𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝟭𝟭 ── 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘨𝘨𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥

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listen to the song above for a soundtrack!

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as friday struck the calendar that month, akaashi felt morose. as he sulked about in his apartment, the absence of his friend slowly creeping in and telling him he was alone in that mess, the musician seemed as hopeless as ever — not even music or a huge record deal could change that. he had finally disappointed everyone around him, and even he himself knew he couldn't go back. keiji slumped himself on his working desk chair once more, hoping to hear from @musicalities like he always did. yet, with a sigh, the raven-haired man realized he had also turned things sour between him and the writer.

suddenly, an idea popped into his head. it sounded crazy, impossible even, but who was he if not someone who'd risk it all for their dreams? he started to type in his computer. train tickets for akita, tohoku on saturday. "good! it's done," he said as he booked the trip. "now all i need to do is let them know..."

still, how could he? how could he send a message to the one person that stood beside him the most, yet the person he failed to impress? the writer had done it all for him — after all, he would have been just a stick in the mud if it hadn't been for @musicalities. all he wanted was to see their face, to thank them for their hard work, but now they seemed so far away, so out of reach from his hands that he could barely fathom even getting close to them or receiving those blessed letters again. he had burned the bridges, cut the ties, and severed the relationships he'd valued the most. and for what? fame? money? music? it riddled even the man himself how he'd gotten so far down that godforsaken rabbit hole.

still, who was he if not someone who'd risk it all for their dreams?

from: @akaashikeiji

i know you don't want to see me personally, but please go to the aeon mall on sunday, i will host a tiny concert there.

sent from tokyo, japan

◦'𖥸'◦

[y/n] felt as if they'd hit rock bottom and it was finally over, yet rock bottom's much buffier, and definitely angrier older brother had come back to hit them. oh well, it isn't a friday night without wallowing in self-pity, right? they sighed as they plopped themselves right onto the creaking desk chair, its creaks now sadder and harsher than ever. the whole world around them seemed to turn to grey — this dismal shade of misery, its despair corrupting the air and filling the writer's lungs. their heart felt like a burden to bear, a heavy, anvil-like load they'd have to carry with them for the rest of their life. the writer had to hold back an urge to laugh: the situation was in such shambles it could be comic. or it would be, if it weren't so dire. and, to make matters complete, [y/n] decided to open the chat.

from: @akaashikeiji

i know you don't want to see me personally, but please go to the aeon mall on sunday, i will host a tiny concert there.

sent from tokyo, japan

"wow," they scoffed at the screen, hoping their mockery and condescension got through to him. "and he has the guts to even talk to me, huh? what a jerk. in fact, this is probably a twisted way to get me to go back to him, to get me to talk to him again. he's such an asshole!" they shouted, closing the tab and getting up from their seat. it was true that akaashi had ruined everything, but a teensy voice in the writer's head told them not to let go of him just yet.

"i hate him, i hate him, i hate him!" [y/n] touched their face only to feel droplets of tears rolling down their cheek. "ugh!" i can't believe i'm crying because of him, they thought, but suddenly got an idea. you know what? even if this thing is just bullshit, i'm going. i'm going to show him i'm the bigger person.

◦'𖥸'◦

while [y/n] was quite busy with smashing their computer's keyboard in search for something that would calm them down, akaashi had other matters to solve for, in a matter of minutes, all he'd tried to build with that train ticket would crumble. someone knocked on his door. it was ichika.

"i scheduled a concert for you on saturday!" akaashi's mind went blank. if he closed his eyes and went into his brain, all he would be able to see would be this huge canvas of white, bringing him sorrow and utmost sadness. agony, even. ichika's voice drowned out and all he could hear was a loud buzzing noise that seemed to come from inside his head. it was as if he'd just been pronounced dead, and the monitors beside the hospital bed showed this excruciating flatline. yet, the pain wasn't the hardest part: the sound was the worst of it all.

still, ichika managed to cut through the musician's dissociation. "it's going to be a huge crowd, they're going to love you! i'm really excited-"

"i can't go," he said, crossing his fingers so watanabe-san wouldn't be as pissed with him as he thought she'd be. after all, he didn't want to ruin things with another person. and bokuto would be so disappointed... nonetheless, he had to say it. he couldn't go.

"what? what do you mean you can't-" his manager sounded surprised. she would expect him to love the idea and go right with it, yet his phrase caught her off guard.

"i said, i can't go."

ichika let out a scoff, and keiji could practically see her eyes widening and turning her usual bubbly smile into a frown. she'd do that whenever bokuto did something stupid, but now matters were a thousand times more serious: not going to the concert would imply that ichika would have to make a hundred calls, reschedule a thousand appointments, and say a million prayers to the gods above that tanaka-san wouldn't fire her and akaashi. still, he couldn't go. "wow. fame has really gotten to your head, huh?"

"i-" the musician tried to make things right. yet, as he'd seen before, that was impossible.

"don't stress it." she walked away, but stood in the door frame to look at him. "i just wanted to help you, you know? guess you don't even care about that." she left the flat, slamming the door as she went. keiji let out a tired sigh. he hadn't meant to hurt her, but he really couldn't go. oh, well. guess now he had to.

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a/n: ugh i just love mitski so much !!!!! i'm sorry for the angst chapter tho, things will be better soon !! or not !! just stick around and see !! LMAOO i'm sorry uytfgvhjuyt also i'm so sorry for not updating this book for ages, so this chapter goes out to @taithigh who left a message on my mb asking for me to update lmaoo, tysm love !! i hope u guys enjoyed the chapter (even though it probably made u cry, especially with this song), and if you did, please consider voting and leaving a comment !! ur comments always inspire me to write more hehe :) as always, thank you so so much for reading this far (we're close to the end, hang on!) <3

signing off, 

— 𝖒.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐑𝐒! ➛ a. keiji ✔Where stories live. Discover now