what a pretty thing

009

A/N: Hi :>

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Akaashi shudders slightly at the question, but he doesn't show it. He's sure Bokuto noticed it anyway.

"Nothing you already know, Bokuto-san."

Akaashi knew that was the safest answer to go with. He's not ready. He doesn't think he will be anytime soon. As much as possible, he wanted to deal with that on his own first, sweep it back under the rug where it belongs. Bokuto's eyes stayed on him. He hated how the room fell into a deep silence he could practically hear Hinata's confusion and questions across the room. It wasn't the best time to talk about it, they both knew that.

Say something.

"We'll talk about that some other time, Akaashi."

Pursing his lips, Akaashi simply nodded as he mumbled a 'yes, Bokuto-san'. And just like that, he was back to his usual, bubbly, energetic self, as if nothing happened. Akaashi supposes he has to get used to it — to him.

"Akaashi-san! Konoha-san said you're really good with knives!"

Akaashi broke out of his trance of staring at Bokuto as he turned to him, "Ah — yes. I suppose so."

Hinata gapes at him and Bokuto lets out a roar of laughter. These two combined could topple down the whole building with just their voices, Akaashi thinks. Walking over to Hinata, Bokuto places a hand on his head and ruffles his hair, "Bokuto-saaaan!" Akaashi watches them in awe through his expressionless face, and he couldn't help but think how adorable they actually were.

"Hinata's been meaning to ask you that ever since you got here!" Hinata smiles widely at Akaashi and he nods. Bokuto plops himself down on the beanbag chair and looks back at Akaashi, "Stay here with us for a few." Nodding, Akaashi finds himself a chair to sit on, preferably the one closest to them.

Hinata giggles as he grabs the controller he placed on the floor, "Do you wanna play?"

Waving his hand a little, Akaashi gently shakes his head with it, "No, thank you. I don't know how to play." Akaashi didn't want to disrupt whatever bonding they had. He was merely there to watch, make countless observations and conclusions about the two of them, both as an individual and their relationship overall so he could better understand how to act towards them. Bokuto looks at him over his shoulder, "Come on! Let's see how bad you are at video games!"

Of course, Akaashi loses the choice to say no when it's Bokuto asking him to do something. Akaashi stared at him for a moment before he glanced at the idle flat screen television that stuck against the wall. Sighing, he nods as he retrieves the controller from Bokuto's grasp, "What is this game supposed to be?" Hinata cheers loudly and Bokuto grins at him as he pressed a button on Akaashi's controller, "Mortal Kombat X." He should have expected that for some reason.

"Hey, Akaashi-san," Hinata glances at Akaashi before turning back to the screen in front of him to select a character, "If I win, can you train me how to use knives?" Akaashi watches him for a moment, a bit entertained and flattered that Hinata actually wanted him to be the one to train him. Akaashi shrugs as he chooses his character, "I don't see why not."

Hinata sits up as he shouts, "Let's do this!"

It didn't take long before Hinata stared at the screen in shock and disappointment as Bokuto kept on laughing and patting him on the back, as if it was the funniest thing in the world, "He completely destroyed you! On his first try!" Hinata looked like his soul had been sucked out of his body. Akaashi didn't lie — it was indeed his first time to play. That's why he asked if he could go over the controls first and get a bit of practice with it before they started. Akaashi places the control back on Bokuto's lap as he sits back down on his chair, "Mashing the buttons without knowing what they do isn't going to help you win, Hinata."