5 Chapter 5: Boyfriends

Akaashi POV:

TW // sexual assault (this is not meant to glamorize abuse it is just part of the storyline)

"Hey, get your hand off me!" I kept my voice down so no one else would hear me, but I felt anger rising in me. I didn't know who this guy was yet his hand was crawling up my pants. I slapped his hand away and stood up. I walk-ran out of the gymnasium, looking down as I felt tears roll down my cheeks as I made it to the hallway. I pushed past someone in the hallway, making my way to the bathroom.

'Akaashi, are you ok?" I heard a familiar voice but didn't care to see who had called out. I made it to the bathroom and locked myself inside a stall. No one else was in the stall so I let out my sobs, still feeling his hands crawling up my thigh. Nothing had ever made me feel so violated. I stayed in the bathroom crying until I heard the door swing open and hurried footsteps followed.

"Akaashi open up I know you're in there." I fell silent, and after a minute Bokuto started to bang on the bathroom door. I reached up and unlocked the door and it immediately swung open. Bokuto towered in front of me, concern etched in every line of his face. He bent down, wrapping his arms around me. I leaned my head on his chest, my tears rolling onto his shirt but he didn't seem to mind. We stayed like that, and I felt safe in his arms. The sensation of the other guy's hands on me faded and I leaned into him tighter. I heard someone else walk in and Bokuto turned around and locked the door, so we were both stuck inside. He held his finger up to his lips and I nodded, understanding what he meant. We were stuck inside the stall, still encompassed in each other's arms.

The person finished up and washed their hands, leaving the bathroom. We unlocked the door and stepped out. We left the bathroom and found ourselves walking the twisting hallways. We met a dead end and stopped, looking out a large window onto the grounds of Fukurodani. We turned to look at each other, saying nothing. Bokuto reached his hand up to my face, brushing away the slowly drying tears. His finger brushed under my eye and I realized yet again how large Bokuto's hand was. I looked down, feeling embarrassed that Bokuto was seeing me at such a vulnerable moment.

"Hey, look at me," Bokuto whispered, in such a sweet tone that I was instantly comforted. I looked up at him, and once again saw the concern that was spread over his face. "Are you ok?"

"Y-yes, I mean no, I mean- I don't know…" I stammered out, still trying to process my emotions.

"Hey… it's okay to not be okay, what happened wasn't all right."

"Oh, thanks." I didn't feel like talking much.

We stood in silence for a while, until Bokuto took my hand again. We slid down the wall, lying with our backs against it. Most of the school was still in the cafeteria so there weren't many people in the hallways. I leaned over, placing my head on Bokuto's shoulder. He made me feel safe like no one could ever hurt me as long as I was with him. It was probably my favorite quality about him, how he made me feel so okay when nothing about the world itself was okay. Bokuto was the armor I wore, the impenetrable armor that saved me from my troubles and insecurities.

We sat like that until the bell rang, and we said our goodbyes, promising to see each other at volleyball later that day. I headed off to class, wishing I could stay a little longer.

The day dragged on, and despite my next two classes being my favorite, I couldn't bring myself to enjoy them. Finally, the day ended and I headed over to the gym. Being the vice-captain, I had the keys to our club room. I unlocked the door and stepped inside, instantly hit by the overpowering smell of deodorant. I took off my shoes and grabbed my cleats from the duffel bag I had put inside the room. The cleats were worn and tattered, but still, I refused to wear any others. These were the cleats I had played my first high school game with, and while I wasn't necessarily superstitious, I believed that these cleats brought me a little luck during the game.

Whilst my back was turned, I heard the door creak and watched as Bokuto entered.

"Hey," he said, grinning while pulling off his shoes and replacing them with his cleats as well.

I opened my mouth to reply as the door swung open and the rest of the team walked in.

"Heyy Akaashi," Onaga called out to me.

"Hey Onaga," I responded, really only feeling like talking to Bokuto but not wanting to be rude.

After the rest of the team had finished getting ready, we shuffled into the gym. We did some stretches and got ready for our scrimmage. We played for a little while, and I got lost in my love of the game. Being a setter was the best position, the way I chose the path of the game, how the ball bounced off the pads of my fingers heading towards the spiker. Volleyball was one of my true passions, something I would love for the rest of my life.

We played hard, and after practice ended I could feel the sweat dripping down the sides of my face. I grabbed my duffel bag and headed home, ready for a long, comforting shower. I left the club room and started walking down the sidewalk on the way home when I heard Bokuto running up behind me.

"Mind if I walk you home," he asked, grinning while wrapping his arm around me.

"Ew, Bokuto you need to shower" I laughed, pushing him away playfully.

"Alright, expect me to come over later though."

"Yeah, see you then, now go shower before I chop off my nose" I laughed, feeling happiness fill me from my head to my toes. We parted ways, and I headed back to my house, looking forward to Bokuto's arrival. As soon as I got home I dropped my bag off in my room and headed towards the shower. I stripped off my sweat-soaked clothes and got in the shower, feeling the hot water wash off all the grit that had built up. I finished up in the shower and got out, using a towel to dry myself off. Barely after I put a fresh change of clothes on I heard the doorbell ring. I walked to the front door and pulled it open, surprised to see Bokuto already here, freshly showered.

"Already, you've been gone for like 20 minutes?"

"I'm a quick shower what can I say?" he replied, grinning as usual.

"Nobody's that quick"

"Oh yeah? I'll prove it." He pulled me in for another hug, and I was met with the intense smell of whatever shampoo he used.

"Bokuto stop" I laughed, banging my fist against his muscular chest.

"Yeah yeah, Kaashi."

I thought he was about to let me get away from the hug, but he picked me up, tossing my legs over his shoulder, the blood rushing to my head as my torso was flipped upside down. He proceeded to carry me like this all the way down the hall to my bedroom. His strength seemed to fade though as he placed me on the bed he stumbled, falling onto it with me. I was crushed under Bokuto's mass, my lungs struggling to grasp air as I was laughing so hard my ribs hurt.

"Bokuto get off you're crushing me!"

He turned over so that he was facing me, his arms on either side of my head. I had never noticed how muscular they were. My eyes spotted a vein and followed it all the way up his arm and watched it disappear under his shirt. He seemed to notice the direction I was looking and glanced back down towards my face, blushing.

"Whatcha looking at Kaashi?" he asked innocently, pretending like he didn't already know. In response I reached up and grabbed his bicep, feeling the muscle against my own skin. Bokuto bent down and kissed me, deep and meaningful, and I put my hand on the back of his neck, pulling him in closer. He slipped his tongue into my mouth and I moaned, softly at first, but progressively getting louder as he slid his hands down my side and settled them onto my waist. I pulled his shirt up, revealing his abs which I ran my hands across. I tucked my fingers into his waistband, pulling on it softly so that he could tell my hands were there but not hard enough to pull them down. We broke apart as he pressed his body down onto mine and rolled over so that I was on top of him, straddling him yet again. I looked down and saw that Bokuto's member was pressing through his pants, not that mine wasn't too. I inched up, now sitting on it. Bokuto looked down, seeing what I was doing, and looked back up at me, grinning. I put my hands in his hair, stroking it softly as we sat there. I leaned back in, taking a gulp of air before going back to kissing him, arching my back as Bokuto ran his hands up my legs, settling them on my ass. I moaned a little as he squeezed it ever so gently, and I leaned in to kiss him harder. Our lips met in unison, igniting my nerves with the same fire I felt the first time we kissed.

In the back of my mind, I registered a door shutting from somewhere in the house, and I reluctantly rolled off Bokuto and onto the bed. We lay there, panting and smiling at the same time.

"Is this really happening?" I asked him. "Like did we really just do that?"

Bokuto leaned over on his side, still smiling. "I can't believe either. Like one day you're my best friend and the next day you're like my boyfriend".

"B-Boyfriend?"

"Oh, sorry, it just slipped out of my mouth."

"N-no, I… um… I liked it. Like, a lot." I blushed, burying my face in the blankets.

"Well ok then... boyfriend"

I barely had time to react to this when my door was swung open and my mom entered.

"Oh, I thought I heard someone talking. I didn't say Bokuto could come over Akaashi, we'll talk about this later." She glanced around my room, her nose shriveling a little. "Couldn't you have at least picked up your room a little?" With that she swung the door shut behind her, leaving us in uncomfortable silence.

"Um… should I go Akaashi?"

"N-no, don't go" We were both sitting up now, facing toward the door. I glanced down and saw his hand was just a few inches from mine. I inched mine over, finally resting it on top of his. We looked up at each other, we were close enough that I had to crane my neck to look into Bokuto's eyes. He leaned in again, kissing me slowly, unlike last time. This one felt more significant like he was trying to tell me something using just his lips. The fire from before was gone, replaced by a passion, unlike anything I had ever felt. I reached my hand out, cupping his cheek, and kissed him back as best I could. We broke apart, staring at each other.

"Akaashi, I- I don't think I've ever felt this way about anyone."

I leaned in, placing my head on his chest, listening to his steady, perfect heartbeat.

"Me neither Bokuto, me neither." I stayed there, listening to the <i>ba-bump, ba-bump</i> rhythm of his heart. It was steady and loud, seemingly drowning out every other noise. I wanted to stay there forever, my head on his chest, his heart always beating like this. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me even closer to him. I was engulfed in his smell and I embraced it, enjoying every minute of it. His hands moved up and down, rubbing my back. I felt safe, like nothing could ever hurt me again, no bullies, no parental expectations, no negative thoughts. As long as I was with Bokuto he would protect me from everything. And I will protect him, I decided. Bokuto might be bigger and stronger, but I'd contribute just as much as he does in this relationship. I'll take care of him, regardless of if he knows it or not. Bokuto was my boyfriend, the center of my entire universe, and I was going to make sure he stayed that way, no matter what.