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“Your boyfriend’s kinda weird, Kuroo.”
The words sloshed around in Kuroo’s mind as he snapped to look at the boy laid out on his bed. Sharp green eyes stared back at him, a wolf-like grin and a pale pink blush sat on Akaashi Keiji’s face. Kuroo allowed himself a few moments to stare - blame it on shock - before he schooled his expression back to the carefreeness it usually had.
“Is that so, Keiji-kun?” He hummed out, trying to focus his mind back on his math homework. Suddenly, he heard the squeak of his bedframe and felt arms slinking around his shoulders.
“Mhm. Real weird.” A whisper in his ear caused shivers to roll down his spine before lightly slapping Akaashi off of him. He felt his Adam’s apple bob in his throat when Akaashi batted his lashes at him. The cheap wine they stole from Kuroo’s mom was clearly hitting him now.
Kuroo sighed as he lay down on the hardwood floor staring up at his ceiling. Math wasn’t getting done with a drunk Akaashi in his room. Kuroo turned to look at Akaashi, still just sitting on the floor where he’d been gently shoved, blinking slowly. Very slowly.
“Pft. Have you never been drunk before?”
Akaashi shook his head, looking away from him now clearly embarrassed. Kuroo decided to switch the topic, even if it wasn’t one he was super enthusiastic to talk about.
“Why do you say my boyfriend is weird, mm?” Kuroo drawled out as he sat up to look Akaashi in the eye. Akaashi had always been cagey with information, and so if drunk Akaashi would spill secrets, Kuroo would take advantage of that. Despite his claims of being a saint, he was more like a devil.
Akaashi seemed troubled for a moment, before realizing he did, in fact, say that out loud. He gathered himself (as much as he could in his state) before diving off into a tangent.
“Whenever we hang out the four of us he just always gives me such bad energy. Major stank eye.” He drags out the last ‘e’ on eye, before plopping his hands behind himself to steady himself. “I just don’t think that he likes me very much. Which is fine, because he’s not my boyfriend, but he is kind of a bitch, I think.”
If he wasn’t talking shit about his boyfriend Kuroo might find this drunken rambly state of Akaashi funny, and the way he tried to stay formal even while drunk, but as it was he wasn’t laughing. No, he was instead lost in thought, because it was true. Kenma didn’t like Akaashi. For whatever reason unbeknownst to him, Kenma and Akaashi never clicked the way Kuroo had wanted them to.
He remembers the first time the four of them, Kuroo, Kenma, Akaashi, and Bokuto hung out outside of a volleyball context. They settled on bowling, resulting in a cheap ball joke from Kuroo that had only made Bokuto laugh, resulting in similar nose scrunches from the quieter boys. In that moment Kuroo thought maybe the two would get along and Kenma would finally have another friend other than Kuroo.
He was wrong. Extremely wrong.
The entire time while bowling it was extremely awkward trying to make conversation as a group, as Bokuto was the only one really trying, the other two seemingly more content with shooting each other looks. As though they were sizing one another up. Kuroo thought maybe it was a bad first impression, but the more they met up the more evident it had become. They were able to talk to one another, sure, but the conversations were short and clipped, and they only chimed in when either Kuroo or Bokuto said something.
It’s gotten to the point now where Kenma has started to want to ditch plans.
“Akaashi and Bo really aren’t that bad, Kenma.” Kuroo stood above the younger boy with his arms crossed. The other ignored him, focusing his attention on his Nintendo Switch with a wave of his arm. Kuroo sighed, sitting down next to his boyfriend and placing a hand on his leg, which was instantly shucked off, getting a laugh out of him.
“Really, what is your issue with them?”
Kenma finally put his Switch down at that, taking a deep breath before turning to look at Kuroo.
“I don’t like the way he looks at you.”
“What?”
What?
Kuroo’s confusion must have been evident on his face, as Kenma just rolled his eyes and picked his switch back up, not saying anything after that. Kenma didn’t end up going to their plan. Bokuto had gotten sick and canceled last minute too, leaving just Kuroo and Akaashi, drunk in Kuroo’s room and-
He’d gotten close.
Kuroo blinked as he could feel Akaashi’s warm breath on his lips, green eyes piercing his as Kuroo stumbled back on his hands.
“W-what are you doing, Keiji?” Kuroo asked, forcing a laugh to come out but it did nothing to deflate the sudden tension in the air as Akaashi crawled closer to Kuroo on the floor. Suddenly the thing Kenma said made sense, and all of his behavior up to this point added up. It should have made Kuroo feel gross. He should have pushed Akaashi away. He should be mad. He shouldn’t like the way the younger boy’s soft long fingers brush his hair out of the way. Shouldn’t love the way their lips slot together so easily, something he and Kenma still hadn’t done, despite dating for nearly six months at this point.
“Kuroo? You’re crying.”
Akaashi was suddenly sat on his heels leveling Kuroo with a strange look. Kuroo couldn’t help the way his body moved in slow motion, surprised by his own sudden onset of emotion as he attempted to wipe away the evidence, unsuccessfully.
Kuroo thought about the soft smiles Kenma would rarely give out (only to Kuroo), he thought about the soft laugh that he would occasionally receive for one of his shitty jokes, and thought about growing up with someone who felt like his other half.
“I’m a real shitty person, I think,” Kuroo spoke softly.