March 16

"Hikari-chan, wake up; wake up!"

Abruptly, Hikari shoots her eyes open to see a worried Atsumu.

"W-what?" she stutters as sweat rolls down her temple.

"I think you were having a nightmare; so, I wanted to wake you up," Atsumu explains as he holds Hikari's trembling hands in his. "What happened?"

Noticing her own trembling body, she tries to stop it by grabbing onto her wrist.

"I-I'm not sure why I'm acting like this," she stutters. "I was just—"

She stops in the middle of her sentence as she remembers her dream about her wedding day with Akaashi and other memories with him. It was all she ever wished for, her husband to stare back at her the way that she did, but it must've been an illusion she made in her head out of desperation for his love.

"I guess I was just missing someone at home," Hikari vaguely responds and wipes some sweat off of her head. 'Should I be missing him right now after all of the things he has put me through?'

Noticing that she's in deep thought and distress, Atsumu helps her up and starts pulling her towards a direction. "Let me show you something that will make you feel better."

After peacefully walking for 10 minutes, they finally reach their destination to the biggest tree Hikari has ever seen. Her worries instantly disappear and she gladly takes in the scenery before them.

"It's beautiful," she gasps.

"This is the center of the forest where all of its power comes from," Atsumu explains and walks forward.

"Eh, where are we going?" Hikari asks.

Looking back at her, he gives her a cute grin. "To the top!"

Lol, Haikyuu To The Top

Okay, anyways...

Hikari's eyes almost bulge out of their sockets and she stops in her step. "I-is that safe?" she stutters.

Chuckling, Atsumu tightly holds onto her smaller hands. "With me, you'll always be safe," he promises.

Trusting in his words, Hikari nods and allows Atsumu to guide the way up. Once it came to climbing up the trunk, Hikari gets onto his back as he starts climbing at a remarkable speed with superhuman strength. Glady, Hikari tightly holds on as her cheeks brush against his soft hair. Taking in a whiff of his scent, she comfortably lays her cheek on his shoulder and stares at the forest from above.

'I love it here.'

Not too long later, they finally reach a large branch at the top where Atsumu puts her down and they sit besides each other while staring at the view.

"Wahhh! The forest is this huge?!" Hikari exclaims like a child on Christmas. When she looks around, she notices an electric tower that's the size of a bug. "We're that far from town?" she gasps.

Turning to look at her, Atsumu smiles when he feels the happy aroma Hikari radiates. "I usually come here often when I've completed my tasks early. It just feels so comforting and peaceful staring at the clouds move and feeling the air against your face. Especially the sun! This is the best spot to be when the sunsets."

Hikari giggles. "You're like a dog who likes to sunbathe in the summer, even when it's too hot!"

Atsumu frowns. "But I'm not a dog; I'm a fox!"

"Oh, right." Hikari nods and pats her lap. "If you want, we can rest here and sunbathe together. It must've been tiring climbing all the way up here."

Knowing very well that not one of his muscles were tired, Atsumus just nods and changes into his fox form. "It feels best when I'm in this form," he explains and gladly lays his head on Hikari's lap.

The two blush at the contact but keep silent as they try to calm down their beating hearts. After a while, Hikari starts combing through Atsumu's fur and scratches his ear as he purrs.

"Hikari-chan," Atsumu calls out.

"Hmm?"

"Do you like it here?" Atsumu boldly asks.

Hikari was taken aback by his question but oddly, a smile covers her lips. "Yes, I do like it here."

An excessive amount of happiness shoots through his body and Atsumu radiates even more energy than he ever has. His heart beats to the rhythm of Boy in Luv by BTS while butterflies dance to the choreo in his tummy; Atsumu was a fox in love.

-

Earlier that day...

"So, you're certain Mrs. Akaashi is in the forest?" the officer asks.

"Yes! I found her ring in the backyard near the forest; I think she was trying to grab our umbrella and trying to prevent it from flying away. I'm sure the storm blew her into the forest," Akaashi explains as both of Akaashi's and Hikari's parents stand behind him.

Sympathetically, the officer sighs. "I'm sorry but if she's in the forest, we won't be able to rescue her."

"What do you mean?!" Akaashi shouts in anger.

"Akaashi-san, many people have gotten lost in the forest and have never been able to come back out. We've also sent officers and rescuers in to search for those people and they've never come out too. We cannot afford to go into that fores--"

"That's my wife!" Akaashi cries. "Are you saying that we should just let her stay out there and get eaten by who knows what? Wolves, foxes?!"

Sadly, the officer stares at Akaashi. "I'm sorry; we cannot search in the forest," he apologizes again.

"How could yo--"

"Keiji," Akaashi's mother calls out. "We can't do anything about it."

"Okaasan, I can't--"

"Keiji!" Akaashi's father interrupts and gives Akaashi a serious look. "Let's go home."

In anger, Akaashi clutches his hands into fists and storms out of the building.

"Thank you for your help, officer." The parents bow as he nods back.

Back at home, Akaashi and Hikari's parents stay at the house for a while to weep together until they finally leave Akaashi alone. The entire time, he sits outside as he emotionlessly stares at the tall trees that lead to the forest.

"It's been four days, almost five, since you've been gone, Hikari," Akaashi talks out loud to himself. "What are you doing? A-are you even alive anymore?" he chokes and buries his face into his hands. After letting out more tears, Akaashi takes out Hikari's ring and just stares at it. "I should've been a better husband. I should've told you how I really felt on our first date--no, I should've told you back in high school how beautiful I thought you were when I first saw you at the opening ceremony in our first year," Akaashi cries.

Seeing the ring sparkle due to the moon's rays, Akaashi looks up and stares at the moon.

"My soul is broken without you, Hikari; we're tied together!" he yells at the moon. "We were one the day you said, 'I do,' and you took my soul with you!" Falling onto his knees, he holds the ring to his chest. "Please give me another chance to treat you better."

-

As delightful as the atmosphere was, as the sunset, the moon starts to outshine and Hikari feels an unsteadiness in her body. The more she stared at the moon, the more she felt her organs twist in her stomach.

'Why do I feel so empty?' Hikari mentally asks as she clutches onto the fabric on top of her chest. 'My soul feels incomplete.'

"Hikari-chan," Atsumu interrupts her thoughts and turns back into his human form.

"O-oh, are we heading back down, Atsumu-san?"

Atsumu ignores her question and takes in Hikari's beauty as the moonlight hits her face. Feeling the wind, he realizes that he isn't in contact with her and interlaces his fingers with Hikari's. The action confuses her and she looks from their hands to Atsumu's face.

"Are we going back down, Atsumu-san?" she repeats her question. Usually, when Atsumu held onto her hand, it was always to bring her somewhere but this time, he wanted to hold her hand just because he liked how her hand felt in his.

"Yes, but I just wanted to hold your hand because I like how it feels; is that okay?" he admits.

The confession shocks Hikari and she's too stunned to build up a response.

Atsumu doesn't take her silence as a bad sign and as he studies her face, his eyes eventually fall onto her lips. Hikari's lips were the shade of a peach and it looked appetizing to him. Unconsciously, Atsumu leans forward and stalks closer and closer to her face.

'Why do I feel more vibrant and alive when she's besides me? How can a human make me feel all sorts of ways I've never felt before?' Atsumu asks himself as his heart excitedly beats against his chest.

As he continues to lean closer, her scent drives Atsumu's instincts even more to just connect his lips with hers as Hikari is too stunned to even process what was going on.

'Is it because I love her--'

Suddenly, a "who" breaks Hikari out of her spell and she turns her attention towards the sound. Shocked, Atsumu does the same and the two look at a brown owl on the branch above them. Observing the owl, Hikari notices it's unique, blue eye color and the unreadable expression on its face. Staring back at Hikari, the owl bores his eyes into her soul to the point it scares her. The owl reminds her of something and when she realizes, her eyes widen. Akaashi's face flashes through her head and Hikari gasps.

"What is it, Hikari-chan?! What's wrong?" Atsumu worriedly asks and holds onto Hikari's body that violently shakes.

"And they shall become one flesh," Hikari rehearshes and touches her chest.

"Hikari-chan," Atsumu worriedly calls out, "you need to tell me what's wrong? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

Hikari eventually stops shaking and she slowly turns to look at Atsumu. When their eyes meet, Atsumu stiffens and his fox instincts tell him that whatever was about to come next was not going to be good.

"I need to go home," Hikari weakly says and places her hands against his chest. "I need to go back home to Keiji."

Date: 3 November 2020