Work Text:
Akaashi Keiji is successful… by societal terms. To his family, he was just one disappointment after another. Akaashi went against his parents multiple times throughout his high school years. He even ignored the colleges they wanted him to apply to. The final straw was when he switched from a law major to a film major, and at the same time came out to his parents. His parents were furious and cut all ties with him.
Akaashi's parents' disapproval of him still exists even when he became a famous movie director. Eventually, Akaashi grew to accept the fact that he'll never be enough for his parents.
~~~
It was a Monday night, and Akaashi had just gotten home from work. It was a crazy day, not from his job, but from the people he met in the streets. He had surprisingly bumped into his parents after almost 10 years of no communication. They ignored him, and just carried on with what they were doing. Next, he met people who are good friends with his parents. Apparently, his parents never mentioned cutting ties with him. They talked to him like he was still their friends' son. They were happy that he was successful, but lectured him for not being a good son. They told him that he should visit them, and send them off somewhere for a nice vacation. Of course, Akaashi just held in everything, and didn't tell them everything that happened. He just nodded at the right moments, and said his goodbye respectfully when they were done talking.
Akaashi was just emotionally exhausted. He wanted to be able to do whatever he wanted without having to worry about his reputation or paying bills. Akaashi fell asleep as soon as he plomped onto his bed.
It wasn't long until Akaashi woke up. It was still dark out so he looked at the time. It was 2am. He got up and walked to his window. Akaashi looked at the sky, and saw that it was a full moon. He continued to stare at the sky thinking about the events that happened in his life until he saw a figure flying in the sky. Akaashi rubbed his eyes, not believing what he had just saw. He opened his eyes to find a man floating just outside of his window smiling so wide that Akaashi worried that his face would split in two. Near the man's head was something sparkly that was floating. The man kindly knocked on Akaashi's window, and for some strange reason, Akaashi opened it for him.
The man grinned, and leaned on Akaashi's window sill. "Hey. I've seen you around lately, and you looked kinda gloomy all week last week. Everything okay?"
Akaashi was shocked. Was he being stalked? Where did this person even come from? Was he really floating? The man cleared his throat, and Akaashi spoke, "Yes. I'm fine. Thank you for asking." He said with wide eyes.
The man took a good look at Akaashi. "Nah. I don't think you're fine. You've been overworking yourself, haven't you?" Akaashi just simply nodded. Then the man's face lit up, "Hey! Do you wanna fly? Like… I know it sounds crazy, but I can totally take you around town through the sky!!" The man said with so much joy. He looked at Akaashi when he didn't answer, "Oh! I'm sorry! I'm Bokuto Koutarou by the way!" The man, Bokuto, said as he stuck out his hand.
Akaashi reached out and shook his hand, "Akaashi Keiji. Nice to meet you Bokuto-san."
Bokuto smiled brightly, "Nice to meet you too Akaashi!"
Just then, Akaashi remembered the small sparkle, "Ummm… Bokuto-san. What is this?" He asked pointing at the sparkle.
"Rude!" The small sparkle squeaked out.
Bokuto roared in laughter, "Not 'what' Akaashi, but 'who'. This is Kuroo. He's my little pixie."
Kuroo hit Bokuto in the face. The contact seemed to have been painful since Bokuto yelped in pain. Kuroo then flew up to Akaashi's face, "You know that we can't just let ANYONE fly, Bokuto. He doesn't even look like a believer. I refuse to give him the ability to fly."
"Aaawww… come on Kuroo. Just look at him. Akaashi can believe if he tried. Besides, I'm bored. Pleeeaaase Kuroo?" Bokuto pouted.
"No! And we're not even supposed to let anyone see us!" Kuroo yelled out.
"Pffft… not like anyone cares." Bokuto says, then turns to face Akaashi. "So Akaashi… you ready to fly?" Before Akaashi can even answer, Bokuto grabbed Kuroo and proceeded to ruthlessly 'sprinkle' Akaashi with pixie dust. When he was done, he let Kuroo go and it looked like Kuroo was in a daze. Akaashi couldn't even ask Kuroo if he was okay because Bokuto was talking to him again. "Remember Akaashi, all you have to do is believe. Believe in me, and believe in yourself."
Akaashi nodded, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Before he can even open his eyes again, he was all of a sudden being dragged. He opened his eyes to see that Bokuto had grabbed his arm, and is now rushing towards the window ready to jump. Akaashi wasn’t ready yet, so once they were out of the window, he latched onto Bokuto for dear life.
Bokuto chuckled, "Akaashi… ease up. Remember, believe that you can fly, and you will."
"I told you that he wouldn't be able to do it, Bokuto!" Kuroo said as he rushed to them.
"And I'm telling that he can. He just needs to relax." Bokuto says while smiling at Akaashi in encouragement.
Akaashi took another deep breath, and tried to believe that he can fly. It took a few minutes, but after convincing himself that he can fly, he slowly let one arm off of Bokuto. He held onto Bokuto with his other hand while steadily opening up his body. They flew like that for a while until Akaashi had full confidence in himself. He let go of Bokuto, and to Kuroo's surprise, he was flying like a natural. He twirled around in the sky, letting out small giggles for feeling free for the first time in years. Bokuto laughed and joined Akaashi. They flew around the sky in euphoria.
After the adrenaline died down, Bokuto and Akaashi landed on one of the streets near Akaashi's home with Kuroo floating around them.
"That was so awesome Akaashi! I can't believe that was your first time flying!" Kuroo said while flying around Akaashi's head.
"I told you he could fly! I seriously can't believe you doubted me Kuroo!" Bokuto said while flailing his arms around.
Akaashi chuckled, and Bokuto and Kuroo looked at him. "Thank you for the experience, Bokuto-san, Kuroo-san. I definitely had fun, and it's been years since I felt that way."
Bokuto smiled at Akaashi's happiness, but turned serious. "Hey, Akaashi. We gotta go soon. When you wake up, don't look for us. Don't ask anyone about us. No one will take you seriously."
Akaashi frowned, "What do you mean when I wake up? You guys are real, right?" Akaashi started panicking.
"Akaashi, don't worry. We'll come back when we feel your stress energies rising up again, okay?" Kuroo said. "It's just something that has to be done. We can't be with you every day. It'll put you in danger." Kuroo gave Akaashi a rueful smile.
Before Akaashi could ask more questions, a blinding light flashed and he woke up. He realized it was only just a dream. Akaashi traveled back to the street where Bokuto and Kuroo had left. Will they come back? He didn't know. But one thing is for sure, he feels refreshed. Akaashi felt like he could take on the world if he wanted to. He believes that Bokuto and Kuroo will come back when he needs them the most. Akaashi walked back home to prepare for another day at work.