Work Text:
When Bokuto wakes up, he immediately notices his boyfriend is missing. Pulling the covers off, he shivers when the cool winter air hits his skin. ‘I need to start wearing a shirt to bed, it’s getting too cold.” He thought, walking to their shared bathroom where the light is on.
The sight he is greeted with begins to pull at his heart strings. Akaashi is standing in front of the mirror, poking and prodding at his body. While Bokuto knew of his boyfriend’s insecurity, he didn’t know how to go about talking to him about without being too brash or offensive. He always compliments Akaashi everyday in hopes if easing the demons inside the curly-haired boy’s head, but he never believed Bokuto. He just wished his boyfriend could see what he saw every day: that Akaashi was beautiful in every way possible.
Another habit Akaashi had was looking in magazines when he thought Bokuto wasn’t looking. But it was as if Bokuto could hear the harming thoughts inside his head, so Akaashi was always pulled away by Bokuto seemingly finding “something cool” to show him. Bokuto finally decided that enough was enough. If Akaashi didn’t believe how great he was, then Bokuto was going to show him.
Later that day, Bokuto cornered Akaashi in the kitchen. It was now or never.
“Keiji, can I talk to you for a second?” Bokuto asked, his voice sounding oddly serious.
Akaashi eyebrows furrowed. “It everything okay, Koutarou?”
Bokuto shuffled across and wrapped his arms around his husband, squeezing tightly.
“How come you never believe me when I tell you that you’re amazing?” Immediately Bokuto felt Akaashi stiffen. But before he could backtrack and ask in a more delicate way, he felt him take in a deep breath.
“Because it’s not true. I’m not cute like Kenma, or as sweet as Hinata. God forbid, I’ll never have Oikawa’s eye-blinding beauty. Seriously, his looks should be illegal . I don’t know why you chose me over anyone else. I’m skinny and lanky, my hair looks like a bird’s nest in the morning, and plus my eyes aren’t even a pretty blue color.”
“Keiji, it’s those specific reasons why I fell in love with you in the first place. I love your little bed head and your dark blue eyes. Have you ever seen how adorable you are when you first wake up? Sure Kenma is cute, but he’s scary when he’s angry. Shouyou is sweet, he gets too stubborn which leads to issues. I love that you don’t blind me with your face, because that means I can keep looking at you. Keiji, I love you and every single piece that comes with you.”
To Bokuto, Akaashi was so pretty that it hurt sometimes. He was a masterpiece just by himself. Bokuto’s own personal magazine model.
Bokuto knew the only times Akaashi saw himself was in mirrors or in pictures he took of himself. Maybe the answer was taking photos of Akaashi when he was most beautiful. The only issue was taking the photos when he wasn’t noticing. Bokuto knew he would need help with this, so he called the only people he knew that could help.
“So let me get this right. You want us to help you take pictures of Akaashi?” Kuroo asked.
“No, not just taking pictures of Keiji. I want you to do it when he looks happy. Please I really need your help with this.” Bokuto pleaded, looking between Kuroo and Kenma. The two looked at each other and came to terms that they owed Bokuto for tricking him into thinking condensed milk and evaporated milk was the same thing.
~
It was early May and Akaashi was outside tending to the little garden he had begun. Bokuto was a few feet away hitting around a volleyball when he looked over at the curly haired man. He thought Akaashi looked adorable in his little sunhat, overalls, and rainboots. He was sitting on the ground seemingly playing “he loves me he loves me not” and Bokuto knew he could not pass this opportunity up. Akaashi must have heard the click and looked over at Bokuto who was caught red-handed. Acting quick, Bokuto “deleted” the picture so Akaashi wouldn’t catch onto his plan.
~
Later that same day, the sun had set and both men were in bed. Bokuto was scrolling through his phone occasionally nudging Akaashi to show him a funny picture. Akaashi was cuddled into Bokuto’s side, reading a book. Suddenly, Bokuto felt the weight on his right side get heavier. He looked over to see Akaashi asleep on his shoulder with his book opened on his lap.The bi-color haired man finally noticed that Akaashihad stolen one of his shirts to sleep in.
A tingle went down his spine and his heart swelled up. It was this moment that Bokuto knew that he made right choice with going through with his plan, that he never wanted to be away from Akaashi’s side. Quietly, Bokuto took a picture on his phone without the flash. The dim light of the bedside table only seemed to make Akaashi look even more angelic than he already was.
~
It was Bokuto’s birthday and Akaashi was on a mission for cake and enlisted Kenma to help. Even though it was a proven fact that no help for Kenma would occur, considering the last time Kenma cooked, the house almost went up in flames. Akaashi had never really made a cake before so he really had no idea what he was getting into. So far, it had been a success. No fires, no injuries, and no spills. But as Akaashi thought this, it was as if a curse had been laid upon him; because the mixer began to spin out of control while flour was being poured in. Thinking quickly, Kenma pulled the cord from the plug. The spinning stopped and there was only a light dusting of flour left to show what had happened.
“Oops.” rang out from Akaashi.
It was a moment so simple, yet so silly that the boys began to start laughing. Remembering the promise he made to Bokuto, Kenma quickly took a picture of a laughing Akaashi covered in flour.
~
Kuroo and Akaashi were currently waiting for Bokuto to come back from the bathroom. He had drank at least four bottles of water in the last few hours, so it would be a while before Bokuto came back.
“What do you like about Bokuto anyways, people get fed up with him so quickly so I’ve always wondered what made you stay.” Kuroo said, his eyes looking over at Akaashi. The curly haired man took a deep breath and Kuroo slightly began to regret asking that question.
“He is such an incredibly kind-heart person. Sure he can be dense at times, and a bit hard to handle with his mood swings, but that’s not all to him. You know? Koutarou is also so smart too. He was able to figure out what Tsukishima was struggling with after only seeing him twice, and the same goes for Hinata. He’s able to literally work with anyone and is actually excited to do so. He’s reliable. Koutarou puts up with a lot of teasing form everyone, and he only stays a bit upset by it for a few moments. He’s an incredible person, and I would not want to have anyone else by my side.”
Just looking at Akaashi you could tell that he had meant what he said. You could see the look of love and pride in his eyes. So without thinking of repercussions, Kuroo pulled out his phone and took a picture of Akaashi thinking of his boyfriend with an adoring gaze upon his face.
Immediately after Akaashi was about to make Kuroo delete the picture when his train of thought was interrupted by Bokuto’s return.
~
It had taken months, but Bokuto had completely filled an entire scrapbook with photos of Akaashi. How he was able to do this without being found out was beyond him. He must have been very lucky, considering the numerous times he left the scrapbook in plain sight where Akaashi could have easily seen it.
But today was the time to see if this was worth every minute Bokuto had spent on this project. He had Akaashi come to their favorite ramen place for a get together for both of their families. The curly haired man seemed a bit confused when he saw Kenma and Kuroo also there but let it go when he remembered those two were basically a part of both families, knowing each other for so long.
The afternoon was filled with stories and laughter as everyone caught up with each other. Soon the sun had begun to set. People had mostly settled down as much as they could with the Bokuto family in attendance when Bokuto suddenly stood up.
“Hey everyone, can you all listen up for a second? I know all of you think that this meet up with just for everyone to hang out, but I want you to direct your attention to Keiji. As most of you know, in about a week, me and Keiji will be celebrating our five year anniversary. But I can’t wait a second longer to give him his present. Kuroo?”
Kuroo handed Bokuto a box that was poorly wrapped. Akaashi smiled, knowing that Bokuto had done it himself. He was never the best at wrapping things, he always had Akaashi do the present wrapping around the holidays. Bokuto set the box in front of Akaashi for him to unwrap.
Akaashi slowly pulled the gift wrap off and opened the box to see a scrapbook and a note. Confused, he began to read the note out loud.
“Keiji, hopefully this will make you see yourself as I see you?” Akaashi read before looking up at Bokuto, even more confused. His boyfriend just motioned for him to open the scrapbook.
Akaashi slowly flipped through the scrapbook, looking at each and every photo.
“Every single picture in here is you in your most beautiful moments. Even in the smallest and ordinary moments, you still managed to steal my heart over and over.” Bokuto said, rubbing Akaashi’s arm. It took a few moments before Akaashi got to the last page.
“Koutarou? Why is the last page empty?” Akaashi said, skimming over the blank page for the slightest hint of an answer.
“I saved it for this.” Bokuto replied, casually. Confused, Akaashi looked up to where he thought Bokuto was, only to realize that he was now on one knee next to him. He also seemed to be searching for something in his coat pocket.
“Akaashi Keiji, you sure are one of a kind. You won my heart over day after day after day. There is nothing I wouldn’t do to make you smile. My eyes were drawn to you the moment I laid eyes on you in the gym. I couldn’t stop myself from falling for you and your smile. I knew I wanted to marry you months ago. It hit me out of nowhere. You fell asleep against my shoulder, wearing one of my shirts. I looked down on you and immediately thought “I want to marry this man.” I’m pretty sure I look a mess right now and my heart is beating so fast I’m scared I’ll pass out because I really, really want you to say yes. So Akaashi Keiji, will you marry me?”
Akaashi’s face was riddled with tears, but the happy kind this time. He frantically shook his head up and down and threw himself onto Bokuto. While Bokuto was sliding the ring onto Akaashi’s finger, a flash went off. This was the end of the scrapbook, but the beginning of something much, much more beautiful.