Chapter Text
^^^ Just a little something for your imagination :)
Contrary to popular belief, Bokuto's hair does not stand up on its own.
Most people assume it does because whenever they see him at whatever time of day, it is always spiked up into two tufts that separated slightly from the middle. What they didn't know is Bokuto has a very precise and detailed hairstyling routine to get his hair into and stay in its normal position.
He used many different products in his hair, not even including the dye used to create his frosted tips, but always made sure to take it out to keep his hair healthy. His daily routine of putting and taking out products didn't take much more than twenty to thirty minutes total but he always used precision when doing so.
Growing up with two older sisters, he learned a lot about maintaining good hair, skin, and body shape. They also taught him that it is okay not to have a socially perfect body and to just be happy.
"In short, only change because you want to change," they had said.
Unfortunately, Bokuto woke up too late today to fix his hair. He had been working on his history essay last night and stayed up very late to make sure it was good enough. The young man had to make sure that his grades were good enough for him to continue playing volleyball in high school and college. Most of all, he wanted to play with his team as much as possible before he had to leave for university.
Once Bokuto saw the time on his clock, he jumped out of bed. He ran to his bathroom, brushed his teeth, and splashed cold water onto his face, trying to wake himself up. Debating on whether to try and style his hair or try to get to practice on time, Bokuto decided on the latter. Drying his face, he ran back to his room and quickly threw on his school uniform which consisted of a white collared shirt, striped blue and white tie, grey blazer, and black pants. He knew he would look messy and unkept but it was better than being late. Plus he could use the school bathrooms to try to make himself look better.
Bokuto grabbed his school bag, which he had packed the night before, and phone before running down the stairs. He grabbed a granola bar from the kitchen and quickly said goodbye to his parents.
~~~
Bokuto had barely just made it on time for practice. He could hear his team setting up and chatting away, making him pick up his pace. He wasn't in the mood to be yelled at by any of his teammates or his coaches, not that any of them would. Waking up late made him feel more tired than usual and thus, wasn't as loud as he usually was. He was also a little upset about not being able to style his hair normally so that dampened his mood too.
There were a few students already at school but he paid them no mind since he wanted to get to practice on time. He felt eyes on him and felt a little embarrassed about his appearance. In reality, everyone was staring at him because he looked, for lack of a better phrase, hot as hell. Girls wanted to talk to him as they thought he was a new student while guys wanted to become friends with him because he was good-looking. Little did they know that they already knew the "new" student.
He quickly changed into his volleyball uniform and stuffed his school clothes into his locker. He put his volleyball shoes on, awkwardly hopping for a bit before running into the gym.
Akaashi was wheeling out the cart holding volleyballs while the rest of his team was setting up the nets or talking to the coach about something. Bokuto was happy to see that everything was going smoothly and no one noticed he wasn't there yet.
Or so he thought.
From the moment Bokuto stepped onto the wooden floor, all activity stopped. Everyone was staring at the boy who was confused as to why everyone's attention was on him. At first, he thought it was because everyone was mad at him for being a couple of minutes late but it was actually for an entirely different reason. For the players anyway, the coach was a little mad at him but didn't care much.
Bokuto swallowed the lump in his throat, threw on a lazy grin, and said, "Hey guys."
Still no reaction from them.
Keeping a small smile, he walked over to his coach, who was talking to Konoha and Komi, and greeted him. One of his managers was there too so he greeted her as well. He noticed her cheeks were red and she had a slight stutter to her voice when she greeted him back but thought nothing of it. His ears also noticed that no one was making a sound or even moving except his setter.
"Hey, Konoha. Hey Komi," Bokuto said as a greeting. His wing spiker and libero also had a pink tint to their cheeks but their eyes were wide.
"Bokuto?" Konoha asked no one in particular.
"Yeah?" Bokuto answered a bit annoyed now.
Everyone's jaws slightly dropped when Bokuto confirmed his identity. They were all shocked that the young man's hair wasn't permanently styled as they usually saw it. More so, they were amazed at how attractive and quiet he was with his hair down, like there was a relation between the two. There was no denying that Bokuto is an attractive young man with an amazing body. Even though his mood can shift quickly, he has a kind and goofy personality and it keeps everyone light-hearted. But Bokuto with his hair down was a whole new sight to behold. He was still, if not more, attractive but he had a calming aura around him, similar to Akaashi's.
Bokuto pivoted on his feet and turned to Akaashi. The setter was busy wheeling the volleyball cart over to the other end of the gym where it was usually kept.
Akaashi looked up at the bi-colored hair boy, looked back down at the cart, then looked back at him. He was appalled by the sight in front of him, to say the least.
The captain of his team looked mind-blowingly good with his hair down. He didn't know if he was jealous of Bokuto or proud that he was the one person that could calm him down. Akaashi could feel his heart beating a little faster when Bokuto met his eyes. Truth be told, Akaashi had a crush on Bokuto, he just didn't know if it was platonic or romantic.
Once Akaashi was back to reality, he realized that Bokuto was right in front of the cart with a small pout on his face. Akaashi knew him well enough to know that he wasn't in one of his moods, he was getting annoyed.
"G-Good morning Bokuto-san? How a-are you?" Akaashi stuttered out. Bokuto's eyes widened at that but decided not to say anything. His usually calm and collected setter just stuttered.
"Hi Akaashi, I'm doing okay. I'm just a little mad at myself because I stayed up too late working on my history essay so I woke up a bit late this morning. That's why I was late today. I'm also a little mad that I couldn't style my hair today. On top of that, I think everyone's mad at me for coming to practice late! Or they are all just acting weird for some other reason." Bokuto rambled out to his best friend.
Surprised that Bokuto actually pronounced his name with a 'k' instead of the normal 'g', Akaashi cleared his throat before speaking, "Don't worry, staying up late will pay off. And don't worry, I promise you no one here is mad at you for coming a few minutes late."
"Then why did everyone stop what they were doing to look at me? Also, why is everyone's face so red? The gym isn't even hot." Bokuto's pout came back, making him look adorable in Akaashi's eyes.
The young setter felt his face become even warmer at the mention that he was blushing. The boy found the third year's aloofness endearing and was also kinda relieved that he didn't know that he was the reason behind everyone's blushing.
"Bokuto, do you really not know?" Konoha asked, everyone's attention turning to him.
"Konoha-san, wait--" Akaashi was then cut off by his other senpai.
"Bokuto, to put very simply, you look really hot with your hair down," Komi said.
Bokuto's eyes widened like saucers and he blinked for a couple of seconds. He always thought his hair looked weird when it was matted down on his head. Unconsciously, he ran his fingers through his hair, causing Akaashi to suck in a deep breath. Bokuto was glad that his teammates didn't think he looked unkempt or like a mess. Especially Akaashi, who would never fail to call out Bokuto on his foolishness or his wrongdoings.
Bokuto turned to Akaashi and asked simply, "Is that why everyone's faces are so red?"
Akaashi let out a breath and nodded wordlessly. Bokuto couldn't help but grin at that, making him look even more attractive.
"Wow, I always hated the way my hair looked when it was down. I didn't know it would be such a big hit with people!" Bokuto sounded amazed by his own attractiveness, causing some of his teammates to catch his infectious smile.
"You don't have to put your hair down just because other people like it, Bokuto-san," Akaashi said with a small frown on his face.
"Don't worry, Akaashi. The real reason I never put it down because I thought it made me look messy."
Bokuto's teammates shared similar thoughts, He really thought his normal hairstyle looked neat?
Akaashi, being ever so observant, assured Bokuto, "Your hair looks nice when it is down as well, Bokuto-san. You should wear it more often like this."
The grin on Bokuto's face managed to widen even more. "Thanks 'Kaashi."
"OI! ALL OF YOU, STOP OGLING BOKUTO AND START STRETCHING ALREADY! AKAASHI, PUT THE CART WHERE IT NEEDS TO GO! PRACTICE IS BEING WASTED AND I AM NOT IN THE MOOD TO DEAL WITH THE OLD CAT'S SMUGNESS IF WE LOSE AGAINST THEM AT TODAY'S PRACTICE MATCH!" Their coach yelled.
"YES COACH," everyone yelled back, sensing their coach's pissy mood.
The second-year quickly wheeled the cart to its regular spot while the rest of his teammates ran over to where Bokuto was. He lead the stretches and a moment later, Akaashi joined them.
Morning practice went by as it usually did after the scene, with the regular warm-ups and drills. Once it finished, everyone changed back into their school uniforms and went to their respective classes.
Many, if not all of, Bokuto's classmates were shocked to find that he was the "new student". Girls were swooning even more with a few boys joining them, while guys wanted to befriend him more than they usually did. Bokuto's friendly personality was still intact so he didn't think much of it.
Maybe I should start putting my hair down more often.