Spoilers for ch337
I had the premise for this fic dormant for some time, but a drabble request for UsuAka prompted me to write it out. As such, this is significantly longer than a drabble and took ridiculously longer to make kalsfaa
One of these days I will stop having characters play Animal Crossing in fics. But not today.
Friendships are weird.
That was the conclusion Usuri came to as he typed "Keiji Akaashi" into the contact form on his phone.
Moments earlier, after Mujinazaka gathered up its stuff following their loss, Fukurodani's setter coincidentally appeared in search of towels for their ace, who apparently had decided the ones previously provided were too rough. Mujinazaka's bags were piled up in front of the towel rack, and Akaashi politely asked to get by. Everyone tried to hide their puffy faces from their victorious opponent, but Usuri unexpectedly stepped forward to address the setter against whom he'd lost fair and square.
"You have a really good ace! Don't take advantage of him too much!" he'd shouted, to the embarrassment of his teammates. The awkward gesture didn't put Akaashi off, taking it in stride with a genial grin.
"I admire setters like you," were the words Usuri remembered most from the resulting exchange. "Setters who don't let themselves get overwhelmed because of the amazingness of their teammates," Akaashi would clarify. Usuri said he admired Akaashi's even keel (Keiji pretended the compliment was true) and that he didn't get tempted to rely on Bokuto too much. Suddenly they were conversing about setting tactics and then shared hobbies while Usuri's teammates trickled away with their things. And suddenly, they were exchanging phone numbers in front of an indoor bonsai display.
Keiji chuckled when he saved it to his phone.
Mami finally called to Usuri for help with their bags. Not thinking to put his phone in his pocket, Usuri quickly set it on the brick rim around the bonsai tree.
Before Akaashi could belatedly skedaddle with the towels, Bokuto stomped forward, leading Sarukui, Komi, and Konoha.
"Hey, hey, hey! Making friends with the enemy?" he laughed.
Keiji shrugged. Usuri wasn't that bad of a person based on their conversation.
"He's nice," he said.
Bokuto whisked one of the towels from Keiji's hands and buried his face in the softness. When he pulled it away, he spotted Usuri's cell phone.
"Wait." Koutarou pulled out his own phone and set it beside Usuri's.
To the surprise of everyone, the phones were the same size, model, and color.
"Wow. You could mix those up so easily," Saru said.
"Like that'd ever happen," Bokuto joked.
"Yo! If we don't hurry, the crows are gonna start playing without us!" Konoha irritably called, already walking toward the seating area. Bokuto flinched. He wasn't about to miss Karasuno vs. Kamomedai, even if they were tired from their own game. His brain in his feet, he sped after Konoha. Akaashi rolled his eyes and followed. He didn't even notice Bokuto's phone still sitting on the wall beside Usuri's.
When Usuri looked back, he spotted Akaashi waving goodbye, phone in one hand. Michiru felt his empty pocket and then skipped back to the wall to retrieve the cell phone sitting there. There were two.
"Hey! Hurry up!" Mami yelled. Panicking, Usuri snatched the phone he guessed was his and rejoined his team.
Bokuto squirmed trying to find a good vantage point for the game.
"Akaashi, make sure you take a picture when Hinata and that other short guy are out together. This is going to be awesome!" he hooted.
"Use your own camera for Pete's sake," Konoha grumbled, but Keiji didn't mind. Bokuto's eyes lit up as if Konoha's suggestion never occurred to him though. He felt for his phone, nowhere to be found.
"Knowing you, you probably left it downstairs," Konoha continued.
Bokuto declared he'd be back in a flash. "Don't let them start the game without me!"
"As if!" quipped Akinori.
Keiji smiled. Lucky for Bokuto, there was indeed a delay. Akaashi checked his phone where he saw Usuri's newly made contact card. He didn't know why he felt so comfortable about the idea, but he decided to pen an inaugural text message.
Bokuto reappeared at the site of the bonsai tree and saw the phone on the wall immediately. How lucky no one had snatched it up.
As soon as he grabbed it, a message popped up from Akaashi.
"My ace is such an airhead sometimes."
The insult was so uncalled for that it didn't occur to Bokuto how odd it was there was no prior message history.
"Hey, that's not nice," Bokuto typed back, pouting.
Akaashi chuckled when he got the reply from "Usuri": "Hey, that's not nice"
"It's true tho!" he lightheartedly typed back.
He was in the middle of typing out the details of Bokuto's lost phone situation when "Usuri" replied in all caps: "I CANT BELIEVE YOUD SAY THAT AKAASHI"
The outrage took Keiji aback, and he deleted his half-finished message. He felt something sincere behind the outrage and decided to verify his intuition.
"Does it really matter to you that much?"
What a galling thing to ask, Bokuto angrily thought. "YES"
Keiji Akaashi could not understand this apparent anger from the Kyushu setter, but he acknowledged that this conversation wasn't going as expected and tried to clear the air.
"Sorry. I should be more understanding of him."
Vindication, Bokuto thought. "That's better," he typed back haughtily.
Usuri's reply had some lingering attitude beneath it, but Akaashi ignored it and decided to change the subject.
"What are you doing tonight?"
Bokuto frowned. Was Akaashi proposing they hang out on the heels of those rude comments (even if he did apologize)? Bokuto had too much pride for that.
"I know what im NOT doing: hanging out with YOU"
"What?" Keiji texted back, Saru noticing a certain edginess to the setter right now.
"You heard me," Bokuto replied, triumphantly grinning.
"I'm sorry. Did I really hit a nerve earlier?"
Bokuto couldn't believe Akaashi could be that dense. "YES YOU DID"
Keiji exhaled with exasperation. Sweat formed on Saru's forehead from secondhand anxiety.
"Then I deeply, deeply apologize for saying that."
But Bokuto wasn't going to let Akaashi off that easy.
"Tell it to my face"
Keiji stared at the message so long that Bokuto almost pocketed the phone thinking Akaashi wouldn't reply anymore, but finally the message-typing bubble appeared. Saru worriedly watched his teammate type away in frustration.
"Look, I really don't know how to respond here. I'm just surprised that me talking honestly about my ace offended you so much."
Bokuto gawped at the screen.
"Screw you Akaashi"
Seeing those words in Usuri's message thread was the last straw. Perhaps getting his number was a foolish idea after all.
"K," he replied for closure and switched over to Bokuto's messages for a distraction.
"Hey. Where are you? The game's about to start."
Mujinazaka waited for their bus outside the arena when Michiru felt his pocket vibrate. He opened the notification on his phone from Akaashi.
"Hey. Where are you? The game's about to start."
"Oh. We're not watching the rest today," he thumbed back.
Akaashi never thought he'd see Bokuto write that (never mind unilaterally declaring the whole team wasn't going to watch it when everyone else was already here).
"Seriously. Just get over here," Akaashi replied impatiently. He realized it was a bit curt but still felt tense after the back-and-forth with Usuri.
Usuri found the directive a little demanding but let it wash off.
"Oh ok," said Bokuto's reply, remarkably subdued for how Bokuto normally talked in text.
A few moments later, Akaashi got another reply.
"Where you at?"
Did Bokuto seriously get lost on the way to find his phone? Akaashi sighed to calm himself. Saru peered at the setter with continued concern.
Keiji typed out walking directions; upon receiving them, Usuri vaguely told his teammates he had to go somewhere; and Akaashi diverted his attention to the opening rallies of the game.
Downstairs, Bokuto debated between two stairways to determine which would lead him back to his squad. He didn't notice Usuri trot past him with purpose.
And minutes later, Akaashi heard a voice he didn't want to.
"Akaashi! Did you need something?" Michiru called.
Keiji spun around in shock. That guy…seriously had the nerve to show up in person after that exchange earlier?!
But why?
"Tell it to my face," his mind flashbacked.
Oh. That was it….
Keiji frowned.
"Something wrong?" asked Usuri. He checked over his shoulder to make sure there wasn't somebody behind him who might be making Akaashi grimace.
"What brings you here?" Akaashi asked with clear hostility. Komi, Konoha, and Saru all stared enrapt, not used to this degree of heat from their setter.
"You told me to come here?" Usuri said, confused.
"I recall pretty well what I said, and that wasn't part of it."
Usuri pouted. "I thought maybe you had something for me. I guess there was some confusion."
"Oh, no. You were pretty crystal clear," Akaashi jabbed, and Usuri scowled at the unjustified scorn. Friendly first impressions or not, Usuri was still a little shaken up after their defeat and didn't want this shade right now.
"Fine. Whatever. I guess I thought you were nicer than this," he groused and turned on his heel.
Akaashi was actually proud at himself for not throwing another barb.
As Usuri marched down the hall upset, he turned to head down the stairs. At that moment, Koutarou Bokuto flew up the stairs like a soaring owl—and crashed into the distracted athlete.
The pair splatted comically on their backs. Several dozen witnesses froze until the duo recovered themselves with groans. Their respective prides were more wounded than their bodies, and they graciously helped each other up.
"Hey, you're Akaashi's friend!" Bokuto said in realization.
Usuri glanced sidelong at being called Akaashi's "friend" after the mixed messages he just received. Without a word, he pattered past Fukurodani's ace.
The self-reminder of Akaashi then made Bokuto pout. Recalling the mean things Akaashi had texted him, Koutarou stomped the rest of the way to the seating area.
"Akaaaaaashiiiii!" Bokuto rolled, getting not only Keiji's attention but Komi's, Konoha's, and Saru's too.
Bokuto was steaming mad as he marched towards the setter, but Konoha slipped in between them.
"Dude! It's not Akaashi's fault you lost your phone and missed the start of the game!" piped Akinori. "That Little Giant kid's got a wicked spike though. Hurry up and watch," he added in hopes of distracting Bokuto.
It didn't work. Steam came out of Bokuto's ears.
Akaashi looked blankly at Bokuto.
The only cause for his anger must be that Bokuto was genuinely butthurt that his teammates didn't somehow delay the game.
"Kageyama's about to serve. Come watch," he said brusquely to get Bokuto's mind off his irritation.
It had the opposite effect. Having his righteous anger completely dissed caused Bokuto to deflate, but Keiji showed no concern at all.
Now even more upset with Akaashi, Bokuto stormed to a different part of the railing and drooped over it, hoping futilely to forget his troubles by watching the game.
As the Mujinazaka team bus navigated Tokyo's streets, Usuri scrunched up in his seat, snarling at his phone. To everyone else, he'd been in a strange mood ever since they'd left the stadium.
"Where'd all my apps go?!" he bellowed.
The whole team stopped their respective conversations and looked at him. Embarrassingly realizing he was the center of attention, Usuri stared blankly.
"What? Can't find Animal Crossing or something?" Mami, peeking over the seat behind him, teased.
"Nothing! I don't recognize any of these!"
Usuri exhaled furiously and opened his text messages. Akaashi's thread was still on the screen. He started to reread, wondering if he misunderstood something. He scrolled up. And scrolled up. And scrolled up. Wait. How many messages did he send to Akaashi?!
"Geez, how long you two been texting?" Mami pried.
But seeing conversations from days and weeks ago that Usuri had no recollection of, a horrifying realization hit him.
"THIS ISN'T MY PHONE!"
As Kamomedai and Karasuno switched courts, Konoha nodded to his cohorts. Sarukui sidled to Akaashi.
"Sooooo…spill," Sarukui asked upfront. "What's the beef between you and Bokuto?"
Akaashi peered curiously at him and shrugged. "I don't know." He said, slipping his phone from his pocket. Keiji had forgotten all about Bokuto's mood. He was sure it'd be fixable before their next game.
"Uh-huh," Saru nodded, unpersuaded. "You know, you were really antsy earlier texting somebody."
"Hm? Oh, yeah. Usuri."
"Usu-who? Oh! The badger kid you befriended. I think," he appended, questioning whether the word "befriended" was accurate.
Akaashi exhaled but didn't want to vent and spoil Saru's fun. This is what he deserved for trying to be friendly to a former opponent whom he also just met, never mind beat. Rather stupid of him, really.
Simultaneously, Komi tried small talk with Bokuto.
"Soooo, usually you stand with Akaashi to watch games."
"That's all right," Bokuto moaned lifelessly. "Akaashi thinks I'm dumb anyway."
"But he hides it well!" Komi blurted and then slapped his hands over his mouth. Behind him, Konoha shook a fist.
"So, what are you and Bokuto going to do later?" Saru asked Akaashi.
"Something, I'm sure," Akaashi said nonchalantly and reflexively pulled out his phone.
"But seriously, why do you think Akaashi thinks you're dumb?" Komi asked bluntly. Bokuto miserably pulled out his phone and showed the message thread to Komi and Konoha.
Their faces went white as a sheet.
Then, Akaashi's phone started to buzz with a phone call from, of all people, "Bokuto."
"Come on! Please answer!" Usuri on the bus panicked.
Keiji looked over at Bokuto surrounded by Konoha and Komi and couldn't see Kou's phone. Thinking the call a poor attempt at a joke, Keiji rejected the incoming call.
Having finished reading the awful thread on "Bokuto's" phone, Akinori and Haruki angrily turned their heads towards Keiji. Konoha snatched Bokuto's phone to confront Akaashi with the messages.
"You act so innocent and then you pull a stunt like this!" he shouted and showed the screen.
Keiji skimmed the thread. "Yeah, I sent that to Usuri," he shrugged.
It took too long for the illogic of that statement to click.
Keiji ripped Bokuto's phone from Konoha's hands to confirm what he was seeing. He pulled out his own phone and confirmed he hadn't made a mistake; he'd sent those texts to "Usuri." Yet somehow, they were on the phone in Bokuto's possession.
Akaashi's phone vibrated in his other hand. He checked the caller ID. "Bokuto" again—even though he was supposedly holding "Bokuto's" phone….
At last, it hit him. The real idiot here was Akaashi.
"What I don't understand is, how do you not know you have someone else's phone?" Fukurodani's coach Takeyuki Yamiji yammered from the driver's seat of the car. Neither Bokuto nor Akaashi in the backseat responded. "I'm over 50, and I would never not recognize my own phone."
The coach continued down this exasperated path with no resolution to the question of how this implausible situation could have happened. He just had to accept that they were on their way to Mujinazaka's hotel to effect a phone swap.
Keiji stared at the passing skyscrapers, while Bokuto moped with his back to Keiji. After realizing the mix-up, they hadn't yet talked things over. Keiji wrestled in his heart between how harmless he meant the comments directed at a third party and how hurtfully they were received by Bokuto. No matter his intentions, he knew what he had to do and worked up the fortitude to say it.
"I'm sorry for saying those things."
No response at first. Keiji doubted Bokuto didn't hear him. Just when he gave up on expecting forgiveness, Koutarou murmured.
"So, you don't think I'm an airhead?"
That was a loaded question if there ever was one.
"Do you think you are?" he asked after a pause to calculate how to respond tactfully.
"I know I'm not smart," Bokuto mumbled. "But I still do really good, right?"
"Yes, you do," Akaashi said without missing a beat.
"I just want to think you respect me."
"I respect you immensely, Bokuto," Akaashi said with easy frankness. "You are the greatest ace I've ever set for, and that goes no matter your weaknesses. And whether you overcome those weaknesses or not, I will still respect you no less."
It was a long pause before Koutarou peeked over his shoulder.
"Really?"
"Yes," said Keiji firmly.
And then, Bokuto was straining the seatbelt to hug his setter, bawling with grateful joy.
In the front seat, Yamiji sighed. "I don't understand teenage boys," he whispered to himself. He stopped the car and unbuckled his seatbelt. "Hey. We're here. Does this Usuri fellow know you've arrived?" he called to the backseat.
"I'll text him," Akaashi said, missing the irony.
"Hey, isn't that him?" Bokuto pointed out the window at Michiru Usuri outside the hotel, chatting with two even taller teammates.
When Usuri spotted Fukurodani's setter and ace approach on foot, he left Mami and Unnan and skipped across the parking lot to greet them. Usuri humbly placed the phone in Bokuto's hand. "I'm sorry for stealing it!" he yelled out, exaggerating reality to make his acceptance of responsibility sound more earnest.
Bokuto bowed too. "Sorry for causing you so much trouble!" he declared fervently.
"Oh, it's fine," Usuri chuckled nervously, straightening up. He found it a tad awkward to have an ace humble himself so much to a setter when Michiru intuitively felt it should always be the other way around.
Akaashi forced himself to step forward. "I'm sorry for my behavior." He bowed just as deeply.
"No, I should have figured out something was wrong sooner!" Usuri insisted and again bowed.
Mami in the distance raised an eyebrow as all three were now bent forward in guilt. "There's more apologizing going on here than a political scandal."
"The youth are learning well," quipped Coach Yamiji out of earshot.
The trio straightened up. "I, um, I hope things can get on the right foot this time," Usuri said.
Akaashi blushed. "Me too."
Usuri then jolted with an idea. "You play Animal Crossing, right? Can I invite you to my island?"
Akaashi chuckled. "Sure."
Bokuto began to whine. "Aww, now I want in on this! Invite me too!" He shook Keiji, and Usuri giggled.
"This is what I like about you two. You're so honest with each other, so much you can say things like calling one another an airhead and be totally fine with it!"
The duo could only stare wide-eyed while Usuri laughed lightly.
"You need to win it all though," Michiru continued. "For us."
"We will!" Bokuto firmly declared. Koutarou's return to normalcy made Keiji beam.
Needing to get back to his team, Usuri bid them farewell. "And next year, Akaashi, I hope we play again."
Akaashi smirked. "Count on it."
As they walked back to the car, Usuri shouted. "And next time, we're gonna win!"
Akaashi couldn't help but smirk at the challenge. When they got in the car, however, Keiji sensed Bokuto an intense aura from Bokuto.
"This year, we're gonna win it all. And next year, you're going to beat him—all by yourself."
Volleyball was a game played with six people. And Akaashi was fortunate and grateful one of those six people was Koutarou Bokuto.
See Chapter 2 for an alternate ending.
Otherwise, thank you, dear readers, for reading!