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INTRODUCTION THE YEAR BEFORE
THE SECOND THE DOOR OF the taxi flung open, a small figure sprung out from inside and hastily sprinted towards the house settled at the very end of the street. Her school jacket slung over her head, the rain continued to pour down in a heavy drizzle as the residents of the city scrambled for cover.
By the time she had reached the doorstep, she was completely drenched and out of breath, her socks soaked and her hair a raging mess. Taking off her shoes, she slid pass the front door with practiced ease.
Not even a second after stepping in, a short pudgy woman scurried out of the kitchen, scowling. "Where have you been?"
"In case you forgot, I leave the house everyday for school," Akaashi Ayako pointed out dryly before shoving her shoes into the shelf space near the doorway. After struggling to get on the train platform home and finding a taxi at the last minute, she was in no mood to have her mother yell at her while she was soaked. "It's a wonderful place of knowledge and smelly gym socks."
"This kidㅡ" With one swift motion, Ayako yelped as her mother tightly took her ear between her chubby fingers. "How many times do I have to tell you to just ask your brother for a ride home instead of taking that stupid train of yours?"
After much wrestling and flailing, Ayako pushed her mother off her with a whine. "It's not my fault Akaashi wanted to have his friend over today."
"It's not your brother's fault he has friends and you don't." Her mother scoffed before raising a hand over her head and Ayako reflexively covered her face with her arms. At this, the older woman sighed and shook her head. "Now, go on and get changed before you catch a cold."
Muttering a number of unintelligible profanities, Ayako stomped up the stairs without complaint. The violent pitter-patter of the harsh weather outside was still audible through the walls of the Akaashi household while she grabbed random articles of clothing from her dresser.
Just as she had shut her bedroom door, she perked up, confused, at the sound of the bathroom door opening from across the hall. Ayako's eyes narrowed as a lanky figure stepped out wearing what she realized were Akaashi's clothes.
Considering their slight difference in body proportion, Akaashi's loose black shirt fit him and his broad shoulders perfectly, greatly mismatching the red checkered pajama bottoms he was sporting.
The boy shut the door after him with his foot, his hands busy sifting the towel through his damp white hair. It took a moment for him to notice Ayako standing at the other end of the hallway before he finally paused.
His lips parted as he took notice of her school blouse, near transparent and sticking profusely on to her chest, before hastily turning his head away, his cheeks flushing.
Before Ayako could do so much as quickly shift her clothes to cover herself, an all-too-familiar boy ran up the stairs. "Ayako, don't forget to mop up your mess downstairs or mom's going to get madㅡ"
Keiji Akaashi stopped short in his path the second his eyes landed on the two awkwardly rooted to their spots, looking as if they were caught doing something they weren't supposed to. "I see you already met Bokuto," he said, glancing between them.
Bokuto. Ayako looked up at the boy who now had a name, who quietly smiled in relief at Akaashi's arrival.
Ayako had heard a lot about Bokuto Kotaro. She knew that he was a second year in the same volleyball team as her brother, knew that he was already on his way on becoming the ace despite only getting into the sport in his freshman year. He was talented and passionate, and Ayako had always leaned in to listen whenever Akaashi mentioned him.
If someone like Akaashi acknowledged you, admires you even, it just goes to show just how damn good you really are ㅡ and Bokuto happened to be one of the only few people who earned his way into Ayako's curiosity because of this.
"Anyway," Akaashi sighed, breaking the silence. "Mom told me to help you out if you needed anything. Just call for me after you shower, alright?" He then turned to Bokuto. "Come back downstairs, dumbass. I can only handle two controllers for so long. The other team's beating the shit out of us."
Bokuto raised an eyebrow at this, a small smirk tugging at his lips. "Not really my fault you suck."
Akaashi reached over to hit the back of Bokuto's head, earning him a pained howl from the other. Without waiting for a response, her brother turned on his heels and began shuffling back downstairs, his voice muffled as he yelled over his shoulder.
"Just hurry up already!"
Bokuto let out a hiss, grumbling something under his breath as he slowly made his way to the staircase to follow his best friend. Ayako then took this as her queue to head to the bathroom and shower in peaceㅡ
A towel was thrown over her dripping hair, a strong whiff of soap and cologne tingling her nose. Ayako peaked to see the ends of Bokuto's lips turn up as he quietly ruffled her hair between his fingers.
They had a significant height different, apparently.
Ayako didn't say anything and merely let the boy named Bokuto dry her hair off with his towel. Silence seeped into the air, with only the light humming from the boy and the heavy downpour outside accompanying them.
When he was near done, he finally stilled his hands and gently placed them on both sides of her face. His gaze was still and unwavering, so much that Ayako felt herself short circuit and drizzle with an unhealthy amount of red.
"It's nice to finally meet you," Bokuto grinned, warm and childish. "Little Keiji."
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AUTHOR'S NOTE
HI HELLO :D so i'm officially kick starting my first ever haikyuu fic! i'm honestly nervous, but hopefully brother's best friend will be interesting for you guys
i haven't seen that many bokuto fics, so i decided to make one since i love him to BITS and i'm so happy a lot of people are appreciating him more in s4
leave your thoughts on how everything is so far! i would love to read all your comments hngg
