words | akaashi keiji

avouchments.

"Time has always been the greatest ally to Truth, because Time eventually relieves and reveals all."
Suzy Kassem

Mei wasn't entirely sure of how seriously Hyodo would keep his promise to give her space, but apparently it was pretty seriously.

Almost a week had passed since Mei had fallen asleep in his arms on the couch, and Hyodo had barely spoken a word to her since.

It was odd, seeing as they lived together, but Mei found it strangely comforting as well. She had always enjoyed the time she had to herself, even as a child. It became hard to have time for herself when living in a one bedroom apartment with someone.

It definitely helped that Akaashi had mysteriously become nicer overnight.

He was always nice and sympathetic to any possible reason Mei might've missed a deadline, but he suddenly began to put less on her shoulders in the first place.

Maybe it was just a good week for Mei. Either way, she was going to take it while she could, because she had missed waking up happy.

Now, it was Friday, and Mei sat at her dining table in silence. Her laptop was open in front of her, and she couldn't stop tapping at the keyboard as she wrote rough drafts of her work.

She had stacked up at least three weeks' worth of drafts that she had yet to send to Akaashi, but in reality, there was really nothing for her to do besides write.

She couldn't decide whether to keep each draft and send one each week to Akaashi as usual, or to bombard his email inbox with all of them at once.

As if he could feel her thoughts, Akaashi's face suddenly filled her phone screen as he called.

Mei reached out for it quickly, answering the call with a, "what's up?"

"Come join me for drinks," Akaashi responded plainly, apparently in too much of a rush to even give a proper greeting.

"What?"

"Sho will be here as well. We're going for drinks. Join us."

"And if I don't?" Mei challenged, wondering what had come over Akaashi.

"C'mon, Mei." He sighed on the other end, and Mei smiled just slightly as she imagined him running a hand through his hair. "We're at the same bar as always. If you decide you'd like to join, then please do. I'd like to see you."

Mei's eyebrows lifted at the soft tone of Akaashi's voice, and she tried to think of a good response before realizing that he had ended the call after speaking.

She blinked down at her phone for a moment before shaking her head quickly, shutting her laptop and standing from her seat at the table.

Don't interpret things weirdly.

Mei got dressed and fixed her hair before checking her phone one last time and giving Fyodor a couple of pats to the head. Then, she exited the apartment and locked it behind her, turning to the street with a head still full of thoughts.

Was she overthinking Akaashi's words? He had said I'd like to see you, which could have just been a friendly addition to his invitation to join him for drinks.

She shook her head once more, convincing herself that Akaashi was just being weird, and that she should forget about it before she embarassed herself.

It took her over fifteen minutes to arrive at the bar, but she didn't mind the walk, and with it nearing the end of March, the cold had become a slight chill.

As soon as she entered, her eyes fell on the obscure corner that Sho and Akaashi had claimed as their favorite spot months ago.

She smiled as her eyes landed on them, Sho waving his hands around passionately as he complained about something to Akaashi.