Notes

"Akaashi Keiji," a familiar voice shadowed from behind. Akaashi put his force into cutting the next piece of the onion with the recollection of the identity.

"What did I do to make you feel so welcome?" Akaashi turned around from the counter and faced the taller who comfortably had his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Akaashi's head formed a sense of familiarity. A familiarity was unconnected to any memories. It was related to the same intuition he had learned to forget. Akaashi's expression hardened to hostility following the realization.

"You're the Akaashi Keiji. Why wouldn't I?" He stated before stepping closer to the famed man. Akaashi stepped away from the other, his glare still plastered to his face. His eyes met the golden ones, with hidden purple specks only he could see.

"How would you even know if I am Akaashi Keiji," Akaashi pointed out to challenge his instant suspicion. As Akaashi rested his lower back against the counter, Bokuto forced him to leave the onions aside.

The tension rised as Bokuto nodded slowly as if Akaashi had a point. He raised his hands in surrender and turned around to leave. Akaashi narrowed his eyes at the odd behavior. The man was either a fool or a complete amateur.

Akaashi widened his eyes at the sudden return. He reached for the kitchen knife available for defense. Time slowed down as his fingers clutched around the glowing knife blade to pierce his abdomen. While his body shook with shock,

He looked down to catch his knife piercing the fabric of his clothing. His eyes darted from the useless blade to his very eyes. The other's eyes carried no remorse or hesitation. Yet it was quiet around them amidst what would be a bloodied murder.

"See? the Akaashi Keiji," he clicked his tongue as the exo-neon system concentrated at the very point of the knife.

Akaashi narrowed his eyes at the knife gliding down without any trace of blood on it. He felt the despair rise as his intuition was flawless. What should have been a rusty ability, became a part of him without his will. The venomous intruder knew that exact fact. Which rose questions to the surface.

"Who are you," Akaashi skipped all the formal talk. He had prepared himself for this day. He knew his very roots wouldn't be left alone. Akaashi gulped at the smirk on his face as if he knew him.

"Bokuto Koutarou, your peaceful civilian," he put the knife back onto the table and smiled ever so formally. Something about the air around him was toxic. Akaashi had never seen this man, nor recognized his mere existence. Other than his previous sensation, he had no idea who Bokuto Koutarou was.

"If you had been wrong, what then?" Akaashi referred to the previous experiment. Bokuto looked up in thought and inhaled sharply. He proceeded to chuckle sheepishly.

"I'd be convicted for murder, I guess," Bokuto laughed awkwardly, yet didn't look one ounce of insecure. He knew who Akaashi was without seeing it. The pair must have shared the same sensation, Akaashi concluded.

Or, Bokuto had connections who knew him. Akaashi wanted nothing to do with him in any circumstance.

"Sit down, we have something to discuss," Bokuto nodded toward the couch and walked all the way to come into contact with his furniture. Akaashi wanted to question his audacity to waltz in, try to stab him, and now sit on his couch.

"What?" Akaashi spoke with as much uninterest as he could. He hated to admit his actual curiosity. It was as if Bokuto saw through his boredom and took advantage of being mysterious. Nonetheless, Akaashi took a seat on a chair opposite him.

Akaashi's heartbeat quickened at the sudden inability to move his legs or arms. He only saw Bokuto's eyes turn more purple as his desperate attempts to move his fingers failed. Panicked about the lack of his ability to attack, Akaashi breathed heavily as he did anything to move his numb arms.

"Relax, I'm messing with the neurons in your brain. I don't have enough energy to damage them forever," Bokuto sighed lightly and yawned. For minutes, he grew tired as the purple flickered in his eyes.

"That's my signal of telling you not to go anywhere. Just hear me out," Bokuto groaned as his eyes turned golden and he seemed sleepy. Akaashi let out a shaky breath as his arms flung up in the air again. He clenched and unclenched his fingers to confirm his control returning.

"First off, how does it feel to share nations?" Bokuto asked curiously as he calmly leaned back. Akaashi rolled his eyes at the mention and huffed,

"I'm a fully Japanese citizen paying taxes to the state of Japan, and working for Japan. What you claim to be our nation is only your nation," Akaashi deadpanned with no hesitation to hide his disgust whilst talking about the place.

Bokuto nodded in understanding and responded with an amused smile. He pressed his lips into a thin line and looked at his lap in thought. Once he regained his focus, Bokuto looked back up to respond.

"That's why you kept it, right?" Bokuto nodded toward the small patch of a broken shirt and referred to the exo-shield-like material. Something inexplicable to the nation he lived in.

"Concentrating a shield at any space of your body at will. You're a defender," Bokuto spoke with much fascination and drummed his fingers onto his lap. Akaashi narrowed his eyes in complete disinterest and shrugged his shoulders.

"Everyone deserves to protect themselves," Akaashi supported himself for keeping the ability of defense. Bokuto puckered his lips only to click his tongue, pretending as if he bought it.

"Japanese citizenship, huh? Never once mentioned that you felt belonging here," Bokuto pointed back to the current unrelated topic. Akaashi nearly groaned at the useless point.

"You didn't answer my question," it was Akaashi's turn to return to an unrelated topic to gain the answers to which he deserved. Bokuto let down the mask of confidence and determination.

"We know our nation doesn't exist anymore. It's a shame since it's still accessible, to us," Bokuto pointed out the fact Akaashi already knew. Akaashi stayed silent and admitted to himself he had no response to offer.

"It's dust and remains of a broken nation. What about it?" Akaashi still harbored the same disgust with the mention of the distant nation. Bokuto didn't feel the same sentiment. Disagreements were fine, but he didn't look like the compromising type of man.

"Exactly. Don't you see the possibility of rebuilding it? We each have our gifts. Society is like a puzzle, and we're the pieces to building it. Metaphorically and literally in this case," Bokuto argued. Akaashi huffed with seconds of silence followed by a burst of laughter. He proceeded to shake his head in disbelief and looked for any trace of sarcasm on Bokuto's face.

"What's your fantasy got to do with me?" Akaashi stopped himself from laughing at the distant idea. Bokuto Koutarou was a stranger for a good reason. However, he did admire the hope he did.

"You can transmit that shield of yours to the material to become impenetrable, can't you?" Bokuto nodded at Akaashi's hand and raised his eyebrow. Akaashi's smile dropped at the mention and looked down in defeat.

"That would be useful for buildings? Safety walls? Suits? A lot of things that could be rebuilt in our nation?" Bokuto shrugged his shoulders and looked to Akaashi. He shook his head and kept the gesture until Bokuto was quiet.

"You know why our nation crumbled?" Akaashi replied with toxicity dripping from his tongue. Bokuto's face hardened for the first time in their interaction.

"Your leaders were sick, your people turned sick. There was nothing but murder and ability war," Akaashi narrowed his eyes at the history he knew from the depth of his heart.

"You're wrong. We had the wrong people lead it. We had no rebellion either. Look at us now, we're more developed now. We have the potential to become a successful society now," Bokuto spoke with genuine passion again. Akaashi huffed once again and looked up in complete disbelief.

"You don't know about the English philosopher Hobbes, by any chance? Do you?" Akaashi leaned forward to look him dead in the eyes. Bokuto met the challenge without an ounce of insecurity. Akaashi inhaled through his nose during the seconds of silence.

"Only the strongest, dictatorial of a state can dictate morals, norms, and values. An only dictatorship can avoid conflict. Or else, you have subcultures clashing with one another. What do you think happened when uncle metamorphosis found out about brother telekinesis over there? Did they end up playing volleyball together? No, they killed each other as a competition," Akaashi motioned with his hands while making a point.

Their nation had no potential of ever becoming one. With great power came great responsibility. That's what Japan and the west taught him. Yet, Bokuto's nation proved the polar opposite. With great power came hunger, competition, and conflict. Only a ban on every ability would fix the conflict. Society needed one rule to have the powers banned from existence.

All Akaashi needed was for his own ability to be sacrificed for this cause.
All Bokuto needed was for Akaashi to unite with the people who wanted their space back.