that's when the moment he'd usually been waiting for but today he'd been dreading suddenly arrived. Normally, he'd be sitting in front of the door, counting the seconds until Kenma got home, but today, he was scared. Because he really didn't know how to approach this situation. But worse, how was Kenma going to react? He had managed to slip out before Kuroo had woken up, leaving him with only a note and a reminder to eat breakfast. Not that Kuroo would've been any better with his words when caught off-guard. Maybe the eight hours he'd spent staring at the ring on his finger had been a blessing in disguise.
The sound of the door opening and closing was peripheral, distant as Kuroo tried to search his not-fully-functioning brain for the right words to start the conversation they kind of needed to have.
"I'm hungry. Can we get pizza?" Kuroo could hear Kenma kicking off his shoes lazily followed by him traveling to the kitchen where he opened the fridge despite having asked to order pizza two seconds ago. Kuroo didn't really know how to respond because, well, he couldn't just act like everything was normal, right? I mean, they eventually had to talk about this, right? They couldn't just keep going on like nothing was out of the ordinary... Right? "Tetsu-" Kenma's sentence cut off as Kuroo finally gathered the courage to stand up and turn around, eyes meeting Kenma's as the smaller boy breathed out an almost terrified, "oh."
There was a moment of scary silence in which Kuroo was searching his head for the ability to speak actual words and Kenma just stared at him like he'd committed a murder. Too many questions flooded his brain at once. Where did this come from? Is this what I think it is? How much money did this cost? When did this get on my finger? And more importantly, did you put this on my finger? Do you actually want to...?
But all that came out as he held up his left hand to show his boyfriend the shimmering ring was,
"Kenma, what is this?"
The reaction to his question was immediate. A blush, a beautiful one, but a bright one too spread across his features as he turned his head away and cast his eyes downward to the ground like it would save him some embarrassment. And Kuroo's chest tightened because of fucking course Kenma had to be so fucking cute when he was trying to have a serious fucking conversation. All rational thought fled from him, leaving him alone with just his emotions to do the talking for him, which, with Kuroo's head in the driver's seat, could never possibly be a good thing. There was a moment of silence before Kenma swallowed, seemingly finally gathering the courage to say what was on his mind out loud.
"So...you know how you said you would never want to be proposed to at a fancy restaurant?" You actually remembered that? Kuroo's breath hitched because there were too many parts of that sentence to pick apart. The fact that he actually remembered something Kuroo had said in high school as a passing thought when Lev asked him about the concept of marriage. The fact that Kenma actually said the word propose. It was just all so suddenly real and Kuroo felt like the wind had been knocked out of his chest. But he held back the questions pushing at his lips in favor of silence, waiting for Kenma to finish his thought. "Well, I...you don't like the beach at night and during the day it's too hot. And I thought about asking you to marry me somewhere secluded and under the stars but I can't give a speech to save my life..."
Kuroo was in utter disbelief, barely able to comprehend the words coming from Kenma's mouth. But not because of the literal content of his words. Because of the fact that Kenma Kozume actually wanted to marry him. That he'd put so much thought into literally just the location of where he was going to propose. And he could barely hear what Kenma was saying over the beating of his heart in his ears. And it was the most amazing feeling in the world.
"Y-You want to marry me?" The words came out in a rush of air because, holy fuck, Kenma wanted to marry him. KENMA WANTED TO MARRY HIM. Kenma wants to marry me.
But then Kenma started crying. Like full-on crying, tears streaming from those honey golden eyes. And Kuroo panicked because oh god, he was crying. His cheeks were flushed and his bottom lip was caught between his teeth and his chest was heaving up and down with shuddering sobs that made Kuroo's chest ache because what did he do to make him cry? Why was he crying? What did Kuroo say? How could he stop it?
"O-Of course I want t-to marry you Tets-su! I j-just didn't know how to s-say it- I want to marry you because I l-love you! And you're re-really sweet and always taking ca-care of me and you make me real-really happy. Like, really ha-happy," No one sobbed pretty. Well, no one except Kenma. The way he kept licking his swollen lips, the way he brought his hands, half-concealed in his sweater to wipe away tears that kept coming. He was beautiful. Goddamn, what did Kuroo do to deserve this angel of a man standing in front of him, using simple words to try and describe complex feelings because he had never been forced to speak them out loud before. And Kuroo didn't mind that he didn't use flowery language and that it was only half-coherent because he was breaking down. Because if Kenma proposed to him in poetry, he wouldn't be Kenma. "I kn-know I messed u-up but will yo-you marry m-me?"
God, and you say you don't know how to give a fucking speech.
"Yeah. Oh my fucking god, yeah I'll fucking marry you. I love you so much," God, now he was crying. He was supposed to be the stable one. But Kuroo couldn't bring himself to care. He collapsed to his knees as Kenma practically fell into his arms, curling into the taller man and burying his tear-stained face in the crook of Kuroo's neck. And god, there was nothing better than this moment, bathed in the golden-pink colors of sunset, filtered in warmth. Nothing better than the way Kenma's chest shook with a mixture of giggles and tears as Kuroo feathered kisses along the smaller boy's jawline and neck.
Nothing better than the feeling when Kenma turned his head to capture Kuroo's lips in a syrupy sweet kiss. His tongue pushed thorough Kuroo's lips, causing a wave of warmth to flood through the taller boy and hot blood to pool beneath his skin. Fuck, Kenma tasted like whatever heaven was made of. There was nothing to describe the stardust sensation, the perfect way their lips moved in sync like they were made to be in this moment, for each other.
And when they parted gently, Kuroo couldn't say there was a time in his life when he'd ever felt happier than in this singular moment where the future was just there waiting for them. Where Kuroo had everything at his fingertips, where there was everything for him to have and nothing for him to lose. It was a gloriously euphoric feeling comprised of a beautiful amalgamation of something magical and something permanent. Something that meant forever.
"Okay," Kuroo whispered against his fiancee's lips, still breathless and not wanting the feeling to ever fade, the feeling of not being able to catch a molecule of oxygen between his lips with the way Kenma looked and tasted and was. "But one thing I don't understand is...you thought the best way to propose was slipping the ring on my finger while I was sleeping?" An almost laugh graced his lips as he pressed chaste but lingering kisses to Kenma, barely giving the smaller man a chance to respond.
"I kno-w I fu-fucked up, b-but I was...sc-scared you'd say n-no," Kenma's voice, beautiful fucking voice, was still shaky, recovering from his heavy sobs. And he sounded like a goddamn angel, breathless and searching for the words to describe what he felt. But Kuroo couldn't possibly fathom how he could think that. How the fuck could he think Kuroo would say no? Kenma was everything to him. Everything that mattered anyway. Maybe he always thought he didn't want to get married. But that was before there was a ring on his finger. That was before having Kenma forever became a possibility.
"Why the hell would I say no?"
"Beca-cause you always sa-said you didn't wan-want to get ma-married," God he was so cute. And Kuroo couldn't help the tears still streaming down his face as he curled around his fiancee but he didn't really have the mind to care because Kenma kept placing small kitten kisses against his jawline.
"How could I not want to marry you? God, I love you. So much."
"I l-love you too, Tetsu."
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