Work Text:
“Chat, Relax.”
Asthmatic Reader x Streamer Kenma
The room is dim except for the glow of Kenma’s monitor. His stream is already three hours in.
He’s half-slouched in his chair, eyes locked on the screen, voice calm as ever.
You’re curled up on his bed, half-watching him personally, still half-watching him on your phone as he focuses on his game.
He looks handsome with a headset on. Eyes narrowed. Fingers pressing in.
“Stop pushing mid alone,” he mutters to the mic. “You’re gonna lose that.”
Chat:
| “LMAO”
| “KENMA TRUST”
| “where’s lover-san today”
| “IS BOSS SUPERVISING 👀”
On his bed, wrapped in his blanket, watching his stream on your phone, you toss a commentary.
“Left. You missed loot.”
“I saw it.” He replied instantly, not even looking back.
| “BOSS SPOTTED”
| “THEY’RE ALIVE”
| “WE LOVE YOU BOSS”
You smile faintly.
For a while now, you’ve been feeling a little tight in your chest. Probably the weather. Or the dust you inhaled when you cleaned the window. It’s nothing new.
You try not to think too much about it, less it got worse while in the middle of his stream.
You shift, taking a slow breath. When it doesn’t work, you get up to grab water, hoping it will help even if just a little.
Still, the air feels a little tight in your chest. You brush it off as usual.
You don’t want to interrupt. He’s in ranked. And streaming. Thousands are watching.
You inhale and exhale again.
…Still not great.
You cough. Just once. Minimizing the sound as much as possible.
Really, you’ve been experiencing this even before you got together with Kenma. You can do this. You talk inwardly.
Yet despite not wanting to disturb him, Kenma’s eyes flick sideways towards you. His intense focus is gone now as he keeps playing.
But luck is such a bitch. You cough again. Sharper this time—as you couldn’t hold out the stuffy feeling any longer. It’s heavy, so heavy.
He immediately dies in-game and seconds later, the game system announced a big, bold DEFEAT on his screen.
| “??????”
| “WHY DID YOU WALK INTO THAT”
| “#KENMATHROWING”
Your breathing stutters just enough.
“…You okay?” He tentatively asked.
| “??? WHAT HAPPENED”
| “IS BOSS OKAY”
| “KENMA TURN AROUND”
| “IS BOSS SICK TvT”
He doesn’t react to any of that.
Seeing his attention, and the chat, diverting to you, you quickly waved your hand even though the air feels like it’s slipping through your lungs wrong. “I’m fine.”
He doesn’t answer before turning his chair to face you, realization hitting on him.
“Did you bring it?”
He walks over to you calmly—but there’s a noticeable tension in his shoulders now.
“Did you bring your inhaler?” He asked before taking your bag to check. Kenma has seen this a lot of times, has experienced what to do at this critical moment, but Kenma still feels like his ribs are being torn upon whenever your asthma hits.
You hesitate. And that moment of hesitation is an answer to his question already. He knows you all too well.
He gives you a flat stare, and you couldn’t help but avert your gaze before admitting you forgot.
Dead silence.
Kenma turned slowly toward his setup, adjusted the angle of his camera to give the both of you more privacy.
“…One second.”
He mutes.
| “NOOOOO HE MUTED”
| “WHAT’S HAPPENING”
| “IS BOSS OKAY???”
Off-mic, he’s already grabbing your inhaler from his desk drawer. The one he always kept for emergencies. The one he bought months ago after you “forgot” one too many times.
Because of course. There’s a spare one there.
“Yes you did forget,” he mutters softly. “You always say you didn’t.”
He hands it to you and with shaking hands, you take a puff.
Kenma adjusted his position slightly, giving you enough space so you won’t feel crowded, while watching you carefully.
“Slow breaths,” he says calmly and gently.
You take another puff.
Inhale.
Exhale.
The angle of the camera definitely saw him grab an inhaler as the chat goes from chaotic to gentle in seconds, as if piercing everything together.
| “oh”
| “OHH”
| “asthma?”
| “take your time”
| “TAKE CARE BOSS”
| “we can wait”
| “take care of them”
| “pause the match”
Kenma glances at the monitor, then back at you.
He stays close. Watching. Guarding. Not dramatic, really, just attentive enough to hold your wrist to check if your heart rate returns to normal.
After a minute, your breathing even out.
Finally.
Kenma lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.
You look up at him sheepishly. “Sorry, Ken. You lost because of me.”
He blinks, caressing your wrist before replying: “…I didn’t lose because of you. I lost because my random teammates are reckless.”
You let out a weak laugh, knowing all too well he’s trying to console you. You lean to him as he brushes your hair behind your ear.
“You good?” He asked softly.
You nod, breathing steadying further.
“All good. Thank you, Ken. I’m sorry again, you’re in ranked.”
He frowns faintly at that.
“Don’t apologize. You’re more important than my matches.” He says before gently putting your head on the pillow. Afterwards, he stands up to reach for the keyboard and switches to his BRB screen.
Be Right Back
The camera stays at an awkward angle.
He stands up and walks over to you, kneeling slightly on the floor. “You should’ve said something earlier.”
“I didn’t want to ruin your momentum.” You shake your head lightly.
“It’s just a game,” he says flatly. Like it’s obvious.
He added: “You’re not,” before leaning closer to double check your breathing without making a big deal about it.
If chat could hear that clearly, they’d combust.
“Really better now?”
“Yeah.”
He studies you for another few seconds, then nods once before standing up.
Instead of going straight back to his chair, he grabs his spare hoodie and drapes it over your shoulders.
“You’re staying in here.” He says quietly before grabbing his phone. “I’ll talk to auntie.”
“Ken, I’m fine.” You tried to stop him but he’s already typing on his phone. He texts your mom quickly because he knows she worries. His phone lit up in a few seconds before a call from your mother came.
You watched him talk and reassures your mum helplessly. After a few minutes, he nods at you as he goes back to his desk and removes the BRB screen.
Chat immediately floods in.
| “IS BOSS OKAY”
| “STATUS REPORT”
| “KENMA UPDATE”
Then he un-mutes, fixing the angle of his camera and adjusting his headset before calmly talking to the chat to calm down.
| “IS LOVER OKAY”
| “BLINK TWICE IF YOU’RE IN LOVE”
| “HE SOUNDS SOFT”
“They’re fine,” he paused before adding a soft thanks.
| “HE SAID THANKS”
| “WE LOVE BOSS”
| “TAKE CARE OF THEM”
He resumes queueing.
But this time, he reaches his hand back behind his chair without looking.
You roll your eyes softly and slide off the bed, stepping closer.
You lace your fingers with his.
Chat notices immediately.
|“HAND HOLDING???”
| “CAM SLIGHTLY MOVED WE SAW THAT”
| “I CAN’T”
| “DOG FOOD”
Kenma ignores them.
“Better?” he asks again, quietly this time.
“Yeah.”
He nods at that before speaking to the chat, “Stop spamming.” yet his tone is softer than usual.
And he plays slower for the rest of the stream.
Just in case.
After a while, he said: “…Use your inhaler when you need it.”
“Kenmaaa,” you groan.
| “HE SAID WHAT”
| “PROTECTIVE BF MODE”
| “KENMA IS SO GENTLE???”
| “IS THIS KENMA TEASING”
He sighs quietly.
“I’m not being dramatic,” he says flatly. “You just forget things.”
You throw a pillow at him and he barely dodges it without looking.
“…And you’re violent.”
| “I LOVE THEM”
| “STREAM COUPLE GOALS”
| “GIGGLING KICKING MY FEET”
Seeing this, you lean against the back of his chair, chin resting on his shoulder.
“Hi chat.”
The chat literally floods.
“Don’t encourage them.” He mutters, ears turning pink.
You laughed softly before whispering dramatically near the mic: “He rage quit for me.”
“I didn’t rage quit.” Kenma defended.
You shrugged before stating something so obvious. “You walked into the enemy.”
Kenma pursed his lips for a second before responding, “Strategic loss.”
| “STRATEGIC LOSS FOR LOVE”
| “KENMA DOWN BAD”
| “kenmaloverboyera.exe”
Wanting to thank (tease) him, you press a small kiss to his temple, right in front of the camera.
You watch him freeze for half a second, your lips betraying how happy you are from the reaction you’re getting from him.
Chat goes nuclear.
He clears his throat. “…Focus on the game.”
But his hand reaches back blindly and finds yours, lacing your fingers together while he plays.
Like it’s automatic.
Like it’s always been there.
| “HE’S HOLDING BOSS HAND IM CRYING”
| “SOFT BF KENMA REAL”
| “#NEEDAMANLIKETHIS”
| “THE MAN THAT YOU ARE KENMA”
He doesn’t look away from the screen. But his thumb rubs the back of your hand gently.
“Don’t scare me like that,” he murmurs quietly—barely audible.
Not to chat.
Just to you.
You squeeze his hand. “I won’t.”
He nods once then calmly destroys the next match.
| “HE ACTIVATED BF BUFF”
| “PROTECTIVE MODE UNLOCKED”
| “SEND CHEAT CODE FOR BF BUFF”
| “NEED A MAN LIKE THIS”
Kenma, deadpan: “…Shut up.”
But he’s smiling.
Very slightly.