Chapter Text
“And then Kuroo pushed me! It was so scary falling in the game because it seemed so real, you know!? VR is crazy, ‘Kaashi. It was super nice of Kenma to let us use his equipment for a video though. I wish you could have been there…” Bokuto pouted as he looked over at Akaashi.
The dark-haired man sat on the floor, perched in front of a table resting his head on his hand with papers strewn about. “I wish I could have seen it as well, but I had a test in class today so I couldn’t skip.” Akaashi yawned and rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses.
“Aghaashiiiii… you need to go to bed! You look so tired! The bags under your eyes are huge!” Bokuto worriedly held Akaashi’s face in his hands. “Wait no. I don’t mean it in a bad way, I just—”
“I get it, Bokuto-san. You’re welcome to lay down if you’re tired, but I need to work on my paper before I can rest.” Akaashi turned his attention back to the paper and his laptop as Bokuto pouted.
“I thought you said you were going to work on the paper while I told you about my day!? You said you worked better listening to me!”
Akaashi felt the tips of his ears heat up but kept his gaze trained on his paper. “I can, I just felt like you deserved all of my attention, so I set my work aside. I shouldn’t take too long, so please get ready for bed.”
As Bokuto stumbled around Akaashi’s small dorm room, Akaashi smiled to himself. Bokuto had cemented himself firmly in every aspect of Akaashi’s life. From his toothbrush in the bathroom to his cereal in the kitchen. Akaashi felt his heart stumble for a beat as he adjusted Bokuto’s sweatshirt around his lean shoulders. Akaashi let himself fall into the daydream of the first time he saw Bokuto, a story he had yet to tell Bokuto.
Akaashi nervously walked around the campus, trying to keep out of anyone’s way. He internally cursed himself for thinking it was a good idea to go on a college visit by himself in the heart of Tokyo, but he refused to back down once the thought he was in over his head. He carefully schooled his expression so as to not give away that he was horribly lost in a foreign area.
Looking around, he was able to spot a sign with a book on it, and picked up his speed to make his way to the bookstore. As he reached for the door handle, it swung open with a power that forced Akaashi to take a step back. He watched, wide-eyed as a man with two-toned hair was pushed out of the store with a broom by the manager.
“I didn’t even do anything,” the man pouted, “it was just laughter! The book was just really funny!”
The manager frowned. “I told you already, it was a cook book and you were causing a disturbance! Now stay out of the store!”
The man remained frozen as the manager went back into the store. His expression was heartbroken, and a few bystanders who appeared to know him rushed to his side.
Akaashi also found himself stuck in place as he longed to continue to observe the man. His friends consoled him as if he were a child, but Akaashi saw that nothing was getting through to him.
Sneaking past the small crowd into the store, Akaashi walked up to the counter. “Excuse me, could I buy the cook book the man outside was reading?”
The manager looked Akaashi up and down and grimaced. “You don’t have to pity Bokuto, you know. This isn’t the first, nor will it be the last store he is kicked out from.”
Akaashi frowned at the casual nature and rude tone of the manager, but shook his head. “I’d still like to buy it, please.” Akaashi pulled out his debit card and a pen. The manager sighed, but handed him the book after it was paid for. Akaashi glanced outside of the store as he opened the pen. He could still see Bokuto pouting and sitting down on the sidewalk in front of the store.
Smiling to himself, Akaashi wrote on the inside cover of the book:
Bokuto, Enjoy. -A.K.
Happy with what was written, Akaashi capped the pen and walked out of the store. He brushed passed the group and dropped the book right by Bokuto’s feet without turning to look. He walked a few steps before stepping into the grass to turn around and observe Bokuto’s reaction.
Akaashi felt as if his world stopped when he saw the wide smile on Bokuto’s face. He watched from afar as Bokuto opened the front cover of the book and read the short message Akaashi had written. After finishing, Bokuto stood up and looked around. Akaashi blushed and looked away before he could make eye contact with Bokuto, unsure of why he was hiding his gaze from the man or even why he had bought the book for him.
Thoroughly confused with himself, Akaashi made his way from memory to the front of the campus, convinced that this was his dream school in the hopes of seeing Bokuto once more.
Akaashi smiled to himself at the memory, but shook his head to try and force himself to get back to work. You have that smile in your life now. Don’t be selfish. He doesn’t see you like that. You’re his pet introvert, not his boyfriend.
He flipped from paper to paper, typing away on his laptop. Working hard to distract himself from his aching eyes and aching heart.
I hope Bokuto-san comes back soon so we can go to bed... Akaashi found himself blushing at the thought. He always kicks me, but I'm glad for any small opportunity to spend time with him.
He paused his work for a moment and frowned. Is this what friends do? He must hate spending so much time with me while I'm studying. I'm a horrible host and he's been nothing but a lovely guest.
Akaashi ran his fingers through his hair. Am I pressuring him to be my friend? He must be so bored all the time...
Akaashi shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts. I need to focus on my work so Bokuto-san and I can go to bed.
He began to work once more before he felt his phone vibrate on the table. The text from Kenma read, 'lunch tomorrow?'
Akaashi smiled to himself, knowing he would have a distraction tomorrow for any of this nights turmoil, though Akaashi knew any relief was temporary.
He sighed as he had unintentionally put himself in a bad mood, hoping that at the very least, Bokuto was thinking happier thoughts.
Bokuto looked at himself in the small mirror in Akaashi’s bathroom. His grin grew wider at the thought of Akaashi a few feet away in his hoodie. How did I get this lucky?
Bokuto found himself walking from building to building, trying to come up with ideas for videos for the small YouTube Channel he had with his friend, Kuroo.
“Cinnamon Challenge?” he shook his head. “Yuck. Prank war? No… we’ll get in huge trouble.” He stopped walking as he hit a creative slump. “What can we do to go viral?” Bokuto closed his eyes and spun in a circle before walking in the direction he ended up facing. “I’ll go this way until I hit something interesting.”
Bokuto soon found himself near his old college campus unknowingly, but continued walking past. Not too far past, he wound up in front of a nice café.
“Fukurodani Café? I haven’t been here in a while…” he glanced in the windows and froze. In front of him was the most beautiful man he had ever seen in his entire life. With dark hair and gunmetal blue eyes, Bokuto was struck by his savviness and how he carried himself with dignity.
Bokuto found himself almost in a trance as he wandered into the store. “Welcome!” A voice from his left said cheerfully, causing Bokuto to jump.
“You scared me—oh hey hey hey, Konoha! Long time no see!” Bokuto smiled at seeing an old friend.
“Hey yourself, dude. What’re you doing around here? Soul searching?” Konoha joked. “You don’t seem to be the type…”
Bokuto remained uncharacteristically quiet as he glanced around, attempting to sneakily locate where the beautiful man had gone.
“Are you looking for Akaashi?” Konoha startled Bokuto once more. “I can have you sit in his area so he can take your order if you’d like.”
“Noooo no no no.” Bokuto shook his head. “He’ll think I’m weird!!”
“Ah, so you’re just here to observe?” Konoha smiled. “Right this way.”
Bokuto was quickly sat at a table where he could easily see Akaashi moving from one table to another. “Am I being creepy, Konoha? This is creepy… I should go…”
Konoha shook his head. “Not at all! On the contrary,” he leaned in close to Bokuto, “he’s been glancing at you whenever you’re not looking.”
Bokuto gasped. “ME!?” his head shot up and he looked around frantically only to discover that Akaashi had gone to a back room.
Konoha smiled and nodded. “I’ll go talk to him for you.” He winked and walked away before Bokuto could stop him.
Bokuto sat with his head in his hands for a few minutes, wondering what he had done to deserve having his chances ripped away before he even got to try when he heard footsteps approach. “Go away Konoha. You suck.” He pouted.
An unfamiliar voice chuckled. “I’m not Konoha-san, but I’ll leave you alone after a minute. Konoha-san said you liked hot chocolate, so I brought you one. On the house.”
Bokuto’s head shot up in surprise and was met with the almost-passive face of Akaashi. The dark-haired man’s smile was barely perceptible, but Bokuto found his own smile grow once he noticed.
“Are you sure? You’ll go out of business if you give away hot chocolates like this… or you could get in trouble!” Bokuto frowned as he didn’t want to see the pretty man troubled.
Akaashi chuckled. “Well, there is one thing I’ll take for payment. Your number.”
Bokuto froze for a moment, before nodding. “Y-yeah. I can do that.”
“Great.” Akaashi pulled a phone out of his pocket, before having Bokuto type in his number. Bokuto struggled to press the right keys as all of a sudden, his hands felt more sweaty than usual and his fingers felt clumsier than usual. He was thankful Akaashi chose not to laugh at him since his struggle was apparent.
"You didn't have to, you know..." Bokuto quietly said. "I know Konoha can be pushy, but he is probably just teasing me, so you don't have to be over here."
Akaaahi's eyes widened slightly. "I'm not over here because of Konoha. All I did was ask for your order from him." Akaashi smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "I can leave if you'd like..."
Bokuto shook his head. "I didn't mean it like that I just--" he sighed. "Great. I blew it." He whispered to himself under his breath.
After a few moments of silence, Konoha called out for Akaashi from the back.
“Thanks so much. I’ll text you sometime, Bokuto-san.” Akaashi smiled softly before walking away.
Clearly in view, Konoha was shooting out a thumbs up. To whom it was aimed was never clear.
Bokuto sat, quietly sipping his hot chocolate until it was done, stuck thinking of if Konoha had told Akaashi his name or if the dark-haired man seemed to know it on his own.
"You were so awkward, Bo. He's never going to text you." Bokuto sighed, but smiled as he thought about every detail of his short conversation with the beautiful man.
In a haze, he stumbled out of Fukurodani, finally knowing what perfect hot chocolate tasted like.
His phone buzzed as he began walking back to his apartment, and Bokuto scrambled to pull his phone out of his pocket fast enough. His heart dropped, however, when he saw that it was a call from Kuroo, not from Akaashi.
“Hello?”
“Wow, no greeting? Gee thanks. Have you come up with any ideas yet? I’m all out.” Kuroo’s grin and jokingly hurt tone was evident through the line, but Bokuto remained oblivious.
“No,” he sighed, “but my life was changed. I met an angel.”
“…did you get his number?” Kuroo, ever the wingman, snapped Bokuto back to his reality.
“Noooo!!” Bokuto face-palmed. “I gave him my number and I forgot to ask for his!!”
Kuroo cackled. “You gave your number to some guy!? He probably threw it away since he didn’t ask for it!”
"Nuh uh!!” Bokuto cried out. “He asked for my number!”
Kuroo went quiet. “Bo… did you just get asked out?”
Bokuto stopped walking. “Wait, did I? Oh my god, did I!?”
Kuroo yelled into the phone. “Holy shit, Bokuto! You did it! All you have to do is wait for him to text you and—”
“One sec, I got a text.” Bokuto pulled his phone away from his face and saw a text from an unknown number simply saying: ‘hi. it’s Akaashi Keiji from Fukurodani :)’ Bokuto found himself holding in an excited scream. “Gotta go, Kubro. Destiny is calling.” Bokuto hung up without waiting for a reply.
A short walk back to his apartment and a slew of texts later, Bokuto had managed to get Akaashi to agree to get lunch together the next day. For the rest of the day, Bokuto’s arms hurt from how many times he had pumped his fist in the air in celebration.
Bokuto found his grin faltering for a moment after his recollection. He spent some amount of time with Akaashi every day, and they had known each other for years at this point. Is it something I’m doing wrong? Is it me?
It took a few months before Akaashi was comfortable sleeping in the same bed as Bokuto when having sleepovers, and he still never initiated cuddling while sleeping.
Bokuto frowned. Is he still not comfortable with me? I’m a bad boyfriend. Bokuto looked at himself in the mirror. “Alright, Bo. Your mission is to be the best boyfriend ever to Akaashi. He’s going to love you for sure!”
With one last wink to himself for good measure, Bokuto left the bathroom. He stood in the doorway to where Akaashi was working for a moment, smiling to himself at how hard the dark-haired man was concentrating.
I’m so glad he’s my boyfriend.
At the same time, Akaashi sighed. I wish he was my boyfriend.