Archive of Our Own ^beta

"What are you doing?"

Kenma glances up from the mindless game he's been playing while he waits for Kuroo to find him, and immediately has to look back down because wow, that guy's really cute.  "Uh…I'm lost," he manages, peeking again at the guy.  It's not like Kenma isn't around a lot of athletic guys all the time, so while this guy's body is definitely in good shape, that's not the thing that makes him hard to look at.

It's something about the brightness of his eyes and his wide, easy smile that makes Kenma's heart beat a little faster.  He keeps whipping his eyes back to his game as the guy makes small talk, somehow not put off at all by Kenma's awkwardness.

Then the guy notices his volleyball shoes, and Kenma finds himself actually engaging in a conversation with a stranger.

Hinata Shouyou's T-shirt says Karasuno High School, which means this isn't the only time he'll ever see him.  By the time Kuroo shows up, Kenma's abandoned his game entirely in favor of talking to Shouyou.  He's so enthusiastic about volleyball that it makes Kenma want to play, just so he can spend more time with him.

Maybe he's trying to impress Shouyou a little when he says that Nekoma's team is pretty good, but it's not like it's not true.

"Don't go wandering off by yourself," Kuroo tells him as they head back to meet up with the team.  He hadn't really meant to wander so far -- he just needed a break from the rowdiness of so many teenagers all in one place, and by the time he looked up, everyone was gone.

"Sorry," he says, though he's not, really.

"You gotta be careful in a strange place."

"Yeah, yeah."

"So," Kuroo says, watching him out of the corner of his eye, "who was that guy you were talking to?  You don't usually talk to strangers like that."

Kenma shrugs.  "One of Karasuno's players."

"Hmm?"  Kuroo peers at him.  "Kenma…"

Damn Kuroo for knowing him too well.  Kenma keeps his eyes on the street in front of him and doesn't answer.

"You thought he was cute, didn't you," Kuroo says.

"Shut up.  Did not."

Of course, that just makes Kuroo laugh.  "You did too."

"Did not."

"Did too!  Is he a second year too?  Did you get his number?  What's his name?"

Kenma glares at him, but it's not like he can keep Shouyou a secret when they're going to play his team tomorrow.  "Hinata Shouyou," he says.  "First year middle blocker."

"That shortie's a middle blocker?  Damn.  Good luck to him."

"I bet he can jump, though," Kenma says.

Kuroo raises an eyebrow.  "What makes you say that?"

Eyes firmly on the street in front of him, Kenma says, "Because his thighs were huge."

Kuroo just cackles.

*

Somehow Kenma leaves their practice game against Karasuno with Shouyou's number in his phone and a surprising enthusiasm for volleyball he's never really felt before.

The messages start pouring in before he even makes it all the way home.

[Shouyou] hi!!!  we stopped back at school because coach wanted to have a meeting but he's taking forever talking to Takeda-sensei and it's so boring waiting!

[Shouyou] Tanaka-san fell asleep and Noya-san is drawing on him with a marker

[Shouyou] uh oh Daichi-san caught him!  Daichi-san is scary when he's angry! 😱

"What's got you laughing at your phone?"  Kuroo leans in, so Kenma turns away and flips his phone shut.

"Nothing."

"Uh-huh.  Sure.  So that's not Karasuno's Chibi-chan texting you?"

Damn it.  Kenma can feel his face heating up.  "So what if it is?"

Kuroo just stretches his arms out behind his head and tips his head up to the sky.  "Nothing.  Good luck with that; I don't think that kid has space in his head for anything but volleyball."

*

The texting becomes a thing.  Shouyou sends him clips of volleyball highlights, links to new shoes, complaints about his teammates and school, funny videos of cats.  Kenma sends back a few cat videos of his own and pictures of his newest video games, along with his own wry comments about his newer teammate's receiving.

Sometimes, Shouyou sends selfies, and Kenma always has to stop himself from saving them.  He does look at them though, sometimes for longer than he probably ought to.  Shouyou is just so cute, whether he's grinning with a volleyball in his hand or making angry faces at Kageyama or slurping up a giant bowl of ramen.

[Shouyou] I'm booooooored, what are you doing??

Kenma pauses his game to check his phone.  It's late, but not so late for it to be unusual that Shouyou is still awake.  Playing video games, he types back.

[Shouyou] which one?

[Shouyou] is it good?

[Shouyou] I gotta get a game system so I can play with you

[Shouyou] but I don't think my mom will let me because my grades suck

To be honest, this game is pretty boring, so he finds a save point and exits out of it to give Shouyou his undivided attention.

[Kenma] it was boring, I turned it off

[Kenma] did you do your homework?

He already knows the answer will be no, and is unsurprised when Shouyou replies with a string of sobbing emojis.

[Shouyou] no fair you're not my mom

[Shouyou] I can't concentrate on homework right now anyway

[Shouyou] tell me something about yourself

[Kenma] like what?

[Shouyou] idk

[Shouyou] do you have a girlfriend?

Kenma blinks at his phone, then clambers into his bed, laying on his back and holding it above his face.  He's probably going to drop it on himself later but for now he can just stare at it and think about how much he actually wants to share with Shouyou.

[Kenma] no

[Shouyou] me neither

[Shouyou] what kind of girls do you like?

Well, Kenma supposes, he may as well rip the bandaid off.  If Shouyou doesn't want to talk to him anymore after this, it's probably for the best anyway.

[Kenma] I don't really care about girls

He waits for the reply as if he's just picked the worst possible dialogue option in a game.  It takes a long time, but eventually, it pops up:

[Shouyou] lol you say "I don't really care" about everything, I should've expected that

[Shouyou] anyway what's your favorite food?

And just like that, Shouyou has both completely misunderstood him, and decided that he doesn't care anyway.  Kenma snorts and rolls over.  "Stay interesting, Shouyou," he murmurs to himself.

*

It's hard to disguise his disappointment when Karasuno arrives for weekend training and Shouyou isn't with them.  He hasn't heard much from Shouyou in the last couple of weeks other than a few messages complaining about being too busy studying to text, and he's been busy enough with his own studies that it was probably for the best.  But still, he would've thought if Shouyou wasn't coming he might have sent a note, so he wouldn't have to hear it from Tora.

"Don't look so down," Kuroo says, nudging him in the arm after their first practice match.  "Chibi-chan's coming later."

Shouyou does arrive later, he and Kageyama blasting open the doors to the gym like they're Aragorn arriving at Helms Deep.  The practice games are too busy for Kenma to do much other than glance over at him, though, so it's a relief when Shouyou shows up at the classroom Nekoma is sleeping in after dinner.

He looks cute in his pajamas, all soft and fluffy-haired, when he sits down with Kenma and Inuoka to talk about Lev.  Kenma has to play one of his handheld games so he can stop himself from staring too obviously.

Inuoka's presence is both a welcome buffer and an obstacle, and Kenma's not sure how he feels about any of it.  Just because he has a crush on Shouyou -- he can admit it to himself, if not to Kuroo -- doesn't mean he's going to try to do anything about it.  Inuoka is cute, too, and Kenma's perfectly fine around him.

But Inuoka never trampled right over all of Kenma's social interaction shields like Shouyou did.  Shouyou made Kenma pay attention to him, and wants Kenma to keep paying attention to him.

And he's really, really cute.

Kenma drags his eyes back down to his game, so they won't linger on Shouyou's exposed collarbone.

*

Shouyou leaves Tokyo with a promise to come back and spend a weekend with Kenma.  Theoretically it's so that he can try out all of Kenma's video games, but Shouyou had weaseled a promise for more volleyball practice out of him too.

"I asked around," Kuroo tells him the next day, when they're riding the train to school.  "Chibi-chan doesn't have a girlfriend."

"I know."

"You--"  Kuroo stares at him.  Kenma meets his eyes briefly, then looks away again.  "Okay.  Nobody I asked knew if he was into guys."

Kenma frowns.  "Kuro, what do you think you're doing?"

"Being your wingman!"

"And you didn't stop to think about what everyone is going to think when you're going around asking if Shouyou is gay and single?"  Kenma shakes his head.  "You're such an idiot.  Who did you even ask, anyway?"

"Mmm…Sawamura, who said he had no idea.  The tall guy with the glasses, who said Chibi-chan is definitely single and looked like he was gonna hurl at the thought of him in any kind of romance.  Nishinoya was the most helpful, honestly.  He just said he wouldn't count out the possibility.  I think you've got a chance.  You should invite him over for the weekend sometime!  It's not that long a trip on the shinkansen."

Kenma can't help the way his lips twitch into a smile.  "I already did.  He's coming in two weeks, if his parents say it's okay."

Kuroo barks a laugh.  "Damn, I guess you don't need my help after all."

"Actually, I do," Kenma sighs.  "I need you and a couple of the guys to practice with us when he comes."

The way Kuroo's eyes widen so far it looks like they're going to fall out of his head is frankly ridiculous, but Kenma's too embarrassed about it to laugh at him.

"You want to do extra practice?!"

"Shut up.  Shouyou wants to do extra practice."

"Wow," Kuroo says, laughing.  "You must really like him to agree to that."

*

Shouyou arrives Saturday early in the afternoon, all bright eyes and wide grins and enthusiasm.  Kenma meets him at the station and takes him straight to the gym, because if he has to do extra practice he's at least going to get it over with first. 

"I'm so excited to practice with you guys!" Shouyou exclaims as they arrive, cutting off his own story about how he thought he was going to get on the wrong train and how there was a really cute baby in the seat across from him.

Kuroo is already there, of course, being the one with the keys, and he's brought Yaku and Kai and Tora along so they can play three-on-three.  Thank god Lev isn't there -- Kenma might die if he had to deal with Lev for this.  "Chibi-chan!" Kuroo calls out, giving Shouyou a fist bump.

"Kuroo-san!  Hi!!  I'm so pumped to be here!!"

Kenma has no idea where Shouyou gets his energy, but he can't deny that he likes it. 

"When we heard Kenma wanted extra practice we knew something had to be up," Yaku says with a sly grin.  "How'd you talk him into it?"

"What?"  Shouyou's face is so guileless all the time.  "I didn't have to talk him into it.  He said it was fine."

"A short practice," Kenma says, setting his bag down and digging out his volleyball shoes and knee pads.  "There's a locker room in there if you need to change, Shouyou."  Kenma himself came dressed for practice, which saved him the trouble of thinking too hard about what to wear today.

"Ah, thanks!"

The second Shouyou disappears into the locker room, Kenma finds himself surrounded.  "Shut up," he tells them, even though none of them have said anything.  Even Kai has a smug little smile on his face.

"Well," Yaku says, grinning, "I don't mind getting some practice digging his spikes if you think you can quick set for him like Kageyama."

"I can't."

Kenma's only stating a fact, but Kuroo laughs at him.  "Better do your best," he says.  "He didn't come all this way for you to disappoint him."

Despite their ribbing, his teammates behave themselves and don't tease him during their practice.  Setting for Shouyou is easier than he thought it would be, once he figures out the right height.  Still, Shouyou tends to make some wild moves because he's used to Kageyama's pinpoint sets, and Kenma flubs more than one toss as a result.

He probably lets them practice longer than he ought, because when he finally complains of being tired and asks them to wrap it up, Kuroo turns to Yaku and says, "You owe me 500 yen.  I told you he'd last an extra half hour for Chibi-chan's sake."

Luckily, if Shouyou hears it, he doesn't say anything, too busy toweling sweat off of his face and neck.  Kenma tries not to look at how his shirt clings to his body and mostly fails.

"Have fun," Tora tells him when they're parting ways to go home.  He punches Kenma in the arm; Kenma frowns at him.  "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"That's not saying much," Yaku laughs.

"What Tora means," Kai says, "is that he hopes you enjoy your weekend, but you'd better be ready for practice Monday."  There's a twinkle in his eye that Kenma knows means he knows what's going on here too, but at least he's not as ridiculous as Tora.

"Are you coming home with us?" Kenma asks Kuroo.

There's usually no getting out of going home together since Kuroo lives next door, but Kuroo knows Kenma too well.  "Nah, I'm gonna hang out with the guys for a bit.  You're not gonna get lost on the train without me, are you?"

"Shut up.  Of course not.  That happened one time, when I was nine."

Kuroo laughs his ridiculous laugh, and Shouyou laughs along with him.  Kenma kind of hates them both for it, but it still makes him feel warm inside.

*

"So, why do you like this game?" Shouyou asks, watching Kenma play Tales of Vesperia.  They're sitting on his bed together, knees knocking against each other, and it's making it a little hard for Kenma to focus on the game.  He wanted to show this one to Shouyou though, because they'd texted about it quite a bit.  "I mean, you said you like the gameplay, but there's gotta be more, right?"

Kenma can feel his face heating up a little.  "I dunno.  I like the interactions between Yuri and Flynn."

Shouyou hums.  Kenma plays a little more, then admits, "They're both pretty hot, too."

"Hot?  You mean like-- Wait, Kenma!  Are you gay?  Is that why you said you don't care about girls that one time?"

Kenma looks sideways at Shouyou.  He doesn't look upset, only curious.  Kenma takes a breath and says, "Yeah."

"So do you have a boyfriend?  I asked if you had a girlfriend before but I guess that was the wrong question!"

Somehow, of all the things Kenma thought Shouyou might do or say in response to him coming out, that wasn't one of them.  Shouyou's face is just as serene and interested as always.

"Um.  No."

"Have you ever kissed anybody?"

"What is this, an interrogation?" Kenma mumbles.  Then, more clearly, he says, "No.  Well, maybe.  Not on the lips."

Shouyou tilts his head.  "What's 'maybe' mean for kissing?"

Kenma looks back at his game, feeling his ears get hot.  "One time the guys made me play truth or dare and they dared me to kiss someone, so I kissed Kuroo on the cheek."

Shouyou laughs.  "Oh, yeah, I get it.  That doesn't really count, right?  I kissed a girl on the cheek for a dare in middle school but I don't think of it as my first kiss or anything.  I've never kissed anyone on the lips either."

For a while it's quiet while Kenma plays the game.  Then, just when he's starting to relax, Shouyou asks, "So do you want to try it?"

"Do I want to try what?"

"Kissing."

Kenma frowns.  "You mean in general?  Sure, some day I have to have my first kiss."

Shouyou knocks his knee into Kenma's.  "I meant right now.  We could try it!"

Kenma nearly drops his controller, then recovers enough to mash the pause button and stare at Shouyou.  "Are you even into guys?  Do you-- do you want to kiss…me?"

Shouyou looks at him with his head cocked at an angle like he doesn't understand why Kenma is even asking.  "I dunno," he says.  "I never thought about it before.  Might as well try it and find out, right?  Then neither of us will have to worry about our first kisses anymore."

After a few blinks, Shouyou rubs the back of his head.  "Oh, I guess maybe you want your first kiss to be with someone special.  You probably don't want to kiss me."

"I do," Kenma says quickly, because goddamn does he want to kiss Shouyou.  He looks away again.  "You're someone special," he mutters.

Shouyou slaps him on the back.  "Aw, Kenma!  Let's do it then!  I wanna know now!"

"O-- Okay."  His heart is beating faster, and his hands are getting a little sweaty.  Is this really happening?  Shouyou scoots around on the bed so he's facing Kenma, leaning in close enough that Kenma can feel his breath gusting across his face.

"Okay," Shouyou says.  "Here goes!"

And then Shouyou's lips are pressing against Kenma's, dry and a little chapped.  Their noses mash together and Kenma's lip gets squashed into his teeth, and before he can even think about what's happening Shouyou has pulled back again.  There's a little frown on his face.  "I don't think I'm doing it right," he says.

Kenma's hand is shaking a little, but he reaches up and cups Shouyou's cheek, then leans in again, tilting his head a little bit this time so their noses won't collide and closing his eyes so he won't get a close-up of Shouyo's pores.

This is better, he thinks, as a shiver runs down his spine.  Shouyou exhales through his nose, warm across Kenma's cheek, and Kenma holds him there while he tries moving his lips a little, pressing and then pulling back.

Yeah.  This is a lot better.

This time Kenma's the one to pull away, flushed and shivery.  Shouyou's cheeks are a little pink, his eyes wide when they blink open.  "Oh," Shouyou says.  "I think I'm starting to get it.  Can I try a few more times?"

Of course Shouyou is going to treat this just like volleyball.  One more toss, one more spike, one more try until it's perfect.  God, Kenma likes him so much.

They kiss, and kiss again, and again, lips closed, then slightly parted, then open-mouthed, when Shouyou says he wants to try kissing with tongue too.  Kenma's whole body gets hot and he clings to Shouyou, fingers digging into his shoulders.  There's sweat breaking out on his back and an embarrassing situation in his pants when Shouyou sits back and puts some space between them.

"So," Kenma tries to say.  He has to stop and clear his throat first, because it comes out as a squeak.  "So, what did you think?"

Shouyo's face is pink; it contrasts cutely with his hair.  "That was awesome," he says.  "Kissing is awesome, Kenma, how did I not know how awesome it would be?!"

"I meant about being into guys," Kenma clarifies.  "Though, I guess kissing is probably the same, whether it's with a boy or a girl…"

"I dunno!"  Shouyou tilts his head and makes a face, considering.  "Well, I do like girls.  There are some really pretty girls and I'd really like to kiss them!  But I liked kissing you, too.  I would totally do that again."  His eyebrows draw together.  "Would I want to kiss another guy?  All the girls at school say Kageyama is handsome but he's so argh and graaahh that I don't know if I'd want to kiss him."  He sets his chin in his hand, tapping his cheek with one finger.  "I would probably kiss Asahi-san, though.  He's always nice to me.  Suga-san too."

Kenma bites his lip, thinking about what to say.  Shouyou is so-- so Shouyou that he's not sure whether he's taking everything as a hypothetical or whether he realizes that Kenma would really, really like to date him.  But despite how unusual he is, in some ways Shouyou is a pretty simple guy, so maybe direct is the best approach.  "If you decide you like guys," he says slowly, "and you think you might like me…I would really like to be your boyfriend, Shouyou."

Shouyou's eyes go wide.  "Seriously?!"

Kenma nods.  "If you don't want to, we can just be friends.  That's fine too.  I like being your friend."  He'd be disappointed, but he'd survive.  It would be worth it just to still have Shouyou around.

"If we're just friends, can I still kiss you?"

"Um."

"Because I really liked that and I want to do it again.  But I don't know…"  Shouyou frowns.  "I don't know if I want to have a boyfriend.  I didn't even think about it until fifteen minutes ago.  I don't even know if I want a girlfriend!  Volleyball takes up all my time, so I'd probably be a bad boyfriend.  Though I guess if I had a boyfriend who plays volleyball too then it would be okay?  But then we still wouldn't be going on dates or anything because we'd just be playing volleyball.  But you live far away so we wouldn't do that anyway.  This is confusing!"

Do you like me? Kenma wants to ask, but he has a feeling that won't get him any kind of answer that makes sense.  Shouyou is always full of surprises, after all.  He presses play and turns back to the video game, as he always does when things are making him uncomfortable.  "It's okay, Shouyou," he says.  "You can think about it and let me know later."

"Really?  You're the best, Kenma!"  Shouyou's grin is wide and sunny, bright enough to make Kenma's heart ache.

*

"So," Kuroo says, barging into Kenma's room nearly the minute he gets home from dropping Shouyou off at the station.  He must have been watching for him from the window.  "How'd it go?"

Kenma shrugs.  "Okay, I guess."

"Just okay?  That's it?"

Shouyou had kissed him again in the morning, when they were packing up his things.  Kissing really is fun, he'd said, nose bumping against Kenma's cheek.  I guess I see why people want to have boyfriends and girlfriends so badly.  He can feel his face getting red just thinking about it.  "Maybe a little better than okay."

Kuroo wiggles his eyebrows.  "Oh yeah?  Did you tell him you like him?"  Kenma's not sure what's showing on his face, but Kuroo gets that predatory gleam in his eye that says he's about to be trouble.  "Did you kiss him?"

Kenma hides his face behind his hair and mumbles, "Well…yeah, I mean.  Yeah."

"Kenma!!"  Kuroo flings his arms around Kenma and knocks him to his bed, while Kenma flails and tries to shove him off of him.  "My little Kenma is growing up!!"

"I'm only a year younger than you, jerk!  Get off me!"

Kuroo relents and lets Kenma up, scooting to lay on the bed next to him.  "So you've got a boyfriend now?"

Sighing, Kenma says, "No.  Not really.  He just wanted to try kissing to see what it was like."

"What?!"  Kuroo sits up and frowns down at Kenma.  "Wait, I'm confused.  Did you tell him you want to date him?"

Kenma recaps their conversation, hiding his face in a pillow so he doesn't have to look at Kuroo.  "And besides," he finishes, "he does live pretty far away."

"That's true, I guess.  So what are you gonna do?"

Well, Kenma is a gamer.  He knows that even if the likelihood of getting a top-tier loot drop is low, if you're patient and keep trying, eventually you're going to get what you want.  "Summer camp is coming up soon.  I'll try again."

*

Nekoma arrives at Shinzen before Karasuno does, given the much shorter travel required, which means that when Shouyou gets there Kenma will be able to show him around.  They've been texting as usual the last couple of weeks, though Kenma has been a bit bolder about replying to Shouyou's selfies and telling him when he looks good.  It usually just gets a blushing emoji or a lol in response, which he can't get a read off of at all.

Unfortunately for Kenma, practically the moment Shouyou gets off the bus, Lev is shoving his way in between them.  Then they're going straight to practice games, and Kenma doesn't get a chance to be alone with Shouyou until after dinner.

He's almost given up on it when Shouyou finds him at the vending machine after Karasuno's turn in the baths.  Shouyou's wearing his pajamas, wet hair dripping into a towel draped over his shoulders.  "Kenma!  There you are!" Shouyou says, as if Kenma's been trying to hide from him or something.

"Ah, yeah, I was just getting a drink."  He reaches into the machine to get his chocolate milk while Shouyou looks through the drink options.

They make small talk about the day's training while Kenma drinks his milk, sitting on the bench across from the vending machine.  In the distance, there are the clatters and shouts of several schools' worth of teenagers entertaining themselves before bedtime.

It's nice, just being with Shouyou.  Kenma's not usually one to talk a lot, but somehow Shouyou gets past all of his walls and makes him want to tell him everything he's thinking.

He's just finishing a long-winded complaint about Lev when Shouyou leans back on his hands and says, "So, about the kissing thing."

Kenma raises his eyebrows, heart suddenly beating faster.  "Yeah?"

"After I went home I couldn't stop thinking about it!  Then I was thinking about what you said about whether I wanted to kiss guys or girls or whatever, so I figured, I should try it with some other people and see if it's the same with them as it was with you."

"...other people?"  Kenma kicks himself for the tiny stab of jealousy that runs through him.  Shouyou isn't his boyfriend.  He doesn't have any right to think he shouldn't be kissing other people.

"Yeah!  I thought first I should try it with a girl and see if it was any different, you know?  So I asked Yachi to kiss me."  Shouyou laughs.  "You should've seen her face, it turned bright red and for a second I thought she was gonna pass out.  But then I told her I wasn't confessing to her or anything, it was just for an experiment!  So she agreed, because she was curious too."

Kenma turns the chocolate milk container around in his hands.  "How was it?" he makes himself ask.

"It was good!  I mean, it felt nice, you know?  But it wasn't like, bwaaah!"  Shouyou makes a gesture like an explosion.  "So I figured, I do like girls, but I guess I must like guys too because I liked kissing you more than kissing her."

Kenma lets out a breath.

Shouyou continues, "But then I still needed to know about if I would want to date or not!  So I thought I should kiss another guy to check.  I had to ask Yamaguchi, because obviously I couldn't ask Kageyama or Tsukishima."

"Obviously," Kenma echoes, though he's not sure at all why Shouyou thinks it's so obvious.

"Yamaguchi also turned red when I asked him!  It turns out he likes guys and girls too but I guess it was a secret and he was afraid that people were talking about him behind his back.  Once I explained, he said sure, because he said if he ever confesses to his crush he wants to be good at kissing so it won't be embarrassing."

Shouyou leans in and drops his voice.  "To be honest, I'm pretty sure he's in love with Tsukishima.  Tsukishima is scary if he thinks you're uncool so I totally understand why Yamaguchi wants to be good at kissing!"

Clearing his throat, Kenma asks, "And how was it?"

"It was good too!  I kissed him a little more than Yachi, because he wanted the practice.  I still liked kissing you better, though.  I didn't think about kissing Yamaguchi anymore after it happened, but I kept thinking about kissing you."

"Oh," Kenma says, a pleased smile turning his lips.  He still doesn't really care for the thought of Shouyou kissing other people, but he also kind of feels like he just won a competition he didn't even know he was in.

"Can I kiss you again, so I can check and make sure?" Shouyou asks, his eyes bright.

Kenma doesn't ask make sure of what? but he does nod his head, taking a quick glance each way down the hall to be sure they're alone before leaning in.

Shouyo's lips are warm and dry, and when he opens his mouth to Kenma, he tastes like toothpaste.  They kiss long enough that Kenma's brain turns off entirely, only kicking back on when he hears the clatter of the empty milk container falling out of his hand onto the floor.

"Yeah," Shouyou says, pulling back just far enough to look Kenma in the eye.  His cheeks are flushed and his eyes are smiling and Kenma can hardly breathe.  "Definitely better."  Then Shouyou leans in again, and Kenma forgets about the milk entirely.

The next time, it's Kenma who pulls back, gasping for breath.  "Shouyou," he murmurs, brushing his thumb across Shouyou's cheek.

"I like you so much more than them," Shouyou blurts out.  Then, making a face, he says, "I mean, I like them obviously, they're my teammates!  And I'm gonna crush you on the court!  But I like hanging out with you more than them.  And I definitely like kissing you more than them."

Kenma takes a breath.  "Then do you want to be my boyfriend?"

"If I'm your boyfriend we get to kiss more, right?"

He nods.  "Yeah, but if we're dating I would rather that you don't kiss anybody else."

A sunny grin breaks over Shouyou's face.  "That's fine!  But what about being far away though?"

Kenma shrugs.  "Well, you text me all the time anyway.  And the shinkansen doesn't take that long…even though I guess it's kind of expensive."

"Let's do it!" Shouyou says, leaping up from the bench.  "If it doesn't work we'll just practice until it does, right?"

"Really?  You really want to?"

Shouyou's grin is contagious.  "Yeah, Kenma.  I wanna be your boyfriend."

After that, what else can Kenma do but kiss him again?

*

"I thought you went to get a drink," Kuroo says when Kenma slides into the room they're sleeping in.  "You've been gone a long time and I don't see any drink."

Kenma's pretty sure his hair is a mess and his face is red, but there's not much he can do about that.  "I was talking to Shouyou," he says.

Kuroo's eyebrows go up.  "Just talking, hmm?"

"Shut up."

"Oho, what's this?"  Tora gets right up in Kenma's face, ruffling his hair.  "Kenma snuck off to make out with his boyfriend?  That's pretty bold!"

If it was any other day, Kenma could say we weren't making out or he's not my boyfriend but as it is…yeah, he actually was making out with his boyfriend.  And it was great.

"He's not denying it!" Yaku crows, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye.  "They grow up so fast!"

"I hate you all," Kenma grumbles, but the smile doesn't leave his face.

*

When Karasuno gets on the bus to leave at the end of the week, Kenma finds that he's not sad at all.  Instead, he feels like he's just started a new installment in a favorite game series, and he knows the boss battle is going to be amazing.

His phone buzzes, and he pulls it out to look.

[Shouyou] can't wait to play you again!!

[Shouyou] and maybe for more kissing too 😳😳😳

The corners of his lips tug upward.  "I'm looking forward to it, Shouyou."