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“You’re really pretty, Akaashi, you know that?”
He stopped halfway through picking up a volleyball off the gym floor and looked over at Yukie. Practice had just ended and most of the team had already cleared out of the gym. Akaashi started his usual task of cleaning up the gym, mopping sweat off of the floor, and putting away equipment.
Since Bokuto and Akaashi usually stay well after practice has officially ended for some extra spiking, the task of cleaning up typically fell onto the two of them to take care of.
Today, however, they would not be staying late. It turns out that Bokuto had failed his recent mathematics exam. So Bokuto’s teacher required him to stay behind after class for some remedial lessons, forcing him to miss afternoon volleyball practice.
He was glad that Bokuto was finally getting help in the subject he struggled most in, but Akaashi wished it didn’t have to be at the same time as their scheduled practice time. Not that Bokuto needed the extra practice, he was already such a highly skilled player, but Akaashi knew how dejected missing it would make Bokuto. And he may or may not have been a little disappointed he wouldn’t get to see much of the other boy today, or get to walk part of the way home with him afterwards like they usually did. Not that Akaashi would ever admit that outloud.
This also meant that Akaashi would have to do the cleaning up alone. He didn’t mind really, he usually ended up doing most of the work anyway since Bokuto had a tendency to get distracted, but since he wasn’t staying behind after practice (no point in staying if Bokuto wasn’t there to practice with) Yukie and Kaori, the two team managers, offered to help.
The extra help made taking care of the gym go by much faster than usual and Akaashi was starting to think he’d be able to get a head start on his homework for once. He was just picking up the last of the stray volleyballs on the other side of the gym when Yukie came up behind him pushing a mop in front of her.
She leaned up against it, resting her chin on the hand she had placed on the end of the mop’s handle. Her face looked contemplative as if she was still trying to determine the truth behind her own statement.
Akaashi hadn’t expected a comment like that so suddenly and wasn’t sure how to react. He picked up the volleyball he’d been reaching for off of the floor, if only to buy himself a few more seconds to think on it, before he turned towards Yukie herself.
“Um, well. Thank you, Shirofuku-san. Although I’d consider you to be much prettier than I am.”
She waved off the return compliment and looked around the gym. “Hey, Kaori! Come over here for a second!” she called to the other girl from across the room.
Kaori, who had also been pushing a mop across the floor on the other side of the gym, glanced up at the sound of her name. She looked between Akaashi and Yukie for a moment before resting the mop handle against the wall next to her and walking over to join the other two. “What’s up?”
“Don’t you think Akaashi is pretty?”
“Sure, yeah. Especially for a boy.”
“Right! He’s definitely the prettiest guy on the team, maybe even in the entire school.”
Akaashi felt himself getting a bit flustered. “I definitely wouldn’t go as far as to say that.”
Wanting a moment to regain some composure, he walked over to the gym’s storage closet where the team kept all of their equipment. They were just about finished cleaning. Akaashi threw the last volleyball he’d still been holding into a bin along with the others. He startled when he turned around and realized the other two had apparently followed him over there.
“You know, I bet we could make you look even prettier,” Yukie said with a knowing smirk that only filled Akaashi with dread. His face must have betrayed him because she added, “Oh come on, don’t worry. It’s nothing bad.”
“Then what exactly is it you have in mind?” Akaashi asked, still not sure if he liked the direction the conversation was headed.
Rather than answer his question, Yukie turned her attention to Kaori beside her and asked, “Kaori, don't you think he'd look cute in one of our uniforms?”
Wait. What?
Their uniforms? As in the girl’s uniforms that consisted of a white button up blouse and a blue colored pleated skirt with a matching ribbon, complete with a light gray blazer similar to Akaashi wore himself with his own uniform. Those uniforms? No. Surely they didn’t intend to-
“Ooo, you’re right! Akaashi, you’d look really good in one of the skirts. You should try one on!”
Well, it looked as if Kaori was going to be of no help or mercy to Akaashi. Which meant he was now fighting an uphill battle. One that consisted of skirts apparently.
“I don’t know about that. Besides I doubt I’d fit in either one of your uniforms anyway.” Which was true, the two girls were both considerably smaller than Akaashi. Even Kaori, the taller out of the two, was a good few inches shorter than him. Maybe Akaashi had found a way to avoid whatever situation the girls had in mind here.
“Oh I know! I have a friend in the basketball club who I think is pretty close to your size,” Kaori said.
Dang it, so close.
“Their practice should be ending soon, but I’ll go ask her if she has anything we can borrow!”
Before Akaashi could voice any more objections Kaori ran out of the club room and in the direction of the gym the basketball club held their practices in.
When Kaori was out of sight, Yukie grabbed Akaashi by the arm and pulled him towards the gym’s exit. “Come on! We’ll go to the club room to wait.”
“Wait, hold on. I don’t. I never agreed-”
All of Akaashi’s half formed protests were ignored by Yukie, who proved to be a lot stronger than she looks, and all Akaashi could do was let himself get dragged along to their destination.
____________________________________________________________________________
“You look great!” Yukie said to Akaashi who had just finished putting on the pleated skirt and blouse, and was now standing in the club room feeling very much on display for the two girls.
He decided to forgo the blazer and ribbon which left the top of the shirt slightly open without the ribbon holding it in place and Akaashi’s arms bare from where the short sleeves ended. The girls decidedly didn’t press the matter further. Akaashi figured they knew they were lucky enough to get him to go along with it this far and it was best not to push it.
But Yukie still stood there with an almost smug look on her face as if everything was going exactly the way she planned it.
It hadn’t taken much convincing for Kaori to borrow a uniform from one of the tall girls on the basketball team. Apparently one of them just so happened to keep an extra clean uniform in her locker just in case she ever needed it. And the same girl also just so happened to be the closest to Akaashi’s size, which as a manager Kaori had access to knowing. But if Akaashi thought it all seemed just a little too convenient, he kept it to himself.
“It really does look nice on you,” Kaori said a bit more sincerely than Yukie.
There wasn’t a mirror in the club room, so Kaori took out her phone to take a picture of Akaashi to show him.
“Ah. No don’t, please. No pictures,” Akaashi struggled to keep his voice even as he tried to hide the nervousness that welled up inside him as soon as she reached for her phone.
“It’s just so you can see how you look. I won’t send them to anyone and I promise I’ll delete them as soon as we’re done.”
He looked around the room and sure enough there was nothing he could use to see his reflection. He knew the girls would just keep pestering him if he refused, and besides Akaashi couldn’t help but be a little curious himself to see. His only options were to take a picture, or leave the already vague privacy of the club room to walk to the nearest bathroom for a mirror.
He let out a resigned sigh. “Fine. Just one picture and delete it immediately.”
He took a step back, keeping his hands at his sides, and allowed Kaori to take the picture. After which Kaori then rushed back over so Akaashi could see for himself.
As Kaori held out the phone, Akaashi had to admit, he did look rather good.
The fabric of the pleated skirt laid over Akaashi’s hips and flared out every so slightly and ended just above his knees. He had expected it to be more of a tight fit on him, considering the uniform was meant to fit a girl’s figure, but it seemed Kaori had been right about her friend being around the same size as him. At least he wasn’t struggling to keep everything covered beneath the hem of the skirt.
The blouse pulled in awkward spots, but that could be because he wasn’t used to wearing this cut of shirt. Akaashi raised a hand to shift the blouse somewhat in a poor attempt to make it more breathable. The fabric was soft and smooth to the touch. He had expected it to look a bit strange on him, but as he looked again at the picture he saw that the delicate shirt gave him a more defined figure.
“Huh,” Akaashi couldn’t help but let out.
“See! I knew you’d like it!” Yukie said, Akaashi pretended not to hear the satisfaction in her voice.
Beside him, Kaori gasped. “Akaashi, you’ve got to let me do your makeup!”
He looked at her in dismay, “...makeup?” The uniform was one thing, but surely putting on makeup as well was too far, right?
“Yeah! I keep some in my school bag as a backup just in case. I'll only use a little bit. I promise you it’ll look great.”
He sighed again, already knowing it’d be easier to give in without altercation. “Sure. Why not? We’ve already gone this far, haven’t we.”
Akaashi didn’t consider himself to be the epitome of masculinity, but he also never considered the idea of himself in a skirt or doing things generally thought of as feminine. While he had privately admired feminine things such as these from afar, they always seemed too out of his depth. Lovely, but meant for someone else.
But as the girls sat him down on top of a nearby desk and started pulling out various tubes and brushes to apply the makeup with, Akaashi could say with certainty that he didn’t hate this nearly as much as he thought he might. He’d even say that it felt… kind of nice.
After a few minutes, Kaori took a step back from Akaashi and admired her own handiwork. “Alright, that should just about do it,” she said with a nod. She reached back into her bag and pulled out a compact mirror and held it up for him.
Akaashi almost didn’t recognize himself at first. He knew it was him, obviously, but it was different than he had ever seen himself before. He was aware that he was relatively good looking, pretty as Yukie had put it earlier, but it wasn’t something he gave much thought about. Now, however, he couldn’t help but almost gawk at his reflection.
His skin looked like porecin, smooth and without any noticeable flaws or blemishes, and his cheeks were dusted a light pink. Mascara was used to call attention to his long eyelashes, and the eyeliner applied around his eyelid seemed to heighten his already intense eyes and curved into a subtle yet elegant wing that he figured only a well practiced hand could accomplish.
Akaashi never knew he could look like this and it gave him a strange and unexpected sense of satisfaction.
“Yukippe, where are you?! You still here?”
And just like that, as if a bubble had just burst, Akaashi felt his heart drop into his stomach as he heard Bokuto’s voice call out coming towards the club room. Any confidence Akaashi had in his appearance melted away quicker than he ever thought it could.
Bokuto was by far Akaashi’s greatest friend and he was closer to him than anyone else Akaashi had met in his life. But the thought of him seeing Akaashi in a skirt with makeup for some reason terrified him to no end.
He looked around, desperate to find something that would prevent Bokuto from seeing him like this. There was nowhere to hide or nothing to use to cover himself with. Bokuto would be coming from the only exit in the room and from the volume of his voice Akaashi didn’t have enough time to change back into his own clothes let alone take off the makeup.
Behind him, Akaashi heard a light snicker that pulled him temporarily out of his near panicked state. He looked towards the source of the noise and saw Yukie hurriedly tuck her phone behind her back and tried her best to look innocent.
Kaori must have noticed this the same time Akaashi did, from the way her expression changed from confusion to shock to dismay. “Yukie! Did you tell him to come here!?”
“Oh come on,” Yukie groaned. “It’s only fair! If we’re not allowed to take pictures he’d at least want to be here to see this. Can you imagine how he’d react if he found out Akaashi did all of this and he missed it?”
Akaashi wanted to question further in what way that was considered fair, or the fact that Yukie seemed to think Bokuto would enjoy seeing him dressed up like this, but before he could do either the door to the club room opened and Bokuto stepped inside.
“Yukippe! There you are! Is this about the notes I borrowed? Cause I can still-,” Bokuto cut himself off upon walking into the club room and taking in the sight laid out in front of him.
The two girls were standing between Akaashi and the doorway, so at first Bokuto didn’t fully register him and what he was wearing. Once he did, however, Bokuto suddenly seemed to not know what to do with himself.
“Oh. Huh, well um. Aah. Akaashi you...,” as Bokuto stumbled over his words clearly at a loss for what to say. The tips of his ears had grown bright red, and a blush slowly made itself visible across his face. To say the least, he clearly had not been expecting to find Akaashi like this upon entering the club room.
The warmth in Akaashi’s cheeks let him know his face was growing just as red as Bokuto’s as he continued to stare. Akaashi could practically feel Bokuto’s eyes on him as he slowly looked Akaashi up and down taking in the entirety of the scene. The girls hadn’t managed to get any shoes along with the uniform, and for some reason Akaashi suddenly felt self conscious and silly about standing there in his volleyball shoes along with the rest of the uniform.
“Okay~, on that note,” Yukie smiled after a moment, breaking the silence and startling the two of them out of their half trance like state. She put her hands on Kaori’s shoulders and started pushing her towards the door. “I think it’s about time Kaori and I took off. You guys stay behind as long as you want, and don’t forget to lock up before you leave!”
“Huh? Yukie, wait. I don’t know if this is the best-” Kaori called out, but Yukie was already pushing Kaori out of the room and closed the door behind them.
Neither Akaashi or Bokuto spoke for what felt like minutes but was probably just a few seconds. It dragged on until Akaashi finally had to break the silence.
“The girls. They wanted to see how I’d look in one of their uniforms.”
“Right. Yes. The girls, of course,” Bokuto stuttered out.
Ok. This is fine , Akaashi thought to himself. Everything is ok. This doesn’t have to be awkward. It’s only as awkward as we make it, right? Right.
Except there was no way Akaashi could ignore or deny the look Bokuto had on his face. After getting over his initial surprise, Bokuto was now looking at Akaashi in that skirt the same way he’d focus in on a volleyball he was about to spike. The thought made Akaashi’s heart race, but for what reason exactly - nervousness, excitement, interest - he couldn't say .
Akaashi found himself fighting down another blush and forced himself to keep his face neutral. He glanced down once again to take in the outfit he’d found himself in. His hand grabbed a hold of a section of the skirt near the hem. He held the skirt out slightly and let it fall back into place against his legs with a swing.
“It probably looks a bit silly, doesn’t it?”
“No it doesn’t!” Bokuto exclaimed louder than he expected. He cleared his throat once before he continued. “I mean, no, you don’t look silly.” He hesitated for a moment then added, “You. uh, you look really pretty. In the skirt, I mean. Not that you don’t look nice normally! But especially! You do. In that. Yes.”
Akaashi couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. “Thank you, Bokuto-san. That is very kind of you.”
Akaashi had known he had a crush on Bokuto for some time now. It was hard not to, if he was being honest, considering how much time the two of them spent together. And it wasn’t just during their extra practices either. Lately they have been spending more and more time together outside of volleyball completely. They hung out on the weekends, they came over to each other’s houses at least two or three times a week, they’d started eating their lunches together as well.
Besides, it seemed only natural that Bokuto would have taken some sort of liking to him as his setter, right? Good communication between them was important in order for the team to do well. And on top of that, Bokuto was just naturally a friendly guy, so of course he’d try to become closer friends.
Akaashi knew that Bokuto was a kind, caring, and passionate individual. He was confident and outgoing and he wasn’t afraid to let others know what he was feeling. He got excited over the smallest of things and when he smiled you couldn’t help but want to share in his joy.
Akaashi never expected the spiker to like him back, not in the same way at least. But as he looked at the blush still faintly present on Bokuto’s face and the way he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of Akaashi, he was starting to reconsider the possibility.
He wasn’t sure what to say or where to go from here. He had always been quite good at reading people, Bokuto especially, and figuring out how to appropriately respond. But with flirting? Romantics? Akaashi felt like he was in way over his head.
“It’s, uh, it’s not that bad actually. Wearing this I mean. I usually don’t consider my appearance much, but this? It feels nice.” Akaashi had no idea whether or not he was just making the situation even more uncomfortable with what he was saying, but figured it was better than standing there in silence. And besides, this was Bokuto he was talking to. It’s not like he was going to scorn him for saying such things.
“Good! That’s good right? If you think it’s something that you’d like, you should feel good about it!” Bokuto said easily with the return of his usual grin.
The red on his face was starting to fade at this point, but Akaashi considered how he had never seen Bokuto so flustered before. Usually he took anything in stride that came his way, most of the time at least.
Akaashi decided he wanted to test the waters a bit. He took a few steps towards Bokuto from where he was standing across the room until they were just a foot or so apart.
“You really think I look that good like this, Bokuto-san?” Akaashi allowed a small smirk to cross his lips and raised his eyebrows slightly as he said this. It was much of a change in expression, but Akaashi has spent so much time with Bokuto that he knew he’d pick up on the difference.
Any color that may have faded from Bokuto’s face returned in an instant. To Bokuto’s credit, he didn’t take any steps back as Akaashi came closer, even if he was suddenly having difficulty maintaining eye contact and was only able to give a curt nod in response.
“Well, maybe I’ll have to dress like this again sometime, if you like it so much.” Akaashi let his smirk grow a bit as he said this. He could practically hear Bokuto gulp and decided to take pity on the other boy and took a step back.
It was only then did Akaashi realize just how late it had gotten (so much for getting a head start on homework tonight) and said as much to Bokuto almost regretfully.
“We should head home soon. Although first I’ll need to…” Akaashi trailed off motioning over to his own folded pile of clothes sitting on top of his school bag in the corner.
“Huh? Oh! Yeah, of course. I’ll just, uh, wait outside for you then!”
Bokuto had seen Akaashi change clothes hundreds of times before and after practices or matches. But this time felt different somehow, and Akaashi was silently grateful Bokuto picked up on that and offered to step outside himself. Akaashi didn’t think he would have gotten through the awkwardness of asking himself.
As he started to change clothes he began to worry about what he was to do with the borrowed uniform when he saw a new message appear on his phone from Kaori.
>>Don’t worry about the uniform. Just leave it in the club room and I’ll stop by early tomorrow to return it to my friend! :) >>
Akaashi almost sighed in relief. Well, that was one less thing he had to worry about. He sent her a quick thank you and continued changing back into his own school uniform. He didn’t have anything to take the makeup off with, but figured it was subtle enough to leave alone.
If Bokuto noticed the makeup he didn’t say anything, he just smiled at Akaashi as he walked outside to join him. Akaashi made sure to lock the door to the club room before he began walking to the station with Bokuto right alongside him.
The sun had just started to set over the buildings surrounding them. At this point, it was about the same time the two of them would normally leave school for the day after their usual spiking practice. Akaashi would lament again about missing his chance to do schoolwork if a part of him wasn’t secretly glad he got to walk home with Bokuto after all.
“You know,” Bokuto stopped to clear his throat once before he continued talking. “I do think you look pretty. And not just today! You always do.” Bokuto’s hand came up to scratch the back of his neck as he said this, trying his best not to seem too awkward. But honestly he was glad he managed to get anything out without stuttering this time. Akaashi had a tendency to make Bokuto’s brain work overtime.
Akaashi didn’t say anything in return, but he gave Bokuto one of his rare smiles. It was small but soft and genuine, and was still significant while displayed on Akaashi’s lips. Akaashi pretended not to notice Bokuto’s stifled gasp at the sight.
Instead he simply walked just a bit closer to Bokuto on their way home until they eventually had to part ways. And if their hands brushed against each other on that walk, well, who was Akaashi to pull away, especially when Bokuto finally reached out to tangle their fingers together.
____________________________________________________________________________
“Eh?!! You did what!”
On the rare occasion that both Bokuto and Yukie got to school early, they liked to catch up with each other in the morning before classes started. Which was easy enough to do considering they both were in the same class together and Yukie’s desk was directly in front of Bokuto’s.
“I orchestrated the whole thing!” Yukie yelled back to Bokuto, doing nothing to hide the subtle pride she felt for having come up with such an ingenious plan. “Who do you think suggested the skirt in the first place?”
“Aghh, Yukippe! I can’t believe you did something like that!” Bokuto slumped down in his seat and buried his face in his arms across the desk in front of him.
“Hey, you should be thanking me! I know you loved it. And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard you go on and on about how much you like Akaashi or how pretty he is. It was about time someone did something , and neither one of you was going to be the one to do it.”
“Nooo you don’t get it!” Bokuto lifted his head off the desk momentarily to punctuate his point. “If you did this because of me it’s like I manipulated him into doing something he probably hated! I took advantage of how nice and considerate he is.” Bokuto practically pouted and covered his face with his hands.
“Come on, stop being so dramatic. It’s not that big of a deal. And besides, I think Akaashi liked being all dressed up too.”
Bokuto looked up, peaking one of his eyes out from between his fingers. “You really think so? He wasn’t just saying that?”
“Uh, yeah! You didn’t see his face before you showed up, but it was like he was pleasantly surprised by the way he looked like that.”
“It still feels like I took advantage of him, but if Akaashi really did end up liking it, then I suppose it’s a bit ok,” Bokuto lifted his head up, but still kept the hint of a pout on his face.
“Hey and if you’re lucky, now you might get to see him like that again.”
His mind went back to Akaashi saying the same thing, his face just inches away from his own, and remembered how hard it was to keep his hands to himself in that moment wanting nothing more than to reach out towards the setter. Bokuto couldn’t help but imagine multiple scenarios of Akaashi that close to him again, most of which involved him wearing that skirt, except this time wearing it specifically for Bokuto.
Bokuto’s brain was close to short circuiting at the thought of it, which must have been clear from his face from the way Yukie laughed at him. “Close your mouth, Bokuto, or you’ll start to catch flies. Anyway, you owe me. And don’t think I won’t make sure you pay up!”
Realizing his mouth was, in fact, hanging open, Bokuto snapped it shut and gave himself a slight shake to bring him back to his senses. “Yeah yeah yeah. I’ll buy you whatever rice bowl you want from the cafeteria today.”
“Two rice bowls, and I might forgive you for losing my notes again.”
“Alright, deal.”
Seemingly satisfied, Yukie turned back around in her chair right as their teacher told everyone to quiet down and that class was about to start.
Bokuto’s mind kept wandering back to thoughts of Akaashi, which isn't an unusual occurrence if he had to admit, but the events of the day before made them even more prominent in his mind.
He wasn’t sure where this left him with Akaashi, or what it meant for their relationship. But what he is certain of is that he likes Akaashi. And that maybe, just maybe, Akaashi might be interested in him too.
He’ll have to make sure he got Yukie a really nice rice bowl at lunch.