five times kuroo wouldn't shut up about kenma (and one time kenma wouldn't shut up about kuroo) -- a kuroken threadfic.

1.
the door slams shut behind kuroo as he clambers into the house, his eyes big. he makes his way to the kitchen, where his grandma is sitting, thumbing through a book. "tetsurou," she scolds him gently. "don't be so noisy."
"i'm sorry," kuroo says sheepishly.

she turns over another page in her book. "where have you been?"
"oh!" kuroo brightens up again. "so you know the neighbor boy?"
"the kozume child?"
"yes!" kuroo enthuses. "so i got him to play some volleyball with me today!"
"that's nice," his grandma says.

"he doesn't really like volleyball - well, actually, i don't really think he likes any sports at all," kuroo muses. "he mostly likes video games. but because he plays so many video games, he's also really good at strategy! so i think he could be really good at volleyball."

"a lot of volleyball is about strategy, y'know, so i think he could be really good if he keeps practicing! and maybe we can develop some really cool moves we can use in the future!"
"don't get too ahead of yourself," his grandma tells him, but it's far too late for that.

2.
"who's that?" one of kuroo's classmates asks, tilting his head at the door.
kuroo glances over to see kenma standing there, his face covered by his hair. "oh, it's kenma," he says, and his lips form a smile almost involuntarily. "i'll be right back."

there's a look of annoyance coloring kenma's features when kuroo makes his way over to him. "what's up?" kuroo asks, fearing the worst.
kenma holds out a sheet of paper, which kuroo quickly takes. "you left your homework at mine last night," he says, frowning.

damn, he had, and his teachers in middle school are not so forgiving. kuroo'd come early to school today for a meeting, so he hadn't been able to walk to school with kenma like usual. still, kenma had gone this extra mile for him. "thanks," kuroo says. "you really saved my ass."

he heads back to the group, and one of his classmates raises an eyebrow at him. "who was that?"
"oh," kuroo says. "my childhood friend, kenma." childhood friend doesn't seem sufficient to describe kenma somehow, but kuroo can't find a better word.
"he looks like a weirdo."

"nah," kuroo says. "he's not at all. he's one of the most badass people i've ever met, actually. he can kick my ass at any video game while only playing with one hand. and he's so damn smart. he'll watch volleyball games and make suggestions about what the players should do."

"and these are like, pro players that he's giving advice to, you know? and he's still in middle school! so imagine if he actually tried in school, how amazing he could be!"
kuroo pauses and notices that his classmates are all staring at him. his cheeks go red.

"anyways," kuroo says, ducking down behind his book. "he's not weird at all."
but maybe i am, kuroo thinks to himself. he quickly brushes that thought away.

3.
"okay, so then kenma picked up the kitten," kuroo says as he, yaku, and kai make their way into the building. "and even though it had been hissing at me just seconds before, as soon as kenma picked it up -"
"it started purring," yaku and kai finish in unison.

kuroo blinks. "have i told this story before?"
"only a hundred times," yaku complains, shoving his fists into his pockets.
"what? really?"
"you tend to tell stories about kenma a lot," kai says, his tone more diplomatic than yaku's had been. "actually, pretty much all the time."

kuroo blinks, musing on why that could be. "i guess because he's my best friend," he says, "and we do stuff together a lot, so he just tends to be a part of my stories?"
yaku stares at him flatly. "really. you think that's why."
"yeah? what other reason could there be?"

yaku looks like he's about to say something, but kai nudges him in the gut before he can, still grinning in his very-kai way. "you'll figure it out eventually," kai says cheerfully.
(kuroo does, after three basically sleepless nights. it's 4 am on a school night when it hits him.

he jerks up, covered in a sheer layer of sweat.
he's in love with kenma. as alarming as this piece of information is, it's also not shocking at all. it feels like it was always going to happen eventually.
kenma just gives a tiny laugh. "took you long enough," he mumbles.)

4.
"is that him?" one of kuroo's teammates asks as he comes up beside kuroo, draping an arm around kuroo's shoulders.
"who?" kuroo asks.
"the infamous kenma," the teammate says, mouth twisting up into a smirk. "who do you think?"

kuroo startles, his gaze darting up to the stands. sure enough, kenma is there, his face partially obscured by his now-even-longer hair. he gives kuroo a half-smile, half-grimace: a "i'm here for you, and i can't wait to see you play face, kuroo knows, because he knows kenma.

"yeah," kuroo breathes out, his face immediately curving up into a completely smitten grin. "that's him."
"what's he like?" another teammate asks.
"he's..." kuroo pauses, searching for the words. "god, he's so interesting. he works hard, even if he pretends he doesn't."

"he's in school and he's starting his own company and building his youtube channel all at the same time. and he's good at all of it, too. like, can you imagine? he's only 20 and working on all of those projects at once! and he's just so fucking smart, too."

"but he's also really caring in his own little ways," kuroo continues. "they aren't really obvious to everyone, but sometimes i'll come home to have dinner already cooked and - " he pauses, suddenly realizing. "shit, i'm rambling, aren't i?"

"it's okay," one teammate says, ruffling his hair. "we're just glad you're happy, man."
/yeah/, kuroo thinks, looking back up at the stands to see kenma staring back down at him - though pretending not to, of course. /i really, really am happy./

5.
"hey," kuroo says to the guy sitting next to him on the subway. "is that a kodzuken keychain on your bag?"
the guy glances sideways at him, a confused expression on his face. "uh," he says slowly. "yeah. why? you a fan?"
"you could say that," kuroo replies.

"what's your favorite video of his?"
"i dunno," the guy says thoughtfully. "i guess the ones where he's trying to beat the games as quickly as possible, y'know? those are badass. what about you?"
kuroo grins, leaning back. "i like all his videos," he says.

"but i guess if i had to choose.... huh. there's this one game he played a while back that i could tell he was really enjoying. it was just something about his voice, you know? it just had that undertone of happiness. and he was talking more than usual, and..."

"and i love seeing him like that. i love when he's excited about his work and what he does. but honestly, i like all of his videos. he puts so much work into all of them, and it really shows. they're all just fuckin high quality. so... uh... yeah." kuroo makes himself stop.

"wow," the guy says. "it sounds like you're a really big fan."
kuroo shrugs. "you could say that. this is my stop, though, so i'll see you later." he waves as he exits the vehicle.
kenma glances up at him before kuroo even makes it to him, as though he knows.
(he probably does.)

"who were you talking to?" he asks.
"just some guy," kuroo says, then smirks. "he had a keychain of this youtuber i like, so i was was talking to him about that."
"tell me it wasn't me."
"you're so conceited," kuroo chides. "not everything's about you, you know."

kenma gives him a look of mild annoyance. "but it was about me."
kuroo laughs, glancing around before he plants a secretive kiss on the top of kenma's head. "yeah," he says softly. "it always is."

(and 1.)
kuroo gets the text from bokuto in the middle of looking over a work report. 'kenmas talking about u in his stream rn lol' it says, and kuroo blinks.
kenma's /what/?!
kenma's a fairly private person. this is something kuroo's long accepted about his fiancé.

he doesn't really mention kuroo in streams, mostly in passing. he says he doesn't want people prying into his love life, which kuroo completely understands. so that's why bokuto's text doesn't make any fucking sense.
kuroo glances around to ensure no one's looking at his screen.

no one is, so kuroo clicks on his first bookmark - kenma's twitch channel. kenma's in the middle of some fighting game that kuroo doesn't recognize, but that's not important. what's important is that he's saying, "well, we met back when i was really young. so it's been..."

"we've known each other for over 15 years now. and no, surprisingly, i haven't gotten tired of him." there's a quiet snort. "god, hopefully he doesn't hear this. but... he's always been there for me, through everything in a way that no one else ever has."

"he's funny, even if he makes dumb jokes, and he has the biggest heart of anyone i've ever met, and he's just..." kenma pauses. there's a softness to his voice that strikes like lightning through kuroo's heart. he thinks he might just pass out on the spot.

"i'm really, really glad to have someone like him in my life that supports me," kenma says, and then pauses. "shit. i think i'm gonna burst into flames if i say anymore, so i'll stop there. god, am i glad he's not watching."
kuroo can't resist any more, so he fires off a text.

"thank you, my love," he says.
he watches on stream as kenma picks up his phone, glances at the text, and then his face goes completely red. kenma glares at the screen, but it's half-hearted, kuroo knows - and he smiles to himself.
it feels nice to be talked about.
(end.)