For reasons, unbeknownst to him, Bokuto can't help but see images of a man in his head.

At first, gentle.

Now, however, it was repetitive and relentless.

His name is Akaashi.

Who was he?

His dream was a distorted vignette but Akaashi's smile was clear as day. He reaches for him but it feels automatic rather than intentional.

"You've got rice on your cheek," he hears himself say.

Akaashi leans into his touch. "Thanks."

When he wakes up his hand feels warm.

Him and Kuroo pass by a bookstore and he feels a phantom hand grab him from behind and stopping him.

Kuroo turns and when he opens his mouth, the voice wasn't his.

"Look, Kou, they have that book I want."

Bokuto feels himself say. "Let me buy it for you."

Kuroo ignores this.

He wracks his mind all day and night. Who was Akaashi? And why did he exist but in this space Bokuto can't quite reach?

How is it that he knows what Akaashi sounds like when he laughs but not know who he is or where he is or if he's real?

The next time he sees him it's a blast of images in the middle of the day.

Bokuto is outside his old apartment and when he opens the door he finds that Akaashi is on the floor surrounded by papers and books.

He turns to him and smiles. "Welcome home."

"Love, how—"

He wakes.

It dawns on him a little too late that they were memories—memories of a person he doesn't remember.

He tries to recall anything and everything and he tries to grip onto every illusion but finds that it constantly slips out of his grasp.

"Do you know a guy named Akaashi?"

Kuroo pauses, his hand hovering above his mug. "Why?"

It lights him. "What do you know about him?"

Kuroo seems to contemplate, looking as if he's weighing out his options.

Then, he looks at him.

Bokuto drums on his lap, humming a random tune. Akaashi laughs from beside him as he drives. "That sounds good."

"Liar, " Bokuto grins.

"Caught me," he replies.

The drive felt cold, rain hammering on the windshield and painting them with abstract shadows.

"The road is slippery," Akaashi frowns as he leans into the wheel and squints.

"Be careful," Bokuto says, watching the road as well. "You always are but...still..."

"We'll be fine, trust me."

He does and maybe that was a mistake.

"What do we have to eat at home?"

Akaashi hums. "We have curry."

"Yay."

Akaashi's frown turns into a grin and, for a moment, his eyes were on Bokuto. "Hey, I love you."

Bokuto returns this. "I love yo—wait, Kei—"

A blinding light.

Deafness.

Dark.

Then nothing.

-fin