Chapter 11
To the Mountains
On Friday, once they finished classes, the teachers and coaches loaded the teams onto two buses. They were a little cramped, but it was only a short drive to the mountains where they planned on hosting a weekend mini-camp inside the larger camp. Seirin rented out the entire facilities of the bathhouse and the court ten paces away. Friday was meant to be a rest day for the teams so Riko refused to show them the playing facilities—Seirin, Midorima, Takao, Momoi, and Aomine were sworn to secrecy about the courts.
"There's gonna be a hot springs?" Hinata propped himself up on the seat.
"Yeah, they're nice." Hyūga leaned back in his seat and tried to kick his long legs out as far as he could.
"Are you boys going to have a contest to see who can last the longest in the sauna again?" Momoi teased. She peeked up over the back of her seat to look at Hyūga and Aomine (the latter was farther back on the bus next to Kise).
"I didn't participate in the last one." Aomine grumbled.
"Because you were hitting on my boyfriend." Kagami glared across the aisle at him.
"I wasn't hitting on Tetsu, I just knew how to take care of him better because I anticipated what would happen."
Kagami opened his mouth to argue back, but he was stopped by Kuroko's hand on his knee. He looked at the smaller teen instead. "How come you don't say anything?"
"Maybe in middle school I would've hoped that Aomine-kun was flirting with me, but by that time in high school I liked you more. I didn't see it as flirting."
"Still—" Kagami's eyes went wide. "What do you mean in middle school?"
"It was quite obvious in middle school that Tetsuya was romantically inclined toward Daiki, Taiga. You never noticed their dynamic?" Akashi commented from several seats up. He didn't turn around.
"It's the whole light and shadow thing." Murasakibara joined in. He shoved several crackers into his mouth and sprayed crumbs everywhere when he continued. "Minechin used to be Kurochin's light, it's obvious the two of them would've had something else going on."
"Did you guys, ever—" Kagami swallowed hard, unable to formulate the full question.
"No." Aomine and Kuroko answered together.
"It was pretty one sided." Tetsuya curled himself farther into the seat and he leaned in to his boyfriend.
"Besides, Daiki abandoned him publically on the court." Akashi gave them a sadistic smile. "Although, if you do try to abandon Tetsuya, Taiga, we will come after you."
"I won't. I would never do that." Kagami grumbled. A small smile slipped onto the shadow's face.
"You were abandoned by your middle school teammates?" Suga twisted around in his seat to look at Kuroko. The teen nodded.
"They were strong and stopped using passes to win because they didn't need to. If they had the ball they went all the way and made the shots. I wasn't really needed after that."
Karasuno turned and looked at Kageyama who sunk lower into his seat.
"Kurokocchi, did I scare you at all when we first started school?" Kise looked at Kuroko.
"What do you mean?"
"After our practice match and we were in the park. Did it scare you when I prematurely guessed that Kagamicchi would leave you the same way Aomine did when he became powerful enough?"
Kuroko hummed in thought. "Yeah, it did. I didn't want to be abandoned on the court a second time in a sport that I love. Kagami heard that conversation though and I had to put my faith in him that he meant what he said."
"I'll always receive your passes." Kagami passed his hand over Kuroko's hair.
"I'm gonna kill myself this weekend if you guys are gonna be romantic the entire time." Hyūga yelled over his shoulder. The boys tittered and decided to end their talk of the past.
-oOo-
Once they arrived at the facilities, Kagami fixed them dinner with Takeda's help as usual. After their dinner, they were ushered off to the large hot springs for a bath.
"Should the kouhai wash their senpai's backs?" Suga offered with a towel around his waist.
"NO!" Hyūga screeched. Everyone looked at him.
"You still haven't recovered from what Kagami did, huh?" Koganei failed to stifle his rising giggles.
"Who uses a cleaning brush on someone's back?" He shouted in response.
"Didn't he also try a scrubbing brush the last time?" Izuki placed a finger on his lower lip.
"Kagami-kun," Kuroko called over to the open pool of the onsen.
"Hmm?"
"Stand up for a moment."
"Eh? Why?" He did as told.
"I wanted to make sure you weren't wearing swim trunks again." Kuroko said with a straight face.
"Teme!" Kagami jumped out of the water and chased after his boyfriend. Nigō barked and followed after them, scaring Kagami into a corner.
"I can see why you're dating him now, Tetsu." Aomine teased from the far side of the pool.
"Oi," Kagami whirled around.
"Hey, the peeping hole is still here." Izuki whispered. It carried across the open space.
"Coach will kill you again if you try." Hyūga warned. "I'm not going through that a second time."
"Tsuchi, come over and help."
"I have a girlfriend."
"Tetsuya, how did you produce that many bubbles that fast?" Akashi looked over at the wash station. The blue haired teen looked up and then down at Nigō. He was bathing the dog and covered in a mountain of soap bubbles. Only his and the dogs face peered out.
"I don't know." Kuroko admitted.
"Why is it all happening again?" Furihata laughed. "Is Tōō going to show up next and challenge us to see who can last in the Sauna the longest again?"
"We should have that competition with the volleyball boys." Izuki turned away from the fence separating the two baths.
"Are you Seirin players always this rambunctious?" Takao stretched his arms over his head. "Here I thought we were going to have a relaxing soak in the onsen."
"Competition is kind of fun, isn't it?" Kuroo joined in from Nekoma. "I wouldn't be against whooping your asses in your Sauna game."
"Whichever teams lose will have to do all of the set-up and cleanup tomorrow." Akashi offered as a friendly bet.
"We'll accept that challenge." Daichi said without thinking.
"Eh?" Asahi turned to him in surprise.
"I'm dropping out already." Kuroko stepped into the pool and sunk into the warm water.
"You can't leave us shorthanded like that Kuroko." Hyūga argued.
"If he went into the Sauna he'd pass out and we'd be down two people instead of one though." Kagami agreed. "He got too hot from this pool alone last time we were here."
"Alright, alright. Kuroko you'll remain out of the competition to preserve your health."
"If we can do that, then I want to stay out too." Tsukishima lifted a hand.
"Oh ho ho?" Kuroo turned to his fellow middle blocker. "Tsukki, are you afraid of having sunshine chibi-chan beat you?"
"No," his face remained stubbornly blank.
"Ah, then you're afraid of me beating you." The captain pushed in further. "And here I wanted to prove myself as the superior middle blocker in all ways possible."
"You're not better than me." Tsukki whispered.
"Then I'll see you in the Sauna." Kuroo stood and walked back to Kenma. The second year looked lost without his games. Tsukishima adopted a look of rage on his face. Of course Kuroo managed to push his buttons. Of course, now, Kei would have to win the sauna competition against Tetsurō.
