Singleplayer RPG

Chapter 14 - Redemption

Kenma felt his body being gently shaken. He slowly opened his eyes to see Kuroo whose hand was on his shoulder.

"Good morning, sleepy head," Kuroo said quietly, allowing Kenma he opportunity to wake up. Kenma sat up, looking around the room, but no one was with them.

"Is this another dream?" Kenma said rubbing his eyes. Kuroo raised an eyebrow, then gently pinched Kenma's hand. Kenma looked down, noticing that Kuroo's cat plush was beside him, though he has no idea how it got there.

"You slept like a rock last night. I suppose that isn't surprising since you haven't been able to sleep recently, but I hope you feel a bit better now."

"Where did everyone else go?" Kenma asked, scanning the room again with less blurry eyes.

"They got up early, so they quietly got ready to avoid waking you up," Kuroo said, his voice still very gentle. Kenma stretched his arms out, then pulled his phone out from under his pillow. Even though he hadn't charged it, it was still on a decent amount of battery. When he unlocked his phone, it opened to a text conversation with Kuroo, his last message being the one he'd sent last night. His expression shifted to one of guilt, and upon noticing this, Kuroo placed his hand on Kenma's shoulder. "Why don't we get ready and join the others? You still need to put your makeup on, right?"

Kenma gently placed a hand on his cheek, then felt anxious as his head spun with realisations. It occurred to him that the rain had washed off his makeup, exposing his scars. They weren't exactly subtle scars – the team had to have seen. Kuroo moved his hand to Kenma's head.

"Don't worry about it," Kuroo said softly. "Shorty already explained things to them last night and I told them a few bits. I didn't go into detail though, but I think most of them understood why you had those scars. None of them think of you any differently though, I can assure you." He ruffled Kenma's hair a little until his breathing began to go back to normal. Since it was light out, Kenma stood by the window to apply his makeup, using his phone camera as a mirror instead of heading to the bathroom to do it. Kuroo gave him to all clear and, after getting dressed, the two of them made their way to the gymnasium where the rest of the team was.

As they arrived, Kenma stopped by the door, clutching his chest. Kuroo turned back to face him, noticing that his friend was panicking. He grabbed Kenma's free wrist, taking him around the corner and allowing him time to collect himself. Eventually, his breathing went back to normal.

"Are you okay?" Kuroo asked sincerely. Kenma nodded.

"I know it's stupid, but as soon as I saw everyone's faces, I started to get paranoid that everyone was looking at me, as if everyone knew." Kenma stared at his own feet, ashamed at himself for not being any better. Kuroo placed a hand on Kenma's head, causing the smaller boy to look up.

"It's not stupid," Kuroo replied. "It's probably really difficult to try and go back to normal after everything that's happened, and I'm amazed that you've managed this long without anyone knowing. But now that more of us are aware, we can help you get through this, okay? You're not alone anymore." Kenma's face became more relaxed. For the first time in a while, he felt like he wasn't completely hopeless. "If anything happens, we will be there to help you through it. But if you really can't handle something, it doesn't count as defeat to just walk away. So if you'd rather sit out of practice today, I'd completely understand."

"I want to play," Kenma responded confidently. "I have to keep going if I want things to change." He stared at Kuroo in the eyes, taking notice of his friend's concern. "Don't worry, I won't push myself beyond what I can bear." Realising he couldn't sway Kenma, Kuroo walked with Kenma back into the gymnasium, heading straight to where the rest of the team was. Kenma hadn't spoken to them since last night, so he grew anxious as he approached, unsure of how they'd react to him.