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It’d been awhile since so many people who’d played volleyball together in high school were all in the same area so of course, a meet-up of sorts was planned. And inevitably you were dragged along to this big house party. You weren’t too keen since there’d be a lot of people you didn’t know but there were would be some people you knew and got along with so why not?
Kenma was coming as well, though his unwillingness was a lot more obvious than yours. Or at least when it was only you two along with Kuroo. But in the end he came anyways, and strangely enough he had even brought alcohol with him.
He usually didn’t really like to drink much. You briefly questioned him about it but he shrugged it off.
Once you got there a barrage of familiar as well as foreign faces greeted you. You were a bit shocked at the sheer amount of people present, had you gone to a bar you guessed your large group alone would take up more than half of the space. Well in fairness it was composed of people from multiple volleyball teams along with their managers. How they all managed to keep in touch even now in college alluded you, but they all were nice enough so you didn’t mind.
After everyone had arrived people began drinking, talking, messing around and just going off on their own or into little groups.
Originally you stuck by most of the people from Nekoma, they were the ones you knew the best since you’d gone to school with them. But with Kuroo being as social as he was you ended up finding yourself in a pretty mixed group. Drinks were passed around between all of you and then began the telling of all sorts of ridiculous and funny experiences from highschool. Not planning to tell any yourself you were content just listening as the others spoke.
You huffed out a laugh as Kuroo added in a little joke to his story, he got a jab in the arm in return from Yaku who began berating him. Ironic considering you definitely heard a chuckle despite his best efforts to deny it.
Was it a good joke?
Nope!
But it was unexpected and the bit of alcohol you had drank started to cause you to feel a light buzz making you a bit giddier than usual.
You’d be fine of course, you weren’t a lightweight and weren’t really planning on drinking any more anyways.
Kuroo started again from where he left off but you found yourself loosing focus rather quickly.
The voices around you turned into white noise and you’d lost track of the conversation, instead lost in more idle thoughts.
Honestly you didn’t really want to be here at the moment, not that you didn’t enjoy your friends’s company, it was just you were sort of hoping for a more laidback night.
Maybe in a quieter and less crowded area, surrounded by snacks and maybe a film or games to go along with it.
Kind of like the sleepovers you had with Kenma.
You felt the heat beginning to rise in your face.
Fuck.
How did even the most menial thoughts somehow lead back to him?
You pursed your lips, trying to push the thought of him away, failing quite easily. This was becoming more and more of a regular occurrence, ever since you became aware of your “little” crush. The lingering thoughts of him became more and more frequent and you didn’t know what to do about it.
Confront them like an adult?
No.
Of course as the capable adult you were you’d find another more reasonable option.
But in all seriousness you needed to figure something out, you genuinely didn’t want to ruin the relationship you’d built with him. You enjoyed his company and he was a daily part of your life at this point. You wanted that to continue whether it be in a romantic sense or not and-
Your thoughts were interrupted by a strange feeling.
You could feel someone’s gaze on you.
Tilting your head a bit allowed you to notice the bright amber eyes that were currently fixed on you.
Kenma was looking at you, actually he might’ve been doing so for awhile.
Your gaze met his hesitantly, with everyone around you except for him looking a bit blurry.
You could tell they were all still talking, none of them seeming to notice your silence nor the shared gaze between you and Kenma.
It felt like an eternity before he finally made a move, a small smile creeping onto his face as his head turned towards one of your other friends. Shoyo, you guessed, though you were unsure with your mind focused only on one person.
Kenma still had his eyes on you for a couple moments before taking a sip from his cup then finally taking his attention off you.
In a way you felt a small sense of relief, with the heavy tension you felt finally lifting. But you felt a tinge of disappointment as well, having his eyes fixed on you felt good in a way.
You shook your head, telling yourself to forget about it.
But why did he do that?
The questions only continued to pile up as the night went on. Especially with Kenma acting weirder and weirder by the second, most notably by drinking a lot more then he usually would. Eventually his voice started sounding like a slurred and garbled mess.
“Okay, that’s definitely way too much.”
Kuroo snatched up the glass bottle Kenma shakily held in his hand, initially he’d been teasing him and taking photos, surprised and amused at the opportunity to see him in such a drunken state. Hell he even joined in along with a couple others, which really kicked off the drinking games. But it was still pretty early into the night and Kenma was seemingly already on the verge of passing out.
“Wh-What? Why..? Give it baackkk…”
He stumbled forward reaching for the bottle in a feeble attempt, his long hair was falling onto his face, obscuring it. You guessed it was probably flushed due to the alcohol.
He really had drank a lot, straight from the bottle too, it was practically empty.
You stepped forward, slipping an arm under one of his, trying to help him regain his balance.
“How about you sit down for a moment Kenma?”
His head turned towards you, blinking somewhat slowly. His tense form seemed to relax at the contact, leaning into you.
“..Okay.”
Kuroo smirked, raising an eyebrow at you. You quickly mouthed a “shut up” followed by some other more, “inappropriate” words.
He chuckled, raising a hand up in an apology of sorts. Then he looked down at the bottle, shifting it around causing the little bit of liquid left to slosh around.
“Thanks, keep an eye on him okay? And I’ll just finish off the rest of this fo-“
In an abrupt movement, Kenma had snatched the bottle back. Very different to the more slow and wobbly movements from earlier.
He’d moved so quickly even you were thrown a little off balance. Kuroo staggered backwards as well.
“What the hell?? Give it back you’ve already-”
For a brief moment you saw surprise in Kenma’s eyes, as if he’d realised something. Then they flickered to the floor as he cradled the bottle closer to himself.
“...No. I’m the one who bought it, I don’t want yoh-you to drink it.”
“It’s- It’s practically already finished, are you serious?? You-”
You reached for the bottle, your fingers curling around the neck of the bottle. They briefly brushed against Kenma’s hand.
Your eyes met again, and suddenly his gaze softened, as well as his grip on the bottle. Soon you’d managed to pull it from him completely.
“I’ll finish it when we get back, I’m bringing Kenma back to his place.”
“Huh- you’re leaving?”
“Well he’s clearly out of it right? And you will be too if you continue drinking so much, so take a break too alright?”
“But it’s so early though.. are you sure?”
“I mean, look at him. Plus, soon enough he won’t be the only drunk person you’ll need to take care of.”
You tilted your head to the others who were taking shots.
“You sure you don’t want me to go with you? I am kinda the one who dragged you both here.”
“It’s aight, I got him. You have fun okay? I’ll text you when we get to his place. If ever I might come back after watching over him for awhile, if I still feel up to it anyways. After all pretty sure half of you won’t be able to drive.”
Kuroo brows were furrowed before he let out a sigh, nodding.
“Okay, just, text me if he throws up all over you or something. I can take over if you need me to.”
“Sure sure, have fun!”
You chuckled, Kenma seemed to grumble something in response to the comment.
You shifted, gently wrapping your arm a bit tighter around him to keep him upright as you both shuffled through the house towards the exit.
You quickly said some goodbyes to the friends you’d passed, they were confused at first till they saw who you were lugging around. You didn’t manage to say goodbye to everyone but you’d probably send a message in the group chat later.
The ride back was quiet, sure music played but neither of you spoke a word. Still, it was a comfortable sort of silence, especially with Kenma still partially pressed up against you.
His house was pretty familiar to you at this point so you had no trouble finding your way to his room. You flipped on a small light, let him collapse onto the bed then went to the kitchen, pouring a large glass of water. In the end you ended up pouring the rest of the alcohol down the drain. There hadn’t been much left of the clear liquid anyways.
You were sorta grateful, even though you’d probably find yourself going back to drive some people home the moment of calm away from the loud and bustling environment was nice. You were concerned about Kenma though, he had never been this drunk before. Nor had he ever been so eager to get drunk either, at least not to your knowledge. Was he feeling upset about something? You’d have to ask tomorrow morning when he was sober.
You opened the door to the sight of him sat up against the headboard of his bed, his eyes seemingly had been on the door even before you’d opened it.
“Hey, you okay?”
“Mhm.”
You raised an eyebrow, moving to sit down next to him. You passed him the cup of water, and to your surprise you didn’t even need to tell him to drink it.
Huh, usually drunk people always rejected water.
Lucky, guess he must’ve calmed down.
After downing it he placed the cup on his bedside table, then he inched closer to you.
“Feel bad at all? Headache? Nausea?”
He shook his head.
“That’s good, you should probably head to bed.”
“Don’t wanna.”
“Come on, you need the sleep.”
“Do I? Or are you just trying to get me to sleep so you can ditch me huh?”
He questioned, with a sly tone to his voice.
“Maybe. Okay no, but you drank so much. You should sleep it off, that’s what you always do anyways.”
“Wouldn’t you rather stay here then go back? You didn’t look too happy earlier.”
The sudden steadiness in his voice took you aback, causing you to pause for a moment.
“I- I didn’t?”
“Not necessarily upset but, you seemed out of it.”
“Well that’s.. That doesn’t matter, we’re talking about you here-“
“Can’t you just stay here? With me?”
He leaned towards you, your eyes widening a bit. His words had caught you off guard, and it didn’t help he was looking at you so intently.
“.. You want me to stay?”
He lowered his head, slowly nodding. You couldn’t see his face clearly thanks to his hair and the darkness but you swore the tips of his ears seemed a bit red.
“…Convince me.”
He rose his head, looking to you with a confused expression. He didn’t speak, waiting for you to say more, to explain perhaps.
“Convince me to stay.”
You don’t why you’d just said that, but you couldn’t take it back now. The hesitation in your voice must’ve been obvious but you just hoped he was too drunk to notice. Your face felt hot too and you probably looked nervous, you just hoped the room was hopefully dark enough to obscure it.
“How am I-“
Kenma’s mouth opened to continue, but no words came out. He thought about what he could say but for whatever reason his mind drew a blank. So instead he looked to you with furrowed brows and what you could only describe as a pout.
He was so cute, oh god.
You turned your head away, putting a hand over your mouth.
“What??”
“..Don’t do that face.”
“I’m not doing a face.”
“You so are, don’t deny it.”
“Am not.”
You briefly looked back at him, he had the same expression just laced with a bit of confusion.
“Stop- you’re still doing it, It’s adorable.”
You froze, shutting your mouth immediately.
You did not just say that.
Your eyes were glued to the pillow next to you, you refused to look at Kenma now. Terrified at what expression he could have right now.
No, it’s fine you can play it off as a joke.
“It’s what?”
Nevermind, you most definitely could not. Not after the reaction you had to realising what had just came out of your mouth.
Kenma wasn’t clueless.
“..It’s stupid.”
“You said adorable.”
“I did not.”
“Look who’s denying things now.”
You didn’t respond, just shutting your eyes as tightly as you could. And for a couple of moments it was silent, then you felt the bed shifting a bit, then something on your shoulder.
“..If it’s so adorable why don’t you look at me?”
You shook your head, his little comment only flustering you even more.
“Sorry, please?”
You chuckled nervously.
“Look at you being so polite.”
You hesitantly opened your eyes, now aware that your faces were only mere inches apart.
He’d moved closer and his head was rested on your shoulder. Despite the initial surprise you didn’t pull away, though you could feel your breath getting caught in your throat as well as your pulse beginning to quicken.
Kenma actually had an an expression not too different from yours, one of embarrassment. His cheeks were tinted red, and his gaze struggled with not going astray.
“Why are you so close?”
You asked, quietly enough that you weren’t even sure if he could hear.
“…I don’t know, no, I do. I think I..”
He paused, it looked like he was hesitating, going over something in his head.
“..I wanna kiss you.”
You blinked rapidly at him, confused.
What? Were you hearing things right?
Maybe you were the one who had too much to drink?
He slowly tucked some of his hair behind his ear, though a few strands still fell out onto his cheek.
His eyes darted down to your lips before returning to your eyes as if in silent question. His head gently lifted off your shoulder, moving closer towards your face.
Your eyes did something to similar to his as he got closer and closer, then they fluttered shut.
He tilted his head to the side, closing his eyes then pressing his lips to yours. The sensation alone was enough to send little chills throughout your body.
His lips were soft, strangely though, there wasn’t that familiar bitterness you often got from alcohol.
One his hand slowly reached to cradle your cheek, the other rested on your knee. You leaned into the kiss, reaching for the small of his back.
Your mind turned to mush as all thoughts dissipated and all you could do was focus on the sensations you felt. The sounds of gentle breathing, his soft hands, and-
You shouldn’t be doing this.
The thought snapped you out of your daze, you quickly pulled away from him, a shaken breath escaping you.
Did that really just happen?
He actually kissed you.
No, he’s not thinking properly. Not only has he been acting weird but he’s been drinking too.
You lowered your gaze, too scared to meet his, as you slowly scooted away from him.
“..You should rest, you really, really, drank too much.”
“... I’m sorry, was that bad?”
“You don’t need to apologise! It wasn’t bad at all but you’re drunk. So! I’m gonna go get you some water and then-“
Just as you started getting up you immediately felt a gentle tug. You hesitantly sunk back down and Kenma leaned closer to you, pressing his head against your shoulders and back.
You couldn’t see his face but you could hear and almost feel his breath against you.
“You already got me some, and anyway I don’t need it. I’m not drunk.”
“You so are, you drank so much-“
“..Water.”
You paused, looking at him confused for a moment. He chuckled a bit into the fabric of your shirt.
Oh.
Smart. Of course, visibly vodka and water were difficult to tell part especially if you weren’t looking for anything in the first place.
No wonder he snatched the bottle away from Kuroo.
“I know the others had good intentions bringing us out, but we both know I don’t really like big parties. You didn’t seem too up to it tonight either.. And I mean, they probably knew that too, but they seemed like they really wanted us to have fun there with them. Which, yknow’ clearly wasn’t going too well.”
He fidgeted and pulled at the draw strings of his hoodie as he spoke, his voice void of that deliriousness from earlier. It was a little lower than usual, but you guessed that was because he was probably tired.
What he said was true but technically you both could’ve just told them that directly. They might’ve tried to convince you a little but they would never force you to stay, they were good friends.
Despite not saying anything his words seemed to be in response to your thoughts.
“I didn’t want to disappoint them by leaving so early without doing anything though. Plus, they might’ve tried to go back with us, to find something else we could all like doing.”
“Would that be a bad thing?”
“No, but I wanted to hang out with you… Just you though.”
“Why?”
You immediately regretted replying so quickly as the realisation hit, your face immediately began heating up again.
Did you forget?
He’d just kissed you awhile ago.
He nuzzled further into you, his voice now muffled.
“..Are you seriously asking that?”
“…Look, I didn’t- I didn’t think.. Are you really not drunk?”
“Do I sound or look drunk to you right now? I was just acting earlier, I’ve only had water. Oh! And soda, but that’s it.”
No wonder his lips had not even a trace of biterness.
You forced the thought away.
“..You’re serious then? You’re not messing with me?”
You gently questioned.
“..Do you really think I’d do that? I’m not that mean.”
“Well..”
“What- Hey, I am not.”
You chuckled at his protest, you couldn’t see him but you could still picture the offended expression on his face.
“I’m serious, I.. uh-“
“..You?” You dragged out the word.
“You know..? I.. Aghh, why do I have to say it?”
“..Cause’ you’re the one who kissed me.”
“Shouldn’t that mean you should say it? Since I’ve already proved my feelings?”
Feelings.
“You proved your what?”
“...I hate you.”
You reached over your shoulder, feeling around till you felt his head. Your fingers began carding through his hair.
“Do you really Kozume?”
His lips pressed into a thin line.
“..Don’t call me that, call me by my name.”
“Technically it still is your-“
“..I like hearing you say it.”
He tacked on the last part in a quiet whisper.
“Oh.”
You’d probably make some other snarky remark but your heart was beating out of your chest and that was the best thing you could manage.
How could he say things like that?
“..If you’re really going to make me say it then.. Fine. I.. You.. If- If, If this were a dating sim your route would be the one I’d pick.”
Oh my god, this absolute dork.
It was such a silly way of saying he liked you, but it still worked.
You felt so giddy, so happy.
You burst out laughing, your cheeks were warm and your stomach was doing flips.
Kenma buried his face deeper into your shoulder, muffling the embarrassed groans that left his mouth.
Once it washed over you gently pulled away to face him properly. Placing your hands along his shoulders and looking to him with a stupid grin. Kenma on the other hand had his head shifted away from you, he wasn’t hiding his flustered face but he refused to meet your gaze.
“That was sweet.”
“You laughed at me.”
“It wasn’t a mocking type of laugh.”
“It very much was.”
“I promise it wasn’t, look at me? Please?”
His eyes slowly shifted to look back at yours.
“Hey, well on the bright side you managed to convince me.”
He rose an eyebrow.
“Convince you?”
“To stay?”
You grinned.
He sighed before you pulled him into an embrace, tightly wrapping your arms around his waist. Now you were the one with your head on his shoulder. He in turn put an arm over your shoulder, gently holding your head.
For a moment it was silent, you nuzzled your head further into the crook of his neck while he gently detangled parts of your hair.
“You know I’m kinda surprised you didn’t ask me to be your Player 2 or something.”
You suddenly teased.
His fingers quickly left your hair.
“…Okay that’s it.”
“Oh?? Finally snapped did you- huh?-”
Suddenly he began poking at your sides causing you to screech, the sensation then causing you to burst out into uncontrollable laughter.
“Wai-wait! Pfftt- Ahahaha- I’m sorry! Kenma-“
He knew you were ticklish, but he’d rarely ever taken advantage of it like this. He looked to you with a sort of smug grin as you squirmed around in his arms.
“Will you stop teasing me now?”
“Hah- Okay! O-Okay I will.”
You quickly agreed, and then Kenma’s hands dropped from your sides. Once you had regained composure they instead found themselves on your lower back once he’d slipped his arms around your waist.
Your eyebrows knitted together as you narrowed your eyes at him, the mischievous glint in his eye still very much present.
“That was unfair, and mean.”
“I’d call it strategic, and it was deserved.”
“Well, I-“
You were cut off by the sound of a notification.
Right, the party. It was probably Kuroo.
You sighed pulling your phone out of your pocket, your suspicions now confirmed.
He was asking if you’d made it back, and much to your amusement if Kenma had thrown up on you. You chuckled a little, Kenma furrowed his brows as he glanced at your phone.
“He’s one to talk, if anything I bet he’d be the one to throw up.“
You leaned a bit away from him, holding your phone close to your chest.
“Hey, reading my texts now are you? Very nosy of you.” You joked, booping his nose.
“You’re holding it right in front of me.”
“Still.”
Despite saying that you lower your phone, allowing him to glance over at it pretty easily. You quickly send back a response, explaining that you got there fine and that no, Kenma had fortunately not thrown up on you. Not yet at least, you quickly tapped smirking a bit.
Kuroo seemed to find that funny, then he sent back a couple stupid photos of the others, such as some people stacking drinks on top of eachother, a brunette (Aoba Johsai's old captain? you guessed) passed out in a strange position, and Bokuto drinking from a large funnel that others were pouring drinks into, to name a few.
Your cheeks were puffed out as you held back your laughter, they looked like they were having fun. Seemed a bit hectic though so you didn’t really feel like you were missing out either.
Before you could type anything in response though you felt Kenma press a quick kiss to your jawline.
It was an attempt to regain your attention, and well, it worked. Your head quickly spun back to face him, but he didn’t meet your eye. He squeezed a bit tighter and his expression was timid with a similar pout to earlier.
“Sorry sorry, I’ll put it down.”
You reassured him, quickly sent a string of stupid emojis followed by saying that you weren’t coming back and to be safe. You wiggled out of Kenma’s grasp placing your phone on the bedside table, then looked back at him blankly for a couple of seconds. He stared back at you a bit confused, maybe even expectantly.
“ What?-“
Before he could finish you lunge at him, actually a tad bit stronger then you’d intended to. Knocking the both of you over into the bed and getting a soft “oof” from Kenma.
You’re now partially on top of him and for a few seconds it’s silent, then you both burst out into a light fit of laughter. Once you both had calmed down he looks to you with a raised brow.
“What was that huh?”
For a brief moment you just appreciate the sight before you, his mostly dark hair sprawled out on the bed, the warm and faint light that illuminated him, his long eyelashes, the faint blush on his cheeks and the couple beauty marks that littered his face and neck.
It felt nice to look at him without needing to hide it, to be able to appreciate every little detail. You couldn’t just stay in silence like this forever though.
“Just felt like knocking you over, maybe not as hard as that though.” You laughed.
“…Just felt like it? You’re a weirdo.”
“Mhm, and I wanted to be closer to you.”
Guessing by the slight widening of his eyes he hadn’t been expecting that response.
“What? You wanted my attention didn’t you?”
“..Shut up.”
“Make me.”
You challenged, your eyes briefly darting to his lips as if you were making a suggestion.
How awfully cliché.
He took said “suggestion”, his hands gently pulling your face closer to his, closing the distance.
You smiled into the kiss, one of your hands reaching for the back of his neck. A wave of warmth washed over you as you held each other closer and closer, your heart beat though quick at first gradually slowed down. You both quickly grew comfortable in each other’s arms and you weren’t planning on moving any time soon.
You thought you heard notifications again, sounds you promptly ignored, choosing to instead focus on the lovely lovely boy you were kissing.
Whoops, you’d make it up to Kuroo tomorrow.
Well, probably anyways.