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Chapter Text

Crash!

"Kenma! One of the cats probably got into something and I’m cleaning the bathroom, go check on them!"

The small child grunted in acknowledgment at his mother’s words, setting aside his controller after he paused his game. He pushed himself off of the couch and trudged down the hallway in the direction of the noise, ready to remove whichever cat got herself stuck in the cabinets again. 

With a sigh he stepped into the kitchen, looking around for signs of which cabinet was holding his pet prisoner. Kenma nearly jumped out of his skin when he made eye contact with glowing amber eyes staring from outside the window, a small gasp escaping him. The eyes widened when Kenma moved towards the door, curious as to who was outside. 

Fearlessly, Kenma stepped outside, closing the door behind himself. He took a moment to bask in the tranquility that was his neighborhood at two thirty in the morning, breathing a sigh of contentment before he continued on with his mission. Turning towards his kitchen window he noticed that the voyeur was no longer there, nor was there any trace that they had been there. Scrunching his nose, Kenma stayed outside for another ten minutes, slowly scanning his backyard with his senses in hopes of finding the trespasser. When no sign of the other turned up he decided with a shrug to head back inside to finish playing his game.

His mother was waiting for him on the couch, tilting her head curiously when he walked back in. The child responded with a shrug, sitting down next to his mother. “Thought I saw something outside.”

The woman tensed, staring at her son intensely as he unpaused his video game. “Kenma, be careful. I heard through the grapevine that there are hunters in our town now.”

Kenma nodded, not taking his eyes off his game. “I will be.” A moment later he continued speaking. “But I heard they were only targeting feral vampires, the dangerous ones.”

He was pulled into his mother’s side, the woman slowly carding her fingers through his hair. “While that may be true that they are going after feral vampires, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful. And Kenma, feral vampires are not any more dangerous than those of us who have community. They are more often than not scared children who were abandoned after being turned or whose parents were murdered and they were left to fend for themselves.” His mother sighed, looking towards the windows. “What did you see outside?”

“Eyes.” Kenma smiled when he beat the level he was on, queuing up the next one. “They were glowing, too.”

His mother was quiet for a moment, hand still petting her son’s hair. “Kenma, if you see those eyes again, let me know.” She tore her gaze away from the window, instead looking upon her child. “I will help you search for their owners.”

“Okay.” Kenma nodded upon hearing her voice in his head, thinking to himself that he probably would never see those eyes again.

Naturally, Kenma was proven wrong the next night…and the next…and every night for two weeks straight. He never got a clear view of who the eyes belonged to and he never had enough time to alert his mom before the eyes and their owner disappeared, only to reappear the following night. It was getting frustrating for the young vampire, if not because he couldn’t catch the perpetrator then because he couldn’t focus on his games while being watched. 

On the fifteenth night of being on the lookout for his stalker Kenma finally caught a break. Well, he caught the eyes breaking into his kitchen, startling the intruder into running. Thankfully, Kenma could be quite quick when he wanted to be, so he got to the open door before the stalker. When he blocked off their escape he heard a growl, instinctively jumping in front of the window only to crash into his intruder. 

“Mom! The eyes are in the kitchen!”

After they both recovered from slamming heads they began to grapple and wrestle with one another, neither being willing to admit defeat. As their fighting continued Kenma was able to get a better look at the person behind the glowing eyes. He could deduce that the one stalking his house was most likely a male child around his age and he was absolutely filthy . His black hair was matted in some places while in others it seemed to defy gravity, sticking up in unnatural ways. There were streaks of dirt, blood, and who knows what else on his face and arms, the nails on his hands were overgrown and sharp, looking more like claws. When he snarled at Kenma he noticed he was missing one of his upper fangs, confirming what Kenma had already begun to suspect.

His stalker was also a vampire.

Hands on the backs of their shirts tore the squabbling vampires apart, the unnamed one instantly retreating to the corner furthest from Kenma and his mother to hiss at them, his defenses still raised. Kenma bared his fangs in retaliation, seriously pissed off that his night was being spent fighting with his stalker.

Kenma’s mother flicked his nose, earning a scowl in return. “Kenma, behave.”

“Behave!? He was the one that broke in and attacked!”

“Let me handle this.” Kenma huffed, crossing his arms to pout at his mom as she turned to smile at the hissing vampire in the corner of their kitchen. “Hello. My name is Kozume Kamiko and this is my son, Kenma. What’s your name?”

The cornered vampire snarled, backing up his crouching body further into the corner. His eyes were still glowing and seemed to hold a dangerous and unpredictable glint to them as he switched his focus from Kamiko to Kenma and back, looking ready to bolt the second he was given the chance. It seemed he was about to do just that when a small meow drew the room’s occupants to one of the Kozume family cats, the calico kitten strolling lazily into the room and towards the corner where the outsider was crouched.

“No -!”

Kamiko held up a hand to stop her son from interfering, watching intensely as the kitten rubbed fearlessly up against the leg of their unexpected guest. Her gaze softened when she saw the vampire tilt his head curiously, the snarl on his face morphing into innocent confusion. Cautiously, the small vampire reached towards the kitten, flinching when the cat met him halfway and bumped his hand with her head. The kitten didn’t let up, purring as she continued to demand pets and love from the newcomer. 

A tentative smile appeared on the vampire's face as he slowly started to pet the cat, the grin growing when a few more of the Kozume cats came over to him to also get their share of love. They all stayed like that for a long time; the cats taking turns being pet, the vampire smiling at the animals, Kamiko and Kenma watching the scene play out. Kamiko sighed in relief, slowly moving closer to her cats and the guest until she was about a yard away. She knelt down in front of the child, keeping her movements slow and obvious.

Upon noticing the woman the child tensed up once more, pulling the kittens closer to him as he hissed once more. Kamiko backed up a tiny bit before speaking once more. “The cats are nice, aren’t they?”

Another snarl came from the boy, his defenses rising bit by bit. His gaze went from Kamiko to Kenma, sizing the two of them up. Kenma noticed this and shook his head, shocked when the other child huffed and pouted, not unlike what Kenma himself had done earlier. Seeing his response gave Kenma an idea, the boy crouching next to his mother. He pointed at himself. “Kenma.” When the vampire tilted his head with a furrowed brow once more he tried again, repeating his actions. “Kenma.”

Understanding what her son was doing, Kamiko followed in his footsteps and pointed to herself. “Kamiko.” She took it a step further and began pointing to each cat as she named them, all while Kenma watched the other child’s face for signs of understanding.

Deciding to risk it after his mom finished naming their pets, Kenma cautiously reached for the boy’s hand, smiling when he flinched but didn’t attack. He used the child’s hand to point at his chest, the unvoiced question in his eyes. It took a few moments for the child to respond. When he did speak his voice was rough and raspy from prolonged disuse. “...Tetsurou.”

The mother and son smiled in encouragement, Kenma getting out of his crouching position to sit criss crossed in front of Tetsurou. He gave his mom a look, Kamiko nodding before leaving the kitchen, trusting Kenma to take care of the situation. Once the two boys were alone he returned his attention to Tetsurou, taking the chance to get a better look at just how frail and unkept he was. He weighed his options in his mind, taking a deep breath before he bit the bullet.

“Tetsurou…are you hungry?”

Chapter Text

Kenma regretted offering help for the first few months after they took Tetsurou in. He felt as if he was losing his mind now that he had to share his space with another young vampire, one that clearly had no understanding of boundaries, social etiquette, or possessed any common sense. The number of times that Kenma had to grit his teeth and force himself to be patient with Tetsurou was frankly absurd, especially considering he had very valid reasons to be frustrated by the other vampiric child. 

“Tetsurou, for the last time, you need to take a bath. You smell disgusting.” Kenma hissed from his spot against the bathroom door, keeping both himself and Tetsurou locked in. Tetsurou was perched on the sink across the room from Kenma, low growls coming from his throat as he bared his teeth, showing off how much his adult fang has grown since he came to live with the Kozumes. Kenma rolled his eyes. “Yes, you’re very scary, now get in the water.”

Kenma braced himself when he noticed the subtle twitch of Tetsurou’s legs, preparing for impact. Tetsurou lunged at Kenma, intending to drag him to the ground so he could escape. Unfortunately for the boy it did not go as he had planned. Allowing himself to be pulled to the floor, Kenma used Tetsurou’s momentum against him, rolling them over and back up to their feet in one smooth motion. As soon as he was standing again Kenma dug his shoulder into Tetsurou’s torso, flipping him over and into the bathtub. 

Since he was unable to hide his triumphant snicker when he saw the miserable look on Tetsurou’s face, Kenma really should’ve expected the face full of water that was splashed in his direction. But alas he was caught off guard by the splash, therefore he failed to sense the incoming danger until it was too late.

“Ow!” Kenma yelped, hands flying up to his face as his vision was  literally ripped away from him. He coughed on the blood that dripped into his mouth from his wounds, feeling the energy in the room shift. Without missing a beat Kenma snatched Tetsurou by the scruff of his neck when he tried to run past him, vowing to never forget this moment for the rest of his very long life as he slammed Tetsurou back into the bathtub. 

“Hold still.” The younger vampire grunted, holding the other one under the water by the back of his neck while he went about bathing him, dodging all of Tetsurou’s clumsy attempts to break free again. “It would be so easy to just end you right here…if only drowning you would actually kill you. Then maybe I could finally have some peace back.”

Tetsurou went still in the water, ceasing his struggle against Kenma and allowing the younger to finish his bath before his eyes grew back. 

Pulling the drain, Kenma hauled Tetsurou out of the water and dropped a towel on his head. He dried himself off first, grumbling about his clothes now being soaking wet before he went over and assisted the still immobile Tetsurou, guiding him out of the bathroom and over to their now shared bedroom. Kenma assisted Tetsurou in getting dressed in some of the clothes Kamiko had bought for him, tugging him downstairs to find the mentioned woman returning home from work.

“Hi kiddos, how was your day?” Kamiko smiled, slipping her shoes off before she greeted both her boys with a kiss to the hair, her smile brightening when Tetsurou flinched but didn’t dodge her kiss like he had been doing since the start of his stay. She chuckled when she felt Tetsurou’s damp hair, turning in amusement to her son and his pinched expression. “I see you’ve managed to bathe Tetsurou…and sustained some new battle scars?”

Kenma huffed, wiping the remaining blood smudges from under his eyes. “Turns out he likes being smelly and hates bathing, so this will be fun living with him.” Kenma glared at Tetsurou, sticking his tongue out when the other child bared his teeth and growled once more. 

Kamiko laughed, walking past the two to put her bags down on the coffee table. “Are you boys hungry? I stopped at the bank on my way home, so we have options now.” Kamiko pulled out a box of blood pouches and set them on the table, looking back up at the kids expectantly. “If you two can play nice and keep the violence to a minimum I’ll let you have dessert before bed.”

The two boys shared a glance, Kenma sighing when he saw the confusion on Tetsurou’s face. He pointed at the blood pouches and then at himself and Tetsurou, nodding with a smile. He did it a second time, but when he pointed between himself and Tetsurou he bared his teeth and growled for a second before pointing back at the blood pouches and shaking his head. Tetsurou took a moment to process what Kenma was saying, nodding once he understood. Kenma smiled at the other boy, accepting the two blood pouches from his mother and handing one to Tetsurou. 

“Truce?” 

Tetsurou took the blood pouch, ripping the top off to drink. When he was finished he gave Kenma a tentative smile. “...truce.”

Kamiko watched the interaction with pride, taking the rest of the pouches into the kitchen to store away. When she finished her task and returned to the two she found them seated on the couch, Kenma loading up a video game while Tetsurou watched him in curious silence. She took a seat next to Tetsurou on the couch after grabbing a book, content to read next to the children until it was time for them to rest.

That is how they spent their evening, Kenma playing video games while Tetsurou watched intensely. Over the course of the evening, however, the intensity in which Tetsurou watched died down as he slowly sank deeper into the couch from exhaustion, until he was eventually curled up with his head on Kamiko’s lap, sleeping soundly. 

During a loading screen Kenma glanced over at his mother and Tetsurou, noticing how Kamiko used one hand to hold her book while she used the other to run her fingers through Tetsurou’s now clean hair. His gaze landed on the sleeping vampire for a moment, studying his face before he turned back to his game once it finished loading. As he continued onto the next level he struck up a conversation with his mom.

“Where do you think he came from?”

Kamiko briefly paused the motion of her hand in Tetsurou’s hair, humming in thought. She placed her book down on the armrest of the couch, turning her full attention to her son as she resumed petting Tetsurou’s hair. “He’s been an orphan from a young age, based on his memories of his parents. I would also guess he isn’t from any of the pure blood families, most likely a newer generation, if not he was turned when his parents were killed.”

Kenma nodded slowly, grunting when he pressed the wrong button on his controller. “Have you found out who his family is?”

“No. Like I said, his parents died when he was very young, so young that his memories are very fuzzy of them. If I had to guess I would say he was no older than three or four.” Kamiko sighed, brushing the hair out of Tetsurou’s sleeping face. “I did contact an old friend of mine to see if he could gather more information on him. He has experience helping feral vampires integrate into society and I know after hearing about Tetsurou he would be more than willing to help us.”

“...he is going to be staying with us for a while, isn’t he?” Kenma huffed, grumbling in fake annoyance. “Better set some ground rules with him once he wakes up.”

Kamiko chuckled at the front her son was putting up, shaking her head fondly. “We definitely have our work cut out for us, that’s why I asked for help. My friend can help us with Tetsurou’s behavior, social skills, and communication but he can also help us get him into the school system and registered with the government without any issue.”

Kenma snorted. “The only issue will be all of us surviving each other.” 

Kamiko sighed, internally agreeing with her son. If the first few months of having Tetsurou were any indication on how things will be in the future, she knew she would need all the help she could get.

Chapter Text

Present day

The blond vampire sighed when his bedroom door slammed off the wall after being flung open, bracing himself for the weight he knew was about to be dropped on him. Kenma was unfortunately right, hissing when Tetsurou’s elbow caught his ribs. He tossed the other vampire off his body, snuggling back into his nest of blankets with his Switch in hand. “Fuck off.”

“Don’t be like that, Kenma! Today’s the day!” Tetsurou cheered, flashing Kenma his lopsided grin.

He may have mastered speech, been house broken, and become somewhat proficient enough in socially acceptable behaviors so as to not be too suspicious, but smiling was still something he struggled with making look normal. In Kenma’s humble opinion.

“And what day would that be?” Kenma grumbled, nipping at Tetsurou’s hand when he reached for his Switch. “Fuck off!”

“Don’t bite me, you ass.” Tetsurou scowled, rummaging through Kenma’s belongings and haphazardly throwing them in a bag. “I can’t believe you haven’t even packed one thing. Seriously, Kenma?”

Kenma shrugged off the annoyed look being thrown his way, finally getting out of bed to stretch. He ignored Tetsurou’s continued mumbling in favor of pulling on his Nekoma sweat suit, dodging Tetsurou’s arm when he swiped at his legs on his way out of the room, Switch safely tucked into his pocket. He made his way downstairs and into the kitchen, grabbing the packaged pouches their mom prepared for them. Kenma rolled his eyes fondly when he read the note Kamiko had taped to the package, leaving it for Tetsurou to find later. 

Tetsurou enjoyed those sappy gestures.

Bringing the package of pouches to the front door, Kenma called up the stairs for Tetsurou, snickering when the other boy grumbled his way down the stairs, complaining about having to carry both their bags. Tetsurou glared at the blond when he heard the snickering, stopping himself from throwing his bag at his head when Kenma reminded him they were already running late. Tetsurou scowled, allowing Kenma to shove their food into his bag before they exited the house.

“We wouldn’t be running late if you had been packed already.” Tetsurou sighed, locking their front door before they continued their walk to the train station. They moved in silence for a couple minutes, the only sound coming from Kenma’s Switch as the blond refused to look up from his game, relying on Tetsurou to guide him to the station. 

Tetsurou had half a mind to let him wander into traffic but ultimately decided to prevent that, knowing it wouldn’t be worth the headache of relocating their family and changing their identities. 

The two vampires settled in for their train ride, having successfully navigated the station with zero casualties. Kenma was still playing on his Switch, side eyeing Tetsurou during one of the loading screens to see his fellow vampire making heart eyes at his phone. He pretended to gag when he saw what had made Tetsurou so flustered, turning away from the phone and back to his game when Tetsurou glared at him. “Fuck off, Kenma. You don’t see me gagging whenever you and Bo make out in our living room.”

Kenma shrugged. “At least I’m dating Koutarou, you homewrecker.” He barely flinched when Tetsurou stomped on his foot and broke his big toe. “What? It’s true. You’re kind of homewrecking Akaashi and Oikawa’s relationship with your flirting.”

“Okay, first of all, they flirted with me first. And besides, I’ve turned down all of their advances beyond flirting because of the whole being a vampire thing.” Tetsurou hissed. “So really, I’m not homewrecking at all.”

“Uh huh, sure. Whatever helps you soothe your guilty conscience.” Kenma stopped snickering when he heard Tetsurou huff under his breath, snapping his head to glare at the other vampire. “What did you just say?”

Tetsurou smirked, standing up as they reached their stop. “I said I could show you a real homewrecker if you’re that desperate for me to be one. I’m not blind, I’ve seen Bo in the showers. He isn’t Oika’a or Akaashi but he is pretty easy on the eyes…”

Kenma followed Tetsurou off the train, glancing up at one of the signs hanging from the ceiling a few yards ahead of them. He grinned, making sure to get the timing right when he snapped his fingers. The sign short circuited, crackling loudly and sending sparks flying down at Tetsurou, who glanced up at the sudden noise. He hissed when the sparks all coincidentally flew into his eyes, viciously rubbing at his face. 

“You petty bastard…”

“Is your friend alright?” A few nearby passengers approached the pair out of concern, abruptly stopping in place when they saw Kenma’s glowing eyes. Their faces went blank and they turned away from the pair, continuing on about their day and forgetting about the injured teen.

Kenma slipped his Switch into his pocket in order to loop his arm with Tetsurou to guide them out of the train station, tugging the taller boy towards their school. “I wouldn’t have to telekinetically burn your eyes if you kept them off my boyfriend. Homewrecker.”

Tetsurou scoffed, blinking his eyes as they slowly healed on their own and his vision returned. “This is a gross misuse of your vampiric abilities, Kenma. What would Nekomata-sensei say if he heard about this?”

“He would tell you to leave the provoking for on the court.” Kenma grinned smugly at Tetsurou, letting go of his arm as they entered the school grounds to find their team and coaches waiting for them. Kenma waved off the curious looks from the team, informing them that Tetsurou was fine, he got what he deserved.

“I don’t doubt that for a second, but did you forget that we have other volleyball teams joining us this week? How are we going to explain the burns on his face?” Yaku sighed when Kenma shrugged apathetically. He turned to the rest of the team, exasperated. “It is definitely going to be this week.”

Tetsurou stuck his tongue out at his team, accepting the pouch from Nekomata and gulping it down in seconds. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, licking the few drops of blood off his hand before tossing the pouch in the trash. “If it is this week, it will be entirely Kenma’s fault.”

“Whatever you say, homewrecker.”

Nekomata cleared his throat and the two friends backed off from each other, opting to wait and chat with the rest of their team instead of fighting again. The teens discussed what they wanted to do with their down time during the training camp as well as their thoughts on the three teams that were joining them again, placing harmless bets on who they think would be the team with the most wins by the end of the camp.

Luckily Tetsurou’s face had fully healed before the other teams arrived, thanks to the blood Nekomata had given him. The Nekoma team watched and waited patiently as the three guest teams unloaded their buses before they came over and greeted them, chatting amongst each other before they all paused upon hearing Bokuto’s holler. 

“Kenma!” The Fukurodani captain scooped up his boyfriend into a bear hug, spinning him a few times before setting him back on his feet. “I missed you.”

“He says that as if he wasn’t desecrating my couch this weekend.” Tetsurou mumbled, jumping when an arm wrapped around his shoulder and fingers pinched his cheeks. 

“Aw, is Tetsu-chan jealous? Do you want me and Keiji-kun to spin you around too?” Oikawa cooed at his fellow captain, backing off to slip his hand into Akaashi’s when Tetsurou smacked his arm off his shoulder.

“It is good to see you again, Kuroo-san.” Akaashi’s soft and polite grin was a sharp contrast to the dark and hungry look in his eyes, matching the way his boyfriend was seemingly sizing Tetsurou up. When both sets of eyes landed on his face Tetsurou couldn’t help but gulp. 

It would be considered abnormal that an apex predator like Tetsurou would be intimidated by a pair of humans, but nothing about either Akaashi Keiji nor Oikawa Tooru was normal in the slightest.

“Please stop using psychological warfare tactics on our captain, he is an idiot and we have a team meeting to attend now.” Yaku huffed, sending Tetsurou a look that screamed you are so embarrassing, how you are feared is beyond me. “Now come on, we have a lot of work to do since you and Kenma were late today.”

“Why are you ragging on me? It was Kenma’s fault we were late.” Tetsurou grumbled, glaring across the courtyard at his fellow vampire. Kenma was happily playing his Switch once more with Bokuto snuggled around him, making Tetsurou gag again. He turned back to the pointed look Yaku was giving him, rolling his eyes when  he realized what the other wanted from him. “Seriously, he isn’t that scary. Just go tell him it is time for our meeting.”

“You’re the captain, remember?” Yaku sneered before stomping away, leaving Tetsurou with Oikawa and Akaashi. 

Tetsurou gave the boyfriends an apologetic grimace. “Sorry, I have to wrangle my friend apparently. We’ll catch up later though, yeah?”

“Of course, good luck, Tetsu-chan.” They waved him off and Tetsurou apologized once more before darting across the courtyard to fight his best friend away from his boyfriend. Oikawa sighed, glancing at Akaashi when he squeezed his hand reassuringly. “We’re still going with our proposition, right?”

Akaashi nodded, watching from afar as Tetsurou tugged Kenma away from his captain by the back of his neck, the smaller teen hissing. “We’ll really have to be on top of our game if Kozume-san is already this fired up.”

Bokuto watched his boyfriend be dragged away, pouting as he went to stand with Oikawa and Akaashi. “Your boy toy can be so rude sometimes.”

“Future boyfriend, Bo-chan. Get it right.” Oikawa sneered, watching fondly as the two childhood friends squabbled their way towards the athletic office.

“Besides, your boyfriend just bit our ‘boy toy’, Bokuto-san. I think they are even now.” Akaashi glanced at his captain’s love sick expression, stomping down the surge of jealousy that came over him, reminding himself that soon he and Oikawa will be able to share that expression openly with Tetsurou. “And if everything goes well, Kuroo-san will be our boyfriend by the end of this camp.”

Bokuto perked up, beaming at his friends. “You guys are going for it?” They nodded in confirmation and Bokuto hollered. “Yes! We can go on double dates! Or triple dates? Whatever.”

“First we have to get Kuroo-san to agree and then we have to win. It isn’t guaranteed.”

“Oh, please, Keiji-kun. We will get Tetsu-chan to agree and then we will win and finally be able to take him out on a date.”

Iwaizumi sighed, having joined their little group a moment after Bokuto. “Maybe you’ll win, but don’t put too much pressure on Kuroo. There has to be a reason he has rejected all of your advances so far despite being so obviously infatuated with you two. He might be hiding a dark secret.”

Oikawa snorted. “You’ve been watching too much Criminal Minds, Iwa-chan. What do you think he is hiding? He’s a teenager, not some psychopath. Although he would look kinda hot as a serial killer…”

Iwaizumi grimaced. “Alright, freaks. While our hosts are having a meeting why don’t we go get settled. I want to beat Sawamura to the good mats this year.”

“Karasuno already got a head start.” Bokuto squawked, chasing after Iwaizumi with his bag over his shoulder.

Akaashi followed his boyfriend as they trailed behind their best friends, mumbling to Oikawa as they walked. “Although that wouldn’t necessarily be a deal breaker if he were a bloodthirsty monster, right?”

Oikawa snickered, kissing Akaashi’s hair. “Not at all. But what are the odds of that being true?”

The younger setter hummed in agreement, putting aside those ridiculous thoughts in favor of plotting how he and Oikawa were going to woo Tetsurou. They had to make their plan ironclad, accounting for any surprises so as to ensure nothing got in their way. It had to be perfect.

But unfortunately, they were only human.

Chapter Text

“Oh, no, for sure. Without a doubt it is going to be Kuroo that exposes the two of them.”

“I love the lack of faith in your captain.” Tetsurou rolled his eyes, wincing when Nekomata adjusted the placement of the microchip and accidentally triggered a shock. The coach apologized before finishing with his work of implanting the inhibitor chip, backing away from Tetsurou to wash his hands clean of the teen’s blood. Tetsurou shivered, rolling his neck as his body reacclimated to the feeling of the microchip in his brain. “I at least have the decency to try and pretend to be a normal human. Unlike Mr. I Don’t Want To Put My Switch Down To Eat Despite Humans Needing Food to Survive over here.”

Kenma rolled his eyes, taking another sip of the blood pouch without looking away from his game. “At least I don’t need to be chipped like some dog in order to keep my vampiric abilities in check during games and practice.”

Tetsurou scoffed, using the towel Kai handed him to wipe the blood from the back of his head now that Nekomata no longer needed access to his brain. “Yeah, instead you make blood oaths like some outdated occult stereotype.” 

“Boys, enough.” Nekomata sighed, grabbing his own blood pouch and ripping the top off. He gulped all the contents of the pouch before continuing. “There has been a rumored increase of hunter activity in the area. Nekoma’s deal with the government should protect us from anything but as you know, we should never be too trusting of hunters. So please, do this old man a favor and behave so I don’t have to worry about the two of you during this training camp.”

The two teen vampires nodded their agreement, Tetsurou flashing Nekomata a fanged grin. “You know, that last request would be more authentic if you had kept up your aged look, sensei.”

Nekomata chuckled, shaking his head at the teasing tone of the other vampire. He listened to Tetsurou, covering up his true form by adding decades to his appearance, reinstating the look that those outside the room had come to associate with him. Glancing at his watch, the coach grunted, informing his team that he had to go check on the other teams and make sure they were settling in nicely. Before he left the room, he made the humans promise to keep their vampire teammates in line for the short time he wouldn’t be there, nodding his gratitude before exiting the room. 

Once the door closed behind their coach the teens wasted no time going back to their prior discussion. “So it's unanimous? Everybody agrees that it is going to be Kuroo that reveals he is a vampire to the other teams?”

“No, it won’t be me. It is going to be Kenma.” Tetsurou sniffed indignantly. “The other teams already think he is weird and off putting.”

“Sounds like you’re projecting.” Kenma smirked, disposing of his now empty blood pouch. “If it is me that reveals our secret to the other teams then I will admit to mom that it wasn’t you who smashed the tv in a fit of rage when we were younger.”

Tetsurou pursed his lips, narrowing his eyes at his best friend in contemplation. “And if it is me who exposes us then I won’t complain about you and Bo defiling each other in the living room for two weeks.”

“A month.”

“Three weeks, best I can do.”

Kenma shrugged, shaking hands with Tetsurou. “Deal.”

Yaku rolled his eyes. “Great, glad we got that out of the way. We should probably head to the gym now, training camp officially starts in like thirty minutes.” The Nekoma players listened to the libero, finalizing their bets as they exited the room to reunite with the guest teams and get the training camp started.

Camp started without a hitch, the teams going through the motions of formally greeting one another, reviewing that day’s match line ups, and warming up with their teams before they jumped right into the practice matches without further preamble. 

Hours later, they were wrapping up the first day of camp, the coaches speaking individually with their teams before dismissing them to the showers, letting them know as they started packing up that they had the evening free to socialize with their friends but to still adhere to curfew. Kenma trailed behind Tetsurou, glancing to his side when he noticed Oikawa and Akaashi approaching. The vampire smirked to himself, stepping back to give the boyfriends space to make their move on his best friend.

“Kuroo-san, do you have a moment?”

Yaku fell in step next to Kenma, looking over his shoulder as their captain waved the team to go on without him. “Is it happening? Is the war finally over?”

“I think it is actually just starting, Yaku.” Kai hummed, clarifying his thinking when Yamamoto asked what he meant. “Kuroo has been turning them down because of his nature and so I highly doubt that is going to change now. I hope I am wrong, but this is Kuroo we’re talking about.”

“He really should just accept their advances. He’s making Akaashi sad and I don’t like it.” Bokuto startled the team when he spoke, having joined the group so he could hang off Kenma once more. He cocked his head to the side when Kai’s words registered with him, staring at the Nekoma vice captain. “What do you mean he is turning them down because of his nature? His nature of being an annoying tricky dick?”

“...sure, let’s go with that.” Yaku snickered at the apt description of his team’s captain. 

Bokuto furrowed his brow for a moment before shrugging, brushing past the weird vibes the Nekoma players were giving off. “Anyways, he should at least accept their bet for the camp.”

“Bet?” Kenma perked up, glancing at his best friend as they exited the gym, smirking when he saw him flush and stumble over his words, his protective instincts easing when he saw the endeared looks Akaashi and Oikawa were giving Tetsurou. “What do you mean by that?”

Bokuto gave Kenma an exaggerated wink before kissing his cheek, jogging backwards to return to his own team. “You’ll see soon, Kenma! Sit with me at dinner!”

The Nekoma players continued on their way to the showers, their conversations splitting off into various other topics as they all got cleaned and dressed for dinner, meeting back up with their still flustered captain after he rushed his routine so he could reunite with them in the dining hall. None of them brought up their conversation with Bokuto nor Tetsurou’s intervention with Akaashi and Oikawa, digging into their meals in relative peace and quiet.

Well, it was quiet until Bokuto joined their table, the rambunctious ace of Fukurodani bringing his exhausting yet infectious energy with him. He took up position next to Kenma, not bothered that Kenma returned his attention to his switch after greeting him. Instead, Bokuto looked over the setter’s slumped form at Tetsurou, waggling his eyebrows. The vampire caught the look and rolled his eyes, willing himself not to blush because he knew Bokuto would never let him live it down. 

“Shut up, Bo.”

Bokuto whined, taking a bite of his meal. “I didn’t even say anything!” 

“You just did.” Tetsurou snickered at the annoyed look he was getting from his friend. Thinking he had shut Bokuto up, Tetsurou went to take a bite of his meal only to choke on it when Bokuto asked if he accepted Akaashi and Oikawa’s proposition. He coughed harshly, glancing around the cafeteria to make sure the mentioned setters weren’t nearby before he turned his red face to his friend. “You knew too?”

“Duh, ‘Kaashi’s my friend. Of course I knew.” Bokuto smiled smugly, crossing his arms with pride that he ‘won’ against Tetsurou. “So, did you accept?”

“Wait, what was the proposition?” Yamamoto asked through a mouthful of food, ignoring his captain’s withering glare as he leaned closer to hear the answer.

Bokuto lit up, riding the high of his triumph over Tetsurou. He went to fill the Nekoma team in on what he was talking about, getting cut off by Tetsurou instead. “Akaashi and Oika’a wanted to make a bet of sorts with me. If either one of their teams wins more practice matches than ours by the end of training camp, I will go on one date with them. But if Nekoma wins more than both Fukurodani and Seijoh, they will back off in their advances, if I want them to.”

“And despite the odds not being in his favor, he gladly accepted these terms.” Kenma hummed, smirking at his sputtering friend. “Am I wrong?” Tetsurou huffed, crossing his arms as he didn't bother replying to his friend. Kenma shrugged, addressing his team and boyfriend. “I’m not wrong.”

“War is almost over.” Lev sighed, yelping when Yaku kicked him under the table. “Ouch! What’d I do?”

“You spoke.”

“So it’s fine when you say it but it’s an issue when I do?!”

“Yes.” The majority of Nekoma answered, ignoring the first year when he started to grumble to himself.

Tetsurou pointedly ignored Bokuto’s smug gaze, choosing to look at his best friend instead. Kenma caught his eye, attention zeroing in on the way Tetsurou was subtly fidgeting in his chair. “Why are you nervous?”

“...if they win and I go on a date with them…I’ll have a taste of what I can’t have and it will hurt more to know than to continue on never knowing…”

Kenma sighed internally, taking a bite of his rice to try and ease Tetsurou’s already anxious mind. “You can have it though, they clearly are both super into you and determined to have you. Why are you denying yourself?”

Tetsurou glared at him, taking his own aggressive bite of dinner. “You know why.”

This time Kenma sighed aloud, ignoring Bokuto’s inquisitive stare and the knowing looks from the team when they saw the stare down happening between the two best friends. “Tetsurou, I’m a vampire dating a human. It’s possible. It is actually incredibly common as well. So I still don’t understand why -” Kenma cut himself off, his criticizing stare softening to one of understanding. “Tetsurou, that was different. You’re different. You can’t let one incident from when we were kids haunt you for the rest of your immortal life or you are going to be in for a miserable, never ending existence.”

Tetsurou didn’t respond, breaking eye contact with Kenma so he could sulk at his food. Kenma shook his head minutely, continuing to work on eating his dinner as he was determined to not add to Tetsurou’s anxiety levels for once. 

The rest of dinner went by uneventfully, word slowly spreading throughout the teams of an after curfew meetup in the gym. The teens were almost successful in keeping their plans a secret from the coaches, however, the host team caught the stern look from their coach. Nekoma gave their coach pleading looks, turning to their resident vampires when Nekomata was unmoved by their pleas. Kenma rolled his eyes, about to open a mental conversation with the older vampire when Tetsurou stood up from the table and approached the coaches table, ignoring his team hissing at him to sit back down. 

Tetsurou stopped next to the coaches table, paying no mind to the hushed stares he was receiving from the entirety of the training camp. He cleared his throat, smiling when Nekomata looked away from Kenma and glanced up at him. The two vampires maintained their stare down for a few minutes, their brief interaction ending when Nekomata sighed and shook Tetsurou’s hand, mumbling so only the teen could hear. “If anything happens, I’m changing my wager from Kenma to you.”

“Thanks for trusting me, old man.” Tetsurou beamed, shaking his hand much more enthusiastically than Nekomata was. Tetsurou turned on his heels and strolled back to his table, flashing the rest of the teens a discreet double thumbs up.

“Did this dumbass really go get permission for our secret curfew breaking hang out?” Yaku groaned, dropping his head into his hands. “Everyday I find another reason to be amazed he has survived this long.”

“Aw, Yakkun! You think I’m amazing?” Tetsurou cooed, collecting the trash from the table to throw away.

“Shut u-”

“He’s not the only one who thinks you’re amazing, Tetsu-chan.”  Oikawa announced his and Akaashi’s arrival with his purred comment and wink, hand entwined with his boyfriend’s as they came to a stop at the end of the table.

“Agreed.” Akaashi’s smirk grew when Tetsurou tripped over his feet on his way to toss the garbage, the hand not holding Oikawa’s shooting out to catch him. “Careful, Kuroo-san. We don’t want you getting hurt before our date.”

Kenma decided to keep up with his merciful treatment of his best friend, grabbing Bokuto’s hand as he rose from his seat. “You have to win your bet with Kuro first before you can take him on a date, Akaashi.”

“Yeah, we aren’t giving up our captain that easily!” Yamamoto declared, following the rest of the teams as they threw out their trash and bid their coaches goodnight, giving Nekomata grateful smiles. 

Nekomata waved them off with a nod of support, giving Tetsurou one last stern glance before he turned back to his conversation with the other adults. 

Tetsurou scoffed, leading the walk back to their temporary dorms along with Oikawa and Akaashi, Kenma and Bokuto a few steps behind them while the rest of the teens followed behind. “You say that like you are sending me off to be married or murdered.”

“Why not both?” Kenma murmured, sensing the scowl Tetsurou shot his way despite the younger not looking up from his Switch. 

“Nah, ‘Kaashi wouldn’t murder Kuroo. Oikawa might, but Akaashi is too polite and innocent.” Bokuto defended his setter, arm draped over his boyfriend’s shoulder. 

“Polite? Yes. Innocent? Well, I hate to break this to you, Bo-chan, but Keiji-kun -”

“- is informing you that it is in your best interest to not finish that sentence.” Akaashi hummed, eyes flashing with silent threats. 

Oikawa smartly did not continue his train of thought, smiling at his boyfriend’s glare for a moment before he looked over his shoulder to address the rest of the teens. “We’ll meet in the gym thirty minutes after curfew, okay?”

“I have the key to the gym so I’ll go earlier and unlock it for everyone. Stagger your arrivals so we don’t get caught.” Tetsurou added, nodding in approval when everyone agreed to follow his advice. “Alright, see you all in a bit.”

The teams split up to go to their respective temporary dorms, excitement buzzing in the air surrounding the visiting teams. Meanwhile the host team was all business, immediately sitting down once the door to their dorm closed, unanimously deciding they needed to remind each other of the ground rules when interacting with other teams so that none of them risked exposing the true nature of their head coach, setter, and captain. 

However, none of them knew that their meeting could not prevent the inevitable.