deal my soul | bokuaka (angel! au) ; part 2

chapter 9

Akaashi dug a nail into the palm of his left hand. A week had passed since he had signed the contract to sell his soul to the devil Miya Atsumu, and admittedly, he had not been feeling great. He gripped the handle of the white porcelain tea cup forcefully and bit his bottom lip; he, of course, had ultimately expected there to be tremendous pain in the whole process of his soul being entirely drained from his body, but what he had experienced so far was worse. It was not as though the intensity of pain he experienced on a regular basis was unbearable; no, it was the amount at which he withstood at a time that was truly dreadful. Everyday, the pain would increase; in small amounts yes, but the accumulation and slow increase was agonizing. The pain in his chest wasn't sharp sudden jabs, but there was a numb, cold and strained feeling, as though he had been running nonstop for the day. He was just heaving for breath and coughing after flying to and from The Above and Earth, so for a few days he had decided to resign in the Cloud 9 Vicinity in order to preserve energy. The past few days, most of the other members apart from Yamaguchi were either away most of the time or in their rooms. Akaashi supposed that it was due to some of them still taking care of missions or spending time collecting information on their returns to Earth. Unlike himself, Sugawara and Semi had long completed their missions, only choosing to reside in the Vicinity to watch over their juniors and support them as they had no urgent need to return immediately.

Groaning, Akaashi released his strong grip on the teacup and stared at his distorted reflection on the surface of the black coffee .

I need to stop stressing out. I need to conserve.

Out of the corner of his eye, Akaashi spotted a familiar green-haired angel landing on the balcony of the building.

"Welcome back." Akaashi murmured, turning to face the newcomer.

"Hello, Akaashi-san!" Yamaguchi chirped, making his way to the black-haired angel who was sitting on the white sofa positioned next to a rather tall but lean bookshelf.

"Where have you been, Tadashi?" Akaashi spoke, setting down the teacup on the plate.

"Uh...err...just taking a walk around on Earth." Yamaguchi stammered, flushing slightly.

This kid is too easy to read.

"Is there a mortal who caught your attention...?" Akaashi asked bluntly, fighting to keep a smile from forming on his lips.

"W-What! No, of course not! Mortals are...stupid." Yamaguchi murmured, looking down at his feet, which caused Akaashi to laugh.

"You're terrible at lying, which is sort of adorable." Akaashi chuckled, patting the sofa and motioning for the green-haired angel to take a seat beside him.

Pouting, Yamaguchi took a seat, looking at Akaashi, "Was it that easy to tell I was lying...?"
"Well first of all, out of all of us, you've always been the most interested in humans and their lives, so saying that 'mortals are stupid' is quite out of character for you."

Yamaguchi sighed, crossing his legs, "Well what else can I do? If Kuroo-san finds out, he's going to murder me; you know he feels about approaching humans you didn't know previously. And don't even get me started on how much teasing I'm going to receive from Oikawa-san."

"That's true. Oikawa will never shut up about this."

"Right? Right? Only you understand me, Akaashi-san..." Yamaguchi muttered, pausing for a second. "Oh, I know! You should come with me! We can stalk...err, I mean, observe Kei together!"

"Kei?"

"Tsukishima Kei, the mortal who caught my attention?"

"Oh..." Akaashi paused, looking at the green-haired angel who was practically shining with excitement. "Alright. But let's fly slower, I'm very tired."

"Oh...I completely forgot about your pains." Yamaguchi frowned, his eyes turning large with worry, "We don't have to go. You should be resting more if you feel weaker."

"No, it's fine." Akaashi replied as cheerfully as he could muster, "If we go, it might take my mind off everything."

"He's interesting, right?" Yamaguchi said brightly as Akaashi raised an eyebrow.

"Sure..."

"He is!"

"He's so sarcastic...and he seems so cold and withdrawn..."

"But Akaashi-san...aren't you the same?"

"..."

The two angels were leaving their perch on the roof above Tsukishima's house and were about to leave, when suddenly, Akaashi remembered something.

"Tadashi, I have to take care of something. I'll see you back home later."

"Oh...? Alright." Yamaguchi replied, watching Akaashi unfurl his wings and dive off the edge of the roof. Truthfully, Yamaguchi had suspected that Akaashi had had other things on his mind when they were watching Tsukishima, and had expected Akaashi to embark on a solo visit to Bokuto after their watchful expedition together. He had not offered to go with the black-haired angel because the somewhat desolate expression in Akaashi's eyes spoke otherwise.

Approaching the hospital, Akaashi folded his wings as controlled as he could. To his surprise, he seemed to lose control of them for a split second, stumbling and almost falling over as he landed roughly on the pavement. Breathing heavily, the black-haired angel turned around to take a look at his wings; to his horror, the tips of the normally untouched white feathers had turned jet black, and a few had fallen off, leaving a trail behind him.

I see...as my soul is being drained, I'm slowly losing the characteristics that make me an angel as well.

His eyebrows furrowing, Akaashi got to his feet with somewhat of a great effort and made his way into the hospital. Although he hadn't been to the hospital for a week, he had subconsciously already memorized the way to Bokuto's room through the winding hallways and many flights of stairs.

But what if he's awake?

Akaashi stopped in his tracks.

He can see me.

A single bead of sweat rolled down his temple and down the side of his head.

I don't even have an explanation!

The black-haired angel swallowed, shaking his head.

No. He probably won't be awake. And I have to check on him.

Akaashi reached the door. His hand trembled as he reached for the door handle and slid the door open.

a/n: sorry this is such a short and boring chapter! this was a sort of filler chapter because i'm sort of stuck on the plot right now.

it is worth saying though, that i probably won't be making this story too long as it is a sequel to my other book (fall for me) and the sole purpose of this story is mainly to explore akaashi's side story. it's not as focused on the relationship between akaashi and bokuto, if that makes sense. this story will be very akaashi-centric, if you haven't quite noticed already.
anyways, i plan on writing 3-7 more chapters for this book before the ending but i haven't really decided how long i'm going to drag the plot along so i'm just going to go with the flow. there will be a pleasant surprise at the end of the book. :)