Mascot

Akaashi

Akaashi Keiji loved his job. It wasn't a paying job in the work force, but being the school's mascot came with its perks.

He was outgoing, energetic, and excitable; only because no one knew it was him inside the owl suit. He'd found it a month into his first year at Fukurodani High and had immediately gone to talk to the football coach about it.

The coach had been surprised by Akaashi's interest and he tried to talk him out of it. No one else wanted the position because the suit was hot and heavy, but Akaashi refused to be swayed, insisting the he didn't mind the heat or weight of the suit and, when they coach couldn't convince him otherwise, he agreed to let him give it a try.

Akaashi had rocked it. He yelled, ran, jumped, and cheered the football team to victory at their first match. He knew exactly when to get the crowd fired up to encourage the players and how. The suit was his for good.

His energy and excitement often left the coach wondering if it was really the same boy in the suit as the one that sat disinterested and quiet in his class, calming Bokuto Koutaro, the quarterback, when he got too rowdy.

The truth of it was that Akaashi was shy. He'd always been introverted, never really knowing how to converse with people because they all seemed to only comment on one thing: his far too pretty face. Distancing himself from people was the only answer he could find that worked.

Being the mascot allowed him to be the outgoing introvert he truly was without anyone knowing and he couldn't have been happier.

To help keep his secret, he didn't date at Fukurodani. There were plenty of attractive guys in his gym class, let alone the entire school, but Akaashi dated jocks and he wouldn't be able to attend their games. The pressure would be too much. He found his partner in the quarterback of Nekoma, Kuroo Tetsurou.

Dating at the rival school gave him the perfect excuse not to be at games. After all, he couldn't be caught cheering for the rival team.

Kuroo accepted that, though he often made it clear that he was upset at the lack of visible support. He wanted Akaashi there and Akaashi didn't know it was just to show off how pretty he was. Occasionally, he would show up at practices and Kuroo would flaunt him like some new accessory, but Akaashi didn't think anything of it, simply pushing the man away when his kisses got too daring for public eye.

There were times Akaashi wanted to break up with Kuroo, but he knew how stressed his college level classes made him and wanted to help with his stress relief. At times, Kuroo had pushed him further than he wanted to go, using the stress relief guilt trip to his advantage.

It was why, when homecoming came around, Akaashi was terrified.