Have an angry!Kuroo, yay. Also, enter jerk!Kageyama. You all know I love him, but he fit for the antagonist. I obviously made him out of character on purpose, but anyway, here's the first time you see him really being an ass.

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Chapter 6:

The Beginning of Everything

The next couple of weeks went without a hitch. Well, as much as it could, when Kuroo was factored in. Before Kuroo was thrust into his life, Kenma had a solid routine every day. On weekdays, he would go to work, come home and relax with his cats. Sometimes he would play video games, or read a book, but nothing very exciting. On weekends he would go grocery shopping, hang out with Shouyou and go for some walks. The weekend was still pretty much relaxation time, there wasn't a rush to do anything incredibly exciting, or anything he looked forward to, really.

But with Kuroo?

Oh no, no. His life wasn't relaxing anymore. It was still nice, but not calm. Definitely not calm. Kenma still had his routine, but Kuroo insisted on bothering him consistently. They had talked way too much the past few days. Kenma knew things he didn't even want to know about Kuroo, the most random things like how Kuroo had a turtle when he was five years old, but it ran away. Even when Kuroo wasn't bothering him, it was the receptionist that kept helping him bother Kenma.

He wouldn't forgive that jerk, Oikawa, ever.

When he actually arrived at Kuroo's apartment, a couple of weeks ago when he was sick, Kenma had already gotten the majority of his grumbling out on the car ride. He really didn't feel like taking care of a sick person, especially a sick Kuroo, but he was too nice of a person to refuse. Well, that, and he definitely didn't like confrontation.

Really, now that he thought about it, it wasn't as horrible as he was expecting. Though Kuroo was still Kuroo, he was much more subdued, almost easier to handle. He smiled slightly at the memory.

The second he had opened the door to the other's apartment, and walked in to see the other man, Kuroo broke into a huge smile. And, of course, the first thing out of his mouth was: "You look cute today, Kenma."

Seriously.

Other than that, being with Kuroo wasn't that bad. Kenma was expecting to be hounded with teasing comments and obnoxious questions, but there was none. He just took care of Kuroo, feeding him soup getting him water and some medicine whenever needed. There was some small talk, some getting-to-know-you questions, and Kuroo dozed off a couple of times.

He learned Kuroo's favorite color is yellow, his favorite food is grilled salted mackerel pike (ew), and yes, his hair is natural bedhead. The theory around his bedhead, according to Kuroo, is that he sleeps with his head squished between two pillows. Bizarre. Kenma also found out that he used to play volleyball as well, and they talked for a long time, discussing different games and reminiscing.

Even the silence was nice. Usually, for Kenma, the silence that came with any conversation was awkward as he either shied away or frantically tried to find a new subject. With Kuroo, there was no awkwardness and no anxious waiting. It was a comfortable silence, they both knew they didn't have to talk to enjoy the time. Kenma was extremely grateful for this.

In all honesty, Kenma was grateful for Kuroo in general. Not that he would ever tell him; Heaven knows what Kuroo would do if his ego was inflated even more.

Even after Kuroo got over his illness a couple days later, he continued to pester Kenma with texts. There wasn't a day that went by without some exchange, mostly Kuroo asking questions and Kenma answering. Sometimes they would hang out together as well. To his surprise, Kuroo was actually excellent at video games. He even won the first game against Kenma, who scolded himself for letting his guard down, muttering, "Beginner's luck."

At last, a worthy opponent! A worthy ally as well, he soon came to realize.

Knocking on the door 501, Kuroo called out, "Kenma! I'm here!"

He waited a few moments, and heard a couple crashes from inside the door. He chuckled, Kenma must have tripped over Clyde again. Before Kenma could open the door, the apartment door opened and Kageyama decided to step out of his apartment. He cocked his head in mock-curiosity and his eyes narrowed in displeasure when he realized Kuroo was standing in front of Kenma's door.

"Ah? Who's this?" Kageyama drawled, taking in Kuroo's rugged appearance. He laughed, and Kuroo had a terrible feeling. "Did Kenma hire a hooker?"

Kuroo frowned at Kageyama, dragging his eyes up and down as he sized the other man up. Kenma opened the door, stepping out into the harsh atmosphere. He looked around, wide eyed, stuttering, "Um, am I interrupting something?"

"No, Kenma, it's fine. This jackass just thinks I'm a hooker. I must be that gorgeous, right? Oh well, I'm too expensive for him anyway," Kuroo purred, smiling slyly at Kenma. For a split second, Kenma noticed his facade falter, rage filtering through his expression, before it went back to being mischievous.

"Pfft! As if I'd want someone like you," Kageyama snorted, glaring at the two men. He paused, considering something, and said, "Don't bother associating with Kenma, he's a complete waste of space."

Hurt flashed in Kenma's eyes before he looked down, away from the argument. He really didn't want to hear this right now. Noticing his friend's obvious discomfort, Kuroo tensed angrily and took a step towards Kageyama, smirking.

"Ah, no. The waste of space would be you, sorry," he smiled harshly. "Let me help. Shall I bash your face in?" Kuroo took another threatening step towards Kageyama, still smiling, still pissed off. "Less space taken up, after all."

Kageyama scoffed, "As if you'd actually do that. Why are you even defending him? It's not worth it."

With that, Kuroo took the last few steps and with a swing of his fist, punched Kageyama in the jaw, who stumbled back and glared at both of them. Kenma gasped and covered his mouth, half amazed and half appalled.

"He's worth it to me, asshole," Kuroo spat, before jerking the door open and stalking towards Kenma's apartment. He shook his hand to bring the feeling back into his knuckles and then gave Kageyama the middle finger. Turning back to Kenma, he gripped his arm tightly, pulling him into the apartment and growled, "Come on."

Before Kenma could even thank him, Kuroo pulled him into a tight hug. He stroked Kenma's hair and murmured, "Sorry you had to hear that. I'm also sorry a jerk like him lives next to you."

Quickly, Kuroo kissed the top of Kenma's head before looking away embarrassed. Kenma smiled shyly, looking up at him. Neither of them said anything, neither of them let go, they just enjoyed each other's presence. Ruffling Kenma's hair, Kuroo smiled down at him happily. He paused, debating whether or not to say anything.

"I really did mean that, you know," he mumbled. Kenma stared at him, cocking his head as if asking 'what?' "That you're worth it to me."

Unsure of how to respond, Kenma mumbled something incoherently. He coughed and tried again, "Let's play scrabble."

Kuroo laughed. "Really? Scrabble?"

Kenma nodded.

"Okay! I'll crush you!"

That wasn't the only time Kuroo visited his apartment. He visited once more, a couple days later. He met Hinata and they liked each other well enough. Shouyou had the decency to wait until Kuroo left before winking at Kenma and squealing, "Well he's really attractive! Tall, dark, and handsome, is your type huh? You guys are so cute together!"

Kenma knew he was screwed when they started going out together as well. His entire Saturday was taken up by Kuroo. They went to a movie, an amusement park, dinner, and the park. It almost felt like a date, but he knew better. Kuroo had mentioned ex-girlfriends once or twice before, and Kenma couldn't help the gross twist in his stomach.

Even though he had liked everything they did together, Kenma had really enjoyed the park. It was nighttime and the street lights had turned on, and it wasn't horribly cold. Snow was falling slowly and they were swinging on the swings together, humming a song that could be anything. It was childishly romantic, and Kenma loved it.

He had long given up denying that he was falling for Kuroo. He just denied telling the man himself, that's it. Even if he was falling for him, he still felt like they could be best friends. There was just something about Kuroo that drew Kenma to him, something that made him feeling like they had known each other for ages. Maybe they were best friends in another life. Who knows. Kenma was fine with being just friends with Kuroo, but there was a part of him that wanted to be more.

All he could do was hope Kuroo liked guys, as well.

Looking down at the couch, Kenma forced himself back into the present as he petted Colin. He absent-mindedly picked a piece of cloth of the couch, flicking it off his finger. Honestly, he didn't know why he kept thinking about this stuff. It was Thursday night, not think-about-Kuroo-night. Kenma wished he could escape everything that reminded him of Kuroo, but that was impossible. His freaking cats reminded him of Kuroo.

Sugar was starting to become restless, more than usual. He sighed. That probably meant she was due soon. He wondered how soon. Kuroo had said Sugar was 7 weeks pregnant, but that was at least two weeks ago, if not three. Kenma reminded himself that labor could begin from 9-10 weeks, meaning she could go into labor any second.

(Thanks, Google.)

Sugar could have her babies tomorrow, for all he knew. The second he realized he thought that, Kenma cursed himself. He probably just jinxed himself. Knowing his luck, he wouldn't be surprised if Sugar went into labor, just because he said that. Leaning over his couch, he reached for his wooden side-table and knocked. Maybe that would work.

Sighing, he picked at the couch again, distractedly.

Suddenly, Kenma snorted. A thought had occurred to him: he had met Kuroo through his cat. What a way to meet someone. He briefly wondered if he was in some sort of romantic comedy, but quickly realized that he wasn't even dating Kuroo.

Unfortunately. But Kuroo kept bothering him, even if they weren't. That had to mean something, right? Kuroo talked to him whenever there was a chance to, and Kenma wouldn't be surprised if Kuroo went out of his way to talk to him. There wasn't any way to get rid of him, and even if there was, he probably would come back. Almost as if he was an itch that demanded to be scratched.

Kenma giggled to himself, proud of the pun he made: Kuroo was an itch Kenma can't seem to scratch.

He knew he shouldn't have said anything, damn it. He jinxed himself, and he knew it, even if he had knocked on wood. The universe really was against him. He briefly wondered what he did wrong to earn all this bad luck, but couldn't think much about it when Sugar started howling again, pacing around the bedroom.

Sugar had been howling and pacing for a long time now, on and off. She'd also been seeming restless pretty much the entire night. Kenma had barely slept the previous, and currently, his anxiety was sky rocketing with a few hours of sleep at most in the last 36 hours. He knew that Sugar would be going into labor in the next few hours; he'd looked up cat pregnancy again, just to make sure. Honestly, he had no idea how many times he had fed her, either. How can one cat eat so damn much? He even had to run to the 7/Eleven down the street to get extra cat food, even if they were cheap 50 cent cans.

It wasn't exactly that Kenma was nervous about the labor or kittens, but more about what's leading up to it. Sugar seemed pained, she kept pacing around and howling. It hurt him to listen to her. He desperately wished that cat labor should just happen, nothing like this before it. That way, he wouldn't have time to get wound up and start freaking out. Which he was currently doing. The waiting was actually the thing that was killing him.

Kenma fed her once more, and glanced at the clock. It was getting late, almost midnight. Although he should be entirely exhausted, he was wide awake from his anxiety. Plus, he had pretty much lived off coffee and caffeinated soda all day. Kenma had some chips and other snacks scattered throughout the day, he wasn't able to focus enough to make himself a good meal.

Feeling jittery, he decided he shouldn't have any more caffeine. He opened a kitchen cabinet and got a bowl, quickly making a bowl of cereal. Cheerios, just as plain as him. Kenma really wished he had some apple pie, his favorite food always seemed to calm him down.

He ate his cereal on the couch, absentmindedly watching something on the tv, trying to calm himself down. It looked like Pretty Woman; he recognized Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. He really loved this movie, but refused to admit that he enjoyed romantic comedies to anyone, in case he'd be made fun of. He watched about ten minutes to calm down, and then got back up. This was normal. Everything was fine.

Except he was anxious.

Kenma put his dishes away, and went to the bathroom. He had put Sugar in there, so when she gave birth it would be on tile, not carpet. He noticed that she was looking around, poking her head in different places. She was even ignoring the food that he just put down. Oh god, oh god, she was getting closer to delivery.

She flopped on her back.

She howled.

She got back up.

She squatted.

"OH MY GOD," Kenma vocally screeched. She's actually going to deliver, oh god oh god. He danced around the bathroom nervously, trying to find something to do, anything to do. He wanted to be helpful. "What do I do?!"

Really, this wasn't such a big deal, he was just supposed to leave her alone. He had researched this, he knew everything by heart, but oh my GOD she's delivering! His baby girl is having babies! Kenma is going to be a grandpa!

It really didn't help that he had wound himself up, either. His worry and concern had rolled over from the entire day. Kenma didn't know why he did what he did, but he ran to his bedside table and snatched his phone. Nervously, he picked out a contact and dialed.

It rang, and rang.

He looked at the clock, 12:14. Damn, it's late. Please pick up, please, please.

It rang. A click. A sleepy voice, "Hello?"

"Kuroo!" Kenma panicked, nearly yelling into the phone, "Sugar's delivering! She's gonna have kittens! What do I do, what do I do?! How do I stop panicking, oh god, I need to calm down, what do I do?"

"Hey, hey, hold on a sec," Kuroo paused, and yawned, before explaining, "Honestly, you don't do anything. Just watch to make sure nothing bad happens."

Silence.

"Do you want me to come over?" Kuroo asked softly. Kenma's anxiety was so bad, he could almost feel it radiating through the phone. Smiling to himself, Kuroo felt better when Kenma let out a breath he had been holding.

"I don't know why, but yes," Kenma said. He just needed someone, he supposed. It was okay - good, even - if that someone was Kuroo. The man was his vet, after all, he would know what to do.

Kuroo chuckled, "Alright. I'll be there in 20 minutes, okay?"

Kenma made an affirmative noise, before whispering a goodbye.

"Bye Kenma," Kuroo replied. "I'll see you in a bit."

Now what?

Just to make himself feel better, he consulted the internet again. For what seemed like the thirtieth time. He knew everything by heart, but read the labor section anyway. Just as Kuroo had said, Kenma was supposed to leave Sugar alone, watching her occasionally. It also said that the first kitten should come within the first hour, then the rest in intervals of ten minutes. Apparently, the kittens arrive in a jelly-like membrane sac thing, then Sugar should lick it off.

He made a face. Gross.

Okay. Well, now he knows. Not like he didn't before, but oh well. Kenma paced around his apartment, unsure of what to do. To pass the time, he washed the rest of his dishes and tidied up a little bit. He was a bit of a mess. He even vacuumed, though why he did he wasn't sure. Neither of them were allergic, and Kuroo was a vet for crying out loud. But Kenma was still jittery, and the lack of sleep was catching up with him. If cleaning helped, then he would clean his entire apartment from ceiling to floor. He could feel his emotions becoming harder to control; they always were at night. Kenma willed the unwanted thoughts to go away, he really didn't need them tonight.

A quick knock came from his apartment door, bringing Kenma out of his thoughts. Feeling unsettled, he nearly ran to the door, and jerked it open. Kuroo stood in front of him, paused in the middle of a stretch. Without thinking, Kenma stepped forward and hugged Kuroo tightly. His presence was familiar and calming in this mess of a day. When Kuroo had become familiar, he didn't know, but he was.

Kenma felt a hand on his head, petting and playing with his hair. He looked up at the taller man with an unreadable expression on his face. Kuroo looked back down at him with soft eyes and a soft smile, no hint of a smirk. He really didn't know Kuroo was even physically able to do that.

"Hey, we better get inside," Kuroo commented quietly. He gently pushed Kenma back into the apartment. He explained, "Your cats will get out."

Kenma nodded and closed the door behind them. He was still hugging Kuroo, but was becoming more embarrassed by the second. His face was becoming flushed as well, he could feel it. Hiding from Kuroo, he buried his face into the other's chest.

"Why do you have to be so tall?" Kenma mumbled, not expecting an answer. Kuroo's lips quirked up into a familiar smirk.

"Because you like tall guys?" he joked, earning a muffled giggle from Kenma. "Probably because I make a pretty good teddy bear for you. Don't I?"

"Don't joke like that," Kenma grumbled. "Not when my cat is in labor, and I'm stressed."

"Who said I was joking?" Kuroo replied, and Kenma stiffened. His voice was light, but serious. Unsure of what to do, Kenma took a deep breath and sighed. He stepped back from Kuroo, and untangled himself from the hug.

"I think we should check on Sugar," he mumbled, avoiding Kuroo's eyes. He didn't know what it was about those eyes, but they got him every time. They were fascinating and calculating, and Kenma would be figured out in a matter of seconds.

Kuroo stared at Kenma, seeming to have an internal debate. Eventually, he shrugged and said, "Okay. Let's check on your baby girl, shall we?"