paws // bokuaka

five: keiji akaashi

"Bye, Akaashi!! I'll see you later!!" the white and black-haired man waved enthusiastically and I nodded slowly. Later?

"Oh... bye, Bokuto-san," I replied timidly, not daring to look back at him. 

I held the toy volleyball in my hands as I walked back to the staff room, staring down at it. I was relieved in a sense. I had worried about this toy for the entire morning. I was happy to know it was now safe in my grasp.

"Who was that?" Iwaizumi asked, sipping on water. He raised an eyebrow. "Your boyfriend...?"

I blinked. "No, why would you think that...? I'm straight... I think."

"Eh," the tanned employee shrugged, stretching out his neck and back. "I mean, first of all, your face is all red. And he wrote a note on whatever he gave you. Isn't that supposed to be a romantic gesture? My boyfriend does that to me all the time."

I stared in confusion at the man before placing a hand on my cheek, trying to check if it was warm and red. I pushed it against my other cheek. I wasn't sure if the warmth was from the feeling in my stomach or my body heat.

"...did you say there was a note?" I asked, looking down at the volleyball. "I don't think there is one-" I was cut off as I turned the ball in my hands and was greeted with a tiny folded slip of paper taped onto the toy.

"I told you," Iwaizumi chuckled. "But I'm guessing he's not your boyfriend."

I nodded listlessly, unraveling the paper, at the same time lethargically saying, "Speaking of which, you never told me you had a boyfriend, Iwaizu-" my voice trailed off. Contained inside the folded up ivory sheet was...

a phone number.

***

"Kenma! I'm home!" I called out, closing the apartment door behind me. I took a few steps and soon landed my eyes on the calico cat curled up on the couch once again. He didn't even look at me. "I missed you," I said, sitting down next to him and handing him the toy volleyball after ripping off the slip of paper on it. Suddenly, his ears perked up in interest. I smiled, planting a kiss on the top of his head. "Aw, Kenma. I love you."

After laughing a bit to myself, I sighed, looking at the phone number in my palm. "What should I do with this, Kenma?" I asked quietly, looking at the feline, who purred. "Should I... text something?"

I pulled out my phone and opened my messenger. Punching in the digits, I prepared a message: Bokuto-san? My fingers hovered over the 'send' button, but my mind began to swirl with dread and my heart raced with uncertainty. I pursed my lips, rapidly spamming the 'backspace' button on the keyboard.

Good afternoon, Bokuto-san. No.

Hello, Bokuto-san. No.

Bokuto-san, this is me, Akaashi. No... I didn't even know if the phone number was Bokuto-san's.

I would never be able to send a text to this man if I continued this. I bit my lip and took some time to pet Kenma, who was still next to me. I sighed, smiling as I stared at him. "I wish you'd help me, Kenma, but I suppose you have better things to do. Should I just send something?"

The reply I received was silence. I gave a quiet, hollow laugh. "Maybe I will."

Hello? I shut my eyes as I forced a finger down onto the button to send the message, nervousness bundling up inside of me. My heart was beating like a continuous explosion.

When I opened my eyes, the message was sent. In perfectly arched and organized letters, the word 'Hello?' was written in the middle of a rounded text message. Realizing I had held my breath, I released it and immediately closed my phone, not wanting to wait for a reply.

"Ah... this is a little bit scary, Kenma," I confessed, burying my face in my hands. "I wonder if-" A chime was heard from my device, cutting me off.

I played with my hands for a bit before picking it up and checking the notification. It was indeed a message from the new phone number. I took a deep breath before opening it.

---

Hello?

Bokuto-san?

heyyy

is this agaasheei

...yes? are you Bokuto-san by any chance?

Bokuto-san?

;) ya

how r u

---

A smile oddly crept its way onto my face. He spelled my name wrong, but I found it somehow adorable. I quickly changed created a contact for him and wrote a response.

---

I'm doing well, how about you?

Bokuto-san

im doing good too ;) much better now that i can talk 2 someone pretty like u

---

A rush of happiness flushed through my body and I couldn't help my smile from getting wider. "What should I text back...?" I wondered aloud, instinctively glancing over at Kenma. "Well, I should say 'thank you,' shouldn't I?"

I typed out the words, 'Thank you, Bokuto-san :)' on the keyboard and sent it. My fingers began to write out, 'I'm glad you're doing good.'

"'I'm... glad...'" I whispered the words to myself as I typed. My fingers were moving quickly and my nails clicked against the screen. I began to move my finger to press the letter 'l' in the word 'glad' but before I could, Kenma jumped onto my lap, his paws stepping on my hands.

I smiled. "Hello, Kenma~" I cooed, smoothing out his fur. "I'm sorry I'm not giving you much attention. I'm speaking to somebody." The feline purred and curled up into my lap, bathing in a stream of sunlight.

I adjusted my arms to look back at my phone, but the messages I read left me in horror.

---

Bokuto-san

im doing good too ;) much better now that i can talk 2 someone pretty like u

Thank you, Bokuto-san :)

I'm gay

Bokuto-san

is typing...

---

"Kenma, did you step on my screen...?" I asked, beginning to type out the words, 'sorry, that was my cat' frantically on my phone.

---

Thank you, Bokuto-san :)

I'm gay

Bokuto-san

really?

me too :DDDDD

wanna go on a date?

writing bokuaka is better than doing my science homework

-lexi