Hazel (Kuroken Soulmate AU)

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Chapter One

"Everyone is born completely colorblind. It's only when you meet eyes with your soulmate for the first time that you'll see it bloom all around you."

Kenma had never really cared much about finding his soulmate. He was a loner; finding relationships wasn't of any particular importance to him. He just liked to stay inside and play video games.

Yet, when that day finally came, he didn't even realize it. It felt like so long ago. Back before he'd dyed his hair. Back before the tournament. Back before the cat shelter. All the way back to the day Kenma Kozume had first met Tetsurō Kuroo.

---

It was raining pretty heavily that morning. Kenma had his umbrella, of course, so he could play a game with his other hand and not run the risk of damaging his phone. He wasn't really paying attention to where he was walking.

A soft meow came from near his feet. Kenma quickly came to a stop to avoid stepping on it, glancing down as he paused his game. A tiny black cat, rubbing its face against his legs. He crouched down and stroked its head, fluffing up its fur. It continued to purr and cuddle him. He was about to get up and continue on to school when he was... interrupted.

"Hey, there you are! Come on, wouldya stop running away already?!"

Someone ran up, splashing Kenma and the cat a little in the process. Whoever it was reached down and scooped up the cat before speaking again. "I'm trying to get you someplace where you won't get rained on." he groaned. Kenma looked up at the stranger.

Black hair, styled so that it fell over his right eye. It was completely drenched, though, so Kenma wasn't sure if it was supposed to look like that. He was wearing the same uniform as him, though. "Do you go to Nekoma?" Kenma asked, staring up at the lanky stranger.

"Hm?" he glanced down, his face suddenly lighting up with a grin. "Yeah, 'course I do. You think I was parading around in some other school's uniform?"

Kenma scowled at him without saying anything.

"Hey, what class're you in?"

"...2-3."

"Ohh, so you're my underclassman, huh? Better keep it respectful, kid." the stranger chuckled.

"You're only a year older than me. Why are you calling me kid?" Kenma pointed out without missing a beat.

"I don't know your name. Duh." he squatted down to be more level with Kenma. He was still quite a bit taller, though, so it didn't matter much.

"Kenma Kozume," Kenma murmured, reaching a hand out and petting the cat in the stranger's arms. It meowed at him, licking his hand a little.

"Nice. Name's Tetsurō Kuroo. Pleasure to meet you, Kozume-san." he tried to stick out a hand, but the cat started squirming, making him draw it back to keep it supported. "Hey, you're not going anywhere."

Kuroo stood back up and grinned down at Kenma. "I need to get this one back to my house or wherever he'll wait for me so I'm not late. See you around." he ran off, sheltering the cat in his arms as he splashed through all the puddles.

Kenma turned and watched him leave as he straightened up again. What a weird guy.

He resumed playing his game and walking to school, pushing the event out of mind. To him, there's more important things to focus on right now. Like getting past this level. In the back of his head, though, he hoped just a little bit that Kuroo would find somewhere to leave that cat where it wouldn't run off again.

It's not like school was that hard. Kenma just didn't like it. It was boring, and he could be doing so many other things, so what was the point?

Kenma sat with his chin on the desk playing the game he was holding with both hands in front of him. It was lunch break, but he wasn't really hungry, so he was just preoccupying himself until it ended. This was usually how his lunch breaks were spent: playing a phone game by himself.

"Hey, found you!"

The sudden presence of Kuroo definitely startled Kenma, but he didn't let it show. He just looked up at the black-haired male as he plopped down at the desk in front of him, sitting backwards in the chair as he set his lunch down in between the two of them. "Where's your food?" Kuroo asked, opening his own up and starting to eat.

"Not hungry," Kenma answered, returning to his game.

Kuroo narrowed his eyes, picking up an apple slice out of his lunch and shoving it in Kenma's face. "C'mon, you need to eat something."

Kenma prodded it away. "I don't want it."

Kuroo just pushed it right back. "Yeah you do."

It was back and forth for a couple of minutes. The two kept pushing the apple slice between them until Kuroo finally managed to get it into Kenma's mouth. Defeated, he finally ate it, immediately going back to his game. Kuroo gave a satisfied smirk, leaning back as he kept eating. "You know, if you ever want to grow any more, you're gonna need to eat more." he snickered, ruffling Kenma's black hair.

Kenma scowled a little. "I don't care about growing. I don't need to."

"Yeah? Guess you'll always be shorter than me."

"It's not a competition."

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?"

Kenma didn't respond to Kuroo's remark. He simply stared up at him, noticing now that his hair had dried and fluffed up and had become spiky. Some of it remained over his right eye, though.

"Why does your hair look like that?" Kenma mumbled, pointing up at it a little.

"Huh?" Kuroo ran a hand through his hair. "It's just bedhead. Really can't get it to calm down, even after it's been wet." he laughed sheepishly.

"It makes you look like a rooster." Kenma looked back down, ignoring Kuroo's "Rude!" as he went back to gaming.

Groaning, Kuroo leaned over Kenma's phone to watch him play. "Lunch's almost over, you really gonna play till the last second?"

"Probably." Just as Kenma spoke, the school bell chimed, signalling the end of the lunch break.

"Well, talk to you later. Bye, Kozume-san." Kuroo stood up, grabbing the little remains of his lunch off the desk.

"Bye Kuroo-san," Kenma replied idly. He paused the game and turned his phone off, putting away before realizing that Kuroo was still standing in front of him. He glanced up, confused. "What're you doing?"

Kuroo grinned. "Nothing. Later."

As he left, Kenma could've sworn he saw something unfamiliar in Kuroo's visible eye.