Chapter Text
It was exam week, the final stretch before winter break. The tension in the hallways of the university was palpable. Kenma had already seen two people crying over their textbooks and he hadn't even made it past the foyer. He had written the last of his exams the day before and was on his way to try to help his best friend study.
Avoiding his peers as much as possible, he made his way to his usual spot in the library. It was a secluded corner next to a big wall of windows. Hard to spot from inside the library, but bright and warm and safe, with two big arm chairs and a little table. It was ideal for studying and for hiding, which made it perfect for him.
His corner was empty when he arrived so he settled himself into his chair with a small sigh of relief. He enjoyed the stillness for a moment before glancing around the room and checking the time. Satisfied, he pulled out his 3DS and set out to collect at least ten new Pokémon before Kuroo showed up.
Kenma had just captured his sixth Pokémon when he heard his friend's telltale whistling. He was surprised when, instead of a tall man with wild dark hair, a short red head bounced around corner. Actually bounced. The guy had a messy mop of hair on his head, it looked like he had never even heard of a comb or a brush nonetheless used one. He gave Kenma a weird sort of look, halfway between wary and excited, before he turned back the way he had come. That’s when Kenma realised that the whistling hadn’t stopped. He cursed his friend under his breath and glared at the wall through his hair. Kuroo rounded the corner with a grin on his face, he at least had the decency to look apologetic when their eyes met. He ruffled the short guy’s hair before guiding him to sit in the armchair across from Kenma.
“This is Hinata. He’s on the volleyball team with me.” Kuroo said patting the red head on the back. “He’s taking the same History course you took last year. He looked like he was going to have a meltdown in practice this morning. When I asked him what was wrong he started on about failing all of his courses, and then getting kicked out of school, and disowned, and forced to live homeless on the streets collecting change from fountains.”
Kenma grimaced, this kid seemed like he would be overwhelming to talk to for longer than a minute. Kenma hated dealing with energetic people, especially dramatic ones. He’d had enough of that from Kuroo and his other friend Bokuto.
“Anyway, I figured since you aced that course you could give the poor kid a hand with his revision. At least see if he’s actually hopeless or not.” Kuroo said with a shrug at Kenma’s look of disdain. “It’s not like you have anything else to do.”
Hinata looked between Kuroo and Kenma nervously, trying to gauge the situation. Kenma gave his friend one last pointed glare before he turned to assess the newcomer. Kuroo seemed to take this as a win because he laughed and patted Hinata on the back one last time. He then sent Kenma a farewell salute before sauntering off the way he had come.
“I can leave if you want, if you’re busy. Or I can just-” Hinata started to say, stumbling over his words, “It’s not- I can- I’ll-”
Kenma sighed and straightened himself in his armchair. Kuroo wouldn’t have brought this kid if he thought that the kid, Hinata, would be only an annoyance. Determined to get through the ordeal as fast as possible, Kenma pulled his laptop from his bag and began to search for his notes. Hinata seemed to get the picture and began digging through his bag, tossing textbooks and notebooks and pencils onto the table between them.
“How bad are you at History?” Kenma asked, getting right to the point.
“Um. I’m fine with assignments and participation, I’m just terrible at taking tests. I get really nervous and clam up and then I can’t remember anything.”
“Do you study for tests at all? Your stuff doesn’t look very organized.”
Hinata blushed bright red and looked down at his papers. There were pages torn out of his notebook. Random scribbles on everything and, sometimes, single words written in the margins beside complex silly doodles.
“I try, but it never sticks. I mean, I look through my notes and read the textbook, but I don’t know what I’m doing.” Hinata flipped through his books as he talked, like he couldn’t bear to hold eye contact with Kenma.
“Well let’s start by organizing your notes. If you can find the information you’re looking for you can study much easier.”
“Okay, Kenma.” Hinata smiled wide before faltering. “Kuroo said that you prefer it when people call you Kenma. I can call you Kenma, right? You can call me Shouyou, if you want. It’s very nice of you to help me. I really appreciate it!”
“Yeah, Kenma is fine. It’s no big deal, like Kuroo said, I wasn’t really doing anything anyway.” Kenma turned his attention back to his notes. He had been trying to find his study guide from the exam the previous year as an example for Shouyou to work from. He found the document in question, turned the computer towards the bubbly kid in front of him, and set out trying to explain how to organize notes.
~
When Kuroo popped back in a couple of hours later he was surprised to find the two still sitting in Kenma’s corner. Even more surprised to find actual progress had been made. Shouyou was sitting with a nearly completed study guide of his own in front of him. He had a stack of index cards, in Kenma’s tidy scrunched writing, in his hand and Kenma’s laptop facing him. Kenma was curled up, with his jacket as a blanket, in his armchair playing his 3DS. Every now and then Shouyou would ask a question and Kenma would answer without looking up from his game. Kuroo smiled to himself, he had been right that Kenma would help his little volleyball protege. He was happy to see that Kenma seemed so relaxed. It usually took him ages to warm up to new people, but the two seemed content in each other’s company. Proud of himself and of his friends Kuroo decided to surprise them with dinner. He whistled to himself as he left the library, phone in hand.
Kenma looked up from his game, searching for the source of the whistling. He saw no evidence of his friend but noticed the finished study guide on the table. He closed his 3DS and picked up the study guide. Shouyou had done a good job organizing his notes and Kenma smiled to himself. He didn’t like to teach other people very often, but this kid was eager and determined and easy to get along with. Kenma handed the papers back to Shouyou who smiled. He smiled with his whole face, eyes crinkling at the corners. The kind of smile that made Kenma's stomach flutter.
“Thank you so much for helping me!” Shouyou said, pulling Kenma's attention away from his stomach.
“It’s fine. I’m glad that it was useful.”
“Definitely! I’ve never felt so confident about a test before.”
Kenma hummed, reaching to pick up the stack of index cards, looking for any kind of distraction, when Kuroo popped around the corner. He had two large pizza boxes in one hand and sly grin on his face.
“Surprise!” Kuroo said as Shouyou’s eyes widened at the sight of the pizzas. “I brought you a little something as a treat for all your hard work. I’ve got Kenma’s favourite, good old pepperoni, and a barbecue chicken one, that Bokuto recommended.”
Kuroo set the boxes down on the table once the two had cleared off anything important. He was opening up the boxes when he heard a weird pained sort of noise. When he looked up he saw Shouyou with his forehead pressed up against the window. He was staring out at the snow that had accumulated while they were studying.
“What’s wrong Shouyou?” Kenma asked, looking startled and a little worried.
“I have to ride my bike home! I didn’t think it would snow today! I can’t ride in this. There aren't any buses to my house. I can’t even call for a ride because my parents are out of town this week,” Shouyou whined.
“You could stay with Kenma, he lives near campus.” Kuroo said, picking up a piece of barbecue pizza. Kenma shot him a glare before looking back at Shouyou, whose face had lit up at the suggestion.
“Really? You do? Would it be too much trouble? I’m really small, I promise I don’t take up any space. You won’t even notice I’m there. Please Kenma.”
There was no way for Kenma to deny Shouyou when he was sending Kenma the biggest puppy eyes he had ever seen. Kenma knew how to deal with crafty people like Kuroo, he even knew how to deal with obnoxious people like Bokuto. Kenma had no idea how to deal with cute, innocent, warm-hearted people like Shouyou. So he picked up a piece of pepperoni pizza and nodded. He was going to make Kuroo pay for this, somehow, he just wasn’t sure how yet.
Kuroo smiled at the two in front of him. Shouyou had a huge dopey smile on his face and Kenma was eating his pizza, curled up in his armchair in his favourite corner of the library, pink all the way to his ears. Kuroo knew he was going to pay for this, but he thought that, maybe, it was worth nudging them along.