2 Episode 2: The First Taste

As I watched Akaashi leave, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that he wasn't staying longer. Akaashi and I have been friends for so long and we always shared everything with each other, but recently it had seemed like he had been hiding something from me. I watched as he walked away wearing my sweatshirt, hands in his pockets, staring at the ground. I knew that he's always liked to keep some things to himself for the most part, but it left me on a worried note watching him like this. Something was definitely on his mind. I didn't realize how late it had gotten when he left my house, I cracked a yawn myself and didn't blame him for accidentally falling asleep during that movie. I packed up the wreck we made in the basement from all of our studying and headed upstairs to get ready for bed. Slowly winding down for the night, I stood in my bathroom brushing my teeth while staring at myself blankly in the mirror, lost in thought.

<i>Why would he say my name in his sleep...weird. Meh, probably being chased by zombies; only then to be calling out my name to heroically save him. Yep, that was definitely it. I mean what else could it have been? Maybe I'm just overthinking this. </i>

Puffing out my cheeks and shrugging my shoulders in the mirror I ended up shaking off those jumbled thoughts. The day had finally caught up to me and I was unexpectedly pretty tired from the first day. <span>Too much thinking</span>, I said to myself. As I slumped in my bed ready for sleep, I didn't even notice how much of a messy room it was. It looked as if a tornado had dropped in for a visit. I huffed to myself, thinking about how Akaashi would so have a fit if he saw this. My eyes drooped as I felt myself getting more tired, so I lay down on my bed thinking about how he had fallen asleep with his head in my lap, looking oh so peaceful as I enjoyed his hair tickling the bottom of my chin. It had smelled like coconut, something I had never realized before. It had been nice, him leaning on me, and I wished the movie could have lasted a little longer so I could continue enjoying his presence on the couch. My eyes blinked wide open when I realized what I had just said, <i>what am I thinking, he's my best friend, nothing else</i>. Mashing my face into my pillow I just lay there until I finally felt a wave of sleep wash over me, ready to carry me into the next day.

I woke up the next day, got up and had my breakfast, took a shower, and headed on my way to school. As I walked to school, strolling while taking in the crisp Spring air, I heard a voice behind me just as I had finished zipping up my heavy winter coat.

"Hey! Bokuto wait up for meeee," I turned and saw Akaashi get up off the stone wall that bordered the neighbor's yard, running up to me. We sometimes walked to school but I had started walking much earlier than I usually did. With anyone else, I might've felt creeped out but Akaashi being the first person I saw all morning made me feel a sense of relief from the dread of the ever-nearing Fukorodani Academy. I started wondering to myself how long he had been there. It seemed like he had been there a while despite the fact that the weather outside was near-freezing.

"Dude, how long have you been sitting there?"

"N-Not v-v-very long," he stammered, his lips blue from the cold, contradicting his statement. I could tell he must have been freezing. Despite the weather, I could see that he wasn't wearing very much. Just a long sleeve t-shirt and some jeans, which I was sure weren't very insulating. He handed me something lumpy and familiar-looking, and it took me a minute to realize that it was my sweatshirt from the day before.

"Um, why don't you put it on" I offered, pushing it back towards Akaashi, noticing the very tips of his ears beginning to turn red, probably from the cold. "Akaashi, why didn't you wear a hat," I laughed at him. Despite the fact that he was a straight-A student, even just a little distraction could cause him to become disorganized for days. I wondered about what could have caused it this time, then decided it was probably just the beginning of the year stress. We shared a lot of the same schedule last year because he was so smart he was put into some of the second-year classes, but since this year was more about college prep than academics, I didn't see him nearly as much.

"Sorry," he mumbled, once again struggling to pull the hoodie over his head, the bottom of it well past his waist and his arms lost in the sleeves.

"C'mon," I told him, turning to start walking again, "so, you gonna tell me why you were at my house before 7:30?"

I looked over at him as he stared at the ground.

"I dunno, I mean I guess since we don't see each other nearly as much as we did last year I just wanted to make the most out of the time that we can spend together."

"Way to be a bummer Kaashi." I had given him that nickname on the very first day we met, since I kept forgetting his real name I had just decided on shortening it a little to make it easier.

"Oh, sorry I didn't mean for it to sound so depressing," he said, still staring at the ground.

"You know, you apologize way too much," I said as I looked up at the sky, laughing a little. I heard a small noise escape him and couldn't tell if it was a laugh or simply just a cough. "I mean, you're not wrong about us not sharing classes, but still, we have volleyball and you're totally coming over to my house again this weekend so I can beat your ass in Final Fantasy." Besides volleyball, Final Fantasy was the one true passion both Akaashi and I enjoyed.

"Oh you're so going down," he said, finally looking up. He looked over at me with his steel-gray eyes. They were piercing like they could see right through you, but at the same time, you could see a warmth in them that almost nobody else had.

We kept walking in comfortable silence, listening as a multitude of birds chirping all around us. Despite the temperature, it was a beautiful Spring morning. The sun had finally come out, and there wasn't a cloud to be seen in the sky. The air smelled of the cherry blossom trees which were finally blooming, lining the streets in pink and red petals. Ahead of us, I could already begin to see the many towers of Fukorodani start to form. We walked up the steps into the ever-winding halls, already filled with students despite the fact that it was early.

"I can't believe you're gonna be graduating this year, I don't know how I'm gonna get through next year without you," Akaashi said, facing me.

"Why are you already thinking about next year when this barely started," I said forcing a laugh, smiling on the outside, but on the inside, I was also gripped by the fear that Akaashi wouldn't be able to be there for me next year.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Akaashi agreed, but his tone told me that I hadn't put his fears at ease.

I pulled him in for a hug, once again breathing in the scent of coconut. I felt my heart pounding inside my chest as I pulled him closer. Akaashi wasn't a touchy person so he protested playfully at first, but eventually wrapped his arms around me and lay his head on my chest. Normal friends didn't hug this way, but there was something about our friendship that was special, that made us both feel safe when we were near each other. I didn't know what it was exactly, but it made our relationship all the more special to both of us. Friends like Akaashi come by once-in-a-lifetime, if at all. The bell above us rung, breaking apart our embrace. We said our goodbyes and headed off to class. I kept thinking about Akaashi and wondered if he really was worried about me being gone next year. Honestly, I was more worried about him. Akaashi had never been very social with people besides those in the volleyball club. I doubt he knew it but I had tried to be protective of him all my life, making sure to stop anyone who tried to pick on him. I had always tried to be there for him for whatever he needed but sometimes his independence made me feel like I wasn't doing a good enough job of being there for him. Snapping myself out of my thoughts, I grabbed my notebook and pencil and began paying attention to the teacher who had just started speaking.

The classes passed as quickly as they did the day before as my excitement for lunch grew once again. After four and a half hours of college prep courses, we were finally allowed to go. As I started walking down the hallways to the cafeteria I heard some sort of commotion from up. At first I didn't pay much mind since fighting wasn't necessarily uncommon, but the large crowd growing made me curious about what was ahead.

"Give me it or I'll smash your face into that locker" I heard someone yell.

"Just let go of me and I'll give to you," I heard someone cry out in pain, the voice very familiar to me. Panic gripped me as I realized it was Akaashi's voice. I pushed through the crowd trying to make my way to him as I heard a scream of pain coming from him, and heard him yell through choked-back sobs "please it h-hurts just let go of me!" I kept pushing until I finally broke through the throng of students into a clearing where I saw one of my fellow third-years shoving Akaashi against the razor-sharp side of a locker, pinning his chest to it so that he was dangling above the air by a few inches.

"Let go of him now," I yelled as I grabbed a fistful of the third-years t-shirt and pulling him away from Akaashi. I slammed his back against the wall and took my right fist and raised it back. I punched with as much strength as I had in me and heard a satisfying snap as it connected with his nose. He crumpled to the ground, blood streaming down his face as he put his hands to his face and then looking at them, stained with the blood streaming from his nose. I stepped over to Akaashi where he lay on the floor, bleeding from his head where it had been slammed against the lockers.

He looked at me with his puffy red eyes, tears streaming down his face, and said "B-Bokuto I don't… feel… s-so… good," he had barely managed to finish his sentence when his eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted in my arms. I picked him up and hurried him to the nurse's station, where they took him and told me to leave and go back to class. Worried, I ignored them I stayed by the door as they helped him. I didn't know what to do, I couldn't just leave him here but I didn't want to intrude on him if he needed space. I sat by the door crying for almost 30 minutes until he finally stepped out.

I scrambled to my feet as he began to speak hurridly, "So um, the nurse said I probably fainted cause of being lifted in the air so long, it made all the blood rush from my head. Oh, and all the blood was from some gash on the back of my head, but nothing they couldn't fix in there. I'm sorry for scaring you like that but thank you for like, y'know saving my life and all that. It was pretty awesome."

"Akaashi… I-," I tried to talk but my throat closed up as I felt my eyes getting watery again. He seemed to sense what I was feeling and leaned into me. He wrapped his arms around my waist, leaning his head on my chest. I took my hands and put them around Akaashi's back pulling him in. This time I could feel both our heartbeats beating together in unison. We stood there like that until I felt my warm drops of water splashing on my shirt. I looked down and saw that Akaashi was crying. "Hey, it's ok, you've got me now," I whispered, taking my hand and using it to raise his chin. I used my thumb to wipe away tears off his chin and eyelashes. I stopped brushing and just looked into his eyes again. Despite all that had happened they still showed a comforting warmth. Without realizing what I was doing I leaned in and planted a kiss on his lips. I pulled back and looked into his open eyes, seemingly in shock. It was quick, just a brush of our lips but still I wanted more.

I felt the heat rising in my face as I stammered "I- I- I'm sorry I don't even kno-" but I couldn't finish my sentence before Akaashi stood up on his tiptoes and kissed me, slowly and full of passion. I closed my eyes and embraced it, our lips moving together in unison. This kiss was unlike any other kiss I'd ever had, it felt more meaningful and full of life. It burned but something about the sensation made me enjoy it all the more. I didn't understand what or how, but all I knew at that moment was that it felt right.

And as soon as it started, it ended, Akaashi pulled away turning his head to avoid my eyes, but that didn't prevent me from being able to see the heated red all across his face. My heart fluttered into my stomach, my mouth wanted to form words but just didn't know what to say.