Archive of Our Own

If there was one thing Kenma never let himself dream or think about, it was his future beyond highschool. It was scary to think about how he would have to change to a completely new environment with people he had never seen before, his friends nowhere close enough. The thought of having to choose what to study to “be someone” in life, to make this important choice that would change everything in his life and open a new path… No one could really fault Kenma for running away from it out of fear.

There were things he thought about. Like how he would be the best man in Kuro’s future marriage, maybe in Tora’s too. He dreamed about the perfect apartment where he could move into during or after university. How he will adopt at least two cats and spoil them. And then, after his second year, he started to think about how he could fit Shouyou in his present and future, how he could have a future with the boy his heart beat so loud for.

And Shouyou… He made everything so bright, and made Kenma feel so brave.

Their first kiss wasn’t planned, it was something Kenma wouldn’t dare think about before it happened. The confession after that was easy, simple, he felt no fear, only warmth. Then, and only then, after he poured his feelings, his fears, to Shouyou unafraid of any kind of judgment or mockiness, he let himself think about the future.

Now, he has three adorable cats meowing like they were being tortured waking him up everyday after Shouyou went for a run, sometimes too early as he went to sleep only a few hours or minutes prior to that. Kenma has a big apartment with two bedrooms and a balcony big enough to grow a few plants (one of them is dead, they forgot a cactus doesn’t need as much water as the rest of them), but instead of living in Tokyo as he thought it would happen (or in Rio for a time), they (because, yes, he don’t want to be separated from Shouyou ever again) were living in the city where Shouyou’s team was from.

Higashiosaka was a small town, the smallest Kenma has ever lived in - he was , after all, a big city boy, from Tokyo, with its millions of habitants - but Osaka city was nearby and he could always catch the shinkansen to go back home for half a day. Shouyou was happy to live together with his boyfriend and play volleyball professionally, and if Shouyou was happy, Kenma was happy.

It was nice to look at what he has now, what he achieved almost by himself alone, at where he is now - happy, in a happy relationship, with a job that gave him plenty of money doing what he liked best, he could provide and support his boyfriend. He slept in the same bed as Shouyou every night, woke up to his adorable cats and ate breakfast with his boyfriend every other day, he has friends! More people in his life besides Kuroo!

Kenma was very proud of himself and his achievements. Shouyou’s kisses helped too. And it doesn’t matter how much his cats act like they have been neglected or starved (they were too fat and the vet scolded the humans, saying their beloved cats need to go on a diet), because Kenma was happy, like he never thought he would be.

Happy. Truly happy. Who, nowadays, could say the same?

Very few people, he was sure.

Today was just another winter day - his cat tried to smother him to death one more time by sitting on his face while Kenma slept, the sun was already up by the time he woke up startled, and Shouyou wasn’t home, probably out running or in the gym on the other side of the street (and, oh, how much Kenma loves his boyfriend’s muscles).

He got up slowly and a lot lazily, their cats bolting out through the door to their little fish-shaped bowls. Kenma huffed while watching them, putting on his fluffy slippers and dragging his feet to the kitchen to appease his babies with food. They let him pet them as they munched hungrily, as if they were starving, and he contemplated buying those electric feeders with a timer, that would make waking up more pleasantly. With a yawn, he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face, before going back to the kitchen and starting putting a capsule on his coffee machine.

It was all his normal morning routine, until he picked up his favorite mug (one that Shouyou made it himself in a pottery workshop Kenma never understood why he went) and there was a paper inside it. Curious, Kenma grabbed it, placing the mug under the liquid outlet of the machine and turned the hot water on. The paper was a normal one from the bunny themed notepad they have in the living room, and it was Shouyou’s handwriting.

Good morning, Kenken!

How are you? Did you feed the cats? Of course you did hahaha

You’re probably curious to know why I left you a note!

I want you to find me! Because today is our anniversary! Of meeting each other!

So~! Take a shower and go to that french café we always go to!

See you soon~!

Well, that’s confusing. Shouyou wanted to eat out? Eat breakfast at that café? Was it open already? It was barely nine in the morning, too early for anything other than his boyfriend to function. Kenma shrugged, trusting Shouyou and going back to the bathroom to shower. With a last pat on their cats, he went out with his phone and a credit card. Shouyou would probably scold him for not bringing a water bottle, but it was just a quick outing to eat, no need for one.

The sun was shining brightly on the clear spring sky, a few clouds slowly making their way from one side to another. The wind was still a bit cold, but it was manageable as he buried his hands inside the warm pocket of his favorite oversized hoodie; it once belonged to Shouyou.

It wasn't a long walk to the café, it was pretty close to where they lived and they often frequent it during their free days, but never in the morning, this is the first time. The streets weren’t full, but neither was it empty and when Kenma opened the café’s door, there were some people there. He looked around, trying to find Shouyou, but only saw Bokuto waving like an excited child. That damped his mood a bit, but he walked to his table thinking that’s where Shouyou is probably sitting - he has to be here, right? Just in the bathroom, for sure.

“Good morning, Kenma!” Bokuto exclaimed too loudly, making the other clients look at them and giggle.

“Morning.” because every morning is a bad one until he sees the love of his life, he looked around one more time, starting to feel confused “Where’s Shouyou? He asked for me…?”

“He said to find him, right?!” Bokuto beamed so brightly Kenma wished he had his sunglasses.

“Yeah.” he nodded, sitting on the chair in front of his friend “He’s here?”

“Nope!” Bokuto chuckled, looking too happy to not be hiding something.

“...And where is Shouyou?” Kenma asked, feeling suspicious.

“Ah!” Bokuto blinked, making the other feel even more confused “Here!” Bokuto took a paper from somewhere beside him - a bag? - and slid it across the table as he produced another paper and waved to a waitress.

“What is this?” Kenma looked at the paper very seriously. It was a letter. Who writes letters nowadays? Shouyou, apparently.

“Read it.” Bokuto beamed again, talking to the waitress.

Kenma picked the letter, turned around and read the little “read me~” written in the back in Shouyou’s handwriting. Shrugging to himself, Kenma opened the envelope and took the letter out, highly suspicious of it - is this a prank? What was his boyfriend thinking? What the hell is going on?!

Sighing, he unfolded the letter and started to read.

Kenma~~ sorry for tricking you~~ but I need you here.

First of all, you have to eat! I asked Bokuto-san to buy you breakfast and he said ok.

Please, eat everything, ok? After that, check your Instagram~ you’ll know why!! But only after you eat!!

And take a bottle of water with you, Kenma~ you should take care of yourself :(

Catch me if you can~ :)

Now Kenma was slightly more confused than a minute ago. Seriously, what Shouyou was thinking?

“Bokuto.” he called, looking up and showing the letter to his friend “Do you know what is going on?”

He nodded happily, proudly “I helped Hinata plan this.”

That answered nothing. Kenma wanted to punch him.

Before he could ask anything more, the waitress came back with a tray full of the food Kenma always asks for when he’s in the café, enough for two - fluffy pancakes with strawberries and a cup of bitter americano. Was this Shouyou’s work, too?

“It’s a treasure hunt!” Bokuto said after his first bite, munching happily “Hinata wanted to do something different and to surprise you.”

Kenma felt his heart warm with that. He really loved his boyfriend, and was truly loved back. They were so lucky to have found each other so early in their lives, to have all this time to know and love each other like they deserved. This kind of happiness is so fulfilling, although scary sometimes, making them feel so many things and think of what they can lose so easily. Holding a lovelorn sigh, Kenma impaled his poor pancake with a fork and proceeded to start eating in silence, tuning out Bokuto’s monologue.

He should call Akaashi one of these days, maybe visit Tokyo, it’s been a while already, his own mother is probably missing him or something. He should call Shouyou’s mom, too. She’s nice, Kenma loves her.

The food was good, as always, and Kenma felt like he ate more than he should, his stomach fool and quite content. Although Bokuto liked to talk a lot, he wasn’t an unpleasant company and he, somehow, lifted Kenma’s mood without even doing something and he felt prepared for the day ahead.

(a day without Shouyou, what an outrage)

“Good luck on your journey, Kenma!” Bokuto said to him when they went out of the café, putting his heavy hands on Kenma’s narrow shoulders “I’m sure you’ll be happy! Tell Hinata congratulations!” and then he jogged away waving like some kind of a manga character.

Kenma was very confused.

But he shrugged (Bokuto is just like that) and looked around for a moment before taking his phone to open the Instagram app and to call a car to his next destination, wherever it is, as it was a little too far (no matter if it’s two streets over, it’s far) for him to walk there - yes, call him lazy or whatever, he made his fortune playing games on his computer, he’s not an athlete anymore and it’s alright, Shouyou said so (he loves his little soft tummy and Kenma is so in love it hurts).

There was nothing very interesting on the first few posts on his feed, but he had a notification and he tapped on that, smiling at seeing Shouyou’s profile picture (a smiling one Atsumu took during a training session). His boyfriend had tagged him in his stories. Interesting.

Kenma opened the miniature on his direct messages and was surprised when it was actually a video. Shouyou was smiling, as always, eyes closing for a moment as he spinned to show where he was. In the bottom left, a little message told him it was only the first part. A second story started as soon as the other end, this time was a picture, of a Torii gate that Kenma recognized from some visits.

Shouyou was at Hiraoka Shrine.

They went there for their first new years living together and it was a fun experience that Kenma always remembered with a fond smile. They were so happy, still are so happy. Shouyou wanted to celebrate and wanted to ask for luck, for them to still be together the next new year so he could ask for the same thing, until they were too old to go to the shrine. Kenma had chuckled and called him silly, but still begged the gods, any higher being that heard him, to let be at Shouyou’s side forever, that their love would be forever - and not just a fairytale forever that ended at some very happy moment, Kenma wanted to live with Shouyou, wanted to love Shouyou, until his last breath.

(he felt so dramatic)

With an amused sigh, Kenma called an app car and felt his whole body tingle in expectation. He couldn’t wait to catch Shouyou and hug and kiss and tell him so many ‘I love you’s. Ah… Kenma was such a fool in love, what happened to that aloof teenager who just wanted to play games and not sweat? Look, Shouyou, what you did to me, I’m so happy and in love I can’t recognize myself.

Kenma chuckled to himself at that, the driver looking at him curiously for a brief moment through the rear-view mirror before looking at the street in front of the car.

It wasn’t long before he arrived at his destination, barely thanking the driver before getting out of the car. A quick look at his phone told him that there were no new notifications from Shouyou, so he walked inside while looking around trying to find his boyfriend. There were a few couples, small families, groups of friends and lonely people mingling around and taking pictures, but no Shouyou so far.

The smell of the wood was refreshing and Kenma took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment and feeling his shoulders relax for the first time since he woke up this morning.

“Kozume-san!”

He looked behind, to where he could see someone jogging toward him, someone very familiar to him.

“Akaashi?” Kenma asked himself, squinting a bit just to be sure he was seeing right. And yes, it is Akaashi approaching him with a small, soft smile. So his next clue was another old friend from his highschool days, someone he and Shouyou know.

Kenma couldn’t stop the thought - did his boyfriend ask for all of their friends to be part of this scheme?

“Good morning, Kozume-san.” his friend greeted with a wave.

“Morning.” Kenma nodded back.

“I hope everything’s fine?”

“Yeah, thanks. How about you? How’s life?” why does he feel so lame when making small talk? Even with people he considers his friends. Shouyou was so much better at this, Kenma felt envious.

“Life’s good.” Akaashi chuckled, “Thank you for asking.” then he took a letter from inside his coat and offered to Kenma “This is for you.” and he opened his bag to grab his wallet. “Hinata-san told me to buy you a bottle of water if you didn’t have one.”

Kenma scowled at that. He thought it could pass unnoticed, damn it.

“...Fine.” he grunted and followed Akaashi to the shrine’s little shop.

Akaashi bought two bottles, one for himself and one for Kenma, who was at the end of a soft glare until he opened and drank a big gulp.

“Do you know the next destination?” Kenma couldn’t help but ask his friend.

“Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell.” Akaashi chuckled again “Good luck on your journey, though. And congratulations.”

“For what?”

Akaashi snorted so softly Kenma almost thought it was his imagination.

“For having a loving partner that does these things for you.” Akaashi said.

“Oh.” Kenma blinked a few times, suddenly feeling shy. “Thanks.”

His friend smiled at him, as if he knew something Kenma didn’t, and said “I have to go now. See you soon, Kozume-san.”

“Ah, see you.” Kenma waved.

As soon as Akaashi was a few feet away, Kenma had a last gulp of his water bottle, emptying it before throwing it in the trash. Will Shouyou make him eat again at his next destination? Why not make this short? He just wants to cuddle with his boyfriend under their fluffy cats and pretend he’s not an adult full of responsibilities and with a job.

Sulking, he opened the letter, holding with one hand as the other held his phone unlocked.

Kenma!! Kenken!! Kozume Kenma!!

I miss you :( Do you miss me too?! I hope you do T_T

Are you having fun? I bet you just want to go back home~ But!! You can’t!!

There are three more adventures, ok? And we will see each other again^^

The next destination is pretty easy~ it’s an old friend, one that we don’t really miss, but we saw every month for two years and then we missed this friend a lot, because this friend was a connection between us both and suddenly we didn’t have a way to see each other again…

See you soon?

Kenma smiled softly, taking another moment to read the note all over again. Then he unlocked his phone once again and opened his Instagram app, index finger already in the right position to click on Shouyou’s story. There were two more posts, from just a minute ago - Akaashi obviously sent a message to alert Shouyou of Kenma’s whereabouts.

Cute.

The first picture was of Shouyou’s sneakers, ones that were a present from Kenma himself from their last weekend’s shop trip, a tiny message at the top with three teary-eyed emojis. The second was a short video of a train arriving and in the corner he could see the name of the station.

Oh, the old friend they didn’t miss.

When they first started dating, they would visit each other at least once a month, using the train system to maximize the limited time they have to be a normal couple before going back to their cities and schools. They spent so much money doing this, but it was so worth it, Kenma didn’t regret anything. And when Shouyou went to Brazil, they missed this little routine they created. The distance of a couple hours in a packed train is much better than a distance of thirty hours in multiple airplanes - the reason why Kenma only went once, he had to fly to New York first, then to São Paulo and then to Rio, it was so exhausting he thought he was going to die.

And let’s not talk about the time zone differences, it was Kenma’s biggest enemy during those years.

He went to the same train station quickly, feeling excited for something he didn’t know. Kenma started to think about what Shouyou had in store for, what adventures he said in his notes, and speculating which friend would be at the next destination. Begrudgingly, he realized he was actually having fun in this kind of treasure hunt Shouyou was making him participate in.

The train station wasn’t so far so it didn’t take long for Kenma to step inside, looking around for someone until he eyed a familiar blond hair.

“Oi! Kenma!” the other man waved and waited for Kenma to approach him, taking his mask off a little as if to show who he was.

“Atsumu.” Kenma greeted back.

“How’re you?” the young volleyball player smiled, putting his mask back on and Kenma asked himself if Atsumu was trying to have a low profile while out in public because he was doing a poor job, honestly “Shouyou-kun told me to give you this” Atsumu took off a letter from his jacket pocket and gave it to Kenma before pointing to the train tracks with his thumb “and to buy you a ticket.”

“A ticket?” Kenma frowned “To where?”

“Dotonbori!” Atsumu answered quite excitedly, taking his other hand from inside his other jacket pocket and somehow produced a ticket for him “Here it is, we have seven or eight minutes until it arrives.”

“Why Dotonbori?” Kenma asked back, taking the ticket.

“Dunno.” Atsuu shrugged “Something about a date you had or something.”

“Ah.” Kenma said, expression blank to hide the fondness he felt with his whole body.

They had many dates in Dotonbori since they moved to Higashiosaka, all of them full of good food and laughs and Shouyou’s bright smile. Kenma always, without fail, fell in love a little bit more with his boyfriend when they went out on a date - that wasn’t such a common occurrence with their packed schedule and Shouyou always traveling the country during volleyball season.

“No food this time?” Kenma ended up questioning with amusement.

“Eh? No, did someone buy you food earlier?” Atsumu looked offended.

“I ate breakfast with Bokuto and Akaashi made me drink water.” Kenma shrugged.

“Ah, Bokkun is always buying people food, it’s adorable.” the man laughed.

“True.” Kenma nodded.

“Ha, if I knew I would’ve suggested ‘Samu’s shop.” Atsumu laughed.

“Hm…” Kenma looked at him “So there’s no Onigiri Miya on this treasure hunt.”

“Eh?” Atsumu looked alarmed for a second before chuckling awkwardly “Can you pretend you didn’t hear that?”

“...Sure.” Kenma shrugged, smirking.

Before Atsumu could say anything else, the announcement for Kenma’s train was made and they walked a bit more closely. Not much longer, Kenma was already stepping inside, Atsumu waving from the platform and a group of highschool girls approaching him with phones in hand and barely contained giggles.

Soon, he thought. Soon he’ll see Shouyou again.

Dotonbori was, as always, full of people walking around, taking pictures and talking loudly, there were many foreigners and the boats sailed right and left with tourists. Nonetheless, it was pretty - with the tall buildings full of LED boards of advertisement, restaurants, cafés, bars and shops filling both sides of the canal with its glistening water under the sun.

Kenma felt a little lost, pausing in the middle of one of the many bridges crossing the canal, almost getting in the way of a couple taking pictures. He leaned against the banister, taking his own phone out and opening the Instagram app as soon as it was unlocked. To Kenma’s surprise, or not, Shouyou had just posted a story and tagged him.

It was a picture of him in front of one of the many touristic boats that went up and down in the canal, one of his favorite things to do when he was in Dotonbori, especially at night. With a small smile, Kenma decided to walk to the same boat, reading the sign behind his boyfriend, and waved to a kid that recognized him and yelled his YouTube channel name to his embarrassed mother.

When Kenma arrived at his destination there was, unsurprisingly, someone he knew waiting for something (and that was 100% sure Kenma himself). It was quite funny how it was another blond right after Atsumu, although one that he liked more than Shouyou’s teammate. (Osamu is so much the better twin)

“Yachi!” he called when he was close enough to be heard above the people talking.

The young woman looked up, eyes round with surprise, clearly distracted with her phone - probably working although Kenma was sure she was on a holiday or vacation. Oh, well, designers, who knows what’s going on with them except that they’re tired all the time?

“Kenma!” she waved back with a grin, jogging in his direction and meeting halfway with a hug “How are you? It’s been so long!”

“I’m fine, still gaming.” Kenma shrugged “And you?”

“Ah, same as always.” Yachi waved dismissively “I’m actually here for work and this is my free morning.”

“That’s nice.” Kenma nodded feeling somewhat awkward with small talk, as usually “What Shouyou will make me do know?”

Yachi giggled “I have to give you a letter and then I’ll tell you.” she took the letter out of her big purse and offered it to him.

Kenma opened with a smile, not even caring if he was in public.

Remember our last date here?

A guy proposed to his girlfriend in the middle of our tour and it was so romantic.

I asked you if you wanted something like that and you called me crazy XD

And then we went to eat at that bun shop and I ate the best meatbun of my life.

Now, it’s almost lunchtime  (what time is it?? Kenma I miss you~) so what about going back there and eating some buns with Yacchan?!

Then we shall find ourselves our own paradise!

See you soon~

Kenma looked up as soon as he finished reading, surprised that Shouyou wouldn’t make him do the boat tour alone. Yachi only smiled at him.

“Horai 551?” Kenma asked.

“Yes.” Yachi nodded, “He boasted so much about it, I want to eat a bun too.”

They walked side by side (sometimes one following the other when there were too many people) for a few short minutes until they arrived at the restaurant. It was packed, as it is one of the most famous in the area and they do have the best meat buns around town. They lined up, waiting for their turn and bought only a small combo of two buns and two drinks - one each. The bun was the size of Kenma’s hand, bigger than Yachi’s hand, heavy and steamed hot.

Yachi hummed softly beside him after the first bite, nodding to herself as she chewed. Kenma couldn’t even judge her because that was exactly the same reaction he did when he first ate here with Shouyou. It was just that good, and one of the reasons they kept coming back to Dotonbori.

They ate quickly and soon Yachi waved goodbye, ready to go to her job after a good touristy morning.

Feeling rather satisfied with only one bun and a can of soda, Kenma opened up his Instagram app and smiled when he saw the little notification of Shouyou tagging him on another story. His fingers were fast to click on it, not even opening his direct messages, just looking at his boyfriend’s username and going there.

This time, Shouyou was inside a car, going somewhere. The little message at the bottom was “come find me” with his own username beside it. Oh, so his next destination he needs to find a car? The story changed and Shouyou filmed Kuroo driving the car he was in, calling him their private driver and Kenma let out a loud snort at that.

Before the little video finished, Kuroo sent him a message, a link, and when he opened he saw that it was his live location and, apparently, Kenma had to find him. At least, looking at the map, it was close to where Kenma was currently and he was sure he would end up in Kuroo’s car (and that is so much better than walking).

The place where the live location led him to was a parking lot and it didn’t surprise Kenma. With a bit of hesitation, he crossed the street and bowed slightly to the old man managing the gate ready to ask about his friend, when Kuroo came out of nowhere with a smile and a wave.

“Good afternoon~” he sang teasingly.

“Hey.” Kenma answered.

“Why are you so cold to your best friend?” Kuroo whined softly, still teasing, while gesturing for them to walk inside the parking lot.

“My best friend is Shouyou.”

“Stinky.”

They soon arrived in a black car Kenma recognized as his friend’s and waited for Kuroo to unlock its doors.

“And where are we going?” Kenma couldn’t help but ask.

“Not saying~” Kuroo smirked, annoying his friend as they got into the vehicle.

Kenma rolled his eyes and put his seatbelt on and mumbled “Who's the stinky one.”

Kuroo laughed loudly, starting the car.

“And there’s nothing for me? No food? No water? No note?” Kenma was almost feeling disappointed, trying very, very hard to keep his excitement at bay.

“Of course there is, what do you think your boyfriend is?” Kuroo smirked once again “Just look at the glove compartment, there’s something for you there.”

Trying not to look as eager as he felt, Kenma breathed two times, very calmly, before opening said compartment. He didn’t really know what he thought he would find, but Kenma felt a little bit disappointed when a water bottle tumbled out into his knee and he scrambled to catch it before it fell on the car’s floor.

With a loud sigh, Kenma opened the cap and had a big gulp. Kuroo laughed as he maneuvered out of the car park and into the street.

“Where are we going?” Kenma casually asked again after a while.

“Nope.” Kuroo said and Kenma sighed once again. At least he tried. “But if you want to nap you can, there’s some time between now and then.”

“Now and then?”

“It’s out of the city.” Kuroo shrugged.

Kenma looked at his friend with distrust “...Fine.” Then he took his phone out and started a game.

He was so engrossed in his game that an hour passed before he even looked up to the road in front of their car. It was a side road, apparently, because Kenma didn’t recognized (even if he isn’t really the kind of person to drive around, preferring airplanes and trains mostly), and it was really narrow - enough for them to wait for the car on the other way to park a little to the side so they could continue.

“Seriously. Where?” Kenma asked, “How much longer until we arrive?”

“Just a few minutes.” Kuroo smiled at him for a brief moment before focusing on the road again “One more curve and we’re there.”

“Finally.” Kenma grumbled, sinking into his seat more comfortably and continued playing, although with not his full focus.

There was another curve ahead and then Kuroo turned on the flasher and turned left to a dirty road. Kenma finally turned off his phone, not before taking a quick look at his notifications and opening Instagram one last time, and paid attention to where he was going.

A tall, large wooden double door that looked not very old although the ancient style appeared in front of the car at the end of the dirty road, with a big sign at the top. Kuroo honked two times while Kenma read the sign with curiosity.

“An onsen ?” he asked, looking at his friend as the doors opened.

“Yep! Surprise~” Kuroo chuckled “I was the one who suggested it to your little boyfriend. Had some business meetings here last year.”

“...Wow.” Kenma deadpanned “Why.”

Kuroo shrugged, parking the car with the finesse of a professional driver - Kenma was impressed, but kept his mouth shut, it would kill his kind-of-gothic-recluse-gamer-grumpy-cat vibe.

“Ask him.” he pointed with his thumb to somewhere beyond the windshield.

And there, standing not so far from where Kuroo parked the car, with a big, bright smile that Kenma loved so much, was Shouyou, waving excitedly as he filmed with his phone - probably one last update to his fans after making Kenma chase him throughout Osaka.

What he wanted to do was to open this door and run to his boyfriend after being deprived of his love for so long for no reason beside trying something new to keep their relationship fresh after so many years (or so Kenma thought).

What he did was wait for Kuroo to look at Kuroo, waiting for him to turn off the car, gaining an eye roll and his friend rushing him out of the vehicle with a gesture.

“I’m only here to be your driver today.” Kuroo smirked, “We’ll talk later this week, now go, your little boyfriend is waiting.”

Kenma wanted to roll his eyes back at him, but decided not to and, with a quick wave, he stepped out.

“Kenma!” came Shouyou’s shout paired with his bright smile. He walked somewhat calmly to where his boyfriend waited, almost bouncing on his toes in his excitement - it always makes Kenma feel a warmth in his heart when Shouyou gets like that because it’s so adorable and he is the reason!

“Shouyou.” he called back, hugging his boyfriend tightly and breathing deeply. His shoulders relaxed and Kenma closed his eyes, feeling like he got back home after a long while.

“I got you something.” Shouyou murmured against his neck “It’s back at our room.”

“We have a room?”

“Humrum!” Shouyou nodded “We’re going to sleep here today, it’s part of the plan!”

With a chuckle, Kenma nodded back “Ok.”

Holding hands like little kids, swinging it front and back, they walked inside the hotel where a young woman dressed in traditional clothes waited for them with a polite smile. They went to their room, where they changed and Kenma was given a box of cat paw-shaped canelé from a cat café he liked (and from where his current shirt is from - no cat no life) that was decided to be open later after dinner.

(he also owns a bucket had from them)

Shouyou looked at him with love shining in his clear eyes and Kenma could only smile back at him.

“What do you want to do?” Shouyou asked in a low tone.

“Hm.” Kenma sighed, “We can go take a bath on the hotspring.”

“I asked for a room with a private one, just for us.” Shouyou smiled sheepishly.

“Oh.” is he blushing? He feels like he is. Why would he, though? It’s not like he never saw Shouyou naked before, or was seen naked by his boyfriend - they do have a rather active nightlife in their bedroom. But. It feels so intimate, to have a hot spring just for the two of them “Ok.” he ends up saying “Where it is?”

They go through the routine necessary before even dipping their toes inside the hot water, washing their bodies and their hair while talking about their day - how Shouyou basically didn’t do much beside waiting for Kenma and taking pictures, and Kenma loudly complaining about how much food he ate and so many bottles of water to drink and his boyfriend only laughed like the traitor that he is.

The water on the small man-made pool on a narrow wooden deck with a beautiful view of the mountains and the forest and the clear sunny sky, was hot enough, as it was expected. Kenma wouldn’t know how hot if someone asked. The wind was cool against their skin when they took off their fluffy robes and went inside the pool, humming in pleasure.

Shouyou swung a little from side to side before sitting beside Kenma with a satisfied smile on his lips. Kenma kept his eyes closed, just letting his body relax under the high temperature, but held his boyfriend’s hand and intertwined their fingers. For a moment, there was only the sound of the water, their breathing and the wind ruffling the trees nearby.

Peaceful.

“Kenma.” Shouyou called softly, shifting a bit where he sat.

He hummed back, making it a question.

“Remember when we talked about marriage?” Shouyou’s voice was still soft, although there was a note of nervousness in it now.

“Hm.” Kenma nodded “We were young, though. We said we would wait for the right time.”

“Do you still think that?”

“That?” Kenma opened his eyes to look at his boyfriend.

Shouyou sighed, looking up to a cloud running high above “Do you still want to get married to me? Do you still think we’re too young for that? Do you still think there is a right time?”

Ah. Shouyou have been thinking about it.

“Yes. And no.” Kenma said, tilting his head so he could see Shouyou better and almost huffed a laugh when he saw the flushed cheeks “Yes, I still want to marry Shouyou, maybe since we first met, but no, I don’t think we’re too young for that.”

Shouyou looked at him and Kenma smiled, amused with the shyness on his boyfriend’s face, so rare these days.

“Not too young? Maybe too old?” he asked playfully.

Kenma snorted, “We’re barely close to our thirties, Shouyou.”

Shouyou chuckled, almost a giggle, and it was so adorable Kenma had to kiss it away.

“Kenma…” Shouyou called again after their kiss and Kenma hummed back “I have one more surprise today.”

“You do?”

“Yes! I thought about leaving for dinner or after that, but I changed my mind.” Shouyou smiled brightly.

“Ok.” Kenma nodded again.

They went out of the water, showering again and putting their fluffy bathrobes before going back inside their room. Shouyou took Kenma by his hand and pulled him to the low table where a fruit basket and a box from their favorite cat café sat innocently.

Sitting by the table and with a big, bright smile, Shouyou pushed the sweets box to his boyfriend, his cheeks flushing.

Kenma looked at him with soft suspicion and opened the box slowly, waiting for some kind of prank to jump out of it and scare him. But there was none of it. Inside, three paw-shaped canelés were sitting, waiting to be picked and eaten, and on the lid, a ring was taped and a message was handwritten above it.

Would you marry me? It said.

Oh.

“Shouyou?” Kenma asked, looking up.

“Yeah?”

“Is this from you?”

Shouyou nodded, his eyes tearing up “Hm!”

“Oh.” Kenma said, feeling overwhelmed for a moment, eyes blurring with unshed tears “Oh.”

“I love you. Very much, and I want to live with you for the rest of my life.” Shouyou said “And I know we can have that even if we don’t marry, but I want to. I want to marry you, I want to say you’re my husband. ” he chuckled wetly.

“Sho.” Kenma called, voice wobbling a bit “Yes.” he nodded, chuckling too “I want that too.”

They hugged, crying silently, and when they finally calmed down enough, Shouyou put the ring on Kenma’s finger, kissing it before looking up and smiling at his fiancé. Fiancé!

With a last happy laugh, Shouyou took his phone out, ready to update his friends, families and fans.

“And the hunt is over and the treasure found. Thank you everyone, see you again soon.” He wrote, tagging Kenma on the ring.