Chapter Text
When Yahaba hears the volleyball team is going on a trip to Fukushima for five days, he’s excited. He really is.
...he really was.
It’s the week before summer vacation when Oikawa pulls the team aside after practice. He announces, with a big smile and open arms, that the club has a sur-plus of extra funding, and to ensure they get to keep the same amount next year, they will all be going on a trip to Fukushima as a “team bonding” vacation.
Mattsun loudly yawns from the middle of the group.
“Do we have to?”
“Yes!” Oikawa leans over and chops Mattsun on the head before immediately reeling back when the same is done to him by Iwaizumi. “It’s mandatory. We gotta write this off like it’s important.”
“I had plans,” Kunimi grumbles.
“You did not.” Oikawa sighs. He turns around, picking up a small stack of papers from the bench behind him. “Get these signed by the 19th-- we leave bright and early on the 21st!” He excitedly hands the papers out to his teammates, some take them gratefully while others snatch them out of his grip and walk away, mumbling to themselves.
When Yahaba and Watari receive theirs, they make their way to the locker room, looking over the paper.
Yahaba flips it around, being met with a table outlining the basic plans.
“Ooh, we’ve got a whole schedule.”
Watari turns his around as well.
“A museum. Sounds fun,” he says, sarcasm lining his voice.
“Yeah, but look. A couple hours of volleyball on the 23rd. So it all looks useful.”
“Ah, that means we’ll have to bring all of our gear with us. What a shame.”
“I don’t think the school would be very convinced it’s a team bonding vacation if there's no real ‘team’ involved.”
Yahaba turns his head, spotting Kindaichi and Kunimi across the gym, also looking over the schedule as they head to the locker room. He cups the side of his face with the paper.
“Hey, Kindaichi! You excited?!”
Kindaichi, startled, looks up worriedly, paper clutched to his chest. When he realizes it’s just Yahaba he peels it off and smiles. “Yeah!! Are you going?!”
“Kinda have to.”
Yahaba turns his head back, grinning at Watari.
“He’s always so excited for these kinds of things.”
“It’s almost endearing.”
--☆--
Yahabas prepared for Oikawa to pull some kind of stunt with this whole trip thing. You kind of realize you have to be, after a week or two of being on the team. Still, he’s surprised when on Saturday he receives a text.
Oikawa
Room 103
(8:23 pm)
Yahaba looks curiously down at his phone, sliding off his headphones and reclining in his chair as he replies. His room is dark, string lights, his laptop, the heater, and the diffuser next to his bed being the only light sources around. It’s relaxed, just how Yahaba likes it the hours leading up to his sleep.
Yahaba
Room 12?
(8:23pm)
Oikawa
Yup! We’ll be staying at a hotel for this trip since we have the extra money ^^
(8:23pm)
Oikawa
Everyones number is random. Don’t tell anyone else your number! It’ll ruin the fun.
(8:24pm)
Oikawa
Not even Watari >:(
(8:25pm)
Yahaba closes out of the text he’s about to send in his and Wataris private messages.
Yahaba
Are we sharing rooms?
(8:25pm)
Oikawa
Yes! 2 people per room. You think we can afford 19 rooms? You’re sharing!!
(8:25pm)
Oikawa
That’s why you can't tell anyone. It’s a surprise. Got it?!
(8:25pm)
Yahaba
Got it.
(8:25pm)
He’s getting ready to resume his video when his phone buzzes once again, this time with a video call from Watari. He swipes to the right, propping the phone up on a water bottle. The bottle is clear and double layered, glitter between the plastics. It prevents condensation building up around the outside, and is just nice to look at. A gift from his younger brother.
“Did Oikawa give you your room number?” Watari has a controller in his left hand, although it lays limp as he's leaned over, looking at the camera.
“Yeah. He told me not to say anything, though.”
“He threatened to hold my cat hostage if I told anyone.”
“Well that's a bit extreme.”
“Yeah.”
“...”
“...”
“..So why did you call me?”
“Well, I was hoping you’d abandon orders and tell me your number. Then I'd tell you mine and we’d share a good laugh over how devious and sneaky we are. I forgot you treat our upperclassmen like royalty, though.”
“I don’t treat them like royalty--I just think they deserve our respect.”
“They do, they do. Most of the time. But like, you’re even obedient when they’re not around!”
“I choose to keep my record clean, thank you very much. I only break a promise when it’s necessary.”
“Uh-huh, sure you do. Ok then, I'm gonna go get Kunimi to tell me his.”
“Have fun!”
Watari smiles and flips off the camera before the call ends. Yahaba slides back on his headphones and chooses not to think about the trip until Tuesday.
--☆--
7:23am, Tuesday, July 21st. Warm weather.
Yahaba wearily looks up at the scene unfolding before him.
Kyoutani, hands gripping both sides of the entrance to the bus. Feet pushed up against the edge of the first stair, body stiff and unmoving.
Oikawa and Kindaichi pushing up against him with their backs.
“It’s! Urgh- It’s mandatory! Get! In!” Oikawa turns and begins to push with both hands.
“I don’t-- want to go on a trip with you guys.” Yahaba can't see Kyoutanis face, but it's safe to assume he’s scowling. The bus driver looks on in tired mortification.
“Don’t care! You, you already turned in the papers! Augh-!” Oikawa exasperatedly falls a step back. “Iwa chan!”
Iwaizumi peeks out from inside of the bus. Oikawa angrily points to Kyoutani, and without a word said Iwaizumi steps up, grabs the front of Kyoutanis shirt, and pulls. Kyoutani promptly falls to the stairs on his hands and knees. Oikawa kicks him.
“Ha! Get in!”
Kyoutani shoots a deathly glare behind him before sluggishly standing up, adjusting the bag around his shoulder and climbing up the stairs.
“Whoo! Sorry about that! Everyone else...” Oikawa gestures to the vehicle, “if you may.”
The remainders of the teammates outside of the bus (Yahaba, Kindaichi, Matsukawa, and Oikawa) step inside and sit down. The doors close with a hiss and the bus slowly begins to move.
Yahaba plops down next to Watari, in the second to last row. He removes the bag from around his neck and shoves it under the seat. Watari looks on in amusement.
“Surprised you didn’t tell him off yourself.”
“Whuh?”
“Kyoutani. Didn't, oh I don't know, grab him by his collar and push em up against the bus, yell in his face a bit and-”
Yahaba immediately punches Watari in the shoulder.
“Shh! I told you to stop bringing that up-”
A kick is felt from behind the seat. Yahaba gets on his knees and looks over the leather to be met with a Kyoutani, legs spread, one on the seat in front of him and the other laying limp, arms crossed.
“Stop talking about me.”
Yahaba grimaces. “Stop listening.”
Kyoutanis face contorts into something almost unreadable. Mad, for sure, but what kind of m-
Oh, no. Yahaba knows that face. He’s gonna lunge.
Yahaba immediately ducks down as Kyoutani shoots to his feet. He reaches over, attempting to grab at Yahaba, who snatches the water bottle in Wataris hand and uses it to swat at Kyoutani.
A couple seconds of dodging and reaching ensues before Kyoutani grunts, slumping back into his seat, defeated.
Yahaba waits, on his knees and water bottle ready to attack for a few more moments before sighing and sitting down as well, placing the bottle back in Wataris still-open hand.
The bottle falls right over in his lap, but the boy quickly picks it up again, blinking his eyes.
“You..you two….”
“What?” Yahaba cautiously leans back, pulling his phone out of his pocket.
“That..that whole thing just now, you two just…”
Watari flails his hands around a bit in order to convey absolutely nothing.
Yahaba raises an eyebrow.
“What? He attacked me. What was I supposed to do?”
“No, no no. It was, you two..” Watari wears a pained expression. “...I'm listening to music.”
“Ooh, hand me an earbud.”
“...Yeah. Yeah, yeah.”
--☆--
Yahaba falls asleep soon after that, so he couldn’t tell you about the photos taken or the obnoxious karaoke only Oikawa and Hanamaki participated in. He’s shaken awake soon though, met with a grin on Wataris face and an earbud dangling from his ear. The bus has stopped moving.
“Wakey Wakey~” he coos.
Yahaba slaps his hand in Wataris face, pulling an earbud out of his own ear and stretching up into his seat.
“We’re here already?”
“Yup. You knocked out after your little play fight.”
“My huh..?” Yahaba blinks and leans over to grab his bag from underneath him.
Watari goes to open his mouth but immediately shuts it back. Yahaba follows his gaze and sees Kyoutani hovering above them, stretching out of his chair in front of them.
Yahaba stands up, bag over his shoulder. He lightly shoves Kyoutani.
“Hey, wanna move it? We wanna get out too ya know.”
Kyoutani opens one eye, blankly staring at Yahaba, and doesn't bother to answer until he’s finished with his stretch.
“The doors aren’t even open yet.”
Yahaba looks to his right, and sure enough no one has made it out of the bus. Looks like they just stopped-- people are still getting their things together.
“Oh.”
Kyoutani grunts. “Idiot.”
Yahaba goes to shove Kyoutani again but this time Kyoutani dodges it, shooting a grimace at Yahaba before taking a step back.
“Get in front if you want, princess.”
“Huh? What’s this? Is Kyoutani being considerate? I don’t know if I should trust you.”
“You’re not very nice yourself.”
“Yes I am! I'm nice all the time!”
They exchange waiting looks until Yahaba slumps his shoulders.
“Well just not to you.”
“Wow. Thanks.”
There's a couple claps that sound from the end of the bus and both boys look over to see Oikawa stood up at the front of the bus, arms in front of him.
“Alright! First things first, we check in, everyone gets their room keys, and unpacks! Then we’ll all go to breakfast, sound good?!”
There's a couple of whoops and hollers from among the teammates but the announcement is mostly met with unenergetic thumbs ups.
“Alright!!” Oikawa turns his head to speak to the coach, and Yahaba looks back to Kyoutani. Just as they both make eye contact, Yahaba puts one foot in front of him, into the hall, still meeting Kyoutanis eyes, and steps in front of him. He can hear the grunt that comes from Kyoutanis mouth as he takes another step back. Yahaba looks at Watari, who's leaning against the seat, one knee still resting on it. He rolls his eyes as Yahaba flashes him a very undeserved smug look.
The doors open and everyone files out, Yahaba giving the bus driver a sweet smile that would never make anyone suspect he was just bickering with the delinquent behind him.
The hotel is wide, sure, but mostly tall. It’s placed right in the middle of the city, and the outside is a light red brick. The team walks through the glass doors, dispersing into the lobby as Oikawa and the coach walk up to the front desk.
Yahaba sits down at one of the couches and looks around. The cold air is prevalent, but it’s nothing a few blankets can’t fix, so it’s surprisingly nice, for a school trip. He’s sure almost all of the club money went towards the hotel alone.
Watari stands next to him, claiming his legs are too tired to sit down just yet. Iwaizumi hovers near the front desk but not close enough to be a part of the conversation, Kunimi is sitting at a chair with Kindaichi behind it, both watching something on Kunimis phone. His hair is slightly ruffled, and Yahaba can assume that he fell asleep on the bus as well.
Only a few minutes go by before Oikawa turns around again, announcing to the group he has the cards. Everyone gathers around him in a general corner of the lobby, and he gives half of the cards to Iwaizumi. They both pull out their phones and begin distributing.
Yahaba is the 5th person to receive their card. It's by Iwaizumi, who double checks his phone before handing it over. “Uhh...yeah. Room 103, fourth floor.” He whispers.
Yahaba takes the card, holding it in-between two fingers.
“Why are you whispering…?”
“Oikawa told me it has to be a surprise until everyone gets their cards.”
“Oh. ...okay,”
Yahaba still stands in the lobby as everyone else who has gotten their cards proceed to the elevator. He waits until Watari gets his from Oikawa, who eyes Yahaba suspiciously as he leans in to whisper Wataris room in his ear.
Once Oikawa is gone, both Watari and Yahaba start to make their way to the elevator.
“So, what room did you get?”
“Room 53,” Watari replies. “You?”
“Ah, dangit.” Yahaba brings his voice down to whisper. “I’m room 103.”
“Why are you whispering?”
“Oikawa wants it to be a surprise.”
“Jesus Christ,”
They shove their way into the elevator among a couple other teammates. Yahaba notices Kyoutani, in the corner, but chooses to lay off on the arguing for now and opts to stand more towards the front with Makki. Yahaba watches as the number above them ascends, stopping at 1, where Yuda exits, 2, where Watari says his goodbyes, 3, where Hanamaki gets off, and 4, where he and Kyoutani exit.
Yahaba kind of scrunches his nose but chooses not to be too dramatic about it. It’s a walk down a hallway for christs sake, he can deal with awkward silence for once. Besides, it’ll be over soon anyways when they go their separate ways.
..Except, they don't. They...keep walking. Passing doors. Together. Yahaba kind of wants to turn around and ask Kyoutani if he’s lost, but he knows Kyoutani is more than capable of finding his own room. They’re most likely just neighbors. Probably.
So he continues on, down the hall, palms getting sweatier by the second. It’s not like the hallway is long, either, but the intense silence is terrible enough to make it feel infinite. God, maybe he isn’t capable of finding his own room- maybe he missed it, you know, maybe he- oh, no. It’s right there.
Yahaba approaches room 103, twirling the card in his hand.
The sounds of two pairs of footsteps stop at the same time.
Yahaba turns his head and looks to Kyoutani, who has his own card in hand.
They stare, for a moment, before simultaneously reaching towards the doors lock with their cards.
Kyoutani looks like a deer caught in headlights. And Yahaba feels the same way. He swallows.
“This is room 103.”
Kyoutani doesn’t say anything. It’s safe to assume all of his senses have gathered in one place to keep his gaze on Yahaba. Maybe he didn’t hear him.
Yahaba begins moving towards the door again and Kyoutanis gaze immediately flicks down to the sensor above the handle. Yahaba delicately presses his card to it, and there's a beeping sound as he turns and opens the door with his other hand.
He doesn’t walk in, or look inside at all, really. He just looks back to Kyoutani with cautious eyebrows raised.
Neither of them say anything. There are no words exchanged as Kyoutani shoves past Yahaba, stepping inside of the room.
Yahaba mentally sighs. Cool. Maybe this won't be a big deal.
He begins to follow after when he immediately bumps into Kyoutani again, right in front of the doorway.
“What- dude, what are you-”
He steps around Kyoutani and takes in the absolute anguish on the boy's face. He follows his stare, which leads to the rest of the room.
It’s a normal hotel room. A desk, a TV, one bed, two chairs, a table, a bathroom, a-
Wait. One bed?
Suddenly Yahaba is wishing this trip wasn’t mandatory.
There's deafening silence before Kyoutani turns on his heel and begins storming off to the elevator.
“Okay, come on! Hey! Wait!”
By the time Yahaba throws his bags onto the floor and closes the door again Kyoutani is already at the end of the hall frantically smashing the down button.
Yahaba groans, locks the door, and begins running after him.