2012, July 2nd
It had to be around three in the morning, Akaashi knew he wasn't supposed to be awake when they had practice at eight in the morning, but he'd been feeling restless lately. The treatment at the hospital was working better and the doctors said that Tamiko just had to fight some more before they could be 100% sure that she'd be fine. The boy had taken those words and was holding on to them as if his life depended on them.
It did. Maybe not actually hot his, but his girlfriend's did, and that girl was a huge part of his life. Losing her wasn't in his plans.
So he sat in his bed, the light from his phone dimly illuminating the small stance that was his bedroom. The corners of his lips were quirked up, forming that soft smile Tamiko fawned over each time it showed up in his face, causing him to let out a chuckle and pull her to him so he could kiss her forehead and enjoy the way she'd fluster and hide her face in his chest. His dark blue eyes trained onto the screen of his phone, taking in every detail of the moving image, the sound that accompanied it filling his ears through a pair of headphones he'd been gifted by Kenma.
The video in question was short, barely half a minute, but it had been playing on repeat for at least the last hour. He enjoyed it every single time as if it was the first all over again.
2011, April 30th
Fuchsia colored eyes watched the screen of her new phone, a bronzed face looking back at them, a frown prominent before it quickly went away. Tamiko smiled brightly at the sight of her own picture appearing, the inner camera of the phone or whatever it was called was proving to work. She placed the device in front of her and pressed record, the red circle turning into a square and the seconds starting to run. She walked backwards, the screen now displaying a curious Keiji Akaashi behind her.
"What are you doing?" he enquired, brow arching.
Tamiko sat next to him on his bed and shrugged.
"Something tells me I'll want to be able to relive this moment. Plus, I've been wanting to test this new camera for a while."
"Am I getting jumped," he narrowed his eyes and looked around, trying to spot where one of their friends would be hiding in his own room.
"I- No!" she laughed, tilting her head backwards slightly, her white messy bun falling a little more and letting some strands fall to frame her face.
Akaashi's shoulders relaxed from the momentary tension they'd been in (he might have been joking, but his friends really were capable of sneaking into his house to jump him, and his girlfriend would help them without question). The way she was so effortlessly stunning had him in a daze. There she was, nearly falling off the bed as she tried to catch her breath in the most "unladylike" way he'd ever seen, her laugh sounding like a constipated cow, and yet to him it was the most beautiful thing he'd seen. That stupid smile of his formed on his lips, the corner of his eyes narrowing in tenderness.
To him, her laugh didn't sound like the most beautiful melody, and she didn't look like she could be the next model of a top magazine, but rather like a real person. And that was the most enchanting thing about Tamiko. She didn't fake a single part of herself, and she didn't apologize for being herself. And so Akaashi always found himself staring for a tad too long when she did something so uniquely hers without realizing, or simply when she let her body do as it felt around him like it was the most natural thing in the world, even after having been dating —officially, these two have actually been married from the moment they met— for only ten days.
"Jeez, Keiji, I'm not that bad," Tamiko kept laughing, not noticing the way Keiji had been pulled out of his previous daze, only to be pulled into another.
When she finally calmed down and was able to properly look at him, she let another short chuckle before she noticed the amount of shock and astonishment his face held.
"What? I-Is something behind me?" she turned around to look at the empty space behind her, then turned back "Oh my God, do I have a spider on me?!" she whispered shouted terrified "Akaashi, answer me! Please, tell me I don't have a spider on my hair."
"You called me Keiji," he blurted, more to himself than to the girl that was hurriedly shaking her shoulders hoping to get rid of the possible spider.
"Huh?"
"You called me Keiji," he repeated, red starting to settle in his cheeks at the same time as the statement sunk in "You called me by my first name."
It took Tamiko a moment to understand what he was saying, panic caused by her own paranoia still running through her system. Then she had to go over the last minute in her head until it finally clicked on her what she'd said. Blood rushed to her cheeks quickly.
"O-Oh, I guess I did, huh," she mumbled "Was it too soon? I'm sorry, of course it was, I shouldn't have said that. It just slipped out, I swear-"
"Tamiko," he cut off her rumbling "Stop. I actually really liked it," he admitted.
"You did?"
In that moment, the pair looked like a pair of young stupid teenagers in love. That was exactly what they were, but in them it looked more pathetic than usual. They weren't shy around each other; they were each other's safe space. Akaashi could show off al his drawing skills and nerd out on the latest mangas he'd read, and Tamiko could share whatever crazy theories she came up with at random times. They could do whatever, and everything would be fine.
But here they were, blushing over the fact that she'd called him by his first name.
"I do. A lot," he admitted "I've called you Tamiko since I met you, and I think it was time you called me like that."
"Tamiko?" she joked.
Keiji scoffed and rolled his eyes shaking his head.
"Yes, I want you to call me by your name."
"That is such a good book," she continued.
"Tamiko! I'm trying to be romantic here!"
The girl broke off in laughter once more, falling completely off the bed this time. Her broken "ow!" was all Keiji needed to laugh himself. Tamiko climbed back up and threw a pillow at him, missing by a lot.
"Say it again," he said.
"Keiji," she immediately said, not wanting to kid around anymore.
It's cliché to say this, but the name rolled off her tongue smoothly, and both parties of the couple reveled in it. Keiji wanted to hear it until he fell asleep, closing his eyes and asking her to say it again. This time, she giggled while saying it, finding her boyfriend's reaction cute. But could you blame him? There's nothing better than hearing your partner say your name. It doesn't matter if it's lovingly like Tamiko was doing just now, as a threat, or- Well Akaashi couldn't wait 'til he heard it like a mantra while she was losing her mind over the pleasure he'd bring her.
It fills you with love, affection and suddenly, that's the only word you're ever going to need. Spoken strictly from their lips. Because fuck, Keiji Akaashi was a mess, pulling Tamiko to his chest and making them both fall backwards onto the fluffy pillows of his bed, muttering —begging— for her to keep saying his name. He savored how it sounded, thought of placing it as his new phone ring, and prohibiting anyone else say it.
Tamiko felt like a toll had been taken off her shoulders. She'd been wanting to say it out loud since she'd met the boy —saying it lowly in the solace of her room had felt taboo before—, and now that she finally could, she'd find any excuse to say it. She wanted to shout it for the whole city of Tokyo to hear, she wanted to whisper it, name him to others, moan it, lose her breath saying it-
The phone on the shelf in front of them captured this moment where two dumbasses blushed over something incredibly normal, and whispered each other's' names as if they were their biggest secret and they were two school girls gossiping at the playground. It captured a moment of pure happiness, with those same two dumbasses giggling beneath the covers and sharing kisses, touches and unspoken promises that laid behind their names.
2012, July 2nd
Tamiko's phone ended up running out of battery, resulting on the video cutting short at some point, but they had both preferred it that way. They didn't want their sex tape leaked.
Akaashi blushed again, hearing his name being called from the video. He missed hearing it in real time. He'd give everything to wake up with Tamiko in his arms, and his name to be the first thing he heard, voice cracking in the middle of it due to the sleepiness of her voice.
But she was getting better. And she'd wake up soon, and then he'd be able to listen to it again. Who knew something as simple as his name would be one of the things she missed the most.