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It was that crucial moment of the game where the opposing team is at match point and a single mistake could end it all. It’s a problem that all volleyball players can relate to and understand. So disheartening, emotionally brutal, tear inducing…
And Bokuto never took it well.
At this point of the match, everyone on the team was panicking, they didn’t want to be thrown out of the tournament, they had so much more to show. But Bokuto… Bokuto was a whole other story. He took it awfully, to put it lightly. Especially this match because, well, he was a third year and he didn’t want to remember it as the year he almost went to nationals, didn’t want to be remembered as the captain who almost got them to nationals. He put so much blame on himself and Akaashi just wanted to take some of it on himself for him.
It had just been getting worse as the match went on and now of all times he had to go into his dejected mode; and it didn’t help that it was Bokuto’s turn to serve. The whole team was now panicking more than they should have been because they know what happened last time Bokuto did this. Dealing with him after would just be… heartbreaking.
Even Akaashi was at a loss for ideas, there was no easy way of bringing Bokuto out of his dejected mode, they wouldn’t be able to buy enough time for Bokuto to get his shit together, the team was already starting to fall apart and it was Akaashi’s job to bring them back together.
“Why now…” Akaashi muttered to himself as Bokuto sat on his knees staring at the ground. They were playing Nekoma and it didn’t make it any better. Kuroo may have even been able to help Bokuto but since he was on the other side of the net, there was nothing he could do.
The referee was impatiently waiting for Bokuto to stand so they could finally end this match that had been going on for so long but Bokuto just wouldn’t Budge.
Akaashi looked to their coach for help, trying to signal for him to call a timeout but he just shook his head apologetically, they had already used both of them.
He bit his lip and looked at Bokuto again, finally kneeling down beside him and putting one hand on his shoulder. “Bokuto-san, we need you to stand up.” He whispered in a calm voice.
“Akaashi, I can’t.” He scrunched his eyes shut. “Don’t toss to me.” He sounded as if he was going to cry. Bokuto got into dejected modes fairly often, but he rarely cried because of them.
“If you don’t want me to toss to you then I won’t,” Akaashi grabbed Bokuto’s face, forcing him to look him in the eyes, but Bokuto was being stubborn and kept his eyes shut. “Bokuto-san, please open your eyes.” He reluctantly did so. “I won’t toss to you,” Akaashi repeated. “But we need you to stand up and give us the best serve you can.”
“I can’t, I don’t want to mess it up.”
Akaashi took a deep breath and looked around, meeting eyes with Kuroo who was looking at them concerned. He silently pleaded for Kuroo to do something, and luckily he was kind enough to signal to his coach to call a timeout, who did.
The referee blew their whistle, obviously annoyed by the situation, but Akaashi couldn’t be more grateful.
He stood and offered his hand to Bokuto who just hung his head and wouldn’t even look up.
Akaashi sighed and bent down, grabbing one of Bokuto’s arms and attempting to drag him to the sidelines so he could be with their team. The rest of the team caught on and rushed over to help Akaashi pull their captain who wasn’t even trying to resist.
Once they were there, the team made a circle to listen to what their coach had to say while Bokuto and Akaashi were off to the side. Bokuto was now just laying on his side and Akaashi concluded that this was the worst dejection episode he had ever had.Of course now of all times.
“Bokuto-san,” Akaashi shook his shoulder to which he received a strangled groan. “Bokuto-san, please at least sit up, you are acting pathetic.” He said, becoming annoyed.
Bokuto stayed on the ground for a few more seconds before sitting up finally, staring at the floor with the saddest pout Akaashi had ever seen.
“Bokuto-san, you are wasting time, we won’t be able to win if you can’t get yourself together and go serve the best serve you have ever served.” Akaashi said, but it was like talking to a brick wall. “You’re acting like a child, please, if you’re not going to do it for yourself, do it for me, do it for your team that’s counting on you.”
He reluctantly looked up with such a sad expression. He had really never seen Bokuto look this hopeless. He didn’t even know if this could be called a dejection episode anymore.
“Bokuto-san--” Bokuto looked away and finally Akaashi just clenched his jaw and deeply sighed, grabbing Bokuto’s face and planting a kiss straight on his lips.
Bokuto’s sad expression was gone and now staring at Akaashi bewildered, along with everyone who had seen which was apparently literally everyone. Akaashi could feel his face turning red but didn’t have time to lose his composure so instead he leaned close to Bokuto’s ear and just…
“I’ll do it again if you get up and serve us a good one.” He whispered.
Akaashi honestly had no idea where that he had come from, he wasn’t even dating Bokuto. Sure, the entire team constantly questioned whether they were or not and Akaashi definitely wanted to be dating their captain but they just had never talked about it and now…
There was no time to worry about it.
Bokuto’s face was red and mouth hung open as Akaashi walked to their team circle as if nothing had even happened. The team even stared at him in disarray but Akaashi just looked like he had come back from getting a drink of water.
“So, anyways…” He said, starting to go off on how they need to keep their composure and get back on the court and win this thing.
-
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Surprisingly (not really) Bokuto collected himself and served a good one and they went back and forth and actually managed to tie it up but in the end… they still lost.
Bokuto didn’t seem affected and frankly Akaashi was more concerned than he was when he was when Bokuto wouldn’t get off of the floor to serve. He even shook hands and hugged and congratulated Kuroo on their win that had knocked Fukurodani out of his last high school tournament, saying something along the lines of “go crush your boyfriend’s team” and they both laughed. However, it was highly evident that Kuroo was just about as concerned as Akaashi was.
It wasn’t until they were walking home together that Bokuto finally let it go. Squat down, nearly sitting on the sidewalk, and letting out a shuddering sob.
“Bokuto-san…” Akaashi said softly. Bokuto and Akaashi had been the only ones on the team who didn’t cry. Akaashi simply doesn’t cry and now he was feeling like he was about to. It wasn’t even about them losing, he was just so sad seeing Bokuto like this. Seeing someone usually so silly and happy break down is the most heartbreaking thing to witness. “Bokuto-san…” He repeated, this time his voice cracked and Bokuto looked at him.
Bokuto frowned and stood up straight, raising his eyebrows in concern. “Akaashi…”
Akaashi had never wanted to hide so much, he felt so embarrassed. Bokuto cupped Akaashi’s face, the gesture so much gentler than what Akaashi had done in the match.
His bottom lip was quivering and Bokuto quietly laughed, concern still covering his face. “How are you still pretty when you’re crying?” And then he leaned down and kissed Akaashi, and when they parted they just hugged and cried for a while.
They ended up going home together and sat together in Bokuto’s room, fully quiet aside from the quiet sniffles every once and awhile. They didn’t even question it, hadn’t even talked about the kiss, but that was to be saved for another day because at that moment, all they needed support, and it was almost as if Akaashi needed it more than Bokuto.