Believer

5

Bokuto had gotten home from school relatively early. Volleyball practice had been canceled today because of an upcoming match. The coach had practically forced them to go home and rest. 

That meant Bokuto was antsy. Energy was bubbling under his skin, just waiting to be put to use. 

Currently he was sitting on his front porch in a foldable fishing chair. The regular porch chairs had gotten old and needed to be replaced, so his father had trashed the broken scraps and the new ones were being shipped in. 

He had a water bottle by his feet and his backpack contents strewn about. His laptop was indeed on his lap along with the essay rubric. Gosh, he hated essays. 

Be was trying away, writing an informative essay on the pros and cons of industrialization. His leg was itching to bounce, but he tried to focus that energy output on typing faster.

It didn't work. 

Suddenly he heard the faint sound of footsteps. He snaps his head up, curiously sitting up straight to see who it is. 

He is pleasantly surprised to spot the curly black haired teen in a pair of black shorts with a sweater that was majority red with yellow sleeves and blue trim. It looked good on the boy, accenting his neutral hair color. 

"Ah, Painter boy! How's your day?" He called out, waving to the figure for good measure. 

He was nervous that the teen wouldn't acknowledge him like last time. Bokuto felt nervous. He also didn't want to seem creepy. 

To his dread, the male continued to walk along the sidewalk, not acknowledging Bokuto.

The duel haired teen sighed, feeling the weight of disappointment heavy on his shoulders. Slowly he slumped back in his seat, yet continued to watch the teen carrying two small bags of groceries walk on. 

Suddenly though, the black haired teen looked up, feeling another gaze upon him. Akaashi looked up, searching for the eyes before he landed on the Pianist. 

The Pianist lit up, smiling and waving. He had begun speaking but Akaashi couldn't read the fast paced words flying out of his mouth. Akaashi was at a loss. 

Akaashi, feeling a bit awkward at the situation, smiled at the musician and gave a small wave. Then he scurried off to his front door and let himself inside. 

Bokuto was grinning ear to ear as he turned back to his essay. He had figured out that the neighbor was not ignoring him, but seemed to not hear. Bokuto's sharp gaze had been able to find out the other teen was not in fact wearing headphones. And to add on to that, the teen didn't respond to Bokuto asking about his day. That meant either Painter boy couldn't hear or Bokuto spoke too fast. 

Even though Isamu said not to jump to conclusions, Bokuto refrained from listening. 

Instead he busied himself on signing up for JSL lessons. 

He was going to try and learn the language anyways, but now he had more of an incentive. Even if his neighbor isn't deaf, Bokuto would still know sign language, so it was a win win. 

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

"Are you okay, honey? You're shaking!" Akia exclaimed, worried for her son. 

She carefully approached her son, looking him over for injuries. Her search was cut off when frantic signing interrupted her. 

"The neighbor was out and he waved and said something but I couldn't catch it so I just waved and smiled back and oh my gosh that was so freaking awkward, I'm never leaving the house that was so horrible, I can't show my face anymore." Akaashi was breathing deep, anxiety rooting itself into his mind. 

"Oh honey." She looks at her only son being torn apart with anxiety and softly brings him into her embrace. She slowly wrapped her arms around him and tucked his head under her chin. Then she began humming a tune, knowing the vibrations soothed him. Even as a child the vibrations of talking soothed his anxiety. 

After he had stopped shaking and returned to normal, she pulled away. "Do you want me to get your sketchpad?" She questioned. 

Akaashi nodded, shuffling his feet and anxiously pulling at his fingers. 

She glanced one more time at her son before turning to grab the sketchpad and some pens. 

By the end of the night, three paper spreads were filled, pizza was ordered, and a movie with subtitles were on. Akaashi, while he couldn't hear the voices, loved using the actors as references for human anatomy. 

By the end of the night, Akaashi felt better and less like he screwed up every social interaction he has ever had since birth. 

"Maybe you should take a small pad of paper next time to talk to him. He seems friendly right? And maybe you two could become good friends." She suggested. "I'm not saying you have to or anything, but it would be good for you to start interacting with others more." 

Akaashi pursed his lips, "Maybe…" He signed hesitantly. 

Akia dropped the subject for now, opting to let her son mull it over for a bit. They spent the rest of the night relaxing.