Chapter Text
Dark grey clouds loomed overhead as Akaashi gathered his books. The school day was over and now it was time for him to start his trek home. He made his way into the mall from his English Literature class, waiting by the metal staircase that lead to the mathematics department for the rest of his friends.
"Hey Keiji," a quiet voice mumbled, drawing Akaashi's attention to his friend Kenma.
"Hello Kenma-san, how was textiles?" Akaashi questioned, not drawing Kenma's attention away from his phone screen, he appeared to be messaging Kuroo. Suddenly he changed screens and began flicking through his photographs.
"It was cool, I guess." Kenma paused, clicking on a photo and handing his phone to Akaashi. "Scroll left, I was able to design some more of my cosplay."
"Akaash!" A voice boomed over the sound of the other students leaving the mall, echoing along the walls and glass ceiling.
"Hello Bokuto-san, Kuroo-san." Akaashi responded after seeing the two boys walking over to them.
The quartet stood beside the stairs, exchanging greetings before making their way out from the mall and down the corridor to the main entrance. Akaashi falling into step with Bokuto, with Kuroo and Kenma following behind.
"Hey, Akaashi, can we stop off at the corner shop before we carry on?" Kuroo raised from the back of the group as they were about to head right from the school gates to make their way to the bus stop.
"It's in the opposite direction, let me check." Akaashi looked down to his watch, their bus was due in ten minutes, the walk to the bus shelter itself would take seven if they hurried. The next bus would be due twenty five minutes after the first. Going to the shop would be fine given the time it would take to go to the shop and then walk down to the bus stop would be around twenty minutes. "It should be fine, Kuroo-san."
"Sweet," Kuroo responded as the group turned left towards to parade of shops.
The four friends mulled around the shop, gathering some sweet treats and drinks for themselves before paying and heading to the bus shelter, making idle talk about their days as they went.
"And then-!" Bokuto paused for effect. "We saw the ducks, Agaashee!"
Akaashi smiled to himself, he'd long since gotten use to the butchering of his name. Hearing Bokuto talk about the ducks that nested in the courtyard of their school each year, and the large family of ducklings that followed each year, made him feel content.
The sky continued to darken, soon the rolling clouds had engulfed the sky, a cool breeze picking up and causing goose bumps to take residence on their arms.
"Kuro, I'm cold." Kenma complained as they reached the bus stop, tucking his blazer tighter around his body in an attempt to keep warm. Bokuto sat on the worn wooden bench, under the cover of the trees.
"The bus is due any minute now, Kenma," Kuroo said, while also wrapping his own blazer over Kenma's.
A gentle rain soon began to fall and they huddled for shelter under the trees that covered the bench. It was then that Akaashi noticed him.
"Do you think he's okay?"
"Who?" Bokuto questioned, following Akaashi's gaze, his eyes also falling on the boy across the road.
"He's probably waiting for someone to pick him up?" Kuroo hypothesised, eyeing the silver haired boy not making a move to seek shelter or in any hurry to start walking, despite the rain increasing in intensity.
"He's been there since before we got here," Kenma supplied, checking the time on his phone from inside his blazer pocket, "he's just been staring at the sky the whole time."
"He has? I didn't even notice him..." Akaashi mused.
"Here comes the bus!" Kuroo piped up, milliseconds before Bokuto said the same. The pair fell into their usual routine of racing to the curb and trying to be the first to flag down the bus.
As the four began to pile onto the dry, albeit chilly bus, the rain intensified once again. They looked to the boy who was smiling.
"I hate the rain!" Oikawa huffed, putting up his umbrella and turning to the other two boys coming from the school behind him.
"Then we'll hurry home," one of the other boys said, "were you able to do all your homework?"
"Not all of it, Iwa-chan! But almost!" Oikawa grinned.
By now the ground was full of puddles. The heaviest of the rain had stopped and now it was softer, but it was still enough to warrant the use of umbrellas.
"Well done for bringing those umbrellas, Oikawa," said the other boy, falling into step beside the other two.
"Don't help his head get big, Daichi," Iwaizumi glowered.
"Mean, Iwa-chan!"
The trio left the school grounds, making their way to the right to walk alongside the street towards the main road. Daichi watched the other pair bicker ceaselessly the entire length of the long, but narrow side street and onto the main road.
As they turned the corner Daichi's eyes fell onto a figure in the rain. His hair was dark grey, soaked by the rain and plastered to his face and neck. How long had he been there?
"Who the hell is that?" Iwaizumi asked, also noticing the boy.
"I don't know," Daichi responded, "do you think he's okay? He's just, sort of...standing there."
"He's smiling," Oikawa noted, "he's surely fine!" He continued forward, Daichi following him with Iwaizumi.
"He doesn't have an umbrella, should I give him mine?" Daichi questioned, worried for the boy's health.
"What difference would it make? He's already soaking!" Oikawa continued to argue, scrunching his face up in annoyance. "Besides, he has a hood!"
"I'll just let him take mine."
Just as Daichi moved to make his way towards the boy, the figure moved in the rain. He was smiling, the corners of his eyes crinkling in utter joy.
The silver haired boy became more animated, he glanced around his immediate vicinity, chocolate eyes bright behind a pale, almost ethereal curtain of lashes. A dark beauty mark placed perfectly beside his left eye. Daichi swore that at that moment all of his bodily functions stopped. His heart, his lungs, it all ceased. Like a sneeze.
He saw right through Daichi though, his eyes locking onto a pool of water only an inch or two deep. His grin widened as he ran to the puddle.
Daichi heard Oikawa mutter an: "Oh dear God."
And the boy's feet collided with the puddle of muddy water, kicking up the murk as droplets exploded around his legs, drenching his pants. The next puddle saw the same lack of mercy. So did his pants.
"Sawa-chan," Daichi turned at Oikawa's solemn tone of voice, "I love you, but please do not talk to a boy as old as us, who jumps in puddles as if he were five, I will hate you forever. Iwa-chan's cousin or not."
By the time Daichi's attention was back to where the boy previously was, the boy was gone.
His clothes clung tightly to his body. A seemingly endless shiver vaulted up and down his spine, illiciting a full body shudder with each gust of wind until he had finally closed the front door to the unusually cold, early September weather outside.
He huffed, trembling as he peeled each layer of clothing off, trudging up the staircase to the family bathroom. At the top of the stairs he turned up the thermostat and the boiler in the towel cupboard hissed into life.
The boy found his favourite pajamas, the ones with small red and pink fuzzy shrimps on white fluffy pants and a plain red, long-sleeved shirt. He let out a sigh as he gathered clean underwear, adorned by a pattern of small leeks, before heading to the bathroom.
His clothes were then draped over the radiator in the bathroom as he turned on the shower, finally removing his underwear to scramble under the warm rush of water. His skin not under the stream of warming water became littered with goosebumps and he spun in place, letting the water flow over his cold and numbed body.
Fifteen minutes longer than what was necessary and he climbed out. Encasing his body in a towel and drying off before throwing his clothes on at breakneck speed. His skin high on his cheek bones was as rosy as the shrimps on his pajamas, for a few moments his body betrayed him into thinking he was finally thawed out.
Then he sneezed his first sneeze.