Archive of Our Own

It’d started off  normal enough--he’d brushed his teeth, gotten ready for work, reminded  Tetsurou he had to go to work--and now he was here, once again fighting  this stubborn villain.

 “Is that really the best you can do?”

 Kenma grit his teeth. Stubborn and cocky. He couldn’t wait to tear him down--

 “Watch out!”

 Tetsurou--or Shadow Prowler, as his superhero persona was called--shoved him out of  the way, narrowly avoiding the huge arm of the enemy’s machine. “Pay attention, K--Recolo!”

 He shot his partner a glare, straightening  up to channel his powers again. Tetsurou knew that tapping into his energy was hard enough, and trying to call on the strongest ammount of  energy he had required him to reach a sort of “zen” state, all while in  the middle of battle. Kenma had to be perfectly still and calm to reach it, so “not paying attention” was the whole point.

 This enemy was incredibly strong, which made reaching a calm state of mind all the more difficult.

 He exhaled, trying to tug at the powers.

 A spark in the tips of his fingers.

 The faint smell of smoke.

 A tingling, just on the nape of his neck.

 Tetsurou shouting.

 Tetsurou... Shouting?

 The thin cords connecting Kenma and his powers snapped, and he was pulled back to the present.

 "I know you’re trying to do the magnetic forcefield thing,” Tetsurou shouted, bouncing off the walls of the small room they were trapped in, “but I could use some assistance!”

 The foe, much too large for their battlefield, Kenma noted, now whirled at an incredible pace, huge clanking arms reaching to grab Tetsurou. The three of them had been trapped in here after Tetsurou and Kenma had reached their latest enemy’s hiding place, only to be locked in some sort of mini-arena--which, no surprise, the foe had now joined them in. It seemed specifically designed for them, rendering Tetsurou’s powers of invisibility useless under the harsh lights, and the soft buzzing noise that permeated from every inch of the room giving Kenma a pounding headache that made it impossible for him to concentrate.

 “What am I supposed to do?” Kenma shouted, watching Tetsurou dodge the attacks as he ran in circles.

 “Something! Anything! Just get us out !”

 Kenma tried to focus.

 The cords formed again.

 He tugged at the forcefield keeping the door shut behind them.

 He ignored the buzzing.

 The buzzing.

 He ignored the buzzing.

 He ignored...

 Buzzing.

 The buzzing.

 He ignored the...

 He ignored the buzzing.

 Kenma hissed as something cut him, pulling him out of his thoughts once again. A scratch on his face, from the debris falling from the ceiling.

 The crumbling ceiling, he noticed.

 Had he done that?

 He shut his eyes again, this time focusing on the buzzing.

 Buzzing.

 Buzzing buzzing.

 Focused on the buzzing.

 He winced again, rocks falling on his head.

 “Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it!” Tetsurou shouted, running faster.

 Would this fight never end?

 More buzzing.

 Crumbling.

 And buzzing.

 Tetsurou shouted again--this time, in what sounded almost joyous.

 "We did it! Okay, you did it, but--“

 “Not  so fast,” the machine said, electric voice resonating throughout the room. Kenma felt the vibrations in his bones, and felt something tighten around his torso.

 He was lifted off the ground.

 “Recolo! Do something!”

 Buzzing.

 A snap in the cords.

 There was a creak underneath him.

 "Recolo--?”

 The hold on him weakened, and he dropped to the ground.

 “Rec--oh, shit, you’re bleeding, are you o--“

 It was dark.

 --

 He’d recovered after a few days. Tetsurou refused to let him leave the apartment, but eventually agreed that he could go back to work after some begging on Kenma's part.

 “Kenma?”

 “Ah, hello. Sorry for my absence, I had a bad fall.”

 “That’s okay. Everyone has been concerned for you--you still seem a little unwell, so rest when you can.”

 “Yes, thank you.”

 The office was normal. His boss had been kind about how he’d stayed home, and his coworkers told him what Tetsurou kept saying--to rest. There was a stack of files waiting for him when he returned to his desk, and the people near him chatted with him briefly when he first entered.

 And soon, Keiji walked by.

 “Kozume-san? I was worried about you--have you been alright?”

 “Yes, I’ve been okay. I tripped down the stairs recently, so...”

 “I see. Please be careful, and take care of yourself, Kozume-san; it’d be bad if your injuries got worse.”

 Kenma nodded. Throughout the conversation, as Keiji scolded him for not being careful and losing his footing, he realized he had lost track of his thoughts, instead focusing on the color of Keiji’s dark brown eyes, and the way his nose wrinkled just slightly when he talked.

 “Er, Kozume-san...?”

 “Eh? Ah, sorry, I’ve... I’ve been a little out of it, sorry.” While he had been prone to headaches lately, Kenma knew that he was distracted now for a very different reason.

 “Oh, sorry, I’ll let you be, then--“

 “No, no, it’s fine! I’ll.. Um, I’ll be fine.” He tried to force a smile, though he knew his face was probably oddly contorted..

 Keiji  stared oddly at him for a moment, then laughed quietly. “You’re quite odd, Kozume-san. I’d love to stay, but I just realized that I have a meeting right now. We should meet up again later.”

 His head bobbled as he nodded in agreement, and Keiji laughed again as he walked away.

 Kenma was not good at dealing with emotions--specifically romantic ones. He was also not good with dealing with the people he had such romantic feelings for. Specifically people that had long eyelashes and chocolate-colored eyes that crinkled when said “people” laughed at him.

 He went back to his desk to keep working. Maybe he’d figure out how to have a conversation that last more than two minutes with Keiji if he distracted himself with work.

--

Keiji thought that Kenma was very odd, but also very endearing. He fumbled a little when he  talked, and seemed to stare off into space all the time--and if you mentioned it, he’d always politely apologize, only to do it again.

He thought it was kind of cute.

He was also worried about the state Kenma was in. And he’d noticed that Tetsurou seemed more stressed lately, always staring at the clock, waiting to get home.

Waiting to get to Kenma.

They were roommates, weren’t they? Somehow, Keiji felt almost... Jealous, that someone like Tetsurou got to spend all day with Kenma. Working together, living together.

Yes, definitely jealous.

But Keiji hid these feelings, and regarded Tetsurou civilly. He was nice, anyway, if a little loud and reckless. Nice enough.

He wanted to be the one who got to take care of Kenma, though.

Keiji returned to his desk, opening the terminal on his computer and typing in strings of code. He was booting up the new software their company was developing, an AI of sorts. It was up to Keiji as the head programmer to work on the system to meet the company’s needs. He’d privately nicknamed it “Kou”, and had been working on it tirelessly since he was given the assignment several months ago. No matter what he did, there was always a bug in the code--something new to fix, a new virus that could potentially wreck the entire system--but it was always satisfying  when he could fix it, even if the changes only worked temporarily.

Kou’s current updates involved giving him a voice, using samples that the  company received from a voice actor that was recently gaining fame, some Taira Kimura or another. While the voice samples strung together excellently, Keiji had been having trouble getting the coding just right so that the program would actually be able to use them, instead of the default beeping noises.

Kou was not being very receptive at all.

In his head, Keiji had created a sort of persona for Kou, just based off the different bugs he’d had--sort of jumpy, maybe on the fussy side. When something went well, it went really well, like how Kou’s coding would be fully fuctional for weeks at times without any struggle; but if  they went poorly, everything was terrible, like how Kou could continuously crash on opening, also for weeks at times.

This was one of those moments when it seemed like everything was terrible, and that Keiji’s best bet would be to toss the computer out the nearest window, and to promptly quit his job. 

But he wouldn’t do that, because he got paid well, and got to see Kenma every day.

Keiji sighed, and looked through the coding to try and find a bug. If he didn’t do it, no one else in the office could. Not only was Keiji the head of the program, but he was the only one allowed to interact directly with the code. If anyone else tried to edit it, everything could potentially shut down.

And besides, being the  only one allowed to work on it had its own particular benefits. He’d  downloaded one of Kou’s earlier prototypes on his phone to serve as an assistant of sorts, and even installed him on his home computer, not to mention tested him out on some larger models Keiji had built before.

Despite the struggles, Kou definitely was useful to Keiji. There was no better program to help power a seven-foot-tall machine like Keiji needed.

He wasn’t sure when he’d decided to “become a villain”. Maybe it was out of boredom, or because he was tired of seeing those two self-proclaimed "heroes" going around Tokyo like they owned it; regardless, Keiji had built his robot, and used Kou to help power it. So far, things were going excellently. Their last fight went well, and if his plans for the day were to go as expected, then Japan would be rid of their masked crusaders in no time at all.

He smiled to himself, fiddling with the edge of his mousepad. If everything went well, he could ask Kenma on a date, as a sort of reward for himself.

So far, today was turning out to be a very good day.

--

It was not a good day at all. Well, not anymore.

The two snot-nosed brats had been lured in by Keiji’s perfect trap, of  course; they’d followed him back into his hideout like last time, in the abandoned part of town where the empty factory he called his own was. There, he’d locked them in his “main stage”, where all his computers and weaponry was. After working on Kou’s code, he could now use Kou not only as means to power his suit, but also as a “sidekick” of sorts--using his algorithm, Kou could power any weapons in the room to use as he needed.

But the electric one started using his powers again, breaking the circuits of some of his main computer. Keiji knew bringing them to this room was a risk, but he didn’t think it’d be that bad.

It was that bad.

Without thinking of the consequences, Keiji swung to hit Recolo, ultimately knocking him over like a rag doll. After the last fight, both heroes looked pretty bad, but this one was having more difficulty keeping up--

“Kenma! Fuck, this is--“

Kenma.

No.

“Shit, Ken--Recolo, we have to get out of here!”

Shadow Prowler’s messy hair seemed familiar. How had Keiji not noticed the blond ends of Recolo’s hair?

He was coming to, and when he managed to stand up, he glared fiercely at Keiji. Or really, at the suit Keiji was in.

Amber eyes narrowed from behind a blue mask.

“Kenma,” Keiji breathed, shaky hands prying themselves away from the control panel where they rested. “I... I have to--“

His machine creaked, and he noticed that Kenma was swaying, eyes shut now.

And floating. Definitely floating. Was this what he could really do?

Once again, Keiji made a rash decision: he opened the doors to his lair.

“Leave. Now,” he boomed through the mic, voice disguised behind the staticky sounds he’d used to create his “mecha” persona. 

Shadow Prowler--Tetsurou?--stared up at him in disbelief. Reco--no, Kenma, definitely Kenma, seemed to falter, movements seeming more like trembling than swaying now.

“You heard me,” he shouted, “now go!”

Kenma fell, seeming to have exhausted himself. Tetsurou ran to catch him, and glanced one more time at Keiji. “Are you sure?”

“Go!”

They ran without looking back, Kenma lying limply in Tetsurou’s arms, as he used his powers to make them both invisible to hide in the dark of the  night.

Keiji sat in the machine, enveloped in total silence. Kou chirped next to him.

“Keiji-san? Are you alright?”

He was only just getting used to Kou’s voice, jumpy and cheerful, but now he was almost grateful to have someone there for him.

“Yes, Kou. Shut everything down for the night, please.”

“Right on it, sir!”

He heard the whir of the machines die down. Keiji unbuckled his harness, and opened the hatch at the top of his pod.

Kenma.

--

He kept waking up on the sofa in their living room, with Tetsurou staring down at him.

“Oh, thank--Kenma, I was so--shit, are you okay? You look so--“

“I’ll be fine,” Kenma said, voice coming out quiet and raspy. How long had he been out?

“It was so bad, and then--we were let go? Something happened, I don’t know what but we just--... I don’t get it, y’know? This person... They’re not just doing this randomly, I don’t think. I don’t know. I’m... Fuck, Kenma, this was crazy.”

His head hurt. Had he tried to use his powers? He couldn’t remember.

“But you were amazing out there, seriously. You did great.” Tetsurou rested his hand on the top of Kenma’s head, and grinned down as he ruffled his hair. “Maybe they were just scared of you.”

“Doubt it,” he mumbled, but tiredly smiled back anyway. “I can’t even remember what happened.”

Tetsurou furrowed his brows. “You don’t know?”

He shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Wow...  Well, you went all-out, for starters. Their huge suit thing started smoking, and for some reason they got all tense and told me to get out. You fainted, probably from overworking yourself, and I ran.”

Kenma let out a sigh of disbelief. “Just like that...?”

He nodded. “Just like that.”

They sat in silence for a moment. 

“None of this makes sense.”

“I know, but... You should get some rest. We both should.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t think too hard, Kenma. Can’t have you fainting on me again.”

“I won’t.”

“Alright.”

“Goodnight.”

“It’s 3 am, practically morning.”

“Goodnight, Tetsurou.”

“Okay, goodnight.”

--

Keiji wasn’t at work the next morning. Kenma dismissed it at first, but remembered that Keiji was never not at work. Not since Kenma had started working here, at least.

He’d sent Keiji a text during his lunch break. The message had been delivered, and Kenma’s phone unhelpfully stated that it had even been read, but still no reply.

Tetsurou asked why he seemed so down. Kenma didn’t have a proper response--the  restaurant they ate at didn’t have the meal he liked, the printer was out of ink, the rain soaked through his shoes and got his socks all soggy--but he knew it was because Keiji wasn’t there.

Even if their conversations only lasted a short amount of time, they were always pleasant for Kenma. And even if most of the time they had spent  together, on the few occasions Keiji sat and ate with them, or whenever he needed to run an errand with the tech department, was spent in total silence, Kenma appreciated just being in his company.

One absence was nothing. No reply was nothing. It meant nothing.

Kenma kept sulking the rest of the day.

--

He wasn’t sure how to respond, really, or that he even should.

What do you tell your coworker, that you’ve been interested in for a while, who is also the hero you periodically fight, after he texts you and worriedly asks why you didn’t show up today?

Keiji’s eyes felt heavy.

He decided to keep tinkering with Kou, even if he had a “day off”. After all, if he didn’t, who would?

He removed the lines of code that made Kou “dangerous”, replacing them with ones that would help make him functional, adding features the other developers had been suggesting, and creating a sort of “fail-safe”  function that would keep him from being used incorrectly again.

After working for hours, he finally managed to respond to Kenma.

‘I’ve been fine. I woke up with a bad headache and couldn’t get out of bed. Sorry to make you worry.’

The reply was almost instant.

‘I hope you recover soon. Nothing really happened today, so you didn’t miss much.’

Keiji couldn’t help the smile on his face when he read the text. Even without being there, Kenma could make him smile.

Kenma.

He set down his phone.

He needed to sleep.

--

“Tetsurou, that person hasn’t been bothering people as much, right?”

“Definitely. Not after...”

“... Yeah.”

“I think... I think we’ll be okay.”

--

Keiji turned himself in after a week of not going to work.

He hadn’t caused any real trouble, just some minor property damage, and stealing junk parts of machines. His sentence was small.

No one understood why he did it. He didn’t really understand, either.

He hoped Kenma would forgive him for hurting him. Him, and Tetsurou.

The company almost shut Kou down after finding out what Keiji had used the software for, but he begged them to still give the program another chance. They closely inspected the coding and agreed. Now, Kou was being used in smartphones and computers everywhere, and was the primary line of defense for the company’s files.

At least something good came out of it.

--

Kenma wasn’t expecting their first “date” to go like this, but it was still nice, in its own way.

“You look good,” he had noted after sitting down.

Keiji smiled sheepishly, and glanced down. “You’re funny, Kozume-san.”

“Really, you do. The uniform suits you.”

He laughed. “If you say so.”

A lull in the conversation.

“I’m lucky the sentence was so minimal,” Keiji said, toying with the sleeve of his uniform. “They said I’d be out soon. It’s thanks to you and  Kuroo-san for helping me so much.”

Kenma shook his head. “We had to. It was only right.”

Keiji looked directly at him. He had to look away, dark eyes burning into him. “You’re a good person, Kozume-san. You’ve helped me, and even now, you’re checking in on me like this. Why?”

“Why?” He blinked, finding the courage to look up again. “Because I like you. And you’re a good person, too.”

Keiji faltered. “Y-you... Oh.”

“Yes.”

Another pause.

“When I get out... Would you like to go out sometime? Properly. Not like this--I’m glad to see you, but...”

“Yes, I would.”

Keiji smiled--a real grin, this time, totally sure of itself. “Good. I’m already looking forward to it.”

Kenma couldn’t help it when he smiled back.

----

Keiji sighed, eyes shut as he felt the sun against his face.

Warmth.

Kenma had continued to visit him during the last period of his sentence, and even though the visits were short, he was always left with a fuzzy feeling in his chest.

Over the course of his visits, the two had grown closer, and found different similarities: both preferred their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with banana slices, they both liked the color blue, and they both agreed that dandelions should not be considered weeds, as pesky as they were. (The last conversation stemmed when Keiji tried to compliment Kenma by comparing him to a dandelion, which caused Kenma to ramble about how Tetsurou would not stop ranting about the ones that would ravage the mini garden that he cultivated on the balcony of their apartment.) Their conversations were menial and lighthearted, but ultimately helped to strengthen their bond, and enjoyable ways to pass time.

And now, Keiji could finally sit down and have a proper conversation with Kenma, over a cup of coffee, no less.

He’d been let go just three days ago, and Kenma had called to set a specific time for their date.

A date. It was officially a date. Keiji felt like a high schooler, heart pounding with excitement.

Kou chirped the time from his cellphone, announcing that he only had a few minutes before their designated time. Keiji hoped that his taxi driver would just go a little faster.

Kenma was waiting outside for him once he got there. It was autumn now, and he was wearing a maroon scarf  with a brown overcoat, shivering from the mild temperatures.

“It’s not that cold,” Keiji said as he walked over, chuckling when Kenma jumped at the sound of his voice.

He smiled back. “It’s good to see you too. I was wrong--while the uniform looked good on you, this suits you much better.”

Keiji  laughed again. It seemed like he was always laughing with Kenma. “Do  you promise not to run away to stop some terrible villain like me in the  middle of this?”

“If they’re anything like you, I have nothing to worry about.”

“Are you sure? I promise I can be very scary.”

Kenma grinned. “A guy who blushed when I asked him to get coffee, then admitted he only drank the frappucinos at cafes. Terrifying.”

Keiji chuckled. “You’ve got me there. Should we go in?”

“Yeah. Let's go.”