Chapter 47: Game On
Some concepts are universally known, and every language has its own versionof it.
"Die ruhe nach dem sturm": The calm after the storm.
How did Kuroo manage to remember that? He wasn't quite sure; Akaashi had that kind of influence on him. Who knows, he might even end up trilingual thanks to Keiji?
Surprisingly, he preferred the German version to that of his native language: "Ame futte jikatamaru."
After the storm, the ground becomes firm.
Now, that saying was more ...agricultural.
However, the meaning was there: the storm they had just weathered had brought about calmness, while also fostering "fertility": they could move forward together on a more stable ground.
Kenma had struggled a bit with the routine set by his mate, especially when it came to "morning jogging" out of it. The weather outside was ruthless, and even Kuroo had given up on joiningKōtarōfor his morning run.
As an alternative, Kōtarō had thus suggested an indoor activity: yoga. It wasn't considerate of him, but Tetsur ōhad to admit that watching Kenma attempt the camel pose in the middle of the living room was hilarious. All fun, until karma caught up with him, and he found himself roped into the yoga session as well. Needless to say, he could now appreciate the fact that he was in fact way more terrible at it than Kenma.
On Kōtarō's recommendation, the blond had also found a new therapist he seemed to be adjusting to quite well. Kōtarō had also reminded Tetsurō and Keiji that they weren't exempt from this condition. Tetsurō, although the first to praise the benefits of psychological self-care, found it somewhat difficult to comply himself, the idea bringing back memories of the darker times in his adolescence. He decided to pass on that for now and keep a low profile.
The restrictions on streaming had proven much more challenging for Kenma to adhere to. Since the blond hadn't exactly started training yet, Kōtarō let it slide, falling asleep before he could even notice that Kenma had exceeded his "allocated" time anyway.
Despite having watched multiple streams, Tetsurō still didn't understand the rules of the game and wondered how what he saw on the screen could translate into tournaments. This didn't stop him from diligently following the nebulous exploits of his boyfriend online.
He was sprawled on his bed, watching the Kenma's stream without really understanding what was going on.
A knock on hisdoor broke his concentration, and he looked up:
"Yes?"
"It's me," he heard Kōtarō from the other side of the door.
"Come in."
Kōtarō obliged. Kuroo watched him enter, waiting for him to say what he wanted. Kōtarō did nothing and remained standing in the doorway.
"What are you doing?" he finally asked.
"I'm watching Kenma's stream."
"Oh… okay."
Silence fell.
"Did he kick you out of his room? You usually stay with him."
"Hmm, he said he needed to focus… And I wanted to lie on my bed anyways"
"Oh, okay…"
Silence stretched between them again.
"Did you need something?" Tetsurō eventually asked.
"Hmm… a hug."
The brunet raised an eyebrow.
"What kind of hug?"
"A hug-hug!"
Tetsurō chuckled and opened his arms.
"Come here."
That was all it took for his boyfriend to snuggle against him. Tetsurō adjusted his position and moved his computer to continue watching.
"It's crazy, no matter how much I watch, I still don't understand anything about this game," he eventually admitted.
His comment made Kōtarō laugh.
"Kenma never explained it to you?"
"He did… but I didn't get it, something about… I don't remember, a whole bunch of letters…"
"Letters?"
"No, but like weird acronyms. I pretended to understand so I wouldn't look too stupid, but didn't get anything. Plus, I don't understand how what he does translates into a tournament. No offense, I just don't get it! What is it? Who kills the dragon the fastest?!" Kuroo exclaimed, emphasizing the tragi-comic nature of his situation.
This had the desired effect, as Kōtarō laughed.
"It's because he's playing in an open map right now."
"Oh, but of course! That makes much more sense!"
"Pfft… the game is pretty hybrid; you can play in an open map, explore, and do quests, but there are arenas where you can have team battles."
"Team battles?"
"Mm-hmm…"
"Does he... have a team?"
"No."
The confusion only deepened.
His boyfriend laughed again.
"Wait a sec."
He took the computer and typed in the chat "Battle!". Almost immediately, hundreds of other viewers echoed his words, soon making it the only thing visible in the chat.
They heard the blond sigh.
"Okay, okay, I get it!"
Kenma finished off a band of belligerent gnomes before satisfying the request of his community. The command page appeared on the screen, and the character was teleported to a combat arena. Kuroo was almost disappointed to see that it wasn't a coliseum, with hundreds of gladiators ready to fight to the death. Far from it, as it was more of a wasteland scattered with a few trees and some rocks. No gladiators in sight…
"Basically," Kōtarō continued, "there are three teams of five players competing against each other. The goal is pretty basic, classic 'Capture the flag' game. You simply need to conquer your enemies' base as quickly as possible. Pretty standard. Teams usually have like... two attackers, two defenders, and one healer."
Kuroo frowned:
"Ok... But you said he doesn't have a team..."
"Yeah... So, there is an additional role: the necromancer. The necromancer doesn't have a team, and his goal is to kill the most players, and he wins when he has conquered the three bases."
"Okay... pretty intense."
"Yes! But that's not all! Ok, so normally when your character dies, you're just spawned back at your base and can rejoin the game after a cool-down, as long as the base hasn't fallen."
"Okay."
"Well, when a character is killed by the necromancer, they spawn back to their base, but the necromancer can now take control of it and attack."
"Neat!"
"Yeah, pretty cool, right?" Kōtarō commented, "At first, it wasn't very popular; the role is so hard to play that nobody wanted to take it… and it's totally optional to have one in each game."
A proud smile formed on his lips
"Guess who made it popular?"
Kuroo didn't need any further clarification.
The battle began slowly, with Kenma simply loitering around the base, analyzing the actions of his opponents. It was only after about ten minutes that he launched his first attack, taking down three opponents in a matter of seconds. Although he still didn't understand much, Kuroo got swept up in the action.
Kenma was already at seven kills, the positions on the screen changing so rapidly that it was almost impossible to follow the action. The first base fell, attacked by its own defenders, closely followed by a second one. The third base was now on the verge of tipping. Tetsurō had transformed into a true supporter, he and Kōtarō shouting louder and louder with every passing second to cheer for their favorite.
When the last base fell and the necromancer was declared the winner, they jumped up and began bouncing with excitement on the bed, the slats starting to creak. Thankfully, before they could completely destroy the bed, they were called to order by Keiji. They calmed down and settled back in.
"So?"
"That was insane!" Kuroo exclaimed.
Kōtarō winked at him and settled back into his arms. The blond hadn't wasted any time and was back to his quests, now discussing good deals with a mountain dwarf named Rubeone. They followed the rest of the adventure more calmly but eventually fell asleep after about twenty minutes.
Kuroo resurfaced a few hours later. The computer had slipped further down the bed. He picked it up to keep it safe. Looking at the screen, he noticed the stream was still ongoing. Kōtarō awoke with a long, sleepy groan.
"What are you doing?" he murmured.
"We fell asleep with the computer, but no damage, it's fine."
Kōtarō opened one eye.
"Is he still streaming?"
"Yeah."
The information seemed to trouble him for a moment, but ultimately, he turned over, burying his head in the pillow.
"What time is it?"
"3:35."
"What?!"
He sat up, grabbing his phone from the bedside table.
"He's been streaming for six hours! Am I a freaking joke to him?! He promised me to stop at midnight!"
"He probably lost track of time, babe…"
"He's fucking with me, that's what's going on!"
Kōtarō got out of bed, furious, and stomped down the stairs. Kuroo didn't hear from him until he heard Kenma stop talking. There was a distortion noise followed by a metallic clink before the blond's voice was heard again.
"You just turned off the screen, you know."
"I wasn't going to unplug it; that thing costs an arm and a leg, but you get the message."
Kenma sighed.
"Do you even know what time it is?!"
"No."
"Don't mess with me!"
"You were sleeping! Why do you care?"
They continued to bicker, which brought a smile to the brunet's face. His eyes fell on the chat, which was reacting to what was happening. It was then that he realized that if he could hear them, so could the rest of the chat. In a panic, he typed "Microphone, microphone!" into the chat, but remembered that the screen must still be off. He jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs. He flung open Kenma's office door, and his two boyfriends fell silent upon seeing him, confused. He tried to sign something to avoid speaking out loud, but it only added to their confusion.
"The microphone!" he finally shouted.
The other two widened their eyes, and Kenma hastily pressed the mute button on his deck.
"You didn't mute it!"
"I did!"
"Well, obviously you didn't!"
"Fuck!"
Kenma shoved Kōtarō to turn the screen back on. The chat was still reacting gleefully to this little happening, but it didn't seem to please the blond at all.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck…"
"Sorry, I really thought I muted it!"
"You didn't say my name, right?"
"No… I don't think so; I don't remember…"
Kenma's phone vibrated, and he grabbed it to see who was calling in the middle of the night.
"Who is it?"
"Yūji."
He picked up. Yūji on the other end burst out laughing.
"Damn, not funny Yū!"
"It's a bit funny"
"I could have gotten caught!" Kenma retorted, glaring at his mate.
"Relax, you didn't say anything bad, and at this hour, there probably aren't many Japanese speakers anyway, don't worry."
Kenma let out a sigh.
"You're a pain in the ass seriously!"
"I told you to stop at midnight!"
"And you're not my mother!"
"Oh my go... here we go again! Will you stop with that already?!"
Kenma sighed.
"Well, get out so I can try to fix this mess."
Kōtarō didn't seem to agree.
"I promise I'll stop soon, but I at least have to do some damage control before I wrap it up!"
"Okay. "
They left the room. Kōtarō turned his eyes sheepishly toward Tetsurō.
"Fuck... I messed up!"
Kuroo couldn't help but burst out laughing.
-/-
Kōtarō did not sleep.
His head hurt like hell, and he was miserable.
Since the incident with the microphone the night before, he had been spiraling.
He lied, he slept for maybe thirty minutes before the sun woke him up and plunged him back into his despair.
He was now sitting at the dining table, staring into nothingness. He absentmindedly took a sip of his coffee, which was cold by now. He didn't even notice it.
He turned around when he heard footsteps approaching.
"Hey," he said weakly as he saw Tetsurō appear.
Tetsurō looked surprised to find him there.
"Hey! You're done with your run?"
Kōtarō shook his head.
"No… I'm bit"
Kuroo frowned, concerned.
"I couldn't sleep," Kōtarō clarified. "Well, not really."
"Oh…"
Kuroo came to sit next to him.
"Because of what happened last night?"
"Yes…"
"You mean when you three screamed like animals in the middle of the night?"
They turned to Keiji, busy pouring himself a coffee.
"Worse…" Kōtarō lamented, letting his head fall back onto the table.
"Sorry about that Love," Kuroo replied, "we got a little carried away."
Keiji raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. He leaned against the bar, not bothering to sit with them. After a first sip of coffee, he asked:
"What is going on?"
"I fucked up!" Kōtarō whined before letting out a pathetic groan.
"Hum, Kenma and he fought, while Kenma was on stream... and not muted"
Keiji's eyes widened, genuinely alarmed. Before he could ask anything, Kuroo clarified:
"They didn't say anything serious! It's fine!" nothing serious.
"It's not fine! You don't know the internet; they're monsters!"
"Don't be dramatic babe, I'm sure no one noticed."
He pulled out his phone and opened Twitter:
"No one cares, and…"
He didn't finish his sentence, stunned.
"Babe? Don't do that! It's not funny!"
Kuroo didn't react. In a panic, Kōtarō circled the table and stood alongside him, both stunned as they read what was displayed on the screen. Soon, Keiji joined them and quickly found himself in the same state of shock.
"It didn't go unnoticed…" Bokuto noted.
"What are you doing?"
Three pairs of eyes turned to Kenma, who had just entered the room. He hadn't chosen the right day to wake up early. Sure, it was already 10:38 a.m., but it was still early for his standard.
"Um…"
As no one answered him, Kenma stepped closer. On the right panel displaying the most used hashtags, "Applepie" was in third place. Kenma quickly grabbed the phone.
"Damn it! Fuck..."
He moved away, scrolling through the tweets that mentioned him. The other three stared at him intently, trying to guess the content by looking at his face. As he read, the blond's features softened. Finally, a smile slipped onto his lips, and he chuckled.
"What! What is it? What are they saying?" Kōtarō rushed to ask.
Kenma didn't answer immediately, continuing to scroll.
"Kenma!"
"It's fine, it's fine," he laughed,"someone translated our convo and..."
"And what?"
"My community already knows that I don't live alone, so in the end they weren't that surprised, but um... it's become a bit of a meme."
Kōtarō completely froze, unable to determine whether it was a good or bad thing.
Kenma turned the phone around. Someone had reused a meme showing a young man running away, 'Applepie' written across his face, trying to escape another young man floating menacingly behind him, the text reading 'His concerned roommate'.
"And this one."
This time it was a drawing of a warrior brandishing his sword in front of a gigantic monster. "Applepie streaming in the middle of the night" was written on the knight, while "GO TO SLEEP" was in capital letters on the monster.
Tetsurō took the phone to continue scrolling through the images, while Keiji and Kōtarō positioned themselves next to him to follow along. The monster theme was recurring, with Kōtarō being depicted in turn as a terrifying creature, a dragon, a giant spider, always accompanied by affectionate comments contrasting comically with his appearance. Kuroo and his boyfriends were almost in tears from laughing now, except for Kōtarō, who found the situation less funny.
"Oh, there's one with me!" Kuroo exclaimed.
In the image, two people were fighting while a third one stood behind them, looking disheartened. "Apple pie and Sandy" was written on the two fighting while his username, "The black kat," was written on the third one.
"Who's Sandy?" Kōtarō asked.
"That's you. I think they started calling you that".
"…Why?"
"Sandman."
Kōtarō stepped away from the phone, dejected, which only added to the hilarity of his boyfriends.
"Don't worry, it won't last, and it's not mean," Kenma tried to reassure him.
"And look, you have your little fandom now!" Kuroo said.
Kōtarō read out the comment that Kuroo had designated:
"Honestly, I ship Applepie with TBK, but I might change my mind," who is TBK?
"The black kat, it's Ji," Kenma specified.
"Oh…"
"Is it not worrying that people are starting to ask questions about your… relationships?" Keiji asked.
"Not really… And I'd rather they ship me with one of my mates than a complete stranger, or worse…"
"Oh yeah… I remember when we came across that fic where you were dating Nitro."
Kenma made a face, deeply disgusted.
"Who's Nitro?"
"A Russian player; I crushed him in the finals two years ago."
"Um… enemies to lovers, a classic," Kuroo commented, "do you still have the name of the fic?"
Kenma elbowed him, amused, nonetheless.
"How can they write fics? They don't even know what you look like?"
"That doesn't stop them."
"Oh my, I really want that fic… Wait, I've never searched your name on AO3; I'm going to see what comes up," Tetsurō exclaimed.
Kenma took the phone back.
"Nope, don't. For your own sanity, don't. And how do you know about that website?"
"…My sisters."
Kenma raised an eyebrow.
"Well, okay, I read fanfic in high school… What?! It's not my fault there's so little queer representation in mainstream media! I mean, how do you think I learned English exactly?"
"By reading smut?" Kenma asked sarcastically.
"Not just that!"
"Um… which fandom?"
"Um, I don't remember."
"Ji, which fandom?"
Kuroo pretended not to hear and turned.
"Oops, did you see the time? So late!"
"Ji! Which fandom, which pairing? Ji!"
There was no way he was going to answer that. Some things had to stay hidden for the greater good.
-/-
While they had hoped that the wave of memes would die down quickly and that this unfortunate story would soon be behind them, this was absolutely not the case. Ten days had passed, and the situation had grown to gargantuan proportions, with fans continuing to expand their theories and the parodies they spawned.
This did not affect Kenma's work much. Most of the time, he didn't comment on it or ignore the questions that popped up in his chat from time to time.
Alas, his discretion had only fueled the curiosity of the fans. This did not please Kōtarō, whose mood visibly worsened every time he stumbled upon such comments.
The four of them were settled in the living room, each doing their own thing. Kenma, busy exploring Twitter, stifled a laugh, pretending that nothing had happened.
"What now?"
"Nothing."
"Is it about me again?! Come on! Enough already! It's not funny anymore!" Kōtarō complained.
"Oh, come on, that's fine, they're not mean about it."
Kōtarō sighed. As he began to defend himself again, he grabbed his sweatshirt and tried to put it on. However, the task proved to be more difficult than expected, and he found himself trapped in the garment, his head caught between the hood and the collar. This did not prevent him from continuing to speak, even though his words were now unintelligible.
Kuroo, who had his phone in hand, instinctively turned on the camera and started recording his reaction before switching to the rear camera to film Kōtarō still struggling with the sweatshirt. He finally managed to pull his head out of the collar, his hair disheveled and covering half of his face. Kuroo snickered, which got his boyfriend's attention.
"Are you filming me?"
Kuroo quickly switched back to the front camera.
"No."
Kōtarō grabbed his phone to check if Kurro was telling the truth. When he saw his face on the screen, he looked up and gave him a suspicious look but finally handed the device back.
"Hmph…"
Kuroo burst out laughing and stopped recording. He eagerly watched the video. When he heard his own voice, Kōtarō grabbed the phone again:
"I knew you were filming me!"
"Sorry, I couldn't help it."
Kōtarō pouted. He crossed his arms and sprawled back on the couch.
"Let me see!"
Kuroo complied and handed the phone to Kenma, who let out a tender smile while watching the video.
"Come on, don't pout, you look cute, look Keiji."
The latter, who was far too engrossed in his reading to follow what was happening, finally looked up from his book. Not knowing what was going on, he also smiled once the video ended. However, he didn't comment and handed the phone back to Tetsurō, who quickly watched it again.
"Oh! Can I post it in my story?" he asked eagerly, turning to Kenma.
The latter seemed to think it over but eventually raised his eyebrows.
"I'm not in it, so do what you want."
"Hey! I'm the one in it, not Kenma! You should ask me!"
"Can I?"
"No."
"But why? You look cute!"
"No!"
"Come on, no one will see it except my friends, and even if they do, I just want to show people that you're cute, not at all like they think you are, maybe that will make them stop with the memes?" Tetsurō tried to convince him.
Kōtarō frowned, not very convinced. Kuroo made a little kitten sad face, which eventually made his boyfriend give in.
"Fine, okay…"
"Yes!"
"But don't tag me!"
"Okay, okay, okay," the brunet replied, already preparing his story.
He posted the video in full, with simply the caption "not so terrifying that Sandy."
However, he had given himself a popularity that was far out of proportion to reality. In a small corner of his mind, he had truly hoped to prove to the whole world that his boyfriend was far from the raging dragon they had imagined him to be. Unfortunately, even though he obsessively checked his phone in the following hours, only a few of his friends saw his story. Sugawara, Hinata, and Katsu had left him a heart, and Suki had replied to make fun of his little brother, who was apparently unable to put on a sweater at his age. He was satisfied with that: not everyone could be an influencer after all. So he put his phone away for the rest of his Sunday afternoon and didn't think about it again.
It was not until the next morning that he realized the extent of what his "innocent" action had caused.
-/-
Tetsurō looked up at the clock hanging above the board: 8:30 AM.
He sighed, wondering how time could feel so distorted. It seemed to him that millennia had passed since he last looked at it, while in reality, only a handful of minutes had gone by. He tried, despite everything, to refocus on... the regulation of ethylene in Arabidopsis thaliana.
After a few seconds of listening, he zoned out again, letting his gaze wander around him. He eventually lowered his eyes to Oikawa, sitting next to him. The latter didn't seem interested in the class either... which was surprising coming from him. Perhaps he expected to catch up on the lesson using Tetsurō's notes? Unfortunately for him, he wouldn't have much to recover. Tetsurō saw Oikawa leave his messaging app, probably ready to concentrate again. That wasn't the case, and instead, he watched him open Twitter.
Kuroo rolled his eyes, and just as he was about to tease him, he heard his friend mumbling "What the fuck" under his breath. Oikawa looked up, his gaze instantly finding Tetsurō's. The diva looked deeply dismayed, and Tetsurō had to insist with his eyes for him to stop staring as if a third eye had suddenly grown on his face.
His friend slid his phone across the table, and Tetsurō could finally see what was going on. Apparently, someone had taken screenshots of his story and translated what they were saying, which had sparked yet another frenzy around his boyfriend. Tetsurō smiled, oddly proud.
Goodbye monsters and dragons; now he was a god among men. The nickname "Sandy" had become "Morpheus," the Greek god of sleep and dreams.
Tetsurō chuckled as he scrolled through the mostly light-hearted comments and tinged with hilarious absurdity. He could certainly recognize there the worthy offspring of obscure Tumblr posts.
This even managed to make Oikawa laugh.
He eventually came across a tweet featuring a screenshot from the video at the moment Kōtarō had managed to pull his head out of his sweater. Kuroo, innocent as he was, clicked on the image to enlarge it: instead, an extremely kitschy montage video started playing with cheerful music echoing throughout the auditorium. Panicked, Kuroo tried to stop the video, but ended up closing the page, which, to his greatest misfortune, didn't stop the music. Oikawa grabbed it in a panic, muted it, and tossed it to the bottom of his bag.
Looking up, Kuroo realized that all the students in front of him, as well as his professor, were staring at him.
"Uh… my alarm clock... I forgot to turn it off," he tried to justify himself.
His professor crossed his arms, clearly unpleased with his attitude.
"Sorry for interrupting your beauty sleep, young man. Please don't disrupt the class again, or I'll have to ask you to leave."
Beauty sleep, beauty sleep: it was only 8:45 AM, a reasonable time to get up. A little common sense, please! 10:15 AM maybe, that would be a nice time to wake up, but not 8:45 AM.
"Did I make myself clear?" his professor insisted.
Kuroo simply nodded, then lowered his gaze, picking up his pen, and waiting for the class to resume.
Once his professor's attention, and that of the other students, was diverted from them, Oikawa leaned in to whisper:
"You suck!"
"Sorry!"
The ruckus they had caused at least forced them to focus on the class, which they followed religiously to the end.
-/-
"Never do that again! I almost had a heart attack!" Oikawa exclaimed once they were done with their morning classes.
"Sorry! I didn't know it was a video."
Oikawa pouted, which made Kuroo smile. He grabbed his friend by his arm to pull him closer.
"Don't sulk."
Just as he was about to ruffle up Oikawa's hair, the latter, sensing the impending attack, tried to push him away.
"I swear, if you mess up my hair!"
He struggled until the brunet let go.
"Stop! I already couldn't pay attention to class because of you!"
"Because of me?! Dude, you were doing nothing from the start, you were on Twitter stalking my boyfriend!"
"I wasn't stalking your boyfriend!"
Just as Kuroo was about to reply, they were interrupted by Chris, who had followed them since their exit from the auditorium.
"Speak of the devil."
They looked up to see Kōtarō walking toward them. Noticing that he had caught their attention, he waved at them. The other three returned his greeting.
"What's up?" Kōtarō asked when he reached them.
A teasing smile appeared on the brunet's lips.
"Good day to you, oh Morpheus!"
Tetsurō bowed to him, which made Oikawa snicker. Kōtarō, on the other hand, looked perplexed.
"Oh no... What now?"
"You didn't see?" Oikawa asked.
"See what?"
Before Kuroo could answer, Chris handed his phone to Kōtarō. When latter saw his face everywhere on the feed, he looked completely flabbergasted.
"What! It's not mean!"
Kōtarō sighed.
"I just want them to leave me alone... How did they find this?"
"Someone took screenshots of the story I posted yesterday and reposted it."
"I told you!"
"You gave me your permission! How could I have known it would turn out like this?"
Kōtarōsighed again, defeated.
"Come on, it's fine!" Tetsurō exclaimed.
He put his arm around his boyfriend's back to pull him closer. Kōtarō let him but continued to pout.
"Don't sulk," Kuroo insisted, gently tugging at his boyfriend's cheeks.
"Well ok, I'm dying there, let's eat." Oikawa interjected "Are you coming with us Morpheus?
Kuroo chuckled.
"Don't call me that too!"
The other three laughed.
Kōtarō followed them eventually.
It took him no more than ten minutes to get used to his new nickname.
-/-
The Morpheus craze eventually quiet down. This was both the advantage and the disadvantage of the Internet: everything moved quickly. But that didn't stop Kenma's community from digging deeper into their private joke, and for four days straight, at least twice per stream, the entire chat would erupt in excitement over Morpheus, whom they now considered worthy of worship alongside Amaterasu.
Oikawa, Chris, and Kōtarō were settled in the university library, vaguely reviewing their lessons for the week, trying to pass the time wisely before heading to CATO.
While they started packing their thing to leave, Kuroo's phone vibrated.
"Where are you?"
"Library, but we're about to head to CATO."
"Wait for me, I'm coming with you."
Tetsurō smiled as he read the message; it had been a while since one of his boyfriends had joined him for the occasion. He informed his friends, and they waited for Kōtarō in front of the library, who finally appeared after a few minutes.
"Yo!"
All three of them greeted Kōtarō in return; he reciprocated and then pulled Kuroo by the arm to kiss him on the cheek. The brunet pretended to fall backward as if he was about to fall asleep. His boyfriend rolled his eyes.
"Enough with that joke already!"
Tetsurō chuckled. He may have stretched the joke about "the kiss of Morpheus" a bit too long, pretending to fall asleep instantly every time his boyfriend's lips would touch his skin.
"Okay, okay, I'll stop. I thought Kenma was picking you up."
"Yeah… But I changed my mind, it's been ages since I last saw the whole crew, so. I already texted him; he was still home."
They continued chatting for a few minutes before setting off. As they exited the university grounds, Kōtarō's phone vibrated.
"Oh! Kenma says he'll join us at CATO," Bokuto said as he tucked his phone back into his pocket.
"Cool! It's been ages since he came! I didn't think he'd come, especially now that he's started training."
"Training for what?" Oikawa asked.
"For the OLF tournament, the dates have just been announced"
Oikawa and Chris nodded.
"At least Tadashi and Kei won't bother us," Oikawa remarked.
Kuroo nodded, unable to suppress a smile. It was true that whenever Kenma was around, the two of them were as quiet as lambs, hanging on every word the blond said as if it were a holy sermon.
They arrived at CATO fifteen minutes later. When they reached the basement, they were surprised to find Kenma already there, surrounded by Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, who were hanging on his every word. Kuroo, Kōtarō, and Chris greeted everyone before heading to the couch;
Oikawa on the other hand, couldn't avoid Sugawara and they ended up having their ritual puppy fight.
Kuroo looked at them. Sugawara was beaming. He had started working with Tsubaki a few weeks ago and the radical change in his life, having finally access to what he had always dreamed of, had changed him.
This did not help Oikawa's case, who found himself burdened by a pumped-up Suga every time he accidentally made eye contact with him. The brunet smiled before turning his eyes to the couch.
Kōtarō was already sprawled across it, or rather, on Kenma, who was absentmindedly running his fingers through his mate's hair while continuing to discuss combat techniques with Yamaguchi and Tsukishima. Kenma fell silent as Kuroo approached them. The brunet leaned down to kiss him and then sat on one of the bean bags in front of the couch.
"What were you talking about?"
"Way too technical for you," Yamaguchi replied.
The slightly haughty remark made Kuroo snicker, though he didn't press further.
"I didn't think you'd come," Kuroo said, addressing Kenma.
"Me neither," Kōtarō added.
"Hmm… I was starting to get frustrated, so I stopped before ending up smashing my keyboard. "
"A wise decision."
"I'll just stream for a bit when I get back. One hour, maybe two."
"One hour?!" Bokuto gasped, dramatically. "I've never heard you say that before."
Kenma smirked.
"See? Sometimes I do listen to you…"
They exchanged a smile.
"How are you doing? You seem a bit concerned," Kōtarō asked his mate.
As Kenma was about to reply, Tsukki interjected:
"Concerned? I doubt Applepie is concerned!"
His mate nodded vigorously.
"Chaos doesn't concern itself with the battlefields it decimates!"
They quickly came down to earth, realizing they may have overdone it.
"Sorry…" they apologized in unison.
Kenma offered a warm smile. He turned his gaze back to Kōtarō:
"I'm a little anxious I guess, but I'm okay."
"Really?" Yamaguchi interjected, genuinely worried.
The blond sighed.
"Thank you for believing in me, but…"
"But?" Yamaguchi and Tsukki asked.
"I know you think I'm a giant, but… that's not really the case. I'm a faceless streamer who plays niche games in the dead of night. I'm nothing compared to pro players in leagues. That's fine with me; I don't want to depend on anyone, and I want to manage myself as I see fit, but…"
"Wait," Kuroo interrupted, "you have millions of subscribers; that's not nothing!"
"I'm not saying it's nothing, I'm just saying I'm not that big compared to actual pro players. "
"You're a pro too," Yamaguchi pointed out. "I mean, you still make a living out of it and all. Don't you have a company or something?"
"Only for software development… and to manage the people helping with the channel, like Yūji. But…" Kenma hesitated. "I've managed so far because OLF was pretty low-key, not really seen as a major game. But now… I don't know if I can handle this on my own."
Nobody really knew what to say.
"And if they start tightening the rules… I'm screwed if they only allow sponsored players. They'll probably start checking IDs too. What do I do if they don't want any trouble and just decide not to accept me?"
"Why wouldn't they accept you?" Tetsurō asked.
Kenma sighed and rolled his eyes.
"It says 'omega' on my ID."
"Kenma… you've won the last three tournaments. You're probably why the game's getting so much attention. I seriously doubt they'd reject your application," Tetsurō said.
That seemed to reassure the blond, who sank back into the couch.
"Hmm…"
"And for sponsorship and the league, even though I'm sure it's not a criterion for them, can't you do it alone?" Kōtarō added. "A league isn't that hard to create, right?"
"No… but for sponsorship, I can't just invent money to give myself, right?"
"Well… I don't know… you could probably find a brand to sponsor you. I don't think you'd have any trouble with that. And if you really want to stay completely independent, maybe you could… I don't know, do a bit of rebranding for the occasion? Sell some merch to help fund the tournament."
Kenma looked at Kōtarō, stunned.
"What? Don't you think it's a good idea?"
"Yeah, no, it's actually a great idea..."
"You seem surprised… I study marketing, I have skills you know!"
Kenma smiled at him.
"You could sell me anything, and I'd buy it," Yamaguchi emphasized.
"You could sell me paper clips, and I'd buy them," Tsukki added.
The remark made Kenma chuckle. He looked at his mate.
"So are you hiring me?" Kōtarō asked, smiling back.
"Yep."
"Cool. What's my commission?"
"Lodging and food, does that work for you?"
"Pfft…ok"
"You can pay in kind," said Kenma, wiggling his eyebrows.
Kōtarō burst out laughing.
"Coming from you, I'm guessing you mean that you want me to start a vegetable garden. Not exactly easy in winter, you know."
"I want tomatoes in a month."
They both giggled foolishly before kissing, having clearly forgotten that they had an audience. Yamaguchi and Tsukishima exchanged a glance, confused.
Kuroo watched them interact, smiling to himself.
Now all that was left was to make sure everything was in place for the machine to start.
Game on.
Kuroo couldn't yet imagine that he'd soon be roped into the whole thing.
Friday night, 10:15 PM.
While some were out enjoying their youth, getting drunk in noisy bars, Kuroo had opted for a quiet evening and a reasonable bedtime. After dinner, he, Keiji, and Kōtarō had watched a movie, then each retreated to the comfort of their respective beds.
Tetsurō was half-lost in some obscure YouTube video (he hadn't quite grasped the concept, but it was strangely captivating) when a knock sounded at the door.
Kenma opened it before he even had time to respond, with Kōtarō on his heels, clearly pulled from sleep and still struggling to reconnect with reality.
"Come on, let's go!" Kenma ordered.
The brunet blinked.
"Weren't you streaming?"
"Yes, that's why! Come on, move!"
Kuroo frowned and shot Kōtarō a questioning look. Kōtarō shrugged, equally clueless.
"But… why?"
Kenma sighed, stepped inside, and yanked Kuroo's blanket off.
"I just got paid 40.000 yen to hear your voices. I'm not letting that slip. Move!"
Kuroo followed without further resistance.
So much for a reasonable bedtime, he was now a surprise guest commentator on his boyfriend's channel.
-end of the chapter-
* I'd like to clarify that we are talking about 2016 Twitter here (post tumblr new policy and user migration to Twitter, that was something gosh) (which is mostly area appropriate for the time set in this story but well). Also, I never used it, so I don't really know what I'm doing.
Next chapter: New skin
"They froze when they heard a creak coming from the ceiling. Slowly, Kenma lifted the flashlight. There, above them, stood the monster: a skeletal creature with eight disjointed limbs and eyes as dark as the deepest pit of hell. The beast twisted its head 360 degrees and let out a piercing scream as it spotted its victim.
"Run, run, run!" screamed Kōtarō."
