I Think I Like Him - KuroKen

~Chapter Thirteen~

In the gyms we were thrown onto the courts to run drills and warm ups before we started any games. This also gave teams the chance to see some of what their competition was capable of. Karasuno has joined us for a few camps now, but eyes almost always still landed on them first. They have been rapidly improving and coming up with new crazy weapons. Their first years were incredible. I mean, Hinata and Kageyama have that crazy quick, Tsukki is tall as hell, and their number twelve isn't much to look at but he's apparently been working on becoming a pinch server for them. Hinata has talked about it before. Add in the experience and skills of their upperclassmen and they really do have a pretty solid team. I mean, they're a little dysfunctional but every team has their moments. I know we do. We have a Lev, of course we have our moments.

After we got warmed up we were thrown onto the court to run some practice games. Our first game was against Fukurodani.

When we have these camps, one of Kenma and I's favorite things to do is target Bokuto. Kenma sets up for me and I spike it down just outside of Bo's reach. Akaashi hates when we do that though.

"Ready to get your ass kicked, Bo?" I asked from across the net.

"It won't be me getting my ass kicked, Kuroo."

"You say that every time." Kenma rolled his eyes with a small smile on his face. Before anyone could get another word in, the whistle blew and the game started.

Fukurodani had the first serve, so we got our chance at an attack first. Our back row received the ball and sent it to Kenma. I thought we were going to start the game with a few quicks straight to Bokuto, but this fucker goes right in for a setter dump on the first attack of the game. I mean, it wasn't expected, by Fukurodani or Nekoma, and got us the point, so I guess it works?

"Okay, that was a cheap shot, KenKen." Bokuto pouted. Kenma just shrugged.

The whistle blew again and we got to serve the ball over.

~~~

"Okay, I'm just saying, three quicks and a dump all in a row is pretty bullshit, especially in the first game of camp, like c'mon!" Bokuto huffed.

"We do this all the time to you, you still can't catch on?" Kenma laughed. All that did was make Bokuto huff more.

"Are you two gonna fix emo mode? Or am I gonna have to?" Akaashi slightly glared at Kenma and I as we got to our lunch table. Neither of us answered. We knew Akaashi was the only one that really knew how to fix it, so we figured we'd just leave it to him.

"Maybe we can dial it back a bit...at least on Bokuto." Kenma suggested.

"You're ruining my fun, but fine." I rolled my eyes. He really was ruining my fun. I like having a target.

After lunch we headed back to the gym for more games. We were paired up against Karasuno. They're a fun team to play against. Tsukki is fun to target on their team. He doesn't put his all into the games. I feel like one little push in the right direction and he'll start feeling just as excited about the game as the rest of us here.

~~~

Nekoma won the match against Karasuno, no surprise there. We had some time to kill before our next match so I sat outside and stared up at the sky. Kenma was hanging out with Hinata playing video games on handhelds.

Some of the Fukurodani guys, who had a BYE this round, had come out too. Bokuto came and sat next to me.

"What's up?"

"Not much. I'm bored as hell. And if I'm being honest, I'm still kind of worried about you."

"I told you, I'm fine." I reassured him.

"I know what you said, but Akaashi said he was fine too."

"I promise, I'll come to you, or someone, if I'm not okay. I went to you last time, right?"

"Yeah...you're right. Ugh, sorry. I worry too much. You and Kenma went to talk after we were done this morning. How'd that go?" He changed the subject.

"It went well. You were right, he's working through his emotions figuring out what makes him uncomfortable. We set boundaries and so far, no issues." I shrugged.

"Good. How was your game against Karasuno?" He changed the subject again.

"We won, as usual. Carrot top and his jumps will always intrigue me." I said.

"Yeah..."

"What's on your mind?" I asked. Flipping through conversation topics, short answers, something seemed off. I mean, I knew what was going on, we were just talking about it but he was definitely off.

"If I'm being honest, I've just been anxious. When you told me you wanted to hurt yourself it reminded me of when Akaashi had done it...without giving away much detail, it was...gorey. I remember walking in, seeing him sobbing so hard he wasn't making any sound, and blood. It's all I can think about right now and I don't know why."

"Sounds like it was pretty bad."

"It was. And it scares me knowing that the thought has crossed your mind."

"If it helps, I don't mind letting you do wrist checks on me." I said.

"No, I feel like that's going too far, and it feels insensitive and invasive."

"Fair enough. Well, just know I'm okay. I'll come to you if I'm not. I promise." I said. He nodded and took a deep breath.

Ever since I met him, he's had this protective aura about him. He's always been protective of his close friends. Me, Kenma, Akaashi, and even Tsukki he's been kind of protective of since he met him. He has such a big heart and he's got more empathy than most guys his age. I won't say I don't appreciate it though.

~~~

Once the end of the day came and we ate dinner, Bokuto, Tsukki, Hinata, Kenma, Akaashi, and I were practicing in one of the empty gyms. We were playing a three on three match. Kenma, Hinata, and I against Bokuto, Akaashi, and Tsukki. We wanted to try and get Tsukki to use his height to his advantage. He gives in so little effort but he could do some amazing things if he just applied himself.

Having Hinata on our side to block him wasn't a huge help, especially after he started to get worn out, but we did manage to get him to jump a little higher. It wasn't much, but it's a start.

By the end of it all of us were sweaty and tired and ready to go to bed. We all walked to the dorms together, aside from Tsukki who decided he wanted no more human interaction and walked ahead of us. Buzzkill.

I walked into the Nekoma room to grab my shower stuff and then I headed to get a shower. I turned on my music, not caring enough that other people could hear it. The only two in here right now anyways were me and Kenma, and Kenma listens to most of the same music that I do.

After showers we went back to the dorm to find a majority of our team already fast asleep. The only ones that were awake were laying down and playing on their phones.

Kenma and I headed to the back corner where we had our stuff set up side by side. I laid down on my mat and watched as Kenma sat down on his.

"Not ready to sleep yet?" I asked.

"No, that's not it...um..." he looked down. God, he's so cute when he's shy like this.

"What is it then?"

"Can we...sleep together? Not like...just..." he couldn't figure out how to word it. I smiled a bit and nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. He laid down next to me and I wrapped him in my arms. We both were nervous. This was the first time we've ever done this, and it was in a place where other people could possibly see us. I mean, it's not like anyone on the team would judge us, it's just uncharted territory. We both eventually calmed down, relaxed, and fell asleep there like that. 

~Word Count~
~1396~