words | akaashi keiji

promises.

"I've never had a moment's doubt. I love you. I believe in you completely. You are my dearest one. My reason for life."
Ian McEwan

If there was one good thing that came out of Mei's situation, it was the fact that she had written so many chapters of her work in progress, that she was nearly finished.

Of course it didn't matter much anyway, because she hadn't kept up with sending them to Akaashi's email.

She did feel bad for basically going ghost, but honestly she needed it. Everything that had happened since Mei left that hotel room was either out of spite or sadness.

For a while, Mei thought pushing through it and getting drunk with Sho to distract herself was working, but eventually she got burned out. She knew it must have started to concern Sho, but she resorted to silence and staring at the ceiling instead.

Staring at the ceiling and forcing Fyodor into snuggles, that was the only thing Mei was doing after she decided drinking wasn't helping.

"Hey, Mei. Your boyfriend is about to come by." Sho stood over the back of the couch and peered down at Mei.

"My boyfriend?" Mei asked quickly, whipping her head around to look at him and groaning as she saw that he had already opened his apartment door. "Sho! That's not funny! You don't mean Hyodo, right?"

Sho didn't respond, only giving her a dumb smirk before waving and shutting the door behind him.

Mei stared at the door in confusion for a moment longer, eventually shaking her head and turning until she faced forward on the couch again. Her laptop was open in front of her, but she couldn't focus on the screen because of Sho's words.

She didn't have to anyway, because only about a minute after Sho had left, Mei heard the apartment door open again.

"Forget something, dumbass?" Mei called out without turning. "Or did you feel bad for leaving me without an answer?"

"Mei."

Mei shut her mouth immediately, her body growing still as she stared at the laptop in front of her with wide, unlinking eyes.

Until eventually, the laptop screen turned dark, and Mei only had her reflection to stare at. She watched through the black screen as Akaashi's figure approached the back of the couch slowly.

"Mei, I wanted to talk to you." He continued, and Mei stiffened further as he walked around the couch and stood in front of her. "Mei?"

"Hi."

Akaashi's eyes looked wary and worried, but he smiled as she finally answered. "Hi."

Mei watched him closely as he slowly moved to the couch, taking a seat beside her silently. She stared ahead of her awkwardly, and her leg started to bounce because of the silence.

She wanted to break it and just say something, anything to Akaashi, but it felt wrong. She had been avoiding him for almost two weeks, so really what could she say?

Oh, hey! Sorry for avoiding you! I was too busy staring off into space and considering myself worthless.

"Mei," Akaashi began softly, and Mei turned to look at him quickly. "Are you okay?"

The look on his face looked so utterly and genuinely concerned that Mei found herself frowning, her eyebrows twisting upward as she fought back tears.

She really didn't want to cry in front of Akaashi, or at all. But for some reason, her eyes were watering before she could process it.

Blinking excessively, Mei brought her hands to her face, coughing in an attempt to get rid of the needles in her throat.