other characters got uglier after the time skip but kenma grew up pretty AND rich while still in college..... life is a game and kenma is playing to WIN
canon Kenma is a straight up beast and to be honest the fandom doesn’t acknowledge this enough. His entire team has been shown times and times again to be terrified of his strategic and manipulative skills; they all have tons of respect for him, enough so to basically treat him like an evil mastermind (lmao) but at the same time like an equal. Like, sometimes I feel as though since he’s relatively petite (as compared to his team mates) and shy and has some degree of social anxiety, people like to strip him of his agency on a constant basis, pretending like he isn’t assertive at all. And, no offense, but that’s the grossest misuderstanding of his character I’ve ever seen tbh.
Like, he’s the Brain of his team. Canonically so. Kuroo might have given him the title, but it’s Kenma’s skills that made him worthy of that position to this day. Nobody would have humoured Kuroo’s bullshit if it wasn’t paired up with facts. Kenma IS dependable. He doesn’t like socializing, true. He doesn’t like putting in the effort when he doesn’t want to do what he’s supposed to, also true. But none of that applies to volleyball. None of that ever applied to teamwork. To friendship.
Kenma’s never shied away from his duty as a pillar of the team. It’s a leadership position he’s never wanted, but he’s never downright refused it. Think about that, next time you write him as an antisocial, passive coward who needs protection, and the help of a people-person to do the dirty work for him.
He befriended Hinata without anyone pushing him to, because he wanted to, and has kept that friendship alive to this day. Think of that, when you write him as a social recluse who lives in the comfort of his established habits and never wants to break free of his bubble.
He literally got in various fist fights with Tora in their first year. Think of that when you write him as a wimp who avoids conflict at all costs.
He singlehandedly planned all the strategies that made his team win so far, exploiting his enemies’ weaknessess until he broke them. Think of that when you write him as someone who relies on other people for dear life, as though he couldn’t hold his own in the real world, as though he constantly needs external input to solve problems while he stands back and watch.
Kenma is savage as fuck. He knows everyone’s weakness and he uses them to his advantage. You should fear him, not find him cute :’D