Gamerella (Kenhina Cinderella AU)

Chapter Fifteen:

  Kuroo returned the next day to help with the chores- or at least try and help were Kenma lets him. Luckily his horrid family was going into town for the entire day and would be staying overnight for work! So they had the house all to themselves. Kenma saw his stepfamily off, bowing until they were out of sight then gesturing for Kuroo to come out of the bushes. "Let's get these done quick. Then we can relax!"

"Well if you come inside we can get started."

"Oh right." Chores only took about three hours with both of them working separately- Kuroo on all the things he couldn't break and/or poison. The cats would of helped but they had disappeared that morning, leaving only a small apple and a leaf behind. Why? They weren't very sure. But whenever they did leave they always left something on their bed.

At the stroke of mid day Kenma happily collapsed on the grass in the backyard. Trying to remember the last time he was able to just, lay down in the middle of the day. Kuroo propped himself up under the apple tree's shade, "My hands hurt. Why does your family own so much silver?"

"I don't know. Why does your family own so many boxes?"

"Touché. So what do you want to do? They wont be back until tomorrow so we can do whatever." They laid there for way felt like forever, enjoying the silence and the breeze. Kenma almost dozed off if it weren't for Kuroo's sudden question, "I didn't catch what you said."

"I asked if the platform is still in this tree?"

"Yeah, we never took it down and Stepfather doesn't know about it." Kuroo jumped up from the grass and rounded the tree and peered up, stopping the ladder. He jumped catching the rope ladder and pulled it down, "I haven't been up here in ages. Come one."

"Alright." Kenma followed his friend up the ladder and was swarmed with nostalgia. It was old, no longer smooth and shiny- but it looked almost exactly the same. Even the small wooden cabinet his father had put in the trunk so Kenma could put his 'treasures' that he found. It was empty however. Branches jutted out every each way some with ripe red apples waiting to be eaten in its shady barrier. Their names were still edged out on the main bark of the tree, messy from their small childhood hands. Kenma ran his hand over the edgings, eyes distant in the past of simpler times. "Hey, remember when i tripped over the rail and broke my arm? What was i doing?"

"You were pretending to be a knight fighting a thief."

"Oh yeah." Kuroo plucked two apples from the branches and handed one to Kenma as he settled down next to him. They ate the sweet apples in silence, minds in the simple past. Kuroo ended up dozing off with his head not he railing and his arms crossed. Kenma took the chance to absentmindedly stick leaves into his bed hair. He'd added his eleventh leaf when he heard a sound in the distance. First fearing it was his step family returning early, but it wasn't the sound of a carriage which can easily be heard form down the road. It was lighter and sounded like parts of a tune. "Kuroo, wake up. Do you hear that?"

"Wah-. . . Sounds like a flute. I'm going back to bed." Kuroo mumbled out, throwing an arm over his eyes. Kenma listened as the tune got closer, almost sounded like it was passing the house. Even the tune sounded familiar. He peeked out a break in the branches to the road, he spotted a mop of ginger hair skipping down the road. "Its Shouyou." That woke Kuroo up, "No way. Really?" He stood behind Kenma peeking over his head. "We should call him over or he may be standing at that door for hours."

"he wouldn't wait that long." Kuroo just raised an eyebrow but stayed silent. He climbed down the ladder half way and cupped his hands around his mouth, "Hey Kid! Were back here!" Shouyou paused, peeking around the side of the manor seeing Kuroo hanging there waving his hands. Shouyou put his flute back into his vest and sprinted down the small stone path surrounded by flowers. "Hey! You must be Kuroo! Kenma told me about you."

"Aww Kenma, are you telling your friend about me? That's sweet."

"Shut up Kuroo." Kenma grumbled peeking through the branches. "Hello Shouyou."

"Hey Kenma! I came to see how you were doing!" Hinata waved with a smile, Kenma felt Kuroo's smirk and threw a stick at him. "Come on up." Kuroo went back up the ladder and pulled it up before Hinata could grab it. "Hey!"

"Kuroo."

"What? I'm just teasing him a little. I'll put the ladder do-" he was cut off when Hinata took a step back before jumping, arms above his head. Their eyes widened when his hands made contact with the side of the wood platform hooking his hands so he could pull himself up. He vaulted over the railing with a bright smile on his face, "Wow, this is cool. Why are you staring at me like that?"

"You just jumped like, ten feet in the air."

"Really? It felt higher then that." Hinata chuckled, sitting on the railing and plucking an apple from a branch. "This tree is pretty cool, we've got a few apple tree's were i live, but we mostly have grape vines and peach trees. My mother loves peaches." He took a big bite and slid down next to Kenma to feel his forehead. "Your fevers gone, thats good. I was worried when i left last night."

"Im doing fine." Kenma sat next to the ginger and Kuroo sat on Kenma's other side. "I'm Kuroo, but you already knew that. Your Shouyou right?"

"Yes i am. Its a pleasure to make your aquatints." Hinata placed a hand on his chest and bowed his head. "Uh, you too." Both of the boys were caught off guard by Hinata's politeness, neither having ever been addressed that way. They sent each other curios looks, "Where do you live Shrimpy?"

"The castle." Hinata said nonchalantly, taking another calm bite but on the inside he was panicking at his slip up. Trying to come up with any kind of excuse or story while trying to seem as calm as he possible could. "Hey, what are you doing up here today? I thought your- whatever he is-"

"Stepfather."

"Stepfather. Would have you working again." The frown on Hinata's face when he addressed Kenma's Stepfather made both of them chuckle. "All of the brats are out for two days, so we have all today and tomorrow to do whatever we want!"

"That's great! You deserve some rest Kenma! And now you can make up on your promise!"

"Promise?" Kuroo asked, smirking as he elbowed Kenma- who slapped him away. "It was that when he finally got a day off, he'd teach me how to play chess, I'd teach him how to fence- and we'd go for a walk in the woods." He threw an arm around Kenma's small shoulders with a bright smile on his face, and Kenma couldn't help the smile that crept on his as well. "Yeah, that sounds great."

.

.

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"Wait a minute why didn't you ask me to teach you how to fence Kenma!"

"Your not the best teacher Kuroo."