March 13th

"That's odd, Agaashi! Usually, I'm the one who calls you first!" A cheerful voice exclaims through the other side of the phone.

Uncomfortably, Akaashi scratches his cheek while chewing on his delicious lunch. "W-well... it's because I need advice--"

"You! You need advice from me?! That's a first, Agaaashiiii!!! Yes, come to your senpai for help! I shall help ya!"

Akaashi's face goes deadpan and now he's really considering hanging up and just giving up. However, swallowing up his pride, Akaashi just nods his head.

"So what is it that you need help with?"

Taking a gulp, Akaashi looks down at his hand playing with his fork.

"It's Hikari--"

"You finally realize you have feelings for her?!!?!"

Akaashi's eyes almost pop out of their sockets and he chokes on his saliva.

"W-what?! Why would you say that? I don't have feelings for her!" Akaashi defends as a scarlet blush is present on his cheeks.

"Ehhh? But why not? You guys are married! You're supposed to already have feelings for her before marriage!" Bokuto whines through the phone.

Akaashi is put to silence, knowing that Bokuto was right, but he continues.

"W-well, that's not what I was going to talk about. What I was going to say was, I think Hikari's mad at me."

"Heeeeeeh??? What did you do, Akaashi? Hikari-chan is very nice!"

Akaashi was about done with Bokuto's whininess, but he wasn't entirely wrong with this statement. Akaashi knew himself that he had messed up really badly.

"W-well, yesterday was our... first a-a-anniv--"

'Why am I having a hard time saying it?' he thinks to himself and flushes. "We were going to celebrate the day we got married yesterday, but I forgot and didn't come to dinner. I was wondering how I should apologize to her," he finishes.

Bokuto goes silent and it scares Akaashi. He would prefer a nagging and whiny Bokuto rather than a quiet one. If Bokuto was quiet, it totally meant Akaashi was in deep trouble. Sweat was starting to fall down his neck and into his button up as he waited for Bokuto to speak.

"Bo--"

"Did you really just forget, Akaashi?" Bokuto seriously asks sending shivers down Akaashi's spine.

Swallowing his saliva, he nods. "Yes, I forgot."

"And she waited for you?"

"P-probably. She always does," Akaashi whispers.

Sighing, Bokuto rubs his forehead in distress. "You really, really messed up this time," is the only thing Bokuto says. "Knowing Hikari-chan, she's probably already forgiven you; that's just how she is, but it doesn't mean that she is not really hurt." Thinking back, Bokuto remembers a conversation he had with Hikari and sadly smiles. "If you don't like her, Akaashi, then you should tell her and maybe cut off this marriage," Bokuto suddenly suggests.

Akaashi's eyes widen and he almost drops his phone. Bokuto was also surprised by his own statement, but it was true. He always knew how torturing it must've been for Hikari in the relationship. A girl who was deeply in love with someone who neglected those feelings.

"W-what?" Akaashi forces a laugh. "Are you joking, Bokuto-san? Did I really do something that bad that it can't be fixed?"

A weird sensation starts boiling in Akaashi's body and he feels his entire body shaking.

"No, it's not really like you did something bad. I just don't think it's good to be in a relationship where there's no love," Bokuto answers.

'Love?'

"Well, I have to get going. Practice is starting again. Bye, Akaashi; if you need any more help, just call!" With that, Bokuto hangs up leaving a really confused and hurt Akaashi.

He didn't completely understand why he felt hurt, but it felt like a part of his soul was leaving him when Bokuto brought up the idea of ending their relationship. Placing a hand over his chest, Akaashi clenches his shirt and starts packing up. "Hey, is it alright if I leave home early today? I don't feel well," Akaashi says through the phone.

Flashback

Nervously, Hikari peeked her head through the gym doors and her eyes furiously moved around the room. Behind her, Bokuto saw the nervous Hikari playing with her hair and decided to question her.

"Whatcha doing?" he asked.

Scared by the sudden voice, Hikari jumped and ended up hitting her head against the door.

"O-ow," she lightly cried as she rubbed her head.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to scare you," Bokuto immediately apologized as he watched her pout. 'Cute!'

Looking up, Hikari saw Bokuto and blushed. "I-it's alright! I'm fine!" she stuttered. "W-well, I will get going. It was nice talking to you." As she's about to escape, Bokuto stops her again by grabbing her collar.

"What were you doing?" he asked, "Were you perhaps, trying to spy on us??"

Fright is instantly written all over Hikari's features and she shook her head.

"O-o-of course not!!"

"Then what is it?" Bokuto tilted his head at the tiny girl before him.

Hikari went back to playing with her hair and nervously looked back in the gym. Curious, Bokuto followed her stares and saw her gazing at Akaashi. A smirk grew on Bokuto's face as he firmly placed an arm around her shoulder.

"Is it Akaashi?" he whispered into her ear.

"E-ehhh?! Of course not!!" Hikari yelled, earning the attention of the other players inside the gym.

"There you are, Bokuto-san. You were taking a while in the restroom," Akaashi scolded as Bokuto sheepishly grinned.

Hikari stared at Bokuto in horror but the words that she was expecting him to say never came out of his mouth.

"Sorry! I just ran into this cute girl!" Bokuto exclaimed and pointed at the girl in his arms.

Hikari instantly turned scarlet at Bokuto's words.

Akaashi frowned and rolled his eyes. "Please don't bother others, Bokuto-san."

Suzumeda's eyes brightened when she saw Hikairi. "Oh! Are you here for your first day of becoming a manager?!" she happily asked as Shirofuku pushed Bokuto away from Hikari.

"Don't bother our new manager, Bokuto!!" Shirofuku yelled as Bokuto cried.

"New manager?" the boys questioned as the two managers nodded.

"This is our new manager, Ai Hikari!"

'Oh, I thought she was Akaashi's fangirl?' Bokuto itched his head.

However, the longer Hikari was with the team, he was certain of his hypothesis even if Hikari tried her hardest to keep her crush subtle.

Present

It is currently 2pm and if Akaashi remembered clearly, Hikari would get off work at 3:00pm and come home around 3:30pm. So, driving home, Akaashi nervously changes and sits on the couch while playing with his fingers. After waiting for a while, Akaashi looks at the time to see it's 3:40pm.

"All this waiting is making me hungry," he whispers as his legs vigorously move up and down. Harshly against his ears, he hears his heart beat pounding just waiting to hear the door waiting to open. However, it never comes and it starts to worry Akaashi. "I'll call her," he suggests and nervously presses on her name in his phone. A ring shocks him when he sees a Hikari's phone on the floor ringing. "Huh? She forgot her phone?" he asks and heads over towards the back door, sliding through the window where her phone lays on the floor. His eyes instantly widen when he reads her text messages.

From Yuki:

so, how did the dinner go?
u need to tell me everything!!
hello??
r u ignoring me?!!?!?!
bakaaaaaaaa
ANSWER MEEEE!!

From Kuroo:

please ignore Yuki and just have fun
I know she's annoying. :P

From Yuki:

IGNORE KUROO! HE DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING!
TEXT MEEE!!
it's been hours!!!
don't tell me u and akaashi are---

From Kenma:
yuki forced me to text uu bc u won't answer hers
r u ok?

From Mizuki (Boss):

It's already past 8am. Are you not coming to work today?
Hello, please answer my calls. You never miss work.
Well, whatever happened, please call me once you're free. I'm not mad; I just want to make sure you're alright. Hisahito keeps saying that you're probably fine, but I want to make sure.

From Yuki:

YAH!! BOKEEEEEEEEEE
answer my freakin calls and messages!!!!

"S-she wasn't at w-work--" Before Akaashi could continue the sentence he was afraid to continue, Hikari's phone rings. Looking down, he sees it's Kuroo and he answers.

"Ari? Are you alright? You haven't called or texted us at all since last night? Why are you ignoring us?" Kuroo immediately asks as Akaashi's hand shakes. "Ari? Are you there? I don't want to blast you with questions if you aren't in the mood; so that's why I called instead of Yuki. She's really worried and even Kenma is starting to get worried. You never reject Kenma's texts."

Akaashi takes a hesitant breath.

"Kuroo-san," Akaashi says.

"Oh! Akaashi, is that you? How's Ari? Is she okay?!" Kuroo worriedly asks on the other line.

Violently Akaashi's body shakes. "I don't know where she is," he whispers.

"Huh?! What did you say??"

"I don't know where Hikari is," Akaashi repeats. "She wasn't home when I came home l-last night and I thought she was at Yui-san's b-but... she hasn't come home or gone to work today and she left her phone at home."

The sound of a phone dropping is heard through the other side of the phone and Akaashi suddenly hears Yuki's voice.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE HASN'T COME HOME OR SHE WASN'T HOME LAST NIGHT?! She told me she was at home around 6pm!! Weren't you there?!" Yuki yells.

Akaashi bites his lips and stares at the wooden floor. "I-I wasn't. I came home around 10:30--"

"You jerk!" Yuki instantly yells.

"Okay, Yuki. It's not the time to fight," Kuroo interrupts and comes back on the line. "So Ari wasn't home when you came back last night and still isn't?"

"Y-yes," Akaashi whispers.

Sighing in frustration and worriedness, Kuroo runs a hand through his hair. "I'm going to call the police about Hikari missing. If you find out anything else, just call. Let's all meet up tonight," Kuroo says before hanging up.

Once the phone line ends, Akaashi runs into their room to look through the closet. Looking through the clothes, he sees that all of Hikari's clothes are still there and all of the bags and suitcases are still in their place.

'Did she leave without anything?'

Furiously, he searches through every room in their house to see everything is still in their normal place. It was definitely like she had just disappeared.

"If you don't like her, Akaashi, then you should tell her and maybe cut off this marriage," Bokuto's words ring through his head.

"Where is she? Where is she?" Akaashi repeats in his head and continues running around the place, trying to find a clue of her existence. "We were just fine a couple of days ago..." he curses to himself and messes up his hair while sitting on the cold floor. "It's so cold."

For sure, he was certain that a part of his soul had left him--the warm part of his soul.

"Please just come back home."

Date: 17 October 2020