Look who's late! Me! Oops? This did not want to be written, at all. But it's here, finally. Please enjoy and review!
I still wanted to punch Mika. I had hoped that she would be accepting of Daisho, or at least remained civil enough.
But no, that wasn't the case. Instead she was a homophobe. Fantastic.
I tried my hardest to get my mind off of that however, this wasn't the time to get gloomy. I wanted to stay cheerful, or at least be able to cheer the ones who had lost up.
Which really was only Daisho but hush. He still counted, he too was one of my boys. So I had to be happy for him, cheer him up. Especially after that little mishap with Mika.
No! No, get your mind off that girl! No negative energy this time! Begone thought!
Anyway…
I stayed with Daiso for some time, just hugging in silence. Not that I minded, I was quite the affectionate person after all. I could never say no to a hug from anyone.
Eventually though, we had to part. I still had to check on Bokuto and Akaashi after all. Daisho didn't have a problem with that. He understood but I could tell that he wanted to stay with me for just a bit longer.
It made me feel bad… I knew that Daisho's mental state was rather weak, both because of his disorder and what had just happened, and leaving him be when he was so vulnerable made me worry. What if he had an attack if I left?
I really didn't want to talk him down from suicide again.
He assured me that he'd be okay but my worries wouldn't disappear just like that. Nevertheless I took his word for it and took of in search of my owls.
I found Akaashi first, sitting by himself and not really looking at anything. Knowing him, he was probably thinking about how he did in his matches. That was something I liked about him.
Akaashi liked to look at things objectively, not full of emotions. He was the type of guy that tried his hardest to remain composed, though thinking about it I was similar to that, and remained level headed for when others couldn't be.
"Keiji," I chirped, "sorry I couldn't watch your second match."
Akaashi startled when I spoke, he was likely so far in thought that he didn't notice me approaching him.
He smiled at me. "It's fine, you can only be at so many places at once after all."
I beamed at him, not missing the way Akaashi's cheeks reddened the slightest.
My precious owl boy!
"But I'm sure you did great!" I praised him, "You always do!"
At the rate I was going, Akaashi's face was going to resemble a tomato. Now that sounded like something I had to see.
"I can't wait to see you play in nationals! You're going to kick some serious ass!" I grinned happily, fully enjoying how red Akaashi had become. "You're so smart too, I bet you can come up with great plans to help your team! Keiji is awesome!"
Aaand Akaashi had fallen over, unconscious with a fully red face.
I may have broken him…
Worth it.
"Keiji?" I kneeled down to his level and waved in his face. "You alive in there?"
Experimentally I poked his side with a finger. No reaction.
"Oh shit." I actually broke him. I broke Akaashi.
What was I going to tell Bokuto?!
"Matsu-chan~" Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Why now! Timing Bokuto! Timing!
I shakily turned to face the happy owl. "Hey Koutarou."
He smiled at me, a smile so wide I was sure it would split his face in half. "Did you see me? Did ya? I was awesome right, right?!"
Oh boy, was I sweating bullets. How had Bokuto not seen Akaashi yet?!
"W-Well, I saw your first match but not the second one… sorry." I stammered, growing more and more nervous by the minute.
Finally Bokuto noticed Akaashi on the ground. "Huh? What's Akaashi doing?"
"Sleeping?" Why did that come out as a question? There was no way he would believe that! Bokuto wasn't that stu-
"He is? Well today's been tiring!" Bokuto yelled and laughed, somehow at the same time.
Whut? Did he actually believe that? Oh. Oh yeah. I forgot. Bokuto was as stupid as Shoyo. Right.
My bad.
I threw my nerves out the window and smiled. "So what're you doing here Koutarou?"
Bokuto looked at me blankly for a few moments, not a single emotion or thought portrayed in his eyes. It honestly freaked me out.
There's never been a moment when I couldn't read Bokuto, Bokuto, who wears his emotions on his sleeves and always has something to say. How in the world was he capable of shielding himself from me? I'm impressed.
But seriously, why did he search for me?
"Hmm," Bokuto hummed before I could think further, "I'm not really sure why, but I really wanted to see you."
"O-Oh, really?"
Bokuto nodded. "Yeah, but I don't know why."
He seemed rather upset that he didn't know why he wanted to see me. I had a pretty good guess why. Being his crush, which I had confirmed some time back, it was kind of natural to want to be with me. I think. I'm not actually sure how crushes work.
But his crush on me was probably the reason he sought me out.
"Koutarou?" I called for his attention. "Can I have a hug?"
The effect was instant. Bokuto's face completely brightened up with unhidden happiness and his smile showed for it.
"Yeah! Of course!"
I wasted no time with getting into his arms, which enveloped me fully. For once I was glad that I was short, getting hugged by someone taller than you was just the best feeling ever.
Though aside from my hug-addiction, I had another reason why I wanted to hug my boi.
To check his heartbeat, or, you know, the humongous blush on his cheeks.
Yup, Bokuto was blushing. Though knowing him, he had no idea why he was blushing.
Time for some education!
"Say Koutarou," I began, "have you ever been in love?"
The sudden question threw Bokuto off guard.
He looked off to the side, the smallest pout visible. "I.. don't really know… how do you know if you're in love?"
Now that was a good question, one that I wasn't sure how to answer. Did I know what love was? Romantically I could only imagine, but I had certainly felt platonic love.
"Well, love is different for many people." I said. "Some experience it a lot, others barely. But I think that love is something that you instinctively know, something that you've been born with."
I took a deep breath. "Love is not something that can be described in one word. Love is when you want to be with someone, whether it's spending hours on hours talking or sitting together in silence. Love is when you don't mind waking up in the middle of the night because the one you love is feeling sick. Love is willing to give up everything in order to spend time with your beloved. Love is staying with someone who you think is worth everything."
…
Wow. Since when do I know how to be deep? That was new.
Bokuto's arms tightened around me. "...Is that what love is?"
He was whispering. Bokuto was whispering. I don't think I've ever not seen Bokuto yell. He always found something to be excited about, hearing him so quiet was strange. Strange, but not unpleasant.
I nodded, because I had nothing left to say.
"In that case…" Bokuto pulled me from his arms and held me at a safe distance.
There was a strange emotion in his eyes, nervousness mixed with something I couldn't identify.
I gave him a questioning look, what was he going to do?
Kiss me, that's what.
Why was I still surprised? This was the third time, second today, that someone kissed me out of the blue.
Bokuto pulled away and looked me straight in the eye, allowing me to realise what the emotion I had failed to identify was. "In that case, I think I love you.
