𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒅𝒏𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 | 𝒂. 𝒌𝒆𝒊𝒋𝒊

𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒚 𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅

Entering the shrine, Akaashi stops you to pray.

"Let's pray first, F/n-san." He holds onto your sleeve as you shrug.

"If that's what you want," you say and kneel on your knees besides him. You had never prayed formally like this. If you ever did pray, it was just a quick breath prayer like: "Oh, please don't let me get caught by the guards, Kami-sama!" Then you'd use all your strength to escape. Observing Akaashi, you awkwardly copy him. Clapping your hands together, you slowly close your eyes.

'What is something that I want to ask for right now?' you ask yourself. Akaashi's face pops into your mind and you smile. 'God, I pray for you to keep Keiji safe and to bless him with a good life.' After your prayer, you open your eyes to see Akaashi already finished.

"Let's go, F/n-san." He reaches a hand out to you. Slowly taking his hand into yours, you get up and you both leave the shrine. The other side of the shrine was nothing like the side that you guys came from. It was purely just mountains, rivers, and grass. The sight was breathtaking.

"Well, the map said to just follow the path with tulips and it'll lead to the Garden of Eternity." You point at all of the tulips that were growing on the side of a pathway. "Be careful though, Keiji," you call out when Akaashi decides to walk in front of you, "the mountain is very steep and the pathway is very small. There's a possibility you'll fall off the cliff if you aren't careful." Akaashi gives you a nod and a reassuring smile.

"I'll be careful, F/n-san." An idea pops into your head and you smirk.

"Would ya like to hold my hand to ensure your safety, my prince?" you tease and hold out your hand. Blush grows on his face and he turns around.

"Way to ruin the mood," he grumbles as you laugh.

"I'm sorry! I was just teasing, babe!" You giggle and smile. "Let us go!"

Like you said, the pathway was very narrow and eventually, the tulips started to grow out of the walls of the mountains and not on the pathway. One wrong step towards the right and you'd fall to your death probably. It got even worse when the grass started to disappear and you both came face to face to a pathway of rocks.

"Let me go first, Keiji." You grab his arm to prevent him from going any further. He hesitantly turns to you and shakes his head.

"It's fine, F/n-san. If we walk carefully and quickly, we'll be able to reach the other side and return back to the ground safely," he tries to reassure you. Observing the rocky pathway, it looked sketchy and they looked like they were about to break at any moment with all the cracks present. However, when you look back at Akaashi, he gives you a reassuring smile. "Plus, I have you to protect me, so nothing bad will happen to me." What he says causes you to chuckle.

"That's true, but hold my hand." You hold out your hand.

"I-I'm not a bab—"

"Just do it, Keiji!" you command. Embarrassed, he does as you say and places his hand in yours.

'Soft as usual,' he thinks to himself and blushes. As he carefully walks on the rocks, it's obvious that the pathway is not stable until you both reach the grass which is ten feet ahead of you both. Suddenly, some rocks on the pathway fall behind you guys. "Just focus on what's in front of you, Keiji. You'll be fine," you calmly say to him. Akaashi hesitantly stops to breathe and nods.

'Stay calm; stay calm.'

A couple of more steps and you both would reach the other side of the grass. Excitement and impatience grows in Akaashi as he quickens his pace.

"Keiji, watch the groun—" but before you could finish your sentence, Akaashi steps on a rock that causes the other rocks to start to fall. Instincts kick in as you immediately push Akaashi with all your power to the grass. He harshly, but safely, lands on his stomach. You, on the other hand, are trying your best to run to where he is but the entire pathway of rocks starts to crumble.

"Hurry, F/n-san! Grab my hand!" Akaashi yells out to you. As you try to reach out to him, the last rock you step on decides to break off of the mountain and you fall. With your abilities, your right hand luckily grabs onto a rock that is sticking out of the cliff that is four feet beneath the pathway Akaashi is on. Immediately, Akaashi lays on his stomach and reaches his hand out for you. "Grab my hand!" he desperately yells.

The pain in your right wrist throbs as you hold on for your dear life and you lift your left hand to grab Akaashi's. The space between your hands are so close but not close enough for you both to interlace fingers.

"Come on! Just a little more, F/n-san!!" Akaashi yells and tries to scoot his body lower.

"Don't come any further, Keiji!" you yell back, "you'll fall if you come any closer to the cliff!"

"I don't care! I need to reach you," he says back. "Just a little closer, F/n-san. Don't you dare let go!" he cries but you can't hold on any more as your fingers start to slip and your wrist starts to ache even more.

"Keiji!"

"Stop talking and wasting extra energy! Just reach for my hand, a little more!"

"Keiji, do you trust me?"

"Why are you asking such a question right now, F/n-san?!" he yells in frustration.

"Do you trust me, Keiji?!" you repeat yourself in a rush. Akaashi flinches but sees the seriousness on your sweating face.

"I do. I do trust you, F/n-san." He looks into your eyes.

"Th-then continue y-your way to the garden, okay?"

"Don't say such th—"

"I'll be fine, okay?! Just go and when you come back after doing so, ask Atsumu to take you back to the castle. He might be a jerk, but he isn't a bad perso—"

"Stop talking, F/n-san! I don't care what you say, I'm going to get you and you'll be the one taking me back!"

"But you can't, okay?!" you yell back and look into his teary eyes. Your expression softens when you see tears starting to form in the corner of his eyes. "Don't be a cry baby, okay? This isn't the last time you'll see me—trust me, okay? I'm not that weak." You force a smile between the pain on your fingers and wrist.

"D-don't say that, F/n-san!! It's my fault you're in this situation!" Akaashi cries, "So don't even think about letting go!" Leaning as far as he can to grab your hand, you give him a closed eye smile.

"If I don't make it to your wedding, I'll come make a visit to the castle and maybe kidnap you again! See you later, babe." With your signature wink, you finally let go and sigh in relief of the pain being released.

"No! F/n-san!! F/n! F/n!!" Akaashi yells and watches as you fall into the fog. Resting on his stomach, Akaashi just stares into the fog and cries to himself. "It's all my fault, it's all my fault! ... How am I supposed to continue going to the garden without you besides me?" he asks himself and buries his face into his dirty hands. "We were supposed to go together."

Date: 05 August 2020