Roommate From Hell

As the day passes on, classes have ended. The loud hallways of Rinkai slowly empty out, the constant chatter fading into distant echoes as students head off to clubs, convenience stores, or back to their dorms. The orange glow of the late afternoon sun stretches across the campus windows, making everything feel strangely calm after the chaos of the school day.

So, that means, Kenma having to head to his new dorm.

He had checked it out earlier, like he had planned. But, it was empty then, as it was break time. Quiet. No signs of life besides a few scattered belongings and the faint scent of cologne that definitely belonged to Kuroo. Now though... a certain somebody is probably here.

Kenma ended up arriving late after getting shown around the school and grabbing something small to eat. It's around 4:30pm right now. The sky outside is slowly getting darker, soft evening light peeking through the dorm windows. Kenma drags his bag slightly behind him as he walks down the hallway, exhausted already. New school. New dorm. New people. It's annoying.

Kenma gets his keys for the dorms and clicks it open.

The door creaks softly as he steps inside. He immediately notices Kuroo's shoes tossed carelessly by the entrance, one flipped on its side like he kicked them off the second he walked in.

But no sight of Kuroo.

Kenma takes his own shoes off carefully and places them neatly beside the wall, maybe he'll see Kuroo a little further inside.

But still nothing.

The dorm is oddly quiet for somebody as loud as Kuroo. No TV sounds. No music. Not even talking.

And then...

He hears noise from inside Kuroo's room.

Not just noise. Shuffling. Whispering. A small laugh.

*A.. Woman..?*

Kenma pauses immediately, eyes narrowing toward the closed door.

*Unreal.. Don't tell me he's with a woman right now. Doesn't he know he has a roommate now?? He can't keep doing this.*

His eye twitches slightly in irritation. He's known Kuroo for less than a day and he's already a headache.

Kenma goes over and knocks on Kuroo's room door.

The reaction is instant.

There is a gasp from the woman and a lot of shuffling, hurried whispering, something falling onto the floor, until the woman quickly opens the door with her jacket in arms and runs out the dorm room without even looking at Kenma properly.

Kenma just stares blankly, confused, standing there awkwardly as the dorm door slams shut behind her.

And then he looks up.

Kenma looks up and down, Kuroo, who is relaxing on his doorframe, shirtless.

His dark hair is messy like someone had been running their fingers through it, and there's a lazy grin sitting on his face despite the annoyance in his eyes. The late sunlight from his bedroom window hits against his skin, outlining his figure enough to make Kenma's stomach weirdly tense.

Kenma gulps a little, blush creeping in before he immediately tries hiding it behind his usual blank expression.

"Unbelievable." Kuroo starts with, half annoyed, scratching the back of his neck before going back inside his room and putting his shirt on. He walks over again while fixing the collar. "First day as my roommate and you've already made me your enemy."

"I didn't even do anything-"

Kenma gets interrupted.

"Yeah? You clearly interrupted my time by knocking." Kuroo says with a scoff, leaning against his door like he's deeply offended.

Kenma sighs tiredly.

"I was mad you brought a woman in 'our' dorm when you aren't alone anymore." Kenma says with annoyance back, crossing his arms.

Kuroo stares at him for a second before a sly smirk slowly appears.

Then suddenly, with zero warning, Kuroo grabs Kenma lightly by the wrist and pulls him closer.

"If you wanted to have sex, you could have just asked me nicely."

That makes Kenma flinch immediately, eyes widening slightly at how casually Kuroo said it.

Kuroo leans closer to Kenma's face, close enough for Kenma to smell his shampoo.

"I'm not into boys but..." Kuroo looks Kenma up and down slowly, teasingly. "I think I could do you."

Kenma stares blankly for a minute.

His brain genuinely stops working for half a second.

Then he quickly regains his composure and shoves Kuroo back by the chest.

"Be fucking real. You aren't even my type." Kenma says with such annoyance, though his face is still slightly pink.

Kuroo just stares at him like he's been personally attacked.

"Type?" Kuroo repeats slowly. "I'm everyone's type. There must be some sort of mistake."

Kenma looks deeply unimpressed.

"Unless, you are just not into boys, you don't have to drag me down like that." Kuroo fires back dramatically, placing a hand over his chest.

Kenma just looks at Kuroo for a second before answering honestly.

"I'm not hiding it since there is no point. We are roommates, you'll find out sooner or later and I don't usually keep it hidden but I'm gay."

Kuroo freezes.

Completely.

*Gay? Him? Well.. I guess I can see it. I'd just be surprised if that face of his tops instead of bottoms.*

For once, Kuroo actually looks caught off guard.

He forces a grin anyway.

"Ahahaha... Really?" Kuroo rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. "Then why aren't I your type? That really offends me, y'know?" Kuroo says with a small nervous chuckle.

"I like nice guys. Gentlemen." Kenma mentions bluntly.

That makes Kuroo genuinely blink in surprise.

Kenma didn't seem like the type to care about romance like that. He expected something shallow. Looks. Popularity. Confidence.

Not... kindness.

"Ah... Right.. I do get it then." Kuroo mentions slowly. "You aren't much after looks."

Kuroo gives a crooked smile, but there's something quieter underneath it now.

"People only call me their type for my looks."

"I can tell." Kenma bluntly says immediately.

Kuroo stares at him for a moment.

And then bursts out laughing.

Loudly.

The kind of laugh that fills the entire dorm.

"Man! You are so straightforward!" Kuroo bends slightly from laughing, wiping at the corner of his eye. "Nobody talks to me like that."

Kenma just ignores him with a huff and heads toward his room, dragging his bag behind him before slamming his door shut.

The sound echoes through the dorm.

Kuroo wipes a tear from laughing and stares at Kenma's closed door for a moment longer than necessary, the grin on his face slowly softening into something more curious.

*Kenma, huh..? He's interesting.*

That says a lot, knowing Kuroo doesn't take the time to remember names unless he has to.

.

.

.

As the next day rolls around, faint morning sunlight slips through the dorm windows, casting pale streaks across the floor. The dorm is unusually quiet, almost peaceful compared to yesterday's chaos.

Kenma slowly leaves his room, still half asleep, hoodie sleeves covering part of his hands as he rubs one eye tiredly.

Kuroo is nowhere to be found.

*I guess he left early.*

Kenma yawns quietly and drags himself toward the kitchen area. His movements are sluggish, like his body physically rejects the concept of mornings. His hair is sticking up in multiple directions from sleep, looking even fluffier than usual.

He pours himself cereal with absolutely zero energy, staring blankly at the bowl as if even lifting the cereal box is too much effort.

The milk nearly spills over the edge because he zones out halfway through pouring.

Kenma sits on one of the table stools and just eats with laziness, slowly scooping cereal into his mouth while staring off into space. His eyes are barely even open.

He's not a morning person if you could tell.

The entire dorm feels quiet except for the occasional clink of the spoon against the bowl and the ticking clock on the wall.

Kenma glances at the clock eventually.

Not quickly.

Slowly.

Like he's processing the information against his will.

He lets out another tired sigh before finally finishing up and getting up to get ready for class.

Everything he does feels unhurried.

As he showered, brushed his teeth, changed, didn't even fix his hair because he doesn't care, he heads to class.

Honestly, he barely even looked in the mirror.

If his hair looked bad, then whatever.

The hallways are much louder now compared to the dorm. Students are talking loudly before class starts, groups gathering around desks while others rush around half-awake.

Kenma quietly enters his classroom, hoping to just sit down unnoticed.

But the second he walks in,

Hinata quickly glances up from his conversation with Atsumu.

His eyes immediately widen.

"Ah! Kenma!"

Hinata rushes over instantly, practically bouncing across the classroom with concern written all over his face.

"Your bed hair!"

Before Kenma can even react, Hinata is already trying to fix it with his hands, carefully patting down random strands sticking out everywhere.

"I can't have you getting teased about this when you just started!"

Hinata sounds incredibly serious about it too, like this is an actual emergency.

It feels like Hinata is lecturing but all Kenma hears is a cute bird chirping.

Kenma just blinks sleepily at him, letting him fix his hair without complaint.

Behind them, Atsumu snickers quietly into his hand.

"Yer basically his mom," Atsumu mutters.

Hinata immediately whips around.

"I am not!"

Before the argument can continue though,

Kuroo heads inside from behind them with Kageyama.

Kuroo yawns loudly, looking completely unbothered as usual. His bag hangs lazily off one shoulder while Kageyama walks beside him silently.

The second Kuroo notices Kenma standing there, he doesn't even hesitate.

"You're in the way."

Kuroo casually pushes Kenma aside by the shoulder as he walks past.

"Ack-!" Hinata blurts out in shock, stumbling slightly too.

But despite his reaction, he doesn't dare say anything directly to Kuroo.

Most people don't.

The classroom instantly quiets down a little.

Kenma stumbles a step before catching himself, immediately glaring at Kuroo's back.

"An excuse me would have sufficed."

The classroom freezes.

Everyone gasps, looking between the two immediately.

Especially Hinata, who gasped the loudest out of everyone.

Kageyama even pauses mid-step, glancing back in slight surprise.

Kenma actually spoke back.

To Kuroo.

"Oh\~?"

Kuroo slowly turns around.

He's smiling.

But somehow that makes it worse.

"Who said you could talk back to me?" Kuroo says with a smile and eyes closed, voice almost playful.

And that just makes everyone even more scared.

The air feels weirdly tense now.

Even Atsumu stops talking.

Kenma crosses his arms slightly, annoyance written all over his face despite how calm he looks.

"What? First time hearing someone actually speak up to you?"

The second those words leave Kenma's mouth,

Kuroo immediately stops smiling.

His eyes open slowly, staring directly at Kenma now.

The entire class goes dead silent.

Everyone seems surprised by Kenma's backbone when he looks like someone who wouldn't even speak up at all.

Even Hinata looks like he's witnessing something historical.

"Aha..." Kuroo lets out softly.

There's this strange look in his eyes now. Half amused. Half challenged.

"You really are something, pudding head."

Kenma immediately irks at that nickname again.

*Do I really look that much like a pudding

head??*

Kuroo steps a little closer, enough to make the tension worse for literally everyone watching.

"You're dead in gym class."

His grin returns slightly after saying it, but now it feels more dangerous than teasing.

And that's the last thing Kuroo says before the bell rings loudly for class.

Everyone immediately scrambles back to their seats like they were just released from a hostage situation.

Kenma just stares blankly for a second before sitting down slowly.

*What's that even mean?*

End of episode 2.

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