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Koutarou was thrilled when Akaashi agreed to come over to his house Friday after school. Although he considers himself a pretty popular guy, he had never been someone that would get invited to things. Koutarou had gotten the reputation amongst parents and classmates alike that he was a nice boy but too rowdy outside of school to be someone you would seek out the company of.
That was part of the reason why he had been so nervous to ask in the first place. If he was too rowdy for his classmates, there was no way he wouldn’t be overwhelming for a mild-mannered first year like Akaashi. He still asked, though, because he absolutely loved spending time with him during volleyball, so why not outside of it? Besides, Akaashi had never once turned him down for extra practice over the months that they’ve known each other, so he must enjoy Bokuto’s company at least a little bit, right?.
So the Thursday night before their set hangout date, Koutarou made sure he cut their extra practice off a little earlier than normal so that he could get his room all cleaned up. The last time he had someone over was Kuroo, but because they lived in different parts of Tokyo, they weren’t able to meet up that frequently. Also, Koutarou was pretty sure that his mom wasn’t Kuroo’s biggest fan because last time he was over they made a total mess of the kitchen.
Besides, Kuroo had Kenma. So even if they are close, Koutarou will never be closest to Kuroo. He was never someone’s best friend or first choice. More than anything, he wanted a companion who valued him the same way he valued them. Like Akaashi. Maybe. Akaashi definitely sees him as a best friend, having confessed he was always too shy to make friends beforehand, but Koutarou still doesn’t know if he is valued in the same rose-tinted regard.
Anyways, his room. Koutarou spent the better part of an hour just on his laundry, sniffing shirts on the floor because at that point he had no clue what had been washed or not. His oldest sister, Kohoko, always joked that he had a walk-on closet instead of a walk-in one.
Even though Akaashi had never been over, there were still traces of him throughout the room. His face was in photos framed by his bedside and pinned on his bulletin board. His thoughtfulness was in the stuffed owl Bokuto had received for his birthday back in September. His studiousness was in the notes Koutarou had pulled out of his backpack earlier, meticulously highlighting the important parts for Koutarou to return to before tests. He was under Koutarou’s pillow, where their names were scrawled on a ripped out piece of notebook paper underneath a hastily drawn love umbrella. Most importantly, Koutarou thought, his beauty, inside and out, was plastered on Koutarou’s heart, where it threatened to burst out of his chest and reach towards the setter at any given chance.
Hopefully one day there will be even more traces of Akaashi in this room. Lost strands of hair on his pillow from overnights. A spare set of clothes just in case. His heart, if Koutarou is lucky, will follow ‘Bokuto-san’ into this room and create a place to rest deep in Koutarou’s chest and provide him with the loveliest of knowledge that his own is in a similar spot in Akaashi’s.
After the laundry was properly stuffed into his closet, Koutarou got a little distracted with the manga he never finished that he found under all his clothes. By the time he realized he needed to send Akaashi a goodnight text (Akaashi often lost track of time at night with his books or K-dramas), Koutarou had gotten his room to look more like organized clutter than complete madness, but it would do.
All there was left to do was actually go to sleep and wait through tomorrow. Easy Peasy.
Koutarou was up bright and early the next morning, which was both a blessing and a curse. He was able to go on a morning jog to get some of his excess energy out, but he was also consciously dealing with the agony of waiting for the afternoon.
Sitting through class was even more exhausting than on a normal Friday, which was saying a lot considering Bokuto would always be so anxious to leave he would be sitting on the edge of his seat. Today, his professor probably knew that whenever she turned around, Bokuto was scooting his table and chair towards the door. She had put him in the front because she hated him, Bokuto was sure. He got a little anxious when she kept turning around to glare at him but he had to be even just a few centimeters closer to the door so that he can get to the locker room faster, get changed faster, and get to hanging out with Akaashi faster!
Bokuto had been harboring a crush on Akaashi for god knows how long. It likely started from the first set he ever received from him and snowballed from there. Bokuto’s life is volleyball, so if someone managed to connect with him that well on the court, it made perfect sense to Bokuto that they should connect as well in other aspects of his life. Particularly romantic aspects. Where he would get to hold the hands that sent him those sets and kiss the forehead in front of the brain that made sure Bokuto would always break through any blockers.
He knew realistically it had only been a few months, but the feeling was so natural to him that it seemed like a lifetime already. That some part of him had always been with Akaashi and he had never even realized he was missing that part until he discovered it hidden behind polite vocabulary and secret smiles.
And it didn’t help thet Akaashi was drop dead gorgeous! How could Bokuto not want to run his hands through that curly hair or use his thumb to smooth out the skin that got scrunched up between those perfect eyebrows when Akaashi was thinking too hard. He was shorter than Bokuto, luckily. That meant that should the occasion ever arise, Bokuto would definitely get to be the big spoon and curl his arms around Akaashi and protect him from all the dangers of the world. Although, he wouldn’t mind being the little spoon on occasion; Akaashi would probably have a bit more trouble getting his arms around Bokuto’s broad shoulders, but that just meant that he would be clinging to his back like a koala and, come on, that would also be adorable.
Bokuto brought his attention back to the board to write the homework assigned for over the weekend. Akaashi might need to help him because he is just so good with literature and English figures of speech are weird (what the hell does ‘you are the apple of my eye’ even mean?). Before he knew it, the bell rang and Bokuto was sprinting out of his class. It turns out that the extra centimeters he scooted his desk forward before he got distracted by thinking about Akaashi didn’t matter much when he forgot his bag and had to round back after making it about 30 meters down the hall. Damn!
Bokuto huffed when he got back to the classroom, avoiding eye contact with the professor. But Akaashi! He resumed his running once he was out of range of his professor’s judgmental gaze.
“What’s got you all chipper, Bo?” Konoha asked when they were getting ready for afternoon practice.
“It’s Friday, first of all. That means NO homework tonight. But more importantly, I get to hang out with Akaashi today after practice!”
Bokuto was practically vibrating with excitement. He gets to have someone over, which is a rare treat on its own, but he’s also bringing someone who he just knows he will be introducing to his parents and sisters as his boyfriend instead of his friend one day.
Oh god, what if his sisters are mean to Akaashi? They’ve always been protective since he is the youngest, but they have to be nice to Akaashi, right? He’s talked about him so many times that for all he knows, they might give Akaashi a pre-shovel talk or something. Kokomi was four years older than Koutarou, but they had very similar personalities. Kokomi had always fallen hard and fast in relationships, so she always tells Koutarou about red flags she should have noticed sooner or about things not to do when eventually her relationships didn’t work out. Kohoko, on the other hand, was six years older than Koutarou and has been in a relationship for the past several years. Koutarou would never admit it aloud, but he always prefers her advice considering she’s had the same guy around for more than the 5 month maximum that Kokomi seems to have.
“Well, duh. We always get ice cream with him and the other second years on Fridays. Can’t believe you’re only excited about him and not, I don’t know, your four other friends going.”
Bokuto’s brain took a second to buffer before realizing that he is in the middle of a conversation. And also that he should probably start getting his practice clothes on. And that he completely forgot Fridays meant ice cream even though its winter right now.
He opened his locker to hide his wide smirk, “I mean after that, he and I are gonna hang out one-on-one together at my house!”
“Oh boy.” Konoha deadpanned, “what’s the special occasion, your three-week anniversary or something? I’ve never been over. I’m hurt”
“Yeah that’s cause you’d flirt with Kokomi. And we’re not dating, so no anniversary.” One time, Kokomi came to one of their games and went down afterwards to congratulate them on winning. Koutarou was pretty sure that the only reason she came was to avoid feeling crappy for yet another relationship down the drain. Konoha tried to flirt with her and Koutarou was none too happy about it. He never invited Kohona over to his house partly because of that, but Kohona had also never asked to come over nor invited him to his, so there was no way he was genuinely hurt. Only poking fun.
“Yeah cause your older sister is hot. Besides, you want there to be an anniversary with Akaashi, don’t you?”
“Will you shut it? Akaashi could walk in at any minute!”
“What’s so important that I can’t know about it” Ah, shit. Perfect timing for Akaashi to show up.
A resounding ‘nothing’ was shouted in unison. Convincing.
“Oh, nothing to worry about, Akaashi-kun! Bokuto was just telling me about something super awesome he has planned for your super special and exclusive hangout tonight.”
Bokuto didn’t know if he should slap Konoha or call him a genius because while he did get them out of the situation, now Bokuto will have to come up with this super awesome plan on the fly, which is something he could definitely do if it didn’t become a requirement or expectation.
“Ah. Alright then. I can’t wait, Bokuto-san” And he gave Bokuto one of those soft smiles that had him practically melting. This isn’t fair. Now he’s totally gonna be distracted not only by Akaashi’s gorgeousness, but also coming up with something so awesome for tonight to keep the lie up. Fuck.
All throughout practice, Koutarou racked his brain on what he could do to pass something off as special last-minute. Akaashi was probably worried about how he seemed pretty out of it, but he didn’t say or so anything, so he must not have deemed it cause for concern. Maybe he could rent a movie Akaashi likes and make him popcorn with their new popcorn machine? Koutarou just needs to actually figure out what movies Akaashi likes.
They ended the day with a little three-on-three. Much to Koutarou’s dismay, Akaashi was not placed on his team. Something about Akaashi not actually being starting setter (yet) and Bokuto needing more practice with the one thats actually on the roster. Koutarou tried his hardest not to pout, especially because the third-year setter he was currently on a team with was not one to heed to his moods the way Akaashi is.
Throughout the game, Koutarou realized just how much he had been practicing with Akaashi so far this school year. Obviously he was the only one to hang out for the extra spiking practice, but golly, Lori was definitely not what Koutarou had become accustomed to. Partially because Lori tried to avoid setting to him, annoyed at even the possibility of a ‘dramatic’ mood.
Koutarou had once confessed to Akaashi that Lori was not his biggest fan, and the sweet boy had only responded that “of course he isn’t”, with droopy eyes, a head of curls lolling against the headrest of his seat, and a small smile, “I already reserved that role”. He thinks about that memory a lot. It was about a week after he realized he may or may not be head over heels for his new setter, Akaashi had clearly been exhausted from an away game, and they were the only two in the bus still up. Koutarou knows how much he loses his filter when he gets tired, and Akaashi must be the same way because he hardly gives him complements outside of the sarcastic and underhanded ones. Another reason why Koutarou just loves that moment so much was that he can still visualize the second Akaashi’s brain caught up with his mouth and he immediately looked away. It was way too dark for Koutarou to actually see his face, but he likes to imagine he had been hiding a blush when he turned his head.
That night had also been the first time Koutarou had hugged Akaashi. It was after they got off the bus and Akaashi’s father had come to pick him up. Koutarou was walking home that night, but had wanted to wait to make sure Akaashi wasn’t standing all alone in the dark.
When Akaashi pointed out that he would have no way of knowing whether Koutarou would get home safe, Koutarou leaped at the opportunity to provide his phone number to let him know when he arrived home safe. And when Akaashi’s father finally pulled up, Akaashi had been the one to pull Koutarou into a tight hug and whisper a thank you for being such a good friend.
Koutarou knows Akaashi isn’t a very sentimental person, but exhaustion can do that to a person, he supposed. One time, he was up late and suddenly got into a very affectionate mood. With no one around, he had called Kuroo and left a voicemail that was along the lines of ‘I love you and thank you for always staying by my side.’ The next day, Koutarou reaped the consequences of unintentionally leading his friend into thinking that he was planning on killing himself. Oops.
But anyways, he didn’t expect any tender moments with Akaashi or anything. That night was the only night Koutarou had ever witnessed the well-composed boy show any emotion that wasn’t annoyance or slight amusement. That had been a month ago, and the only differences in their dynamics after that night was a growing number of texts between them on the daily and Akaashi taking a little longer to push off Koutarou’s arm when he slung it over his shoulder.
Koutarou snapped back into the present when Akaashi pulled a setter dump out of nowhere, the ball dropping right at Lori’s feet. Even if the point was for the opposing team, Koutarou had a hard time resisting the urge to cheer alongside the trio on the opposite side of the net.
“Stop smirking like that! Akaashi-kun is not an extension of you, Bokuto. His points are not yours. Get your ass in gear!” Lori practically had steam coming out of his ears as he glared at Koutarou. As if he wasn’t the one that had missed that point in the first place. He had been closest to the spot where the ball dropped, after all. Koutarou wanted so hard to snap back. To yell that Lori was jealous he had never managed to pull off a dump like that, but one look through the holes in the net and he decided to drop it and get back in position.
Konoha was ruffling Akaashi’s hair while hands were flying at him to get him to stop. Washio made eye contact with Koutarou, flicking his gaze to Lori for a second, and gently shook his head before putting his hand on Akaashi’s shoulder and giving him a nod. As stoic as ever, Washio grabbed the ball and got into position to serve.
Washio was right. He would just be causing himself more trouble if he talked back to an elder (even if its only by a few months). Besides, his yelling would ruin Akaashi’s celebration of his point. Even if now Akaashi was glaring at Konoha a bit. And his hair was far messier than usual, which Koutarou knew was something he tried (and failed) to avoid.
Lori directing his frustrations at Koutarou became a pattern throughout the game. It actually was over pretty fast, with no real rallies. Koutarou felt like he was at his breaking point, but held his tongue. They were almost done. And then he would be able to get ice cream with all his friends and then dinner with his best friend. He only needed to hold out for pickup and the locker room. But he could be fast.
Koutarou put the net away as sloppily as he could without getting in trouble for it. He was finished with his clean-up assignment before anyone else was and took the opportunity to shower before the water gets cold from everyone else using it. Koutarou felt like at this point, he was becoming a natural at being fast in the changing room. In his first year, he would dally so much that the captain would practically have to shove his head into his shirt and push him out of the locker room so he could lock up, but that was hardly the case this year. Koutarou initially realized he was beginning to crush on Akaashi when the only thing he could focus on while changing was the lithe muscle of his torso and the way the fabric of his underwear would stretch out when he was bending to put on pants.
Those moments in the changing room had sent Koutarou into a crisis solved only by deep internet searches and self-reflection. Ever since his older sister had come out as bi when he was in middle school, Koutarou assumed he was probably the same way. After all, he felt relatively the same about girls as he did about guys. But the more he got to know Akaashi, the more he realized that he had been defining attraction wrong pretty much his whole life. He still isn’t completely sure where he lies, but when he looked at Akaashi, he realized he had never once genuinely looked at his crush’s lips and had such a strong urge to kiss them before. All his daydreams about kissing someone before had been in theory, but now he has finally found someone that he wishes to kiss in practice too. Maybe Kokomi wouldn’t have as much dating trouble if she actually started going after women, but that was not something he was ever going to say to her.
After one too many incidents of Akaashi turning around during those moments of brain buffering, he had decided to change his routine. Now, he would shower and get dressed in the stall so that he would spend as little time in the room as possible. The idea of making Akaashi uncomfortable was almost unbearable, so he would simply wait on the bench just outside the door before they would either walk home together or Akaashi’s dad would come pick him up (even giving Koutarou a ride from time to time if the weather called for it).
And so his routine is quick. And here he is once again, waiting on the bench outside. One by one, the other second years piled out and waited by his side, until Akaashi was the last person they were waiting for before getting ice cream.
“Do you think it might be too cold for ice cream now? I mean, maybe we go for hot chocolate or something instead. We aren’t even out in the elements yet and my fingers are already getting all slow from the cold.” Konoha asked, wiggling his fingers at his side. Hot chocolate would probably be good. Akaashi gets cold real easily so he would probably get, like, double cold if he got ice cream in this weather.
As the others were speaking their approval of the idea, Akaashi slipped out of the locker room and joined the group. When he picked up on the change of plans, he voiced his approval, citing that he had forgotten his jacket at home, so hot chocolate would be much appreciated.
“Akaashi!” Koutarou gasped, looking at the goosebumps rising on the setter’s arms. “How could you have all people forgotten your jacket?”
“Yeah, Mr. Perfect,” Konoha poked Akaashi’s shoulder, “especially in this weather. You feeling ok?”
Akaashi rolled his eyes but still moved to rub his hands over his bare arms. “My dad dropped me off today. It’s easier to forget when you’re going directly from a heated building into a heated car and vis versa. I would have remembered if I walked, I’m sure.”
Koutarou hesitated for only a second, thinking about the implications, before shrugging off his own jacket and presenting it to Akaashi. Luckily, it was accepted with nothing more than a slight flush and a muttered ‘thank you’ To be honest, Koutarou was expecting a bit more of a fight, given that Akaashi typically refuses any sort of help from anyone, so he must be, like, crazy cold right now.
Once his jacket was shrugged onto Akaashi’s shoulders, Komi took off down the street, yelling that the last one to the cafe was in charge of paying. Everyone else quickly ran to chase after him, but Koutarou and Akaashi stayed back for a second. Before Akaashi could do it himself, Koutarou zipped up the jacket for him and rubbed his hands on Akaashi’s arms, much like Akaashi had been doing earlier.
“You better warm up quick, ‘kaashi!” Bokuto smiled, hoping his cheery voice drowned out the thundering of his heart, “I don’t wanna be hanging out with an ice box for the rest of the day!” That probably sounded stupid. But sometimes Akaashi made him a little stupid.
“I do declare that if either of us is to become an ice box, it shall be you, Bokuto-san.”
“Stop talking weird Akaashi. I don’t even know what you’re talking about. I’m totally warm. You know I run hot!”
Akaashi reached out his fingers to brush against Koutarou’s. He earned a yelp in response and a demand to use his pockets, pronto.
“You’re right, Bokuto-san, you do run much warmer than me.” Quicker than Koutarou could dodge, Akaashi snuck his hand under his shirt and jammed his icy fingers into Koutarou’s side, only retracting when he screeched and started slapping Akaashi’s arm.
“You’re evil, Akaashi. I want my jacket back.”
“Absolutely not.”
Koutarou threw his head back and laughed, “No? You better be glad Konoha is halfway to the cafe by now because he would have a field day if he ever found out you denied a senpai, ‘Kaashi.”
“I don’t think he counts it if you’re the senpai in question, Bokuto-san. If anything, he would praise me for not stroking your ego.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Are we going or not? I know I’m gonna be paying for them, but I don’t really wanna add insult to injury by making them wait even longer.”
Akaashi gave him one of his beautiful smiles. Koutarou has recently come to realize recently just how rare those smiles actually are. Sure, he smiles in games and when Komi does something stupid, but he also has this soft little smile he reserves just for Koutarou. He’s not entirely sure what makes it come out, but it typically happens in moments like this. Moments where it’s just the two of them and they are doing nothing more than talking.
“Sure, Bokuto-san. Let’s go” Akaashi pulled his backpack onto his shoulders as Koutarou did the same. Once they started walking, Akaashi scooted the tiniest bit closer to Koutarou on the pavement, so that their shoulders would be brushing almost the entire time they walked. Even through the layer of cloth, Koutarou could feel how cold Akaashi’s shoulder was. He didn’t understand it in the slightest, they were only outside for a few minutes before his jacket ended up on Akaashi’s shoulder, but he just couldn’t seem to warm up in the slightest. Koutarou thinks that if he had to, he might just burn down the nearest house to make Akaashi’s skin warm again. But he would take this, too. Akaashi sticking close to him for body heat would do perfectly fine for now.
Luckily, everyone ended up paying for their own drinks, so Koutarou’s wallet lived to see another day. They all squeezed into a booth in the farthest corner from the door. Once everyone got situated, Akaashi returned the jacket so Koutarou would warm up faster, promising to use it once they got outside again for their journey to the Bokuto household.
With the hot chocolate warming him from the inside and the jacket that had retained Akaashi’s body heat warming him from the outside, Koutarou found himself overcoming the cold fairly quickly. It also helped that he had Akaashi and Washio pressed up on either side of him. The whole situation was warming, really. Koutarou was surrounded by his best friends and Akaashi, talking about who knows what. What more could he possibly ask for?
“Washio, what’s it like being long distance now?”
“It is a challenge, for sure. To be honest, I think I might break up with her.”
The comment got a range of reactions, but it just kinda set Koutarou a bit on edge.
“Why’s that?” He prompts.
“I think we both knew it wasn’t gonna last either way. We’re only sixteen so it’s not like we were planning on getting married or anything. I think that ever since she moved away, we’ve started living two separate lives and it’s hard to keep the connection. To be honest, I wanted to break up when she said she was moving, but I felt so guilty because I knew she was really upset about it. Now that she’s settled down, I can cut it off.”
“So you’ve just been leading her on for, what, four months? Thats cold, Washio! I’d expect that from Akaashi, but not from you!” Konoha laughs. Koutarou doesn’t find it all that funny. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Akaashi slump a little bit and stare into his cup. “You just want a girl you can make-out with whenever you want, don’t you?”
“That’s not it! Yeah, id rather have a girl that I could spend time in person with, but come on, we’re so young, we hardly know what we actually want. It was a good learning experience, but now we feel more like online friends than partners. Besides, Hitoka-chan….”
Koutarou kinda drowned the rest out. Yeah, Washio was a bit of an asshole for stringing that girl along, but that wasn’t his intention. And he’s right, they are all so young. Koutarou spared a glance at Akaashi. Would that happen to them? If there was some world out there where Akaashi shared his feelings, would they fall apart the same way Washio and his girlfriend did? Koutarou knows he’s gonna be one of the greatest volleyball players out there one day. And with that, there will definitely be a lot of travel. Would they grow bored of each other? Or worse, would Akaashi get tired of waiting for Koutarou to come home and leave while Koutarou stays helplessly in love? Yeah, they’re young, but Koutarou can’t imagine living his life with any other person. He can’t imagine feeling this utter devotion he feels for Akaashi towards any other person.
While Saru begins to tell Washio about how his parents always say communication is key, Koutarou feels a wave of panic rise in him. He’s always been passionate about volleyball, but only became enthralled with it once he started playing with Akaashi. If he didn’t have Akaashi on the court with him, would he still be interested? If not, what else could he do with his life? He knows Akaashi isn’t going pro, but what if he isn’t there to tell him how great he did at all? Whenever Koutarou imagines himself winning the olympics, his fantasy always ends with him running towards Akaashi. Would it be worth the effort if Akaashi wasn’t there?
At the incessant pressure on his shoulder, Koutarou snaps out of his thoughts and turns his head to Akaashi, who had been poking him.
“Are you ok?” He asks quietly. Quiet enough that no one else even hears, continuing with their conversation that had somehow shifted to cat breeds.
Koutarou gave him a small nod and a promise to explain later, hoping it wouldn’t freak Akaashi out too much. He’s always been one to wear his heart on his sleeve, so he was sure that Akaashi was overanalyizing everything that’s happened in the last 24 hours to try to work out why Koutarou got quiet for a few minuted without blabbing about whatever was going through his mind. But he didn’t want to confess that he was scared to lose Akaashi, especially in front of all their friends, so he had to put it off, no matter how much he knew it might drive Akaashi crazy.
Maybe portraying his thoughts as a good thing would make Akaashi worry less.
“It’s nothing bad, Akaashi. Just a super secret I’m gonna tell you later!”
Akaashi, like always, saw right through him. Koutarou only knows this now because he’s grown to recognize the slight furrowing of his eyebrows and the way his mouth curls into a slight frown that wouldn’t be noticeable at all to the untrained eye. Underneath the table, he grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, and that did wonders to remove the tension in Akaashi’s shoulders. They both returned to the conversation at hand (while not letting go of each other’s hands). Koutarou knew Akaashi wouldn’t ask. He’s the type to let people bring up topics at their own pace.
As they were wrapping up their conversations and getting ready to leave, Saru accidentally knocked over his mug, the remaining chocolate splashing over the smooth surface of the table and onto Akaashi’s thigh. Koutarou immediately grabbed napkins, handing a chunk of them to Akaashi while throwing the rest on the table so that more wouldn’t spill over the edge. Akaashi was probably really grateful that this happened towards the end of their time, when the cocoa had returned to room temperature.
“Sorry!” Saru yelped with a guilty expression, taking the tossed napkins on the table to further wipe up his mess.
Akaashi shrugged him off, not looking up from the dark brown stain on his thigh that he was blotting at, “Don’t worry about it”
When he did look up as Saruki continued to apologize, Konoha butted in with the comment, “it was an accident, Akaashi, you don’t have to glare”
Akaashi recoiled slightly and turned to face Konoha, “I know. I just told him it was fine. I wasn’t glaring”
“Ah,” Konoha chuckled, “sometimes its hard to tell with you”
“…right. If you’ll excuse me, I should probably go to the bathroom to get as much of this off before it stains.” Koutarou and Washio got up to let Akaashi get out of the booth. When they sat back down, Konoha leaned into Koutarou’s space.
“Is he really not mad? He just always has that face, y’know?”
Koutarou’s eyebrows furrowed. Could they really not tell? It seemed to be that way, cause even Washio looked like he wanted to hear the answer.
“Yeah! Could you really not tell?” Maybe that question was a little insensitive, but Konoha was being a little insensitive, too. Implying that Akaashi’s face was anything less than perfect felt like a crime.
Komi spoke up with a lighthearted, “Dude, you’re like the only one that knows how to read his face. It’s so deadpan I’m pretty sure he came out of the womb like that. No offense to him or anything, but Konoha is right: he doesn’t express himself well.”
“He’s like, on the exact opposite side of the emotion spectrum from you!” That got a couple chuckles from the others, but Koutarou was mildly insulted.
“I think I’m gonna go help Akaashi out with the stain.” Just as Koutarou went to get up, he heard a “no need” from behind, and turned to see Akaashi standing next to the booth, the stain less prominent but still deep in the fabric.
“Bokuto-san, when we go to your house, would you mind lending me something to wear while I throw these in the wash?” He asked, running his fingers over the damp patch of fabric on his thigh.
Whether or not it had been intentional, Koutarou still jumped at the opening Akaashi gave him to say goodbye to all their friends and head off just the two of them. Shuffling out of the booth and grabbing both their bags, Koutarou agreed and adamantly said that it would be easier to get out if they got the pants in the laundry sooner rather than later, so they should head out now. While ushering Akaashi out the door, Koutarou took one last glance at his friends and the looks he received let him know he was not subtle in the slightest.
As they began their walk, Koutarou’s jacket was slipped back over Akaashi’s shoulders, where it properly belonged. Even when a strong gust of wind blew through their hair, Koutarou was insistent that it remains with Akaashi. They did end up running the last five minutes of the walk purely because Koutarou was beginning to lose feeling in his arms and, in a last ditch effort to raise Koutarou’s body temperature, Akaashi took off sprinting. Koutarou almost doubled over laughing when Akaashi missed their turn and had to backtrack because he actually had no idea where the Bokuto family lived. It was incredible how narrow-minded Akaashi could get when he was doing things for his friends (specifically for Koutarou, but he tried not to look too much into that- they were best friends, after all).
As soon as they were in the entryway, Koutarou began to feel that familiar prickly feeling in his skin from the crazy temperature change. Akaashi hung up the jacket on the rack that held space four other ones- a jacket for each member of the Bokuto family. Once their shoes were off, Akaashi swiftly turned around and trapped Koutarou’s hands in his own, rubbing them to try to get heat back into his fingers. With a frown, Akaashi emphasized his worry by moving to touch other exposed areas of his skin. Koutarou must be, like, crazy numb from the cold because normally Akaashi’s touch would send shivers down his spine and blood to his face, but at the moment it felt almost muted.
“Perhaps we should go to your room?”
“Yeah, thats fine. When my family comes home we’ll have to come back down to introduce you, though. I think they took Lola to the vet.”
Koutarou guided them upstairs and down the hall into his room, explaining on the way that Lola was their Husky. She’s about five years old and is as loud as the rest of the family. Akaashi huffed a laugh as they approached the last room in the hallway, saying that he was scared to meet them all at once if they truly match Koutarou in volume.
Once inside Koutarou’s bedroom, Akaashi was handed a pair of basketball shorts and was told that he could throw his pants into the laundry that Koutarou was about to start with all his gym clothes from the week. To Koutarou’s surprise and horror, Akaashi took off the pants (luckily he kept his boxers on), but instead of putting the shorts on as well, Akaashi also shucked off his shirt and demanded that Koutarou do the same.
“What the fuck?” Is Koutarou dreaming? What exactly did Akaashi think he meant when he said they would be hanging out alone tonight? Koutarou hasn’t even brought Akaashi out on a proper date, they skipped over, like, a bajillion steps and-“
“I don’t know if you’re even aware, but your teeth have been clattering since about five minutes into our walk back. It’s been making you talk a lot slower than normal. You’re freezing.”
“Shouldn’t I be layering up then?” This time when he spoke, Koutarou was actually aware that, yeah, he’s talking like he has a lead tongue.
Akaashi shook his head and gestured for Koutarou to sit down on the bed, “skin-on-skin contact is the best way to get your temperature back up. The forecast this morning said that wind chills today could reach as low as -20 degrees celsius and you were walking around in a tee shirt. We probably weren’t out long enough for you to get hypothermia or anything, but I’m no doctor. At least take your shirt off. We can watch a movie on your laptop in bed while you get warmed up.”
Admittedly, this was not exactly what Koutarou had in mind whenever he would imagine Akaashi shirtless in his bed, but he supposed that even if it was a different scenario, the real thing was much better than his imagination. Despite having a significantly smaller frame, Akaashi insisted that he would sit against Koutarou’s headboard while the Koutarou sat between his legs, his back flush to Akaashi’s chest.
Koutarou demanded that they watch Frozen because Akaashi was treating him like ‘a little ice princess,’ but Akaashi made no complaints. In fact, the only thing he did was hook his chin on Koutarou’s shoulder, wrap his arms tighter around his torso, and admit that he’d never actually seen the movie before.
While he really wanted to make a snarky comment about Akaashi not being cultured, the only thing Koutarou could manage was to say was that it was a good movie and proceed to start it. Akaashi’s actions, although out of worry, felt so domestic and sweet it left Koutarou dizzy. Akaashi would be such a caring boyfriend and Koutarou wanted nothing more to be able to declare it as fact one day. He also wished that one day they’d be able to trade kisses while they cuddled.
They weren’t actually able to finish the movie before they were interrupted by the sound of the front door slamming open, four loud voices drowning out the low-volume audio coming from Koutarou’s laptop, and the thundering of four paws racing up the stairs and down the hallway. Koutarou’s room door had been closed and Lola immediately began making it known that she was not a fan of this fact.
Once they were both appropriately dressed back into their outfits from earlier, Koutarou welcomed Lola into his room and got on his knees to greet his furry friend. Lola only took about thirty seconds to dote on him before glaring at Akaashi and growling at him. Just as she was about to make a leap at Akaashi, Koutarou yanked back on her collar to keep her from sinking her teeth in his friend.
“Hey! No! Bad Lola! Akaashi, are you ok? I’m so sorry”
Akaashi awkwardly laughed and promised Koutarou it was alright, but his back was almost flush to the wall opposite the door and Koutarou felt an immense wave of guilt wash over him.
“Gah! Akaashi, I really am sorry! We got her when I was in my last year of middle school and I was getting bullied real bad so my parents got her as like, an emotional support dog right? Not like the fake licensed ones but like one to just cuddle with and stuff. Anyways, some guys who I thought were my friends came over to meet her but when they got here they got out straws and started shooting spitballs at me. It was real gross. But Lola protected me, didn’t you girl?” Koutarou took her head Into his hands and gave her some aggressive loving before continuing on, “she actually bit one of them when I started crying. I cried into her fur for like an hour afterwards, too. Since then she’s hated new people. Kuroo’s got a scar on his forearm from her, actually. She still hasn’t totally warmed up to him, but they’re friendly enough to each other.”
Koutarou looked up from Lola and felt a pang of panic zip through him at the look of absolute horror on Akaashi’s gorgeous face. Even though Akaashi was already an incredibly quiet guy, it seems Koutarou had rendered him completely speechless. He absentmindedly stroked Lola’s fur and gradually got more anxious the longer it took for Akaashi to respond. It seems Lola picked up on his distress, because she stood up and directed a warning growl at Akaashi. It seemed to do the trick at snapping him out of his stupor, so Koutarou didn’t scold her.
After blinking several times, Akaashi directed a little smile at Koutarou and began slowly making his way over to him and the dog, saying, “Well, I suppose its finally time for Lola to meet a stranger that adores you as much as she does. I think we will get along, considering she already knows how much of a pain in the ass Kuroo is.”
Koutarou felt a smile stretch over his face at the memory of Kuroo and Akaashi meeting for the first time at a practice match against Nekoma a few weeks ago. Kuroo immediately picked up on Koutarou’s massive crush on Akaashi and used that as an excuse to torment Akaashi with questions about his love life. At least Akaashi got along with Kenma. Whenever they hung out, Kuroo felt bad about leaving his childhood best friend at home to rot with his video games, but maybe if Akaashi started coming along, Kenma would be more willing to go. Koutarou tends to overwhelm him a lot. He tries not to take it too personally knowing how reserved Kenma is.
A feeling of warmth settled into his chest as Akaashi knelt down to offer his hand to Lola, who gave Koutarou a tentative glance before gently licking his hand. After a second, she nipped at his hand in warning and Akaashi pulled away. This was still a major victory in Koutarou’s books, but the internal celebration was short-lived because of his mom shouted from downstairs that they brought home take-out and they all wanted to meet his ‘little friend’.
Lola bounced around the room for a second before shooting down the stairs, letting out a little ‘boof’ on every single step. The two took their time following Lola down, partially because Koutarou was hyping himself up to introduce Akaashi to not only his parents, but also his two (incredibly protective) older sisters. Lola had only bitten one of his bullies because his sisters got to the other three.
As soon as they were in the kitchen, Kokomi immediately put Koutarou into a loose chokehold and ruffled his hair while Kohoko seemed more intent on analyzing Akaashi. Kohoko may seem to be more like Akaashi than Koutarou at first glance, but anyone who genuinely believes that is a fool.
Kohoko snapped her fingers at Akaashi then looked at Koutarou with a mischievous glint in her eye, “this has got to be the pretty setter, right?”
Koutarou let a loud ‘NO’ escape his throat as he shoved Kokomi off of him, causing her to land flat on her ass with a startled look on her face before she flopped back and laughed. Koutarou wasn’t all that concerned with it, though, he had more pressing matters to attend to.
Those matters being the slight pout on Akaashi’s lips and the evil, evil grin on Kohoko’s face. Koutarou grabbed Akaashi’s shoulders and assured him that he was, in fact, very very pretty and Kohoko just didn’t know what she was talking about and she was being her weird and evil self. He turned Akaashi around and shoved him towards the table while angling his head to discretely glare at Kohoko.
“Ok AkAashi! Since you are the guest, you just sit there and look pretty, because you are! While we get the silverware out and stuff. What do you want to drink? Y’know, since I am such a good host.”
Eventually, they did get settled at the table, much to Koutarou’s relief. He and Akaashi were sitting across from his sisters while both his parents sat at the heads of the table. Every single member of his family was grinning with a mischievous glint in their eyes, except for his dad, who was more of a gentle giant than anything. Akaashi, being the respectful guest that he is, spoke first.
“Thank you for letting me visit, you have a beautiful home.”
“Oh, such a nice boy!” Mrs. Bokuto cooed, “I’ve been wondering when I’d finally get the chance to meet you. Koutarou talks about you all the time, Akaashi-kun. Only thing I’ve ever heard more from him about is volleyball, but lately it’s been a close competition!”
She giggled as Koutarou grumbled an embarrassed, “moooooom.” He shot her a quick glare before his dad started talking.
“You’ve done an amazing job helping Koutarou in so many parts of his life. You must be a fine young man to willingly deal with our handful of a son.”
That comment got a few snorts from Koutarou’s sisters, much to his dismay. He quickly redirected his glare from his mom to his dad, but got caught up in the shade of red that Akaashi’s ears had become. He was looking down at his plate with his shy little smile and-
Kokomi kicked Koutarou. And then she made a not-so-subtle kissy face at him. His family was going to kill him. All along, they must have been plotting to embarrass him to death. And the only thing any of them will say at his funeral will be that he spent too much time talking about how the shape of Akaashi’s eyes were a reflection of his soul. And if Akaashi went, he would for sure leave early because if the embarrassment killed Koutarou, it would project Akaashi straight to the afterlife because he is too socially anxious to stick through anything his parents would say. Maybe Koutarou was getting a little ahead of himself.
Or maybe not, because the rest of dinner proceeded in a similar fashion. The entire meal was filled with bvious comments and invasive questions. When the torment was over and everyone began to clean up, Koutarou let out a huge sigh of relief. Akaashi, like the good guest he is, offered to help Koutarou’s mom wash the dishes while the others took care of the food and cleaning up the table.
Once everything was squared away, Akaashi approached him with his hands wringing together, something clearly on his mind.
“What’s up, ‘Kaashi? Need to go soon?”
“Actually, your mother wanted me to spend the night. Because I don’t have my jacket.” Akaashi was getting dangerously close to making his cuticles bleed, which always made Koutarou sad, “and now that the sun is down, the weather is even worse. “Would that- would that be ok? If you don’t want me to sleep in your room I could take the couch. I mean I haven’t asked my dad yet, but he normally has a drink with dinner on Fridays so he wouldn’t be able to come and get me and-“
“Akaashi! You’re rambling again!” He received a mumbled apology before carrying on, “of course you can stay in my room! Ok here’s a secret, Kohoko celebrated her birthday party here a week ago and her dumb friend and her boyfriend ended up having sex on our spare futon, so it’s actually at the cleaners right now. But thats ok, you saw I have a pretty big bed anyways. This is so exciting! I haven’t had a sleepover in years.”
Akaashi dropped his hands and sent him a grateful smile, “now look who’s rambling?” He joked, “thank you, though. To be honest, I’ve never had a sleepover at all.”
Koutarou let out an affronted gasp, “Never??!?! I’m gonna take your sleepover virginity?”
“Please do not say it like that, Bokuto-san.”
“Ok, ok. First order of business, we should actually do the laundry we meant to do earlier. Actually, you could throw in all your clothes and I’ll give you something to sleep in. After that, we gotta get you to do some sleepover Funtime activities! Blanket forts, pillow fights, scary movies, blah, blah, blah.”
“I suppose that means we won’t be going to bed at a reasonable time, Bokuto-san.”
“It’s not a sleepover if you actually sleep, Akaashi!”
“I’ll have to take your word for it then. Lead the way.”
The two returned to Koutarou’s room and Koutarou found an old shirt to go with the basketball shorts from earlier and handed them off to Akaashi. While he was changing, Koutarou busied himself with actually doing the laundry, making sure to spray some stain remover on Akaashi’s pants before throwing them in. When he returned to his room, he was greeted with the absolute gift of seeing Akaashi Keiji in his own clothes.
Ok, sure, Koutarou had literally seen Akaashi wear his jacket a handful of hours ago but this is completely different. That was his Fukurodani jacket, which looks exactly like the one Akaashi had forgotten at home. Yeah, his was a bit bigger around the shoulders and stopped just shy of his fingertips whereas Akaashi’s own fit him as it should, but Koutarou didn’t really get to admire that when he was facing the prospect of having to pay for a half dozen hot chocolates. Akaashi wearing one of Koutarou’s tees is on a whole other level.
It was an old tee he had gotten for free that he almost exclusively wears to bed, should he wear a shirt at all. Considering it sat pretty loose on Koutarou, Akaashi looked like he might just drown in it. And true to the stereotype, it sat on his shoulders in just the right way that Koutarou got a gorgeous glimpse of collarbone whenever he dared to let his eyes wander to Akaashi before ripping them away and back to the corner of the room that he was facing while throwing on his own pajamas (a shirt included, much to his chagrin). It also didn’t help that under the shirt, Akaashi seemed to have pulled the shorts so far up his waist that they looked like they were hardly there at all. It all made Koutarou incredibly conscious of their size difference. Yeah, he was only a few centimeters taller, but apparently he was a whole hell of a lot broader.
Koutarou had absolutely zero complaints. He intended to build up way more muscle mass, so there was a distinct possibility, he mussed, that in the future his shirts will look even bigger on Akaashi, assuming he does not gain a proportional amount of mass as well. But that was years down the road. Maybe at that point, instead of just hinting at collarbone, the shirt would even slip off a shoulder.
“Alright Akaashi, we are gonna finish the last twenty minutes of Frozen!” Koutarou cheered, pointing to the spot on the bed they had initially been in. He still couldn’t believe they were having their first sleepover together. Koutarou hasn’t had anyone over in ages, needless to say for a sleepover. Hopefully, this will be the first of many sleepovers with Akaashi.
Afterwards, Koutarou guided Akaashi through a thrilling night of pillow fights that left them with crazy heads of hair, blanket forts that kept collapsing on them, and a trip to the kitchen to raid the fridge once it approached midnight. Koutarou begged his older sisters to let them borrow some nail polish, to which he got a resounding “no,” so instead they took pens to each other’s legs and doodled away. Akaashi received a nice-looking owl while Koutarou ended up with a wonky looking flower and a penis on the bottom of his foot because apparently Akaashi was feeling like a comedic genius. Or maybe he was trying to distract from his terrible drawing skills.
“Man, Akaashi you are NOT good at drawing. I think we finally found your weakness. I’ll have to report this to Konoha.” Koutarou said through his attempt not to laugh at the pout he received from the insult.
“Whatever. It’s not like I wanted to be a tattoo artist or anything anyways. You have to give me some credit, though, you are an impossible canvas to work on.” Akaashi grabbed one of the pillows from earlier and hit Koutarou with it.
“WHAT? Impossible. How could all this-” he gestured wildly to his body, “-possibly be a bad canvas for you?”
“Your legs are more harry than your dog. And you can’t sit still for the life of you”
Koutarou snatched the pillow from Akaashi and hit him so hard he fell backwards and almost rolled completely off the bed before being grabbed by the calf to help regain balance. Akaashi tried to reach for the pillow to take it back, but Koutarou quickly climbed on top of Akaashi and rained down a storm of pillow-hits. Akaashi was powerless to do anything but hold his arms in front of his face and laugh through the assault.
Once Koutarou decided Akaashi had been enough of a victim, he threw the pillow back to its original spot and helped Akaashi back into his original seating position.
“Do you think I’m cold, Bokuto-san?” the question came completely out of left field during the lull in their conversation once they settled down. Akaashi’s face had contorted into his thinky-face, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. Koutarou did not like this version of the thinky-face as much, though, because there was a sad shimmer in his eyes. It was incredibly out of left field not only because their conversations prior had literally nothing to do with that but also because Akaashi was not one to talk about his emotions. Koutarou ignored the question of where the hell that came from in favor of being a supportive friend.
“No! Why would you even ask that? You are always helping me, and laughing at my jokes, and sending me the best tosses!”
Akaashi gave him a halfhearted shrug and looked down at his fingers that were beginning to get red from how much he was twisting them and picking at the areas around his nails.
“Sometimes Konoha says things. It’s not a big deal, they’re more like lighthearted jabs, but he’s been saying them a lot more.” His voice raised in pitch at the end of his sentence
“Like- like earlier. He said that he would expect me to lead a girl on. Do you think that?”
God, koutarou was so stupid. Earlier he spent so much time fussing over a potential future that he didn’t notice Akaashi begin to retreat into himself while everyone else was around. Even worse, Akaashi was the one that asked if he was ok when it should have been the other way around. AND just a few minutes ago he made a joke about how Konoha would be happy to know Akaashi isn’t perfect. He doesn’t think Konoha actually has any problems with Akaashi, but if he’s unconsciously being mean Koutarou will make sure to tell him to back off. Konoha has a tendency to take jokes too far. One time Akaashi scolded him for making too many jokes about Koutarou being dumb. Hopefully he isn’t saying that stuff because of that incident.
“No way! I don’t know what Konoha was thinking, but that’s not the Akaashi I know. you’re too honest, ‘kaashi!” Koutarou picked up Akaashi’s hands so that he would stop picking at them, and continued, this time in a much softer voice, “you are so amazing. I think he was more making a comment on how you don’t normally talk about your feelings so it would be hard for you to break up with someone. Besides, you’re so pretty that if you even smile at someone they’ll be so in love that they’ll say they were led on!”
“You really think I’m pretty? You said something about it at dinner too.”
Ok, maybe Koutarou should have thought about how comforting Akaashi would not be the right time to slip up about having a massive crush on him. But he had to commit to not look like an even bigger fool.
“The prettiest! I thought you were a model who ended up in the wrong place when I saw you in the gym for the first time!”
Akaashi let out a weak little laugh, “Thank you, Bokuto-san. I want to be more comfortable talking about my feelings and stuff, so I figured maybe I would start by opening up to you first. I know we’ve only known each other for a couple months, but you are one of my favorite people and I trust you. But, uh, I think that’s a good stopping point for tonight. Can we watch that scary movie now?”
Koutarou wanted to conceded, knowing how important it is to listen to boundaries. He doesn’t have much experience in the field of relationships, romantic or otherwise, but his older sisters do. He’d listened to them cry many a nights about boyfriends who won’t listen to their feelings and other girls who don’t care about their thoughts. He wants to be someone his sisters would never cry about, but he had to get one thing out before the topic shifts.
“Earlier, the ‘super secret’ I was thinking about was that I’m terrified of not having you around once we’re all grown up. You’re my favorite person, like, ever and I wouldn’t be as passionate about a lot of things if it weren’t for you. I can’t fathom ever describing you as cold, at least personality wise. Did I use fathom right?”
Akaashi sharply inhaled and nodded that, yes, fathom was used correctly. He scooted closer to Koutarou and promised he was also his favorite person. Koutarou bonked their heads together and decided that was enough deep talk for tonight considering Akaashi wanted to stop a bit ago.
“Actually, surprise! No horror movie. I know you have a secret soft spot for romance, so I thought we could watch 10 Things I Hate About You! I’ve never seen it, but I remember one time you said that it was your favorite!” Koutarou beamed at Akaashi. Watching one specific movie wasn’t really anything awesome or special, but it seemed to make Akaashi happy.
Actually, it thrilled Akaashi. Hearing the title had him bouncing in his seat sporting the biggest grin Koutarou had ever seen him. Koutarou gave himself a mental pat on the back.
They sat together against the headboard of his bed and began the movie with their shoulders pressed together. To make it more comfortable, and for absolutely no other reason, Koutarou put his arm around Akaashi’s shoulders and felt absolutely giddy when he felt Akaashi lean against him more. Koutarou tried to get into the movie, but he couldn’t fine it all that interesting. He would have preferred the horror, or some kind of action, but didn’t regret their decision in the slightest when Akaashi would whisper in his ear his thoughts on character dynamics. It made for a perfect movie to fall asleep to, especially because it was far after the time Koutarou typically fell asleep. He was more of a morning bird than a night owl, typically being early to bed and early to rise unless they had late night games. He knows that people view him as pretty sporadic, but he does like his routines.
Bokuto’s thought process for a lot of things tended to be silly. It would be laughable if someone was able to read how he jumps from topic to topic in his head. And mood to mood. But there are things that he can do that help calm his racing mind. When it comes to Akaashi, things become so much steadier. All his trains of thoughts (god knows he has many) converge onto one track and everything else in his head becomes quieter. Yeah, his thoughts are still a little erratic, but they all focus on the same subject, so it becomes far easier to manage.
Deep into the movie, Bokuto felt the weight of Akaashi’s head fall onto his shoulder. Oh, it was more than he could ever have hoped for, turning his head to get a faceful of dark and silky curls and his ears ringing with the faint sound of a content hum that passed through Akaashi’s lips.
Bokuto knows Akaashi doesn’t trust easily. While he had clicked so naturally with Bokuto from the get-go, it had taken him forever to not hide smiles behind his hands or accept help when taking care of something heavy, both mentally of physically. And that knowledge made this moment even more precious. Akaashi isn’t one for spontaneity, so the sleepover was already a stretch. Not only had he blindly allowed Bokuto to guide him through a household routine that looked nothing like his own, he trusted him enough to allow him to bear witness to the vulnerability of slipping unconscious AND discussing an insecurity.
Not even on late-night bus rides had Akaashi ever fallen asleep. He would sit patiently beside Koutarou and act as a human pillow and made no complaints about the drool on his shoulder, but had never let his head fall against Koutarou as he is doing now.
A small part of Koutarou thinks, hopes, that Akaashi had been comfortable with him all along, but had never wanted to share his vulnerability with him while there were other people around. Maybe, Koutarou pondered as he raised a hand to gently run through Akaashi’s curls, Akaashi was just as dedicated to Koutarou as he was to Akaashi, and that he was just more reserved with his affection. Perhaps in the future, there will be more moments like this, where Akaashi doesn’t hesitate to close his eyes because he knows that Koutarou there to see for him. And when Koutarou will succumb to sleep as well, he will have Akaashi’s head on his chest instead of his shoulder and the knowledge that he is the only person in the world that gets to see Akaashi in any state other than collected and in charge.
And in this private moment, with nothing filling the room but the light from the TV and the sound of Akaashi’s deep breathing and the warmth in hisheart, he kisses Akaashi’s forehead and knows that one day, he will be kissing his lips as well.
(It will be at another sleepover a few weeks later, this time planned, that the two will share their first kiss, while sitting cross legged and facing each other on Koutarou’s bed after spilling their guts to one another. Their first kiss of many.)