Work Text:
Akaashi flips through his notes mindlessly as he eats his lunch. He needs to study for his upcoming exams, but he’s finding it quite difficult to focus at the moment. There’s a weird feeling in the air, and it’s distracting him from being productive. He has a feeling that something will happen today.
Kenma suddenly appears from behind, and he sits next to Akaashi on the grass. Akaashi greets him with a curt nod, and Kenma blinks at him before pulling out his phone. Their relationship is like this - they need few words to communicate what they want from each other. Kenma knows that Akaashi is trying to focus on studying, and Akaashi can tell Kenma doesn’t want to talk today. And most days.
He opens his bottle and takes a sip of water before focusing back on his notes. He pinches his thigh and forces himself to concentrate, since he can’t let his grades slip. Midterm season is the absolute worst, and he can feel the stress weighing down on him.
His shoulders have been extremely tense all week, and he’s had a headache all day. It doesn’t help that his appetite has gone down, but he’s done his best to eat three meals every day. He knows he’ll need the energy to get through these exams, and it’s important to keep healthy habits.
Akaashi takes a moment to stretch his arms out, and he rolls his shoulders. There’s several pops, and he winces. He rolls his neck around, and he lets out a heavy sigh as he lays down on the grass and closes his eyes. A short break is okay. He’ll get up in a few moments to keep studying.
Something pokes him in the arm, and Akaashi startles awake. Kenma is watching him, and he pokes Akaashi again. “You fell asleep,” he says quietly. Akaashi blinks as he realizes that Kenma is right. Without realizing it, he had fallen asleep so easily.
“Thanks,” Akaashi says. He’s grateful that Kenma woke him up so quickly, but his head is pounding even worse from suddenly being pulled out of sleep. From his bag, he pulls out a painkiller and takes a pill before he resumes studying.
Once his alarm starts vibrating, he packs up his bag and stands. Before he leaves, he pulls out a slice of apple pie and sets it next to Kenma, along with a disposable fork.
Kenma glances at him before turning to his own bag and pulling out an onigiri from Akaashi’s favorite place. Akaashi’s eyes widen at the offering, and his lips turn up slightly into a smile. “Thanks,” he says again as he takes the onigiri. Kenma shrugs before turning back to his game.
Akaashi takes his leave, his mood a lot better than when he first started studying. He considers skipping his next lecture, and decides that he’ll just head back to the dorms. It’s not like he really needs to be there for that class to pass, and they don’t count attendance as part of the grade. He’ll probably take a short nap to relieve his headache and then continue studying.
Akaashi swipes his student I.D. to get into the building, and a cool gust of air greets him. The air conditioning feels great, and he lets out a sigh of bliss. Akaashi heads for his dorm room before pausing and eyeing the vending machines in the lobby.
A cold drink sounds appealing at the moment. Akaashi makes up his mind and heads for the vending machines. As he steps into the room, he fails to notice the thin thread near the ground. Akaashi chokes as he’s suddenly assaulted with something white and powdery.
He coughs and waves his hand, trying to clear the air in front of him. Akaashi’s not entirely sure what just happened, but he feels disgusting. There’s some kind of substance all over him, and he groans at thinking about the mess he’s going to have to deal with. Once the air clears, Akaashi takes a moment to digest what happened.
A prank. A fucking prank. Akaashi is going to commit homicide, and there’ll be no one to stop him. He examines his hands critically, and realizes that a large bucket of flour was dumped over him.
“Ha, I got you Kuroo!” A voice crows, and Akaashi’s eyes immediately fly over to the source. He’s greeted by someone with ridiculously shaped hair, and Akaashi narrows his eyes. The stranger falters once he realizes that Akaashi is, in fact, not Kuroo, and he looks panicked.
“Hello,” Akaashi says wryly. There’s a hint of something dark in Akaashi’s voice, and the stranger looks like he’s a second away from bolting. Instead of saying anything else, Akaashi waits silently and stares at the stranger.
“E-er, I’m really sorry!” The stranger yelps, and he suddenly kneels and the ground and bows to him. “My friend always comes in around this time to get a drink, and no one’s really at the dorms in the middle of the day, so I figured that it would be okay to set it up, but it looks like I accidentally hit you instead-”
“Wait,” Akaashi says. The stranger immediately shuts up and peeks up at him. “I’ll forget this happened, as long as you and your friend take responsibility and clean this up.” It’s going to be a pain to get his clothes clean, but he’s thankful that his notebooks and belongings are safely zipped inside his bag.
The stranger sits up quickly before nodding his head up and down rapidly. “We’ll clean it up!” He says loudly, saluting him. Akaashi stares at him silently for a few seconds before laughter suddenly bubbles up in his throat.
Of all things, he wasn’t expecting to get flour dumped on him when he came back to the dorms. He laughs hard, letting the stress seep out of his body. It’s obvious the stranger is bewildered, and he gives Akaashi a confused puppy look, making Akaashi only laugh harder.
Once he gains control over himself, Akaashi straightens up and cools his expression. “Sorry,” he says. “It’s been a stressful week.” He doesn’t offer any other explanation, and the stranger doesn’t ask for one either.
“Midterms suck,” the stranger nods, looking empathetic. “That’s why my buddy and I play pranks on each other! It’s a good way to laugh and relax. Most of the time,” he adds sheepishly.
“I’m Akaashi Keiji,” Akaashi says, his lips turned upwards in a small smile. “Nice to meet you, even if you did dump flour all over me.”
The stranger scratches his head sheepishly. “Bokuto Koutarou,” he says, and Akaashi blinks at the familiar name.
“Aren’t you the guy who got kicked out from the science building because you set off the fire alarm after using colored smoke bombs?” Akaashi asks. Bokuto flushes bright red, and Akaashi stifles his laughter again.
It seems that he’s met someone interesting today.
“That was Kuroo’s fault,” Bokuto pouts, and Akaashi wonders why the name ‘Kuroo’ also sounds familiar. “He was trying to smoke me, but he ran away and left me to take the blame!” Bokuto crosses his arms with a scowl. “Now everyone there gives me a dirty look when I walk through the building,” he complains.
“Sounds...problematic,” Akaashi says diplomatically. Bokuto nods furiously, his hair shaking wildly.
“I should probably get cleaned up now,” Akaashi says, gesturing to himself. “Perhaps I’ll see you around again.”
“Can I have your number?” Bokuto blurts. Akaashi squints at him suspiciously.
“You want the number of the person you accidentally dumped flour all over?” Bokuto winces, but he nods.
“You didn’t kill me right away,” Bokuto says with sheepish laughter. “Also, you’re really cute,” he adds shamelessly, and Akaashi is glad his cheeks are covered in white.
“I don’t give my number out to just anyone, Bokuto-san. Especially not to people who prank me.” Bokuto wilts at Akaashi’s blunt words, but Akaashi holds his hand out expectantly. “However, I suppose I can make an exception for you today. After all,” Akaashi smiles, “it’s been an interesting day.”