Day 2 of the Next Generation Captains Week.
Warning for puke.
Akaashi didn't know what to expect from this trip. It was an all-expenses paid vacation to the American island of Guam, and Akaashi had initially invited Bokuto. (Had he asked anyone else, the ace would have been a melodramatic mess.)
And then, Bokuto got sick.
A sick Bokuto was already a pain in the behind, but his depression over everything he couldn't do while bedridden put him in eternal emo mode, wherein he would constantly text his teammates for comfort, attention, and needless assurance that he'd recover. Akaashi was grateful that for the 3-hour plane flight his phone would be turned off, and he'd be free.
That still left the question of the extra ticket. All the rest of the team was busy. Akaashi wasn't sure of the behind-the-scenes specifics, but somehow his coach had made fortuitous contact with a friend from Miyagi, and so Akaashi would be joined by a Miyagi ace by the name of Yuuji Terushima.
They met at their flight's gate, where Terushima immediately stated Akaashi looked "duller" in person. Keiji didn't know how to take that.
Their plane had a single central aisle with two seats either side in every row. Once the boys reached their assigned location, Terushima called dibs on the window seat. Akaashi didn't care since he preferred the aisle anyway. A smooth takeoff followed, and once the plane was at cruising altitude and the fasten-seatbelt sign turned off, Akaashi pulled out the in-flight magazine from the seat pocket in front of him, hoping to pass the time in peace and quiet as he preferred to do on any flight.
He heard a metallic click beside him as Terushima slid off his seatbelt.
"You can take your seatbelt off now," Yuuji informed, thinking Akaashi didn't know the sign was off.
"I like it on," Akaashi said, skimming pages in the magazine for something to read. "They said you should keep your seatbelts fastened at all times anyway."
"When?"
"During the safety demonstration."
"You listened to that?"
"Didn't you?"
"No. I was just staring at that hot flight attendant."
"So what are you going to do if there's an evacuation? Where's the exit?"
"Well, duh," Yuuji mocked. "We're gonna crash into a million pieces, so just crawl out the side of the plane!"
Akaashi sighed exasperatedly as a beverage cart rattled alongside.
"Can I get you boys something to drink?" asked a demure flight attendant—definitely not the one who gave the demonstration.
"I'll get a Bloody Mary," Terushima chimed.
"Can I see your ID?" the woman asked.
"Do I not look old enough to have a Bloody Mary?"
The flight attendant couldn't tell if the teen was serious and didn't know how to politely respond.
"He's not," Akaashi answered to relieve the woman of her discomfort.
"Akaashi! Don't tell her that!" Yuuji chastised. He crossed his arms and pouted. "Fine. I'll have a coke."
"Water please," Akaashi said. The woman poured both drinks and handed them to each boy. Terushima let the tray table in front of him fall with a clatter and set his drink down after a sip.
"That was lame," he complained and then proceeded to look out the window. The boy had barely stopped talking since they sat down, and now that he was interested in the scenery, Akaashi hoped he could get some reading done. He found an interesting travelogue for a destination in Europe and began to read.
"Al…Grrr…Vee?" Terushima's voice droned as he sounded out the destination's name over Keiji's shoulder.
"The Algarve. It's in Portugal," Keiji corrected. He wasn't an expert on European geography; he'd merely read that far in to know where the travelogue was going.
"Is that in America?"
"No, it's in Europe," Akaashi corrected.
"Why would anyone go to Europe?"
"Some people think it's nice."
"But why?" Terushima whined. "I hear it rains there all the time."
"Not everywhere," Akaashi asserted.
"Like where? Where doesn't it rain?" Terushima snorted.
Akaashi paused. Honestly he had no clue, but the conceited nature of the question was even more annoying.
"Portugal," he finally guessed.
"Yeah, that's like the only place," Terushima frowned, accepting the answer as credible.
"To each his own," Akaashi shrugged, though he had no prevailing desire to visit the continent himself either.
"I want to go to Moscow," Terushima suddenly chirped.
"Moscow's in Europe."
"No, it's not. It's in Russia."
"…Which is in Europe."
"No, it's in Asia—actually, no, it's its own continent! It's got mountains and seas and everything."
"Russia's a country."
"Australia's a country, but it's also a continent."
"Australia is its own landmass."
"So is Russia!" There was an awkward silence before Terushima backpedaled. "Wait. No, never mind." Keiji was grateful his companion wasn't going to debate that point. He began to look at the article again as Terushima peered once more outside.
"Is that Kyushu?" Terushima said after only a few seconds of quiet. Akaashi peered over the boy's shoulder until he could see a small islet in the bay of a big city, loaded with what appeared to be landfill mounds. It was a million times too small to be Kyushu, which was nowhere near their flight path anyway, but Keiji decided not to pursue that particular point.
"Almost looks like Isle of Dogs," Akaashi remarked.
"Oh, I hated that movie," Terushima said offhandedly as he slumped back in his seat.
"I thought it was good," Akaashi shrugged, his eyes poring onto the article again.
"Really? I never saw it."
Keiji's gaze shifted blankly onto the back of the seat in front of him, trying to make sense of how someone could "hate" a movie they'd never seen. He didn't have to speak before Terushima explained the contradiction:
"I didn't like the previews."
"It was a good movie. You should see it." He got an idea and began to thumb through the list of in-flight movies on his TV screen. "In fact, I'll see if it's available so you can watch it." He wasn't going to say it, but his intentions were less than altruistic.
"Nah, not interested." Yuuji sipped his soda again and gazed back out the window. Akaashi looked back at the magazine, but his eyes glazed over, and he didn't even try to start reading, awaiting the next interruption.
"So how's this Bokuto guy?" Yuuji asked on cue.
Now here was a conversation Akaashi could get into. He folded the magazine shut (keeping a thumb on his page though) and prepared to discuss the thing he knew he and his companion had in common.
"Well, he's got a killer cross, and—"
"I bet I'd take him down easily," Yuuji interrupted. "You know, our school beat Shiratorizawa once," he simpered. "And our team now's the best it's ever been."
"Really? Oh, yes. I know all about it," Keiji fibbed, hoping to ground the conversation to a halt because there would be nothing worth saying.
"Really?! What'd they say?" Terushima asked excitedly.
Akaashi grimaced.
"Oh, not much," he coyly said, looking the other way.
"Oh, come on! What'd they say about me?! You know I'm Johzenji's ace. I bet I could beat this Bokuto guy in a heartbeat."
Now a statement like that Akaashi could not tolerate.
"Oh, yes, I did hear something," he feigned, "about Johzenji's ace." Terushima nodded eagerly. "That Johzenji's ace…was a loudmouth. Reckless. Brags too much. Does the same stupid stuff over and over again. Comes on too hard. Oh, and can't take a hint."
Akaashi glared dryly at his associate to drive home the last point. Was it mean? Yes. But with Bokuto, he'd learned that sometimes tough love was the only way to go. He peered into Yuuji's shocked pupils, trying to decipher if the unnerved boy got the message.
At last Terushima folded his arms and pouted severely.
"I'll punch whoever told you that," he grumbled and erupted angrily. "Was it Bobata?!"
Akaashi sighed. He opened his magazine again and peeked ahead to see how many pages were left. There were another five pages in the article—the article he'd barely started reading. Despite circumstances telling him to give up, he really wanted to learn about this place in Portugal
"Hey, um," Terushima began, pointing at the magazine, "you've been on that same page for like 15 minutes. Are you a slow reader?"
Akaashi slapped the magazine shut, stuffed it in the seat pocket, and pressed the flight attendant call button. Terushima peered warily as the woman who'd given the safety demonstration appeared at their row within a minute.
"Do you need something?" she asked.
"Yes," Akaashi said with a friendly smile, "do you have any other seats available?"
"Sorry, we are fully booked. Can I get you something else?"
"Aspirin please. Two."
The stewardess acknowledged and headed for the rear of the plane. Akaashi glared at Terushima, hoping now he got the message. However, rather than looking upset, Yuuji was practically salivating, peeping over the back of his chair at the flight attendant who'd just departed.
"Dude, do that again." The request was slightly creepy.
"Do what again?"
"That call button thing. She was hot."
Akaashi immediately drank the rest of his water, not caring if he didn't have any for the impending painkiller for his brewing headache.
Before the flight attendant could return, however, a bump jolted the plane. The unbelted Terushima almost bounced off his seat. He clasped both arm rests with his fingers and peered around in fright.
"What was that?" he panicked. The fasten-seatbelt sign dinged on. The pilot's voice then resounded advising of upcoming turbulence. Akaashi tugged his seatbelt strap tighter out of habit. Yuuji downed the rest of his coke to calm his nerves and frantically fumbled to get his seatbelt reattached but couldn't find the buckle. After a solid thirty seconds of clambering, by the end of which he stood up from the chair and found the strap dangling down the front of the cushion, he quickly reseated and locked himself in just in time for another violent jolt.
"It's turbulence. We'll be fine," Akaashi calmed.
"Are you sure?" Terushima asked apprehensively. He then shoved one forearm against his stomach, as the plane began to bounce continually.
"Yes. Happens all the time."
"I don't think so," Yuuji uncomfortably said. Akaashi noticed he was getting pale. "Oh, gosh, no."
Terushima began to turn away as if he were about to get sick. Realizing he didn't have the mental capacity right now to grab the doggie bag from his seat pocket, Akaashi quickly handed him the one from his own seat. Terushima took the bag and ventilated heavily into it.
After a full minute of pained breathing, Yuuji released his head, seemingly OK.
"Thanks. I feel bett—"
Suddenly his face became pale again
Two hours later, the plane landed safely in Guam. The turbulence lasted less than five minutes.
Akaashi scrubbed his arms thoroughly in the airport restroom, even though he'd drenched himself plenty in the bathroom on the plane when he changed shirts following his companion's "accident." After that, Terushima apologized—not just for the embarrassing faux pas but for being so excited to go abroad he'd been kind of annoying—and spent the rest of the flight listening to music and gazing out the window at the open ocean.
Akaashi never did finish the article.
Having washed himself enough that his conscience believed himself sanitized, Keiji finally turned on his phone. As predicted, it was filled with 60 text messages and 10 missed calls from Bokuto.
Akaashi didn't bother viewing the messages and proceeded to dial his teammate.
"Akaashi! Where have you been?! Why are you ignoring me?!" he moped melodramatically. Bokuto knew exactly why Akaashi had been off the grid, so there was no reason to explain.
"Bokuto," Keiji said sternly to center the conversation, before issuing his threat: "if you ever get sick before a plane trip again, I'll kill you."
"Come on! Don't lie! I know you're just having the most fun time there without me! You don't need me anymore! I bet you already moved on! You and your new friend should just go off and make many happy memories together without me! Forget about me and my pain. You've already forgotten, haven't you?! That's why you didn't call sooner. You're a traitor, Akaashi! Traitor!"
Akaashi hung up promptly.
Next time, no matter what, he was traveling alone.