BokuAka (Bokuto/Akaashi) | Fluff/Romance | 1st Year/2nd Year, in which Bokuto first meets Akaashi | The cover art is drawn by Viria13!
"Wonder what kind of new people we'll be seeing this year?" someone piped up from behind him, making him glance over and hum in agreement.
It was the first day of the new School year, and Bokuto was a Second year now. The thought made him smile excitedly to himself. No more annoying "ball boy duties" that the Second and Third years constantly made them do. Though he'd probably have to help every so often, he was incredibly glad that he could stop doing that and focus more on personal training.
"Hope your not planning on slacking off," Konoha suddenly cut into his blissful thoughts, making him jolt and groan in response. He always knew how to bring Bokuto down a level or two. If that were a good or bad thing... well, that was probably up for debate.
Bokuto merely waved a hand at him, sticking his nose into the air and claiming, "Not a chance. I'm just excited about the new 1st Years. I wonder what they're like, y'know?"
"And, probably, that you won't be doing much of the cleaning up anymore?" Komi suddenly said, jabbing him sharply in the ribs. He wore a large grin, which told him that he was more than likely just teasing. He returned the gesture with a sarcastic roll of his eyes, pushing him ungracefully out of his personal space.
His comment roused laughter from the three of them as they wandered in the direction of their School. The sky was bright, and the air held the same nostalgic feeling around this time of year. Though most students probably hated returning, it only meant that he could play some more Volleyball. The thought made him grip his bag tighter, closing his eyes as he pictured the large gym. He could almost imagine the sounds of practice; a ball being spiked to the ground. Shoes that squeaked against the hard floor.
His thoughts were shaken as someone bumped into his shoulder, rather abruptly. Bokuto looked up as the person paused in their haste, peering at him, and uttering a very breathless, "Sorry!" before he continued on his way.
He could only manage a, "Its—o...kay..." before trailing off. It'd be pointless to even try apologizing, as the person he'd bumped into was already out of earshot.
But that wasn't what had made Bokuto freeze. In that tiny moment, where a few seconds had stretched into beautiful moments, his breath had caught in his chest. He'd peered at him through long lashes, his dark cobalt eyes swimming with worry. His hair had been dark, and curled up around his face. It looked soft. Not that Bokuto wanted to touch it — he was mostly lying to himself, though — because that would be incredibly inappropriate. But the one thought that Bokuto could agree on, and would admit, was that he'd been able to see someone incredibly pretty today.
"Bokuto?" Konoha asked, turning back to look at him quizzically. "We should really get going, we don't want to be late..."
"What you really mean is; 'Get moving Bokuto, I don't want you to make us to be late' right, Konoha?" Their Libero joked playfully, raising on his tiptoes ever so slightly to ruffle his friend's pale hair. His playful demeanor was met with a snort of laughter, and a quick, "Shad'dup!" from Konoha.
"Yeah..." Bokuto said absently, not able to draw his eyes away from the retreating figure. He continued walking with them, watching as he disappeared around a corner and vanished from sight. He was incredibly disappointed.
Too bad I probably won't ever see him again, right?
"You could have laid off a little bit, you know!" Sarukui exclaimed, rubbing his arm with an annoyed expression. There was a newly forming bruise where he'd dug one of Bokuto's spikes. He was getting better and better, and he had possibly gotten a bit too excited.
"Sorry, sorry! I'll make sure to hold back some, next time," he apologized, leaning against the gym's wall and closing his eyes.
When he opened them again, he was amused to see Washio babying Sarukui, though more through concerned glances than words. Sarukui muttered something along the lines of, "only some?" before pouting and sulking away.
"So you were held up by classes and stuff, right? That's okay, the first day is always super hectic," the carefree voice of Fukurodani's Captain said, piquing his interest. Who was he talking to? Washio was blocking his view of the conversation. He stood up, walking away from the two and noticing that Komi and Konoha had already gathered, along with a few of the new First years they'd met today.
He grumbled to himself, noting that his view was still obstructed.
"Sorry, I'll make sure to come to every practice from now on," answered a calm voice. Bokuto's heart fluttered nervously. Why did he sound so familiar?
Finally he pushed his way through the group, standing beside Konoha and getting a better look at who the new arrival was. His heart nearly leapt out of his mouth, and he was sure that he'd made a pretty odd and strangled noise. It was received with a confused look from Komi, but he probably knew better than to ask. Bokuto himself wasn't even sure what had just happened. He felt a bit dizzy... or, lightheaded? Not that it was a bad feeling. It was more like floating a bit, added with a soft, nervous tickling sensation in his stomach.
"This is Keji Akaashi, another new First year," their Captain stated, crossing his arms and slapping Akaashi on the back.
Akaashi responded with a polite nod of his head, his expression surprisingly calm despite the previous panicked look Bokuto had seen earlier. But better yet, he could take in every single detail of his face now. His hair was slightly curled, with a downy sort of look to it. He definitely expected that if he'd run his hands through it, it'd probably feel like feathers. The thought enamored him. But he wouldn't do that, of course.
Their captain turned to the gathered First years now, probably telling them all to clean up. And he just couldn't tear his eyes away.
His face held no signs of crinkles or lines. He probably didn't smile or laugh a whole lot; Bokuto would definitely have to change that. He couldn't even imagine what he'd look like smiling. Probably amazing, no doubt. He cut his train of thought off, feeling heat spread across his cheeks and warming his ears. What was he thinking? He had to get a grip.
A smug snicker from Konoha made it even worse, so Bokuto chose to greet with the rest of his teammates, already to turn away, not wanting to have his thoughts be so easily read anymore. But, he wasn't that lucky.
Akaashi had suddenly noticed him, and he felt like his entire body had been petrified. Turned to stone, so that he was stuck in a half turn, simply sharing his gaze. His heart nearly burst when the other raised his hand in a subtle greeting to him.
"Your that guy from earlier," he stated, walking forward slowly as the crowd began to disperse. The third years would probably go and change for the day. Only Konoha and Komi hung back, peering at them curiously. Bokuto walked home with them every day, so it wasn't a surprise that they would hang back for a bit. But every other Second year had decided to go home.
"Uh, yeah," he said, pretty stupidly. Was that all he could manage?
This didn't seem like a problem for Akaashi though, because he suddenly bowed and said, "Sorry about that. I was in a hurry, so I couldn't apologize properly," before leveling himself again. The way his hair lifted with the movement, fluttering against his cheeks, made his stomach squirm in a frenzied dash of emotions.
"'S okay," Bokuto said, fidgeting and sure that his expression was pretty dumbstruck. "Erm... Welcome to the team, by the way."
Akaashi's lips curved upwards only slightly. But it was enough to give Bokuto's heart a nice and painful squeeze of appreciation. He definitely looked really pretty when he smiled. Stating his thanks, Akaashi turned away and began to walk towards their supply room. He was probably searching for a broom.
And on absolutely no other whim than the need to simply spend more time with him, Bokuto walked after him excitedly. "I'll help out!" he exclaimed.
"Oh," Akaashi said, regarding him in surprise. "Okay, thank you."
"It'll go by faster. Plus, I'm the ace, so I'm basically great at everything," Bokuto chirped, wearing an expression of smug pride.
"Uh-huh..." Akaashi responded, looking unimpressed.
Komi snorted a very amused, "Ace, he says!"
Needless to say, Konoha and Komi were dragged into his annoying request. They exchanged a glance, muttering — and completely within earshot of Bokuto —, "He kinda looks like a duckling, they way he keeps following him around," before hurriedly scurrying away as he attempted to tackle them in embarrassment.
Cleaning had been something he didn't plan on doing, but he was pretty happy to have been able to spend a teensy bit more time talking to the new First year.
One he was successfully done changing out of his uniform, he began heading towards the entranceway. Him, Konoha, and Komi usually all met up there when it was time to go home, because Bokuto usually got easily distracted by a lot of things. It was hard to keep track of where he'd end up, and they all just agreed on a meeting place. Better than searching the entire School for him.
So, he wasn't surprised to see them standing there, waiting for him. But he was surprised to see they had captured someone else, and appeared to be in deep conversation. Now curious, he ran his way over, puffs of hair escaping his mouth in a white cloud. It was still a bit chilly at night.
"Bokuto," Komi greeted, yawning widely and securing his bag over his shoulder. Konoha merely raised an arm in greeting, before pulling out his phone and interacting with it. He was a pretty prickly guy, so when he was exhausted from social interaction, he retreated to looking at his phone. Both Bokuto and Komi had learned not to bother him when he was in this sort of mood.
He stopped short when he noticed Akaashi staring at him with that same, calming expression. Damn he was pretty.
Dislodging the thought and chastising himself, Bokuto straightened up and came to a halt beside them. "What's Akaashi doing here? Are you forcing him to walk with us? Komi, I told you that you can't just do that to people!" he said, waving his arms in exasperation. Though he couldn't deny that his heart did a happy little somersault at the thought of walking home with Akaashi.
"Actually, I asked if I could accompany you," Akaashi spoke up, waving his hand apologetically. "It's safer to walk in groups. And besides, it seems that we'll be walking to same way."
He grinned toothily, rocking back and receiving Komi's annoyed expression as he slung an arm over his shoulder. "Why didn't you say so sooner? C'mon."
Komi grumbled a, "didn't let me," before they all began to trudge onward. Konoha lagged behind them, with Komi buzzing around a pace or so later than him. Usually, he was just trying to snoop at what he was reading on his phone. Bokuto would have gotten annoyed, but Konoha didn't really seem to mind. Their friendship was definitely something that had taken a while to build up, but here it was, easy and comfortable.
He smiled and glanced down at Akaashi, who had fallen into step beside him. Though he'd probably be even more nervous walking alone with him, his palms still felt a bit sweaty. He was sure he'd cleaned off all the sweat after practice, so it was definitely not that.
When they'd reached the usual juncture that Bokuto always split at, he waved bye and turned to continue walking. Much to his amazement, and nervousness, Akaashi was still walking along with him. His heart began thrumming, quickening its pace inside of his chest. Man, he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this worked up over something. He couldn't even find any words to say, so they just walked in slightly awkward silence.
"S-" Bokuto was suddenly about to say, before Akaashi was turning away and saying, "See you tomorrow."
He felt a bit disappointed, but when Akaashi asked if he'd been about to say something, Bokuto waved him off and watched as he disappeared around the corner. Besides, his words held up a promise. See you tomorrow. They made a stupidly happy grin lift his face, his golden eyes sparkling with excitement.
When he finally flopped into bed, limbs tired and aching from practice, he couldn't help but stare at the ceiling and let his thoughts drift around aimlessly. He didn't really understand why Akaashi made him so nervous. Maybe it was because he didn't know how he played, yet? Or even what position, he played. Bokuto really couldn't wait to find out, or see what kind of a player he was. Maybe he'd be able to play one on one with him.
Twisting to turn the lamp off, he huddled deeper into his blankets with a happy grin on his face.
"So, what was with that whole, 'I'll help you clean up, Akaashi!'" Komi suddenly said, his voice jerking Bokuto from his daze. They were all sitting at their desks, Konoha leaning against his chair and wearing a now interested expression. He suddenly moved so that he was closer, as if this were some incredibly interesting story he just couldn't pass up.
They'd walked to School this morning, with Akaashi in tow, so the two had to quench any and all teasing until they'd separated from him.
"Shud'dup," Bokuto mumbled against his Desk, his face now pressing against the cold surface. He'd surrounded his head with his arms, an attempt to shield the shade of red beginning to dust his cheeks. He was probably gonna be teased about this for a while. They definitely weren't going to drop it any time soon.
"Okay, Mr. Duckling," Konoha droned in a singsong voice, making it even more annoying than it would have been if he'd said it normally.
Rambunctious wrestling ensued, before they'd bumped one of the Desks over. Greeted by a cold and strict glare from their Class Rep, silence calmed their rowdy mood. Class began like usual, and Bokuto had to push down the squirming excitement for the School day to already end. He couldn't wait to rush to practice. Today, he'd be able to really see what all of the First years could do. And, maybe even admitting to himself, he'd also be able to see Akaashi again. Not worrying about why exactly that made him so happy, he resigned to his thoughts, rather than focusing on the subject for today.
AN: This story will (hopefully) have eight/nine updated chapters, full of fluffy Bokuaka shorts! It won't be a full story, just a collection of cute things that will happen chronologically throughout their times together. Also, I haven't read past chapter 236 of the manga! I know MSBY exists, but anything beyond that is a mystery to me. Please don't spoil anything!