"So what are you gonna tell your dad?" Hinata asked through the screen.
Kenma's golden eyes barely lifted from his PSP when he formulated his answer. He shrugged.
"I dunno. It's both that spectacular. He should be happy that I'm at least not gay," he responded. Hinata hummed and tapped his fingers on his laptop on his side of the call.
"Is it really that big of a deal in Japan? Aren't you all Buddhist or something?" He questioned. Again Kenma shrugged.
"I don't pay a lot of attention to it. It might just be my dad or certain people, but from my experience it's not commonly talked about. Plus I'm not really religious. There's a majority of Buddhists or Shinto, but I don't know the details," he said.
"Huh. That's interesting. I guess it really does depend on the person. Here in America there are Christians who are all for gay rights and then there are some who absolutely despise it," he pointed out. Kenma nodded.
"Hey do you wanna hop online? Maybe it won't lag as much now that my sister is asleep and her tablet is off," Hinata suggested. Kenma held up a finger.
"In a moment I'm almost done with this battle," he said. Hinata sighed.
"Alright," he murmured.
It took Kenma exactly thirty seconds before he had defeated his battle and then finally refocused his attention to his online game. Just as he was about to open a new webpage for the server he heard a noise outside. Hinata must've heard it too because they both had a curious look on their face. It sounded like an engine or a car starting or stopping. For some reason it made Kenma uneasy.
"What was that?" Hinata asked.
The blond boy crawled off his bed and checked out his window. He frowned and his brow furrowed when he spotted an unfamiliar car parked outside his house. It was sleek and silver, but it also looked a little beat up. He assumed it was a used car, and therefor belonged to a college student or something like that. Since he didn't gain any value or interest in it, he returned to his spot in front of his laptop.
"It's a car. Probably another bone headed student my dad can't teach," he reported blandly as he grabbed his head phones and slipped them on.
"Ahhh…your headphones are so cute. I love them," Hinata said cheerfully. Kenma remembered the cute Neko Atsume designs painted on the sides. It was a favor an artistic friend lent him after he helped with their homework.
"Oh right. I forget about those designs really easily," he murmured and logged in to the gaming server.
"Ugh. I wish I had the patience to paint my headphones like that. I always get too excited and I can't hold the brush properly," he frowned.
"If you send me your pair I could get the friend who painted mine to paint it on yours," he offered. Hinata gasped with wide eyes.
"Really? Awesome!"
"But you'd probably be missing your headphones for a couple weeks or so. Plus it might cost some money due to shipping costs," he informed him.
"I have another pair I could use. As for the money that's no problem. My mom always hooks me up with allowance," Hinata replied.
"Are you logged on? I'm opening a new game," Kenma changed the subject. Hinata nodded.
"I'm on it," he said.
They continued to play for a long time. Kenma never paid attention to the time when he was immersed in a game. Tonight was no difference. They started around eight pm Kenma's time, and it was when Hinata last reported the time. He usually pointed it out when he was worried his mother would scold him for playing video games all day. Kenma could care less if his father was disappointed with how late he was staying up. Although didn't make much noise as his ginger friend. Hinata was always grunting or making a noise or whining about dying. It was amusing to Kenma. He found the others enthusiasm to be rather enjoyable, and it was one of the reasons he kept their friendship for so long.
"Ugh…isn't it like five minutes from midnight there?" Hinata asked. Kenma nodded.
"Do you need to stop?" He inquired. Usually Hinata brought up the time when he needed to do something other than video games.
"For a while. My mom is at work, but I've already been asked to do dishes by my dad. He texted me earlier," Hinata said with obvious exhaustion.
"Ugh," was Kenma's simple response.
"Is that car still in your driveway? I didn't hear it leave," he spoke as he rubbed his eyes. Kenma's brows furrowed.
"I didn't hear it either…"
He glanced towards the window and slipped off his headphones. Once again he crawled off his bed and checked outside. Sure enough the best up car was still there. Kenma rolled his eyes and was about to pull away when he heard laughter and the sound of the car being unlocked. Curiosity got the best of him as he watched hid father and a total stranger walkout together and to the silver car. Golden eyes stuck to the strange outline illuminated by their porch light. It was a tall figure, probably over 180 centimeters, and Kenma assumed it was a male. He watched as the strange tall man joked with his dad and eventually made his way in to the silver car. From what he could observe he had a complete mess of a hair style, but it was hard to see from how pitch black it was. Not even his roots were that dark. He hummed and found his way back to Hinata.
"He's just leaving now," he told him. Hinata blinked.
"Like right now?" He questioned. Kenma nodded.
"I saw him. He's tall," he replied.
"Oh…"
"It was hard to see, but he doesn't seem very interesting," he murmured.
"Is that why you took so long looking at him?" Hinata challenged with a smirk. Kenma blinked.
"I literally just told you that I'm aro-ace," he reminded him. Hinata slapped his palm to his forehead.
"Crap, I'm sorry Kenma. I already forgot," he whimpered. The blond smiled a little.
"It's okay. You're distracted and I did just tell you," he assured his friend.
"Okay, but if we ever meet in real life you can punch me for every time I forget."
"I will not."
"Then I'll make you."
"Hinata-"
"Kenma? What are you still doing up?" Kenma's father stood in his doorway, talking as he knocked and opened the door. Kenma's brain automatically switched from English to Japanese and looked up at his father.
"Huh?"
"It's nearly midnight. What are you doing up?" He repeated. The blond noticed his fathers shirt. It was unbuttoned to show his undershirt and the cuffs were rolled up. He always undid his shirt after a long study session with a student.
"I'm online playing with Hinata," he spoked in perfect Japanese. Hinata had to hold back an excited whimper. He loved hearing fluent Japanese since he was studying it, and Kenma's Japanese was so precise. He loved hearing it.
"It's midnight, did you know that?"
"Yes," he nodded.
"Why don't you say goodnight to your friend and get some rest tonight. It might be summer vacation, but you still need to go to bed at reasonable times," his father lectured. Kenma looked at him with blank golden eyes.
"Sure," he said simply. His father sighed.
"I can never understand what you're thinking," he mumbled before turning around and walking out of Kenma's room.
"Goodnight," he said before closing the door. Kenma didn't say goodnight back and instead refocused on Hinata.
"What's that one word you told me about last week? It was like to describe stupid people who are easily fooled?" Kenma asked.
"Gullible," the ginger replied as he closed down his game.
"Ah. Yes. My dad is very gullible," Kenma murmured.
"Are you going to bed?" Hinata questioned. Kenma shook his head.
"Not for another hour," he answered.
"Ah. Okay. Well text me when you wake up then," he said.
"Okay. Goodnight."
"Night."
Orange hair disappeared from his screen and Kenma closed his skype window as well as his laptop. Once he tucked it between his bed and night stand and plugged it in he plopped on his stomach over his bed. He grabbed his PSP and resumed his game from earlier.
This was a normal summer night for Kenma. During the school year he would go to bed earlier, but he liked staying up later since less people bothered him. His father liked to monitor him a little bit, but not in a way that actually worked. It was more of telling him what to do with no consequences or follow through. If there ever was consequences Kenma was usually smart enough to manipulate the situation in his favor. Despite his father being a college professor he really was quite, as Kenma described, gullible.
Finally around 1:30 am he decided to shut off his PSP and got up to turn off his lights. When he waddled back to his bed in the dark he didn't even bother to change out of his sweatpants and hoodie. He was comfortable so there was no need to put in the effort of changing in to cold clothes. He plopped down on his bed again and didn't even wiggle untied the covers. His eyes slowly slid shut and he was asleep within minutes.
"Kenma, would you please set that damn thing down for five minutes and enjoy breakfast with us? Your mother worked very hard this morning so we could eat together as a family. Not a husband and a wife with their part video game son," Kenma's father grumbled. Kenma's golden eyes glanced up at his frowning father before returning to his screen.
"In a moment."
"Now!"
"Honey, please. Whenever he says in a moment he means it. Just be patient," Kenma's mother cooed in a sweet voice. Right on cue Kenma paused his game and set his PSP to the side.
"See? What did I tell you," she smiled.
"It's still rude to take it to the table," his father grumbled.
"Let's get some food in us, okay? We're all hungry right?" Kenma's mother spoke in a cheerful quiet voice. Kenma nodded and his father grumbled some more.
"It is nice to see you, Kenma. I know you have a friend and all and its summer vacation, but I'd love to see you more often," his mother said as they all served themselves.
"We can trim the bonsai tree together later," he suggested. She nodded with a bright smile.
"And maybe some origami? You learn very quickly," she added hopefully.
"Maybe," was Kenma's simple response as he started to eat. His father frowned at him.
"Listen, Kenma. Your mother wants to spend more time with you, so why don't you say yes instead of maybe?" He spoke with clenched teeth.
"Because I don't know if I will feel up to origami later," he answered.
"Is it impossible for you to do something for your mother for once?" He spat impatiently.
"Are you suggesting I force myself to spend time with her rather than legitimately have interest in our activities?" Kenma spat back.
"Boys, please. We're eating breakfast," Kenma's mother hushed. The blond instantly nodded and shut his mouth before eating his food.
"Honestly, he should put-"
"Breakfast. Eat."
Kenma ended up doing origami with his mother later that day. He mostly did it for her, but also because he did feel up to it. It was easier to be around his mother. The stranger returned that night. Kenma avoided leaving his room.