Chapter 7: Parting

The next morning, Akaashi woke up in his lover's arms to soft kisses and gentle touches and quiet words. He smiled before even opening his eyes. He was always smiling nowadays, morning, noon and night. He thought he might even be smiling in his sleep, though of course there was no way to prove it.

"Morning, babe," Bokuto said softly as Akaashi finally managed to pry open his heavy lids and look into pools of honey.

"Morning," he said, still sleepy.

"How are you feeling? Are you okay? Are you sore?" asked Bokuto with concern. Akaashi considered for a moment.

"I'm a little sore, especially my back, but I'm okay." Bokuto immediately started rubbing circles on his lower back and Akaashi closed his eyes, again thinking of how he dearly loved all these small things that Bokuto did for him.

"Let me give you a massage," said Bokuto, rising and gently flipping Akaashi to his stomach. Akaashi protested weakly, "You don't have to do that, Bokuto-san."

"I know, but I want to," replied the ace, as he straddled his boyfriend's legs and began to firmly massage his back. "Tell me where it hurts the most."

"Mmmm, there. Thank you, that feels nice," Akaashi murmured, enjoying the sensation of Bokuto's strong hands working over the sore muscles in his lower back. He sighed when his lover's lips joined his hands, tracing all over his bare skin and the contours of his back and his shoulders, and then lower, to his ass. A moan escaped, causing Akaashi to consider if he had enough energy for another round; apparently Bokuto did.

He was suddenly flipped on his back and looked up to see the ace staring at him lovingly. "You're so beautiful, Kaashi," he said as he came down to kiss Akaashi's lips tenderly. He continued using his mouth and his hands, slowly raking them over Akaashi's arms and chest, hands followed by kisses, down the length of his arms, lingering at the inside of his elbow, down lower to the sensitive skin on the inside of his wrist, and finally kissing the palm of his hand. Akaashi's breath hitched watching with fascination as his lover's warm lips caused a jolt of electricity to travel up his arm.

Bokuto was now kissing and touching the other hand and wrist and arm, causing Akaashi to feel like he was slowly melting at the agonizingly languid pace of his lover's hands and mouth. He closed his eyes again, wanting to concentrate on every stroke, every brush of skin, every change in pressure. He sighed again.

Bokuto finally came down beside him and began kissing his lips again, but unlike last night, this was unhurried, loving, serene. When they made love this time, it was all soft touches, gentle strokes, quiet words, as if they had all the time in the world to just enjoy each other. Of course, they were both keenly aware that they didn't have much time at all, but it somehow seemed vital to pretend. They later showered together, again with tender caresses and hushed tones, giving each other more pleasure, knowing their time together was coming to an end.

After their shower, they were snuggled on the sofa with their phones, trying to coordinate their schedules for the next couple of weeks. Luckily, Akaashi could come back to Osaka on Friday (only five days away), but he had to return to Tokyo on Sunday night, and then Bokuto was traveling with the team a few days later. They decided to worry about those arrangements later.

Finally the time came for Akaashi to leave to catch his train. They were both quiet as they walked to the train station, holding hands and trying not to think about the next five days away from each other. The goodbye was harder than either of them thought it would be, and they hugged tightly before Akaashi finally dragged himself away and toward the waiting train, trying his best not to let any tears fall. He mildly chastised himself for falling so hard so fast.

The three hour ride on the bullet train was uneventful. Akaashi used the first part of the trip to catch up on some work but then he didn't feel like staring at his laptop anymore and he put it away and gazed out of the window watching the countryside fly by, lost in thought. Of course he was thinking about Bokuto because, seriously, when was he not?

He was remembering the week they shared and smiling (again, smiling!) at his boyfriend's cute and thoughtful gestures, the trip to the museum, his baggy practice jersey neatly tucked into Akaashi's suitcase. His mind eventually turned to how fucking good the sex was. Shit. Five days without it? He thought he might have some sort of sex addiction now. The thought of five days without feeling his lover's body. That seemed way too long.

He had to force himself to stop thinking about sex and realized with some dark humor that he would probably be doing that a lot over the next several days. His thoughts turned to next weekend, which was much more pleasant to dream about. They would have all weekend, and it would be great. After that? He didn't know. The team was traveling and he needed to see if he could get away from work to join them. It might be tricky, but he would try.

Kageyama had successfully made the transition to making Osaka his base of operations for everyday business. Of course, he needed to go to Tokyo at times, but he was making it work so he could be in Osaka with his husband most of the time. Akaashi briefly considered if he could do the same and didn't see why it would be too hard. But then he censured himself. How stupid was it to consider moving your business five hundred kilometers for a guy you'd known a week? Akaashi physically shook his head as if to dislodge that thought by force. Too soon, he thought. He was acting irrationally, he realized, to put so much faith in where this relationship was going. He needed to cool it and remember they were just trying this out, seeing where it goes. There were no guarantees that it would work out, no assurances that it would last. Hell, maybe he'd get to Tokyo and forget all about his sweet, golden-eyed boyfriend.

Ha, Akaashi laughed to himself. Not only was he being irrational, he was also delusional. No matter what eventually happened between him and Bokuto, he knew he would NEVER forget him or the week they spent together. Those days and nights were permanently etched on his brain, and he doubted, even if he lived to be one hundred, that he could ever forget those feelings of euphoria.

It was only going to be five days away from Bokuto. No big deal, he thought to himself. He could do it. They could do it. He was worrying about nothing. They both would be busy with work and other responsibilities and the time would fly by. Before he knew it, he'd be back on this train, but headed in the other direction, back into the arms of his lover.