I'm very sorry for the shorter chapter! The next one will be much longer. But you see, I just had to end it where I did, there was no way around it, sorry again.
Anyway, hope you enjoy (if you're an evil person that is hehe) this chapter!
Chapter III
December 8th
Now, Akashi was never one to believe in the paranormal. He was never that person that shrieked during horror movies or shivered while listening to scary stories or shook with fear upon entering a supposed haunted house. No, Akashi was always the cool, composed member of the group, that always tried to find an explanation for everything. That could seemingly always explain everything. The male did not believe in things he couldn't. So naturally paranormal fell into that category.
That was one of the reasons why Akashi had such a hard time coping with these events.
The next day he decided to bring his once again burnt motherboard along with his computer to a technician to find the reason for such damage. The redhead could not simply accept that it was caused by unnatural things.
The technician told him that his motherboard was burnt due to a high electric discharge. However, he said that it was very odd for such a new and high-model computer to suffer such damage.
Unnatural.
And when Akashi mentioned all that cracking and glitching the man simply stared at him strangely and assured him that, apart from the burnt motherboard, his computer was in perfect shape. Absolutely nothing was wrong with it.
That left Akashi all that more uneasy.
He couldn't help but recall all the unexplainable things that happened in the past week.
Those unnerving messages from his account.
That bug with his page.
That cracking.
Burnt motherboards.
Messages from his non-existing account.
Messages making sense.
That disturbing cracking and glitching.
And that dreadful, foreboding feeling that is always there whenever I'm home.
None of it made sense.
And it make Akashi's head spin.
He felt like throwing up.
The male grunted in pain as he clenched his aching head.
This was bad for his health, both physical and mental.
This time Akashi decided to replace his computer with a cheaper one. There was always that possibility that something was physically wrong concerning the electricity in his room, so it would have been foolish to risk another expensive computer being damaged.
Nevertheless, that one part of his mind kept nagging him about that not being the case. About him understanding that, but simply refusing to accept.
Akashi only shove those thoughts deeper.
He'll feint ignorance for as long as possible.
Otherwise the male feared he might go insane.
Once home, Akashi set on yet again setting up his new computer. Perhaps he should contact an electrician to check the outlets in his room, but a foreboding feeling kept whispering to him that he shouldn't bring anyone into his home anymore. As if they were unwanted. However, the redhead decided that if there's another electric discharge, he'll have no choice but to call in a professional.
After finally setting up his computer, Akashi once again left. Like mentioned before, he tried to stay away from his house as much as possible, especially after recent events. And that godforsaken nightmare... It had been a long time since he had dreamed anything remotely similar, and this particular one badly shook him up. All day the male was in such a gloomy mood that no one would have been surprised if they learnt he fell into heavy illness on anything like that.
That wasn't far from the truth.
However, Akashi still with every single tint of strength left inside of him tried to stay away from that seeping in darkness, to keep it under control. He managed to do so all year, so what was so different now?
So many things.
Nevertheless, after mindlessly wandering through the busy street until deep nightfall, Akashi knew he had to turn back. He had to head back.
If he could, he would continue walking aimlessly for the rest of his life.
Unfortunately, that wasn't an option.
So, with a heavy head, Akashi slowly began returning back to his home, back to his room.
Perhaps he should simply stay away from that particular area?
No... That also wasn't an option. Practically all of his life, or what was left of it, was in his room. Besides, he couldn't act childishly forever.
Maybe I should listen to some music.
That wasn't such a bad idea. It had been quite awhile since the male last indulged himself in the wonders of music that on so many occasions proved to be a successful mean of escaping reality. And that was the thing Akashi wished for the most.
Perhaps that really wasn't such a bad idea.
If truth be told... The redhead hoped that he might manage to fall asleep while listening to music and that could somehow grant him a dreamless night. He had run out of sleeping pills, so he had to get a bit creative.
God forbid he has another nightmare like that again.
Turning off the lights and without getting ready too much besides stripping into his night attire Akashi dropped onto his bed on his back, phone and earphones in hand. The redhead plugged them in and randomly selected a song as long as it was loud. The louder the better. That way he wouldn't be able to focus on his thoughts. Sure, that might prevent him from falling asleep easily, but at least it will keep him away from reality.
The other reason why the male might had trouble sleeping like this was that strange drop of temperature in his room. However, somehow it was oddly soothing, so he didn't bother to increase the heat.
With blasting music in his ears, Akashi placed an arm over his eyes and released a deep sigh. He felt so, so tired. Falling into a dark oblivion seemed so tempting, so welcoming. It promised so much, but, most important of all, it promised freedom, even if it were a false one.
'That does sound tempting. However, you have to remember the reason why you must alive.'
That reason meant nothing. It meant nothing anymore.
'You can't-'
The voice in his head was interrupted by the music suddenly stopping half-way through the song. However, almost immediately afterwards it started from the beginning, but stopped again and after a moment started again. It kept repeating and repeating. As if on a loop.
For some reason that deeply unnerved the male.
He removed the arm from his eyes and glanced at the device in his hand. And indeed, the music kept stopping and starting from the beginning over and over again. Perhaps his media player was broken? Or his earphones somehow messed it up?
So, with that thought, Akashi pulled the cord out and tried to plug it in again, but the moment it made contact with his phone, sparks flew out of the small hole accompanied by a cracking sound that made the male instinctively drop the device further onto the bed. Immediately, the redhead sat up and stared wide-eyed at his phone, innocently laying not too far from him.
If truth be told, that seriously startled Akashi.
Slowly, he extended his hand and carefully took the device in order to examine it. Looking closer, the male noted that the place where the earphones should be plugged in was all scorched, as if...
Did it just receive an electric discharge?..
But... How was that-
Akashi's thoughts were cut off by a melodious, quiet beep that he knew all too well.
And that sent his heart racing.
The redhead slowly turned his head to the source of that sound, only to have his eyes widen.
He could have sworn he had not turned on his computer.
But not only was the device's screen dimly illuminating the dark room, a specific website that should not be on was being displayed in all it's beauty.
In all that shock with his phone acting strange, Akashi failed to notice that detail. But now that he had, all those troubling thoughts from before came crashing back at full force.
After a good minute of staring at the bright screen, his heart thumping loudly against his ribcage, the redhead slowly began getting out of bed. Another beep resonated through the room as he was making his way to the computer, which made the male flinch and momentarily pause. Taking a deep breath, he continued and soon he had sat down on his chair as a third beep rang.
Just as he had feared, he had received three of those messages.
December 8, 93:65
KuroKo TetSuyA: Akashi-kun, I told you that wasn't my fault
93:66
KuRokO TeTsuya: my fault
93:67
KUroko TetsUya: I'm sorry, Akashi-kun, okay?
Another message.
KuRoko TetsUya: I'm sorry
KuRokO TeTsuya: Please don't be mad at me
Don't be mad at you..?
He was apologizing.
Why... why were such words clenching Akashi's heart so painfully? Why was there a heavy lump forming in his throat? Why were his eyes stinging so much?
Akashi brought his fist to his mouth and bit on it roughly as a muffled, shaky cry escaped his throat. His vision was slowly clouding from the unshed tears as he typed in a response without thinking about it at all.
93:68
Akashi Seijuurou: I'm not
Akashi Seijuurou: I'm not mad at you
God, I'm not and never again will be mad at you.
A pause. A painfully long, silent pause.
Then, the response.
93:70
KurokO TetSuyA: Don't call me princess, Akashi-kun, that sounds embarrassing
KuRokO TeTsuya: call me princess
KurokOTetSuyA: Akashi-kun, please
KUroko TetsUya: call me princess
KUrokoTetSuya: That's just like you, isn't it, Akashi-kun?
That's just like you...
…
''Seriously, Akashi-kun, you need to stop. I'm not a woman, why do you keep calling me that?''
''…''
''No, I don't like it, that sounds very embarrassing.''
''…''
''...I really can't change you, can I, Akashi-kun? For some reason I'm glad though.''
…
A quiet, husky cry left his lips as salty tears finally began trailing down his face. The male brought his hands to the sides of his head and gripped his red locks tightly, though no pain reached him. Akashi could only focus on that gashing, heavily bleeding wound in his heart, which was escaping in the form of clear, never-ending tears from his wide eyes, and those chocking, quiet cries, not allowing the male to breathe. He was slowly running out of air, but he did not focus on that. That agonizing pain his chest was too excruciating. His carefully built up walls were slowly crumbling as he kept re-reading those words.
''Princess...'' a quiet whisper left the male's shaky lips. That only made him grip his hair tighten as the pain in his chest intensified. ''Princess... My princess...''
That was how Akashi used to call him on certain occasions. Oh how he adored this nickname. And seeing how he always got irritated or displeased about it only made the redhead want to tease him further. To keep addressing him as his princess.
Akashi could not take this anymore. He felt as if his body, his heart was being ripped apart.
He could not physically take this any longer.
The redhead felt how his vision was slowly darkening, that excruciating pain never leaving his soul though. It would forever remain there, waiting for more opportunities to torment its host.
To remind him of all the mistakes he made and all those times he can't get back.
Akashi distantly felt how his body hit the cold ground.
So it has come to my attention that some of you may be misunderstanding a certain thing, which is very normal actually. It may seem to some of you that Akashi is being OOC. Now, let me explain about that. If you understand what is going on already, you may skip this. It will take awhile, sorry.
When you start writing a fanfiction, yes, you take already existing characters, but, the way I see it, you merely create a copy of them and shape them according to different kind of situations. However, a writer must always take in account how those specific situations would realistically affect a human, since even if that character isn't yours, it's still human and its functions work the same. Now, let's take Akashi for example. If the Akashi in my story would be the same Akashi from KnB, then yes, he may be OOC, since he would be much braver and have more rational thoughts. He certainly wouldn't get freaked out so quickly. But now let's look at the Akashi from my story. First of all, remember, that this Akashi suffered a great loss. His lover died completely unexpectedly, so naturally that shook him up a lot. Now, remember the first chapter and what Midorima had said: Akashi hadn't taken any time to mourn. He didn't talk to anyone, he didn't vividly show his grief, but instead kept all those negative emotions and thoughts completely to himself. So, based on human psychology, that affected Akashi deeply. It is incredibly unhealthy to keep all of that immense grief to himself. Akashi's mental state slowly began worsening by the day due to that. So, knowing that, it's now clear that the Akashi at the beginning of my story is already psychologically ill, his mental state is already weak. Now, any person would definitely have a negative reaction if their dead lover suddenly started sending messages to them. They'd write it off at first of course, just how Akashi did, but with time their resolve would start crumbling. However, that is if talking about a sane, healthy person. Akashi is not. He is already quite damaged, so such a dreadful experience affected him much more, and much more than it would have had if Akashi had been the one from KnB. So naturally he does seem OOC if you would compare him with Akashi from the anime, but if you take all these points into consideration, then this Akashi would seem like not a realistic human being otherwise. Of course, I could have taken a different way, but I didn't. I hope this clears up that up.
Anyway, thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed!