Chapter Text
“BOOM! I won again!”
Bokuto tossed his racquet in the air in celebration. He had just won a challenge match against the #2 player on Fukurodani’s mens tennis team, and was feeling pretty good about himself.
“Do you wanna play again? You can serve first, since you lost.”
“Nah, I’m good,” Konoha said to him. Konoha was a senior, and Bokuto could sense he was annoyed at a junior taking his spot as #1 on varsity.
“Anyway, we have a new teammate coming today, so you should rest for a bit.”
A new teammate?! The thought of someone new on the team always made Bokuto excited, though usually, they weren’t very good. Just then, Coach Takeyuki called everyone over.
“Boys! Get over here. There’s someone new I want you to meet.”
Bokuto jogged over, practically vibrating with excitement.
He peeked his head over the other guys, and gasped. It was a new teammate, and boy was he good-looking.
The boy had short black hair that was kind of wavy, navy blue eyes, and a lean but still muscular figure. Bokuto didn’t even care if he sucked, he would somehow convince the coach to put him on varsity.
He’s too damn pretty to be anywhere but where I am, Bokuto thought.
“This is Akaashi Keji.”
Everyone chanted a nice to meet you as the coach kept talking.
“Usually, I would introduce a new teammate when we have all level practice, but I wanted to introduce him to the Varsity team first, because that’s most likely where he’ll be. Tell us more about yourself, Akaashi.”
The boy called Akaashi looked around calmly.
“My names Akaashi Keji, as you know. I moved here from Karasuno, where I was number 1 junior in the country. I’m a sophomore, and excited to play for Fukurodani this year. Thank you for having me.”
He was so polite, UGHH
The coach looked back at everyone.
“Now that we have Akaashi, that means you all will be playing a few more challenge matches than we thought. I’m assuming you can get right into it, Akaashi?” He nodded.
“Good. Who would like to challenge him first?”
Bokuto’s hand shot into the air.
“Bokuto, yes. Go ahead. Everyone else, come with me so I can get who you’re playing today.
Bokuto skipped over to Akaashi and held out his hand.
“My name’s Bokuto Kotaroū! It’s super awesome to have another person on the team! Do you wanna warm up a bit before we start?”
God dammit, he’s even prettier up close.
Akaashi was only a little shorter than he was, so Bokuto could see every bit of his gorgeous eyes.
“Yeah, sure,” Akaashi muttered, eyes glancing over Bokuto’s figure.
Bokuto regularly went to the gym, so Akaashi wouldn’t be judging him, right?
Trying not to blush, Bokuto walked to the other side of the net.
Akaashi was good. Not as good as Bokuto, but he gave him a hard-ass match. Akaashi was so consistent, had perfect form, and only lost because Bokuto hit a little harder than he did. Heck, Bokuto was falling in love with just Akaashi’s play style.
They walked up to the net and shook hands, Bokuto holding onto Akaashi’s hand a little longer than was necessary.
“You’re very good, Bokuto. It was fun playing against you.” Bokuto felt like he could collapse. Both walking to the coach out of breath, Bokuto announced the score as 15-13. The coach looked a little stunned at the score, but thanked them and wrote on his clipboard.
“That’s all you need to play today, Bokuto. Akaashi, please stay here to play a match or two more.”
Akaashi nodded, and Bokuto walked over to the bench with him.
I can’t believe I’m doing this.
“Hey Akaashi, I just wanted to ask, could I get your number?”
That came out weird, oops
“Uhh-“
“-I mean! Like for the tennis group chat? We have one that’s just varsity, and I wanted to get you on it!”
“Yeah, sure.”
Bokuto handed Akaashi his phone, messing with a string on his shirt as Akaashi typed in his number.
“Thanks!” Bokuto chirped, speedwalking out to his car. He slammed the car door shut and immediately put Akaashi in the group chat, not before changing his contact name.
Contact Info
Kaashi :)
(+1)-782-****
He texted Akaashi just to make sure the number was right.
Unknown Number
Hey hey hey Akaashi! It’s Bokuto! I added you to the gc, just wanted to make sure the number was yours (*^▽^*)
Kaashi :)
This is Akaashi. Thank you.
Bokuto
Anytime! Did you wanna stay after practice tomorrow and play for a bit? Coach says we need to get to know our teammates very well
Kaashi :)
I’m down.
(Bokuto loved a message)
Bokuto couldn’t believe himself. It was Akaashi’s first day, and the coach might get pretty mad if he heard that Bokuto was making a newbie get “overworked” because he was too excited. But then again, the coach had looked pretty confident in Akaashi’s abilities.
Bokuto drove home, super excited about the new addition to the team.
Akaashi kept agreeing to play after practice with Bokuto, and he kept being a tough match, so it wasn’t surprising when the coach announced Akaashi was now #2 on the team. Bokuto wanted to laugh at Konoha’s shocked face, but shut his mouth very quickly when he shot Bokuto a very mean glare.
As Bokuto and Akaashi played, they would sign up for the same tournaments, and eventually decided to play doubles together.
Being as good and as cooperative as they were, the two climbed up state doubles ranks fast, getting nationally recognized after winning a very important doubles tournament.
“I’m here with Bokuto Kotaroū and Akaashi Keji from Fukurodani High School! These two just won the Tokyo Prefecture doubles tournament, which may set them up to play pro with their combined talent! How do you feel after winning?”
Bokuto let Akaashi talk; he was better with words. Wiping his forehead with a towel, Akaashi leaned towards the mic.
“Thank you very much for your gratitude. I think this is a very important stepping stone for the both of us. We have talked about going pro, and this will help immensely in the long run.”
Backing up, Akaashi let Bokuto speak.
“Yeah, thanks for being so nice! We’re gonna dominate the rest of the season!!”
Playing doubles with Akaashi was so exhilarating. They were a perfect match, and Akaashi definitely thought so too, by his body language. If Bokuto could play doubles with Akaashi for the rest of his life, he would. But it wasn’t like anything was stopping the both of them from going pro.
They had talked about it for many nights while doing their homework at Bokuto’s house, his older sister coming in and making jokes that they should just get married already; you spend too much time together.
Maybe they did spend too much time together, but it really helped them bond and get better at playing doubles. In Bokuto’s mind, hanging out with Akaashi had more beneficial reasons than just liking him.
——
“What should we do with this-old racquet? Does it have any meaning?”
“Yeah! I used it when I was four! It’s very special to me.”
Akaashi sighed, packing the youth racquet in a box. Bokuto had graduated two weeks ago, and they were packing to leave the area and move to Brazil. Akaashi was a model student (of course), so he had finished all his classes a year early so Bokuto would not have to wait for him.
Of course, Bokuto would be fine waiting for Akaashi any day.
They both had been accepted to play their first ever pro match in the Australian Open as doubles partners.
“This is our chance to become the best in the world!” Bokuto remembered he had yelled.
“We’ve gotta do this!”
He hadn’t fully thought ahead to exactly how they would get to Australia, but a well-paying job in a fancy restaurant helped him and Akaashi get the finances for the trip.
Moving in together was unanimous, because they already practically lived together. Aside of classes that were split by grade, they tried to spend every moment together.
Eventually even Konoha mentioned he wasn’t that mad because he would’ve felt like he was just getting in the way of Akaashi hadn’t taken his spot.
Grinning to himself, Bokuto grabbed a piece of a bed frame and tucked it in a box.
“Oh Akaashi, I can’t wait to see what our future holds!”