Work Text:
Kuroo comes home to the house in pitch black, which he expected. It was late at night, like most days after his work shift in the JVA, as the V-League season had been creeping up. He didn't expect the bright light emitting from the corner of his living room, where Kenma was streaming on his gigantic PC. The house was quiet, save for Kenma’s breathy chuckles as he celebrated his kills or when he read a funny comment. Kuroo stands at the door, blazer in one hand and his work bag still on his back, and basks in the glow of Kenma in his element. He watches for a few more minutes, before clearing his throat to get his boyfriend’s attention.
“I’m back,” he whispers as he quietly walks over to Kenma, who brightens, smiles, and raises his eyebrows in greeting. “Ten more minutes?” Kenma nods, and Kuroo subtly pats his boyfriend’s shoulder before heading to the bathroom to shower. When Kuroo returns, Kenma’s PC is off and he’s on the couch, his dyed golden hair messed up from the headset he wore while gaming.
“Hey, you,” Kuroo joins him on the couch, and Kenma immediately readjusts his position, so that half of his body is leaning on him, pressing his nose to Kuroo’s neck so he could breathe in the fresh shower smell.
“Hey yourself,” Kenma mumbles into Kuroo’s neck, not moving. “Good day at work?” his golden eyes peer back up at Kuroo, his arms abandoning his phone on the couch, and bringing them up to hug Kuroo’s neck.
“Same old, same old. My question is why are you up late streaming? It’s late,” Kuroo presses a kiss on Kenma’s forehead. “The eyebags you've been complaining about aren’t gonna go away if you continue doing this, you know.”
“I know,” Kenma sniffs. “I wanted to see you before sleeping so I decided to do a surprise stream to stay awake. For you,” he mumbles the last part, his head butting at Kuroo’s chest, almost like a baby cat.
“You’re adorable and I love you so much, you know that right?” Kuroo chuckles and stands up while pulling his boyfriend up with him. “Up we go, you’re already yawning,” Kenma looks at him in betrayal, caught in the act of pretending not to be tired. “One more night and then I can start coming home earlier like I used to, ‘kay?”
“‘Kay.”
Having lived together with Kenma for almost a year, Kuroo’s gotten good at memorizing Kenma’s behaviors and schedules to the tee. He was always good, as he’d spent a lot of time at Kenma’s house back when they were young, but now he was privy to the extent of how bad Kenma’s sleeping habits were. Unless you could convince him–which Kuroo always wins if he promises to cuddle– Kenma will try his best to stay awake as much as possible. It’s just how Kenma is.
“Are you streaming tomorrow night?” Kuroo asks when they’re on the bed, with Kenma as the big spoon. Many of their friends assume Kenma liked to be the one spooned, but little did everyone know, Kenma was big on being the one to administer physical touch towards Kuroo, as he recharges his energy by tightly kneading Kuroo’s torso as if he was a body pillow.
“Yeah,” Kenma says, squeezing Kuroo. “I’m gonna try and finish the game because I’m on the last few levels. Then I can release a video on which teams are the best by next week, I think.”
“Maybe I can pop in,” Kuroo says, fiddling with Kenma’s hands. “It’s been a while since I’ve done a cameo, I think,” he mimics Kenma, who squeezes him extra hard in retaliation.
“Sure,” Kenma says easily. “But come back faster, okay?”
“I always try, honey.”
The next day, Kuroo comes home to Kenma streaming from their kitchen table, which means Kenma’s back is to him. Kuroo quietly closes the door and looks at the monitor without making a sound. He holds back a grin when he notices a comment that points out his appearance, but the comment quickly disappears when more come in, discussing their day with Kenma.
“You got dumped yesterday? Aw, that sucks,” Kenma says, reading out a comment. “I hope you feel better sooner than later, but remember healing comes at your pace!” Kenma chuckles when he reads another, a comment noting Kenma’s profound wisdom. “Thank you, but I would hardly put myself in the same category as Buddha.” Kuroo was about to make his presence known when he spotted a comment that made his stomach curdle.
“Kozume-san have you considered working out or going outside for a walk? You look weak haha guys imagine if Kozume ever did sports I definitely can’t,” Kenma reads out, chuckling. So Kenma did see the comment too. “Hey now, I do go outside and touch grass,” he jokingly wags a finger at the camera. “You’d be surprised,” he continues his game while laughing under his breath.
Kuroo knows that he can’t do anything about it, but the comment bothered him more than he thought it would. The world may see Kenma as an tactical gamer without a single athletic bone in his body, but Kuroo didn't go through all the times of cajoling Kenma to join Nekoma’s volleyball team for no one to know the prowess of his setter-turned-boyfriend. He takes deep breaths to lower his heart rate and slow-burning anger and watches Kenma continue to stream, unbothered.
Kenma isn’t as athletic as he used to be in high school, but that person had no idea how good Kenma still was in volleyball. But he still is , because Kuroo convinced him to join his weekend volleyball playing with Bokuto and Akaashi. This isn’t fair, they had no right to comment on Kenma’s body or how much he exercised, he had the right mind to do something about it–
“Oh, you’re back,” Kenma looks back at him, breaking him out of his thought spiral. “Want to say hi?” Kuroo smiles at his boyfriend and enters into frame, standing close enough that the camera only captures his body and not his face.
“Hey everyone,” Kuroo attempts to make his tone more welcoming, which he guessed he did a great job of because Kenma smiles widely back at him. “I hope Kenma-kun isn’t bothering you guys, ha–!” he fails in dodging the hit from Kenma, who scowls at him. “Hey!”
“Sorry guys, he’s being a weirdo as always,” Kenma scrunched his nose at the camera, and Kuroo could see the comments gushing about how cute Kenma was, and he felt it so deeply too that he couldn't be jealous at all.
“See ya everyone!” he waves at the camera and places a kiss on Kenma’s head. He chuckles as he leaves, knowing that the comments are going crazy at the sight of pda they rarely give access to Kenma’s fans. He knows they love it. But although he’s riding off the high of bothering his boyfriend and riling the fans up with the kiss, he can’t stop thinking about the comment that implied that Kenma wasn’t athletic at all, which was far from the truth.
Kuroo doesn’t bring it up until a few mornings later, when it's a Saturday and they’re both lazing around in the living room, Kenma lounging on his back on the sofa while idly flicking through the channels on the TV, and Kuroo making a late brunch for them to eat.
“What do you think about arranging a casual match for a stream with some of your Karasuno friends?” Kuroo casually asks, as they join at the table and Kenma’s already munching on the crackers Kuroo had laid out earlier. “Try something different maybe? And lower the net, you know how much I want more people to love volleyball.”
Kenma scrunches his nose in thought, pausing mid-chair. “I don’t see why not,” he says thoughtfully. “Shouyo’s back from Brazil for a bit now and we still haven’t met up. He and Kageyama can come over, I guess.”
“Two-on-two? It's not enough people for it to be interesting, right? I suppose we could invite Tsukki and Yamamoto too as they’re on the same team, ” Kuroo had already thought this through the night before, unable to sleep.
“Why not,” Kenma shrugs, giving Kuroo a half-smile. “But Kuro, the big question is does this mean we’re doing an official face reveal? Of you?” he walks around the table to drape his arms down Kuroo’s shoulders, resting his chin on Kuroo’s ungelled hair. “Would that be okay?” He whispers the last part, and Kuroo feels this warmth spread from within his chest and out to the rest of his body, that he's in a state of adoration and love for his cute, sweet boyfriend.
“Yeah,” Kuroo whispers back, tilting his head back to look back at Kenma, who peers at him with a small smile. “Never been more ready,” his hands come up to twirl at Kenma’s dyed strands of hair, tucking it behind his ear. “I just want to prove to the world that Kodzuken can play volleyball, the best.”
“You’re such a flirt,” Kenma rolls his eyes, but he gives a breathy laugh before kissing Kuroo on the forehead. “I didn’t know you were affected by that comment when they’re not wrong,” he shrugs. “I’m not as I was before, and it’s fine.”
“Well it's not,” Kuroo counters, and now they're both standing, Kuroo’s hand under Kenma’s chin, to look at him, try to get him to understand. “I can’t let them see you for what you’re not, and I know you,” he presses a kiss on kenma’s lips, whose golden eyes never break contact from Kuroo’s. “Let me share this part of you with everyone else, please? This wonderful, amazing part of you became the reason how I got to know you, love you, and be with you. Please?”
“I– uh– yeah,” Kenma says lamely, his cheeks emblazoned with red. He steps close, and wraps Kuroo in a hug, pressing a kiss on Kuroo’s neck. “You’re such a sweet talker, you know?”
“Well, I love you, so.”
“And I, too.”
On the day of the livestream, Kuroo feels a little nervous but holds it in. He’s no stranger to having his face on the screen, as he’d been interviewed multiple times during nationals as Nekoma’s team captain, and he’d conducted some interviews himself for the JVA that were broadcast on TV. But this is different because he knows he’ll be subject to the thoughts and opinions of millions of people around the world, on his looks and whether or not he is fit to be world-precious Kodzuken’s boyfriend. Kuroo would be freaking out at the thought of that, but the look of pure apprehension on Kenma’s face stops him entirely.
“Are you okay?” Kuroo asks, pulling Kenma away from the hustle and bustle of the rest warming up, and Yamaguchi (who tagged along with Tsukishima) setting up the camera. “You look…”
“Nervous? Scared? Like I want to puke? Yeah,” Kenma says weakly. He tugs at his shirt, looking away from Kuroo’s concerned face. “Just a bit.”
“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, it’ll be okay,” Kuroo says, his thumb brushing against Kenma’s cheek soothingly. “We can postpone or like, just never do it.”
“I just,” Kenma stops himself and sighs. “I’m afraid they’re right,” he whispers. “I know,” he interrupts Kuroo, his hand covering Kuroo’s mouth which was already open, ready to argue. “You say otherwise, but I just worry. I dunno,” he looks down. “I don’t think I can prove them wrong.”
“Fuck,” Kuroo sighed, raking a hand through his hair. He should’ve known better than to make an inspirational speech earlier. He meant well, but he never wanted to make Kenma feel bad. “You don’t have to prove anything, baby. You’re wonderful as you are.”
“Yeah,” Kenma’s voice is small and he squeezes Kuroo’s torso tightly to decompress.
“Let’s treat it as what it is, hmm? A casual get-together between us, old teammates and friends?”
“Yeah,” Kenma lets out a small laugh. “And we can ignore the camera. I won’t even do an intro, let’s just play without saying anything to the viewers,” he giggles. “They’ll never see it coming.”
By the time they returned to the court, Kageyama had already spiked the ball in Yamamoto’s face, and Hinata and Yamaguchi had teamed up on Tsukisima in a debate about whatever it was. Kuroo couldn’t tell.
Kuroo, Kenma, and Yamamoto end up on one team, and Kageyama, Hinata, and Tsukishima in the other. Once the camera is started, Hinata starts with a jump serve, and the game starts, with Yamaguchi as referee.
As the game continues, Hinata’s team is ahead by three points (which should be expected, as it is three professionals versus a team of two out-of-practice players and one professional), Kenma becomes more confident, calling out for past strategies from their Nekoma days, and even surprising Kuroo with an unprompted slide attack that they’ve never tried out before, even back in high school. During the five-minute timeout, Kenma decides to talk to the viewers, with Kuroo standing nearby.
“Hey everyone,” Kenma waves at the camera, taking a swig from his water bottle. His hair is tied up in a low bun that had gotten loose during the game, with many strands of hair sticking to the back of his sweaty neck. “Bet none of you expected this, huh? Hope you guys are having fun with us!”
As Kenma continues to chat, Kuroo looks through the comments, grinning widely at the shocked reactions. He especially loves the ones that comment about how Kenma is glowing, that he looked good, and how his strategy in gaming is the same as his volleyball tactics– killer.
When the game ends, with the Karasuno team winning by a set, Kenma introduces them to his fanbase. They fit down in a circle on the court, Kuroo filming as the rest talked.
To no one’s surprise, the viewers freak out when Kageyama, Yamamoto, and Tsukishima are introduced as they’re division one players and well-known around Japan. Hinata, however, was recognized by a few beach volleyball fans, who made up for their lack in numbers by spamming the comments with the ninja emoji for ninja Shoyou. And immediately, everyone started commenting about the cute interaction between Tsukishima and Yamaguchi when the latter was introduced because, after all, it was really obvious they were in love. It was rare to see Tsukishima laugh so much.
“And I want to introduce to you my boyfriend, Kuro,” Yamaguchi gently takes the camera from him, and the rest stand up giving them some privacy (and to play some more volleyball, of course). Kenma pulls Kuroo close, so they are sitting hip to hip on the gymnasium floor, Kenma hugging one of Kuroo’s arms.
“Hey everyone,” Kuroo waves awkwardly with his other arm. He nervously rakes a hand through his hair, knowing his face is tinged red. “I’m Kuroo, but Kenma calls me Kuro.”
“You can call him that too,” Kenma pipes up. “You’re not strangers, you guys see him all the time, anyway.”
“Yeah,” Kuroo laughs. “Though this is your first time seeing my entire face, what do you think?”
“Gorgeous, handsome, cute, and ugly,” Kenma giggles, dodging Kuroo’s punch. “Hey!” he runs off, and Kuroo chases him, leaving the camera to Yamaguchi, who sighs.
“Kuro– y’know, you’ve got me thinking,” Kenma says later at night when they both lay in bed with sheet masks on, fluffy headbands pushing up their hair. Kuroo stops flipping through the pages of the book he’s reading and turns to look at him, waiting.
“We can do so much more,” Kenma says earnestly. He pushes up so that he’s leaning on his elbows, and his face is a different shade of enthusiasm, that his cheeks are golden pink, eyes creased in a way that Kuroo’s never seen before. “Think you can pull some strings on your end?”
–––––––
“I’m so proud of you,” Kenma says. He leans so that his head rests comfortably on Kuroo’s arm and Kuroo chuckles, the other arm coming around to pinch at Kenma’s cheek.
“I don't know what you're talking about,” Kuroo replies, squeezing kenma’s hand as they look over the match between a multitude of their friends, all volleyball professionals all around the world, joined together for a special fundraising game. All of the money raised in the stream would be donated to underprivileged districts in Japan for new PE equipment. “You’re a genius for giving back to our community, it’s like full circle for us.”
“Yeah,” Kenma says. “I guess I’m just happy.”