28 Days To Love You - Keiji Akaashi x Reader

Five: Cold As Ice

Akaashi's POV

Y/n was not at school for two days. I waited for her at my desk every day, tapping the wooden tabletop repeatedly with my fingernails. My feet nervously tapped the floor. She was never absent for this long. 

This was unusual. 

Wild thoughts began to run in my mind.

What if she was kidnapped or abducted? What if she got into a car accident? What if she fainted in her home and no on was there for her? What if Y/n L/n was not alive anymore? Why am I thinking so hard and nervously over a girl I've only known for a few months?!

The door slammed open and I snapped back to reality, hoping it was Y/n. To my disappointment, it wasn't. It was the teacher, holding the lesson plan tightly in her hands. I sighed in dismay and turned my attention to the teacher, pushing my worry for Y/n to the back of my mind.

Timeskip

I sat down at my usual lunch table across from Bokuto. My nose was in my English textbook, my pen tapped at the cafeteria table between my fingers making a fast, clacking sound that could barely be heard over the noise in the cafeteria. 

"Hey, guys." a familiar voice said. My pen slipped through my fingers and rolled off the table with a soft clack. I looked up from my textbook and saw Y/n with her purple backpack slung over her shoulder, a bored look plastered on her face.

"Y/n!" I jumped up from my seat. Bokuto looked at me with confusion, his face stuffed with spaghetti. "Are you okay? What happened? Why weren't you at school? Did something happen? Do you need help?" I launched all the questions I had for her before she stopped me.

"I'm fine. Why are you worrying so much anyway?" She asked me coldly. I was shocked by her answer, or more like the way she said it. Y/n would've just waved me off or laugh at my worry. This one was different.

"Why weren't you at school?" I asked, repeating my question.

"I just wasn't feeling well." She shrugged and sat down next to Bokuto. 

"Aren't you going to eat?" I asked her.

"Not hungry." She replied bluntly.

Something was off. Why was she acting like this? Was it something I did?

The bell rang, signalling lunch was over. The sound of chairs screeching against the cafeteria floor echoed in the hall. The room got even louder as lunch trays were dumped into a bin and students talked amongst themselves about upcoming tests or a hard homework question.

I walked with Y/n to our Japanese class in silence. You could cut the tension with a piece of floss. I occasionally glanced nervously at her as I walked stiffly, and Y/n walked with her back slightly hunched, a bored yet cold look in her eyes.

When we walked into the classroom, the teacher, Mr. Yamashita, looked at Y/n in surprise. "Well, well, look who's back!" He exclaimed happily. "You're just in time for our... test today!! I hope you kids remembered!" He laughed out loud.

The class groaned but Y/n gave no reaction and just sat down in her assigned seat. "Once you have finished your test, hand it in and do any unfinished work at your desk." Mr. Yamashita explained loudly so the whole class could hear him.

A hush fell over the room as the test began. The flipping of paper and the scratching of pencil was deafening in the quiet classroom. A few minutes after the test began, Y/n stood up from her desk, pushing her chair out behind her. She walked up to our instructor and handed him her sheet of paper. 

Quiet murmurs erupted about how quickly she finished the test. The talking quickly stopped when the teacher shushed them loudly. I myself looked at Y/n in disbelief. How did she finish it that quickly in a matter of minutes?!

The rest of class was just Mr. Yamashita teaching us about honorifics. 

At the end of class, he handed back the tests. 

I looked at my 100% and glanced over at Y/n, wondering what mark she got. She took one glance at her paper and stomped out the door.

I ran after her. When I caught up to her, I noticed how tightly she clutched her paper. The test was crumpled and bent upwards around her hand. There were small holes where her fingernails had punctured them.

"Hey Y/n.." I said cautiously, remembering how mean she was earlier. "How did you do?"

"What does it matter?" She snapped, shoving the ripped paper into my hands. 

The paper was disheveled, in terrible shape, but I did make out a few words. That includes a big, fat 0% on the top right corner of the page. "Y/n, did you study or even understand the material in the first place?"

"Why should I waste my time trying to memorize words on paper?! It's a waste of my time! I should be doing fun things, as I said yesterday! It's high school! I should have no regrets!"

I looked at her sympathetically. "And as I said yesterday, no matter how boring it is, you still have to do it."

She rolled her eyes and looked away from me. 

"Listen, I'll even help you study if you need help. I'll tutor you, I'll come to your house every day, I'll-"

"Shut up!" she suddenly exclaimed. I took a step back in surprise at her sudden outburst. "I don't need your help. I'm not some damsel in distress for you to save."

"I never said that-"

"It was implied!" She threw her hands in the air and ran a hand through her hair. "Whatever, I'm through with this."

She pushed past me harshly, her bag hitting me lightly. 

I just stood there in shock. "What just happened?" I asked out loud in disbelief. 

"I don't know, bro-" a random boy said.

"I wasn't asking you!" I snapped. 

I thought hard and still couldn't come up with a reason why she was so unlike herself today. As if she were a different person.

Timeskip

I paced around my room, my hands tugging at my hair as I tried to come up with a reason as to why Y/n wasn't Y/n today. The memories of today ate me up inside and bothered me a lot, as if it were a puzzle missing a piece.

And then, something clicked. An idea. 

I ran to my computer and started typing furiously. Hours and hours of research. When I had reached a conclusion, I looked at my clock. 3:58. 

It all made sense. It was a stretch, but I had to ask Y/n about this. And I would get an answer, no matter what.

I turned off my room lights and fell on my bed in exhaustion and immediately fell asleep. 

The words on my computer screen glowed brightly in the dark room. 

Symptoms: Lack of impulse control that can result in outbursts, muscle problems, feelings of irritability

Huntington Disease.