Chapter Text
The first time he sees him, he doesn't notice him at all. Bokuto's used to there being random people he doesn't know in his shared apartment. His roommates, Kuroo and Oikawa, have people over all the time and he's so used to there being at least one extra person there at all times (this being said, it's usually Kenma or Iwaizumi, but not always). He doesn't pay too much attention to the two figures perched on the couch, watching some American show with the subtitles on, as he hobbles into the kitchen in a desperate search for fucking anything that'll dull the pain in his back.
After retrieving the necessary amount of ibuprofen (a.k.a. the maximum dose), five bottles of ice water, and a hot water bottle, he wanders back in the direction of his room. This pass through the living room, however, he does actually stop to think about who the fuck is on his couch. He can only see a head of short black hair and a head of wispy gray hair and he has to stop and really dig around in his brain to come up with a guess on the identities of his guests. Gray hair could be Lev, but if it was him, he would've already made his presence known. Who else had gray fucking hair? When his gray haired guest turns slightly to the side, Bokuto spots a mole right under his eye and oh, yeah, Sugawara, Daichi's boyfriend, that makes sense.
He watches Suga reach over and tap the other person on the shoulder before raising his hands and starts to move them in seemingly random motions. When he stops, the other person starts moving his hands, too. Even given the profile view of his second mystery guest, he still can't place him, but damn if he isn't pretty as hell.
They go back and forth for a minute or so motioning to each other before it dawns on Bokuto that he must seem creepy as fuck just standing there watching them.
He quickly scurries off back into his room to drop off his collection of various bottles of water before quickly darting back into the hall to inspect Kuroo and Oikawa's room to see if either are home. He checks Kuroo's room first and finds it void of life (and proper cleanliness). Oikawa's room is alive with music, so Bokuto knocks gently on the door a few times. His roommate opens the door after a moment in a state of undress and an eyebrow raised.
"Who's in the living room?" Bokuto asks before Oikawa can make some snarky comment.
Oikawa shrugs. "Just some friends, why?" he leers, leaning forward on the doorframe just slightly with a grin starting to form on his face. "Want me to introduce you?"
Bokuto returns the shrug with one of his own. "Sure, I guess, it doesn't really matter." Oikawa's face falls with a huff before he closes the door in Bokuto's face. Bokuto sticks his tongue out at the door before turning tail and retreating back into the safety of his own room.
-
The second time he sees him, he's standing in his kitchen, alone, rooting through the cabinets. Bokuto freezes in the doorway when he realises it's neither Oikawa or Kuroo. He doesn't really know what to do. The stranger doesn't notice Bokuto at all so he clears his throat as loudly as he can.
Nothing. After almost a minute of silence, he repeats the action with more force behind it. Again, nothing. The stranger seems to finally find a glass and turns his search to the fridge. Bokuto coughs, loudly. Nothing. The stranger manages to find a cartoon of milk and starts to unscrew the cap before his eyes fall on the expiration date. They widen incredibly before he slowly lowers it back down and into the fridge as if it were nuclear.
"Hey, who are you?" Bokuto finally gives in and says.
... Nothing.
Okay, that's strange. Bokuto can get the not hearing him pathetically try to get his attention through non articulate means, but he knows for a fact he spoke loud enough for the stranger to hear him.
"Hey," Bokuto calls again, louder this time. Yet again, he's greeted with silence.
He purses his lips. He could just go back to his room and tell himself it's no big deal, but by this point, Bokuto's seriously concerned at this dude's lack of awareness of his surroundings.
Bokuto puffs up his chest a little bit and steels himself for the ultimate form of capturing a person's attention: just walking the fuck up to them and poking them in the shoulder. Just as he takes his first step, however, the stranger finally turns and notices Bokuto. He doesn't look any surprised to see him at all and cocks his head to the side in a silent question.
Bokuto opens his mouth to ask who this dude is, but it saved from actual speech by Oikawa, who floats into the room with an "Aka-chan! Sorry to keep you waiting!" Oikawa throws himself on the man, who stiffens significantly, before gently shrugging Oikawa off of him. Aka-chan (????? who the fuck) glances between Oikawa and Bokuto before raising his hand to chest height and starts making motions again. Oikawa just nods exasperatedly with a sigh. Soon enough, he's making motions and pointing fingers and shit and Bokuto may be slow on the uptake for... okay most things, but it's nine A.M. and his brain has not started enough to process what is happening in front of him.
After a minute or so, Oikawa half-turns to him with a wide grin adorning his face. "Boku-chan," Oikawa says in what he must think is a sultry voice, "I'd like to introduce you to my dear friend, Akaashi Keiji!" While he speaks, he continues his hand motions. "Aka-chan and I were just heading out to play a little volleyball, would you like to join us?"
All the haze left in Bokuto's mind is blasted out in an instant at the mention of volleyball. "Yeah of course! Hell the fuck yeah, okay gimme a second to change, oh man, Akaashi it's nice to meet you, what position do you play, where are we- oh" All words die in Bokuto's throat in an instant as he finally picks up on the panicked expression coating Akaashi's face (that is to say his eyebrows were faintly knit together and his jaw was clenched, but on Akaashi's blank face, it was a drastic change) as he glares at Bokuto's mouth.
The air holds silent and tense for a moment before Oikawa bursts into giggles. "Boku-chan, oh gosh, you're going to need to slow down for Aka-chan," Oikawa smiles like he knows something Bokuto doesn't (he usually does).
Bokuto blinks and looks from side to side in confusion before raising an eyebrow in silent question. "Uh, why?"
"Aka-chan is deaf, so when you speak, you need to be sure to face him and really move your lips with your words," Oikawa finally says. For once, his hands hold themselves as he speaks. When he seems to realise this, he lets out a faint "oh" before turning to Akaashi and moving them quickly. When he stops, Akaashi nods slightly and turns on his heel to walk out into the living room.
When Oikawa turns back to Bokuto, he's still frozen with a look of confusion painted across his face. Suddenly, it clicks and Bokuto snaps and near shouts "Sign language!" with a look of pride. Oikawa's jaw drops a little while letting out a small "What?" of confusion.
Bokuto grins and starts to walk back to his room to change, "I just figured out why you where moving your hands so much." All he hears before closing his door is Oikawa completely abandoning his usual fake, high pitch laugh in favor of bending halfway over to laugh like a donkey.