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Akaashi Keiji was normal enough. He went to school, got straight A's, played a sport, and lost his belief in the myths of holidays at a young age. It wasn't like he believed in the tooth fairy or Santa in the first place. But he was perfectly content with that, mind you.
Bokuto Koutarou, his boyfriend, was the exact opposite. He was a die hard believer in holiday legends growing up, and he never, ever let anyone change his opinion. He was so faithful that he wouldn't even listen to his parents when they tried to tell him that the Easter Bunny (his favorite as a kid, as it was always bringing him candy) was actually them and there was no such thing.
So that's why on March 17th of every year, instead of building leprechaun traps, Bokuto dresses up in a so-called "leprechaun costume" that he made for himself as a disguise. The purpose? To attract leprechauns and finally own some gold, he says.
The entire Fukurodani volleyball team thinks he's insane. Even his best friend, Kuroo Tetsurou, who shares a brain cell with him, can't understand why he does it.
But that's okay. He doesn't care.
Bokuto is very... obstinate in his beliefs.
---
Akaashi has the urge to decline the incoming call from Kuroo. There are so many reasons he should've blocked his number sooner, but if Kuroo's calling him, it's probably about some stupid thing Bokuto got himself into. So he picks up.
"Akaashi, how the hell do you put up with this absolute moron? He still believes that leprechauns are real! Have you seen his costume? He's crazy!" Kuroo rants through his phone, with Kenma's grumbles inaudible over all the noise.
Trying to piece together context, he asks,."What's going on? It's literally the 16th. Is he going to be wearing that costume of his again tomorrow? How old is he, two?" Akaashi groans and rolls his eyes.
He will never understand where Bokuto's shame went.
"He is! And get this. This year, he asked Kenma to dye his hair orange! Orange! Not dark orange, Hinata Shoyou orange! You know, the shorty from Karasuno who can jump real high. Anyways, he begged and begged my poor kitten until he gave in to that rascal's offer to buy him a special edition of Terraria! Luckily, he only had semi-permanent orange dye, so it'll fade after a week or two. But the point is, he's gone too far! And we need to get him to realize what's actually true. I cannot stand it any longer. I'm reaching my breaking point!"
How Kuroo said that in one breath is an irrelevant mystery. The true mystery, however, is how the hell Kuroo actually said something sensible that Akaashi agreed with.
Shocking, he knows.
Eventually, Akaashi changes the subject. And a couple hours later, he's getting tired of hearing Kuroo's voice, so he hangs up in the middle of the mentioned's debate with himself about why the egg existed before the chicken.
---
Akaashi's alarm sounds at 5:30 AM like it does every day, but Akaashi can tell something's going to go down. So he sleeps in.
But at 6:00, he has to drag himself out of his soft, comfortable, and quiet bed- his second favorite place after the library- and pick up his ringing phone. God, he should really block Kuroo.
Luckily, it's just sweet, careless Bokuto.
He answers as soon as he grabs his phone.
"HEY HEY HEY AGASHEEE!!" Bokuto screams.
Akaashi doesn't know what went through his boyfriend's head while calling him, and he's genuinely horrified and confused. The greeting is all but expected, and the yelling at 6 AM doesn't even faze him. They're average Bokuto activities, after all.
What does, however, is Bokuto screaming it in an surprisingly good Irish accent.
Akaashi doesn't know whether to be proud or absolutely mortified.
"Bokuto-san, why the accent?"
"'Tis Leprechaun Day, after all!"
"St. Patrick's Day, Bokuto-san, St. Patrick's Day." Akaashi sighs.
"Whatever! They're the same thing anyways." Akaashi can sense his pout through the screen. He chuckles.
"Alright, I need to get ready for school, okay? I'll talk to you there. Goodbye, Bokuto-san."
He hangs up before Bokuto could protest and complain that the call had ended too soon.
--
You know how Akaashi thought that shit was going to go down that day?
Turns out, he was right.
And big shit it was.
He's currently standing in a puddle of Bokuto's angry, sad, and disappointed tears. Apparently, Kuroo, like the idiot he is, likely gave in, much to Akaashi's dismay, and proceeded to hammer into Bokuto's brain that leprechauns were not real and he's been dressing up for 12 years for nothing.
Well, fu- fudge. Let's go with fudge, Akaashi thinks, because if he ever has to tell this story, he wants the children to hear an enjoyable, PG story.
"Bokuto-san, don't cry, please. Seriously, you're soaking my favorite hoodie. Bokuto-san."
Bokuto proceeded to cry louder, so after he prayed Bokuto off of him, he gave up and left.
---
As soon as poor Akaashi went home, he immediately changed out of his clothing and furiously dialed Kenma's number.
He picks up after the first ring.
"Oh, hi Keiji. What did you need?'
"What the hell did your stupid boyfriend say to Bokuto to cause him to throw a tantrum like that? We all know very well it's nearly impossible to calm him down."
"That moron did what?" Kenma's tone went from neutral to angry.
"Drag his butt over here and see what he has to say for himself."
Kenma puts him on hold, likely complying with Akaashi's request.
After a couple minutes, Kenma returns with a complaining Kuroo probably being held by the ear.
"Ow, kitten, don't do that. Please let go. I know you can't bear to be 6 feet apart from me," Kenma lets out a noise that reminds Akaashi of a cat's irritated hiss, "Ouch, okay, tough crowd, but dragging me is so mean!" Kuroo was whining as Kenma proceeded to harshly scold him for what he said to the currently bright orange haired Bokuto.
Akaashi finally spoke up. "Alright Kenma, I think you've yelled at him enough for the day. What do you propose we do to calm Bokuto-san down? His tantrums are always the worst."
It takes about a minute for another sound to come from his phone.
"Well-"
"Shut up Kuro, no one asked you." Kenma stops and thinks for a brief moment. "Well... I suppose we could try to restore his belief in leprechauns. You disillusioned his belief in leprechauns, correct, Kuro?" His tone goes hissy again.
"Yes, kitten."
"Okay. I have a plan. It's kind of stupid, but so is Bokuto, so it'll probably work. Also, Kuro, get me my switch, or I'll never forgive you."
Needless to say, Kuroo ran for it.
"Keiji, what if we dress someone up as a leprechaun? I mean, if Bokuto sees one in the flesh, he might go back to normal and stop moping around."
Akaashi takes a second to process.
"Kitten, I have your swi-"
"Anyways, in order for the plan to work, we need a willing participant. I'd ask Yaku-san, but I think he'd be offended if I asked him because he hates being called short. I don't want to face his wrath. That dumbass Lev never fails to get on his nerves every practice, so we're all terrified of Yaku-san at this point." Kenma shivers. "And either way, we'd need someone with orange hair. Someone who, if we slap a beard on them, they'd pass, or at least look somewhat like, a leprechaun. Someone equally as dumb as Bokuto, and someone equally obsessed with volleyball."
Silence falls for a moment, both running possibilities through their minds.
Akaashi only thinks of one person, though, who accurately fits the requirements that Kenma listed, and it didn't take him long to realize who he was suggesting.
Akaashi sighed. Bring it on, Shoyou Hinata.
---
That afternoon, Akaashi and Kenma met up with Shoyou at the Karasuno gym and explained the situation. Kenma asked him if he'd be willing to pose as a leprechaun in order to get Bokuto out of his depressive state. He was confused at first, but then after Kenma explained some more, he finally understood. He agreed, but he also tried to get the opinion of the blue haired setter next to him, who was currently drinking a milk box and arguing with the living salt shaker about whether Tanaka or Noya was dumber.
"Bakegayama, what do you think?" Hinata looks up at his taller boyfriend, probably still processing the idea. Kageyama looks up from his phone and shrugs. Just like Kuroo and Bokuto, Akaashi guesses they share a tiny braincell not big enough to understand most situations.
"I don't know, stupid, but it doesn't seem like our problem anyways." Hinata kicks him and groans.
"Okay Kenma, I'll do it! Anything for you. You're one of my friends!"
Kenma smiles. "Thank you, Shoyo." He looks at Kageyama. "I'll be stealing him for a bit, okay?"
Still distracted, he mumbles an "okay", and they leave for Kuroo's house.
---
"Um, Akaashi-san, Kenma, are you sure this'll work?" Hinata looks in the mirror. He's wearing bright green and he looks like if a Christmas elf and and Irishman had a child. Which he didn't really mind, sure, but the orange beard he had on was kind of itchy.
"Yes, Hinata-kun, it'll be fine." Akaashi says with Kuroo's sister's makeup brush in hand, dusting on blush to make him look younger and more lively. "Bokuto-san will see you, stop his tantrum, and be happy again. It's simple."
"Yeah Shoyou, and if he asks you where the gold is, just say that you spent it on a rainbow slide. He'll be dumb enough to believe it." Kenma mumbles in a hushed voice, probably sore from yelling at Kuroo so much. He's currently sitting on Kuroo's bed, phone in hand, tending to his farm in Stardew Valley.
After about five minutes, Akaashi takes a step back and admires his work.
There's no chance of failure in this plan.
---
Akaashi, Kenma, and Hinata arrive at Bokuto's house at approximately 6 PM. When Akaashi unlocks the door with the spare key that his boyfriend's mom gave him, he's met with piercing wails and sobs.
This is worse than he thought.
He takes off his shoes and brings Hinata upstairs to Bokuto's room.
"Bokuto-san, I'm coming in. Unlock your door please. Look who came to see you? It's a real life leprechaun." Akaashi keeps a calm tone, expecting to be answered with screaming.
"But 'Kaashi, Tetsu told me that they weren't real. WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE YOU?" Bokuto weeps and loudly yells into his pillow.
"But Boku-"
"GO AWAY!"
He sighs and goes downstairs, where Bokuto's mother and sisters are cooking dinner. His mother speaks up.
"Did you try to reason with him, dear? It's impossible, honey, but it's okay. I'll have you deliver him dinner, if it's alright with you. He's likely only going to listen to what you have to say later." She sighs at the same time as Akaashi. "Dinner is ready in a minute. You three," Akaashi almost forgot he brought Kenma along too, "are welcome to stay!"
---
Once dinner is served, Akaashi gracefully shoves his face and brings Hinata, who surprisingly hasn't ruined his makeup, upstairs with him to deliver Bokuto's dinner.
"Bokuto-san, open up, your mother made you dinner. The leprechaun I was talking about earlier has come especially to deliver it to you."
When Bokuto, after a minute, opens the door with more loud sobs, he stares at Hinata, confused, his eyes glimmering in the bright hallway lights with a new wave of tears.
"'Kaashi? Is this... a real life leprechaun?" He starts to smile. And soon enough, he returns back to regular Bokuto Koutarou. "OH MY GOD, AGASHEE, A REAL LIFE LEPRECHAUN! TETSU WAS WRONG! I KNEW IT! AHAHAHA!"
It still surprises Akaashi how fast Bokuto can go back to normal after his mood swings.
He runs up and hugs Akaashi, the latter hugging him back. "I love you, Bokuto-san."
"I love you too, 'Kaashi." He kisses him on the cheek
Hinata smiles. He waves at Bokuto after they pull back from their tight embrace.
"Hi there Bokuto! I'm, um, um, uh, Patrick, the leprechaun! Yeah, haha. I came all the way from Scotland," Akaashi mentally facepalms, "to make sure you still believed in me! And our entire species!"
"I do! Now,' Bokuto puffs out his chest, "can you take me to your pot of gold? Please? PLEASEEEEEE?" Akaashi looks at a puzzled Hinata, who's currently unsure of what to do. He silently nods and gives him a thumbs up. Hinata smiles.
"Sure! Follow me, Bokuto! Though I warn you know, I spent a lot of it on a rainbow slide recently!"
Akaashi could finally breathe again. Everything was back to normal.
---
Akaashi leaves straight after school for Kenma's house. It's been a week since Bokuto's tantrum, and he's glad his boyfriend's back to normal.
The blossoms are in bloom again, causing petals around him to blow into the sky. It's lovely, really. He takes it as a sign of peace and rest from the gods.
But when he gets to Kenma's house, it is the opposite of peaceful in there.
Kenma has a chair in his hand. Kuroo is screaming and covering his head.
"Why the hell would you tell Bokuto that the Easter Bunny wasn't real? What were you thinking?"
Akaashi grimaced. "You did WHAT?"