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“Kuroo. Dude, wake up. I don’t understand this topic,” Bokuto frantically shook his friend who was drooling all over their literature textbooks. The teacher had given up waking him a long time ago, as he was actually doing well in her class. Kuroo groaned in acknowledgment, his eyes still closed, choosing to purposely ignore Bokuto.
“Broooo, please help me! I have no idea what is going on right now and I’m super lost,” Bokuto whined as he shook Kuroo even harder, causing him to grumble and eventually get up. “What is it this time?” Kuroo groaned, squinting his eyes at Bokuto, who had the audacity to make innocent doe eyes at him. “If you don’t understand this stuff, you might as well get a tutor, since, you know, I’m too lazy to explain it to you.”
“That’s a great idea! I’ll just hire someone to do it for me! Kuroo, you’re a genius!” Just as Bokuto finished talking, the bell for lunch break rang, marking the end of class. He quickly packed up his things and headed to the exit. “I’m going to go look for one right now,” he said as he ran out the door, shoving through a group of students.
“Just don’t hurt yourself okay!?” Kuroo shouted, earning a few giggles from his classmates, knowing the tendencies of the person he was talking to.
₊˚⊹ ᰔ
“Woah… has the library always been this big?” Bokuto mindlessly whispered to himself. Sure, he’s heard some things about the library’s impressive size and the amount of content it contained, but he never actually stepped foot inside the building itself.
That stuff was for nerds (read: Kuroo) anyway, and Bokuto was a self-proclaimed not nerd.
He aimlessly wandered around the uncharted area, not knowing what to look for. After a few minutes of exploring and walking up the library’s second floor, he was about to give up and leave. What was he doing in the library anyway? It’s not like he has to study (or wants to study, for that matter.)
After deciding that what he was currently doing was pointless, Bokuto made his way to the exit. He was just about to walk down the stairs, he accidentally bumped into someone, knocking all of the books in their hand down in the process.
“Oh my god! Are you okay?” Bokuto immediately helped the other boy pick up all the books and asked him if he had any bruises. The other boy, whose name tag said Akaashi Keiji, looked up to him with his big, blue eyes. He must work here, he thought.
Oh, he’s cute… was the the next thought that entered his mind. Bokuto stared, admiring his soft features and the mess of curly, black hair on his head. The boy was wearing glasses, which he pushed up with his index finger to adjust their position, most likely they were knocked askew during the collision. Whoops, Bokuto felt a little sheepish.
“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you for helping me pick up the books,” he responded politely. Wow, even his voice was nice.
Bokuto stared even harder. This time, with his mouth agape. “Lord, is this an answer to my prayers?” he mumbled softly, wiping a fake tear from the corner of his eye and clenched his heart. Bokuto wasn’t even religious, however, he would risk everything for Akaashi Keiji, a man that he just met and who he probably embarrassed the shit out of himself in front of. An answer to everything that he’d ever asked for, casually talking to him in a public library.
Could’ve been more romantic than this, but I’ll take it.
“Sorry, what was that?” Akaashi looked genuinely confused, eyes darting between Bokuto and the large stack of books that he was currently balancing in his hands.
“Nothing! It’s nothing!” Bokuto shook his head and motioned with his hands. After a few seconds of silence passed, he spoke up again. “Say…. you look smart. Would you like to tutor me?!” The other boy thought for a second, then responded with a simple nod of affirmation.
“That’s great! My friend was telling me how I should just let someone tutor me, and I thought that was a super good idea, and I just happened to run into you! No pun intended, haha,” Bokuto laughed at his own joke, huffing his chest out in an exasperated laugh. Was he rambling? He was definitely rambling.
“Well, I guess I can arrange something with you… If you’re not busy that is?” Akaashi offered him a polite smile, and Bokuto swore that he could combust on the spot. “No, no, of course not! It’s not like I have anywhere to be at this time of year…” he said looking out the window.
It was a windy day, as expected of autumn. The last few auburn leaves had just fallen from the trees, painting the ground a colorful mix of brown and green. Bokuto loved autumn, but he really couldn’t stand the cold. He tried to wear as many layers as possible, and went home as soon as he could during the cold months. Even though Kuroo bullied him for it, Bokuto just didn’t mind.
“Hmm, I see,” Akaashi started, “how about you come around the library again tomorrow. As you can probably see, I work here.” He gestured to the name tag on his chest.
“That’s a great idea! I’ll come by tomorrow again. Wait, no I have a better idea,” Bokuto nodded to himself, and dug for something in his pocket. After he found it, he fished it out of his pocket and handed it over to Akaashi. “Here, give me your number so I can contact you!”
Akaashi took the phone from him, nimble fingers pressed on the screen, typing his number into Bokuto’s phone. Once he was finished, he handed the phone back to the other.
Bokuto smiled and thanked Akaashi and started walking towards the exit, for real this time. “Wait,” he felt a soft presence grip at his wrist. “I didn’t ask you for your name yet.”
Oh, Bokuto must have forgotten to introduce himself. Way to go, dude, a small voice that sounded oddly like Kuroo snickered.
“I totally forgot! My name’s Bokuto Koutaro! I’m in my third year right now,” he stated.
“Bokuto-san,” Akaashi whispered, testing the name on his tongue. Bokuto swore he was about to go into cardiac arrest, but he stayed strong. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” the other boy said as he walked away.
Bokuto just stared at his back, slowly moving away from him, and all that he could think was he was fucked.
So, so fucked.
₊˚⊹ ᰔ
“No way!?” Kuroo exclaimed as he slapped Bokuto on the thigh, his laughter ringing throughout the classroom. “Kenma, are you hearing this?” Kuroo looked over to his boyfriend, who was sitting next to both of them.
The other boy gave him a hum of acknowledgment, not looking up from his phone, much too focused on the new game that had recently come out. He was determined to beat this boss, after hours of trying to do so.
“Bokuto, you sly fox,” Kuroo smirked as he wiggled his eyebrows. “When I said to get a tutor, I didn’t mean for you to get a boyfriend.”
Kuroo’s words made Bokuto’s face flare up. Sure, he thought Akaashi was kinda cute, but that didn’t matter since they didn’t know each other at all. That could change, you know, a tiny voice chimed, adding even more to Bokuto’s mental gay crisis.
“So flustered you can’t even respond, huh?” Kuroo eyed his friend as he sipped on his juicebox. “I’ll be sure to use this opportunity a lot, then. Chances like this don’t come very often.”
“Hnnrggh,” was all Bokuto could manage to say. He slumped over his desk, giving up taking notes for Chemistry 101. He could just copy off of Kuroo, anyway. Plus, if everything worked out in his favor, he would also have a super cute tutor to knock the logic into him.
Maybe they’d even study at each other’s houses, Bokuto’s useless mind supplied. He tried to imagine the scene — him and Akaashi were sitting on his couch, books scattered across the coffee table. Akaashi was explaining a problem in the book, but Bokuto couldn’t focus, his eyes fixated on the boy sitting right next to him….
“So what are you going to do?” Kenma’s tiny voice cut Bokuto out of his thoughts.
Koutarou, get your act together! Bokuto mentally slapped himself and snapped out of his Akaashi-related trance.
“Yeah, Bo, what are you going to do about mysterious library man?” Kuroo spoke for both him and Kenma. “Are you going to go meet him again in the library tomorrow?” he wiggled his eyebrows again. I swear, one day I’m going to shave them off, Bokuto thought bitterly to himself.
“I don’t know if I should…” Bokuto started. He though about what he should say for a moment and continued, “Wouldn’t it be kinda weird though?” He started fiddling with the button on his school uniform.
“How so?” Kuroo raised an raised an eyebrow, and Kenma even gave a quiet hum of agreement. “It’s not like you forcefully pinned him down and asked him to tutor you,” a small pause “…right?”
“No! No! Of course not…? I already told you that I bumped into him, and knocked all his books out of his hands.. But of course, I helped him pick them up!” Bokuto wildly shook his head, his hair frantically following his movements.
“Haha, I bet you would like that, wouldn’t you, Bo?” Kenma snickered and Kuroo had to cover his mouth to stop himself from laughing. What friends I have, Bokuto sighed, unsure whether to feel offended, annoyed, or proud of Kenma for showing enough interest in a topic to crack a joke.
Had he not been suffering right now, he probably would have laughed and patted his friend on the back. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t that lucky.
Just as Bokuto was about to ask another question, the bell rang, indicating that classes were over and people could start to go home. The sounds of students chattering and zippers closing filled the room. He looked over to Kuroo and Kenma, who had returned back to their own seats, and started packing up, too.
This was fine, this was alllll fine, Bokuto thought to himself, while stuffing his books into his backpack. I’m not gonna let a teeny problem like this bother me. Everything was fine! Bokuto’s mind supplied him as he jogged over to his two friends, falling into a familiar rhythm with them.
₊˚⊹ ᰔ
Everything was, in fact, not fine.
Bokuto couldn’t sleep, and that never happened. Ever since he was a kid, people had told him that they were jealous of his ability to sleep through any circumstances. However… it seemed the people had lied.
All he could think about was messy, black hair and out-of-place glasses.
He reached for his phone on the nightstand, the numbers 11:43 PM staring straight back at him. Ughrrrhhh, it was late and he had practice first thing tomorrow. He opened his messaging app, surprised to see that someone had texted him.
Akaashi the notification read… Akaashi?! Texted him?! Did Bokuto die and ascend to heaven? Was he imagining all of this? He made sure not to scream, so as not to wake up his roommate. Poor Oikawa, he had to go through all this.
…But yet again, Oikawa wasn’t the best roommate, so maybe this was well deserved karma. Stupid Oikawa and his “Iwa-chan”.
Akaashi 11.03 PM
>> Hello, Bokuto-san. I hope you don’t mind me bothering you this late, but I just wanted to ask you about tomorrow.
>> If you’re still up for it, that is?Bokuto 11.45 PM
<< hey! hey! akaashiii!
<< yeah i really suck at most of the subjects this year
<< except sports! im good at sports
<< ive been putting off tutoring classes for a while… so its about time. (｡- .•)Akaashi 11.45 PM
>> Oh, you’re still awake? I hope I didn’t wake you up with my message.Bokuto 11.46 PM
<< no no of course not! i just randomly woke up (˚˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥)
<< hahahaha
This never happened. When Bokuto fell asleep, he fell asleep asleep. So why was he up this late thinking about Akaashi?
Akaashi 11.48 PM
>> Ah, I see. That’s good to hear. You shouldn’t stay up too late.
>> So, about tomorrow?Bokuto 11.49 PM
<< yes! thanks for reminding me
<< uhh does 12 work for you? ive got practice at 8 (｡•́︿•̀｡)Akaashi 11.53 PM
>> Practice?
>> For what if I may ask?Bokuto 11.53 PM
<< volleyball! i play on the school volleyball team
<< im the aceee hehee <(˶ᵔᵕᵔ˶)>
<< you should totally come and watch one of my games sometime!!
<< i could totally get you front row tickets
<< ( ๑ ˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و
<< actually theres gonna be one next month! you should tell me if you wanna comeAkaashi 11.54 PM
>> That sounds like it would be fun, I’ll consider it.
>> Anyways, 12 is fine for me, but I’ve got another class at 2.Bokuto 11.55 PM
<< yay!!1!!1!1!11
<< i guess ill see you there tomorrow! ٩(⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝)و
<< ughrhrhghh but i dont wanna study…..
<< thinking of it is already making my brain turn into mushAkaashi 11.57 PM
>> Bokuto-san, you’re really funny, you know that right?
>> Anyways, it’s getting late, I should go to sleep.
Bokuto felt himself smile at his screen. Seriously, Bo? mental Kuroo chided.
Bokuto 11.58 PM
<< oohh youre right
<< gnight ill see you tomorrow at 12Akaashi 12.00 PM
>> It’s a date then.
>> (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)
>> Are these the emojis you like to use? They’re cute.Bokuto 12.02 PM
<< ( •͈૦•͈ )
…Was Bokuto dreaming right now? Did Akaashi say that their meeting was going to be a date???
He sighed and put his phone back on the nightstand and closed his eyes. This was going to be a real problem, wasn’t it?
₊˚⊹ ᰔ
Bokuto’s obnoxious alarm, Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepson, set as a joke by Kuroo, filled his room and echoed off of the empty walls. He stared at his walls for a little bit, too lazy to bring himself to get up. Maybe he should put up a few posters…?
Bokuto clicked the “snooze” button and felt like he could conquer the world. If conquering the world meant working up the courage to talk to the Akaashi…. Bokuto wasn’t too sure he had what it takes. He checked his phone again, going over what he had missed over the past night. The numbers 6:35 AM flashed across his screen, reminding him that he still had to get ready.
After taking in a deep breath and rolling out of bed, he trudged to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee and looked inside the fridge.
“Morning, Kou-chan,” Oikawa cheerily greeted with too much energy for an early morning, and walked over to where Bokuto was standing. “Want me to make breakfast? We still got a little time before we have to go to practice,” he yawned, covering his mouth with his hand.
“Yeah, that would be nice! I already made coffee so if you want some just get a cup,” Bokuto said, pointing over to the now half full pot of coffee. He hadn’t combed out his hair yet, so it was getting in the way of his eyes. He huffed and tucked his hair behind his ears.
“Pancakes?” Bokuto nodded.
“So… are the rumors of you and librarian boy true?” Oikawa raised an eyebrow as he opened the cupboard to get the pancake mix.
“…How the actual fuck do you know about that?!” Bokuto’s eyes widened concerningly. Had Oikawa secretly been spying on him? It wouldn’t really come off that much as a surprise. He secretly knew that Oikawa was a psycho. He hadn’t told anyone about it, apart from Kuroo and Kenma, both whom he trusted would keep this a secret.
“Well, a man has his sources,” Oikawa shrugged as he started to get the ingredients for the pancakes. He placed the bowl in the center of the counter and poured in the mix, cracked 2 eggs, and went over to the fridge again to get the carton of milk. “So… wanna tell me about it?”
“Not particularly,” Bokuto deadpanned.
“Seriously?! You suck, Kou-channn. I hope you never cross paths with library boy again. In fact, I hope you suddenly get good grades so you won’t have an excuse to have a tutor anymore,” Oikawa retorted as he stuck out his tongue in annoyance.
“DUDE! Don’t ever say that! Are you praying on my downfall? If so, then congrats, you’ve succeeded. Now take it back!” Bokuto borderline shouted. To think he ever considered Oikawa as his friend…. Turns out, he didn’t have much luck in that category.
“Blerghhhh, no!” Oikawa replied childishly, his hands occupied with flipping the pancakes in the pan. After waiting for a few seconds, until the pancakes turned a nice shade of golden brown, he flipped it over again. “I’ll consider if you tell me what happened. I still can’t believe you wouldn’t even bother to tell me!”
Once the pancakes were finished, Oikawa stacked them all on a small plate, Hello Kitty’s face plastered all over it (most likely a gag gift from Kuroo), and slid it over to Bokuto. “If you want honey or anything, there’s probably some in the fridge,” Oikawa sulked.
Bokuto sighed. If he didn’t deal with it now, he would have to babysit Sulkykawa for the rest of the day. He immediately remembered that one time Oikawa got depressed for a stupid reason and didn’t get up from the couch for 3 days. He had to physically pull him off the couch and force him into going to practice. Of course, the only way Oikawa stopped whining was when he got what he wanted. Bokuto closed his eyes, prayed for his sanity, and started retelling the story to Oikawa, who was now eagerly chewing on his pancakes as if they were a box of butter popcorn.
After a few minutes of reenacting the events of the past day, Oikawa spoke up.
“Huh.. As much as I don’t want to admit it, that story is kinda cute,” Oikawa thought for a moment and added, “I think this is worth a shot. At least someone will help you do your classwork,” he shrugged, now finished with his breakfast and drawing circles in the leftover honey.
“I’m going to ignore that last rude comment, but yeah, maybe I should go for it. Worst thing that he could possibly say would be…. ‘Bokuto-san, you’re one of the stupidest, wait no, most stupid people I’ve ever met. How does even manage to fail art class? I’m sorry but I can’t hang around losers like you,’” Bokuto tried to copy Akaashi’s stoic expression with a dramatic expression and his unnecessary use of jazz hands, but it just came off as creepy.
Oikawa’s ugly chortle of a laugh fills their apartment, and they quickly put away the dishes and get ready for practice. “I’ve never met the man before, but I can tell that was an accurate impersonation.”
Somewhere, across campus, Akaashi sneezes.
₊˚⊹ ᰔ
The sound of screeching shoes and balls slamming onto the floor fill the gym. Bokuto and Oikawa had arrived a little bit early today, eager to practice for their friendly match with a neighboring university next month. Turns out, his teammates — Kageyama, Hinata, Kuroo, and Iwaizumi had felt the same way, walking into the gym together a little bit after the pair had arrived.
(“…What are you guys doing here so early?” Kuroo’s voice filled the now-not-so empty gym.
“We could ask you the same thing!” Bokuto and Oikawa chimed back, squinting their eyes at the group that just arrived.
Hinata and Kageyama were too busy bickering with each other to notice the conversation. Iwaizumi was already making his way over to Oikawa, just to pull on his hair, laugh, and then kiss on him the forehead as an apology. “Mean, Iwa-chan! So so mean!” he exclaimed, blushing nonetheless.
What a normal day in the volleyball club.
“Well, at least there are enough people for a 3 on 3 match,” Kuroo’s voice cut through the chaos.
Normal, normal day.)
They divided themselves into 2 teams — the blue team which had Oikawa, Hinata, and Kuroo and the red team which had Bokuto, Kageyama, and Iwaizumi.
Bokuto’s eyes drifted to the scored board — 23 for the blue team and 24 for the red team, his team. Match point,his eyes glint with a passion. After a nasty serve from Oikawa, which Iwaizumi bumped back up without a problem, the ball flew back into the air.
“Left!” Bokuto called out to Kageyama, who immediately sets the ball to him. Kuroo and Hinata’s two person block was in the way, and the only option was to hit a cross court spike. With one fluid swing of his arm, the ball hits the floor with a loud smack, avoiding the blockers completely.
Woooah! Koutarou, you’re on fire today! he thought to himself, mentally giving himself a pat on the back.
“Bokuto-san! That was so awesome, it went like ‘whoosh’ and then it hit the floor like ‘babam!’ You must be in good condition today because you played amazingly!” Hinata’s cheery voice tackled him from behind, before Bokuto could even reach his water bottle.
“For once, I actually agree with Shoyou,” Kageyama shrugs.
“Hah?! What’s that supposed to mean, Bakageyama?” Hinata punches Kageyama in the forearm, which Kageyama responds by kicking him in the shin. Shortly afterwards, it turns into a full-on fight, with Hinata’s hands straddling Kageyama’s, his hands in the other’s hair. Maybe I should look away, Bokuto thinks to himself and quickly averts his gaze.
I really did play good today… Bokuto mentally nods to himself while walking over to the showers, but I can’t think of anything that I did differently than normal. Suddenly, flashes of black hair and blue eyes surrounded by books flood his mind. Ohhhh, that makes sense.
Switching on his phone to check the time, Bokuto scrolled through his notifications. He nearly spit out his water when he saw the name ‘Akaashi’ flash across the screen.
Akaashi 11.26 AM
>> Hello there again, Bokuto-san, I hope I’m not bothering you.
>> I just wanted to ask you which subjects youre having trouble with so that I can prepare.Bokuto 11.26 AM
<< hi kaaaashiii!!! im not doing anything right now so dont worry about it
<< actually i kinda suck at chemistry
<< and math
<< and literature
<< and history 101
<< are you disappointed in me ( ⌓̈ )Akaashi 11.27 AM
>> No, no. Of course not. Studying is supposed to be about learning, after all.
Gosh, Akaashi sounded so smart. He couldn’t wait to continue talking to him later.
Bokuto 11.27 AM
<< hahah okayy
<< see you in like half an hour ꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖Akaashi 11.28 AM
<< Let’s meet at the ShiraSweets Cafe instead of at the library. I’ll be sitting outside.Bokuto 11.29 AM
>> okay!!!
Bokuto racked his brain, trying to figure out if the name ‘ShiraSweets’ rang a bell. He faintly remembered a conversation between him and Oikawa, in which the latter complained about an annoying barista, leading him to mutter “Stupid Ushiwaka,” the whole day.
Oh, yes! It was the new cafe/bakery that had just recently opened across the street from his dorm. Shiratorizawa Sweets, it stood for. Bokuto wanted to go to that shop, but he had been way too busy with his assignments and with his friends.
Quickly washing up, he put on his extra pair of clothes and headed over to the meetup location.
₊˚⊹ ᰔ
He was nervous. Bokuto was nervous.
Looking up from his phone to read the street signs, he got an unsure feeling in his stomach. He had never felt this way before. Bokuto — who did backflips in public and waved back at people who weren’t even waving at him — was scared to talk to a guy.
Recollecting his nerves and taking a deep breath, he crossed the street to ShiraSweets. Of course, Akaashi was already there, sitting outside and reading a book in his perfect glory. He wasn’t wearing glasses today, and instead of the library apron, he was wearing black hoodie and baggy jeans. Bokuto felt underdressed in his gray, ratty sweatpants and compression tee.
“Hey! Hey! Hey! Kaaashi!” Bokuto waved and sat across the other boy. “I hope I’m not disturbing you or anything, you looked pretty into your book. Were you waiting long? I’m sorry practice went on a little longer than I wanted it to, but! I scored a super awesome cross-court spike! I don’t think you know what that is but that’s okay!” Nooo, you’re rambling again, Bo! Mental Kuroo remarked.
Akaashi hummed. “As much as I’d love to listen to you talk about volleyball, we came here to study, remember?” He laughed, and that sounded like heaven to Bokuto’s ears. “Don’t tell me you forgot.”
“ ‘Course not!” Bokuto childishly pouted and pulled his literature textbook out of his bag. He could feel a blush creeping onto his neck.
“I’m sorry, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi let out a slight chuckle. “What subject are you having the most trouble with? That’ll be our, well your, top priority, then. Did you bring any other books other than your..,” a pause, “literature book?”
“I also brought my chemistry book and notebook,” Bokuto started before continuing to dig in his sports bag, “it might be a little bit wrinkled, though because I just stuffed it into here. Ughh, chemistry, am I right? Yaknow, I have this friend, his name is Kuroo, and he’s amazing at chemistry! He’s just too lazy to help me out, that traitor.”
“Kuroo, you say? I’m pretty sure he’s in one of my electives classes. He’s the one with the messy bedhead, right?” Akaashi tapped his finger on his lip gently, try to remember someone by that name. His hand slip across the table and grabbed the material, before quickly flying through the pages.
Before Bokuto could respond, Akaashi continued, “But that’s not the point. What would you say is your weakest subject?”
That was a tough question. To be honest, he didn’t really want to answer that question because he wanted to seem cool in front of Akaashi. Of course, he wasn’t fooling anyone. His grades could be worse is all.
“Chemistry? History? Math. For sure. I always fall asleep in my Calculus class and then never understand what’s going on! I really try not to fall asleep but I just can’t help ittt,” Bokuto whined as he stretched out his arms onto the table and rested his head on them.
“Hmm, it’s a good thing that I brought a book just in case,” Akaashi hummed and pulled out a thick textbook out of his backpack. “This is the more advanced version, so if you understand this, then you’ll most likely be able to understand what you’re learning right now.”
Bokuto groaned.
“And with that very important remark, we’re officially starting our study session,” Akaashi half-heartedly chuckled.
Bokuto groaned again.
₊˚⊹ ᰔ
Okay, so maybe Bokuto wasn’t focused but he was trying! That’s all that matters, after all. It wasn’t his fault that the boy sitting across him looked so pretty while explaining ‘blah blah graph integration blah blah.’ The words went in through his right ear and flew out of his left.
His lips move so smoothly… They’re so nice, Bokuto thought to himself. I wonder what it would feel like to kiss them..
Suddenly, the talking came to a stop, and Bokuto already missed Akaashi’s silky smooth voice. “Bokuto-san? Are you okay? You’re looking at me funny,” he raised an eyebrow and looked up from the textbook.
Shit! Did he say that out loud? Akaashi didn’t say anything after that, so he assumed that he didn’t say anything and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“I don’t wanna study anymore!”
“It’s only been 20 minutes, Bokuto-san.”
Bokuto’s eyes widened at that statement. It had only been 20 minutes?! He felt like he had been suffering under the wrath of whatever Akaashi was talking about for 20 years now. (Not that he was paying attention, he was too busy staring at Akaashi’s lips.) He whined, and let his head fall onto the table.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m boreddddd. Tell me about yourself,” Bokuto flashed him a toothy grin, pushing all the books on the table further away from the both of them in an attempt to stop studying. Akaashi eyed him, the expression ‘seriously?’ written all across his face.
“Well, what do you want to know about me? I don’t really do this whole.. ‘introduction’ thing,” he talked in a cautious manner, unsure of how to respond to Bokuto’s question. Akaashi’s eyebrows were furrowed, as if he seriously didn’t know what to say.
“Everything! What’s your major? When’s your birthday? What do you wanna do when you graduate? If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? Oh! How about…. are you single?” Bokuto ended his bombard of questions with a slight smirk and wiggle of his eyebrows.
“I major in astrophysics. I was born on the 5th of December. When I graduate, I hope I can find a good job somewhere near the city, but also close to my house. If I had to choose, I would still choose to live in Japan, because I like it here, so I don’t understand why I would want to live somewhere else,” Akaashi answered all the questions, with a steady pace and short answers.
“Really?! You’d stay in Japan? If I had to choose I’d definitely live in Italy. Yaknow, quality pizza and pasta. And I like Mario and Luigi, too! They’re Italian, right? Yeah, I’m pretty sure they are. Plus, Rome has the Collosum! Collo- Colosseum? Whatever it’s called, it’s really cool,” Bokuto explained.
“Did you just ask a question, then answer it yourself?” Akaashi suppressed a giggle, ultimately failing, and bursting into a huge fit of laughter. After a few seconds, he calmed down. “You’re really amusing, Bokuto-san. But I’m sure many people have told you that before right?”
Amusing — causing laughter and providing entertainment. Bokuto remembered learning this word in his literature classes. Is that what Akaashi really thought of him as? Most people called him ‘annoying’ or described him as ‘hard to get along with due to his personality.’
“Haha, not exactly. Some people think my personality is too much for them! People say I drain their energy sometimes because I talk too much,” Bokuto shrugged.
“Hm. Then they must be idiots, I think your personality is just fine,” Akaashi simply responded with a tiny smile.
They continued talking for a while, exchanging questions back and forth. Bokuto learned a lot about Akaashi, like that he used to be a setter back in highschool, Fukurodani Academy to be exact, since he had gotten a scholarship to go there.
“Wow! You went to that crazy prestigious private school?” Bokuto’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “No wonder you’re so smart! I went to Nekoma, that’s how I met Kuroo and Kenma. All three of us were on the volleyball team. Actually, I think we played your school a couple of times!” he continued.
“Is that so? I only joined the volleyball team in my 3rd year,” Akaashi tilted his head thoughtfully. “So we missed each other by a year. It’s a shame. I would have really looked forward to playing against you.”
“Garghhhr, are you saying that we could’ve met before this?!” Bokuto wanted to say a few more things, but Akaashi’s phone vibrated. He peeked over and saw that it was an alarm set for 5 minutes before 2.
“Ah, it’s almost for my afternoon class so I should get going. Thank you for meeting with me, I had fun,” he said as he stood up and started packing his things.
“Oh, is it almost 2 already? Anyways, bye, ‘Kaashi! I’ll see you sometime later, I hope?” Bokuto also started gathering his notebooks and stationary and shoved it into his bag. More than two hours had already passed? Talking to Akaashi had made the time they spent together feel so short.
“By the way, to answer your question, I am single,” he smirked. And with that, Akaashi walked away.
Bokuto just stared, watching Akaashi walk back to the school campus, dumbfounded. He seemed to that a lot when it came to Akaashi, he noticed. Maybe it's because you’re just dumb, dude, mental Kuroo snorted.
He unlocked his phone and quickly opened his group chat.
bros before hoes (does it count if im dating my bro -kuroo)
Bokuto 2.04 PM
<< guys i think i have a crush on akaashiKuroo 2.04 PM
>> yeah no shit dudeKenma 2.05 PM
>> I thought that this was already established?
With a sigh and zero help from his useless best friends, Bokuto walked back to his dorm, unsure what to do with this not-so-new information.
₊˚⊹ ᰔ
The months passed and October bled into November, then eventually, it turned into December. Autumn faded into winter, and the trees were now plain and the ground was covered with thick snow. This year, it had already started snowing in November, so it was colder than most.
The cool air blew past Bokuto, painfully reminding him of how sensitive he was to the cold. His nose was already red and felt like it was about to fall off. “Did you forget your scarf again, Bokuto-san?” a voice came from behind him. He turned around and found himself face to face with Akaashi.
Recently, Akaashi and Bokuto had started walking to class together. They lived in the same part of the dorms, so it was only a matter of time. Bokuto looked forward to their walks every morning, since he had an excuse to stand as close to Akaashi as possible, and played it off as using Akaashi as his personal heater. (Which was true, to a certain extent….)
“Yeah, I was kinda in a hurry this morning! Coach wanted to meet with us a little bit earlier since our match is pretty soon, and I forgot to grab my scarf off of the shelf,” Bokuto pouted as he put his hands into his pockets to warm them up.
“You can have my scarf, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi offered with a blank expression on his face. It seemed the cold didn’t affect him that much. Lucky, Bokuto shivered before he could even finish his thought.
“No, I couldn’t! I don’t want you to get sick because of me. Plus, I’m kinda used to this, I forget my scarf a lotttt of the time!” Bokuto puffed out his chest and out his hands on his hips, as if he were proud of the previous statement.
“That’s not… necessarily something you should brag about. I’d feel better if you at least let me share my scarf with you. It’s long enough for the both of us, I’m sure,” Akaashi was already scrambling to take off his scarf before Bokuto could even respond.
“Oh, um. Okay,” Bokuto managed to stutter out, as he took the other half of the scarf that Akaashi had handed him. His cheeks were warm, contrasting the cold, and he wasn’t sure if it was because of the weather or because of Akaashi.
“Do you feel better now?” Akaashi practically hummed, as if he didn’t seem the least bother by his personal space being evaded. Maybe I was wrong and he’s the type of person that doesn’t hate physical contact, Bokuto pondered.
“Mhm, yeah! This was a good idea, thanks, ‘Kaashi,” Bokuto flashed the other a toothy grin.
The conversation didn’t really continue after that, and a comfortable silence enveloped them. The two were happy to be in each other’s company, enjoying the scenery and sharing a scarf with little to no space between them.
Oh god, they seemed like a couple, didn’t they? Bokuto found himself not minding because he enjoyed these little moments with Akaashi. I want them to think we’re a couple, anyway. “Well, we’re here. I’ll see you at lunch time, Bokuto-san. Thank you for walking me to class,” Akaashi thanked him, smiled, and then walked away to the biology lab for his first period. “Bye!” Bokuto waved, even though he was pretty sure Akaashi couldn’t see him anymore. It’s so cute how he still thanks me for walking with him, Bokuto thought giddily and walked over to his own class. He checked his phone — 10.27 AM, right on time for his 10.30 Calculus class.
“Hey, Bo, come sit next to me,” Kuroo waved Bokuto over with a flick of his wrist. “I’m kinda proud of you, you’ve been showing up to class earlier than usual. Who are you and what have you done to my best friend?”
“Akaashi happened, that’s what,” Kenma piped in.
“Yeah, Akaashi happened,” Bokuto giggled and let out a dreamy sigh. His friends turned to look at each other before letting out a long sigh (this time of annoyance.)
“Ew, dude. You’re so gross. What are you, a 15 year old girl? Please don’t tell me you’re going to do that ‘he loves me, he loves me not’ bullshit,” Kuroo made a face of disgust, and threw an arm over Kenma’s shoulder. “I agree with Kuroo,” he nodded, not taking his eyes off his PSP, yet still leaning into the touch.
“Ew, you two are gross. Don’t gang up on me like that,” Bokuto groaned. “You guys should help me with my love life, I helped you guys figure out yours!”
“Yeah, but, we’ve been practically dating for way longer than we’ve actually been together. Might’ve even been since we were kids, right, Kenma?” Kuroo leaned over to kiss Kenma’s temple.
“Pretty much,” a small hum.
“What game are you even playing anyways? I’ve never seen this one before,” Kuroo sighed and leaned onto Kenma’s shoulder.
“Mmm, that’s because—“
“Guys! I’m still here!” Bokuto whined.
“Kenma, you hear something?” Kuroo asked.
“Not at all, Kuroo,” Kenma replied back, a small smile gracing his lips, and continued playing his game.
“Ugh, you guys are seriously the worst,” Bokuto made a small noise of disapproval and pillowed his head onto his hands. At least if he fell asleep in this class, he’d have Akaashi to explain what the teacher was talking about anyway.
He fell asleep dreaming of scattered books and pretty boys.
After a while, Bokuto felt someone shaking him awake. “Hn? Is class already over?” his speech slurred heavily with sleep.
“No, but you did sleep for…” Kuroo glanced at the clock, “35 minutes now. Did you forget that we have double Calculus today? You can’t escape that easily, Bo,” he raised an eyebrow.
“Do you guy think I should confess to ‘Kaashi?” Bokuto lifted his head and stared straight at his friends. “I seriously want to. We’ve been talking and getting to know each other for a few months now. Plus, I spent most of my time with him!”
“That’s for you to decide, Bo. However, we really think you should. There’s no way that Akaashi doesn’t like you back,” Kenma joined the conversation, speaking for both him and Kuroo, who just nodded in agreement.
“But what if he doesn’tttttt! I don’t wanna ruin what we have. He’s so smart and so cool and so funny and I don’t wanna lose him just because I have these stupid feelings,” Bokuto moped.
Kuroo and Kenma looked at each other. Quick, do something, he’s having the what happens if he doesn’t like me back and it ruins our friendship™ existential crisis, their eyes communicated.
The two thought for a moment, before Kuroo opened his mouth. “I’ll cut off my left toe and feed it to Kenma if he doesn’t like you back,” he decided on. “Which is never gonna happen, but if you want to be comforted, I’ll still do that for you.”
“Kuroo, what the fuck?” Kenma hissed at his boyfriend. “Ignoring what that idiot said,” a hint of a smile grazing at his lips while talking about his boyfriend, ”it’s nearly Christmas, which is prime time for confessing.”
“Holy shit! That’s a good idea, Kenma!” Bokuto’s mood instantly brightened, the prospect of romantic progression under the mistletoe cheering him up almost immediately.
“Just bake him a cake and tell him your feelings. Akaashi is a mature guy, I don’t think he’s gonna end a friendship over something silly like this,” Kuroo pitched in, sounding wayyy smarter than what he had said earlier.
“I’m gonna do exactly that! You guys have to help me out though, I’m a hazard in the kitchen,” Bokuto sheepishly grinned, remembering that one time he nearly set his and Oikawa’s kitchen on fire while trying to make waffles.
“ ‘Course, dude. We can start planning it together. Today’s the 17th so we still have a week to prepare for the most romantic confession ever, “ Kuroo slammed his hands onto the table, making everyone in the class jump, including the professor.
“Is something the matter over there, students?” Professor Takeda’s calm voice dripped with poison. As nice as he looked, everyone was sure that he had a side that wasn’t to be messed with.
“Of course not, we’re sorry, Prof,” Kuroo apologized. At least he had the audacity to look ashamed.
“Good, then I’ll continue. As I was saying….” Professor Takeda’s voice echoed through the room, his focus shifted back to the whiteboard. He continued scribbling math equations and solved them.
“Can’t take you anywhere, can we? Try not to get us into trouble. If I get detention, that’ll ruin my chances with Akaashi forever! He doesn’t date delinquents,” Bokuto lightly slapped Kuroo on the shoulder.
“Alright, alright, stop hitting me now.”
₊˚⊹ ᰔ
After class was over, Bokuto walked to ShiraSweets, since it was lunch time and he was feeling peckish. He stepped into the cafe, and ordered a sandwich and a limited Christmas-themed drink before shooting Akaashi a quick text.
“Hey stranger,” Akaashi slid into the seat opposite of where Bokuto was sitting.
“Woah, that was quick! Where did you come from, ‘Kaashi? Do you have secret teleportation powers?” Bokuto laughed, a bit startled by the fact that he didn’t even hear Akaashi coming. Maybe he isn’t human, that would explain his inhumane beauty, Bokuto thought to himself.
“No, but I wish I did. I just happened to walk by before you texted me. I was in the mood for a warm drink,” Akaashi replied and started adjusting his scarf, which was covered in flakes of snow.
“You wanna try some of mine? It’s uhhh,” Bokuto paused and looked at the receipt written on the cup, “hot cinnamon milk with heavy foam. It’s one of the Christmas specials that I wanted to try.”
“If you don’t mind, then I’ll take a sip,” Akaashi reached for the cup and played with the straw for a few seconds before he finally took a sip. “Hm, it’s pretty good. A little sweet for me but still.”
Indirect kiss! Indirect kiss!Bokuto’s mind screamed. Evacuate the grounds, this is a code red!
Bokuto abruptly stood up, causing the table to shake.
“Bokuto-san? Are you okay? Did something happen?” Akaashi looked at the other concerned because of the sudden outburst.
“Haha. Uhm, yea! Nothing’s wrong, I just forgot that I have a, uhm, research report due at the end of the day! Yeah, it’s about uhm… how to properly walk your fish. Definitely! Professor Ukai has been assigning us a lot of work recently, so uhhh, I gotta go home and do it! Yea,” Bokuto embarrassingly stuttered and ran out of the cafe, leaving a very confused Akaashi.
“Gahhh, what kind of a sorry excuse what that, Koutarou! Now he probably thinks you’re a freak,” Bokuto scolded himself as he unlocked his dorm room, only to see Oikawa and Iwaizumi sitting on the couch, watching a documentary. “Walk your fish, very slick, dude,” he sighed.
“Hey, Kou-chan, watcha doing here so early? I thought you were gonna grab lunch with Akaashi or something,” Oikawa looked over Iwaizumi’s shoulder to look at Bokuto.
“Yeah, about that!!”
“Don’t tell me you guys broke up before you even got together,” Oikawa gasped, looking betrayed.
“No, don’t say that! It’s just that being so close to him has been driving me crazy. In a good way! His presence is so… Akaashi that it overwhelms me, yaknow!” Bokuto frantically tried to explain himself, waving around his hands more than necessary.
“Calm down, Bo. As crazy as that sounds, I can totally relate,” Iwaizumi commented, trying to stop Bokuto’s fright train of a thought.
“Really?”
“Yeah, before Oikawa and I started dating, I also felt that way. I was so confused because he got on my nerves, but I still wanted to be around him, and I guess that me go crazy to the point I blurted whatever to him without thinking,” Iwaizumi continued to explain, noticing Bokuto’s interest in the topic.
“That’s mean, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa chimed.
“See what I mean? He’s so annoying but I still can’t get enough of him,” he chuckled and kissed Oikawa’s nose. “Love can really make a man go blind, I guess…”
“So you’re saying, the sooner I confess to Akaashi, the better? So that I don’t utterly embarrass myself more than I already have?” Bokuto put his hand on his chin and thought about it for a moment.
What embarrassing things have I done in front of Akaashi? A few things came to mind.
1.) Their initial meeting — Bokuto wasn’t looking where he was going and bumped into Akaashi.
2.) That one time Akaashi tripped and Bokuto wanted to help him up, and ultimately tripped too.
3.) He told Akaashi that he had to write a report about walking your fish — do I even have to elaborate?
“Oh my god, I better hurry before I tell him that I’m actually a secret spy from space or something stupid like that,” Bokuto quickly re-put on his shoes.
“You’re an alien? How cool!” Oikawa joked. “Okay, but all seriousness, we’re wishing you luck.”
“Thanks, guys,” Bokuto smiled and walked out of his dorm room, and walked over to room 104, which was Akaashi’s. Taking in a deep breath, he gathered up the courage to knock.
₊˚⊹ ᰔ
Bokuto awkwardly waited in front of the room, before a man answered the door. He stared confusedly. This must be Akaashi’s roommate, he immediately connected the dots.
The man had dirty-blonde hair, colorful eyes, and the same stoic expression that Akaashi always wore.
“Ah, so you must be the infamous ‘Bokuto-san.’ Akaashi talks about you a lot. Anyways, I should go. Seeing as you’re here, you guys probably have something to sort out, right?” the man, Konoha, if Bokuto recalled correctly, let him into the room.
“Goodluck, Akaashi should be home soon,” he nodded and walked out of the dorm.
Being left alone in the dorm, Bokuto had the chance to look around. The walls were pretty empty, compared to his and Oikawa’s apartment, which was overflowing with posters. Books were neatly stacked on the coffee stand, not a single shirt on the floor.
He was just about to pick up one of the books when the door opened. “ ‘Kaashi! You’re back!”
“Yes, Bokuto-san, I live here. What are you doing in my dorm room, anyway? Did Konoha-san let you in?” Akaashi put his bag and kept his shoes away, and then took off his jacket and hung up his scarf.
“Okay, so. This is gonna sound crazy and super out of the blue, but I like you. Ever since I literally ran into you at the library, I thought you were super pretty and couldn’t stop thinking about you! That’s not all though, you also have the greatest personality, like ever. You laugh at my jokes and you know how to handle me. That’s, like, a first ever thing for me,” Bokuto nervously chuckled.
“I know you don’t like me back, so if you’re gonna reject me now, please do it,” Bokuto closed his eyes and waited for the sweet relief of being rejected, but nothing came.
“If you’re done, could you please open your eyes, Bokuto-san?” He opened his eyes and saw Akaashi holding in a laugh.
“If you’re gonna laugh at me, this isn’t funnyyyyy!” Bokuto whined.
“Bokuto-san,” that shut him up, “I literally spend almost all of my time with you. You walk me to class, we have cute study dates, you occasionally steal bites of my food when you think I’m not looking, I offered to share my scarf with you, which by the way, I’m not very big on physical touch, and I literally share straws with you. I compliment you almost everyday, and usually loud people annoy me, but you’re the only exception,” Akaashi tactfully stated.
“If that doesn’t scream ‘I’m in love with you,’ then I don’t know what does,” he ended his little speech.
“Oh, wow. I’m not dreaming right? This is real???” Bokuto felt like he was about to faint. All the blood was rushing to his ears, and he could feel the heat radiating off of his face.
“Actually, there’s something you could do. To prove that you like me, that is,” Bokuto suddenly felt bold.
“Hm? What is it?”
“Kiss me.”
And with that comment, Akaashi leaned in and kissed Bokuto gently on the mouth. He hummed into the kiss, allowing Bokuto to further advance it. His hands gently combed through Bokuto’s hair, and Bokuto’s hands found their way around Akaashi’s waist.
They pulled away for air. “Took you long enough,” Akaashi said with a cheeky grin. “I’ve been waiting for this since the day you asked me to tutor you. You aren’t very slick, you know? I’ve caught you staring at my lips at least, like, a thousand times.”
“Seriously? Why didn’t you say anything?! We could’ve been a couple sooner,” Bokuto groaned and buried his face into the nape of Akaashi’s neck.
“It was pretty cute seeing you so flustered. You look really sweet when your cheeks are flushed and really red,” Akaashi kissed him on the forehead, since he could do that as much as he wanted to now. “Plus, who said we were a couple?”
“We aren’t??” The color drained from Bokuto’s face.
“Kidding. I’m kidding. Will you be my boyfriend, Bokuto-san?” Akaashi smiled and tucked a stray strand of Bokuto’s hair behind his ear.
“Gladly,” Bokuto said as he pulled Akaashi in for another kiss.
₊˚⊹ ᰔ
(“Bokuto, you fucking idiot! We baked you a cake, goddamit!” Kuroo and Kenma sighed. “It literally had 4 layers. With frosting in between each layer.”
“Whatever, suckers,” he stuck out his tongue.
“My condolences, Akaashi, you could’ve done much better, than to settle for this guy,” Kenma apologized on behalf of Bokuto.
“Hey, I’m still here?!” Bokuto looked around the three, a confused expression written all over his face.
“Kenma, you hear something?” Kuroo asked.
“Not at all, Kuroo,” Kenma replied back, an evil smirk on his lips.
“Don’t worry, Bokuto-san, I’m still listening.”
Bokuto smiled. At least if his friends didn’t want to listen to him and purposely ignored him, he still had Akaashi, (and that was all that mattered.)