Kuroo’s assistant, Takahashi, tentatively stuck his head into the conference room, where Kuroo was currently listening to a pitch about doing a joint press venture with the baseball league. It was interesting, but not enough that he didn’t notice his assistant’s frantic finger-pointing and beckoning.

Kuroo murmured a quiet “Sorry” and excused himself from the table, stepping out to converse with Takahashi. Takahashi wouldn’t bother Kuroo unless it wasn’t urgent.

“Sorry, sir, but I’m so glad Suzuki-san informed me about the situation, I—” he began. Kuroo held up a hand. Takahashi was trustworthy and brilliant with a spreadsheet program, but he could also run on for hours if one didn’t force him to cut to the chase.

“Takahashi, what exactly happened?” Kuroo said. Takahashi shot him a confused look, then his eyes widened almost comically.

“Kuroo-san, did you not see your ring?” he asked. In their world, because of some god’s whim or something, everyone was born with a ring tattoo on their right ring finger. It acted like some sort of mood ring… for your soulmate. Blue meant sadness, red meant anger, green meant disgust or jealousy, yellow happiness, gold pride, so on, so forth. When you met them, the ring would flare a bright, distinctive color. Kuroo had been fortunate enough to witness his flare as a measly 8-year-old, and Kenma had been stuck with him ever since.

Kuroo automatically glanced down at his right hand. Shit, he cursed. It was black all the way through—that was not good. That meant that something had set off Kenma’s panic attacks—a bad one, because Kuroo couldn’t see the swirls of grey that meant that his fiancée wasn’t completely lost yet—and Kuroo felt horrible for not noticing.

Takahashi gulped. Kuroo had momentarily forgotten that his assistant existed. “There’s more, Kuroo-san.” he said warily, as if approaching a wild animal.

“What?” Kuroo snapped, then shook his head quickly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.” Takahashi smiled gently, a reassuring one meant to placate Kuroo’s wild emotions. “It’s okay, Kuroo-san. Um… are you sure you want to know what’s going on with Kozume-san?” he grimaced. It must be bad for Takahashi, of all people, to be making negative facial expressions. “Just tell me.” Kuroo barked. He winced. “Sorry, didn’t mean that either.”

Takahashi replied, “It’s alright. Anyways, it seems that when Kozume-san beat out that beauty youtuber, Alice007, for the first Japanese Youtuber to get 10 million subscribers today, she went on a tangent on Twitter and caused a lot of her fans to start attacking Kozume-san. They… also mentioned you.”

Kuroo’s head whipped up. “What?”

“Apparently, Alice-san’s sister went to Nekoma High too and believed that she was your soulmate. If the tweets are any indication, both of them are a little, forgive me for saying this in a professional setting, delusional.” he said apologetically. Kuroo wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. On one hand, the love of his life was being torn down online. On the other hand, Takahashi was finally saying something negative about a human being.

Kuroo tipped his head back.

“Well, I’m heading home. Sorry for flaking out on the meeting, but can you please tell them a brief summary of what’s going on? Don’t go into too much detail though, Kenma values his privacy.” he requested. Takahashi nodded. God, Kuroo was lucky to have his assistant. “Thanks, Takahashi, you’re a lifesaver. Why don’t you take Friday night out and take Mizuki-san,” Takahashi’s 158cm tall spitfire soulmate who always seemed to have an infinite supply of dirty jokes, “out on a date?”

Takahashi allowed a small smile to break his professional face. “That would be very nice, Kuroo-san. Thank you. Now go, Kozume-san needs you.” he said, shooing Kuroo down the hall towards the elevators.

For someone who acted so demure while working, Takahashi sure could be forceful when he wanted to.

｡ₓ ू ₒ ु ˚ ू ₒ ु ₓ｡

Kuroo nudged the door to his and Kenma’s two-bedroom (one was Kenma’s streaming room) open. His arms were laden with bags from the nearby grocery store, filled with Kenma’s favorite comfort foods, a few new video games, and a box of prescription meds for his anxiety that Kenma had slowly moved on from.

“Kenma?” he called down the hallway. No response, except for sounds of muffled sobbing coming from their bedroom. Kuroo kicked off his shoes and set the bags down, heading down the hall to investigate.

He cracked open the door a few centimeters, and there Kenma was, curled up in a ball on the king-sized mattress, phone an arm’s length away, screen cracked. Kuroo tracked his eyes to the correspondingly-sized dent in the wall. He walked in, sitting down next to Kenma’s prone form, but not touching him.

“Hey, kitten.” he greeted quietly. Kenma reached for his sleeve, rubbing his hand twice, up, down, on Kuroo’s wrist. Ah. That was the signal for when he had gone nonverbal but wanted Kuroo to give him physical and verbal affection.

Kuroo scooped Kenma up into his arms, tucking him into his lap as he rested his chin on top of Kenma’s head. “I’m sorry people are being assholes, Kenma. I hope you don’t believe them, because they sure as hell aren’t true.” Small hiccups as more tears ran down Kenma’s face.

That was alright. Sometimes, Kenma just needed someone to hold him and tell him that he was alright.

“I bought that game you wanted. Overcooked? Yeah, that was its name. We can try it out when you feel up to it. Maybe invite Akaashi and Bokuto over. Chibi-chan and Kageyama too, if they’re in Tokyo.” Kuroo continued.

“You know, all these people love you, Kenma. It doesn’t matter what people online think, especially when they’re just following a deranged leader.” Kuroo reassured him.

Kenma looked up at him questioningly. Kuroo sighed. “Yeah, I heard. I have no idea who Alice-san’s sister is,” he said in response to Kenma’s silent question, “besides, I trust our parents and our own memories more than some beauty guru who can’t take being beaten.” he scoffed.

Kenma took a few deep breaths, a sign that he was slowly calming down. Kuroo rubbed comforting circles down his back. “T-Tetsu.” he murmured. “Am I a bad soulmate because I’m not that affectionate?”

Kuroo jolted, then cupped his hands gently around Kenma’s face, leaning down to press a light kiss to his lips. “No, Kenma, never. I know you love me, and you know I wouldn’t have you any other way. You’re my kitten, remember?” he reminded. Kenma nodded slowly. Good. Kuroo breathed a slight sigh of relief in his mind. It had been months since he had needed to do this.

Kenma continued, speaking even quieter. “Will everyone leave me? Am I going to be lonely in the end?” he asked. Kuroo’s heart ached. He knew that that had always been one of Kenma’s insecurities—that his aloofness would drive people away from him. “Kenma, if you’re alone, then I’ll be alone with you.” Kuroo said resolutely.

Kenma broke down into a few sobs, hopefully getting it out of his system. “T-Tetsu, they found our address.” Kuroo froze. “What?” Kenma nodded. “Yeah. S-someone sent me a red paint-stained picture of me with a knife stabbed through my f-forehead.” he struggled to get out.

“Shh, shh, Kenma, I’m here now. Don’t force yourself if you don’t want to talk.” Kuroo reassured.

Shit. They had both known that this could become a probability when Kenma had started getting famous, and they had been lucky for a few years, but someone finding out at this moment was just bad luck.

Kuroo wrapped his arms tighter around Kenma’s smaller frame. “Don’t worry, kitten, I’ll protect you. Always and forever, remember?” he said with a cheeky smile, pointing at the band (the metal one) around Kenma’s left ring finger.

Kenma’s quiet, melodic chuckle filled the air.

Kuroo chanced a glance down at his right ring finger. It was still dark and murky, but there were traces of pink and a pale color that he hoped was yellow. It wasn’t back to usual, but they were getting there.

｡ₓ ू ₒ ु ˚ ू ₒ ु ₓ｡

A few hours later…

Curled up on the couch, Kenma fiddled away at his PSP. Kuroo plopped down next to him, holding two steaming cups of chamomile tea. “Tetsu, I placed an order for a new phone.” Kenma said, not looking up from the phone.

“Oh also, you’re still going to have to pay half the rent for our new apartment. I’m not going to be your sugar daddy, no matter how much you beg.” Kenma deadpanned.

Kuroo snorted. Nothing ever really changed with his Kenma.

｡o°✥✤✣ 　　 ✣✤✥°o｡

Kenma couldn’t recall when exactly it happened. All he knew was that he was in love with his best friend, Kuroo.

It had started as admiration towards him before developing into affection and eventually, love.

He had these feelings for Kuroo and yet, he couldn’t do anything about them. He certainly couldn’t tell Kuroo how he felt about him. He feared that if he did, then their ten years of friendship would ultimately be shattered. Kuroo would become disgusted by him and decide to distance himself from him so that he would have nothing to do with him. Just the thought made Kenma sick to his stomach.

So, he decided it was best to keep quiet about his feelings for him.

It didn’t matter if it hurt.

It didn’t matter if his feelings were never reciprocated.

He had to protect their friendship.

If he could keep their friendship the way it was, then he wouldn’t mind keeping his love locked away.

He could bear with it...couldn’t he?

❤️🖤❤️🖤

Kuroo could clearly recall when exactly he had fallen for his best friend, Kenma.

It was his tenth birthday. Kenma had come over for a sleepover at Kuroo’s house. At the time, Kuroo’s parents weren’t exactly on good terms and fought frequently. That day wasn’t any different.

His parents had started arguing loudly after the two boys went to sleep for the night. Kuroo had started crying upon hearing the arguing and Kenma held him, rubbing his back and whispering soothing words to him. He then wiped away Kuroo’s tears and kissed him on the forehead, causing Kuroo to calm down and stop crying.

To Kenma, who was nothing more than an innocent nine year old at the time, he probably did it because he believed that a simple forehead kiss would be enough to assuage Kuroo and get him to stop crying. But to Kuroo, it did things to him. He started feeling things that a ten year old boy wouldn’t have ever imagined feeling.

That night, he had fallen in love with Kenma Kozume.

But, he had this feeling that Kenma didn’t feel the same way. He still acted like he usually did around him. Lev kept insisting that Kenma liked him too, but he knew better than to believe anything Lev said.

Eventually, he began to lose faith in his love for Kenma. He started convincing himself that Kenma didn’t feel the same way and that he should just hurry up and move on.

So, when Chinatsu, a girl in his grade, had approached him with a confession letter, he saw it as an opportunity to move on from Kenma.

Maybe a relationship with someone was something he needed at the moment.

He looked up as Chinatsu made her way over to him, dirty blonde hair pulled into a simple braid.

“G-Good afternoon, Kuroo-kun! I heard that you wanted to talk to me?” she asked.

“I did, Hashimoto-san.” he pushed himself off the wall and turned so that he was facing her. “So, I thought over your confession. I wouldn’t mind if we started going out.” he said.

“R-Really?” her cheeks flushed red as she stared at him in surprise.

“Yeah. Besides, I think you’re pretty cute.” he smiled. “I have a thing for girls with long hair, after all.” he said.

“I...I see...” she trailed off.

“So, seeing as we’re dating now, you don’t have to be so formal with me. It’s only natural to be on first name basis. Don’t you think so, Chinatsu?” he asked.

“Ah! Y...You’re right!” Chinatsu exclaimed.

“Indeed. So, I’ll call you Chinatsu and you can call me Tetsurou. Sound good?” he asked.

Chinatsu nodded.

“Yes...” he watched her expectantly, waiting for her to say his name. “...Tetsurou.” she said.

Kuroo smiled.

“Great.”

❤️🖤❤️🖤

Kenma and Lev were in the gym later that evening, Kenma helping the first year with his spiking practice. Yaku was there as well, throwing the volleyballs so that Kenma could set them for Lev.

As they went through the motions, they talked about what happened during school hours. Yaku brought up some gossip that started floating around the third years pertaining one of the professors, Lev talked about his home ec class, and Kenma mentioned the cat he saw during lunch break.

Kenma set another ball for Lev, watching him spike it as Yaku spoke.

“Man, practice felt so weird today.” he commented.

“You mean when Kuro ended up leaving early, right?” Kenma asked.

Yaku nodded as he grabbed for another volleyball.

“Yeah! That guy never leaves early, especially when it comes to volleyball!” he pointed out.

“Oh, you didn’t hear? Kuroo-senpai has a girlfriend now!” Lev chirped.

Yaku threw the volleyball for Kenma to set for Lev, but it ended up hitting the net instead. Kenma stood where he was, eyes slowly widening.

“Wait...what?” he asked.

“He didn’t tell you? That’s surprising. I thought that since you’re his closest friend, he would’ve told you first.” Lev noted.

Kenma slowly shook his head.

“No...I never heard anything like that...” he trailed off.

“He actually has a girlfriend? What a shock.” Yaku drawled sarcastically.

“He does! Her name is Chinatsu Hashimoto. She’s also a third year, just like Kuroo-senpai!” Lev explained.

Lev’s voice sounded far away as Kenma tried to make sense of what was going on.

Kuroo is dating someone.

Kuroo is dating a girl.

Kuroo is dating someone and he never heard about it.

Kuroo.

Is.

Dating.

Someone.

He felt sick, his stomach turning as Lev spoke.

“It kind of sucks that he’s dating someone now, though.” he shot a glance at Kenma. “If you had just told him how you felt about him, then this could’ve been avoided.” he stated.

Yaku arched a brow in confusion.

“Huh? Tell Kuroo how he feels?” he reached for another ball. “Am I missing something here?” he asked.

“Yeah! You see—“

“No, you’re just imagining things. Lev’s spouting out bullshit, as usual.” Kenma cut Lev off, raising his voice a little higher than he would like.

“I’m not spouting bullshit! It’s the tru—“

“I need to go to the locker room and grab my jacket!” Kenma reached up to rub his arms. “Man, is it cold in here or is it just me?” he asked.

He began to make his way out of the gym.

“I’ll be back soon!” he called out from over his shoulder.

“Uh...alright?” Yaku answered uncertainly as Kenma stepped out of the gym.

Once he was out of their line of vision, his hands dropped from his arms and he began running towards the locker room, his heart constricting painfully.

It hurt.

It hurt so much.

He should’ve known that this was bound to happen eventually. Kuroo was going to find himself a cute girlfriend that suited his tastes and start going out with her. He was going to spoil her and spend more time with her and forget that Kenma existed.

He knew this was eventually going to happen and yet it hurt so damn much.

He pushed the locker room door open and he stumbled in, closing it behind him just in time for the tears to start spilling out of his eyes. He choked on sobs, body shaking as he slumped down onto on the floor with his face in his hands.

He knew unrequited love hurt, but was it supposed to hurt this much?

He sobbed louder, head tipping back to rest against the door.

Maybe he wouldn’t have loved Kuroo if he knew being in love with him would hurt to the point of him breaking down.

If he had known earlier...he wouldn’t have loved at all.

❤️🖤❤️🖤

Kenma stopped coming to school. He even stopped coming to practice.

It was like he had mysteriously dropped off the face of the earth.

And that concerned Kuroo.

He hadn’t heard anything from his friend ever since he had gotten together with Chinatsu. He never texted, he never called, and every time Kuroo came by to see him, he would claim to be feeling under the weather. He didn’t even show up for the third year’s graduation ceremony.

Kuroo found himself in front of Kenma’s house after the graduation ceremony. He gripped his diploma in his hand.

You can’t turn back now, Kuroo. It’s now or never, he told himself.

“Um...should I knock on the door?” he heard Chinatsu speak hesitantly beside him.

“Ah...uh, yeah, you can.” he replied.

Chinatsu nodded before reaching over and knocking on the door.

The door opened moments later to reveal Kenma’s mother, who had a grim look on her face.

“Oh...Tetsurou...” she trailed off.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Kozume.” he greeted.

She then looked over at Chinatsu.

“And this is?” she asked.

“Ah, this is Chinatsu. She’s my girlfriend.” he looked at Chinatsu. “Chinatsu, this is Kenma’s mother.” he introduced.

“Ah! It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Kozume!” she greeted as she bowed.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, as well.” Mrs. Kozume replied.

Kuroo’s eyebrows furrowed at the distressed look on the older woman’s face.

“Is something the matter? You look really upset, Mrs. Kozume.” he commented.

Almost instantly, she burst into tears.

“Oh, it’s just so terrible...” she trailed off.

Kuroo swallowed as he looked at her.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Kenma, he...he’s not here!” she exclaimed.

Kuroo felt his heart begin to pound against his rib cage.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“I...I found a note in his room...I think he ran away...” she spoke in between sobs.

His heart dropped.

“I need to see it for myself.” he said before stepping into the house and making his way over to the staircase.

“Ah! Wait up, Tetsurou!” Chinatsu called out as she took off after him.

He raced up the stairs and stormed down the hall to Kenma’s room. The bedroom door was open slightly when Kuroo approached it, stepping into the room.

The room was abnormally clean, the window open to let a cool breeze blow through. It felt like Kenma had never slept in there, to begin with.

His eye caught a yellow piece of paper sitting atop the bed sheets. He made his way over to it, picking it up and reading what was written on it.

I need to disappear for a while. I don’t know when I’ll come back, but I just need to be alone. I’ll try and contact you once I get settled in. I’m sorry for leaving so suddenly. Also, make sure to tell Kuro not to worry about me. I’ll be fine. Also, make sure he’s not lonely. I’ll become worried if that’s the case. Again, I truly am sorry.

-Kenma

Kuroo felt a constricting pain in his chest as he read the note. He felt himself begin to choke up as he heard Chinatsu speak.

“Tetsurou?” she called out, reaching to place a hand on his shoulder.

He stiffened at the touch.

“I...I need to be alone for a little bit. Can you please go downstairs and comfort Mrs. Kozume for me?” he asked, voice cracking.

“Oh...yes, of course...” she trailed off.

She removed her hand from his shoulder and she left the room. As soon as she left, something warm and wet began trickling down his cheek. He reached up to swipe it away and realized that he was crying.

“What the...why am I...?” he wondered out loud, his voice was thick with tears.

Tears cascaded down his cheeks as he stared at the note again.

He had trouble pinpointing what caused him to start crying. He didn’t know if it was the note Kenma left behind, how empty his room was, or the fact that Kenma had run away to begin with, but it was something about this situation that cued the waterworks.

A lump had begun to form in his throat as he tried to think of what made Kenma decide to run away. He knew that Kenma had been acting strangely as of late, but he couldn’t think of anything specific that would upset Kenma enough to push him to leave. But, for some reason, he felt like it had something to do with him.

The thought stung a little.

He swallowed, hoping to get rid of the lump in his throat as he continued silently crying.

❤️🖤❤️🖤

Kuroo had decided to help find Kenma.

He went to places where he felt Kenma would be at, turning up with nothing each time.

Days turned into weeks.

Weeks turned into months.

Months turned into years.

Eventually, Kuroo just...gave up.

Maybe Kenma didn’t want to be found, he would tell himself sometimes.

And that hurt more than anything in the world.

❤️🖤❤️🖤

-Ten Years Later-

Kenma finished pulling his hair back into a small ponytail as there was a knock on the door.

“Yes, come in.” he called out.

The door opened to reveal a male with curly black hair and blue eyes behind white-rimmed glasses.

“Are you almost ready? We have to get going to the venue.” the male asked.

“I know, Keiichirou.” Kenma replied.

He gave himself one last look in the mirror, watching himself in the tuxedo that he wore. He found that he had changed quite a bit, choosing to stick with black hair and he had gotten two, silver hoop helix piercings two years ago. He ran his tongue along his bottom lip before standing up.

“Alright, let’s go.” he said, turning to face Keiichirou.

“Alright.” Keiichirou replied.

Kenma’s hand slipped into Keiichirou‘s as they stepped out of the room. They headed out of the apartment and proceeded to take the elevator down to the lobby.

“So...” Kenma watched the floor numbers decrease. “You were saying that the engagement party is for one of your coworkers, right?” he asked.

“Yeah. He proposed to her about two months ago.” Keiichirou explained.

“Oh...is that so...” Kenma trailed off.

They arrived at the lobby and they headed out towards Keiichirou’s vehicle, which was a deep blue Audi. They got in and Keiichirou began to drive them to the venue.

Soft music played on the radio. Keiichirou had his eyes on the road while Kenma stared out the window, watching the city lights whilst drumming his fingers along his clothed thigh.

Keiichirou released a small sigh as he turned onto the highway.

“You’re still not over him, are you?” he spoke.

Kenma’s breath hitched, his fingers coming to a stop. He rested his hand flat against his thigh as he continued staring outside.

“...I don’t know what you’re talking about, Keiichirou.” he stated.

“You do, Kenma. I’m talking about Kuroo.” Keiichirou said.

Kenma bit his lip, thoughts of Kuroo beginning to swirl through his mind. A single day hadn’t gone by when he didn’t think of him. He wondered if Kuroo worried about him, if he had tried searching for him.

When Kenma had gone to the States with Hinata and Kageyama for college, he had met Keiichirou and decided to date him in order to distract himself from his feelings for Kuroo. Yes, he had developed some feelings for Keiichirou.

But, in the end, he could never love Keiichirou as much as he loved Kuroo.

“You know, you seemed like you were having a bad dream last night, so I tried to wake you up. Then, I heard you say Kuroo’s name. So, I kind of figured that you still aren’t over him.” Keiichirou commented.

“I’m over him. I’ve been over him for a long time now.” Kenma stated.

“Look me in the eye and tell me that you’re over him, Kenma.” Keiichirou said.

Kenma swallowed at Keiichirou’s request. He breathed a small sigh before turning to look at Keiichirou.

“I’m over him, Keiichirou. I don’t have feelings for him anymore.” he stated.

Keiichirou exited off the highway and stopped the car at a traffic light. He turned to look at Kenma, examining his features. He then shook his head.

“I can tell when you lie.” he reached out and poked at Kenma’s cheek. “You have this thing where you bite the inside of your mouth after you tell a lie.” he stated.

Kenma lowered his gaze, knowing that he couldn’t fool him any longer.

Damn him for choosing to date a psychologist.

“You don’t need to feel bad, Kenma. I knew that this was going to happen eventually. Besides, you only began dating me because you wanted to stop thinking about Kuroo.” Keiichirou stated.

“But Keiichirou, I—“ he cut Kenma off.

“I know. You did begin to develop feelings for me at some point, but in the end, your feelings for Kuroo overpower your feelings for me.” the light turned green and Keiichirou turned left. “You know, I’ve been thinking this over for a while, but...I think we should break up.” he stated.

Kenma watched Keiichirou in surprise.

“Keiichirou—“

“I just don’t think it’s fair for me to be with you when it’s obvious your heart belongs to someone else. So, after tonight, we’ll break up.” the engagement party venue, which was a fancy hotel that looked like it came straight out of Paris, came into view. “I’ll begin to move everything out and I’ll just stay by a friend of mine until I’m able to find a place for myself. So, you don’t have to worry about moving out or anything.” Keiichirou explained.

Kenma wanted to say something in response, but decided not to as Keiichirou pulled into a parking spot. He cut the engine and the two of them got out of the vehicle.

“...I’m sorry.” Kenma apologized.

“You don’t need to apologize, Kenma.” Keiichirou replied as they made their way into the hotel.

“Okay...” Keiichirou pulled out the invitations from his tuxedo pants pocket and he looked them over. “So, the engagement party is being held on the second floor in the Mockingbird Ballroom...” he trailed off.

Keiichirou led Kenma up a spiral staircase to the second floor and they headed down the hall towards the ballroom. Kenma observed the vintage decorations in the hallway as they approached the ballroom. Keiichirou pushed the door open and they walked in.

The venue gave off an elegant feel with the fancy decor used to decorate the venue. There were many people crowded around by tables, conversing casually with one another.

Kenma swallowed as he looked around at his surroundings. He had never done well in social situations and this time wasn’t any different.

He then felt Keiichirou slip his hand into his own.

“It’ll be fine. Just stay close to me.” Keiichirou said.

Kenma slowly nodded as he let Keiichirou lead the way.

“Hm, I can’t seem to find Heisuke...” Keiichirou spotted someone up ahead. “Ah, that’s one of my coworkers. Maybe she knows where he is.” he cleared his throat. “Hashimoto-san!” he called out.

Hashimoto turned, smiling upon seeing Keiichirou.

“Ah, Tachibana-kun!” she responded.

She nudged the male standing beside her and said something to him as Keiichirou and Kenma got closer.

Kenma couldn’t help but notice that the male next to Hashimoto looked oddly familiar. The male turned and then, Kenma felt his breath catch.

The same hairstyle.

The same eye color.

The same facial features.

Kenma couldn’t mistaken him for anyone else. It was him.

Kuroo looked just as surprised the moment they locked eyes. His hazel eyes were wide as he continued to stare at him.

Hashimoto smiled as she waved.

“Hi, Tachibana-kun!” she greeted as she moved in to hug him.

As Hashimoto and Keiichirou engaged in small talk, Kenma found himself gazing at Kuroo.

Kuroo looked like he didn’t change much in the past ten years. From his hairstyle to the build of his body, he looked like the Kuroo he had known from way back then.

All at once, his feelings for him sprung up to the surface. He felt tears begin to fill up in his eyes as Keiichirou spoke.

“Ah, I should probably introduce you guys. This is—“

“Kenma...” Kuroo trailed off.

“K...Kuro...” Kenma breathed out.

A look of surprise momentarily flashed through Keiichirou’s eyes, but it quickly vanished as he cleared his throat.

“Do you two...know each other?” he asked.

“Yeah. We’re childhood friends.” Kuroo replied.

“Is that so...” Keiichirou trailed off.

Kenma noticed how Hashimoto was eyeing him curiously and suddenly, he felt very uncomfortable.

“Ah, I’m thirsty. I’m going to go get something to drink.” Kenma looked at Keiichirou. “I’ll be back.” he said.

Keiichirou nodded.

“Alright.” he replied.

He brought Kenma’s hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to his knuckles as Kenma’s hand slipped out of Keiichirou’s. Kenma failed to notice the look that crossed Kuroo’s face as he disappeared into the crowd.

❤️🖤❤️🖤

After downing three glasses of red wine, Kenma found himself on a balcony overlooking the hotel’s courtyard with a bottle of wine that he snuck out from the ballroom.

He hiccuped, clumsily popping off the cork and taking a swig as he leaned against the balcony banister. He let out a yawn as he heard a voice call out to him from behind.

“Finally found you.”

Kenma didn’t respond as he watched Kuroo move to stand next to him out of the corner of his eye. Kuroo rested his arms against the balcony’s banister, leaning against it.

“It’s been a while. Ten years, to be exact.” Kuroo shot a glance in Kenma’s direction. “How have you been?” he asked.

“Meh...been fine, I guess...” Kenma mumbled, eyes trained on the fountain in the courtyard.

“Is that so...” Kuroo trailed off.

Kenma brought the bottle back to his lips, taking another swig from it as Kuroo spoke.

“That guy...who exactly is he?” Kuroo asked.

“Mmmm...my ex...” Kenma mumbled.

“Your ex?” Kuroo arched a brow in confusion. “With the way he was holding and kissing your hand, it didn’t seem like he was your ex.” he pointed out.

“Iz cuz we broke up on the ride here...also...” Kenma turned his head to the side to look at him. “The hell do you care...? Go back to your chick or something and stop bugging me...” he grumbled.

“My chick?” Kuroo questioned.

“You know who I’m talkin’ ‘bout...” Kenma hiccuped, pushing himself away from the balcony. “If you ain’t gonna go, then I’ll just go first.” he said.

He took a small swig from the bottle before turning on his heel and beginning to walk away. As he was about to step back into the hotel hallway, he heard Kuroo call out to him.

“Why did you leave?”

Kenma turned, eyes narrowed and cheeks flushed red.

“Huh...? What you talkin’ ‘bout?” he asked.

“Ten years ago. Why did you leave? You never contacted me or anyone else during that time. We all thought something had happened to you! I was worried out of my mind! So, why?! Why did you up and leave like that?!” Kuroo asked.

“I left because of you, you stupid Kuro!” Kenma snapped.

Kuroo blinked his eyes in surprise.

“What?” he questioned.

“You heard me! I left cuz of—hic!—you!” Kenma took another swig from the bottle. “These feelings...everything I felt towards you...it all hurt! It hurt and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it!” he shouted.

“Wait, what? Feelings? Kenma, I don’t think I—“

“Goddammit, Kuro, I’m in love with you!” he threw the bottle on the ground, letting it smash into pieces as tears streamed down Kenma’s cheeks. “I’ve been in love with you for so goddamn long that I can’t even remember when I started feeling this way towards you! I wanted to confess to you so badly, but I feared that if I did, you would find me disgusting and end our friendship! So, I kept quiet about it. And then...And then that stupid girl came into the picture and when...and when Lev told me you were dating her, I couldn’t take it anymore! I stopped coming to school because I didn’t know how I would’ve reacted if I had seen you with her. I felt like I was going to become a hindrance to your relationship and I just decided to up and, well, leave. I tried getting over you, I really did. Hell, I even began dating Keiichirou when I had gone to the States with Hinata and Kageyama and yet, I couldn’t let you go. I wanted to stop loving you, but here I am, still in love with you!” he screamed.

Kuroo could only stare as Kenma dissolved into sobs, hugging himself tightly.

“You’re...in love with me...” he trailed off.

“You see...?” Kenma hiccuped. “You’re disgusted, I knew you would be...!” he shouted.

“I’m not disgusted! It’s just...I wasn’t expecting the reason behind your disappearance was because of that...” Kuroo trailed off.

Kenma snorted.

“That? That’s all it is to you? Just that?” Kenma let out a halfhearted chuckle. “I figured it wouldn’t mean much to you...” he said.

He diverted his gaze to the ground.

“Go back to that girl you were with...I just need some time to compose myself—“

“Kenma.”

“What n—“ Kenma drew in a gasp as Kuroo strode over to him.

He began backing up until his back hit the balcony door and Kuroo pinned him to it, cupping his head and leaning in. Kenma had little time to react as Kuroo captured his lips in a kiss.

Kenma’s eyes widened in shock, tears spilling down his cheeks. He moved his hands to try and push Kuroo away, but he found his hands fisting themselves in Kuroo’s coat as Kuroo pulled away.

“I really wish you had said something ten years ago.” Kuroo said.

“Huh...?” Kenma questioned in surprise.

“If you had just confessed to me ten years ago, then we wouldn’t be here right now. We could’ve been together by now. Hell, we could’ve even be married at this point.” Kuroo stated.

“I don’t understand what you mean...how could we possibly date and get married if you were with that—“

“I never loved her, okay?! I only dated her out of pure convenience!” Kuroo cupped Kenma’s cheeks. “The only reason I was with her to begin with was because I thought you didn’t like me back! Can’t you see, Kenma?! The person that I’m in love with is you!” he shouted.

Kenma blinked up at him, heart beating rapidly against his rib cage.

“You...love me...?” he whispered out.

“I always have and I always will, Kenma.” Kuroo said.

Kenma choked on a sob as Kuroo leaned in, pressing their foreheads together.

“I...I love you so, so much, Kuro...” he said in between sobs.