Furihata hated flying.

Apparently, being married to an Akashi, with a chance to fly first class whenever and wherever he wants and occasional access to Masaomi's private jet didn't make Furihata automatically adjusted to the lifestyle. He was still scared as shit flying, as he still could feel the soft buzz of the engine running when he was laying on a comfortable bed instead of sitting in an awkward seat of economy class.

Ugh.

It wasn't that he was ultra-sensitive. He was just… scared.

Furihata tossed and turned, trying to be as comfortable as possible to forget that particular buzz that reminded him that they're inside a vehicle weighs about eighty tonnes, ten thousand feet in the air.

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

Furihata threw the blanket over his head, burying himself in the fabric in hope that he would be asleep like now.

He was so close to cry and wake Akashi up (even though he didn't want to cause Akashi deserved every minute of rest he could get, considering the long hours he had endured working) when an arm was circling his waist, hugging him and pressing him closer to its owner, who was fast asleep just a few moments ago. Furihata peeked from under his blanket, only to see a pair of heavy-lidded eyes staring at him.

"Scared still?' he asked, sounding amused.

Furihata nodded, a hint of red was tinting his cheek in embarrassment. Akashi laughed softly. But he pulled Furihata closer to him regardless. Despite the redhead being practically half asleep, Furihata couldn't fight when Seijuurou shifting their position so Furihata was half on top of his body. The brunet blushed harder to their new position, while Akashi was nuzzling to his cheek.

"Can you feel my heartbeat?" the redhead asked.

Furihata nodded, not fully trusting himself to speak without stuttering.

"Good," he whispered. "Now, how about you pretend that the buzz of the engine was my breathing and my heartbeat, and when there's a bit... turbulence, it is my body shifting position?"

Furihata blinked, but nodded regardless.

"Are you comfortable?"

"Fine," Furihata spoke.

Akashi smiled, then pressed a light kiss to Furihata's nose, then to his lips. "Go to sleep, my beloved Kouki," he whispered. "You need it."

Furihata smiled back at the redhead, then closing his eyes to try to go to sleep once more.

Only this time, he was sure that his attempt will result in success.

Furihata opened his eyes to a ray of light hitting his eyes. He blinked twice, recalling the memories from before he slept for a moment until he came to remember where he was and almost jumped in shock.

His jumpy instinct was only held back by the presence of an arm keeping him safe in his embrace, along with the regular rhythm of breathing under his body was what keeping Furihata calm. Only then Furihata remembered having his husband protecting him from his own thoughts, lulling him to sleep with the rhythm of his heartbeat alone.

"Oh Sei," Furihata smiled as he tilted his head to see his husband's angelic visage. Seeing him like this, the brunet couldn't understand why so many people refer to Akashi as a scary guy. He was so innocent, so handsome, and so pure. Furihata shifted as softly as he could to reach Akashi's face with his lips without risking waking him up. "What would I do without you?"

The brunet could remember his days of flying before Akashi's embrace. The very first time he boarded a plane was to Seoul, for supervising the preparation for the country's largest miniature train exhibition. He was fidgeting the whole time in his seat, gaining a glare from the person next to him that could as well be translated to a mild threat. But it was a short flight, and Furihata dismissed it easily.

His first long-haul flight, however, was an absolute nightmare.

He realized that he had aviophobia when the plane was taking off, soaring into the sky as Furihata started to tremble badly. It was too late to turn back, or even to ask for a change of seat. Because of course, he had to sit by the window and the person beside him was scary as hell.

It was, without a doubt, the scariest ten hours of his life.

He could remember the helpless feeling, could feel how much he trembled (Furihata was sure that he's holding a world record for "person who trembles in fear the longest" by then), and how lonely he was. Furihata could remember staring at the closed window desperately, wishing that someone was there to comfort him, to distract him from the thought of the ground, which was a thousand feet away from under his shoes. He wanted someone to hold him like his mother would. Hell, he was almost too desperate to ask for the tattooed, pierced guy beside him to hold him, if the guy wasn't too flushed by drinking too much alcohol offered by the flight attendant. Furihata felt like it was his personal hell, and he could do nothing but to sit tight and endured it with eyes opened or shut. There was no way for him to distract himself. Not basketball playbook, not the thoughts of the lamest joke by his friends, not the thoughts of train miniatures. None.

There he was, practically on top of the world, higher than the clouds, and feeling completely all alone.

Until Akashi came to his life.

It was Akashi who made flying a little bit bearable for Furihata. The first flight they had together was a surprise from Akashi, who got a ticket to Hawaii for his birthday from Masaomi's business associate. He decided to go with Furihata, who, although was happy with the idea of taking a vacation together, was terrified when the word airplane was mentioned.

Upon learning his fear, Akashi promised to embrace Furihata all the way until they landed safely, just as long as Furihata dared to defeat his own fear. And that, he did. During the flight to Hawaii and return, Akashi only stopped hugging and embracing Furihata only to feed him tasteless plane food. (Plain plane food, Furihata tried to joke. And while Akashi only smiled at that, Furihata could very much tell Izuki-senpai will be proud of him).

The experience was equally terrifying and exciting, that Furihata decided to try again when Akashi presented him with the opportunity.

Well, a lot of opportunities. Because apparently, Akashi enjoyed taking Furihata to beautiful places far, far away from Japan.

Furihata let out a little smile, reaching for Akashi's hair and running his fingers through the messed up scarlet strands. The light that peeked through the window gave it a little more color, as if it wasn't vibrant enough. He was so grateful for Akashi's love, for him to keep on embracing Furihata whenever he needed and then some. Furihata often thought that he had asked too much of the redhead, demanding too much of his love, too much of his attention, too much of his energy. But Akashi often dismissed that, comforting him even more with lovely whispers and beautiful words.

Yeah, what will I do without you, Sei?

The question was quickly stirred into a full force morning blues, that made Furihata helplessly cried. Tears were suddenly running on his cheeks, and before he could wipe it, Akashi suddenly blinked, as if sensing the other's change of mood.

"Kouki?" he whispered.

Furihata tried to hide his face, but he was a second too late. Akashi had already seen his face, and his sleepy expression turned into full alert in the next second.

"Kouki, why are you crying?" he asked, fingers cupping Furihata's cheek to wipe the tears. "Are you scared? How long have you been awake? Why didn't you wake me up?"

Furihata tried to explain, tried to shook his head, but Akashi's concern made him cry even harder. Akashi spent not a moment to hold Furihata in his arms, hugging him tight and giving Furihata's temple quick kisses to soothe him.

"It's okay, Kouki," he whispered. "I'm here, I'm sorry I slept too much. I'm sorry."

"It's… Not… That, Sei," Furihata whispered. "It's…" he broke into a sob before taking a deep breath, focusing on Akashi's kisses to calm himself down. "It's… I just… I can't imagine… being without you."

At that, Akashi stopped. He grabbed Furihata's chin and tilted it to meet his gaze. "Kouki, what do you mean?" he asked, his voice sounded stern.

"It's just…" Furihata sobbed. "Remember my story about my first long-haul flight?"

Akashi nodded, still staring right to Furihata's brown eyes.

"I remembered... the feeling," Furihata said. "I didn't tell you the first time, but the whole flight, I was praying for someone to hold me. I was desperately praying for someone to calm me down, to love me. Sei, I just…" he stopped to wipe his another tear rolling to his cheek as he let out a small smile that looked a bit painful for Akashi, because those brown eyes were showing misery instead of the usual light that came naturally with his beautiful smile. "Sei, I already long for you, for this warmth you offered me, even before I knew you. I already knew I would fall in love with this even before I felt it. I knew that you were what missing from me, you were the reason I couldn't be brave to face the fear... or fears I had… You know? And just now… I imagine… to be without you. I imagine being all alone again, and I just…" Furihata couldn't even finish his own sentences, his cry was amplified by the spoken words. "Sei, just please, please... stay with me."

Akashi let out a little smile, pained and yet touched by Furihata's plea. "Oh, Kouki," he whispered as he gathered the brunet back into his arms. "I fell in love with you too. And you have my word, Kouki. I will never leave you," he paused to place a soft kiss on Furihata's temple. "I will never make you face your fears alone, and if you allow me, I will help draw the strength within you to face them all until they become a distant memory. I believe you can do it, Kouki. You are strong, you just didn't trust yourself enough," he continued, while keeping on pressing little kisses here and there to calm his husband down. "Fortunately, we are married now, so we will face everything together. Isn't that what we promised each other in the altar?"

Furihata smiled, his fears was slowly subsided by every single word Akashi spoke. "Yes."

The redhead then released Furihata, only to cupped his cheek and stared right into his brown eyes. Furihata could feel himself blushing furiously as those ruby eyes fixed on him. "I love you."

"I love you too, Sei."

"Please tell me about these thoughts whenever they're surfacing, Kouki. So I can continue to assure you of my love. I will never get tired of convincing you. I will never stop showing you until they're gone."

Furihata nodded. "Same goes to you, Sei," he spoke, but Furihata knew better. Akashi would never had those kind of thoughts. It was Furihata's tendency to feel insecure.

But it still made Furihata happy to see a smile decorating Akashi's lips, making his already perfect look even brighter and even more beautiful, if it's even possible.

But hey, this is Akashi Seijuurou. Everything is possible with him.

"There you go. I love your smiles, Kouki. But this one, right here," he brushed a thumb lightly over Furihata's childish grin before placing a soft kiss on it. "This is my favorite."

Furihata grinned even wider, no doubt making him look even more childish before his smile dropped and he gasped.

"Oh, God!"

"Where?"

"No, Sei, look," Furihata shifted towards the half-covered window, opening it fully to unveil the greatest view he had ever seen. The sun was rising a little bit higher on the violet sunrise, painted the clouds that looked like a sea of pink cotton candy with a touch of gold that reminded Furihata of certain someone's eye color. The one he once saw, but never forgotten. "It's beautiful."

"Indeed it is, Kouki," Akashi replied.

"I always missed this beautiful scenery the whole time?"

Akashi only chuckled. "What is important now, that you will never miss it anymore," he said. "I won't allow you to miss it, and You will be brave enough to see this every time, right, Kouki?"

Furihata shook his head, as he turned to kiss his husband's cheek. "No, I am looking forward to it," he said. "Having this scenery… and you… Flying starting to feel like I'm on top of the world, now."

Akashi let out a proud smile, before kissing Furihata back on the lips. The innocent expression of love was starting to grow into a more demanding heat, before Furihata stopped and stared at Akashi, his eyes looked serious.

"But Sei?"

"Yes, my dear Kouki?"

"I... can still have you hugging me during the flight, right?"