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“Hey, you alright?” the Kenma asked Akaashi.
The two were good friends and Kenma has always been that one person Akaashi would go to confide in his problems and worries, he was a good listener and would always tell him straight up without sugarcoating and would tell him to snap out of it and to stop overthinking things, Kenma kept him grounded.
He knew how much Akaashi loved Mika, she and him had been close friends for quite some time and he always knew about her crush on Daishou which was why he never made any move on her. The day she and Daishou got together, Akaashi got really upset and stayed home most days, apart from work, unless Kenma and Kuroo dragged him out of the house.
So when they left the engagement party, Kenma didn’t believe him one bit when Akaashi told him he’d be fine after hearing the news on their engagement, especially when his voice came out strained. He didn’t even stop the man when Akaashi said he was going to go home ahead of him although they took the same train line home. He probably needed time to himself and it wasn’t like Kenma had something he could think of to possibly lift the other man’s spirit.
The ride home had been blurry, mostly him making his way home purely by habit. He didn’t even realise he had made it home until he has reached his neighbourhood.
It was barely past 8 in the evening, so when he arrived home, he simply passed by his apartment block and walked away, not wanting to spend the rest of his evening alone wallowing in sadness.
He ended up in a bar not far from his house. It was beer after beer and another glass of beer. Even the bartender looked at him, eyes glazed with sympathy, almost acknowledging that he had a rough day, not that Akaashi would tell a stranger his miserable love story. Luckily for Akaashi, it was a weekday and the bar was empty and relatively quiet leaving him to his own thoughts.
His senses eventually became dulled, his surrounding felt like a buzz, feeling the alcohol taking over his system. He lost his coat long ago and was on the empty seat next to him, but he was still feeling a little hot and unbuttoned two of his top button-down shirt, still being in his right mind to keep it to a socially appropriate level.
He was sure there was a man who took a seat next to him and tried striking up a conversation with him but he couldn’t care less. His hearing was fuzzy and he couldn’t understand what the other man was saying to him but he didn’t care about him either way apart from the fact that he was way too close for comfort. Eventually the bartender came by to say something he couldn’t quite catch and the other man left.
“Hey, don’t you think you’ve had enough?”
It took Akaashi a moment to realise the question was aimed at him. He raised his head to turn his attention to the voice that came from the opposite side of the bar. His head felt like it was floating and it took all his might to actually listen to what the bartender was saying to him.
He didn’t realize when the other had walked away but he came back with a cup of water placed in front of Akaashi. “Here you go, drink up.”
Akaashi had half a mind to register anything but he took the cup in front of him and downed it. The feeling of cold water down his throat washed down the taste of alcohol and brought a new feeling to his tongue, it felt refreshing but not very much appreciated.
The look on his face must have been obvious because the bartender did comment something on “Yup, that’s water.” very patronizingly. “Sober up a little before going home, I’m not going to serve you anymore.” he said and he walked off to serve some other people on the bar.
He took a few more sips from the cup of water in his hands, just to keep him busy and stayed there for a few long minutes, he didn’t know how much time had passed but guessed it was past 11.
“Feeling better?”
“Yeah, thanks.” Akaashi ran his fingers through the curls of his hair, pushing his hair away from his face finally facing the bartender probably for the first time in the entire night.
Finally being barely sober enough to register anything in his brain, he noticed the man had quite a distinctive hairstyle that rivalled even Kuroo. His hair was dyed grey with his natural black roots growing back into place where they should’ve been, making it seem like he had a two toned hair that completely contrasted each other. His eyes were a beautiful gold colour that seemed to glow in the dim setting of the bar, staring and baring holes right through Akaashi. He had eyes that seemed to tell only the truth, clear and untainted by the deception of the world.
“No worries, it’s all in the job requirement.” he laughed it off.
Well that’s endearing. He thought to himself, his laugh.
The man kept talking to himself, ranting and flashing that smile of his to Akaashi, it was too blinding for him. Maybe if it was some other day he’d appreciate the energy, just not today. His eyes wandered off the man to his shirt, he wore a white long sleeved button up shirt and even then Akaashi could tell the other man was built.
He imagined his fingers trailing over his abs, up to his chest, lingering a little while over his defined collarbone and the veins on his neck. He would then make his way further up to his jaw- his jaw.
His eyes lingered there marvelling in the way it made him look all the more attractive, if only if it weren’t for all his chattering . His chatter was annoying - he needed some more quiet to bask in the beauty of this hot new bartender and gosh did his lips look delicious.
The chatter did stop, and was replaced with “umm, sir?”
Akaashi was no longer sitting down on his seat and his hand had pulled the other man in closer to him, their faces only separated inches apart, the only thing separating the two men from each other was the counter between them and the bartender’s hand which barely managed to cover Akaashi’s lips in time before their faces almost crashed into each other.
The bartender stared at him wide eyed, taken aback by the sudden action. It was then Akaashi got a hold of himself, he let go of the other men’s collar and stepped away, surprised by his own behavior. “I’m sorry.” Akaashi blurted out.
All the blood rushed to his face and it was now flushed for a completely different reason other than alcohol matching the blush on the other man on the other side of the bar who was still staring at him. It would have been less embarrassing if he had just kissed the man and left, but of course life had other plans other than that for him and planned to embarrass him in the worst way possible.
Feeling terrible, he thanked the man for his service, grabbed his coat and dashed out of the bar. The cool night air wrapped around him as he stepped out of the door and quickly sobered him up, making him feel more horrible about it. He made his way home, recognising the area where he was in.
He had some trouble trying to fit his house key into the keyhole but nothing a little persistence can’t fix and made his way to his bed and flopped down on his comforters. The bed welcoming him with it’s familiar scent of comfort. He heard his text tone pinging and dug his hands in his coat pocket to grab his smartphone, wondering who was it texting him.
His screen revealed 2 missed calls from Kenma and several other notifications from him. Groaning from the fact that he was probably going to get a mouthful from the blonde, he opened his text messages from him.
From: Kenma
Hey, you okay?
9:12pm
Just call me if you need anything, we’re here
for you.
9:12pm
Akaashi, pick up your phone…
10:50pm
You’re probably over thinking again. Just stop
your thoughts right there
11:12pm
Kuroo and I are gonna go get something for
Shouyo’s birthday tomorrow, wanna come?
12:04am
To: Kenma
Yeah sure.. I’ll come
12:06am
Where you guys going?
12:06am
From: Kenma
AEON mall.. there’s more options there to get
him..
12:06am
Akaashi just left Kenma on read on the last message not bothering to continue the conversation. He could ask the blonde what time they were meeting tomorrow, it was a workday so it clearly had to be after work hours and he would have the whole day to ask him.
He washed up and brushed his teeth, washing out all the beer and quickly feel asleep when his head came in contact with his pillow.
***
“Akaashi-san, are you a police officer too?” Natsu asked.
“Well, not really. I’m an instructor at the police academy so no. I’m not qualified to do the arresting if that’s what you mean.”
“So that means you’re better than the police, since you teach them and all!” She stared at him in awe and with a charming smile and it made his chest a little lighter.
“Hey, don’t steal her admiration for me, Akaashi you traitor! Natsu-chan, don’t listen to Akaashi.” He covered her ears in an attempt to shut Akaashi out. “Police officers are better, we chase and catch the bad guys and stuff.”
“Well, if that’s your logic then Kenma has the upper hand over you since he does all the researching and does all the real work.” Akaashi countered.
Kuroo groaned in defeat. “But that’s what I love about Kenma.” he let go of Natsu and snuggled up against Kenma.
The latter was used to the taller’s affectionate random hugs until he gave Kenma a short peck on the cheek. “Kuroo, not in public!” He swatted Kuroo away and he just raised both of his hands in surrender and kept his hands to himself, though he’d brush his hands against Kenma’s occasionally, their pinkies interlacing each other before breaking apart again.
“Are they always like that?” Natsu asked Akaashi, gesturing to Kuroo and Kenma walking behind them.
Akaashi glanced behind to the two men who were walking close to each other and casually talking, and teasing each other in their own private bubble they’ve made for themselves. “Like what?” he asked her again to clarify what she meant by that, of course he knew but he just didn’t want to cross whatever line Kenma and Kuroo had wanted her to know.
It probably wasn’t a secret considering the way they were openly acting around each other but it wasn’t his place to tell her so he played innocent.
“Constantly pining for each other.”
Akaashi eyes went wide before burst into laughter after hearing that. “Omg! I mean yeah, you could think it that way.” he said in between his laughing fit, trying to get a few breaths in between his laughing. He hasn’t laughed that hard in a while.
“Yo, what’s up.” Kuroo came up to them, Kenma following suit, wondering what had Akaashi laughing so hysterically.
“No nothing.” he said, trying to regain his usual calm posture. He took a deep breath in and breathed out everything, his concerns and all the negative thoughts. “Okay let’s go get Shouyo his present.”
After walking around the mall for quite a while, they still had no idea who to get Shouyo, and that’s when Natsu started “Actually, I don’t know of this would actually consider as a present but I think it would be better if we had a surprise party for him instead.”
---
Some days passed since that day, the events of that night completely forgotten by him and Akaashi went out for his usual early morning jog, something he had trained himself to do just to stay in shape and keep fit for his practical lessons at the academy.
The crashing sound coming from one of the shop alleys caught his attention, it was loud enough for him to hear the sounds over his earphones. His curiosity got the better of him and he went over to check.
Around the corner, he say a man struggling with boxes stacked next to him and a box that had fallen over and spilled its contents. “Umm are you okay?” Akaashi asked the man, seeing his struggling with the apples that had rolled away from him.
The other man jumped when he was addressed and the apples slipped and fell of his hands again. Seeing it was partially his fault that it happened, he decided to lend a hand. He picked up a few apples that rolled over his way and dropped it into the box and got a thanks from the man.
Akaashi noticed his unusual hairstyle and it somehow he looked familiar but he couldn’t quite place his finger one it. “Have we met before?”
Hearing the question, his eyes shifted. “Um, you probably wouldn’t remember but I’m Bokuto Koutarou, - I’m a bartender at Mint’s Eye.” he points to himself.
Akaashi’s face reddened at the reminder of what he did that night and profusely apologised.
He was about to continue his jog and forget about his embarrassment when Bokuto’s voice called out to him and he stopped to turn his attention back to the man.
“Do you want to - I mean if you’re not busy, do you want to- umm- go out for dinner or lunch or something. I mean if you’re okay with it I mean.” He asked, tripping over his sentence. His hands were behind his head running through his hair as if trying to find the right words to say and his eyes kept darting around nervously and it was painfully obvious how nervous he was.
That definitely got Akaashi’s attention.
A curious “ohh?” was all he could manage to say but when Bokuto didn’t say anything more, so Akaashi decided to be upfront about it. “Before that, Bokuto-san, can I ask you a question? Are you gay?”
The straight forwardness of the question got him off guard. He wasn’t and he knew that but the anticipation and thrill he got from Akaashi the other night wasn’t something he understood himself but he did feel an attraction toward him.
The moment he saw Akaashi walk through the door the other night at the bar, he thought that the other man was absolutely gorgeous and his eyes kept wandering over to him the entire night which was why when he saw some other guy trying to pick him up that night he got annoyed and basically told him to fuck off.
It was definitely because of the way he was dressed, did he even realize that his buttons were down and way too exposed. That’s basically an invitation for someone to bring him home- and by home, not his.
“Umm, I’m not.” He started slowly, not knowing how Akaashi would react.
Akaashi took a step closer the the other man, closing up on the distance between them. “Well, Bokuto-san, I don’t know where you intend to take this so I’m going to be honest with you. I’m bi, so if you wanna take back what you said now is your chance.”
He wasn’t mad or anything but he didn’t want Bokuto to run away after finding it out later on. High school was rough for him and he didn’t have that many male friends because they were disgusted and the ones that approached him always had ulterior motives.
“I don’t mind it.” Bokuto replied after some silence. “I mean, you seem like a nice guy and I want to get to know you better.”
It wasn’t the answer he was expecting but he was relieved.
“How about Saturday at 2? I get off work at noon then.” Akaashi smiled.
“What do you wanna do? Actually, do you mind if I got your number? It’ll be easier to plan it that way.” Bokuto practically jumped at the invitation.
Akaashi slipped out his phone from his pocket and exchange their numbers and promise to think of something to eat or do before excusing himself and continued his jog. On the run home, his chest felt tight and he was trying really hard to suppress the smile that was creeping onto his face. It was a fresh feeling after all he’s been through. It felt like he was a teenager in high school all over again.
“Get yourself together, damn it.”
***
Their date went well despite it being their first time actually going out with each other. Akaashi found out there’s never a dull moment with him. Sure he was a little on the loud side but it didn’t particularly bother him. In fact, he was glad the man always seem to have something to talk about because Akaashi wasn’t so great at talking when he didn’t know the person well.
They went to a ramen store for lunch and went to a park to bask in the last days of spring before the sweltering heat of summer rolls in. It was a very casual date, with them just getting to know each other better. They got ice cream in a nearby park and ate it by the lake. It wasn’t a romantic kind of date but it had a nice comfortable vibe to it.
Bokuto was a gentleman from his simple gestures like keeping the door open long enough for Akaashi or giving up his seat for an older man on the train and it made Akaashi’s heart squeeze a little. He was a nice man.
Akaashi found out that the bar he went to was owned by his family and Bokuto was going to inherit it some day and he talked about his job as a teacher. The conversation flowed smoothly and they both enjoyed each other’s company.
After finishing up their late lunch, they both left the restaurant. Akaashi offered to walk Bokuto home since they were going the same general direction but he refused and ended up with Akaashi walking him home anyways. He wasn’t ready to let the date end yet.
On the walk home, their conversation somehow or another became a talk about owls when Bokuto noticed Akaashi had on owl keychain hanging from his backpack.
“Akaashi you like owls too?” the question had caught him by surprise. Bokuto was pointing at the keychain he had on his bag.
“Well, they’re pretty cute I guess. Do you like them, Bokuto-san?”
“I do! Have you tried going on the owl tags on instagram? They’re so cute.”
When the conversation died down and things were casual again, Bokuto felt Akaashi’s knuckles brush against him. At first he thought it was accidental and didn’t think much of it until it happened again and he stiffened, was Akaashi doing it on purpose? He glanced over to Akaashi but he couldn’t read the expression on his face. It just seemed like he didn’t care, the way he was just looking forward and continuing with their conversation. Should he return the action and see his reaction to it or ignore it? The longer he thought over it, the harder it was for his to brush his hands against the other and it was getting awkward.
Oh fuck it.
He brushed his hands against Akaashi’s. When he didn’t get any reaction from the other man he felt stupid, why did he even think Akaashi would ever do that but his thoughts was cut off when he felt something wrap itself around his pinky. Naturally, Bokuto returned the gesture and took Akaashi’s hands in his own, gently squeezing it.
When he looked over, the raven was looking down and pink dusted his cheek. They stayed like that for a moment as if trying to appreciate their limited time together. Akaashi’s hands were large and rough, a different feeling than the smooth, slim hands he was used to holding but it felt - nice against his own.
“Thanks for today, I really enjoyed it.” Akaashi said when they got to the intersection.
Reluctantly, Bokuto pulled his hands away. “Yeah, me too.”
“Hey, if you don’t mind, do you want to do this again?” he continued.
“I’d love that Bokuto-san.” Akaashi was awfully close to him, his hands held onto the taller, staring right into his eyes and Bokuto felt his heart race. He could feel Akaashi’s breath on his.
His face looked so much more regal up close, with long lashes and beautiful blue eyes which seemed to have a tint of green in them. His lips looked amazing too, how would it feel to have his lips on his. Bokuto was complete frozen in place, entranced for a few seconds. Finally coming back to his senses, “I - uh yeah, me too. I had a lot of fun.” he clears his throat and pulls away, avoiding Akaashi’s gaze, feeling his face heating up.
“Yeah, you said that already.” the raven chuckled and Bokuto swore it was the most beautiful thing he has ever heard. “Well, I’ll see you around next time, Bokuto-san.”