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Walking into the small apartment was like a breath of fresh air. The jackets hanging by the door showed signs of age and wear, but still smelled like home, the kitchen reminded him of slow mornings and cooking dinner with his love, and the living room was warm with its good sized couch and plants aligning the windows leading to more plants out on the patio. A small Shiba Inu was curled up on the couch next to a lump that was breathing evenly, it was still dark, considering Bokuto had shown up back in Japan at four in the morning, and he was finally home after three weeks of being overseas for a few tournaments in the states.
He gently placed his bags down and toed off his shoes, trying not to make too much noise as he padded into the living room. If you had told Bokuto Koutarou that by the time he was twenty four, he was living with his best friend in an apartment near downtown Tokyo, they had a dog, and he was a starter on the MSBY Black Jackals, he’d laugh in your face. But as he made his way into the living room, careful to avoid the papers covered in tabs, red lines, and blue question marks, he knew that it’d be a dream come true. Boni had sniffed and opened his eyes to see Bokuto looking at him, the Shiba started to pant and leaped down from the couch to paw at Bokuto’s pant leg, he chuckled quietly and made a “quiet” motion as he started to pet the tan and white dog and knelt down to let him lick his cheeks in happiness.
“Mm? I thought you wouldn’t be back ‘till the afternoon?” a sleep laden voice caused Bokuto to look up and see his fiance yawning out his question, clad in old volleyball shorts and a Black Jackals hoodie with Bokuto’s number and name on the back. Akaashi’s hair was flat on one side and poofy on the other, Bokuto chuckled before standing and sitting down on the couch next to Akaashi, who was rubbing sleep from his eyes.
Bokuto opened his arms up and Akaashi was quick to bury himself in his fiance’s warmth, strong arms wrapping around him and a kiss being pressed to the top of his head, “I knew you missed me, so I made sure to get on the fastest flight over here to see my future husband.” Akaashi smiled at that and leaned back to look at Bokuto, he had a slight five o’clock shadow, his hair was a little more messy than usual, and his eyes were tired from jet lag, but Akaashi loved that about him, because that was his Koutarou. He cupped Bokuto’s face and rubbed his thumbs across the stubble before bringing him into a warm kiss, three weeks of not seeing each other felt like years, and Akaashi let out a sigh of relief through his nose as Bokuto pressed him into the couch, deepening the kiss and making Akaashi’s toes curl in pleasure.
They broke apart in bright smiles, Akaashi running his hands over Bokuto’s face and hair, “Welcome home, Koutarou.” It was still dark outside with the sun barely rising over the horizon, and Bokuto let himself feel warm and happy in his love’s arms.
They finally rolled out of bed around nine in the morning, Boni was whining and scratching at their bedroom door, Bokuto stumbled as he yanked on his sweats, which had been thrown on the floor in his haste to make love to Akaashi, and opened the door to follow Boni into the kitchen for breakfast. After feeding Boni, Bokuto worked on getting coffee ready. It was a Saturday which meant Akaashi didn’t have much work to do except keep up with his authors and go over papers that were due on monday, and since the Black Jackals had just gotten back from overseas, coach gave the team the weekend off to recuperate from the time change and spend time with family before getting ready for home matches.
He was getting Akaashi’s coffee ready when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his waist and a warm chest pressed to his back, “Good morning~”, Akaashi yawned out while Bokuto turned around and kissed him on the forehead, pulling him into a hug and nuzzling the crook of his neck, “Oh~ I thought you were done being cuddly after all that time in bed together?”
Bokuto huffed and looked into Akaashi’s dark eyes, “How could I ever get tired of the most beautiful man in the world?” Akaashi blushed and tried to cover his face, his cheeks were burning red and Bokuto kissed them after pulling Akaashi’s hands away, “Keji, you know I hate it when you hide your cute blush from me~~”
Akaashi pouted but let Bokuto kiss him after prying his hands away, “So, how was America?” he muttered a ‘thanks’ as Bokuto handed him his coffee and got together ingredients to make breakfast. Taking sips of coffee here and there as he gets the pans out.
He looks up to see Bokuto getting the rice cooker set up when Bokuto responds, “It was okay, fun trying to speak english and having the other players handle it, oh! And Hinata is on the team now, he flew in from Brazil today, so I might call for a hang out next Friday here at our place.” Akaashi hummed and got to work with frying up a good few eggs, Bokuto ate a majority of them so Akaashi made sure to put five eggs in the bowl before whisking them up.
“Sounds like fun, I can’t wait to see Hinata-kun again.” Bokuto watched in delight as Akaashi chopped up some bacon, letting it cook in the pan to a golden brown before Akaashi added the eggs, “Do you want cheese or no?”
“After spending fourteen hours on a plane with the loudest men I know, no thank you.” Akaashi laughed and continued to cook, making sure the eggs were doing good and the smell of breakfast made their stomachs growl. Eating together felt natural, Akaashi taking in some bites while looking over a demo for the shonen magazine he was finishing up, and Bokuto making happy noises and hoots as he shoveled in his breakfast, enjoying his first home cooked meal in three weeks.
The rest of the day was spent doing laundry, taking Boni out for his walk (more like run now that Bokuto was back), and getting groceries together for dinner. They had onigiri for lunch, which Akaashi had made the night before, and they were going to make grilled meat to celebrate Bokuto being home. It was easy and formidable for them, walking through the aisles in sync, Bokuto handling the basket while Akaashi grabbed the meats and veggies.
“Akaaashi, do we really need veggies with meat?” Bokuto was pouting as Akaashi put the bok choy into the basket alongside some peppers and squash, “It takes away the flavor of the meeaaat”. Akaashi sighed and pinched Bokuto’s nose.
He squawked and jumped a bit, “Kou, I know for a fact that you and the boys barely ate as much as a piece of lettuce while in the states because I know how you and Atsumu are, so yes, we need veggies with the meat.”
Akaashi made up for it as he grabbed some ice cream for the two of them to have after dinner. He squeaked when he felt a pair of arms holding him from behind, “I really missed you Keji, I want you to come with us next time,” Bokuto kissed Akaashi’s cheek before letting him go, “And I even got to see Kuroo! He was in Baltimore at the same time we were so we got a drink together!” Akaashi smiled, remembering Atsumu sending him a video of a drunk Kuroo and Bokuto singing love songs and replacing some of the lyrics with ‘Keji’ or ‘Kozume’. It was nice, being able to shop like this, the owner of the small market waved to them as they picked up more food for Boni, grabbing rice too.
They had been lucky with the location they were staying in, not a lot of loud people in the neighborhood, most of the neighbors being young parents or older couples. The shops below had been LGBT friendly, so they didn’t have to worry about hiding their relationship, and of course, there was the park across the street.
That park held a lot of memories to them, it was the park where they found Boni, a tiny puppy in a box that was covered in dirt and leaves, Bokuto had made big eyes with the puppy but Akaashi already knew that they were taking him home. It was the park where Bokuto talked about his insecurities with their relationship, and where they established boundaries while Bokuto was abroad. It was where Akaashi had asked Bokuto if he’d want to start a family once they got married.
The two held hands while walking home, Bokuto holding almost all of the groceries in one hand and holding Akaashi’s hand in the other, while Akaashi held the more lighter of the groceries with his own free hand. They talked about what they did while separated, what shows Akaashi watched, seeing a few of his mangas that he edited for getting animated, and Bokuto talked about the cool food he ate and what him and Kuroo did while in Baltimore, and also that Texas was as big as Akaashi had predicted but the food made the drive through the state worth it.
Boni was waiting for them at the door, whining at Akaashi for dinner and the two weaved their way around his wandering. Akaashi set to putting the cold groceries away first while Bokuto fed Boni, they were prepping a marinade for the beef when the doorbell rang, “Kou, did you invite anyone over?”
Bokuto thought for a few seconds before his face brightened like a thought had popped in his head, he walked to the door, opening it up, and letting out a happy hoot and cheering, Akaashi stepped away from the paper steak to see Bokuto hugging a slightly taller and more built Hinata in his arms. “Akaashi-san!!” Akaashi smiled and braced himself as Bokuto let the orange haired middle blocker go, Hinata jumped and hugged Akaashi with all his might, and Akaashi laughed into Hinata’s hair. The three had spent time making dinner together, laughing and telling stories of their travels, Hinata talking about Brazil while Bokuto talked about America, Akaashi and Bokuto hadn’t seen Hinata since christmas last year when he flew home, and they had sent him off at the airport too, so seeing him as an entirely different kid, it warmed their hearts.
Akaashi chewed in thought as Bokuto cooked some more meat on the tiny grill they had, “Hinata, did we tell you what happened while you were gone?” Hinata cocked his head in question, and Bokuto did the same, Akaashi and Bokuto had gotten engaged after Hinata left for Brazil after christmas, Japan’s National team had won a major match and Bokuto had been playing in the final set, was even the spiker that finished off the match. He sprinted over to Akaashi before going to his team and yelled the question, right there in front of thousands of people, and Akaashi said yes.
“What happened while I was gone?”
Bokuto was equally confused until Akaashi picked up his hand to show off the engagement ring on his finger. Hinata paused, looking between the ring, to Akaashi, to Bokuto, and connecting the dots, “NO WAY!!!!” Akaashi lets out a loud laugh at the reaction. Hinata hitting Bokuto’s arm and asking why Bokuto didn’t tell him sooner.
After dinner, Hinata and Akaashi did the dishes, despite Akaashi saying that he didn’t need to, and Hinata asked one more question, “So, why did you guys name him Boni?” gesturing to Bokuto playing with Boni in the living room, the two chasing each other and playing with squeaky toys.
The latter hummed before thinking about what happened, “oh! He smelled like Bonito flakes when we first got him. The smell was so strong that when we brought him back to the apartment, it smelled like those fish flakes for days, so we called him Bonito flake for a little while, then decided on Boni instead.” Hinata nodded in understanding and continued to wash the dishes while Akaashi dried them off.
“So, do you know how my old team is doing?” Akaashi paused in his drying and looked to Hinata, who had placed the dish he was cleaning down. “I, I know it might seem weird for me to ask you, but I know that some of them went pro while others went on to do some other career, I just want to know before our match next month in Sendai.” Akaashi finished drying his dish, putting it on the rack, wiping his hands, and turned Hinata at his shoulders.
His gunmetal blue eyes stared into worried hazel, “No one blames you for leaving, Shoyo, you went to Brazil and did something absolutely incredible, Kou always tried to watch your games and even wanted to buy a match ticket to fly out to Brazil and see you,” Hinata’s eyes widened, “I know that Tsukishima and Kageyama went pro, Tsukishimia is in Division 2, and that Kageyama is in Division 1, but that’s about it, I’m surprised you haven’t kept up with them.”
“It’s not that! I just, I haven’t really gotten together with them yet, Kageyama and I text sometimes, but so far I haven’t seen any of them.” Hinata sighs and hands the last of the dishes to Akaashi, “but at least we have that groupchat of my friends from Karasuno, they know I’m home but we’re all busy so when Bokuto-San invited me over for dinner, I was really happy!”
Akaashi wipes his hands on his towel after putting the last dishes away, and pulls Hinata into a side hug, “well, Kou will always welcome you here, especially since you two are on the same team too.” Bokuto perks up from the living room with Boni in his hands, both giving curious looks.
“You’re practically a little brother to me! Of course you’re welcome here!!” Hinata laughs and the two join Bokuto in the living room, the rest of the night was spent talking about Hinata’s new friends and what it was like learning Portuguese. When he left, Akaashi made sure to send him off with leftovers, and also a strong hug cause he missed Hinata.
The two walked Hinata out until he got into the taxi back to his apartment, and when the cab drove off, Akaashi fiddled with his ring, “Do you think he was actually okay in Brazil?”
Bokuto hummed and placed his arm around Akaashi’s shoulders, pulling him in and kissing the top of his head, “When he’s ready he can talk about it with me, or us if he wants to tell us, but I know that seeing us was a good thing for him since coming back home. I even saw the dark bags under his eyes hidden by concealer.” Akaashi rested his head on Bokuto’s collarbone and let out the breath he was holding in.
“You’re right, he’ll tell us when he’s ready.”
There were three places that Bokuto Koutarou loved to be, the first was the volleyball court, the second was his bed with Akaashi, and the third, was in between Akaashi’s legs. They were barely paying attention to the movie, Boni curled up in his bed below them, fully eaten ice cream from earlier on the coffee table, and Akaashi running his fingers through Bokuto’s hair as the latter struggled to stay awake.
It was late, they didn’t care to check the time, but all that Bokuto needed was to stay right where he was, his face squished into Akaashi’s chest, listening to his heartbeat, and Akaashi’s humming. He got reminded that he probably never would’ve gotten this chance to be with Akaashi if he hadn’t stayed behind on his graduation day and confessed to Akaashi in the gym where they first met.
All of it was sudden and fast, he was racing through his mind about how he could bring it up as his parents corralled his sisters close to him on his graduation day, all the volleyball members making fun of him except for the underclassmen, Washio, and Akaashi. Bokuto was exhausted from smiling after his parents took ten pictures of him and his sisters, then he had to deal with ten more with his grandparents and other relatives including his parents. It was exhausting and he just wanted to be out of his uniform and home, but he didn’t leave right away.
He saw Akaashi leave the area that everyone else had been, and Bokuto followed, the walk took them back to the gym. Bokuto watched from a quiet distance, seeing Akaashi open the doors and walk inside, he peered in and was stunned to see Akaashi crying, wiping his tears away and sniffling. Bokuto knew that Akaashi felt like he had been at fault for them losing at Nationals, but he’d never say it out loud, Bokuto knew that this wasn’t okay, he was celebrating his graduation and Akaashi was still looking back on the past.
So here he is now, looking up at Akaashi with a sleepy look on his face, and remembering what he told Akaashi that day. Even when he’s looking away from Bokuto, he knows that Akaashi is thinking of him, his gaze is lost in thought while staring at the screen, but Bokuto sees that analyzing gaze and mutters out, “I love you Keji.” It knocks Akaashi out of his thoughts as he looks down at Bokuto.
“Wh...oh, I love you too Koutarou.” Bokuto smiles and leans up to kiss Akaashi’s nose, he shifts and moves to where he’s the one lying on the couch and Akaashi is in his arms, “Why’d you say that all of a sudden Kou?”
“Hmm, I was thinking about that day I confessed to you, even though you looked ugly because you were crying-oof! Okay sorry” Akaashi smacked Bokuto’s chest at the comment, “I still thought you were beautiful. I know I’m not the best boyfriend, or fiance for that matter, but at least I can show my love for you in different ways. I guess I should’ve said something more than just ‘Even when I’m gone your tosses will always be in my mind’ when I confessed that day ‘cause that wasn’t all too romantic.” When Akaashi didn’t say anything, Bokuto continued with his train of thought, “I think what I really wanted to say was something along the lines of ‘Don’t toss to someone else without thinking of me, my love for you will beat out all the other spikers you toss to!’ That would’ve made more sense than what I blurted out while you were crying.”
Akaashi was just looking at him, wearing nothing but a Black Jackals shirt and shorts, glasses still on and hair mused in a pretty way, gunmetal blue looking into honey gold, “I think I got your point that day Koutarou, because I still remember you sneaking into my house on long nights, getting yelled at by my parents, and then having to see your older sisters drag you out when they were called.” Koutarou chuckled at that comment, “but, you’re still the best and only boyfriend I’ll ever have, the sweetest and only fiance I ever have, and the most wonderful and loving husband that I’ll ever have. Insecurities and all, you’re my Koutarou.”
Bokuto let out a happy laugh at that, yanking Akaashi close and kissing him. They ended up switching the movie they were watching to a Ghibli movie, Akaashi wanted to see Howl’s Moving Castle, and Bokuto obliged. Just like that, Akaashi tucked into Bokuto on their couch, they fell asleep like that, no rush in their minds, just basking in their moments of happiness after being apart for a short, but long time. It made Bokuto realize, as he drifted off to sleep, that ‘yeah, this is what coming home should always feel like’.