In another life - LittleLuxray

Chapter12

Akaashi woke with a start that same night, his strangled shouts having pulled him from his sleep. He'd flinched hard and sat up quickly, closing his hand over his mouth to subdue the almost hysteric sounds that came from him. His breathing was heavy, his heart rate quicker than usual; Akaashi could feel his heart pounding in his throat, making it difficult to swallow.

"Sh- sh-it..."

That had been the fifth time that month where Akaashi had to tear himself out of another nightmare. They made him feel nauseous to a point where he had to sit up in bed and swallow deep, slow breaths in order to cool himself down, and he did just that, reaching his hands up to rub at his eyes before taking a tense look around his room.

Exhaling heavily, Akaashi turned to look at the desk near his bed. His phone was there. Hesitating for only a second, he reached his hand out and took the device into his hands. When the screen lit up, a text message from Bokuto waited there for him.

'Sleep well, Akaashi.' It had been sent two hours ago.

Akaashi swiped and unlocked his phone with trembling hands.

From: Akaashi (Sent at 2:47am)

[Are you there?]

Bokuto:

[Yeah! Akaashi? I thought you fell asleep.]

Akaashi had to wait almost a minute for Bokuto's response. It was the longest minute he'd ever been forced to sit through.

Akaashi:

[I woke up. Nightmares.]

Bokuto:

[Nightmare? You had a nightmare? Was it bad?]

Akaashi:

[Well, it managed to wake me up.]

Bokuto:

[The quiet kind of wake up?]

Akaashi:

[No, more like the clichéd kind, where you sit up in bed in a cold sweat.]

Bokuto:

[Are you calming down? Are you feeling better?]

Akaashi stared at the text message and let out a shaking sigh. Judging by his still trembling hands, he knew he wasn't.

Akaashi:

[Yeah. I'm just a little shaken.]

Bokuto:

[I don't believe you on that 'Yeah' part.]

Akaashi:

[I'm fine.]

Bokuto:

[Alright, well... We'll just see about that.]

Furrowing his brow, Akaashi stared at his phone screen and lay his head down sideways. It wasn't like Bokuto to question what he said in such a straightforward fashion.

Akaashi:

[There's nothing to see...]

He pressed send and watched the phone carefully, waiting for the small ellipses to appear on the lower left side of the screen. But instead, he was greeted with nothing. He didn't get a response, nor did he see any signs of responding.

Akaashi frowned and left his phone screen alone to dim and blacken. He held it in his shaking hands and closed his eyes in an attempt to try and find sleep again. It was difficult, however, as each time he tried to drift off to sleep, that unnerving fear of having the same dream would jerk him back awake. Akaashi groaned softly and covered his face.

BZZT

Akaashi's phone vibrated against his forehead. He flinched and pulled his hand away to stare at the screen.

Bokuto:

[Look outside! (＠'∀｀)ノ]

"What?" Akaashi kicked his legs out of bed and strode to his window. "Impossible-" He pulled apart the blinds and looked down.

Out in the dead of night stood Bokuto, with the burgundy knit scarf around his neck, a jacket, jeans, and slippers. He looked up and grinned, and waved wildly in Akaashi's direction.

Akaashi's eyes widened. "No, no, no, no-" He pulled away from the windowsill and ran out of his room, straight downstairs and to the front door. He threw it open and faced Bokuto, who was jogging to him with a smile and a shiver in each step.

"May I come in?"

"No! No, we're-"

"Why not?"

"We're going back to the hospital right now. I'm taking you back." Akaashi reached his arms out and pushed Bokuto away.

"What? No!" Bokuto refused to budge. He pushed Akaashi back this time. "I just came from there."

"Exactly, because you belong there!" Akaashi felt that his words were a bit bitter, but he had no other way of telling Bokuto the truth. "You're sick, you need medical attention."

"So I can't sleep." Bokuto swatted Akaashi's hands away. "What's the big deal?"

"It's more than that!" He exerted more force into his arms, getting Bokuto to take a step back. "You've had two panic attacks this week already, and your hallucinations are getting worse. My home is not a place for you to be right now."

"I get panic attacks when you're not around," Bokuto answered simple-mindedly. "And my hallucinations aren't all that bad."

Akaashi clenched his jaw behind a mildly irritated face. "Stop trying to act like this isn't such a big deal... You may not think it is, but I..." He paused and reached his arms out to get in another shove. "Let's just go."

"I don't want to." Bokuto grabbed Akaashi's hands with his own.

"Bokuto, stop."

"I don't want to go back!"

"How did you even sneak out?"

"By sneaking out! They don't pay much attention to me anyways!"

Akaashi yanked his hands away and stared at Bokuto. As much as it infuriated him, he knew that Bokuto wasn't going to go anywhere unless he let him into his home first. He swallowed thickly.

"Get inside." Akaashi stepped to the side.

Bokuto's eyes did the familiar light up thing as he bounded into Akaashi's home. He removed his slippers and waited at the entrance for his friend to enter. Akaashi stepped in and shut the door behind him.

"You chose the perfect night." Akaashi said bitterly as he hobbled up the stairs. "My parents aren't home."

"It's not like I would've made any noise," Bokuto all but shouted, following after him.

Akaashi sighed. "I'll get you back to the hospital by seven in the morning."

"Fine by me! Imagine the looks on their faces when they see me coming in from the outside. Imagine their faces when they notice I'm not even in my room." Bokuto was elated.

Akaashi entered his room and shut the door behind Bokuto. "I'm going straight to sleep."

"But I thought you had that nightmare." Bokuto stood at the side of Akaashi's bed.

"I did..." He paused for a moment. "... Is that why you came here? Because of the nightmare?"

Bokuto stared at Akaashi. "Because you said you were okay, and I knew you weren't."

Akaashi was at a loss for words. He returned Bokuto's gaze, then looked down quickly afterwards. A hand tugged at his shirt weakly. "I see." He reached a hand out to turn on the lamp that sat on his nightstand.