Work Text:
For as long as Kenma could remember, it has always been Kuroo and Kenma. Growing up, he doesn’t think that there are any memories where Kuroo wasn’t present in Kenma’s company.
Kenma’s family is part of one of the lower-upper houses in the state, something Kenma only understands as his great-grandfather having done something important for the state, so his family is still able to live in the riches of his great-doing today. Kuroo’s family had served Kenma’s family for the past couple of generations already - at least, that’s what everyone around Kenma has told him, but they weren’t bound by any contracts or spells anymore. The Kuroos served the Kozumes out of sheer loyalty.
Though if someone were to ask Kenma, Kenma wouldn’t say that Kuroo served Kenma. In fact, Kenma doesn’t think he has ever used his position to get Kuroo to serve him. But he supposes, there is a first time for everything.
They’re sitting by the ledge of his bedroom window, and after a long day of spell studies, there was nothing Kenma preferred doing over sitting by the ledge with a book and watching the sunset. It would be relaxing, it normally is relaxing, but today after class had been different. The Kozume household had received a letter earlier in the day - an invitation to be exact - from one of the main four houses, the Kita household. While the invitation was addressed to both Kenma and his father, Kenma was the only one who ended up receiving it, with his father out and about for his current study on dragon migration. The invite requests for the presence of the Kozume household at the ball the Kitas are hosting in a couple of weeks, to celebrate the one year anniversary of the young lord Kita Shinsuke finding his soulmate, Ojiro Aran.
While Kenma normally enjoyed visiting the Kita estate, with its main house surrounded by plenty of rich farmland and tall mountains in the background, the idea of having to travel, attend the ball, and interact with all the other members of prominent houses for a whole week sounded more exhausting than it was worth. Not to mention that the celebrations also happened to fall on the day before Kenma’s 19th birthday. Kenma wasn’t usually the most excited person about his birthday - that was saved for Kuroo - but Kenma also wasn’t too keen on spending his nineteenth alone in a foreign state. Especially a birthday as big as his nineteenth, where at the strike of the midnight hour, the initials of his destined one would appear inked somewhere on his skin.
Kenma refuses to spend that one week alone, and he refuses to decline the invitation and make a bad name for his house. Which leads him to his current predicament.
“Kuro, you have to. Please,” Kenma begs.
Kuroo curls his lips up in a teasing smile and rests his chin on a propped up arm. “What do you mean ‘ I have to ’? You know I don’t have to do anything anymore, Kenma.”
Kema pulls a face. He knows that Kuroo was technically right, but that didn’t mean that Kenma liked it. Especially not now that it wasn’t going in his favour.
“It’s only a week away from your training, and you’ll be keeping me company too. I can request for a plus one invite or you can go as my guard or something,” Kenma mutters. He doesn’t even need to look at Kuroo to know that the other was enjoying the change of tables for once. “You’ll also be able to see my soulmark if you come with me.”
Kuroo has the audacity to laugh at this. “You’ll show me when you come back anyways.”
Kenma narrows his eyes at him. He knew that he wasn’t the best at keeping secrets from Kuroo, but he thinks if Kuroo challenged him like this then perhaps he could, just for the sake of being petty.
“Fine, I won’t then,” he says resolutely, crossing his arms together as he turns away from Kuroo.
Kuroo scoots closer and nudges Kenma’s shoulder with his own. “C’mon, don’t do that. We promised that we would show each other together.”
Kenma was set on ignoring Kuroo for at least half an hour, but he should have known that it was a doomed thought from the beginning.
He lets out a sigh and slumps back against Kuroo. “We never agreed on anything, you decided that you wanted to keep your soulmark a secret from me all on your own.”
Kenma watches Kuroo open and close his mouth a couple of times as he tries to find the words to retaliate, but he knows that he couldn’t. Kenma didn’t lie and Kuroo knows that too. It had been solely Kuroo’s decision to keep the initials of his soulmate from Kenma, no matter how much Kenma had tried to pester him about it. Kuroo said that it was only fair for him to show Kenma his soulmark when Kenma was able to show him his own as well. Kenma had called him childish, and Kuroo had used Kenma’s own words to hide behind whenever Kenma tried to pry more information out of him.
“Doesn’t matter though, we both know you’ll end up coming along either way. I don’t know why you’re trying so hard to make life difficult for me,” Kenma mumbles into Kuroo’s shoulder as he moves to lean into him more. Kenma feels Kuroo's chuckle rumble through his chest before he hears it.
"Wake me up before supper time?," Kenma asks. Kuroo brings one hand up to card his fingers through Kenma's hair and the other to wrap around his body, and then repositions the both of them so that they're more comfortable.
"Of course I will," Kuroo replies into the crown of his head. Kenma doesn't know if Kuroo was talking about waking him or if he was talking about coming with him to the ball, but he finds that either way, it didn’t matter as long as Kuroo was by his side.
-
Kenma thought that he could handle a lot of things, but apparently, an extravagant ball with fancy finger foods and fancy people dressed in fancy clothes from all kinds of different fancy places was not one of the things Kenma could handle well. Even with Kuroo by his side. He’s sure that he has greeted at least twenty different people by now, and they weren’t even five metres away from the main entrance yet.
Kenma feels like the collar of the dress shirt the attendants have forced him into is one millimetre away from choking him, and the drag of his maroon cape is heavy enough to pull him to his knees. Not to mention how the gold brooch of his family crest pinned onto his chest would catch the light every once in a while and momentarily blind Kenma. He glances up to Kuroo, who had offered Kenma his arm to hold onto just outside the entrance of the hall out of courtesy, and wonders how he looks so put together when his outfit looks equally as suffocating. Though he supposes that a dress shirt and a cloak can hardly be more suffocating than the heavy metal armour Kuroo uses whenever he spars for practice. Kenma spots Asahi Azumane from the Azumane house listening to the youngest son of the Nishinoya house talking animatedly, and wishes - not for the first time - that he had inherited a practical ability such as cloth altering like Asahi had.
“Care to explain why you’re giving poor Asahi-kun your ‘ick’ face?” Kuroo leans down to whisper into Kenma’s ear. Kenma glances at Kuroo, and sees the other straighten up into proper posture again.
“I wasn’t giving him my ‘ick’ face, whatever that even is,” Kenma mumbles under his breath so that only Kuroo could hear. There are people from all different houses around them, and he knows that not all of them would appreciate the familiarity and casualness between them.
“You gave me your ‘ick’ face just then, too. You totally know what it-”
Kuroo stops abruptly and Kenma stops picking at a seam near his sleeve to look at what had caught Kuroo’s attention. He plasters on a carefully neutral face when he sees who’s approaching them.
Ushijima Wakatoshi is the only child and sole heir to the Ushijima and Takashi house, and is said to be one of the strongest abilities wielders of their generation. Kenma had nothing against Ushijima personally, but that didn’t mean that he enjoyed spending time in the other’s company. Unlike Kenma, Ushijima tended to be too straightforward, too strong, too intense, too too much . Kenma prefers avoiding him.
He feels Kuroo straighten up next to him, and senses the nervous thrum of energy radiating off of him. Or was that Kenma’s own nervous energy bouncing off of Kuroo? He tightens his grip on Kuroo’s arm as Ushijima approaches, heading straight towards them with his eyes locked on Kenma. Kuroo brings his other hand up for a split second to squeeze Kenma’s hand reassuringly, before he brings it back down to rest behind his back.
Ushijima stops just a step in front of them and bows his body lightly. Kuroo and Kenma dip their bodies as well in a mirroring bow.
“Kozume-san, it is a pleasure to see you again.” Ushijima makes another small bow, and Kenma follows suit. “Pardon my impudence, but who might your partner be? I fear that I do not recognise him.”
Kenma darts his eyes between Kuroo and Ushijima, and tries to gauge his friend's reaction but Kuroo’s face remains perfectly neutral, polite.
“This is Kuroo Tetsuro, my partner accompanying me,” Kenma replies. Ushijima had visited the Kozume house for one of his mother’s meetings before, but that was during the time Kuroo had travelled away to train under a foreign teacher.
“Congratulations on finding your soulmate, Kozume-san.” Ushijima says before turning to Kuroo and stretching his hand out. Kenma spots the black inking of the letters t s. on the side of his finger. “And it’s a pleasure to meet you, Kuroo-san.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Ushijima-san,” Kuroo replies whilst taking the hand with his free one that wasn’t being held by Kenma. “Though I do have to correct that I’m not Kenma’s soulmate. He hasn’t presented yet.” And to anyone else, the smile gracing Kuroo’s face would seem jovial, but Kenma notices the way his jaw clenches together more forcefully than usual, and the way his eyes crinkle a touch too much. Kenma gives his arm a small - what he hopes is a reassuring - squeeze, and he hears Kuroo take in a slow breath of air.
Something flashes across Ushijima’s face, but it’s gone before Kenma could try to decipher it. He tries to sense Ushijima’s emotions with his ability, but he comes out blank. It might be due to all the other people around them that were messing with his abilities, or it could be because Ushijima was just too strong for him (or a tiny voice in his head tells him that it was because he is just too weak), but Kenma doesn’t like that he isn’t able to sense anything on him. He knew his ability wasn’t as strong as his father’s, or even his grandfather’s, when they were his age, but it was still something he spent a lot of time on practicing and improving.
Kuroo brings his other hand back behind his back, and Kenma tries not to focus on the way Kuro’s stance seems more stiff now.
“My apologies,” Ushijima says, his voice sounding not the slightest bit apologetic. But then, Kenma supposes that Ushijima’s voice probably never changed, no matter how the man felt. Kenma sees Kuroo still smiling that polite-tense smile of his out of the corner of his eyes, so he darts his eyes around for an escape. He doesn't need to use his ability to know that Kuroo was feeling all sorts of levels of uncomfortable, and the longer their encounter with Ushijima continues, the worse it would become.
“May I ask what abilities you possess, Kuroo-san?”
Kenma feels his stomach drop. He should have known that Ushijima was going to ask this question sooner rather than later, and he should have gotten them away from him sooner. Kenma clenches the fabric of Kuroo sleeve in his fists hard enough to leave creases, but that was the last of his worries at the moment. It was well known that the Ushijimas had a large disdain for non-ability users, one of the main reasons why Ushijima Wakatoshi’s father, Takashi Utsui, was driven out of the main Ushijima house.
Kuroo huffs out a theatrical laugh and Kenma hopes he isn’t going to say something stupid, as he can already feel the attention of some nearby party-goers on them.
“My apologies, Ushijima-san,” Kuroo replies almost mockingly, and Kenma has to hiss out a small “ Kuro ” in warning under his breath.
“I’m sorry to disappoint, but I am just a humble non-user,” Kuroo says, and Kenma resists the urge to glare at Kuroo for his sarcastic theatrics.
If Ushijima was surprised, then he doesn’t show it. Instead, he turns his entire body towards Kenma so that he is no longer facing the both of them, and Kenma tries not to narrow his eyes at him. His senses tell him that he won’t like whatever Ushijima is going to tell him next.
“Kozume-san,” Ushijima addresses him. Kenma meets his eye for a second, but then immediately looks away from the intensity of his stare. “I believe there is no benefit in surrounding yourself in the company of non-users. I advise you seek out the presence from those who can be of greater value to you and your abilities.”
Kenma thinks that if he were a character in one of those funny picture books Kuroo used to bring him as a child, then his mouth would have literally dropped to the floor. He doesn’t know if he heard the words correctly or not. He doesn’t even think the words have fully processed in his mind until he looks up and sees Kuroo’s darkened face. The polite neutral face that Kuroo always wears when they are in the company of other high house people is completely gone, and instead is replaced with a look so dark that he almost looks feral. Kenma has never seen an expression like this on Kuroo’s face before, but he knows right away that he never wants to see him like this again. He uses his grip on Kuroo’s arm to anchor himself, lest he say something that will get him stripped of his titles and exiled into the wild woods.
“Thank you for your advice Ushijima-san,” Kenma says, swallowing down on the ball of nerves and anger that was making its way up his throat. “You have to pardon us though. We have yet to greet the young lord and his partner, and we would like to do so before the dances commence.”
Kenma sucks in a breath as Ushijima nods and then gives them - gives him - a bow.
“Understood. It was good to see you again, Kozume-san. Please pass my regards on to your father upon his return.”
With that, Ushijima walks away without sparing Kuroo a second glance and Kenma nearly crumbles to the floor if not for Kuroo reaching out to hold him. Kenma’s head spins as Kuroo leads them outside to an empty balcony near the back of the large hall. He helps Kenma sit down on a bench and Kenma vaguely feels the cool breeze against his heated skin, but appreciates it somewhere in the back of his mind nonetheless. He doesn’t know when Kuroo had either grabbed a glass of water on their way out or had gone back to get one, but he lets Kuroo press the cup into his hands for him to sip at.
Kuroo takes a seat next to him and then they proceed to sit in silence until the cool breeze starts to erupt goosebumps across Kenma’s skin. Kuroo moves to take off his cloak, and before Kenma could even protest, wraps it around Kenma. It immediately surrounds him in the soft scent of the cloak's detergent, as well as Kuroo’s own comforting scent. Kenma doesn’t hide the way he settles further into the cloak and takes a deep breath right against the collar, where the scent was the strongest.
“You feeling better?” Kuroo asks and nudges him against his shoulder with his own.
Kenma glances at him, and then sinks down his seat a bit so that he could lean his head against his shoulder. If they were in Kenma’s room, or even anywhere on the Kozume estate, then Kenma would not hesitate to crawl into Kuroo’s lap and ask him to hold him until the world drowns out behind them. But this was not Kenma’s room, nor was it anywhere on the Kozume estate, so he makes do with leaning against Kuroo’s shoulder.
“I don’t like how he talked about you,” Kenma mumbles into the cloak. Kuroo lets out a loud and long sigh, and Kenma feels some of the tension leaving his body.
“You know that’s just how our Ushiwaka talks. He probably didn’t even mean it that way,” Kuroo tries to reason. Kenma isn’t sure whether he was trying to reason with Kenma or himself.
Another silence falls between them, with the only noise coming from the bustle of the party behind the balcony doors and the light chirping of crickets from somewhere far below them. Kenma thinks back on the t s. he saw on Ushijima’s finger and wonders what type of person the universe has paired a man like him with. He hopes that Ushijima’s soulmate at least has some sort of ability, otherwise he doesn’t think that the man would spare them even a glance.
Kenma peeks up to Kuroo staring off into the distance and wonders what type of person the universe has matched him with. Kenma knows where Kuroo’s soulmark lies - the other had lasted two whole weeks of keeping it a secret from him before he revealed that it sat right above his heart. Kenma thought that it was in a fitting spot for a romantic like Kuroo. And as much as he had contemplated just demanding Kuroo to show him his soulmark, or taking a peek at it himself when Kuroo was napping, Kenma ultimately respected Kuroo’s whims. Kenma wonders if Kuroo has managed to meet his soulmate yet, or whether he’ll meet them sometime in the near future. He knows that it’s only a matter of time before Kuroo will leave his side and replace him with his soulmate, but Kenma can’t imagine a life without Kuroo, so he worries if he would be able to get along with Kuroo’s soulmate. Kenma thinks about his own soulmate, who's initials will grace his skin at midnight tonight. He thinks about whether they would let him meet with Kuroo regularly, because he really can’t imagine a life without Kuroo.
His mind wanders further. What if Kuroo was his… No. He shakes his head to get rid of any dangerous thoughts. He doesn’t want to - can’t - allow himself to ponder about something that will make him become greedy. Something that will make him want more . He has never allowed himself to think further along the line of these thoughts, and he wasn’t about to start, not when his reality was so close and probably more painful than he could handle.
“We should probably go inside and actually go greet Kita-san,” Kenma says as he sits up. Kuroo blinks himself out of his daze and looks at Kenma.
Kuroo clears his throat and nods his head, rolling his shoulders back once, twice, three times. He’s nervous, Kenma notes. Kenma wants to ask him what he was thinking about, but he holds his tongue.
“Yeah we should, the dances are going to start soon.”
Kuroo stands first, and then offers his hand out for Kenma. Kenma takes Kuroo’s hand and notices that Kuroo’s hand was as warm as always, despite him sitting out on the balcony without his cloak. It wasn’t the first time that Kenma has noticed that Kuroo seems to always run warm, but it pleasantly surprises him each time.
Kenma returns Kuroo’s cloak to him, not because he thinks he needs it, but for formality reasons. Kuroo clasps it on, and then takes Kenma’s hand again to hook around his elbow. Without the extra layer of warmth, Kenma presses closer against Kuroo even as they enter the main hall again.
They worm their way through groups of people, occasionally stopping to converse with someone they recognise, or to thank someone who wants to pass their greetings onto Kenma’s father. Eventually they do make it to the top of the staircase where the young lord Kita and his partner, Aran, stood. They wait patiently as the couple in front of them, Aone and Futakuchi from the Date Tech region, give their greetings.
When it is their turn, Kenma and Kuroo greet the couple by giving a respectful bow at the waist. Kita has a hand holding onto Aran’s elbow, much like Kenma had before he separated from Kuroo to pay their respects, and both were wearing pleasant friendly smiles.
“Kozume-san, it has been a while,” Kita greets, and Kenma notices how his smile seems to be fuller and his eyes more crinkled at the corner since he has last seen him.
“Yes, I believe it has been a little over a year, Kita-san,” Kenma replies.
The last time they had met was before Kita and Aran got together. Kenma and his father were staying at the main Kita house for one of his meetings, and during an attempt to ditch his lessons, Kenma had stumbled upon a Kita Shinsuke emitting such strong troubled energy that he didn’t even need to use his ability to sense his emotions. What startled Kenma the most was how Kita Shinsuke was able to hide his emotions behind a stoic mask so well, that Kenma would have never guessed he was feeling troubled if it wasn’t for his more fine-tuned senses. He watched the boy go through his daily routine as if nothing was wrong, and Kenma had even nearly approached him himself, if not for Aran stepping up first. Kenma sensed Kita’s emotions spiking and then settle to a steady warm thrum whenever Aran was around, and suddenly Kenma knew the root of his problems.
The day before Kenma’s departure from the Kita estate, Kenma saw the both of them walk past him in the gardens and when Kita met Kenma’s eye, he instantly knew that the other was aware of him having sensed his entire ordeal. Kenma thought he had imagined the way he saw Kita dip his head at him, but a week after his return back home, he had received a large gift basket from the young lord himself and knew he didn’t imagine it. Similar gifts came in every several months after that and Kenma didn’t know why, but if he had to guess, then he thinks Kita saw him as some sort of silent support throughout his troubles. Kuroo joked that Kita was courting him, and Kenma had smacked him across the back of his head.
“Thank you for travelling all the way out here. It is rather unfortunate your father wasn’t able to join us this time though,” Aran says, and he sounds genuinely saddened by the fact. Kenma lets them know that his father has sent them his best wishes, and he is planning on sending them a gift from his travels to compensate for his absence.
Kuroo shifts besides him and Kenma isn’t sure if he wants him to introduce him to the two, seeing as last time he introduced Kuroo to someone, it had not ended well. Kenma steps closer to Kuroo, and curls his hand around his elbow again. He senses Kuroo’s nerves, and hopes that they won’t have a repeat of last time.
“This is Kuroo Tetsuro, my partner accompanying me,” Kenma introduces. He watches Kita’s and Aran’s faces, and tries to gauge their reaction. He’s pleasantly surprised when all he feels are warm and welcoming feelings.
“It is good to formally meet you, Kuroo-san,” Kita says. “May I ask if you are Kozume-san’s fated one?”
Kenma looks down and notices his hand shaking, so he grips onto the fabric of his dress pants to steady himself.
“Unfortunately I am not, as Kenma has yet to present,” Kuroo explains again, and Kenma spots the same troubled look overcoming his face. His thoughts drift back to the balcony where the possibility of Kuroo…
Kenma shakes his head again and glances towards the large clock by the door. 8:13 . He has four more hours until his presentation.
“Ah that’s right, isn’t it your birthday tomorrow?” Kita asks, all three of their attention now on him and Kenma shies back a bit under the attention.
“Yes it is, I’ll be presenting tonight,” Kenma says, not knowing whether he was looking forward to it or not. Kita and Aran both make a similar sound in understanding, and Kenma doesn’t know what to make of that either.
“Well then we wish you all the best wish, and hope you will have a good day,” Kita says with a tone of finality, and Kenma knows that their conversation is over. “But I do believe that you will be receiving some favourable news tomorrow.” Kita is looking at Kuroo when he says so and when his eyes fall on Kenma, he feels a shiver run up his spine.
Kuroo and Kenma thank them both and give another congratulations with a bow, before turning around and walking down the stairs. He hears Kuroo let out a long sigh, and Kenma raises an eyebrow at him. Kuroo shoots him a tired grin.
“That Kita really is more intense than the rumours say, aye?”
Kenma glances around to see if anyone was listening in on them, and then relaxes slightly when he finds that everyone is too immersed with their own lives. “If you think he’s intense now, then you should’ve seen him a year ago.”
Kuroo chuckles and leads them to the centre of the room where the dances have started. He takes one of Kenma’s hands into his own and places the other on Kenma’s waist, the touch warm even through the material of his dress shirt. Kenma raises his free hand up to Kuroo’s shoulder and they start to sway to the soft ballroom music being played by the live orchestra on the side of the room.
“But don’t you think what he said was really ominous?” Kuroo starts again. The music and the buzz of conversations from other people are loud enough that Kenma isn’t worried about anybody overhearing them this time.
“Do you mean about him not having seen me in a while or the birthday thing?”
“The birthday thing. Maybe a bit of a soulmate thing as well, but definitely the last thing he said. Doesn’t it feel like he was cursing you, but like, in a good way?”
Kenma squints at him. Now he’s really glad that nobody could overhear them.
“Don’t be rude. Kita-san is nice, if only a little intimidating,” Kenma says. Kuroo lifts their hands up high and Kenma spins his body along with the rhythm of the music before Kuroo takes a hold of his waist again.
“A little intimidating you say? I saw your hand shaking whilst talking to him.”
Kenma tries to hide his surprise, but he knows that Kuroo could tell either way. “That’s why I said he was a little intimidating and not not intimidating.”
Kuroo laughs under his breath, and then they spin again in time with the music, this time out of each other’s hold. Kenma ends up dancing with a young man he has seen once or twice around, probably another son from a lower-upper house like him, and he spots Kuroo dancing with Akaashi Keiji a couple of feet away from them.
The music picks up again after a while and Kenma finally, finally , ends up dancing in Kuroo’s arms again. He doesn't know if he could have lasted another minute dancing with someone who steps more on his toes than he does on the marble dance floor.
Kuroo must have picked up on his fouling mood because he’s rubbing soothing circles with his thumb into the back of Kenma’s hand and when the music calls for it, spins Kenma around so fast that it would have earned him an earful from Kenma’s Etiquettes in Dance teacher. Yet despite it all, it works unexpectedly well as Kenma finds himself back in a pleasant mood. Well as pleasant as he can be in a room full of mostly strangers with food that was just a tad too salty for his liking.
They take a seat after that round of dancing, both not being too used to dancing for long hours at a time. And the plan was to take a break and maybe find some more food or drinks, but that was interrupted by one Hinata Shoyo asking Kenma for a dance. Kenma doesn’t think that he could ever refuse Shoyo anything, not as long as he remains the same bright eyed boy Kenma met all those years ago. After Shoyo came Akaashi Keiji, their dance slow and graceful much like Keiji himself, and he was followed by Bokuto Koutarou’s boisterous personality and even more boisterous dance moves. He was then roped into dancing a couple more rounds with Lev Haiba, Fukunaga Shouhei and even Daishou Suguru.
Kenma is left thoroughly exhausted by the time Kuroo comes out to save him, politely declining a dance invitation from Kageyama Tobio on Kenma’s behalf. Like much earlier, Kuroo helps him walk towards the empty balcony they were on before and presses another glass of water he seemingly prepares from out of nowhere into his hands. Kenma doesn’t even bat an eye when Kuroo wraps his cloak around him this time. The wind is much stronger around this time, and he knows that he would definitely catch a fever from his drying sweat if he didn’t bundle up properly.
The ball appears to be in full swing behind them, but Kenma is content to sit out the rest of the night on the balcony with Kuroo. Kenma closes his eyes and leans his head against Kuroo’s shoulder again. This time Kuroo wraps his arm around Kenma’s body, and Kenma almost feels like he’s being wrapped in a physical blanket of warmth and Kuroo. He briefly wonders when those two words have become the same in his mind.
“What time is it?” Kenma asks with his eyes still closed.
He feels Kuroo shift a bit, most likely pulling out his pocket watch from his pants, and then shifting a bit more as he puts it back.
“There’s a bit over five minutes until midnight,” Kuroo says in a low murmur, and Kenma sucks in a breath.
He sits up properly and places the cup down as he tucks the sides of the cloak closer together. Kuroo turns to him with a worried frown. He knew that dancing was usually done to pass time, but Kenma couldn’t believe just how much time had passed. There were only five minutes left until his birthday. Five minutes left until he would have to live with the initials of some unknown soulmate on his skin for the rest of his life.
His blissful oblivion has always been a ticking time bomb, and it was about to explode in his own face.
“Are you scared?”
Kuroo separates and takes Kenma’s cold hands into his own warm ones and Kenma doesn’t even realise when he had wrestled his fingers together. Kenma’s first thought is to disagree with Kuroo. But then he sees the way Kuroo’s eyes are looking at him so soft and tenderly, the way his voice was barely above a whisper when speaking to him and the way his hands engulfed Kenma’s own as he draws out slow circles on the back of Kenma’s hand with his thumbs, and Kenma nods.
“‘M scared.”
Admitting it out loud is both a weight off his chest and another weight on top of his heart. He feels both relieved and even more afraid than he has ever been, even if he doesn’t know what he is so afraid of. Kenma wonders if everyone feels like this when they are about to get their soulmarks, and he can only wish that Kuroo hadn’t spent these few minutes before his own soulmark reveal all scared and alone.
Kuroo wraps both of his arms around Kenma in a comforting hug and Kenma only slightly melts against his arms. He wraps his own against Kuroo’s middle and buries his face in the crook of his neck. He matches his breathing with the steady beat of Kuroo’s heart and feels Kuroo pat down his hair in gentle strokes.
“You’ll be fine,” Kuroo repeats over and over until Kenma feels his voice rumbling through his chest more than hears it. He thinks he could fall asleep like this, thinks that he actually did fall asleep for a second in his arms, until the loud gong of the bells at the strike of midnight jolts him to full consciousness.
It was midnight. Somewhere on his body, the name of his soulmate’s initials would ink themselves onto his skin and there would be nothing Kenma could do against his fate if the universe had decided someone other than Kuroo for him.
He sucks in a breath.
Then it dawns on him. This is what he has been so afraid of. So afraid to the point where he would subconsciously force his thoughts to stop before he could even dare to think about the possibility of Kuroo being his soulmate.
Suddenly Kuroo’s hands are cupping his face and he squishes Kenma’s cheeks together. Kenma has half a mind to send him a glare, but he’s mostly confused. Confused as to why Kuroo is looking at him with such a fond yet pained look in his face, confused as to why his heart is picking up speed, confused as to why he is leaning into Kuroo’s touch.
“Hey, you’ll be fine,” Kuroo says again, and it takes a second for Kenma to process his words. “Your soulmate will love you. I mean, how could they not?” Kuroo chuckles, but it sounds too strained for even Kenma to ignore.
There’s a small tingling sensation on the back of his left shoulder and Kenma feels his breathing start to pick up again.
“Hey,” Kuroo says again, stroking his thumbs across the skin of his cheeks, and Kenma tries to set aside his building panic. “Your soulmate will love you, and you will love them. Trust me on this.”
Kenma isn’t so sure that he is able to believe Kuroo’s words. How is he supposed to love this unknown soulmate when Kuroo is sitting right there in front of him?
“Have I ever lied to you, Kenma?”
Kenma shakes his head.
“Then believe me, you’ll be happy no matter who your soulmate is, okay?”
Kenma nods his head this time. Kenma sees the way Kuroo’s eyes dart across his face for a second longer, before he releases his face from his hands.
“Alright, are you ready for the big reveal?” Kuroo asks cheerfully. Kenma tries to smile at his efforts of cheering him up, but he doesn’t know how convincing he looks. “So where is this soulmark of yours? You should have felt a tingling or itching sensation somewhere.”
Kenma takes another deep breath before patting on the spot with his opposite hand. “Shoulder.”
Kuroo makes a loud ooh -ing sound and this time Kenma does crack a small smile.
“Should we go to the bathrooms so you can see for yourself?”
Kenma shakes his head.
“I want you to look first.”
Kuroo looks troubled. “Kenma, are you su-”
“Yes, Kuro… please.”
Kuro nods in understanding despite his troubled look, and Kenma turns around on the bench so that his back is facing Kuroo. Kenma undoes the ties of his cloak, letting it fall between them and then slowly unbuttons the first few buttons of his shirt.
There’s a low thrum of noise coming from inside the ballroom, but Kenma doesn't even consider the thought of someone accidentally walking in on them. He can feel Kuroo’s nerves radiating off of him in tidal waves, and Kenma clutches onto his shirt tighter. He brings a hand up to brush his hair onto the front of his right shoulder and feels Kuroo tense up behind him. Kenma wants to ask him if he was ready, but he knew that if Kuroo were to answer him honestly, then they would be waiting several lifetimes until Kuroo was fully prepared.
So he lets the shoulder of his shirt fall.
The shirt doesn't fall much, just until the middle of his upper arm but Kenma knew that it was more than enough to see his soulmark.
He hears a sharp intake of air behind him, and for a moment everything goes quiet. Kenma starts to wonder if he has made a mistake by letting Kuroo see the mark and then he feels the touch of Kuroo’s slightly calloused thumb brush delicately across his skin. Kenma feels goosebumps forming across his arms from the light ticklish touch. Kuroo is brushing across the spot before drawing circles around his soulmark, once, twice, three times. He’s nervous .
Kenma is about to ask him what the initials are, when Kuroo speaks. His voice is barely above a whisper, something Kenma nearly completely misses until the words set in.
‘k t.’
“Kuroo Tetsuro.” The words fall out of Kenma’s mouth in a breath before he could even process it. He couldn’t believe it. Were the heavens playing a cruel trick on them or was he actually receiving a blessing from fate herself.
Kuroo’s touch leaves his shoulder, and Kenma nearly jumps from the storm of anxious emotions that are pouring out of Kuroo.
“Or it could be Kageyama Tobio.”
Kenma’s eyebrow twitches once and then something in him snaps. He does jump this time. He turns around and swings his leg across Kuroo’s lap to perch himself on, before grabbing the front of Kuroo’s shirt and shoving him against the wall behind them. Kuroo’s eyes are wide in shock and confusion, but Kenma is seething to the point where he doesn’t even bother with an explanation.
He balls the fabric into his fists and channels all of his disbelief, all of his anger, all of his feelings for this idiot, into ripping the shirt open. Buttons fly everywhere, and Kenma is vaguely aware that they are outside on a cold night and he literally just ripped up the only layer of protection Kuroo has from the cold, but then everything blanks when his eyes land on his soulmark.
There, right above his heart like Kuroo has told him countless times before, in the same neat black print of the soulmark lay the initials ‘k k.’
Kuroo’s chest is heaving, from the cold or the shock, Kenma doesn’t know. He brings a shaky finger up to the mark, and hesitates only for a second, before tracing across the letters. The initials are still there and haven’t rubbed off under his touch when he takes his finger away.
Kenma gasps out loud and instinctively leans backwards, only realising that he’s losing his balance when Kuroo steadies him with a hold around his middle.
He looks at Kuroo’s equally wide eyes and then back down at the soulmark. At Kuroo’s eyes and then the soulmark.
Kuroo has his initials on his skin, and Kenma has Kuroo’s initials on his skin. He sucks in another surprised breath and then realises something.
He balls his fists up again and hits Kuroo right where his soulmark lay.
“What the hell do you mean ‘Kageyama Tobio’ when you’re the one carrying my initials?!”
He continues his flurry of punches until Kuroo catches his fist with a hand. He uncurls Kenma’s fist and brings it up to his lips to press a gentle kiss against Kenma’s reddened knuckles. It suddenly feels too hot out on the balcony, and Kenma doesn’t need to look to know that his cheeks are dusted in pink.
“Sorry, I panicked when I saw your mark,” Kuroo apologises with a laugh, sounding almost as astounded as Kenma feels.
Kenma lets out a huff. “You’re an idiot.”
Kuroo laughs, so deep that Kenma can feel it even from his hand resting on Kuroo’s bare stomach.
“At least I was right about something though.”
Kenma raises an eyebrow and silently dares him to say something stupid again.
“I told you I would never lie to you. See, your soulmate will love you and you will love him too...hopefully,” Kuroo’s voice drops at the end, and suddenly the warm loving feelings Kuroo was emitting are slightly dampened.
Kenma doesn’t know if he wants to smack Kuroo or if he wants to roll his eyes at him, so he settles on grabbing the front of his open shirt and bringing him in for a kiss. Kuroo is still for a second, but before Kenma could even worry about having rushed things, feels Kuroo pull him closer with a hand against the back of his head and the other around the small of his back.
Kuroo’s lips are slightly chapped but so, so much better than Kenma could have ever imagined. He kisses back like he’s trying to convey all of his longing into this one kiss, and Kenma finds himself smiling into it.
They pull away when Kenma feels Kuroo shiver underneath him, and he leans to grab their discarded cloaks. He gives Kuroo one, and wraps the other around his own shoulders before he rests his body against Kuroo’s chest. Kuroo plants a kiss on his temple, and then rests his own head against Kenma.
Kenma feels so many affectionate feelings leaking out of Kuroo that there was no way he could ignore them even if he tried. He wonders if Kuroo even knows that he could sense them, but then he thinks that it wouldn’t even matter, Kuroo would love him either way. And Kenma would love him back, equally as much or even more. He presses a kiss against the side of Kuroo’s neck at the revelation and feels Kuroo tighten his hold around him, nuzzling his face against the top of Kenma’s head and sighing in comfort. The world fades away and Kenma thinks that here, warm and finally in Kuroo’s arms like he belongs, he would be content to sit out the rest of time.