You Are My Shelter

Chapter 3

"Kenma," his father said once Kuroo's family had left.

Kenma had known. He had known the moment he had seen how his parents had reacted to the photograph. In hopes that he would get upstairs and to his room before his parents remembered that they wanted to talk to him, he had silently retreated towards the staircase.

Now, he pulled his shoulders upwards in defense, before slowly spinning around and returning to the living room.

Awkwardly standing there, eyes scanning the room and the two people on the couch, he waited for them to say something.

"Come here, Kenma," his father said, pointing to the armchair opposite the couch.

Kenma stared at the chair for a second; when they asked him to take a seat there, that meant that it was important. He was well aware of the fact that he would be sitting there completely in the open, facing his parents without anything that could take their focus off of him.

Reluctantly, he moved towards it and sat down, pulling his legs up to have at least some kind of barrier between himself and his parent's gazes. Though it still felt as if his fathers eyes roasted him on the spot.

"You know, Kenma, we are happy that you found such a good friend in Kuroo," he started. "It has always been hard for you to get used to new people, and we are really glad that your friendship worked out so well, so don't take this the wrong way, but you're getting older now. In a few months you will go to middle school."

Kenma didn't see what they were getting at. Was that supposed to mean that he was getting too old to fall asleep while he had someone over or what?

"What your father is telling you is that you're getting to the age where it's inappropriate to be this close to your friends, Kenma." His mother leaned forward slightly to get a proper look at him, placing one hand on his arm in a comforting manner. "To sleep in your bed with another boy is something little children do, not someone like you."

So that was their problem? Kenma stared at the floor between them, frowning. Hadn't they both always encouraged him to be more open with other people and not so sensitive to touching others? And now they were upset because Kuroo had fallen asleep on his back?

Admittedly, Kenma had been a little surprised himself. But still, that was no real reason to give him a talk like this, was it?

It wasn't even our fault, Kenma thought, indignant. It wasn't their fault that the adults had decided to stay away for so long. They had both been tired, so what did Kenma's parents expect? Kenma didn't see what had been so bad about it, anyhow. Shouldn't his parents be happy he didn't stay up too late?

He decided to keep quiet. It wouldn't change anything, anyway. If his parents told him something, he didn't even need to question them or whatever it was they told him about, it was simply a fact he had to accept, or a mistake he shouldn't make again.

Up till now, it had never been a problem. Kenma had listened to what they said and hadn't done it again. He might have used other ways to still do what he wanted even if his parents didn't want him to, but basically he had obeyed.

This, however, was the first time he felt something like defiance bubble in his chest.

To Kenma, there had been nothing wrong with sleeping in one bed. He also didn't see what his parents had against being close to Kuroo.

Kuroo had been his first and only friend ever since they had met about four years ago. Kuroo was the only person Kenma could imagine being close to, so why was it suddenly supposed to be wrong?

It hadn't felt wrong. And if it didn't feel wrong in spite of the fact that Kenma hated being close to people in general, then he was fairly certain that it wasn't a bad thing to have with your best friend.