Chapter Text
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The only sound in the now empty office is Akaashi tapping away at his computer.
He can barely contain a yawn as he takes off his glasses and rubs at his bleary eyes.
He looks down at the watch on his wrist. It’s past midnight already.
Looks like it’ll be a cab ride today as well.
Akaashi taps away some more, typing up some emails to send to the writers and have them rework on their articles. If they do as he says, the articles would be ready by Monday morning.
But as for him, he leans back in his chair, sighing.
He was done with editing for the week. And more importantly, he was done for the night.
Akaashi stretches as he stands, his back and neck feeling sore.
He packs up his things, turns off his computer and heads out of the office.
Finally.
Akaashi walks down the hall past other offices, towards the elevator doors.
He hears what sounds like footsteps and thumping, yet he remains unfazed.
Everyone who works at the building had heard the rumors of ghosts haunting the place. Akaashi was skeptical when he first started his job there, but every night that he stayed late by himself he heard the noises and felt the presence of something or someone other than him.
At this point it was just routine.
Konoha would call him crazy for being brave enough to stay calm when ghosts were all around him.
But what could the ghosts even do to Akaashi? They were dead.
He enters the elevator and checks his messages on his phone.
It was only his mother asking when he would come down to visit them again.
Akaashi began to type out a message.
‘Soon’, he sends.
But he was aware he’s been saying that for a couple of weeks now.
It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy spending time with his family.
It seemed more like the other way around actually.
Akaashi could never say that though, his parents would feign ignorance of their behavior if he said so.
The elevator finally stops and Akaashi can finally leave the stuffy building behind him.
He looks around and finds it surprising to see that it’s actually pretty barren outside. Not many cars or people around.
Still he goes to stand at a taxi stop, although none seem to be coming his way anytime soon.
His stomach grumbles, and it sounds so much louder when there’s no people chattering or cars passing by. Akaashi had forgotten to eat dinner, he had told himself he’d remember after he finished editing that one article on astrology. But it was a really entertaining read...
He didn’t like the idea of eating late but maybe a snack wouldn’t hurt.
As Akaashi made up his mind to try and find a vending machine, a red taxi comes onto the street and makes its way to where he stands. Akaashi waits in place as it stops and the right backseat door opens to let him in.
He enters and greets the driver politely before giving him his address.
“No problem! We’ll be there soon!”,
Akaashi was a bit taken aback at how bright and cheery the driver seemed at this hour.
Maybe it’d been a slow night. It looked like it was one, anyways, Akaashi thinks.
From where Akaashi sat he could only make out the profile of his driver.
Akaashi cocks his head curiously at the driver’s uniform. A red taxi driver cap, a sleeveless red and white collared shirt, and as for pants Akaashi couldn’t really make them out.
Akaashi turns his head to look out the window.
Strange but probably not the strangest thing he’s ever seen, he thinks.
The ride continues peacefully and Akaashi is lost in thought before his stomach rumbles loudly once again.
The driver hadn’t turned on the radio at all, so it was completely audible.
Akaashi curses his stomach.
The driver, however, didn’t seem to mind.
“Oh! Are you hungry? I’ve got some onigiris if you want some? I bought them just a bit before I saw you standing on the side waiting for a cab”,The driver offers.
“Oh, no thank you. I appreciate the sentiments but I couldn’t”,
“You can! Don’t worry about it, here”,The driver reaches over to the passenger seat with one hand and then offers a fresh onigiri to him. Unwrapped and newly bought as he had said.
Akaashi still couldn’t find it in him to take the onigiri...although it looked tempting. After all, he probably bought it for himself.
“No really, I couldn’t. I’m quite alright, really”,Akaashi insists.
The driver shakes his head.
“How can you be alright, Akaashi? You’ve been working hard and really late, you need to eat”,the driver tells him.
“Thank you for your concern, but-”,Akaashi stops, realizing. “Wait”,
The driver seems confused as he keeps driving.
“Yes?”,
“How’d you know my name?”,Akaashi questions.
Akaashi may be half asleep right now but he’s positive he hadn’t told the driver his name, not even when he had greeted him earlier. And he definitely wore no visible identification on him like a name tag.
Akaashi, now on guard, looks at the driver with narrowed eyes.
For a moment the driver seems nervous, tapping at the steering wheel with his fingers.
“Oh! Uh...well...you know...Lucky guess! Isn’t that amazing? Usually I never get it right, but this time I did”,
Akaashi doesn’t buy it, and his face makes it clear.
“I would like to get off here please. Or I will dial the police, you stalker”,Akaashi tells him. A stalker is the last thing he needs to deal with tonight.
The driver quickly tries to explain himself.
“Hold on! This isn’t like that at all, I swear!”,
Akaashi’s still not buying it.
“It seems I wasn’t clear enough. I’d like to get off here. Now”,Akaashi tells him seriously.
The driver’s seatbelt is clicked off and he lets go of the steering wheel to face Akaashi in the backseat.
Yellow, owl-like round eyes on a handsome face stare back at Akaashi.
“Really! If you wanna know the truth, my name is Bokuto Koutarou and well...I’m your Cupid~!”,Bokuto announces with jazz hands and a smile.
Akaashi is concerned about the statement but not more so than the fact that they were going to crash if Bokuto didn’t start steering!
“Please focus on driving, we’re going to crash!”,Akaashi tells him.
Bokuto, however, seems unbothered.
“Crash? Pft. Don’t worry, Akaashi, we’re not gonna crash. I was never driving this thing in the first place”,Bokuto looks over at the steering wheel behind him, it was moving by itself, the car itself also hadn't gone off course and seemed automatic. Automatic or...by magic…
Akaashi rubs at his eyes.
“I need to go home”,he simply says.
“You will, don’t worry about that. But did you hear what I said? About me being your cupid?”,
“Yes. I heard. But Bokuto-san with all due respect I think I will get off here”,
Bokuto frowns.
“You don’t believe me do you?”,
“I frankly find it hard to believe anything that’s occurring right now”,
“Ah! Maybe you don’t know what a Cupid is?”,Bokuto asks calmly as if Akaashi wasn’t losing his mind right now.
Was he being pranked?
He has to say he did enjoy prank shows sometimes.
Is this his moment to shine and star in one?
Or had Akaashi simply passed out in the office after so many all-nighters and this bizarre dream was the result? Perhaps he should have heeded Konoha’s advice and taken it easy, at least today, it was Friday after all.
At least with the thought that this was all a dream, Akaashi’s nerves settled a little. It definitely all lined up, if he thought about it, the streets were never so empty when Akaashi left work, no matter how late it was. This driver and this cab both seemed like something out of a dream as well.
With this, Akaashi finds himself responding to Bokuto’s question.
“Is that not the Roman god of love?”,it was hard not to know who Cupid was. The god is often portrayed as a young boy with angel wings carrying a bow and arrow with him. His image was seen the most during holidays such as White Day and Valentine’s Day.
“Oooh, you know your stuff”,Bokuto nods,”That’s The Cupid. Sir Cupid. Boss Cupid, if you will. I’m more of an underling. You know how Santa Claus has elves? I’m like an elf of love. Though not as short, those guys are real small, let me tell you”,As he explains, Akaashi finds he understands and yet he doesn't. It made sense. It was just unreal.
That’s how dream logic is sometimes, though, Akaashi thinks to himself nodding as Bokuto continues.
“Cupid himself made Cupids to take over a lot of his work and duties. Not that he couldn’t do all of it himself, but he liked the idea of having lots of “angels of love” as he calls us”.
Akaashi’s stomach growls.
He thinks about the onigiri Bokuto had offered earlier.
It sounds really good now.
“Bokuto-san, may I have the onigiri you offered earlier?”,
Bokuto stops to get it and hands it to him.
“Yeah, go ahead! So anyways-”,
Akaashi unwraps the onigiri and bites into it. Maybe it was the hunger but he swore he’s never had a better onigiri in his entire life.
Dream food sure hits his taste buds differently.
He feels peaceful as he chews and listens to Bokuto.
“Every Cupid’s assigned a different human every once in a while. And I happened to be assigned to you! So as your Cupid it is my duty to find you love. Ain’t that great, Akaashi?”,Bokuto asks with a big smile.
So good, Akaashi thinks as he nods and finishes the onigiri, he wonders if Bokuto had more. He’s pretty sure, Bokuto mentioned more than one. This onigiri was heaven and he wants more.
He’s not sure if Bokuto can tell but he’s quickly offered another one by him.
Akaashi gladly takes it with a thank you and quickly unwraps it. Savoring each bite of it.
“I’m glad you think so! It’s gonna be a lot of fun working with you. You know it’s my first time back on Cupid duties in a while. I was actually on office and paperwork duties before this because of some...um...mishaps-Which! I’d like to say now, none of it was really my fault”,Bokuto says defensively, “But now that I’m being a Cupid once again I’m excited! I promise you I’ll find someone perfect for you!”,
Akaashi finishes his second onigiri and looks out the window as the cab slows down, seeing that they’ve arrived at his apartment complex.
He looks back at Bokuto who’s smiling happily at him.
“Thank you for the ride and onigiri, Bokuto-san”,it was a dream but Akaashi feels compelled to give him money, regardless, it was an interesting ride after all.
“Oh, no, don’t worry about it”,Bokuto waves off Akaashi’s offer, “As your Cupid, you get free rides from me anytime! I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”,
Akaashi merely nods as he yawns into his hand.
He waves at Bokuto who goes on his way, the red taxi disappearing into the distance.
But as it goes Akaashi can’t help but notice the tail lights are in the shape of hearts.
He blinks before turning to face his apartment complex.
What a strange dream this is...Akaashi thinks.