Kenma entered the house, only to be greeted by his mother. Her dark hair was wound tightly into a bun. She has soft features, her once young face now showed signs of age. She was beautiful despite all this. Not a gray hair hung from her head. She watched her son walk through the door but before he could escape, she questioned him.
"Who was that?" Her question was exactly what Kenma wanted to avoid. He detested drawing attention to himself. This was his mother though, she had a knack for wanting to know everything.
"A guy I met at the park," Kenma tried to cut the conversation short as he felt his cheeks heating. He really didn't want to talk about the boy he'd met at the park with his mother but he also wanted to. A small part of him wanted to shout that he'd met his soulmate; he didn't like that part of himself.
His mother raised a brow as she continued to cut the vegetables. Kenma assumed she'd bought them at the market yesterday. It was common for her to go to the Saturday markets. He knew that she'd want more information and if he were to avoid telling her now, she'd nag more. Kenma loved his mother but sometimes he wondered how she'd birthed him; they were so different.
"Take a seat," the dark haired woman pointed her knife at the chair and placed her hand on her hip. Kenma knew he was going to get it, he knew that he was going to have to answer every single one of her questions. Kenma did as he was told; he wasn't in the mood to argue. "Name?" and it started. Kenma could only thank his lucky stars that his father wasn't home. This was embarrassing enough.
"Kuroo Tetsurou," Kenma's tone was far from excited despite how saying Kuroo's name made him feel. He knew that he was blushing. He'd be lying if he were to say that Kuroo wasn't attractive but there was something different about him.
"Age?" His mother's questions were so specific. He didn't even know how old Kuroo was. The topic never came up.
"He never mentioned it," Kenma knew what her questions were leading up to.
"I saw he had a ball, did you guys play?" Kenma simply nodded in response. "So he liked volley-ball, must be a nice change to play with someone else. You didn't push yourself too much?" Despite everything, Kenma's mother spent her days and nights worrying. Kenma didn't know but she often sat on the floor beside his bedroom door, listening to make sure he didn't stop breathing. It weighed heavy on her mind; cancer was a deep fear of hers. Her grandfather had died of cancer when she was a child. She wouldn't have wished it on her worst enemy but she was tortured by it once more, this time being her son. Her heart ached every time she had to take him to the hospital whether it be for an appointment or a relapse.
"We just played a bit. I stopped when I got tired," Kenma didn't look at his mother, his eyes remained fixed on her hands.
"So, you're 18 now… was he your… your soulmate?" This was a question that his mother was hesitant to ask. She knew that this was a touchy subject for Kenma. As a child, though Kenma may not remember, he'd always thought it was something unimportant to him. She thought that he might have no interest in waiting to meet them.
Kenma felt his cheeks heat, he didn't understand why this was flustering him. Yeah, Kuroo was his soulmate but it wasn't more than that. They'd just met that day. Kenma simply nodded his head, still not looking up at his mother. He appreciated his mother's concern but for the most part, he wanted to keep it to himself. There was a small part of him that was happy to say it. He'd finally met someone with whom he was supposed to connect.
Kenma's mother put down the knife and walked towards him. Kenma felt his mother's hand on his shoulder, making him look up at her. Her eyes were soft and full of love.
"Sweetheart, please don't overthink it," his mother knew him all too well. Though she left it simple, she knew how much he'd overthink. She'd always said that if he'd spend half the amount of time sleeping as he would overthinking, he'd have a proper sleep schedule.
Kenma's mother pulled him into a hug. She was always warm and comforting. A mother's hug is something a child is never too old for. The truth was that Kenma was overthinking; he felt guilty for being sick. He felt wrong for putting Kuroo through that. He didn't want Kuroo to be the guy who's soulmate died before they even made it to thirty.