The Moon

There was no way to explain himself or what he saw.

His heart pounded, face feeling like it was climbing to the temperature of a fever. Maybe it was his whole body reaching that heat. His heart wrenched with happiness, a feeling he promised himself earlier that he wouldn't have tonight, no matter what.

Unbeknownst to Bokuto, he looked exactly as Asahi had while he had been watching Noya perform.

The music began slowly, the woman up on stage swaying her hips lightly to the music. Her eyes fluttered closed as she took in a breath before beginning to sing.

“Pick apart,
The pieces of your heart,
And let me peer inside.
Let me in,
Where only your thoughts have been.
Let me occupy your mind,
As you do mine.”

Bokuto gaped at the lyrics. His heart only got heavier with emotion as he continued to listen intently.

“You have lost…
Too much love,
To fear, doubt and distrust.
Its not enough.
You just threw away the key,
To your heart.
You don't get burned,
'Cause nothing gets through.
It makes it easier,
Easier on you.
But that much more difficult for me,
To make you see…”

The lyrics paused momentarily, music only playing and Bokuto began to feel a slight sweat break over his body.

The pretty lady continued to sway her hips, eyes never opening as she tilted her head to the side, soft raven hair falling over her shoulder. Her red lipstick shone brightly, making Bokuto's body even more heated (bringing him to confusion at what the heck he was even feeling at this point) as he stared at her plush lips.

He forced himself to break sight from her otherwise he swore he would pass out. His owl-like eyes inspected the audience watching the performer. They seemed to be in a trance. Nobody said anything as they watched her bring peace to a lovely night. Bokuto took note of that before turning his head back to the woman as she returned to singing.

“Love ain't fair,
So there you are,
My love.”

More music. Bokuto swallowed thickly, heart beginning to create a civil war amongst itself. Was he turned on? Or was he completely feeling guilty over his breakup? Maybe… both?

He didn't have time to decide as the lady now had her eyes open and holy shit were her eyes beautiful. She took a small step away from the mic and danced a little more. But it wasn't anything compared to what Tanaka, Noya, or Oikawa had done. They were conserved movements; slight arms swings and moving up and down as she continued to sway her hips.

Right on a certain beat, she caught glimpse of Bokuto. Actually, it was more than just a glimpse as she was now staring at him. She stepped towards the mic again and Bokuto began to fear that she would call him a creep or something. Instead, her rich and smooth voice stroke a chord with him.

“Your heart's a mess.
You won't admit to it.
It makes no sense,
But I'm desperate to connect.
And you, you can't live like this…”

Goosebumps ran all across his arms and legs as she made eye contact with him up until the second to last verse. He felt as if she was reading his mind, knowing he came here with a broken heart and that he liked her. This only made him flustered which made him try to hide behind some people so she wouldn't be able to see him anymore.

It didn't matter, though.

She now danced again, only this time a little more open about her dance moves since the beat was a little more… heavier. If Bokuto wasn't so confused, he'd honestly say she looked erotic. The way her hips moved, the way she touched her own body. It wasn't overly sexual, but just enough to make a couple of men whistle at her.

“Your heart's a mess.
You won't admit to it.
It makes no sense,
But I'm desperate to connect.
And you, you can't live like this…”

Her voice hit higher notes this time that made Bokuto so thirsty he took a sip from his drink to see if his desires to just hug her would settle down.

She repeated the chorus with closed eyes, the only thing moving was her hands this time around. When she finished the chorus, her eyes opened up. They shone and no, it wasn't just as the beautiful gems they were, but they were glossy as if she were holding back tears.

“Love ain't safe,
You won't get hurt if you stay chaste.
So you can wait…”

As she sang the final verses, with each new word, she locked gazes with a different person. Slowly she began to work her way the to the back, where Bokuto sat with a blush on his face.

“But I don't wanna waste my love.”

Their eyes wouldn't break contact for the entire last sentence. Her hand reached forward as the song came to an end; it was in Bokuto's general direction. The lights cut off and Bokuto felt as he could finally breathe. Yet he couldn't. He was confused and hurt, not knowing whether to feel guilty about his breakup or if he should try getting to know this beautiful woman. He knew absolutely nothing about her except for her name, which was Akaashi, as the little dude with orange hair had announced.

Everyone began to applaud and cheer the last performance of the night. Bokuto looked around as people began to say goodbye to each other which surprised him since he thought security would need to step in to kick most people out. But, they were rather peaceful about it; those who were drunk were being carried out by less drunken friends or sober people who just came here to meet new people. After all, even though this place was a strip club, it was also a safe space for LGBT members.

He finally turned around again to Kuroo and the bartender who looked more enveloped in each other than anyone he had seen tonight.

Kuroo had his hand over the bartender's, gently caressing it and tracing out details like the faint freckles and the tiny hairs on his knuckles. He was whispering to him which Bokuto couldn't hear but he knew it was cheesy since that was Kuroo's style. And apparently it was the bartenders' as well since there was a faint blush over his cheeks meanwhile his ears remained as red as ever.

He smiled softly and decided to make his way backstage again without disturbing his best friend and his new possible datemate.

Backstage, he found himself with even more fluff that almost made him uncomfortable. It appears that during Akaashi's performance, Noya had brought in Oikawa, and their… waitress?

Oikawa, the most popular stripper, was laughing with Iwaizumi ( the Iwa was laughing?! ) and their waitress was putting her(his?) long wig on Daichi who blushed as their waitress smiled warmly, telling him that it suited him. And of course, Asahi and Noya were making out in the back, totally forgetting anyone existed.

Nobody even noticed him.

He suddenly felt very sad. Lonely, replaceable. Bokuto sulked and decided to wait for them in the car. They probably wouldn't notice his absence until they were about to leave anyway. But before he could walk away, he bumped into someone.

That same person yelped in surprise as they fell back, Bokuto stumbling onto his bottom at the doorway. “Ouch! Watch where you're… oh.”

His eyes widened and his face immediately reddened; he knew it was red, could feel it. He forced himself to stand up quickly before extending his hand out to help out the victim of their fatal crash.

“Jesus, I'm sorry! Here let me help you up!” he offered in a loud and panicked voice. Once she took his hand, he helped her up with a nervous smile. “Are you okay?”

The pretty lady, as Bokuto called her, was more than okay. In fact she began to laugh softly which only made Bokuto grow even more flustered.

“Yes I'm alright. I apologize, I didn't think anyone would be back here but it appears I was quite wrong by the looks of it.”

Everyone was now looking at the doorway and at the scene folding out in front of them. They were silent before Noya and Oikawa glanced at each other. Then the waitress broke the tension with a clap of their hands.

“Alright! Now that we're all here, let's get these costumes off before I suffocate myself. Akaashi, let's get the makeup off our darlings, okay?”

Noya and Oikawa sighed in relief. “Finally!” they cried in unison.

“Fake eyelashes are a lot heavier than you'd expect! They're such a pain on my poor eyes…” complained Oikawa. Noya hummed in agreement before they both tried to peel off the eyelashes aggressively.

“No no,” scolded Akaashi as she went towards Oikawa whom sat on a stool in front of a vanity. “Gently Oikawa, gently. How many times have I told you this? You will hurt yourself otherwise. Here, let me.”

Everyone watched silently as Akaashi took Oikawa by the chin, gently lifting his head. “Don't move, okay?” she instructed in a hushed whisper. Oikawa bat his eyelashes at the female, looking up at her innocently. “I'm not,” he pouted. Akaashi smiled, hair falling over her shoulder.

Silence continued, everyone blushing at the quite shockingly erotic scene. Akaashi gently peeled off the fake eyelashes which earned a painful moan from Oikawa. She moved to the next eye which repeated the process. Once they were removed and put to the side, Oikawa sighed in major relief. “It feels so good to have them off.”

It didn't take long for the two to notice how quiet in was in the room and they both turned around to be met with blushing faces of strangers and friends.

That silence however, was broken by Noya laughing uncontrollably and slapping his hand on the coffee table in the middle of the room. Seems him and Asahi had decided to sit so they could have a closer look for Oikawa and Akaashi's private show.

“Both of you! Gay! You're both so gay!!”

Bokuto couldn't help the contagious laughter and he soon, was laughing too.

Suga rolled their eyes before grabbing Noya's cheeks with one hand, making Noya make an O shape with his mouth. Then, they ripped the eyelashes off of Noya which caused him to cry out in pain.

“No fair!! Akaashi does it way nicer! You're so rough, Suga!”

Suga held up the eyelashes and smiled, though it didn't look like their usual warm smile. “You of all people should know I do things rough when required. And you deserve it after teasing your husband so long. Go home and blow him already.”

Asahi whimpered in embarrassment, hiding his face in his sleeve as Noya began laughing again, climbing onto Asahi's lap. “Was it really that bad?! You should've told me you idiot! I could've taken you to the other room earlier!”

Everyone turned their heads from Noya teasing his fiancé again, now indulging themselves in their individual conversations again.

Bokuto scratched the back of his neck, feeling awkward as he had no one to talk to. He looked around and noticed no one had been paying attention to him. There was a stir in his stomach before he decided to step out and go breathe some fresh air.

As he walked through the hallway of unknown territory, he began to feel nauseous and anxious. He kept his eyes on the large 'EXIT' sign no matter what. When he opened the door, he was met with a gentle breeze and he had never been so grateful.

Stepping out into the mostly empty parking lot, he looked up to the sky. It was a full moon tonight. The stars shone brightly.

Bokuto let the moonlight shine on him, making him feel like he absorbed the light and brought back his energy. Of course, none of it was real, but he still liked to pretend that was the case. After all, Bokuto was one of the biggest night owls he's ever met.

“Hello there.”

He jumped at the voice, looking back and taking a defensive pose. “Wha-what?!”

The person put up their hands, smiling kindly. “Sorry, did I startle you? I do not mean harm. I was only making sure you were alright. I saw you left without saying a word and you looked quite pale. Are you feeling well?”

Bokuto relaxed his muscles and returned the smile, kinda. “Yeah, I'm good. I think, at least. The moon always helps so I just decided to come out for a little help from her.”

“Is that true? That's funny. I always come out to seek her whenever I'm troubled as well.” The female approached Bokuto before taking a glance at the sky. The way she looked at the sky was… mesmerizing.

The pretty lady smiled before turning her head to the male besides her. “I'm Akaashi Keiji. Your name is… Bokuto Kōtarō, correct?”

“Y-yeah! How'd you know?”

“Noya's fiancé often speaks of you. In fact, he told me you'd be coming today. I was… hoping you did. I'm glad to see you here today. Happy birthday, Bokuto.”

Bokuto almost screeched, face getting red instantly as he leaned towards the female. “Th-thank you Akaaaashi!! Your performance today was amazing! It means so much coming from you! I'm happy I came today as well!! You look beautiful!”

Akaashi was taken aback by how erratic his sentences were and how his speech wasn't constructed at all; it was all over the place. Not to mention how long he dragged the vowel in his name. Still, he smiled.

“I'm glad you saw my performance. I'm very grateful.” He reached to the back of his head and removed the wig along with the wig cap. He shook his head, fixing his hair in whatever way he could. Akaashi looked over in fear, scared that Bokuto would comment something. Instead, he needed to cover his mouth from the surprise.

Bokuto was… crying?!

“Are you alright? Should I call for your friends?”

Bokuto stepped closer, shaking his head. “N-no… please, don't. I just- I've just never seen someone who could be so beautiful as you. Whether you're male or female, you look like a celestial being regardless.”

This was a surprise to Akaashi. Not only was he crying but he now seemed more in control. More classy, more collected (even though he was crying?). He began to blush furiously, trying to back away from the other who only stepped closer.

“Do you really mean that?”

“I have no reason to lie to someone I've only just met.”

The two went silent, staring at each other with the moonlight shining light to both of their shocked expressions.

They only stared at each other for the longest while before Bokuto managed to break the silence.

“Can I kiss you?”