words | akaashi keiji

ice creams.

"She wanted to feel nothing, to think nothing; simply to believe that it was all silly invention on her part. Yet she could not. Not quite."
Nella Larsen

Mei sat criss-cross at Akaashi's dining table, the eraser end of her pencil meeting her bottom lip as she stared down at the words in the textbook in front of her. The pencil moved ever so slightly as she traced the words with her lips, scared to make a sound and disturb Akaashi, who sat across from her.

He prefers silence when studying.

But Mei was one of those students who needed to whisper the words in the textbook back to herself in order to remember them, or as one would call it, an auditory learner.

"Solitude... longing. Haunting? What do the dashes mean?" Mei whispered quietly, narrowing her eyes at the textbook explanation of Edgar Allen Poe's poems.

How do you analyze a writer's thoughts like that? Some people just write, and you may never understand.

"Mei."

Mei flinched at her name, looking up from the book with a wince as her eyes landed on Akaashi's tired expression.

"Sorry! I don't usually study in such a silent atmosphere."

Akaashi stared back at her plainly, and she offered a sheepish smile in return, until he finally sighed and stuck a bookmark in the Physics textbook he had been scowling at for the past two hours.

"Do you understand Physics yet?"

"I understand it well. It's pretty simple when you memorize the formulas." He explained as he used the back of his index finger to rub at his eye.

Mei watched him closely, focusing on the dark pink tint that appeared under his eyes as he looked to the ceiling with a small yawn.

"Akaashi, how hard are you pushing yourself? It's supposed to be summer vacation. Let's take a break from studying for entrance exams for a second, yeah?"

"I need to get my studying in now." He responded quickly, rubbing at his eyes once more before cracking open a new book, this time deciding to read up on History.

"But why? Are you aiming for early acceptance? The exams are months away."

"I am. I'm taking mine at the end of vacation."

Mei's eyes widened on their own, and she opened her mouth to respond before quickly shutting it and instead moving her focus to the family portrait hanging on the wall behind his head.

In the picture, it's just his mom and dad and him. But I haven't run into his parents even once when I've been here.

I wonder if it gets lonely.

"Don't read into it."

Mei moved her gaze back to Akaashi, who peered at her from behind his History book. She looked at him for a moment longer before sighing in defeat and turning her head back down to the book in front of her.

"Ugh, I can't even read anymore. Studying is too boring." She whined immediately, making Akaashi let out a low groan. "Can we please take a quick break?"

He shut the History book with a loud bam, not bothering to stick a bookmark into the page he had been reading from, before stacking it on top of his other books and pushing them to the edge of the table. He placed his elbows against the table, resting his chin in his hands and looking to Mei.