Kenhina || Catch me

Chapter 17 // Kenma

"Hey, Kenma, I was just about to brush my teeth, do I need to wait up for you so we can go together?", Kuroo asked his childhood friend as the second-year entered Nekoma's room. Everyone was still awake but it seemed like the group of teens was planning to shut the lights very soon. "No," the setter answered. "I just came to grab my Nintendo Switch, Shoyo and I are going to play a little before going to bed."

Kuroo slightly smirked at the teen, "good for you, make sure you get enough sleep though". Kenma nodded at his friend's remark. "I will, goodnight Kuroo".

"Actually, wait," Kenma spoke up to his childhood best friend, who was just about to leave. "What's up?" Kuroo asked him with genuine curiosity. "You're being nice to Shoyo, thanks". The dark-haired third-year gave him a smirk in response and turned around to walk away again. 

"No- wait, please", the second-year once again stopped his friend, who turned his head back around, he raised an eyebrow, waiting for the follow-up. "Why- why were you rude before?", Kenma asked, trying to mask his anxiety. 

Now Kuroo fully turned around again. "Look Kenma," he started to explain, switching between making eye contact with the second-year and looking away at the ground.

"I don't really know how to phrase it, but you're very special to me, you hold a special place in my heart". Kenma looked at him in confusion; "you're special to me too Kuroo, you know that-". "No," Kuroo interrupted his friend, "it's not the same". The third-year took a brief pause before continuing.

"But it's because you're so special to me that I want to see you happy, you really glow when you're around that short redhead and I realized that I love seeing you like that." Kenma slightly tilted his head, looking back at the dark-haired teen with even more confusion in his eyes. 

"I was jealous, I was afraid that I was going to lose you to him," Kuroo added.

"But Kuro," Kenma mentioned using his friend's nickname, "you'll always be my best friend, nobody could ever replace you".

"Yeah, I know". Kuroo said giving his friend a vulnerable smile. "Goodnight Kenma", he added.

"Goodnight".

With that, the black-haired third-year took off, leaving his childhood friend quite confused.

The teen didn't exactly know or understand what any of this meant, but it felt good to have finally talked about it properly. 

After letting Kuroo's words sink in for a minute, Kenma quickly walked over towards his sleeping bag, this is where he kept the rest of his stuff as well. It wasn't hard to locate the switch as he had left it on top of his backpack. Maybe he should have hidden it in a safer place, but then again, he trusted his teammates wouldn't take his stuff. The teen also changed into more comfortable clothes, that being a plain white shirt with sweatpants. He also decided to put on a hoody, in case the school happened to get cold at night.

Another thing that Kenma found while digging through his bag, was a little plastic bag with Shoyo's pajamas, which the chaotic redhead had forgotten at his house. The setter decided that he would return them tomorrow, as taking them with him right now would only be an inconvenience. 

"Psssst Kenma," the second-year looked up as he heard someone loudly 'whispering' his name. Shoyo was at the entrance of Nekoma's room and waved his switch around, both announcing his presence as well as showing that he had been able to find his switch too. 

The second-year walked towards him, leaving Nekoma's room. "I'm surprised everyone here is still awake," the redhead spoke up, the astonishment audible in his voice. "It seemed like everyone from Karasuno already went to bed, I had to be reaaaally quiet." Kenma smiled at his friend's remark, "yeah, you guys had to be up really early, it's understandable that everyone is tired, are you sure you don't want to head to bed as well?" The second-year asked it with genuine concern in his voice, he realized that Shoyo woke up very early as well, and maybe he was too tired to play games with his friend.