Before You Were Gone

Chapter 3

Entering his usually quiet home, Akaashi sat by the entrance as he slung off his shoes, gently placing them to the side with the rest. It was late, yet, his mother left dinner out for him since she was most likely asleep at this time. He turned on the light with his finger, feeling his eyes squint as they adjusted. There was dinner. Rapeseed plants with karashi mustard dressing. He lightly smiled at the sight of his favourite food and soon sat down to eat.

Entering his own home was Bokuto. His parents were still up, waiting for him to get home as he eagerly slipped off his shoes. For practising earlier, he surprisingly had a lot of energy still in him. "I'm home!" He called out, well, practically yelled, until having to be sushed by his father, giving him a chuckle. He liked having his parents around, yet soon, he'd have to move out. "Welcome home honey!" His mother's sweet voiced echoed from the kitchen, where she was cooking some treats for him tomorrow. His hair dropped down slightly, yet stayed up as much as possible. He made his way to the kitchen, giving his mother a gentle smile as he peered over at the food. Onigiri. It wasn't his favourite, but it would do for a small snack since he didn't want anything big.

His food for the night was also ready, since his parents had prepared for it to be ready at a certain time and still be awake to welcome him home. It smelt good too. He sat at the table, opposite his father, whom seemed to be reading a paper all about volleyball. Fukurodani weren't mentioned in there, but they were very close. "Are you planning on playing volleyball after graduation?" His father suddenly spoke, perking up the attention of his mother too. The sudden question excited Bokuto and he answered without hesitation. "Hell yeah! I don't think Akaashi is though..." He sulked at the thought, but he would be supportive of whatever Akaashi decided to do either way.

"Have you found a team?" His father questioned again, placing the paper gently on the table. Bokuto looked shocked for a moment, but also happy. He was being rushed to choose, but his father wanted well for him. "Nah. I have 10 days left until graduation anyway, that's loads of time!" He cheered, noticing the raised eyebrow his father suddenly gave him. "Bokuto, that's not a lot of time. You ought to choose soon." His mother chirped in. Her voice was soft and always soothing. His father sighed, pointing to a logo in the paper, a popular Olympic volleyball team. MSBY.

Bokuto smiled at the offer. It seemed like a good team, and what he saw so far on the paper, that might be the one for him. "That's it! That's where I'm going to be after I graduate!" He couldn't hide his excitement as he smiled at his father. He had his future planned out, and he couldn't wait to tell Akaashi. After dinner of course. 

Akaashi had dinner already, and he was ready for bed. He laid there, in bed in the dark. It felt different to sleep this night. Too much was on his mind. His phone was on silent, yet, he still had the urge to call Bokuto and just talk. But he didn't. He wanted Bokuto to call him. He didn't want to show himself missing him. It sounded harsh, but he didn't want to give anything away.

Finally, an hour later. The phone rang. It was Bokuto. Both were in their own bed now, and Akaashi picked up the phone without hesitation. He put on a groggy voice to make it seem like he had been woken up to hide the fact he had been waiting for that phone call.

"Akaashi! I have something- wait..did I wake you up?" Bokuto quickly noticed Akaashi's tone of voice, feeling slightly bad. "Bokuto..It's fine..Did you need something?" Akaashi kept the voice, sitting up, his back resting against the bedframe. "I have good news!" Bokuto was trying to keep quiet with how late it was. But he was excited. And Akaashi could practically see his smile through the phone that made his heart flutter.

"What is it?" Akaashi balanced the phone in one hand, rubbing his eyes with the other. He hoped it was something good such as, Bokuto was going to be doing extra studies at the school, but he didn't get his hopes up, as it was very unlikely for him. "I found a volleyball team for after I graduate! It's MSBY, an olympic team!" Akaashi sighed quietly to himself. It wasn't what he was expecting, but, he was happy. Something about this made him feel proud.

"That's great Bokuto. If that's what you wanna do, I'm happy." He gave his best words to Bokuto, who erupted a laugh from the other side. "Agasshi! You're so cool!" Akaashi couldn't help but snicker at this. He missed this. Calls with Bokuto, they we're nice. 

"Is that all Bokuto? You should get some rest for tomorrow." He suggested, surprised to hear Bokuto agree. He probably bugged him too much today. "Sure, Akaashi. I'll talk to you tomorrow! Goodnight!" They shared goodnight words before the phone hung up. That 5 minutes felt like an hour. Akaashi soon drifted back off into a slumber less than 20 minutes later.