Work Text:
An elaborate plan, a flawless execution and a goal that is worth all of this effort. Thought through into the smallest detail and slightly evil but the adorable kind in that a kitten hissing at you may be evil. The peak of human evolution-
Niragi presses ‘cancel’ on the booking registration and can finally breathe. Fuck, he’s glad he didn’t have to call, instead only staring at the screen for half an hour. It would be worth it. So worth it.
He confirms the new booking under his last name.
There would only be one bed.
And if it’s the last thing he’d do.
Well. A double bed. He has to stay reasonable. After all, they are three people.
-`A Few Hours Prior ´-
“I made the reservation!” Karube waves his phone around until both of his boyfriends look up. He’s met with the same, stone faced expression of mild confusion makes him chuckle.
“Thank you for informing us,” Kuzuryu states before turning his attention back to his book called ‘The Golden Bird, The Silver Spoon And The Ruby Red Inquisitor’ or something like that. Maybe Karube didn’t listen well enough.
Niragi gently kicks his foot and Kuzuryu looks up again. “My apologies, dear. You did a great job and I didn’t mean to sound dismissive. I am merely very immersed in my book. Would you like to join us on the couch? We’d love your company,” Kuzuryu pats the empty space next to him and Karube decides to squeeze between the two instead, sitting tightly sandwiched shoulder to shoulder. Niragi shuffles over a little so Karube has room to breathe which he greatly appreciates.
“So, which hotel did you go with in the end?” Niragi asks, putting one arm around Karube’s shoulder. Eagerly, he tells his boyfriend all about the booking process and how he talked with the slightly awkward guy on the phone to make the reservation, even if some of the details may be irrelevant.
After all. This was their first vacation together, the three of them.
And Karube would make sure nothing could go wrong.
-`The Present Day ´-
Karube grabs his phone at the email notification and looks a the mail in confusion.
Subject: Booking E1E869 - Cancellation Confirmation
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Dear Customer,
This email confirms the cancellation of your booking with the number E1E869 click here to be directed to the booking details.
For questions feel free to contact our registration desk.
Sincerely,
The Beach Hotel Team (Danmori-Hotel-cooperations)
Telephone: +81 621 311251521***
Email: [email protected]
This Email is an automated response. Please do not reply.
Huh. What? No. This can’t be right.
Quickly, Karube types in the number into his phone before pressing call. The line beeps three times until he can hear something on the other end of the line.
“Beach Hotel information desk. Matsushita speaking.” A male voice says, sounding vastly unmotivated to do his job.
It’s the same guy he talked to earlier, isn’t it?
“Karube Daikichi. I got a mail that my booking was cancelled?”
There is silence on the other end of the line.
“Booking number.”
“Oh, ehm- Right..-“
Somehow Karube feels as if his presence is a great inconvenience to this guy.
Hm. Well. Whatever. It’s his job and not Karube’s problem.
“E1E869,” he reads the number to Mr. Inconvenience guy.
“The booking is cancelled.” The guy states.
“…well, I did not cancel it.”
“It is cancelled.”
“Well, can you uncancel it..?”
“No.”
“Re-book..?”
“No.”
Karube sighs in frustration. “I would like to book a room for three people.”
“Booking name.”
“Karube.”
“Email address.”
“You have it in the system..-“
“Email address.”
Karube sighs before going through the horrifying ordeal of spelling his email address over the course of 5 minutes. He really should get a professional one …
“And how many people would that be?”
“Three, same room.”
“I can offer you a room with three single beds. Would you like to confirm the booking.” Someone really loves his job.
“Hm, yeah, do that,” Karube says.
“Alright. You will be sent a booking confirmation and new booking number..- Stop that- No. I won’t say..-“ The guy sighs. “Thank you for choosing Danmori hotels! The beach hotel will be elated to greet you with a smile!”
The line beeps.
Someone totally forced that guy to say that. Karube chuckles. It was kind of funny.
-` ♢´-
Kuzuryu finishes his excel spreadsheet for a flawless vacation. Their first vacation with only the three of them. He takes a look at the information Karube sent them a few hours ago. Hm …
He booked a room with three single beds.
This seems like a reasonable choice considering they are three people though there is one question on Kuzuryu’s mind. One Karube may not have considered.
What if they want to cuddle.
And the beds can’t be pushed together.
This seems like a great problem.
One that he can solve.
He evaluates the options carefully. Maybe he should make a second spreadsheet, just to be save …?
Option one.
He accepts the possibility of being denied cuddles due to unfortunate circumstances.
Rejected.
Option two.
He considers booking an additional room for possible cuddles.
Better but this may end with one empty room.
Option three.
He considers cancelling the first booking, rebooking a new combination after, changing the previous booking from 3 single beds to one double and a single.
Preferred option.
Yes. That’s what he should do.
Kuzuryu can’t help but feel excited as he thinks about his plan.
It is time to write an email!
Subject: Booking adjustment
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Greetings.
I would like to inquire about the possibility of booking a room including one double bed and one single. Additionally I would like to cancel the booking E1E869.
Sincerely,
Kuzuryu K.
Subject: RE: Booking adjustment
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
GREETINGS!
We can absolutely do that! The booking with the number E1E869 is cancelled. May I confirm the booking details and the name and then everything is Awesome Sauce.
Thank you for choosing Danmori hotels! The beach hotel will be elated to greet you with a smile!
- Sasaki
Beach Hotel Team (Danmori-Hotel-cooperations)
Telephone: +81 621 311251521***
Email: [email protected]
Subject: RE: RE: Booking adjustment
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Attached: KarubeD_Booking.pdf
Greetings.
Thank you for the fast reply. The booking name is ‘Karube’.
Please refer to the attached details for further information.
Sincerely,
Kuzuryu K.
That was fast, if a bit unprofessional. Then again, he supposes this informal way of speech could provide a certain sense of familiarity.
-`♢´-
Niragi chuckles as he sees Kuzuryu quickly disappearing inside his office, a smile on his face that makes him mildly sure his boyfriend either found another excuse to make an excel spreadsheet or he’s about to write an elaborate email. Time to prepare some snacks for their travel.
He puts the first batch of muffins into the oven.
-`♤´-
Karube isn’t sure if he made the right choice.
Because …what if they want to cuddle.
Maybe he should have booked a double bed instead?
He reaches for his phone.
“Beach Hotel information desk. Matsushita speaking.” The same tired voice takes the call.
“Hey there! Karube again. I’d like to cancel the single beds and have a double instead,” he says.
“Booking name?”
“…Karube?”
“The last booking under this name, replace single with double? Correct?”
“Yeah.”
“I will change it in the system.”
“Great!”
That was fast. And uncomplicated.
One double bed instead of three single beds. Yeah. That’s better.
-`♢´-
After preventing Karube from eating too many muffins, Niragi sits down on the couch. It’s a bit tight with three people so their thighs are touching. Kuzuryu fell asleep while Karube munches on the last muffin he is allowed to eat.
Not enough space. Wait. Maybe they wouldn’t have enough space for all of them. Fuck. Good thing Niragi noticed in time!
He should book one extra bed just to be safe. That way they’d have the smaller, separate room if someone is uncomfortable with sharing the double bed. He takes out his phone, tapping around on the screen. Kuzuryu’s head tips onto his shoulder and he smiles.
To avoid having to make phone calls, he takes advantage of the online booking function again. One click and done.
He takes a relieved breath.
Catastrophe averted.
There would only be two beds.
And ideally they
’
ll sleep in one.
-`♤´-
As he falls asleep, one thought appears in Karube’s head. Shouldn’t they have the same amount of beds as people? On the off chance that everyone wants their own bed.
Karube hopes they won
’
t.
But you never know. It would only be fair not to assume.
And technically this was a work related trip for Kuzuryu.
Work related in the sense that he’s the managing partner of “Kuzuryu & Kano”
the
firm for legal troubles if the clients fear corruption and the disputes are about sums so high, one can’t risk just going with any firm. Especially not LawTek.
Nobody likes Morita.
Kuzuryu is not only the first name of their firm name, he’s also a well known lawyer. And if the King of the court takes on a case it is a dire situation. And if he takes his boyfriends on said trip while travelling across Japan to meet this client, he may as well do so. On company money.
“Beach Hotel information desk. Matsushita speaking…”
“Hey! It’s Karube. Again.”
He could have sworn he heard a sigh on the other side.
“I’d like to add an additional single bed to my booking. Same room if possible.”
“We don’t offer rooms in that constellation but I can add a separate room to your booking.”
“Yeah, that.”
“Okay. I will..-
Stop. No. I will not..-
Thank you for choosing Danmori hotels! The beach hotel will be elated to greet you with a smile!”
Before the line hangs up, Karube hears a sentence that probably wasn’t meant for his ears.
“Yes,
it is him again.
No..- Do not touch my phone Sa-“
The line beeps.
Now everything is prepared for a perfect trip.
-`♢ ♤ ♢´-
They wake up early the day of the trip. Despite everything, Karube, much to Kuzuryu’s dismay, is still packing.
“We will be missing check-in,” he says, clearly stressed.
“We will not,” Niragi says. “Check-in is the whole day and we’re one hour in front of schedule.”
“We’re three hours behind mine,” Kuzuryu points out.
“We have a schedule?” Karube looks up from his luggage and Niragi reaches out to give Kuzuryu’s hand a gentle squeeze.
“Kei? Everything’s okay.”
Kuzuryu takes a deep breath.
Half an hour later and Niragi sitting on Karube’s suitcase to get it to close, all of them sit in the car. Karube eats another of the muffins. Niragi left three of them at home as a sort of motivation for Chishiya to actually water their Plants. This method worked reliably the last few times.
Karube and Niragi switch who of them drives half way while the other one reassures Kuzuryu that stopping at McDonalds won’t throw the world into despair (unsuccessfully). In the end they compromise and get one sweet abomination coffee for Karube, one calm down cookie for Kuzuryu and one quadruple espresso ‘as black as my soul’ for Niragi. (To which Karube jokingly pointed out that they don’t offer pink espresso while Kuzuryu removed two shots of espresso from their order again, preventing a heart attack).
True to everyone’s expectation, Niragi falls asleep half an hour later, snoring softly and convincing Karube that not even a meteor crashing down on them would wake him up. Which is an utterly ridiculous but an interesting thought experiment as pointed out by Kuzuryu.
“You’re blushing, Kei,” Karube laughs before turning the music up. “You know, I’m staring to like your white girl music playlist,” he yells against the chorus of ‘Diamonds’ by Rihanna. Karube taps the beat with one of his hands on the steering wheel.
“SHINE BRIGHT LIKE A DIAMOND!” “Dear, I don’t think the text are meant to be screamed-“ “-LIKE DIAMONDS IN THE SKY..- Keiichi, all texts can be screamed, come on, sing with me.”
“I don’t think we should..-“
“I could crash the car and Suu would sleep through it.”
“…tonight..- We’re… Shining..- Daiki, I can’t sing,” Kuzuryu says, flustered after saying two words in some kind of rhythm.
“Me neither! Don’t worry..- OH! I LIKE THIS ONE!” Karube yells as the song fades out and the next one starts. “Nah nah nah, I don’t know the text~” Karube hums to the melody. “TIME FOR A SOLO!” He yells at the chorus. “Don’t just stand there staring, honey~”
“Try to move your feet~”
“Sabrina Carpenter would be proud of you,” Kuzuryu mentions, dead serious while Karube sings along to ‘Looking at me’, slightly off key.
True to everyone’s prediction, Niragi sleeps through all of it.
Like a damn miracle.
-` ♢ ♤ ♢´-
“Love?” Kuzuryu gently touches Niragi’s shoulder in an attempt to wake him.
“You think he’d be mad if I bridal style carry him into the hotel?”
“I don’t think mad is the right word,” Kuzuryu points out.
“You gotta kiss the sleeping prince awake,” Karube teases.
“Hm? If you think that may help,” without questioning the ‘why’, Kuzuryu leans in to kiss Niragi’s cheek. He mumbles something in his sleep.
Karube leans in. “Suguru,” he says softly in an attempt not to startle him. He puts one hand on his shoulder.
Niragi opens his eyes slowly, blinking. He yawns before noticing how close his boyfriends faces are. “What are you doing..-“
Karube leans in to kiss his cheek.
“Morning sleeping beauty!”
“You-“
“What,” Karube grins.
“Nevermind,” Niragi says, a slight flush on his face.
“We’re right on time,” Kuzuryu smiles.
“See?” Niragi yawns before stretching his arms. “Told you so.”
-` ♢ ♤ ♢´-
They leave the suitcases in the car, only taking the backpack with their most important things to get the room keys first.
A man sits at the front desk. Judging by his expression and the name tag, this must be the ominous ‘Matsushita’, motivated employee of the month.
“Evening! I’d like to check in. Booking name is Karube,” Karube approaches the desk.
Right. Niragi has to correct that.
“Actually, it’s Niragi.”
Karube looks at him in confusion.
“There’s been some changes,” he explains.
“What?” Karube asks. “Oh, okay, then Niragi-“
Matsushita puts one key onto the table.
And another key.
And another key.
And a 4th key.
And a 5th key.
Kuzuryu stares. That ’ s not..-
“Booking for Niragi, Niragi, Karube, Karube, Karube,” Matsushita points at the keys reading various room numbers in order. Niragi swallows. He looks at Karube who looks just as lost.
Both of them look at Kuzuryu for help. Shit. What the hell happened..-
“There must be a mistake,” Kuzuryu says calmly.
“There is not.” Matsushita states.
“I’ve confirmed payments and booking for all rooms. Your secretary submitted all payments.”
What..-
“Excuse me, I have to make a call,” Kuzuryu says, stepping away and leaving Niragi and Karube at the information desk.
“Just out of curiosity… What kinda rooms-“ Karube attempts to ask Mr. Motivation.
“204 is a double bed. 201 and 202 are single rooms. 111 is three single beds and 109 is two double beds,” he says while Niragi questions which life choices brought him to this point. How the hell did they end up with FIVE different rooms and… Eight beds? Maybe even eleven if they counted double beds as two…
Fuck.
-`♢´-
Out of earshot, Kuzuryu dials the number.
“Oki Ippei speaking. Good day Kuzuryu-san,” his cheerful legal intern picks up at the first ring.
“Ippei, I mentioned before, there is no need for such formalities.”
“I apologise, Sir. But I can’t do that. This is my work phone and- Well, I mean- Shun actually sent me to water your plants. Which I’m doing as a family friend and not your assistant. Actually, maybe I should pretend I don’t have a key while I talk and- I should stop talking. Thank you for the muffins…”
“I’ll tell Suguru. Now… was there any trouble with the hotel payments?”
“What? Did they not go through?”
“No, they… all went through?”
“Okay, good! I’m glad it all worked out because..- I really had to put on my scary face… which is asking Samura to go instead to talk with the accountants because they..-“
“Ippei. Why are there multiple payments?”
“Am I fired?”
“No.”
“Will I be fired?”
“No?”
“Do I have to fear-“ “Ippei, do you struggle with unreasonable existential fears? Would you like to talk about it?”
“What- No, I mean..-“ “I can refer you to a number of someone who can talk about-“ “No, Kuzuryu, I mean- Kuzuryu-San, what exactly is the problem with the payments?”
“There may have been a mistake because we have… five rooms?”
“I knew that couldn’t possibly be right- Oh god, I’m so sorry but Ba- Not gonna name anyone but- Shit. I’m fired..-“
“You’re not fired.”
Ippei sighs in relief.
“But I would greatly appreciate it if you’d manage to keep the amount of rooms a secret from Mira until I have a good explanation.”
“Do you want me to-“
“Don’t lie. Please send me all data and direct her to me, saying you are not permitted to talk about this.”
“Got it…”
“And make sure Kyuma doesn’t hear of the situation for as long as possible.” He’d never hear the end of this.
“Alright! Wait. Before you hang up- How many times do I water the orchids..-“
-` ♢ ♤ ♢´-
Kuzuryu walks back to approach the desk, grabbing the keys, all of them. “I assume the paperwork is already taken care of?”
Matsushita nods. “The rooms are yours. All of them. I’ve been provided with the proper documentation by your assistant.”
Kuzuryu really has to make Ippei stop introducing himself as his assistant. He should carry the title of Legal Intern working with the King of the court proudly. He already knows they’ll hire him as a lawyer one day. And if it’s the last thing Kuzuryu does.
He walks away and Niragi and Karube follow, slightly confused.
“Kei, what is-“
“I cancelled the old booking.” Kuzuryu states.
“I also-“ Niragi says, confused.
“Huh? But I..-“
“I anticipated cuddles.” Kuzuryu says, dead serious.
“I don’t even know how..-“
“Does it matter?” Karube asks.
“Considering the hotel has a no refunds policy for same day cancellations, it is at least unfortunate. Input on how to justify this to Mira will be greatly appreciated so she doesn’t laugh at me in the next meeting.”
“Did we…”
Niragi nods, lips pressed into a thin line. “We made the company pay for five rooms, didn’t we?”
“Yes.” Kuzuryu states. “Next time anyone wants a questionable purchase validated, I will direct them to Ippei considering he managed to get finances to pay for five rooms when they denied the pool table.”
“How do we decide what room to sleep in!” Karube addresses the truly important problem.
“109. Double beds on the first floor. Better for Kei’s knees and we may as well sleep in the bigger room if we booked it. And I much prefer at least one double bed,” Niragi cuts the thinking short.
Both his boyfriends nod in agreement.
“I’ll carry the suitcases!” Karube is the first one back at the car.
-` ♢ ♤ ♢´-
That evening, tried from the day, all of then, even Niragi (despite his nap or maybe because of it) only want to fall into a comfortable mattress. Karube already claimed one of the blankets on the bed by the window. He looks at Niragi and Kuzuryu, the former shirtless and only wearing shorts, the later wearing striped pyjamas. They share one look.
Kuzuryu wordlessly grabs the blanket from the other bed as well as his orthopaedic pillow he brings to every hotel. He looks at Niragi who responds with a nod.
Karube looks between them.
They turn to him.
“We’re sleeping in the same bed.” Niragi confirms.
Karube’s heart does a little happy dance.
Quickly, they fall asleep.
And maybe there was more than one bed.
But did that really matter…