Akaashi can't help but laugh with the next question, he delicately lifts his left hand to cover his mouth to prevent more laughter from coming out of his lips. He breathes a couple of times trying to compose himself and after a long sigh, he speaks again.

"Come on you guys, you know I can't answer those kinds of questions. I don't want to be demonetized... again." 

He scrolls down through the chat to see all the questions his subscribers were asking. "Umm let's see, I already answered that, and yes, you already know my favorite food. Hmm oh okay, here's a good one."

He lifts his head to look directly at the camera, his phone is forgotten in his hand as he talks. "Why did you decide to become a YouTuber?" 

"Well, at first I did it because I thought it would be a good idea to record myself while I was doing yoga and see my own progress. It was easy for me to see what I needed to improve and then I actually started liking the videos. So, I started talking more and more and then one day I said, why not? And I made this channel and uploaded my first video. I only saw it as a hobby at the beginning, but with a more organized schedule it turned into a source of income."

His only source of income in fact. Akaashi Keiji was a broke college student trying to pay his bills and when he moved out of the college dorms because he couldn't resist staying there for another day, he had to sacrifice some luxuries to have enough money for a little apartment. Unfortunately, one of those luxuries was the yoga class he had been going daily for almost five years.

His classes left him with no time to have a job and he was getting more and more stressed about his studies. He needed to relax. So he started doing yoga at home and of course it wasn't the same. For some reason, it was too quiet, and he didn't really know why that was bothering him so much. He loves the absence of noise that his mind is able to create. Ahh, the peaceful silence that was slowly tortured him in his living room. 

Music was not helping him either, so he started talking to himself. Asking for his parents' camera was just an excuse to not look like a crazy person who preferred to talk alone rather than actually other people.

And God, it wasn't easy at first. He cringed every time he saw one of his videos on his new channel called  Akaashizen . Was his voice always this annoying? It took him months to actually upload a four-minute video of him giving advice on how to properly stretch before doing yoga. 

But, people seem to like it, so he kept doing it. A month later he had already 100k subscribers. Don't ask him how.

A nicer camera and good lighting was the first thing he bought when he started to receive money from his new job. And he eventually got comfortable in front of the camera, his movements are much natural now and he acts confident in his videos. Well, he still can't look at the firsts videos he made on his channel. But he likes to think that he's getting better at this.

He uploads a video twice a week doing yoga for beginners, he tries to teach all the basics for people who have never done yoga before. He's not an expert nor an instructor, and he tries to be clear about that in every video introduction. That was what people liked it, he supposes. He made a whole series trying to make simple Asanas or most known as yoga poses or yoga postures. Eventually, he began to increase the difficulty of each class so his subscribers and he would learn together. His series lasted four months and now was currently doing another.

Thinking that his subscribers might get bored of the same content, he started making not-yoga related videos that his subscribers suggest. He played a video game once and totally failed at it, he has done movie and book reviews, a DIY that never saw the light of day, and some silly challenges even.  

But his subscribers wanted more of him. 

Akaashi is a reserved person, he doesn't have too many friends and is not really used to talk about his life, especially with strangers. But he promised to do a video and talk more about his daily life celebrating his 800k subscribers, his followers wanted him to do "A day in my life" vlog, and he really tried, like really really tried.

His life is just... boring.

What was he going to film? Him waking up early in the morning to go to classes, then having a quick lunch to go study until bedtime? If he had the time maybe he would read a book or just watch hours of YouTube videos, but who would like to watch that? He had zero ideas about what to do and he had just a day to record something interesting. So, he had the idea to make the easiest video that a YouTuber can ever make. 

Q&A

He tweeted last night that he was going to answer some of their subscriber's questions for his 800k video, and best of all? it would be a live video. 

He lowers his gaze to his phone and tries to look for another family-friendly question. “What is your favorite ice-cream flavor?”

“Oh, it’s been a while since the last time I had an ice cream, maybe strawberry? Oh, no wait, wait, cookies & cream. Yes, definitely cookies & cream.” Why were they asking so many questions about food? He is getting hungry now. 

“Can you solve a Rubix cube? Of course, I don’t have one at the moment but I promise I can do it.”

“Hmm, what else?” He knew that he should have prepared the questions beforehand. “Do you want children?” He grimaces immediately. “God no. Well, I’m too young to think about those things, I’m only 22 but it's a no for now.”

Do you ever want to get married? Do you have a special someone? if you are not, I’m available. How many girlfriends have you had? Or maybe there is a special he? Are you dating anyone right now?

Was this his annual family reunion? He just smiles at the camera ignoring those kinds of questions. This is why he didn't want to talk about his private life in the first place, it was his fault after all, and ugh... why did he decide to make it live? He sees a couple of obscene comments that he definitely is not going to answer. 

“I don't know why all of you are so obsessed with my flexibility to be honest,” he says as he rolls his eyes. 

He sees the time on his phone and he's quite surprised to notice that he has been sitting on his floor answering questions for over an hour now. “I think we have time for one last question, alright?”

He scrolls downs ignoring the disappointed comments when suddenly a name catches his attention.

“Huh? Kodzuken? Yeah, of course I know him, who doesn’t? I really love his videos even if I don't know a thing about video games.” The chat is flooded with questions about the Gamer and with comments reminding him about the video he made once trying to play. 

“I know, I know I absolutely suck at video games,” he says with a soft smile. “I just like to watch him. He’s an amazing gamer and his voice is so calming.”

“Almost an hour and a half? I can’t believe it. Never again,” he says after closing his laptop. His legs were killing him, he shouldn't be sitting in the same position for that long. He stretches out his legs and arms a little relieved to finally finish the chaotic video. At least he doesn't have to edit the whole thing, but that's not reason enough to make a live video ever again. 

He disconnects completely from his social media. Well, just Twitter. He needs to relax and that involves a good take-out meal while watching a Netflix movie. It sounds like a perfect Friday night.

---

Akaashi knows that using his cell phone when he just wakes up is not a good idea, he even advised his subscribers not to do it, but he really can't help it, maybe he deserves a lazy day. He realized it was a mistake when his phone starts to buzz like crazy, the sound of his notifications didn't stop for like five minutes and he didn't quite understand what was happening until he read the comments.

What?

Okay, he is lost. What's happening? Why's everyone so excited? Why are people recommending him video games to play? And oh...

WHY DID HE GAIN 100K SUBSCRIBERS IN LESS THAN 12 HOURS?

He sits in his bed and puts his glasses on because he doesn't believe what his eyes are seeing. He had never gained this many followers in just a day. He tries to look for an answer on Twitter, but no one is saying anything, they're just talking about Kodzuken. Why are his followers talking so much about Kodzuken? Oh, God. Akaashi goes straight to his YouTube app to see the video he posted and there it is. The main comment, the most liked comment, the comment it makes his heart stops.

@Kodzuken   I’m flattered but horrified, I can teach you tho. What do you think about doing a collab together? 

What?

Did he read it correctly?

He’s still dreaming?

The world-famous Kodzuken wants to do a collaboration video with him? 

He reads it again and again until the letters have no sense to him anymore. 

Kodzuken doesn't do collabs videos, he has never done. Was he trying to be nice? Wait... Why was he watching his stream in the first place? He looks at the time of the comment and he made it just two minutes before he ended his video.

What? Kodzuken was watching his terrible Q&A. He tries to look when he entered his stream, and oh my God, he is going to die. He watched almost the entire thing. That's impossible, how didn't he notice? He clicks Kodzuken profile to see and-

WHAT?

Okay, he certainly is going to die.

Kodzuken is subscribed to his channel.

How? Since when? Why didn't he realize sooner? And the most important thing, Kodzuken does yoga?

He's not used to this amount of attention, so the best choice for him right now is to turn off his phone. And after an hour of walking around his small apartment and some meditation exercises later, Akaashi sends an email to Kodzuken.

Why would someone like Kodzuken want to talk with someone like him? He's worldwide known, not just in Japan. He has more than nine million subscribers on YouTube where he posts Gaming content only, he has his own company, he recently created his own video game, he's young, successful, and... beautiful.

Okay, he has to admit it. He has been watching his videos since a couple of years ago, not because he was interested in watching him win whatever game he was playing but because he is the most gorgeous person he had ever seen. Kodzuken has beautiful round golden eyes, long dark hair with blond tips, and a smile capable of taking all the air out of his lungs.

He always watches his videos even if he doesn't understand a thing about the video game he's currently playing. Sometimes he listens to him while he's studying or cooking because he really likes his soft voice, he never shouts despite playing horror games or being shot at the last minute before winning, his voice is always calm. And Akaashi always makes sure to look at him on the screen when Kodzuken passes a new level that has been taking him some time to do it or every time he wins. Because that’s the moment when he sees his eyes shining with pride and his lips curving into a soft smile.

Akaashi rests his palm on his cheek and lets out a long sigh. He is a little excited to know him… Who was he kidding? He couldn’t stop thinking about it all day. Kodzuken probably was just being friendly, maybe he shouldn’t have sent him an email. Oh God, this was so embarrassing. He hides his face behind his arms as he walks to his bed to lay down and overthinks about everything. He was about to curl up and hide under his cozy blanket when he hears his phone buzzing.

Slowly, he stretches out his arms and brings his phone closer to his face and he has to blink several times because he wasn’t quite trusting in his eyesight right now. He gasped when he saw Kodzuken answer and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. 

This was really happening.

---

Akaashi is standing in front of the big brown door, his left hand is clutched to the sleeve of his sweater while his right hand is resting on the wooden door. A sweet scent tickled his nostrils, it is probably the yellow flowers of the garden. He stops biting his bottom lip when he feels a slight pain and a disgusting metallic taste, he didn’t even notice that he was doing that. He runs his tongue over his lips to cover every trace of blood. God, he needs to calm down. 

He takes a deep breath once again and slowly he lets the air leave his body. "You can do this," he says to himself trying to smile before knocking on the door. That very same smile dies on his face when someone opens the door first.

His heart stopped beating when he saw him.

“I saw you standing here for like twenty minutes so I came to look for you. You want to come inside?”

And his heart began to beat again when he heard his voice.

He looks even more breathtaking in person, his golden eyes are looking directly into him, his hair is tied in a bun leaving out some strands in the front, he is shorter than him which he was totally expecting it and he is wearing loose pants and a dark hoodie with the logo of his company on it. 

Mental picture? Taken.

He clears his throat a couple of times before opening his mouth. “Good afternoon Kozume-san, I was just admiring your lovely garden.” He literally has like five flowers at the entrance and nothing more. “B- But yes, I would love to enter.”

Kozume moves to the side giving him enough space to enter. “Please, just Kenma is fine.” He says as he closes the door.

Should he offer to call him Keiji? He delicately takes both of his shoes off as he looks around Kenma’s house. “Your house is very....big.” Stupid.

“Hmm” he just answers as he walks to the living room area. His house is really  really  big, he doesn’t have too much furniture or expensive paintings on the walls and if it wasn’t for the giant tv and the gaming system under it, he wouldn't have guessed that a millionaire pro gamer owned this, it actually looks cozy. He sits on the sofa when Kenma gestures with his hand for him to sit beside him.

“Uhh…” Should he try to make small talk or just go straight to business? “Thank you for contacting me, Kenma. I really appreciate this opportunity.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Umm do you want something to drink?” 

Kenma is sitting just a pillow away and he's looking at his phone, maybe playing a game. “No thank you, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” he says quickly. “It’s kinda hot outside.”

“Umm okay, water is fine.” He couldn't even finish the sentence when Kenma was already walking into the kitchen.

He tries not to look around too much but it’s impossible, I mean, he is literally sitting on his crush sofa. Somehow, Akaashi still can't believe this. When he read Kodzuken's email talking about the collab he almost fainted. They exchanged a few more emails to coordinate and set all the details. Surprisingly he kept calm the whole weekend… well until he was outside Kenma’s house. He really is trying not to panic, they talked normally via email, he even made a few jokes. But he can’t help it, now he is doubting everything.

He wipes the sweat off his palms on his black jeans as he sees Kenma approaching with a tray. The orange juice looks freshly made and there are crackers and different kinds of cheese in front of him. He thanks him before drinking half of his juice from one gulp.

“You were thirsty,” Kenma says in a funny tone.

“Ha ha a little.” 

They stay in a horrible silence for a few endless minutes. Akaashi is playing with the glass in his hand and now is a bit hungry seeing the food in front of him, but he doesn’t want to eat because Kenma isn’t eating and he never said anything. So, he just sits there glancing at kenma and the food from time to time.

“I didn't know you wore glasses,” Kenma says softly with the phone still in his hands. 

“Oh, sometimes.” He answers as he touches his reading glasses. 

“...”

“Well, I never wear them when I’m doing yoga…” He adds a painfully minute later.

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

Oh God, this is killing him, they are just so awkward. He runs his hand through his dark curly hair for the fifth time in the past ten seconds. “So…” Kenma immediately lifts his head from his phone to look at him. “Uhh, do you actually do yoga or…?”

Kenma chuckles. “I do, since a few months, umm since I started watching your videos. But as I said, I refuse to record myself while doing yoga. So think about something else.”

A few months… “That’s cool. Why did you start?”

“My best friend was going to make me go jogging every morning with him if I couldn't find a way to exercise, so I picked the easiest one… Well, I thought it was easy at the time, but it’s actually very, very challenging, both physically and mentally. And one day I found your channel, it has been extremely helpful.” He says as he fiddles with the sleeve of his hoodie.

He would be lying if he says that he didn’t feel fucking proud at that moment. “People tend to assume that. Some of them even see it as just a hippie joke, ignoring the physical and spiritual benefits from it. I’m glad my videos have been helpful to you."

“Yeah, my back pain is almost non-existent now.”

He hums in response and lowers his head to his lap where his hands are currently playing with his empty glass. The silence feels thick and heavy in the air and Akaashi just wants to fill it with Kenma's calm voice. 

When he tried to make eye contact, those golden eyes were no longer looking at him. 

He sighs heavily before speaking. "A- And how long have you been gaming?"

He sees him shrug before putting his phone aside looking a little bored at the question and yet he is able to catch a hint of a sparkle in Kenma's eyes. "Since forever, " he answers before getting carried away completely into the conversation.

And he listens with a silly smile on his face. 

Now he feels a little bit ridiculous for being so nervous before, maybe he was intimidated by the version he had about Kodzuken on his head and of course the success that had made him feel like he was inferior. A stupid thought actually, because Kenma is a really down to earth person. 

Their conversation is filled with real communication this time and not just by the exchange of words or small stories, but with smiles, glances, and laughs. 

"But I never thought that my channel would be this big and that so many people would follow me, I'm still waiting for them to get tired of me or something." 

"Are you kidding? Why would they ever get tired of you?" Akaashi says to him and Kenma just shrugs. "You are so good at what you do, I mean I don't know much about video games but you are very skilled, you combine strategic thinking with quick reactions, not everyone can do that. A- And you are pretty funny too, you always make me laugh." Shit, did he said too much? Judging by Kenma's flushed face, he did.

"Thank you," Kenma says softly, hiding behind his hair.

He was about to say something else when the doorbell rang. Kenma stands quickly and walks to the door. Akaashi looks at his watch and he's a little surprised about the fact that they had been talking for over an hour. They should already be recording the video by now, but it must be normal to get to know each other before actually recording themselves, and now he feels a little more prepared to get his ass kicked at whatever video game they will play today. 

He hears a 'thank you' and Kenma steps getting closer. "I ordered food, did you had lunch?" He asks as he walks with paper bags in his hands.

"Umm, it's like five pm so yes, I did."

"Great, so you must be hungry now, come on." 

His legs stand ridiculously fast following Kenma to the next room where the table is nicely set for two. He sees him take out the content of the bags that by the way, it smells suspiciously like his favorite food, while he is just standing there. The food smells and looks delicious but he doesn't want to intrude on Kenma's late lunch.

"I literally woke up twenty minutes before you came, so I didn't have time to eat. You can also see it as a way to say thank you for coming today." Kenma is already sitting in front of two plates of food with his eyes busy elsewhere but him.

“Oh you didn't have to-”

“I wanted to.” And Akaashi can't really refuse that offer if he’s looking at him with such a captivating gaze studying every movement or reaction of him, a glint of shyness always present.

He can hear him exhale in relief as if he wasn’t expecting for him to accept, like for some stupid reason he would have refused to spend more time with Kenma. He sits in front of him and Kenma’s studious look melts into a softer one, he can feel his muscles relax as he tries to continue with their previous conversation. 

“A writer huh? Now that I think about it you kinda give off that vibe.” Kenma says as he plays with the vegetable on his empty plate.

“Not yet, and what vibe exactly?” He asks with an amused smile.

“You know,” Kenma stops murdering his broccoli to look at him. “I’m mysterious and intriguing and I won’t tell you my story because you will have to buy it someday vibe.”

A long laugh escapes from his lips. “No thanks, autobiographical works are not my thing and I’m just a reserved person. After all, YouTube is a job, I don’t see the necessity to talk about my private life on my videos."

"Then you are not like most YouTubers." 

"Well, I can say the same thing about you, Kenma. I have been following you for a few years and I don't think I have ever heard you say something about yourself besides your name and age." 

"You have a lot of valuable information about me now, I hope you aren't planning on selling it." Thinking about it, he really does have valuable information about Kenma. It mustn't be easy to trust other people while being in the public eye, so he really feels happy to know that Kenma trusts him.

"Not yet, of course, I don't want to be that obvious. I'm sure that your fans will pay a lot of money to know that you used to play volleyball. I wonder if I can find some pictures." He tells him in a playful tone.

Kenma rolls his eyes but he doesn't miss the tiny smile on his face. "It will cost you a lot of free dinners for you to see my old albums."

His heart beats insanely fast to know that maybe they could do this again. If their subscribers like it, they could do more collabs together and it doesn't have to be just for business, who knows... they could be friends. 

"Come on, let's play, " Kenma says as he stands without hearing any answer from his suggestion. 

Oh no, now he feels nervous again. He is going to be on camera with Kenma and he most likely will end up on video compilations for his lack of skills, and Kenma will never record a video with him again because he sucks so much at his. But oh my god, he is going to be on camera with Kenma and he will enter Kenma's recording room and it's just a room, he shouldn't be that excited, but he has seen that room for years through a screen and he can't believe that he will actually enter there.

He is walking just behind Kenma, but his legs stop when the gamer sits on his living room couch. Kenma takes two controllers under the table and offers him one while he waits for the game on the giant tv to load. 

He doesn't know which video game is, the cover doesn't look familiar at all, but he can clearly see that it's a fantasy game. He sits too close to Kenma but is just to see which buttons to press not because he wants to be close to him and feel his warm body or smell the strong scent of his shampoo. Definitely not that.

"I will teach you how to play before actually recording, but if you want for people not to laugh at you this will take us time." He hears Kenma say, his eyes entertained with the logo of the game in front of them. 

"Okay, that's actually reassuring because I don't even know what buttons to press." 

"Yeah, I assumed that. It's going to take us at least a week of training for you to feel comfortable with the game."

He doesn't drop the controller to the floor just because it looks very expensive. "W- What?" He moves half of his body to face him. 

"Umm, we don't have to record today," Kenma says as he bites his bottom lip.

"Oh, isn't that what I came for?" The slight hurt grimace that Kenma makes is enough for him to speak again. "I mean, I had a great time today, I really did. But I thought that we were filming the video today."

"I'm sorry, you must be busy," he says as he puts the controller that he was previously gripping down on the table. "It wasn't my intention to take your time, I just wanted to get to know you better before the collab."

"You didn't! And yeah, it's alright I would love to play right now with you. I think it is for the best to trust each other behind the screen before filming." It actually makes a lot of sense, that's why he invited him to eat and talk... and play.

Oh.

He feels a blush spreading across his cheeks and for a second he thought that his entire face was on fire. This looks suspiciously a lot like a date. Is this why Kenma was so nervous? Is this why they were eating his favorite food surrounded by scented candles and soft music in the background? It's highly possible but he doesn't want to ask Kenma, what if he's wrong? He could never see him to his face ever again. 

"I said that I will teach when I commented on your video," Kenma says softly, a pink color decorating his cheeks.

Kenma looks too cute and that is not helping him think right. "I wish you had told me before I came here, I would have bought you flowers or dessert."

"I hate flowers so it's alright, I should have asked you properly though," Kenma is fiddling with the sleeve of his hoodie refusing to make eye contact. "I was too nervous, and I really want to do a video with you because I wanted to meet you. You are nice and funny and I can't stop looking at your videos, I mean your voice is so soothing that sometimes I listen to your videos when I'm feeling stressed, and let's be real here, ugh I hate yoga but I'm trying... because you love it, umm I hope you don't find that weird." 

He is one hundred percent sure that his mind stopped working and his heart was following it too. Was his internet/celebrity crush trying to confess to him? "Kenma, I like you too." 

It takes a second for his face to look like a tomato and Akaashi is pretty sure that he would have thrown up his heart if it wasn’t for the reassuring smile Kenma gave him. “Good, we could record that video when you learn all the basics and in the meantime, I can take you to real dates.”  

The dazzling light of the tv is illuminating half of Kenma’s face, he slightly turns to face him and his golden eyes meet his blue ones expecting an answer to a question that he never asked. “I would love to,” Akaashi answers before starting the game.

Both of them are smiling as they start playing, their legs brushing against the other refusing to move from the warmth of their bodies. "Maybe I could lose a couple of times to spend more time together," he thinks as Kenma rests his head on his shoulder. His smile gets bigger.