Believer

4

It was another few days before Bokuto had gotten home and saw his neighbor painting on a canvas by the window. He watched the calming sensation of the black haired teen using a brush to mix colors from his palate and then add onto the painting. 

Bokuto's favorite part of watching included whenever the artist walked away and another section of the painting was filled in. 

Bokuto longed to completely see the finished product. From his spot in the window, he couldn't see details, only major colors. It was sad but ultimately he didn't want to push his limits by just inviting himself over to see the paintings. 

He left the window feeling a sense of longing. 

As a boy who was grown to appreciate all forms of art, Bokuto had grown a soft spot towards creativity. That included drama, singing, blacksmithing, carpentry, art, and music. He loved watching and learning it all, but that didn't mean he was good at any of it. 

Piano was always the one he fell back on. No matter what small hobby he begins to pursue next, piano always remains his ultimate craving as an outlet. 

That didn't mean he could help himself from admiring other art forms though. 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

It was a late night for Akaashi. He stayed awake until he fully finished his latest painting, a landscape of a lake surrounded by trees in the midst of a sunset. Akaashi had dreamed about the landscape and decided to paint it. 

That meant when he finished at four in the morning, he simply crashed. He didn't even bother to clean off his palate, something he usually found joy in after a specifically long painting. 

By the next morning, he had decided to work on another project he had been thinking about. This one happened to depict someone sitting in a field, playing the flute. 

Eventually he saw his door slightly creak open out of the corner of his eye.  Knowing his mother commonly did that to show she wanted to come in, yet couldn't knock, he opened the door the rest of the way for her--a signal to tell her that he was decent and that she had permission. They had done that since he was young and could dress himself. Since then, it has become a privacy habit.

His mother, Akia, slowly entered the room. Looking around she spotted the work in progress Akaashi had begun. "Oh that looks so wonderful! I can't wait to see it when it's finished!" 

Akaashi pursed his lips, looking back at the base coat. So far he was unhappy with how it was turning out. But he knew if he told his mom then she would try to get inspirational. 

Sometimes inspirational quotes should stay on the internet. 

He nodded at his mother. 

She smiled at him. "I was wondering if you would like to run some errands? I need a couple things from the store, and I know how much you like to get fresh air…if you don't want to then it's okay also! I can get the items later." 

Akaashi mulled the idea over. He always loved going outside. And the store was fairly close to their neighborhood–only a couple of blocks away. However, Akaashi always found shopping a pain in the butt. Especially since he is deaf. Overall it wasn't bad, but it was just redundant and annoying if he wasn't in the mood to converse. 

Then again, now would be the best time to do it since school was still in session and the majority of workers were at their jobs. 

If he wanted less human interactions, then going now would be ideal. 

He looked at his mom, trying to gage if this was a trick question or not. Not a few moments later he stops because he is horrible at reading people. 

"Yeah, I can grab stuff." 

Akia nodded. "I can grab the list, it's only three things. Thank you, 'Kaashi!" She signs before walking from the room. 

Akaashi huffs before getting ready to go outside. He changes clothes, brushes his teeth, and brushes his hair. Then he cleans up his art station, knowing he doesn't want paint drying up and ruining his brushes. 

Dried paint sucks to get out of brushes. 

After that, he makes his way downstairs. The stair wall is lined with photos of their family. His mom, dad, and himself. He smiled at all three of them, missing his father. 

Currently, the man was across Japan, in a meeting with another company. They were discussing the pros and cons of temporarily combining to raise profits. Akaashi can't remember much about what job his dad has specifically. He remembers asking a couple times, only to forget in the long run. 

Then he just stopped asking. 

After shaking his head, he continued on his way down the staircase. He found his mother in the kitchen, reading a recipe booklet. She was always experimenting with new things and then forcing the rest of the house to taste test. 

Sometimes, Akaashi wishes she would just stick to the regular, delicious food instead of eating muffins that make everyone projectile vomit. 

Most of her experiments came out tasting either decent or amazing, so he didn't put up too much of a fight when trying new things. 

He was ninety percent sure that his father made sure the meeting was across Japan so he could get a break from his slap-happy chef wife. And for this, Akaashi would forever force him to taste test the dishes first whenever he got back. 

"--the list." His mother finishes signing, handing him the grocery list. "You can take the car if you want, or you can walk, it's up to you. Thanks again!" 

Akaashi took the list and looked it over. 

Bread. Flour. Butter. And Bandaids. 

Not bad. Akaashi nodded and turned to walk out the door.