Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Akaashi didn’t really want to go back home after having told his mother off, but he had to. Firstly, there were things he needed to get from home now that he was moving permanently out of the sect. Also, he planned to get his ace ring back. It meant a lot to him and it was by all rights his, even if he’d handed it over to be judged.

He had already decided to stay at the Suzumeda’s house, not wanting to spend too much time with his parents, but he was sure his mother would corner him while he was picking up his things.

Before that could happen though, Akaashi dropped his small travel bag at the Suzumeda household and spent time making sure all his protection charms were strong enough to stand up to at least his father. His mother had higher power levels than him, so if she really wanted to break his charms, she could. That said, it would take a lot out of her and Akaashi was pretty sure they weren’t at that level of hostility quite yet.

“Keiji-kun, why don’t you have some tea before going next door?” Suzumeda Momoka offered when Akaashi emerged from Kaori’s bedroom.

Kaori insisted he use her bed while he was staying despite Akaashi insisting the couch was okay. At first, Akaashi had been almost annoyed that she was being so forceful until she finally admitted that she wasn’t going to be staying on the couch, but instead was crashing with her girlfriend. She asked Akaashi to keep it quiet, though, because her parents didn’t know she was dating Shirofuku Yukie yet.

“Tea sounds lovely, thank you,” Akaashi responded, hoping the tea would calm his nerves a little. “And thank you for letting me stay here.”

“Of course, anytime,” Momoka said as she poured a cup of tea for Akaashi into a waiting cup, having obviously planned to make him sit and have tea with her. “It’s the least we could do.”

“That’s not true, you’ve already done so much for me.”

Momoka looked at Akaashi for a few, long moments, something sad and tired in her eyes.

“Keiji-kun, I know you’ll hate to hear this but… You’re just so young. You’re too young for all of this, anyone could see that. But on top of that, when I look at you, I can’t help but see the little boy who grew up next door.” She took a sip of tea but Akaashi remained silent, feeling there was more to come. “You’ve grown up so well, but it’s been much too difficult, I think. Ryou and I should have done more for you. We should have done more to make things easier for you.”

“You gave me a place to come, to be away from everything. You let me feel safe here. And you raised Kaori to be someone I could trust.” Akaashi shook his head, feeling undeserving of her words. “That’s more than I could ask for from you.”

“We were the adults. We never should have stood by and let them do what they did. I’m just so glad you found your way out.”

“There wasn’t anything else you could do,” Akaashi insisted, taking a long drink of his tea. “The Akaashi family is powerful, I know that. What could you have done to change my parents’ plans?”

“I should’ve gotten Makoto-san involved.”

“Uncle Makoto?” Akaashi asked uncertainly.

“Yes. He’s a great man and the reason you don’t know him well if because he and your mother see eye-to-eye on almost nothing. Most people thought he’d follow the path to becoming Master Charmer, but instead, he’s contented himself with magical research outside of what is normally done within the Owl Sect. Naoko-san might have more power than her brother, but he’s not powerless. Maybe he could have helped you…”

“There’s no use thinking about that now,” Akaashi told her, knowing how hypocritical that was for him to say. “Maybe it would have helped and maybe it would have made things worse. We don’t know. All we can do is keep moving forward.”

Momoka looked up at Akaashi, a little surprise in her eyes before she laughed a little. Finishing her tea in one, quick gulp, she let herself laugh a little more.

“The city’s really changed you for the better, Keiji-kun.”

“The people there are, well, they’re the ones that change me. My friends Oikawa-kun and Sugawara-kun are both truly amazing. They put up with a lot from me. And Bokuto-san…” Akaashi found himself unable to stop himself from smiling a little. “I don’t know if I’ve told you about Bokuto-san.”

“I don’t think you have,” Momoka said with a knowing smile. “Please go on.”

“There’s not much to tell. But he’s amazing and… And he’s my boyfriend.”

“Really!” Momoka looked genuinely surprised and Akaashi was also surprised, assuming Kaori or his mother would have already told everyone about his declaration about having a boyfriend. “I heard Akaashi-san say something about you have been ‘seduced’ by someone, but I thought she was exaggerating. I mean, she is, but I thought she was exaggerating a lot more than that.”

Akaashi laughed as he stood, realizing he really needed to head over to his childhood home before he lost his nerve

“I guess maybe he did seduce me, but that’s okay with me.” Akaashi laughed again, imagining how funny Bokuto would find it when he heard that he’d apparently seduced Akaashi. “I better go over there before it gets too late.”

“If you need someone to go over with you, we can.”

“Thank you, Suzumeda-san, really, but this is something I have to do by myself.”

“Good luck.”

“Thank you.”

“And I hope I get to meet this Bokuto-san one day.”

Akaashi smiled to himself, imagining how happy Bokuto would be to meet the Suzumeda family.

“Me too.”

---

Akaashi knocked on his front door, absently wondering if his parents were expecting anyone today or if they would be confused by the knock at the door. He’d not told them he was coming back, not wanting to give them time to prepare, and he hoped that wouldn’t somehow backfire.

He was sure it would backfire.

Akaashi Naoko opened the door, her eyes telling Akaashi that she hadn’t been expecting anyone. After a moment, she smiled at him and Akaashi found himself frozen, confused by the warmth in her expression.

“Keiji, I just knew I’d see you again,” Naoko said sweetly, reaching out and hugging Akaashi.

He was frozen still, the hug feeling stiff and awkward, probably because he wasn’t sure his mother had ever hugged him. When she pulled away, he could see real concern in her eyes and he felt like he was going to be sick.

“I’m glad your bruises healed. We were so worried after your call.” Naoko pursed her lips for a moment before ushering Akaashi inside. “Where are your bags? I guess they’re at the Suzumeda’s. I’m sure you thought we’d be angry.”

Naoko looked at Akaashi for a few more moments before nodding to herself.

“Your father isn’t home right now, he’s with Ishiko-san right now. Hana-san will be happy to hear you’re back. We were so worried when you didn’t return our calls. You shouldn’t scare us like that. We assured Ishiko-san and the Master Charmer that you would come to your senses and here you are, just like we knew you would be because you’re a good boy.”

“Mother,” Akaashi finally found his voice, though it was smaller than he would have liked. “I’m not going to marry Ishiko-san.”

“What do you mean? Of course you’re going to.”

“No, I can’t.”

“Sure you can.” Naoko shook her head. “Don’t worry about what happened before, it’s all forgiven. Everyone understands that you just got some silly ideas from the city.”

“No,” Akaashi repeated. “I’m here to get some of the things I left behind and want. Then I’m going back to the city.”

For the first time since she opened the door, Naoko was silenced, her mouth opening and closing as she seemed to search for words that wouldn’t come. Finally, the unfamiliar softness of her face dropped and Akaashi was met with the harsh disappointment he was more used to. In a strange way, that look was comforting.

“I can’t believe you’re still on about that nonsense! The city has nothing for you. Your life is here! You have things that you need to do and they don’t include those ‘friends’ of yours from the city. Obviously, they’ve poisoned your mind.”

“No, they haven’t. They’re the reason I was able to think about what I want.”

“What you want? What about everything you’ve worked for? What about your future?”

“It was never what I wanted,” Akaashi told her, doing his best to keep his voice even, “it was what you wanted. It’s what you told me I had to do, but you were wrong.”

“What do you know about what you need to do? I’m your mother and I know what’s best for you. Don’t you want to be worth something?”

“I am worth something,” Akaashi told her even though he could hear the shake in his own voice. He could hear the lack of conviction.

“Are you sure? Because right now you’re following a path that’ll lead nowhere. But you can still get back on the right path, back onto the path towards what’s good for you. You’ve been on the right path for years, why leave now? The path you were on was good for you.”

“No, it wasn’t.” Akaashi clenched his fists, trying his best to stop himself from shaking. “It was good for the sect, not for me.”

“What’s good for the sect is good for you,” Naoko said matter-of-factly. “Now, stop being silly.”

Akaashi wasn’t sure what to say, so instead, he turned away from her and headed to his bedroom. Naoko followed behind him, asking what he was doing. Once he arrived and began looking through his things, taking what he wanted and leaving what wasn’t important, she seemed to realize he still hadn’t ‘come to his senses.’

“Keiji-kun, this is insane! You’re giving up everything!”

A few books, a picture from his first year of gymnastics, the Gameboy Advance from Hikaru and Chinatsu, a stuffed animal that Kaori had given him years ago. All those things were put in his bag while his mother continued to tell him he was losing his mind.

Turning to his nightstand, Akaashi smiled when he saw there was a small box he recognized. Opening it up he was glad to see his Ace ring was there, charm used up, and the ring back to its normal, boring self. He slid it onto his finger and then turned, satisfied that this was everything he wanted to get. It wasn’t much, but he’d never held on to much for fear that it would give away more than he meant to.

“Keiji-kun, stop ignoring me!”

“I’m not ignoring you,” Akaashi lied. “I’m listening, I just don’t have anything to say.”

“This is the biggest mistake you’ll ever make.”

“The biggest mistake in my life wasn’t made by me,” Akaashi shot back. “You and Father put me on a path I never asked to be put on and it nearly ruined my life.”

“If any life was ruined, mine was!” Naoko glared at Akaashi, making him feel small. “Embarrassment after embarrassment, that’s all you’ve brought me! An ability-less nothing to an emotional empath with no control. Then you started running around with some nothings while doing gymnastics of all things. Now this! I always knew I shouldn’t have let Yuudai talk me out of having another child.”

Akaashi knew his parents had thought about having another child when he didn’t meet their expectations, but it stung to hear it said to his face like this. But, unfortunately for Akaashi, Naoko wasn’t done yet.

After a small pause in which absolute disgust passed over her face, Naoko said the words Akaashi had always known she believed but never thought he’d hear her say.

“You will never amount to anything.”

Akaashi didn’t know what to say and so, instead, he simply pushed passed his mother and hurried out of his childhood home and back towards the one safe haven left in the Owl Sect.

---

After giving an unsurprisingly unconvincing line to Momoka and Ryou about how everything had gone fine, Akaashi told them he was tired and would be skipping dinner. He explained that, instead, he planned to go to bed early.

That was only a half lie, because he did end up crawling into bed before breaking down like he had the day he and Bokuto had taken their last day-trip as just friends.

Akaashi hated crying. It was pretty much the only thing he hated and the only thing that was good about this was the fact that nobody could see him. He’d learned to cry quietly a long time ago and so the Suzumeda family probably couldn’t hear him. Ryou and Momoka were probably suspicious of his insistence that he was fine, but they also probably wouldn’t assume he was in here crying.

He didn’t know why it hurt so much to hear the things Naoko had to say. He’d always known she felt that way about him. He’d always known she didn’t think much of him, but it still hurt to hear.

He’d always tried his best to prove himself to her and when she opened the door and hugged him, Akaashi nearly gave it all up and maybe that was the thing that upset him the most. There had been part of him that wanted to say that, yes, he was back. Part of him wanted to say that, naturally, he’d marry Hana and that, of course, he was going to be the apprentice to the Master Charmer. Even as he was aware that this love would never last, he was still so ready to bask in it for as long as he could that he was ready to do whatever she told him to do.

As his mind began a downward spiral towards complete despair, his phone buzzed next to him. It was flipped upside down, but he could see light spilling out around its edges, shouting at him to give it attention.

Tears were still welling up and falling when Akaashi took a quick look at his phone. He was met with a picture of a soundly sleeping Bokuto, curled up around his howlet plushie. If anyone had asked Akaashi before they started dating what he thought Bokuto sounded and looked like asleep, he never would have guessed he’d be quiet and tiny. But now it seemed so normal and comforting to see Bokuto there, on his screen, making himself as small as someone his size could as he held tightly to a stuffed animal that was so much smaller than him.

Akaashi thought about ignoring the phone call, not wanting Bokuto to hear him cry, but he threw that thought away. If there was anyone who could calm him down, it was Bokuto.

Picking up the phone, he waited for Bokuto to speak first because for a moment Akaashi found he had no strength left.

“Akaashi! I hope I’m not bothering you, but I missed you.”

“Bokuto… I…” Akaashi voice was small and he found he didn’t mind, not with Bokuto. “No, you’re not bothering me.”

“Akaashi, are you okay?” Bokuto sounded instantly worried, amazing Akaashi with how quickly he could recognize Akaashi wasn’t okay. “What’s wrong?”

Akaashi struggled for a few moments with what he wanted to say, fighting between his wish to say nothing at all and the need to spill everything he was feeling.

But he needed to be careful with what he said if for no other reason than because now wasn’t the time to tell Bokuto about magic. He would do it later, when they were together and when Akaashi wasn’t in the middle of a breakdown. He would do it eventually, but for now, he’d need to do his best to pretend he was totally normal and that meant he needed to be careful.

“I…” Akaashi’s words caught in his throat and for a moment he found himself taking in a shuttering gasp of air that gave away his barely finished crying. “I don’t know why it hurt when I already knew what she thought.”

“Because words hurt,” Bokuto responded, his voice soft and understanding. “And until someone says something, you can believe you’re crazy. Then they say it and you feel even crazier.”

“I feel like I’m wasting my life.”

“As long as you’re living, how can you waste it?” Akaashi could hear a small smile in Bokuto’s words. “A lot of the time, I feel like I’m not doing the right thing, but then I remember that whatever I did, it got me to you and whatever I’m doing, I’m doing it with you, so it can’t be all wrong.”

Akaashi felt a few more tears escape his eyes and he squeezed them closed. Despite that, he found he was able to smile a little bit.

“I just want to amount to something.”

“For what it’s worth,” Bokuto said, his words blocking out the echo of his mother’s words for a moment, “I think you’re already pretty awesome and I’d bet you’ll, like, keep amounting to even more.”

“Thank you,” Akaashi said, wondering what he did to deserve someone like Bokuto.

“Anytime,” Bokuto told him and Akaashi knew it was true not just because Bokuto had already made and fulfilled that claim more than once, but because Akaashi believed him with every atom of his being. “Want me to tell some stories?”

“Please…” Akaashi paused then added, “I wish I could hug you.”

“Me too, but soon you’ll be home and I’ll give you a big hug.”

“I can’t wait,” Akaashi told him genuinely.

“Me either,” Bokuto replied. “I miss you.”

Akaashi knew he was bad at connection with other people and he knew he was too distant. Even with people he cared about—Kaori, Chinatsu, Oikawa, and Sugawara to name a few—he found he rarely missed them. He didn’t know what part of him was broken or missing, but he rarely felt that pull towards the people he knew he cared about.

But with Bokuto it was different. Instead of a sort of wish that he could see Bokuto, Akaashi felt a real yearning to be near him. He felt it in his chest and he didn’t really understand how missing someone worked, but he knew it was true.

Bokuto was the only people Akaashi had ever genuinely missed and while that should have been a sad feeling, the ability to miss someone was new and almost exciting and so, for the second time, Akaashi felt himself wanting to open up with a simple response.

“I miss you too.”

Chapter Text

When Akaashi first told him he was asexual the main thing Bokuto felt was confusion. He’d never heard the term before and was uncertain what it meant. He also didn’t want to ask anything rude that would make Akaashi hate him. 

Akaashi told him about two months into their relationship and Bokuto still felt a little worried that at some point Akaashi would realize that he was too good for Bokuto.

“So you don’t, like, yah know?” Bokuto had asked awkwardly, uncertain how to react to all this, especially since Akaashi seemed completely unconcerned about it. 

“Not exactly,” Akaashi chewed on his lip for a few moments, a habit that was just one of many that worried Bokuto. He hated the way that some part of Akaashi’s body—usually his lips or fingers—was always bleeding or covered in scabs. “Being asexual just means I’m not sexually attracted to you. Or anyone. Personally, I don’t have much of an opinion on sex, good or bad. In the future, maybe I’ll be interested in, well, trying it out, but for now, I’m still getting comfortable with kissing and stuff.” 

Bokuto’s cheeks had been flaming red by the end, having not expected to be talking about sex so early with Akaashi. That reaction had allowed him to easily say that even though he was attracted to Akaashi <i>like that</i>, he wasn’t really ready for anything too ‘intense’ just yet. 

That conversation had happened about three and a half weeks earlier and now as Bokuto waited for Akaashi to visit after work, he found his mind drifting back to it. In the last week or so, things had gotten a little more ‘intense’, though it wasn’t anything particularly hot and heavy. Honestly, it was more like they were high schoolers again, too nervous to go too far and screw things up. Then again, maybe that wasn’t a high school thing, because Bokuto had moved much too fast in his one and only previous relationship. 

Maybe that’s why he was feeling cautious—he’d nearly ruined that friendship—or maybe it was because he was afraid he’d push too hard and end up hurting Akaashi. 

But, in the end, he thought maybe he was all talk—thought?—because while he waited for Akaashi to return, Bokuto found his mind wandering towards the feeling of Akaashi’s lips or the interesting contrast between the roughness of his hands and the softness of his arms. 

He ended up so lost in those thoughts that it wasn’t until Akaashi’s voice rang through his small apartment that Bokuto realized Akaashi had arrived. 

“I’m back.” 

They spent half their time in Bokuto’s apartment and half their time in Akaashi’s, the decision usually coming down to which of them would be finished first for the day. Today they'd both been out late, but Akaashi had been stuck at work longer than usual, so Bokuto had already gotten home when he texted. His hair was still half wet from his post-practice shower. 

“Ah! Welcome back,” Bokuto responded, hoping Akaashi wouldn’t notice how red his face was. “How was work?”

“A few tourists came through and bought some random things,” Akaashi told him, taking a few long steps towards the Bokuto’s couch as he spoke. “They were a little noisy, but they didn’t try to talk to me too much.”

Bokuto laughed as Akaashi sat next to him, their legs knocking together thanks to their closeness. 

“Then we had some other customers that were… important. I had to talk to them about the antiques.” Akaashi sighed, leaning against Bokuto. “I wish I didn’t have to do that kind of thing, it’s annoying. They ask so many questions that they don’t need to…” Akaashi sighed again. “I’m glad the day is over.” 

“What do you want to do tonight?” Bokuto asked, putting his arm around Akaashi’s shoulders. “We can watch a movie or something.” 

“A movie might be nice,” Akaashi responded, leaning further into Bokuto's side, seeming to be burrowing in him. Bokuto wasn't sure how Akaashi was always so indescribably cute. “Or we can just do nothing. You probably have work you should be doing.”

“Not much, I'll do it later.” Bokuto wasn't ready to give up this closeness to Akaashi just yet. “The only work I want to do is on your mouth.”

Akaashi snorted, turning to bury his face in Bokuto's shoulder, his words muffled when he spoke.

“I'm sorry, that's the dumbest thing you've ever said to me. Was that supposed to be, like, hot?”

Bokuto felt his cheeks burning red but he couldn't help but smile at the way he could hear Akaashi's own smile in his words. Bokuto knew Akaashi wasn't being mean, he was simply telling Bokuto the truth, gorgeous smile and all.

Also, Bokuto knew that had been a bad line the moment it left his mouth. Work on his mouth? What had he even meant by that? Not that he had ever been good at things like sayings and whatnot. 

But then a better response popped into his head.

“Well, it's hard to come up with good lines. After all, being around someone so beautiful makes it hard to think straight.”

Akaashi looked up at Bokuto with narrowed eyes, his mouth still quirked into a smile while his cheeks burned bright red. Under his gaze, Bokuto could feel his body warming up as his heart rate jumped, surely loud enough for Akaashi to hear. 

Maybe the reason Bokuto was so afraid of screwing things up was not because of asexuality or anything like that. Maybe it was the fact that he was terrified of moving too fast. He only dated two people, but in between those two had been a relationship more like friends with benefits. Bokuto remembered how he misjudged that relationship. He remembered telling her he loved her. It wasn't that he expected her to say it back, he just didn't expect that to be a deal-breaker. 

Maybe he was terrified because he didn't want to screw this up.

In the end, Akaashi was the one to move closer, kissing Bokuto hard.

“You know,” Akaashi said, pulling away so he could look at Bokuto. “I like your hair spiked up, but with it down you look really handsome.”

“Are you saying I'm not usually handsome?” Bokuto asked with a pout. 

“Usually you look cute,” Akaashi told him. “That's not a bad thing.”

“Cute! I always thought my hair was cool,” Bokuto grumbled, making Akaashi laugh. “Hey!”

“Sorry, but it's hard to think of you as cool. You're such a dork.” 

“You're worse than me.”

“Maybe,” Akaashi mused. “But at least I don't look like an owl every day.”

“How isn't that cool?”

Akaashi flipped over so he was laying on top of Bokuto, his back leaned against Bokuto's chest. He had pulled his phone out to bring up pictures of owls. 

“You look like this,” Akaashi told him, showing him a picture of a baby horned owl. “Cute.”

“Come on,” Bokuto complained, “They barely have any ear tufts. My hair is way cooler.” 

“Fine, you look more like an adolescent, then,” Akaashi caved, scrolling to another picture. “Also there’s no way those are called ear tufts.”

“They are!” Bokuto exclaimed, before huffing to himself. “You’re not looking at any cool pictures!”

“That’s because these are very cute.”

“I’ll show you some cool owls, give me your phone.”

“Nope,” Akaashi responded, continuing to scroll through pictures of baby horned owls. 

“But mine is on the table,” Bokuto complained, pointing to the side table on the opposite end of the couch.

Leaning his head back so he could make eye contact with Bokuto, “Well, I guess we’ll have to keep looking at these, then.” 

Bokuto smirked, Akaashi seemed to realize you late what Bokuto was going to do. He shifted quickly, sliding out from under Akaashi. As he tried to get up, Akaashi grabbed him and pulled him back down onto the couch.

For a moment, Bokuto was worried he might have crushed Akaashi, but when he looked down, he saw that Akaashi's face was flushed and his eyes narrowed. It was only then that he really thought about how quickly he'd gone from cuddling with Akaashi to basically straddling him. 

“I’m, umm, uhh,” Bokuto stuttered, uncertainty taking over his mind even as he felt his heart rate increase, begging him to move faster. 

Akaashi ended up making the decision for him, pulling him into another kiss, this one longer and messier. Bokuto felt Akaashi’s tongue pressing against his lips and he gladly parted his lips. He felt a little like he was fighting between his mind and his body as the part of him that loved Akaashi—and, shit, he loved Akaashi—wanted to move forward, move faster, be closer, and go further while the part of him that was terrified of losing Akaashi told him to slow down and stop. Maybe both arguments were coming from the same place, just a different emotion. He loved Akaashi and he wanted so much. He loved Akaashi and he was afraid of losing him. 

But he reasoned that Akaashi had initiated this, so he shouldn’t be too scared.

He’d been propped up awkwardly on one arm, with one foot on the floor and one leg sort of thrown across Akaashi so he shifted, moving so he was actually straddling Akaashi. He moved his hands so they were on either side of Akaashi’s head.

For a moment everything was fine and then Bokuto realized Akaashi had stiffened completely, seeming lifeless. As he pulled away, worry turned to fear when he saw the was Akaashi’s body was completely frozen. 

“Akaashi?” Bokuto asked, panic bleeding into his words. “Akaashi, I’m sorry, what’s wrong.” 

Akaashi didn’t answer, simply closing his eyes in what seemed to be an unsuccessful attempt to hide tears. 

“Akaashi!” Bokuto nearly shouted, pushing himself up and backward so he landed at Akaashi’s feet at the other end of the couch. “Akaashi?” 

Akaashi sat up slowly, wiping at his eyes angrily before he spoke, his voice almost too quiet to hear. 

“I’m sorry.” 

“No, don’t apologize! What’s wrong?” 

“I’m just– We were having a good time,” Akaashi murmured. “I was having a good time. Then I started thinking about how I couldn’t really move and how I felt like I was out of control and– fuck, I’m sorry, I’m such a fucking control freak.” 

“No, hey, Akaashi, it’s okay, there’s nothing to be sorry about,” Bokuto shook his head, trying to figure out what to say. “I never want you to be uncomfortable. I’m just so afraid of moving too fast and look what I did…” 

“You didn’t move too fast,” Akaashi insisted, scootching closer to Bokuto until he was nearly sitting on his lap. “I wanted it. I just… I wish I could get out of my own head for five seconds.”

“You didn't do anything wrong,” Bokuto assured him, feeling uncertainty washing over him again. 

“Neither did you,” Akaashi insisted, seeming to know what the implication of Bokuto's statement had been. 

Bokuto blinked at him. “Can I ask you a stupid question?”

“I’m sure it’s not stupid.” 

“Am I annoying?”

“Huh?” Akaashi scrunched his eyebrows together, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, like, I know I’m a lot, that I’m an effort,” Bokuto said, smiling in the way he knew he always did to try and hide how insecure he felt about himself. “I know that. But, like, am I worth the effort?” 

“Bokuto…” Akaashi reached out, putting a hand against Bokuto’s cheek. “You’re no more an effort than anyone else is. Every relationship is an effort and this relationship, our relationship, is more than worth it. So, no, I don’t think you’re annoying.”

Akaashi continued to move closer to Bokuto until he was sitting in Bokuto’s lap, his face close to Bokuto’s. 

“I think, for now, this is the best way to kiss.” He leaned in and pecked a kiss onto Bokuto’s lips, finding Bokuto’s hands as he did. He entwined his fingers with Bokuto’s, squeezing his hand tightly. “Koutarou, you’ll always be worth it.” 

Bokuto felt himself blush at the use of his first name. It wasn’t technically the first time Akaashi had called him by his first name, but the only other time had been when Akaashi had been asking him out—well, he’d really been saying yes to Bokuto’s asking him out earlier—and not only had that been while Akaashi was feeling a little wild but also it had been the only other time. From then on it had been back to Bokuto-san despite the fact that they were dating and only a year apart in age. 

So, this felt like an electric shock. 

“I’m glad,” Bokuto said, leaning forward so his face was buried in Akaashi’s shoulder. Akaashi was bony and his shoulder wasn’t very comfortable, but Bokuto liked having a place to hide his face. “I hope we stay together forever, Keiji.” 

Akaashi moved slightly, placing a kiss on the tip of Bokuto’s ears, his lips feeling cold against Bokuto’s skin.

“Me too, Koutarou.”

Chapter Text

Akaashi and Bokuto had been dating for about five months when Akaashi had met Nana and six months when Bokuto had met Chinatsu and Hikaru. At seven months, Akaashi had met Bokuto’s younger brother, Hayato. 

Now, it was nine months after that started dating, on a hot summer night that had been made hotter by the fact that Akaashi was sitting on Bokuto’s lap, their bodies pressed together despite the way it made his body sweat more than the heat already did. Akaashi thought that maybe even in the winter, he’d have been sweating. 

It was past ten when Bokuto’s phone rang, breaking into the world they were in together and destroying the feeling that they were the only two people in the whole world. 

For a moment they both ignored it, but then Bokuto pulled away.

“What’s wrong?” Akaashi asked, his breathing a little heavy. 

“I’m just wondering who would be calling this late… It might be an emergency.” 

Akaashi slid off Bokuto’s lap without a word, letting him get his phone. He understood the anxiety of a late-night call. Occasionally the communication ring his parents had forced upon him would heat up late at night and it was never good news. Usually, it meant someone was sick or had died and his mother was calling to let him know. Not that he had to go home. After all, he was a disappointment and even at a funeral, it wasn’t like anyone would want him there. 

“Mom?” Bokuto answered, concern plain in his voice. It was a level of concern that Akaashi wasn’t sure he could muster for his own mother even if he didn’t want anything bad to happen to her. “What’s wrong?”

There was a long pause as Bokuto listened to his mother speak, his face turning from concern to surprise and back to concern again, though this time it was a different kind of concern. It wasn’t Bokuto’s usual concern that he directed at others, instead, it was more like the concern that he had on his face when he thought he’d made a mistake. 

“Oh, okay, that sounds great. I’m sure he’ll love that too… Yeah, I’ll text you when I know… Okay, talk to you later, bye-bye.” 

For a moment Bokuto didn’t speak, but then finally he looked at Akaashi with a small, forced smile. 

“My parents want to meet you.”

---

Akaashi expected to be nervous. And he was nervous. Nervous out of his mind, really. But somehow despite that nervousness, he felt calm. And as he watched Bokuto fiddle ineffectively with his tie, he knew the reason for his calm.

To other people, it would probably seem strange that Bokuto’s nervousness would make Akaashi feel calm, but that was just one of the many strange things about him.

“Bokuto-san, let me do it,” Akaashi said, realizing belatedly that he’d told Bokuto he’d stop using ‘san’ to refer to him. 

The problem was, despite the rush of confidence that had led him to call Bokuto by his first name a few months earlier, he’d barely been able to keep up using ‘kun,’ feeling the crushing pressure of having grown up with very few real friends pushing down on him. He was pretty sure Kaori and Chinatsu were the only people who he didn’t speak to formally and he wasn’t sure how to break that habit even if he was dating Bokuto. 

“It’s going to be okay,” Akaashi said, probably unconvincingly. “There’s not much they can say that’ll be worse than what I’ve heard from my parents.” 

“Akaashi, that’s not…” Bokuto took a deep breath, his eyebrows knitting together as he stared at Akaashi while he fixed Bokuto’s tie. “When am I going to meet them?”

“Never.” 

“Huh?”

“You heard me,” Akaashi said, finishing with Bokuto's tie and turning away. “Never.”

“What are you talking about? I can't never meet your parents. I mean, I know you're not on the best terms, but–”

“It's not about that,” Akaashi said in a quiet, careful voice. “There are things about them and about you that… If they ever met you I couldn't… If I'm not careful, then…”

Akaashi sighed, running his hand over his face. He didn't know how to explain it all to Bokuto. He didn't know how to tell him that magic was real and that he was a magic and that his parents were magics. He didn't know how to tell Bokuto about how afraid he was. He couldn't explain how Bokuto was Sensitive. He couldn't explain why that was dangerous, not without scaring Bokuto away first.

There was so much he couldn't explain that he wasn't even sure how to come up with a convincing lie.

“Let's talk about this later,” Akaashi finally settled on. “After your parents are sated.”

“I don't think that'll ever happen.”

“Well, I guess we'll see.” Akaashi finally turned to face Bokuto again, feeling more in control of his facial muscles. “We'd better get going.”

---

They arrived too early. Like 30 minutes too early. Then Bokuto's parents called to say they were stuck in traffic and would be at least 10 minutes late. 

They ended up being 20 minutes late. 

Instead of making Bokuto and Akaashi feel better, though, the long wait started to weigh in them. Bokuto tapped his foot, either unaware of the annoyed looks from the hostess or ignored them. Akaashi found he couldn't stop himself from picking at his cuticles, one of them starting to bleed.

“Akaashi,” Bokuto spoke quietly, looking tiny even as he sat in a chair that was too small for him. “Will you still like me after this?”

“Huh?” Akaashi asked, blinking at Bokuto as he tried to understand what Bokuto meant. “I don't understand.”

“Like, I don't know,” Bokuto shrugged. “If they're like… If I'm… What if…” 

Bokuto shrugged again and stopped speaking, apparently unable to figure out how to word his question. 

“Bokuto-s–kun, I don't know what you mean, but yes, I'll still like you.”

“It's just, like, the first person I ever dated– it's just… I feel like we'd have stayed together– not that I'm not happy since like if we hadn't broken we couldn't be dating but, my point is if I wasn't– if they hadn’t– maybe we wouldn't have–” 

The words rushed out of Bokuto's mouth like a burst dam, words and sentences scrambling over each other to gain dominance. Before the words drowned Bokuto, Akaashi reached out and took his hand. 

“Koutarou-kun, I love you and your parents can't change that. Maybe this won't last forever, but it's not going to end tonight. It's not going to end because of them.”

“Okay,” Bokuto agreed, taking a deep breath and squeezing Akaashi’s hand. “Sorry…”

“You didn't do anything wrong, you don't have to apologize.” 

Bokuto didn't have time to respond because it was then that the Bokuto's finally appeared.

Bokuto Morihiko was a relatively average-looking man. Maybe that was truly relative to his three-fifths of his family having a very non-average look, but Akaashi was pretty sure he would look average to anyone. He had short, black hair that laid flat on his head, nothing about it seeming at all strange. His eyes were a dark brown that was very average. The only thing that stuck out about him was that he was about 5 centimeters shorter than his wife, not that Akaashi cared about something like that.

Asami was tall, that was for sure, though not as tall as Bokuto or Nana. Actually, Akaashi's first guess would have been that she was the same height as he was. Her hair, though, was familiar, drawing an unmistakable connection between her, Bokuto, and Nana. The eyes she fixed on Akaashi were also ones he knew well, even if the expression they held felt a little off. 

"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Akaashi said, bowing to them. "I am Akaashi Keiji." 

"Oh, what a polite boy," Asami purred. "No wonder you charmed Hayato. I'm Bokuto Asami."

"I'm Bokuto Morihiko," Morihiko introduced stiffly. 

"Well, why don't we sit?" Asami asked cheerfully, surprising Akaashi with her positive behavior. "I'm starving."

---

“I just can’t believe that you tried to keep him a secret, Koutarou,” Asami chided after they’d ordered–Bokuto had started to order a chicken dish but after a look from Asami, he picked a salad instead–sipping her drip slowly. 

“It wasn’t a secret,” Bokuto insisted. “It just never came up.” 

“And how long have you been keeping this a secret?” 

“We’ve been dating for nine months, almost ten,” Bokuto told her. 

“Ten months! That’s nearly a year!” Asami huffed. “Nana let us meet her husband almost immediately.” 

“I know, it just never seemed like the right time.”

“It’s my fault,” Akaashi insisted, earning him a look from Bokuto. “I was really nervous to meet you both and Koutarou-kun didn’t want me to be uncomfortable.” 

“Well, has Kotarou met your parents?”

“Ah, no,” Akaashi said, looking away. “My parents… No.” 

Asami’s eyes narrowed and Akaashi was sure she could see right through him. Despite her lack of magical abilities, it felt just like it had when his father read his mind. 

“Is there something wrong with your parents?”

“It’s nothing like that,” Akaashi swallowed. “They disagree with my life choices… They’re…” Akaashi searched for a lie that would be close to the truth. “Classist. They wanted me to marry someone of the same class and they wanted me to take over the family business, but I didn’t want that so I left home to move here. That’s when I met Koutarou-kun.”

“How did you two meet?” Morihiko asked, luckily keeping Asami from asking more about Akaashi’s parents. 

“Well, I was at work and Koutarou-kun came in to try and buy something but forgot his wallet,” Akaashi smiled at the memory, but the smile faded when Asami rolled her eyes. 

“Koutarou, did you really bother someone at work like that?”

“It wasn’t a bother,” Akaashi cut in. “He came back to pay later. Then, later on, he came back to buy something else and I realized someone had attacked him so I started walking him home, just to be safe.” 

“Koutarou, are you really back to getting into fights?” Asami frowned. “I keep thinking you’ll grow out of that.” 

Akaashi was taken aback at the comment and at the coldness of her voice. When Bokuto shrunk in on himself, he felt guilty for bringing it up. He just never thought that hearing someone hurt their son would make a parent disappointed. 

“It wasn’t like that,” Akaashi insisted. “They were trying to rob him. Later on, they tried it again, but I scared them off.” 

“Oh, so you get into fights too?”

“Akaashi isn’t like that!” Bokuto said, “He was protecting me!” 

“Isn’t this just–what was his name?–Konoha-kun again?” Akaashi was confused by that statement and turned to look at Bokuto, only to find him turned back in on himself. “You just keep finding new boys to fight your battles.” 

“Konoha didn’t fight my battles,” Bokuto said, not sounding certain of his statement, “Neither does Akaashi.” 

“Koutarou-kun didn’t ask for my help,” Akaashi insisted. “I offered. I wanted to help. I’m really not much of a fighter, to be honest, but I know some self-defense.” Akaashi bit his lip, his foot tapping under the table in rhythm with Bokuto’s leg bouncing. “And, either way, I got to spend more time with Koutarou-kun. He changed my life so much. Without him, I wouldn’t have learned how to be happy.” 

“I see…” Asami said, their food finally arriving and giving them a few moments without being interrogated. 

“So, what is it you do, Akaashi-kun?” Morihiko asked and Akaashi felt his head go back underwater. 

“I work at my uncle’s antique store. He had a heart attack and so I moved to the city to take care of the business while he recovered. Now, we work together.” 

“That hardly seems like a stable job,” Morihiko’s voice was even and yet biting. “It doesn’t sound very stressful, either. Why’d your uncle have a heart attack?” 

Akaashi didn’t know what to say to that, anger and confusion wrestling for control of his mind. 

“Our… Umm… Our store is known… It’s frequented by high-end antique dealers,” Akaashi tried to explain. “And, well, you don’t need to be under stress to have a heart attack. But, my uncle was under some stress because he was involved with looking for my aunt, his wife.” 

“Excuse me?”

“My aunt went missing under suspicious circumstances when I was little. He’s never stopped looking for her, even while raising their daughter on his own.” 

The table fell silent, Morihiko seemingly unwilling to cede any of the ground he’d claimed while also knowing he had no way of moving forward. 

“This is good pork,” Asami said, indicating her food as if nothing had happened. “Koutarou, don’t play with your food.” 

Akaashi looked over and found Bokuto was trying to inconspicuously remove the walnuts from his salad.

“Oh, thanks,” Akaashi said, his voice strained. “You’re so sweet to think of me.” He turned to look at Asami. “I love walnuts so Koutarou-kun always lets me eat his.” 

Despite the possibility of harsh punishments for lying to his parents, Akaashi had learned early how important that skill was. He’d gotten pretty good at it over the years, especially since his mother was a master at spotting lies. 

“Quit it with all the lying,” Asami shot back, obviously better at catching a liar than Akaashi Naoko. Or maybe Akaashi had never actually been good at lying and his mother had been humoring him. “Koutarou did you tell him to do this for you?”

“He didn’t tell me anything,” Akaashi insisted. “I’m sorry, I just didn’t want you to be angry with him.” 

“Koutarou, what did you say about us to make him so scared of us?” 

“I didn’t–”

“I mean, really, you wait ten months to introduce us and then act like we’re the bad guys the whole time we’re here.”

“It’s not–”

“Stop trying to interrupt me,” Asami snapped and Bokuto flinched. “You need to quit acting like we are the villains. We’ve never done anything but support and care for you and look how ungrateful you still are.”

“I need a smoke,” Bokuto announced, standing and hurrying off despite the fact that Akaashi knew he didn’t smoke. 

“Disgusting,” Asami said. “He’s smoking now?” 

“I should– Umm… I need to use the bathroom,” Akaashi said as he stood and hurried off, leaving Asami and Morihiko to probably talk about how rude he was. 

After asking a waiter where the smoking area was and being pointed to a balcony, Akaashi found Bokuto wasn’t there. He wasn’t in the bathroom either and so, finally, he headed out to the front of the restaurant. There, on the steps outside, Bokuto was sitting with his face in his lap and his arms wrapped around his knees. 

“Koutarou,” Akaashi said softly, sitting next to him. “Hey, I’m here.” 

“I knew this would be a mess,” Bokuto said, his voice shaky from crying. “I’m a useless idiot.”

“If anyone was useless it was me,” Akaashi said, putting a hand on Bokuto’s arm. “Koutarou, this wasn’t your fault.” 

Bokuto turned his head a little to look at Akaashi, “You heard what they said. It’s all right. I just let people fight my battles. I never told you, but my first SO was Konoha-kun. We dated in high school and he did fight my battles for me. If I hadn’t been so fucked up, we might have stayed together. If I couldn’t even stay with Konoha-kun, how can I expect you to stay?” 

“Koutarou, I don’t care if you’re fucked up,” Akaashi told him honestly. “I mean, I’m pretty fucked up too.”

“But–”

“Bokuto. Koutarou. Kou. I love you,” Akaashi said, “I’m not going to stop loving you if I can help it.” 

Akaashi put an arm around Bokuto’s shoulders, pulling him close to his side as Bokuto let his head fall onto Akaashi’s shoulder. He let go of his knees and Akaashi reached out to intertwine their fingers.

“I really, really love you, Akaashi,” Bokuto said quietly. “I don’t want to mess this up.” 

“You’re not going to mess this up any more than I will,” Akaashi told him. “I mean, I’ve done my best to mess this up and yet we’re still together. If you need me to tell you I love you every day, I’ll do it because it’s true and I never want you to feel unloved.” 

“Me too,” Bokuto said. “I mean, that I would do the same for you.”

“You already do, Kou,” Akaashi said. “You tell me you love me every day, even when you don’t say it out loud. You wake up early to make me coffee. You come to the shop and talk to customers when I’m too tired to. You let me be quiet when I need to be quiet and you talk to me when I need something to listen to that isn’t my own thoughts. I love you, Bokuto Koutarou, I love you so much.” Akaashi bit his lip. “Ten months is too fast to propose, I think, but if I were a little more confident, I’d ask you to marry me right now.” 

Bokuto’s mouth hanging open a little as he looked at Akaashi, “Wait… you want to marry me?”

“I mean, I’m not officially proposing or anything. I don’t even have a ring,” Akaashi insisted. “I just mean that if you like the idea, then maybe we should talk about the possibility of us getting married at some point.” 

Bokuto laughed, sounding in disbelief, “You’re really something else, Keiji.” 

Despite Akaashi using a nickname for Bokuto only moments before, hearing his first name made his cheeks go red. 

“I don’t know what you mean by that.”

“You say you’re not very confident, but you just proposed to me.”

“It wasn’t an official proposal!” 

“Still,” he said with a smile, his eyes still watery, but his crying finished. “And, of course, I want to marry you if you were to ask me to marry you.” 

Akaashi smiled and looked at the ground, leaning further into Bokuto. After a moment, he chuckled and Bokuto made a questioning noise. 

“Konoha-san, really?”

“Huh?”

“You don’t really seem like his type.” 

Bokuto blinked and then started to laugh, sitting up straighter for a moment before doubling over to continue laughing. 

“I guess not,” he agreed through the ends of his laughter. “We should probably go back inside.”

“Probably,” Akaashi said, leaning over to kiss Bokuto. “I love you.”

He’d said those words a lot more recently and, somehow, he found they didn’t lose their meaning with each utterance as he’d kind of expected they would. Instead, each time Akaashi told Bokuto that he loved him, Akaashi found the feeling grew stronger and he found himself wanting to shout the words at the top of his lungs. 

“I love you, too.”

And those words, that response, grew more powerful every time Bokuto said it to him and it made Akaashi feel strong, happy, and loved in a way he wasn’t sure he’d ever felt before. 

He loved Bokuto and Bokuto loved him and nobody could ever change that.

Chapter Text

They were able to keep Bokuto Asami and Morihiko away for less than a month. After Nana visited and let Bokuto and Akaashi know that the Bokutos wanted to visit, they knew it was inevitable. Still, Akaashi thought they’d be able to hold them off until Nana could come along too.

But Asami and Morihiko didn’t really care what Bokuto and Akaashi wanted, so they would be coming without Nana. Not even Bokuto’s brother could come, which might have helped a little. 

Akaashi wished one of them could have come because for as much as he understood what it was like to have shitty parents, he wasn’t really an expert on how to deal with them. The only reason his parents had stopped pestering him to come home after all this time was because of Shouyou. 

But for as much as Nana and Akaashi had tried to plan for this arrival, Bokuto had told them both not to worry so much. He posited that Morihiko and Asami would be so busy fawning over Shouyou that they wouldn’t have time to nitpick Bokuto. 

Akaashi didn’t think that logic was totally sound, but it wasn’t like they had much choice.

Apart from the issues with the visit, there was the added issue that many of the Bokutos shared: magic sensitivity. Bokuto and Nana got their magic sensitivity from their mother. Much like when Nana visited, Akaashi decided the best plan was just to heavily charm Shouyou. And, because it would be a stressful situation, himself. 

On the day they were visiting, Bokuto woke up even earlier than he already did to start cleaning and organizing. Bokuto wasn’t a dirty person, but he also wasn’t a neat person, so the anxious cleaning was out of character even if it wasn’t unexpected. By the time Akaashi was feeding Shouyou breakfast, the house was already spotless, but Bokuto continued cleaning. 

“Kou,” Akaashi spoke up after watching Bokuto start scrubbing at a stain on a counter that had been there since them moved in. “You don’t have to impress them. You don’t owe them anything.”

Bokuto stopped scrubbing and sighed, putting the cloth down.

“I know…”

Akaashi wanted to push harder to make Bokuto feel better, but Shouyou was currently crawling out of the kitchen and into the living room, forcing Akaashi to follow. From the moment Shouyou started walking, they’d learned that what they’d thought was too much baby proofing wasn’t enough. 

“Let’s play with Shou-chan,” Akaashi offered. “Try to take your mind off of them.”

Bokuto nodded and followed Akaashi and Shouyou into the living room, where Shouyou was already making a beeline for the couch. He loved pulling himself to a standing position on the couch. Half the time, he would let go and fall backwards almost immediately, giving Akaashi a heart attack every time. 

Akaashi and Bokuto sat on the ground behind Shouyou, both ready to catch him if he was going to fall onto his head instead of his butt.

“I want them to love him,” Bokuto said quietly. 

“They will,” Akaashi reassured. “How could they not?”

“If they don’t, I don’t know why I would care.” 

Bokuto was obviously doing his best to keep his tone relatively light so that Shouyou wouldn’t notice the shift in their mood, but Akaashi could see how stiff Bokuto’s shoulders were. 

Bokuto didn’t breakdown very often—Akaashi was pretty sure he had breakdowns a lot more often—and he hadn’t had one in a while, but just from his rigid shoulders, Akaashi could tell there was a good chance that was where the day was going to end. 

“I think I want them to love him because I know they’ll never love me.” Bokuto smiled bitterly, looking like he was about to cry. “If they love him, then maybe they’ll think I was worth it.” 

Akaashi didn’t know what to say. He could understand what Bokuto meant—oh, he understood all too well—and yet he had no idea what to say. 

He felt like he was drowning, but also like he needed to scream and shout. He wanted to tell Bokuto that his parents didn’t deserve such a large place in his heart. He wanted to tell Bokuto that he didn’t need their love because they didn’t deserve him love. He wanted to tell Bokuto that they should just not answer the door when they came. 

But Akaashi knew that was unreasonable. It was because he understood Bokuto so well that he knew saying they weren’t worth his concern wouldn’t do anything. Akaashi hated his parents and they hated him and yet there was still part of him that imagined he could still win their love.

And, he thought it might be worse for Bokuto because Akaashi was pretty sure his parents didn’t hate him. They were detached and overly critical. They thought their children should be a prize to show off to the world. They thought Bokuto had disappointed then. But Akaashi still didn’t think they hated him. He thought that they thought they loved him. He thought that in their eyes they were showing Bokuto loved.

It didn’t excuse their actions, but he thought it explained them and he was sure Bokuto was all to aware of all that and that gave him hope. 

Akaashi had no hope left for his parents and he still craved their love. Bokuto, though, had hope and that had to make the lack of love hurt even worse.

“Don’t let them get to you too much,” Akaashi finally settled on, reaching out to hold Bokuto’s hand. “I know that’s easier said than done, but… Well, whether or not they love you isn’t… What I mean is…” Akaashi groaned, wishing he knew what to say. “You have people who love you and we’re all here for you.”

Shouyou tipped backwards and fell onto his butt. It sounded like a hard fall, but he didn’t seem fazed by it, just turning and crawling towards one of his toys. 

“Thanks, Keiji,” Bokuto said with a small smile. “And—”

Bokuto was cut off by their doorbell ringing, the faint smile leaving his face as quickly as it came. 

Bokuto stood, looking like he was going to war, and Akaashi found himself frozen. On one hand, he thought he should stay here with Shouyou, but on the other he wanted to be with Bokuto. And he worried that Asami and Morihiko would be offended if he didn’t greet them at the door. Shouyou could still be a bit nervous around strangers, but he did better when he wasn’t forced to greet them at the door, so Akaashi didn’t want to bring Shouyou with him if he followed Bokuto. 

Akaashi wanted to help. He wanted to help so badly, but he was so bad at it. He was good at helping when the problem was Bokuto’s mind or even his job, but when it came to Bokuto’s parents, he felt out of his depth. 

“Kou,” Akaashi voice was almost breathy as he spoke, feeling out of breath. “What do you want me to do? Should I stay here or go with you?”

“Come with me?”

“Okay,” Akaashi responded, glancing at Shouyou. He was very intent on a toy at the moment and he thought a minute or so away would be okay. “Let’s go.”

At the front door were, just as expected, Bokuto Asami and Morihiko. 

Morihiko looked as stoic and distant as Akaashi remember him. His black hair had more gray and his face had more wrinkled, but both things just made him look more intimidating. 

Much like her husband, Asami looked mostly the same. She had more wrinkles, but it was hard to say if her hair had changed. Since she had the same hair as Nana and Koutarou, it was nearly impossible to tell from a distance whether or not it was graying. 

“Hello,” Bokuto said, bowing his head slightly. “Thank you for coming.”

“Well, it’s about time we meet our newest grandchild,” Asami huffed. “I can’t believe you tried to keep him a secret.”

“We weren’t keeping him a secret,” Bokuto insisted. “Onē-chan said she explained.”

“She told us you kept him a secret from her too.”

“No,” Bokuto said, getting a little agitated even though his tone was still deferential. “Shouyou is actually Keiji’s nephew. His brother and sister-in-law passed away suddenly and Keiji was the one his brother left Shouyou to.” 

“Oh, I guess I remember that,” Asami said. “Well, where is he?”

“He’s in the living room,” Akaashi said. “He’s a little shy around strangers. Okā-san, you look like Kou and Nana-san, so he’ll probably be okay with you. Otō-san, he might be afraid of you at first, but he’ll warm up.” 

They walked to the living room to find Shouyou had, again, pulled himself up using the couch.

“You left him alone?” Asami raised an eyebrow at them and making both Akaashi and Bokuto flush. 

“Normally we wouldn’t,” Akaashi said, knowing it just sounded like an excuse to her. 

Shouyou tried to turn to look at the new voices and fell. Like before, it was a hard fall onto his butt. He turned, ready to crawl towards them, but stopped short when he noticed the strangers. 

“Na-Na-Na,” Shouyou babbled, looking at Asami. 

“No, this is Obā-san,” Akaashi corrected. 

“My, my, you are quite cute. How old did you say he was?”

“Around 8-months.”

“He’s small. Are you feeding him properly?”

“He was born small,” Akaashi explained. “The doctor says it’s nothing to worry about.” 

“Hayato-kun was small when he was a baby,” Morihiko commented, making it the first thing he said since they arrived. 

Akaashi and Bokuto’s similarities didn’t end with their overbearing mothers. They also, unfortunately, had the pleasure of having distance yet critical fathers. 

His speaking got Shouyou’s attention, but unfortunately, Akaashi’s warning rung true because his smile faded and he froze. 

Akaashi walked over and picked him up. “That’s your Ojī-san. You don’t need to be afraid of him.” 

“Let me hold him,” Asami said. 

Akaashi hesitated, worry about scaring Shouyou filling his head. There as the usual worry—he didn’t want Shouyou to be upset if he didn’t have to be—but that was compounded by the fact that strong negative emotions could affect Magics a lot when they were young. While Akaashi’s ability made all his emotions could be dangerous, for Shouyou, that likely wouldn’t be the case. Most young Magics, though, had at least one instant of being scared or angry and having their ability activate. 

“Well? What are you waiting for?”

Akaashi reasoned that Shouyou seemed okay with Asami, so he passed him over. 

At first, Akaashi was worried Shouyou was going to start crying as he squirmed around. But, finally, he seemed to decide Asami was okay and he just looked at her. Almost as soon as he’d calmed down, Shouyou tried to grab Asami’s hair. Asami raised her hand to swat his hand away and next to him, Akaashi saw Bokuto flinch and he wondered if there were things about Bokuto’s childhood that he didn’t know. 

“How about Ojī-san now?” Asami asked, already started to pass Shouyou off.

Before Akaashi could voice his own concerns, Bokuto reached out and took Shouyou.

“That’s not a good idea. He’ll start crying.”

“You know, it’s good to let kids cry,” Asami said, frowning. “You can’t always give into what they want.”

“He’s a baby,” Bokuto said. “He cries because he doesn’t feel safe being held by strangers. I don’t want him to feel safe being held by a stranger.” 

“Don’t use that tone,” Morihiko said and Bokuto flinched again, pulling Shouyou close to him. 

“Why don’t we let Shou-chan play?” Akaashi proposed, putting on the brightest tone he could manage. “If you play near him, he’ll get more comfortable.”

“Alright,” Asami agreed, everyone taking a seat on the floor. Asami looked around for a handful of seconds before looking back at Bokuto and Akaashi. “You should baby-proof better. I mean, look how sharp the coffee table corners are.”

“We have corner covers coming in the mail,” Akaashi informed her. “We haven’t had him for very long and since it was quite sudden, we’re still getting all the things we need.”

“You don’t need to be snippy. You know, you used to be so polite. What happened to you?”

“I don’t think anything happened,” Akaashi said, doing his best not to grit his teeth. “Maybe I’m just a little tired. We have a baby now.”

“You know, when Hayato-kun was born, Koutarou-kun was six and Nana-chan was nine, but I still managed to be pleasant.” 

“Don’t talk to Keiji like that,” Bokuto said, his voice low, but angry. Akaashi was pretty sure he’d never heard or seen Bokuto anywhere close to as angry as he was now. 

“Like what, exactly?”

“You can talk down to me all day, but don’t do it to Keiji.” 

“Talk down— Koutarou-kun, I’m offended. I’m not talking down to you.” 

If her tone had been angry, Akaashi thought this might be easier to deal with. But she sounded so dismissive that he didn’t know what to say. She was so much like his mother, always dismissing the things he said as silly. 

Shouyou crawled over to Bokuto and his stormy expression dissolved. He smiled at Shouyou, picking him up above his head and making Shouyou laugh. 

“Shouyou is pretty sensitive,” Bokuto said, pulling him into a hug. “So why don’t we… Let’s just not talk.” 

Akaashi expected Asami and Morihiko to argue—it looked like they wanted to—but in the end, they didn’t say anything, everyone’s attention on Shouyou instead. 

It wouldn’t be a good day, but at least it might be bearable. 

---

“Kou…”

Akaashi spoke softly when he returned to their bedroom after putting Shouyou to sleep. He wasn’t sure if Bokuto had fallen asleep or not. He doubted it, but he also didn’t want to wake him up if Bokuto had managed to fall asleep.

Asami and Morihiko had stayed the entire day, only leaving after dinner when they were told it was Shouyou’s bedtime. After a remark about seven being too late to start getting him ready for bed, they’d left. 

Normally, they would start Shouyou’s nighttime routine around six so they could get him in bed around seven, but it was nearly seven when Asami and Morihiko left. Akaashi wanted to tell them that, but he’d been too tired to possibly start an argument. 

Once they left, Akaashi told Bokuto to get ready for bed and that he would take care of Shouyou. Akaashi was sure that if he was exhausted, Bokuto had to be even worse off.

Now, in their room almost an hour after he told him to lay down, Bokuto rolled over to look at Akaashi, his eyes red and watery. 

“Kou,” he repeated, laying down next to Bokuto and pulling him into a hug. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m fine,” Bokuto said quietly. “I’m really okay.”

“You don’t have to be okay.”

“But I am. It’s nothing new, so I don’t know why— I wish—”

Bokuto took a sharp, shaky breath and Akaashi tightened his embrace, not sure what else to do. 

“Do you think they liked him?” Bokuto asked, his voice small and nearly inaudible. 

“I think they loved him,” Akaashi said truthfully. “Who wouldn’t?”

“I couldn’t stop thinking— I remembered Suga joking about Shouyou being my biological son because he already seems so much like me. It was one of the days Shouyou was being especially noisy. I couldn’t stop thinking that that was like me and that if he was too much like me, my parents would hate him too. That teachers would hate him. That his future teammates or club mates might hate him.”

“Koutarou.” Akaashi ran a hand through Bokuto’s hair before starting to rub his back. “I don’t know what the right things to say is, but I want you to know that plenty of people don’t hate you. The people who matter don’t hate you. And anyone who doesn’t like you isn’t worth your time. And the same goes for Shou-chan. If someone decides they don’t like him because he’s noisy or excitable or friendly, they’re missing out. If someone decides they don’t like you because you’re noisy or excitable or friendly, they’re missing out too.

“I love you, Koutarou. Quirks, flaws, and all. Just like you love me, flaws and all.”

“I want this to be easier.”

“Me too.”

“I don’t want them to hurt me.”

“Me neither.”

“But they still do.”

“I haven’t talked to my parents in almost 3 months now, and the things they’ve said still hurt. They shouldn’t be able to hurt us, but they can and they do. That’s not our fault, it’s theirs.”

Bokuto was still crying quietly into Akaashi’s shirt, but he seemed to run out of words. When Akaashi was in this state, he usually like for Bokuto to tell him stories to fill up the space in his mind enough to stop him from thinking. For Bokuto, though, Akaashi knew at some point he just needed quiet. 

They stayed like that, quiet and exhausted, for what felt like a long time before they both fell asleep, Akaashi refusing to let go and Bokuto cuddled as close to him as he could manage. 

Chapter Text

It was a quiet night. Shouyou was staying with Oikawa and Iwaizumi for the night so that Bokuto and Akaashi could have a well-deserved night off. 

They’d tried to make plans, to do things they didn’t get to do anymore, but they instead ended up laying in bed, too exhausted to do much of anything. Currently, they were cuddled close together, looking at their respective phones. 

“Kuroo-kun and Kenma are having a get-together with their high school teammates,” Bokuto said. “You still haven’t met most of them, right?”

“Somehow. Don’t they live in the city?”

“A lot of them moved away.” Bokuto paused before showing Akaashi his phone. “This is us in high school.”

The photo looked like it was from Bokuto’s third year of high school and had both his team and Kuroo and Kenma’s team along with some people in uniforms Akaashi didn’t recognize. 

“Who’re they?” Akaashi asked, pointing to two people from Kuroo and Kenma’s team. 

“Oh, I’ve told you about them. That Lev and that’s Yaku-kun.”

Akaashi thought hard, trying to remember when they talked about them. The names sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place them.

“We talked about them?” 

"I think I told you a story about when Yakkun came to visit and he had a cat with him that he'd named Lev." Bokuto paused and then pulled his phone back to type out a message. 

"Is something up?"

"I just realized that I don't know how many of Kuroo and Kenma's friends are Magics." Bokuto obviously got an answer because he called Kuroo. 

"Bokuto, why are you calling me?" Kuroo answered. "I thought this was your first night alone in a while."

"It is. Keiji is right here. I needed to ask this."

"What?"

"Remember that time Yakkun visited and he had a cat with him that he called Lev?"

"Oh yeah," Kuroo said, laughing. "You nearly learned about Magics because Yaku was so annoyed."

"Was Lev the cat?"

Kuroo cackled. "Lev! Yaku! Should I explain why Yaku nearly killed Lev for turning into a cat or so one of you?"

Even Akaashi was surprised by the story. Shapeshifting was an incredibly uncommon ability and even when it occurred, full-form shape-shifting was even rarer. 

Apparently, Lev had this rare ability and it allowed him to do things like change into animals. The problem was, his magic reserves were low so when he changed shape, he couldn't shift back until he restored his energy.

The time in question, Lev had apparently changed into a cat to impress a girl, but when it didn't work, he was stuck as a cat with nowhere to go. He was able to get to Yaku's place and, after figuring out how to communicate, Lev explained his plight. Yaku was pissed that he'd do something so stupid and then had to spend a week caring for Cat-Lev. 

"That's insane," Bokuto laughed when Kuroo finished the story. "Magic really is crazy."

"I hope Lev-san didn't do anything like that again."

"Oh, he still does," Kuroo laughed. "It's a wonder that Yaku hasn't dumped him at this point."

"Wait, since when are they dating?"

"Huh? Oh, well they dated in high school but broke up. They started dating again not long after the story from before.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously.” Kuroo snorted. “Now, I'm hanging up, so go back to spending time with your husband."

"Okay. Have a good night." Bokuto closed his eyes, sighing as he dropped his phone. "Magic is weird."

"It is," Akaashi agreed. 

"Why didn't Kuroo ever tell me about magic?"

"I can't speak for Kuroo-san, but I know my sect doesn't believe in telling Modes unless they're sensitives. And even then, it's only if they can make use of the sensitives. That's why I was always worried about you meeting my parents. I thought they'd try to use you. There were a lot of times I thought about telling you. At first, I could never find the right time. Then… I think I was scared you would be angry that I lied, so I kept not telling you. When I went home for the meeting about Shou-chan, I was planning to tell you. Then Shou-chan happened and I guess I was worried it would be too much at once.

"But everyone has their own reasons for keeping the secret. Iwaizumi-san only knows because Oikawa-san broke their parents' rules. Suga-san didn't like talking about Magic for a long time because of what happened to him. But in sects like the Date sect, everyone knows." 

“You know I’m not angry you didn’t tell me,” Bokuto said, opening his eyes as he turned to look at Akaashi. 

“I—” Akaashi didn’t know what to say because, honestly, part of him had always worried Bokuto resented him for keeping magic a secret for so long. He knew it was an irrational worry, but it was nice to hear Bokuto actually contradict it. “Thank you.”

Bokuto leaned over and kissed Akaashi on the cheek before going back to his phone, Akaashi following suit.

After a few minutes, Bokuto burst out laughing, the sudden sound startling Akaashi enough to make him jump.

“Sorry,” Bokuto said through laughter. “But you have to watch this.”

Bokuto handed Akaashi his phone, restarting the video he was watching. It was of a pink squeaky toy—probably a dog toy. Someone was bouncing it slowly into frame and Akaashi couldn’t fathom what was so funny about the video. 

When it reached the center of the frame, the person turned it to ‘look’ at the camera and, after a long pause, hit it hard against the table, the video cutting to an explosion. 

Like Bokuto, a manic laugh escaped Akaashi. It was so unexpected and strange, that he found himself unable to stop laugh. 

“What is this?” Akaashi asked, failing to stop laughing. 

“I don’t know,” Bokuto said. “Konoha sent it to me.” 

Bokuto replayed the video, this time turning up the volume and revealing that it was somehow even funnier with the sound on. 

Maybe it was because they were tired or maybe the video was genuinely funny. Either way, Bokuto and Akaashi watched the video more times than Akaashi cared to count, falling further and further into hysterical laughter. Instead of the humor wearing off, it only seem to grow and they finally turned the video off because neither of them could breath. 

“It’s so stupid,” Akaashi managed to complain. “It’s not funny.” 

“Then why are you laughing?”

“I don’t know.” 

It took a long time for their laughter to peter out and by then, they were both in tears. Akaashi’s sides hurt from all the laughing and all he could do was collapse further into Bokuto’s side. 

“It’s been a while,” Akaashi said.

“A while?”

“Since we laughed like that.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Bokuto agreed, putting his chin on the top Akaashi’s head. “But I think Shouyou will make us laugh a lot more in the future.”

“You’re probably right.” Akaashi took Bokuto’s hand, holding it tightly. 

Bokuto gave Akaashi’s hand a squeeze and they both fell silent. It was still early, but it wasn’t long before they were drifting off to sleep. 

It hadn’t been an exciting night and they hadn’t done much of anything, but Akaashi wouldn’t trade it for anything because, at the end of the day, all he needed was to be with the person who, on good days made him laugh until he cried and on made days made him laugh when all he wanted to do was cry.

“Kou,” Akaashi murmured, half asleep. “I love being with you.”