THREE.

Akaashi stares at the clock on the wall, tapping her pen against her notebook. She’s staying back for extra class today, as she always does on Fridays when volleyball training is off. 

It’s close to the start of summer, already too hot to concentrate so she may as well be sweating it out somewhere. To be honest, she’d much rather be on the court right now, stretching her legs or aiming tosses for her spikers or literally anything but advanced history lessons. 

Stifling a yawn behind her free hand, she scrawls some date or other down in the margins of the page she’s on, next to her neatly highlighted notes. 

She hears Bokuto walk by the window, before she actually sees the girl: Bokuto’s singing some silly rhyme about school being over for the day. Thankfully, everyone else in class is paying attention to the lesson & isn’t focused on the sound of Bokuto’s voice like Akaashi has always been.

Now, Bokuto doesn’t exactly walk — she’s always had more of a spirited spring in her step. Her shirt is already untucked from her skirt & she’s loosened her necktie.

She passes by Akaashi’s class window, before doing a quick, nearly cartoonish double take. She doubles back just as quickly, her silver-grey hair held back with the strap of her bag in a makeshift hairband, all its volleyball keychains jangling loudly.

She’s suddenly aware that Akaashi’s still in class & claps a hand over her mouth for all of five seconds, golden eyes darting left & right just in case the principal or someone is going to appear to chide her.

When nothing happens after a moment, she lowers her hand. Meet you at the train station! she mouths loudly, with a grin, then runs off again. Konoha follows, looking frazzled & calling out for Bokuto to slow down: an ever-fruitless task.

Akaashi nods at the empty space in the corridor, waving her pen. Something blooms inside her heart, a star brightly shining.

Bokuto has never just been her senior, or teammate. She’s always been Akaashi’s star of a best friend; a guiding light. Radiant like the saints Akaashi reads about in church history books, & a thousand times more familiar.

Akaashi turns back to her work, writing a few more words down in her book. She’s a good girl, all right? She’s in one of the best private schools in the living, beating heart of Tokyo. She loves volleyball & she loves words & she honours God above all else, like her parents raised her to.

Her friends call her Bokuto’s biggest fan. You’re like, so obsessed. You bend over backwards for her. You actually know everything about her.

Well that’s what best friends are for, Akaashi always responds. If you spend as much time with her as I do, you’d probably know her just as well. 

She keeps the last part to herself: You might even be as in love with her as I am.

TWO.

It’s Friday evening & the whole of Tokyo feels it, especially at the Shinkawa train station. Salarymen in their rumpled suits with their briefcases stand at the platform, alongside students in uniforms of various colours. Akaashi stands next to Bokuto on the platform, checking the LED signboard for the next train.

The train on their route comes by every five minutes, but each one is more full than the last. It’s a few rounds of this before there’s even a shot at them getting into a carriage, alongside the crowd that keeps growing around them. 

Akaashi manages to find a seat right next to the door. She clutches her backpack to her chest & tries to make herself as small as humanly possible so as not to cause any trouble. Bokuto stands close beside her cheerfully, like she’s not ashamed of taking up space in this world, like breathing is easy. 

The train screeches as it slows, then speeds up again on its way through a tunnel. People stumble & collide, muttering apologies to one another as they straighten themselves & pretend nothing happened.

Bokuto - bless her heart - falls right forward, putting out her hands for support on the train walls. That is, right above Akaashi’s shoulders. 

Akaashi’s well & truly caged in, with nowhere to run or hide. She quickly averts her eyes, but it doesn’t stop her forehead from almost touching Bokuto’s. 

Somehow all this feels even closer than a kiss. Akaashi’s Bible weighs heavy in her backpack, & she shivers.

The air in this cramped train carriage is crackling, electric with infinite possibilities. In an alternate universe where life’s more forgiving, Bokuto might say something like Hoooo, boy. This is all sorts of embarrassing, huh? I mean, getting squished together like this, to which Akaashi would reply with I feel like a sardine in a can, let’s try not to fidget & they’d get off at their usual station & laugh all the way home, arm in arm like the best friends they are.

Bokuto is so close. She smells like sharp tamarind & it’s everything Akaashi can do to keep avoiding eye contact.

Warmth rises to her cheeks, pools in her stomach. She can’t decide whether she wants to push Bokuto away or pull her just that bit closer. Red lights flash in her head, big STOP signs popping up like some divine force wants to stop her dead in her tracks.

The train exits the tunnel. The pre-recorded voice plays over the speakers above them like a message from God, announcing its impending stop at the next station. 

“Sorry, I need some air,” Akaashi says quickly. It’s not even her usual stop but the walk will do her good. She needs some air, or at least some time away from her thoughts. 

She ducks under Bokuto’s arm with muttered apologies & runs onto the platform, narrowly avoiding the automatic closing of the carriage doors behind her.

As the doors slide shut, the last thing she sees is Bokuto’s golden-eyed gaze, confused & lost.

ONE.

Things aren’t the same for the next few days. Akaashi feels constantly on edge but doesn’t know how to get rid of it, like a pebble in her shoes that she can’t empty out. 

She’s responsible about it though — tries her best as usual, turns up for volleyball practice, keeps the team in order just as surely as the sun rises & sets, the temperature going up day by day.

In school, she makes u-turns whenever she hears Bokuto walking down the corridor, or ducks around the nearest corner, or walks into the nearest room. 

Avoiding her best friend is getting more & more difficult. For starters, it’s difficult to hear Bokuto approaching. She doesn’t sing any more, & she walks a little slower these few days. Her golden eyes have a certain quiet sadness about them. Even her hair looks flatter than normal, like there’s a permanent raincloud over her head. 

It’s torture trying to avoid someone with whom you’ve practically been glued to the hip for years now, & Akaashi’s chest aches a little. She prays about it in her heart but nothing eases that pain.  

After the last practice before summer break, Akaashi has just finished locking up the gym after the rest of the team’s left & is about to go down the stairs, when she hears the sound of frantic steps approaching her from the side of the gym. 

Bokuto catches hold of Akaashi’s wrist, pouting. She’s still in her gym uniform — she was probably waiting for the dark-haired girl to leave. 

“Waaaaait! Why are you running away from me, ‘Kaashi?” Bokuto pouts & makes her puppy eyes. “Do you still want to be my friend?”

“I’m not running away.”

“Yes, you are!”

“If this is about the train -”

“No. I mean, yeah, but there’s more than that.” Bokuto grabs Akaashi’s hands. “Talk to me… Keiji. Please?”

Akaashi feels strange. This must be really serious if Bokuto is calling her by her first name. Something in the air has changed.

She sits down at the steps of the gym obediently. Bokuto sits next to her.

“I just… I don’t know. I needed some air the other day. We were so close, & I couldn’t stop thinking…” She covers her face with both her hands. Her cheeks heat up.

“About what?” Bokuto asks with her usual curious urgency. Something in Akaashi tells her that Bokuto already knows the answer.

Akaashi takes a deep breath, nearly shivering with all her nerves. “About you,” she says quietly.

She’s expecting Bokuto to laugh, but the usually bright girl is unusually serious. 

“I’ve been thinking about you too, actually.” Bokuto says. She looks down into her lap, then back at Akaashi. “I… I think we should be more than friends.”

Akaashi would usually deadpan something like oh, ultra best friends?, but she can’t find it in her to joke right now. She puts her hands down slowly, makes eye contact with Bokuto.

She recites a Bible verse in her heart, with all her might.  Do not be anxious about anything…

“I like you, Keiji. I’m serious,” Bokuto continues. She declares it so easily like she fears neither God nor people.

She pushes her hand forward, brushing against Akaashi’s. 

Akaashi wishes she could’ve done this in the train before her heart got the better of her. 

She ends her recitation quietly. 

…  for the Lord is with you. 

It’s not even the correct ending to the verse which would ordinarily be unacceptable for her orderly brain, but it feels fitting anyhow. After all, the God who created every galaxy & constellation, the same God who created all the laws of the universe also created the wonderful girl in front of her, & why shouldn’t Akaashi be thankful for all of it?

She curls her fingers around Bokuto’s so they’re properly holding hands now. Bokuto’s hand is warm & comforting, & Akaashi takes a deep breath. 

“Can I kiss you?” Bokuto asks suddenly. Her eyes are bright like the stars of a clear morning. 

Akaashi nods instinctively, immediately. She’s been thinking about this for so long at the back of her mind it only feels natural to bring it to the forefront of her thoughts, just like every planet in the solar system orbits the star at its centre.

They lean closer to each other until their lips touch briefly. It’s nothing too heavy, but the light, sweet intimacy makes Akaashi feel warm inside. Her soul feels weightless, raptured even. She could really get used to this.

“You know what, Keiji?” Bokuto says finally. “Let’s work it out together.” 

Akaashi smiles faintly. They may not have it all figured out yet but what they can do, what they really do is this: hold hands & sit together in the light of the gym. “Does anyone else know about this?”

Bokuto turns bright red. “Konoha,” she says. “She’s been trying to get us together for ages.”

“Oh, so the whole team knows, then.” Akaashi puts a hand to her forehead, but can’t help but laugh. It’s a relief knowing she doesn’t have to hide any more, that her mind was the only thing holding her back this whole time. “They’re rooting for us, aren’t they?”

As much as she knows everyone would be fairly tactful with it, she imagines the team hanging a CONGRATULATIONS! GAY IS OKAY banner in place of the usual Fukurodani colours. The visual image makes her cringe a little, but laugh even louder.  

“I know Konoha’s getting us a rainbow cake or something.” Bokuto nods shyly. She’s so cute when she gets embarrassed, like a baby owl. After a beat, she clears her throat. “Well, let’s head to the station. I’ll walk you home.”

Akaashi pictures them sitting side by side in the train, all the way to the very end of the line. A train fuelled by starlight & all their dreams, where she can face the world without fear. A train passing through this summer, time stretched out like an eternity before them — & who knows what could happen next?

She gets up, still holding Bokuto’s hand, & she can feel the warmth of all that starlight spreading through her heart now. “Home it is.”