Chapter Text
When Fukurodani’s third years graduated it left a sizeable gap in the volleyball regulars.
It also made Akaashi captain.
As the only third year it was difficult to wrangle the new recruits into something resembling a functioning volleyball team never mind a powerhouse school, but he was immensely proud of how far they’d all come.
Of course they were all also insufferable little brats.
Komi’s little brother had filled his role as libero - the same small stature as his elder brother making him an agile opponent but he was easily riled and selective with his receives if he was mad at another player. Naturally their new middle blocker and wing spiker revelled in antagonising him.
Onaga was there too - like a port in a storm, something familiar to keep Akaashi sane and keep their new members in check.
Their ace was different too, it felt foreign to see that number four on someone new.
But Bokuto was enjoying university, balancing work and volleyball well; Akaashi didn’t have to worry about him any more, obviously he did though because this was still Bokuto.
But god, Akaashi just missed him so much it hurt, a thudding in his chest as if his very heartbeat was falling flat. Practises were too quiet - even with this rowdy bunch of adolescents - too smooth in their passing.
Part of him wished their new ace would do something, say something - get mad at Akaashi’s more distracted tosses, praise him for the pinpoint ones - but he was quiet, almost stoic.
The other part of him knew it wouldn’t chase away the ache in his heart, Akaashi needed a very specific kind of exasperation to feel whole again and it wasn’t in surplus supply anymore, not with his captain gone.
***
‘Did you hear?’ Komi asked, on a rare occasion that he wasn’t butting heads with their middle blocker.
‘Hear what?’ Maki replied, only a hint of fire in his voice as he pushed his school bag into his locker.
‘About Akaashi’s boyfriend,’ Komi continued in a stage whisper, checking over his shoulder to check their captain hadn’t sneaked in on them.
‘Is Takeshi gossiping about our captain?’ Nishimoto sang as he leaned an elbow on Maki’s shoulder that was immediately shrugged off.
‘So you haven’t heard then?’ Komi deduced with a grin, their wing spiker scowled, waiting for Komi to continue. ‘Apparently he has an older boyfriend in university.’
‘Oh wait yeah, apparently he just joined the team there and is already the ace,’ Yamamura perked up at the mere mention of his position but seemingly had nothing to contribute to the conversation, as usual.
‘Whoa, but Akaashi’s so-’ Komi made some vague gestures.
‘Focused?’ Yamamura said.
‘Strict?’ Maki offered.
‘Frigid?’ Nishimoto finished.
‘Private!’ Komi asserted. ‘I don’t feel like he was born, he just spurted up from the ground fully grown and discontent with everything.’
‘Mean,’ Onaga warned, keeping a careful eye on the conversation between the first years.
‘He is very pretty though,’ Yamamura said quietly, the room falling to a hush as each player turned to look at him - Nishimoto practically vibrating at the urge to poke fun.
‘Aw, Mura and here we thought you were made of stone,’ Nishimoto teased, pinching at his cheeks and earning a hearty slap on the wrist from their ace.
‘Objectively speaking, Yamamura is right though, Akaashi is one handsome dude,’ Komi admitted with a shrug, blissfully unaware of the door to the clubroom opening behind him.
‘Thank you, Takeshi. Now are we just going to sit around and talk about boys or are any of you going to actually go to practise today?’ Akaashi scolded firmly, one hand on his hip as he held the door open for the reddening first years to run down to the gym.
***
But now the cryptic aura around Akaashi had been broken the first years found themselves eager to pick at the select bits of information they knew about the mysterious man in Akaashi’s life.
First was that Akaashi spent a lot of time on his phone - even at practise, where he had strictly forbidden the younger years’ phones from even entering the gym.
Sure he tried to be subtle about it, he’d been caught texting in the changing rooms multiple times - even being so bold as to message his enigmatic lover during warm up drills under the pretence of checking the time.
Additionally, Maki swore up and down that he once heard Akaashi talking on the phone in the store cupboard and laughing.
Secondly, every two weeks or so Akaashi would wear long knee pads - Komi had actually mistaken them for leggings until Akaashi had jumped to spike a ball one afternoon and his shorts had ridden up his thighs.
That’s when he saw them.
Dark bruises littering Akaashi’s inner thighs and confirming, to the younger years horror, that Akaashi did have a sex life - and a seemingly active one at that.
They became careful for just what exactly they were looking out for from then on. A planned heist of Akaashi’s gym bag had been called off due to fears of what they’d find.
***
‘Ugh,’ Akaashi groaned, rubbing the heel of his hand into his eye as he gestured vaguely at the whiteboard next to him.
‘Captain?’ Maki began awkwardly as Akaashi just sighed again, gesturing with more vigour this time. ‘What exactly are we looking at?’
What they were looking at was a set of rules written by Akaashi himself who looked both proud and exasperated with his work.
These rules were entitled: Please Don’t Embarrass Me in Front of My Friends - A Five Step Plan.
‘Number one,’ Akaashi read, face falling into neutrality as he seemed to overcome his previous embarrassment. ‘There’s going to be a practise with my old teammates tomorrow so please play to the best of your ability, don’t let interpersonal squabbles interfere with the game.’ He directed this at the Big Three of squabbles, Nishimoto looked behind him as if expecting this to be directed at someone else.
‘Number two,’ this one earned a pensive sigh from their captain. ‘Please compliment him on all his good spikes. Also don’t touch his hair, you’re going to want to, but don’t.’ The first years looked confused but Akaashi was already moving on with his list.
‘Number three, Komi, if you fight with your brother I will legally have to put you down.’ It was delivered in such a deadpan tone that, for a second, Komi actually believed Akaashi would go through with it without remorse.
‘Number four, remember that you have come very far since the start of the year and I am very proud of you,’ Akaashi sped past this one, embarrassed.
‘Number five.’ A new expression overtook Akaashi’s face, something devious and smug - a face the likes of which they had never been privy to. ‘Don’t expect to win.’
‘Akaashi’s right,’ Onaga agreed over the incredulous uproar. ‘I’ve played with these guys and they play to win, this match is just to show you how strong our upcoming opponents could be. Do your best!’
***
Maki didn’t know what to expect from the old third years but he wasn’t quite expecting… this.
They were all exceedingly normal, if nervous, looking from the clock to a fidgety Akaashi who kept peering out the slightly ajar door - seemingly waiting for something.
Although they were pretty friendly, not all of them had continued to play volleyball into higher education but you could sense their continued love of the sport.
‘Isn’t everyone here? Why aren’t we starting?’ Nishimoto asked, leaning his weight up on Maki’s shoulder and jumping slightly as a humoured laugh rang out.
‘We’re still missing our ace,’ Saru said from the floor as he stretched. Their ace?
‘Hey, hey, hey!’ An exceedly exuberant voice rang out as the gym door rattled open. ‘Sorry I’m late!’
‘Bokuto-san,’ Akaashi had spoken first, rolled slightly on the balls of his feet like he wanted to run to greet this latest stranger.
Bokuto, as Akaashi had named him, was an unexpected guest. With eyes brighter than the sun and hair that bore an eerie resemblance to their team's mascot.
From appearance alone he seemed to be everything Akaashi would despise, loud and boisterous and- charging right at him.
Dropping his bag as he went, Bokuto collided with Akaashi at a sprint, bringing his arms about their captain and lifting him clean off the ground. They span once, twice, Akaashi's arms pinned at his sides as Bokuto wailed some muffled semblance of Akaashi's name into his chest.
‘Wow, you’ve grown so big since I last saw you!’ Bokuto beamed as he set him down, it must have been an in-joke because Akaashi stifled a laugh and reached a hand out before snatching it back and contorting his face into one of neutrality.
He stepped backwards out of Bokuto’s grip and nodded cordially.
‘You too, Bokuto-san. Please warm up quickly, the rest of the team is ready.’ Akaashi said primly before breezing by him and joining his first years on the other side of the gym.
There were a few cheered greetings as Bokuto worked his way through each of the third years and grappled them into forceful hugs one by one.
Akaashi seemed tense, even more so than usual, the first years observed.
‘Rule number two, Nishimoto,’ Akaashi reminded him sharply as the younger boy’s hand twitched upwards towards Bokuto’s finely sculpted hair.
Bokuto met Takeshi in an brief bro hug, recognising him from some of their past matches when he’d gone to watch his brother play.
Nishimoto and Maki both received hearty claps on the shoulder as Bokuto introduced himself before his eyes finally settled on Yamamura and widened at the number on his jersey.
‘So you’re the new ace?’ Bokuto grinned, but he hadn’t held his hand out yet - Maki felt as though their 'new ace' was being assessed.
‘Yes,’ Yamamura replied politely.
‘Akaashi’s tosses are the best, aren’t they?’
‘Well I-’
Now Komi couldn’t see Bokuto’s expression but as Yamamura’s negative tone began he stopped himself almost instantly - tumbling over his words.
There must have been something drastic in Bokuto’s face for his expression to contort into a hauntingly pained smile which - for someone who usually only expressed mild disgruntlement or vague interest - was a shock to the rest of his teammates.
‘Yes, the best, Bokuto... senpai?’ His voice quirked up, not quite sure of the formalities with this stranger. Bokuto seemed thrilled, eyes practically glowing with excitement.
‘Don’t call him that, it’ll go to his head,’ Akaashi said dryly.
‘Akaashi!’ Bokuto cried indignantly.
‘Yo, Bokuto, why don’t you show my brother and his little gremlin friends what a real spike looks like?’ Komi teased, sneering at Takeshi.
‘I don’t think that’s-’
‘Toss for me?’ Bokuto asked, head cocked expectantly.
Nishimoto knew that the relationship between spikers and setters could be an intimate one - but he had assumed that was usually reserved for the ones without secret boyfriends. Because Bokuto’s fond tone of voice was one thing but the way Akaashi stared at him, open mouthed in something akin to wonder, was another.
‘Of course, Bokuto-san.’ He passed a ball to Komi and got into position, eyes blissfully calm as Bokuto radiated an enrapturing aura from the back of the court.
Then Komi threw the ball into Akaashi’s waiting palms, his control of the toss was calm and collected as he set it directly into Bokuto’s waiting hand.
Except there was no satisfying slap of hand on rubber as the volleyball sailed clean over Bokuto and bounced rhythmically down the side of the court.
Silence gripped the gym as if all the third years were holding a collective breath. The temperature of the room seemed to plummet as Akaashi stood speechless, Bokuto looking at his hand as if betrayed, before his gaze trailed down to his shoes - one set of laces untied and his foot only half in the material.
‘Oops, sorry Akaashi!’ He smiled sheepishly, sorting out his shoe and retaking his position as his expression steeled over. ‘One more!’
Akaashi tossed the ball again, it felt as good as the last one - but he couldn’t feel complete, not until-
The ball slammed into the floor on the other side of the court, too fast for him to properly register.
Even though no one was there Akaashi could picture another team on the opposing court, chests to the floor, hands reaching out as they failed to receive the killer spike.
It made his heart flutter.
Bokuto’s hand was red after hitting the ball with such force - it seems he was evolving with his new team but some things had remained just the same as Bokuto clamped his hand into a fist and punched the air.
‘Hey, hey, hey! Akaashi did you see that spike?!’ He bounced around Akaashi, eager for praise before Akaashi rested his hands lightly on his shoulders to settle him.
‘Nothing short of what I expect from you, Bokuto-san.’ There was a familiarity in the way he touched Bokuto; the way he didn’t lift his hands from his shoulders but instead trailed them down Bokuto’s strong biceps, the other seemingly enchanted by his movement.
Wow, Nishimoto thought, Akaashi’s boyfriend must be pretty jealous of what these two had.
By the end of the day the first years were left wondering what his relationship with his boyfriend must look like if this was the amount of PDA he expressed with his ace - it wasn’t anything explicit, just small things like how they said each others names or how casually affectionate they were with each other.
At one point Konoha had hooked Akaashi’s bag above the doors and out of his reach and Bokuto had just come up behind him, lifting Akaashi up from about his hips.
Instead of jumping away, Akaashi had just leaned his shoulders back against Bokuto’s expansive chest and thanked him, blushing coyly.
Maki had grappled Nishimoto into a headlock before he had a chance to yell at them to get a room.
It was nearing the end of practise when the first years saw a side of Akaashi they were more accustomed to, his silently caring nature.
Takeshi had tried tossing to Bokuto but it had been way off, even still Bokuto had gone for it, landing awkward on his ankle and sprawling to the floor.
Akaashi was yelling his name and ducking under the net before Takeshi even had time to apologise.
It was like watching a child fall and only start to cry when someone started fawning over them, Bokuto whimpered as Akaashi pressed his fingers lightly against Bokuto’s ankle - nothing broken.
He slung Bokuto’s arm over his shoulder and walked him over to the bench.
‘Oh my- Bokuto, are you crying?’ A flustered expression dawned on his face as he looked down at Bokuto’s glistening face.
‘What if I can never play volleyball again?’ Akaashi sighed audibly and cupped Bokuto’s face in his hands.
‘It’s barely even a sprain, Bokuto, you’ll be able to put weight on it again within the hour,’ Akaashi assured him, face serious. Although it wasn’t anything with any particular warmth Bokuto seemed to perk up instantly.
‘Wow! You’re so smart, Keiji,’ Akaashi’s face flashed through several emotions before settling on embarrassed as Bokuto nuzzled into his palm.
Akaashi whipped his hand back and both seemed to tense at the sudden loss of contact, the room’s temperature dropping again.
‘Where are you going? Bokuto asked as Akaashi began to move away.
‘To get ice for your ankle-’
‘Nooo,’ Bokuto whined, wrapping his hand tighter about Akaashi’s forearm.
Strangely, Akaashi gave in remarkably quickly, settling Bokuto’s injured ankle on his lap before looking towards the nearest third year, Saru, who gave him a thumbs up and jogged off in search of an ice pack.
They sat like that for the rest of practise, talking quietly to each other or yelling instruction to the younger players.
Sometimes Akaashi’s would trail his fingers absentmindedly up and down Bokuto’s leg but when Bokuto stiffened as his fingers trailed up past the tops of his knee pads, breathing deepening before he tapped subtly at Akaashi’s wrist to halt the action - Komi thought maybe it wasn’t so absent minded at all.
***
Akaashi made sure he and Bokuto were the last in the gym, slinging Bokuto’s arm over his shoulder once more under the pretence of his injured ankle - better safe than sorry.
‘Did you enjoy today, Bokuto-san? Akaashi asked as they made their way to the carpark.
Akaashi listened and hummed along thoughtfully as Bokuto gushed about how well he was doing as captain and how nice it was to see the whole team together again before they finally arrived at their ride home.
‘You haven’t told them about us though,’ Bokuto said suddenly, like he’d been building up the courage to say it.
‘Bokuto, you know why,’ Akaashi sighed a little forlornly. ‘I-I know it’s hard and, trust me, I want to touch you- I mean-’ Akaashi groaned, unable to find the words.
‘You want to be near me, be more like we are in private, but you also want to keep your personal and private lives separate to maintain authority as their captain?’ Bokuto filled in, Akaashi sighed again, this time in relief.
‘You never cease to amaze me, Koutarou,’ Akaashi breathed, resting his head down on Bokuto’s shoulder and falling forward as Bokuto pulled away.
‘Sorry, we’re still in public, I thought you-’
‘Bokuto… we’ll talk about this properly, I promise, we’ll sort it. Right now I just want to go home and make it up to you,’ Akaashi said, noting how Bokuto perked up at his phrasing, leaning into his touch again.
Akaashi swatted away the hands that attempted to wind their way about his waist.
‘Not like that, my parents are home tonight. No guessing what you’ve really missed whilst you’ve been away,’ Akaashi teased, bending over his motorcycle to fetch their helmets.
‘That’s not true, Akaashi!’ Bokuto cried, wrapping his arms around his waist and hugging him tightly from behind.
‘Really, Bokuto-san, it’s only been a week or so, get your mind out of the gutter,’ Akaashi giggled, turning around in his arms and pushing his spare helmet into Bokuto’s chest.
‘Akaashi, you’re making fun of me,’ Bokuto pouted, pulling the helmet on over his head.
‘Only a little,’ Akaashi said, amused, as he pulled his helmet on too and clicked their faces together in a feigned kiss.
He loved riding with Bokuto, he’d gotten the bike as a more convenient way to travel - a few other kids in his year had followed his lead but mostly used them to skip lessons and rev their engines, kick up clouds as they did donuts about the school and jerk each other off or whatever that particular kind of douchebag did in their free time.
Sure he’d definitely got more attention from his peers with his new ride, not that he cared for it, but when it was directed at him from one particular upperclassman he glowed.
Bokuto made his motorcycle into something more than a method of travel, he’d whoop and holler as they turned about corners, clinging to Akaashi’s waist out of exhilaration.
The best part was when they got to their destination and Bokuto would leap off the bike, throwing his helmet off - smiling wildly with ruddy cheeks - and Akaashi could push the strands of hair that had fallen free from his ridiculous updo back into place.
‘I will tell them, Koutarou, just not just yet, okay?’ Akaashi insisted, resting his hands on Bokuto’s broad shoulders.
‘I know, I’m patient, I can wait,’ Bokuto said cheerily, Akaashi just laughed and pulled him into the house.
Another discovery made in their time apart was that Bokuto remarkably easy to indulge now they were no longer on the same team - Akaashi was enjoying all the new ways to tease and touch and talk to Bokuto that had him glowing bright red under the scrutiny.
In return, Bokuto was adorably adoring, it was amazing how spoiled he made Akaashi feel.
Knowing however much it felt like Bokuto was pulling ahead, he always had one hand reaching back for him.