The Littlest Words (Akaashi Keiji x Reader)

Chapter 4

Sleeping seems to prove more difficult for you since the first night you dreamt of that certain view: a white room that stretched as far as your eyes can see---not even a speck of dust in sight. Only a small, rusty bed with spotless white sheets is present along with the chains that bind you into that painfully uncomfortable place. 

It seems oddly familiar---as though you've been in that place before; but you know you haven't. Despite it being almost endless, you feel as if you're suffocating as you struggle to breathe. You will find yourself hiding beneath the sheets in hopes of finding solace; and almost instantly, you'll wake up in your own bed with rugged and shallow breathing and drenched in cold sweat even with the AC at its lowest temperature.

Tonight isn't any different. You found yourself in the exact situation as the past few nights. It still feels as unnerving as before. You tried to steady your breathing and slowly sat up, feeling the cold, tiled floor of the dorm room beneath your feet. It sent a jolt throughout your whole body, waking you completely from your trance. 

You glanced at the clock on top of your nightstand, adjusting your eyes to see clearly. It reads 2:03 am. The light of the moon entered your slightly open window and filtered through the thick curtains of your small room. As the clock ticked by, slowly and rhythmically, you suddenly wonder why you're having such reoccurring dreams lately. Maybe it was of too much stress and pressure due to the exams and project deadlines right around the corner. Surely, you expected the first year of high school to be hectic, but not this kind of hectic. There's just so many requirements that your mind has gone haywired as you're slowly coping from the culture shock.

Snapping out of your thoughts, you decided to change out of your wet shirt sticking uncomfortably to your skin and wash your face to clear your mind. After doing so, you're now wide awake and too scared to attempt sleeping again because the dreams might reappear. Ten minutes of deciding what to do and about fifteen minutes of walking back and forth passed, you opted to go out to the nearest convenience store to buy your favorite snacks and your go-to drink, banana milk. You're in the city so you're sure that there's still a fair number of people outside: mostly workers who just got out of work and teenagers who likes to roam around with friends.

You put on a (f/c) hoodie over your shirt and let your strawberry print pajamas stay as it is, bringing your phone and wallet with you, as you make your way out of the dorms. Your attire is just fine because it's dark and they won't even recognize you.

Although it's literally three in the morning, many establishments are still open and the night sky is aglow with dazzling city lights. The brightness of the cold, crescent moon is accentuated by the blanket of stars in the infinite stretch of darkness. This sight never fails to amaze you and put you to daze so you took your time, absent-mindedly strolling in the quiet. The supposedly ten-minute walk to the store seems shorter as you just found yourself in front of it.

It's not surprising that the only one in the place is the person manning the cash register. She just sent you a weak smile that clearly shows how tired she is. You returned the gesture, moved on to the empty aisles, and took a cart. It was so quiet you can hear your even breathing and the sound of the cart rolling on the tiled floor. You guessed it's better off this way so you can buy midnight snacks peacefully and without interruption.

You surely took your sweet time getting your cart full with your favorite snacks and some easy-to-cook food(instant ramen) so you won't starve while Miyu is away for the weekend to visit her family. As you're about to go to the drinks, the entrance chimes open, light footsteps can be heard throughout the almost deserted place.

You shrugged it off and proceeded to take your weekly supply of banana milk (although you might just finish it in one sitting). It doesn't seem like it but you're a little too picky when it comes to choosing the brand of your favorite drink; so you took the longest time in finding that particular brand you always buy.

It certainly feels like finding a needle in a haystack. All those disgusting brands are just rip-offs of your favorite one but they are in the front of the shelves so you had to move it all away. Unfortunately, it's still nowhere in sight so you had to dig in deeper to find it.

You crouched even more, eyes ablaze, and tongue slightly sticking out in deep concentration, searching the lower cabinets thoroughly. You stretched your arms out even further and lowered your head to see clearly.

As you found it resting in the innermost portion of the shelves, almost instantly, your eyes sparkled and imaginary flowers and glitters surrounded your seemingly glowing body, blinding whoever gets to see the whole thing.

You jumped out of joy and held up your hands, holding the drink triumphantly while doing your small victory dance to worship your banana milk, oblivious to the person with a blank look, watching the whole thing unfold before him. Although it looks like his face is completely blank, if you look closely you can see the smallest of grimace present in his face.

As your small celebration subsided, you just noticed a shadow looming over you. You instantly froze and stiffly turned around and looked up at the person. Your smile shakily faded and was replaced with a look of horror, encountering the feeling you most definitely don't want to experience again: Embarrassment. And as if the world is mocking you, it just had to be the person you dreaded to see the most. No, it's not the cashier.

It's the gorgeous man in the train.