in another life. (Bokuaka)

chapter 21

Akaashi woke with a start that same night, his strangled shouts having pulled him from his sleep. He'd flinched hard and sat up quickly, closing his hand over his mouth to subdue the almost hysteric sounds that came from him. His breathing was heavy, his heart rate quicker than usual; Akaashi could feel his heart pounding in his throat, making it difficult to swallow.

"Sh- sh-it..."

That had been the fifth time that month where Akaashi had to tear himself out of another nightmare. They made him feel nauseous to a point where he had to sit up in bed and swallow deep, slow breaths in order to cool himself down, and he did just that, reaching his hands up to rub at his eyes before taking a tense look around his room.

Exhaling heavily, Akaashi turned to look at the desk near his bed. His phone was there. Hesitating for only a second, he reached his hand out and took the device into his hands. When the screen lit up, a text message from Bokuto waited there for him.

'Sleep well, Akaashi.' It had been sent two hours ago.

Akaashi swiped and unlocked his phone with trembling hands.

From: Akaashi (Sent at 2:47am)

[Are you there?]

Bokuto:

[Yeah! Akaashi? I thought you fell asleep.]

Akaashi had to wait almost a minute for Bokuto's response. It was the longest minute he'd ever been forced to sit through.

Akaashi:

[I woke up. Nightmares.]

Bokuto:

[Nightmare? You had a nightmare? Was it bad?]

Akaashi:

[Well, it managed to wake me up.]

Bokuto:

[The quiet kind of wake up?]

Akaashi:

[No, more like the clichéd kind, where you sit up in bed in a cold sweat.]

Bokuto:

[Are you calming down? Are you feeling better?]

Akaashi stared at the text message and let out a shaking sigh. Judging by his still trembling hands, he knew he wasn't.

Akaashi:

[Yeah. I'm just a little shaken.]

Bokuto:

[I don't believe you on that 'Yeah' part.]

Akaashi:

[I'm fine.]

Bokuto:

[Alright, well... We'll just see about that.]

Furrowing his brow, Akaashi stared at his phone screen and lay his head down sideways. It wasn't like Bokuto to question what he said in such a straightforward fashion.

Akaashi:

[There's nothing to see...]

He pressed send and watched the phone carefully, waiting for the small ellipses to appear on the lower left side of the screen. But instead, he was greeted with nothing. He didn't get a response, nor did he see any signs of responding.