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“Kenmaaa!!”

An overly energetic tangerine
boy appeared in front of the pudding
head, close to throwing his friend
over if there hadn't been an
unamused Kageyama grabbing
his not-quite-yet-boyfriend
by the collar.

“Oi, stupid!
Careful or you'll crush
our opponent even before
we could have a proper match!”

“Yah! Don't call me stupid, milk boy!”

Hinata squirmed like a feisty
kitten before Kageyama let go of
him just to continue their
little fight face to face.

And Kenma just watched them
with big eyes, unsure if his friend's
greeting was already over and if
he should interrupt the two.

“They're always like that,
don't worry.”

The pudding head looked up
at the silver-haired boy that had
appeared beside him, Sugawara
was smiling at the fighting duo
before he gave both a slap on
the back of their heads.

“You two, stop it.
We're not at home,
please behave.”

And Kenma caught himself
thinking that Sugawara was totally
the mother of the Karasuno
volleyball team.

“Sorry you had to witness that.
They're a handful.”

“A-ah, no worries.
Shouyou always has a lot of energy.”

“He surely does.”

Sugawara chuckled when
Hinata pouted at him but
immediately turned to Kenma
when he realized that he had
originally just wanted to say
hello to his friend.

“Kenma! How are you?
Are you excited? I couldn't
sleep last night because I
was so excited!”

The tangerine boy giggled as
he shook his friend's shoulders
but immediately stopped when
he noticed the blonde's face
scrunched up in pain.

“Are you okay?
I'm sorry, did I hurt you?”

“No, it's fine. I just have
a light headache.
Don't worry about me.”

Kenma tried to give the other

a reassuring smile but Hinata
continued to stare at him with
an unconvinced look.

“Alright, everybody.
The changing rooms are over
there for whoever still needs to
change, we put name signs on
the doors so every team has
their own room.
Please get ready and assemble in
the gymnasium in ten minutes.”

Coach Nekomata announced as
he pointed at the direction
of the changing rooms.

All the students from Nekoma
had already changed but since they
hadn't started warming up and the
door was still open so there was
enough oxygen for so many people,
it was definitely way too cold inside
the gymnasium in Kenma's opinion.

“Kitten.
You're shivering.”

The pudding head jumped slightly
when a rather big jacket was wrapped
around his body but he immediately
calmed down at the smell of the
familiar cologne and the voice
of his boyfriend.

“Kuroo..
Everyone's watching..”

“Nah, they're all busy with
something else. But if it's a
problem, I can ask Lev if he
can give you his jacket.”

“No! Don't you dare..”

Kenma frowned as he wrapped
the jacket closer around himself
and nuzzled his nose against
the collar of the jacket.

“Alright. Don't take it off
before we start with warm-up,
I don't want you to get sick again.. And since you don't want affection
in front of everyone, I won't give
you a forehead kiss but..
Feel kissed, kitten.”

Tetsuro winked at his boyfriend,
making Kenma blush but at the
same time he couldn't stop
himself from smiling a bit.

His boyfriend was pretty cute.

The practice was exhausting
for everyone, undoubtedly.

But the person who secretly
struggled the most was definitely
and undoubtedly Kenma.

Ever since Hinata's overjoyed
greeting in the morning, his
headache had never fully
disappeared and after lunch
his nausea had returned alone
at the smell of the meat balls.

Fortunately he didn't have to
throw up this time but it was
difficult to perform well while also
concentrating on his stomach.

His team was counting on him
but all he had been able to think
of was his churning stomach.

To avoid upsetting his tummy
even more, Kenma had also
subconsciously avoided his water
bottle but his acting act was
slowly crumbling.

And especially someone who
knew him for so long already,
someone who always had an eye
on him to make sure that he was
comfortable, eventually caught up
on the blonde's strange behavior.

“Kitten.”

Kenma was the last one in the
changing room, the others were
waiting outside and chatting with
the players from the other teams
but Kuroo had immediately noticed
that his boyfriend was taking
unusually long.

So he returned to check up on him.

The blonde looked up at Tetsuro
with tired eyes from his spot where
he was sitting on the floor, back
pressed against the wall and his
legs drawn to his body.

He was still in his sportswear and
hadn't even put his jacket on, he
was simply too tired to move
a single finger.

Every fiber of his body was
screaming for him to lay down
and sleep but the dizziness made

just standing up seem like an
impossible task.

“What's wrong?”

But Kenma didn't answer as his
gaze returned to the floor.

He felt so ashamed that his boyfriend
constantly had to worry over him
instead of catching up with the
other teams like everyone else.

So much for trying to not
be a burden for once.

“You don't feel good, right?”

Kuroo asked softly as he sat
down beside his boyfriend,
hand reaching out to take
the younger's.

It was so cold.

“Why didn't you say anything?
You know we'd have found
a way for you to rest..”

“I know, that's why I
didn't say anything.”

Kenma admitted quietly,
his voice barely audible as
he bit his lip harshly.

The last thing he needed right
now was to burst into tears in
the locker room in front
of his boyfriend.

“I don't understand..”

“I wanted to play.
I really wanted to play so bad..
With you, with the team, Shouyou..
You already took care of me so
well the past two weeks, I just..
I didn't want to worry you..
and to ruin your fun.”

“Kenma..”

Kuroo sighed softly as he squeezed
his boyfriend's hand before he let
go just to wrap his arm around
his small boyfriend.

“I'll always worry about you.
That's what you do when
you love someone.
And playing volleyball is only
fun for me when you can fully
enjoy it too. I'm pretty sure the
others would say the exact
same if you'd ask them.
We're a team, okay?
But I understand that you
wanted to play, it's not just
normal practice, I know. Still..
Your health will always be
more important, okay?”

The ravenette asked before he
pressed a kiss on top of the
younger's head.

Kenma sat fully slumped against
his boyfriend at this point, head
resting against Kuroo's shoulder
with his eyes closed but that didn't
hinder the tears from falling.

He didn't deserve his boyfriend.

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