Singleplayer RPG

Chapter 2 - A Mini Boss Appears

Kenma stood there silently, bowing his head down and allowing his hair to trickle down his face, causing Kuroo to tilt his head curiously.

"Hey Kenma, are you coming?" Kenma nodded, then stepped forward before once again stopping. He felt a sudden wave of anxiety overcome him as he nervously looked around and noticed students looking at him and whispering. His mind echoed with the sound of murmuring and laughing, reminding him of the gruelling year he had to endure. He covered his ears, wishing for it to stop – it was all in his head, but he couldn't silence the voices, the intense feeling of being watched by a thousand pairs of eyes causing him to tremble.

Suddenly, Kenma felt a hand on his shoulder. Without him realising, Kuroo had positioned himself beside him, placing his arm around Kenma. He then gently moved him forward toward the school.

"Come on, let's go." Kuroo wasn't really sure what was happening, but he could tell that Kenma felt anxious, so he wanted to remove him from the situation as quickly as he could. He walked his friend to class, guiding him the whole way so that Kenma could keep his head down. Once they arrived, Kuroo turned to Kenma, smiled and pointed to the corners of his mouth.

"Lift your head high, Kenma! And don't be afraid to smile!" In order to appease his friend, Kenma forced a smile. Kuroo patted his shoulder twice, then turned and walked away. After taking a deep breath in, he slid the door open, doing his best to keep his chin lifted enough. Even though it wasn't Kuroo's intention for saying those words, Kenma decided to heed his advice in hopes that he would could prevent the bullying from starting up again.

Despite feeling uncomfortable, Kenma managed to get through the day without anyone troubling him. He had spent his lunchtime with Kuroo who took the time to give him a rundown of all of the volleyball team members, hoping that it would help Kenma to feel less nervous when he got to practice. He waited inside of the classroom, playing on his PSP in order to kill time. After a little while, Kuroo walked into the classroom and walked straight up to Kenma. Seeing an upperclassman walk up to the quietest boy in the class perplexed the other students, but Kuroo acted as though they weren't there.

"Ready to meet the team?" Kuroo said beaming enthusiastically. Kenma nodded then turned his console off, placing it in his bag before putting it over it his shoulder and standing up from his desk. The two boys then walked through the hallways to the volleyball gymnasium. Kuroo looked over at Kenma who had stopped just outside of the door. "You okay?" he said sincerely.

"Oh, yeah...I'm okay," Kenma said softly with a slight tremor in his voice, but he smiled regardless, trying his best not to worry his friend. Not wishing to push him, Kuroo didn't pressure Kenma to talk. He recognised that, like him, Kenma found being in new places to be overwhelming, so he chalked up the behaviour to nerves. The two of them entered the clubroom - there was only one other boy in there. He looked scornfully at Kuroo, then raised an eyebrow as he saw another boy with a bandage on his cheek peer from behind him.

"Uhh Kuroo...who's that behind you?" the boy said quizzically, unsure of what to make of this new character. Kuroo then glanced over his shoulder, then smiled and stepped to the side, revealing a hunched over Kenma.

"This is Kozume Kenma, my childhood friend," Kuroo said with a tone of pride. Kenma lifted his head to make brief eye contact with the other boy, then looked away shyly.

"...nice to meet you."

The other boy remained silent before letting out a little chuckle. In a jolly tone, he said, "so this is the Kenma I've heard so much about, huh?" He then walked a bit closer to Kuroo and Kenma, then pointed his thumb to his chest. "My name is Yaku Morisuke. I'm Kuroo's classmate...unfortunately."