what the fuck
daichi and suga were married now?! and their crows didn't die yet?! and they wanted framed pictures of the fucking birds on the wall, the photographer they call being my b o y f r i e n d-
"It's a small fucking world," I muttered under my breath.
Bokuto described his adventures taking the photos, expressing how awful it was and I sat there trying to pretend I had no idea who these people were.
"Hey... but Keiji, you still love me, right?"
I blinked, looking up at him. "Yes? Of course, Kotaro."
"Okay good. I love you too."
"I know."
The owl-like man grinned up at me, and I smiled back. Did I ever mention how w h o l e s o m e and b e a u t i f u l he looked when he beamed at me like that?
"this... this relationship arc," a sudden voice popped up behind us. "you guys... how do you feel?"
I turned my head to find the brown-haired employee who worked here. Oikawa-san, i think his name was, but I don't really remember- was he important? But I mean, he works here, so I should be respectful.
"wat" Bokuto chirped from beside me.
"I'm just saying," Oikawa gave a small 'ahem' as he placed two cups of iced water on our table. "You guys started this date as two awkward dipshits who acted like you were forced to use side-by-side urinals, not you Akaashi, you're too pretty to be a dipshit."
Bokuto suddenly gave a loud, accusing cough that sounded awfully like a constipated grunt, but I'll ignore that.
"Oops, sorry. I'm not allowed to say that. But then, you became two married parents, and then suddenly, you're a middle school couple. Excuse me, but what? That was hard to watch."
"You're hard to listen to," Bokuto said. "Why are you here again?"
"I work here."
"Oh yeah."
There was a weird silence that dragged on for a few seconds. I can't even tell if it was awkward or not, but I'll pretend it wasn't, so I can ease my nerves.
"Wh... Why did you think I was here?" Oikawa peeped up, asking the owl-like man.
"I don't know! That's why I was asking," Bokuto shrugged, leaning his chin onto my shoulder.
"I mean... you already knew I worked here."
"I forgot."
"...Okay," the brunet blinked. "OH, by the way, Aka-chan," Oikawa's expression changed to a curious smile. "Did you find your cat yet?"
I sniffed. "No."
"Aw... poor babyyyyyy, hug~" Oikawa gave a sad pout, kneeling to wrap his arms around me. "You'll find him, don't worryyyyyyy~ He's probably so important to youuuuu"
I gave a quiet laugh. "Aha... yeah, thanks," I said, rather stiffly. Bokuto suddenly flung his body towards me, squeezing me tightly. I gave a quiet sigh as I sat there awkwardly. Honestly, I got the feeling he just wanted to join a hug.
"You know, Kuroo's sad that he can't see Kenma either," Bokuto said softly. "He's entered peak gloominess, there's nothing for him to do, and he's ultimately sad and depressed now-" he gasped. "hEY this reminds me of the Great Depression!!"
"Bo-chan! That's not a good thing! Don't say that, it'll make him sad!"
"oH" Bokuto opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He bit his lip. "Oops, um, but- the Great Depression ended so that means that Kenma will come back, right-? I have faith!!"
Oikawa scoffed. "That's a terrible anal-! I mean analogy-"
I couldn't help but give a small laugh, pushing the two men off of me. "Thank you, Oikawa-san, Kotaro," I thanked before remembering that I actually came here to tell Bokuto about Kenma's original owner. "Um... do you mind if I talk about Kenma for a little while?"
"pLEASE DO" Bokuto shouted, nodding vigorously.
I brushed back some of my hair, smiling as I prepared what I was going to say. "Okay," I started, trying to recall the first time I set eyes on the feline. "Well, his name wasn't actually 'Kenma' to begin with. It was 'Pie.' I renamed him after... uh, a friend. Who, um, ended up passing away." I scratched at my palm, glancing up at Bokuto who stared at me with his gorgeous golden eyes.
I looked up at the ceiling. "Basically, his name was Kenma Kozume, and we met in college. There was some event going on at the local pet store where the college was, so we decided to check it out. I can't quite remember which pet store it was, though." I intentionally left out the part about Sugawara asking us to get bird food for his stupid goddamn crows. I couldn't afford to be judged at the moment- actually, any moment.
"It turns out a pet shelter was setting up the event to collect donations, so we donated a few dollars. There were a lot of pens and coops at the entrance of the store, and Kenma and I were taking a look at them when we saw this one small calico ball of fur huddled in one of them. The main reason he caught my eye was that he looked a lot like Kenma, in my personal opinion at least."
I smiled to myself as I remembered the scene. "Uh, Kenma had these black roots with his blond hair, so honestly he looked a lot like pudding. And the cat was a calico cat, so they looked alike to me. Everything kind of went in a blur, and we ended up adopting Pie together," I could feel the grin spreading on my cheeks. "Our college didn't allow pets, so instead we left Pie with Kenma's family and hung out there often.
"Oh yeah, once, Kenma got so excited because he tamed an ocelot in Minecraft and named it Pie after our cat. He really liked playing video games. I feel like he could've become a pro gamer if... he was still around, you know?"
I stared down at my lap. "It was a drunk driver. Someone hit him while he was walking back from the grocery store." My smile had diminished, and I started fiddling with my fingers again.
There was a small silence between the three of us.
Oikawa was the first to speak up. "Oh. That's awful," he whispered. "How long ago was that?"
I pursed my lips. "It was in my senior year of college, which was a couple of years ago. It doesn't affect me as much anymore, so don't worry about that." I guess I should have thought about it sooner, but I wasn't prepared for the tone of our conversation to immediately change course and become so dreary.
I turned to Bokuto to see what his reaction was. His face was rather solemn and he watched me sympathetically. It seemed like he was still comprehending the information I gave him, so I'll let him do that.
"Keiji," he said quietly. "That's really sad."
nO SHIT SHERLOCK
I nodded, my lips flat. "..Yeah."
"He must have meant so much to you, Aka-chan," Oikawa hugged me again, his voice heavy. "I can't imagine losing a friend like that."
I was grateful for the hug this time. "I guess so," I said. "But as I said, it was some time ago. I mean, both Kenmas still mean so much to me. After they left, it was kind of just... darkness. So I'm really glad I got to meet Kotaro and that he put me back on track," I gave a thankful smile to the monochrome-haired man.
"You know, Keijihi," Bokuto said quietly, looking up at me. "Thanks for telling me all this. I mean it."
He took a deep breath, before pointing at me with his finger.
"Because now, I, Kotaro Bokuto, will b l i n d you with my light!! wachow wachow!!" He grinned. "And you said Kenma and Kenma were so much to you?"
He leaned towards me with his body in a way that made me expect some kind of tight, warm hug from him, but instead, he just put his hands on my shoulders and gazed at me with this soothing, sparkling beam on his face.
"Then let me be your everything."
the next chapter might be the last? i don't have anything to add to the plot of this story, and i really don't want to drag it out with no reason to
anyways, i hope you're still enjoying! thank you so much for all reading, voting, and commenting! this afternoon, i had so much fun reading through all of the comments i received, and i say this all the time, but they really do make my day.
don't die today guysss
- lexi