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“Say,” Shouyou starts one day, staring at the ceiling in Kenma’s room. “What do you think would have happened to us if we started fake dating back at Fukunaga’s wedding as I suggested?”
“We wouldn’t have,” Kenma dismisses the idea, giving out an annoyed whine as Shouyou tries to pry his blanket off him and the rays of sunshine penetrate his eyes even through his closed lids. “Fake dating is for dumb people, and we are not dumb.”
“Tsukishima always calls me stupid,” Shouyou argues.
“I’m more intelligent than Tsukishima and I say you’re sharp,” Kenma says, turning his back to Shouyou. “Now let me sleep some more.”
“You promised me a date!” Shouyou nags.
“Say, what if you let me sleep another half an hour?” Kenma murmurs, twisting Shouyou’s question.
“We will be late,” Shouyou replies. “We will miss the train, and all my carefully orchestrated date plans will fail.”
“Would it be that bad?”
“I spent some time, looking for activities you would enjoy,” Shouyou says, voice soft and full of emotion. “If I let you sleep in now; will the temporary contentment outweigh the lasting happiness that awaits us?”
“Creepy,” Kenma murmurs. “Are you trying to guilt trip me into something?”
“Uh. I might. Sorry,” Shouyou says quickly, looking around in the room frantically. He knows that sometimes he has the tendency to talk big – and Kenma wouldn’t be Kenma if he didn’t call him out for it – but getting caught red-handed after a failed attempt of manipulation feels equal parts embarrassing and disheartening.
True, he invested quite some time searching for activities Kenma would like and he was more than eager to see his boyfriend’s reactions all day. But if he could only get Kenma to go on a date with him by making Kenma feel guilty about it… he might not even be worthy of a date with him.
A pillow lands on the back of his head with a thud, followed by a pained groan.
“Aren’t you eager to drag me out,” Kenma says, but there is no malice behind his words. “I hope you’re ready to deal with me.”
“I arrived prepared!” Shouyou says quick – eager, desperate. He forces himself to sit back on the edge of the bed calmly, straightening the legs of his shorts. “I brought a thermos of coffee. Extra strong.”
“Hn,” Kenma hums approvingly, crawling to the edge of the bed beside Shouyou. His bedhead, if possible, is worse than that of Kuroo’s; and having slept with a 1:9 part in his hair, paired with his puffy eyes and his scrunched up face, makes him look like a very tired, very old turtle.
Shouyou finds it adorable, and reaches out to ruffle his boyfriend’s hair before he could discipline himself.
To his surprise, Kenma gives out a content noise, leaning into the touch.
“Coffee,” Kenma growls in a low tone.
“Now?” Shouyou asks back, surprised. Nevertheless, he has the thermos standing just at the feet of Kenma’s nightstand, well within reach to hand it over to his boyfriend.
“You don’t want me to miss our date, do you?” Kenma says, cracking his eyes open. “Alternatively, we can stay in and try out the new game I bought yesterday.”
“Coffee,” Shouyou replies, pouring a cup of coffee into the top of the thermos.
“Did I mention that you are sharp?” Kenma asks after he downs the first cup in one huge gulp. Shouyou is quick to refill it, and Kenma smiles as he accepts it. “You are razor sharp. Some days I wonder if I’ll get cut just by staying by your side.”
“So, you say we would have never ever fake dated,” Shouyou muses in reply, leaning back on the bed and staring at the ceiling.
“Not in this universe,” Kenma offers playfully. “Maybe in another, who knows?”
“Kuroo?” Shouyou guesses musingly. “He studied quantum physics, right? He might be able to tell us…”
“I like how things ended up,” Kenma says, slipping out of bed and opening his cupboard. “Even if I’m stuck with you on a Saturday morning and you force me out of bed.”
“Kenma, it’s past eleven.”
“Time is an illusion.”
“Maybe in a parallel universe,” Shouyou bickers. “In this one, our train leaves in an hour.”