Chapter Text
"Listen, what else is my family good for besides their money? Please come with me, guys." Kiryu is looking at Haruka and his friends with big, pleading eyes. "Who am I supposed to take otherwise, my brothers? No, thank you."
"B-but it's so expensive, Kiryu-san …"
"So what? My parents are paying for it, not me. And if my dad doesn't want to pay for you all, I'll ask my uncle or something."
It's two weeks before Kiryu's birthday, and they're hanging out at Haruka's place as usual. Suo's baked tea cakes for everyone — except himself, of course — and Nirei's brought gummies, all of which have already been devoured while they played games, mostly by Haruka.
Kiryu's just told them about his parents' birthday present for him: A weekend trip to Lake Kawaguchi. They allowed him to bring people along, so he asked Haruka, Suo, Nirei, and Tsugeura to join him. Haruka hasn't travelled much in his life, but he suspects the trip and the stay at a hotel will cost a small fortune. He forgets sometimes how rich Kiryu and his family are.
He isn't sure how to feel about the offer. Of course he loves his friends and wants to spend time with them, but several days without a break? What if they finally realise how weird and boring he actually is and get sick of him?
It does sound like it could be nice, though …
"Sakura-kun?" There's a hand on his shoulder, and Suo's eye is fixed on him. "What do you think?"
"I, um —"
"Sakura-chan, come on", Kiryu pouts. "It'll be so fun!"
"It'd be stupid to turn down a free trip, I guess …", he mumbles, avoiding his friend's gaze. Admitting he'd like to go seems kind of embarrassing.
"See, everyone?", Kiryu cheers, "Even Sakura-chan wants to go!"
"I never said that!", Haruka sputters, feeling his cheeks heat up. He can't look too excited, because what if no one else wants to? That'd just be humiliating.
"I'm in, too," Suo smiles. "I want to see Mount Fuji."
"If Suo-chan and Sakura-chan are coming, Nire-chan has to come, too!", Kiryu says. "We can't separate the trio!"
"Fine …", Nirei finally gives in. "Tsugeura-san, what about you?"
"I don't know ... Ya think I can bring my workout gear?", Tsugeura frowns.
"Tsuge-chan," Kiryu sighs. "There's enough stuff you can do around the area to get a workout in, trust me."
"Okay, if ya say so, then I'm in!", Tsugeura says, already back to his usual cheerful demeanour. "When is it again? I gotta ask my parents."
"Me, too," Nirei says.
Kiryu checks the dates on his phone. "We're leaving on Thursday and coming back Sunday. I'd say your parents can talk to my dad about it, but he'd probably just berate them for sending their sons to a delinquent school." He grimaces. "So let's hope they'll just say yes without too many questions."
They do say yes.
That's how Haruka ends up at Makochi Station with Suo and Nirei around two weeks later, waiting for the other two to arrive. He doesn't own a suitcase, so Nirei's sharing one with him. It's not like Haruka has a lot of clothes to put in it anyway.
Just another thing to be embarrassed about when it comes to this trip — of course, Haruka pretty much exclusively wears plain white t-shirts, but to see three identical shirts next to each other in the suitcase made him feel rather stupid. Meanwhile, Nirei's side looks like the complete opposite: He's packed his most colourful, summery tops, several pairs of shorts (how many days are they staying again?), and even a yukata. Haruka had panicked a little when he saw it; was he supposed to bring one, too?! No one had told him! But it's too late now; if they go to a festival, he'll just have to wear jeans and another boring, white shirt. Whatever.
He doesn't even know why he cares so much. This summer break, he's been hanging out with his friends almost every day, so what's the big deal about going on a trip with them? And since when does he give a shit about his clothes?
"Are you alright, Sakura-kun?" Suo's soft, subtle touch on his biceps startles him a little (no one else ever manages to catch Haruka off-guard, and it never fails to annoy him).
"Uh — 'course I am. I'm doin' great," Haruka replies, looking around the station. Nirei is busy at the nearest vending machine.
"I can hear you thinking," Suo says quietly. Haruka holds his breath when the other boy leans in closer. "Are you worried about the trip?"
Haruka honestly prefers Suo's teasing to this sincere, concerned version of him that can read his fucking mind. It makes Haruka's heart beat faster in a way he doesn't fully understand, but definitely doesn't like. "'m not," he grumbles. "'s just a couple days, what would I be worried about?"
He doesn't say that he's never had so much as a sleepover before, let alone a four-day trip with multiple friends. Maybe Suo's already figured that out anyway; he's smart like that. The idea of his friends knowing the full extent of his social ineptitude makes his face burn.
"I suppose you're right," Suo smiles. It seems like he wants to say something else, but then he looks past Haruka and waves. "Ah, good morning, Kiryu-kun, Tsugeura-kun!"
Haruka turns around and indeed, there are their other friends, Kiryu pulling a suitcase behind him while Tsugeura is carrying a gym bag that has clearly been filled to the brim.
"Mornin', guys!", Tsugeura greets them with a grin. Nirei, also having noticed the newcomers, rejoins the group with a soda can in his hand.
"Sorry we're a little late; Tsuge-chan wasn't done with his morning workout," Kiryu says, a defeated expression on his face. "He hadn't even finished packing when I came to pick him up."
"I just had to find my phone charger," Tsugeura pouts. "It didn't take that long!"
"Anyway," Kiryu sighs, "we'll be leaving in a couple of minutes. Are you guys ready?"
Everyone nods. They'll first travel to Tokyo where they'll have to transfer to a second train that will take them to Kawaguchiko. It's going to take around four hours in total, and it'll be the longest journey Haruka's ever been on.
When the train arrives, they sit down in their reserved seats: Kiryu and Tsugeura next to each other, facing Suo and Nirei with a table between them, while Haruka sits on his own at the otherwise unoccupied table across the aisle. His plan is to close his eyes for a bit until they reach Tokyo.
"Sakura-chaan~"
He reluctantly looks over towards Kiryu and the others. "Hm?"
"You're sitting so far away! I wanna play with you!" Kiryu holds up his phone, a mobile game on the screen.
Haruka wrinkles his nose and tries to ignore the heat rising in his cheeks. "You just want to watch me lose."
Kiryu pouts. "Never! Wait, I'll come over to your side." With that, he climbs over a blushing Tsugeura's lap and plops down in the seat next to Haruka. "Alright, check this out."
The next hour and a half is spent trying to figure out the controls of Kiryu's weird game and failing miserably. He definitely expected Kiryu to laugh at him like Suo often does, but he seems pretty patient with him; he even looks like he's enjoying himself. Teaching Haruka how to play video games can't be that fun.
Haruka has finally cleared an annoyingly hard level when the train conductor announces they'll arrive at their destination in five minutes.
"Good job, Sakura-chan!", Kiryu says and nudges Haruka's shoulder with his own. "You're getting better at gaming!"
Haruka chooses to ignore the comment lest he starts blushing again and looks over to his other friends. Tsugeura and Nirei are cleaning up their card game while Suo is still reading.
"Do you guys have everything?", Kiryu asks as he connects his phone to his power bank and slips both into his bag.
"Yes, dad," Suo says with a twinkle in his eye, packing up his book.
"Oh, do you want to take charge, Mr. Vice Captain?", Kiryu challenges, but there's no bite in his voice. "I'd rather ask before Tsuge-chan leaves his bag again."
"You're doing great, Kiryu-kun," Suo says quickly while Tsugeura mumbles, "That was one time …"
Haruka doesn't think he remembers a story about Tsugeura forgetting a bag, but of course his friends must go on trips without him all the time, so it must've happened during one of those. They just didn't invite him.
The transfer goes smoothly except for one moment when Nirei stumbles and nearly knocks over a child in front of him, but thankfully Tsugeura catches him just in time. After that, everyone keeps a close eye on Nirei as he climbs the stairs to the train's entrance.
("I'm fine, you guys, see?", Nirei says, looking back at them over his shoulder right before he trips over the last step.)
Haruka thinks that maybe now he'll get some time to nap, but when he sits down on his own again, it's Suo that takes the seat next to him. Come on. Suo stays silent, though, and just pulls out his book. Haruka can live with that.
What's a lot harder to deal with is Suo's arm pressing against his.
There's more than enough space; why is Suo so close? But Haruka can't bring himself to pull away. He's still not used to physical contact that isn't fighting, but it feels kind of … nice? For now, he'll stay like this and see if Suo moves.
He doesn't. So Haruka doesn't, either.
After a while, he decides to try and take a nap after all. He closes his eyes and leans back against the headrest as Kiryu and Nirei's chatter in the background, combined with the soft sound of Suo occasionally turning a page of his book, slowly lull him to sleep.
"Sakura-kun?"
"Hm?" He doesn't want to open his eyes. Can't Suo let him sleep for a little longer?
"It's great that my shoulder seems to be such a comfortable pillow, but I really need to use the bathroom."
"Huh?!" Suddenly wide awake, Haruka shoots up, his head nearly hitting Suo in the chin. Was he — was he sleeping on Suo's shoulder? Fuck, he'll never be able to live this down, will he? His face must be beet red. He looks over to his other friends and sees Kiryu hold up his phone with a shit-eating grin.
"Sakura-chan is sooo cute!"
"Delete that right now!!", he yells as his own phone vibrates on the table in front of him, undoubtedly with some kind of notification from Kiryu.
"S-Sakura-san, please calm down!", Nirei hisses, nervously looking around for the other passengers.
"Whatever," Haruka grumbles and crosses his arms.
"It's fine," Suo says quietly so only Haruka can hear it, and his smile feels less teasing than it usually does. "I'm glad you feel safe with me."
Before Haruka can think of a reply, Suo gets up and heads towards the bathrooms.
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan, I only shared it in our friend group chat, not with the entire class or anything!", Kiryu smiles, as if that's any better.
"Recordin' your friends without askin' them doesn't seem very virtuous to me," Tsugeura frowns.
"It's okay, Tsuge-chan, we were all here for it anyway! But I guess I can delete it if Sakura-chan really wants me to …" Kiryu looks at Haruka with his big green eyes and a little pout on his lips.
"It's … fine," Haruka grunts. Kiryu is lucky he's cute.
Haruka makes sure he's leaning against the window this time as he closes his eyes. When Suo returns, Haruka doesn't react, choosing to pretend to be asleep instead.
He must've dozed off again for real at some point because he eventually wakes up to Suo gently shaking his arm. "Sakura-kun, we're almost there."
Haruka rubs his eyes. He's glad to see he stayed in his own seat this time; no further embarrassment for now. His ears pop when he yawns, and he realises how high the altitude must be here.
The boys pick up their bags and suitcases and finally leave the train once it comes to a halt at Kawaguchiko Station. Haruka stretches his arms above his head and hears his joints crack. He's not used to sitting around for this long; he feels the need to run a couple of laps around the train station.
"Can we walk to the hotel?", he asks Kiryu as they head towards the exit together.
"Uhh, it'd probably take at least an hour," Kiryu says with a raised eyebrow, taking out his phone. "I'm gonna call a taxi for us."
One hour on foot sounds like a pretty reasonable amount of time for Haruka — that's less time than he spends strolling around Makochi every day, but he guesses that's not the case for everyone, so he goes along with it.
According to Kiryu, there's one hotel room for two people and one for three, so Haruka, Suo, and Nirei decide to share the latter while Kiryu and Tsugeura choose the former.
When Nirei opens the door, one problem immediately makes itself clear: There's only two beds, one single and one double.
"What the fuck?", Haruka protests loudly. "Do we look like a couple with a kid or what?!"
"I'll go ask at the reception if we can have a different room," Suo says, his voice even.
"W-wait, what if we just switch every night, so everyone gets the single bed at some point?", Nirei suggests hastily. "We're three people and we're staying three nights. We don't have to make a big deal out of it, right?"
"That's not a bad idea," Suo says. "What do you think, Sakura-kun?"
Just the idea of sleeping in the same bed as someone else makes Haruka's skin crawl. The bed is not that wide, and they'll have to share a blanket. Too close, too intimate, too much for someone like him. But he doesn't want to cause a scene if his friends are okay with it.
"Fine."
"I'll take this side," Nirei says and sits down on the right side of the double bed. "You guys can decide who gets the single first."
"Sakura-kun, you can sleep alone tonight, if you want." Suo sets his bag down on the bed next to Nirei.
"'kay," Haruka mumbles. He won't complain about having a bed to himself, even if it's only for the first night. He'll try to save his worries about the whole thing for tomorrow.
"Wow," Nirei says and gets up to walk to the window. "Look at this view!"
Haruka looks outside. "I mean, it's a mountain?" He's not sure what the big deal is.
"That's Mount Fuji, Sakura-kun," Suo says like he's talking to a small child. "Kiryu-kun's parents must have paid a lot of money for us to have this view."
"Seems kinda unnecessary," Haruka mutters. He's not happy about the fact that Kiryu's parents paid for the trip. Makes him feel like he owes them something now, and he definitely never wants to be indebted to an asshole like Kiryu's dad.
"Sakura-san!", Nirei whines. "At least let Suo-san and me appreciate it."
Haruka says nothing and lies down. This is a western-style bed with a very soft mattress — two things he's not used to. He hopes he'll be able to sleep tonight.
There's a knock on the door, so Suo opens it and lets Kiryu and Tsugeura inside.
"Oh, was there a mistake?", Kiryu asks as soon as he enters.
"Yeah, but we figured something out," Suo says.
"So Suo-chan and Nire-chan are sharing a bed, huh?", Kiryu grins when he notices Haruka's backpack on the single. "Sakura-chan, how do you feel about that?"
"Huh?" All Haruka really cares about right now is that he gets to sleep on his own tonight.
"Kiryu-kun," Suo says with a voice that makes Haruka look up. There's a sharp edge to the usual serenity. What's up with that?
Kiryu defensively holds up his hands. "Just wondering, that's all!"
"W-we're switching every night so everybody gets the single bed once," Nirei says, his eyes shifting between his friends.
"That's so smart!" Tsugeura sits down next to Haruka, apparently not picking up on the weird vibe. "Anyway, what's the plan for the rest of the day? I'm kinda hungry."
Kiryu checks his phone. "The hotel restaurant only opens in about an hour, so we can't eat here. Hmm." He scrolls for a moment. "Oh! There's a café nearby that looks really cute; we should go there to have some snacks and then we can eat a proper lunch later!"
He shows them pictures of the various cakes and desserts the café offers, and they all agree to check it out. Haruka wonders if Suo will actually eat something.
His question gets answered when they arrive at the café fifteen minutes later and Suo walks up to the counter to order a cup of green tea and nothing else. Haruka wants to punch him; will that boy consume a single calorie on this trip? Of course Suo didn't eat anything on the train ride either.
Haruka himself gets coffee and a piece of chocolate cake that Nirei encourages him to try while Tsugeura is still looking up the protein contents of the different desserts. At some point, Kiryu just takes his phone away and orders something for him.
Suo sits down across from Haruka when their group makes it to a small table near the window. The single cup of tea in front of Suo looks ridiculous amongst everybody else's food, and it's making Haruka angry somehow. He doesn't understand why; he shouldn't give a shit about what his friend does or doesn't eat. It's none of his business. And yet ...
"Suo-san, do you want to try some of my food?", Nirei asks. "It's really good!"
"No thank you, Nire-kun — as you know, I'm on a diet," Suo smiles at him.
If Haruka has to hear those words even one more time, he'll explode. Fuck Suo and his stupid diet; he'll give his vice captain until tomorrow evening before he forces a sandwich down his throat.
The chocolate cake is delicious, as is the coffee, so Haruka tries to focus on that instead of his irrational anger.
"Have you been to Kawaguchiko before, Kiryu-san? Do you know what's fun to do around here?", Nirei asks.
"Only once, when I was little," Kiryu says after swallowing his bite of strawberry cake. "So I don't remember much, no."
It seems like that was the answer Nirei had hoped for because he immediately pulls a notebook out of his bag. This one doesn't have the usual Top Secret sticker on it, though. "Well, then I have lots of ideas about what we can do!"
Haruka can't stop himself from snorting as he watches his friend flip through the pages of his notebook. Of course Nirei would go all out on researching the area for activities and places to go.
"So!", Nirei starts. "First, I looked at our hotel. They have their own onsen, so that means we don't have to go to a public one, and there's also a spa, which I thought Kiryu-san might like?"
"Hell yeah," Kiryu says. "You're all coming with me, though. Massages for everyone!"
Haruka has never gotten a massage before, so he's a bit wary. But he guesses he'll go along with his friends if they all want to do it; he doesn't want to look like a coward.
"We could also do a bicycle or a canoe tour."
Physical activity sounds a little more up Haruka's alley, though he's not sure he's interested in sitting in a tiny boat surrounded by a giant body of open water for God knows how long. He's not necessarily scared of water, but the fact that he can't swim isn't exactly confidence-inspiring either.
"Oh, and of course we have to go to Fuji-Q Highland! They have so many roller coasters and the biggest haunted house in the world!"
Tsugeura visibly pales at that and opens his mouth to protest, but Kiryu is already patting his shoulder. "Don't worry, Tsuge-chan, I'll hold your hand during the rides so you don't have to be scared!"
"Th-that's not —"
"Ah, I'm so sorry, Tsugeura-san, I forgot …" Nirei looks at Tsugeura with big, sad eyes. "Of course we don't have to go."
"I-it's fine, I'm sure there'll be somethin' for me to do …"
"You can go on the Thomas & Friends themed rides!"
"Suo-san …"
Haruka tunes out the conversation at some point, but it seems like there's a lot his friends want to do during their time here. Since this is his first time taking a vacation, he doesn't have any specific plans in mind and will be fine with almost anything. As long as the others are happy, he'll be happy, too.