In Another Life
Littleluxray
Two hours had passed since their last words towards each other, yet Akaashi still lay awake in bed.
Unknown to Bokuto, he watched him quietly through almost closed eyelids, his thick lashes being enough to hide the fact that he was still awake. Tired, but awake.
Akaashi couldn't sleep, but it wasn't because of his unfamiliarity with Bokuto that caused this. He couldn't sleep because of his honest fascination with him.
Bokuto would lay still for quite a while, his head tilted to the side with one hand on his stomach, and the other at his side.
When he was like this, Akaashi would think that he was resting, and he would almost believe that thought until Bokuto would twitch awake again, his body jerking him from what little relaxation he tried to achieve.
At first, Akaashi thought nothing of it. Bokuto would wince and snap back to reality the way someone would when they dreamt they were falling.
But Akaashi knew full well that such a thing wasn't possible with Bokuto's condition. It made Akaashi pity him, to say the least.
Three times, Bokuto jolted awake involuntarily, and three times, he covered his eyes with his forearm and heaved a quiet sigh.
Akaashi refused to have reacted to those moments, hoping to spare his visitor the embarrassment of him having seen that.
He intended on closing his eyes and falling asleep for real afterwards, but after having felt his mattress shake for the fourth time, he opened his eyes.
Akaashi lifted himself onto his elbows. "Bokuto," he whispered.
Alarmed, he snapped around quickly. His face looked both shocked and exhausted at the same time. "Akaashi? I'm–"
"Don't." His voice a mere murmur, Akaashi moved closer to Bokuto, then resumed to lie down on his back, his head slightly elevated with the pillows that sat behind him. "Don't apologize."
Mildly embarrassed, Bokuto looked away and rubbed his arms.
"Come." Akaashi beckoned for his visitor.
Turning his attention back to him, Bokuto met Akaashi's gaze. He wore a confused expression, wondering just what the other had meant by that word.
"I said come." He motioned for Bokuto to come closer. "Get over here." As Akaashi said this, he held out an arm, as if readying himself for some sort of hug.
Obeying with hesitance, Bokuto shifted towards Akaashi and lay against him, fitting into the curve of his arm.
It was no doubt that he was larger than Akaashi, but that didn't stop him from fitting in just right.
Bokuto's head lay against Akaashi's shoulder. Akaashi's arm cautiously wrapped itself around Bokuto's broad shoulders.
Neither of them said a word.
Minutes passed, and in time, Akaashi could feel Bokuto relaxing against him, the signs of fatigue finally wearing him down.
His head slumped against his shoulder, and both his hands rested on his stomach. He was trying. Trying so hard to fit in that small amount of sleep that would get him through the next day, and Akaashi wanted to help.
As much as he didn't want to believe it, Akaashi wanted so badly to help.
Why?
Akaashi watched as one of Bokuto's hands twitched involuntarily, and to his dismay, it wouldn't stop.
Slowly, he reached a hand out and closed it over the twitching one, his four fingers fitting into Bokuto's palm. In seconds, his hand was calm again.
Akaashi inhaled quietly. He watched as Bokuto's chest rose and fell with each breath that kept him alive.
His breathing was controlled, much like one of a person's who was actually asleep. Pursing his lips, Akaashi let his head fall back into the pillows. He turned his head to the side, towards Bokuto's.
He could smell his faint scent. He smelled sort of like a hospital.
———
Akaashi made his way to the hospital for the umpteenth time that week, his hands in his jacket pockets and his nose burying into the burgundy knit scarf that protected him from the chilly weather.
It had been two months since Bokuto's visit over his home, and ever since then, Akaashi found that making his way to the hospital had become a daily routine for him.
And even if he didn't show up, he would still spend his days sending messages to Bokuto, be it text, email, or the occasional video chat.
He exhaled through his nose and entered the hospital, greeted the woman at the front desk (who now knew him by name), and removed the scarf from around his neck. Akaashi already knew where he had to go.
He ascended those familiar steps, said hello to the familiar faces, and rounded that familiar corner that he knew would lead him to Bokuto's room.
Another breath escaped him, slow and casual, but he'd soon learned to hold his breath when he noticed another person sitting outside in the hall, several feet from the room, where visitors could spend their time.
Akaashi eyeballed the small male for a long second, knowing that he wouldn't look up to catch him.
His head hung low, and his attention belonged only to the handheld system that entertained him.
Normally, Akaashi would have walked away that instant in order to pay Bokuto a visit, but as he neared his room, he could hear two voices coming from within.
One of the voices belonged to Bokuto. The other, he had no clue. Akaashi paused and gripped the strap of his bag. Hesitating, he turned, pivoting on one foot to stare back at the small one who sat by his lonesome.
Feeling that it would be rude to interrupt Bokuto's conversation with whoever the other person was, Akaashi strode over to the seats and sat one chair away from the gaming stranger.
Akaashi tapped his fingers quietly against his pants.
"... Are you here to see Bokuto Koutarou?" Akaashi's asked in a leveled tone.
"No. My friend is." The other spoke in a quiet voice, low and brooding. Or maybe not brooding, but more along the lines of apathetic.
Apathy-kun. The nickname popped into Akaashi's head for a brief second. He wasn't too sure why.
"Is your friend a friend of Bokuto's?"
"Yeah. An old friend." He pressed pause on his PSP and tapped one end of it against his open palm. "They used to play volleyball together. They go back a couple of years."
Akaashi leaned back in his seat. "Ah. I see." He felt the need to keep most of his questions at bay.
His company did not seem like the type to socialize so openly, so he figured simple inquiries would do just fine, especially if he kept them to a minimum.
"May I ask your name?" Akaashi took a shot at it.
A small thumb rubbed at the system's screen to remove a smudge. He looked up, gazed at Akaashi past his bleached blonde bangs, and straightened his back in the slightest way possible.
"Kozume Kenma."
"Akaashi Keiji." He felt like he could enjoy Kozume's company, what with how his words lacked all form of emotion. "It's nice to meet you, Kozume."
"Kenma is fine." He looked back down at the game screen. "Likewise."
Akaashi nodded, glad to have made an acquaintance, and would have relaxed into his seat if not for the sudden disembodied voice that startled him soon after Kenma's sentence.
"Hey, Kenma, who are you talking to?" As if straight from a cartoon, out popped a tall male from Bokuto's room, with stark black hair that both hung over his face and stuck out in all directions.
He carried a look on his face that made him seem more sinister than sincere, and his eyes flitted from Kenma to Akaashi, and then back to Kenma.
"This is Akaashi. I just met him." His words were as straightforward as they were indifferent.
"Akaashi?" Bokuto's voice rang out from the room this time. Akaashi didn't even have to see his face to know that Bokuto was beaming. "He's here? Is he here?"
"I am-." Akaashi rose from his seat to enter the room, but instead found Bokuto standing at the door in seconds, his eyes wide with surprise. He was thinner than before, a large flannel shirt fitting him loosely. He had probably lost a bit overtwenty pounds in the two months that passed.
Akaashi frowned. "Get back into bed. You shouldn't be-"
Bokuto didn't allow him to finish his sentence as he embraced Akaashi suddenly. "I didn't think you were going to make it today."
Though he'd gotten thinner, his arms still had some power to them. He squeezed Akaashi, mashing him closer until he could barely breathe.
Akaashi's eyebrows knit together. "I told you I would..." He all but murmured against Bokuto's shoulder.
"What's this?" The taller, dark haired male gestured to them. "I come to visit and I'm barely paid attention to, but when he comes along, he's given the whole package?"
Bokuto pulled away to face his smirking friend. "Relax." He then turned his attention to Akaashi. "This is Kuroo, a close friend of mine."
He cocked his head to the side. "Nice to meet you, Akaashi. I've heard a lot about you in the short hour that I've been here."
Nodding once, Akaashi acknowledged Kuroo's words, but did not know how to respond to them. All he had to offer was a, "The pleasure is mine," before moving forward to try and usher Bokuto back into his room.
"Hey- hey!" Bokuto resisted, standing firm in place. "We were actually just talking about stepping outside."
"Well, I brought it up, just as a suggestion, but then he got really excited."
Kuroo scratched the back of his head. "So we were going to step outside for a minute or two in order to get this owl to shut up."
"I've been cooped up in this place for too long. I haven't gone outside in days."
The discomfort could be heard in Bokuto's voice. If there was one thing that Akaashi had learned about Bokuto in the little time that he'd known him, it was that he wasn't too fond of staying locked up indoors.
Maybe taking him outside for a while would do him some good.
Akaashi looked down the hall. "Let's go then. To the garden out in the back."
Everyone came to an unspoken agreement after the one sentence. Kuroo started down the hall, Bokuto trailing after him.
Akaashi followed after knowing that Kenma was nearby. As he walked, he stared at the backs of the two men in front of him.
They both seemed to be the same height, but Akaashi couldn't help but realize that Bokuto looked just a bit smaller.