Chapter Text
Keiji stared down at his blood-stained hands, before looking up to the sight before him.
“This definitely was a bad idea…” Keiji whispered, still blankly staring ahead.
Slowly, he stepped toward it. The pool of blood below him sloshed as he inched closer, soaking into the bottom of his pants. (He’d make a mental note to wash and dispose of these pants later.) His stained, red shoes clicked softly over the hardwood floor.
Finally, standing inches away, he forced himself to look down. The body. The cold, dead body. His friend… Its empty eyes seemed to peer into Keiji’s soul. Avoiding direct eye contact, he carefully removed the knife from the body and slipped it into the interior pocket of his jacket. He sighed.
Keiji wiped the handle clean, then washed himself off in the sink. He put the knife back into the block and cuffed his pants to hide the soaking red seeping through. Grabbing the door handle, he looked back and shuddered, taking one last glance into the apartment. At the body. At his friend. He turned around and slowly twisted the knob.
“Bye Kuroo…” he whispered, uneasy, as he gently shut the apartment door.
Nobody would find out. That; he’d make sure of.
The next morning, Keiji woke to a ringing in his ear. Grumbling, he turned over in bed, squinting against the combined sunlight and the light from his phone. He reached toward the table next to him, slowly grabbing the bright phone. Finally opening his eyes fully, the phone dimmed, revealing his lock screen filled with notifications.
Bokuto Kotarou: 11 missed calls
Bokuto Kotarou: 24 messages
Voicemail: 5 new notifications
Keiji sighed, knowing this moment would come. Rubbing his eyes, he prepared himself to console his probably sobbing friend. After taking a few deep breaths, he pressed the call button and waited for it to ring.
After 3 long rings, Bokuto finally picked up.
“Akaashi..” Bokuto let out through tears and sniffles.
Keiji stayed quiet for a moment, “Bokuto-San. What’s wrong?”
“It’s Kuroo… I didn’t believe it at first… I told them no, but… Then I saw it and…” Bokuto stopped his sentence and started sobbing violently.
For a moment, Keji felt guilty. He knew it was a mistake, but... hearing Bokuto-san crying like this was unlike anything he had ever seen or heard.
Finally, he replied, “Bokuto-San... Are you okay?”, in an attempt to console him.
Of course, this failed, and Bokuto sobbed even more, “K-Kuroo. He… I-… I can’t believe it I-I…”
Keiji sighed. This was the hardest part. Listening to his best friend break down, mourning the loss of one of his closest friends. Of course, Keiji did what he had to do, but it still felt wrong.
“Bokuto-San, what happened to Kuroo?” Keiji said, as gently and comforting as possible.
“Akaashi. Kuroo- he..” Bokuto stopped for a moment, composing himself, probably wiping his tears. “He d-died.”
Keiji sat there, unsure of what to say. He’d rehearsed this so many times. But now that it was happening… He didn’t know what to say.
After a minute of hearing Bokuto’s sobs through the phone, Keiji muttered, “Oh… Bokuto-San, I-… I’m sorry. That’s-” Keiji stopped himself.
“That’s terrible,” he thought for a moment, before continuing, “You can come over to my house. We can lay on my bed and cuddle. It’ll help with the… “ He struggled to finish his sentence, “grieving... before the services.”
Again, Bokuto tried to stop the crying, taking deep breaths and closing his eyes. When he was ready, he sighed, and said, “That would be nice Akaashi.”
After saying goodbyes, Keiji hung up, putting his phone back onto the table. Looking around his room, he closed his eyes and laid back.
“I just made a big mistake.”