A tangle of limbs, messy hair, the slight shift of the bedsheets as the sunlight poured through the bedroom window and pulled them out of slumber – they woke up like this every day.

The dark-haired boy let out a loud yawn, smiling when he heard the sound of fingers furiously tapping away on buttons. 

“Morning, sunshine,” Kuroo pulled the smaller boy into his arms where he fit comfortably. They were like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Kenma didn’t reply, his mind focusing intently on the gaming console in front of him. Kuroo looked over Kenma’s shoulder at the characters jumping around on the screen, much too fast for his eyes to keep up with. 

“New game?” he murmured against Kenma’s neck, finishing the question with a gentle kiss on the boy’s bare skin.

“Mm.”

Kuroo chuckled and planted another kiss, followed by another, and another, until they covered every visible inch of Kenma’s neck. Kenma paused the game and glanced back at him in mild irritation, holding back a smile when Kuroo looked at him with eyes still half-closed.

“Kuro, stop trying to distract m-” He never got to the end of the sentence.

Their lips connected, soft and sweet, the faint taste of Tanqueray from last night lingering on Kuroo’s mouth. Kuroo reached over and swiftly pulled the console out of Kenma’s hands, earning a disgruntled groan from its player. Kenma didn’t have time to protest – Kuroo had already managed to position himself on top of him, pushing his body into the soft mattress. Kuroo’s arms were on either side of Kenma’s head, his fingers playing with the strands of Kenma’s long hair. Kenma could feel Kuroo’s heartbeat against his palm, it accelerated with every kiss and touch. Kuroo’s mouth moved from his lips to his jawline, giving Kenma a brief chance to breathe before it returned for a second round. 

“Nngh… Kuro,” Kenma panted, his lips red and swollen as he pulled away.

“Sorry, am I distracting you?” Kuroo raised an eyebrow, eyes twinkling with mischief. Kenma huffed and sat up, his hands instantly searching for his console hidden within the sheets. His mouth fell open when he saw that the game was still in play.

“You un-paused my game?” he shrieked, causing Kuroo to jump out of his skin. 

“I… uh… I don’t know what you’re talking about...” Kuroo was digging his own grave. He gasped internally when he realised that his finger may have accidentally un-paused it when he set it aside. Kenma looked murderous, and Kuroo felt that if he didn’t escape quickly, he would end up with handprints on his cheeks and possibly a missing limb. The chances of that occurring was particularly high considering that it was only eight in the morning and Kenma was definitely not a morning person. Anyone who has ever had to share rooms with him during training camp would know that waking Kenma even just a minute, even a second before 9 a.m. would result in them getting a pillow (or if you were unlucky, a foot) to the face followed by death glares for the rest of the week. There were those few days when Kenma would wake up earlier than the rest, but that didn’t mean he was willing to get out of bed before that time. 

Kuroo ran fast, alright. Bolted out of there like he was trying to win gold at the Olympics. Kenma was in hot pursuit, absolutely terrifying with the blanket still wrapped around him and over his head. They kept going until they both landed on the living room floor, Kenma struggling to crawl out from underneath the white material tightly hugging his body and Kuroo struggling to remove his ankle from Kenma’s grasp. 

“Oi, Kenma!” Kuroo yelled, frantically kicking at the air. He froze when he heard a peculiar sound originating from beneath the sheet. He cautiously bent down and pulled it back to find Kenma in a fit of giggles with his hand over his mouth. Kuroo felt his heart melt.

A sight so beautiful belonged in a museum.

Kuroo rarely saw Kenma smile. He never really did unless he got his hands on a new game. Or when he was with Hinata Shouyou. 

“I didn’t know you were into that shrimpy kid,” Kuroo smirked when Kenma stopped tossing the volleyball into the air and turned to face him, eyes widened in embarrassment. Just the reaction he was anticipating.

“Kuro, you know I’m only into videogames and… you,” Kenma’s cheeks flushed pink. Did he just… yes, yes he did. This was going down in history as one of the most shameful things he has ever said. Kuroo would never let him forget it. 

Kuroo’s laughter echoed throughout the gym, much to Kenma’s humiliation. “I’m just teasing ya,” he gave him a light punch on the arm while attempting to contain the chuckles bubbling within his chest. 

“You know I don’t like when you tease me,” Kenma’s grip visibly tightened on the ball, his expression unamused.

“Oh, but you do.” There was that smirk that could literally bring you to your knees.

“… I do not.”

“You do.”

Kuroo wasn’t exactly the type to become overly jealous over little things, but he couldn’t help but feel a small emptiness in his chest. How was it that Hinata could make Kenma smile without even acknowledging him, and he couldn’t?

“Must be the energy and bright eyes,” Bokuto gave him a pat on the back when Kenma was out of hearing range. 

Kuroo scowled, aware that Kenma was probably tossing to Shouyou somewhere in the gymnasium. 

“Oh come on, you still have me,” Bokuto flashed his award-winning smile.

“You’ll never take his place, bro,” Kuroo snorted playfully, the corners of his mouth twitching back up into a smirk. 

Kenma was someone that could never be replaced. He was Kuroo’s only ace.

--

“Yo, Kenma,” Kuroo spoke through a mouthful of bacon and eggs. Kenma had his head rested on Kuroo’s lap, legs sprawled out on the couch and a PlayStation controller in his hands. 

“Kuro.” Kenma paused the game and looked up at him, waiting for something foolish to come out of that perfect mouth of his judging by the serious look on his face.

“There’s going to be a high school volleyball get-together this evening, y’know, like a barbecue… and I was wondering if you’d like to go?” Kuroo smiled sheepishly.

Kenma turned back to the television as if Kuroo never even spoke. 

“Karasuno will be there, I know how much you want to see the little shrimp…”

“If you’re going to go on about me leaving you for Shouyou again, I just might.” Kuroo whined and scrunched his nose when Kenma gave it a hard flick.

“What’s the point in asking, you’re going to drag me along anyway,” Kenma rolled his eyes, sitting up to wrap his arms around Kuroo’s neck when he pouted. He planted a quick kiss on the corner of his lips, and Kuroo’s face went red as felt his heart leap into his throat.

“O-oi…” he stuttered, unfamiliar with being the one having kisses stolen from. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it was him doing the stealing and Kenma being the one left breathless and flustered. He just about jumped out of his seat when Kenma purred lowly into his ear, nuzzling against his neck.

“Don’t worry, we’re going to have fun tonight.”

Kuroo had to retrieve his jaw from the floor and resist the urge to have ‘fun’ with him right then and there. “Who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?”

Kenma reached over to the table and shoved a forkful of Kuroo’s breakfast into his mouth, his cheeks filled with eggs as he looked at Kuroo innocently.

“Hmm?” he cocked his head. Kuroo was in for a surprise.

It was exactly 5pm when Kenma’s phone lit up beside him, the soft buzz of an incoming text diverting his attention from the screen in front of him. 

[Shouyou] See you soon!

Kenma heard the sound of the shower starting in the bathroom and knew that now was the time to confirm his shenanigans for the night with the small boy. 

[Kenma] Yes. Do you have the ‘item’?

[Shouyou] What item?

Kenma just about wanted to slam his head on the table. 

[Kenma] The item I told you to bring.

[Shouyou] I don’t remember what you told me to bring…

Kenma let out a long sigh before dialling Shouyou’s number. 

“Shouyou.”

The voice on the receiving end wasn’t the one he was anticipating. 

“Yes, this is Kageyama. That does have the ‘item’.”

A high-pitched voice in the background began to protest, only to be cut off.

“LISTEN, YOU -”

“See you soon.” Kenma frantically hung up before he could be dragged into the never-ending ‘is Hinata really a or is Kageyama just plain soulless’ debate between the Karasuno setter and his spiker. He padded down the hall and stopped at the bathroom door, waiting for the shower to stop running before giving it a knock. 

“Just a sec,” Kuroo called out from inside. He opened the door and leaned against the frame, a towel wrapped loosely around his waist and his damp hair falling over his eyes. Kenma raised an eyebrow and pushed past him. 

“You can’t ignore these muscles forever,” he teased as he watched Kenma examine himself in the mirror. 

“I don’t plan to,” Kenma replied flatly, his hands fixing his hair. Kenma had never seen more than Kuroo’s bare chest, and the way the towel was positioned carelessly around his hips made his heart pound. He always shied away from the thought of seeing more of Kuroo than he needed to, and the thought of being exposed and pressed up against him, their clothes on the floor and their bodies radiating heat, was nerve-wracking. He was willing to try though, for Kuroo’s sake. The poor guy was having a hard time trying to keep it in his pants. 

Kuroo stood behind him and placed his arms around the setter’s waist, his chin resting on his head. Their eyes met in the mirror, neither of them breaking contact or opening their mouth to speak. Kenma found the silence comforting; Kuroo, on the other hand, was visibly twitching in a way that entertained Kenma. 

“Excited, are we?” Kenma bit his lip and tilted his head to the side, allowing for Kuroo to have clear access to his throat. Kuroo growled lowly and his exposed skin, feeling him shiver at the wet touch. 

“You know better than to tease me,” Kuroo gently nipped the boy’s earlobe. The uncontrollable moan that left Kenma’s mouth surprised both of them. Kenma hid his face in his hands as he blushed bright red. Kuroo gulped and nervously scratched the back of his head. 

“Hey, kitten..."

Kenma pursed his lips and folded his arms over his chest. “Go put some clothes on,” he stammered, avoiding Kuroo’s gaze. “We’re going to be late.”

“I wasn’t the one who decided to be a tease,” Kuroo remarked when he was out of Kenma’s reach. He hastily made his way out the door, barely missing the sting of Kenma’s slipper against his ankle. 

--

The first thing Kenma sees when they arrive at the barbecue is a blur of bright orange rushing towards him and pulling him away from Kuroo’s side.

“Kenma!” Hinata beamed up at him, eyes wide with excitement. 

“Shouyou.”

Kageyama appeared next to him and gave him a small nod.

“I’ll catch you later, Kuro,” Kenma gave Kuroo’s arm a gentle squeeze, but Kuroo was too engrossed in his conversation with Bokuto about the importance of docosahexaenoic acid to notice that Kenma had scurried off with the Karasuno troublemakers. 

Yaku’s ears perked up and his brows were twitching at the subject of the conversation, knowing that Kuroo was most definitely doing it to piss him off.

“For someone who is so clearly lacking in docosahexaenoic acid, I don’t think your opinions have much validity,” Kuroo had once insulted him.

“Please, that was when we were first years…”

The chattering faded as Kenma followed Hinata and Kageyama to a pile of bushes a few metres away. Every word was a whisper drifting through the wind. 

“Thanks for helping me with this, Shouyou,” Kenma fiddled with his fingers anxiously. “I’m quite nervous, I must admit. This is my first time, after all.”

“What?” Hinata lowered his voice when Kageyama whacked him on the back of the head. If anyone were to hear them, they’d have growing suspicions as to why three teenage boys were huddled behind a bush at night.

“You mean, you’ve never done it before?”

“You make it sound like everyone has.”

“Well, sure. Kageyama and I do it all the time!” Hinata exclaimed triumphantly. 

Kenma peeked through the leaves at Kuroo, standing tall with his mouth open in laughter, oblivious to the fact that his boyfriend was going behind his back.

“Enough chitchat.” Kageyama ed a hard object into Kenma’s hands.

Kenma stared down at it, not recognising what it was at first – then realisation hit him. His entire face was painted white, making him look like a ghost in the darkness.

“Uh, what is this…” he asked shakily, almost dropping the bottle onto the grass. 

Hinata shook his head furiously and pounded his fists on Kageyama’s chest. “I told you that wasn’t it! Where did you even get that from?”

“Wait, you guys do that all the time?”

“Huh?!” Kageyama and Hinata turned and looked at him incredulously.

Kageyama wiggled his fingers and struggled to comprehend what was going on.

“But you said… you and Kuroo were…” he stammered, the tips of his ears burning. “And you needed the item…”

“Kageyama.”

“Huh?”

“Pass the lube.”

Kageyama took the bottle from Kenma, who was still frozen in shock, and tossed it to an irritated Hinata.

“I don’t ever want to hear you say those words again,” Kageyama narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth in disgust. 

Just as Kenma was about to declare the mission a failure, Hinata pulled out a much more family-friendly item and pointed it at him. Kenma let out a sigh of relief and smiled softly.

“Now that’s what I was talking about.”

“Water guns?” Kageyama cocked his head as Hinata handed one to each of them.

“Water guns!” Hinata and Kenma chorused. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Kenma aimed at Hinata and positioned his finger on the trigger, slowly squirting a small amount of water at Hinata’s face. 

“You’ve never used a water gun before?” Kageyama got up onto his feet and flung the toy back so that it was resting on his shoulder.

“Never,” Kenma replied, examining his fluoro green gun in curiosity. “I thought it’d be fun to give Kuro a surprise.” He smirked at the thought of Kuroo jumping at the unexpected feeling of cold water hitting his nape.

“Time to get wet,” Hinata’s lips pulled up into a sly grin. 

“Make another dirty pun and I will shoot you,” Kageyama growled.

“Is that a threat?”

“Shut up and follow my lead.”

Kenma always wondered what crime he had committed in his lifetime to have to suffer torture from these two.

They crept silently towards their target, guiding each other through the dark with light touches and tugs.

“Kageyama!” Hinata hissed when Kageyama yanked on his shirt a little too hard, almost causing both him and Kenma to lose balance and roll down the slight hill they were on. Kenma gripped onto Hinata’s elbow, not trusting his own poor sense of direction. 

The conversations were getting louder now, and Kenma could clearly distinguish Kuroo’s voice within the crowd. They paused at a tree, the members were all in plain sight and unaware of the wrath that was to be bestowed upon them. Kageyama motioned for Kenma to proceed in front of him and helped him line up his gun with Kuroo’s neck. 

“Hit him right… there.”

Kenma pulled the trigger and watched in amazement as the gun fired away, a trail of water soaring and landing straight where he aimed. Kuroo’s reaction did not disappointment. It was totally worthy of being on one of those funny home video shows. Kenma stifled his laughter when Kuroo yelped mid-sentence and instinctively reached for the back of his neck, clawing at it and jumping around in terror as the others watched in confusion. Kenma couldn’t hold it in any longer, his laughter reverberating throughout the air. Everyone smiled at the unfamiliar but charming sound and shook their heads when Kenma emerged from hiding, his hair scattered with leaves. Before Kuroo could make a run for it, Kenma attacked him again, this time aiming for his face. 

“Oh, you’re going to get it.”

A war was declared.

The park had become a battlefield. Kageyama and Hinata joined Kenma against the rest of the teams, firing away mercilessly. The three boys had the weapons, however the others had the numbers – and advanced logical skill. When Daichi got hold of a garden hose, Kenma knew it was game over for all of them. Suddenly it was every man for himself.

The meat on the picnic table was long forgotten, general hunger replaced with the hunger for victory. Shirts drenched and dirt on their knees, the volleyball teams fought using what material they could lay their hands on. Lev was seen throwing slices of watermelon at Tsukishima from the corner of Kenma’s eye, the red flesh staining Tsukishima’s white shirt and barely missing a trembling Yamaguchi. Bokuto was using Akaashi as a shield against Tanaka and Nishinoya’s double water bottle attack, a displeased Akaashi standing soaking wet in front of his captain. Hinata and Kageyama disregarded their alliance and were now engaged in a heated combat for dominance. 

Amidst the chaos, Kuroo found the perfect opportunity to capture Kenma and tackle him to the ground. The littler boy struggled to free himself of Kuroo’s grasp to no avail. 

“Look at what you’ve started,” Kuroo clicked his tongue. 

The weight of his body on top of Kenma’s almost felt comfortable to Kenma. 

Kuroo could see the stars begin to twinkle in Kenma’s eyes. He leaned in and kissed the boy hard, ignoring the world around them. It was as if the two of them were home in their bed, lost within the sheets and a million miles away from earth. Kenma was breathtaking. Kuroo was hopelessly in love. 

“I love you, Kuro.” Kenma said the three words before he could.

“I love you, Kenma,” he replied shyly.

“Sleep with me tonight?”

“I always sleep with you, silly head,” Kuroo nuzzled Kenma’s cheek.

“Kuro…” Kenma gulped, his mouth in a thin line.

Ohoho.

“Whatever you want, kitten,” Kuroo bit the bottom of Kenma’s lip playfully. As he did so, he felt a cold sensation against his stomach. Kenma brought the newly loaded water gun up to Kuroo’s temple and winked.

“Game’s not over yet.”

“You’re seriously going to pay for this.”

There were no survivors.

--

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Kuroo asked for what seemed like the hundredth time. His bare skin was warm to touch and Kenma never felt safer within his arms. 

Kenma gave a firm nod and wriggled out of his shirt, discarding it on the bedroom floor. Kuroo whistled lowly at the new sight, earning a punch to the shoulder. 

“Hey now, that’s a little too rough for our first time,” he chuckled, pinching Kenma’s scrunched up nose.

Kenma hooked his fingers into Kuroo’s pants to assure him that he was ninety-nine percent serious about this – the remaining one percent of him was wanting to pick up his PSP and ignore all the events that unfolded to lead up to this point. 

No matter what he decided to do, he wasn’t getting any sleep that night.

Neither was Kuroo.