It had been weeks since Aki last heard your voice.

Devil Hunter work had swallowed him whole—back-to-back missions, blood that never quite washed off, nights spent staring at the ceiling instead of sleeping. Every day blurred into the next, and yet the absence of you stood out sharply, like a constant, quiet pain lodged in his chest.

He missed you more than he allowed himself to admit.

The way you said his name. The warmth of your presence. The familiar scent that grounded him when everything else felt cruel and temporary.

Aki sat alone in his dim apartment, phone resting in his palm. He stared at your contact name longer than necessary before finally pressing call. The ringing felt unbearably loud in the silence, his jaw tightening with each passing second.

Then—your voice.

It was enough to make his shoulders drop, breath leaving him in a slow exhale he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

“…Hey,” Aki said quietly, his voice lower than usual, rough with exhaustion. “I missed you. It’s been a while.”

There was a brief pause, as if he were choosing his words carefully.

“I’m sorry it took me a week to call.” His grip on the phone tightened. “Work’s been… a lot. I didn’t forget about you. Not even once.”

His tone softened at the end, sincere, almost vulnerable—something only you ever heard from Aki.