Chapter Text
Despite the cold wind blowing non-stop outside, and the loud banging of tree branches hitting the window, Bokuto barely even moves, still trapped in the deepest of slumbers. But the sound of tiny footsteps coming from the hallway manages to awake him, if only enough for him to crack open one eye, and instantly fall asleep again. His bed is warm, and the sheets are soft against his skin, things that he barely acknowledges as he furrows deeper into the blankets, and buries his face against the pillow to keep sleeping.
But he can still hear the footsteps approaching his bedroom, and he almost prays for it to be a dream, for his son to be asleep in his own bed, instead of slowly opening the door to Bokuto’s bedroom.
“Papa,” Tetsurou’s tiny voice reaches him from the doorway behind his back, crashing every hope Bokuto may have harbored of getting a couple more minutes to sleep. He figures that ignoring him and pretending to be asleep will be enough for the kid to close the door and return to his own bed, but Tetsurou proves him wrong by quietly approaching his bed. “Papa,” he calls out again, a little louder this time, and Bokuto responds with a tiny grunt, still barely awake. “You need to wake up, we’re gonna be late.”
“Five more minutes, Tetsu…” Bokuto rasps out, clutching to his blankets like a lifeline.
With his back turned to his son, Bokuto can’t see the pout that instantly takes over Tetsurou’s face. He can, however, feel his son’s tiny hand fall harshly on his face with a loud slap, accompanied by an offended “WAKE UP, LAZY PAPA!”
Bokuto sits up on the bed with a yelp, throwing the blankets away from him and into Tetsurou’s face. He places a hand on his offended cheek, stinging from Tetsurou’s slap.
“Hey, Tetsu, what the-!” he begins, but then stops when he sees Tetsurou dragging the sheets away from his face, revealing a deep frown, and an outrageous bed-head. He looks so cute in his red pajamas, adorned with dozens of tiny kittens, and his black hair sticking out everywhere, that Bokuto can’t help but to smile fondly at his son, despite the stinging of his cheek. He reaches out to grab Tetsurou under his armpits, and drag him into the bed with him. “You really are excited for your first day of preschool, huh?”
Tetsurou nods slowly a couple times, and then smiles widely when his dad affectionately ruffles his hair. Bokuto yawns loudly, stretching his arms widely. Tetsurou takes advantage of his position to wrap his arms around Bokuto’s middle in a tight hug, earning himself another ruffle and kiss to the top of his head.
“Let’s go get some breakfast, buddy!” Bokuto exclaims, getting an excited “yay” in response. He gets up from his bed and pads lazily to the kitchen, with Tetsurou still hugging his chest, his short legs dangling from side to side with every one of his dad’s steps. Bokuto stops to grab a hair band from the bathroom, and ties his hair up in a bun.
Fatherhood doesn’t really leave time for hair-styling, he thinks.
~•~
Akaashi finishes fixing the collar of his shirt around his tie, and gives an approving nod to the mirror before heading to Kenma’s bedroom. He opens the door slowly and peeks inside the dark room, inspecting the bundle of sheets that lies on the small bed.
“Kenma,” Akaashi calls, carefully stepping inside. He walks over to the bed, keeping his footsteps as silent as possible to avoid disturbing his son too much. “It’s time to wake up, swee-”
Akaashi stops dead in his tracks when he realizes that Kenma isn’t in his bed. The absence of his four-year old is enough to make him panic for a short moment, until he hears the tell-tale sound of a stool being dragged across the kitchen floor downstairs.
“Kenma?” he calls out, loud enough for his voice to reach the kitchen. “Are you in the kitchen?”
The sound of the stool being dragged stops, and a moment of silence passes before Kenma’s soft voice floats upstairs to the bedroom.
“Yes.”
Akaashi lets a sigh of relief escape his lips, and he brings a hand to his chest, willing his heart to calm down.
“This kid is gonna kill me someday…” he mumbles to himself.
The sight of Kenma standing on a stool, stretching his short arms to try and open a cabinet greets Akaashi as soon as he walks into the kitchen. The man lets out a startled sound and rushes to Kenma’s side. He wraps his arms around Kenma’s small body, and carefully sets him on the counter.
“Kenma, that’s dangerous!” Akaashi chastises, receiving a frown and a tiny pout in return.
“I wanted cereal.”
Akaashi’s worried frown softens, and he drops his shoulders with a sigh. He looks at Kenma, who in turn looks at him with big, yellow eyes, slightly hidden behind soft locks of dark hair. Akaashi cracks a smile and boops Kenma’s nose, making him squirm in his blue kitten onesie.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were already up?” Akaashi asks. He opens the cabinet to retrieve Kenma’s favorite cereal, and heads to the fridge to grab the milk.
Kenma only shrugs in response, watching intently as his father pours him a bowl of cereal. Akaashi sets the cereal on the table, and then turns to grab Kenma from the counter. Kenma stretches his arms towards him, and wraps them around his neck once he’s in Akaashi’s arms.
Once Kenma is sat at the table, spoon in hand, Akaashi turns to start the coffeemaker, and place a couple of bread slices in the toaster. He looks back over his shoulder to see Kenma silently chewing his cereal, absently dangling his feet, which hang more than a foot above the ground. Akaashi smiles fondly, resisting the urge to squish his son in his arms, and cover him in kisses. He knows better than to push Kenma into physical contact, but it becomes hard to resist when he looks as cute as he does right now.
“Are you excited for your first day of preschool?” Akaashi asks, sitting down at the table with his own breakfast in his hands. Kenma shrugs once again, quiet as ever, and Akaashi smiles again.
“Kenma,” he says, earning his son’s attention. “You’re really cute, you know that?”
Kenma’s eyebrows knit together, and he looks back down at his cereal.
“I’m not cute,” he mumbles, embarassed, but the tiny cat ears that adorn the hood of his kitten onesie really contradict him.
“Whatever you say, kitty-cat,” Akaashi teases, unable to resist from booping his nose one more time.
“D-don’t call me that!” Kenma stammers, turning a deep shade of pink. He pouts deeply when his dad bursts out laughing, and then returns his attention to his cereal in flustered frustration.
~•~
“Papa,” Tetsurou says from the back seat of the car, and Bokuto responds with a soft hum, eyes fixed on the road. “Who would win in a fight: a cat, or an owl?”
Bokuto cracks a smile. They’ve had this discussion over a dozen times, but he decides that humoring his son one more time won’t hurt anyone.
“The owl, of course!”
“No way!” Tetsurou protests. “Why!?”
“Because owls can fly, and they have super sharp claws!”
“But cats are faster!” Tetsurou refutes. “And cuter.”
Bokuto gasps, slamming the breaks at an incoming stoplight, and turns to look at his son with a look of feigned indignation.
“Take that back!” he exclaims, turning around to squint at the kid.
“No-o-o!” Tetsurou says with a grin, and then sticks out his tongue at him.
“Oh-ho-ho, is that so?” Bokuto turns back around on his seat to face forward, and waits until the light turns green to meet Tetsurou’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Then I guess I'm gonna have to drive super slow!”
“Noooooo!” Tetsurou wails, but it’s already too late; Bokuto is moving down the street at the approximate speed of a turtle suffering with rheumatism. People behind them start honking and yelling at him, but Bokuto keeps the same infuriating pace. “Papa, go faster!” Tetsurou pleads impatiently.
“No-o-o!” Bokuto imitates his son’s previous answer, with a wide grin still splitting his face. “Go find a cat and ride it to school, since they’re so fast and cute!”
“You know cats are cuter than owls!” Tetsurou replies, leaning forward against his seatbelt and grabbing the back of Bokuto’s headrest to place his face right next to his dad’s.
“And apparently, they can’t sit properly in a car!” Bokuto reaches out and pokes Tetsurou’s ribs, and the kid falls back with a squeal.
“Alright, alright!” Tetsurou exclaims, throwing his arms up in defeat. “Owls are cute too!”
“Damn right they are!” Bokuto throws a winning smile in his son’s direction, before finally accelerating to a proper speed.
“Yeeeeeah!” Tetsurou cries out, raising his arms over his head in a victorious gesture. They spend the rest of the ride whooping and laughing loudly, until a narrowly avoided encounter with a police car forces them to behave, and sit properly on their own seats.
~•~
Bokuto gets out of the car first to open the door for his son. Tetsurou jumps out the car, bento box in hand, and cat-adorned backpack hanging from one shoulder. He closes the door behind him, and then turns to stare at the wide-open doors of the pastel colored building before them.
“Are you ready, buddy?” Bokuto asks, ruffling his son’s already messy hair. Tetsurou nods excitedly, eyes still fixed on the preschool building.
“Bokuto!” a familiar voice calls behind them, and both of them turn around at the same time.
“Ah, Suga, Daichi!” Bokuto greets the incoming couple with a wide smile, waving them over.
Suga practically skips down the street to meet him. His husband follows right behind him, holding their son’s tiny hand in his own. The dark-haired kid is holding a volley ball in his free hand, and his dark blue eyes scan the place with mild interest.
“Long time no see!” Daichi says when they reach Bokuto and Tetsurou. Suga bends over to talk to Tetsurou, with his ever present smile shining in place.
“Good morning, Tetsu-kun!”
“Good morning, Suga-san,” Tetsurou greets back politely, smiling back at him.
“Is this your kid?” Bokuto asks, and he is the one to bend down this time to smile at Daichi and Suga’s son.
“This is Tobio,” Suga says, caressing his son’s smooth hair. “Tobio, this is Bokuto-san, and his son, Tetsurou-kun.”
“Nice to meet you,” Tobio acknowledges them shyly with a tiny nod of his head, squeezing Daichi’s hand with his tiny fingers.
“This is one cute brat you got here,” Bokuto says, straightening his back. “He kinda looks like you, Daichi.”
“No way. He’s pretty like Suga,” Daichi says, throwing a loving glance in his husband’s direction, and getting a shy smile, and a soft slap on his shoulder in return.
“Ugh, you guys are disgusting!” Bokuto complains, eliciting laughter from both Daichi and Suga.
“Do you like volleyball?” Tetsurou asks Tobio, pointing at the ball he’s holding. Tobio’s eyes immediately light up, and he opens his mouth to answer, but he’s promptly interrupted by a loud, high-pitched voice echoing behind them.
“Tobiooooooo!”
All of them turn around, just in time to watch as an excited blur of orange hair collides with Tobio. The dark-haired boy struggles to retain his balance, and receive the violent hug without dropping his ball.
“I missed you!”
“Sh-shouyou, you dumbass!” Tobio stammers, cheeks turning a deep shade of pink. He lightly pushes the other boy away, and glares down at him with obvious embarrassment. “We saw each other like two days ago!”
“Still, I really wanted to play with you!” Shouyou explains with a small pout, and then hugs Tobio again.
“Shouyou!” A familiar figure approaches them, running behind the red-haired boy. “Don’t run away like that!” Another, taller person trails behind him, hands in his pockets, and a disinterested look on his face.
“Sorry, dad,” Shouyou apologizes once the two men reach him. “I was really excited to see Tobio…”
“Good morning, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi!” Suga greets the newcomers enthusiastically.
“Good morning, everybody!” Yamaguchi returns the greeting with a gentle smile, and Tsukishima nods silently at them from behind his husband.
“We’re sorry about this brat,” Tsukishima says, placing one hand on Shouyou’s head. Shouyou glares up at him, and Tsukishima pushes his finger into his son’s cheek with a teasing smile. “He’s hard to control sometimes.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Suga says, waving his hand in front of his face. “I’m sure Tobio is just as excited to see Shou-kun!”
“P-papa!” Tobio tugs at Suga’s pants, with an embarrassed look on his face. He blushes even deeper when Shouyou beams at him.
“Why don’t you two go inside?” Yamaguchi says, leaning down to be face to face with Shouyou. “Dad and I will be there in a moment.”
Shouyou nods excitedly, and grabs Tobio’s hand to drag him inside. He stops to say goodbye to his parents and the rest of them, and Tobio barely has time to wave at Daichi and Suga before being dragged away.
“So, are all the gay dads in Tokyo bringing their kids to the same place, or what?” Bokuto asks once the two boys disappear behind the doors. Daichi, Suga, and Yamaguchi burst out laughing, and Tsukishima can’t stop an amused smile from spreading across his face.
“The owners are old friends of us four,” Suga explains. “They’ve known Tobio and Shouyou ever since we brought them home. That’s why we recommended it to you.”
“What, are they gay dads too?” Bokuto inquires.
“They’re gay moms,” Daichi corrects him. “At least soon-to-be.”
“Heh, I guess we’re at the age where everyone wants children,” Bokuto observes, getting all sort of agreeing reactions from the four other dads.
“We’ll go inside, guys,” Yamaguchi says. “We want to greet Yachi and Kiyoko-san,” he turns to grab Tsukishima’s hand, and pull him inside just like Shouyou did to Tobio a few moments ago. “Let’s go, Tsukki!”
“I’m coming, Tadashi, you can let go of me,” Tsukishima’s voice is the last one to reach them before they both disappear inside the building.
“You should go inside too, buddy,” Bokuto says to Tetsurou, reaching out to brush a stray lock of hair from the boy’s forehead. “I’ll come pick you u- Holy cannoli, who’s that!?”
~•~
Akaashi waits for Kenma to get out of the car, and holds out his hand for his son to grab. He closes the backseat door, and turns to face the small gathering of people standing just outside the pastel-colored building of the preschool.
“Akaashi!” Suga smiles and waves in his direction, and Akaashi returns the gesture before walking over towards him, slow enough so that Kenma can follow him on his short legs.
“Good morning, Sugawara-san, Sawamura-san,” he greets politely.
“Morning!” Suga says, and Daichi politely nods his head as a greeting. He smiles sweetly at Kenma, who watches him with wide eyes. “Hello, Kenma-kun!”
Kenma bows his head a little, shy and silent as always. Akaashi watches him fondly, and then returns his gaze to Suga’s face to keep the conversation going. Only then he notices the strange man standing next to Daichi, staring, open-mouthed, at something behind him. Akaashi turns around to see what has caught the man’s attention, and finds nothing but the empty sidewalk.
“Is he… staring at me?” Akaashi thinks, turning back around to examine the man more closely.
His hair is a weird combination of black, grey, and white strands, tied haphazardly in a messy bun. He’s wearing what appears to be gym clothes, loose black sweats and a black and white jacket over a black t-shirt. He’s tall and broad-shouldered, and Akaashi can’t help but to notice how big and bulky his arms are under the fabric of his jacket. But the thing that catches Akaashi’s attention the most, are the man’s big, round, yellow eyes. And they are most definitely fixed on him, there’s no doubt about it now.
“Ah, you guys don’t know each other!” Suga’s voice is what finally tears Akaashi’s eyes from the man’s yellow ones. Akaashi quietly clears his throat, suddenly feeling a little warm in the face when he realizes how openly he was staring at the other man.
“Well, he was staring at me first…”
“Let me introduce you: Akaashi, this is Bokuto, and his son Tetsurou.” Akaashi turns his gaze towards the young boy standing at the man’s – at Bokuto’s side, and gives him a sweet smile. The kid smiles back at him, and Akaashi notices how cute he is, with a toothy smile, and a mop of wild black hair on his head. “Bokuto, this is Akaashi, and his son Kenma.”
“Nice to meet you, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi says, extending a hand towards him.
But Bokuto doesn’t take it. He just keeps staring at Akaashi with the same dumb expression on his face, as if he hadn’t heard anything of what Suga just said.
“Papa!” Tetsurou hisses after a few awkward seconds, tugging at Bokuto’s pants. This seems to bring the man back to earth, and he immediately scrambles to take Akaashi’s hand in his.
“N-n-nice to meet you, Akaashi!” he manages to say, fumbling over his words, and pronouncing Akaashi’s name in a weird, overly-excited way.
Akaashi can hear Suga and Daichi stifle a laugh next to him. Bokuto lets go of his hand, and a light blush spreads across his cheeks, still noticeable despite his efforts to hide it.
“Hey, your name is Kenma, right?” It’s Tetsurou’s voice that dissipates the awkwardness that surrounds them. Akaashi looks down to see his son nodding his head slowly, eyes fixed on Tetsurou’s face. A wide, bright smile spreads across Tetsurou’s face, and he extends a hand towards Kenma, startling him a little. “I’m Tetsurou. You can call me Tetsu, if you want!”
Kenma hesitates for a moment, before slowly taking the hand Tetsurou offered him.
“I’m Kenma,” he mumbles, still watching the other boy intently.
“Let’s go, Kenma!” Tetsurou waits for Kenma to nod, and then looks up at his dad, still smiling widely. “Bye, papa!”
“Have fun, buddy!” Bokuto answers, returning the smile along with a wink.
Tetsurou looks at Kenma for a moment, and starts walking towards the open doors without letting go of his hand. Kenma goes along with him, walking with ease, almost as if he had known the other boy his whole life. He turns to wave goodbye at his dad, and Akaashi slowly raises his hand in stunned silence to return the gesture.
“Well, that’s unusual,” Suga observes, watching the two kids with his hands on his hips.
“Kenma has never…” Akaashi mumbles, with his hand still in the air, and a shocked expression on his face. “I mean, he doesn’t like strangers. He has never done something like that before.”
“Well, I guess my Tetsu’s just too charming to resist!” Bokuto says, and Akaashi turns to see him with his fingers entwined behind his neck, and a wide smile across his face. Akaashi blinks a couple times, and then lets his lips fall into a tiny smile of his own.
“I guess he is.”
~•~
Bokuto at least has the decency to wait until Akaashi has left to turn to Suga and grab him by the shoulders, bringing their faces as close as he knows he can without getting his ass beaten by Daichi.
“Sugaaaaa!”
“W-what!?”
“Who is that man!?” Bokuto asks, frantically shaking Suga by the shoulders. “Is he a model? A prince? A god?”
“Bokuto, calm down!” Suga exclaims, taking a hold of Bokuto’s wrists to stop him from shaking him any more. “He’s just a friend of ours.”
“A friend!?” Bokuto finally lets go of Suga’s shoulders, and takes a step back. “How did you become friends with such an absolute beauty like him!?”
“Akaashi owns a small bakery near our house,” Daichi explains, throwing an arm around Suga’s waist.
“He makes the best strawberry shortcake in the entire world!” Suga adds, leaning his head on his husband’s shoulder.
“And he bakes!?” Bokuto seems to be getting more and more excited with each passing second, judging by the number of stray hairs that leave his bun to hang across his forehead every time he moves. “Guys, that man is my soulmate!”
“Easy there, soulmate-boy,” Daichi teases. “You don’t even know his first name!”
“Irrelevant!” Bokuto refutes. “We’ll have plenty of time for those unimportant details after we get married.”
“Well, it seems like it’s your lucky day,” Suga interferes. “Tetsu-kun and Kenma-kun seem to have really hit it off just right now.”
“Yeah, and that’s unusual, believe me,” Daichi says. “Akaashi’s kid is incredibly shy. We’ve known him for over a year, and I still haven’t heard more than five consecutive words from him.”
“If you like Akaashi so much, you superficial dork, you could arrange a play date for Tetsu-kun and Kenma-kun,” Suga suggests. “That way the kids can have fun, and you’ll get to know Akaashi better!”
“Ohhhhh, Suga, you’re a genius!” Bokuto cries out, extending his arms in a joyful gesture. “I could kiss you right now!” Daichi raises his eyebrows, and Bokuto takes a step back, defensively placing his hands in front of his chest. “Or not… You know, because your man would kill me.”
“Damn right I would,” Daichi agrees with a smile, and Suga giggles softly.
~•~
Akaashi wipes the sweat off his forehead with his arm, accidentally leaving a trail of flour on his face. He doesn’t realize, focused as he is on kneading the giant dough in front of him. He pushes his hands into it with all his might, and grabs it to bend the dough over itself to repeat the process.
“Akaashi-san!” a voice rings from the front of the store. Akaashi turns around just in time to see his employee’s head popping in from the doorway of the kitchen. “It’s almost four o’clock, you should go pick up Kenma-kun.”
“Ah, thanks, Yaku-san.” Akaashi wipes his flour-covered hands on his apron, and then takes it off to leave it on a nearby chair. “Can you put that dough in a bowl for me? It needs to rise for a couple hours.”
“Sure!”
Yaku diligently places the dough in a big bowl, and covers it with a rag while Akaashi washes his hands in the sink. He wipes them dry with a napkin, and heads to the front of the store.
“I’ll be right back,” Akaashi calls back into the kitchen, grabbing his car keys from behind the counter. “Call me if anything happens.”
“Yes, sir!” comes Yaku’s answer, and Akaashi lets himself smile at the eagerness in his voice, before leaving the store and heading to his car. “Oh, and you have flour on your forehead!”
Akaashi hastily wipes if off, thankful for the fact that there were no costumers there to witness his flour-covered face.
~•~
All the kids are waiting for their parents outside in the front garden, playing on the swing sets or running around, accompanied by their teachers. Akaashi inspects the crowd from his car, scanning the kids in search of Kenma. A short, male teacher with dark hair and glasses runs after the most problematic kids, expertly grabbing them just before they fall. Akaashi watches him with amusement for a while, and then continues to search for Kenma.
He sees Daichi and Suga’s son playing with a shorter, red-headed kid, right next to a small, blonde teacher with a barely noticeable baby bump. A taller, dark-haired woman with glasses sits on a bench nearby, watching over the kids with attentive eyes. Akaashi figures that they should be Yachi and Kiyoko, the owners of the place, and Daichi and Suga’s friends they so fondly talked about when they recommended this preschool to him.
Then he sees Kenma, sitting at the same bench, sandwiched between Kiyoko and Tetsurou. The boys aren’t talking, but they seem comfortable in their silence. Kenma wiggles his dangling feet like he always does, eyes lost in the distance, and then turns to look at Tetsurou when he points at something in front of them. Akaashi watches them interact for a while, and a soft smile spreads across his lips when he sees his usually reserved son talk so easily to a boy who was no more than a stranger just that morning.
He gets out of the car, steps through the open door of the wooden fence that surrounds the front yard, and walks over towards Kenma, narrowly avoiding running kids and scattered toys. Suddenly, the teacher with the glasses he saw earlier runs into him in his pursue of a small, yelling kid brandishing a plastic shovel.
“Oh, my god, I'm so sorry!” he apologizes profusely, covering his mouth with his hands.
“It’s okay,” Akaashi reassures him. “It looks like you have a lot to handle around here.”
“I’d be lying if I said I don’t,” the teacher jokes with a warm smile. “I’m Takeda Ittetsu, I’m in charge of the third-graders.”
“Nice to meet you, Takeda-sensei. My name is Akaashi Keiji.”
“Are you here to pick someone up, Akaashi-san?”
“Yes, my son Kenma,” Akaashi says, pointing at his son. “He’s in grade two.”
“Ah, he’s one of Shimizu-san’s kids,” Takeda explains, and then turns towards the bench where Kenma is sitting. “Shimizu-san, Kenma-kun’s father is here!”
Kiyoko turns to look at them and immediately stands up. She has a gentle smile on her face when she reaches them, bowing her head as a greeting.
“Thank you, Takeda-sensei,” she says. Takeda nods his head at both of them before resuming his wild chase, leaving Akaashi and Kiyoko alone. “My name is Shimizu Kiyoko. I’m Kenma-kun’s teacher,” Kiyoko introduces herself in a soft voice.
“My name is Akaashi Keiji. I’m a friend of Sugawara-san and Sawamura-san. They recommended your place to me,” Akaashi explains, politely returning her smile.
“Ah, that’s wonderful!” Kiyoko’s face lights up even more. She throws a glance at Kenma from over her shoulder, and then turns back to Akaashi. “Your son is very well-behaved, and very smart, too. You must be very proud.”
“Thank you very much,” Akaashi bows his head slightly, his chest swelling with pride at the teacher’s compliments.
Kiyoko smiles one more time in response, and then turns to Kenma.
“Kenma-kun, your father is here!”
Both he and Tetsurou look up, and only then Kenma notices Akaashi standing there. He jumps off the bench and starts making his way over to his father, and then stops all of sudden. He turns around to say goodbye to Tetsurou, and the other boy smiles and waves at him.
Kenma grabs Akaashi’s hand as soon as he reaches him, but the boy’s eyes are still fixed on Tetsurou. Akaashi quickly and politely exchanges goodbyes with Kiyoko, and then heads to his car, Kenma in tow.
After they are both properly seated in the car, and Akaashi is about to start the engine, he notices a familiar figure approaching the building. Bokuto’s strange hair makes him immediately recognizable as he steps into the building’s front garden, looking around for his son. Tetsurou spots him immediately, and runs to his encounter with a cheerful “Papa!” that even Akaashi gets to hear through the closed window of his car.
Bokuto bends his knees and spreads his arms to receive his son’s excited hug, and then twirls him around a couple times. The gesture manages to make Akaashi smile a little, and he spares one last glance in their direction before starting the car to drive away.
“Did you have fun today?” Akaashi asks Kenma once they are a couple blocks away from the preschool. He can see Kenma absently nodding his head on the rearview mirror. “I’m glad, kitty-cat.”
Akaashi is surprised from the lack of response his teasing nickname gets, but he figures Kenma must be tired. He decides against asking any more questions for now, at least until they get home, but Kenma’s voice reaches him from the backseat a couple seconds later.
“I played a lot with Tetsu today,” he says, looking out the window. “Shouyou was also there. We played a little during recess.”
Akaashi nods his head with an appreciative hum to let Kenma know he’s listening. He knows that his son is good friends with Shouyou, even with Yamaguchi and Tsukishima’s son being younger than him, but it’s Kenma’s new friendship with Tetsurou that really makes him curious.
“Did you get to sit with Tetsurou during class?”
“No, he’s a year older than me,” Kenma says, and Akaashi notices the disappointment in his voice.
“Oh, I see. Did you make any friends in your classroom?” Akaashi asks, and he watches on the rearview mirror as Kenma shakes his head. “Well, being friends with Tetsurou is a start,” he thinks.
“But Shimizu-sensei is nice,” Kenma adds after a while. “Her hair is pretty.”
Akaashi laughs at his son’s observation, and then attentively nods his head as Kenma keeps talking about his day. He’s happy with Kenma’s unusual talkativeness, and he enjoys every little detail the kid shares with him, from the color of the drawing he did today, to how good Tetsurou is at making paper airplanes.
“Are you excited to go back tomorrow?” Akaashi asks when Kenma seems to run out of things to tell him.
“Yes!” Kenma answers almost immediately, and Akaashi can’t stop the grin that spreads across his lips at his son’s evident excitement.
~•~
“And then Kenma taught me a cool new way to tie my shoelaces! Wait ‘till I show it to you, papa, you’re gonna love it!”
“I’m sure I will, buddy!”
“Then, I taught Kenma how to make paper airplanes, but he was really bad at it. So, I promised I would keep teaching him tomorrow, and then we can have paper airplane races!”
While his son rambles on and on about paper airplanes and shoelaces, Bokuto turns off the engine in front of their house, and gets out of the car to open the backseat door for him. Tetsurou jumps out of the car, still talking non-stop, and Bokuto lets out a fond laugh when he catches sight of his son’s excited face.
“You really like this Kenma kid, huh?”
“Yeah, he’s super cool!” Tetsurou answers without hesitating, eliciting another bout of laughter from his dad. “He doesn’t talk much, but I think that’s kinda cool too!”
“Oh, so he’s the ‘cool and mysterious’ type?” Bokuto asks as they make their way to their front door.
“I guess.”
“So he’s just like me!”
“You’re not mysterious at all, papa!”
“But I’m still cool, right?”
“Of course!” Tetsurou exclaims, hugging one Bokuto’s leg and tumbling over his feet in the process.
“Thank God! I was worried you didn’t think I was cool anymore.” Bokuto ruffles Tetsurou’s hair on his way to retrieve his keys from his pocket, and gets a giant smile in return.
“I will always think you’re cool!”
“Even when you’re a lousy teenager and start thinking I’m lame?”
“You can’t be lame and cool,” Tetsurou argues as his dad pushes him inside the house. “So I will never think you’re lame!”
Bokuto watches, with evident affection on his face, as Tetsurou takes off his shoes and hangs his backpack on the wall before running into the house. He takes off his shoes as well and follows him inside, shouting an inviting offering of hot chocolate that is immediately and eagerly accepted.
~•~
Tetsurou practically runs out the car the next morning when he spots Kenma at the front doors of the preschool, holding Akaashi’s hand. Bokuto barely has time to close the door after his son before Tetsurou is already at Kenma’s side, greeting him and Akaashi with obvious enthusiasm. Kenma gives him a shy smile and holds his hand to walk together into the building, just as Bokuto reaches the front doors.
“Hey, Tetsu!” he calls out, and both Tetsurou and Kenma turn around to look at him. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“Oh, bye, papa!” Tetsurou waves shortly at him before disappearing into the hallway with Kenma at his side.
Bokuto watches his son go in stunned silence, clearly shocked at the lack of an affectionate goodbye. He exchanges a look with Akaashi, who shrugs with a sympathetic smile.
“They grow up so fast,” Bokuto mumbles, wiping a fake tear from his eye.
Akaashi laughs with amusement at the gesture. It’s a gentle, tinkling sound, Bokuto notices, and he finds his lips forming an absent smile at the way Akaashi covers his mouth when he laughs.
“They certainly do,” Akaashi agrees, staring fondly at the kids as they disappear behind the doorway.
A couple moments pass by in silence, and Akaashi is about to announce he’s leaving when Bokuto breaks the silence.
“So, it looks like our kids really get along, huh?”
Akaashi blinks at him, surprised, and then nods his head in agreement.
“They do. I haven’t seen Kenma get along so well with someone since he met Shouyou.”
“So, I was thinking,” Bokuto starts, scratching the back of his head without meeting Akaashi’s eyes. “Maybe we could arrange a play date for them! Like, we could take them to the park, have a little picnic, it’d be nice! We can invite Daichi and Suga so they can bring Tobio as well, and maybe Yamaguchi and Tsukishima can bring Shouyou too, since he’s such good friends with your son! I mean, I think it’d be nice, but we don’t have to do it if you don’t think it’s a good idea, of course, it’s just that I-”
“That’d be nice.” Akaashi’s gentle voice puts a stop to Bokuto’s nervous rambling, accompanied by an amused smile that puts a light blush on Bokuto’s cheeks.
“Great!” Bokuto exclaims, with a big grin taking over his face. “I’ll talk to Suga and Yamaguchi and ask them when they’re free, and then I’ll let you know!”
“Alright. I guess you’ll need my phone number, then.”
They quickly exchange numbers, while Bokuto tries his best not to say anything stupid, or choke on his own spit or something, and then Akaashi parts with a polite goodbye.
Bokuto watches him get into his car and drive away, with a dumb grin still clinging to his lips. He stares at Akaashi’s name amongst the rest of his contacts, and his smile widens even more.
“Papa?” Bokuto turns around, startled, to see Tetsurou standing behind him with a confused expression. “Why are you still here?”
“I-you-it’s…” Bokuto stammers for a moment, and then crosses his arms over his chest in a commanding gesture. “What are you doing here? Go to class, Tetsu!”
“Yeeeees!” Tetsurou sing-songs, walking away with a smile that Bokuto is almost certain was meant to be teasing.
Bokuto jogs over to his car, glancing at the time on his phone to make sure he isn’t late for work. He’s about to block the screen when his eyes land on Akaashi’s name again, and he can’t stop himself from letting out a loud “Yahoo!” before starting the car and driving away.