Chapter Text
Kenma squeezed Kuroo’s fingers as they walked inside, hand in hand. It had been three whole years, and the boy still got nervous whenever he talked to Kenma’s parents. While Kuroo was successfully able to convince Kenma to be the one to ask, he was unable to convince Kenma to do it without him there.
“My boys,” Kenma’s mother said in greeting, “How was school?”
Kenma registered the questioning look in her eyes at the two of them who awkwardly stood there in front of her, their fingers laced together.
“Fine, Mom,” Kenma said, “Can you-“
“Tetsu-kun?” Kenma’s mom prompted, cutting Kenma off.
Kenma mentally sent encouragement Kuroo's way. He had told Kuroo he wouldn’t have to talk to her, but Kuroo could handle it.
“Fine,” Kuroo said quietly, whispering at the floor.
It was an answer to the question. Good enough. It was odd to Kenma, the way Kuroo seemed to have opened up to just about anyone except for adults. Specifically, adults when he needed something from them. Otherwise, he seemed pretty okay at carrying a conversation. He’d changed a lot since they’d first met.
“That’s good to hear. You two have any plans tonight?” she asked.
“Actually,” Kenma said, squeezing Kuroo’s fingers absentmindedly, “I was wondering if you could give us money so we can go to the ice cream place.”
Kenma noticed Kuroo shift his weight a few times and figured he was nervous. It wasn’t even that serious of an ask. He didn’t need to be so concerned. Kenma’s mom would probably let them do it.
“You wanna go get ice cream, hun?” Kenma’s mom asked, looking over at her husband.
“Sounds good to me. Let’s go boys,” he said, standing up from the couch with a grunt.
Kenma shook his head and stood up straighter. She wasn’t listening to him.
“We wanna go just the two of us,” Kenma explained, “We know where it is. We can walk there all by ourselves.”
Kenma’s mom paused, her hands on her hips.
“You can’t go alone. You’re too little yet,” she explained, “But we can all go together if you still want ice cream.”
Kenma stuck his bottom lip out in a pout.
“But we wanna pl- hang out alone,” Kenma said, “Please?”
He had to stop himself from saying that they were playing or had playdates. He was too old for that. He wasn’t a little boy anymore. Little boys played. The two of them hung out. The last thing he wanted to do was accidentally tell the other boys at school that he was still going on playdates.
“Why do you want to be alone?” she asked.
Kenma shrugged.
“Just ‘cause,” he said, “We thought it’d be fun. We can talk all by ourselves just like how the big kids do.”
She sent a nostalgic smile his way and gently brushed his hair back. Kenma quickly moved his head away from the touch. She was embarrassing him in front of Kuroo.
“You’re getting so big,” she said, “But don’t you talk by yourselves on the way home every day? You play alone in each other’s rooms too.”
Why was she being so difficult? It was a simple request. If she had the money for all four of them to get ice cream, she had to have the money to let the two of them go alone.
“Well, yeah, but that’s different,” Kenma said, rolling his eyes, “We wanna hang out somewhere cool alone. It doesn’t even have to be the ice cream place. We can go somewhere else if you want. Kuro’s dad said we have his permission if you say it’s okay.”
He wasn’t really sure where else they would go, but he could come up with something. Maybe they could have dinner together. That was extra grown up, just like in the movies about being in high school, or they could go see a movie. That could be fun too.
“Boys, I’m just trying to understand, so I know how to help you. Is this like a date?” she asked, “Is that why you have to be alone? I want to figure out how to help you, but also keep you safe at the same time.”
Kenma simultaneously dropped both his jaw and Kuroo’s hand.
“Oh my god. Mom. No. It’s not a date. We’re boys. We are hanging out. This is so embarrassing,” Kenma said, crossing his arms with a huff and looking away.
She chuckled a little bit, but that just made him even more embarrassed. It wasn’t funny. Kuroo was standing right there.
“How about this?” she said, “Why don’t we all go together, but we pay separately, so you can practice ordering food by yourself and you two can sit at your own booth? That way you can be alone, but we can also keep an eye on you. Would that work?”
Kenma looked over at Kuroo, who smiled at him in return. Kenma nodded. Even though he was embarrassed that his mom mentioned him having to practice ordering food in front of Kuroo, he was too excited to care.
“Yeah. Thank you, Mom,” Kenma said.
“Thanks, Mom,” Kuroo whispered to the floor.
Kuroo smiled at Kenma as he licked his ice cream cone. Being friends with Kenma was so nice. His parents would let them do anything if they asked. Being in their own booth was fun. He felt like an adult.
“Isn’t my mom so weird?” Kenma asked, scrunching his nose, “I can’t believe she thinks we want to go on dates with each other. We are literally boys.”
“Boys can like each other,” Kuroo said, shrugging, “I have crushes on boys and girls.”
Kuroo didn’t need to be friends with Kenma to recognize the confusion written on his face.
“Boys can like each other? Like girlfriends but boys? Boy girlfriends? How do you know all this stuff? First you know that you’re not a girl anymore and now-“
“Kenma, shh,” Kuroo interrupted, looking around nervously, “Be careful. There are other people around.”
Kenma reached across the table and wrapped his hand around Kuroo’s free wrist.
“I’m sorry,” Kenma said, genuine worry on his face, “I didn’t mean to say that when other people are here. I’m not used to keeping secrets. Nobody really tells me anything, so I usually don’t have to.”
“It’s okay,” Kuroo said, “It’s okay. I don’t think anyone heard you.”