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Kenma twisted his neck so he could see the clock. For once, he had to be up earlier than Kuroo. It was a Saturday morning, so Kuroo was off, but Kenma had a meeting for Bouncing Ball. He was delighted to see that he had twenty minutes before he had to get out of bed. He shimmied down the bed a few inches so he could comfortably wrap his arm around Kuroo’s back.
He wasn’t trying to wake him up by doing this, but it happened anyway. Kuroo stretched out during a big yawn and then rolled over so he was facing Kenma.
“Tell me you don’t have to leave yet,” he mumbled and put his arms around Kenma, pulling him closer to his chest.
Kenma tried to stifle a laugh. Kuroo becomes a space heater when he’s sleeping. Just being pulled against him in the morning feels like stepping into a sauna.
“Mmm, what’s so funny,” he asked.
“Nothing, go back to sleep,” Kenma said as he ran his hands gently down Kuroo’s back.
He gave Kenma a big squeeze and said, “105 days until I become a Kozume.”
“Woah, hey, wait a minute,” Kenma said, pulling his head away from Kuroo’s chest, “That’s not what’s happening.”
“Sure it is,” Kuroo said sleepily, “105 days until the wedding.”
Kenma gave him a kiss on the cheek, “Yeah, but I’m going to be a Kuroo. You’re not going to be a Kozume.”
Kuroo finally opened his eyes, sleepily looking at his fiancé, “Says who?”
“Says me. You literally go by Kuroo, you can’t take my last name,” Kenma said with a laugh.
“Fucking watch me,” he said yawning, as he rolled on his back, pulling Kenma on top of him.
Kenma moved up so his face was directly above Kuroo’s.
“I mean, it only-“ he started just for Kuroo to cut him off by winding his hands into his hair and pulling him into a kiss.
Kenma pulled away, “You can’t just-“
“Hush,” he said doing it again.
Kenma pulled away again, “I think we should talk about-,”
“Mmm, later. Kiss me.”
“I’m home,” Kenma said, practically throwing his work bag.
He slipped his shoes off at the door and walked towards the stairs, tugging off his tie.
“Good lord, Kenma,” Kuroo called from upstairs, spooking him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked walking up the stairs and unbuttoning his cuffs.
“You should warn me to wear sunglasses if you’re going to walk in looking that radiant,” he said opening up his arms, looking for a hug.
Kenma rolled his eyes but went in for the hug anyway. When he was a kid, he found it a bit irritating that Kuroo was taller than him, but now he was thankful for it. It put his head perfectly at chest height, making Kuroo’s bear hugs the best thing in the world.
“You know, I was thinking,” Kuroo started, still not letting Kenma out of his arms, “That it doesn’t matter that I go by Kuroo. I’m ready to be a Kozume.”
“Kuro, come on-“
“Shh, listen. Kozume Tetsurou. Sounds good, doesn’t it?” Kuroo awkwardly lifted Kenma into the air, “We’re going to the bedroom so you can call me it there.”
Kenma, sprawled on the bed and breathing heavily, realized he hadn’t put his jewelry back in when he got home. Someone had distracted him. He lazily got up and walked to the bathroom. He took a shower, then put his nose ring and his four earrings back in. When he had to meet with people outside of his company, he had to take them out, but he hated doing it. He really liked them.
“Hey, love?” he asked walking back into their room, “Are you interested in one hell of a bet?”
“I am. Name the game,” Kuroo said, suddenly sitting up.
“I’m in the mood for Mario Kart, but that seems a bit unfair,” he said with a laugh.
There were some video games the two could play in a way that was evenly matched. Mario Kart wasn’t one. Being a professional gamer had its perks, but it also made it hard to play evenly matched games with his fiancé.
“I actually was about to suggest that. Can we set some rules?” Kuroo asked.
“Sure, what are you thinking?” Kenma asked, unnerved. This was a big bet. It was going to be hard for Kuroo to find something that’d tilt the game far enough in his favor, so why was he so willing?
“So obviously we will play a circuit of four. I will choose the circuit. If we tie, I will choose the next one too. To keep it fair, you can only tilt steer, you can’t use the joystick,” Kuroo started.
He then did the hand thing with both of his hands. Kuroo’s hand thing was tapping his four fingers to his thumb, looking like a crab’s claws in a way. Kenma figured out that it was a signal that he was going for a high five when they were in middle school. Now, it still occasionally means the same thing, but usually it means he wants to hold hands.
“Yeah, that sounds good to me. What else?” Kenma asked moving close enough to Kuroo to slip his hands into his fiancé’s.
“I get to pick what you wear. Jewelry, accessories, everything,” he said carefully.
Kenma’s alarm bells were going off. It was a strange request. What was Kuroo going to do? Strip him naked? That wouldn’t work. He’d still win. He then figured it out.
“Ah, nice try, but you can’t blindfold me,” Kenma said, relieved that he found the trap.
“I wasn’t planning on it, but I’ll remember that for next time. I won’t obscure your vision. I’ll even let you wear your glasses if you want,” he said generously.
“I don’t usually play with them, anyway. Wait why did you specify jewelry, you’re not going to take my ring, are you?” Kenma asked giving him a fake glare.
“Oh no, you can keep your ring on silly, I gave it to you for you to always wear,” he said, kissing him on the forehead.
“Then what’s the trick?” Kenma asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
“Oh, no trick, I simply want you to wear your ruby earrings, they’re really hot on you,” he assured his fiancé.
“You just said the word simply. There’s obviously a trick,” Kenma said.
“No tricks. I’m only treats. What, are you scared I’m going to embarrass you?”
“Gross. I don’t trust you, but I’m accepting the terms of the deal. Mario Kart. You choose the circuit and the tiebreaker circuit. Tilt controls only. You have control over everything I wear,” Kenma said.
He wasn’t sure what Kuroo was planning, but he was able to literally run laps around Kuroo at Mario Kart. It should be an easy victory. It was deceptively easy. It put him on edge, but he figured he could handle what Kuroo threw at him.
“That about sums it up yeah. Course selection and control over everything on your body,” Kuroo nodded, “And the winner takes the loser’s name.”
“I’m ready whenever you are,” Kenma said, excited to confirm his future standing as a Kuroo.
“Well, first of all go find those ruby earrings,” Kuroo said, “I can go start setting it up.”
“Wait what else do you want me to be wearing?” he asked.
“Oh, I don’t care as long as you’re shirtless,” Kuroo said as he walked down the stairs.
Shirtless? Why. The ruby earrings? Why. There had to be a trap. Was this all a mind game? Why Mario Kart. He could have picked a different game, so why this one? Was he practicing while Kenma was at work? Kenma hesitantly tossed his shirt and sweatshirt onto the bedroom floor. He hated to admit it, but he still felt self-conscious without a shirt on.
“So,” he said walking downstairs, “Would you like to explain to me my wardrobe choices?”
Kenma plopped onto the couch next to Kuroo. He had the game pulled up and ready to go.
“Well, I’ve always loved how those earrings looked on you,” he said.
“And the lack of a shirt?” Kenma asked as he started customizing his bike.
“Oh, I think you look really hot without a shirt but I almost never get to see it. Let me know when you’re ready,” Kuroo said, about to select the Bell Cup.
Kenma noticed that was a weird choice for him. Those courses required a lot of accurate and sharp turning. Kuroo wasn’t going to win. It occurred to Kenma what had happened. Kuroo must have set up something he’d lose at because he realized he didn’t want Kenma’s last name after all, but didn’t want to back down from the conversation. It made him feel a pinch of sadness.
“I’m ready,” Kenma said.
“Great. It’s time for you last accessory before we start,” Kuroo said with a wicked grin.
Kenma stared him down and then let his jaw hang in disbelief when he saw Kuroo pull out a pair of handcuffs.
“No way. That’s not clothing or jewelry. I’m not wearing those,” he said waving his fiancé off.
“Interesting, because I remember hearing you say that I had control over everything you wear, and you just said you wouldn’t wear these meaning that 1) they’re wearable items, and 2) I have control over your wearable items,” he said, absolutely thrilled with himself.
“You should have been a lawyer,” Kenma mumbled.
Kenma wanted to argue with Kuroo, but he knew that he had no argument to make. Kuroo clarified all of those things multiple times and he accepted the terms. That was on him. There was only one thing he could do.
Kenma focused on thinking logically. He played video games professionally. While he didn’t specially play Mario Kart professionally, he could still beat Kuroo.
Kenma stared him down as Kuroo gently pulled Kenma’s hands behind his back and carefully applied the fluffy black handcuffs to his wrists.
Kenma fumbled with the remote. It was awkward, but he could do it. When he first saw the handcuffs, his immediate thought was that his hands would be in front of him, not behind him. Still, how hard could it be? Wait, he couldn’t use joystick controls. It was going to be harder but he could still do it.
He rolled his shoulders back and got ready to for the start. He hit the timing for the boost at he beginning. He laughed as Kuroo missed it. He’d been explaining how to do it to Kuroo for a long time and yet, he never could quite figure it out. The laugh died out when he realized that for some reason the tilt controls seemed inverted. He was flying into walls. He was going to switch to joystick controls, because it wouldn’t be too hard to acclimate to, but then he realized he agreed not to do that either. He awkwardly turned the remote upside down trying to get the tilt controls to flip, but it made hitting the buttons properly really difficult.
He did the only thing he could do and adapted. He’d done plenty of ridiculous things on streams to impede his ability to play well. It took him a lot of sheer focus, but he ended up being able to stay in the game enough to Take seventh, something he considered to be an impressive feat. Kuroo took fourth. He had to make up three spots in the next three races. Luckily, he would only get better as it went on and he got accustomed to the difficultly.
“How did you do that?” Kuroo asked, mostly in awe.
“I know everyone likes to pretend it isn’t a real job but I do actually play video games professionally,” he pointed out, “I will say I enjoyed your strategy to pick out the harder courses to make this more difficult for me. I’m impressed by your masochism.”
Kuroo was getting pretty good at the courses that didn’t come with a lot of places to fall off, but the harder courses were still a struggle for him. He argued that his hands were simply too big for a joycon and it wasn’t his fault.
Kenma did a lot better on the next one, but unfortunately, so did Kuroo. Kuroo just edged him out second to third. Kenma now has to make up four spots in the next two races. He could do it.
“Okay, hang on, babe, hit the gas like right after the two pops up,” Kenma advised.
He probably shouldn’t have been giving advice, but he couldn’t help himself. In the end, it didn’t matter as Kuroo couldn’t get the timing to work anyway. He focused hard on this course. He needed to. The next one was going to be an absolute doozy to pull off. He occasionally struggled with it when he wasn’t constricted when he set up a fast player and bike combination, like the one he was currently using.
He managed to take second place, something he considered to be highly impressive. Kuroo took fifth. For the final race, placing one above him was good for a tie. Placing two above would secure the win. He could do it. It was going to be hard. Big Blue wasn’t a course to scoff at, so it wouldn’t be easy, but it also was one of Kuroo’s least favorites. Maybe they’d have a level enough playing field. All he needed to do was tie. He would win a rematch easily. The learning curve of the first course was the only thing that was holding him back.
Kenma got into it. Big Blue had one of his favorite soundtracks. He could do it. He would fly off the course a ton due to his poor choice of maxing speed at the expense of handling and his inverted controls, but he could still probably pull out the win either way. Kuroo sucked at this track.
“Wait a damn minute,” Kenma said, “Why are you in second place?”
Kuroo let out what sounded like a giggle but like two octaves too low, “I’ve been practicing all morning.”
“Dude, why? We didn’t even have a bet this morning,” Kenma argued, as the Wario he was controlling took a plunge off the course.
“I knew you’d ask for a bet about it, so I prepared for a bet,” Kuroo responded slowly as he was mostly focused on the game.
“How?” Kenma asked.
“I’ve never met someone with a more expressive face. You might as well just have been wearing a sign on your forehead that said you’d either be willing to bet or offer it yourself this morning,” he replied.
“Wanting to take a bet isn’t a facial expression,” Kenma argued.
“You must have downloaded like sixty bonus packs of facial expressions that don’t come with the base game,” Kuroo said.
“Cringe video game analogy. Stop trying to butter me up.”
The two finished the race in electric silence. Kuroo was struggling, but so was Kenma. Kuroo was just behind Kenma as they entered the final part of the last lap. He could taste the victory, but then it happened. Kuroo set off the airhorn spinning Kenma out. It was something he normally would have noticed and accounted for but he was so busy focusing on the controls and not sliding off the course, that he missed it. He recovered from spinning out just in time for Kuroo to cross the finish line. They finished fifth and sixth, neither of them making the top three.
Kenma scrunched his nose into a pout. He lost this one, there was no denying it.
“That was cheap, you know?” Kenma said as he wrestled off his handcuffs.
“Cheap or smart?” he asked grabbing one of Kenma’s wrists and gently stretching it out before he switched to the other.
“Both, but mostly cheap,” Kenma insisted.
“A win is a win. Say it now,” Kuroo demanded with a grin.
“Nope.”
“You’re being a poor sport,” Kuroo teased, “You lost. Just do it.”
“Hmm, nope.”
“World famous Kodzuken got beat at Mario Kart and he’s too proud to admit it,” Kuroo said, ruffling his hair.
“I lost at Mario Kart. I’m not denying it,” he said, leaning forward on his toes to place a kiss on his fiancé’s cheek.
“Ah, so say my name then,” Kuroo insisted.
“I don’t think I will,” he said wrapping his arms around Kuroo.
“You will.”
“I won’t.”
“You will.”
“I won’t.”
“Please? I’ve been waiting for this for like years now,” he whined.
Kenma let out a sigh.
“I love you, Kozume Tetsurou.”