A/N : Happy birthday to my lord, my savior, my lock screen, my sexuality: Akaashi Keiji

akaashi never really was one for a big celebration, or giving gifts or anything trivial like that. he looked at his birthday as another day, but one where he could calculate at one point that he was exactly a year older than before.

today, his birthday landed on a monday, where he begrudgingly crawled from beneath the warmth and comfort of his covers, cursed the education system, and trudged to take his morning shower. he nearly dosed off under the steady stream of steaming water, but jerked back awake before tumbling over. he washed his face and brushed his teeth, his typical expressions ensuing as he shuffled down the stairs in his owl slippers with his bag over his shoulder. he buttoned his shirt as he stepped down, and at the bottom he grabbed his blazer as usual, slipping it over his shoulders.

this morning though, as the many birthdays he'd had before, his mother woke up extra early to make his favorite breakfast. he sighed as he dropped like lead into his seat, before his mother placed the scrumptious looking plate before him. his french toast was fried crunchy with confectioners sugar instead of syrup sprinkled like a thick sheet of snow blanketing the plate and toast. sliced strawberries and blue berries were laid about haphazardly.

he glanced up as his mother placed a mug of black coffee before him with the silly 'happy birthday' mug they only used a few times a year for whoever's birthday it was. a small smile crossed his lips, and he said his thanks softly as they sat and dig into their morning meal.

maybe his birthdays weren't always so terrible.
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"AAHGKAASSSHIIII!" Bokuto whined, throwing his head back as he yelled.

akaashi's eye nearly twitched, his fingers halting their rhythmic typing. "what is it bokuto-san?" he said through gritted teeth. his morning coffee's boost hadn't lasted nearly long enough. it fell just short of the elective he shared with bokuto, their journalism class. the teacher had left them to deal with their yearbook pages, which resulted in bokuto slacking off and bothering akaashi.

so far through the day, he had avoided any unexpected singing and unnecessary gifts or congratulations or stupid questions. he should've known better than to think it would last.

"you're coming to practice today right?"

akaashi tore his eyes from his screen, annoyance dropping from his words. "why would i not?"

bokuto retracted almost in fear, even his hair seemed to flop in anxiety. "b-because... it's your birthday, and i didn't know if you had something planned."

akaashi opened his mouth to respond, but bokuto waved his hands in front of him frantically to stop the onslaught of an angry keiji, who's dark aura grew with the seconds. "but! there's a but! i know you dont like attention or anything but i just wanted to make sure..."

akaashi sighed, deflating quickly back to his nonchalant exterior. his coldness turned into lukewarm airs and bokuto huffed in relief, as in in the clear. "alright.." akaashi muttered, returning to his work, diligent as always.
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"yeah, but then the teacher was like, 'noooo, you can't eat right now you have to starve because i don't like you,' and i said, 'well i have to eat all the time, i'm the ace after all!'" bokuto excitedly explained.

akaashi sighed, rolling his eyes. "i'm sure that's not even close to what happened." he thought, slipping on his socks, but he only grunted in response. he'd rather deal with bokuto's energetic antics than his dejected ones.

"anyways, i'm going out to set up the net! take as long as you like, birthday boy~!" bokuto hummed, slipping out of the door with a wink before akaashi could say something.

he decided he could switch to three cups in the morning and still sleep fine. he finished changing quickly, sliding on his knee pads and shoes, before tying them each individually. he started toward the door, but remembered his water. he opened his locker, but before his fingers even brushed the plastic material, he heard deafening shrieking, human and even inhuman.

"what in the hell...?" he turned, his brisk walk turning into a sprint as he burst through the double doors into the locker room. just as he emerged, the two volleyball managers came out as well.

"konoha! you can't hit it with your shoe!" bokuto cried, gathering something in his arms.

"what the fuck is going on?" yukie snapped, surveying the gym, and everyone and everything froze, including the bird.

they had been caught in the act.

the owl's head turned, cocking to the side as it blinked, cooing slightly with its wings splayed out as it rested in bokuto's arms. konoha stood with only one shoe on and the other in his hand, komi peeped from behind the garbage can sheepishly, and sarukui held a giant cage in front of bokuto.

"someone," akaashi muttered angrily, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers and clenching his jaw. "explain calmly."

"it was bokuto's idea," they all chimed, and the owl and bokuto's jaws dropped in dismay.

"that's so not cool!" the owl in his arm seemingly hooted in agreement.

"what exactly was the idea?" akaashi pressed.

the owls wings drew back in and everyone relaxed. "well, i-i know you don't like gifts and stuff... but," bokuto twiddled his thumbs, and the owl stared up fondly. "i thought maybe if we got you a team gift we all know you'd love you'd be okay with it." he finished, a small and questioning smile tempting his lips, as he held up the bird.

akaashi was quite literally dumbfounded, not knowledgeable on how exactly to accept something like this, but before he could contain himself, laughter bubbled up in his throat. it slipped his lips without permission, and pretty soon he hysterically laughed into his hand with tears streaming down his cheeks. clearly as confused as he was moments ago, everyone couldn't comprehend a show of emotion from akaashi at such levels.

when he composed himself for the most part again, the owl struggled free from bokuto's arms and flew to rest on akaashi's shoulder and nuzzle his hair, making soft furby-like noises.

"this just might be the best birthday i've ever had," he murmured.

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(A/N): Sorry if this seems totally rushed!! i just got the idea and it's his birthday so happy birthday again to the loml akaashi !!!!!

Extra:

bokuto sighed in relief. akaashi had accepted his gift, and handled it much better than he normally would have considering the circumstances. akaashi had shown so much affection to the owl on the side with the managers, while everyone else grumbled petulantly.

"stupid owl... just strolls in and steals all of the hot girls attention... and not to mention akaashi!" konoha grumbled.

"bokuto, i think you've found some competition for akaashi's attention..." komi teased in a hushed voice. they all glanced over through the net, sipping at their water bottles and rubbing away sweat. the owl's big, golden eyes blinked happily, ruffling its silver and black feathers.

"did you purposefully get akaashi an owl that looks just like you?" sarukui asked.

bokuto shrugged, glancing away. "maybe..."

the owl seemed to smirk and wink at them, as they stared on in horror.

"i think we all might have competition actually..."

"dear god, this better not be like one of those stupid mangas where that's actually a person."