Chapter Text
“Run this by me one more time?” Akaashi asked while rubbing his temples. Gosh, he was going to get a headache from all of this nagging from Bokuto.
“Kuroo’s having a Valentine’s Day party! You should come out, I promise it’ll be fun!” Bokuto exclaimed while pouring himself a cup of coffee.
“So you want me to go to one of Kuroo’s parties? Didn’t you come back one time from his apartment at 2 in the morning with a owl tangled in your hair?”
“That was different Akaashi! We passed tryouts and we were celebrating! Don’t act like you wouldn’t do the same thing!” Bokuto retorts. “Besides, he promised me that it’ll be more toned down this time, and he’s only inviting his close friends!”
“Close friends? So should I expect 5 or 50 people waiting for us in his apartment?”
“Akaashiii~ Stop being so stubborn! Lighten up! Have some fun! I haven’t seen you go out for fun this whole semester!”
Akaashi paused and thought about it for a second. It was true, he hadn’t been out for the past two months, but that was because volleyball and school had stacked up, and the only thing that could suffer was his social life.
Also, a Valentine’s Day party might be a good place to confess his feelings…
“No,” he scolded himself, “you can ruin this good relationship you already have with Bokuto-san. If you confess and he refuses, the friendship that you have with him will suffer.”
Akaashi wondered if it was better to suffice for friendship rather than get his feelings off of his chest.
“Akaashi? Are you okay?”
“Ah yes, why do you ask?” Akaashi inquired.
“Oh, you just seemed to zone out there for a moment.” Bokuto stated. “Ah, if you’re worried about the party, don’t be! I don’t wanna force you to go if you don’t want to…”
“I’ll go with you.”
Bokuto’s jaw dropped. “Wa-wait. Really Akaashi?” He reaches over and puts a hand on his forehead. “Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”
“Bokuto-san, why are you acting so surprised? I just agreed to go out with you.”
“Yeah, but it’s never this easy to convince you to go with me anywhere!” Bokuto exclaims. “I asked you one time if you wanted to come out to grab a coffee with me and you refused because you had to study for a QUIZ. Not even a test or exam, a TEN POINT QUIZ!”
“Ah, I remember that. You spent a good twenty minutes trying to drag me out the door.” Akaashi deadpanned.
“Yeah, because you looked like you were getting a serious case of cabin fever!” Bokuto blurted out. He then narrows his eyes. “Why are you being so complacent this time?
“Don’t tell me... Are you trying to snag a date tonight Akaashi???”
Akaashi rolls his eyes. “No. I just thought about what you said and it’s true. I have been cooped up in our dorm for a while now and I’d like to get out a little bit and catch up with some of our old friends.” he states. “Is it really that surprising Bokuto-san?”
Bokuto decides to question him on his weird behavior later and drops it for now.
“Yeah it is kinda surprising Akaashi. With the amount of time you spent in our dorm I’d think you were becoming a homebody or something!”
Akaashi stares at him and rolls his eyes while stating, “Well at least I’d be a homebody who actually pays attention during lectures. You’re just a party animal who begs others for notes afterwards because all you do is snore during class.” He snorts at the last part and grabs his coffee to leave.
“Wait... HEY HEY HEY AKAASHI! WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY PARTY ANIMAL? AND I DON’T SLEEP IN CLASS!”
~~~
The elation from Akaashi’s acceptance still hadn’t worn off by the time lunch rolled around.
Bokuto practically skipped into the dining hall. You could say he was “high” on glee.
Nothing mattered more to Bokuto than being able to hang out with Akaashi more. But he was still worried about all the possible scenarios that could go down at the party. As he sat down with Oikawa and Kuroo at their lunch table, Boktuo started to think about all of the worst-case scenarios that could possibly happen tonight.
What if he dips at the last moment? What if someone asks him out this afternoon and he ditches me for them? OH MY GOD. WHAT IF HE MAKES OUT WITH SOMEONE DRUNK AND IT’S NOT ME. If that happens I’m gonna run home and drown myself in the toilet I swear to go-
“Kou-chan! Stop worrying about this so much! I mean, you don’t even know if he’s gay!” Oikawa teased.
Crap, I must’ve been voicing my thoughts out loud. OH CRAP THAT MEANS-
“But I must say Kou-chan, I would’ve never thought you’d have the hots for Akaashi! I always thought you had something for Hinata or Kuroo!”
“Gah, don’t say disgusting things like that Oikawa,” Kuroo groaned, “let’s just be happy that this dork actually has a crush on someone who isn’t an actual piece of trash.”
God, this is why he didn’t want his friends to find out.
After his one dating mishap freshman year, Oikawa and Kuroo had personally labeled themselves as the Kou-chan Protection Squad. This basically meant that these bastards tried to scare everyone that Bokuto tried to date. It didn’t matter who it was, Kuroo and Oikawa always used their “foolproof Bokuto date examination.”
It basically meant Oikawa tried to seduce Bokuto’s date to see if they would cheat.
And what had this so-called “test” done for Bokuto’s love life? Absolutely nothing.
Why? Because this test ended up the same way every time. With his date leaving him for Oikawa.
Granted he was kinda glad for his friends for doing this because he’d never want to be in a relationship with someone who’d cheat, but it still hurt seeing all of his dates leave him for his (much-better looking) friend.
At least Oikawa always took the liberty of ghosting Bokuto’s dates after they’d admit they would’ve cheated on Bokuto. That part made him feel a little better.
“Ok, hear me out. Akaashi’s different! He’s polite, sweet, and caring!” Bokuto exclaims, “He’s always there for me, and I’d never think he’d cheat!”
“But dude, we already know all that,” Kuroo says. “Also, why are you telling us that he’d never cheat? How’s that info contributing to this analysis on Akaashi?”
“BECAUSE I don’t want you to do your little ‘date examination’ thing on him!”
“Oh Kou-chan, calm down! We’d never do that to sweet Aka-chan!” Oikawa reassures.
“Yeah, he’s right. We’re gonna do something else.” Kuroo states.
“You are!?” Bokuto shouts.
“We are!?” Oikawa echos.
“Nah man, I’m just messing with you!” Kuroo wheezes. “Akaashi’s a cool dude, and I definitely don’t think he’s the kind to cheat, so we’ll sit this one out.”
“Yeah!” Oikawa exclaims, “Aka-chan is a sweetheart, you’re smitten for him, and you’re roommates!”
“Oh my god they were roommates...”
“Shut up Kuroo!” Oikawa chucks his water bottle at him. “Anyway Kou-chan, do you see what I’m saying? Tonight is the perfect opportunity for you to ask him out!”
“Hey-hey! That’s a great idea man!” Bokuto yells. He then peers at the main clock in the dining hall, and his eyes widen.
“Oh shit! Bro, I have literally three minutes to get to my psych class!” Bokuto proceeds to blurt out while shoving the rest of his gyoza down his throat. “I gotta run, but I’ll see you guys later at the party?”
“Yeah bro, don’t sweat it.” Kuroo laughs, “It’s our apartment, of course we’ll be there.”
“Bye Kou-chan!” Oikawa waves and chuckles as Bokuto stagger-runs out of the dining hall with his books in one hand and a pile of mochi in the other.
Once he’s out of sight, Kuroo and Oikawa both sigh and shake their heads.
“What are we gonna do about him and Akaashi?” Kuroo deadpans
“I’m not sure,” Oikawa groans, then his eyes light up. “I do however have an idea of how we can see if Aka-chan is really into Kou-chan...”
~~~
Akaashi really, really wanted to strangle the person who created Valentine's Day.
Because instead of studying at the library, or hanging out with Suga-san and talking about how awful it is to study different types of pharmaceuticals over matcha lattes, he’s stuck here at this convenience store near his dorm.
Stuck at this store looking for a gift he can give to Bokuto along with his confession letter.
This really shouldn’t be that hard. He should just be able to find something cute and practical, pick it up, buy it, and package it. It really should be that simple.
But of course, it isn’t.
Because instead of just picking something and buying it, he’s second-guessing everything that he’s picking out.
What if Bokuto-san doesn’t enjoy these red-bean buns? No way, I saw him eat seven of them at two A.M. the other day. But what if that was just a drunk decision and he doesn’t actually like them?
What about these chocolates? Would these look too fancy? Would he feel uncomfortable with me giving him these? Does he even like filled chocolates?
Why is gift buying so hard?!
Deciding he should take a well-needed break from sweets, Akaashi wanders aisle seven, which is filled with plushies and charms of everything known to mankind.
Scanning the shelves, Akaashi wonders if he should consider buying something like an owl stuffed animal for Bokuto, seeing as his room has a couple plushies scattered along the shelves.
His eyes then fall on a stuffed owl that looks too cute to pass up. He checks the price tag.
2500¥
“Huh,” he thinks, “that’s not bad for a plush of this size and quality.”
He decides to take the owl to the register before he second-guesses himself any more.
~~~
“Do you think that someone would find me attractive?” Bokuto sputtered out randomly.
Hinata gave him a puzzled look.
“I mean, yeah?” He answered. “You’ve gone on a ton of dates I mean since the year started, isn’t that a tell-tale sign that people think you’re hot?”
The two of them were walking through their campus’s central courtyard. Hinata had run into Bokuto by accident while he was coming out of his psychology class, and Hinata had asked if he was free to grab a coffee.
Bokuto was feeling pretty down right now. For some reason, he felt like he was going to spiral into an emo moment right here in front of Hinata and everyone in the courtyard.
I blame Akaashi for making me feel like this. I mean, who wouldn’t be heartbroken by the idea that they’re never going to be able to date their roommate? It doesn’t help that said roommate has really nice, soft features, and hard toned legs that make me wanna-
“Bokuto? Do you have a crush on Akaashi?”
Ah shit. He’d been voicing his thoughts out loud again. Dammit.
“Ah, well you see,” Bokuto stuttered while blushing profusely, “I guess you could say that? He’s a really nice guy, and he’s always so sweet to everyone. You can tell that he’s really diligent with his studies, but he never hesitates to help another person out whenever they’re in need of help. Also, he has a REALLY nice body. Like I saw him shirtless one time, and I wanted to... ”
“Yeah, Bokuto. I think you’re really screwed.” Hinata giggled.
“Hey hey!” Bokuto shouted. “It’s not my fault that I was just blessed with a super hot and super nice roommate! You can’t blame me for crushing this hard Hinata!”
“You’re right.” Hinata sighed. “I-” he stammered out while blushing.
“What is it?” Bokuto questioned.
“A-ah, it’s nothing, really!” Hinata tried to reassure Bokuto, but his red cheeks and stammer said otherwise.
Bokuto knew Hinata was hiding something from him, but he couldn’t quite decipher what it was. He decided to pry the topic a little more.
“C’mon Hinata, I know you were trying to tell me something!” Bokuto cried, “I promise you can tell me, your senpai, anything, and I won’t tease you! I’m mature that way!”
“I-, well, um...” Hinata hesitated. “It's just that I was gonna say that I really can’t tease you about Akaashi, because I’m also falling really hard for someone right now.”
“Wait?! You have a crush on someone?” Bokuto exclaims. “Who is it? Is it another first year? Is he in the volleyball club too? Do you room with him?”
“Well, his name is-”
All of a sudden, Akaashi rounded the corner that they were walking towards. He was walking towards the duo, but it seemed like he hadn’t noticed them yet.
Bokuto couldn’t explain it, but something told him that Akaashi couldn’t see him and Hinata together.
What if he thinks that Hinata’s asking me out on a date tonight? What if he thinks I’M asking Hinata out!? God, he’ll never approach me again!
Looking back on it, Bokuto realized that this was a pretty dumb assumption to make at the moment.
Nervousness overtaking his body, Bokuto panicked and shoved Hinata and himself into a nearby bookstore. He and Hinata watched as Akaashi walked past them while holding what looked like a huge bundle of gift bags.
Wait, is that a-
“Oh my god! Why does that owl stuffed animal have a heart in its hands!?” Hinata blurted out.
“Do you think he was confessed to by someone Bokuto?”
Bokuto’s heart sank.
~~~
Bokuto had sulked the rest of the walk home.
It wasn’t like he didn’t support Akaashi getting a confession or a gift! It was Valentine’s Day for god’s sake! He was allowed to be confessed to by anyone, and Bokuto sure as hell wasn’t going to police his relationships, because that’s a petty and stupid thing to do!
But it still hurt.
When he shuffled through the door, Bokuto had wanted nothing more than to slump over on the couch and melt into a puddle of sorrow.
But of course, the universe just was not on his side today.
“Bokuto-san, if you lay like that, your back is going to hurt later tonight.” Akaashi dead-panned. “Get up, we have to leave for Kuroo-san’s apartment in thirty minutes.”
Damnit. He’d forgotten about Kuroo’s party. Why couldn’t he schedule it for another day? Another day when Bokuto didn’t feel like he wanted the couch to swallow him whole?
Bokuto groaned and smashed his face further into the couch cushions.
Akaashi sighed and marched over to the couch, and proceeded to pull Bokuto up by the collar of his shirt.
“Bokuto-san, come on. You need to get changed and-”
Precisely two very coincidental things happened at this point.
One, Bokuto hadn’t expected Akaashi to pick him up by the back of his shirt, so out of instinct, he started to flail around like a wingless crow.
Two, since Akaashi hadn’t expected Bokuto to flail around like a wingless crow, he lost his balance and slipped on the floor, flipping Bokuto over in the process.
This in turn had led to Bokuto falling on top of Akaashi, with both of them on the floor.
Needless to say, the whole situation was very, very awkward, with silence filling the room.
Bokuto acted first, immediately standing up and getting off of Akaashi. He felt like his face was on fire.
How could I do that!? Crap! Now he thinks I’m some kind of pedo or something that gets off while thinking of this roommate! Shit! Why me? Why me and my stupid, broken life-
“Bokuto-san?”
No. Not now. He couldn’t talk to Akaashi, heck, he couldn’t even face him without his face flushing like a tomato. So he did the only thing that his nervous, anxious self could do.
“U-uh, sorry Akaashi! I just realized I, uh, have to uh, wash my cactus!” Bokuto stammered. “Yeah! So, I’m gonna go do that, and then get dressed for Kuroo’s party and then we can leave!”
Bokuto then proceeded to get up and run straight out of the living room and dove for his bedroom.
Once he locked his door, he sunk down his door and shoved his head into his hands.
God, why me!? Why me, why me, why me? I can’t even face Akaashi now after that! Oh my god, this is gonna make the party so awkward now...
Unbeknownst to him, if he’d stuck around, Bokuto would’ve noticed the slight tint that coated Akaashi’s cheeks.