A/N: It's finally here! Apologies, nothing to note except that (F/F) = Favorite Flavor. Read on and enjoy!
An Empress and an Emperor Go on a Date?
You and Akashi walk side by side down the street, casually brushing arms, as Mai runs ahead cheerfully. When you both finally catch up to her she's already in line at Brain Freeze. It was odd being at work when you didn't have to be. You crane your neck around looking for Kai. You quietly make a disappointed sound that Akashi catches.
"What's the matter? Your boyfriend not here?" You turn red at the insinuation that Kai is your boyfriend.
"Kai is not my boyfriend, he's a … just a friend." Akashi gives you a disbelieving look. You shrug it off and look ahead, ending the conversation before it can go any further.
When it's your turn to finally order, Mai gets herself a big scoop of cookies and cream. You get yourself a scoop of (F/F) and you just about start dancing with excitement. You turn and look at Akashi, who in turn just looks at you with a question written all over his face. Rolling your eyes you order him a simple vanilla soft serve.
"That will be 771.20 yen, but with your discount it comes out to be 652 yen."
You reach for your wallet, but you stop as Akashi pulls his out faster and pays. You kind of just stand there and gawk. It had never crossed your mind that he could be anything but an arrogant jerk. Taking your number and a seat near the windows you silently contemplate the true character of the Emperor of Rakuzan High. You are so focused in your thoughts that you don't even hear your number being called. You snap out of it when a hand makes its way in front of your face, waving back and forth.
"Ah, sorry 'bout that. I was um deep in thought."
"I see that." You scrunch up your nose at the voice; you had expected to hear Akashi's voice, so why did you hear Kai's? You turn your head in the direction the voice came from. Realizing that it was actually Kai, you smile.
"Kai! Hi, haha. I didn't see you when I came in, where were you?"
"I was in the back. I just started my shift." He grins at you, the corner of his eyes crinkling. You just sit there, happily looking at his face. You are surprised that you've never realized that his eyes are such a light brown. A shove startles you and you turn to your side, Mai is looking at you with a pout.
"Ah, Kai you remember my little sister Maiko, yeah?"
"Of course, how could I forget such a cute girl?" He winks in her direction and you can practically hear her swoon. She stretches out so she can see him and quickly turns beet red and hides her face behind her ice cream. You almost forget that Akashi is with you, but he makes his presence known in a very unsubtle cough into his elbow. Blinking and then cringing at the realization that you have had an audience the entire time you tug at the loose strands of your hair.
"Kai, this is Akashi Seijuro. My uh math tutor." You balk at admitting that you have a tutor in front of Kai, but what did it matter. You were friends and friends shared everything, right? Kai extends his hand in Akashi's direction and you see a look of distaste cross his face. You wince as the time passes and Akashi still refuses to take Kai's hand. You send a glare in Akashi's direction for being so rude, but he doesn't seem to notice. When you have had about enough and are about to knock some decency into your infuriating tutor, you hear someone shout Kai's name. He retracts his hand and casually shrugs off what was obviously a huge offense and dismissal on Akashi's part.
"Well, I'll see you later then (F/N)." He turns to walk away, but then quickly turns right back around. Taking your cone from your hand, he swiftly takes a lick and hums to himself with a pleased look on his face. He hands it back and takes off toward the cash registers.
"You are such a brat Matsuoka Kai!"
He shouts back. "I only started being one after I met you (L/N) (F/N)!" You smile to yourself, your happy feelings clearly radiating off you. You look up and Akashi is giving you a very critical glare. You brush it off and finish your cone before deciding it is time to head back home. You wave goodbye to Kai who has just taken position behind a cash register. He waves back offhandedly while attempting to pay attention to a little kid listing off a slew of ice creams flavors they want. Chuckling you head out of the door, Mai at your left and Akashi somewhere behind you. You walk a couple blocks before Akashi breaks the silence.
"You are sure he's not your boyfriend?"
"I said he wasn't didn't I?"
"You call him by his first name and don't even bother to use an honorific. That's a little intimate."
"Yeah, well we're friends. Maybe not for the longest time, but we're close so yeah I call him by his first name and I don't use an honorific. Why is it so important to you?"
Before he can answer, Mai tugs at your arm, a fierce scowl on her face. You stop for a second, taken aback by her expression. What had made her so upset?
"Oneechan, how rude!" You don't reply perplexed at what she is talking about. Looking to Akashi for some help, all he gives you is a shoulder shrug.
"What do you mean, Mia-chan?"
"I MEAN, how rude of you to flirt with Kai-chan in front of YOUR BOYFRIEND!"
You come to a complete stop at that. Akashi too seems a little taken off guard.
"My WHAT?!"
"Your boyfriend, DUH! I mean you talked about him at dinner, he came over to the house this morning and you even brought him to ice cream. Not to mention he bought it for us. It's obvious that he's jealous." You start to laugh, tears pool in the creases of your eyes.
"Mai, haha, that's haha the funniest, oh my gosh…" You can't even finish your sentence your breath is coming in too fast.
"Is not! I'm serious Oneechan." You finally pull yourself together.
"Come on, back me up here." You turn to Akashi only to find that he has continued walking and is now a couple feet ahead of you. Not just that, but he just passed your house too. Quickly giving Mai the key and telling her to head inside, you jog to catch up to Akashi. You grab his right bicep announcing that you had gotten him, a silly grin on your face. He shrugs off your hand, picking up his pace. Your eyebrows knit closer together. You sprint to get ahead of him.
"Hey! Seriously what's the matter? You seem a little more brooding than usually." He steps past you, bumping your shoulder not so gently. 'You have got to be kidding.' You grab his arm this time with a strong grip.
"I'm talking to you! You can't just ignore me!" You just about yell at him, which makes him stop. Prying your fingers away from his arm he turns to face you.
"I can ignore whom I please, especially a peasant who's forgotten their place." Your frown deepens at his choice of words.
"For the love of- are we seriously back to this? I thought we got over this at my house this morning." He turns away from you and continues walking.
"God, you're such an inconsistent person! If you were going to be such an ass, I don't even know why you bothered to come by, let alone buy me and my little sister ice cream." You shout out, exasperated. He doesn't even seem fazed.
"And ya know what the worst part is? For a second there I thought there had to be more to the Emperor of Rakuzan, the great Akashi Seijuro, than the emotionally distant, slightly sadistic prick walking away from me! But I guess I was wrong. Thanks though, for saving me the trouble and disappointment of actually trying to get to know you." At that you turn around and bolt into your home. You're in such a hurry to get inside you don't even notice that he stops and looks back, a pained expression on his face. You push past Mai and her questions, your feet fly up the stairs. You slam your door shut and you fall on your bed. You grab the nearest pillow, pull it to your face and scream. When you finish screaming you touch your face confused to find it wet. You don't remember when you started to cry.
Akashi walks next to you, the close proximity making him irrationally flustered. He decides to stay quiet. He muses silently as Mai takes the lead into the ice cream shop, her excitement almost tangible. While in line he catches you looking around the shop and the disappointed noise you release when what he assumes is the person you are looking for is nowhere to be found.
"What's the matter? Your boyfriend not here?" He questions, paying close attention to your reaction. He narrows his eyes at your blush.
"Kai is not my boyfriend, he's a… just a friend." He gives you a disbelieving look, not buying for a minute that this Kai is just a friend. Especially with your lack of an honorific, he is definitely something more. That fact bothers Akashi more than he is willing to let on. He holds his tongue, thinking it better than to stir up a fuss when you pointedly end the conversation.
When it gets to be their turn in line he has no idea what to order. He can't remember the last time he was at an ice cream shop. His father strictly banned such outings for their obvious lack of necessity and unhealthiness. He looks to you, confused and unsure of what to do as the cashier eagerly awaits his order. He lets out a breath when you order for him. The earlier worry eases away. Seeing you reach for your wallet he almost laughs. Acting quicker he takes out a couple loose bills and places them on the counter. Smirking at the look you give him, he leaves to walk over to a table by some windows. Mai takes the seat across and Akashi feels a slight disappointment when you take the seat next to your sister rather than the one next to him. He quickly warms up though: you're staring closely at him. Feeling the heat in his cheeks beginning to rise he turns his head to try and hide. You have him so distracted he doesn't even hear the order being called. He snaps out of his feelings as soon as an auburn haired boy in the shop uniform stops at their table.
When said boy begins to crack jokes with you, revealing a side of warmth to you Akashi can't help but want for himself, he knows immediately that he must be the Kai you mentioned. Growing more and more aggravated at his continued talking, when you introduce him Akashi pointedly ignores the boy's outstretched hand. He sees your glare, but still refuses to acknowledge the boy. When he finally gets called away, Akashi shakes himself off. But when Kai comes back to take a lick of your ice cream, anger flares in his chest. You don't notice the look Kai gives Akashi after: a challenge. Akashi all but loses his mind. He decides to just sit and glare at you, leaving the soft serve untouched. When you finally decide to leave, he can't help the relief that floods him. He decides to wait awhile before bringing up Kai.
"You are sure he's not your boyfriend?"
"I said he wasn't didn't I?"
"You call him by his first name and don't even bother to use an honorific. That's a little intimate."
"Yeah, well we're friends. Maybe not for the longest time, but we're close. So, yeah I call him by his first name and I don't use an honorific. Why is it so important to you?"
Akashi grits his teeth at your question. You are so infuriating. Before he can retort, Mai tugs at your arm, a fierce scowl on her face that instantly silences him.
"Oneechan, how rude!"
He raises an eyebrow, just as confused as you about what she is talking about.
"What do you mean, Mia-chan?"
"I MEAN, how rude of you to flirt with Kai-chan in front of YOUR BOYFRIEND!"
Akashi stops mid stride, knowing all too well where this is going. His mind going back the rant Mai had given him about the same thing when they had first met earlier that day.
"My WHAT?!"
"Your boyfriend, DUH! I mean you talked about him at dinner, he came over to the house this morning and you even brought him to ice cream. Not to mention he bought it for us. It's obvious that he's jealous."
When you start to laugh, a pierce of pain shoots itself in his heart. Irritated that he was letting such a trivial being affect him in such a way, the Emperor picks up his pace. Quickly passing your house, he walks towards his car.
He hears you ask to back you up, but he doesn't even turn around. Mind set on forgetting you ever existed and that anyone came as close as you did to breaking the hard exterior he puts up. When you grasp his bicep and say, "I got you" as if you are in some game of tag, he shakes loose of your grasp and hurries closer to his car. You stubbornly sprint in front of him, which only serves to make him more agitated with you.
"Hey! Seriously what's the matter? You seem a little more brooding than usual."
He steps past you, bumping your shoulder not so gently. You grab his arm this time with a strong grip. Akashi continues to walk, he can't stop because God knows what would happen if he did.
"I'm talking to you! You can't just ignore me!"
You just about yell at him, which makes him stop. He pries your fingers away from his arm and he turns to face you. Anger and some other emotion he's never felt before flare up in him.
"I can ignore whom I please, especially a peasant who's forgotten their place."
He notices the frown on your face deepen and that gives him pause. This shouldn't be bothering you.
"For the love of- are we seriously back to this? I thought we got over this at my house in the morning."
He turns away from you and continues walking.
"God, you're such an inconsistent person! If you were going to be such an ass, I don't even know why you bothered to come by, let alone buy me and my little sister ice cream."
Akashi tries his best to shut out your words, he can't let them get to him. It would be disgraceful for a person of his status to be hurt by such things, they, he was above it.
"And ya know, what the worst part is? For a second there I thought there had to be more to the Emperor of Rakuzan, the great Akashi Seijuro, than the emotionally distant, slightly sadistic prick walking away from me! But I guess I was wrong. Thanks, though, for saving me the trouble and disappointment of actually trying to get to know you."
He stops at that; no one has ever said such things to him. Attempt to get to know him? It was an unheard of action; no one got to know him or at least tried too. He turns his head, a pained expression on his face as he watches you run inside your house. He sees Mai poke her head out of the doorway before quickly closing it. He doesn't know how he makes it home, through the front door or into the shower, hoping to wash the pain away. What had you done to him?
When you wake up, you grab for your phone. Bolting up at the time, it was 12! 'What the hell?' You'd never slept in so late, especially on a Sunday. You march to the bathroom, turning on the water you get ready for your bath. You soak for well over an hour, your fingers and toes wrinkling up. Drying yourself off, you wipe the fog off the mirror and stare at your reflection. Your eyes are swollen and puffy, rimmed with red. You can't remember the last time you had cried so hard. You run your hands through your hair, letting a breath out and wrapping the towel around your body you head back to your room to change. You make your way downstairs and into the kitchen, completely confused as to why your house is so eerily quiet.
Reaching the kitchen you see a note on the counter top. Apparently your parents had decided to spend the day out together with Mai. Leaving you behind on the grounds of the amount of distress you expressed in your on and off crying the past night. Cringing at the last part of the note, you scruple it up and throw it away.
'Why did Akashi's words, more like lack of words hurt so much. You barely knew the guy. Yesterday was probably the first normal interaction either of you had had with the other since you'd first met.'
Shaking your head clear, you think about what you want to spend the rest of the day doing. Deciding on finishing your homework, before all else you grab a snack from the fridge and head back to your room.
(A few hours later)
Feeling proud of yourself and the homework you just finished, you sit back and smile. Even if he was a giant ass, you had to give it to him. Akashi was a pretty decent tutor. Freezing at the sudden realization that you would still have to have tutoring sessions with him, your mind begins to race. Getting up you pull on an old hoodie, write your family a note and head to school. Hopefully your homeroom teacher will be at school and you can beg him to switch your tutor.
As you walk up and through the entrance gates the eerie quiet puts you on edge. So much so you don't even hear the sounds of squeaking shoes and the shouts of the basketball team. You make your way towards the teacher offices, crossing your fingers in the hopes that your teacher will be there. Sliding the door open, you announce your arrival and take a timid bow. Pulling yourself up right you scan the few occupied cubicles. Your heart falls as you realize your teacher isn't here. Apologizing for the interruption you make your way towards the exit. You stare out of the windows into the courtyard and just as you're about to turn away a flash of red catches your eye. You stop and watch the blur of motion from the window. You lose them as they enter what you guess must be the gym. And then you have a very stupid idea.
A/N: Comments, love, questions and critiques are appreciated (like seriously, I think I'm writing Akashi in character but I can't really tell). I'm not sure if I'm happy with how this chapter turned out, but I'm really happy with Chapter 8. Which will be posted tomorrow around the same time, promise! In good faith here is a sneak peek:
You gulp; you've never seen him with that expression on his face before. He lets go of your wrist and his hand moves toward your face. His fingertips ghosting your cheek, they hover over your lips. You think about licking his fingers just to see him freak out, but decide otherwise. His thumb is reaching out as if to brush against your bottom lip.
