Disclaimer: I do not own this universe, this setting, or certain mannerisms of these particular characters – all of the above belong to Aetherdrive, and his fic Crisis Converted on AO3. You should check it out if you haven't already (there's a link in my profile) – it is excellent, first and foremost; and additionally, this story contains spoilers for that one, and will make far more sense after reading Crisis Converted first. This story takes place five to six weeks after Chapter Eight, and is not meant to be regarded as canon for Crisis Converted – this is fanfiction of fanfiction, published with Aetherdrive's permission.

"You forgot to tell me that you won't be here next week?"

Bokuto swallowed his mouthful of coffee, and stared into the depths of his mug as though it had the answers for how to deal with a peeved partner. "…Yes."

It was late afternoon, and apart from Konoha and Washio, they were the only two in the office. Kuroo and Kenma had left twenty minutes earlier, citing a rescheduled appointment with Kenma's physiotherapist. Yaku had told them, looking exhausted and exasperated beyond the point of measure, that he would be down in interrogation with Lev; and Yamamoto and Inuoka were out somewhere, doing… something. They hadn't said, or maybe he hadn't heard them leave.

Akaashi had commandeered Bokuto's laptop five minutes ago, stating that his own internet was on the blink. Somehow, he had ended up on Bokuto's email account. And now, he was giving Bokuto the most intense and simultaneously deadpan side-eye Bokuto had ever seen.

"And that you're going to Miyagi?"

"Um." Bokuto took another sip of coffee, and surreptitiously brought the mug a little higher to hide himself somewhat. He braced himself for the reprimand that was certain to come. "Yes."

Akaashi did not reprimand him. He tilted his head, and – wait, was he smiling? "As in, the Street Shark of –"

"Yeah," Bokuto said sheepishly. He lowered the mug to the table, rubbing the back of his head. "They got in touch with the Metropolitan PD a few months ago and asked if we could run some of the training sessions for their latest set of recruits… and they may have kinda heard about our unit taking Kunimoto down…"

"Hmmm?"

"They may have asked for me personally."

Akaashi still looked exasperated, but the corner of his mouth quirked into a smile. "And you accepted, evidentally."

"Well, yeah!" Bokuto shrugged and leaned back in his chair, grinning at Akaashi. "Gotta show those country folks how tough you've really gotta be to cut it as a detective in the big city, right? Plus the higher-ups are gonna pay for accommodation and stuff, and they said they'd pay me extra for doing it anyways, so… I might as well, I figured. I've had a look at what they want me to talk about – it all sounds pretty cool!"

"It's a good opportunity, for you and them," Akaashi said, nodding. He turned his chair to face Bokuto and raised an eyebrow. "Country folks, though? Isn't the academy in Sendai?"

"Yeah, it is, but it covers a lot of the prefecture, and Chief Nekomata's been talking with some of the people who run it. They get lots in from the smaller towns, he said."

Akaashi nodded. He turned back to the laptop and scrolled through the email again. His eyes narrowed after several seconds. "Just you?"

"They… They actually wanted Kuroo as well. Wanted him to give a workshop on gun usage, but he said no."

"How come? I'd have thought he'd like to do something like that."

"I'd have thought so too! But… well." Bokuto smiled a little sadly. "Kenma's only just come back to work, and Kuroo didn't want to leave him alone. He went to Chief Nekomata as soon as he got the email to say he couldn't do it – eh. Wouldn't do it."

"Mm… Somehow, that doesn't surprise me," Akaashi said, his expression softening. "So, how long are you going to be away for?"

"It's a pity, though," Bokuto continued. "He liked it there last time."

Akaashi squinted at him. "Last time?"

"Oh, we went there a – Washio?" He spun his chair around abruptly to face the corner of the room, where Washio was brewing coffee. "How long ago was that?"

"What?" Washio looked up from the coffee pot, and his eyes widened as they landed on Bokuto's outstretched arm pointing at him.

"Sendai. When were we there?"

"Oh. Um…" He hummed, deep and low in his chest. "Nearly two years ago, I think?"

"Yup! I remember now! Cheers!" Bokuto called, shooting him a double thumbs up.

Washio nodded slowly. "No problem…"

"Sorry, Bokuto-san – Sendai two years ago?"

"Oh, we had to do some training, and the higher-ups sent us to Sendai for it," Bokuto said, spinning back to face Akaashi again. The force made him overspin, and he flung his arms out to catch himself on the table. "We'd just gotten some new people in the unit, and it was like, good team bonding! Ooh, and we met some of the recruits at the Police Academy there – man, that was epic."

Akaashi nodded. "I see. So, how long are you –"

"There was this one kid who was buzzing every time I saw him – he wanted all these tips, and like the awesome person I am, I helped him! Man, he was so cute, Akaashi!"

"Wait, you talkin' about the orange kid?" Konoha said, lowering the lid of his laptop and leaning his elbows on the desk.

"Yeah!" Bokuto spun his chair round again, missing Akaashi's shoulders slumping in exasperation.

"I remember him," Konoha said, nodding. "Stamina t' rival yours. Terrible shot, though."

"Orange kid?"

"Mm – ooh, and Kuroo's kid, Tsukki!"

"Aah… mm." Konoha frowned. "Which one?"

"Tall, blonde, glasses, kinda rude but also really good at his stuff?"

"Yup, yup, comin' back to me now. Kuroo kept draggin' him away for shootin' practice, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did! Y'know, I can still –"

"Bokuto-san, I don't mean to be rude, but I'd like to know how long you're going to be away for."

Bokuto's face fell, and he spun his chair back around to see Akaashi looking exasperated. "Oh jeez, sorry, Akaashi!" He rested his arms on the desk and slumped over them. "Guess I kinda got carried away, huh?"

"It's fine," Akaashi said. "It sounds like you liked the people you met there, and I would like to hear more about them sometime. But it would be helpful knowing how long –"

"Oh, less than a week," Bokuto said, pushing himself off the desk and relaxing into a broad grin. "Monday to Friday, and then we've got a weekend off – good timing, huh?"

There was a snort from the corner. Bokuto turned back around to see Washio grinning behind a hand pressed to his mouth, and Konoha openly smirking at them.

"Oi!" Bokuto said, scowling at them. "What's so funnny?"

"Oh, nothin', nothin'," Konoha said, his voice shaking with barely suppressed laughter. "Just, y'know – a whole weekend to yourselves, and just yourselves, and… My word, I can only imagine the kinds of things our dear captain might get up to with his beloved partner."

Bokuto's cheeks grew hot, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Akaashi hide his face in his hands. Konoha snorted again, pushed his chair out from the desk, and got up.

"Called it, Washio, they are havin' sex," he said over his shoulder as he walked out the room. "You owe me a thousand yen."

Akaashi had the right idea, Bokuto thought, as he buried his burning face in his arms and tried to block out Konoha's sudden peals of laughter, Washio's footsteps across the room, and the distinct sound of money being handed over.

"I just still can't believe they've been betting about our sex life, Keiji!" Bokuto said as they left the car and walked into the gym that evening.

"I didn't think Konoha-san was quite that perverted," Akaashi said, grimacing as he nodded in agreement. "I've worked in the same unit as him for nearly five months now, but I still don't feel like I know him very well. I'm not sure I want to, after that."

"Aw, Konoha's alright!" Bokuto said, dumping his gym bag on the bench in the changing room and unzipping it. "Washio too! Konoha just gets a little… overenthusiastic, sometimes!"

Akaashi gave him a very sceptical look as he pulled his workout clothes out of his own bag. Bokuto couldn't fathom what that look was about. It was true, wasn't it?

"You could always team up with them while I'm away, if you want," Bokuto continued, unbuttoning his shirt. "Get to know them a bit better, plus they're dealing with some sorta tricky smuggling case right now and they'd probably appreciate the help. I'll tell them tomorrow, if you're keen."

Akaashi shrugged. "I'd be fine with that, I suppose."

Bokuto hummed as he changed, glancing over at Akaashi's exposed back once. Or twice. Or maybe a few times. It was a very nice back. "Y'know, Konoha's actually freaky scary with predicting who's gonna end up together."

"…Wait, this wasn't a one-time thing?"

"Nah, he's got relationship bets going all the time. Mostly with Washio, sometimes with Lev."

Akaashi stopped in the middle of pulling his t-shirt over his head and stared at Bokuto with raised eyebrows. "Why Lev?"

Bokuto shrugged as he pulled on his shorts over his compression pants. "Lev always loses. Easy thousand yen for Konoha." When Akaashi rolled his eyes, he pressed on. "No, but seriously, he predicts everyone else's love life but can't seem to get his own sorted."

Akaashi smiled wryly. "Don't tell me he and Washio are dating as well."

"What? As… well?" Bokuto frowned. Who else does Akaashi think is dating? …Anyone else in the unit…? "No, no, it's one of the Inspectors in the PD. There are like, these two really good-looking – objectively good-looking, Akaashi! Good-looking Inspectors on floor ten or something like that. I think Konoha has the hots for one of them, and they're kind of a thing but not an actual thing, you know?"

"Um. Like we were?"

"Yeah, like that except like… not?" Bokuto gestured helplessly as they went over to the sparring mats, bouncing on his toes a little as he walked. "I dunno, it's really complicated! Like, he's always telling me 'bout they go on these weird dates and I don't know if she's toying with him or he's not showing enough interest but they aren't official yet and it's been so long!"

"Well, how long has it been?" Akaashi asked dubiously, starting his warm-up stretches.

Bokuto rolled his eyes. "Over two years now. I wish they'd just hurry up already and do something about it."

Akaashi looked up, mouth agape. "Two years? What?"

"It's a good story," Bokuto said, stretching his arms out. "Tell you after sparring, yeah?"

Bokuto was alone in his apartment the following evening, as Akaashi was visiting his parents. He'd been calling them what felt like every second day since the Kunimoto case had closed, and had been making an effort to see them in person at least once a week. Something still lingered of the guilt Akaashi had harboured for so many weeks – guilt Bokuto had told him time and time again he shouldn't feel. But he did and had felt it, and if suddenly spending far more time keeping in touch with his parents was something Akaashi needed to do to assuage and get past it, Bokuto wasn't about to stand in his way.

But it did make his apartment seem very large and very, very quiet – for Akaashi didn't come over on nights like these, stating that it would be silly for him to come over late at night for no other reason than to spend the night together. Bokuto couldn't quite follow his logic on that point – he'd spend every night for the rest of his life with Akaashi, if given the chance – but Akaashi was usually right about things he explained logically. Usually.

So Bokuto was alone. Alone, bored, and really, really missing Akaashi.

Tossing the takeout he'd picked up on the way home onto the coffee table, he flopped onto the couch, fished out the remote from between the cushions and turned on the TV. He stuck out his tongue at the news report playing on the screen (probably Akaashi's doing), and flicked through the channels until he found a children's channel showing cartoons. He turned the volume down low, nestled back into the cushions, and pulled out his phone. Opening up his messaging, he tapped on the conversation thread he had going with Kuroo.

12 Feb 19:54
To: Kuroo
heeeeey

12 Feb 19:56
From: Kuroo
hey man

12 Feb 19:57
To: Kuroo
you free? like to talk or whatever

12 Feb 19:59
From: Kuroo
ummm
can we talk later maybe?
kenma had a bad night at physio
wanna keep an eye on him

12 Feb 20:03
To: Kuroo
hey that's fine
poor kenma (○´･д･)ﾉ
take care of him
make sure he eats and gets a good sleep

12 Feb 20:04
From: Kuroo
cheers man. akaashi around?
you doing ok?

12 Feb 20:05
To: Kuroo
akaashi not here tonite. im good but srsly dw about me go take care of kenma
and dw if you cant talk later all good
see you tmrw

12 Feb 20:10
From: Kuroo
k. see you tomorrow then

Bokuto flicked out of the conversation and back to his home screen, and his shoulders slumped. No Akaashi, and now no Kuroo.

He turned back to the television and spied his takeout. He'd forgotten about it in his quest for electronic interaction, and his stomach growled as the smell of it wafted up to him.

He turned up the volume on the TV, broke apart the disposable chopsticks, and for a while he distracted himself with food and the children's show, all bright colours and tension-building music.

And then during an ad break, almost on reflex, he turned his phone on and opened his contacts list, scrolling to Kuroo's name automatically. And then he scrolled all the way back up to the top of the list, because right, that was a dumb idea when he knew he shouldn't contact Kuroo that evening.

Bokuto drummed his fingers on the back of his phone and huffed out a sigh. He scrolled back down to Kuroo. And up and then down again. And again. But on his fourth flick of the screen, something else caught his eye. He paused, then slowly moved the screen until it showed the name just above Kuroo's.

He'd forgotten about that. Hurriedly, he put the TV on mute, then he selected the name and brought the phone up to his ear. He jiggled his foot on the sofa as it rang on the other end.

"Yo, captain-san."

"Hey, Konoha! You got a minute?"

"Uh, sure. What for?"

"I got something I wanna run by you…"

Monday morning came around much earlier than Bokuto had anticipated – that is, when he woke up unexpectedly in the middle of the night.

Bokuto half-opened an eye. He couldn't see anything through the blear of sleep and in the pitch black of the room. He forced the other eye open a crack and squinted into the darkness. There had been shaking. Something had shaken him awake – just… where?

It was then that he heard the breaths – sharp, too harsh and loud for the middle of the night. He squirmed back a little in the mess of sheets and duvet and legs the bed had become and reached out a clumsy hand towards the other occupant of the bed.

"Hmmm? Akaashi?"

Akaashi's hand loosened from the grip it had on the front of his shirt, and curled around his side to rest on his back. "'S nothing, sorry. Go back to sleep." A whisper, quiet yet louder than thunder in the darkness.

His eyes were too tired and heavy to stay open any longer, and for Bokuto's sleep-fogged mind, that was all the reassurance he needed. He relaxed into the pillow and squirmed back closer to Akaashi. Heavy with fatigue, his eyes slipped shut, and it was only seconds before he succumbed to sleep once again.

Unbeknownst to him, the hand on his back twisted and clutched at his t-shirt very tightly. It was nearly an hour before its owner let go, pulled by exhaustion into the throes of an uneasy slumber.

Not too much to say here - this is a birthday fic for Aetherdrive, and will be three chapters long. If you're like me and very particular about dates and things like that, know that for simplicity's sake I'm using February 2015 dates (hence the twelfth is a Thursday). And that's about it from me for now - I'll be back with an update in a few days. Thanks for reading!