Stay ~ BokuAka

~9~

"I-I think I should leave now." I, too, looked at my feet now.

He spoke up, which I wasn't expecting him to do. "Don't go out the window, I'm pretty sure your mom would notice if mine opened again. J-just go out the front. Please. Please just go out the front."

My knees felt weak, but I forced them to feel something as I walked to his door, opened it silently, and slipped out. After moving forward about 3 feet, I glanced back to make sure the door was closed. However, I saw something-- or someone, rather-- that I wasn't expecting.

Bokuto's mom.

~~~

I stood frozen, like a deer in headlights. She was sitting on the floor next to his door, her face buried in her knees and her back against the wall. Without moving, she motioned for me to come over. Expecting a scolding, I kneeled in front of her. But instead of a stern expression or a shrill voice, I saw tears streaming down her face and a remorseful smile.

"Akaashi..." she motioned next to her. "Come here." I complied, and was pulled in for one of the warmest hugs I have ever received. It felt nice, considering I felt awful.

"Let me tell you something." I nodded, getting ready for a story. "Bokuto came home late, but I wasn't worried because he was on a date and worst case was that the magic happened. I wasn't mad at all, but rather happy that he found someone he liked. Anyways, he left his phone out here, which he never does, especially after dates. That was when I knew something was wrong. I had shrugged it off, until I heard him go out and come back in shortly after. I honestly thought he brought Mina home, and I was actually planning on sleeping at your house if so, because, you know. But then I heard him cry. I didn't know what he was saying, but at that moment I knew I failed as a mom. Had I asked him why he left his phone out here, had I asked how his date went, I wouldn't have asked for someone else to be dragged into this! But I was no longer frustrated at myself when I heard he stopped crying. I sat there, stunned. It used to take me hours to calm him down, and I spent years perfecting a method that worked. But you... did it in seconds. How... What did you do?"

Nervously shifting around, I stared at the wall searching for a way to put this. "I... I, um... k-kissed him." I whispered.

She was silent for a moment, staring at the wall also. "When you learn to love someone, someone who makes you want to settle down, someone who makes you smile more than anything, you'll know it. You two-- or three, hell-- will know it. It's going to be mutual. You'll grow so close, you can help in any situation. You want to help in any and every situation, because that person is yours, and only yours, and you want to protect that. Not only that you want to help, but you will know how to cheer that person up just by being there. Koutarou and I, although I tried, have never had that kind of relationship. Countless hours I have spent attempting to help him, but I can't. Well, not like you can. You two have already gone subconsciously through each step, and that is amazing on its own. 

Keiji, I've always thought of you as my own son, and now you've given me a chance to actually have that happen. I give both of you my blessing."

She gave the opposite reaction than I was expecting, which was good. "So get your calm-ass back in there, and don't come out until he knows you love him. I know you love him, Keiji, because I know you wouldn't waste your first kiss on in inane detail." she hugged me again.

I hugged back, before creeping back into Bokuto's room. He was facing the wall in his room, hugging a pillow. Muffling the shut of the door, I went over to him and laid down next to him.

He jumped a little when I did, but settled down quickly. "A-Akaashi..."

"Bokuto-san, why are you crying?" I whispered, trying not to startle him more.

"B-Because I wasn't ready for you to leave. Let alone how I acted, I wanted you to stay. I don't know how I feel, if I like you or not, but whatever this hormonal chemical imbalance did to me, it helped." 

I pulled him into a tight hug, which he wasn't fond of at first, but loosened up to in a matter of seconds. "A-Akaashi... I just said I don't know how I feel..."

"And that's okay. But no matter how you feel, I will be here. As a friend, or a boyfriend."

It all felt new... magical... different. I hadn't bothered to tell him that his mom gave us her blessing, and I would have to ask Bokuto's mom for help with my mother tomorrow morning to avoid an earful. I hadn't done my calculus homework yet, and my room needed to be vacuumed. My Japanese teacher wanted to meet with me this week, which I had to schedule, and a new volleyball net was coming to the school soon. Konoha wanted to borrow D*rarara soon, and I had an unread DM request on Inst*gram. But at the moment, none of that mattered. Because I was with Bokuto-san.

Thank God he's my best friend.