It was only one touch, but Kuroo was enchanted.
Not in the fluffy, fairy tale kind of way you read in novels, though. Birds weren't spontaneously bursting into song, for one, and there were no sakura flower petals blowing through his hair. Whichever romance novelist came up with that must have never fallen in love before.
It felt more like his brain was about to explode.
His cat-like eyes were transfixed on Kenma's lips, but his consciousness had long detached from his body, still digesting the events that had just transpired.
His childhood friend had kissed him.
It wasn't even remotely close to the lips, but the implication was obvious enough. Kenma liked him… where would he begin with all the questions he had? Firstly, why him? Kenma swung that way? Since when? Why didn't he notice it? No, more importantly - why was he so happy about this?
That was when he noticed the blonde wasn't even looking at him anymore. A curtain of hair blocked his face which was turned to the side, giving Kuroo no indication - was he happy? Embarrassed? Regretful? For one rare moment, he was unsure.
Then he noticed that Kenma was still holding his hand.
He really felt the grin cutting into his cheeks then; the tenseness in his jaws from having smiled for too long without realising. He was about to open his mouth to speak but the other interrupted him, his voice low and steady.
"Kuro. Listen. I think you already know what I mean by that, so…" He breathed in deeply, as if mustering all his energy. "If you're not ready to accept this, I'm fine. If you want things to go back to the way it was, that's also fine. As long as we're still…" his voice tapered off as he finally peeked through his hair.
Kuroo watched silently as a whisper of surprise travelled through his friend's eyes. He figured his face must look pretty embarrassing now, because the setter's golden pupils halted at his for a moment before returning to the ground.
Kenma's lips twitched a little, revealing a small smile. "Ah." he sounded in understanding, his grip on Kuroo's hand becoming slightly tighter than before.
Even though it was a small movement, the latter felt like his heart was soaring. There was desire building within him that he hadn't felt in a long time, and it was beginning to become difficult to suppress. It wasn't even like he knew where this was coming from; just that his image of Kenma was suddenly changing, very quickly.
Not good. He shook his head furiously, his free hand reaching into his wild locks to tug at the roots. Things were happening too quickly.
Where were all these feelings even coming from? Just minutes ago, he was worried about Kenma being angry at him and now...
His childhood friend chose that moment to look up at him, his face showing no emotion but his eyes seemed to see right into his mind. Gulp.
"Kenma," he breathed. "I…"
"Get me a drink, Kuro?" Kenma cut in. His voice was as quiet and monotonous like always, cutting through the tension that the captain had built up like a wall; the setter had broken it down. Take your time, he seemed to say. I'll be here. Don't be a worrywart.
A smile tugged on the corner of Kuroo's lips. His whole body seemed to relax in one go with those words. Only he could do that. And if their history was anything to speak of, as long as they were together...
"Anything for you, Kenma."
A/N: If you think there is a drop in quality from the previous chapter to this one, that's probably because there is haha. Finally got done with exams and decided to write a little warm-up ficlet. I probably won't be updating this anymore because I have so many other WIPs to work on, but I might return. I don't know. We'll see. *finger guns*