Nekoma (Kuroo and Kenma)

Kuroo had always been around. They were neighbours since he could remember but they may as well have lived in the same house with Kuroo always coming over. It would be an understatement to say that Kenma was an introvert, without any incessant nagging, Kenma could easily spend his whole life in his room gaming.

I swear the reason why I'm always allowed over is just so I can get Kenma moving, thought Kuroo. He ran his fingers through his hair trying to smooth it over, it would stay true to form every time. Kuroo admired Kenma's concentration, the silence never bothered him. He could read Kenma's facial expressions with ease. He had long given up changing his bedhead hair, he wouldn't give up on his friend.

Kenma found solace in virtual reality, within a screen. He could predict what would happen with ease, he could always restart if he started off on the wrong foot. People confused him, they were too loud and he didn't know what they were thinking. He didn't enjoy sports (unfortunately, people were involved) and he was always picked last.

He never had many friends; save for Kuroo. The black cat was the only one with enough patience and determination to drag Kenma's head out of a screen or at least get him to leave the house. When he had started to play volleyball, Kuroo saw no better opportunity than to drag his friend out to set for him. "You won't have to run, just toss for me?". In his own way Kenma accepted this: it was the only way to get his friend off his back.

Years later they were still practicing. "A personal time difference attack, by high school we'll master it!". "Kuro, why are you trying all these new techniques, isn't it tiring?" sighed Kenma, blowing a strand of hair out of his eyes. Kuroo, pumped up with more than enough energy for the two of them, ignored his dejected friend. The tosses still kept coming his way.

Come high school, Kenma was hardly surprised when he got dragged into the volleyball club. After all, Kuro had years of experience in forcing him to do things he didn't want to do. "It will be fun", he said.

It wasn't.

The third years weren't as welcoming. Exactly the people wouldn't choose to ever get along with, they gave him a hard time for not being passionate enough despite being part of one of Tokyo's best schools. Kenma sat again on the sidelines, here he watched his senpais score another point, predictably. He would show them what he'd learnt with Kuroo, one day.

If I can't fit in then I'll stand out. The introvert dyed his hair blonde, much to everyone's surprise. It changed nothing though. It just made him easier to spot in a crowd. There were no instant results in real life. He couldn't undo an action once completed.

The timid boy slumped in his chair. As usual he was in his tall friend's shadow.

"I'm not giving up on you Kenma, you're going to make it whether you believe it or not"

Kenma often felt that Kuroo helping him was for the good of the team. After all, the black cat though not unlucky, made it impossible for him to find any excuse to leave the team. He made sure of it.

In his first match he thought the team would be burdened by him as he was called in as a substitute setter. After months of watching he knew his teammate's strengths. After minutes of watching he knew his opponents' weaknesses. The team had a tough time working around him but it paid off as a narrow win after a drawn-out match. Despite this, the rest of his first year, Kenma barely got any time on the court. Kuroo smiled at his setter, just because he isn't on the court doesn't mean he isn't on the team. The third years continued to attempt to push him harder but that was not how he operated.

"Just you wait 'til next year. The captain will change everything." Kenma had no reaction, if one thing was certain it was that his messy haired friend would always be there.

Coach Nekomata made him a starter once the third years retired. Nekoma were flexible, they were adapting to change.

It felt like home more or less. Kuroo still fussed over Kenma, but now the whole team fussed over him too. Yaku was there to catch things when they fell or to make sure that he ate. Kai kept Kenma company whenever Kuroo and Yaku started bickering. Taketora made sure he got to training after class without walking into anything while he tapped away engrossed in his games.

It was an unspoken rule that no one was to mess with Kenma, not unless they wanted to face the wrath of their sly captain and said boy's bodyguard of sorts. Lev learned it the hard way when he teased the setter about how short he was. Although he towered over the rest of the team, he feared Kuroo's shadow creeping up on him to 'have a word'. Not to mention the subsequent receives he was ordered to practice with Taketora, the ace who never held back in the slightest especially when putting Lev in his place. Yaku was more than happy to criticize his technique moreso than usual. Any short jokes were not tolerated by the libero.

This remained unchanged on the court. Whilst he would never admit to being excited by volleyball, he could never say that he didn't enjoy it at least a bit. Not the game of course, it tired him. But the way the team trusted in him to take the lead. For him to be the controller of a real-life game. He would watch people, observe how they acted and what they thought – all to secure the win. Here Nekoma was a stable family he could rely on and be himself. They never told him to stop playing games (Kuroo was the only one who could ever come close), they looked to him wholeheartedly and with the steadfast belief that as the brain, he could read the situation and draw out the most strategic course of action.

Kenma was not passionate, he cared not about the game's outcome but what was "possible" and "impossible" to achieve. Coach Nekomata made no move to interfere in any of the time outs unless asked; so long as Kenma thought it was possible and could make it so, there was nothing he could add to boost their game. The setter was the key strategist, the rest of the team just followed his intuition.

As individuals none of their players were particularly noteworthy to be selected for the national team, yet, since Kenma had arrived, they had been a formidable team within the top 8 of the prefecture. Stability was what Kenma had always wanted and this is what he found. Here. His natural black roots started to reappear.

"WE ARE THE BODY'S BLOOD,
FLOW SMOOTHLY,
DELIVER ENOUGH OXYGEN,
…SO THE BRAIN CAN FUNCTION PROPERLY!"

A/N: Kenma is a character I can relate to and I enjoyed examining his unique friendship with Kuroo and how they mesh together as a team. Next up are the Owls!