There was a lot that Kenma could say with one touch.
Hold on, it'll just take a minute.
Get me a drink, will you?
I'm alright, don't worry.
Kuroo Tetsurou knew them all by heart. Every little action by the setter seemingly filed away within his brain, ready to be pulled out by the little secretaries running around his mind whenever he felt it.
Of course, he knew that wasn't how memory reallyworked, but it was a nice thought.
When Kenma lightly tapped his bicep, a little man in his head would lift up the words MOVE ASIDE. When his hand rested on his back during a match, it was STAY STRONG. But when it was placed on his shoulder as he sat at the foot of his bed, it meant STAY WITH ME.
A little tug on his blazer meant he wanted to eat something warm; this only happened during the winter. When their toes touched under the kotatsu, it was because he wanted his attention, even if his face didn't show it.
During the summer it would be the opposite; a lazy slap across the nearest part of his body, meant that he was dying for anything cool. The lightest touch followed by immediate retraction was a mistake, the part that made contact followed by an action of rubbing against the nearest surface to get rid of the sweat.
Yeah, summers were definitely the worst. They would be sweaty and lethargic, and it was harder than usual to convince Kenma to play volleyball with him.
Autumn and winter, on the other hand, were defined by blankets and heaters; windows frosting up as they stayed warm indoors, studying or playing video games. Sometimes Kenma would fall asleep leaning against him after winning a particularly difficult boss. Kuroo considered that another kind of touch too.
But then there were things that Kenma could say without touching.
Don't disturb me.
I want to be alone.
I feel uncomfortable.
Kuroo didn't like those as much. Especially after an argument. It didn't happen often, but occasionally one of them would get too carried away by the smallest thing; Kuroo taking away Kenma's game. Kenma not believing in his own ability. Kuroo teasing him too much. Kenma becoming too close to Tora.
…It was always something stupid.
They weren't at odds with each other enough to argue over anything serious, but that also meant they weren't familiar enough with approaching things that were. So they let it speak without words.
Kenma avoiding eye contact said that he felt awkward around him. Kenma walking a few inches further away than usual showed that he felt uncomfortable. Kenma tossing more to Kai and Fukunaga instead of him and Tora meant…
It probably meant that Kuroo had messed up real bad.
Then, for one of the rare times in their relationship, he decided to approach Kenma with utmost probity. No skirting around the issue, no reading in between lines. Just "what's wrong?"
Kenma looked at him.
It occurred to Kenma, although not for the first time, that Kuro was an idiot. Ever since he fistbumped Taketora during practice the other day, his childhood friend had been freaking out. Probably because they'd never fistbumped before and he could be weird about those kinds of things.
Actually, he was weird in general. Always following him around, picking up on his mood swings, attending to his needs even though he hadn't done anything to deserve it. He thought no one else knew Kenma like he did, and he thought he was being subtle in the way he prided himself for it. He wasn't.
But it's not that he was wrong about it or anything.
Kuro was the only person in the world who could communicate with him without speaking. Most of the time, all Kenma needed to do was nudge him and he would understand immediately. Sometimes it even felt like he'd conditioned his best friend, like a Japanese Pavlov or something. But he figured, it wasn't as if he hadn't already served his retribution.
The fact is, he couldn't live this life without Kuro. It was him who first dragged Kenma out of the house and shoved a volleyball into his hands. Him who played video games with him every break because they should "both get to do what they wanted". Him jumping for joy when Kenma agreed to join his team, and him giving Kenma reason to stay on that long.
It actually made him wonder sometimes if it was good for him to be so dependant, but those thoughts would always be washed away upon seeing that stupid grin of his every morning. It made him think it was irrational to even consider that they would ever let go of each other.
It was such a sappy thought, he would have never guessed that it came from his own brain. Meaning? Kenma loved Kuro.
Platonically?
Romantically?
He felt like the divide between those two had been erased a long time ago. He was only sure that Kuro loved him back too. He could see it in the way his brows creased and his hair messier than usual; the way his lips moved to let out that question with such sincerity.
"What's wrong?"
Kenma grimaced. What a troublesome question. Instead of bothering to answer, he took Kuro's hand and lifted it to his lips, pressing lightly. Was that sufficient?
At that moment, his heart beating faster than his thoughts could process, it occurred to Kuroo that Kenma could say a lot with one touch.
And he understood.
A/N: The first Haikyuu! fic I'm actually proud of enough to post here haha. I have a few SFW and NSFW ideas to follow up this oneshot, so I might write those if I feel inspired enough. Leave me a review if you have any input! Also, I post a lot of Haikyuu! on tumblr (nataritei) so you can find me there if you like (hearts)