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“He’s beautiful.”
The words were said quietly; Bokuto seemed almost dazed as he watched Akaashi practice his receives from the sidelines. Beside him, Komi rolled his eyes in response.
“You said the same thing last week,” he said with practiced patience. “And the week before that!”
Bokuto absentmindedly scratched his chin; his eyes still hadn’t left Akaashi’s graceful form. “...Oh, yeah! I did, didn’t I? ...Well, it’s true, though!”
“Sure,” Komi laughed, “but you’re the only one always bringing it up.” He leaned in close and put his hand over his mouth as he whispered to the captain with a small smile on his face. “Hey, so, is it because you... well, you know. Do you like him?”
“Well, yeah!” he smiled innocently. “Akaashi’s the best!”
Komi laughed, and crossed his arms. “Come on, that’s not what I meant! I mean...” He leaned in close to whisper once more. “Do you want to date him?”
Immediately, Bokuto flushed all the way to the tips of his ears. “How did you find out?!” he hissed back. “I haven’t told anyone!!”
Komi patted him on the shoulder. “You really didn’t have to. Your crush is probably obvious all the way from space, honestly.”
Bokuto seemed troubled. “...Do you think Akaashi noticed?” he asked, his voice full of worry as he fidgeted restlessly.
Komi smiled, and stood on his tiptoes to ruffle Bokuto’s hair. “Pretty sure he feels the same way. Now, come on, Captain! Turn that frown upside down!”
Bokuto took a deep breath. “You really think... Really?” he asked hopefully.
“You’re both way more obvious than you realize,” Komi said with another laugh. “Just ask him later when you’re walking home together!” Before Bokuto could respond, the libero punched him playfully on the arm, and then ran back towards the net for his own turn at practicing receives.
Bokuto rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Komi seemed pretty sure of it... Should I really go into it with no planning at all, though?! He looked at Akaashi again, and flushed a little when the setter glanced over and met his eyes for a moment. Akaashi gave him a quick nod before he turned away, and Bokuto had to wonder -- was Komi right? Would tonight be his chance?
Yes!! I’m totally gonna confess, I can definitely do it! It’ll be awesome! He grinned as he ran back towards the court with an extra spring in his step, and for the rest of practice, he was in top form, bolstered by his own excitement and confidence.
But when the gym emptied out, and his one-on-one spiking practice with Akaashi was over, he began to feel nervous and uneasy. They left the gym together, side-by-side, and talked about their upcoming training menus and practice matches -- and with each step, Bokuto’s confidence shrank more and more.
By the time they reached Akaashi’s house, it was nonexistent. He watched the setter wave goodbye and walk inside, and shuffled back to his own home, feeling very dejected and small.
There’s no way! he told himself miserably as he flopped down onto his bed. I can’t do it! He pushed his face into his pillow, and stayed there for what felt like hours as his thoughts went a million miles an hour.
He winced at the sudden brightness of his cellphone’s screen as he opened it up to send a text to Kuroo. But one text became two, then three, and then four. Around the sixth message, Kuroo finally responded.
>just ask him out after practice. komi had the right idea
Bokuto frowned as he typed out a response.
>but what if he says no?!!
A moment later, his phone vibrated with an incoming text.
>but what if he says yes?
He stared at the screen blankly for a moment, still and quiet as he turned the words over in his mind. Kuroo’s right! I gotta do this! But how?! He sighed, and stared up at the ceiling listlessly. Maybe I really should confess on the way home one day! It’d be the perfect chance, right?!
A smile curved at his lips as he imagined it in his head: they’d walk home together in the sunshine, and in front of his house, Bokuto would take Akaashi by the hand and ask him out. Akaashi would smile, as gorgeous as ever, and accept. Then they’d date, and it would be totally awesome.
Foolproof, right? He smiled to himself, just as his mother’s voice echoed up the stairs to let him know that dinner was ready.
He was totally gonna ask Akaashi out tomorrow, and there was no way that anything would go wrong.
For most of the day, Bokuto’s attention span failed him even worse than it usually did.
His hastily written notes about solipsism were decorated with wobbly doodles of owls and Akaashi’s face. By the time after school practice had started, he was so amped up that he missed his very first spike -- and then his second, and his third. He wilted a little under Akaashi’s glare, ran his hands over his face, and redoubled his efforts to focus; he didn’t want to make the vice-captain angry, but especially not when he was planning to ask him out that very same day.
After the rest of the team left, Bokuto and Akaashi finished their practice together like they usually did. The captain changed quickly, and ran his hands through his hair with a little extra gel to make sure his spikes were as good as they could possibly be. Yes!! Here I go!
“Hey, Akaashi! Are you ready to leave?” he asked brightly.
Akaashi sighed. “I’ve been waiting for you for the last two minutes, Bokuto-san.”
“Oops, sorry! C’mon, let’s get going!”
He jogged over to the doors of the gym, but paused when he felt Akaashi tug at his sleeve from behind. “Wait,” Akaashi said. “Look at the sky...”
Bokuto glanced up, and groaned. Dark clouds roiled in the air, as far as the eye could see, and the sound of distant thunder reached their ears. “Shit,” he muttered, “no way, this is the worst time--”
“If we hurry, we might be able to beat the rain,” Akaashi said quietly, with another tug at Bokuto’s sleeve.
“Right,” Bokuto sighed. “All right, let’s go!”
A second later, he took off running, with Akaashi right beside him. In a way, it was exhilarating; their footsteps pounded against the pavement in an even rhythm, and their hearts beat rapid but strong inside their chests. For the first minute or so, they were silent as they ran --
Until Bokuto felt the first raindrop land on his nose.
“No!” he groaned, a little breathless. “Damn, we’re not even halfway there yet!”
Akaashi didn’t reply, but grimaced as he looked up at the sky. The clouds were dark and ominous, and within moments, more rain began to steadily fall in a light drizzle. “This will be a heavy storm,” he said quietly as they continued to run. “What a bad day to forget my umbrella...”
Sure enough, the intensity of the rain began to increase, and before long, the light drizzle had become a heavy downpour. Bokuto screeched and tried to cover his hair with his hands, but to no avail; his spikes drooped and then flattened against his head as the rain began to come down even harder.
Akaashi sighed in exasperation as Bokuto’s shoulders slumped in defeat. He gave up on trying to cover his hair, and was unusually silent as they finished making their way to Akaashi’s house.
“Come inside,” Akaashi said breathlessly as they reached the gate. “The storm isn’t going to stop anytime soon.”
Bokuto perked up a little at the invitation, but immediately grew sullen again as he followed Akaashi inside. I look so stupid! he thought miserably. How am I supposed to ask him out when I look like a wet dog?! He toed his shoes off, and peeled his socks off as well; they were soaked almost completely through.
“Well,” Akaashi said with a wry smile, “at least our bags are waterproof.” He paused for a moment as he looked at Bokuto, who was trying to sulk and peek curiously around Akaashi’s house at the same time. With his hair down, he’s... He took a deep breath and shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Come on, Bokuto-san. I’ll get you a towel and a change of clothes.”
Bokuto still looked completely crestfallen as he quietly followed Akaashi upstairs. The setter paused at a closet in the hallway, and opened it to grab two fresh towels from a shelf before he closed the door.
“Here.” He handed one to Bokuto, and motioned for him to follow as he opened the door to his room.
The inside was fairly spacious, with cream colored walls with the occasional poster about space or biology. A large, neat desk was in the corner with a chair and various study materials, next to a bookcase that had very little room left on its shelves. Bokuto took in every detail; even his disappointment at the weather and his ruined hair couldn’t hold down his building curiosity.
He began to dry his hair with the towel as he stared out the window. “Ugh,” he groaned. “What’s that saying, Akaashi? It’s raining cats and sharks out there!”
“I’m pretty sure that’s not how it goes,” Akaashi replied as he dried his own hair off.
Bokuto laughed a little bashfully as he draped the towel over his shoulders. Well... even if my hair is kinda ruined... it’s still really cool to see Akaashi’s house, right?! And there’s always tomorrow! “Hey, practice was pretty good today, right?! I think everyone’s receives have improved a lot lately!”
“...Yeah. Komi’s been doing especially well.” Akaashi clenched his hand just a little too tightly around his towel as he looked back at Bokuto, who continued to ramble.
“Seriously, Komi is amazing! I think he must be on some sort of psychic wavelength with Saru, they’re like two sides of a coin, y’know?” Several strands of his hair fell into his eyes, but he didn’t even seem to notice as he kept talking; his hands moved in front of him as he grew more and more excited. “And did you notice how great the serves have been, too?! We’re gonna kick some ass this year!”
Akaashi was almost captivated by the sight of Bokuto’s hair around his face; the amount of willpower it took not to reach out and brush it out of the captain’s eyes was almost monumental. He looks so different... he’s even more attractive than he usually is--
“And we could set up some practice matches soon! We’re probably overdue for some anyway, even if it’s still not that far into the school year, right?!” Bokuto took a step closer, and his eyes almost seemed to glow with excitement. Akaashi nodded, completely and utterly distracted. “...Akaashi? Are you okay? You seem kinda out of it--”
He couldn’t resist any longer. Silently, he brought his hand up to Bokuto’s face, and brushed the hair from his eyes. Bokuto stilled in shock, and stared wordlessly as Akaashi gently ran his hand through the captain’s damp hair.
Bokuto’s heartbeat suddenly felt far too loud; he felt it pounding through his chest and roaring in his ears as Akaashi turned a little pink. “...Akaashi?” he whispered. “What...”
“You’re always so distracting,” Akaashi said with a wry smile, “but... especially now.”
Bokuto felt his breath catch in his throat as his stomach twisted with excited nervousness. “What would you do if I kissed you right now?” he blurted without thinking. “Uh. Hypothetically, you know? Like, just--”
Akaashi’s smile grew wider. “Hypothetically? I would kiss you back, I guess.” His fingertips traced the shell of Bokuto’s ear. “Is this your idea of a confession, Bokuto-san?”
“Was that your way of saying you would totally go out with me if it was?” he replied with a brilliant smile.
Akaashi rolled his eyes and sighed with fond exasperation as he cupped Bokuto’s jaw, and leaned forward to close the remaining distance between them. His lips were soft against Bokuto’s mouth, and his breath ghosted over the captain’s face as Bokuto pressed back into the kiss and rested his hands on Akaashi’s hips.
A moment later, Akaashi broke away, but still stayed close as Bokuto smiled back at him. “Sooo... does this mean we’re dating?” Bokuto grinned. Akaashi sighed, and Bokuto laughed. “I’m kidding, of course we are! But wow, I’m the luckiest guy on the planet, huh?” he said with obvious adoration. “Hey, though, maybe we could kiss some more--?”
“Maybe you should do your homework first,” Akaashi said sternly. He glanced out of the window; the rain was coming down even harder than it had before. “You’ll probably be here for a while... I don’t have a spare umbrella for you to borrow.”
“Ugh, homework? Akaashi, come on,” Bokuto whined. The setter glared back at him, and Bokuto held his hands up in a placating gesture. “Okay, okay, homework first! And then more kissing?” he asked with a hopeful smile.
Akaashi smiled as he flushed a little again. “We’ll see. What are you studying right now?”
“Ugh, so much stuff, like -- what’s it called again, uh... solipsims? No, solipsism?”
“Solipsism,” Akaashi said as Bokuto put his hands back on the setter’s hips. “The belief that everything around you, including people, is made by your own mind?”
“Yeah, that!” Bokuto laughed. He smiled warmly as he looked back into Akaashi’s eyes. “Y’know, if everything around me is all my imagination, then you’re the best thing I’ve ever come up with.”
Akaashi’s blush reached the tips of his ears as he buried his face in the crook of Bokuto’s neck. “That’s so embarrassing,” he whispered. His lips quirked up in a tiny, pleased smile as he said it, and Bokuto laughed again as he hugged him close.
“It’s true, though.” He pressed a chaste kiss to Akaashi’s cheek. “Wow, I never thought I’d say this, but I’m so glad it rained! I’ve never been happy about my hair getting wrecked before!”
“I like it,” Akaashi said with a soft smile. “You... you look pretty good that way.”
Bokuto flushed, and kissed the tip of Akaashi’s nose. “Well, you look good all the time!”
Akaashi groaned and turned away in embarrassment. “I’m going to get you a change of clothes, and then we’re going to do our homework.”
“Sounds good!” Bokuto agreed brightly.
They ended up sitting side by side on the floor with their backs to the bed, and Akaashi was pretty sure he spent more time helping Bokuto figure out his work than his own. But it was still enjoyable, and every single kiss they shared that night felt as natural as breathing.
Hours later, when Akaashi began to doze off against his shoulder, Bokuto was content for once to simply sit still and appreciate the moment. Careful not to wake the other boy, he twined their fingers together; several minutes later, he fell asleep as well, and dreamed of tournament victories with his vice-captain and boyfriend by his side.
[ end ]