Don't Leave Me (Behind) || [BokuAka] || ✔️

29

Yukie sat at the head of the table, the pile of presents that had previously marred the table behind her sat in front of her, almost taller than her. She stared at the pile happily, her cheeks stretching with the sheer size of her smile as she bounced happily in her seat. The birthday girl had demanded the white-haired man sit right beside her as she opened the gifts, and so he complied, taking the discarded wrapping he was given and putting it to the side gently.

“Alright, which one do you want first?” Keiji asked her, and she immediately pointed at a medium sized box covered in pink, glittery wrapping. She read the card, ripped it open and thanked the gifter, repeating the process over and over until she came on the last few gifts; 3 boxes ranging in size, all wrapped in the same teal paper with a purple ribbon finishing off the aesthetics of it, as well as a small pink box about the size of Bokuto’s palm.

“Daddy, can I have that one next?” She asked, pointing at the second-smallest present left on the table. Akaashi smiled, nodded, and handed it to her.

“This one is from Kuroo-san.” The ravenette read out the writing on top of the box before helping her untie the ribbon before allowing her to rip the remaining covering to shreds. She gasped when she saw the gift, bouncing in the seat again as she looked in Kuroo’s direction.

“Thank you, Kuroo! How did you know I wanted one of these!” She shouted, lifting up the small nerf gun she had received. It was purple and blue, and could only shoot 1 bullet at a time, but it was perfectly Yukie-sized, and Bokuto could already imagine her running around the house, chasing after him and shooting at him any chance she got. Kuroo smiled at her, before leaning on Kenma’s head and watching the little girl continue to rip apart the thin paper keeping her from her new possessions.

She was given the next one from Kenma, which was the size up from the previous one, and her reaction was the same as the first one. She got another nerf gun, just a different model, with the barrel space for 3 bullets to be shot at once. She thanked the blonde again, the latter of which actually paused his game to interact with the 5 year old, before she pointed to the last green one.

“That one now, please, daddy.” Keiji nodded, grabbing the biggest present left on the table and pulling it into her lap. It was significantly bigger than her like that, probably surpassing her by another head.

“This one is from… Kobuto-chan.” Keiji peered over the top of the egg-shappred bundle, reading the messy writing that had also taken up the other 2 presents. Yukie took that as the signal it was and immediately ripped into the paper, handing the bits she pulled off to Bokuto and gasping when she finally saw the whole thing.

It was a giant stuffed toy shaped like a white barn owl, the same ones that she had on her quilt-cover and the photos hung up around the room. She squealed and handed the toy to Akaashi, who grabbed it with flustered, wide eyes, and the young girl quickly jumped into Bokuto’s arms.

“Thank you! Thank you Kobuto-chan! It’s my favourite teddy now!” Her grip was tight, and Bokuto couldn’t help but chuckle at her antics and she rocked back and forth and kept squeezing around his neck. He glanced up behind the head of hair snuggled flush against him, catching Keiji’s blue eyes smiling down at him.

His face was pulled into a small smile, barely there to the point that most people wouldn’t have seen it. But Koutarou did. He noticed the slightest upturn in the slant in his eyes, the way the shallow lines around his eyes were pulled taught as the outermost corners of his lips tilted up. The softness of the expression, the sheer amount of fondness held in those eyes made Bokuto’s heart stutter, and he was a little bit grateful for Yukie pulling away from him.

That way, she wouldn’t hear how his heart raced at the sight of his dad.

The brunette peeled herself away from Bokuto’s arms, blinking up at him before flashing him her gigawatt smile, settling back down in her seat and smiling up at the ravenette in front of her. He smiled down at her, the fondness still in his eyes, before he slid the last present towards her.

She slowly peeled away the lid of the pink box, peering inside cautiously as she slowly comprehended her last present. Inside the box was a cushion of velvet, the same powder pink as the box it came in, and sitting on top of the box was a pair of small, silver flower earrings, with a tiny green gem sitting in the middle of the delicate silver.

She gasped, lifting the little box closer to her face to get a better look at them, smiling wider the more she looked at them. She then pulled back from the box, placing it down on the table as she slowly climbed down off the chair she was sitting on. She immediately ran over to Akaashi, wrapping herself around his legs like she had done to Bokuto so many times.

“Thank you, Daddy!” She said, and Keiji smiled, bending down and picking her up into his arms. She wrapped around his neck, muttering ‘thank you’ over and over again as Akaashi just smiled.

“I’m glad you like them. Once everyone goes home, we can put them in, ok? Why don’t you go show your dad and uncle ‘Tsumu?” He asked, and she nodded, dropping down out of his arms and grabbing the box haphazardly, before running over to the opposite end of the table where her other parent and his family sat.

The ravenette glanced back towards Bokuto, who had been openly admiring the blue-green of the younger’s eyes, and the two shared a soft smile. Said boy started walking towards Koutarou, sidling up to him as he watched his daughter run around.

“Come help me cut the cake.”

*****

We are nearing the end! I estimate approximately 3 or 4 chapters until the end.

I'm not as happy about this chapter as the other ones, I feel like it's just lacking the depth, but it's kinda just a  filler chapter, so I'm not complaining too much.
Anyway, 1 more chapter until 30 chapters! It feels so weird haha