Archive of Our Own ^beta

Kuroo loves his friends. They’re awesome, kind, supportive people. Sure they get on his nerves sometimes, but really, Kuroo loves them. He’s so happy they’ve found wonderful people to love too - who are also his friends! He’s perhaps a little less happy about how they keep setting him up on terrible dates that go nowhere. Or a lot less happy. Seriously, what the hell was Daichi thinking? This girl is so fucking boring. And that guy Bokuto set him up with last week? What do they think his type is, awful?

Kuroo sighs internally. He keeps a smile plastered on his face though, nodding politely as what’s-her-name drones on about who-knows-what. Who would have thought there was so much to say about accounting.

Under the table, he types out a message to Kenma, begging him to call and save him from this god awful date. He’s sure it’s riddled with typos, but Kenma will get it, so who cares.

He’s barely hit send when his phone starts ringing.

He lifts it up and looks at the screen as though he doesn’t know who it is.

 “Oh!” he looks up at his date (seriously, what was her name again?). “I’m so sorry, is it okay if I get this? He never calls, so I just want to make sure everything’s all right.”

He might be laying it on a bit thick.

“Sure, take your time,” the girl says.

She really is nice enough, Kuroo feels kind of bad for hating the experience of being around her so much.

He taps the answer button and puts the phone to his ear, “Hello?”

“Hello, I’m calling about your car’s extended warranty,” Kenma’s voice says into his ear.

Kuroo resists the urge to smile, “Are you feeling okay?” he asks instead in a concerned tone.

“Nah, I got shitfaced and I need daddy’s help,” Kenma says.

Kuroo bites his lip. It’s taking everything in his willpower right now not to laugh,  “Mhm.”

“Seriously though, can you bring me a burger or something? I forgot to eat today.”

“Sure, if you need me to, I’ll be right there,” Kuroo says, making sure to keep a worried tilt in his eyebrows.

“Thank you, daddy,” Kenma says. He hangs up.

Kuroo blows out a deliberate breath. Keep it together.

“Bye, I’ll see you soon,” He says to no one. 

He looks back at his date, “Hey, I'm sorry,” he says to her again. “My friend went out, and he thinks someone put something in his drink. He called to ask if I could pick him up.”

Kuroo would feel worse about this lie if it wasn’t based off of a real phone call he once had with Kenma during a date. It’s his go-to excuse now.

“Oh, okay,” the girl says easily. 

Kuroo wonders if maybe she wasn’t enjoying their date either. That’s fine, it’s an out for both of them in that case.

Kuroo picks up some fast food on his way to Kenma’s place. When he gets there, he doesn’t bother knocking, and just enters the apartment using his spare key. He opens the door to the sounds of Resident Evil being played in the other room.

“Yo,” he calls out. “Got your food.”

He slips his shoes off and walks down the little hallway to Kenma’s living room, where he finds him slouching on the couch with his hair in a messy, high bun, controller in hand. He throws the bag of food at him, which hits his shoulder and lands on the couch next to him.

“Thanks,” Kenma says without looking away from the screen.

Kuroo flops down next to him and watches him play. Kenma’s face remains passive while Kuroo feels own contort at the visuals of gore onscreen. When Kenma finally reaches a checkpoint, he puts the controller down and stretches before looking at Kuroo.

“So how was your date, Kuro?” he asks in mild amusement. He opens up the paper bag next to him and unwraps his burger.

Kuroo lets his head loll back on the couch, “I wish they’d stop trying to set me up.”

“Why don’t you just say no?”

“You try it. You went on a date last week with some guy Akaashi set you up with, didn’t you?”

Kenma makes a blegh face.

“Exactly,” Kuroo says. “They're relentless.”

“They’re worse than my parents,” Kenma agrees through a mouthful of food.

Kuroo sighs and rubs his eyes.

“Hey, can I stay over tonight?” he asks. He’s really not in the mood to drive home.

“Whatever,” Kenma shrugs.

Kuroo pushes himself off of the couch, “Okay, I’m gonna take a shower. Do you have any of my clothes right now?”

“Bottom drawer.”

Kuroo washes his hair in the shower. He likes Kenma’s shampoo, it smells like strawberry candy. He’s thought about buying it for himself before, but it’s more fun to feel like he’s borrowing Kenma’s scent. It smells different in Kenma’s hair though...warmer. He starts feeling himself drift, his brain slowing down, and blinks his eyes awake. He cuts off the water.

When he goes into Kenma’s bedroom from the connected bathroom, Kenma’s already in bed scrolling on his phone. Kenma doesn’t like the feeling of clothes tangling around his body while he sleeps so his sweatpants and shirt have already been tossed onto the floor by the bed. Kuroo kneels down to dig through the bottom dresser drawer, holding the towel hanging on his hips so it doesn’t come undone, and quickly finds a pair of his own boxer briefs and a shirt to sleep in. He closes the drawer and stands back up to put the underwear on, but when he glances over he sees Kenma’s eyes on his towel.

He raises his eyebrows, “What?”

“Can’t a friend stare at his friend’s massive cock?” Kenma asks dryly.

Kuroo snorts, “ Be my guest.”

He drops the towel and puts the boxers on. Kenma sighs loudly and drops his head back onto his pillows.

“I haven’t had sex in so long,” he says.

“Oh, you’re actually horny? I thought it was a joke.”

“There was a bug on the towel,” Kenma clarifies. “But also yes. Unrelated though.”

“Eugh! Why didn’t you tell me about the bug?” Kuroo makes a horrified face.

“It flew away. It was only little, anyways.”

Kuroo makes a grumbly sound. He tosses the towel over the back of Kenma’s dirty laundry chair and slips his shirt on over his head. “So what about the horny part? You trying to get me in bed?”

“Well, only because sleeping on the couch messes up your back,” Kenma smiles.

“Ahh, you flirt, you,” Kuroo grins back. “You know my weakness is adequate lumbar support.” 

He grabs his phone and plugs it into the spare charger Kenma keeps on Kuroo’s side of the bed before getting under the covers. He reaches over to flip off the light and lays his head down.

Kenma makes a sound that reminds Kuroo of a cat that’s been disturbed.

“Hm?”

“I don’t understand how you can put your damp hair on the pillow like that.”

“It’s fine, keeps me cool. And I don’t like showering in the morning.”

“I know.”

Kenma wakes up to a sticky cheek and knocking at his front door. Kuroo’s messy hair is pressed to his face, probably leaving creases. It takes a few seconds for Kenma to register the sound that woke him up, and then he remembers that Keiji had texted him last night asking if he could borrow Kenma’s old sound equipment. 

Kenma groggily pushes himself out of bed and puts on a pair of sweatpants laying on the floor before plodding to the door. He opens it to Bokuto and Keiji looking annoyingly alert and put together considering the hour. Whatever hour it is.

“Hey,” he says, his voice raspy from sleep.

“Kenma!” Bokuto shouts. In all fairness, that’s basically a whisper for him.

“Hello Kenma, we’re sorry for waking you,” Keiji says, his eyes running briefly over Kenma’s no-doubt disheveled appearance.

Kenma brushes a hand through his hair. Yep, definitely messy.

“That’s okay,” he says. “Come inside”

“Pardon the intrusion,” Keiji murmurs as he slips off his shoes in the genkan. 

Bokuto kicks his own off, but then arranges them neatly next to Keji’s.

“Thanks for letting us borrow your stuff, Kenma,” Bokuto says, linking his fingers behind his head as they walk down the little hallway to Kenma’s living room. “Akaashi wants to try doing a podcast, but we don’t know if it’s worth buying sound stuff right away.”

“Well, if you end up liking this mic you can keep it,” Kenma says.

“Are you sure?” Keiji asks. “That’s very generous of you.”

“Yeah, I’m using a new one anyway,” Kenma yawns. He squats down and opens a drawer that he’s pretty sure holds the old microphone. 

“Thank you,” Keiji says. “By the way, there’s this guy I know that I think you would get along with - “

Not again , Kenma thinks. 

“- he’s tall, really nice - “

Kenma hears his bedroom door open behind them.

“Hey Kenma, do you want coffee?” Kuroo’s voice asks.

All three of them turn to see a tired looking Kuroo in his sleep shirt and boxer briefs coming out of Kenma’s bedroom. 

“Oh, hey guys,” he says.

Bokuto stares at Kuroo, “Woahh.”

“Um!” Keiji chimes in.

They’re being weird. Confusion rattles through Kenma’s brain as he tries to place the weirdness.

Oh . 

It suddenly clicks in Kenma’s brain what they must be seeing. Not Kuroo, his childhood friend sleeping over because it was too late to drive, but two messy looking, half-naked, grown men, who came out of the same bedroom. 

“Do uh, you guys want coffee?” Kuroo asks. Kenma can practically see the question mark over his head.

Clearly he hasn’t quite caught up yet.

“That’s okay,” Keiji says in a high voice, his eyes a bit wide.

“Okay…”

There’s an awkward silence. Kuroo looks fucking baffled.

“Yo, are you guys like dating or something?” Bokuto blurts.

“Koutarou!” Keiji whispers, elbowing him.

Kuroo seems to be processing. He blinks.

“What?” 

Kenma makes a split second decision.

 “Yes,” he says.

“What?” Kuroo asks again, looking at Kenma this time. 

“Yes, we’re dating. So, I think I’ll pass on that guy...sorry,” he laughs awkwardly.

Kenma can see the moment it finally clicks for Kuroo. This is an opportunity to escape those awful dates they keep being set up on. 

“Oh, uh yeah,” Kuroo agrees with him. Good, they’re on the same page.

Keiji’s eyes narrow. Kenma can tell exactly what he’s thinking: They could be fucking, but dating doesn’t make logical sense.

“I thought Sawamura-san set you up on a date just yesterday.”

Kenma and Kuroo make eye contact.

“Yeah,” Kuroo says confidently, and Kenma knows his professional lying skills have just been activated. “We just decided to be exclusive last night, because I didn’t like going out with someone other than Kenma, and Kenma didn’t like me going out with someone other than Kenma, you know?”

“Uh huh,” Keiji says skeptically.

“That’s why I wasn’t sure what to say at first,” Kuroo rubs the back of his head like he’s feeling sheepish. “‘Cause it just happened.”

Kenma nods.

Bokuto is looking between the three of them like he’s missing something, which Kenma is sure that he is. 

“Well, I think it’s great!” he says. “We should go on a group date sometime!”

“Sure, Bo. Sounds fun,” Kuroo says.

He and Kenma make eye contact again.

“Coffee sounds good,” Kenma says.

“Right,” Kuroo turns on his heel and quickly escapes to the kitchen. 

Kenma turns his own gaze back into the drawer, luckily spotting the microphone in record time. He pulls it out and offers it to Keiji.

“Here you go.”

“...thank you.”

Kuroo breathes a sigh of relief when he hears the front door shut. That was a confusing scenario to wake up to. He’s just pouring the coffee into two mugs when an exhausted looking Kenma comes into the kitchen.

“Sorry about that,” Kenma says.

“Nah,” Kuroo replies, “It’s not a bad idea. I’m sick of being set up, honestly.”

“Yeah, exactly. Akaashi was trying to set me up again and the opportunity to lie presented itself.”

“You are a good liar, but why did Bo even ask?” He hands Kenma his mug and picks up his own to take a sip.

Kenma looks at Kuroo’s legs pointedly.

“What?”

He gestures between them, “Look at us. If you saw two half-dressed men who are both into men come out of the same bedroom, what would you think?”

He looks at Kenma’s bare chest, and then his own legs. The wires in his head connect.

“ Oh .”

“Exactly.”

Kuroo laughs, “That’s ridiculous. Sure, you're attractive, but we’re just friends.”

Kenma shrugs and sips his coffee before speaking.

“I guess they don’t see it the same way we do.”

Kuroo grins, “Well, we might as well use it to our advantage.”

Kenma grins back, the sneaky little bastard. 

Kuroo’s phone buzzes on the counter next to him. He picks it up to see two new messages from Daichi.

From: Sawamura Daichi

>> You and Kenma are dating??

>> Suga wants to go on a double date

Damn, it hasn’t even been five minutes since Bokuto and Akaashi left. He turns his phone around to show Kenma, who just raises an eyebrow. Kuroo half-smiles and shakes his head.

To: Sawamura Daichi

>> yeah, sorry i didn’t say anything earlier. Bo and Akaashi want to do one too, how about we just invite Oikawa and Iwaizumi and we all go out together?

Better to just get it over with and introduce everyone to their new “relationship” in one go. He’s sure Oikawa will have also been alerted to the news anyway.

Sure enough, Oikawa texts him a moment later

From: Oikawa Tooru

>> asdfghjkl

>> SINCE WEHN??

Kuroo snickers.

To: Oikawa Tooru

>> My, whatever do you mean?

Oikawa’s the most fun to mess with. 

He looks up at Kenma, “How long have we been dating?”

Kenma stares into his coffee for a moment before answering, “A week. We’ve both been forced to go on dates pretty recently, so it won’t line up with our story if we say any longer than that.”

From: Oikawa Tooru

>> don’t play dumb with me 

Kuroo takes a sip of coffee, happily making Oikawa sweat for a minute before answering. He’s sure Oikawa’s glued to his phone right now.

To: Oikawa Tooru

>> only a week

>> hey you guys wanna go out with us next weekend? everybody’s going

He sets his phone aside. Oikawa will definitely say yes, and Iwaizumi will be dragged along whether he wants to go or not. In fairness to Oikawa, Iwaizumi usually says no but ends up enjoying himself. Daichi and Suga will be down too.

“Oikawa will have questions,” he says to Kenma, who’s absently rubbing his finger against the rim of his cup.

“Koushi too,” he says, still staring at the tiles. “And Keiji, though he might not ask them out loud.”

“Are you having fun right now?” Kuroo asks with a smile.

Kenma looks up then and his eyes are gleaming, “Nah.”

Kuroo’s grin spreads. If there’s something Kenma enjoys as much as him, it’s a scheme.

The two of them spend about half an hour deciding on basic things they have and haven’t done so far in their “relationship” that their nosy friends might ask them about, before Kuroo remembers that he has a doctor’s appointment scheduled and rushes out. 

Man, he thinks as he heads to his car. This is gonna be fun.

The next weekend, they meet up at a bar with their friends. They joked around in their texts the whole week, calling each other sweetie and honey, acting like the couple they’re now pretending to be. “Daddy” featured more than once from Kenma’s end, making Kuroo snort ungracefully in the middle of a meeting the first time. Prior to going in they have a little giggle in Kuroo’s car, the two of them like twelve year olds with a secret. A vague memory of giggling in Kenma’s bedroom with him as an actual twelve year old flashes through his head. 

They head inside after pulling themselves together, where they see their friends sitting at a table in the far corner together, although Bokuto’s voice carries all the way to the entrance. Kuroo takes Kenma’s hand. It feels...strange. But his hand is so little and cold, it’s kind of nice to hold onto it. He can warm it up for him. He and Kenma glance at each other and head over to where their friends are sitting. They’re greeted with a chorus of hellos as they pull up chairs and join the table.

Not even thirty seconds passes before Suga pipes up:

“So?”

Kuroo pretends to be casual about it, “Hm?”

“You’re holding hands!” Oikawa shouts.

“Yeah,” Kuroo says, feigning innocence. “We told you guys, we’re dating now.”

“Puh-lease, you have never been this casual about a new relationship in your life,” Oikawa huffs.

Kuroo’s face splits into a grin, “You got me.”

“Oh?” Akaashi raises an eyebrow.

Shit, backtrack. Not like that.

“I am excited,” he says. “I just didn’t want to be weird about it. I mean it’s not like Kenma’s new to the group or something.”

“Yes, and I’m not a big fan of attention,” Kenma says quietly.

“You basically perform for people every night in your streams, Kenma,” Oikawa says pointedly. 

“He’s got a point,” Iwaizumi agrees.

“But I don’t see their faces, or talk about my relationships to them.”

“But we’re your friends!”

“Yeah!” Suga points at Oikawa as if he’s just made an incredible argument.

Daichi places a calming hand onto his arm. Kuroo knows it won’t work, Suga has a tendency to hype everyone else up, including Daichi, not the other way around. 

“Okay, okay,” Kuroo holds up his hands in fake surrender. “What do you guys want to know?”

“Have you had sex yet?” Oikawa asks immediately.

Kenma snorts. Just as he predicted.

“Yes,” Kuroo answers. He doesn’t say anything else, just smiles.

“And?” he insists.

“And what?”

“Oh my god, just tell us,” Oikawa groans.

Kenma decides to put their friends out of their misery at this point, “We’ve only done it a couple times. But it’s...good. He’s good.”

Kenma smirks. He’s projecting just the right air to make their friends think he’s being secretive about the details, rather than there being no details to tell.

An odd sort of feeling blooms in Kuroo’s stomach. It’s not real, but hearing Kenma say those things about him feels, well, different. Seeing him act flirty and evasive about something to do with him…a thought flashes through his brain wondering how it would feel if Kenma was describing something real. He squashes the thought down, it’s just one of those impulsive what-ifs anyway. He has them about Kenma sometimes.

He turns to Kenma, “Do you want a drink?

“Yeah.”

He doesn’t bother asking what he wants, he knows Kenma’s drink order, coffee order, what his preference at any restaurant is at this point.

He goes to the bar and orders their drinks (beer for him, vodka sour for Kenma). While he’s waiting, he looks back at the table and sees Kenma fielding questions from the table. Everyone, except Bokuto and Iwaizumi, who are chatting about something else, is focused on him. Kenma looks over to the bar and they make eye contact, and Kenma shoots a sneaky grin his way.

Kuroo’s heart makes an extra hard thump. Because it’s exciting, it’s fun, it’s a game. This is a game. Like one of Kenma’s dating sims.

When he receives their drinks he makes his way back to the table, where he catches the thread of the conversation.

“How did it even happen?” Daichi asks. 

Kuroo snickers, he knew Daichi would get roped in. 

“I mean, I know you guys have been flirting for forever, but how did it become more than that?”

Kenma freezes.

“Flirting?” he asks, his brows furrowed.

Kuroo feels a bit stiff himself. What is Daichi talking about? 

“You know, the teasing and stuff,” Daichi says.

Kuroo’s joints defrost. 

He sets their drinks down and takes a seat, laughing, “That’s just banter. I do it with all of you. You think I’m flirting with you too?”

The whole table turns to look at him pointedly, except Kenma, who’s cradling his drink.

“You do,” Oikawa says in a duh voice. “But Kenma doesn’t flirt with anyone but you.”

Kenma’s eyebrows are pulled together and his eyes are moving like he’s trying to do mental arithmetic. The visual reminds Kuroo of the meme of the confused math lady.

Kuroo suddenly remembers that they’re supposed to be dating.

“Well, there you go,” he says. He nudges Kenma, “Right?”

Kenma’s head snaps up.

 “Yeah,” he says. “It just happened...I guess.”

“All right, let’s leave them alone now,” Iwaizumi says. He places a gentle hand over Oikawa’s, easily pulling him into his and Bokuto’s conversation. 

Iwaizumi makes brief eye contact with Kuroo. His gaze brushes over Kenma before returning to Bokuto. Kuroo has a feeling that he knows what’s really going on. Huh, who’d have thought that Iwaizumi would be the most intuitive one of their group? 

It seems like Iwaizumi’s word is law, because no one asks about it again for the rest of the night. Instead they laugh as Suga tells them about a little girl in his class who has no end of sass and thinks the world of her mother, telling Suga that “my mom is way stronger than you” when he asked the class to help move the chairs back after a game. He politely explained that it wasn’t that he couldn’t move the chairs, but that it was everyone’s responsibility to help clean up, to which she’d responded “Sure,” with a condescending pat on the shoulder. Kenma’s a few drinks in at this point, and Kuroo notices how his eyes shine as he laughs openly at the story. 

Oikawa tells a story after about a girl stopping him, “ON THE STREET,” to ask if he’s gay. 

“In all fairness,” Iwaizumi says with an amused look, “You were wearing a crop top that day, and your nails were painted.”

“Exactly!” Oikawa shouts, “Was I not making it obvious enough?”

Kuroo makes eye contact with Daichi and they laugh so hard his stomach hurts, it’s just exactly like Oikawa to think that way.

Partway through Akaashi’s story about two coworkers who are obviously into each other but won’t admit it, Kuroo feels his mind start to drift. When he glances at Kenma, it’s clear he’s tapped out too.

Kuroo pats his leg, “Do you want to go soon?” he asks quietly.

Kenma blinks and looks up at him. His cheeks are a soft red, it makes him look sweet. He nods at Kuroo, and then yawns. Kuroo smiles. Yeah, definitely done for the night. He waits until Akaashi is done talking to speak.

“All right guys, I think we’re gonna head out. Little Kenma’s all tuckered out,” he says.

Kenma scowls, “I’m not a kid, Kuro.”

Kuroo grins at his irritated friend, “Well then maybe you should stop being so cute and round-faced.”

“See,” Daichi says. 

“What?” Kuroo looks at him. Daichi’s smiling at them.

“You’re flirting,” he says.

“ I am not flirting,” Kenma says, an involuntary pout on his face. He really does remind Kuroo of a little kid sometimes when he’s been drinking. 

He glares up at Kuroo, “Take me home, Kuro.”

So cute.

“Now that’s definitely flirting,” Oikawa says. He’s grinning but looks pretty tired too, with his head resting on Iwaizumi’s shoulder.

“Hm,” Akaashi reminds Kuroo of an investigative journalist the way he says it, with a hand resting on his chin.

Kenma softly headbutts Kuroo’s shoulder. Okay, that’s enough of that. It’s time to put Kenma to bed.

“All right, we’re leaving now. Goodbye friends,” Kuroo pushes his chair back and stands up, leaving his half-drunk beer on the table and waiting for Kenma to sluggishly rise.

He takes Kenma’s hand ( Just to keep up the act , Kuroo thinks to himself) and waves over his shoulder as he leads them out. Kenma waves as well. He can hear commotion behind them as the rest of them rally themselves to leave too.

Once they’re outside, Kuroo breathes in the fresh air.

“Sleepy boy,” he smiles down at Kenma.

“Yeah,” Kenma agrees, not bothering to be annoyed now that they’re alone.

“Come on, let’s get you in bed.”

When they reach his apartment, Kenma falls asleep on the couch while Kuroo’s getting him a glass of water, so Kuroo scoops him up (He’s so little, Kuroo thinks) and puts him into bed.

“Thanks,” Kenma murmurs, without opening his eyes.

He puts the glass of water on Kenma’s nightstand and then gets into bed himself. It’s late so he doesn’t want to drive home, but it takes him a while to fall asleep anyway. He fiddles with a strand of Kenma’s hair while he waits for sleep to come to him, rubbing the smooth lock between his fingers. Kenma shifts in his sleep and the smell of strawberry candy drifts over to Kuroo.

Tuesday

From: Kozume Kenma

>> do you want to film a video with me tomorrow? we haven’t done one in a while

To: Kozume Kenma

>> sure i can do it after work

From: Kozume Kenma

>> cool

>> thanks daddy

To: Kozume Kenma

>> lmao

Wednesday is stressful for Kuroo. He loves his job, loves getting to be a part of the future of volleyball as a sport. He didn’t realise in college, however, just how many meetings with irritating people that would mean. The athletes are usually great. Their publicists, on the other hand, not quite so much. It’s wild to Kuroo just how many people are in the job who don’t even seem to like volleyball. He tries to give them the benefit of the doubt. After all, he knows just how exhausting it can be to always be on, but some of them just suck. 

Kuroo looks away from his laptop and rubs his eyes. At least he got an athlete officially signed on for a few promos today. He’s lucky he knows so many athletes, and even luckier that he knows The Kodzuken on a personal level. It’s surprising how many athletes see Kenma as the cool, famous one between them, and sometimes even get starstruck at his presence. He forgets sometimes that Kenma’s not just his shy best friend anymore. In the beginning, Kenma was only comfortable working with players who he knew personally, but nowadays he’s a pro. He can make anyone feel comfortable, make them feel like they’re friends for three hours before parting ways and collapsing on the couch from social exhaustion. Most of Kenma’s fans like it best when Kuroo’s on his channel though. The effortless banter they have from two decades of real friendship isn’t easily replaced by even the most charismatic of athletes. 

Kuroo leans back and stretches. He’s really craving a cigarette. He knows it’s not a particularly good impulse to give in to, but he doesn’t smoke often, and on days like these where every second is a stressful one, he can’t help it. He snaps his laptop shut and gathers his things to leave. When he leaves the building, he ducks into a convenience store and buys a pack of cigarettes. Kenma will probably give him a disapproving look for it. 

When he gets to Kenma’s place, he unlocks and opens the door as quietly as possible, listening carefully to see if Kenma is filming. Wednesday is usually when Kenma gets most of his prerecorded stuff done, so he doesn’t want to mess a recording up by accident.

“Yeah, I think this was good. I’m sure our audiences will be excited,” Kenma’s voice drifts down the hall.

Kenma laughs, “Yeah.”

Kuroo can tell it’s a forced laugh, even though it sounds pretty real.

“Okay, I’ll see you later. Thanks.”

There’s silence for a moment and then Kenma sighs loudly.

“Kuro, is that you?” he asks.

“Yeah, are you done? Should I come in?”

“Yeah.”

Kuroo walks down the hall to find Kenma at his desk with headphones around his neck. He’s basically boneless, slumped from exhaustion.

“You were doing a collab?” Kuroo guesses.

“Yep.”

Kuroo drops his bag on the ground, “You sure you wanna film more today?”

“Yeah, I just need a break first,” Kenma pushes himself up in his chair, “You look tired though, are you up for it?”

“Yeah, I’m just gonna smoke first,” Kuroo takes the pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, expecting critical eyes to be leveled in his direction.

Instead of a glare, Kenma says, “Let me have one too.”

“You want to smoke?” Kuroo’s eyebrows raise involuntarily.

Kenma rolls his eyes, “Do you have a lighter?”

“Oh, shit.”

“There’s one in the kitchen,” Kenma gets up and walks into his kitchen. Kuroo hears a drawer open and some rustling. It shuts and Kenma comes back out with a long stem lighter in his hand.

He yanks at Kuroo’s sleeve as he passes him, “Balcony.”

Well okay then. He follows Kenma through the sliding glass doors at the back of the living room and shuts them behind them. It’s quiet outside.

Kenma holds out a hand. Kuroo unwraps the pack, stuffing the plastic into his pocket and hands him a cigarette before taking one out for himself. They’re silent as they pass the lighter between them, the lighter’s click the only sound apart from the soft breeze. Kuroo puts the pack and the lighter into his pocket.

They both lean over the railing and take a drag. It makes a soft sizzle, the tips glowing.

Kuroo watches as Kenma exhales smoke, his eyelids heavy.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you smoke,” he says.

“It’s been a day,” Kenma says. He takes another drag.

“It has,” Kuroo agrees. He takes a drag as well.

When the two of them were around 19 and 20 years old, respectively, they started smoking together. It was a way to destress. An unhealthy way, but a lot of things changed for both of them really quickly, and drinking often as a stress reliever wasn’t practical. They might be idiots, but they’re practical idiots. At 27 and 28, they know better, but that doesn’t mean the urge is totally gone.

“Have you ever thought about it?” Kenma asks.

“About smoking?” 

“About dating. Me.”

It takes Kuroo a second to catch up. Kenma’s brain will do that sometimes, be four steps to the left of his. Right, we’re supposed to be dating now.

He thinks about it for a minute, watches the tip of his cigarette burn.

“Not really,” he says. “You?”

“Not really,” Kenma says.

They each flick the ends of their cigarettes and take another drag.

“What about…” Kenma hesitates.

“What about?” Kuroo prompts.

“What about having sex?” Kenma is looking away from him. 

Kuroo licks his lips, suddenly aware of how his elbow is touching Kenma’s.

“Not...seriously,” he says. 

“Yeah. Yeah exactly,” Kenma agrees quickly. “Just like. I was just thinking about how they must have seen things. The other day.”

“Yeah,” Kuroo says. “That must be it.”

Kenma glances at him, but doesn’t say anything.

Kuroo takes a drag. Kenma takes a drag.

“Cause like,” Kuroo stops. He starts again, “Cause like, it felt weird. Hearing you describe having sex with me. When we haven’t. Obviously,” he adds the last word under his breath.

“Yeah.”

They crush the ends of their cigarettes in sync. 

“Do you want another?” Kuroo asks.

“Let’s split one.”

Kuroo pulls another cigarette out and lights it. He takes a drag and then passes it to Kenma. He watches Kenma’s lips touch the same place where his just were and shoos away the inane craving that runs under his skin. Stupid.

Kenma passes it back. Kuroo puts it between his lips. He wonders if Kenma is also thinking about how they’re tasting each other around the smoke. Stupid.

Stupid, stupid, st-

“When was the last time you kissed someone?” Kenma reaches up and plucks the cigarette from his lips. He puts it between his own and sucks on it without breaking eye contact.

Kuroo exhales, and smoke floats in front of his vision. Kenma comes back into view.

“...a while ago,” he says.

“Hm,” Kenma hums around the cigarette. 

He pulls it from his lips and passes it back. Kuroo looks at it, it’s somehow nearly gone already.

“We should go film,” Kenma says. 

Kuroo shakes his brain.

“Right. Yeah,” he stamps out the cigarette and follows Kenma back inside.

While Kenma sets up the camera in front of his couch, Kuroo throws the cigarette butts and plastic wrapping away in the kitchen and washes his hands. He needs to get his brain on track. 

He takes a deep breath. Just don’t worry about it.

When he goes back into the living room, Kenma’s set up the camera in front of the TV and is adjusting the height.

“Are we not playing a game?” Kuroo asks, looking at the dark television.

“I bought the Truth or Drink card game, I thought it might be a nice channel break,” Kenma leans back, checking the viewfinder. “Are you okay with vodka, or do you want to do vinegar instead?”

Kuroo huffs a little laugh. They’d done vinegar shots once as a joke, and Kuroo had felt like his vocal cords were burned for two days after.

“Vindictive,” he says. Kenma grins at him. “Vodka’s fine, I just have to answer to avoid a hangover, right?”

“Yep.”

They set up shot glasses and a bottle of vodka on the coffee table and Kenma opens up the pack of cards. When everything is ready, Kenma starts the recording and sits next to Kuroo on the couch.

He looks at the camera, and claps once to help sync the sound later.

“Kodzuken plays Truth or Drink with Kuro,” he says clearly. He looks at Kuroo, “Ready?”

Kuroo looks down at his crumpled work shirt. He smooths it out and runs a hand through his hair.

“Do I look decent?” he asks Kenma.

Kenma’s eyes trail slowly over his body. They flick up to meet Kuroo’s, “Yeah.”

Kuroo resists the urge to shiver, and looks away, clearing his throat. What?

“Cool. Um, yeah. I’m ready.”

Kenma takes a breath in and out.

He looks back up at the camera, “Hey friends,” he starts.

Kuroo watches Kenma intro the video, smiling at his deadpan delivery. Kenma doesn’t bother with much preamble, warning the audience that the video will contain discussion of adult topics, briefly introducing Kuroo for people who haven’t seen him before, and then going straight into describing the game.

“So this is the official Truth or Drink game. It’s pretty simple, you answer the question on the card or you drink. We’ll take turns drawing the cards but both of us will answer every question.”

He side-glances at Kuroo with a grin, “He has work in the morning, so he’s got extra motivation to answer.”

“We can’t all start work at one in the afternoon,” Kuroo grins back. “Some of us have big kid jobs.”

“I’m a CEO,” Kenma says, raising his eyebrows at Kuroo. 

“All right, boss baby.”

Kenma laughs and shoves Kuroo, “How dare you.”

“Should we thumb war to decide who draws first?” Kuroo asks.

“Yeah,” Kenma turns to sit cross-legged facing Kuroo and offers his hand for battle.

Kuroo mirrors him and takes it in his own, “Get ready, Kozume.”

In sync they start the game, crossing their thumbs back and forth, “One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war.”

Kenma immediately pounces, but Kuroo’s ready and slips his thumb out. They wage a fierce battle, but Kuroo wins it with a clever snake-in-the-grass.

“You cheater!” Kenma accuses.

“Uh, I think you mean tactician.”

“Ugh,” Kenma pushes the stack of cards towards him, “If this were a thumb war video, I wouldn’t be letting you off so easy.”

Kuroo tsks , “My, my, what a sore loser.”

“Cheater,” Kenma says again. “Oh, let's do a shot before we start.”

He pours vodka into each little glass. They lift their glasses and clink, tap, drink.

“That’s awful,” Kuroo says. He sticks his tongue out, “Hold on, I need a chaser.”

Kenma is making a bitter face as well, “There’s juice in the fridge.”

Kuroo quickly ducks into the kitchen and pours some apple juice into a cup. He sits back down on the couch and takes a sip before offering the cup to Kenma, who takes it and sips as well. Kenma sets it on the coffee table.

“Okay,” Kenma says. “Draw a card.”

Kuroo pulls the top card off the stack and reads it aloud, “When was the last time you masturbated?”

“This morning. You?”

“Also this morning,” Kuroo looks toward the camera, “Sorry, not that juicy.”

“We’re just getting started,” Kenma draws a card from his stack. “What’s your favourite sex position?”

Are all the questions sex-themed?” Kuroo asks, peering over Kenma’s hand.

“I bought the Extra Dirty pack, I figured it’s what the people want.”

“Well, you’re not wrong. Buncha pervs,” Kuroo smirks at the camera. 

“So?”

Kuroo thinks for a moment, “I don’t know, maybe doggy style? You get good leverage. I’m not that picky.”

“Leverage,” Kenma looks amused. “Even with sex, you bring science into it.”

“Excuse me, Kenma, but I think you’ll find that everyone needs physics to have sex.”

Kenma bites his lip to keep from laughing.

“Sorry, I should cool it,” Kuroo says, grinning, “This physics talk is probably making you rock hard, huh?” he winks.

Kenma breaks into laughter, unable to keep it in this time.

“All right, what about you then?” Kuroo asks. 

Kenma opens his mouth to respond, and then pauses to giggle. It makes Kuroo laugh.

“Okay,” Kenma says when he’s pulled himself together. “I like being on top. Or with a leg over the guy’s shoulder, the angle is good like that.”

“Over? You’re like two feet tall, how would your knee even reach?”

“I said leg not knee,” Kenma says as though they’re obviously two distinct things.

“Like...the splits?” Kuroo closes one eye as he tries to picture it. 

Kenma smirks, “Don’t worry about it.”

“I am worried about it! You’re gonna break in half!”

“Trust me, I’m not. Your turn.”

Kuroo narrows his eyes at Kenma and then pulls another card, “Between us, who’s sluttier?”

Kenma twists his mouth as he thinks. 

“I want to say me?” he says. “But it’s close. Neither of us like dating but we both like sex.”

“Yeah, and neither of us are getting laid.” 

Kuroo pauses.

“Oh, we probably shouldn’t have said that. We’re supposed to be convincing our friends that we’re dating, right? You might want to cut that out.”

“It’s fine. If anyone asks, I’ll say we filmed it before we got together,” Kenma says. “Just pick up where you left off.”

“Okay,” Kuroo waits for a moment before speaking to make sure Kenma has a clean cut. “Yeah, I agree. It’s close, but it’s probably you.”

Kenma draws the next card, “Have you ever had a wet dream about me?”

Kuroo mashes his lips together in a flat line and Kenma laughs.

“Oh, this is funny for you? You know my coworkers watch your channel,” Kuroo says. 

“Go on,” Kenma grins. “Tell the world. Or you can take a shot.”

“Taking a shot is as good as answering!”

Kenma cackles.

“All right, fine! Yes, I have had a wet dream about you,” Kuroo huffs. “Happy?

“How old were you?” Kenma asks.

Kuroo presses his hands to his face and groans, “That’s not on the card.”

“Come on, Kuro,” Kenma coaxes, laughter still in his voice.

“...26.”

“An adult wet dream!” Kenma shouts. 

“Shut up! It’s your turn to answer!” Kuroo shouts back.

Kenma snickers, “All right. Yes, but I was in high school.”

“Well, goody for you,” Kuroo says sarcastically. His face is definitely red right now.

He aggressively swipes the next card off the deck.

“Do you ever think about me when you masturbate?"

Kenma stares at him for a long moment before answering, “Yes.”

“Oh?” Kuroo’s eyebrows raise.

“It’s your turn to answer.”

“Well...also yes.”

“Hm,” Kenma looks away from him and pulls the next card. He doesn’t read it right away.

“Kenma?”

The corner of Kenma’s mouth twists up, “If we were in a porn together, what category would it be?”

Kuroo laughs, “Japanese? Gay? I don’t know, doesn’t it depend on what we do?”

Kenma grins and licks his bottom lip, “Yeah, it does.”

“...I guess we can’t answer that then.”

“Hm, I guess not.”

There’s a pause. Kuroo lets out a breathy laugh and reaches for the next card.

“I dare you - oh. Uh, I dare you to kiss me. Take two shots to get out of it.”

Kuroo looks up. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t still thinking about what happened outside. 

When was the last time you kissed someone?

“Okay,” Kenma says.

“Okay?”

“Yeah,” Kenma tips his head to the side. His eyes flick down to Kuroo’s lips, “I don’t want to drink.”

Kuroo swallows.

“Me neither.”

Kenma leans forward, sliding one hand up Kuroo’s thigh and the other onto the side of his neck. When his eyes meet Kuroo’s, his pupils are dilated.

Fuck it.

Kuroo sweeps forward and kisses Kenma, threading his fingers into Kenma’s hair and inhaling his strawberry scent. His lips taste faintly of smoke and apple juice and vodka. Kenma makes an “ mm'' sound against his lips and his fingers curl on Kuroo’s neck, he climbs over Kuroo’s lap so he’s straddling him and then pushes Kuroo against the arm rest. Kuroo parts his lips and sweeps his tongue over Kenma’s who immediately opens his mouth and licks back.

Kenma breaks away from Kuroo and bends over to kiss his neck, and Kuroo stretches his chin upwards, letting out an involuntary moan. He slides his hands down the back of Kenma’s sweatpants and squeezes hard. Kenma hums roughly against his skin in encouragement. Kenma draws back and kisses him again, licking into Kuroo’s mouth and tugging at the buttons on his shirt. As soon as he pulls the shirt open, he leans back again and looks down, his eyes running over the expanse of Kuroo’s chest like he's hungry.

Kuroo sits up and slides his fingers under Kenma’s top, pulling it over his head and then gripping at his sides and curling over to suck on his nipple.

“Ah, Kuro! ” Kenma gasps. His fingers grip into Kuroo’s hair.

Kuroo hums against his chest and flicks at his nipple with the tip of his tongue. Kenma lets out a shuddering moan.

Kuroo leans back and lets his eyes travel over Kenma’s body. He’s slender but he’s still strong, actually. The lines of his body are beautiful, especially his collarbones and the way his sharp hip bones lift the waistline of his pants just barely away from his abdomen.

“Kuro,” Kenma’s voice commands his attention, and his eyes snap up to meet his. “Are you gonna fuck me, or what?”

There’s a look of desperation on his face that Kuroo’s never seen before.

“ Fuck ,” Kuroo breathes. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m gonna fuck you.”

“There’s lube in that drawer,” Kenma says, nodding towards a side table behind Kuroo.

“What?” Kuroo pauses. “Why is there lube in your living room?”

“I fucked myself with a dildo on the couch this morning.”

“Oh!” Kuroo says.

They look at each other for a minute, acute awareness of the current scenario dawning on them in the pause.

“Okay.”

“You gonna get it?” Kenma asks, gesturing with an open hand.

“Yeah,” Kuroo shakes his head and twists around awkwardly to open the drawer. 

Sure enough, lube. Also a really big dildo. Just, so big. Kuroo pulls out the pink silicone dick and turns back around with lube in one hand and the dick in the other.

“Kenma, what the hell is this?” he asks incredulously.

“It’s a dildo,” Kenma says in an obviously voice.

“It’s fucking enormous! You’re telling me this fits in you?”

Kenma starts laughing and covers his face, “Yes.” 

The two of them completely fucking lose it, curling over with laughter and bonking heads - which only prompts more laughter. When Kuroo can finally breathe again, only a few errant giggles making their way out, he sniffs and wipes his eyes with his wrists, his hands too occupied with the lube and massive pink dildo. 

Kenma is looking up at the ceiling and wiping his own tears away with his fingers, a smile on his face. He looks back down and giggles again at the sight in front of him.

“Okay,” Kuroo says. “Are we really doing this?”

Kenma lets out a slow exhale to calm his giggles.

“I want to,” he says with a little shrug. “Do you?”

“Yeah, of course I want to.”

“Friends have sex all the time,” Kenma says. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Yeah,” Kuroo says.

It is kind of a big deal. Kuroo can tell that Kenma thinks so too. 

“Um, what should I do with this?” Kuroo gestures with the dildo.

Kenma snorts, “Just put it on the coffee table.”

Kuroo sets it upright on the table, shaking his head in amusement at its gargantuan size. He drops the lube onto the table next to it.

They look at each other for a long moment.

“Can I kiss you again?” Kuroo asks. There’s a flutter in his stomach.

Kenma leans in toward him, “Yeah,” he whispers. 

His eyes touch on Kuroo’s lips and then they meet his eyes. Liquid gold.

When their lips meet, it’s slower this time. More deliberate. Kuroo inhales the scent of Kenma’s skin, their lips and tongues moving against each other softly at first and then deepening, pushing each other back with more force. Kuroo slides a hand down Kenma’s lower back and into his underwear, tracing his fingers between his cheeks. They’re pressed close enough together that he can feel Kenma’s cock twitch against his stomach and he’s sure Kenma can feel how hard he’s getting against his body too. 

Kuroo pulls his hand back out and tugs down at Kenma’s waistband. Kenma breaks the kiss and climbs off of Kuroo to completely remove his pants and underwear, leaving him naked. He faces Kuroo and slips a finger under the waistline of his slacks, leaning in to kiss him again, with one knee on the couch to support himself. Without leaving the kiss, Kenma unbuttons Kuroo’s pants and pulls the zip down. He pushes a hand into the front of Kuroo’s boxers and wraps a hand around his length. Kuroo’s hips jolt and he gasps against Kenma’s lips. He feels Kenma smile against him. 

He strokes Kuroo slowly and deliberately. It’s torture. Kuroo pulls away.

“Kenma!” he gasps. “You’re killing me.”

Kenma laughs, “All right, take your pants off and fuck me already then.”

“I gotta open you up still, dude.”

Kenma looks pointedly at the dildo on the table, “I’m sure I’m still loose enough.”

“Oh, right.”

Kenma backs away to give Kuroo room and Kuroo shifts, taking his dress shirt off first and then standing up to remove his slacks and underwear. 

He turns back to Kenma, with a grin, “Maybe you can show me exactly what that position was that you were describing.”

Kenma’s eyes light up, “Yes.”

Kuroo laughs. He steps towards Kenma and takes his arms, bringing them around his own neck, then he kisses him, placing his hands on Kenma’s hips, his thumbs stroking Kenma’s lean abdominals and his fingers pressing into the muscles of his back. Gripping tightly at his hips so that he won’t fall too hard, Kuroo pushes Kenma onto the couch and then nudges his legs open with his knee and positions himself between them. He slips a hand under Kenma’s leg and lifts it, resting the calf over his shoulder. Kuroo reaches over blindly to grab the lube, patting until he manages to land on it, and clicks it open. 

He leans away then, squeezing the lube onto one hand and tossing the bottle onto the floor. He spreads it over his fingers and gives himself a quick stroke before taking two fingers against Kenma’s hole. Kenma’s breath quickens. His lips are red from kissing and his long hair is strewn around in a mess. He’s gorgeous. He probably knows it too.

“Just gonna get you wet inside,” Kuroo murmurs. 

He presses his fingers inside, and Kenma moans. It sounds fucking dirty.

Kurro looks back at Kenma’s face. His lips are parted and his brows furrowed. Kuroo’s cock throbs. If this is what he looks like with just his fingers, he can’t wait until he actually fucks him.

“You’re pretty sensitive to just a couple fingers, for someone who can take that giant thing.”

He twists his fingers around, spreading the lube and eliciting a choked sound from Kenma. 

“It’s different with someone else,” Kenma says breathily.

“That’s true.”

Kuroo strokes his insides, making sure he’s thoroughly wet inside and then withdraws his fingers.

“Mmn,” Kenma makes a little pained expression.

“Okay,” Kuroo says, searching Kenma’s face. “Are you ready?”

Kenma rolls his eyes, “Oh my god, just put it in.”

“So impatient,” Kuroo grins, “I should’ve guessed you’d be like this for sex too.”

“Shut up,” Kenma smiles.

Kuroo smiles back.

“Oh shit,” he realizes suddenly, “Do you have a condom?”

“No,” Kenma says. “But we both get tested pretty often, it’s fine.”

Kuroo shrugs. He lines himself up and without any more hesitation, presses into Kenma. 

Kenma groans, gripping Kuroo’s arms tightly with his fingers. A breath forces its way through Kuroo’s teeth. Once he’s bottomed out, the two of them don’t say anything for a moment, panting into the sensation. 

“Okay,” Kenma gasps, “I’m good.”

“So about that position?” Kuroo asks, looking down at him.

Kenma’s eyes shine, “Just push my leg as far as it’ll go.”

Kuroo slides a hand under Kenma’s calf and pushes it back further and further. It easily goes all the way until his toes are pressed into the cushions behind him.

“Holy shit, Kenma. When did you get so flexible?” Kuroo asks, stunned at the literal splits Kenma is comfortably laying in.

“We did agree that I’m the sluttier one,” Kenma grins crookedly.

Kuroo licks his lips and cocks an eyebrow, “Fair enough.”

Well, might as well make use of it.

He draws back and slams into Kenma, his hand still pinning Kenma’s leg down above his head. Kenma cries out, grabbing onto Kuroo for purchase. Kuroo pounds into Kenma, building up a rhythm that has Kenma gasping and precum leaking onto his abdomen with nearly every thrust. Then Kuroo breaks the rhythm, slowing to grind into Kenma at the apex of his thrust.

Kenma nearly shouts, “ Yes, daddy! There,” he gasps the last word.

The word daddy shocks Kuroo, but even more shocking is how it spurs him on, his cock twitching inside of Kenma. He repeats the movement, grinding against Kenma’s prostate again. 

“Fuck, Kenma ,” He groans at how Kenma clenches around him.

Kenma’s obviously sensitive to how he’s moving inside him, so he keeps it up until Kenma squeezes his eyes shut, tears leaking from the corners.

He pauses his movements then, “We’re changing positions,” he pants.

“Okay,” Kenma says drunkenly.

Kuroo pinches Kenma’s jaw between his thumb and forefinger, forcing Kenma to look at him.

“I think you mean, yes daddy,” he says.

Kenma’s eyes go wide, “Yes, daddy,” he says obediently.

He swallows, a smile flashing across his face. Kuroo grins.

He pulls out, sitting up against the back of the couch and then easily maneuvering Kenma’s body to sit on top of him.

“Spread your legs,” Kuroo instructs quietly. “Can you do the splits like this too?”

Kenma nods.

He squats over Kuroo’s lap and slides into the splits. Kuroo lifts him with one arm, using the other to line up his cock and then lowering his body over it. Kenma puts his hands on Kuroo’s shoulders to stabilize himself, whimpering softly as he sinks over Kuroo.

Kuroo grips Kenma’s ass cheeks tightly and lifts him. He thrusts, letting gravity drop Kenma into it. Kenma lets out a shattered gasp. One of his hands makes its way into Kuroo’s hair, twisting the strands almost painfully, the nails of his other hand digging into his shoulder. Again. Kenma’s head drops forward. Again. Kenma bites the muscle where his shoulder and neck meet. Again. Kenma cries roughly into Kuroo’s skin. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again -

Kenma gasps. He throws his head back in a silent cry, and then he’s coming hot onto Kuroo’s stomach, his orgasm pulsing around Kuroo. 

Kuroo curls in sharply as his own climax is ripped from him, he moans into Kenma’s chest as he comes inside of him, continuing to thrust until both their orgasms are completely milked from them. 

Kuroo collapses into the couch and Kenma into him, the tension finally cut from their bodies. Kenma pulls his legs in close so they’re folded softly next to Kuroo’s and lifts up just enough to let Kuroo’s cock slip out. Cum gushes from his hole, but he doesn’t pay any mind to it, slumping back into Kuroo’s lap. They sit there just breathing for a few minutes, Kuroo gently running a hand along Kenma’s side.

Finally Kenma sits up. 

He smiles lazily at Kuroo, tear tracks on his cheeks, “That was fucking good,” he says.

Kuroo laughs, “Yeah,” he agrees. 

Kenma’s eyes suddenly go wide and he whips his head around, “Oh my god.”

Kuroo straightens up, “What?” 

“The recording.”

“What?” Kuroo asks again, confused.

Kenma looks at him with his eyebrows raised, “The recording,” he repeats.

It registers then what Kenma is saying.

Kuroo’s eyebrows jump up, “Did we just make a sex tape?” he asks.

They both start laughing.

Kenma drags his hands down his face, “We haven’t even finished the video yet!”

They laugh even harder.

Eventually they unstick themselves from each other, clean up as much as they can with damp paper towels, and put their clothes back on. Kenma helps Kuroo button up his shirt again while Kuroo runs his fingers through Kenma’s messy hair to try and neaten it. They do finish the video. It feels a little absurd to be answering supposedly revealing questions about sex, when they’ve literally just had sex with each other, but what can you do? They laugh a lot about their answers and as soon as Kenma’s done with the outro they take a shower together. Nothing happens in the shower except washing and maybe a few jokes. Kuroo doesn’t have any spare work clothes at Kenma’s place so he drives home after and they sleep in separate beds that night.

00101000

you guys know it’s just a joke right? they obviously didnt actually have sex

Jessica Rabbit

ikr, people are acting like it’s real when it’s obviously just a joke

theworstperson

OMG THEY TOTALLY DID IT WHAT

loveofyourlife

I SHIP THEM SO HARD <333

SpoilerCity

r/whoooosh

gojo’s bitch

did anybody else see the massive dildo that appears at 8:23? lmao

tired wired 

Lol why is no one talking about the giant dildo on the coffee table

My Besto Friendo

POV you’re scrolling for comments about the dildo

your mom

they totally had sex

nononono

why is there a dildo pls 😭😭

Siberian Fluffball

imagine they actually had sex and it’s not just a joke lmao

arms of an angle

yo this shit kinda fruity tho 😏

Kenma’s a fucking idiot. How? How the hell did he manage to film, edit, and export the video without noticing the dildo on the coffee table? It doesn’t help that he and Kuroo looked a complete mess after the cut. They did their best to fix themselves, but they really should have checked the footage to see if their appearance matched. It really didn’t help that he’d left part of the kiss in. At the time (4:25 am), the abrupt cut had seemed funny. In retrospect, he’s a moron.

Kenma sighs. He scrolls down the comment section. On the plus side, most of the commenters seem to think that it was all just a joke, so at least there’s that. The people who already shipped him with Kuroo are having a field day. Kenma sighs again. It’s fine, he supposes. It looks like just a visual gag, and it’s not like he’s about to clue his audience in on what actually happened. All in all, things could be worse. He can only hope that their friends don’t watch this one.

In all honesty, he’d debated whether to post the video at all, but he’s not shy talking about sex and this kind of stuff always brings in the views. He’s lucky that he still does some of his own editing. He would have never even considered giving that footage over to someone else. Well, except for Kuroo. It only felt fair for him to have a copy, so he’d sent the raw footage to him the next morning with the subject line: Amature Pornography. 

Kuroo had replied, “Tiny Twink Takes Massive Load From Well Endowed Hunk,” which made Kenma snort out loud.

It’s been about a week since they actually filmed the video. They’ve kept up the dating act with their friends, going out once with Koushi and Daichi for ramen and another time with Tooru for a quick boba run, when Hajime had to stay late at work. They’ve avoided spending more time alone with Keiji and Bokuto for the time being, since Keiji seems to be the most suspicious of them, but he knows they’ll have to do it soon. 

Kenma knows how the situation would sound to an outsider, Oh you had sex and you hang out most days and you’ve told everyone you know that you’re dating? So, you’re dating. But Kenma knows they’re not. It’s different. It doesn’t really matter what everyone else thinks if the two of them know it’s not real. It’s not like Kenma doesn’t want to have sex again. It was good (really good), and they can’t exactly go around having sex with anyone else when their friends think they’re a couple. And...well, Kenma doesn’t really want to have sex with anyone else, if he’s being honest. It’s been a long time since he’s had such a satisfying fuck, and the best part was that there was no awkwardness after. No small talk, no when-can-I-see-you-agains. 

Kenma rolls over. He had been trying to sleep, but it just wasn’t happening so instead he’s been scrolling through comments on the Truth or Drink video for way too long.

A message notification flashes at the top of the screen. He taps on it. 

From: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> are you up?

To: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> yeah

From: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> I watched the truth or drink vid

>> it was funny

To: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> my audience thought so too

>> they thought it was a joke

From: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> well that dildo is sort of ridiculous lol

>> you’ll have to show me how you fit it inside you sometime

To: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> oh?

From: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> sorry

>> am i making you uncomfortable

>> was the sex like, a one time thing?

To: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> no you’re fine

>> it would be fun i meant

From: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> oh

>> cool lol

To: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> i feel like this should feel more weird lol

From: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> i know what you mean

>> it’s like. too easy

To: Kuroo Testuro

>> btw do you wanna do a mario kart vid with me tomorrow? 

>> we should prob do a normal one together after that chaos lol

From: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> oh i can’t sorry

>> i’m crazy busy all week, prob gonna do tons of overtim

>> overtime*

To: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> oh okay

He doesn’t get any more messages for a couple of minutes. He’s reading tumblr posts on Pinterest when the next notification pops up.

From: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> [Voice Message]

>> [Voice Message]

Kenma taps play on the first message. 

There’s the sound of shuffling and then Kuroo speaks: “Almost dropped my phone on my face. Anyway, I’m too tired to type, so,” Kenma hears Kuroo take a deep breath, “I hope this isn’t weird, but my coworker asked if I’m dating anyone today, and I said yes. They don’t know any of our friends, so I could’ve said no, I guess. I hope that’s okay. Also, I had a dream about you last night. You were -” 

The message cuts off. Kenma rolls onto his back. He taps play on the next message and sets his phone on his chest with the speaker facing towards him.

“Sorry, uh. What was I saying? Oh yeah, you were standing in my room - like my room when I was a kid - and you had all these flowers. And I was there too, except I was a kid. Oh, but you were you now. Anyway, you kept giving me flowers and when I asked what they were for, you went, ‘You look like you need them’. It was a nice dream.”

From: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> [Voice Message]

Kenma taps play and relaxes into his pillow, closing his eyes.

“Except then it turned into a nightmare. You weren’t there anymore, or like, you became my mom instead.”

That makes Kenma’s heart hurt. Kuroo doesn’t have a lot of memories of his mom, but they’re all bad ones. He puts his hand softly around his phone. 

“And she was yelling at me. She said no one will ever want to be around me, no one likes me, she doesn’t like me. Um,” Kenma hears Kuroo swallow. “Yeah, but it was just a dream, so. It’s-that’s okay. Um. Yeah.”

The message ends.

Kenma picks up the phone to record his own voice messages.

“I like you,” he says. He sends it. 

He taps to record another, “I had a dream last night that I was on a hike with a bunch of people, and I hated it obviously, but then it was nighttime - like, it wasn’t before, but then it was. And I was alone -”

He sends it so he doesn’t run out of time and taps to record another one.

“And there was this deer in front of me, and it told me it wasn’t safe. But then I heard your voice in my ear asking if I was ready to leave, and it sounded really loud, like you were right there in real life, and I woke up.”

Kuroo replies after a minute or so.

From: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> i was, i snuck in

To: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> that’s crazy. You’re so sneaky

From: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> we should try to sleep

To: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> yeah

From: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> goodnight 

>> love you

To: Kuroo Tetsturo

>> goodnight.

>> love you too

Kenma only hears from Kuroo a couple times sporadically throughout the week. He feels kind of lonely by himself. Even though technically he’s usually by himself, Kenma supposes. It ends up being a full week and a half before he sees Kuroo in real life again. On Thursday, Keiji texts in the group chat they have with him and Bokuto (the one they use for favours and plans) asking if they can go out for dinner Sunday night, and after a brief discussion in their private messages, Kenma and Kuroo agree.

Kenma is immediately worried when Kuroo comes to pick him up. He looks really, really, tired. 

“Kuro, are you sure you want to go?” he asks, “I don’t want you to burn yourself out even more keeping up this lie that I made you go along with.”

Kuroo smiles at him, “Kenma, if I didn’t want to go along with it, I wouldn’t have. It’s really fine.”

Kenma makes an involuntary pout, “But you said you’re busy next week too.”

Kuroo laughs softly, “You’re cute when you’re worried,” he says.

Kenma moves his mouth to the side in an attempt to change his expression from cute to scowly. Kuroo just smiles more.

He pokes a finger into Kenma’s dimple, “We won’t stay long,” he says, “And then I’ll come back and crash at your place. I have extra clothes this time.”

Kenma sighs through his nose and Kuroo accepts it as the agreement that it is.

“Come on,” Kuroo says, tugging gently at Kenma’s sleeve.

When they arrive at the restaurant, Bokuto and Keiji are already outside, looking at something on Bokuto’s phone. Kuroo slips his hand into Kenma’s, and Kenma thinks how nice and warm it is compared to his. 

Bokuto spots them and waves, “Heyy, guys!” he calls.

Kuroo waves back, but waits until they’re closer to respond.

“Hey,” he says back.

Kenma and Akaashi join in with their own greetings.

“What have you two been up to lately?” Keiji asks, his eyes sliding between Kenma and Kuroo.

Kenma takes the proverbial mic, “Not much, Kuro’s been really busy at work.”

Kuroo yawns and then inhales deeply, “Yeah. Off-season’s nearly over,” he says.

His thumb runs absently up and down Kenma’s palm as he speaks. Kenma glances at Kuroo, he tends to get extra touchy when he’s tired. When they were little, after late nights he would often end up falling asleep against Kenma’s shoulder while watching him play games.

“Should we go in?” Bokuto smiles at the group, placing a hand on Keiji’s lower back.

They head inside where the host seats them at a booth.

“That sucks that you guys haven’t been able to hang out!” Bokuto says once the host has left.

“Yeah,” Kuroo pulls Kenma’s hand into his lap under the table. “Things’ll calm down in a week or two, but we’re working with a lot of new athletes this year.”

He tips his head towards Kenma, “I’m sending a lot of our older athletes his way though, so that’ll lighten my load a little.”

“That’s good,” Keiji says, and then, “We saw your video together last week.”

Kenma can tell he’s been waiting to bring it up. Damn, he was really hoping they wouldn’t see that one. It’s one thing for a bunch of strangers to see it and another thing entirely for their friends to see it. 

Bokuto laughs, “You guys flirt a lot, I can see why you’re dating.”

Kenma forces a laugh, “Yeah.”

He’s really hoping now that they won’t ask about the cut where they had sex or about the dildo.

Their waiter walks up to the table and bows, “Hello, would you like anything to drink?”

Kenma and Kuroo both order iced tea, Bokuto gets water, and Keiji gets coffee and a water. Their waiter makes a note and walks away to retrieve their drinks.

Keiji leans on his elbow, “I was wondering…”

Oh no.

“Was that how you got together?”

Kenma freezes. 

No, he burns, his cheeks heating up as he registers what Keiji has just asked them. Yes? No? He swallows. 

“Um,” he says intelligently.

“Sort of,” Kuroo says. Kenma looks up at him gratefully. 

He’s not even really sure why he’s so embarrassed, he just knows that Kuroo’s vague response is a better answer than the one he was unable to give. 

“Yeah,” he breathes. 

The waiter returns with their drinks. He takes their orders (it’s a common meetup spot for them so they all know what they want without even opening their menus) and steps away again.

Keiji may be curious but he isn’t rude or vindictive, so he leaves the topic alone after that. 

Kuroo asks them how work is going and Bokuto tells them about the strict training regimen they’re on since the season is approaching. He describes it like it’s torture, but he’s beaming. It reminds Kenma of Hinata, the two of them are too similar sometimes. Kenma feels grateful in the back of his mind that he’s never been on the same team as either of them, with their intense, boundless, energy and dedication to the sport. To be honest, he’s pretty sure he couldn’t have clicked with another team the way he did with Nekoma. He only played for one year without Kuroo, but if he hadn’t had Tora or Fukunaga with him, he probably would have quit. Actually, even his underclassmen hold an important place in his heart. Not that he’d ever tell that to Lev.

“Sounds rough, Bo,” Kuroo grins tiredly. “How about you, Akaashi?”

“Things are going well at work,” Keiji says. He’s interrupted briefly by the arrival of their food, but goes on to (affectionately) tell them about what a mess the person he works with is, always working right until the deadline. Apparently Keiji has taken to immediately editing the pages he’s done with so that there’s nearly no delay between completion and publication. To be honest, Kenma isn’t really sure what he’s talking about. He reads a decent amount of manga (or rather, he does when he has the time) but it’s not an industry he’s particularly familiar with.

Keiji is saying something about printing time versus the online publication when Kuroo lays his head on Kenma’s shoulder. A tingly warmth blossoms in Kenma’s stomach and he turns to look at Kuroo. Kuroo’s eyelids are heavy and his breath is slow. Kenma pats a gentle hand on his hair. 

He suddenly realises that Keiji stopped talking.

“Oh, sorry,” he says, “You can keep talking, I was still listening.”

Keiji just smiles, “You know, I kind of thought you guys were lying about dating before. But I can tell now that I was wrong, I’m sorry for doubting your word.”

“Oh,” Kenma’s voice falters. “That’s. That’s okay.”

He looks back at Kuroo. His eyes have closed, his lips just barely parted as he dozes. 

Kenma touches his face, “Kuro, are you going to eat?” he asks quietly.

“Hmm,” Kuroo slips an arm behind Kenma’s back and hugs him around the middle without opening his eyes. Kenma sighs, but he can’t help the little smile on his face.

“Sorry, I think he hasn’t been getting much sleep,” he says to their friends.

“That’s okay,” Bokuto says, his voice lower than normal, “Let him sleep, we can wake him up when we’re done.”

Kenma feels a little swell of gratitude in his chest for his friends.

The three of them chat quietly for the rest of their meal. Kenma tells them about the upcoming projects he has planned in collaboration with The Japan Volleyball Association, one of which is with one of Bokuto’s teammates, Miya Atsumu. At one point, Hinata had been on the same team as them as well - he was even Kenma’s first volleyball/gaming collaboration at the time - but he’s now living in and playing for Brazil.

When they’ve finished, Kenma asks their waiter for a take-away box for Kuroo’s food. Kuroo stays snuggled against his side even when Kenma reaches over to pile the food into the box. Once they’ve paid though, Kenma wakes him up by running a hand through his hair until he stirs.

“Hm? Kenma?” he mumbles.

“It’s time to go, Kuro,” he says softly.

Kuroo blinks a couple of times, looking sweetly at Kenma before he registers the situation, “Oh no, did I sleep through dinner? Oh no, I’m so sorry,” he says, his voice a little raspy.

He sits up and looks around at Keiji and Bokuto, “I’m so sorry guys,” he repeats.

They wave it off. 

“Don’t worry about it, bro.”

“Yes, it’s completely alright. I hope you get some rest at home.”

Kenma holds out a hand, “Keys.”

“No, no, I can drive,” Kuroo insists.

“Keys,” Kenma repeats, a warning in his voice.

“...okay.”

After they’ve said their goodbyes outside the restaurant, Kenma drives them home in Kuroo’s car. He doesn’t like driving, but it’s obvious his boyfriend is in no state to drive. 

Boyfriend? This is pretend. It’s just…for show.

Kenma takes a deep breath, “Kuro, can you put some music on?”

Kuroo hums, lifting his head from where he’s resting it on the window. He takes out his phone and plugs the aux cord in, searching for a moment before playing something. 

The first beats play and Kenma already knows what it is. He smiles, Kuroo loves the Mamma Mia soundtrack. At this point Kenma’s heard it so many times could probably be woken up by The Winner Takes It All in the middle of the night and start singing along without wasting a breath. 

He lets the lyrics fill his brain, singing along to Lay All Your Love On me. Kuroo bobs his head sleepily next to him, joining in on the chorus. Kenma hates singing around other people, the overwhelming discomfort of it too much for him, but Kuroo is an exception.

Kuroo seems to gain a sort of loopy energy when Super Trooper comes on (he was thrilled when Mamma Mia 2 came out), marching his arms and pointing at Kenma, making him laugh. They shout the lyrics, laughing when they notice an old couple in the car next to them at a stoplight staring. 

Halfway through Honey Honey they make it home, but Kenma keeps the car running until it’s finished. When he turns the ignition off, the quiet feels like the kind that penetrates your bones. He looks over at Kuroo, who grins wide at him. Kenma can tell how drunk he is off of sleep-deficit. He smiles back at the sleepy boy. 

“What’s up?” he asks.

Kuroo leans over and bumps his head on Kenma’s shoulder, “I love you,” he says.

“Is that all?” Kenma pats his head, “I love you too. Are you hungry?”

Kuroo stretches, “Mmmm, a little.”

“How about you eat your food from the restaurant and then go to bed?”

Kuroo pouts, pulling his eyebrows together, “I don’t want to.”

You’re such a kid like this , Kenma thinks.

“You’ll get hungry in the night if you don’t eat anything,” Kenma says gently.

Kuroo sighs dramatically, “Okay.”

“Okay. Come on then, let’s go up.”

When they get upstairs, Kenma makes Kuroo change into sleep clothes while he reheats his dinner. He’s opening the silverware drawer when he feels Kuroo’s arms hug him around the waist from behind and his chin rest on top of his head. 

“Hello,” Kenma says, pulling a fork out.

“Mm,” the sound rumbles through Kenma’s body.

“You want to go sit at the counter?”

“Okay,” Kuroo mumbles. The arms reluctantly slide away.

Kenma takes the food out of the microwave and sets it in front of Kuroo. He hands him the fork and pulls up a stool next to him.

“Eat,” Kenma instructs the sleepy man. He leans an elbow on the counter, watching to make sure he does as he’s told.

As Kuroo chews, he seems to wake up a little.

 “You know,” he says, “ Mamma Mia 2 was really good, but it should have featured the original cast more.”

“Mhm,” Kenma humours him. He’s heard this speech a hundred times before.

“Especially Meryl Streep, it’s crazy that they only had her in at the very end.”

“Uh huh,” Kenma prompts his hand to keep picking up food with a touch.

Kuroo takes a bite and swallows before continuing, “Obviously, getting Super Trooper was a big reward though. And Cher.”

Kenma smiles at Kuroo’s wide eyed expression.

“I mean, I do sort of wish she hadn’t been an almost villainous character, but she played it so well that I really can’t complain. And she sounded incredible, obviously.”

Kenma leans in and kisses Kuroo softly on the lips.

Kuroo’s mouth tilts up into a smile, “What was that for?” he asks.

“Just because,” Kenma says, “Go on.”

“Amanda Seyfried was, of course, perfect,” Kuroo continues.

When they’re finally in bed, Kuroo’s arm heavy on Kenma’s stomach, no sound in the room except his slow breaths next Kenma, Kenma looks up at the ceiling and thinks about their first kiss. 

They were teenagers at the time. Kenma was sitting at Kuroo’s desk explaining a new strategy he’d thought of for an upcoming volleyball match. On Kuroo’s computer there was a paused image of the game that had inspired his train of thought. It was arguably a bit of an evil plan. Without warning, Kuroo had placed a hand on his face, leaned down, and kissed him.

“What was that for?” Kenma laughed.

“Nothing,” Kuroo said, smiling. “Keep going, I want to hear more.”

They didn’t talk about it, Kenma didn’t even think about it. Nothing else happened between them, it just felt natural at the time. Yet here he is, over ten years later, that kiss finally running through his brain. It’s like that moment got put on hold and it’s just now finally registered. Kenma wonders if Kuroo thought about it. Did he miss some signals afterwards that were referring to something more? No. When he had asked Kuroo if he’d ever thought about them dating, he’d said no, and Kuroo doesn’t lie to him. What about now , he thinks, Does he think about it now?

He rubs a little circle on Kuroo’s arm with his thumb.

“Kenma,” Kuroo sighs.

“Yes, Kuro?”

He rubs his face against Kenma’s shoulder and then relaxes. He must still be asleep. Kenma rolls over to face him and softly strokes a hand over his cheek. It’s a little rough with stubble. Kenma likes it when he looks like this, not so perfect. It feels like a special version of Kuroo just for him. 

“I think I like you,” he whispers. “Do you like me?”

“Mm,” Kuroo mumbles.

Kenma smiles and closes his eyes.

Kuroo’s week has been crazy. Every day there’s a list of a million things to be done and it feels like the list just gets longer by the end of the day. He feels needed and important, but also so tired. He’s working off of a frantic energy that releases the moment he gets home, leaving him limp and lifeless. 

He misses Kenma. Normally he sees him at least a few times a week, but they’ve barely even been texting. He knows Kenma is just trying to be considerate, that he doesn’t want to stress him out with texts he needs to reply to, but talking to Kenma is a comfort, not a burden. Also, if he’s being honest, he’s really horny. After the first time, he’d kind of wanted to do it again. But instead he hasn’t even been bothering to spend the time it takes to jerk off on his own, and it’s making him feel a little wired. 

Kuroo sighs. This suuuucks. He wants to see Kenma do a magic trick and make that dildo disappear, but instead he’s eating microwave ramen while finishing up some work from the office. He forces himself to focus for another ten minutes before snapping his laptop shut and tossing the empty ramen container. 

Kuroo wants to talk to Kenma. Kuroo is going to talk to Kenma.

He flips the lights off and gets into bed before texting him. 

To: Kozume Kenma

>> hey

>> i miss you

He waits. Kenma might be wrapping up some work himself. While he’s waiting, he picks up his Switch and opens up Link’s Awakening. He’s not like Kenma where he can play any game on expert-mode without breaking a sweat, but he’s doing all right on his own in it for the most part. He’s only asked for Kenma’s help a couple times, and only one of those times was actually asking him to defeat a boss for him. He’s digging up a seashell on the beach when Kenma replies.

From: Kozume Kenma

>> i miss you too.

>> sorry, i saw you message me but i wanted to finish working out first

To: Kozume Kenma

>> oh? are you super strong now?

From: Kozume Kenma

>> yeah i did some bicep curls and now i can lift a truck

To: Kozume Kenma

>> Super Kyanma

>> send me a pic, i want to see your massive biceps

From: Kozume Kenma

>> i did more core today tbh, so it doesn’t look like much

To: Kozume Kenma

>> send me a pic of your abs then

From: Kozume Kenma

>> Lol. Okay one sec

He doesn’t hear from Kenma for a couple minutes while he presumably is taking a picture for Kuroo.

From: Kozume Kenma

>> [Image Attachment]

Kuroo taps on it.

“Fuck,” he breathes out loud.

The picture is angled like it was taken from just below Kenma’s face, looking down towards the waistband of his pants. His abs are defined but not protruding, giving way to the slopes of his waist. He actually has a gentle V line that Kuroo didn’t notice before, but the thing that really makes Kuroo’s mouth water, is the way that V travels under the elastic waistband stretched across his hips, the way his hip bones lift it so there’s a gap on either side of his center abdominals that Kuroo can imagine dipping a finger into, and more so than any of that, is the way that Kenma is dipping his own fingers into one of those gaps, pulling down at the waistband in a way that Kuroo is sure is intentionally suggestive.  

To: Kozume Kenma

>> are you trying to make me wish i was there?

From: Kozume Kenma

>> why? See something you like?

To: Kozume Kenma

>> i see a lot of things i like

From: Kozume Kenma

>> such as?

To: Kozume Kenma

>> well those fingers are definitely going somewhere i’d like to

From: Kozume Kenma

>> oh well. too bad you’re not here i guess

Kuroo laughs to himself. What a brat.

To: Kenma Kozume

>> you’ll just have to do it for me

>> go on, do as daddy says

Kenma doesn’t reply for a minute after that. Kuroo picks at his phone case while he waits for a response.

From: Kenma Kozume

>> yes daddy 

>> [Image Attachment]

Kuroo taps on it immediately. This picture is taken from a similar angle as the previous one, but this time Kenma’s hand is shoved under the waistband, obviously stroking his erection and he can see the shiny, pink tip of Kenma’s dick. Kuroo feels more than a proportionate amount of blood rush downwards for what isn’t the spiciest text ever. Something about the whole situation is doing it for him though. The mixture of being horny to begin with, combined with how dirty it feels to be called daddy , and most of all, the fact that somehow he can do this to Kenma. Turn him on like this. It’s almost a power trip to know that he can turn his friend, someone who he knows to be calm and level-headed, into an unbelievably hot, teary, fucked out mess. 

Kuroo pushes a hand into his underwear and squeezes at the tip.

Kenma’s phone flashes with the new message from Kuroo.

From: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> good boy

It’s embarrassing that that’s all it takes for precum to gush over Kenma’s fingers. He types out his next message with shaky fingers.

To: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> can i see yours?

He gets a reply about thirty seconds later.

From: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> [Image Attachment]

Kenma taps on it. He takes a breath that’s not quite a gasp. He’s always known that Kuroo is strong, but the view of his well defined abs and his large, hard cock in hand, the muscles in his forearm tensed as he presses a thumb to side of it...Kenma can’t quite put it into words, but it’s enough to make the blood throb in the head of his erection. He takes his time to write exactly what he wishes he could do to Kuroo. It’s been a long couple of weeks.

To: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> I’d love to run my tongue over your abs and then take your cock in my mouth and just suck until i can taste the salt from your precum in my mouth

From: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> fuck Kenma

>> would you let me fuck your mouth?

Kenma starts to properly stroke himself, god yes, of course he would.

To: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> yes, please. use me as your fucktoy

From: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> I’ll use you so good, and then i’ll pull out and come on your pretty little face. you’ll be good and eager and ready for it right?

To: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> yeah, come on my face, come all over me. I’ll be good, i’ll be so good for you

From: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> imagine your viewers seeing you all filthy like that with my cum

>> what would they think if they saw you on your knees for me?

He can imagine it, being on display for the whole world like that, taking it from his best friend like a filthy little cum slut. Kenma’s pace quickens. He can’t think properly about what he’s supposed to be typing anymore.

To: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> im your little cum slut theyd all see it

From: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> they couldve seen it too the way you were all spread out fot me on canera

Kenma can’t fault him for the typos, it took him three tries for his last message, and he can’t be bothered to fix his next one. 

To: Kuroo Tetsuro

>> i loved it theway you soread me open with your cock

That barely makes sense. It doesn’t matter. He’s close.

His phone vibrates with an incoming call from Kuroo. He answers and lifts it to his ear.

“I want to hear you come,” Kuroo says in his ear.

“Yeah,” Kenma’s voice shakes. “I wanna - ah - hear you too.”

“Come for me, baby.”

Kenma gasps into the receiver. 

Kuroo is breathing hard but he keeps talking, “That’s it, come on, that’s a good boy.”

“I’m good?” Kenma manages.

“The best,” Kuroo croons into his ear.

Kenma comes with a short moan that cuts off into gasps as he strokes himself through it, spilling over his hand. 

He hears Kuroo come on the other end of the line with an, “Ah, Kenma ,” and then short shuddering breaths until he sighs and his breath evens out.

Kenma closes his eyes and listens to Kuroo breathe on the other side, relaxing into the post-orgasm stillness for a moment.

He reaches over to his nightstand for a few tissues and cleans himself up. He wipes his hands and then tosses them into the nearby trash can. 

Kenma takes a deep breath before speaking, “I feel like I haven’t heard your voice in forever,” he says.

“Yeah, me too,” Kuroo says, “I really do miss you. We’re not meant to be apart.”

Kenma smiles, letting the feeling of Kuroo’s words sink under his skin.

“Yeah,” he says, “we’re not.”

The first time Atsumu did one of these Kodzuken videos for the JVN, he was still half-convinced they were a scam. At this point he’s done more than a few of them over the last few years, and it’s by far his favourite piece of marketing that he’s participated in. He can actually act like the real human being that he is, there’s nothing to memorize, he’s allowed to swear, and if he’s a bit of an asshole, Kodzuken just seems to find it funny. 

Kenma , Atsumu mentally corrects himself. It turns out that he actually likes Kodzuken’s content, and becoming a regular viewer has accidentally solidified his name as Kodzuken in Atsumu’s mind. Kenma is way cooler than he thought he would be. He’d seen him at tournaments a couple of times in high school, and at the time he’d definitely judged him a little too harshly. In all fairness, at the time he judged everyone pretty harshly. But he’s a changed man. A more mature one, or whatever.

He knocks on the door to Kodzuken’s apartment. It opens after a few moments to reveal Kodzuken in his own merch - an oversized hoodie that Atsumu actually owns, but was too embarrassed to wear today - ripped jeans, and slippers. 

“Hey, how’s it going?” he greets Atsumu with a friendly but relaxed smile.

“Good! How’re you doin’?” Atsumu steps inside and removes his shoes.

“Good,” Kenma replies automatically. “There are extra slippers there, if you’d like,” he points to a pair of fuzzy white slippers in the genkan.

“Oh, cool thanks,” he slips them on and then follows Kenma down the hall to his living room, where there’s a camera set up under the TV, “So what’re we playin’ today?”

Kenma moves to switch on his Xbox, “I was thinking we could play Overcooked and then maybe do some Rocket League, if that’s alright with you? That way we can get two videos out of it, since we’re doing pre-recorded stuff today.”

Atsumu mills around the room as Kenma speaks, taking in the knick-knacks displayed on shelves on the walls.

“Yeah, whatever you think is good,” he says. He spots a picture with a familiar face, “Oh yeah, I saw your video with Kuroo!”

Kenma stiffens in the corner of his vision. Atsumu turns to look at him.

“The Truth or Drink one?” Kenma asks, his expression unsettlingly neutral.

“Oh uh, yeah,” Did he say the wrong thing? “It was really funny, and stuff,” Atsumu hurries to include.

“Right, thanks,” Kenma looks at the ground. He’s quiet for a second before speaking again, “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, ‘course.”

“You’re dating Sakusa Kiyoomi, right?”

That didn’t go in the direction Atsumu expected, “Oh, yeah I am. How’d you know?”

“Kuro told me,” Kenma says, “Though I probably could’ve guessed by how he looks at you during timeouts.”

Atsumu feels a little rush of endorphins in his heart. He’ll have to tease Kiyoomi about that later. He’s such a secret sweetheart.

“Were you guys friends for long before you got together?” Kenma asks.

“Oh yeah, we’ve been friends since high school but I saw ‘im at tournaments even before that, sometimes,” Atsumu tips his head, “Why do ya ask?”

Kenma sighs and runs a hand through his hair. The motion reminds Atsumu of the times he’s seen Kuroo stressed on the phone when he’s come to meet with the players. Kenma seems to resign himself to a decision in his head.

“I like Kuro,” he says finally, “Please don’t tell Bokuto about this, he thinks we’re already dating.”

“Wait, I thought y’all were datin’ too,’ Atsumu says, befuddled, “Just like, from the videos you do together. I figured ya just weren’t tellin’ yer audience yet.”

“We just told our friends that because we wanted them to stop setting us up on terrible dates,” Kenma holds up his hands, “Wait, you thought that because of our videos?”

Atsumu leans his arms on the back of the couch. It feels like he’s dipping his toes into some drama, and he wants to know more.

“Well yeah. I mean, there’s a reason so much of yer audience ships you guys.”

Kenma raises an eyebrow. Shit, Atsumu just exposed himself as a not-so-casual viewer, well that’s fucking embarrassing.

Kenma’s already moved on, he looks deep in thought, his eyebrows furrowed. He takes a seat on the couch, holding onto a controller in each hand.

“I just. I never thought about it until recently,” he mumbles.

“What didn’t ya think about?” Atsumu asks. He moves to sit next to Kenma.

Kenma looks up. He chews on his lip for a moment before speaking, “I just didn’t ever think about whether I liked him or not. And I have no idea if he likes me.”

Atsumu bursts out laughing, making Kenma jump like a scared cat. 

He holds out a hand, “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya, but that was just too funny,” he grins, “Do y’know that Kuroo mentioned ya to me the first time we met?”

“Well, he was approaching you about doing a collab with me,” Kenma says.

“No, no, no, no,” Atsumu’s grin widens. He can’t believe that this was him just a year ago, so oblivious. “Not then. The first time we met, we just ran into each other in front of a T-shirt booth at Nationals. We kinda chatted about stuff while we were lookin’ y’know, and then he starts talkin’ about his setter, Kenma.”

Kenma is looking at him intently, so he continues, “Tellin’ me about how he’s the heart and soul of his team, the glue that holds them together - standard stuff, we’re all pretty pumped at that kinda competition - but then! But then he just looks at the ground and goes, ‘I’d do anything to see his smile,’ which was, at the time, the gayest shit I’ve ever heard,” Atsumu shakes his head, “I couldn’t even laugh at him, cause I don’t think he was sayin’ that part to me.”

Kenma’s mouth is open. He seems speechless. Luckily for him, Atsumu’s a talker.

“Listen,” he says to Kenma, more seriously this time, “I dunno if he had any idea what he was sayin’ then, but I’ve seen the way he looks at ya now. If he’s lookin’ atcha like that on camera, I’m guessin’ he’s looking at you even sweeter when yer alone,” he turns away, rinsing his hands of the situation, “Seriously, if you don’t believe me, just watch yer own videos, you’ll see.”

Kenma is silent for another moment, and then he swallows and takes a deep breath like he’s reactivating. 

He hands Atsumu a controller, “Overcooked?” 

He smiles at Atsumu, and Atsumu feels a difference in it. Like maybe the smiles he gave him before weren’t quite fake, but this one’s a lot more real than those were. And maybe Atsumu kind of gets it, what Kuroo was talking about. Not that he’d take anyone’s smile over Kiyoomi’s.

He takes the controller and smiles back, “Let’s do it.”

Kuroo is free. He’s free! He’s finally done with the pre-season rush, and he can relax for a little bit. Tomorrow he’ll go see Kenma, and he won’t even have to rush home to finish up his work, he can even get a proper night’s sleep tonight. 

Ah, feels good.

He opens up his laptop. He’s intending to pick out a show to watch but then he remembers the video that Kenma sent him a few weeks ago. He never actually got around to watching it and now seems as good a time as any. 

He’s never made a sex tape before so he’s not entirely sure what to expect (not that this was an intentional sex tape). He does have a mild concern that he looks super gross during sex. On the other hand, it could be...well he’ll just watch it and see.

He watches it from beginning to end. It’s not gross. It’s actually really, really, hot. He looks pretty decent to be honest, but Kenma...wow. He could be a deity. His long hair and flushed skin and golden eyes, and more than all of it, the way he’s looking at Kuroo. Like he’s everything in that moment. Like he could melt into his arms. Like a blessing, a spell, a path to follow. He’s so unbelievably gorgeous.

Kuroo jerks off to it. Obviously. 

Not even thirty seconds after he finishes, there’s a knock at his door. Kuroo whips his head around. It has to be Oikawa, no one has timing like him. He stuffs himself (and his mess) into his shorts and goes to answer the door. 

He swings it open. Sure enough, Oikawa.

“Can we hang out?” Oikawa asks immediately. He looks Kuroo up and down, “Why are you out of breath?”

“You know most people text first,” Kuroo grins, “Come in.”

Oikawa takes off his shoes and heads down the hall while Kuroo shuts the door, “Seriously, why are you out of breath?” he calls behind him.

“I just jerked off,” Kuroo calls back.

“Ew.”

“You asked,” Kuroo joins Oikawa in the living room. “I actually need to shower real quick, you can just hang out for a few.”

Oikawa shoots him a casual salute and plops onto the sofa, pulling out his phone.

Kuroo tries to be quick in the shower, just spending enough time to scrub the grossness off of himself. If he’s showing up without warning, Oikawa probably has something specific he wants to talk about. He towels off, puts on a clean pair of boxers and some sweatpants, and opens his bedroom door to head back out to the living room. He hears something playing in there as he walks out.

Oikawa looks up at him with wide eyes, “Kuroo, what am I watching ?”

“Hm?” Oh shit, he knows what’s playing, he knows those sounds. He hastens over to Oikawa, where he sees the video of him and Kenma fucking onscreen. He immediately slaps the spacebar, “Dude!”

“You two were having sex!” 

“We-we’re dating!” Kuroo’s face is hot, “Why were you even watching it?”

“I thought it was one of Kenma’s youtube videos!” Oikawa says, his ears also bright red, “And, to be fair, it was but then you two started...doing it!”

“So what? We’re dating anyways,” the still of Kenma in the splits over Kuroo’s lap is mocking him. He reaches over and swipes the laptop closed.

“I know that you’re not!” Oikawa bursts.

Kuroo is shocked silent for half a moment.

“...what?”

“I know you’re not,” Oikawa says again, more quietly this time. “Iwa-chan told me. He’s always right about this kind of stuff.”

“Oh.”

They’re both uncomfortably silent for a moment.

Oikawa speaks again, “So what exactly was that?”

“It was just...a hookup. The camera just happened to be on. We forgot about it,” Kuroo says, feeling embarrassed.

“That,” Oikawa says pointedly, “Was not a hookup.”

“What?” Kuroo says defensively, “It was, we’re not actually dating.”

“Yeah, I know. Like I said, Iwa-chan is never wrong.”

“Then what are you saying?”

Oikawa rolls his eyes, “I’m saying , why the hell aren’t you dating? That is not the way that two people who aren’t in love look at each other.”

Kuroo doesn’t know what to say.

Oikawa softens his voice, “You like Kenma, don’t you?”

“I haven’t-I don’t-”

“Kuroo,” Oikawa says firmly, looking him in the eye. “You like him.”

Kuroo looks down. He nods.

“You should be dating. For real,” Oikawa forces him to make eye contact again.

Kuroo swallows and averts his gaze, “Can we talk about whatever it is you wanted to talk about?” he asks. His voice feels sort of rough.

Oikawa sighs lightly, “Yes.”

They have coffee on the couch while they talk. Kuroo avoids mentioning Kenma again and if it’s out of character for him, Oikawa doesn’t say anything. 

It turns out what Oikawa wanted to talk about was the possibility of him and Iwaizumi moving to Argentina.

“I miss it,” he says. “It’s not fair to Iwa-chan, but I want to live there again.”

“I’m pretty sure Iwaizumi wouldn’t mind moving anywhere in the world if it was with you,” Kuroo says.

“Thank you. I have a lot to think about,” Oikawa sighs.

“Well if you move, we’ll miss you guys. You’ll figure it out though. You’ve got pro-level decision making skills.”

Oikawa smiles.

When Kuroo walks him to the door after their talk, Oikawa turns around suddenly with a mischievous grin, “I hope you know I’m going to tell Iwa-chan all about your sex-tape.”

Kuroo rolls his eyes with a smile. It’s nice that Oikawa isn’t the type to be serious for too long.

“Well if you make a competing tape, just know that it’ll never be as good,” Kuroo says teasingly.

“You’re on! Although I don’t know if Kenma will be up for that kind of a trade,” Oikawa snickers.

Kuroo raises an eyebrow, “You never know, I’m getting the feeling for some reason that Kenma may be a bit of an exhibitionist.”

Oikawa squeezes his eyes shut, “Oh my god. I don’t know if I love that or if I’m upset just thinking about it.”

Kuroo laughs, “Go home to your partner, I’m sure he misses you.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll see you later,” He leaves with a little wave and Kuroo shuts the door behind him. 

That night, before going to sleep, Kuroo looks back through his and Kenma’s texts. He comes across a conversation from a couple of weeks ago and taps on one of the voice messages Kenma sent him.

“I like you,” Kenma’s voice says.

He plays it again.

“I like you.”

Kuroo stares at the audio bars. He plays it again.

“I like you.”

“I like you.”

“I like you.”

Kuroo sighs, dropping his hand and the phone to his chest.

“I like you too.”

From: Kozume Kenma

>> do you want to do a vid together? since you’re finally free

To: Kozume Kenma

>> yes

>> definitely 

>> kick my ass baby

From: Kozume Kenma

>> lmao super smash bros it is

>> oh actually since i’m streaming tonight, we can play then

To: Kozume Kenma

>> coolcool i’ll come over right after work

>> i don’t wanna wear work clothes on your stream though, do you have any of my clothes?

From: Kozume Kenma

>> just a shirt i think

To: Kozume Kenma

>> i’ll bring clothes then

>> okay i’m gettinm late for work ttyl

From: Kozume Kenma

>> gettinm

To: Kozume Kenma

>> shut up lol

From: Kozume Kenma

>> see you tonight daddy <33

Kuroo thinks about that last text from Kenma all day. It’s just a joke, Kenma always jokes around like that. But that was before he’d ever moaned it desperately as Kuroo fucked into his pliable little body. Maybe it’s just a joke, maybe it’s not, all Kuroo knows is that it’s made him inconveniently aroused, and now he’s at Kenma’s door and he’s supposed to stream with him not fuck him so it’s definitely not the right feeling to have, he should be feeling competitive and friendly not feeling like he wants to bend his best friend (whom he has actual feelings for) over a table and fuck him until he cries daddy .

Deep breath, dude , Kuroo tells himself.

He unlocks Kenma’s door and steps inside. Kuroo shivers. He forgot how cold Kenma tends to keep it when he’s streaming. The more frustrating and competitive games make him heat up and even removing that hoodie that he’s always got on doesn’t help. It is funny though, how the chat blows up when he takes it off. Kuroo snickers to himself thinking about it.

“Kuro?” Kenma says from the other room.

“It’s me,” Kuroo calls back. He walks down the hall to Kenma’s living room.

Kenma’s standing in the middle of the room on his phone. He’s in a too big hoodie and boxer briefs. A few weeks ago, that wouldn’t have meant anything to Kuroo.

Kenma glances up, “Hey.”

He goes back to typing. Kuroo drops his folded clothing onto the sofa. His eyes wander over Kenma’s body, trailing along his legs and tracing the soft hairs that have escaped his bun. Half of his hair is down and Kuroo thinks about how much shorter it used to be when they were in school. He thought it was long then too, but the length now suits Kenma even more. He looks angelic in a way. 

Oh, Kenma’s looking at him. Never mind, that’s a little devil if he’s ever seen one. 

Kenma smirks, “Can I help you?”

“I want to have sex with you,” Kuroo admits.

Kenma laughs, “Sounds fun, but I do have a stream scheduled.”

Kuroo smiles and sighs dramatically. He strides over to Kenma and slides his hands under his hoodie. Kenma looks up at him, a smile on his face as well.

“Why do you have to be responsible, hm?” Kuroo murmurs.

Kenma slides his arms around Kuroo’s neck and raises himself onto his tiptoes, “Sorry,” he whispers. 

He kisses Kuroo and it’s soft, and his lips are a little cold, and he smells so nice. Kuroo’s arms tighten around Kenma’s waist. They kiss for probably a little too long, but it still feels too soon when Kenma pulls away.

I like you.

“You need to change clothes before we stream right?” Kenma asks, looking up at him. He’s so pretty, with his soft lips and golden eyes.

I like you.

“Yeah,” Kuroo says softly.

He picks up the clothes he brought with him and goes into Kenma’s room to change. The air conditioning isn’t on in here and it’s warm and silent. He switches from his office clothing into gym shorts and a muscle tee, leaving his slacks and dress shirt on Kenma’s dirty laundry chair.

Kuroo stays in the bedroom for an extra moment before going out. He’s not sure when it happened. There was no moment of realization. There was no change in the way he feels. It’s just that Oikawa asked and suddenly it felt like saying no would be a lie. He runs a finger along the spines of the One Piece volumes on Kenma’s bookshelf. Bump. Bump. Bump. He wonders if Kenma knows. Bump. Bump. He wonders how Kenma feels. Bump. 

Kuroo removes his finger from the books.

He goes back out into the living room. It’s like walking into a refrigerator.

Kenma has dragged an extra chair over to his desk and is standing bent over, setting up the audio and video capture for them. 

“Smash?” Kuroo asks.

Kenma speaks without looking away from the screen, “I was thinking we could do Minecraft actually. If that’s okay.”

“Sure, whatever you want,” Kuroo walks over to Kenma. There’s a vent pointed directly at the desk and the cold air gives Kuroo goosebumps.

“Can I borrow a jacket?” he asks Kenma, “I forgot how freezing you like it when you stream.”

Kenma finishes what he’s doing and straightens up. He looks at Kuroo and grins. He runs a hand over Kuroo’s arm, smoothing out the goosebumps.

“Sure, baby boy.”

“I’m not a baby!” Kuroo says, pretending to be upset.

Kenma laughs and reaches up to pinch his cheek, “I’ll go get you one,” he goes into his bedroom briefly and returns with a piece of his own merch, “Here, I wanted to give you this one anyway.”

He hands Kuroo the hoodie and takes his seat at the desk, slipping a pair of headphones around his neck. Kuroo pulls the sweatshirt over his head and adjusts it before sitting next to him and grabbing the extra pair of headphones Kenma has ready for him. He puts them around his own neck and looks down at the sweatshirt. It’s pretty simple, plain black with the words hey friends printed in the center in small lettering. It’s nice. 

“You ready?” Kenma asks. On-screen there’s a little animated chibi cat version of Kenma and the words, “Stream starting soon”. 

“Yep.”

They both put their headphones on and Kenma takes a breath. He switches over to his webcam view and the chat goes wild.

“Hey friends,” Kenma says. He gives the camera a relaxed smile, “How’s it going, everybody?”

Kuroo just watches him. It’s not his time to talk yet and it feels good to watch Kenma do what he does best.

“Whoa,” Kenma says, “I know you guys are excited that Kuro’s here, but I’m gonna put it on sub chat only for a little, ‘cause I can’t read your messages.”

He changes the chat settings and then keeps talking, “So me and Kuro are going to be playing some Minecraft on Xbox. Since we’re playing locally, it’ll be split-screen, which isn’t my favourite, but at least my monitor is pretty big.”

Pretty big is an understatement.

Kuroo grins, “I’m starting to think you don’t know the difference between pretty big and absolutely enormous.”

Kenma laughs, obviously also remembering the pink dildo situation. 

He elbows Kuroo, “Shut up, we have guests,” he says, cocking his head towards the screen.

The chat floods with questions:

IllegalWench

wait what are you guys talking about???

murphyslaw

is that a reference to something

ColeslawPitchfork

i wanna be in on the joke!!!!

beautyandthebench

What are they talking about? @mods?

“ Anyways ,” Kenma says, ignoring the chat, “We’re going to start a fresh world. We’ll have cheats enabled, but we’re probably going to stick to survival anyways.”

Kenma switches over to another screen where Minecraft is already running and minimizes the webcam so it’s in the corner of the stream. Kuroo picks up his controller.

“Here we go,” Kenma says, clicking on New World . 

He sets it up and they join the world. Kenma’s already signed Kuroo in so he’s playing with his regular skin, which is essentially him in a maid outfit. Kenma made it for him years ago and he never changed it, and after playing occasionally with Kenma on stream over the last few years people recognize it as his skin so he probably won’t ever change it. 

Kenma’s skin is another custom one - him in his red Nekoma uniform, the number 5 on the chest. His hair is short though because he preferred the way that looked with the blocky avatars.

“Should we build a house?” Kuroo asks.

“Yeah, let’s find a spot while we get supplies.”

While they break down trees and make basic tools, they answer questions from the chat.

“Uhh, we’re not doing mods because I didn’t feel like doing a big setup today,” Kenma says, glancing between the chat and the tree he’s punching.

Kuroo tosses an axe at Kenma, “Someone asked if we hang out every day,” he laughs, “Actually we do usually see each other almost every day, but I’ve been really busy with work lately.”

He makes a couple of wooden swords and looks at the chat again, “What do I do? I work for the JVA, anytime you see volleyball players on Kenm-Kodzuken’s channel it’s ‘cause I sent them his way,” he resumes making tools.

“He’s being really reductive right now,” Kenma says, “If you want to know more about what Kuro actually does, we talked about it in a couple of videos. One of the mods can link the Kuro playlist in chat, if you guys like.”

EggPeasant

!Kuroo

Nightbot

Kuroo Tetsuro is Kodzuken’s best friend and a marketing lead at the JVN. Check out vids of him and Kodzuken here! >> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_xkCsFFB6a5-ZhpQS-ylJddYm9NqzHLi

“Thanks Egg,” Kenma says, “Kuro, come here, I think this is a good spot for our house.”

Kuroo turns around, “Where’d you go? I mean I can see where you are, but how did you get there?”

“Just keep going that direction. Yeah, where the cliffs are.”

“Ooh, this is nice. Lots of flowers.”

“Yeah the sun is setting though and we don’t have any swords,” Kenma’s character jumps off a ledge onto a slightly lower one, “Broke my legs.”

“I made a couple of wooden ones. Here.”

“There’s zombies behind you.”

Kuroo turns around, “Oh my god, there’s so many zombies!”

Kenma laughs.

“Kenma help me!” Kuroo shouts as he tries to run away from the horde, “I don’t have any food!”

Kenma cackles again and leaps down, whacking a zombie as he lands. He manages to save Kuroo, but Kuroo ends up with only half a heart.

“You good?” Kenma asks.

“Yeah, I just need some food.”

“Want some zombie flesh?”

“Yeah, gimme,” Kuroo crunches down the poisonous meat. “Okay, I should find a pig or something though.”

He takes one step and immediately falls down a hole to his death, “Oh my god.”

Kenma laughs so hard he starts tearing up, “Immediate!”

Kuroo sighs heavily and drops his forehead onto Kenma’s shoulder.

“It’s okay,” Kenma says, still grinning, “It’s not like you had anything good yet.”

“I had coal!”

“You can get more coal, don’t worry.”

“And I had tools…”

“They were only wooden ones, I’ll make you more,” he pats Kuroo’s head, “There, there.”

Kuroo lifts his head, “Oh good, a creeper. Another creeper. Fantastic. Like seven more creepers,” he grumps.

“Don’t be like that, I’ve already made you another pickaxe.”

“When’s morning coming?” Kuroo whines.

Docosahexaenoic blew up.

Kenma snorts, “I made some torches, come here.”

“What do you think I’m trying to do right now?”

“Sun’s coming up.”

“Thank god,” Kuroo looks over the field of monsters, “Burn motherfuckers.”

“We’re playing on normal, HeroWorshipper.”

“You don’t have to rub it in!”

Kenma laughs, “They asked.”

He tucks a leg under himself and it shifts his body so it’s touching Kuroo’s. 

“Okay, I’m back. Do you have stuff for me?”

Kenma climbs out of the mine he’s digging, “Yeah, one sec,” he plants himself in front of Kuroo and spits out a few tools, a stack of wood, torches, and a couple of pieces of meat.

“Ooh, food.”

“There’s a furnace over there, I didn’t put any coal in it yet though.”

“Okay, bring me back some coal, I’ll start building a house.”

Kenma looks at the chat and laughs, “Do we have sleepovers? Yeah sometimes.”

Kuroo laughs too, “Did somebody ask that? They’re not exactly sleepovers. More like I’m old and tired and I don’t want to drive home so I stay over.”

Kenma rolls his eyes with a smile, “You’re not old, you’re only 28.”

“Yeah, that’s old to most of your audience,” Kuroo stacks planks as he talks, “Remember being sixteen?”

“No.”

Kuroo laughs, and Kenma looks his way with a grin.

“Fair enough.”

They keep playing and answering questions from the chat, Kenma coming up every once in a while to give Kuroo supplies at the foot of his mine, and by the time Kenma resurfaces for real, Kuroo has built a house and a garden in their cozy little grove.

“Welcome home, honey,” he says.

“My, what a lovely home we have, dear,” Kenma replies.

“Only the best for my husband. Would you like a tour of our humble abode?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Kuroo sees the chat freaking out at their casual roleplay. He points to it out of view of the camera and Kenma gives it a good-natured eye roll.

“I’d love one, sweetheart,” Kenma turns and smiles at Kuroo in real life. Kuroo’s chest pools with warmth.

That’s the smile. He’d pay money to see that smile.

Kuroo bites his lip to keep from smiling back too hard, “Okay, come inside,” he leads the way in, “So here’s the crafting table and furnace, and over here are our beds, and we have a little potted plant here - and the best part! This cat wandered in! I was going to tame it but I didn’t have string for a fishing rod and I lost those sheep from earlier, so I just trapped it in here for now. But it was a calico, so I had to keep it for you.” 

Kuroo looks over and realises Kenma is looking at him again and not at the screen.

“What is it?” he asks.

Kenma tips his head to the side, “I like you,” he says.

Kuroo’s breath catches in his throat. It sounds even better when it’s real. When he means it like that. And Kuroo can tell, from the sweetness in his honey eyes, that he does. It sounds so good.

Kuroo catches his breath, “I like you too,” he says.

Kenma smiles at him, and it’s that perfect, real smile. The best one, the one he never gives to anyone else. Kuroo’s favourite.

Kuroo’s eyes flick down to Kenma’s lips. He looks over at the screen, where the stream is very much still running.

“I want-I know that we’re still-” he gestures distractedly to the screen, “But can I-”

“Yes.”

Kenma reaches up and pulls Kuroo’s face towards himself and kisses him where the whole world can see. Kuroo kisses back like he’s a blessing, a spell, a path to follow, a path he’ll never stop following.

He pulls a centimeter away, “I love you,” he breathes.

“Yeah,” Kenma says, like it’s obvious, “I love you too. And I like you too. I like you so much.”

Kuroo pulls him back in and kisses him again and Kenma kisses back like they’re alone and like there’s nothing to return to and like he’s trying to make up for twenty years of missing kisses.

When they finally pull apart Kenma laughs breathily, like he’s giddy and drunk from kissing and Kuroo laughs with him.

“I’m going to go catch some fish for that cat,” Kenma says, his smile so big.

Kuroo smiles back, so wide it almost hurts.

“Okay,” he says, “I’ll join you.”

(That night Kenma cries out yes daddy while folded over the edge of his bed. Meanwhile online, a clip from Kenma’s stream goes viral.)

One Year Later

Kuroo unlocks the door and lets Kenma inside before following behind him. A calico cat comes trotting up to them, letting out high pitched mews as she runs. 

“Hello Kitten,” Kenma says, leaning down to pet her.

“I’m telling you, we gotta give that cat a real name before Kitten sticks,” Kuroo says, locking the door behind them.

“But you are a little kitten,” Kenma coos, scratching her little head. She looks happily up at him, her eyes half closed, “Where’s Pirate?” he asks the cat.

A much sleepier looking black cat appears. 

“There he is,” Kuroo says. He kneels down, “Come here, Pirate.”

Pirate yawns and then shakes his head vigorously before going to Kuroo. He rubs against Kuroo’s knee and slides along the side of his leg.

“Do you think they’ll be okay tonight?” Kenma asks.

“They were okay the last time everyone came over,” he leans down and kisses the black cat on the head.

“Yeah, but Hinata and Kageyama are visiting.”

Kuroo snickers, “You mean Hinata and Bokuto are going to be together for the first time in a year and a half.”

“Well. Yeah.”

Kuroo lays down on the floor with his knees up. Kitten takes this as an invitation to walk on his stomach.

“Oof, you’re getting big, Kitten,” he strokes her spine, gently pulling along her tail, “It’s okay, they can hide in the bedroom if they get overwhelmed.”

Kenma lays down next to him, “Yeah. We should bring the groceries in.”

“Who’s gonna tell them?” Kuroo nods at the cats.

Kitten is leaning against Kuroo’s side cleaning herself and Pirate is softly headbutting Kenma’s shoulder.

Kenma looks at the cats, “Okay, five minutes.”

Twenty minutes later, they bring in the groceries. They still have plenty of time before the party so Kenma makes coffee while Kuroo feeds the cats.

They lean over the kitchen counter together, sipping their coffee and chatting.

“I am going to miss them,” Kuroo says.

“Yeah,” Kenma agrees, “It’ll be quieter without Tooru and Hajime.”

“Oikawa especially, with that loud mouth.”

“He’s not even here to hear you make fun of him right now,” Kenma says, raising an eyebrow.

“Exactly! What am I going to do when he’s gone?”

Kenma laughs, “You’ll just have to find something else to do,” he accidentally dips his thumb into his cup, “Oops.”

Kuroo watches him set the cup down and lick the coffee off of his thumb.

“I have an idea what I’d like to do,” Kuroo says.

“Oh?” Kenma grins. He obviously knows where this is going. 

“Accidentally” my ass.

“Yeah,” Kuroo says, “I think I’d actually uh...like to do my boyfriend.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Kenma smirks.

Kuroo sets his coffee down and takes Kenma’s face between his thumb and forefinger, tilting it up. He weaves his other hand into Kenma’s hair and squeezes tight.

“ Mnh ,” Kenma’s eyes melt into Kuroo’s.

Kuroo leans in and kisses him, licking into his mouth, relishing in the sweet taste of his boyfriend’s tongue. He pulls away, smiling as Kenma tries to chase his lips.

“I love you,” Kuroo says.

Kenma smiles sweetly up at him, “I love you too.”

“Should we take this to the bedroom?”

“Yes, please,” Kenma takes Kuroo’s hand and leads the way. 

As Kuroo follows his boyfriend to their bedroom, a very similar memory comes to mind of seven year old Kenma taking his hand and leading the way. He squeezes Kenma’s fingers. 

And Kuroo thinks to himself, I’m so lucky to be loved by you .