Chapter Text
Side A
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Music to Bokuto has always been something that’s personal.
Bokuto loves music to death! Heck, she’s sure that she’ll love it even after it, but it’s never been a common topic of discussion between her and the girls on the team. If anything, it’s always Fuji Kaze this, or Yoasobi that; and yeah, they’re great! but Bokuto’s never been able to connect with anyone at school over artists that she likes. Instead, during class while Konoha paints her nails, she’ll fantasize about visiting America, where everyone knows about Radiohead, Car Seat Headrest, The Foo Fighters… she could go on and on. In Bokuto's not-so-humble opinion, the West seemed so much cooler than anything in the east, mainly when it came to music.
However, one day after practice, she found herself stumbling across a little record store that had been displaying some interesting titles. She eagerly opened the slightly creaky front door, causing a small owl bell to ring out into the store.
She had been making a beeline towards their vinyl's, her multitude of keychains jingling against one another with every step. She stopped in front of the collection, feeling slightly lost. All of a sudden she heard a clear, yet slightly hesitant voice call out to her from the front desk.
“Welcome. Are you looking for anything in particular?”
The second she turned around, she knew she was done for.
The worker was decked out in varying shades of black, his baggy Nirvana hoodie scrunched up to his elbows, displaying a variety of studded bracelets and what seemed to be a sound wave tattoo. Half of his face was covered by a black mask, leaving only his pretty gunmetal blue eyes and thick eyebrows to the imagination. Grazing said eyebrows were what seemed to be bangs, the raven curls being the final blow to Bokuto's tender heart.
“Oh! Uh! Yes! No! I was just going to look around a bit, that’s all,” Bokuto halfway yelled, watching the worker flinch a bit at her volume. She felt herself internally cringe.
“Alright. Let me know if you need anything,” the mysteriously cool worker said, busying himself with the register.
Bokuto’s mind continued to run a mile a second as she went through the store. For gods sake, even his hands are pretty! With long slender fingers like those, I bet he’d make an amazing setter… Gah, I’m thinking about volleyball again. Konoha would never let me live this down if she knew!
Fighting through her thoughts, Bokuto ended up finding a Medicine At Midnight vinyl which she had been looking for, since she was making her way through The Foo Fighters discography. She felt herself vibrating as she walked, or, skipped, to the counter.
“I’d like this, please!” Bokuto placed the Foo Fighters vinyl in front of the mystery worker, resting her elbows on the countertop. The mystery worker picked up the vinyl, scanning it quickly. “Would that be all?”
No, Bokuto thought. “Can I have you, too?”
Gunmetal blue eyes widened at her, blinking slowly. “Excuse me?”
Bokuto felt herself internally and externally yelling. Fuck fuck fuck, how could I switch up my thoughts and words again? “No! Sorry! I meant, like, your sweatshirt! I love Nirvana so much and you look so cool in it and I’m sure you ARE really cool since you like Nirvana because they’re just the best, right? And- sorry,” she slowly quieted down, her short, spiky hair drooping behind her headband. her hands dropped to her sides, and the urge to run out the door into open traffic felt more and more appealing.
To her surprise though, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
When she looked up, the mystery guy was looking at her with a newfound vigor. “No, it’s okay! I get it, Nirvana’s great. I can definitely tell that you like them, given the fact that you’re buying a CD of Foo Fighters which have the same kind of sound as Nirvana since their lead singer, guitarist, and main songwriter is Dav Grohl who was also the drummer for Nirvana…” all of a sudden, mystery guy stopped talking. He let go of Bokuto’s shoulder, RIP, she thought, while he rubbed his neck. Were his ears always that red? Hold up, did his ears always have so many piercings? “sorry, I’m rambling aren’t I?”
“No, no, of course not! You totally understand me! We should really-" before Bokuto could finish talking, her phone started ringing, the cute little jingle Interrupting her attempt at getting the mystery guys phone number. God, mom, now all of times?
“Sorry, I really have to take this!” The second she picked up the call, all hell was loose. “Young lady, it is already eight o’clock. Where in Gods green earth are you at this hour? Are you trying to get kidnapped? Do you know what happens to young girls who stay out late? Are you trying to give your father and I heart attacks? You know how poor my health is, are you trying to kill me?”
Bokuto sighed, a full body blush taking over as she tried quietly responding to her mom. “Mom, I'm fine, I didn’t realize how much time has passed! I just wanted to check out a store, but I’m coming home now I swear!” At the sight of Bokuto conversing with her mom, the worker quickly bagged the vinyl and held it out to the girl. Bokuto spotted him in her peripheral vision, giving him a quick bow and grabbing the bag before darting out the door.
After getting scolded by her mom and teased by her elder sisters, she made her way to her bedroom where she plopped the vinyl into her vinyl player. As the sounds from the west entered her ears, she continued to think about the mystery guy at the store, and came to the conclusion that maybe the east wasn’t as bad as she thought.
Side B
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Music to Akaashi has always been everything.
From the moment she was out of the womb and entrusted into the care of her uncle, she was thrown into its world. She grew up around her uncles' music fanatic friends and hopeful musicians alike, learning facts about the vast array of genres that music had to offer. However, she and her uncle would always be partial to Rock.
Growing up, making friends had never been a priority to Akaashi; from the get-go she had always been eager to not draw attention to herself, which proved to make her formative years spent mainly by herself. She wasn’t eager to socialize, and Instead of friends her age, she’d grown closer to music as a whole, finding comfort and familiarity in the chords and melodies instead of companionship.
Because of her love for music, and, of course, familial connections, working at her uncle's record store seemed to be the obvious choice.
However, right now she was seriously regretting everything that had led her to her current situation.
“No, Konoha, seriously! He’s genuinely the coolest person ever! Stop laughing at me, I’m being dead ass, I’m totally in love!”
In front of Akaashi was none other than the girl who had come to her uncle's record store the other day.
She recognized her as the captain of their girls volleyball team, Bokuto Koutarou, who most of the school claims is known for being annoyingly loud and obnoxious. However, after being in the same class for some months now, Akaashi is certain that most of them were simply biased against Bokuto. They didn’t like the idea of a girl being both confident and unconventional, and that led to nasty comments about the second year which Akaashi now promptly ignores.
However, while they were wrong about the other girl being obnoxious and annoying, they were certainly not incorrect on her being loud. Bokuto always had something to say, and unfortunately, no filter ever came with it. Which leads Akaashi into the predicament that she’s currently facing as of this moment: Bokuto confessing her love for the ‘mystery guy’ at the record store, who also just so happens to actually be Akaashi.
“I can’t, stop,” the girl with dusty blonde hair tied into a high ponytail— Konoha, if memory serves Akaashi right— says, trying her hardest to catch her breath. “You seriously asked him that? To his face? ‘Can I have you too?’ I’m crying now, help, I can’t breathe,” Konoha tried to say, clutching her stomach as she almost fell back in her seat.
Bokuto, who was standing in front of Konoha's desk, had her whole body flush. “I seriously forgot that I wasn’t supposed to tell you that…” at the confession, Konoha continued to cackle even louder.
Konoha finally recollected herself, looking up at Bokuto once again. “Ok, but you just met the guy! Do you even know his name? Besides, what if he’s some older freak?” Akaashi nodded to herself. That’s right, Bokuto-san. What if I was some creepy guy who just happened to look younger than I seem? You should give up on me immediately, before you get disappointed.
“haaah? Are you serious? There’s no freaking way that pretty boy is some old geezer! He’s the most gorgeous guy in our area! Although, I guess that’s not really saying much considering the guys at our school… He’s the prettiest boy to ever exist!”
Bokuto’s dual toned hair seemed to perk up even more, the little spikes at the back looking more alert. In return. Akaashi felt her ears redden.
Am I really that pretty? There’s no way… besides, she’d definitely retract that statement if she knew that I’m her mystery man. Akaashi sighed as she took a peek at herself through her phone's camera. At school she donned her uniform perfectly, with not a single wrinkle in place. She traded in her contacts for glasses, and took out her multitude of ear piercings, hiding them behind her curly short hair. She’d have to be an insane gap-moe fan to find Akaashi attractive, to say the least.
I should probably tell her, Akaashi thought, but quickly discarded it after glancing at the girl again.
Bokuto’s vibrant golden eyes shown with passion, the same way they did back in the record store when she had talked to Akaashi. Her uniform was, in short, a dress code disaster. Her suit jacket and tie were completely discarded, resulting in her only sporting her white button up (that still had the top buttons unbuttoned) and cream vest. Paired with the upper half was the bottom half, which included the standard grey skirt with her gym sweats underneath. However, the real dress code regulations were broken on Bokuto’s head. Not only did she have unnatural hair color, but her ear lobes were also adorned with dangly pastel earrings.
Despite how clashing it all was, Bokuto pulled it off immaculately. Her rolled up sleeves showed off her toned forearms, and her sweatpants gave her even more of an athletic look. Her earrings and hair gave her a light hearted and, in Akaashi’s humble opinion, cute appearance. The mix of sporty and adorable seemed to sum Bokuto up perfectly.
Yeah, Akaashi thought, I don’t need to tell her anything. It’ll be for the better, she assured herself, ignoring the logical part of her brain screaming that she's in denial. She's allowed to be selfish once in a while, right?
Reverting her attention back to her schoolwork, she opened up her books to the chapter that their teacher had assigned them earlier. She inserted her earbuds and shuffled her playlist, Ivy by Car Seat Headrest suddenly blasting through them. After contemplating for a moment, she took one of them out, half hazard-ly listening in on the nonsense conversation between Bokuto and Konoha as she continued her work.
“Yeah yeah, whatever Bō. Do you have any snacks?”
“No, I already ate them all. Besides, I wouldn’t have shared them with you anyways!”
“Rude! This is how you treat your vice captain, huh? We should all stage a coup against you. Komi can take my place and I’ll take yours.”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
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