"[...] i'm made for a soul-crushing romance, i need someone who won't be ashamed to worship the ground i walk on, because that's how i love, i give myself completely, i love every day as if there could be no tomorrow, i- god, do you know even one gu...
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akaashi thought that kuroo was the biggest meddler he ever met, but bokuto with just one decision got himself a place right next to him.
it all started with an innocent question. bokuto asked him if he wanted to come with him to an apartament hunt in osaka, and akaashi obviously agreed. bokuto was excited about moving. excited enough that he could easily miss on mold in the bathroom of potentional apartament, because he thought the view from the window was cool. akaashi felt responsible to go with him and look for suspicious things.
bokuto was thrilled when akaashi agreed.
he found out why on friday evening at the train station. when he noticed yn and aran waving at them from the platform. he suddenly understood why bokuto told him not to worry about where they would sleep because 'he had a friend there, who would host them'.
akaaahi raised his scarf higher on his face, there was no way he could look yn in the eyes without blushing after their last meeting. what made matters worse was the fact that aran was present. he really liked aran, if they had more opportunities to spend time together, they would become great friends. but all he could think about was the fact that he was standing between two guys who knew about his huge crush on yn and were about to spend two nights with them, and yn.
"excited to see osaka?" aran asked, bumping his shoulders with akaashi. 'oh god, this is awful,' he was obviously teasing him.
"technically, we won't see much of osaka today," yn said.
she had already planned everything, they would come to osaka, catch another train, the one she always took with aran to go home after school, to kobe, because inarizaki high was close to the train station in osaka, sleep at her place, and then take another train to osaka after breakfast the next morning to see the apartments for which bokuto had scheduled meetings with landlords. her plan obviously included everything they would do until they returned to tokyo, but for the time being, she just hoped that this small portion would go smoothly.
"i'm excited anyway," bokuto exclaimed, happy to see kobe.
"our train," akaashi said, gripping his bag tighter to avoid leaving it on the platform. 'if we left two minutes later, we would miss it.' it's not like they left too late, bokuto had just to go to the store to get something to drink on the train, which took too long.
it came as no surprise that the train from the capital city would be crowded on friday evening. everyone was trying to get back home for the weekend. akaashi never traveled by train, except for a few occasions when the principal of his middle school decided it would be more environmentally friendly to take a train rather than a bus. he changed his mind when a few of his classmates exited at the wrong station.
yn already bought their tickets, she couldn't trust anyone else to do so. she needed to choose the seats with her own eyes and hands to make sure that no one would have to drive backwards in the direction of the train.
"here," she said. it was two rows of two seats, one directly behind the other, close enough that no one would disappear or get lost.
bokuto didn't waste a second before putting his bag on the shelf above the seats and taking a seat next to the window. he looked at aran, but it wasn't necessary, he did the same with his bag and sat next to him, just as they had planned.
yn smiled slightly as she looked at akaashi.
"do you want a window seat?" she inquired, dreading the moment when she would have to place her small suitcase on the shelf. it was the worst part of every trip because, even if she wasn't short and the suitcase wasn't heavy, those shelves were simply too high and too far away to comfortably place it on.
"you can take it if you want," he replied, returning the smile. he wasn't a fan of window seats, looking at how fast they were moving made him nauseous.
yn nodded, and there was no turning back now. she took the suitcase in her hands and, using the law of physics, took a swing with it to throw it up, which was easy, but she had to push it deeper on the shelf, so she stood on her toes, raised her hands up-
suddenly, her suitcase was deep on the shelf. she didn't even need to touch it.
"it's okay to ask for help," akaashi said, placing his hand on her suitcase to make sure it didn't fall and placing his own bag next to it.
"i'm a big girl, i could do it," she argued as she took her seat.
"i know you could," he said simply, giving her a warm smile.
'oh.' she averted her gaze from akaashi, praying that he would not smile at her like that again. how was she supposed to cope with all of her recent thoughts?
"have you ever been to osaka?" she decided to ask in order to possibly relieve some of the tension she was certain she was the only one experiencing.
"yes, one or two times for a game," he said, adjusting his seat. he was aware that his legs were long, of course, because he was tall, but he never considered that they were long enough to cause a problem in a train seat. "have you?" he asked, turning to face her with a teasing smile. she had no idea he could do this.
yn chuckled and shook her head lightly.
"yeah, only like... every five days of the week for three years," she shrugged. "and some weekends, too... quite a few of them. i really like osaka, i want to go back here after i finish university," she said, instantly reminding herself that when she did, aran would not be there with her.
"you don't seem happy about that," he said, noting the sudden sadness on her face. from the seat next to her, he had an amazing view of her face and couldn't help but admire her.
"i am happy, really, it's just- i don't know if you know," she moved slightly closer to him, god know why, maybe she was trying exposure therapy to help her get over her stupid thoughts.
exposure therapy was a lie because she didn't feel any better when her breath bounced back from akaashi's cheek and he moved his head closer to hear her better.
"aran is going pro," she said, taking a shivering breath. "he's moving to shizuoka, and i always thought we'd both return to osaka, and he could join a team there. and i'm really happy for him, it's just that... an hour distance in an adult life is a long way, you know. i know how bad my friendship with atsumu got because of my move," she said, unconsciously fiddling with a loose thread from akaashi's coat. "i mean, obviously you know, because you're in the same situation with bokuto and that can't be easy on you either- sorry, i didn't wanted to make you think about it."
instead of simply pointing his ear to what she was saying, akaashi turned his head to face her more directly.
"it's okay," he said. "i always knew bokuto was going to follow his dream, even if it meant moving to another continent, so i was prepared for it. when you consider that it could be a country in europe or south america, osaka doesn't seem so scary." he smiled softly, and tn looked at him with a sad eyes. "distance changes people, but if you managed still being friends with atsumu, and i saw it with my own eyes, that you two are really close, then i don't think it could make you or aran forget about each other."
"you're a really good friend, 'kaashi," she said, pouting slightly, and akaashi couldn't help but look at her lower lip. he chuckled, his eyes returning to hers.
'being your friend is more than i ever hoped for.'
