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“Wait a moment, Bokuto-san. I’ll check when your bus will be there.”
Akaashi stopped and took out his phone underneath the porch awning. He barely had it unlocked when something collided with his face — something which he quickly identified as Bokuto’s face — or, more specifically, Bokuto’s mouth — and — oh dear God — Bokuto’s lips that had planted themselves briefly right on the corner of his own with a little smack which was unmistakably … a kiss.
Akaashi leapt back, his hand jumping up as a barrier between them. Eyes wide, brain short-circuiting, he stared at Bokuto. His senpai. His ace. His owl-headed, idiotic friend.
Bokuto seemed to realise half a second late what he had just done. A moment later he was on his hunkers — head held in his hands — howling.
“WAAARGGHH, I did something WEEEEEIRD! I did something WEEEEEIRD to Akaaaaashi—!”
Shock swiftly giving way to irritation, Akaashi glanced around to see if there had been any witnesses to that … whatever that was. It seemed safe, but Bokuto was now making even more of a scene than before. Akaashi sighed. “Please try to calm down, Bokuto-san.”
Bokuto looked up, his expression comically shocked. “Huh? You’re not mad at me, Akaashi?”
“I’m not mad.”
“Hah? It’s not weird?”
“It’s not, but …” Akaashi stalled a little, unsure of what to say. “In future, please save that kind of thing for your girlfriend.”
“But I don’t have a girlfriend!” Bokuto said, pouting a little. He stood up, dusted himself down, and looked at Akaashi with his hands on his hips.
Akaashi was suddenly finding it very hard to meet his eyes. “Well … then, please save it for a girl you like.” He headed off walking down the drive.
“But I like Akaashi.”
Akaashi stopped. He blinked a couple of times, then sighed and kept walking. “You’re getting two different types of “like” mixed up …”
“Ohhh? You think so?” Bokuto started to follow Akaashi down the garden path. All the way, he hummed thoughtfully to himself. At the gate … “Hmm …” Down the road … “Hmm …” By the time the got to the bus stop, Akaashi cracked.
“Did you figure it out, Bokuto-san?”
“Figure what out?”
Akaashi closed his eyes, and sighed through a tight smile. Of course, this person was just too stupid.
Akaashi had always been … apathetic at best when it came to romance. He knew that he had little preference for gender; rather, he had never been overly pushed one way or the other. He had imagined he would understand it once he met the right person. But Bokuto was … not quite the person he had imagined. He thought it would be some beautiful someone, intelligent, considerate and charming … not this boisterous, childish, temperamental and — to be honest — completely thick person that seemed to be more owl than human.
But, to his slight horror, that indelicate and irresponsible and irritating kiss had stirred something inside of Akaashi. He had always had a soft spot for Bokuto, he was aware of that much, and it made him feel genuinely good that he was the only person really able to handle his personality. He got a certain amount of pride from that, and a certain amount of enjoyment from looking after him (though he was loathe to admit it out loud). And when he stole a glance at Bokuto then in the orange glow of evening light — well, he must have been going crazy — but wasn’t he, just, a little bit beautiful, if you really looked close?
Before he knew it, Akaashi realised that all was lost. Maybe it always had been.
Bokuto was looking at him, pouting. When Akaashi caught him, he pouted harder and looked away. “I want to do it again,” he mumbled.
Akaashi had to stifle a grunt. His heart was beating very loudly all of a sudden, but he still wasn’t quite convinced. “Please attempt to control yourself, Bokuto-san.”
“Hey hey hey. Don’t you like me, Akaashi?”
“Again, these are two different kinds of like.”
“Eh? So you don’t want to kiss me?”
Akaashi inhaled shakily. Bokuto was staring at him, eyebrows raised, his pale golden eyes reflecting streetlights in the dark. Akaashi wet his lips, and stared back at him.
Was he actually serious? Did he really understand what he was saying? Wasn’t this all a little too stupid?
Eventually, all Akaashi could do was resign himself to this stupidity. “I didn’t say that I didn’t want to.”
Bokuto’s eyebrows raised further. “Ohh?” His expression changed from dejected to triumphant, and he shuffled up closer into Akaashi’s space, grinning stupidly. “Ohh hooo~?”
Akaashi averted his eyes just at the right moment. “Your bus is here, Bokuto-san.”
“—Oh.” Bokuto glanced around at the slowing bus, then turned to beam at Akaashi one last time. Vibrating with excitement, he lunged forward to land a brusque kiss on Akaashi’s cheek, then laughed maniacally as he skipped and jumped onto the bus.
Akaashi stared after him, torn between exasperation and — to his surprise — elation. He contemplated this new feeling as he turned to head home. A smile pulled at his mouth, and he rubbed his face in the hopes of dislodging it. He wanted to wait, at least, until he definitely could not be seen by the bus. He jumped at the sound of a banging, and rolled his eyes as he saw Bokuto’s arm waving fanatically from the rear window. Then he chuckled, and sighed, and brought his fingers to his cheek where Bokuto had kissed him.
Yes, he definitely had lost all hope. But, oddly enough, he couldn’t have cared less.