OF BIRTHDAYS AND ALCOHOL
Mayuzumi glared up at the clear blue sky, as if throwing the sun a dirty look would stop the relentless heat that came with it. He absolutely hated summer. Especially when it was hot, humid and the fourth day of a heat wave above 35°C. He'd spent majority of the day at the library, mainly to escape the sun and his overly energetic family at home. Mayuzumi sighed trying to decide whether or not it was worth taking off the light coat he wore over a shirt, taking it off would provide the short term advantage of allowing the stuffy breeze to dry off some of his sweat… but that decision also came with needing to carry the coat over his arm, which would end up in an accumulated wet patch of sweat concentrated on one part of his body. He eventually came to the decision of leaving his coat on, being too lazy to both hold and take off the coat, there wasn't really too much of a difference in the number of layers one wore in this kind of heat and at least it would prevent him from developing unwanted tan markings.
He had really been hoping that the temperature outside might have cooled by 5:30pm… he was sorely disappointed. Mayuzumi couldn't help but feel a little nostalgia as he walked down the busy streets of Kyoto, as this was around about the time he'd always leave Rakuzan after basketball practise. Akashi usually gave him a glare which spoke stronger than words, voicing his obvious less than unimpressed opinion of Mayuzumi leaving practise 'early' everyday. A glare Mayuzumi quickly became immune to, or rather better at hiding his discomfort towards.
He was a third year, there was no way he'd put a sports club ahead of his study scores. Basketball was always a hobby for him, simply a way to stay fit, and whilst last year might have boosted his enthusiasm in the sport that was definitely the peak in his sporting career. He couldn't tell whether or not he missed the club, or if it was simply that a large portion of his life last year was now empty. He had too much free time. School was finished, all he had to do was wait for university offers. As much as he enjoyed having nothing to do, or expected of him, he couldn't help but feel a little lost in how to fill his days.
~~~~~~~ "WOOOOHOOOO! PAARTEEY!" ~~~~~~~~
Mayuzumi shuddered, as he heard a drunkard scream from the top of his lungs. He picked up the pace, hoping to reach the street lights before the car blasting music so loud it was no longer recognisable caught up to him…
No such luck.
Mayuzumi died a little inside as he watched the stream of traffic pass through the crossing he so desperately wished to walk across. The car- rowdy inhabitants included- had also stopped at the lights.
"YEAAAH! TONIGHT'S GONNA BE FOOLLY SICK BROOO!" shouted another voice, which Mayuzumi desperately tried to zone out. Best pretend they don't exist… that way they'd be less likely to call out to him, or throw a bottle at his head, or do whatever crazy things drunkards at 5:30 in the afternoon did.
"MAYOUzouMI-sSENpai?" cried a voice… a very familiar voice… "OH, WHAT the IT IS HIM. SENPAIII Reo-nii, Reo-nii , look, look , look! It's senpai!" shouted a rather drunk Hayama. This time Mayuzumi did cringe.
"WHERE?" bellowed Nebuya, "I fuckin LOVE that antisocial guy!"
"Heeey! It really is him! Oi! Look this way! Mayuzumi-senpai~!" sang Mibuchi. Mayuzumi was doing his upmost in trying to ignore his previous team mates. Not even wanting to consider why they were in a car, completely wasted at 5:30 in the afternoon.
"Why don't we invite him to join us?" asked a dangerously smooth voice, "It wouldn't be a proper birthday party without the entire team". It was quieter than the previous shouts, but Akashi's voice was still loud enough to reach Mayuzumi's ears seeing as he had to project his suggestion over the blasting music.
Fuck no, there is absolutely NO way I'm getting in that car, thought Mayuzumi apprehensively. What's Akashi even DOING in the car?!
"Yesss! Great idea!" cried Mibuchi, "Nebuya, bring im in. We're celebrating my birthday! Great timing Mayuzmi, always had a good nack for turning up at the right moment!"
Hang on, wait, what?
"Ussu!" came the muscle man's throaty acknowledgment, accompanied with the equally un-wanted sound of a car door opening.
"What the fu-" yelped Mayuzumi, suddenly finding himself trapped in a mass of muscle.
"I've totally missed this guy!" hollered Nebuya, squeezing Mayuzumi even harder as he lifted him off the footpath.
"Let me go! What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" swore Mayuzumi, choking a little. He could swear he felt his ribs bruising.
"Com-oon, the light's changin'!" beckoned Mibuchi.
"We're coming, we're coming!" assured Nebuya, scooping a rather bewildered Mayuzumi up bridal style and dumping him unceremoniously into the back seat of the car.
"Oh! Hey there Mayouzoumi-senpai!" greeted Hayama, as if he weren't the first person to spot him, (Goodness knows how he managed to look past the wall of muscle Nebuya was to see Mayuzumi). "Ya, know senpai! You're name it just waaay too long." Complained Hayama, it was clear he'd already had one too many.
Mayuzumi, grimaced as Nebuya squished him further into Hayama. The guy seriously needed both the middle and side seat to himself.
"Seatbelts please." Reminded Akashi, a little too merrily for Mayuzumi's liking. Despite wishing to oppose his previous captain, Mayuzumi seriously didn't want to die of some horrid head injury which usually accompanied drunken teens in cars…
"Hang on, you're not 21, how can you be driving a car? It's not even legal!" exclaimed Mayuzumi, feeling extremely worried about the likelihood of them all crashing and dying. Mayuzumi usually prided himself in his ability to remain, calm, cool and collected in many situations. It just turned out, that being driven around by a 16 year old with a car fool of drunk teenagers really pushed his control.
"Nebuya! Seatbelt." Called Akashi a little more sharply, eyeing the large centre player in the rear window reflection.
"All plugged in." affirmed Nebuya, showing his captain the thumbs up.
"Mayu-chan, can I call you that, that'd be ok yeah?" asked Hayama a little sleepily. The disgusted look on Mayuzumi's face clearly said it wasn't. Hayama giggled giddily, "Mayu-chan let me sleep on your shoulder."
"No, you can't and don't call me Mayu-chan!" said Mayuzumi coldly.
"Oi, don't make im do what he don't want!" scolded Nebuya, heavily lumping a beefy arm around the thinner male's neck.
Just how much did this guy drink? The rate at which alcohol made its way into the system depended on the amount of muscle… and this guy had a lot of muscle.
"No far! Mayu-chan doesn't mind!" wailed Hayama, weakly batting at Nebuya's arm. Mayuzumi said nothing, weighing his options. A snoring Hayama, or a strangely overly affectionate and clingy Nebuya… snoring Hayama it was.
"Yes, yes Hayama can sleep on my shoulder, so please take your arm off my neck." Said Mayuzumi rather quickly, gingerly pulling his previous team mate's arm away. Nebuya simply pouted petulantly, but let Mayuzumi go regardless. Hayama let out a joyful 'whoop' and proceeded to circle his arms around the older male's waist and rest his chin on his shoulder, sighing contentedly. Mayuzumi's eyes widened in dismay, glaring at the new arms now invading his personal space. Was every hormonal drunk teenager this clingy? Or was the Rakuzan team especially touchy-feely?
"Your hair smells sooooo good." Murmured Hayama. Mayuzumi froze, suddenly feeling quite claustrophobic sandwiched between the small forward and centre player.
"I always wondered how you kept it so flat at school because whenever we played basketball it went all poofy." Came Mibuchi's eloquently phrased observation, the shooting guard craning his neck backwards to join their conversation.
"It does?" asked Nebuchi, a little belatedly, "Lemme get a smell." He said, bending over to sniff Mayuzumi's head.
"Oi!" complained Hayama, pulling the grey haired male closer.
"We're here!" announced Akashi, grinning broadly, his unblinking eyes serving to make the expression more terrifying than uplifting. Mayuzumi didn't need to be told twice, hastily unclipping his seat belt and peeling off the tipsy blonde as he jumped out of the car. Ignoring the noises of complaint. He pressed down his hair in an attempt to rid himself of the 'poofy-ness'.
"I'm leaving." Spat Mayuzumi, stalking towards the exit… where was the exit? Akashi had entered in some unknown underground carpark unbeknownst to the ex-team mate who was occupied with the two drunkards in the back seat instead of watching the road.
"You shan't be leaving quite yet." Said Akashi in a tone demanding no refute. A few months ago Mayuzumi would've stopped and heeded the red head's words, but at the moment he felt no such obligation. He turned to continue his search for the exit, only to be held back by Akashi's vice-like grip.
"What are you doing here anyway?" accused Mayuzumi, "I didn't peg you as the kind of person to attend this kind of binge drinking session." He threw the dirtiest look he could muster at Akashi, an action done in vain, as the glare seemed to bounce right off Rakuzan's captain.
"It's Mibuchi's party, and I thought it'd be interesting." Akashi replied, "I knew they were planning to get drunk sooner or later, so I decided the summer break was the best possible time for them to get completely wasted and wake up with a hangover so sever they'll associate alcohol with trauma, without affecting the league too much." Mayuzumi, narrowed his eyes, feeling as though his ex-captain's face was a little closer to his own than a few months ago… growths spurts are scary.
"Great, what's that got to do with me then?" he asked, twisting his arm slightly as Akashi was beginning to cut off circulation.
"I didn't want them to injure themselves whilst in their drunken state, but I've decided that the initial amusement of seeing them tipsy has worn off." Said Akashi, not loosening his grip.
"The get a nanny or something!" exclaimed Mayuzumi, his blood pressure hadn't been this high since their last basketball match against Seirin.
"No, no I think this is much more interesting." Grinned Akashi, applying even more force to Mayuzumi's wrist. "Won't you keep me company, Mayuzumi-san." He asked tilting his head slightly. Mayuzumi looked down at his arm, honing all self-control to not beg Akashi to let the blood flow back into his hand. It wasn't really a request… more a politely phrased command from the prince of Rakuzan.
It was going to be a long night.
…
Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. No pairings have been set in stone, but I am planning on having some action taking place between the drunken, hormonal teenagers of Rakuzan—and alumnus.
(Please excuse any typos… probably could've done a more thorough proof-reading.)
