Chapter Text
"Okay mother, that's us ready to go," a woman in a smart dress called through the house while slipping her arms though the sleeve of her coat. She turned her attention to the little boy with dark unruly hair standing at the bottom of the stairs and held out her arms for a hug. He returned it gladly, then turned to his father to hug him too.
"Your grandma is going to cook you a lovely dinner while we're out, Keiji," his mother assured, "so you be a good boy and eat up all the food she offers you, okay?”
He agreed and his mother lightly ruffled his hair, then she waved goodbye to his grandmother who had joined them in the poarch.
Sometimes his parents would go places without him, but he didn’t really mind because even though he was a pretty well behaved child for his age, he knew his parents needed a night off or two. And anyway, his gran made amazing meals when he visited.
"You'll see us soon Keiji- don't worry."
He did see them soon, but not for very long, and not the way he wanted to. It wasn't difficult for a smart child like Akaashi to figure out why pictures of his parents were on national news, along with the words ‘married couple murdered’ the morning after, and why his grandmother was sobbing while trying to usher him away from the television…
The memory fades away as Akaashi slowly wakes up to the familiar sounds of his apartment. That night was a really long time ago- about fourteen years in fact. He’s twenty now and leading a double life as a university student as well as a vigilante called Nighthawk. He doesn't just fight crime for them now; he does it for his grandmother who’s still incredibly healthy at the age of eighty seven, his friends (both new ones from university and his old teammates), and of course, he does it for Bokuto; the boy he loves.
Bokuto's arm is wrapped around him, making it a little hard for him to move anywhere, but he manages to wriggle on to his other side to face Bokuto.
The early rays of the morning sun slip through the gaps in the curtain and the light shines from the window, all the way across the room to their bed. If Bokuto's hair had been gelled like it usually is, it would've maybe created a spiky silhouette but his hair is flat and fluffy- just the way Akaashi likes it best.
He reaches out to run a hand through it and the sun shows the dust particles dancing around his slim fingers. When the skin on his fingertips touches Bokuto’s hair, the latter stirs a little and lazily opens one eye. Bokuto closes it again and smiles at Akaashi.
“‘mornin,” cooes Bokuto and leans in to share an eskimo kiss with Akaashi, only his eyes are still closed and he’s about to bump his nose against Akaashi’s forehead instead. Akaashi shuffles up so no awkward collisions happen and their noses rub together gently. This is how Akaashi wakes up every morning since he joined Bokuto at university, and not once has he wanted to wake up any other way.
“So,” says Bokuto while using the arm draped across Akaashi’s waist to pull him closer, “the plan for today: kiss Keiji,” he pauses to do so, “make some breakfast and then do some morning training. But first, I need to pee.”
Akaashi already misses Bokuto’s strong arm around him as his boyfriend -reluctantly- gets up and walks through the door of their en suite.
“I’m okay with that plan,” he replies and projects his voice so Bokuto can hear him from the bathroom, “considering I made it last night.”
“Maybe you needed reminding?” Says Bokuto over the flush of the toilet, "Actually, you wouldn't, who am I kidding!"
Akaashi has already managed to do the impossible task of getting out of bed in the morning once Bokuto returns. His boyfriend suggests a race to the kitchen- Akaashi lets him win, but only because he isn't trying.
"Aw you're no fun, Keiji," whines Bokuto as he hops up onto the kitchen counter and swings his legs.
"That's not what you were saying last night."
He says it with the slightest smirk on his face -so small it's barely there- and in his head he's thinking he's made way better comebacks than that, but of course Bokuto splutters and acts as though Akaashi just layed down the sickest burn.
They have a busy day ahead of them, so Akaashi makes them both a morning coffee while Bokuto attempts to put toast in the toaster while still sitting on the countertop. He almost falls when he stretches to reach the bread bin, but he miraculously manages it.
Bokuto is so much more of a morning person compared to Akaashi, but once the latter has his cup of coffee to keep him going for the day, he’s ready to go before Bokuto has even changed out his boxers.
And despite this happening almost every day, Bokuto never fails to be surprised at how fast Akaashi is at getting ready (when really it's just Bokuto is incredibly slow).
Years ago, when Akaashi was training himself up to fight bad guys in the middle of the night, he used an abandoned warehouse in an industrial estate, not too far away from his grandmother's house. Now, he takes Bokuto here every weekend when they don't have any lectures.
It's got all the equipment they need: weights, tumble mats for sparring, and Akaashi has acquired extra punching bags for Bokuto, since punching seems to be his best move.
They start with some sparring at ten AM, as the sun rises higher and isn't glaring straight through the window on the right wall; as much as the sun makes the warehouse look beautiful and atmospheric, Akaashi prefers not to have it in his eyes while training.
But it seems that Akaashi can't blame his loss on the sun when Bokuto has him pinned to the ground with no way for him to escape. In the early days of training, Bokuto refused to even “lay a finger on that gorgeous face of his” but once his boyfriend realised that Akaashi wouldn't go easy on him, he started fighting Akaashi and slowly got better at it.
He's proud of Bokuto, glad to see how far he's come from the boy who helped defeat that drunk gang years ago, but he can't help but feel worried for himself- if Bokuto can beat him now, what's stopping a criminal with the same build as Bokuto coming along and defeating Akaashi? He needs to up his power levels; become stronger, faster, so he can carry on protecting the ones he loves.
Though it looks as if Bokuto has a little more training to go when Akaashi notices him get distracted by a strand of hair that's fallen from the mass of gelled up spikes as it tickles him between the eyebrows- Bokuto's hair is his Achilles heel.
Akaashi springs back into action and knees Bokuto in the gut. He stumbles back and Akaashi keeps aiming kicks in nonlethal areas, avoiding the face all together. He’s giggling though and so is Bokuto who’s trying to block the kicks and keep himself from snorting with laughter at the same time.
Giving up on kicking, Akaashi charges towards Bokuto who’s already caught on to what Akaashi’s doing and turns around so he can jump on for a piggyback. Bokuto loved giving piggybacks back in high school and not much has changed since then.
When the two of them are alone together, Akaashi really lets down his walls and joins in on Bokuto’s antics because for some reason, no one else really wants to. Sometimes he wishes he could be more outgoing and bubbly like his boyfriend so he had a companion for his shenanigans, but he would always dismiss the thought. It wouldn’t feel right. He couldn’t change his personality -not for anyone- and Bokuto loves him the way he is.
Maybe if Bokuto met someone with the same sense of humour as him -someone he could joke around with and pull pranks with- then maybe he wouldn’t feel like he was a nuisance to everyone- not that he truly is anyway. Bokuto says that having Akaashi as his best friend and boyfriend is enough though, so he should start believing him, right?
"Alright! My turn!" says Bokuto happily which pulls Akaashi out of his thoughts.
He goes along with it and carries Bokuto around the warehouse on his back. It's more like training than anything else though- Bokuto’s heavier than most of the weights they own. After a while of running around and bokuto spreading his arms out and hooting, Akaashi starts to tire and slows down to fall to his knees.
“Akaashi?! Don’t die on me! please!”
For a Saturday night, the streets are surprisingly quiet, with only two lunatics in black costumes -one is arguably sane; the other... Well, have you seen his hair?- and one stray black cat in sight.
"I spy something beginning with...." says Bokuto while walking backwards in front of Akaashi. The latter watches where Bokuto is placing his feet and has his arms ready to catch him if he trips.
"C!" He shouts.
Jeez, thinks Akaashi, way to make it obvious- it's cat.
He voices this, but Bokuto shakes his head and so Akaashi has a better look at his surroundings. Could it be car? cables? cake? He doesn't see any of those and they don't wear capes, so it can't be that.
"I don't know," he admits, "what is it, Koutarou?"
Bokuto lifts a hand and points his finger at Akaashi. He wonders if Bokuto’s maybe forgotten how to spell his ABCs.
"C is for cutie!" Laughs Bokuto and takes Akaashi's hands in his.
"That's not how the game works," argues Akaashi but it's a pretty measly protest Bokuto knows this too from the pleased look on his face.
Bokuto keeps a hold of Akaashi’s hands and stops walking backwards. He opens his mouth to say something, but he’s a little hesitant. Akaashi knows bokuto is going to bring up something he’s nervous about asking.
“Keiji… I was thinking,” he mumbles and avoids Akaashi’s gaze, “Y’know how you said you didn’t want any attention from press or the public or anyone like that?”
Oh shit, here we go, thinks Akaashi.
“Don’t you think we could use the publicity to our advantage? let the bad guys know we run the show?”
Akaashi doesn’t know how to break it to Bokuto; the more they get noticed by people, the more likely people will start invading their privacy to find out who they really are behind the costumes of Nighthawk and Captain Owl. The bad guys wouldn’t know who ‘ran the show’- they’d just know more information to use against them. In conclusion, more publicity was a bad idea.
However, when Akaashi finds the words to tell him this, the sound of an exhaust and rubber on tarmac cuts off his explanation. They turn in the direction of the noise and see a black shiny motorbike with red stripes down the side turning the corner and heading their way.
If the person on the motorbike is someone they should hide from, then it's too late for that for the vehicle is going so fast they would never stand a chance at running, so Bokuto and Akaashi stand their ground as the stranger slows to a stop beside them.
“I have to say,” a voice that’s most likely a man's says, though it's muffled from the helmet he’s wearing, “you two are very difficult people to find.”
The man on the motorbike flips up the visor on his helmet and Akaashi can see his face -if this guy is a vigilante like himself, he's not doing a very good job at keeping his identity a secret. He has a slightly smug grin on his face and an intense gaze that makes Akaashi feel shivers down his spine. Bokuto is surprisingly quiet behind him.
“The name’s Neko Nya Man,” he says and extends his arm for a handshake, “It’s nice to meet you.”