"𝗪𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀" - 𝗞𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻

"Page 8"

🛸Song recommendation:
The story never ends - Lauv

They met at Kenma's house this time.
Kuroo had been nervous because he hadn't been here in years and everything seemed out of order.

The only place he still felt comfortable in was Kenma's room. The latter had never really been the type to decorate and there was always a mess of old clothes and video games on the floor.

It felt like home.

Unlike Kuroo, Kenma still had pictures of them. There were a few on the walls or lying around in a box on the floor.

And he could still see the remains of memories, like the lock Kuroo had given him on their first anniversary or the small cat plushie named "Mr. Neko", which they had bought together as their first (relatively lifeless) pet.

The reminder of gone days squeazed the oxygen out of Kuroo's lungs until breathing started to hurt.

"Do you want to play a game?", Kenma asked shyly, clutching a controller in his hands like it was going to save him.

"Yeah, sure." Kuroo knew he would lose all the time anyway, no matter what they played, but spending time with Kenma like this had always been one of his favorite things.

He was just in awe about how Kenma's eyes got brighter when they were glued to a screen and how he had to keep himself from smiling when he won.
And his pout after losing was the most adorable thing he'd ever seen.

A long time ago, Kuroo had been certain he could make Kenma as happy as a game did.
It had turned out he had been wrong.

For a while they just laid on Kenma's bed, Kuroo silently cursing whenever he lost while the other just smiled.

Seeing Kenma having fun was enough for Kuroo's heart to melt. He found himself staring at the boy's face all the time, holding back the urge to stroke his chin and taste these lips again.

"Do you want to go outside?", Kuroo asked after some hours. "We could go to the cherry tree."

The cherry tree had always been one of their favorite places. It was on the edge of town, right across from the police station and the hospital.

"I don't know, it's cold outside. There's supposed to be snow again later today."

"Come on, just take your biggest jacket. We don't have to go for long."

"Alright..."

They took a couple of minutes to get their jackets before leaving the house.

It was indeed cold outside and Kuroo gritted his teeth to stop trembling.

The tree was just about ten minutes away. While they were walking, Kenma was jumping around a bit, trying to warm himself up.

"I should have taken gloves with me.", the younger muttered.

"Hm, probably. Wait, I'll make it better."
Kuroo held his breath as he slowly took Kenma's hand and slipped it inside his pocket, cupping it with his own.

To his surprise Kenma let him.

Kuroo's stomach began to tingle, the butterflies  hatching out of their cocoons while electricity flowed from their hands right to his heart, making it jump.