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Hanging out with Shouyou was getting easier. He no longer had to mentally prepare for days ahead of time, only hours, and he didn’t have to stop himself too often from doing something impulsive right before they met up like throwing away his phone or moving countries.“You said you didn’t have many friends in high school?” Shouyou asked from his spot on Kenma’s couch. They were hanging in Kenma’s living room after having had lunch.Kenma shook his head.“I did,” Shouyou replied, but not like he was bragging. “I was really close with my volleyball team too, but then we drifted apart after I went pro… I tried to keep up with them,” he said conversationally.“It wasn’t too hard to call and text, but to actually try and see them was something else,” he went on.Kenma noticed a shift in the redhead’s demeanor, his shoulders coming up hunched and his words coming out pinched.“I'd see them all hanging out on social media, reunions I never heard about,” he said tightly. “And when I asked, they said they assumed I’d be too busy and that they didn’t want to bother me,” he complained.Kenma nodded, realizing what this was now. Shouyou was venting to him. He felt honored, really, to be able to learn more about him and the things he was going through. Shouyou was always happy and carefree, it was hard to imagine he ever went through anything tough, especially if it was social. He was really good at his job, not only the modeling part but the networking aspects too, seeming to have a connection to everyone in the industry from what he had shared with Kenma in the past.Shouyou’s voice grew frustrated.“It bothers me more that they didn’t ask in the first place,” he let out. “How would they know I’m busy? How would they know I wouldn’t make time for them if they didn’t ask?”Shouyou continued without taking a breath, voice going up in pitch the angrier he got.“And then when I was back in town and would try to meet up with them, they’d always say they had something going on. But then they’d say they’d love to meet next time because it had ‘been so long’ but never actually set up a date or anything or responded to me when I tried to!!!” he exclaimed, pulling at his hair.“I just gave up,” he slumped, letting his hands fall to his lap. “They’re still really special to me, but I have to remember not everyone wants to be close friends like that. Still kinda hurts though," he admitted."I don’t know if they thought I was too much with my ‘fame’ and everything, if they thought I was arrogant, or just wouldn’t be able to relate to them anymore but…I’m kind of upset," he said helplessly. "I hate when people assume things about me," he sighed, blinking rapidly."I just…I always try to be myself. To be honest. What you see is what you get right?” he asked hypothetically.He cocked his head at his friend sitting on the other end of the couch.“Am I how you thought I’d be?” Shouyou asked.Kenma took a moment to collect his thoughts, having gotten used to just listening to him talk.“For the most part, yeah,” he answered quietly. "You’re…loud.”Shouyou laughed, not seeming to take offense.“And you are honest. Authentic,” he added more loudly. “Compassionate. Loyal.”“Awww Kenma, wanna marry me?”Kenma froze.“It was a joke!!!!!”“So you think marrying me would be a joke,” Kenma accused, just to fuck with him.“What!? No, no, that’s not what I meant!!!!!”Kenma stared at him blankly, knowing it would make him panic.“I’m so sorry, please forgive me!!!!” he clapped his hands together in prayer.“Gullible.”“Huh?”“That’s also how I imagined you might be when I first met you. Gullible. And I was right.”“What does that mean?”Kenma rolled his eyes. “It means you're clueless.”Shouyou flushed like it was a compliment. Maybe it had come out of Kenma's mouth softer than he had meant it to.“You don’t really think that,” Shouyou whispered with a blush.Kenma resisted the urge to laugh.“And if I did?”“Then I’d! Then I’d!! Um!!!” Shouyou thought hard. “Then I’d show you just how smart I am!!!”“And how would you do that?” Kenma taunted, thoroughly amused.“Uhhh,” Shouyou thought again. “Right now!” Shouyou shouted. “I’ll show you right now if you give me a set!!!”“You just want me to set for you,” Kenma complained.“No!” the redhead denied. “Well, maybe,” he thought with a finger on his lips. He sprung off the couch a second later. “But set for me! Anything!! Don’t tell me what, if it’s a two or three or a quick or anything! I’ll hit it!!”“Sure, Shouyou,” Kenma laughed, shaking his head and leading them out to his backyard.He was just appeasing him at this point. But he wouldn’t mind watching Shouyou spike. The redhead was always confident and precise when it came to volleyball and his work. It was admirable, sure, but it also made watching him struggle and fail much more satisfying. Kenma loved making him scramble, loved watching him fumble a dumbbell at the gym when Kenma teased him and pretended he hadn’t done it on purpose.Still, Shouyou was great like this, perfect even, when he was in his element, jumping up so high he was eclipsing the sun and casting a shadow over Kenma himself.Shouyou hit everything that Kenma gave him, even when he faked a one in front of him and ended up setting a five behind him. Shouyou met it anyway, bolting from his spot in front of Kenma to the back of him, like a snake, like a coyote, like he was hungry.Kenma wanted to eat him too. Shouyou looked delicious when he was like that, fangs bared, but the setter knew if he met him there, he wouldn’t come close to winning, and wouldn't leave unscathed. He would come down with the marks of Shouyou’s teeth on him, and Shouyou would sit there, belly full and satisfied, while Kenma was left aching, bleeding, bruised and empty. Maybe I wouldn’t mind, Kenma thought, while he watched Shouyou bring the ball down again with a big wham.But it was more fun to try and bring the feisty redhead down himself, to figure out the ways to make him tick, to take him apart like a clock, stabbing him with the needle used to tell the hour, telling Shouyou his time was up.And then maybe nurse him back to health, put the cogs back together lovingly, and keep a small metal part for himself, secretly, in his pocket.Shouyou was skilled. He was a pro. He could hit all of the most difficult sets Kenma gave him: the fast tempos, the slides, and even the quick that Kenma wasn’t sure he himself could pull off.In that case, the best way to confuse a pro would be to give them something overwhelmingly easy, wouldn’t it?Kenma set the ball high behind him. So high that he didn’t know what the set would be called, if anything. Shouyou had already darted the moment it left his hands, expecting another quick, but then he faltered when he realized his timing was off.Shouyou backed up a little and then redid his approach, but he was still too early, up in the air before the ball could come closer to the net.Shouyou’s fingertips still managed to graze the ball, but his palm swiped at air, and a flash of confusion flashed across his face. He still used enough force to push the ball into the net, but the angle, of course, was off. The ball had no chance of going over. Shouyou landed with a disappointed thud.A smug smile came to Kenma’s face. This was the most fun he’d had in a while.Shouyou turned his head to Kenma eerily, his shock and disappointment morphing into a menacing grin.Kenma had won, but he felt a little shaken by Shouyou’s expression, as if he’d fallen into the redhead’s trap all along. There wasn’t much time to process that, though, because Shouyou’s expression turned into a small wince of pain as he clutched his shoulder.“Oww haha, maybe went a little too hard,” he laughed nervously.“But you got me!!” he said, trying to shake off the pain.“Are you…okay?” Kenma asked, not used to seeing him so deflated.“Yea, just my shoulder hurting again,” he shrugged off.Again?“Is that…” Kenma wasn’t sure if he should bring it up. Shouyou always seemed nervous about the topic.“Yea, that’s the injury that made me stop playing,” Shouyou sighed, not beating around the bush.“Does it…does it still hurt?” Kenma asked, leading them back into his living room. Kenma sat on the couch while Shouyou sat on the floor below him. He always claimed that it was more comfortable.“All the time,” Shouyou answered. “So much that I almost forget about it, if that makes sense.”Kenma’s brow furrowed in concern. “So how do you…”“Physical therapy, the gym to build strength, pain medication,” he explained.“Ice and heat therapy and—ah!” he cried out suddenly.“Sorry, does that hurt?” Kenma asked. He had traced a finger over the bone poking through the back of his tank top, making Shouyou jump.“Oh, don’t worry about it!” he reassured, turning his head a little to face him. “That’s not it. I’m just…not used to you touching me,” Shouyou blushed.“Is it bad?”“No, it’s good!!!! It’s so good,” Shouyou reassured with red ears. “I like any way you touch me.”He liked any way that he touched him?Kenma looked at him curiously, running a light finger over the spot again and digging the pad of his thumb lightly into the curve under the spot he could feel through his shirt.Shouyou winced a bit, this time from actual pain it seemed, but he didn’t tell him to stop, just turned his head back around to face the blank TV.“Do massages help?” Kenma asked.“Well, more—ow—more for pain relief,” he explained, becoming breathless as Kenma slipped his hand under the side of the tank top to dig his thumb more firmly into the skin.He liked feeling the toughness there, the muscle behind it, and the edges of the bone that looked like a little wing, where feathers would emerge and Shouyou would take flight. He was like a little baby bird in his hands, trying to sit still, as he repaired his wings. Kenma knew he wasn’t really doing anything, wasn’t fixing anything, but he just wanted to touch that part of him, really just to see if he could, if he’d allow him.Shouyou hadn’t protested once, not even when he winced from pain.“Does that feel good?” Kenma asked curiously.Shouyou nodded.“It doesn’t hurt?”“I mean, it hurts,” Shouyou laughed.“But it feels good,” he explained with a sigh as Kenma dug his thumb hard into the skin.“Like a good burn during a workout. When you know it’ll be worth it after.”Kenma kept working the skin there, falling into a rhythm of pressing his fingers along different parts of his back and shoulder. Shouyou had started to shift around and occasionally twitch, breath coming out loud and hot.When Kenma gave him a particularly hard dig of his thumb, getting caught in some type of other world where there was only Shouyou’s skin and nothing else, Shouyou jolted up ramrod straight with a harsh exhale.“Kenma,” he panted suddenly. “I’m sorry, but can you stop?” he asked desperately. “Please??”Kenma’s hands stilled. Shouyou wasn’t turning to face him, so he couldn’t see what expression he was making. He leaned forward to try and see but instead caught a glimpse of something moving up slightly in his shorts.Oh. Shouyou was achingly hard. Did Kenma do that? Had he done that? How?Shouyou blushed and turned his head to face him, though he averted his eyes downward in embarrassment, as if he could hear Kenma’s thoughts.“Don’t make fun of me,” he whispered. “I wanted to take it as long as I could,” he explained.“It feels nice when you touch me,” the redhead sighed. “I just get…really excited around you,” he admitted. “All the time actually,” he added.Kenma blinked, taking in his admission, feeling it wash over him and then pool in his gut.“I like when you're excited…” Kenma finally murmured a moment later.“Makes up for my lack of energy,” he explained quietly.Shouyou burned so bright it was blinding. Nobody else in the world was that bright, not even the sun. Even the thought of Shouyou dimming his light made Kenma feel weird and off.“The day you stop being excited is the day I’ll get bored of you,” Kenma threatened, the tone of his voice having a sharp edge to it and making Shouyou stand at attention.“So do you really want me to stop?” he asked, hovering his hands just above his shoulder, where he could feel the warmth emanate off it.“N-no,” Shouyou hedged. “Just didn’t wanna embarrass myself if I,” he stuttered. “I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”“I—ahhh!!!” he cried out as Kenma pressed his palm into the spot he knew hurt the most.“Do you really think I’m uncomfortable?” Kenma dared.Shouyou shook his head frantically, turning his head back to stare straight ahead to try and endure the pain. Kenma dug his thumb into the crevice appreciatively, and Shouyou groaned properly, long and low.“Does it really feel that good?” Kenma asked with interest, liking the throaty way Shouyou’s voice had gone.“Anything with you feels good,” Shouyou rasped, turning to look up at him a little.His gaze was soft, though there was this little strain to his face, like he was trying to keep himself together. Kenma blew a small puff of air at the space between his eyebrows, like that’d get him to relax the furrow in his brow.Shouyou laughed a little at that, turning his head back to face forward.“As long as you don’t mind,” Shouyou murmured.“I like watching you enjoy yourself,” Kenma murmured. “Did you forget?”“Ah,” Shouyou went. Whether it was in regards to his words or his fingers coming back to dig into the muscle, he didn’t know.Kenma pushed his fingers and palm into the spot with renewed force, drawing out moans from the redhead like his life depended on it, like he was feasting on it.“Kenma,” Shouyou turned his head back, throat raspy and eyes cloudy. “I might—” his head whipped back down to where his erection was bobbing up and down in his shorts with each touch.“Aah! A-ah, ” he broke out, unable to finish his sentence when Kenma pressed into him.“It’s okay,” Kenma said. “I know.”He wished he could rip out his scapula and hear him cry. He wanted to know how much blood there would be, sink his teeth into it. He wanted to know if he’d beg, if he’d plead.But that wasn’t what was happening.Part of Kenma wished Shouyou was fragile, but he wasn’t, meat and muscle covering the sides of the bone and making it hard to access, making Kenma have to dig into his skin underneath it to get to the tissue, to the knots below it.Shouyou whined as he dug his thumb into him, as if he could carve him, carve him into the perfect little statue that would eventually crumble under his hands, the same hands that created him destroying him.Kenma didn’t tell him any of this of course, working silently, not wanting to get sent to a mental hospital. But he felt like there was a small part of Shouyou that knew anyways, the part of Shouyou that let him do things like this, encouraged him to with small glances and coy smiles, revealing his throat to him as if it was nothing, as if he was fine with Kenma slitting it.Kenma’s nails scratched him a little, feeling the light way Shouyou twitched under him, and then he pinched him, and Shouyou cried out. Kenma used his other hand to brace him as he dug his thumb hard into his flesh, and Shouyou was writhing and crying out bitten back things Kenma couldn’t make out. Shouyou was rutting his hips up against nothing, mumbling wryly, and then his hips stuttered, and then he was coming, or something like that Kenma assumed, as he used the palm of his hand to press hard into the spot right where his neck and shoulder met and made Shouyou moan.He was letting out quick short breaths accompanied by high pitched whimpers, wriggling around, and then letting out long breaths until he calmed and the tent in his shorts lowered. The fabric was now wet. Kenma could see a darker spot, well a couple of them actually, painting the front of his crotch.Shouyou turned to grin at him sheepishly, nervously, embarrassedly, and Kenma reassured him by turning his touch light, brushing the whole of his hand over the spot until Shouyou was sighing in contentment and relaxation and starting to droop.“Shouyou,” Kenma whispered. “Don’t ever get boring.”Shouyou nodded languidly, head slowly falling back into Kenma’s lap. Kenma caught him, placing his hands around the back of his head to cushion him against his bony legs. Touching him like that, and having him rest on him, was a bit too much though, making Kenma feel antsy, so he shifted back and slipped a pillow under Shouyou’s head instead.He watched Shouyou’s breath even out, eyelashes sticking up prettily as his eyes fluttered closed, a small smile ghosting his lips.He wasn’t asleep and they both knew it. The both of them knew that Kenma would just sit there, watching him, for as long as he could.