Work Text:
“Just looking at this schedule is giving me an aneurysm, dude,” Kuroo says. He passes the planner back across the table to Bokuto, who frowns.
“But it’s so cute,” he says, running his finger over the little stickers that scream WEDDING!! in various fancy fonts.
“Yeah, no, I get that,” Kuroo says. “I mean, not in the way you do, but I know how you feel about the fancy stationary shit and I’m happy for you. I mean how the hell are you going to fit two weddings into a single day?”
Bokuto shrugs. “The venues are practically right next to each other. I’ll just hop back and forth.”
“You’re the best man for both weddings! You don’t think they’ll notice that you’re mysteriously absent for half the reception?”
Bokuto finally closes the planner and looks up at his best friend. “Did you notice I was gone from your reception for thirty minutes because Sawamura’s sister called and was freaking out about her wedding the next day?”
Kuroo’s brow furrows. “I–no, I guess I didn’t.”
“You were too busy being very, very in love.” Bokuto shoots him with a series of finger guns, and Kuroo takes them all to the chest and falls against the back of his chair dramatically. “It’s all good, man. Everything’s gonna go smooth as a baby’s bottom.”
“That’s my least favorite way you’ve ever described anything to me,” Kuroo says.
“You betcha.”
***
Bokuto has no problem pulling off the two-weddings-at-once thing. He wasn’t kidding about the venues being close to each other, and it’s not like he has to change outfits. He just switches the color of his tie during the back and forth, and voila. Whole different man.
It’s not like he could say no to either of the couples who asked, anyway. His party-planning skills have become somewhat legendary among the other V-leaguers and their families, such that his off-season is crammed with as many formal events as he can possibly fit. He’s even got a waiting list going for next year. But they’re family, he reasons. They’re all connected in the volleyball world, and he owes it to the Community At-Large to give back.
Or something like that.
He’s grateful for the aircon that covers his sweat as he sneaks back into Ushijima’s cousin’s wedding just as the bride and groom share their slice of cake. It’s only the end of May, but it’s already shaping up to be a terribly hot summer. He laughs and applauds with everyone else, but a hand on his shoulder stops him before he can get back to Kageyama’s aunt.
“No one else may realize what you’re doing, but I do.”
Bokuto slowly turns around. The man who stopped him is familiar, sort of, except that Bokuto’s not sure he’s ever really looked at him before now. His eyes are a piercing steel blue, and his tie is a shade of grey so dark it barely sticks out from the black of his shirt. He’s wearing a camera around his neck.
“What am I doing?” Bokuto questions.
The photographer frowns. “You keep disappearing and re-appearing at convenient times. You’re sweating even though the aircon is cranked in here. Your tie isn’t the same color as the rest of the groomsmen–”
“Shit,” Bokuto says, throwing it quickly over his shoulder. He hopes no one else has noticed.
“So you’re obviously fucking one of the family members,” concludes the man, raising an eyebrow at him.
Bokuto can’t help the way he bursts into laughter. The photographer frowns even more deeply.
“No, no, I swear I’m not,” Bokuto says, beaming. “Look, I’m Bokuto Koutarou–”
“I’m aware of who you are,” says the photographer monotonously.
“Oh, great. Then you know Ushijima Wakatoshi, of the Adlers? His cousin’s the bride. She and the groom asked me to help with the party, except so did Kageyama Tobio’s aunt–and actually, now that I think about it, Ushijima and Kageyama should have talked to each other and figured out their relatives were getting married the same weekend–”
“Are you telling me you’re sneaking out to go to a different wedding?”
“Yeah,” Bokuto says, relieved that he understood so quickly. “Yeah, I am.”
They stare at each other for a long moment. Finally, the photographer speaks again.
“You’re a terrible liar,” he says, “but as long as I still get my paycheck, I suppose I’ve done my moral duty. Good night, Bokuto-san.”
And he turns and heads back into the fray of the party, leaving Bokuto watching his back curiously.
***
The thing is, now that Bokuto has seen the photographer once, he sort of can’t stop seeing him.
Sure, Bokuto attends a lot of weddings, but it seems his mystery photographer does, too, because Bokuto spots him every weekend for the next month. He understands by now that a photographer isn’t meant to be seen, but no matter how crowded the venue, he seems to pull Bokuto’s gaze across every room. When Bokuto should be watching the bouquet toss or the first dance, he’s searching out the photographer instead, trying to see what he sees. He’s captivating, and Bokuto is captivated.
Sugawara’s little brother’s best friend gets married in late June, and Bokuto finds himself with two drinks in his hand instead of one when he catches sight of the photographer in the corner at the reception. His feet carry him right over there before he can tell them to go somewhere else.
“I really wasn’t sleeping with anyone last month,” Bokuto begins.
The photographer slowly lowers his camera to glare at Bokuto. “Right,” he says. “I suppose you are rather active in the Tokyo wedding scene.”
“So are you,” Bokuto replies. “I’ve seen you all the time since then. I didn’t catch your name.”
“I didn’t throw it.” Bokuto offers him the second drink, which he accepts with a sigh. “Akaashi Keiji.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Bokuto says earnestly. “How long have you been shooting weddings?”
“Too long already,” Akaashi answers. He takes a sip of his drink. “But it pays the bills, so I suppose I can’t complain.”
“You don’t like weddings?” Bokuto asks, his heart breaking at the thought.
“You do?” Akaashi counters. Then he rolls his eyes. “Right, active in the wedding scene.”
“What’s not to like?” Bokuto says eagerly. “Good food, good friends, dancing, love in the air all around you–”
“And it’s all fake,” Akaashi says.
“What?”
Akaashi sighs again. “Thank you for the drink, Bokuto-san, but I have a job to do.” He returns the glass to Bokuto’s hands and lifts his camera to his face before stepping into the crowd, and Bokuto yearns.
***
For the next few weeks, Bokuto seeks Akaashi out at every wedding he attends and tries to draw him into conversation. The company he works for is apparently the most sought-after photography company in Tokyo, and Akaashi is, by his own confession, something of a workaholic. Bokuto can understand that, and when he tells a story about the year he overtrained so hard he had to go to the hospital, he thinks Akaashi almost offers him a sympathetic smile.
“Do you dance, Akaashi-san?” Bokuto asks in mid-July.
Akaashi snorts. “I absolutely do not dance.”
“What if you were asked by someone you cared a lot about?” Bokuto questions. “Or someone who cared a lot about you?”
Akaashi raises an eyebrow. “Given that there are next to no people who care a lot about me, I don’t feel especially concerned about the possibility.”
Bokuto sighs. “What if the world were about to end and the only way to stop it was to dance?”
Akaashi’s upper lip twitches with amusement. “I suppose we’ve had a good long run on this planet, then.”
“Akaaaaashi!” Bokuto exclaims, and Akaashi finally grants him a smile.
***
Bokuto can’t help but picture himself dancing with Akaashi at every wedding after that. He fantasizes about holding him close and showing him what weddings and love are all about. By early August, his imagination is no longer limited by his presence at a wedding, and he’s thinking about Akaashi pretty much all of the time. By the end of the month, he’s feeling restless with it. He wants to be someone Akaashi cares a lot about.
“There’s only two weddings left before the season starts,” Bokuto whines to Kuroo late one Friday night. “I don’t want to go another six months without seeing him. And he hates weddings so what if he gets another job and then I never see him again at all–”
“Dude,” Kuroo says, reaching out to touch Bokuto’s knee. “You’re spiraling. This is a simple problem with a simple solution.”
Bokuto takes a deep, calming breath. “It is?”
Kuroo nods. “You gotta ask him out.”
Bokuto frowns. There’s nothing suggesting that Akaashi would actually accept if he did ask him out, except…he smiles more often when Bokuto is around, now. He talks to him of his own accord. Last weekend, he was even the one to seek Bokuto out, rather than the other way around.
“Right,” Bokuto says. “Okay. I can do this.”
***
At the second to last wedding of the season, Bokuto’s romantic plans are foiled when Hinata’s mother’s hairdresser ends up walking out of the reception in hysterics. Akaashi raises a knowing eyebrow at Bokuto as they watch chaos descend upon the remaining celebrants.
“Shit, I have to go,” Bokuto says, remembering his duties as groomsman.
“Good luck,” Akaashi calls after him.
Everything comes down to the very last wedding, the union of–well, he can’t remember exactly how the groom is related to Hoshiumi, but there’s definitely a connection there. The ceremony is beautiful, the reception is tasteful, and Akaashi–
Akaashi is nowhere to be found.
It takes Bokuto longer than usual to find the photographer, but even from a distance, he can tell that isn’t Akaashi. That man is smiling as he gazes upon the dancing grooms, and Akaashi would never smile at outward happiness.
“Excuse me,” he says, tugging on the photographer’s sleeve. “Excuse me, where is Akaashi-san?”
The photographer narrows his eyes. “He’s shooting a wedding across town,” he replies. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m quite busy.”
He turns back to his job as Bokuto’s heart sinks. This was his last shot, and now it’s gone. He might never get to see Akaashi again. Unless…
It’s a terrible idea, but he’s committed to it from the moment it enters his head. He dashes out of the wedding, mentally sending his apologies to the grooms. He’s sure they’d understand if he explained–he has to go seek out his own true love.
He runs down to the train station and starts going through venues in his head. Across town is a pretty generic description, but Bokuto knows every place there is to get married in Tokyo, and he’ll search them all if it means he gets to see Akaashi again.
He ducks in and out of wedding after wedding, finding photographers and tapping their shoulders only to have them turn around in confusion when Bokuto disappears before they get a chance to respond. Bokuto is grateful for his workout routine, because it means he’s not nearly as out of breath as he could be. He just knows he has to keep going, keep searching.
As the sun gets lower in the sky, his heart starts to sink. Receptions will start to let out now. Akaashi will pack away his camera and head home, and Bokuto won’t get the chance to ever admit his feelings. Then he stops and looks around, remembering where Ushijima’s cousin got married back in May. It would be a hell of a coincidence, but Bokuto’s the sort of man who believes in fate.
He runs the thirty blocks back to the venue, getting a lot of strange looks as he goes. He knows he’s just famous enough that there might be sports bloggers writing about him tonight or tomorrow morning, but he can’t bring himself to care. He has to get back to Akaashi. He has to.
Finally, he returns to the place where it all started. There is a wedding here tonight, and the happy couple are just getting ready to leave. Which means that somewhere close by, there should be–
“Akaashi!” Bokuto can’t help but shout.
Every face in the room turns to him. The photographer slowly lowers his camera, and Akaashi looks like he wants to sink into the floor.
“Sorry, sorry everyone!” Bokuto says, beaming as he crosses the room. “Hi, I’m Bokuto Koutarou, I play volleyball for the MSBY Black Jackals, and your photographer is the most beautiful man I’ve ever met.” He hears a few gasps. Akaashi is bright red. Bokuto doesn’t stop moving until he’s right in front of Akaashi. “And he hates weddings and romance and the first time we met he thought I was sleeping with the groom’s family but I wasn’t but he’s so lovely, so thoughtful and funny and smart and I really, really want to take him dancing.”
“I don’t dance,” Akaashi says, quiet enough that probably only Bokuto can hear him.
“What if someone who really, really cared about you asked you to dance?” Bokuto whispers.
“There isn’t anyone like that,” Akaashi replies.
Bokuto shakes his head. “That’s not true. I really, really care about you, and I’m asking. Akaashi Keiji, will you dance with me?”
“Dance with him or I will!” one of the guests shouts.
There’s a ripple of laughter, but everyone seems to be holding their breath. Finally, Akaashi takes a step forward. “Why are you all sweaty?” he questions.
“I did…like a lot of running,” Bokuto says. “I really needed to find you.”
Akaashi smiles. “You found me.”
“Yeah,” Bokuto agrees. “Yeah, I did.”
“You know this might not last.”
“I know.”
“I’m probably going to break your heart.”
“I’d let you.”
Akaashi huffs, and Bokuto thinks there might be tears in his eyes. “Okay,” he says, finally giving in. “Okay, Bokuto-san. I’ll dance with you.”
The whole room erupts into cheers as Bokuto surges forward and twirls Akaashi in his arms. And right there in the middle of someone else’s wedding, they share their very first dance.