Spring Leaves

Chapter 9

A week had passed since Bokuto adopted May. Kuroo, Kenma and Akaashi, mostly Kenma though, all hoped he was taking good care of her, May, much to his dismay. Did they really not trust him enough to take care of her? The answer to that was no; they knew Bokuto was more than capable of caring for her, but they were still very worried.

Bokuto didn't know that though so to prove to them that he could take care of her, he decided to invite all of them to go to his house on the weekend so they could see her for themselves.

Because Akaashi lived closest to Bokuto, he was the first to arrive and once he did, he rang the doorbell.

"Hello Akaashi!" Bokuto exclaimed as he opened the door.

Akaashi waved his hand at Bokuto, "Hello. Thanks for letting me come over to your home again."

"No problem! Do you wanna see May now?" Bokuto asked.

"It's alright."

"So is that a yes or a no?"

"It's a no," Akaashi clarified.

Bokuto pouted, "Why not? She's one of the cutest and sweetest animals on Earth!"

"I'm not good with animals and I don't want to risk getting scratched."

"She didn't scratch you before and she won't scratch you now. I pinky promise," Bokuto said, extending his pinky out to Akaashi.

"No thank you. I really don't want to."

"Aww okay. You can always tell me if you change your mind though."

Akaashi nodded and stepped inside the house. He walked to the living room, like the many times before, and sat down on the couch, placing his bag just next to his feet. Then, he brought out a book and began reading.

"Why are you reading a book now? We're supposed to be hanging out and talking, y'know?" Bokuto asked.

"This book is very interesting and I'm not good at starting conversations."

"What's the book called then and what's it about?"

"It's called No Longer Human by Dazai Osamu. It depicts the life of Oba Yozo and his internal struggles through a series of notebooks."

"That sounds dark."

Akaashi nodded, "It is. I'm still reading through the first notebook at the moment."

"Cool! How do you find it?"

"...Relatable. Oba's thought process and actions, so far, remind me of myself in a way," Akaashi replied.

Bokuto's expression suddenly turned serious as he remembered Akaashi's mention of internal struggles in the book, "Are you okay, Akaashi? You can always talk to me or tell me anything."

"I know. Thank you for asking but I'm alright."

Unsatisfied with his answer, Bokuto asked another thing, "Can I read until the first notebook's end when you're done with it?"

"Sure. I didn't know you liked reading."

"I don't but I don't think you're okay and if you won't tell me, then I'll have to find out why myself."

Akaashi appreciated the thought and nodded, "Alright."

---

"Come on, Kenma. We're supposed to head to Bokuto's place," Kuroo said as he lightly shook Kenma's shoulders.

"Five more minutes..."

"You can get more sleep on the train."

Kenma sighed and sat up, "Fine. You owe me though."