Chapter Text
The windows of the car were fogged and the outside could barely be seen. The heater in the car was turned on to its highest setting. Keiji had taken off his jacket in fear of getting sweaty, then catching a cold after getting out of the car. Tetsurou hadn’t bothered to take off his, while Kenma didn’t care. The radio was turned off because he didn’t like it when Tetsurou decided to sing along with the terrible pop songs that normally ran on it. The only sound among the three was the soft buzzing of the working heater. Kenma had settled in the back seat, engulfed in the latest level of his game, Keiji leaned his head against the sweaty yet cold window in the front seat beside Tetsurou’s, staring absently through the glass at the rock covered road beneath the car. Tetsurou would occasionally sigh, concentrating on the road ahead, or would look in the side mirror to see if Koutarou was following them with his own car. They could have taken only one, that was a simple fact. If Koutarou hadn’t brought so much unneeded luggage, maybe all of their stuff could fit in the back of Tetsurou’s car. It might have been a bit crowded, but they could have worked it out. Tetsurou would drive, Koutarou would take the seat beside his, Keiji would sit in his lap. Kenma would stay in the back, Yukie beside him, Mika would sit in Suguru’s lap. That was a good idea, if Tetsurou could drive while Suguru sat in the back. He knew he was a frequent backseat driver. Especially when he couldn’t drive him self. Tetsurou gave Koutarou points for standing him.
With another sigh, Tetsurou allowed him self to clasp a heavy hand on Keiji’s thigh, making the younger jump. Kenma didn’t seem interested. Tetsurou would occasionally do the same to him while they were on road trips. It didn’t bother him one bit that he was turning that habit on Keiji, who also didn’t seem to mind the warm hand on his thigh and continued to look out of the window.
Tetsurou rubbed Keiji’s thigh, gave it a soft squeeze, before taking back his hand and setting it over the driver’s wheel again.
“Are your thighs getting thicker or am I imagining it?” he asked with grin, looking at the road ahead.
“I workout.” Keiji absently said. Of course he did, but up to now never really wondered if that had any other effect than simply keeping him in good shape. Upping his physical ability a bit was something that worked in his favor.
“No, seriously. There’s a huge difference if I have to compare you to Kenma.”
Kenma only gave an affirmative hum from the backseat when he heard his name, too caught up in his game to think of an actual replay or come back.
“Thanks.” Keiji fell silent for a moment, before looking at the beeping GPS device on the dashboard of the car. He traced the way of the moving red dot which had to be the car. Tetsurou had set the hotel they would be staying at as their final destination before they took of the same morning. Since then they had stopped only once for lunch, but otherwise they hadn’t stopped anywhere. Koutarou on the other hand had stopped multiple times, always managing to catch up to them after. That’s what happened when they drove with the girls, Keiji thought. Sitting in the car and watching the passing surroundings had become tiring and Keiji wanted to get to the hotel already.
“How much more do we need to drive?” he asked and saw Tetsurou rub his neck, sending the GPS a quick glance.
“We’re almost there.” he quickly answered.
“I can’t believe this road is present on the GPS.” Keiji mused and Tetsurou grinned again.
“It leads to a popular hotel after all. Of course it’ll be on the GPS. By the way, for such a great hotel, it’s pretty far.”
“I checked its website. It’s a nice place. The rooms are clean, they have a restaurant, Shirofuku-san even mentioned something about hot springs.”
“That’s even better! I haven’t been to hot springs in a while! The price turned out pretty good too.”
“Yes, considering that breakfast and dinner are also included.”
“That’s how every business should be run. Low prices, but good quality. All you need after that is for the rumors to spread about what you have to offer and you can rest assure.”
“I agree, Kuroo-san.”
“I really wish that the weather’s good.” Tetsurou continued. “So we can go hiking.”
“You checked the weather didn’t you?”
“I did. It’s supposed to be a bit cloudy, but otherwise no rain or snow. This isn’t Tokyo though, so I don’t really know.”
“I hope that the fog lifts by tomorrow at least.”
“You’re right.”
Tetsurou gave Keiji’s thigh another harsh pat, before concentrating entirely on the road ahead again.
Keiji had spoken to a nice woman over the phone when he made their reservations. When he walked into the lobby of the hotel however, behind the reception sat a not much older than him man, who was speaking cheerily with someone over the phone on the desk in front of him. Behind him, Mika and Yukie spoke cheerfully about what they would do once they settled in, constantly mentioning the hotel’s spa and a walk around the forest. Testurou, Koutarou and Suguru had stayed outside to get their many bags, while Kenma stayed with them, leaving Keiji to take their room keys from the reception.
When he neared the bureau, the young man behind the desk quickly ended his call with a quick “I’ll call you later” and turned towards Keiji with a large, friendly smile. Keiiji’s eyes flickered over to the name tag on the man’s chest, noticing also his perfectly ironed black jacket and the crisp white shirt underneath it.
“Welcome to Date hotel, my name is Futakuchi Kenji, how may I assist you?” the receptionist greeted with practiced ease, but unlike many others with whom Keiji had spoken to in similar situations, Futakuchi’s friendliness didn’t seem at all fake.
“Yes, well, I made a reservation last week. On the name of Bokuto Koutarou.” He never really liked giving his name when making reservations. It felt like he was underrating Koutarou’s superiority in their relationship. “I spoke to a colleague of yours, about four rooms.”
“Wait a second so I can check!”
The friendly receptionist turned towards the computer on the desk and Keiji waited patiently as he did his work.
“Four rooms, three double ones, all of them on the forth floor.” Confirmed Futakuchi and looked up at Keiji, looking for affirmation. Keiji nodded quickly. “Alright, let me get the keys! Rooms 16, 18, 19 and 24 are yours. If you ever need anything, the reception works all night so feel free to ask me or my colleague. Maybe you spoke with her on the phone.”
Keiji nodded and took the little keys, which Futakuchi slid over the desk towards him.
“Thank you.” He politely said and turned towards the happily talking Mika and Yukie, who stood a few steps away. “You can go and see the rooms, I’ll go help with the bags.” He told them and the two quickly took the keys from him.
When Keiji walked out of the hotel again, he was met with such thick fog, it was hard to say where the parking lot of the hotel ended and where the forest road began. Despite the promises of good weather, it didn’t seem like the damp air would clear soon. That would shrink their list of outdoor activities to only a few. It was almost as cold as in winter as well, despite being only the middle of autumn. Keiji rubbed his arms to keep warm, as he walked towards the place where they had parked the two cars. The foggy and cold weather didn’t quite set him in the mood for a fun friendly time and he hoped to get settled in his hotel room (which he would share with Koutarou) as soon as possible and maybe take a hot shower after that. Spending the remaining hours before dinner with reading seemed like a nice idea as well, though he was certain Koutarou would make him go outside on a walk after they were settled.
The hotel was made to look like a mountain cottage on the outside. The walls were painted in a caramel color, while the window frames were rounded with dark wood, varnished with colorless polish. The roof of the hotel was made out of the same wood, again resembling that of a cottage. The hot springs were supposed to be behind the main building. The restaurant was in a building of its own. The parking lot and the entire complex were surrounded by the tall pain trees, which grew around. Despite the few other cars on the parking lot, Keiji was left with the impression that they were the only people, except the staff, in the entire complex. Tetsurou and Koutarou’s loud voices echoed around the parking lot and rang deep into the forest as they laughed, making Keiji shiver as he walked closer to the two cars.
“Do you need any help?” he asked, seeing as Suguru was struggling to take out all of Koutarou’s bags from the back of their car. “I told Bokuto-san not to pack all of that for two days.”
“Akaashi!” Koutarou yelled out in offence, looking at Keiji. “I took all of that to be comfortable!”
“Please don’t yell so much…” Keiji softly said, looking around the parking lot and again rubbing his arms. He couldn’t help but shudder as Koutarou’s loud voice echoed around him, ringing in his ears. On regular basis he liked Koutarou’s a bit raspy yet deep voice, but now, he felt too nervous and his boyfriend’s voice echoing around him only edged his nerves more. “Bokuto-san, you took your pillow and a set of covers. The hotel has enough.”
“But their not like mine! They don’t smell like mine! You know I can’t sleep on a different pillow, not to mention that my neck will get sore if I do!” Koutarou continued in his normally loud voice, as if he hadn’t heard Keiji’s soft plea to keep it down.
“You should’ve taken your mattress too, so your back won’t suffer.” Suguru quietly muttered behind him, wincing as he tried to lift the suitcase Mika normally traveled with, if they ever did on anniversaries or other special occasions.
“Want help with that?” Keiji offered, but, Suguru being him self waved him off and tried to lift his own bag as well.
“I got this.” He winced again and later growled when Tetsurou laughed. He had it better than him. He and Kenma had brought only a fairly small, and equally empty, suitcase and a light travel bag, so he could carry both in one hand if he wanted.
“Kenma, help Akaashi carry the lighter bags to the rooms.” Tetsurou said, after his laughter died down, looking towards Kenma, who still sat in the back of their car, engulfed in is game. “We’ll get the heavier stuff and be there in a bit.”
“Fine…” Kenma sighed, turned off his game and, after pushing the device in the pocket of his jacket, stepped out of the car, closing the door behind him.
Keiji took his bags and the red sports bag Yukie had brought her stuff in, while Kenma took his bag from Tetsurou. The two started to walk through the deserted parking lot towards the large glass doors of the hotel, listening to the loud, ringing chatter behind them. Keiji again began to feel nervous. He felt as if he was being watched and even though he was a very rational person with a fresh and logical mind, he couldn’t help but look around, trying to see if there really was some unwanted intruder who followed every step of his from the thick trees surrounding them. Of course he saw nothing more than fog and trees. He tried to shake off the feeling of paranoia, but somehow he couldn’t. Not entirely.
Noticing his odd behavior, Kenma stopped beside him and threw him a questioning glance.
“Is something the matter?” he asked, his voice soft. It felt almost like his words got lost in the fog between him and Keiji.
“Nothing.” Keiji quickly answered, moving his bag over his shoulder so he could hold it more comfortably. “The weather is just too depressing I guess.”
“You feel it too, don’t you?” Kenma asked, just as softly as before, walking beside Keiji again. Keiji looked at him with a raised brow when he spoke.
“What do you mean?”
Kenma didn’t answer for a moment, no doubt thinking what exactly to say now that he had started the odd conversation. A few steps away from the entrance of the hotel he stopped again.
“Like someone’s watching.” He said, a bit louder so Keiji could hear him clearly over the fog between them. “Like we’re alone in the whole forest, but someone's watching.”
“I guess…There’s something like that…” Keiji admitted, again looking around despite the knowledge that nothing was looking at him from the trees and fog. “But it’s just from the weather. The fog’s…It’s the fog’s fault. Tomorrow when it lifts it’ll be better.”
“I hope.” Kenma muttered and Keiji hurried to catch up to him, so they can walk through the glass doors together.
Futakuchi Kenji, the friendly receptionist, was again talking on the phone, just like the first time Keiji saw him. He waved at them with a smile as they passed the reception desk to walk up the stairs towards the forth floor where their rooms were and Keiji returned the gesture with a polite nod. While walking up the stairs he remembered the receptionist’s words. The reception worked all day and night, meaning that there would always be someone behind the desk if they need anything. The simple thought made Keiji a bit more relaxed. He wouldn’t allow him self to think unnecessary things on one of the little vacations Koutarou took him on.
Everything was the fog’s fault. It played with his mind. Made him see things, made every little sound louder than it should be. Tomorrow, when it disappeared, he would have breakfast with everyone, would drink a cup of refreshing coffee and take a hot shower. He would go out on a walk with Koutarou around the hotel, they would play some volleyball behind the main building if the sun was up and then have lunch. Two days, Keiji reminded him self. Two days with Koutarou in the mountain, in a four star hotel with a refreshing company. He wouldn’t let his mind ruin his good time.