Singleplayer RPG

Chapter 9 - Old Enemies Return

After a poor night's sleep, Kenma got up out of bed and followed his usual morning routine. Somehow he dreaded the idea of seeing Kuroo. He seemed to act weird yesterday, though Kenma has no idea why. After gathering his courage, Kenma went outside and waited for Kuroo, then began walking to school. Kuroo was his normal talkative self, but Kenma could tell he was hiding something still. Not wishing to bring back the silence, he decided to play along, acting as though nothing was wrong. An uneasy feeling followed him around for the duration of the school day. He began overanalysing his friend's behaviour.

'Kuro was fine until after I came up after snacks,' he began to think to himself. 'So something must have happened while I was away. Did he receive a text? No, why would Kuro be concerned over a text? It's me he seems to be weary of. Maybe...did he see something in my room? But what?'

At practice later that day, Fukunaga drew Yaku's attention to Kenma, helping him to realise that Kenma seemed to be more quiet during practice.

"Hey Kenma, is something up?" Yaku said after approaching Kenma after practice. "You seem lost in thought."

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just trying to figure out something," Kenma said calmly, avoiding eye contact with Yaku as he said it. He then looked up at Kuroo for a moment, who was talking to Lev and seemingly provoking him. Yaku looked over to Kuroo as well, then looked back at Kenma with confusion.

"He seems fine to me," Yaku said under the assumption that Kenma was worried about Kuroo. "Whatever it is that upset him seems to not be concerning him, so I'm sure it's nothing."

"You're probably right I suppose," Kenma said defeatedly, though he still couldn't shake the feeling that he'd somehow done something to upset Kuroo. He kept it to himself though, concluding that bringing it up would only cause more problems. After practice had finished, Kuroo gathered the team together, announcing that the training camp would be starting up again with a new school invited. Kenma, who wasn't really listening, perked up when he heard mention of Karasuno. The team talked amongst themselves, happy about the news. Yamamoto then suddenly got super excited.

"Guys, we will be sleeping in the same room, right?" He waved his arms around as he spoke. Kuroo nodded. "Then this time, we should bring snacks and stuff!" The team looked at one another, then smiled in agreement. Having recently received his first payment from his videos, Kenma had calculated that, even after buying the makeup he needed, he would have a bit of money to spare. Not wishing to get asked to bring something he would find troublesome to buy, he spoke up.

"I can get some snacks," Kenma said, raising his hand. Yamamoto grinned like a small child, then threw his arm around Kenma and ruffled his hair before Kenma pushed him away. A few other team members agreed to buying food, drinks and games, then they all went their separate ways with a strong feeling of anticipation for the training camp.

Kenma said he needed to head into town to get some cash to use at the store, and Kuroo accompanied him. They then promptly headed home, but after checking a message on his phone, Kuroo said he needed to head home to do some more preparation for the training camp and that he'd catch up with Kenma later. Entering the store alone, Kenma walked straight to the snacks isle. He looked at different options, trying to figure out which ones his team would like best. He decided to buy a few for variety, then paid, holding the snacks in his arms. As he left the shop, he looked up and immediately stopped because of what he saw.

"Why if it isn't Kozume!" The boy spoke in a menacing tone with a grin plastered on his face. Kenma quietly stared in fear as he was face-to-face with Shirai, the same boy who had cut his cheek, accompanied by two other students who were part of the same group. "I see you've bought us some snacks for our little reunion – how thoughtful! Why don't we have a little catch up around the corner?" Before Kenma could speak, Shirai grabbed his arm, guiding him around the corner. With his back turned away from the bullies, Kenma was suddenly pushed over, causing him to drop his snacks on the floor. Using his arms to lift himself up, Kenma raised his head and watched as the boys picked up the snacks. Kenma then turned onto his back before Shirai knelt over him. He then gestured to the other boys to search his bag, to which they pulled out a small coin purse, chuckling a little. Slowly lifting his left hand, Shirai placed it on Kenma's cheek tenderly.