Archive of Our Own ^beta

“I don’t understand how you keep your hair so soft, Kenma.” Hinata’s fingers lazily combed through his partner’s hair. 

“I use shampoo and conditioner. I guess that’s about it.”

Kenma leaned back in his expensive gaming chair—Kuroo insisted that he have extra back support—and his eyes met his boyfriend’s. Hinata pressed a kiss to his forehead.

“Gee…” Hinata ran his fingers through his own hair, teasing it a little and making the orange cloud a tad fluffier than it was before. His locks were nice to touch, but it was nothing like stroking Kenma’s hair. Running his fingers through the light strands, gently massaging his scalp, placing little kisses on the top of his head while he worked…Hinata was loud in his love language. 

“Oo, whatcha doin’?” He rested his head on the back of the chair while Kenma adjusted the settings on his mic and speakers. 

“A charity stream for the children’s ward at the local hospital. They’ll be renovating rooms, adding a therapy garden, and…I don’t remember what else, I stopped listening. Anyway, to encourage donations, I’ll be playing games with a few of the kids and then I’ll have a question-and-answer session.” Kenma stretched, causing a few of his vertebrae to pop like tiny fireworks. Hinata wrinkled his nose at the unpleasant sounds.

“I’m so proud of you!” He smiled brightly as he continued, “I’ll make dinner while you work.” 

Hinata, already picturing the contents of their fridge, headed toward the door. Stomach grumbling, Kenma paused to think before opening his mouth. 

“I wouldn’t mind if you, y’know, joined this time.”

Hinata turned and blinked slowly, confusion flitting across his face. “But I thought—”

“I’m ready now.” Kenma smiled shyly—the look reminded Hinata of when they were in high school and he felt a sudden wave of affection wash over himself. It was as if he was falling in love all over again.   

“Are you sure? I mean, we can keep it a secret for longer if that makes you more comfortable. I don’t want to rush you.” Hinata shifted his weight from foot to foot. Although he didn’t want to reveal just how excited he was, he couldn’t help a bit of fidgeting. 

“I don’t do things that I don’t want to do. You know that, Shouyou, and I mean it when I say I’m ready. So,” Kenma took in a nervous breath, “will you do this with me?”

~~~

All in all, the first part of the stream went wonderfully. Uno was exciting (to say the least), some of the kids were remarkably good at Among Us—Kenma didn’t even have to pretend to let them win a few rounds—and he taught them a few tricks in Minecraft. He and Hinata hadn’t thought much about adopting a child of their own, but hearing a kiddo squeal in surprise when he saw a sheep dyed red? It almost made Kenma want to be a parent. Almost—for now, he’d content himself with babysitting Emi, Kuroo’s little girl. She was the neatest little toddler, and she was fascinated by everything. He’d have to—  

His computer dinging with notifications, Kenma blinked and looked back at the screen. Nose wrinkled with embarrassment, he realized he’d been zoned out for the past two minutes with an audience of thousands just…watching him. The donations to the charity kept streaming in, however, so Kenma supposed that his lapse into daydream-land wasn’t as bad as it could have been. He glanced at the questions coming in. 

“Alright. Sorry about that. First question is…‘What’s your favorite console?’” Kenma leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment. “I don’t know if I can pick a favorite anymore. When I was younger, I liked the PSP because I could take it anywhere, but now…it’s outdated and there’s better stuff out there.” 

Another series of dings sounded—viewers sent in another rush of comments and questions, hoping to get noticed. Several big donations to the children’s charity came in, and Kenma recognized the usernames as coming from a few of his old friends. He smiled and skimmed through the new influx of questions.

“Next question. ‘Why do you bleach your hair?’ I started doing it as a teenager because of a comment a friend made, and I let it grow out.” Kenma rubbed the back of his head. 

“And I like the way it looks, I guess,” he said, checking the donation total. “We’re doing great so far. Remember that I’ll be matching every donation that comes in, so your donation has double the impact. Okay, I’ll answer another question…”

Kenma squinted at the rapidly growing list. “Wow, you’re all so excited tonight. Maybe I should do more Q and As? Hm. Kuroo, I know this one’s from you, and you know the answer to it, but I’ll answer it anyway: no, I’m not single.” 

Kenma flinched when an avalanche of comments poured in. He’d expected a reaction sure, but not one this strong. Watching the donations trickle in, he felt a spark of pride in his chest. Kenma never really intended to become wealthy—as with much of what he did, it started out as a game and became something bigger. But now that he had amassed this wealth, he loved getting rid of it in useful ways: buying games, sponsoring his boyfriend, treating his friends to dinner, donating it…hence this stream, in which he’s about to do something that’ll bring a flush to his cheeks and make his heart race. Kenma hadn’t felt this exhilarated since his days of playing volleyball at Nekoma. He took a deep breath and tried to read through the comments, but the stream was, if anything, speeding up. 

“I’m not surprised that that opened a can of worms. Thanks, Kuroo,” Kenma said, the tiniest of smiles at his lips. “Hm, let’s look at the next question.” 

He scrolled through the list and was thankful the moderators were deleting the more risqué ones (and those that were a bit more than merely suggestive). Unsurprisingly, most of the questions were now focused on the private life that he kept extremely private. Usually kept extremely private. 

“‘Are you married?’ No. Not yet, anyway. We haven’t talked about it much, but I…I can see myself spending the rest of my life with him.” 

While Kenma squirmed internally about how darn soft he was being, his audience went into a frenzy. Not only was the typically stoic and taciturn streamer opening up about such a personal aspect of his life, but he said his partner was a “him.” Naturally, the comment section exploded once again and the donations kept coming in. Momentarily distracted by the smell of something delicious coming from the kitchen, Kenma turned back to his computer and cleared his throat loudly. 

“Next question: ‘Are you gay?’” Kenma shrugged. “I’m not one for labels.”

Pretending not to hear the footsteps behind him, Kenma skimmed through more comments. “Hm, let’s find a good one to answer next…” 

Considering the comments were now coming in faster than he could read them, Kenma figured Hinata had entered the frame. The warm hand lovingly resting on his shoulder confirmed it. With wide eyes, Hinata leaned down to look at the screen. 

“Did I make my appearance too early?” Hinata whispered in his boyfriend’s ear. “I heard you clear your throat, but I couldn’t tell if that was the cue we discussed or if you actually had something stuck in there…”  

“No, that was perfect. It was just like what we discussed,” Kenma pressed the most chaste little kiss to Hinata’s cheek. “Do you want to introduce yourself? I haven’t said much about you.”

“Hello!” Hinata beamed his radiant smile, looking right into the camera. “I’m Hinata Shouyou, I play volleyball for the MSBY Black Jackals, and—” An alarm went off in the kitchen. “—and I need to get dinner out of the oven. Nice to meet you all!” 

Lightly booping his partner on the nose, Hinata jogged out of the room, leaving chaos in his wake. 

~~~

“Do you regret it?”

“…hm?”

Hinata rolled over to face his boyfriend, and the glow of their alarm clock cast a soft blue light over his face. Kenma turned his head to meet his partner’s eyes. 

“Do you regret coming out like this…and letting me introduce myself like that? I know you like keeping everything private, and I don’t know, I guess I was just thinking that earlier might have felt overwhelming for you. You’d tell me if you were bothered, right?”

“Shou,” Kenma scooted closer, “It was a little bit much, but I’m happy we did that. We raised a lot for the hospital, and now you don’t have to be so secretive in your interviews. You always look so uncomfortable and squirmy—it’s painful to watch.” 

Hinata’s nose scrunched while Kenma let out a soft snort of laughter. 

“You know it was hard for you to keep us a secret. And to be honest, I wasn’t comfortable with it anymore, either. Secrets get boring…and I can deal with a little bit of the spotlight if it means everyone stops flirting with you,” Kenma said, making an irritated face. 

“Hah, you’re cute when you’re jealous.” Hinata rolled onto his back and stretched his limbs. 

“Am not,” Kenma muttered and rolled on top of his partner, head against his muscled chest. 

“You are,” a hand came up to stroke Kenma’s hair, “but I get it. And you don’t need to worry. I’m your person, and you’re mine,” Hinata said matter-of-factly. 

“Mm.” Kenma yawned and closed his eyes. 

Hinata chuckled. “Yeah, I love you, too, babe.”