The realisation creeps up on him slowly, over the first few weeks of high school. So slowly that at first, he doesn't realise what's happening at all. The locker rooms at Fukurodani are lively, with the members of the volleyball laughing and joking with one another as they change in and out of their uniforms every practice. The team itself, Akaashi thinks to himself as he stands in on corner and observes them all, is incredibly lively in general.
The liveliest of all is their second year wing spiker, Bokuto Koutarou, and it makes sense that Akaashi's attention is always pulled over to his side of the locker room when he's the loudest. He unfailingly finds his way into the centre of attention and it isn't grating or annoying at all. It feels natural somehow, with his smile, with his antics, and perhaps that's one of the reasons that Akaashi doesn't notice at first.
It's not until at least the third week of this that he realises that his gaze wanders to Bokuto, even when he's not speaking. Even when it's the others on the team who are making jokes, Akaashi's gaze keeps catching on the expanse of skin as Bokuto pulls his shirt off. He follows the curve of muscles, his shoulders, his abdomen, and as much as Akaashi likes to think of himself as an observant person, it's taken him an incredibly long time to realise exactly what he's doing.
He's staring.
More specifically, he's staring at Bokuto while he changes.
Akaashi's face heats with the realisation and he turns away as quickly as he can without making it seem obvious. No one notices, and he counts himself lucky for it, but he brings his hand to his face, and his cheeks are burning.
He's had crushes before, but they're usually brief and spring into existence when a girl is particularly kind to him, before he brushes them aside. This feels like something entirely different. He doesn't know how long he's been staring at Bokuto like this without realising but it doesn't feel quite as brief, or as easy to push aside.
Even now, when he's aware of it and trying to avoid it, he finds himself turning to glance over his shoulder. Bokuto has his back turned to Akaashi; he wouldn't know. He would have absolutely no idea that Akaashi is looking at his lovely, muscular back—
No, Akaashi thinks to himself firmly. Not happening. This isn't happening to him at all. He isn't going to give into this.
FILL: Team Kyoutani Kentarou/Yahaba Shigeru, T
no tags
word count: 428
remix of
The realisation creeps up on him slowly, over the first few weeks of high school. So slowly that at first, he doesn't realise what's happening at all. The locker rooms at Fukurodani are lively, with the members of the volleyball laughing and joking with one another as they change in and out of their uniforms every practice. The team itself, Akaashi thinks to himself as he stands in on corner and observes them all, is incredibly lively in general.
The liveliest of all is their second year wing spiker, Bokuto Koutarou, and it makes sense that Akaashi's attention is always pulled over to his side of the locker room when he's the loudest. He unfailingly finds his way into the centre of attention and it isn't grating or annoying at all. It feels natural somehow, with his smile, with his antics, and perhaps that's one of the reasons that Akaashi doesn't notice at first.
It's not until at least the third week of this that he realises that his gaze wanders to Bokuto, even when he's not speaking. Even when it's the others on the team who are making jokes, Akaashi's gaze keeps catching on the expanse of skin as Bokuto pulls his shirt off. He follows the curve of muscles, his shoulders, his abdomen, and as much as Akaashi likes to think of himself as an observant person, it's taken him an incredibly long time to realise exactly what he's doing.
He's staring.
More specifically, he's staring at Bokuto while he changes.
Akaashi's face heats with the realisation and he turns away as quickly as he can without making it seem obvious. No one notices, and he counts himself lucky for it, but he brings his hand to his face, and his cheeks are burning.
He's had crushes before, but they're usually brief and spring into existence when a girl is particularly kind to him, before he brushes them aside. This feels like something entirely different. He doesn't know how long he's been staring at Bokuto like this without realising but it doesn't feel quite as brief, or as easy to push aside.
Even now, when he's aware of it and trying to avoid it, he finds himself turning to glance over his shoulder. Bokuto has his back turned to Akaashi; he wouldn't know. He would have absolutely no idea that Akaashi is looking at his lovely, muscular back—
No, Akaashi thinks to himself firmly. Not happening. This isn't happening to him at all. He isn't going to give into this.
Except—
Well—
Maybe just one peek.