[ kenma almost--almost-- misses it. he's got his head buried deep in his iphone, quietly sidestepping people on the sidewalk towards the train station close to his school. it's a crowded commute full of other students, and trying to keep his berth makes kenma sort of uncomfortable: that was something he always relied on kuro the cat for. after a really, really long day, when there were too many people and hands and things in his space, kenma could find comfort unwinding on his bed with his psp and kuro curled up at his side, sleek black body fit along the curve of his stomach. spending time with kuro almost always brought him down from any anxious tides that filled him up (though admittedly, when he appeared as a human in his bedroom, kenma felt nothing but anxiety) and he was missing it. he was missing it something fierce. he missed his stupid cat, he even missed the stupid person his cat turned out to be, who stayed with him for a day to explain things before they got in contact with his family. kuro--kuroo, though kenma doubts he'll ever call him that--was just as comforting as a human as he was as a cat, once the initial shock wore off. that was strange, because kenma, as a rule, does not like people, but he liked kuroo. he liked the way he still seemed catlike, the way he moved, the way he didn't quite have all of the proper ways people acted (or maybe he did and he chose not to use them. it still didn't stop kenma from letting him sleep in his bed that night, though.) kuro just made kenma feel, for arguably the first time in his entire life, comfortable.
so that's why kenma thinks he hallucinates it at first.
he stares at a black cat that's crossed his path kind of dazedly, when he finishes his match on love live. hm, he thinks, very funny, because the universe is playing some kind of cosmic joke on him that he'd run into a black cat a few days after his own went back to his life in the real world. kenma's catlike eyes stare back at the cat for a moment, golden brown narrowing just a little as he studies him, and pretends his heart doesn't drop a little when he doesn't spot kuro's familiar cowlick.
there was no reason for him to get his hopes up. shouldering his backpack, he keeps walking--though, admittedly, he still walks beside the wall where the cat was sitting. ]
[ Kuroo should, maybe, care a little bit about what's going on in the kingdom. He should, probably, care about his court. But these strangers are not his kingdom, they aren't his court, they aren't his home. His home is with a boy who dyed his hair so that he wouldn't stand out quite so much - no one understood the logic, but Kuroo did, he understood what he was trying to do - and who buried his nose in his video games. Who became Kuroo's whole world. So, in return, he tried to protect him from the outside world.
(This did lead to Kuroo getting in trouble, more than once, because he was more than willing to defend Kenma with his claws and teeth while he had them. But it was fine, this was how they had made the friends that they did.)
And it's, truthfully, why he leaves and seeks him out. He could use this ability to shift forms to his advantage, use it to help his kingdom, but... well, again. His kingdom is in Kenma.
When he keeps walking, Kuroo meows again, deep and almost in a purr, calling after him before he trots along the wall to follow. He doesn't just stroll, though, not in that liquid movement that he had grown into over the years as a cat. Instead, he bounds along, great leaps and jumps until he hops off the wall smack in front of him, golden eyes bright and smug but maybe a little sad underneath it all.
But rather than linger on that, he winds through Kenma's legs, rubbing his head up against his shin and calf as he circles around and around, and - there, his fur fluffs up on the one side of his head, the familiar swoop of bedhead that he's never been able to get rid of. ]
[ the first thing kenma feels is a tinge of bitterness, something not nice buried deep in his chest--is he going to feel like this about cats for the rest of his life? all he can think of is kuro, stupid kuro who knew his moods and his issues, who provided calm and peace when nothing else did. stupid kuro who turned out to be kuroo, the prince who had the same damn air to him. kenma found the conversation between them just as comfortable as he had the cat sleeping at the foot of his bed every day, and he'd been--confused. confused, annoyed... hurt, even, somewhere deep in him.
he almost trips as the cat winds through his legs; it's only the time he did have with kuro that keeps him from falling flat on his face, and kenma hurriedly holds his phone up over his head to keep from dropping it. automatically, he says, ] Kuro, stop--
[ and then he pauses.
now that the cat's moved around a little, he sees it; the cowlick. as a prince, kuroo had had the same ridiculous bedhead that he had as a cat, sticking up all over the place and falling over his eyes like it refused to move. it's unmistakable, and kenma's left staring down with golden eyes still wide, a brief moment of perfect realization playing across his face before he steps back, enough to get kuro out of his feet. ]
...Kuro. [ he says, softly, and there's this seizing up in his chest that he thinks must be happiness, unbridled warmth and excitement that feels like a tide falling through him. he tries to sound a little put off, but he ends up dropping down to his knees anyway, iphone tucked back into his pocket as he examines the cat he thought was lost after all. he's not even sure what to say--there are too many things in his head all at once--and kenma bites his lip, mumbling: ] What are you doing here?
[ Kuroo steps easily through Kenma's legs, weaving with all the practice of ten years under his furry belt. Though he knows he'll probably get reprimanded by quite a few people for just suddenly dropping in on Kenma, it's not like he could've stayed away, especially since Kenma was just... expected to go back to his regular life. But that isn't right, and it's not fair. Not when he'd gone to school with him for years, had seen how difficult it could be for him. And suddenly, Kuroo was gone, and his security blanket was gone.
And so was Kuroo's.
As realization seems to sink in, and Kenma steps back, the cat-shaped prince steps deftly off his shoes, staring up at him with obviously pleasure. The purr gives him away, loud and practically vibrating through him, happiness blatant. And he can see it in Kenma, too, especially since he puts away his phone and comes down to his level.
With no hesitation, he steps forward and into his space, going onto his haunches and reaching up to take Kenma's face with his forelegs, nuzzling at him. It's the easiest way he can say I'm here for you, obviously, without transforming smack in the middle of the sidewalk. He's not too sure if he'd retain the clothes he shifted with initially, and anyways, for as common as magic is... well, a random prince in the middle of the street? Not the smartest idea. ]
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the saddest sootball (also the saddest kitten)
so that's why kenma thinks he hallucinates it at first.
he stares at a black cat that's crossed his path kind of dazedly, when he finishes his match on love live. hm, he thinks, very funny, because the universe is playing some kind of cosmic joke on him that he'd run into a black cat a few days after his own went back to his life in the real world. kenma's catlike eyes stare back at the cat for a moment, golden brown narrowing just a little as he studies him, and pretends his heart doesn't drop a little when he doesn't spot kuro's familiar cowlick.
there was no reason for him to get his hopes up. shouldering his backpack, he keeps walking--though, admittedly, he still walks beside the wall where the cat was sitting. ]
MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER
(This did lead to Kuroo getting in trouble, more than once, because he was more than willing to defend Kenma with his claws and teeth while he had them. But it was fine, this was how they had made the friends that they did.)
And it's, truthfully, why he leaves and seeks him out. He could use this ability to shift forms to his advantage, use it to help his kingdom, but... well, again. His kingdom is in Kenma.
When he keeps walking, Kuroo meows again, deep and almost in a purr, calling after him before he trots along the wall to follow. He doesn't just stroll, though, not in that liquid movement that he had grown into over the years as a cat. Instead, he bounds along, great leaps and jumps until he hops off the wall smack in front of him, golden eyes bright and smug but maybe a little sad underneath it all.
But rather than linger on that, he winds through Kenma's legs, rubbing his head up against his shin and calf as he circles around and around, and - there, his fur fluffs up on the one side of his head, the familiar swoop of bedhead that he's never been able to get rid of. ]
;A;
[ the first thing kenma feels is a tinge of bitterness, something not nice buried deep in his chest--is he going to feel like this about cats for the rest of his life? all he can think of is kuro, stupid kuro who knew his moods and his issues, who provided calm and peace when nothing else did. stupid kuro who turned out to be kuroo, the prince who had the same damn air to him. kenma found the conversation between them just as comfortable as he had the cat sleeping at the foot of his bed every day, and he'd been--confused. confused, annoyed... hurt, even, somewhere deep in him.
he almost trips as the cat winds through his legs; it's only the time he did have with kuro that keeps him from falling flat on his face, and kenma hurriedly holds his phone up over his head to keep from dropping it. automatically, he says, ] Kuro, stop--
[ and then he pauses.
now that the cat's moved around a little, he sees it; the cowlick. as a prince, kuroo had had the same ridiculous bedhead that he had as a cat, sticking up all over the place and falling over his eyes like it refused to move. it's unmistakable, and kenma's left staring down with golden eyes still wide, a brief moment of perfect realization playing across his face before he steps back, enough to get kuro out of his feet. ]
...Kuro. [ he says, softly, and there's this seizing up in his chest that he thinks must be happiness, unbridled warmth and excitement that feels like a tide falling through him. he tries to sound a little put off, but he ends up dropping down to his knees anyway, iphone tucked back into his pocket as he examines the cat he thought was lost after all. he's not even sure what to say--there are too many things in his head all at once--and kenma bites his lip, mumbling: ] What are you doing here?
weeps
And so was Kuroo's.
As realization seems to sink in, and Kenma steps back, the cat-shaped prince steps deftly off his shoes, staring up at him with obviously pleasure. The purr gives him away, loud and practically vibrating through him, happiness blatant. And he can see it in Kenma, too, especially since he puts away his phone and comes down to his level.
With no hesitation, he steps forward and into his space, going onto his haunches and reaching up to take Kenma's face with his forelegs, nuzzling at him. It's the easiest way he can say I'm here for you, obviously, without transforming smack in the middle of the sidewalk. He's not too sure if he'd retain the clothes he shifted with initially, and anyways, for as common as magic is... well, a random prince in the middle of the street? Not the smartest idea. ]