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After the intense and thrilling sets of matches, the MSBY Black Jackals finally won against the Schweiden Adlers. Cheers and shouts of joy filled the stadium over the momentous event.
The cheers from the crowd soon ebbed away, post-game chatter taking its place.
“I’ll meet you outside the stadium, Tenma. I just have to go to the restroom real quick.” Keiji told Tenma who was seated beside him. “Sure, no problem. I’ll meet you outside then.” Instead of heading for the restrooms however, Keiji quickly made his way back to the Onigiri Miya stall where he had met Osamu earlier, before the start of the game.
Away from the buzz of the game, Osamu started to clean and pack up in his food stall, as all the onigiri had already sold out.
“Osamu.” Keiji was almost out of breath as he spoke. Osamu looked up to see who had called his name, and upon seeing Keiji again, he was filled with excitement. “Akaashi!” Osamu said with a bright smile. Keiji was finally there in front of the person he wanted to talk to the most, yet he couldn’t formulate the sentences that he wanted to say. The words in his mind were a mess. Osamu waited for what Keiji was about to say.
After a bit of silence between them, he figured that Keiji didn’t have anything else to say. He wasn’t aware that Keiji’s mind was going haywire trying to articulate his feelings. To break the silence, Osamu offered his hand to shake Keiji's. "It was nice to meet you. I had fun talking to you today.", he said with a gentle smile, eyes almost closing. Keiji absently gave a small nod and extended his hand. As their hands touched, Keiji felt something within him stir. Osamu's hand was soft, it had a warmness that was new to him. He'd even go as far as to say it felt like home. Their touch lingered for what was more than necessary, though both did not mind. Osamu loosened his grip and this signaled Keiji that this shared moment has reached its end. He reluctantly retracted his hand, and returned a smile to Osamu.
"It was nice meeting you too." He wanted to say much more, but it was all he could muster.
Keiji took one last look at Osamu and within himself, he ached. He wanted more time to be with him, to talk to him, to simply be in his presence. It was too soon for them to part ways.
With each step he took away from the humble onigiri stall, all the more he ached to stay.
Ask him to meet again.
What if it sounds weird? What if he finds me weird?
You both got along well despite meeting each other for the first time.
So what? That doesn't mean he'd want to meet again.
Two voices within Keiji started fighting and his head started to throb. He so badly wanted to turn back and ask Osamu if they could meet again, but the part of his brain that overthought everything decided against it.
He took another step towards the exit of the stadium.
Osamu.
Another step.
Osamu.. Osamu..
His name echoed in his mind.
If only I could reach out to him--
After what felt like an eternity, he was completely out of the stadium. "Keiji! What took you so long?" Tenma's voice cut through Keiji's blasting thoughts. This shook him and brought him back to reality, away from the echoing of Osamu’s name.
“What’s up? You seem so deep in thought over there.” Tenma teased, lightly punching Keiji’s shoulder. “It’s nothing, it’s nothing.” he shook it off, scrunching his nose. Though deep inside, he was still thinking about Osamu. He was finally out of the stadium and away from Osamu’s reach.
Nice going, Keiji. You lost your chance. He hated himself for a while for being an indecisive coward. In the middle of his negative thoughts, the image of Osamu’s smile appeared in his mind, shooing away the negativity. He involuntarily smiled at the thought of him. Tenma took notice of Keiji smiling out of the blue and gave out a small laugh.
Keiji sure is an eccentric one, Tenma thought.
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Tenma and Keiji soon parted ways, and Keiji went on to walk back to his apartment. The cold breeze of the night blew, causing Keiji to pull his jacket closer to him.
I wonder if he knew I was enchanted to meet him. He looked up at the starry sky, hands in his pockets, and breathed out.
I want to see him again. I want to talk to him again. At the thought of Osamu, he smiled. Knowing for sure that he was blushing, he buried his face in his scarf.
Keiji reached the pedestrian crossing and waited for the green light. Across the street was a convenience store. Hmm, I’ll buy something to warm myself up, he thought to himself. The green light started blinking and he walked over.
The fluorescent lights and the toasty warmth of the convenience store greeted him as he entered the establishment. He walked through the aisles and went straight towards the packed food section. He leaned over and picked up some onigiri, the choice he usually gets in convenience stores. Though this time, the image of Osamu handing over his onigiri a while ago before the game popped up again in his mind. This won’t be as good as his cooking, that’s for sure, he chuckled to himself.
“Ah, Akaashi?”
Keiji froze. He couldn’t believe his ears. It was a warm, familiar voice. The voice he longed to hear again. Osamu. Keiji looked back towards the voice. “What.. What are you doing here?” he stammered in disbelief and awe. Keiji had to make sure he wasn’t smiling so much.
“Buying some coffee I guess?” Osamu answered, bringing up the warm canned coffee in his hand. “It’s such a nice coincidence to see you again.”
Keiji couldn’t help but give out a hearty laugh. It was a laugh of mixed emotions: relief, amazement, gratefulness, whatever positive feelings all rolled into one. All this time, after leaving the stadium that day, all he could think about was seeing Osamu again, and now he’s here right in front of him before the day ends. Keiji thanked the higher beings for this grace. This left Osamu in a state of confusion though.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that I’m so happy to see you again. I’ve been wishing for it all day.", Keiji explained ever so casually, all because of how overwhelmingly happy he was. Osamu’s eyes widened at this, and only then did Keiji realize what he had blurted out.
“Wait, I meant that I--” Keiji’s supposed defense was cut short by Osamu’s gentle laugh. “Funny, I was thinking the same thing.”, he said. Keiji’s heart started beating quickly. The voices in his head suddenly started taking over his mind again.
Now’s your chance.
But what if I get rejected.
It’s now or never.
Maybe I'll regret trying.
You’ll regret not trying more.
Keiji’s inner voice gave him the ounce of courage he needed.
“Would you like to go out for some coffee sometime?” Keiji spoke straightforwardly as to not break his courage. “W-when you’re free, I mean.”, he shyly added.
Osamu once more gave out a soft laugh. “Honestly, when you came back to the stall after the match, I was waiting for you to say something like ‘let’s meet again someday’ but you didn't. I wanted to ask.. but I wasn’t sure if you felt the same way. So I guess I also chickened out huh?” Osamu rubbed the back of his neck, and looked down at the floor. The shyness of the both of them caused the pair to laugh at themselves.
“So.. Does next Saturday sound good to you?” Osamu bravely asked.
“Yes. That sounds great to me”. Keiji smiled.
After paying for their food, they both left the convenience store together. They spent the night talking and getting to know each other more, all while falling deeper for one another.
The bickering voices in Keiji's head finally found peace.