Chapter Text
“Alright, how ‘bout we wrap up here for the day?” Akito suggested, stretching his joints out after what seemed at this point to be hours of practising with his teammates.
“That sounds good,” An agreed, “I’m going to be helping out at my dad’s place for the rest of the evening. Anybody wanna come for a drink before bar hours?”
“Sorry, but I have to be home early.” Toya apologised, checking his phone for the time as he grabbed his bag.
“You still got that curfew your dad set?” Akito scoffed, rolling his eyes. Toya’s dad was always so ridiculously strict with him, to the point where it was annoying.
“Yes, unfortunately. It doesn’t help that I got caught up studying in the library the other day and ended up coming home ten minutes late.”
“That totally should’ve been an exception! Ugh, well, if you’re going home, do you want me to walk you to the station?”
“That would be nice. Thank you.”
“Alright, see you guys tomorrow.” Akito gave An and Kohane a wave as the two duos went their separate ways.
As he and Toya walked to the station, Akito felt the warm rays of the early summer sunset, the slight coolness in the air perfect to cool the two of them down after a long day. Summer would be here soon, and he honestly couldn’t wait for the longer days, so he would look less ridiculous running at 6 am.
The sights were nice too. Even though he had seen the crossing so many times, the sunset always made it look nicer. Sometimes, if you were really focused on the sunset, especially at remote places like the park, you could almost forget you’re in a big city. Or, at least, that’s how Akito always felt. It always reminded him of his family’s camping trips, with the three of them (occasionally four, when his father wasn’t too wrapped up in his art to pay attention to his wife and kids) sat around the campfire as the sun went down, drinking cold water from their cooler to finish off an eventful day of running around.
“Akito,” Toya’s voice snapped the redhead out of his thoughts, “Could I ask you something before we part ways?”
“Hm? Yeah, sure, what’s up?” Akito smiled at him, curiosity piqued.
“One of my brothers, Natsuomi-niichan is getting married soon. I’ll be flying to Vienna to attend his wedding.”
“Oh, cool. So, do you need me to watch your stuff or something while you’re there?”
“No, not at all, in fact, I’d like you to come with me.”
Akito almost tripped when he heard those words. He probably misheard what he said, so he pretended like he didn’t hear that.
…Until Toya continued talking.
“I’m allowed to bring a plus one to his wedding, so I want to bring you with me. My family will be paying for your flight, and we’ll be staying in my parents’ house there.” Toya explained, making Akito realise he definitely did not mishear.
Akito took a moment to think about it. On one hand, he really didn’t like Toya’s dad, and going on this trip would mean spending time around the man who made his partner practice piano until he cried from pain. He knew he would be all too tempted to punch the shit out of Toya’s dad if the two were alone in the same room for too long. He also knew that his dad didn’t like him, seeing him as a bad influence on his son, the reason he ran away.
On the other hand, this was a golden opportunity to mess with Toya’s dad. He knew his dad hated him, so he could only imagine the way he’d react when he found out he and Toya were “dating”. The old man would probably have a heart attack on the spot. Well, probably not, but the idea still made Akito grin.
So, Akito weighed his options, and just before he and Toya reached the station, he made his decision.
“Alright, I’ll come with you.” He told him, stopped right outside the station.
“Really?” Toya smiled brightly, “That’s great. I’ll talk to you tomorrow at Weekend Garage to discuss the details, but I have to go now.”
“No problem. See ya tomorrow.”
“Goodbye and thank you.” Toya nodded and disappeared into the station, leaving Akito standing at the crossing.
So, he was really going through with this. He was going to go to a wedding with Toya, probably under the guise of his boyfriend. Not to mention this was all going to take place in a foreign country, and he’ll be staying with Toya’s parents in their house. Akito didn’t even know Toya’s parents had a house in Vienna, but it did make sense given the stories he was told about them going there every summer.
For now, however, the only thing he could do was go home and wait until tomorrow to hear more about their plans.
Admittedly, Akito got up a little earlier than usual due to the excitement buzzing inside him. He had to extend his morning workout just to settle himself down. When he finally did, he took a shower and headed straight to Weekend Garage. He knew Toya wouldn’t be there for a little while longer, but that meant he had enough time to order himself some breakfast.
“Here you go, Akito, one stack of pancakes with extra whipped cream.” An served him his breakfast.
“Thanks, An.” He smiled back at her, picking up his knife and fork in preparation to eat.
"So, you’re here extra early, and extra whipped cream usually means there’s something you’re celebrating.” An sat across from him to chat. Akito was a bit annoyed at first, but knew he still had a bit of time before Toya would arrive.
“Toya and I need to talk about something.”
“Like?”
“None of your business. Don’t you have work to be doing?”
“Aw, but it’s so early in the morning. There are almost no customers at this time, and I’m sure my dad can handle it.” An pouted.
“Too bad, I’m not telling ya anything else. Now, can I please enjoy my pancakes in peace?”
“Fine, but don’t complain too much if I listen in on your conversation.”
Akito grumbled as An walked away, and he returned to his pancakes. God, Ken’s pancakes were always so good. He wouldn’t say they were the best pancakes he ever had, but they were definitely in his top five.
“Akito!” Akito was in the middle of eating when he looked up to see Toya there.
“Ah, good morning.” Akito smiled at his partner, who took a seat across from him, where An had previously sat.
“Toya,” An briefly interrupted their conversation, “You want your usual?”
“Yes, please.” Toya nodded, not noticing Akito giving An a side-eye.
“So,” Akito turned Toya’s attention back to him, “What do we need to talk about?”
“Oh, well, I suppose the first thing we should discuss is the flight. Here, I’ll send you the details and your ticket right now.” Toya pulled out his phone and tapped the screen a few times. Akito heard his phone vibrating on the table and tapped it so the screen would show what the notification was. It was Toya sending him something, obviously the flight details.
“Right, I’ll have a look at that when I finish eating. Anything else we need to talk about?”
“Well, first, I have a question. Do you know any German?”
“Nope. You’ve literally seen my English grades. You think I can handle German?”
“Well, I learned German before I learned English. Either way, you’ll need to learn at least a little bit of German before we go to Vienna.”
“They speak German in Vienna?”
“Yes, they speak German all over Austria. I’m sure there are a lot of people who speak English, but it’s best if you learn a bit of German as well.”
“Alright, Sensei,” Akito smirked, teasing Toya with his tone, “Let’s give this a shot.”
“Alright, can you tell me how to say hello in German?” Toya asked. He had been teaching Akito basic German for about an hour now. It was going well, for the most part…
“G-goo-ten tag.” Akito squinted at the notes he had taken, trying to remember the pronunciation.
“Hmm, you’re close, but it’s guten tag.”
“Ugh, that’s not fair, you’ve been learning this for your whole life.”
“I know, but I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it eventually.” Toya took one last sip of his coffee. “Let’s stop here for now. We have another few weeks before we head off to Vienna, so that’s plenty of time to learn…if you’re willing to study.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll download an app or something to help me out.”
“Good. I’ll go pay for our drinks and your pancakes, then we’ll go to practice.”
“You sure?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Alright, I’ll have a quick look at our flight plans while you’re doing that.”
As Toya left with a nod, Akito picked up his phone from the table and opened the notification he got earlier. It was an incredibly detailed itinerary for their flight, complete with the time he had to be at the airport. Thankfully, it was an afternoon flight, so he wouldn’t have to wake up super early just to get to the airport in time.
What really caught him off guard, though, was the fact that Toya’s parents had booked them in business class. Akito had only flown business class once when they had gone to America, but the fact that this wasn’t a business trip made Akito realise that this was probably the norm for Toya’s family.
Yeah, sometimes he forgot that Toya’s family were rich.
“Akito,” Toya called out to him, “Are you ready to go to practice?”
“Yep,” Akito shoved his phone into his jacket pocket, “Let’s go!”