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It starts, like most things in Kenma's life, with Kuroo dragging him along.
Getting Kenma to go out on the town is akin to pulling teeth. Knowing this, his conniving friend lured him out with the promise of a visit to a GiGO arcade and famichiki as part of the deal.
And it's at the GiGO that he's brought into your orbit for the first time. You offer a piece of advice after he tries (and fails) to beat one of his high scores in Chunithm once again, and he bristles a bit at the unprompted feedback. That is, until he watches you play. You make it look easy, fingers flying across the sensor, ALL JUSTICE lighting up the screen.
He decides to take your advice after that.
Because Kenma is remarkably stubborn when it comes to certain endeavors, he ends up staying until he's successful, some two hours later. The two of you had gotten to chatting whilst in line, and the entire time, he could feel Kuroo's gaze boring into the back of his head from across the room, where his friend is throwing away money on crane games and gachapon.
Kuroo comes to collect him eventually, and he's turning to you to say goodbye, accepting the relentless teasing he's in for later. Teenage boys aren't known for their maturity.
Except what you say next is going to make the relentless teasing far worse.
"Do you have a Discord?" You say, holding out your phone.
Kenma has his back to Kuroo, but he can practically feel the shit eating grin plastered across his friend's face as he nods, and types in his username, sending the request. He sees a pop up on his screen as he does so. whalesharkenthusiast has sent you a friend request!
You smile, wave goodbye, and return to the game. Kenma is grateful that the lighting of the arcade is hiding the crimson that's settled high on his cheekbones.
Kuroo has the decency to wait until they're outside before the teasing begins. He spins on his heel as soon as they're through the door, a devilish glint in his eyes. "So, you got a Discord Kitten now or something?"
"Can you shut up?" Kenma mutters in response.
You two keep talking after that. Your shared taste in games extend beyond Chunithm, as it happens, and so he finds himself regularly hopping on Discord voice calls, partying up for whatever the two of you feel like playing that night.
It continues throughout the remainder of high school, through college, even after he starts streaming. Just about any night he's free, he's playing games with you. And on days when he's not, he finds that he's probably messaging you anyways, a picture of a cat he saw on the street, a stupid meme that he saw on Twitter, or the latest character trailer for that stupid gacha game neither of you can bring yourselves to fully quit. And beyond that, you guys talk. About the future, about your goals, about the things that are bothering, you, whatever. It goes beyond simply being his duo, soon, you're just someone he calls a friend. And you're always there in his stream chat, bringing him an odd sense of comfort whenever he sees your username pop up.
Kuroo still won't let the whole Discord Kitten thing go, particularly because you're really cute. (Kuroo's words, not his.)
Which brings things to the present day, where his so-called friend is now publicly harassing him.
"You genuinely cannot tell me you're not into her, like, at all?" Kuroo sputters, phone in hand, Instagram open to your profile.
Kenma presses his fingers to his temples, as if he can massage away the oncoming headache. "Why are you even following her?"
"Because I requested to follow her, and she accepted it?" His friend replies as if it's obvious.
"Yeah, I know how following people works, man. I'm asking, why the hell did you do that in the first place?"
"Because we know each other!" Kuroo protests. "Besides, I got to actually talk to her at your last birthday party, so it's not like I'm some complete stranger."
Kenma is beginning to regret agreeing to meet Kuroo on his lunch break. "Okay, sure, whatever." He sighs, fidgeting with the straw of his iced coffee.
"Anyways, you're dodging the question."
Kenma has been fielding this since the day he met you, and while Kuroo's interrogations have lessened in frequency, the tradeoff is that now when they do happen, they're way more prolonged.
"Like come on, you're seriously telling me you don't think she's cute at all?" He's scrolling through your pictures now, and Kenma's fingers twitch in irritation and mild anxiety watching his friend riskily tap the screen to scroll, an accidental like of some old picture just waiting to happen. He feels heat creeping up his neck when Kuroo swipes past a photo of you at the beach, clad in a swimsuit and smiling at the camera.
"She's just a friend!" Kenma snaps, more forcefully than he intended.
Kuroo stares at him in disbelief, an eyebrow raised. "So, is it cool if I ask her out?"
"Absolutely not." His reply comes out of his mouth faster than his brain can process what he's actually saying, and he knows he's walked right into the trap Kuroo had laid for him.
The dark haired man across the table simply looks at him with a knowing, almost pitying look in his eyes.
"Can we please talk about another topic?" Kenma mutters, stabbing the pastry on his plate with a fork like it's the one that wronged him.
Kuroo lets out a sigh, but seemingly acquiesces, locking his phone and putting it face down on the table. "Wanna hear about my latest marketing campaign? Chibi-chan is really turning out to be a fan favorite, y'know?"
He lets out a barely audible sigh of relief at being off the hook for now. "Unsurprising, but let's hear it."
The thought of Kuroo asking you out worms its way into Kenma's mind and takes hold, unfortunately.
It's stupid that it's bothering him this much, because he's your friend and that's all. And if you and Kuroo did date, shouldn't that be a good thing? Two people he genuinely likes, who would probably be good together?
The thought makes him sick, nevertheless.
And he's still thinking about it days later, when he's streaming some MOBA that he's normally half decent at it. Today? He's basically throwing every single game with how dogshit his plays are. He dies again, and he can't even deny he's on an atrocious losing streak. He's even seeing the chat start to point it out, which is unlikely to make him play. any better.
[kozufan3412]: whys kodzuken tilted today
[nekoraage1]: bro is out of it lowkey…
[ashiraishi]: is this gonna be loss #5…….
[tsukaaaa]: i think 6 (╥﹏╥)
Ten minutes later, and after a number of choice words from his teammates, including but not limited to "holy fuck you suck" and "can you uninstall", they lose. He sighs, running a hand through his hair in exasperation and sliding his headphones down around his neck. "I'm gonna call it a night, guys. This clearly isn't going well for me, or my teammates, so I'll spare us all the misery of another round."
[sobanoodle000]: awww gn kodzuken
[ashiraishi]: YOU'LL GET EM NEXT TIME!!!
[vbfan3194]: thanks for stream goodnight!!
[kozufan3412]: tyyyy gn
[whalesharkenthusiast]: you'll get 'em next time (; ω ; )ヾ(´∀`* )
Kenma feels his chest tighten at the sight of your username. "G'night, see you guys tomorrow." He waves, then ends stream a bit unceremoniously, slumping back into his chair as soon as he's off camera.
He's ready to just brush his teeth and roll into bed, but hears a ping from his computer. He has a feeling he knows who it is, and his pulse quickens as he moves to open his Discord tab.
[whalesharkenthusiast]: you good?
Kenma stares at your message blankly, knowing that what's actually on his mind is something he absolutely doesn't want to bring up. So he settles for something noncommittal.
[kodzuken]: Just feeling a bit off tonight, idk
[whalesharkenthusiast]: ( ; ω ; ) im sorry
[kodzuken]: all good
[whalesharkenthusiast]: do u wanna talk about it? or not talk about it and play some stardew or smth as a palate cleanser?
[kodzuken]: mmmmmm
[kodzuken]: stardew
[whalesharkenthusiast]: let's do it :3
A few months later, the two of you head to an aquarium for your birthday, followed by dinner with a handful of your other friends at some restaurant you've been dying to get reservations for. It's nice. On the subway home, he hears his phone chirp with a notification, opening it to see you had posted a photo of the two of you at the Aqua Museum in Yokohama, fish and turtles and other aquatic creatures swimming around the tunnel you're standing in.
It's a selfie, and you had insisted on him taking it since he has longer arms. Seeing it on your feed, captioned with a few fish emojis makes the corners of his lips quirk upwards in satisfaction. He taps to like it, then swipes out of the app, spending the rest of the ride zoning out.
It's late when he gets home, but not so late that he wants to go to bed yet, so he decides to do a special last minute stream to make up for missing the earlier one while he was out and about. He slides into his chair and slips on his headphones, testing his microphone and checking stream settings before going live. He wonders absentmindedly if you'll happen to make it to stream, or if you've already fell asleep after a long day.
But he should have known, because sure enough, when he clicks 'Go Live' and glances at the chat box, there you are, within seconds.
[whalesharkenthusiast]: special stream today? :o
Your message passes in a blur as a wave of other chatters star to stream in.
"Yeah, not my usual time to go live, but I'm awake, so I thought I'd make it up to you guys for canceling the normal stream." He says, stretching his arms overhead as he replies to your message aloud.
And it's a pretty uneventful stream, playing some newly released indie game about running a gas station in the middle of nowhere, a management sim type of game with a weird creepy twist involving cryptids so that you can't quite tell if they're real or your character is slowly losing it.
He hears his phone buzz incessantly several times, and then several times more, and glances over at the device on the table, seeing a slew of unread messages from Kuroo. He figures if it was really important, he'd call, so he ignores them and continues playing the game.
This was his first mistake.
His second is to not react when he hears the sound of his front door opening. Kenma assumes, based on the earlier text spam, that Kuroo messaged, intending to let himself in with the spare key he had and mooch off whatever food was in his fridge and then force him to watch replays of whatever V-League games has happened this past week.
His third mistake, or perhaps the original sin that condemned him to this fate, is to have ever befriended Kuroo in the first place. This is what runs through Kenma's head as he whips around to face the door to his office when it unceremoniously bursts open.
"Saw you went on a date with your discord kitten, huh?" His so-called friend trills, a cheshire grin on his face.
It takes all of about five seconds for Kuroo to realize the massive error he has just made, looking between Kenma's rapidly reddening face and the screen, the camera that's trained on his friend, and the microphone on his desk that absolutely picked up what he just said.
The two of them gape at each other in abject horror for what feels like an eternity, before Kuroo slowly backs away and shuts the door far more gently than he had opened it. Kenma knows he's bright red as he turns back to his laptop, catching a glance of his appearance in the streaming software that's pulled up on his second monitor. As if that's not enough, chat is now going absolutely wild at his friend's unexpected appearance. He risks a glance at the messages, wondering if there's any chance they didn't hear what Kuroo had said properly.
[kozufan3412]: NO WAY KODZUKEN HAS A GF??????
[turtwig_0_o]: i dont buy that he has game im sorry LOL
[ashiraishi]: not a discord kitten omfgggg ｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡
[vbfan3194]: pics or she isnt real
[yoasobee]: aw look hes so red LOLLL
[msbybokuto]: SPILL THE DEETS BRO WHAT!!!!!!!!!!
[flowey992]: its gotta have some truth to it or he wouldnt be this embarrassed fr
[wxs12323124]: is kodzuken a sugar daddy
[wxs12323124]: and if so is he accepting applications for new discord kittens too
It's not looking good. He doesn't know whether it's good or bad he hasn't seen your name pop up. Maybe you stopped watching and he can delete this VOD. As if they hadn't already clipped this, and things don't live on the internet forever. A man can dream.
He sets his headset on the table, and tries to school his expression into something neutral. "Okay, well, on that note, we're gonna end stream for tonight."
Chat is in an uproar at this, and he chooses to pointedly ignore them as he hits the 'End Live' button quicker than he's ever done so before.
He's going to throttle Kuroo for this. His face is still the color of a tomato, but he storms out of his room ready to chew this dumbass out only to be greeted with the sight of his idiot friend looking more pitiful than he's ever seen before, and it's honestly downright pathetic how sad he looks twiddling his thumbs, shoulders hunched.
It kind of takes the wind out of his sails a bit. Because Kenma is still mad but he knows Kuroo wasn't actively trying to embarrass him. He's only ever given him a hard time about you in private, and the ghostlike color of his face, in sharp contrast to Kenma's, makes it clear he is stressed the fuck out right now.
"I am so sorry, Kenma. I didn't realize you were live, I swear to god I would have never intentionally-"
Kenma exhales sharply, pressing his fingers to his temples and scrunching his eyes shut. "I know."
"I texted you about it and was just leaving work and wanted to come heckle you about the picture she posted of the two of you but today isn't one of your normal streaming days so I just thought you were editing videos or something, holy shit I'm so so sorry." Kuroo is rambling at this point, eyes wide and frantic.
"Look, I know you didn't mean to." Kenma grits out, aggravated, but also knowing that they can't undo what's already been done. "Chat will harass me about it for a few weeks, and then they'll move on. It's fine."
They stare at each other in silence, the elephant in the room going unaddressed. You. Kenma didn't really want to even acknowledge the possibility, unfortunately high, that you were in stream when this occurred. And it's not like he did anything today except hang out with you and then go live so anyone with half a brain would put two and two together in this scenario.
And even if you didn't see it live, you'll likely see the clips that are undoubtedly circulating Twitter at this exact moment.
Kuroo opens his mouth to speak, but he can't get any words out before the telltale sound of a Discord voice call graces the apartment, emanating from his desktop PC. The two of them stiffen at the sudden noise and its obvious implications, and Kuroo clears his throat awkwardly as the ringing continues. "I'll leave so you can take that," He pauses, gaze flitting between Kenma's stony expression and the office. "you can call me later if you want to yell at me any more."
His friend leaves his apartment faster than Kenma thought possible, and the click of the door behind him is punctuated by silence as the ringing stops. He needs to call you back.
When he returns to his computer, there's no messages, just one missed call. He feels like a man walking to his own grave, not sure what to expect from your reaction here. But he's not about to make the situation worse by ignoring you, so despite his chest feeling like there's a fifty kilogram weight pressing down on it, he gingerly clicks the 'Call' button in your direct message thread.
It rings for what feels like an eternity, and then you pick up.
"Hey." He manages to croak out.
"Does Kuroo think we're dating?" You blurt out, wasting no time with a greeting.
Kenma feels like his heart is about to beat out of his chest as he carefully considers his next words. "I, uh, think he likes to give me a hard time more than anything else."
You snort, and a bit of the tension leaves his shoulders as it appears you find this funnier than anything else. "And that includes calling me your discord kitten?"
He cringes internally at the words as they come out of your mouth, realizing how absurd it sounds when you say it out loud.
"Unless you hung out with anyone else, today, that is." You add, tone dripping with amusement.
"Do you remember how we met?"
You're silent for a beat, then reply. "At the GiGO? Playing Chunithm?"
"Yeah, and you asked for my Discord." He mumbles. "Kuro's never let it go since then, he just likes teasing me."
The sound of your laughter bleeds through his speakers, quiet at first, then louder. Kenma isn't sure whether this is a good or a bad thing, but at least you're not mad?
"I can't believe this." You finally say, and he chews at his lip nervously. Silence falls between the two of you, and he's not really sure where to take things from here.
When you speak again, he's not ready for what comes out of your mouth. "What if we did go on a date?"
Kenma chokes on his own saliva. He wonders if his hearing is going bad, if his auditory processing synapses are fried, because did you really just segue this into actually asking him out?
He must have taken too long to reply, because suddenly you're continuing, sounding far less confident than before, "I mean, not that we have to, or anything, I just, thought that…"
"No, let's." He spits out, voice cracking, and not even caring.
"It's fine if you-"
Kenma sounds a little breathless, desperation bleeding through into his tone. "I'm serious. Let's."
"You're sure?" You ask, uncertainty evident in your question, like you're wondering if you had just blown up your friendship.
"I'm sure." He's already pulling up his calendar. "We can go to the Osaka aquarium this time, they have whale sharks."
There's another moment of hesitation before you respond. "I'd like that."
He lets out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding. "Are you free next Saturday?"
Kenma wraps an arm around your shoulder, pulling you close in front of the giant tank that the whale sharks, rays, and an assortment of other fish swim. "Smile." He says, grinning for the camera. You glance over, flashing a smile when you realize he's taking a photo, and you hear the shutter go off.
"Can I caption that one 'discord kitten'?" you tease, poking at his cheek.
"God, please no." He groans.
[Kenma]: [Image Attached]
[Kuro]: omfg
[Kuro]: i made this happen
[Kuro:] you're welcome man
[Kenma]: I forgive you for humiliating me on live in front of thousands of viewers
[Kuro]: PHEW
[Kuro]: this really worked out in my favor huh
[Kuro] yours too
[Kenma]: Guess we're both lucky then
[Kuro]: tell your discord kitten i say hi
[Kenma]: bruh