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perhaps kenma's been pining over kuroo too much, the best archer in the kingdom. he never expected bokuto to catch onto kenma's feelings about the archer so quickly. maybe he was being too obvious, kenma asks himself.
he spots akaashi outside his window, the young servant was occupied by several tableware in his hands as he carefully placed every piece in its rightful spot. kenma must say, he was doing his job way too perfectly.
the fake blonde races down the castle stairs and it's exaggerated hallways, well, at least he tries to. he walks through the main doors with a huff, he approaches akaashi, who is dumbfounded by kenma's panting figure.
"are you okay? did you run all this way?" akaashi asks, bringing himself to pat kenma's back gently. "yeah" kenma mutters under his breath. "do you need something your majesty?" akaashi lets his hand leave kenma's back, then intertwine both hands behind his back.
"it's personal, can we talk somewhere else keiji?" kenma stands up straight and gives akaashi the eyes that begged him to just be friends in this very moment. "of course your majesty, follow me" without a trace, akaashi vanished from kenma's line of sight.
"what is he? a ninja?"
"not a ninja your majesty!"
kenma jumps at the loud voice coming from a distance, he gets the internal force that pulls him into the forest that he grew up with. he begins following akaashi, walking around trees. a rush of nostalgia lingers in the forest as kenma takes his time just admiring the forest that was
he sees the end of the forest and hurries over to be met with a glorious cliff, it belonged to a waterfall that danced all day and night. akaashi glances behind him, kenma receives a smile from him.
"come 'ere kenma"
a crease lifts kenma's mouth into a genuine loving smile. whenever akaashi calls him by his real name, it just melts in a warm embrace of love. his best friend letting go of his role as a servant for a second leaves kenma sitting beside him in silence of comfort.
right now, akaashi needed to be there for kenma as his best friend, the one he could rely on, the one who gives a shoulder - or both to cry on. that's what kenma needed.
their legs dangled off the edge of the cliff, a landscape in their view was there for the world to see. it was their favorite spot whenever they needed to talk with one another. akaashi breaks the silent barrier, "this must be about that archer right?"
kenma looks his best friend, just blinking as a response. "i'm right aren't i?" akaashi turns to give him the eyes that made kenma feel cornered in a pit of truth. kenma nods, "yeah, you're right but i don't know why i can't just tell him about my... feelings, what's stopping me?"
it wasn't necessarily a question targeting akaashi, it was more a question for himself to answer. akaashi tilts his head to face the landscape view once again, "maybe," he begins. kenma takes the time to listen, interested on what his best friend had to say.
"maybe you're just not ready to tell him y'know, romantic feelings are not easy. don't stress yourself out, it takes time to understand" kenma sighs and hums in acknowledgement, "and how much time will it take me to understand?" he demanded, not asked.
"it's different for everyone kenma, you won't know when you'll understand it" akaashi explains the best way he can, don't get him wrong, it's not like he was an expert at feelings, heck - he might be just as confused as kenma, but he just said whatever came to mind.
"mm, i guess that makes sense" kenma says as he lifts his right leg to rest his head on, closing his eyes. another moment of silence comes between them, but they accept it with open arms. "when you're ready, just tell him. alright?"
kenma hesitates on giving a proper answer, he's not prepared for a rejection. not that he can guarantee that kuroo will reject him, actually he might result into saying yes out of pity, but the possibility was surely not worth it.
"i can practically hear you panicking"
"shut up keiji"
akaashi's calm demeanor morphs into a fit of laughs and chuckles, kenma watches him in amusement. "you wanna talk about those chalk drawings?" kenma scoffs, "they don't even know i drew them, they think it was some villager" his smug expression echoed as he rolled his eyes.
"i think they were a work of art" akaashi admits, but his tone showed a bit of sarcasm. "a dick drawing is a work of art to you?" kenma raises his eyebrows in question while childishly gagging. "i've never seen a dick drawn so well so yeah i think so" they soon get lost with all the laughs they let out every minute.
and by then, the sun makes it's final goodbye before the night sky arrives. akaashi gazes at the moon, he starts a staring contest with it - which he loses to when he remembers it's probably really late. he lifts his body to keep a steady stance.
a wave of nostalgia hits kenma hard when he feels his head being patted softly. akaashi calls him, "c'mon kozume, it's getting late" the footsteps behind kenma get far and far more distant. he takes a moment to process, when he finally feels he's ready, he uses his hands to pick himself up.
one last glance at the landscape, he notices something. the view was beautiful during the day, but was complimented majestically by the dark shade of the moon shining above it.
kenma then follows akaashi back home.
kenma pulls the handle to open the grand doors, leading himself inside as he faces the ground. "hey your majesty!" he strikes his head up, he face heats up immediately when he recognizes the face in front of him.
"o-oh hello tetsurō"
kuroo gasps, "first name basis? that's new" he leans closer to kenma's face, he finds enjoyment at making kenma's face turn into a baby pink shade. kenma daggers a glare at him, "don't get used to it" walking passed kuroo, he groans when he hears another word comes out of kuroo's mouth.
"oh i will your majesty!" kuroo shouts, ugh so cheeky. he was such an asshole, well a handsome asshole, but that doesn't matter! man kenma really wondered if he had romantic feelings for that dude, as much as he wanted to deny it, accepting it was his final conclusion.
kenma picks up the pace when doing his night routine, he was more-so excited about tomorrow's event. a festival was being hosted by his kingdom, of course other kingdoms were being invited but he could care less about that.
what really got to him was the archery contest, the contest where kuroo specialized at. kenma might've had a bad habit at secretly watching kuroo practice his archery skills whenever he got the chance. whenever the bed-hair would show a victorious smirk when he hit right on the target, kenma could feel his legs give out.
the way his biceps would strengthen whenever he was getting ready to shoot, the way he licked his lips whenever he was in his element — completely focused, the way he almost never misses, show casing how well trained he was had kenma head over heels for him.
when kenma is finally comfortable laying in his bed with a blanket hugging him in a pit of warmth, he get hypnotized by the sheer tiredness of his mind, and definitely not so he can dream about a certain archer only to find himself being trapped in his buff biceps - nope, totally not.
the next day comes, kenma opens his eyes and shrieks when he's slapped with the blinding light of the sun greeting him. the time goes by fast as he gets ready and runs downstairs to hear his family being chatty.
"there he is!" seriously?
"hello kuroo" kenma says in an unamused tone, kuroo just laughs as he approaches the prince — tackling him in a hug. "what happened to first name basis huh your majesty" kenma lets his guard up when he feels an arm rest on his head, can he just keep his arms to himself?
"i told you to not get used to it" he tells kuroo, who then hums in agreement. i mean, he wasn't wrong. "i guess you're right. you doing okay done there?" that dashing smirk kenma's been waiting to see had struck him. the blonde rolls his eyes, showing an annoyed expression.
"m doin' just fine" kenma mutters, turning to face away from his crush. "huh? what was that?" kuroo taunted him with that smirk only growing wider by the second. "i'm going outside, might wanna do last minute practice before the contest"
the prince begins walking away, letting kuroo's arm fall with such impact which almost makes him fall. the calm tension surrounds him perfectly, he waves a hand at everyone, pleased to see familiar faces (ones that he basically sees everyday).
hours pass by with the festival going smoothly, nothing that could ruin kenma's happiest day. he had just witnessed the archery contest - kuroo ultimately wins, something kenma predicted way ahead of time. but when a orange head takes the stage, everything becomes a blur.
a baking contest that had the most famous bakers in the land, but a new face has shown up to take the challenge. and has certainly taken a potential spot in kenma's heart. "i've never seen you before, introduce yourself if you may" the king - kenma's father, says.
hinata flashes a smile, "my name is hinata shōyō, shōyō being my first name. i'm new here and i stay in the village up north," kenma blinks, up north? he'll be there. "i've decided to compete with these wonderful bakers to prove that i'll win this competition"
he's bold.
the king chuckles at hinata's bold statement, the kid's got some guts to stand against some of the most well experienced bakers in the land. definitely something worth the king's time to waste on. "welcome to nekoma hinata shōyō. show us what you got kid"
finally, the baking contest was in session. if kenma was being honest, he'd been watching hinata's every movement the whole time. hinata's smile that blinded everyone never left his face, that must hurt right?
when it was time to try every pastry and judge them, hinata's mango cake sparked something in kenma. nothing like he'd ever tried in his entire life, he felt himself drown in a crowd of euphoria. the sweet taste works amazing with kenma, and the texture is spongy and fluffy, the mango cream filling balances that fluffy texture.
saying he loves it was definitely an understatement. a sweet treat made by a sweet man had his vote, not that he would've voted for hinata since the moment he showed his face. to everyone's surprise, hinata won the contest, leaving the other expert bakers devastated at their defeat.
"i won natsu!" hinata squealed at the crowd, his eyes searching for someone. kenma searched along with him, curious at who he was screaming at. "yay!" a young ginger girl screaming back, she was carried on a tall man's shoulders and she danced happily.
kenma was walking around the castle exhaustedly after the festival had ended, he was tired but still looking for some company. passing by the kitchen, his ears perked up at the sound of angelic voices, one he recognized too quickly and one he didn't recognize on the spot.
his hand pressed on the handle, pushing it as his gaze landed on the two people he less expected to be interacting in the grand kitchen. he stopped abruptly when a pair of eyes darted at him. "oh hey your majesty" kuroo greeted with a smile, his arm wrapped around the ginger's neck.
"no need for the formality tetsurō, my family isn't here" kenma brushed off the title, kuroo shrugged but obliged at the demand. the ginger from earlier also greeted him, using the same title that kuroo used a second ago. "nice to see you again your majesty"
did hinata's smile just grow bigger? kenma swore it wasn't a giant grin before.
"hello shōyō" kenma walked further to where the two stood, apparently they were mixing a batter to make chocolate cake - according to the dark brown color. hinata gasps, "you called me by my first name! your voice makes my name sound heavenly" he chuckled.
kenma unintentionally covered his face to hide the blush slowly evolving. kuroo ruffles the prince's hair, "aw don't be embarrassed, shōyō's right" kenma groaned as he sunk his face deeper into his palms, desperately wanting the blush to disappear. if only these two weren't so great at flirting, or even being handsome, that would make things so much easier.
"do you want to help us bake this chocolate cake? maybe you can decorate it when it's finished baking" hinata suggested, he began pouring the chocolate batter into a heart shaped cake pan. kuroo and kenma both silently watched as hinata smiled through the whole process, and watched him do everything perfectly.
kuroo whistled at hinata's efforts, "wow for a young man, you certainly know what the hell you're doing" he praised. a flustered expression appeared on hinata's face, making him ten times cuter than before. a sight to behold for the prince of nekoma and the best archer in the nekoma kingdom.
"my parents are great teachers. but hey, you can't be talking mister 'i started become the best archer in the kingdom when i just 11 years old" hinata mocked, "oh please, it would've been cooler if i was 5 when i started" the bed-hair reminisced his younger years.
hinata set a timer and placed it on the counter, "your majesty," kenma hummed, "how about you give us a room tour- if you'll allow it of course" hinata waved his hands in defense. "sure i don't mind, i can't wait to taste the cake"
kenma, other than the fact he was hanging out with his two crushes - being close to them, or even being in their presence, he felt the same comforting atmosphere from when he hung out with akaashi.
maybe not the same way, akaashi was his best friend, but it still left the same impression. the exact genuine smile that he was only able to show when he and akaashi would just be best friends for a moment.
now that he was bonding with the two people he wanted to pursue, he would take akaashi's advise into account. he won't know exactly when he's ready to tell them, but he just wanted to be there - maybe not as a lover yet and just friends for now, he just wanted to live in the moment with them.
"we should hang out more" kuroo suggested, kenma nodded. "we should"
"let's go to that waterfall i saw by a cliff!" hinata jumped excitedly, kenma chuckled softly, "i know the best route to get there"
kenma's eyes closed shut, his stomach completely filled with chocolate cake, his body hugged comfortably by kuroo on his right, and hinata on his left. his heart now occupied by his three favorite people.
akaashi keiji, kuroo tetsurō, and hinata shōyō. the ones he wanted to live in the moment with.