Scratch

Chapter 8:

The Town Gossip

They continued eating, and Kenma was glad that their silence was back to being comfortable. He wasn't sure what he would do if they kept being awkward together. If anything, it felt like he hadn't really been asked out, and they were still friends. Of course, Kuroo came to the rescue with a simple question.

"Hey, since we're dating, can we go out on a date today?" Kuroo asked randomly, a ghost of a smirk on his face. He was still holding his fork, and was halfway to taking a bite of his scrambled eggs. "The weather guy on the news yesterday said it wasn't supposed to be cold today. Probably the last nice day before winter is fully here."

"Today. Like, right now?"

"Well, I'll have to go home to take a shower and get some new clothes, but yeah," he chuckled. Finally, a first, real date with Kenma. On the first day of dating, no less.

It wasn't necessary to go out this quickly, but Kuroo didn't really care. He just enjoyed being with him, was all. Plus, like he had explained to Kenma, it wasn't supposed to be too cold. It was the beginning of December, they had to take advantage of whatever nice days there were left.

"Will Sugar and the kittens be okay on their own?" Kenma fretted. He really didn't want his cats to be left alone, especially if Sugar had just given birth. What if something went wrong?

"Yeah, they'll be fine," Kuroo explained, "If we give them extra food and water, they'll be good. The kittens nurse from Sugar, anyway. Sugar won't leave them, either, so yeah."

"Okay, if you're sure..." he trailed off.

"I'm a vet, Kenma," Kuroo rolled his eyes good-naturedly..

"Right, sorry," he muttered.

They both went back to eating, though Kuroo had nearly cleaned his plate already. Kenma smiled and got up, bringing back some extra food. He sat back down and took a bite of his strawberry before asking, "What did you have in mind?"

"Volleyball and a picnic," Kuroo answered immediately. Figures he already knew what he wanted to do. Neither of them had played volleyball in forever, and who better to play it with then their boyfriend?

Boyfriend!

"Really," Kenma deadpanned, "Volleyball?"

"Yep," he said in all seriousness. Kuroo shoved more food in his face, completely ruining the serious answer.

Kenma rolled his eyes and snorted. He stretched his arms above his head, before moving to clean up the table. "Are you finished?"

As Kuroo nodded, Kenma took his plate and put the dishes in the dishwasher. Cleaning up the rest of the kitchen, he could hear Kuroo grunt from behind him, probably yet another stretch. Kuroo, he found out quickly, stretched way more often than what was necessary.

"Hey, Kenma," Kuroo called, "I'm gonna go back to my apartment to shower and get a picnic ready and volleyball stuff. I'll be back in like an hour, okay?"

"Sure," he replied over his shoulder at Kuroo, still loading the dishes. "When you come back, though, take another look at Sugar before we go. I want to make sure everything is fine before we go anywhere."

Kuroo make some sort of noise, probably an acknowledgement, before making his way to the apartment door. Suddenly, Kuroo stopped in his tracks and seemed to be debating something. Kuroo jogged back towards Kenma and looked at him with a conflicted expression.

"Forget something?"

Kuroo smirked, a real obnoxious grin. He bent down and quickly kissed Kenma on the top of his head. Straightening back up, he smiled, obviously proud of himself. He snickered when Kenma's shoulders tensed and quickly relaxed, his cheeks beginning to flush.

"Was that what you forgot?" Kenma asked, half annoyed and half flattered. He moved his hand to tuck a strand of his hair behind his ear, turning away to hide his blush. Several of his cats came out of nowhere and twisted themselves around his feet, maybe trying to console him.

"Yeah," Kuroo laughed, "It was. I'll see you in a bit."

And he was gone, leaving Kenma standing in his kitchen with his cats, just like usual. They meowed for his attention, and he bent down to pet Clyde. He petted Clyde as he grumbled about Kuroo.

"He's so obnoxious!" Kenma ranted to the cats circling his feet, "How can he do something so cheesy like that without batting an eye? What's a better word for idiot, because I'm totally calling him that later!"

"Meow."

Well, he got an answer, just not an answer he'd understand.

"Are you guys still hungry?" Kenma asked the three cats that had gathered around his feet. He went to fill up the food and water, but saw that it wasn't anywhere near empty. He scrunched his face up in confusion, "Why are you being so clingy? You still have food."

He sighed, resigning himself to an hour of clingy cats. They had probably gotten lonely, considering how he hadn't seen any of them around last night. Kenma giggled, even when he was walking to the couch, the three cats decided to be right on his heel, tickling the skin on his calf. He grabbed Clyde in his arms, and flopped back into the couch. Within moments, Colin and Lynn were on either side of Kenma.

It was pretty obvious that now that Kuroo was gone, they were able to share their anxiety about Sugar's pregnancy, although not that there was that much anymore. They seemed to be content with the fact that Sugar was okay, although Clyde had seemed to smell the kittens. Kenma had caught him meowing and pawing on the bathroom door several times; he didn't know if Clyde was the dad, or if Clyde just wanted to play with the new additions to the household.

Some minutes later, it occurred to Kenma that they could've been worried about him, as well. They had done stuff similar before, especially Colin and Lynn. They'd jump on the bed and try to comfort him as much as possible. His hypothesis seemed to be correct when after only a little bit of cuddling, Clyde and Colin seemed to become bored of staying on the couch. Lynn nuzzled him, and curled up to take a nap. Apparently, they believed that Kenma was alright now as well.

Well, this was fun and all, but it was actually boring.

After realizing only about a half hour had passed, he decided to go to Shouyou's apartment and tell him that Sugar's pregnancy was fine and that the kittens were born. It kind of felt like a requirement, considering Shouyou said that he would take in one of the kittens.

Kenma just wished that Kageyama wasn't there. He didn't know what he would do if Kageyama decided to start something. Pushing the thought out of his head, Kenma told himself that Shouyou was more important.

"Don't do anything reckless while I'm gone," Kenma sighed, mostly talking to Clyde. A chorus of meows followed him as he left the apartment.

He looked around anxiously, seeing if anyone was lurking, waiting to pounce. Thankfully, there wasn't, so Kenma tiptoed past apartment 502. He swore he could feel the door even staring at him. He knocked on the door to 503, waiting for Shouyou to answer, which was fairly quickly.

"Oh, hi Kenma!" Shouyou said, smiling as he opened the door the rest of the way as an invitation. Kenma was frozen at first, but quickly recovered and mumbled a hello as he pushed past Shouyou and made his way further into the apartment.

"Kageyama isn't here, is he?" Kenma mumbled, looking around suspiciously.

"Nah, if he was, I wouldn't have opened the door," he chuckled in response. "I think he's at work, although he might come back for lunch break, since it's Saturday and all."

Shouyou shrugged and turned back to him, smiling with radiance. Kenma couldn't help but think that even though Shouyou was pure sunshine, that he didn't feel for him as much as he used to. He couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not. Considering that he was - Kenma still couldn't believe it - dating Kuroo now, it was.

Yeah. A good thing.

Shouyou cocked his head at Kenma, obviously confused. They sat together on the couch and Shouyou watched him carefully. He paused, before asking, "Is there something I can help with or…?"

"Um, actually, there is," Kenma admitted eventually. He hated saying anything that even suggested he was weak. He definitely didn't need help… but the other man's eyes lit up anyway, extremely bright. Still not as bright as he originally believed, though.

Shouyou happily gestured for him to continue, and Kenma grudgingly obeyed.

"Well, you remember how you said you'd take a kitten when Sugar had them?" he asked. Shouyou nodded and smiled slightly. He pretty much knew where this was going. "Okay, um, Sugar had her kittens - " Shouyou squealed here " - and everything turned out okay. All her kittens are fine too, so that's um, why I'm here…"

"So you want me to take one of the kittens, huh?" His eyes sparkled when Kenma nodded. He bounced up and down in his place on the couch, the epitome of excitement. "Awesome! I'm so glad you trust me with one of your precious grand-kitties!"

"Yeah," Kenma responded, just to keep the silence away. A split second of awkwardness before he did something completely spontaneously stupid. Kuroo must be rubbing off him. Yeah, that was the explanation. Taking a deep breath, he asked, "Do you want to come to my apartment to see the kittens?"

He half hoped that Shouyou would say no, but he didn't.

"Of course I would! Let's go right now!" he said, and grabbed Kenma's arm. With strength he didn't know Shouyou possessed, he was dragged out of Shouyou's apartment and back to his apartment. He reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out his keys and cell phone. Glancing at the time on his phone, the brief thought that Kuroo would be back soon flitted through his head.

He couldn't help but smile as he unlocked the door, and of course, Shouyou noticed.

"Whatcha smiling about, Kenma?" Shouyou asked, a knowing gleam in his eyes. Kenma avoided his eyes, and fiddled with the lock longer than necessary without actually opening the door. Anything to avoid the question he didn't want to answer. "Oh come on, you can tell me! Oh, oh, is it about that guy you've totally been crushing on? I bet it is!"

Of course, he was never able to lie to Shouyou.

"I - I guess you could say that," he stammered in reply. He looked back up at Shouyou, only to see him in a smile that reached from ear to ear. For a brief moment, he wondered if it hurt to smile like that. Did it stretch his mouth too much? What if his lips were chapped? The random questions in Kenma's head were interrupted with another squeal from Shouyou.

"Tell me all the juicy details!"

Kenma rolled his eyes and with exasperation, said, "There aren't any juicy details, Shouyou."

"I definitely don't believe you, your eyes scream that you're in puppy love, or something close to it," he countered.

"What's up with everyone and my eyes?" Kenma muttered, making a point to look away.

"Your eyes totally give you away, Kenma," Shouyou huffed in a quick explanation. He grabbed Kenma's shoulders and looked uncharacteristically serious. "Now tell me! I want to know everything! What's new in my best friend's life?"

"Well…"

"Well…?" Shouyou prompted.

"Okay, fine. Just because you won't shut up," Kenma groaned. He hoped this wouldn't take too long. It felt awkward to be having this conversation outside of his apartment, when anyone could walk into the lobby and see them. In one quick breath, he said, "Last night he came over cause Sugar was giving birth. We watched a movie, we cuddled, he asked me out, and now we're dating. That's all."

There was a pause. Neither of them moved.

"That's all?" Shouyou shrieked, breaking the silence. He hopped from one foot to the other, excitement taking over his small body. His eyes sparkled and he kept making a weird 'ooooh!' noise that Kenma wasn't sure how he felt about it. "Oh my gosh! I'm so happy for you! Don't tell me that's all; that's a lot of stuff!"

Kenma smiled slightly as he was pulled into a friendly hug from Shouyou. He was just about to thank him and ask him how his life had been when the elevator dinged.

Of course, if either of them had been thinking, they would've realized the only person that would come onto the floor would be Kageyama. There were only three apartments, after all, and even when Kenma began to slowly understand what the elevator noise signified, he was utterly frozen.

Kenma let out a pathetic squeak when the elevator door opened the rest of the way, and Kageyama's eyes locked onto Kenma.

And Shouyou.

Hugging.

Time seemed to slow down, dragging out all of Kenma's anxiety and dread. Of course this would happen. Anytime he was happy, anytime he was satisfied with his life, something had to ruin it. He, himself, had to ruin it. He wasn't allowed to be happy, apparently.

They were still hugging each other when Kageyama balled his fists, and took the first step out of the elevator. Finally, they broke out of their frozen spell and immediately pushed away from each other. At that point, it didn't really matter. Kenma had been seen hugging Shouyou, in front of his own apartment. Even the best of people would have been concerned, especially since it was a known fact that Kenma had crushed on Shouyou.

Kageyama wasn't really the best of people, though.