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“Bokuto-san!” Hinata yells at the boy beside him. “Bakageyama-mii wants a new hair colour, what do I choose?!”
“White!” Bokuto yells back, and nods approvingly to himself. “Kageyama-mii has black hair, right? Obviously, he should try white next!”
It’s far too late for them to be yelling, but among the other volleyball players bustling around Shinzen High and getting yelled at by their coaches and managers to go sleep, they blend right into the scene. The two huddle over a 3DS in the hallway as they wait their turn for the washroom. Kenma stands nearby with his PSP, inching away every time Bokuto howls with laughter.
“I’m surprised you got these guys into video games,” Kuroo says as he saunters out of the washroom. He leans his elbow on Kenma’s head. “And here I was, thinking their brain cells were just volleyballs bouncing around in their skulls.”
“Get off,” Kenma says. He attempts to shake off Kuroo’s arm without looking away from his screen. Hinata and Bokuto don't look away from their screen either — they haven't even noticed Kuroo’s exit from the washroom.
Just a few days ago, at the start of the week-long training camp, Hinata gwahhed and uwahhed at Kenma’s gameplay, then asked if he could also try gaming. Kenma lent him his 3DS and explained Tomodachi Life, telling Hinata to add whatever miis he wanted to Nekomii Island. Hinata gleefully created mii caricatures of his teammates and Tokyo rivals. He continued to borrow Kenma’s 3DS to check in on the miis, greatly entertained by the game during times when he can’t get his hands on a volleyball.
“The game’s stupid,” Kenma tells Kuroo. “I thought Shouyo would find it funny.”
“And Bokuto?”
Bokuto is, evidently, also greatly entertained by Tomodachi Life.
“I did not think of Bokuto when I let Shouyo borrow my 3DS. I don’t know where he came from.”
Hinata cackles as he flings Kageyama-mii around his room. “Bakageyama-mii looks like a grumpy old man now!”
Bokuto howls with laughter, shouting, “Exactly!! He matches Bokuto-mii, but he’s still so grumpy!”
“He’s so loud,” Kenma mutters. Kuroo chuckles as he ruffles Kenma’s hair with his elbow, and almost falls over when Kenma suddenly sits down. When he finally heads off to bed, he stays unacknowledged by the Tomodachi Life players.
Hinata taps around on the screen to check on the other miis. When he enters Bokuto-mii’s apartment, he gasps. “Whoaa—! Bokuto-mii became best friends with Kenma-mii!”
“Wow!!” Bokuto turns to Kenma who’s now sitting two metres away. “Kenma, let’s practice together to celebrate!”
“No.” Kenma still doesn’t look up from his PSP.
They finally call it a day after Hinata feeds Bokuto-mii some yakiniku, and the mii sinks into a puddle of grey — a shocking discovery of his most hated food. They frantically cheer him up with a travel ticket and close the game with shaking hands.
“I thought he’d like yakiniku,” Bokuto says, haunted. “I like yakiniku.”
“I guess Bokuto-mii isn’t that similar to you after all, Bokuto-san!” Hinata replies. He hands the 3DS back to Kenma for safekeeping, and for Kenma’s ability to summon it anywhere for Hinata’s mii check-ins. So long as Kenma is nearby, Tomodachi Life is, too.
“You’re right, Hinata! Bokuto-mii isn’t really like me. Heh, mii.” Bokuto grins.
He knows that the miis are out of their control. They do stuff, and like (or hate) things all on their own. Meeting the other miis is also totally random, much to Bokuto’s disappointment, since his mii has yet to meet Kuroo-mii, and Bokuto-mii would love Kuroo-mii’s collection of items.
But he thinks it’s okay, because Bokuto-mii has always had Akaashi-mii for company — Hinata said they were each other’s first friends on Nekomii Island. And now, Bokuto-mii is best friends with Kenma-mii.
“Kenma!! Let’s brush our teeth together!”
“No.”
Bokuto makes an effort to keep Akaashi updated on important matters.
He likes sharing a lot of things with Akaashi — not just news on important matters. He likes sharing cool owl pictures, and sentences that are too hard to read, and the soggy broccoli he doesn’t want to eat. Bokuto’s chopsticks deposit the broccoli onto Akaashi’s plate as he updates him on today’s news.
“And then—” Bokuto leans into Akaashi’s space to whisper loudly. “Tsukishima-mii said yes! Now he’s sweethearts with Yaku-mii! Isn’t that great, Akaashi?”
“Those two, huh… Good for them,” Akaashi replies, returning the broccoli along with a small piece of chicken.
Besides Hinata, Akaashi’s the only one who’s shown interest in the lives of the miis. Bokuto absolutely makes sure to keep him updated.
“Did I hear that right?” Konoha leans over from the neighbouring table, with disbelief and fascination in his eyes. “Yaku confessed to Tsukishima at the toilets?”
“Nope, Yaku-mii gave Tsukishima-mii a toilet! He confessed at the concert hall!”
Konoha groans and turns back to his lunch, leaving the conversation as fast as he entered it. He mutters something about stupid Bokuto dreams and useless gossip.
It is like gossip, in a way — miis make friends, enemies, and sweethearts. They have fights and matchmake their friends. Hinata and Bokuto gleefully observe from their godly positions. And, well, they also give their input, which is how Yaku-mii passionately confessed to Tsukishima-mii with an entire potty as a gift.
Hinata had told Bokuto that miis can even get married. At the time, the 3DS showed Akaashi-mii’s room — Akaashi-mii read a book while Bokuto-mii played on his own tiny 3DS beside him. Bokuto thought of the two miis doing the same thing, but married.
“I hope Bokuto-mii becomes sweethearts with Akaashi-mii!” Bokuto says out loud.
Akaashi freezes. “Huh?”
“Bokuto-mii is already best friends with Kenma-mii, so, the next thing he should do is become sweethearts with Akaashi-mii!” Bokuto picks up the chicken and the soggy broccoli, and shoves them into his mouth at the same time.
Akaashi stares at Bokuto, and says, “You can’t tell miis to do things.”
“I know, but wouldn’t it be so cool?! It would be so much cooler than Yamamoto-mii and Tanaka-mii becoming sweethearts!”
Akaashi glances at the two counterparts — the look-alikes — on the other side of the room, who are bartering for extra pieces of meat. He slowly nods. “Sure. I wish you luck.”
“Thanks, Akaashi!”
The days go by filled with volleyball, interspersed with Hinata and Bokuto checking in on Nekomii Island. Washio-mii becomes obsessed with his new maid outfit, Daichi-mii starts living with a unicorn, and Broccoli-mii — the player from Shinzen High — ends up on the news for discovering the largest celery ever.
The days become split into ‘before’ and ‘after’ on an unassuming morning, near the end of camp.
“Bokuto-san!” Hinata yells at the break of dawn. “Bokuto-mii wants to confess to Akaashi-mii! What should we do?!”
Bokuto gasps loudly, shooting up from his futon. Someone nearby wacks him with a pillow, but this is it — this is the moment he’s been waiting for. “We have to help him come up with the perfect confession!!”
Hinata and Bokuto run out of the classroom before a different pillow is thrown in their direction. They put their heads together to brainstorm, and after ten minutes, they finally come up with the perfect line.
Bokuto bounces on his heels as he watches the scene unfold. At the top of the tower, Bokuto-mii stands there — waiting, heart pounding. Akaashi-mii soon shows up, and Bokuto-mii is thoughtfully silent as he looks at the mii of his dreams. Then, he opens his mouth.
“will u be the sky to my owl??”
Bokuto puffs out his chest. This was the most romantic confession they’ve witnessed yet, carefully crafted with zero typos. They considered giving a gift, but Bokuto knows Akaashi likes words best. Akaashi-mii doesn’t deserve any less. It’s perfect.
So, Bokuto wasn’t expecting the resounding reply.
“I’m sorry…”
Bokuto blinks. The line replays in his head, echoing.
Akaashi-mii walks away as Bokuto-mii falls to his knees.
“Sorry, Bokuto-san!” Hinata frowns. “Looks like Bokuto-mii got rejected.”
Bokuto stares at his little mii counterpart, who now looks awfully like Bokuto during one of his bad moods. Akaashi-mii rejected Bokuto-mii?
The mii returns to his room, slumped over. A thought bubble hovers near his head, containing a familiar stoic face, and there’s something wrong about the image of Bokuto-mii crying while thinking of Akaashi-mii. Bokuto stares wordlessly at the scene.
“It’s okay!” Hinata pats his back with a smile. “Maybe he’ll try again! Kenma said that sometimes happens. We’ll think of an even better confession next time!”
“Yeah,” Bokuto replies, eyes stuck on the thought bubble filled with Akaashi-mii’s face.
After that, the remaining days of the training camp continue to go by as they had before. They play volleyball and diligently check in on Nekomii Island. At some point, Shouyo-mii attempts to confess to Sugawara-mii, only to be interrupted by Asahi-mii, then Yamaguchi-mii, then Lev-mii. Sugawara-mii ends up choosing Lev-mii, of all his options. Hinata reluctantly gives his blessings to the new mii couple, and then visits Lev-mii to gift him a jail cell as payback.
Bokuto says all this to Akaashi. But after he’s done speaking, Akaashi asks if he’s feeling alright.
“Of course I’m feeling alright!” To prove his point, Bokuto picks up a mushy veggie-something and plops it into his mouth. He tries not to grimace at the texture.
Akaashi quirks an eyebrow at him, but later hands him a strawberry candy. Bokuto hasn't told him about Bokuto-mii’s rejection. He chews on the candy, and it tastes like his favourite strawberry candy, but with none of the joy.
He’s not sure if he’s feeling alright, after all.
During one of their breaks, Bokuto finds himself staring at Akaashi across the gym. Akaashi looks back, and tilts his head in question. Bokuto continues staring.
“I’m sorry,” the imaginary Akaashi in his mind says.
Bokuto thinks, maybe, he’s acting like Bokuto-mii. Maybe there’s a thought bubble with Akaashi’s face hovering near his head. No matter what his mood is, Akaashi is often there in his thoughts. Bokuto hasn’t thought of it like that before — at least, not in the way of Akaashi being something that occupies his mind — because whenever Akaashi shows up in his thoughts, the next thing Bokuto does is seek him out.
He texts Akaashi good morning and tells him about his latest dream. He invites Akaashi on weekend outings whenever there's something new at the mall. He sends Akaashi pictures, sometimes without any clear subject, because sometimes he just wants to share something with Akaashi, when his best friend is too far away.
But usually, Akaashi isn’t far away. He’s beside Bokuto during practice, always agreeing to stay a little longer. He pauses to chat with Bokuto during breaks in between classes. He sits next to Bokuto during lunch. He walks home with Bokuto.
But right now, Bokuto doesn’t know what kind of emotion accompanies the thought bubble hovering near his head. He wonders if it’s sadness, and that idea makes his heart sink — before the rejection, Bokuto never thought of Akaashi being the reason for his sadness, because Akaashi is usually the one who helps him feel better.
Even now, Akaashi trudges up to Bokuto.
“Bokuto-san?”
“Hi, Akaashi.” Bokuto’s voice leaves his lips more quietly than he meant it to.
“I saw you staring, did you need me?”
Bokuto considers the question. Does he need Akaashi?
“Sorry,” he hurries to say. “I was just… spacing out.”
“Oh.” Akaashi searches his face; Bokuto doesn’t know what kind of expression he’s making. “Drink more water, it’s hot today.”
“I will, Akaashi. You too.”
Akaashi nods and turns to walk away. The sight of his back makes Bokuto’s heart ache, and that feeling is wrong.
He thinks of how Akaashi makes room for Bokuto, how he always leaves a gap for Bokuto to run up to and fill in. On the bus, on the sidewalk, on benches — everywhere. There is a spot for Bokuto to occupy. Until now, before his mii counterpart got rejected, Bokuto never had the thought of Akaashi walking away from him, because Akaashi always makes room for Bokuto to join him.
He doesn’t want to think of Akaashi leaving him, or of Akaashi being the reason for his sinking mood, but he does. Bokuto thinks of Akaashi and it hurts.
By the time the training camp ends, Kiyoko-mii and Yachi-mii are married, Nishinoya-mii is knee-deep in his fishing addiction, and Komi-mii is on his fifth stomachache medicine. He begs for his sixth right before Hinata and Bokuto wave goodbye to the 3DS back in Kenma’s hands.
Bokuto-mii has long gotten over the rejection; Bokuto hasn’t figured out how to do that yet.
He heads back home with Akaashi. They sit next to each other on the train, but Bokuto is uncharacteristically silent. Akaashi fidgets with the hem of his shirt. He doesn’t speak either. Bokuto always tells Akaashi everything, if Akaashi doesn’t figure it out himself. This time though, Bokuto doesn’t tell him what’s wrong.
As the train leaves the third station without a single word between them, Akaashi’s lip curves down.
He feels far away, and Bokuto suddenly has that urge to share something, anything, with him — to shrink the distance he had made.
“The miis,” Bokuto says.
Akaashi looks up, baffled. He meets Bokuto’s eyes, waiting for him to continue.
“Bokuto-mii got rejected. By Akaashi-mii.”
Akaashi blinks. “You’ve… been upset about the miis?”
Bokuto turns away, looking out the window. He doesn’t know how to explain himself — he’s not sure he wants to explain himself — and that familiar wrong feeling comes back to grip his chest.
“Bokuto-san.” Akaashi presses his arm against Bokuto’s. “You’re my best friend. It’s a shame that my mii doesn’t understand what he’s missing out on. But they’re just miis, and I have an entire you.”
Bokuto tears up. Akaashi is so kind; it’s unfair to him that Bokuto still feels so sad.
“I wanted them to be sweethearts,” he whispers.
The train passes through another station.
“Okay,” Akaashi says. And then, “Will you come over to my room?”
Bokuto freezes. Something clicks in his mind.
“Just for a few minutes,” Akaashi explains. “I want to show you something.”
Bokuto nods, but he feels his body going cold. Akaashi gives him a soft smile before leaning back in his seat.
In that split second, Bokuto recalled all the times he’s visited Akaashi’s room, where they often did their own things. Bokuto would chatter away as Akaashi reads a book or studies or listens patiently to Bokuto. Those memories now overlap with the scenes of Akaashi-mii and Bokuto-mii spending time together and Bokuto thinking how nice it would be if they were married. If they were sweethearts.
Bokuto doesn’t know how he’s never thought of this, when it's been on his mind all along.
The thought bubble of Akaashi that’s surely been hovering around his head makes an awful lot of sense now. He has that urge again, to share what he just realised with Akaashi, like he always does.
But that would mean confessing to Akaashi.
“I’m sorry,” Akaashi-mii had said.
“I’m sorry, Bokuto-san,” his Akaashi might say.
Bokuto keeps his mouth shut, desperate to hold onto the space next to Akaashi. An apology is the least terrifying part of a rejection.
“Come in, Bokuto-san.”
Bokuto greets the empty house and toes off his shoes. He follows Akaashi up into his bedroom, heart pounding, like he’s about to confess. He doesn’t plan to confess, but he worries that Akaashi will take one look at him and hear the confession from his thoughts anyway.
Bokuto sits awkwardly on Akaashi’s bed as Akaashi opens his drawers, one by one.
“What— what are you looking for?” Bokuto asks.
Akaashi hums, and then pulls out a familiar rectangular object. “This.”
Bokuto’s jaw drops. “What? What?? You have a 3DS?”
“Yes.” Akaashi boots up the device.
“I didn’t know that! How did I not know?”
“I thought you’d ask me if you could play games on it,” Akaashi replies. “I didn’t really want to let you borrow it, so. I hid it from you.”
Bokuto splutters. “You can just tell me no if I ask!”
Akaashi laughs. “I wasn’t sure if I could say no to you.” He pauses, staring at the screen. “Actually, there was something I wanted to hide.”
He hands Bokuto his 3DS. Bokuto takes it and peers at the screen, and gasps.
“Aghaashi! You have a Bokuto-mii and Akaashi-mii too?!”
“Yes.”
“They have hearts around them!” Huh? “Huh? They don’t live in that big apartment building?”
Akaashi fidgets. “They’re married.”
“Huh?” Bokuto gapes. “Bokuto-mii and Akaashi-mii are married?”
“Yes.”
“To… each other?”
“Yes.” Akaashi fiddles with his fingers. “My mii confessed to your mii, and your mii accepted. Then, your mii proposed, and my mii said yes.”
“Aghaaashi!!” Bokuto jumps to his feet. “Do you remember how Akaashi-mii confessed?!”
Akaashi’s face grows red as he speaks. “He… I told him to say that… you’re the brightest star in my sky, and if you could be mine— his.”
Bokuto feels his grin stretch further — when did he start smiling? “Akaashiii!! You’re my brightest star!”
Akaashi smiles at him. “Is this a confession, Bokuto-san?”
Bokuto didn’t plan to confess, but Akaashi really can hear the confession from his thoughts. He hesitates. “... Are we pretending to be miis?”
Akaashi takes back his 3DS and sets it down, eyes glued to the floor. “I want you to know… even if my mii on Nekomii Island rejected you, I— if it was me being confessed to, by you— by a Bokuto-mii— Bokuto-san, I wouldn’t say no.”
“Akaashi,” Bokuto marvels, “is this a confession?”
Akaashi furrows his brows, silent. Bokuto reaches out to hold his hand, revelling in how Akaashi’s fingers immediately curl around his.
“I imagined how Bokuto-mii felt,” Bokuto says. “We came up with the perfect confession for him, but that wasn't enough for Akaashi-mii to say yes. And I was upset because I didn’t want you to reject me.”
“I told you, I wouldn’t reject you,” Akaashi mumbles.
“Then,” Bokuto tugs on Akaashi’s hand, and he finally looks up, “will you be the sky to my owl?”
“Is that the perfect confession you came up with?” Akaashi smiles.
“Akaaashi,” Bokuto pouts. “You said you wouldn’t reject me!”
Akaashi chuckles and grabs onto his other hand. “I’m not rejecting you. I’d love to be the sky to your owl — anything you want.”
“Even if I want you to be my sweetheart?”
“Yes.”
“My boyfriend?”
“Yes. Please let me be your boyfriend.”
Bokuto beams and tugs him closer. Akaashi lets go of his hands to pull him into a hug, squeezing him tight.
The ache in Bokuto’s chest melts into flutters. He wraps his arms around Akaashi and squeezes back, and when soft hair brushes against his cheek, he feels a little like crying.
Akaashi relaxes into the hug as though he has no plans to let go.
Bokuto hums in contentment. “Akaashi, can I also get a confession?”
“I just showed you my secret mii marriage.”
Bokuto grumbles into Akaashi’s shoulder.
“Okay,” Akaashi says, with a smile in his voice. “Bokuto-san… you’re the brightest star in my sky. Will you be mine?”
“Yeah!! A thousand times yeah!!”
“Bokuto-san!” Hinata yells across the lobby, at the Spring High Tournament.
“Hey hey hey, Hinata!” Bokuto yells back. He goes over to the bouncing first-year, with Akaashi following behind. “How’s my number one disciple??”
They chatter about nerves and excitement and the upcoming matches, before Tomodachi Life is inevitably brought up.
“Kenma said he’s been taking care of the miis!” Hinata says.
“Wow!! How’re they doing?!”
Hinata grins. “Remember when Bokuto-mii got rejected by Akaashi-mii? They’re married now and have a kid!”
Bokuto spins around to face Akaashi.
“Keiji!! Did you hear that?!”
“Yes.”
“We can’t lose to the miis! They got married twice— we should get married too!”
Hinata bounces at the declaration. “Whoaaa—! Congratulations!! Am I invited to the wedding?!”
Bokuto laughs and smacks Hinata’s back. “Of course, Hinata!! You can officialize— officiant—”
“Officiate,” Akaashi says.
“Officiate our wedding!” Bokuto grins. Then he blinks. “How do we get married?”
“Bokuto-san.” Akaashi puts a hand on his shoulder. “We can't get married while we're still in high school.”
“Keijiii,” Bokuto whines. “You promised! You said you won’t reject me!”
Akaashi levels him with a flat look. “The city hall will reject us.”
“Then we’ll elope!”
“We have a match soon.”
“Let’s elope after we win!”
“We won’t lose to you!” Hinata shouts.
Akaashi drags Bokuto back by his jacket to their waiting team members. Bokuto tugs on his sleeve until Akaashi relents and drags him by the hand instead. Bokuto beams as he swings their arms.
Bokuto doesn’t get anxious anymore when he gives Akaashi little confessions everyday, but he does become acquainted with the flutter in his chest. And, well, Bokuto does get a little nervous at his heart potentially exploding. He can’t imagine how nerve-wracking it’ll be once he proposes to Akaashi for real.
He eventually learns that confession jitters can be shared too, like the many other things he shares with Akaashi — though, maybe it'll take the nervous tremor in Akaashi’s hands when he presents a ring to Bokuto first. Bokuto will rush to ease it, of course, accepting a thousand times yes.