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Asahi wakes up to pounding on his window. He groans as he sits up, blinking in confusion at the tiny figure currently smashed against his window, fists banging rapidly on the glass.
“Asahi!” Nishinoya calls once he sees Asahi sitting up. Asahi really, really wants to know how Nishinoya plastered himself against the glass. What is he even doing, sticking to his window like that?
“Let me in!” Nishinoya yells.
Asahi rolls out of bed and lets Nishinoya in, more bewildered than anything else. “What are you doing here?” he asks. “It’s…” He turns to squint at his alarm. “6:17 in the morning. Nishinoya, I want to sleep before school starts.” A yawn escapes him, and he looks back at his bed, wondering if he should tell Nishinoya to just sleep too.
Nishinoya grins, much too bright for how early it is. “We’re skipping school.”
“We are not.” Asahi is suddenly wide awake and alarmed. Daichi will kill him if he finds out that they skipped school. Not to mention the sheer amount of risk involved in skipping school. Asahi’s never skipped a day of school in his life (well, actually, he’s taken sick days, but that’s different). “What do you mean, we’re skipping school?”
Nishinoya shrugs. “I want to go to Aomori with you.”
Asahi stares at him. “It’s a Friday.”
“So?”
“Nishinoya.” Asahi rubs his face and sighs. “We have school. Plus, Daichi will kill us if we skip practice.”
“I already told Suga to cover for us.” Nishinoya’s grin stretches across his face. “We’ll be fine. It’s just one day. Come on, Asahi, where’s your sense of adventure?”
His sense of adventure means going to school and maybe trying something new at lunch; but Asahi refrains from saying that. Instead, he focuses on the first part of Nishinoya’s statement. “Suga knows that we’re skipping practice?”
"He actually helped me plan this out, so come on, Asahi, get dressed, call in sick–actually, I’ll call in sick for you–and then let’s get going to Aomori. We have a train to catch!”
“Isn’t that…kind of expensive?” Asahi asks next. He cannot believe this. Why is Nishinoya going to Aomori of all places, and why is he inviting him? And why today?
“Fear not.” Nishinoya digs into his bag, and it’s only now that Asahi registers that Nishinoya isn’t wearing his school uniform. “I got the tickets already!” He waves them around, still grinning widely, before putting them back into his bag. “So, shoo, go get dressed. Train leaves in an hour and fifteen minutes.”
“Nishinoya.” Asahi can’t believe this is real. He must be having a really weird dream.
“Asahi.” Nishinoya folds his arms over his chest. “We have an adventure to go on.”
Asahi frowns. “Nishinoya, we have school. And practice. It’s a Friday.”
Something must show on his face, because Nishinoya’s face softens a bit and he reaches out to pat Asahi’s arm. His hand is warm and his touch is oddly comforting. “You can afford to skip one day,” he says. “I talked to Suga about it and he says that your grades are good and that you don’t have any tests today. Chikara and Ryuu promised to take notes for me, and I’m sure Daichi and Suga will give you the work you missed. And I promise that you won’t owe me anything if you come along. Don’t worry about ticket prices. Okay?”
Asahi swallows nervously. Nishinoya just stares at him, his hand burning on his bicep, looking dead serious and a little…nervous? Asahi doesn’t know.
What he does know, however, is that Nishinoya has always made him want to be brave. So he swallows down his misgivings and says, “Okay. Uh. Give me a few minutes to get dressed.”
The smile Nishinoya gives him in response is blinding.
“Are you sure you don’t want anything?” Asahi asks for the umpteenth time as they make their way to the train station.
“I already told you, I ate before going to your house,” Nishinoya replies.
"Not even a Garigari kun?” Asahi asks, even if he thinks a little too early to eat popsicles. But he really wants to make sure that Nishinoya doesn’t get hungry. It’s a long train ride to Aomori, after all.
Nishinoya pauses. “…soda flavored?”
“Of course,” Asahi says. When has he wanted anything else?
“Okay!” Nishinoya grins. “You can buy me one at the station,” he promises.
“Okay.” Asahi sighs. It’s going to be a long day. He regrets opening his window this morning.
Nishinoya reaches out and grabs his hand. “Thanks, Asahi,” he says. “I’m glad you agreed to come.”
“I feel like I didn’t have much of a choice,” he confesses.
“You never said no, though.” Nishinoya stops. “If you want to go back, we can.”
“…it’s alright. I don’t mind. Seriously.” He’s this far, might as well see it through, right?
Right.
“Good.” Nishinoya tugs at his hand. “Hurry up!”
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Asahi says, and he follows Nishinoya to the train station.
Once there, he does buy Nishinoya the promised popsicle, along with two bags of shrimp chips for each of them, in case they get hungry later. Nishinoya won’t stop bouncing on his feet the whole time, clearly buzzed up on the anticipation. Asahi wonders if anyone’s going to look at them and just know that they’re skipping school, but no one spares them a second glance. The train arrives, and he and Nishinoya climb on and pick two seats. They’re only sitting for a few minutes before the train leaves the station.
“Asahi, isn’t this exciting?” Nishinoya asks as Sendai starts rushing past them. “We’re really doing this!”
“Why Aomori?” Asahi asks. “Why today? And most importantly, why me?”
Nishinoya shrugs. “Who else would I go with?” He says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
“Tanaka?” Asahi offers. After all, they’re best friends. He knows that Nishinoya even considers Saeko to be a sister.
“Nah.” Nishinoya shrugs. “I wouldn’t do this with anyone else.”
Asahi blinks. “Y-you wouldn’t?”
Nishinoya smiles up at him. “I want to do this with you, Asahi,” he says, and his voice is so sincere that Asahi feels his face heat up and his palms start to sweat.
“Well, w-we’re doing it,” he replies, trying to calm down. It’s just Nishinoya. Just Nishinoya, it doesn’t mean anything.
“We sure are,” Nishinoya agrees, shooting Asahi the biggest grin he can.
At some point, Nishinoya drifts off, leaning his head on Asahi’s shoulder. Asahi watches Nishinoya sleep for a few minutes, taking in the way Noya’s mouth opens slightly and listening to his quiet breathing, before pulling out his phone.
He has a text from Daichi, telling him to get some rest and that he’ll see him on Monday; as well as a text from Suga, who tells him to “enjoy his youth!” and “not to worry too much, I promise to cover for you.” He can practically see Suga smiling and waving his hand to assuage Asahi’s concerns.
Does Suga know why Nishinoya chose to go with him?
Well, he thinks, looking down at the sleeping Nishinoya, it couldn’t hurt to ask.
Suga responds immediately, with a nothing more than a string of laughing emojis, before a cheeky “you’ll see” arrives a minute later.
Of course Suga wouldn’t tell him anything. If he had helped Nishinoya plan, then it was likely that there was some secret reason that Nishinoya didn’t want Asahi to know.
Although, Suga had said that he would see.
Maybe it wasn’t secret? Maybe Nishinoya would explain later.
A loud snort shakes Asahi from his thoughts, and he sighs before looking down at Nishinoya. He’s so peaceful like this, that Asahi is loathe to disturb him. So, he settles on poking around his phone, content to let Nishinoya sleep on him.
“We made it!” Nishinoya declares, spinning around the Aomori train station. “Where do you want to go first, Asahi?”
“…I don’t know.” It doesn’t feel real. He’s in Aomori, which is a far cry from Sendai. They’re not even in Miyagi anymore.
He should be in school. What is he doing here?
Nishinoya grins, bouncing in Asahi’s vision. “So, we can go wherever we want, then?”
Right. He’s here because Nishinoya asked him to come.
“I-I suppose?” Asahi frowns. “I thought you had a plan.”
“Ahhh, well.” Nishinoya ducks his head. “I just wanted to go to Aomori, and I wanted you to come with me. I do have one thing planned! But that’s later. Right now, we have no obligations. Let’s get to exploring, Asahi!”
“O-Okay.”
Nishinoya grabs his hand and drags him out of the station. Asahi follows him down the road, passing the streets and the random people on the road. It’s not as crowded as it would be in Sendai, but it’s still busy. Had it not been for Nishinoya’s tight grip on his wrist, Asahi thinks that he could have lost track of Nishinoya, and then he would have been lost in Aomori without the person who brought him here.
“Let’s go in here,” Nishinoya suggests, skidding to a halt in front of the A Factory. “They’ve got apples, Asahi! You like apples, right?”
Asahi blinks. “Y-yes? They’re good.” He’s so confused.
“Awesome!” Asahi would never guess that Nishinoya had been fast asleep just an hour ago, given the way he bounces lightly the whole time. “Then let’s go in!”
Asahi follows Nishinoya into the A Factory. It’s nice, Asahi supposes, taking in the large barrels used for storing cider. He’s not sure what he expected from a factory. But the lighting is nice, and there’s plenty of tables and chairs to sit at, as well as interesting things to look at.
“Asahi,” Nishinoya calls. Asahi turns to see him holding a bottle of cider. “Let’s get this.”
“Why?”
Nishinoya grins. “Why not, Asahi? Today is all about living in the moment!”
“If you say so.” There’s no stopping Nishinoya when he gets like this. “But what use do we have for cider?”
“We can have a fancy dinner in the park,” Nishinoya suggests. He’s already tugging Asahi along to the check-out line. “Think of how fun it will be!”
“We don’t have cups,” Asahi points out.
“We can worry about that later,” Nishinoya replies with a wave of his hand. “Or we can share!”
“Share?”
“Yup!” Nishinoya shrugs as if it’s not a big deal, which it probably isn’t, in his mind anyways. But sharing a bottle of cider with Nishinoya? Isn’t that a little…date-like?
While Nishinoya buys the cider, Asahi pulls out his phone and asks Suga if Nishinoya’s gone and planned a date. Suga, of course, ignores it, but that’s because he’s in class. At least, Asahi hopes.
Suga wouldn’t ignore him, would he?
Okay, well, Suga is probably in class, so it doesn’t matter. The real question is, asks a voice that sounds suspiciously like Suga, would Asahi mind it if Nishinoya did want a date?
Well…would he?
“Oi, you’re thinking again.” Nishinoya crowds his way into his vision. “Do you…want to go back? If we leave now, we could probably make the last class of the day and volleyball practice.”
They could go back. Pretend like this never happened, go about their day like it’s supposed to be.
But.
Asahi thinks of Nishinoya banging on his window and the way Nishinoya had smiled and said, “Who else would I go with?” on the train and the way Nishinoya had dragged him out of the Aomori train station. Nishinoya, meanwhile, gazes up at him, expectant, patient.
Nishinoya is so good to him.
Asahi swallows his apprehension and pockets his phone.
“We’re already here,” Asahi says, pleased that his voice doesn’t waver. “Besides, didn’t you say that you had plans?”
“We can skip it, if you really want to go back.” Nishinoya is dead serious. “If you’re uncomfortable, Asahi, then I. I won’t force you. It’s up to you.”
Asahi blinks. How does he explain that he’s still not sure why Nishinoya would want to travel with him, of all people, to skip school and run around Aomori of all places? How does he ask if this is a date?
More importantly, does he even want it to be a date?
“It’s fine,” Asahi says. He offers up a smile, and it seems to work, because Nishinoya’s expression softens a little. “You want to go see what else they have?”
“Duh.” Nishinoya smiles back. “Let’s go! I want to buy some candy.”
“Candy, really? We came here for candy?”
“Yes, and we need to find a place for lunch,” Nishinoya continues, grabbing his hand and leading Asahi out of A Factory and away from the pier. The bridge looms behind them and they pass the Nebuta Museum without sparing it a second glance.
Asahi looks down at their intertwined hands. Nishinoya’s hands are so…small, compared to his.
“Let’s go see what the city has to offer!” Nishnoya declares as they cross the street. His eyes are shining. “I want to see everything, Asahi!”
Maybe it is a date.
Asahi doesn’t think that he would object, if it was.
"What happened to you only having only one plan?” he asks, instead of giving flight to the racing thoughts in his head.
Nishinoya laughs, loud and carefree as they cross the street. “We’re making up the plans as we go,” he declares. “That’s the best way to live.”
They don’t walk for too long before Nishinoya spies a ramen shop and tugs him in.
“Tonkatsu ramen is your favorite, right?” he asks as he drags Asahi inside.
"You remember?” Asahi asks.
Nishinoya laughs. “You remembered my favorite popsicle; I can remember your ramen order.”
Something flutters in Asahi’s heart when Nishinoya says that.
“You always asked me for a soda-flavored Garigari kun when you were a first year,” Asahi explains once they’re seated. “It was hard not to forget.”
Nishinoya laughs. “I sure did, didn’t I? I should do that again.”
“Please don’t. Besides, I got you one this morning.”
“A-sa-hiii,” Nishinoya says, drawing out the syllables of his name. He leans towards Asahi and grins. “Buy your cute kouhai Garigari kun.”
“I’ll pay for your lunch.” The words slip out before Asahi can think about it.
“What?” Nishinoya pulls away and blinks. “You don’t have to do that.”
“You got the tickets,” Asahi mumbles. “It’s not a big deal.”
The tips of Nishinoya’s ears turn red. It’s cute, actually, seeing Nishinoya look kind of…flustered. He’s clearly at a loss for words, and Asahi is glad that for once, he was able to render Nishinoya speechless. Usually, it feels like it’s the other way around.
It gets awkward really quick, though. Asahi isn’t sure what else to say, and Nishinoya looks like his brain just shut down.
“Uh…Noya?”
Nishinoya blinks, and it’s as if he just realized what was going on.
“I’ll hold you to that,” Nishinoya says, grinning, looking a lot more like himself. “Say, you won’t believe what Tanaka did last night,” he continues, pulling out his phone. “Saeko-nee-san took photos too, here…”
The next hour is spent laughing and eating and trading stories. Asahi does pay for the ramen, both his and Nishinoya’s, and Nishinoya drags him out of the restaurant to go to the next place, wherever that may be.
"I still want to get sweets,” Nishinoya declares as they make their way down a random side street. They still don’t have any destination in mind, and Asahi thinks that it’s actually not as bad as he expected. It’s freeing, to just be able to wander like this. “I think I deserve it.”
“Of course you do,” Asahi replies.
“So you’ll get me sweets?!” Nishinoya exclaims.
“Wha–no, I meant like of course you would think you deserve them!” Asahi cries.
“Aww.” Nishinoya’s face falls and he glares at the ground. “Come on, Asahi. Please? For me?”
He looks cute like that.
Asahi sighs.
“…I’ll think about it.”
Something tells him that he’s going to be buying them sweets.
As luck would have it, about ten minutes later, Nishinoya lights up. “A sweet shop!” he declares, and Asahi finds himself running after Nishinoya to the corner store, which, sure enough, sells all sorts of sweets.
“What do you want?” he asks.
Nishinoya says, “You’d really get something for me?”
“I told you I would,” Asahi replies. “So. Hurry up. Pick something.”
Nishinoya spends a few minutes looking over the choices, so Asahi discreetly pulls out his phone and checks his messages. Sure enough, Suga’s finally replied. All he bothered to say, however, was “do you want it to be?”
Yes, Asahi thinks. Then he frowns, because he can’t just admit that to Suga. Suga would make fun of him forever.
“Do you think he’d be interested?” Asahi sends back, before putting his phone away. Suga should be back in class now, so he won’t respond for a while. Besides, Asahi has to pick out something.
In the end, he buys two ichigo daifuku mochi, much to Nishinoya’s delight. Nishinoya cradles in his palms once he gets it.
“I bet this is going to be delicious,” he says.
“You’re being…dramatic.” It feels like an understatement.
“Duh.” Nishinoya grins. “Normally I make you buy me Garigari kun! But today is special. Today, you bought me mochi.”
“Garigari kun is your favorite. Of course I’ll buy it for you.”
“That doesn’t matter.” Nishinoya raises his hands, mochi still perched on his palms, up to the sky. “Oh, god, make this the best mochi I’ve ever eaten!”
“Nishinoya, people are looking.”
Nishinoya laughs before taking a bite out of the mochi. His eyes widen and he takes another bite.
“It’s really nice! Try yours!” he says between bites. Asahi sighs but does as Nishinoya told him to.
Feels like he’s been doing a lot of that today. Even so, Asahi can’t find it in himself to complain.
The mochi is delicious, with a smooth red bean filling around the sweet strawberry. He’s glad Nishinoya dragged him into the sweet shop, after all.
Scratch that, he’s glad that Nishinoya dragged him to Aomori today. It’s been fun. There’s no pressure to do anything; they can just…be.
They finish their mochi, and Nishinoya’s hand makes its way back into his again. Asahi follows Nishinoya into a few other shops, but Nishinoya doesn’t seem particularly interested in buying anything. Instead, he chatters aimlessly about anything and everything, and Asahi lets the familiar sound of Nishinoya’s voice wash over him and soothe any restless doubts in his mind.
It’s nice, being here with Nishinoya. Asahi doesn’t want this day to end.
“Oi, Asahi,” Nishinoya says. He’s tired now, less jittery and prone to dragging Asahi around Aomori without a care. They haven’t even done anything particularly exciting. “Let’s grab something from the convenience store, and then we’ll eat them in Aoiumi Park, okay?”
“Okay,” Asahi says.
Nishinoya grins. “Okay. Okay. Dinner!” He raises his fist in the air. “Let’s do this!”
They stop by a random convenience store and pick out two packaged bento, as well as two cups for the cider. Asahi pays, waving away Nishinoya’s concerns about it being too much. After all, Nishinoya bought their tickets. The least Asahi can do is pay for food. From there, it’s a matter of a bit of aimless wandering around Aomori until they spot the bridge, and from there, they make their way to the park.
They settle down on a set of circular stone steps, and Nishinoya pulls out the bottle of cider he got earlier.
"Don’t spill it,” Asahi says.
Nishinoya pours it into the cups. “We’re very fancy,” he declares. “Look at us, having a picnic for dinner.”
“Thanks for dragging me out here,” Asahi says. “I had fun.”
Nishinoya stops, before a wide grin stretches across his face.
“Good!” he says. “Then, if you don’t mind, I have something I’d like to say!”
“G-go for it,” Asahi tells him.
Nishinoya looks at the cider, then at their bento, then finally at Asahi.
Then he smacks his hands into his cheeks, a loud clap echoing throughout the air as he does.
“Nishinoya?” Asahi asks.
“Okay,” Nishinoya says. His face is slightly red from having smacked it. “Asahi. Wow, this is scarier than I thought it would be!”
Asahi blinks. “What?” Is Nishinoya feeling okay?
Nishinoya takes a deep breath. “I like you, Asahi!”
Asahi laughs a little. “I’d hope so,” he says. “You brought me here, after all.”
“No.” Nishinoya’s ears are turning red but he looks deadly serious. “Asahi, I really, really want this to be your boyfriend. Will you go out with me?”
What.
Boyfriend?!
Nishinoya wants…
It is a date, Asahi thinks numbly.
Asahi stares at Nishinoya, who stares right back, eyebrows drawn, mouth pulled into a serious line, ears and cheeks turning redder and redder.
“Shouldn’t you have asked that before you dragged me to Aomori?” Asahi blurts out.
“I didn’t know if you would say yes,” Nishinoya mumbles.
“Oh.” Asahi has no idea what to say. He does know that his face is heating up, however, and he thinks that he might be sick.
Nishinoya’s still turning red. Asahi doesn’t think that he’s ever seen him that red before. “I’ve liked you for a while now, but I think I realized that I wanted to go out with you on Monday.”
“What?” This is happening so fast. How is he supposed to respond? Nishinoya wanted to go out with him since Monday? This is a date? Wasn’t he worrying about that earlier? Does he just say...yes? That's what people do, right?
“Why?” he asks.
“You hit this spike, and your hair fell out of your bun as you did, you know?” A dreamy look crosses Nishinoya’s face, and the corners of his mouth twitch up fondly. Asahi has a vague memory of his hair coming undone during practice earlier this week. “And in that moment, you looked…beautiful. Gorgeous. Like an angel. And I knew that I liked you.”
“N-nishinoya–”
“So I talked to Ryuu and Saeko-nee-san and Ennoshita and Kinoshita and Narita and Suga and they all helped me plan out the date! All that’s left is you. So…will you go out with me?” Nishinoya’s red all over at this point. Even his neck is blotchy with embarrassment. “Please?”
It’s like the please jolts Asahi’s panicked thoughts into a proper understanding. This is a date. Nishinoya wants to go out with him.
They’re going to be boyfriends.
Asahi grins. “Nishinoya,” he says, and he reaches out to grab Nishinoya’s hand once more. “I was wondering the whole time if this was a date. You should have said something in the beginning.”
Nishinoya beams.
The train ride back to Sendai is uneventful. Nishinoya refuses to let go of his hand, and Asahi does tell Suga that it was a date, after all, but not much else happens. To Asahi’s relief, his boyfriend (boyfriend. His boyfriend, Nishinoya Yuu, Karasuno’s guardian diety, is his boyfriend. Asahi doesn’t think he’ll get over that) does not fall asleep this time around. It’s dark by the time they make it back to Sendai.
“I’ll walk you back,” Asahi says as they exit the train station.
Nishinoya laughs. “What a good boyfriend,” he says, and something thrills in Asahi’s heart at the word. “It’s only been one date and you’re already walking me back?”
“I need to make sure you don’t do anything stupid,” he replies. Nishinoya swings their entwined hands, humming as he does. Asahi never wants to let go. He’ll let Nishinoya drag him everywhere he likes.
Even to Aomori on a Friday.
Which reminds him.
“By the way, can I ask why you chose Aomori?” Asahi asks. This is the one thing that has been bothering Asahi the whole time. Why Aomori? Why there?
“Oh.” Nishinoya looks down at his feet. “I remembered last Christmas, you said that you wanted to go to Hakodate.”
What does Hakodate have to do with Aomori? What does Christmas have to do with anything? “But we went to Aomori?”
“Well, Hakodate was a little too expensive, but I figured Aomori was close enough. They’re sister cities, after all.” Nishinoya looks up at him. “Was it okay?”
Oh.
Nishinoya.
“It was amazing,” Asahi blurts out. “I can’t believe you did all that for me.”
“I wanted to go on an adventure with you,” Nishinoya declares. “And I think we should go on another.”
“Maybe next time we go somewhere in Miyagi.” Asahi laughs. “Aomori was great, but it’s so far.”
Nishinoya grins. “Okay. I can manage that.”
Asahi smiles. Next time.
Nishinoya is his boyfriend, and they just finished their first date, and they’re going to go on a second one. Asahi really, really likes the sound of that.
“Hey, Asahi?” Nishinoya asks. “This is my house.”
“Oh! Right. Um.” Asahi drops Nishinoya’s hand. “Thanks for today.”
Nishinoya looks at him for a long moment, something unreadable in his eyes, and Asahi fidgets until Nishinoya sighs. “Asahi, you really are a coward,” he says, corners of his mouth twitching again. “Can I kiss you?”
Right here?
Asahi thinks of Nishinoya pounding on his window and raising the ichigo daifuku mochi and swinging their hands together and declaring that he wanted today to be a date. He thinks of Nishinoya loudly declaring that he has their backs and Nishinoya grinning at him and…yeah. He wants it.
He takes a breath, and says, “Please do.”
Nishinoya laughs before launching himself up at Asahi and kissing him. It’s messy, sure, with Nishinoya practically smashing his mouth, and their teeth clash in ways that Asahi wasn’t sure he ever wanted to experience again. But, well, it’s Nishinoya, and so when he pulls back, his arms wrapped around Asahi’s neck, smile the widest Asahi’s ever seen, Asahi decides that he wouldn’t have it any other way.
They’ll just have to try again and again to get that particular adventure right.