out of my mind - akaashi keiji (soulmate au)

goodbye winter

"Could you just open the stupid door Kei!"
I shouted to my brother, as I was about to get dressed and therefore couldn't open the door myself.
I was simply dawdling a bit and before i knew it, it was already 3 p.m.
"He's way too early, that idiot." Kei said, almost annoyed, and headed for the door.
I heard the sound of the front door opening and another voice chiming as the door opened. "Oh God, it couldn't be more embarrassing, now he has to wait for me because I missed the time again." I whispered to myself in frustration as I tugged at my hair to secure my braid. Then I walked out of the bathroom and ran down the stairs in high speed to face them both.
"Once again, it didn't take long at all." My brother added with a sarcastic undertone and rolled his eyes. I paid no further attention to him, but devoted myself to our visitor.
I felt my heart starting to beat faster and I had a queasy feeling in my stomach. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten last night's dinner as breakfast...

"Good morning, Ayumi." Keiji said, laughing, which made me smile too, while my cheeks started turning a little red. "Hello Keji." Despite all the strength of my hair, small strands had fallen out, which I now reflexively put behind my ears.
Keiji Akaashi was - along with Tadashi Yamaguchi - Kei's and my best friend since kindergarten and nothing could've separated us since then. He was born a year earlier than Kei and I and, unlike my brother, acted much more maturely. But things had changed lately, including Keiji moving away. His home will then be an estimated time of four hours from here, which unfortunately means we won't be able to see each other as often. Somehow we would of course still be able to stay in touch.

"Kei, do you want to come with us or not?" I asked my brother, whose motivation left a lot to be desired. "Uh, honestly I don't feel like it. Just come back later for dinner." He said, pushed us out of the house and slammed the door shut. "He just wanted to get rid of us." Said Keiji, making us both laugh.
After that statement, it was quiet for a while. We walked around a bit and eventually he broke the silence. "You're not forgetting me, are you?" he asked, still looking ahead. I looked at him a bit puzzled and then shook my head. "Are you crazy? You've been my best friend since we were little, plus we're not worlds apart." I said and somehow had to smile since his question was such an unnecessary worry. "Good." He said and out of nowhere took my hand. Our fingers intertwined and Keiji just smirked. A tingling sensation started to spread through my whole body and it felt like I was walking on clouds.

I had to smile out of nowhere, for no reason at all.
"Do you think I'll make friends fast?" He asked, now looking at me with his beautiful emerald green eyes.
I grinned. "Idiot, one can only like you." I said and looked up at the sky. He won't even finish school here, and then high school...
What are the people in high school gonne be like?
Anyway, the main thing is that Keiji will be fine there.

We were still walking hand in hand at the park, I still didn't know exactly what that meant, but it really didn't bother me, quite the opposite. It was a beautiful, peaceful feeling that I couldn't quite describe with words.

Suddenly something flashed through my mind and I hopped away from him, which also broke our touch. Keiji looked at me confused, expecting an explanation.
"I'm so stupid, sorry! I forgot to congratulate you, happy belated birthday Keiji! But we haven't seen each other in a long time." I said while hugging him. He started laughing, making his chest vibrate. His voice had deepened since we last saw each other, which really struck me just now.

"Thank you, Ayumi. Ah, Ayumi, I love your name. No matter how many times you say it, it never gets boring." He said and looked straight into my eyes. Several seconds passed and we set off again. I looked at Keiji's hands, which were now dangling next to his body. The touch felt so warm and soft and I wanted to feel his hand back in mine. Should I just reach out?
Too late to think about it, just as I was about to grab his hand, he had already grabbed mine, which made me laugh. "What is it?" he asked and started to laugh too. "Oh nothing, let's sit down by the lake." I said while walking towards it and pulling him after me.

We sat there for over two hours and talked about all sorts of things. "Remember that thing with Kei and that one girl?" I asked and already started to laugh. "How could you forget that." he said laughing. Then there was silence for a moment. "Do you think anyone already has the same number as you will soon have?" He asked and looked at the sun, which was already going down and spreaded some kind of reddish color into the sky. "I don't know, do you think we've met them yet?" I asked my counter-question and looked at Keiji, who now also turned towards me. "Good question...but for now we can only dream." He kicked a pebble into the lake. Then I looked back into those green eyes, which he did the same to me. He smiled gently at me. "If I could choose, I already know who it would be." Just who did he mean? It's not... me, is it? No, that couldn't be it.
Keiji's eyes were still on me and his face was getting closer and closer to mine.

RRRRING

We both backed away in shock and a little irritated, I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. "Yes?" I hissed. "You should come, Keiji's mother called. Aye, and you should ask him why his phone is off..-" "Yeah alright Kei, bye." I hung up and looked at Keiji, who now looked a bit disappointed. "My mother, right?" I nodded in response and he let out a loud sigh as he stood up. He stretched out his hand to help me up and didn't let go until we were in front of our house.

"Okay, I have to go or she'll get mad. I'll definitely come visit you during the holidays." smiled Keiji. He even elicited a small smile from Kei. "Good luck in your new home, Keiji!" called our mother from the kitchen. "Many Thanks!" He called back and we walked with him to the door. Him and Kei hugged briefly and my brother disappeared up the stairs. After that, I hastily hugged Keiji and tears started to flow down my cheeks.

"Hey, don't cry. We'll see each other again soon anyway." He said and stroked my back. "I'm going to miss you so much." I said and broke away. "Me too, Ayumi." He smiled sadly and looked me in the eye again. I stood on my tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek which caused it to turn pink. Suddenly he took my face in his hands and it looked like he was waiting for something.

I couldn't really think about it for a long time because I felt something soft on my lips that couldn't be identified as anything other than Keiji's lips. It felt like everything inside me was going to explode and when he pulled away from me my face got very hot. "See you soon Ayumi." Keiji smiled, cheeks flushed. "See you soon Keiji." I said a bit shocked and with tears in my eyes as he left the house and I closed the door.

If only I had known that from this day forward we would not see each other again...