Inside Out ||Akaashi Keiji x Reader||

Chapter 14

Yes, everybody dies, it's a part of life.

Even when it's an expected death, it doesn't make the loss or ache any easier. It doesn't matter how prepared you are for them to pass away, you're never really ready to say goodbye, and you feel like your time with them was not enough. It never really hits you they are gone until you don't hear their joyful laugh anymore, or see their smile on their face formed from pure happiness.

In Akaashi's situation, he couldn't help but fall in love with you. However, with Amaya he had a choice, to walk out that hospital ward and never come back, or suffer from heartbreak when she did pass, yet, he chose the latter. When you love you give a piece of your heart to that person, but for Akaashi, it seemed every time he did choose to love, it always ended with him heartbroken. It didn't matter who, but whenever he audibly told I love you to someone, he lost them.

And here he stood, mourning the death of the precious, joyful little girl he had the privilege to call his 'daughter'. You stood beside him, holding onto a single rose as you forced yourself to keep a sad smile on your face as several of the hospital staff who had attended the funeral came to you, thanking you and Akaashi for touching Amaya's life, as well as theirs.

He remained silent, his memory wandering to when he first met the little girl, and she asked him to be his father. He didn't want to put himself in a position where he would end up loving someone, but he did anyways, disregarding the heartache that would follow.

His mind drifted back to when you and him took her out of the hospital ward, taking her to a park close by. She was weak from the chemo, but she still played as if nothing was wrong, enjoying an 'extravagant' tea party on the green grass with the blue sky overhead.

Then, he remembered the day, merely a week ago, when he told Amaya he loved her. She had grown even sicker, the meager amount of hair on her head had disappeared completely and she became so sickly pale she looked like a ghost. Yet, she still managed to smile and laugh, as if she wasn't suffering, but, as a matter of a fact she was in so much pain that she had to have Akaashi carry her everywhere because she was too sick to walk.

Amaya was sitting on his lap as he fixed a beanie on her head trying to help her awfully cold body retain its warmth. She had slowly turned around, a sad look on her face as if she knew her days were coming to an end.

She looked up at him, before saying," Hey daddy, I love you. Do you love me too?"

Akaashi was hesitant to answer mentally, but before he could even process his reply, it came out. " I love you so much Amaya."

And it was true, every single word.

She smiled, before wrapping her thin arms around him, burying her face in his neck.

" How much do you love me?" she asked, her face still nuzzled in the crook of his neck.

" More than the stars in the sky."

" There's a lot of stars!" she squeaked happily, her giggly laughter still echoed in his ears as he laid down a single white rose on her casket.
Her real mother stood away, tears falling down her cheeks. You had moved over to talk to her and comfort her, although you yourself needed the most comfort.

" Thank you, for being a mother figure to my daughter when I wasn't. I regret letting my fear of heartbreak effect my ability to still be the parent I should have been."

You weakly smiled at her, placing your cold hand on hers as rain began to lightly sprinkle while the sky darkened. " Of course. Personally, I know heartbreak is one of the worst feelings ever. But, the memories help heal the hurt, and I have absolutely no regret of loving someone who brought such a great amount of happiness in my life," you replied.