words | akaashi keiji

cafés.

"Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door."
Emily Dickinson

"You're dropping your résumé off today, right?" Mei mumbled with her cheek pressed to her pillow, shuffling to wrap a warm arm around Hyodo.

"Yup! Already printed a whole bunch of copies."

Mei groaned as he slipped out from under the blanket they shared, leaving her with a cold spot in bed.

With it nearing mid-November, the weather was growing colder, and Mei began to wake up later and later.

"It's almost 11:30, Mei. Won't Akaashi be here soon?" Hyodo whispered as he left a kiss on her temple, only making her groan louder.

"Noon is still too early."

"Better than 9 AM."

With this, Hyodo left for the bathroom, readying himself for the day while Mei felt herself slowly fall back to sleep.

• • •

"This is appalling. I don't have to do this for any of my other authors, Mei." Akaashi's stern voice filled the once calm room.

Mei only furrowed her brows at the familiar yet unfamiliar voice, reaching her hand out from under the blanket to rest her palm against her ear. She felt something shift behind her, and the soft meow that came with it made her mumble profanities into the pillow.

"Mei, wake up, now. I feel like an intruder."

"Don't be dramatic, Akaashi. You've been here before." Mei spoke as she finally sat up, yawning loudly and using the back of her finger to rub at her eye.

"While you were conscious, yes."

Mei stretched until she felt awake, smacking her lips together lazily before blinking up at Akaashi a few times.

"Good morning," she grinned. She was met with another tired expression from Akaashi, and a new tapping at her elbow from her left.

She glanced down for just a moment, her eyes landing on the ball of black fur that had snuck into the bedroom when Hyodo left the door open a crack.

"Great, it's gonna take a decade to get your fur out of the bedsheets, Fyodor." Mei lectured, deciding to ignore Akaashi's presence and instead focus on her cat.

Especially because Akaashi's presence in her bedroom made her feel a mix of excitement and nausea, which was far too much for a twenty-six year old to deal with first thing in the morning.

"It's no longer morning. It's afternoon."

"Same thing." Mei replied half-heartedly, lifting the cat and letting his legs dangle before moving to hand him to Akaashi. "Here, play with Fyodor while I wash up."

"This was meant to be a quick meeting."

"Oh, if you're busy playing with Fyodor you can't make breakfast or anything." Mei continued, awing internally at the sight of Fyodor in Akaashi's arms.

Fuck off, thoughts.

She shook her head dramatically, slapping a hand to the back of her head before sending Akaashi a quick wave and leaving the room.

"Can we bring our meeting to some brunch place?" She called out, laughing a bit as she heard Akaashi groan in response.

After washing up and getting dressed, Mei was a different person.

She exited her bedroom and stumbled upon the sight of Akaashi, lying on the couch in the living room, with Fyodor on his stomach. He'd occasionally lift one of his hands, waiting expectantly for Fyodor to bat it with his paw before wrapping his fingers around said paw and whisper-cheering in celebration.