Kenma stands on the doorstep of his home with his psp in hand and phone in his back pocket, it's an unforgivingly hot day and Kenma's already getting uncomfortably warm despite his light clothing. "You sure you don't want someone to walk you to Yaku-san's house, like usual?" Kuroo asks while he sees Kenma off, waggling his eyebrows as if trying to hint exactly who that someone should be.

"I'll be fine, Kuroo, really," says Kenma. It's not that he wouldn't enjoy the company, it's just that the main reason he wants to hang out with Yaku and Lev today is to discuss the pressing matter he realized three days ago and walking with Kuroo minutes beforehand would only make things more awkward. Kenma raises a brow, "besides, aren't you still making it up to Suga for that one day where you did pretty much absolutely nothing?"

Kuroo winces. "And whose fault do you think that is," he mutters accusingly.

Kenma snorts. "Hey, I gave you the option and you accepted, not my fault you're weak willed."

Kuroo sighs in defeat and leans his head against the door frame, seemingly not bothered at all by the heat that's blasting him from where he stands, "you're right, I'm biding my time as it is, I'm supposed to be mopping this entire place soon. Well, have fun with Yaku-san and Lev-kun, come back before it gets dark, or else I might just have to drag you back myself," Kuroo jokes as he shoots Kenma a lopsided grin and Kenma nods with a blush on his face that isn't because of the sweltering weather.

The joke was only half serious. Okay, maybe a little bit more than half.

Kenma walks briskly in the heat as he heads to Yaku's home, it's in a different neighborhood, of course, so he's unfortunately gonna be stuck walking in the sticky heat for a little bit. Kenma frowns as he walks, his arms are dangling limply by his sides and he lets his thoughts trail back to the late night revelation from three days ago, as he's been prone to do recently.

The warm and pleasant feeling that sat in his heart that night, leaning into each other as they laid in bed... how he accidentally pressed his anima against Kuroo... how Kuroo actually pressed back... Kenma thinks about that a lot, despite his better judgement.

He feels something for Kuroo. What about Kuroo, though? Does Kuroo feel something? Surely not, right? They're just friends, that's all Kuroo sees him as.

Words like 'what if' are what kill people, and currently, they're killing Kenma, because no matter how much he tells himself that he needs to let Kuroo go because there's no chance, those what ifs whisper things to him that drive him insane, because then they ask, "but what if he does?", and then he thinks about how Kuroo hugs him, he thinks about Kuroo's smile and his laughter... and he thinks about that night three days ago and how nice everything felt as he fell asleep next to Kuroo.

Kenma nearly walks into Yaku's front door because he's so lost in his head that he doesn't even realize that he's already there. Kenma feels like pulling his hair out, because even though he refused to let Kuroo walk him here, he still ended up thinking about Kuroo the entire time.

Having feelings for someone is both incredibly frustrating and draining in Kenma's opinion, it's also wonderful at times though.

Kenma gently knocks on Yaku's door and only waits a moment before it's opened, Yaku smiles. "Hi Kozume."

Lev comes running from out of nowhere and nearly knocks over Yaku without even realizing it, "hey Kozume-kun!" Lev grins, excited to be seeing his friend again.

Yaku pulls down Lev by the ear with an irritated look, "I thought I told you to wait in the living room."

"Ow ow ow ow, you did but I was just so excited, I couldn't help myself!" Lev defends, his back hunched at an uncomfortable angle as he struggles against Yaku's grip.

Yaku huffs out in annoyance and lets go of Lev's ear. "C'mon Kozume-kun, Yaku and I were watching this cool TV show while we were waiting for you," Lev urges as he nurses his ear.

Kenma follows them into the house, hoping to get his thoughts away from Kuroo, if just for a moment.

"I didn't hurt you, right?" murmurs Yaku as they walk to the living room.

Lev grins, happy that Yaku's showing that he cares. "No, I'm fine!"

Lev says it as loud as he would anything else- which is too loud- and Yaku cringes with red cheeks. "Not so loud," he scolds.

Kenma smiles with amusement as he overhears their conversation. "There's nothing to hide, Yaku."

Yaku flinches and his face gets even warmer. "I-I know that, it's just that-"

Lev interrupts his partner. "Aww," he coos, "Yaku's blushing!"

"Shut up!" Yaku snaps, stomping away to sit on the couch with his face as red as a tomato. "Are we going to watch the show or not," he asks crossly with his arms folded.

Lev laughs and Kenma fights away a smile before they both join him on the couch.

Kenma wants something like that, he wants to experience feelings like that with someone. Kenma bites his lip and forces himself to focus on the show before he can spoil the moment for himself, because there's no way he can have that, not with Kuroo.

He's gonna have to tell his friends eventually, he doesn't really want to and would rather keep it to himself, but a second opinion on all of it would be very helpful. He'll tell them later though, no reason to start up the pity party just yet.

Kuroo watches Kenma walk off from where he stands at the door for a little bit until Kenma turns a corner and is out of sight. His shoulders slump, today's probably gonna suck without Kenma.

Akaashi can apparently tell what Kuroo's thinking. "You're acting like Kenma-san will be gone for days, it's only going to be for a few hours, he'll be back before it gets dark," says Akaashi with an amused look.

Kuroo sighs. "Yeah I know, but still..."

Akaashi raises a brow. "Still what?"

Kuroo purses his lips. "I just... ugh, I dunno."

Akaashi hides his amused smile with the sleeve of his light blue yukata. "Perhaps you miss him already?" He suggests.

Akaashi seems to be right on the money because Kuroo quickly becomes a stuttering mess at the thought of even admitting that out loud, so instead Kuroo lowers his eyes down at the white petals flowing through the breeze printed on the bottom of Akaashi's yukata. "Ugh I dunno, I guess..." he mumbles.

"What was that, Kuroo-san? I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch it," asks Akaashi, who knew it's actually pretty fun teasing Kuroo?

Kuroo's ears turn red. "Yes I miss him," he says it too quickly but Akaashi decides that's good enough.

"I suppose you'll have to find someone else to keep your mind off of him, yes? Just be sure you finish all your chores before you do, though," reminds Akaashi, it wasn't the most fun doing almost all of Kuroo's work for him when he decided to spend the whole day with Kenma, so it's only fair that Kuroo should work extra hard.

Kuroo sighs. "Yeah yeah." Washing piles of dishes isn't exactly the most riveting way to pass the time, but that's the price Kuroo is paying for running off with Kenma and having a movie marathon- he can't really say that he minds though, sure he still has to mop the entire mansion by himself, but spending all that time with Kenma was worth it; just remembering it is giving him that certain feeling in his chest, the one that makes his heart feel like it's swelling in his chest and puts a gentle smile on his lips, he really likes that feeling.

It's probably because it's been so long since he's actually felt any emotions other than rage and malice, but Kuroo honestly doesn't remember if he's ever felt like this before he met Kenma.

His mopping unconsciously slows down as he furrows his brow and concentrates hard. Most of his memories from when he was a human are already very fuzzy, especially the farther back he goes, but there's one memory from when he was 14 that he remembers. It's crystal clear in Kuroo's mind, it's the day his sister was born. Kuroo remembers every emotion felt on that day, and the feeling he gets when he remembers that night a few days ago? He felt something like that when he cradled his little sister in his arms for the first time.

What was that thing that he felt? The feeling isn't actually identical to the memory either, it's kinda different in a way that's hard to explain, but he feels it deep in his heart.

"You keep on staring at the mop like that and at this rate you'll burn a hole into it," snorts Tsukishima as he stands at the entrance to the room with his arms crossed.

The sudden words startle Kuroo, actually making him jump a little. Tsukishima snickers and Kuroo can practically hear Yamaguchi whisper, "nice one, Tsukki" and that just irks him.

"Damn string bean," Kuroo mutters under his breath. "What's this," begins Kuroo, now speaking out loud as he turns to fully face Tsukki, "is megane-kun my secret admirer? I know I'm magnificent but it's not good to stalk people," he grins.

Tsukishima rolls his eyes. "Like I'd ever admire someone who has been stuck with extra work for the past two days because he decided he was allowed to skip out on chores for a day."

"You wound me deep down to the very depths of my non-existent soul," drawls out Kuroo, putting the back of his hand to his forehead for dramatic effect.

"Right," says Tsukki, not amused whatsoever.

"Tell you what, how about you help me mop the rest of the mansion and we keep it between you and me?" Kuroo wiggles his eyebrows like it's a tempting offer.

"No," Tsukki deadpans.

"Aw c'monnn."

"No."

"...please?"

Tsukishima sighs. "Why would I ever want to do that?"

"Because there's just so much good in your heart and you just love to help others in need?"

"No."

"It's going to take all day otherwise."

"Good, I hope it does." Tsukki starts turning around to leave.

"I'll make it worth your while," Kuroo drawls, like he's got something real good up his sleeve.

Tsukki stops despite himself and lets out a sigh even more exasperated than the last one. "And what could you possibly give me that would make me want to help you during my own free time?"

"How about a better attitude?" Kuroo grins when Tsukki's eyebrow twitches in annoyance, that's a little payback for earlier. Kuroo talks again before Tsukishima can spit out a scathing reply, "Seriously though," he chuckles, "I'll treat you and your little boy friend to some strawberry shortcake and whatever else your hearts desire from that new fancy cafe that opened up nearby."

Tsukki keeps his poker face going strong as he pretends to think it over, Kuroo must admit, the younger familiar is very good at that, considering even Kuroo can't get a read on what he's thinking. "...Fine. Only because Yamaguchi really wants to go there."

Kuroo lets the mop drop to the floor unceremoniously with a loud clatter and grins as he pulls Tsukki down to ruffle his blonde hair- much to Tsukki's annoyment. "You're the best, megane-kun," he praises.

Tsukishima pulls himself free and already feels the impending regret as Kuroo hands him another mop that certainly wasn't here a moment ago.

The time it takes to mop is quite significantly cut down with Tsukishima's help and Kuroo is very thankful for that, and though they finished mopping after several hours, Kuroo isn't don't with him just yet, because as soon as they're finished he and Bokuto are dragging away Tsukki- who can't match their combined strength- by the arms.

When they're finally at their destination Tsukki snatches away his somewhat sore arms, "for some reason you don't look too happy," remarks Kuroo.

"Why would I?" Tsukishima grinds his teeth a little.

"True," concedes Kuroo, "I'll let Bokuto explain why we brought you to the training room."

"You snuck off last time," pouts Bo.

"I had more important things to do," he shrugs.

"But I gave you my dessert just so you would hang out with us!"

Tsukishima purses his lips and Kuroo buts in, "soooo, we would like for you to apologise, and to make up for the lost time."

Tsukki can be a snarky jerk, but he's not a heartless asshole, and Kuroo knows this, which is why he grins just as Tsukki grits out an, "I'm sorry."

Kuroo snorts, "you sure you don't need to lay down a sec? That apology must've taken every ounce of strength in that boney body of yours."

Bokuto laughs at the joke and grins as he pats Tsukki on the back with too much force, "c'mon, let's go finally do some training together!"

After 10 episodes of the show they were watching, Lev suggests doing something different, "we can't watch TV the entire time, Yaku, what should we do now?"

"You're the one who wants to do something different, why don't you pick?" Asks Yaku, who would've gladly kept watching the show.

"Eh? You're silly, Yaku, we're the guests, so you have to!"

"That doesn't really make se-" Yaku sighs, "y'know what, whatever, how about we play some video games then?"

"Yes! We should play-" Yaku interrupts him.

"Ah ah ah, Lev, let's let Kouzume pick."

Big mistake.

Too bad Yaku realizes it too late, Kenma's lips curl into a faint smile, "Mario Kart."

Lev and Yaku let out exasperated groans that almost sound like they're in pain, "can't we play something different?" Asks Yaku, massaging his forehead as he inwardly scolds himself for being so careless.

"Nope. I choose Mario Kart."

"Can you take back your offer, Yaku?" Begs Lev, he's been decimated in Mario Kart too many times and doesn't wanna go through the failure of it again.

Yaku sighs, "I wish I could, but it's too late," Yaku's hand lazily gestures at the floating disc that's inserting itself into Yaku's gaming console with a little use of Kenma's magic.

Yaku and Lev reluctantly begin playing Mario Kart with Kenma even though they both know they're gonna get decimated every round. After Kenma leaves Yaku is gonna throw that disc into the ocean so this can never happen again, because too many lives have been lost because of this game. It was pretty funny to see Lev get crushed the first time they played it together a few years back, though.

They're racing on rainbow road now, Lev is in fourth place, Yaku's in second, and surprisingly, he's quickly catching up to Kenma, whose obviously in first. How Yaku is actually gaining on Kenma is beyond both him and Lev, but Yaku may finally have a chance, he doesn't want to get his hopes up, but things will never be the same if he can accomplish this; one thing's for sure, Kenma is seriously off his game today, Yaku and Lev don't know it, but Kuroo's the reason why.

Kenma can't help it, the realization is still so recent and fresh in his mind that it's just impossible for it to not eventually wander back into his mind. Kenma's trying to focus, he really is, but thoughts of Kuroo and that selfish, impossible, hope that just maybe he sees Kenma as more than a friend is intruding every crevice of his mind.

Can he really justify the cuddling as just friends? Can he really justify Kuroo's promise to him? Kuroo said he wouldn't leave him, it was a monumental promise to make for someone who he hadn't even known for half a year, and still doesn't. But it was late at night... they were both emotional...

...does Kuroo even remember it?

Lev gasp loudly, "oh my god! Yaku passed Kouzume-kun! Yaku's in first place!!" Lev's shouts of astonishment pull Kenma back to reality, shit. Lev's right, Kenma's in second place and Yaku's leaving him in the dust, Kenma hadn't even realized that he'd stopped pressing the go button all together until just now.

Kenma keeps his poker face and kicks himself into third gear, this race is gonna be a close one. "Yaku, Lev?" He asks, getting their attention while everyone keeps their eyes on the game, "I haven't known Kuroo for a long time, you both know that, but I've grown very close to him very quickly," pink dusts Kenma's cheeks, "we've spent time with each other and told each other personal things, things that I would never tell anyone else that I had know for such a short amount of time... I feel so at ease with him, l-like he'll protect me or something." Kenma's face is getting red with embarrassment but he refuses to look away from the screen, they're on the home stretch of the final lap and he's gaining on Yaku, Lev and Yaku are really wondering where Kenma's going with this. "I-I think- actually, no. I know," Kenma takes a deep breath, "I have feelings for Kuroo, it's more than just a crush, and I really don't know what to do about it."

Whatever Kenma's friends were expecting, it certainly wasn't that.

Kenma has never been one to have a crush or have feelings for other people, his first one was in middle school and it was extremely short lived, which is why Yaku and Lev would've never guessed that Kenma actually had feelings for Kuroo. It's so surprising, that it's enough to make Yaku let out a shocked, "what," as the controller slips from his hands and for once Lev is just speechless.

Kenma's face is burning, "yeah, weird right? Oh, it looks like I won." Kenma won but the game is already long forgotten in the minds of Lev and Yaku.

"Tell us everything," Yaku emphasizes on the everything part. This may be harrowing for Kenma, but hey, at least he won Mario Kart and kept his prestige in tact.

Tsukki swings a punch charged with crackling magic meant to hit Bokuto right in the jaw, but Bokuto dodges it with ease, "you gotta be faster, Tsukishima-kun, put your whole body into it when you swing!"

Tsukki clicks his tongue, and turns to face Bokuto while swinging his fist once more, this time Bokuto grabs his arm and twists it while shoving him another direction, making Tsukki lose balance and fall, "too slow!" Calls Bokuto, who hasn't even broken a sweat.

Kuroo watches from the benches, "you're using the magic part of your ability but that's only the half of it, use your psionic abilities too!" Advises Kuroo from his spot on the bench.

"Well maybe my psionic abilities would actually come in handy if I were fighting spirits in the astral plane, but that's not the case," snaps Tsukki, annoyance in his voice as he gets back up, "what's even the point of this?"

"Oh calm down princess, you'll need it one day; what if someone you love is in danger? What will you do then?" questions Kuroo. Tsukki goes quiet, "get creative with your psionics, use telepathy and telekinesis while you fight, incorporate them into your own fighting style."

"Look at you, Kuroo, actually giving good advice for once."

"Tsukishima Kei, I'll have you know that I only ever give the best advice, because I am just that kind, in fact, I am always this kind," Kuroo places a hand over his heart.

Tsukki rolls his eyes, "you've just been commentating on the sidelines the entire time, why don't you take Bokuto's place?"

Kuroo shrugs, "alright fine, I will."

Kuroo pats Bokuto's back as the switch places, flames ignite in the palms of his hands, "I turned on the safety setting to preserve your frail twig body, it's just enough to hurt, but not enough to burn," he grins.

"All the more inclined I am to make sure I hurt you as much as possible."

Kuroo tsks, "shameful behavior, I expect better of you," Kuroo waists no time and slams his fist into Tsukki's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. "You gotta be more alert in these types of situations," says Kuroo with a cheeky grin.

Tsukishima pulls himself up quickly and feints trying to swing at Kuroo with his left hand, when Kuroo dodges to the right, Tsukki quickly punches him in the nose, his magic adding an extra jolt of pain. "You gotta be more alert in these types of situations," jeers Tsukki, copying what Kuroo said earlier.

That really irks Kuroo, mostly because of the throbbing pain in his nose- he knows it'll heal pretty quickly, but still.

Kicks and punches are thrown back and forth, of course, Kuroo has the upper hand, since in almost 300 years of living he's had a bit more time to practice techniques.

Kuroo catches that Tsukki's balance is off and takes full advantage, he easily knocks Tsukki down to the ground and pins him down by pushing his foot into Tsukki's chest, "I'm pretty sure Kenma-san just got home."

It was Tsukki speaking, but it was inside Kuroo's head, and Kuroo stutters for a moment, "wh- really?" He asks out loud. The answer is no, which he receives in the form of barely dodging a chair flying at his face. "I see you took my advice," says Kuroo with a hint of annoyance, Tsukishima just smirks.

"That's what happens when you put your gross feet on me."

Kuroo just purses his lips. "Whatever, the important thing is that I won."

Tsukishima rolls his eyes, "just get off of me."

Kuroo complies and helps him up, "okay, now do the same thing we did with Bo, but actually do a decent job this time, because I was holding back a lot," he smirks as he pulls out his phone, "don't go too hard on him, Bo," getting a phone was one of the greatest things to happen to Kuroo, it comes in extremely handy when he wants to preserve someone's embarrassing moments.

Evening has come and the sky has become a darker shade of blue, Kenma has an hour or two to get home before it turns dark out, upon the insistence, he told Yaku and Lev everything in more detail and his face was on fire the entire time and he pretty much ended up mumbling all of it due to embarrassment.

Thunder goes unnoticed as it rumbles in the distance, "I think you should tell him," advises Yaku, "whether he feels the same way for you or not, it's going to eat you up inside if you keep it bottled up, and that's not healthy." This is one on the rare occasions where Lev knows to be serious and is quite, he doesn't have much insight on the topic anyways.

Kenma stares down at the cup of tea in his hands, watching it gently swirl around, he sighs, "I dunno, I'm just not ready to tell him that, there are too many things that could go wrong," anxiety swirls in his chest as he thinks about it, he needs to force the thoughts away or else he's gonna start feeling sick.

"He's your friend, and a good guy from the looks of it, Kouzume, even if he doesn't return your feelings, it's not like he's going to spit in your face if you tell him."

"But what if-"

"Why are you so convinced he doesn't like you? To me it seems pretty obvious after you've told us all these things."

"...it would be too good to be true," he mumbles.

Whatever advice Lev begins to say gets completely drowned out by a loud crash of thunder, it was horribly sunny a few hours ago and suddenly, a thunderstorm springs up from out of nowhere, truly curious weather.

Kenma looks up from his cup of tea to study the sudden harsh rain pelting the windows, Yaku frowns, "if the rain keeps up then you and Lev won't be able to go home."

"It wouldn't be that hard to cast a spell to create a makeshift umbrella," reasons Kenma.

Yaku raises a brow, "did you hear that thunder? And what about those winds, they're really kicking up and that's way too dangerous. There's no way I'll allow you to leave my house if the storm keeps up like this," he scolds. Kenma sighs, guess he'll be getting home late, because he knows Yaku won't change his mind about this.

Scratch getting home late, because hours later the storm is still going strong and Kenma isn't home yet. "Bro relax, the storm is just keepin' him at Yaku-san's place, that's all," says Bokuto as Kuroo dases off, looking at the window that's being beaten by the rain.

Kuroo sighs and shakes his head, "no yeah you're right, I just- I dunno."

"What," teases Tsukki, "is the big, bad, and tough Kuroo worried about Kenma-san?"

Kuroo's face twists into an exasperated grimace, "I dunno, I mean-" he raises an unsure brow, his cheeks a little pink, "probably? I wanna call him, just to make sure- should I call him? I'm gonna call him just in case," Kuroo pulls out his phone and dials Kenma's number.

Kenma picks up immediately, "Kuroo?"

"Hi Kenma," he chuckles nervously, now feeling dumb for worrying as he bites the inside of his lip, "I just wanted to make sure that you're okay, since that storm is pretty bad."

"O-oh, yeah I'm fine, Yaku-kun said I might have to stay the night because of the storm," Kenma's blushing on the other line, his thumb had been hovering over the call button for at least two hours, but he hadn't wanted to bother Kuroo, Lev finally convinced him to call but as it turns out, Kuroo beat him to it.

"I could come get you," he offers immediately.

"No way, do you see how bad it is outside? You would get soaked down to the bone if you tried to come get me, and I don't want you to get sick."

"Oh I would be fine, I could just use my magic and evaporate all the water before it could touch me."

"Keeping the flames that would be encasing all of your body hot enough to not get put out by the rain would be exhausting," he deadpans.

Kuroo sighs, "alright fine, you got me there. I guess have fun sleeping over at Yaku-san's place, don't stay up too late."

Kenma lightly chuckles, "You can be sure I won't stay up late, Yaku would never let me."

Kuroo exhales what could've been a laugh from his nose, "well then goodnight, Kenma."

"Goodnight, Kuroo." he hangs up and presses a hand to his warm cheeks.

Kuroo smiles pleasantly down at his phone for a long moment, "your face looks like a cherry," monotonously says Tsukki, effectively ruining the moment while Bokuto snorts in amusement.

"Oh shut up, string bean."

Kenma falls asleep on the floor of Yaku's room in a sleeping bag, the rain pounding against the window is a strangely comforting noise to him and he's lulled into a state of drowsiness, he feels cold though, he misses the usual warmth against his back, he misses Kuroo, the guy was like a furnace at night.

Recently, Akaashi and Kuroo stopped taking turns warding away his nightmares because somehow Kuroo managed to convince Akaashi, which only makes the absence of Kuroo more noticeable.

Kenma really should start carrying around a warmth charm for situations like this one.

Kenma turns away from the window and curls further into himself, staring at the floorboards of Yaku's room and hearing nothing but the soft breathing of his friends that's almost drowned out by the striking of rain against the window.

Kenma's eyes become heavy and he hears the loud crashing of thunder that should've lit up the entire sky with white as he closed his eyes, it should've lit up the sky but Kenma did not miss the shadow that covered most of the light that should've been casted down in front of him by the window. It makes the hair on the back of Kenma's neck stand on end as his eyes snap open and he quickly sits up, bristling with anxiety, because he had a clear view of the sky before when he looked through the window, there was nothing that could cause a shadow near the window.

Kenma turns his head, he see nothing but the dark grey and angry sky raining down upon the Earth. Kenma rubs his eyes with the palms of his pale hands, there was nothing there. The winds out there are pretty strong, it was probably something being blown past the window; Kenma sighs, he's too paranoid. Just so that he can eliminate the last of his nerves uses his anima to search for other life, and besides Yaku and Lev, he finds nothing.

Kenma frowns and debates playing on his psp until he falls asleep but Kuroo's voice rings in his mind, "have fun sleeping over at Yaku-san's place, don't stay up too late." Kenma takes one last look at the window before laying back down and trying to sleep.

He feels cold and there's still just a prick of worry in the back of his mind, but he falls asleep maybe ten minutes before twelve. Kenma falls asleep, and he sees things he did not wish to see ever again. This time, they are more vivid.

He looks up and he's in a different location, he's in some dirty ally and a young boy with chocolate brown hair sits leaning against the wall of an old building, he's clutching something around his neck for dear life. Kenma feels like an on looker who's not truly there, but he feels the boy's panic, the boy's terror, he's hyperventilating and he's scared for reasons that aren't his own.

He blinks and now he is running away from a building, he refuses to look behind him because there's chaos all around, he can hear it, screams and shouts of innocent people and creatures alike, blasts of magic light up the darkness from the corners of his eyes and he dares not look around as his feet stumble in the dark; it is night, but there is something so utterly wrong about this darkness. Something big is happening and Kenma's lips carry the metallic taste of blood, Kuroo is running in front of him, their hands are clasped together, Kuroo says things that Kenma cannot hear as he leads him further away. Kenma wipes away blood that's dribbling from his nose with his sleeve, staining his school clothes.

Panic further wells up in his throat because now he's seeing Kuroo leave with the man in the dead of night again and he's choking on words that aren't there because Kuroo is leaving with the man he saw at the circus, the man he thought imagined at the store, his green hair almost looks brown in the darkness and his eyes are not to be trusted for one second.

Why does Kuroo look so sad?

Kenma wakes up wave after wave of fear piles up on top of him and his legs hurt, through choked sobs and panicked breaths he instinctively yells out a name, "K-Kuroo!"

While the room where most of the familiars sleep is very cozy, Kuroo just wasn't feeling it, because as nice as cuddling with two owls while in familiar form was for the first hour, he just kinda felt something was missing,which led to promptly padding off to Kenma's bed to sleep in it, he had just grown so used to the bed it didn't quite feel right to sleep somewhere else- or at least, that was the excuse he was telling himself.

This is the first time he's been in the bed shirtless, the sheets feel foreign but soft against his back and his arms get goosebumps- strange, he's usually never cold- but then again, usually Kenma's here with him.

about 3am when Kuroo is rudely awoken by the ringing of his phone. A groan rips through him and he covers his ears with his pillow, hoping the offending phone will just pipe down. Unfortunately, the ringing persists and Kuroo rolls over to the other side of Kenma's bed, towards the nightstand where his phone sits and plucks up the phone without reading who's calling, he yawns as he drowsily answers, "hello?"

"Kuroo-san, oh good you finally answered," it's Yaku, his voice is filled with urgency and some anxiety too, "Kouzume had one of those 'nightmares' again and he's having a panic attack."

Kuroo had sprung out of bed to get dressed the second Yaku mentioned 'nightmares', "try to keep him calm, I'm on my way," says Kuroo as he throws on a shirt and shoes.

"What? You can't come here, it's pouring out there! Just talk to him over the phone." Reasons Yaku.

"It doesn't matter, I'll be there soon," Kuroo ends the call before shoving his phone into his pocket as he rushes down the stairs, there's no time to tell anyone where he's going.

Kuroo charges outside running as fast as his legs will allow, the icy cold rain soaks into his clothes and crawls down his back, giving him chills, Kuroo still doesn't slow down for a moment; he's thankful that he remembers the way to Yaku's house from the previous time he walked Kenma there.

Kuroo's clothes feel heavy and stick to his skin uncomfortably, but he doesn't bother using his magic to dry himself, he would exhaust his magic too much before he could even make it to Yaku's house,starting a fire and keeping it lit in the middle of a downpour isn't the easiest task, so, he'll just dry himself when he gets to Yaku's house.

His usually wild hair sticks wet to his skull and he doesn't even get to knock on the door because Lev opens it immediately, standing back for a moment, Kuroo quickly uses his magic to dry himself and Lev leads him to the living room where Kenma is, Kenma didn't want to be in Yaku's room and now sits on the living room's carpeted floor hyperventilating with Yaku crouched beside him, rubbing his back and doing his best to try and calm him.

It's very worrying to see Kenma like this but Kuroo does his best to make sure his demeanor is calm, "Kenma?" He kneels down next to Kenma, "it's me, Kuroo. I know you had another 'nightmare', it's gonna be okay."

Kenma looks up at Kuroo through short breaths and bleary eyes, his hand latches onto Kuroo's wrist immediately and shakily starts rambling, "p-please don't leave, I-I just- I-I can't- m-my legs hurt-"

Kuroo holds Kenma's shaking hand in his own warm ones, "hey, it's alright, I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here, you're going to be fine, it'll be okay." Kuroo gently moves to hug Kenma and Kenma buries his face into Kuroo's shirt, clutching the fabric with his shaking hands, "I need you to breathe, okay? Just breathe, you're gonna be okay," Kuroo rubs his back gently.

Kenma begins trying to do as instructed, and little by little, his breathing slows down to a normal pace. Yaku backs up and spectates with Lev by the door, breathing a sigh of relief now that Kenma has started to calm a bit.

By the time the last of his hiccups leave his mouth and the two sit hugging in silence with nothing but unspoken words in between them, Yaku quietly mouths a, "thank you," to Kuroo and slips away with Lev without a sound.

Minutes pass and they are both silent, finding comfort in warm gossamer touches until Kenma speaks up, finally breaking the stillness, "thank you." It's soft and hushed, but it still has a lot of meaning.

"Anytime," smiles Kuroo.

Kenma hesitates speaking again but he needs to know, "...do you remember what you promised me?"

Kuroo softly chuckles, "of course I do, I'm here aren't I?"

Kenma feels great solace knowing for sure that Kuroo remembers.

The smell of lavender and cinnamon tea tickles Kuroo's nose while he enjoys the feeling of warmth that he hard been missing all night.

Love.

The word pops into his head when he least expects it and it feels like the world has stopped spinning, hell, maybe his realization actually has made the Earth stop spinning.

Kuroo feels love. He loves this short dork he's hugging at the moment and has absolutely no idea what to do about it, he's loved Kenma for a while, but it's only now that he has a name to finally label the feeling. It'll cause stress later for sure, but at the moment, he just wants to feel happy, no more thinking for now.

The next morning Yaku and Lev found Kenma and Kuroo both sleeping on the couch, it may have been cramped, but it was the most comfy and warm spot either of them had slept in all night.

They didn't get to sleep in for very long though, because Kuroo got a call from Suga severely scolding him for just disappearing off in the middle of the night to who knows where.
.•°.•°.•°.•°
Who was that boy with chocolate brown hair in Kenma's nightmare you ask? Surprise, it's Oikawa, not only that, but him and Iwaizumi are getting their own fic that takes place in the same universe, it's called Anathema so check it out if you want the plot to make sense a lot later. Also check it out if you like Iwaoi lol. ~ ♒