Work Text:
As soon as the elevator stopped moving, Akashi Seijuurou cursed to himself. Rather loudly, in fact. He was already having an uptight, difficult day, and now to top it off, he was going to be late. He glared at the camera in the elevator as if the people watching him were going to solve the problem. After a while, he sighed and decided to sit down. He was alone in the grey, brightly lit elevator that wasn’t going up.
This morning, he woke up and sighed. He got up out of bed and sighed. He brushed his teeth, washed his face, and sighed. He fed his dog Ao and sighed. His morning was a slow one, definitely with too much sighing. Nothing about the day so far felt as it used to.
So that time could pass and he didn’t have to think about anything, he started listening to music. However, that became boring because he didn’t have many songs. Furi had always told him to get more songs; he really should have listened to him. Not just in music, but there were so many things Furi said he should do. There were so many times he’d given him mature advice that was also oddly Furihata-like. There were so many times he’d helped him and been with him and loved him. So many times.
Akashi’s mind had been wandering. It wandered and wandered until it reached a time in his childhood. The day he met the strange boy with messy hazelnut hair and beady eyes. That boy’s name was,
“Furihata Kouki.”
“What?” Akashi hadn’t quite grasped the situation.
“Fu-ri-ha-ta Kou-ki,” he repeated. Just why this boy was talking to him, he didn’t understand. He knew they lived in the same neighborhood, their houses were next to each other, and their parents were friends. So basically, it was only a matter of time before they met. But still, that didn’t mean they had to meet.
“What’s your name?”
“...Akashi...Seijuurou.” He wasn’t someone who liked talking to others, or others talking to him. He was someone who liked being alone, because it was a better alternative than being with his father.
Furi continued talking, “Akashi, your mom, is she in there?” He pointed to a grave.
Akashi looked up at his innocently bright eyes. He nodded solemnly. “Yeah.”
That was their first meeting. The second time was a couple weeks later, when Akashi started fifth grade. On his first day, there stood that boy in front of the classroom. He announced his name to the class, and took his seat next to him. It was a while before Akashi received an explanation from Furi, and it was, “My mother thought I should stop being homeschooled.” That one decision of Furi’s mother was, at first, a thorn in Akashi’s side. His new classmate followed him everywhere. To the toilet, to recess.
“Why are you following me?” he asked him darkly one day.
“Why?” he repeated, as if asking made no sense. “Aren’t we friends?”
“Since when?” Akashi wasn’t as irritated as he was genuinely confused and, in a way, indifferent. He never had anyone cling to him so much or declare to him that they were friends when they only talked twice. The second time was hardly a legitimate conversation.
“Since I met you,” Furi replied almost instantly. “We’re friends, Akashi.”
He didn’t reply, but he didn’t really have to.
Akashi remembered a time a while later when he went to the park for some reading. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Furi, a young boy, clothed in a soft white dress. He was standing with his head lowered and his face reddened, as his mother was clearly showing him off to the other elderly ladies. “Look, isn’t he adorable in a dress?”
The elders agreed enthusiastically, as if the child they were looking at was in fact a girl. Akashi stared at Furi, and for the first time, he felt sympathy. When he brought this up at school the next day, Furi asked him to never speak of it again.
But he said, “I thought you looked cute, though?” It was the first time he felt sympathy and it was the first time he thought someone else was cute. As Furi turned red with embarrassment, he smiled. That feeling wasn’t too bad.
In the seventh grade, though, they had a fight. This was something Akashi had a bit of trouble remembering. He was pretty sure their fight was over a girl, as ridiculous as it sounded. Her name was Momoi Satsuki. She had full magenta eyes and rosy pink hair. She was always cheerful and spontaneous. Somehow, her interaction with Furi led Akashi to believe that they liked each other. Inversely, her interaction with Akashi led Furi to believe that they liked each other. It made the both of them upset. Later, they would realize that this was an early form of jealousy, but at the time they were young and clueless.
It was during recess that they fought. Furi had asked him, “Why don’t you hang out with Momo?”
“Why would I do that?”
“....Don’t lie. I know you like her.”
Akashi was lost. “Why would you think that? Don’t you like her?”
“Why would I?”
“I don’t know, maybe because you’re always looking at her.”
“T-that’s because...!”
“Because what?” He looked at Furi as if he was trying to see through him.
“B-because you...”
“If you’re not going to say anything now, come to me when you figure yourself out, Furi.”
Furi wouldn’t tell them this until they entered high school, but the reason why he watched Momoi was to make sure she kept her distance from Akashi. Of course, he only thought this was because they were practically best friends.
They resolved this argument without truly resolving it after school on an autumn Friday. The sun was setting when Akashi spotted Furi shooting a basketball in the court near their houses. He saw him, his form, the way he lifted his arm up and flicked his wrist. He saw the way he dribbled the ball and how he maneuvered the court. It was the first time he thought something was beautiful since he’d told his mother that she was.
He snickered as he saw Furi continuously miss his shots. “What is that, Furi?”
Furi stopped and saw him, embarrassed. He shielded his face with the ball. “God, why are you here? You always find me when I look lame. This is why I didn’t tell you I play...”
Akashi walked up to him and slowly pulled down the basketball from covering his face. “I’ve never thought that you looked lame. You look cool, playing that. It’d be better if you actually made the shots, though...”
“Ah! You’re making fun of me!”
“No, no, I would never.”
“But you always do...”
“Hey, could you teach me how to play? I’m curious.”
“Sure, but why? I know you’re not that athletic.”
“Why? Well, why not?”
So for the rest of that evening, they played basketball.
Now Akashi flashed forward to a time in eighth grade when he became frustrated with his father and left home for a while. He and his father had a strained relationship even before his mother passed, but as a result of her passing it didn’t get better and instead got worse. Akashi simply refused to speak to him, and vice versa. When he came home from school one day, the scorching water boiled over. A chill ran down his spine and went back up to shock his heart. In his mind, hell broke loose. His anger was afire.
“What the hell are you doing in our home?” he said to his father with a calmly infuriated tone. He lost all politeness and smiles at this point. His father didn’t answer. He was sitting at the dining table with a glass of whiskey in tight grasp. An ashtray beside him was filled with the remnants of loss. His glass was full, his tray was full, but he was empty.
Akashi, too, felt empty at times. Coincidentally those times were when he wasn’t with Furi.
Furi.
He ran out and went next door. Furi wasn’t home. Instead, he was right behind him. “Akashi?”
He whirled around. “Furi?”
“What’s up? Did you sense that I’d go out to buy food or something because you’re hungry? You seem to have a sixth sense like that.”
“Furi...” To his own dismay, his stomach grumbled.
“So you are hungry!” Furi sometimes knew him better than he knew himself.
“I guess so. What did you buy?”
“Uh, omelette rice.”
Akashi sighed. “Why am I not surprised?” After that it was silent, because Furi wasn’t going inside his house so Akashi wasn’t moving either. They just stood there and stared at each other, as if there was something that needed to be said. “You’re not going in?” he asked Furi.
He frowned. “No, something’s wrong. What happened?” Sometimes Furi was the one who surprised Akashi with his sixth sense.
But he didn’t know where to start to explain how screwed up he was feeling. So Furi took him by the arm and they walked away from home. “Where are we going?” he asked.
“The court,” answered Furi.
Without any further questions, Akashi followed Furi to the basketball court. The warmth and unexpected strength of Furi’s hand holding his was almost enough to numb his pain and anger.
The two sat under the basket. The noiseless neighborhood and the chirping crickets made them feel like the only ones in the world. Furi opened his omelette rice and a spoon. “We’ll have to share the spoon,” he said. Akashi was somehow okay with that.
After they started eating, Furi cut to the chase. “So what happened?” You look like you did when I first met you.”
“...I caught my father drinking again.”
“What? For real? Wasn’t he sober for like, two years?”
“Well, yeah. He was.”
“I see. You must be really pissed.”
“It’s like, now we’re back at square one. As if that man is the only one still hurting.”
Furi held the spoon up in the air. “But you know, your mother was probably the love of his life.”
“And?”
“And do you know how it feels to lose someone like that? I’m not justifying his actions at all, but instead of rejecting him and being angry with him, why don’t you show him that you’re still there? That he’s not alone? Tell him...that you’re his son.”
Once Furi finished his pep talk and grabbed Akashi’s hand again, the latter realized something. He realized that he had been trying to avoid human relationships, but Furi wouldn’t let him. He realized that Furi being by his side became so natural, that there was a reason why he was weary of Momoi and why he was fine with sharing a spoon to eat omelette rice at seven PM on an empty basketball court. The reason was simple and complicated and maddening: he really loved Furihata Kouki.
He held Furi’s hand in return and rested his head on his shoulder. “You’re pretty amazing, Furi...”
“You think so? I think you’re more amazing. Sometimes it scares me.”
“Sometimes you scare me.”
“A Chihuahua can’t scare a lion.”
“There you go again, with the animal metaphors...”
“Well, I try. Anyway, should we head back?”
“I guess so. But hey, can I sleep over?”
“...Sure,” Furi said with some reluctance, because it seemed like Akashi was trying to avoid his father, and that worried him. But these things took time, and he knew what day tomorrow was, so he let it slide. Besides, even if he did say no, Akashi would have found a way to get him to comply. That was just how their relationship worked.
As they returned, took baths and went to bed, Furi didn’t sleep. He waited for midnight to come. And when it did, he sent Akashi the text:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
Coincidentally, Akashi recalled not being able to sleep that night (which was also the night he realized his feelings), so he happened to read Furi’s text as soon as he sent it. He texted him back:
Me: I forgot
Furi: I figured
Me: Are you glad you were first?
Furi: Yes
Me: Silly
Me: Thank you
Furi: Best friends don’t thank each other. They don’t have to
Me: Where did you get that cliché line from?
Furi: ...
Me: Besides, I’ll thank you if I want to. Okay?
Furi: Okay
Furi: Goodnight
Me: You mean ‘morning’. It’s past midnight now, remember?
Furi: ...GOODNIGHT
Me: Goodnight
Akashi tried not to smile. Furi was so stubborn, but all Akashi saw it as was just another part of his charm.
High school. Also known as: two years of fooling around plus one year of career path torture. In high school, Akashi remembered that he and Furi sat next to each other in the beginning of their first year. They joined the basketball club, and met Midorima and Kuroko, who would later on become their closest friends (there was also Aomine, but he didn’t get along too well with him).
They also met Momoi again, and she became the manager of the club. Ironically enough, it was her who called Akashi out on his feelings for Furi.
“Um, correct me if I’m wrong, but are you two just friends?” she asked during practice.
“Yeah.”
“Right, but you like him, don’t you? I’ve seen how you look at him.”
“Then, what does it have to do with you?”
“Since middle school, it’s bugged me. That’s all. Are you going to tell him how you feel?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I like the way things are now.” This was only half-true, because sometimes Akashi looked at Furi and desired more. He wanted him terribly, but had no way of showing it.
“But, until you tell him, those feelings are only going to get stronger. And then it’ll be even harder to hide them.” As she spoke, her attention was focused on Aomine.
A strange thing Furi told Akashi during lunch was,
“I had a dream about you last night.”
At this point, Akashi had already spit out his strawberry milk. “What?”
“I mean, it was weird. You had, like, a golden eye. And you were arrogant and overly sophisticated.”
“Really?” Akashi had mixed feelings about the fact that it wasn’t the type of dream he thought it was. Still, he took what he could get.
“Yeah. But then I appeared. And when I held your hand, your golden eye was gone.”
“...I don’t really get it.”
“Haha. Me neither.”
That was only one conversation. There was another odd conversation he and Furi had:
“Akashi, did you know you’re the only one who calls me Furi? It’s weird.”
“You realize that after six years?”
“Still! Why do you even call me that?”
“Because...” Akashi couldn’t answer, because he honestly didn’t know why. “Well . . .”
“You should just call me by my surname or my given name.”
“No, I’m sticking with Furi.”
“Why?!”
“It’s my special nickname for you. I don’t want to give it up.”
“Wha—?!” This last part, Akashi heard from Furi years later. When Akashi said that, Furi’s heart pounded against his chest and his face was burning. He was starting to realize his feelings from that point on, but of course, Akashi couldn’t tell. His sixth sense didn’t work on romance.
When the basketball team lost a match for the first time, Akashi’s father had went to watch for the first time. Akashi was humiliated at himself. It was the first time he cried following the loss of his mother, and luckily, only Furi saw him.
Furi drew closer to him until he was slowly embracing him. “Talk to me,” he said. “Or, well, I already know. You don’t have to say a word. It’s okay. You’re not weak because you lost. You’re strong, because you’re going to get back up. You always have been. And your father sees that now, I’m sure.”
As soon as he let Akashi go, he was pulled back in. Akashi swiftly and quickly kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks, Furi.”
He left the beady-eyed boy frozen in shock.
There were two other kisses in high school. The first was during the school festival in their third year. Their class did a play version of Snow White, and Akashi was chosen as Prince Charming. At first, Furi wasn’t even considered to be Snow White, because Akashi was somewhat popular with the girls and they were all wanting the part so that he could kiss them. And this made Furi indistinctly jealous. However, on the day of the play, the main female lead came down with a fever. And since Momoi was in charge, another girl was not chosen. Furi was (secretly, he had practiced Snow White’s lines).
Akashi was in speechless awe as he saw Furi in the casket. He was wearing a dress (Akashi was starting to think he had a very slight fetish for Furi in dresses) and looked peacefully asleep. He quickly realized, though, that he had to kiss him to wake him up. It was the first time he cursed to himself, because he knew he would not be able to do this without making it more than a simple kiss. He saw Momoi on the sidelines, smiling. Just what was she thinking?
Akashi had to let the play go on, so he let it go. He leaned over, and as he saw Furi’s calm face, something came over him. He gently caressed his face, but as their lips touched, as he feared, it was too long to stay a simple kiss. Furi wasn’t pulling away, so they continued kissing as if they weren’t in the middle of a play. Neither of them knew what they were doing, really, but they stopped as soon as they felt each other’s tongues.
If anything, that kiss definitely woke up Snow White.
The fact that neither of them mentioned the incident afterwards led to the second kiss. In school, they weren’t talking to each other, but people were talking about them, saying that they were dating. All of this is why, when Akashi came down with a cold, he immediately took the opportunity to stay home and not go to school.
Even if they weren’t talking, Furi was worried, and it showed during practice. “Furihata-kun, I think you should go see him,” Kuroko said to him.
“What? Why?”
“Why not?” Kuroko replied, and the next moment he found himself rushing to Akashi’s side.
Akashi was bedridden and couldn’t stop thinking about Furi or that kiss. That wasn’t a kiss between Snow White and Prince Charming. Nor was it a kiss just between childhood friends. It was a kiss between him and Furi.
Speaking of the devil, Furi showed up knocking on his door and saying, “Akashi! Are you in there? Are you okay?”
“How...did you get in?” Akashi asked.
“You gave me a spare key years ago. You don’t remember?”
“Not really.”
“Then, what do you remember?”
Akashi knew that Furi was testing him. “I remember kissing you,” he said.
“So can you let me in?”
“What are you talking about? The door is open.”
So Furi came inside with a reddened face. He clearly didn’t realize the door was open. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“I feel like I’m drowning or something.”
“Do you need anything?”
“Rest. And maybe tofu soup.”
Furi smiled. “So the only time you’ll ask for things is when you’re sick, huh?” Akashi rolled over. Furi continued, “Is it okay if I ask you what that kiss was about?”
“I think you know.”
“But—”
Akashi rolled back over and faced Furi. “I don’t want to talk about it, Furi.”
He frowned and pinched Akashi’s face hard. “That’s not fair.”
Akashi only simply pinched him back and said, “Sorry.” There were a lot of reasons why they didn’t tell each other how they felt that day. Especially on Akashi’s part. He was afraid of all of it, of the change happening between them—and within himself.
Furi sighed as he got up and went to make tofu soup. When he came back, Akashi was sleeping. The second kiss was something Akashi didn’t know about until Momoi told him (Furi told her) a while later. As he slept, Furi leaned over and pressed his lips against his. “You idiot.”
Their romantic tug-of-war came to an end with as they graduated high school and went to college. Well, only Akashi went to college. Furi worked at his family’s business. So that the long-distance thing wouldn’t get to them, they decided to get an apartment of their own. Akashi started to doubt that decision as he constantly saw Furi in only his underwear, and that killed him.
Ever so slightly, though, Furi seemed to notice this, but he didn’t make an effort to change. The fact that it made Akashi uncomfortable reassured him that his feelings hadn’t changed yet (at this point it was pretty clear to Furi that Akashi did have feelings for him but refused to act on them).
It wasn’t difficult for them to get used to living together, because they often stayed at each other’s houses. They played shogi on weekends, ordered out on Friday nights sometimes, took walks by the train station, went to the beach, etcetera. Akashi was amazed by how couple-y they seemed despite not being a couple. He often asked himself why they weren’t, and he remembered that they weren’t because of him.
But with things as they were at now, he figured it wouldn’t be so bad if he told him how he felt. He only came to this decision while talking to Midorima on the phone one afternoon.
“Wait. So you and Furihata still aren’t together? Are you shitting me?”
“It’s very rare of you to curse.”
“Well, that’s because you’re not making any sense. I thought you were smarter than me, Akashi.”
“Well, I am. But I want your help.”
“Why me?”
“Because you’re the only one who almost beat me in shogi.”
“I get it, but...romance and shogi are two different things. Oh. Well, I guess that means you’re not very smart when it comes to love?”
“...”
“Alright, alright, I’ll stop. But you need to tell him how you feel before someone else does. Otherwise I’m positive you’ll regret it forever. Well, forever is a bit much. Nothing lasts forever. But that’s exactly why—”
“Shintarou.”
“What?”
“Thank you. Are you sure you don’t want a girlfriend?”
“Yes, I’m sure. And you’re welcome.”
It was better late than never. He decided that he was going to tell Furi on his twentieth birthday. He was still afraid, still worried about the burden he would be placing on him, but he couldn’t let someone else beat him to it. He couldn’t just sit around while his desire grew more and more each day. He was frustrated with himself for taking so long to act on Momoi’s advice from high school.
On the day of, Furi came home at nine PM, very disoriented and very drunk. “Akaaashi! I’m twenty! Two-zero! Hahaha...”
“I should’ve known your co-workers were going to take you out for drinks...” Akashi sighed. He couldn’t confess now. “Furi, why do you have to be drunk?”
Furi dropped his coat and bags and settled into Akashi’s arms. They fell on the floor. “Akashi, why do you have to be you?”
“What does that mean?” Furi had a habit of saying things that didn’t quite make sense to him. Nonetheless, in this moment, Akashi found Furi adorable. He tilted Furi’s head up and held his face in his hands. They stared at each other, one with a dopey smile and the other biting his lip. Again, he sighed. He lifted Furi up and carried him to his bed. As he wrapped the covers around him, he repressed his urge to get into bed with him.
“Happy birthday, Furi,” he said, as he went to his own room. He mumbled to himself, “I think I deserve an award for holding back so much...”
It was around two AM when Furi burst into Akashi’s room unannounced. Akashi was startled awake and if he didn’t turn on the light Furi would have looked like a burglar to him. “Akashi...” he said. “My head feels like it’s going to explode. I threw up already. Is this what a hangover feels like?”
“How should I know? I’m still nineteen.”
“Oh, that’s right . . .”
“So? What do you need?”
“Can I...sleep with you?”
Akashi paused, because his resilience was being put to the test. “Sure?”
So Furi crawled into bed with Akashi. They slept facing opposite directions. Or rather, they pretended to be asleep.
But Furi spoke first. “Akashi. You awake?”
Silence, then a quiet “Yeah. You?”
“Obviously.”
“Right. What is it?”
“I love you.” Furi said it quickly and quietly, as if he was going to pass out if he said it any louder.
Everything stopped. His heart, his breath, his existence. Akashi said, “What?”
“I’m in love with you. I never said it before because it seemed like you didn’t want to know. Ever since what happened two years ago, I’ve been waiting for you, but I’m done waiting now.”
“Turn around,” Akashi said, and then they were facing each other. Albeit sideways, their faces were dangerously close, but that made it easier for Akashi to subsequently kiss Furi and tell him, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for taking so long, but I love you too. I love you.”
Furi smiled and tried to hold back his tears, because he knew Akashi would freak out if he saw him crying. “I know you do. And I know that you wanted to protect our friendship by not doing anything, but I think that being in love with your best friend is the luckiest thing in the world.”
Akashi leaned over and kissed him more. His forehead, his cheeks, his lips, his neck. He climbed on top of him and kissed him with everything he had been holding back. “Kouki,” he said.
“W-what?”
“I am never letting you go.”
The day Ao came into their lives started with a dim and rainy morning, but the forecast had predicted nice weather. “Though, personally, I think this weather is nice,” Akashi said. He came inside their room (they shared one room now) with coffee and a box of corn flakes. He looked at Furi, who was looking outside the window. “What are you thinking about?”
“You’re like a totally different person underneath the sheets,” he chimed. Furi could hardly get out of bed because Akashi went a bit too hard on him last night.
“I’m...sorry...” he replied.
“No, it’s fine. We’re only doing that once a year, though. Also, you brought cereal but no milk?”
“We ran out.”
“Oh, then let’s go get some.”
“Aren’t you tired?”
“Well, I like the rain, so I want to go outside.”
So they put clothes on and took a small walk to the store for milk. The blue umbrella that Furi held covered both of them as they walked. Akashi always made sure to walk on the side of the side walk where cars drove by. For example, on their anniversaries, he did all the things he didn’t usually do, like making breakfast. And on Valentine’s Day, he made chocolates. Sometimes Akashi had conventional tendencies like that. And of course, Furi noticed this.
Underneath the umbrella, trudging through the wet ground, they didn’t talk. They’d been friends for a long time, so there wasn’t much to say. But neither of them saw this as a problem, because they always spent time together regardless.
On their way back from the store, with the milk, there was commotion outside near the crosswalk. There was a small dog with a white and black coat wandering in the street. The dog was so small that it wouldn’t be ridiculous if a driver missed it. Something burned in Furi’s chest. His legs started moving faster than his mind could think.
“The dog—hey, wait, Kouki!” Akashi called, because Furi was already running into the street to save the dog before a car ran over it.
Furi and the dog just barely missed getting hit. Akashi was shaken and turning pale. It almost happened. He was so close. He was so close to losing Furi in an instant, when just an instant earlier they had been happily walking home. What if that car hit them? What if he lost him for good? What if—
“Seijuurou!”
He stared widely at Furi. They were on the sidewalk. “What is it?”
“What’s wrong? I was trying to ask you a question but you looked like you saw a ghost.”
“Are you okay?” he asked. Furi nodded, and Akashi, still shaking, hugged him tightly. “I thought, I thought you were going to get hit. Please don’t scare me like that again.”
Furi slowly hugged him back and said, in the bend of his neck, “You don’t have to worry. I’m not going out before you.”
Akashi suddenly felt a pair of small hands scratching his leg. He looked down and saw the dog. He and Furi exchanged glances. Furi spoke first, “He doesn’t have a leash. And it doesn’t look like he’s been well fed. Can we keep him?”
He wanted to say no, because it was this dog that caused him to almost have a heart attack at twenty-five, but he felt helpless as he saw the look on Furi’s face. He was becoming softer and softer each day. “Sure,” he said.
They named the dog Ao because he had clear, pale blue eyes.
Things were fine for the next few years. Ao interrupted the two a lot as they were about to have sex, but he was still fun to have around. He was small but quick and loud. He preferred chicken over beef, and knew little about where to release himself and where not to.
He made the both of their lives just a little bit brighter.
Akashi became a reporter. He often reported around the neighborhood and within the city. But sometimes, he went to other prefectures. At the time, he didn’t realize it, but he was worrying Furi. Or rather, his job was worrying him. Furi told him before that when he couldn’t make it on his twenty-eighth birthday, he cried himself to sleep.
So when Akashi’s job gave him an offer to go to South America for two years, he didn’t think it was going to pose as much of a problem as it did. He didn’t tell Furi about the offer at first because it wasn’t set into stone. This was his first mistake.
Sooner or later, Furi discovered the truth for himself while seeing the email on his computer. Leaving it open like he did was Akashi’s second mistake.
“When were you going to tell me?” Furi asked him over dinner.
“About?”
“You know. The job offer.”
“How did you...?”
“That’s not the point. When were you going to tell me about it? Were we going to talk about it? Or were you just going to leave me and Ao here?”
Akashi gritted his teeth. More than anything, he didn’t want to argue with Furi. He didn’t want Furi to hate him. “I don’t know. I just needed time to think it over.”
Furi was already on the verge of tears, because he didn’t want Akashi to leave. Not for two years. He didn’t want to be alone. “Think it over, huh? Well, from the time the message was sent, you had a month. Tell me how you really feel when you come back. Have a safe trip.” He got up from the table and left the apartment.
Akashi stayed sitting at the table, stunned. That was his third mistake.
A few hours later he got the phone call that changed everything. As soon as he heard the words “car” “accident” and “hospital,” he rushed out of the house and ran. He ran to Furi’s side, because he was too stupid to run after him when he should have earlier. His legs pushed and pressed against the wind. His cheeks flared and his fingers numbed. He felt his tears rush down from his eyes. He was an idiot. He once told Furi that he was never going to let him go. And yet, in the most literal sense of his words, he did. If he knew this accident was going to happen, of course he wouldn’t have let him leave. But he didn’t know, and that was one of the cruel things about life.
Sometimes it ends when you least expect it to.
“Doctor! How is he?” The words rushed out of Akashi’s mouth.
The doctor was a tall man with blond hair and golden eyes. His tone and expression were all signs that made Akashi even more agitated. He said, “Well, to be frank, it’s a miracle he’s still alive. We gave him immediate surgery, but he . . . doesn’t have much time left.”
Those last few words drove Akashi into the darkness of his mind. He felt as if all of his strength vanished. “Can...can I see him?”
“Of course. He’s in the third room to the left. And...I’m sorry.”
Akashi ran to the room. He saw Furi’s nearly lifeless body and struggled to get closer. Furi noticed him and faintly smiled. “You’re here,” he whispered. "I was waiting for you." That was as high as his voice could go.
“I’m here.” He grabbed Furi’s hand and held it tightly, as if the tighter he held on the more time he would have to talk to him. “I’m so stupid. I’m so sorry.”
“Well you are, but...it’s a part of your...charm.”
“I have no sixth sense. I have nothing without you, Kouki.”
“Seijuurou. You should go...to South America.”
Akashi still held on. He wasn’t letting go. No matter what the doctor told him, or what his heart told him, or what his mind told him. His hands were not letting go. “No. I’m not going anywhere. I just want to be with you more than anything else. I want you to stay with me.”
“I’m an idiot. I was too busy crying to watch the road...”
Akashi felt him slipping. He held on tighter. “And you’re about to lie to me. You said you wouldn’t go before me. Where are you going, Kouki? Why are you leaving me?"
“I want to stay, you know. This is all too sudden. I want to watch you longer. And I want to walk with you more. I want, I want...to continue to love you...and I want to continue to say your name...”
He couldn't say his name.
Furihata Kouki was gone.
The elevator still wasn’t moving. Akashi was even more frustrated now, because he remembered a lifetime worth of memories and he was still stuck at where he started. He didn’t want to be in this elevator or where it was headed. Nor this building. He wanted to be nowhere. But he knew Midorima and Kuroko, and even Aomine wouldn’t allow that. Especially Furi.
Kouki. Saying his name made it seem like he was still around. But he wasn't, and Akashi was painfully aware of that. He was aware that he no longer woke up next to the love of his life. That he no longer could come home from work and see him watching TV or cooking. He could no longer taste the sweetness of their kisses. He couldn't hug him from behind, or take showers with him. He couldn't be with him.
What would Furi expect from him now? To be happy, despite everything? To continue to mourn? To continue to live as if he wasn’t dead? None of those sounded right. What was right? What should he do?
“Remember me.”
To Akashi, that sounded like something Furi would say. He sighed with a faint smile, even as his eyes watered, as he looked down at himself clad in black. Although he was going to say goodbye one more time, he remembered that he had a beautiful pair of blue eyes and four legs waiting for him at home.
Suddenly, with a slight jolt, the elevator started moving again.