The Moon

“C’mon! Even Iwaizumi is going! It’s your birthday. Lighten up a little, Bokuto.”

The male with black and white hair (or was it white and black? Not even he remembered himself at this point) looked down with a frown. “Well he is bisexual and single so that isn’t surprising.”

Bokuto sighed and rubbed his forehead gently to try and rid of the wrinkles that were currently overwhelming his sensitive forehead. “Listen I appreciate the thought but I think I’d just like to be alone today. There’s still work I need to catch up on and-”

“Bokuto. You’ve been alone for the past week and you’ve been working from the moment you wake up to the moment you sleep. Do you even sleep? Look at those bags under your eyes! You need a distraction. Please bro, just come with us. We all agreed to go half and half so you don’t need to worry about expenses. Drink your problems away. Besides you know that the boss never drinks enough to get drunk. We’ll be taken care of properly. Come on bro…”

As he opened his mouth to protest his best friend once more, his boss began to convince him and that’s when he knew he had no other choice.

“Kōtarō, Tetsurō is right. You’ve worked hard enough and deserve a break. You need to get back out there and at least start looking for someone else. He wasn’t the one and that’s okay. We’ve all made mistakes. Trial and error! You’re turning 25 today. I bet you out there right now, there’s a couple that’s in their 40s getting married for the first time. What I’m trying to say is that you shouldn’t rush love and you shouldn’t rush to get old. It’s Friday and one night isn’t going to destroy you. There’s always going to be work, regardless of how fast you get it done. You need at least one night away from this. Now, let’s go before Hajime changes his mind and we lose important funds for Getting-The-Owl-Back-In-Progress.”

Bokuto couldn’t help but laugh at the silly and quite uncreative name they gave the operation. After shaking his head, he looked over to his right and saw his coworker Asahi standing there nervously.

“I-I know I’m not one to speak-”

Kuroo interrupted which only made Azumane more nervous about speaking to Bokuto. “Pfft yeah you’re not. You spent weeks locked up at home and crying over… what was her name again?”

Asahi whimpered quietly and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter now Kuroo! Wha- what I, myself am trying to say is that you’ll find someone better and you’ll be happy. Happier than you’ve ever been. I-I know from uh… From experience. So please just come with us? My fiancé really wants to meet you all anyway. Plus, if you get uncomfortable at any point I can take you backstage so… so you can take a moment to cool?”

Bokuto’s eyes widened and the nodded. “I totally forgot about Noya-kun! Then let’s go!”

Everyone stared at the now excited man who was giggling goofily. And they realized that of course it wouldn’t take much for him to pick himself back up.

But they all had a good feeling in their gut. And Kōtarō was more excited than anyone.

However an hour or so later, things changed course completely as Kuroo was now trying to pry off his best friend that was clinging onto his leg like a child would to his mother.

“Get off me you damn owl! We’re already here so just get… in… there!” With his last words, he struggled to shake his leg in order to get Bokuto off.

Alas, it had absolutely zero effect.

Bokuto continued to cling onto him as he shook his head vigorously and refused to get off. “You can’t make me go in there! Bring Noya-kun out here and then let’s leave! I’m not going in there you stupid cat!”

Tetsurō  growled, clawing at Kōtarō’s arm to get him to slip. Or anything. Anything!

“If the boss comes out here and finds us like this we’re both gonna get our asses kicked and we can kiss our raise goodbye. Now I swear to God if you don’t get off me in three seconds I’m going to-”

“Tetsurō?”

“What?!”

Kōtarō sulked and looked down with a pout on his lips. “Do you think I’ll ever find y’know… the one?”

Kuroo sighed and looked away momentarily. When his eyes flickered back down to Bokuto he saw that the other had tears forming in his quickly reddening eyes. And he wondered how he ended being best friends with someone so sensitive. He needed to choose his wording carefully and he was aware. But he was only able to say whatever he felt right to say.

“Listen bro, the boss was right. You shouldn’t rush love. I mean I know you felt like he was the one for you but if it wasn’t meant to be, things will end for a reason. You can be a pain in the ass sometimes sure, but you will find someone who can tolerate you in both the ups and downs. If you two ended things due to just one little argument then it wasn’t worth it. You’ll find someone better. And besides, if you let something go and it doesn’t come back to you then it was truly never yours. It’s been three weeks dude. If he really wanted to be friends as he claimed he wanted, he would’ve talked to you to check up on you or something you know?”

Bokuto’s grip on his friend only tightened as he cried out softly. “I’m sorry dude. I’m a mess right now.”

Kuroo laughed and looked away. “Yeah… So will you get off me now?”

“R-right.”

As the pair walked into the club, it was dark yet colorful. The lights burned Bokuto’s swollen eyes as they searched for their party. However, Iwaizumi went up to greet them. A drink was already in his hand.

“What took you two idiots so long?”

Kuroo scoffed and crossed his arms over his puffed out chest . “That’s no way to talk to your-”

“Yeah anyway, Sawamura went ahead and got us the first round already. Asahi went to the back to let Noya know we’re here. You two should go join us. Kinda awkward between us y’know? Plus Daichi’s been hitting it with our waitress from the moment he stepped foot in here.”

So now they sat here.

Daichi was silently taking small sips of his drink while his eyes never left the beautiful angel with grey hair and beautiful curves.

Iwaizumi was on his phone, sending a message to his babysitter. His daughter was okay and sleeping peacefully. Her mother would come by later to pick her up since Iwaizumi would probably be home late.

Kuroo was checking out the bartender with pretty blonde hair (yet he looked like he needed to touch up his hair. His roots were showing…). It was tied back into a messy ponytail and for whatever reason, Kuroo’s insides would stir at the sight of that messy hair.

Bokuto stared into his drink, watching it swirl around like it was hypnotizing him.

None of them said anything but it wasn’t an awkward silence. There was loud, upbeat music to fill in anyway.

It was a couple minutes later when Asahi finally returned. His face was flushed a bright red and he looked… uncomfortable?

“Eh… Um N-Noya would like to meet you all but he said to go backstage because it’s uh really loud in here. So if you’d like to meet him, please follow me!”

The time came and they all stood in an empty dressing room awkwardly.

“What do you think he’s gonna be like?” asked Bokuto as he paced around the room, fidgeting with small objects he could find.

“Tall! Very handsome. Mmmm I think Asahi bottoms? So probably someone confident. Especially given the fact that he’s a stripper so confidence is a must,” Kuroo explained as he nodded to himself at his own theory.

Hajime rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Kuroo how do you know Asahi’s position?”

Daichi said nothing as he was following Bokuto around and scolding him to “leave this alone and that too.”

“Is it not obvious? He’s a total twink!”

The room fell silent as Asahi walked in, face brighter than anything they’ve ever seen.

Then there was a sudden loud laughter that made everyone jolt. The voice belonged to somebody that they didn’t recognize. Suddenly, a small figure approached from behind the tall Asahi who didn’t even seem to be breathing.

The male that approached was not very tall as Tetsurō theorized. Actually, he almost looked like a younger brother when standing next to Asahi. His hair was standing up, spiked up neatly with a couple of strands up front seeming to be the rebels; they were dyed a dim blond and weren't tucked upwards with the rest of his brown hair. His eyes were large and widened with amusement.

“You’re not wrong there! You must be Kuroo!” Noya exclaimed with a buzzing energy as he stepped closer to the now guilty vice-president.

“Yeah, and you must be Nishinoya. Nice to meet you.”

“Oh, just call me Noya!” The brunet extending his hand out for a handshake and when he finished with Kuroo, he went over to Hajime who had been standing there sternly the entire time.

“This is definitely Iwaizumi-san! You weren’t wrong about his scowl. You know what? I’ll ask Oikawa to treat those wrinkles after the show for sure!”

Iwaizumi huffed, frowned, and looked away with his current slight scowl growing. “I don’t need any treatment. Who’s this Oikawa anyway? I thought you were the only one we were supposed to meet today.”

“Stingy!”

“That isn’t what I-”

“Oh hush. You’ll get to see Oikawa’s performance after mine. Oikawa is… the most popular I’d say. Everyone goes crazy for him! You should hear it in here when it’s Ladies Night. Boy, you can just hear the panties dropping the moment his face is shown. Ovaries exploding when he shows his body.”

Kuroo and Bokuto began to laugh, deciding they certainly enjoyed Asahi’s fiancé’s company. Hajime only nodded and agreed quietly to meeting this Oikawa later on.

Noya made his way over to Daichi, who was trying to fix anything Bokuto had knocked over.

“Daichi-san! It’s an honor to finally be able to meet you. You can leave that there though. Nobody really ever uses this room unless… Anyway you should leave those things alone. And probably go wash your hands afterwards.”

Daichi immediately cringed and slowly backed away his hands. With a nod, he thanked him.

“Right, thank you. I’ll be sure to. But, uh, likewise! Azumane has told us so much about you but we knew how busy you were. It’s nice to finally meet in person.”

Noya smiled and pat his back roughly. “Same! Asahi is always saying how much of a father figure you are. That you certainly are!”

“Yū,” whimpered Asahi as his shoulders slumped. “You weren’t supposed to tell him that!”

His fiancé only laughed as he headed over to Bokuto who had been quietly fussing over Kuroo to take him home after their visit here with Nishinoya.

“You must be Bokuto! Your hair is certainly something else.”

“You’re one to talk! Look at your hair! You gotta tell me your secrets. I can’t get my hair to stay up in the middle. It’s always parting to the sides and look at it! Look! It’s all gross and I can’t seem to fix it.”

Noya laughed, putting his hands on his hips. “A stripper never reveals her secrets! You’ll see your mistake eventually.”

Bokuto pouted and poked at his hair. “Can’t you tell me?”

“Nah bro. I’m totally kidding. I have no idea how I do it because I don’t do my hair. Akaashi does it for me! Akaashi does everyone’s hair and makeup. So I can’t help you there. Sorry dude! But I have to go now. You guys should get back out there so you don’t miss any of our shows!”

“Good luck out there!”

The group soon returned to the table, Daichi ordering another round only for the sole purpose of getting chummy with their waitress but they all let him. It’s not like they were each waiting for their own prince charming to show up or anything.

Bokuto had his arm resting on the table with his cheek nestled warmly against his palm. There was a large and irritated frown pulling his lips down. “Don’t you think it’s funny we’re all single? And that Azumane, Azumane, is the only one that isn’t?”

Asahi looked at him nervously then at everyone who was agreeing with Bokuto. “H-hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!”

 “I mean that you’re awkward and tall and lanky and probably scare every damn kid that sees you! How do you have someone you’re going to marry and the rest of us don’t?!”

With Asahi only being offended and confused, he put his red face down to rest and sighed quietly. “I’m sorry for finding love?”

Daichi laughed while Iwaizumi gently patted Asahi's shaking back.

“Nah, don’t even sweat it. We’re all pretty young anyway. Bokuto, 25 is the age where you only just start about thinking of settling down. Not actually settling down just yet. You’ll find the one soon enough. Anyway tonight we’re here to celebrate the beautiful creation of men and get drunk beyond belief. Let’s do what we came here to do! Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

“Hey hey hey! Cheers!!”

“Cheers.”

“Cheers... ”

About half an hour later, they were all still pretty sober and were sitting there in silence. The music continued to fill in so that was cool. But none of them really seemed to want to go as crazy as they used to. One time, they all drank so much after finishing a huge project that they all ended up throwing up together in Daichi’s bathtub. It was a bad memory and they swore to never do it again. But that didn’t quite seem to be the reason as to why they weren’t drinking.

Bokuto felt as if he should be drinking heavier, had every right to. But he just wasn’t feeling like it would be right of him to. Like something good would happen tonight. He kept convincing himself that maybe his ex would walk in any second. And that they’d catch up over a couple of drinks, just as they did the first time. But deep down, he knew it was something else. Maybe he’d get laid tonight, nobody really knew. Regardless of what it was, he kept convincing himself that it would be his ex that had something to do with it.

“Yo! Asahi, when is Noya gonna perform? I’m ready to see what popped that boner of yours!” Bokuto smirked as he took a glance over at his restless coworker.

Asahi’s face was flushed a bright crimson red that was quickly expanding to his ears and neck. He crossed his legs and looked down at his drink for some type of salvation. “I-in a couple of minutes he should be up…”

The rest of them didn’t even notice Bokuto teasing Asahi which was too much of a disappointment. They were currently watching the performer on stage right now. He had no hair but his body sure made up for the lack of that. He wasn’t on the pole much, more like dancing and teasing the crowd as he took an article of clothing off each time.

In order to try and distract Bokuto from what lied between his legs, Asahi explained to him that Tanaka, who was the man up there, would sometimes perform a duo with Noya. It was only for Ladies Night though as most of the women get riled up when the performers showed some type of intimacy between them. Noya and Tanaka do that all the time, apparently.

“Don’t you get jealous?” questioned Bokuto over the loud music and cheering of those surrounding them.

“Sure, beyond belief sometimes. But then I uh, realize how brave they both are for going up there and exposing their bodies the way they do. Then performing acts such as those in a large crowd takes some serious guts so I try not to dwell on it too much. Besides, as long as their lips don’t touch, I’m sure I’ll be okay.”

“So if like… Noya were to blow Tanaka up there-”

“That’s not going to happen! It-it’s erotic dancing. They all have their unique styles. I know it may not seem like something important, like it’s a job anyone could do but I know I wouldn’t be able to go up there. I’m sure you could but your dancing would certainly differ from Noya’s. Noya’s pretty flexible and I feel like you’d be more…”

“More?”

“Conservative with your dancing? I think you’d be one to focus on showing your body more than the dancing itself.”

“Ah! I suppose you’re right about that. I should tell Noya to teach me some moves! It’s always nice to be able to perform for your partner, isn’t it?”

And Asahi remained quiet until the host came out. He was a small little fellow, with bright orange hair. He introduced Noya and the moment he did, all the lights were shut off for a second. Then a spotlight came on, pointed at the center of the large stage.

“Rolling…”

There was a puff of smoke that invanded the stage and sparklers at the edge of the stage as someone came rolling into the spotlight.

Noya was down on one knee, his other leg stretched far out behind him. His head was tilted back and eyes closed.

“Thunder!”

Everyone cheered, including those around sitting with Noya’s fiance.

Bokuto clapped loudly and whistled for the other whom he had only met a couple minutes ago but had taken an extremely good liking to him. When he turned his head to Asahi, he saw that Asahi was smiling. His face was still red and his legs remained crossed but that didn’t matter anymore to Bokuto. Because when he looked into Asahi’s brown eyes that were staring at his lover performing, he saw everything he wanted.

Asahi looked proud.

Asahi looked like he was in love.

Everything began to tune out. The people’s loud cheering was slowly dying in his mind. His eyes dragged themselves down to his reddened hands; must’ve been from the clapping.
And when he looked up, the breath he didn’t even think he had anymore, left him once more.

He stared at her like she was the moon.

The word ‘sun’ was totally overrated and everyone looks at the sun like they’re ready to fight the star rather than with beauty anyway.

But she, she was like the moon.  

Her expression was calm, like the serenity the moon brings amongst the people, knowing that their day was over and they could now rest.

Her eyes were like gems, shining bright and standing out the most — like the moon’s craters!

It’s not that her eyes had a unique color to them.

They didn’t have to.

Her gaze was enough to say that she could bring peace among the rowdiest of storms.

And Bokuto certainly was a rowdy storm.

Bokuto would later learn the beautiful woman’s name.

Akaashi Keiji.