Scratch

Chapter 13:

Cheesy Seduction Methods

"Whose great idea was it to go to a movie on Saturday night?" Kenma groaned, half-heartedly glaring at his boyfriend. The theatre was insufferable, stuffed to the brim with body after body. Even the ticket line was ridiculously long.

"What?" Kuroo defended, his hands held in front of himself, signalling defeat. "I just wanted to go see a movie. I didn't know there would be this many people…"

"Am I supposed to believe that?" Kenma asked, stepping up to the cash register. He looked at Kuroo standing next to him while the cashier came back. When Kuroo seemed to be trying to come up with a witty remark, Kenma mumbled, "Don't answer that."

The two men ordered, and Kenma held his hand out, demanding for money to pay for their food. If they were going on a date to a crowded movie theater, then Kuroo would pay for Kenma's portion of the food as well. The cashier came back with their two drinks, a medium popcorn, and junior mints, and they paid and left.

"You really got junior mints?" Kuroo asked, disgusted. He eyed the candy carefully, seemingly convinced it would grow legs and run away.

"What's wrong with junior mints?" Kenma demanded, stopping in his tracks.

"Nothing," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, "Nothing, but…"

"If you want to still have a boyfriend after tonight, I suggest you don't finish that comment," Kenma advised, opening the junior mints box and eating one. He really loved his junior mints. Kuroo smirked, but didn't say anything else.

The couple continued walking, swiftly finding their theater and two available seats. They talked about meaningless nothings to pass the times, and then, Kenma was glued to the previews. Kuroo watched his boyfriend stare at the screen, entranced at the variety of storylines, characters, edits, everything. There was still so much to learn about him, and Kuroo was going to enjoying learning it.

Taking advantage of the minute break between the previews and the actual movie, they turned off their phones and went back to murmuring nothings. Kuroo decided that the time would be just as good as any to ask.

"Why were you so into the previews?" he quirked his eyebrow and asked quietly, for the sake of the other viewers.

Kenma coughed, and looked away, "You'll think I'm weird."

"I already do," Kuroo teased in response, which earned a slight smile and a shake of his head from him.

"I don't know," Kenma explained quietly, absentmindedly picking at a fingernail. He winced when it was ripped just a little bit too far into the skin. "I've just… always liked the previews more than the actual movie, I guess. I don't know."

He shrugged, and turned his attention back to the movie that was starting.

Kuroo leaned back in his seat and smiled. Yep, he was going to enjoy learning useless facts and information about his boyfriend. He briefly wondered if he liked the previews because they were short and compact, as opposed to a long, drawn out movie. Turning back to the movie, he decided he would watch Kenma's reactions and expressions as well. Because it's not creepy at all, nope, not one bit.

And even if it was, Kuroo could pull the 'you're my boyfriend why can't I look at you?' card. They were boyfriends, after all, and if Kuroo couldn't use that card during a movie, then when would he ever use it?

They weren't really… in sync, with this movie. Or with each other. Maybe they were so in sync, that they were out of sync. Who knows, but watching a movie wasn't supposed to be that eventful.

"Stop hogging the popcorn," Kenma hissed, trying to jam his hand into the popcorn container. He had been trying for the last five minutes to get a handful of popcorn, but his boyfriend's giant hand kept getting in the way. "There is no way you need that much popcorn."

"I'm a growing man, Kenma, I've gotta get my nutrients," Kuroo smirked, taking yet another handful of popcorn and downing it.

"There are so many things wrong with that comment," Kenma pointed out, sighing in annoyance. Pulling his hand back, he slumped into the seat, defeated. He took a sip of his drink, and turned his attention back to the movie, completely ignoring anything his boyfriend was doing.

"Hey, can I have some junior mints?" Kuroo requested not much further into the movie. He smirked at Kenma's frown, and reached over him. His hand didn't get anywhere near the junior mints before being slapped away. "Is that a no?"

"Watch the movie," Kenma demanded, not even turning his head to acknowledge him.

"But it's so boring," he whined, "And you're so fun to mess with."

Kenma sighed, holding his head in his hand for a moment. He didn't really understand why they picked an action movie, considering neither of them were really enjoying it. Honestly, he was only paying attention because he felt required to: they were at a movie theatre, what were they supposed to do?

Make out?

As soon as that thought went through his head, he knew he screwed up. He could feel his face turning red, and the theatre wasn't exactly dark: the movie was a bright, sunny action movie. Really. Not only that, but he could feel he was being stared at.

"If I give you the junior mints," he proposed, "Will you watch the movie?"

"Why?" Kuroo asked, feigning ignorance. "Is it because you're blushing really hard right now and you want me to stop looking at you?"

"I hate you," Kenma muttered and felt the urge to punch his boyfriend in the arm. "Have I ever told you that you're obnoxious?"

"Several times, actually," he offered with an award-winning smile.

"Good," Kenma grumbled, trying to keep his body facing forward in an effort to hide his bright red cheeks.

Noticing this, Kuroo decided to be a good boyfriend and take pity on him and watch the movie. He wasn't entirely sure, but he thought he heard a sigh of relief next to him.

A little over halfway through the movie, Kenma both heard and felt Kuroo yawn and stretch.

"Don't do it," he warned.

"Don't do wh - what?" Kuroo asked between yawns, politely covering his mouth and tried to hide his smirk. He finished his stretch, and of course, like both of them knew, he wrapped his arm around Kenma's shoulders.

"That," Kenma explained flatly. "Did you have to go and do something so cheesy like that?"

"Yes," he responded instantly. "I have to pull out all the stunts, ya know?"

"Something makes me think that you just like being cheesy and cliche."

"You wound me!" Kuroo teased, feigning distress. "Did you really think you were getting some smooth romancer when you started dating me? 'Cause, I mean, I thought I made it pretty obvious that I totally wasn't cool or smooth. I'm a huge dork, you know."

"No," Kenma replied honestly, answering the semi-rhetorical question. "That's why I knew you were going to do that. Now shut up and watch the movie, people are glaring at us."

Kuroo chuckled, and glanced at his boyfriend affectionately again. He watched him carefully and they finished the rest of the movie together like that: Kuroo's arm around him, switching between junior mints and popcorn.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come up with you?" Kuroo asked, a hint of worry in his voice. "I mean really, it's no trouble. Like, just in case, you know?"

"I'll be fine, Kuroo," Kenma rolled his eyes, opening the car door. "Honestly, I haven't seen nor heard from Kageyama since that day."

"He might just be plotting," he pointed out.

"I don't think so," Kenma replied, a ghost of a smile present. He feigned deep thought, before teasing, "What I do think, however, is that you don't want me to go."

"Oh darn," Kuroo smirked, "You got me."

"You're such an idiot," he snorted with affection and got out of the car. Kenma closed the door and watched as the window rolled down. It seemed like a scene straight out of a 60s gangster movie. He took a step towards the car and leaned into the open window to finish his conversation.

"Yeah, but I'm your idiot," Kuroo reminded with a smile. He laughed and added, "Wow, even that was cheesy, I'm sorry."

"You're right, that was cheesy," Kenma agreed, looking away trying to hide his smile, "But you're not even sorry, so whatever."

It was quiet for a moment, a few second lull in their easy, comfortable conversation. The December air was cold and dry, and he watched his breath dissipate into the wind. He turned to go inside, and gave one last wave to his boyfriend over his shoulder.

"Call me!" Kuroo yelled, mimicking a high-pitch voice. Kenma couldn't help but giggle.

Hurrying inside, he quickly made it into the elevator and pushed the button for the 5th floor. He shivered slightly, not used to the winter cold quite yet. There were still several months before Spring came, and he was already tired of the cold weather. He definitely hated the cold. The again, he hated the hot weather during the summer, too.

The elevator opened and he stretched, shuffling out of the elevator and made his way over to his room, and was briefly distracted by how quiet and dark Kageyama's apartment had been, and still was.

Kenma looked in his pocket to grab his key, and squinted at the ground. He bent over, and picked up what looked like a letter shoved under his door. Curious, he opened the door and made his way inside, plopping down on the couch with a letter opener. He frowned in confusion, there was no return or forward address. No address at all, actually, only a frowny face on the outside of the envelope.

He ripped the letter open, eager to see what anonymous letter this could be. Maybe from a fan of the games he made? Or maybe a condolence letter from someone, or a letter from Shouyou. It could be from anyone, about anything. But he was definitely not expecting what really was inside.

Kozume,

You know how psychologists are always saying that bullies are mean because of their own problems they face? Well, it's definitely true. I got irrationally possessive over Shouyou because my previous boyfriend flitted around many 'friends' and eventually cheated on me, leaving me worse for wear.

But that's not an excuse, of course. More of… an explanation. I just wanted to say that none of that was your fault, and you didn't deserve all the blind hatred I gave you. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that I'm just as bad as my ex, if not worse, continuing to drive innocent people away.

That's why I moved. You might have noticed my apartment has been quiet and dark, but that's because all my stuff is gone and I moved. I did it because you didn't deserve any of that, you deserve peace and quiet. You deserve happiness, not what I did to you. I'm taking this time to work towards being a better person, to work towards forgiveness. I want to become someone worthy enough to be your friend, someone good enough for Shouyou.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I can't say it enough. I'm sorry.

I hope you can forgive me one day.

- Tobio Kageyama

"Holy shit," Kenma blurted aloud, nearly dropping the letter opener. He really, really wasn't expecting that. Sitting there in complete stillness and unsure of what to do, he did what he could do best: freak out.

His fingers twitched, half of him wanting to pick up the letter and read it again, and the other half wanting nothing to do with it. For a while, he argued with himself, thinking about all the times he had interacted with Kageyama. Everything finally made sense: that was why Kageyama's apartment had been dark, and that was why Kenma had hardly seen him. Even if things made sense, he still felt dazed.