Haikyuu - Songfic Series

Older!Kozume Kenma x Reader - What Is Love?

It had all started a few months back. While Kuroo and many others around his age had gone to college, Kenma had settled for simply moving out of his parent's house and into an apartment of his own. But upon arrival, he found that he had a neighbor he had a lot in common with, including a love for video games.

Unlike many other people that Kenma had met, you immediately clicked with him. You often played games together on the weekends when you had free time. Sometimes you'd just get together for food or to watch a movie. It was a pretty big step for Kenma as he typically avoided people if he could help it.

He was more than aware of it too. He had started realizing that his comfort level with you extended far beyond that with his old teammates and friends. He thought about you often and appreciated your company. He let you borrow games, which was something he'd been wary of ever since Hinata broke one back in high school. You would often stay over for hours at a time and he never seemed to become drained by your company like he would with Kuroo. He found you interesting, for lack of a better word.

And yet, there were other things that confused him. He actually got nervous when he knew you were supposed to spend time together. Sometimes you might brush against him when you got up to use the bathroom or if he handed you a controller. It always caught him off guard and he couldn't figure out why. And sometimes he'd stare at you. A lot. Not that he didn't do that to other people, but it was different with you somehow.

So he did the only thing he could think of.

Kuroo heard his phone vibrate and grinned as he saw it was Kenma. "Kenma!" he exclaimed as he picked up. "What's new?"

There was a short pause. "I need...to ask you something. And you can't laugh."

The ravenette pursed his lips, resisting the urge to laugh already. "All right."

"What does love feel like?"

Now there was a pause on Kuroo's end. Of all the questions that his friend would ask out of the blue he never would have guessed it was going to be something like that.

"Is this about that neighbor of yours?" he asked finally. He had met you a few times when he came to visit and was happy to see someone was watching out for Kenma in his place.

"Maybe," the younger boy muttered softly. Kuroo's smile grew wider and he nodded to himself.

"Look, Kenma. I can't answer that for you. Love feels different for everyone and it's hard to pin down to a specific feeling. You might get really nervous or feel warm inside, or it might just feel like you're hanging out with your best friend in the world. But trust me, if it's love, you'll know it. Especially if it's your first."

"You're no help," Kemna grumbled.

Kuroo chuckled softly. "You've always been the brain between us, so I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough." He glanced at the time. "Look, I've got class in a few minutes so I've got to go, but I'll see you this weekend, all right?"

"All right. Akaashi better come if you bring Bokuto again." Kenma could never figure out how to calm down the excitable owl, Akaashi was his only savior in that department. Plus his presence balanced out the energy in the apartment.

"No promises!" Kuroo replied as Kenma ended the call. He rolled his eyes but smiled slightly. Nice to know some things hadn't changed.



That night, Kenma was playing games with you when he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder. He glanced over to see you leaning against him, controller still held loosely in your hand. He was surprised to find that he didn't mind it, and continued playing.

After a few minutes, he noticed you fidgeting. He saw that the television screen was illuminating your face. He slowly reached for the remote and turned it off.

"What are you doing?" you muttered softly. Kenma hardly ever stopped playing unless he died. And you hadn't heard the game over music playing.

Kenma glanced down at you. "I wanted to take a break," he replied.

And that was the moment he knew it was love.