chapter fourteen: chlosyne janais
Once the guys return from inside the stadium, the bus begins moving again. This time you stop at a gas station where Tsukishima and Kuroo fill up the large tank. Bokuto attempts to help them out while you and Osamu go inside the store.
The two of you split up and walk around. Osamu tries to look for a radio while you search for some healthy food to make up for that the guys bought on previous stops.
As you turn the corner of an aisle, you smell something amazing. Your foot suddenly kicks an empty plastic container. You bend down and look at the contents. It seems like some kind of pie. It was eaten recently and smells absolutely divine.
"Hey, don't you fucking move you little shit!" Osamu's voice breaks out. The pie thief must still be here. They probably heard you and Osamu walk in.
You rush over to Osamu, hoping to cool him down when you see his gun pointing towards someone's head. Just on the other side of the aisle is a man with bleached hair that looks in serious need of a touch-up.
"Why do you always wanna kill people?" you sigh as you reach for Osamu's hand and slowly lower the gun. "Hey, are you the one who found the pie? Mind sharing where you got it? Was it somewhere in here?"
"Bite me," he mutters back.
"Ouch," Osamu chuckles.
You pass him a look as if to say 'not helping' before putting your attention back to the newest stranger. However, he's no longer in the store. "Did you find that radio yet?" you ask Osamu.
"Yeah, got one," he says as he holds up a bright pink handheld radio.
"Great, let's go."
The two of you rush out of the store. You look around for the pie thief, but he's nowhere to be found. Instead of going on a wild goose chase for pie that's probably all eaten by now, you go back to the bus.
As you walk around the bus to where Kuroo, Bokuto, and Tsukishima are, to your surprise, you see the pie thief. He's just standing absolutely still, staring at your friends.
"Hey, you!" you shout at him, startling him and also catching the attention of your other friends. "Yeah! All I want to know is where the damn pie is! Did you eat it all?"
Still, he doesn't answer you. He's now caught the attention of Kuroo who is staring straight back at him.
"You know what guy?" Bokuto whispers as he nudges Kuroo's arm. "He's kinda creeping me out."
"Kenma?" Kuroo mutters as he tilts his head to the side like a dog. "What are you doing here?"
"I, uh..."
"I thought you got out of here. What the hell happened?" Kuroo continues to press, still keeping his distance from the pie eater.
"Who are these people you're with? That isn't a good decision," he shakes his head.
"Well it's better than being alone. But you didn't answer my question..."
"Hey, uh, Kuroo, I think I saw some live crabs in the store. Wanna check and see if they're edible for us?" you interrupt.
Kuroo nods and silently walks off, the stranger following behind him like a lost, stray kitten.
KUROO'S P.O.V.
I shake my head as I walk into the store. I know there are no damn crabs in the convenience store but if that's really Kenma walking behind me, he's got some explaining to do. I stop just behind the check-out counter when I hear him quietly approach me.
"Kuroo?" he whispers as though he's about to wake up some sort of sleeping monster. In his defense, he doesn't know how I'll react.
"It's been over six months," I sigh, too tired to even turn around. "You said you were leaving. What the hell?"
"I was supposed to go. I really was. I booked my flight to leave just a day after the outage but when I was sitting in the airport... I couldn't do it. I just couldn't move to some strange new place and start all over," he explains.
That does sound like him. He always refused to go to places he's never been to before. "Why didn't you come find me?"
"How would you suppose I do that? Kuroo, you were in jail. I couldn't just run in there and get you! I'm sorry," he says before looking down at his feet. I turn around to see him standing perfectly still.
"So now what?" I shrug. "Do we just keep acting like we don't know each other and go separate ways? I'm not one to forget, you know, and my friends are gonna ask."
"Your friends? Do you really know them? Are they trustworthy?" he then asks.
"They are," I nod. "Think you might want to stick around for a while?"
"For how long?" he whispers.
"As long as you want to stay," I shrug. "I won't make you stay."
"I just found you again, I don't want to go. Don't leave me again, Kuroo," he says to me which practically breaks my heart. I haven't seen Kenma since he last visited me while I was in jail. I only knew he was leaving the country after the outage because of a message I received just after the outage occurred- before the prisoners all escaped, me included.
"I won't," I shake my head, stepping close enough to him to wrap my arms around him. "I'll always be here for you, okay?"
"Your new friends won't mind, will they? I think that one girl might try to kill me if I don't give her some pie."
"Well then why don't you give her some?" I ask a bit confused over the whole pie situation.
"I can't. I ate it all."