You’d never really said it out loud—maybe not even to yourself—but somewhere between group study sessions and late-night hangouts, Kenma became your quiet crush. It wasn’t the typical kind of crush either. He didn’t try to be funny or cool. He didn’t go out of his way to talk to you. He wasn’t loud or charming in the way some of your friends were. But that was the thing: Kenma never tried to get your attention…and somehow, he always had it.

The first time he sat next to you, you thought it was a coincidence. The second time felt like chance. By the fifth or sixth time, it wasn’t an accident anymore.

It’s subtle. So subtle that no one else seems to notice—not even the loudest ones in the friend group. But every time the group gets together—cafeteria, classroom, someone’s house, wherever—Kenma always ends up sitting next to you. He doesn’t make a show of it. He doesn’t even look at you when he does it. But he does it. Every single time.

One day you all were hanging out in Yamamoto’s house. Kuroo flopped down onto the couch first, loudly announcing snacks. Yaku yelled at Lev about something dumb. And Kenma? He quietly scanned the room, phone in one hand, hoodie sleeves tugged over the other, before settling in the empty space beside you. Like it was the only place that makes sense. away.

“Is this seat taken?” Kuroo joked, hovering over the armrest on Kenma’s other side.

Kenma didn’t even look up. “Yeah.”