The World Went Dark

Chapter 9

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-4 days left-

It was not fine.

I glanced up at the battery-operated clock in my living room. It is a quarter past midnight. The game of Uno we have already started feels never-ending. It has been an endless cycle of reverse cards, skip cards, and +2s. Every time someone gets close to a win they get bombarded with extra cards. Everyone is getting frustrated but refuses to give in. Kuroo has like, half of the deck in his hand. Due to Kenma enforcing the stacking role, Kuroo got the bad end of the stick. After a long line of staking +2 upon +2, Kuroo ended up having to pick up 34 cards. I was worried at first because Kuroo and Bokuto seemed to be targeting each other with their cards, but it quickly turned into playful banter. At some point, the two even began joining forces to attack Kenma who came too close to winning multiple times.

"Keiji! Are you just going to let them attack me and not help?!" Kenma shrieked as Kuroo and Bokuto were going back and forth with reverse cards each time it got to be Kenma's turn.

"Sorry, Kenma. I'd love to help but this is not my battle to get involved in." Kenma's face shifted into a glare.

"Wow. I'll remember that next time they come after you." Kenma huffed.

"Kuroo wouldn't dare to target me. And Bokuto wouldn't even if you forced him." Kenma shot a glance at Kuroo and he just looked away, avoiding eye contact. Kenma then turned his gaze to Bokuto. He had a stupid grin on his face. 

"You guys are ridiculous," Kenma rolled his eyes, "Especially you Koutarou. You had so much potential." He just laughed at Kenma's remarks. Most people would have been a little baffled by Kenma's attitude, but Bokuto seemed to be fine with it. Kuroo and I are used to how Kenma gets when we play, and we know he's just messing around but most people probably wouldn't. That's why I'm glad Bokuto does. He has even adjusted to how informal Kenma is, even with strangers. He hasn't mentioned Kenma calling him 'Koutarou' even once. Unless they did it while I wasn't around, they never talked about Kenma using his given name. Bokuto just kind of adjusted to it.

"Your turn, 'Kaashi," Kuroo said, nodding his head in my direction. I shot Kenma a look and placed down a skip card, skipping Kuroo so that it was now Kenma's turn.

"Finally!" Kenma shouted, placing another skip, skipping Bokuto. I smirked and placed another down. It went like this for a few seconds; Kenma and I skipping Kuroo and Bokuto. Bokuto let out a dramatic sigh and fell back to the ground. I finally ran out of skip cards and Kuroo went, placing a reverse card. We all placed normal cards for a bit until Kenma spoke up, "Uno!" I looked around at everyone's hands. Kenma had one card, Kuroo had 7, Bokuto had 2, and I had 4. Kuroo placed down a red 2 and I placed a red 8. Bokuto looked at his hand for a second, contemplating. His eyes were darting between Kenma and his cards. Oh no. 

"Koutarou, you better choose your next card wisely..." Kenma warned. Bokuto look at Kuroo and the two smirked at each other. "Koutarou..." Kenma warned again. Bokuto pulled out his card and placed it down.

"Uno." It was a red skip. Kenma was getting upset and I could tell the other two were loving it. Kuroo placed down a red +2. Luckily, I also had a +2 card. Kuroo kind of frowned. I could tell he was really hoping Bokuto would beat Kenma.

"HA! That's what you get for trying to beat me in Uno, Koutarou." Kenma gloated. Bokuto then grabbed his last card from his hand and placed it down. At the top of the discard pile sat a green +2.