The rain, Akaashi Keiji part two
I'm sorry it's been such a long time I've just had some stuff going on but here it is, part two. I also think @bakudummy asked to be tagged, if you didn't ask me to I'm sorry please tell me I'll take it off anyway enjoy!
Akaashi was currently locked in a debate between himself and himself. While one side was telling him that it would be fine if he visited [Name] and Takahashi in normal clothing while the other was telling him that they weren’t close enough and that he was required to wear a three-piece suit. The first side then argued back that they might think he’s rude if he showed up for a cup of hot chocolate in formal wear. In the end, he decided that after picking [Name] and her cake off the street and getting her to Takahashi’s apartment, what he wore probably mattered the least to either of them right now and settled on a cotton T-shirt. He made his way out of his apartment and knocked on the door to his right, which was opened by Takahashi. He hadn’t usually seen her like this. She had changed out of the pencil skirt she so usually wore to work and was currently in a sweater and leggings. She also looked surprised to see Akaashi in anything but his work wear. She let him in and went back to the stove, where the milk for the hot chocolate was bubbling on the stove. He saw [Name] spread out on an armchair, now changed out of her wet clothes. She saw him and immediately perked up, changing her position to see him better. He took a seat on the couch across from her. She gave him a smile and immediately began speaking to him.
“Stoneface-san! Feeling better?”
“Yes, much better. How about you?”
She smiled. “I’m doing great! I got my cake, I got to meet you, I got to see Yo-chan, and now she’s making me hot chocolate!”
Akaashi smiled at the childlike elation she had at the situation she was in. She was an optimist to the bone.
He was a bit jealous of her, though he didn’t realize it. He was jealous of people like her. They didn’t have a care in the world, complete confidence in themselves. And people like him or Takahashi were following them around making sure nothing happened to them because, jaded and anxious as they were, they didn’t want that optimism to fade. It gave them strength too. It reminded him of the former captain of his high school volleyball team. Bokuto-san’s confidence was a force to be reckoned with and now there he was, playing professionally on a world stage.
Takahashi walked over with two mugs of hot chocolate, setting them on the coffee table that separated him and [Name]. [Name]’s smile grew wider upon seeing the drink and she happily picked it up and immediately took a big sip.
Immediately she started coughing.
“Ah barned mah tahnge.” She said, with her tongue hanging out.
Takahashi and Akaashi started laughing in unison as [Name] also began laughing with her tongue still hanging out.
“Why are you laughing? You burned your tongue?” Akaashi asked through chuckles.
“It is funny,” [Name] said through sips of cold water to soothe her tongue.
Time was spent happily drinking hot chocolate while [Name] told them jokes and stories.
Putting down his mug, Akaashi looked at [Name].
“[Name]-san, I’ve been meaning to ask your full name, as I didn’t get it when I met you.”
[Name] smiled. “[Last Name] [Name]”
Akaashi did a double take. “I’ve been calling you by your first name this whole time? That’s incredibly disrespectful as we don’t know each other well”
“It’s fine, Stoneface-san. I’ve never liked using my surname as it puts a formality barrier between me and who I’m talking to. Please use my first name.”
Akaashi nodded in acceptance. “So [Name], what do you do for work?”
She winked. “If I told you it would be no fun. It’s your job to guess. Your hint is that I’m in the creative field.” After many consecutive wrong guesses, [Name] changed the subject and started telling them what had happened to her at the train station that morning. As they laughed, Akaashi began to realize how much fun he was having.
It had been a long time since he had done anything like this. He maintained a strictly professional relationship with his coworkers and Bokuto-san was not free most of the time with having gone professional. He would come by and have a drink with Akaashi ever so often, but Bokuto-san usually found himself leaving early to spend more time with Shoyo. Akaashi didn’t mind that he was branching out and he knew that their adult life was definitely going to impact their friendship. However, it was not after he lost them that he realized just how much he cherished the carefree days on the volleyball team, how he would chase Bokuto-san around with an umbrella to stop him from getting wet in the rain.
It was probably why he spent so many late nights at work, trying to quiet his mind by occupying it. His high school friends were all busy with their own lives, he felt he should be as well.
“Stoneface-san?” He heard
He snapped out of his daze and saw [Name] staring at him, slightly concerned.
“Are you okay? Your stare was really blank and you didn’t laugh when I told you about when I threw a squid tentacle at the guy who came to collect my taxes.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I guess I’m just feeling a bit tired. I also have some work due tomorrow, so do you mind if I take my leave?”
Takahashi looked at him, obviously concerned, but trying to hide it. “Yes of course, I’ll show you to the door.”
She walked him over to the door of the apartment and opened it, letting him go through.
“Thank you for looking after [Name] today, I’m sorry if she was a bit of an inconvenience. It was nice to have you both over, we should do it again sometime.”
Akaashi nodded, thanked her, and went inside his own apartment.
He didn’t mean to leave so abruptly, but he wasn’t lying, he did have work.
He made his way to the small desk by the window of his apartment and sat down, picking up the large, stapled sheet of paper by his window.
Today, his work was a bit more enjoyable than usual. He was editing one of his more favorite comics that was published in his magazine. Asuma no Sekai was a comic set in a demon world, with the main character being an incredibly lazy demon who preferred eating cake to doing her job. The crazy schemes she pulled to get out of doing her job were sometimes more work than doing the actual job and always made the reader laugh. Editing it was a more favorable part of Akaashi’s week and it never failed to lift his mood. The author was Sakurai Daisuke. He had never met the author in person as he usually sent someone else to pick up his manuscript, but he looked forward to meeting someone who was such a good mangaka.
After spending a couple hours reading, laughing, and editing the work, Akaashi went to bed as he had work the next morning.
[Name] had left on the first train that morning and though Akaashi was slightly mournful that he didn’t get to say goodbye, he continued on with his day like normal.
As the week went by, [Name] occupied Akaashi’s thoughts slightly more than a normal person would. He would pass by the cake shops in his area and wonder if she would enjoy the one in the display window. He was confused by why he was thinking about her so often, but chalked it up to the fact that there were a lot of cake shops in his area.
Later that week, on an afternoon while he was home, Akaashi got a call from his employee, Okomoto Chiyo. She sounded extremely distressed.
“Akaashi-san! I’m so so sorry to bother you!”
“It’s okay, what do you need?”
“My wife is sick and I’m home taking care of her. I was supposed to pick up Sakurai-san’s manuscript today, but Nanako’s been throwing up all day and I can’t afford to leave her now. Do you mind picking it up?”
Akaashi was slightly annoyed, as he had just gotten home. However, he knew that he couldn’t possibly ask his employee to leave her sick wife.
“It’s completely okay. May I have Sakurai-san’s address? At least I can finally meet him.”
“It’s xxx-xxx on the other side of the city. The train will be able to get you there really fast. Sakurai-san should have completed her manuscript by now.”
“Her?” Akaashi was confused
“Sakurai Daisuke is a pen-name. The author is female. She picked a male name to sound more ambiguous.”
“Oh, that comes as a bit of a surprise.”
“Thank you so much for doing this, Akaashi-san! I am forever grateful to you.”
Akaashi looked out his window and toward the train station which was a couple blocks away. It was raining.
As he turned, his eyes fell on a now-dry neon yellow umbrella. He must have forgotten to give it back to [Name].
He picked up the umbrella, put on a long brown coat, and ran out his apartment door.
He was able to make it onto the train last minute, sitting on the seat in relief. As the train moved along, he thought about what the author might be like.
Thinking about it now, it was fairly obvious that this author wasn’t like most of the male authors Akaashi’s company had published.
There was barely any fan service in the series and the author made sure to write her female characters just as realistic and flawed as her male characters. Most of the male authors drew one woman with an unrealistic body and made her show up every now and then to rip her clothes off and leave. Sakurai-san’s female characters had personalities and all different body shapes, some bigger or smaller, darker or lighter, more like the women he would see in the real world.
The train announced his stop and he walked out, looking at the paper where he jotted down the address.
He navigated his way through the twists and turns until he finally got to the apartment building.
He entered and went to the specified floor and found the correct door.
As he raised his hand to knock, Akaashi suddenly felt a bit nervous to meet this author who he borderline idolized, especially when he found out he was wrong about her gender the whole time.
Nevertheless, his hand tapped lightly on the door twice and he heard footsteps rush to open it.
What he saw behind the door was definitely not what he expected.
[Name] was peeking out, wearing a large animal onesie, holding a plate of cake with a plastic fork.
