When Kuroo saw Kenma, his former high school sweetheart and best friend on the subway, his jaw dropped. 

Not only because he had grown a few inches taller and had his hair up in a bun with a few locks hanging down to frame his face, but because for the first time in his life Kuroo saw Kenma buried in a book, not a video game. 

After a few moments of psyching himself up and convincing himself he should say something, Kuroo finally found the courage to open his mouth.

"Damn, Kenma, a book finally riveting enough to tear you away from those video games, huh?"

Kenma looked up, a wry smile on his face, along with a hint of surprise. 

"Ah, Tetsurou, see you're as charming as ever."

"What can I say, I'm a regular Adonis."

"I don't recall commenting on your looks, Narcissus." Kuroo couldn't help but smile. Years since they had seen each other, and yet nothing had changed. 

"We all knew what you meant."

"We? So the voices are back, huh? Sorry to hear that." A mock gasp from Kuroo.

"Kenma, you've gotten even more sarcastic than you used to be! I can't believe it. Are you proud?"

"Ever so much," Kenma said with a tight smile. 

"Okay, seriously. You are going to come get coffee with, and tell me what the hell happened and why you suddenly have an interesting in reading," Kuroo said, full of confidence. 

"How do you know I don't have somewhere to be?"

"We're on the train out of town, and it's the end of the day, where could you possibly be going besides home?"

"What if I was going to a friend's house?" Kenma retorted, a special emphasis on the word friend. For a moment, Kuroo blanched, at a loss for words.

"Y-you are?" he stuttered. 

"Ha! As if!" Kenma laughed, a sound that made Kuroo's insides feel all warm and fuzzy. He hadn't realized how much he missed this. "Man, I really got you that time," Kenma said, still chuckling to himself. 

"You bastard." Kuroo nudged him with his shoulder, a small smile on his face. 

"Alright, well as you said, we're on our way out of town. Where are we supposed to go?" 

"No worries, kitten, I know a place."

"Don't call me kitten."

"Mmh, I think I will."

"I'm warning you."

"Is that a threat, kitten?"

"Yes."

~~~~~~

They got off a few stops before Kenma's usual stop and Kuroo led them through some weird back streets until they finally arrived at this little place tucked away at a street corner of an abandoned intersection. 

"This is my favorite place to come and pretend to do work!" Kuroo spread his arms wide, like something about this place was supposed to be impressive. It just look like your average coffee shop to Kenma, nice, but not exceptional.

"Pretend?"

"Well, I don't actually get all that much done when I'm here. I just come for the croissants."

"They're that good?"

"Even better." So Kuroo bought a croissant for both of them, along with an iced coffee for Kenma. 

"So what have you been up to?" Kenma asked, sipping his coffee. 

"Well, I'm in grad school right now, working towards my masters in biology."

"Know what you're gonna do with that?"

"Probably teach. I think I would make a great college professor, right?"

"With a tweed blazer and maybe a comb for that hair of yours, sure why not?"

"Well, then, what are you doing with your life?" Kuroo asked defensively. 

"I work for a game developer," Kenma said like it was obvious.

"Of course you do!" Kuroo threw his hands up in the air with frustration. 

"That's actually why I read more now. Because I spend my whole day everyday working with technology and games, not that I don't still love gaming, but I've learned to appreciate the more simple things in life, such as reading," Kenma said in a tone that implied he had discovered the meaning of life.

"Bullshit. I'm calling bullshit on that whole story." Kenma glared at him. 

"Fine! My console is usually dead by the end of the day and I get terrible service underground and a sure-fire way to keep people from talking to me is reading on the train. But I do enjoy it more now! I'll have you know I read at least one book every two weeks now!"

"Ah, there's the Kenma we all know and love. Glad to see nothing has changed!" Kuroo said, laughing. 

"And you're just as persistent as ever. I've changed a lot, not that you would know" Kenma huffed. 

"Really? Tell me. Tell me all about yourself and how much you've changed, kitten."

And they talked. They talked for hours. Kenma told Kuroo all about his life as a game developer and Kuroo told Kenma what it was like to be a grad student. He outlined all his dreams for the future of research in biology. Kenma couldn't help but think what a nerd he was, but an adorable one at that. Kuroo still played volleyball on a rec team. Kenma did not (shocker). They reminisced on high school days, how good those years were. They only broke up because they both were moving on to bigger things and didn't have much time for relationships. But neither of them really stopped loving each other, not completely. And this unexpected meeting, well it reminded them of how they had once felt. It reminded them of the possibility of something new. 

The whole night, neither of them could stop smiling. 

Ah, to be in love again.  

~~~~~~

"Hey, so I better get home, it's getting late and I still have some work to do," Kenma said, wishing the night wasn't over so soon. "I have to catch the train and ride a few more stops down."

"Oh, me too! I'll go with you then, you're stop is probably on my way home."

"Sure." As they rode the train, Kenma started to realize that Kuroo claiming he had to ride the subway to get home was a total bluff. See, Kenma's stop was the last one, and they only had one more stop before his and unless Kuroo got off at his or the one before it, then that meant that Kuroo just wanted to ride the metro just to spend more time with Kenma. Not a very well-thought through plan because if they were going to be spending anymore time with each other, which seemed likely, Kenma would eventually find out that he didn't live where he currently was claiming he did. It was more likely that he lived back where that coffee shop was. It was so hidden, only someone who lived in the area would know it was there. 

"So, where's your stop?" Kuroo asked, eyeing the map across from them. 

"It's the last one."

"The last one?"

"Yep."

"Ah... good."

"Which one is yours, Tetsu?" Kenma asked playfully, wondering what Kuroo would say. 

"Uh..."

"Was it possibly the one we stopped at to get coffee?" Kenma said, tilting his head sideways and looking up at Kuroo. 

"Yes." Kuroo was looking at the ground with an embarrassed smile on his face. 

"Well, I'm glad you rode with me all the way home, even if it was just off a bluff. The long ride gets  little lonely sometimes."

"Kozume Kenma - a loser loner who purposefully reads in public to discourage others from talking to him and only has 3 proclaimed friends - complaining of loneliness?" Kuroo teased.

"Hey, you and I both know liking to be alone doesn't equate to wanting to be lonely," Kenma retorted. 

"Ah, I guess you're right." Kuroo paused for a moment. "I hope we can hang out again, though, if that doesn't intrude too much on your alone time." A soft smile formed on Kenma's lips. 

"I think you know the answer to that one as well, Tetsurou." Kenma shyly took Kuroo's hand and slowly interlocked their fingers. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too, Kenma." 

When it was time for Kenma to get off the metro, Kuroo stood up to give him a hug goodbye, but he got one better. Kenma placed one hand on Kuroo's hip and the other on his shoulder, pulling him into a kiss. It was short and sweet, but enough to get Kuroo's heart racing. 

"Later!" Before Kuroo could completely process, Kenma gave him a small wave and dashed out the doors. 

Oh, how he had missed that boy. 

~

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holy shit that was so fun to write, the dynamic between these two *chef's kiss*

i haven't been able to write good dialogue in weeks so maybe this is finally my big break

this was gonna be angst but then it wasn't lol you're welcome (but don't let your guard own angst is coming soon!) (i think)

anyway thanks for reading!! :)