The message comes late. Or, well, maybe not late but unexpected. It's 2pm when it comes and Minato's staring at a website about enrolling for third year. Beside him, his phone buzzes. It's a much better idea than looking at the university website, so Minato unlocks it and opens the group chat.
It's for four of them—Minato, Fugaku, Kushina, and Mikoto. Minato knew Fugaku in high school, became close in their final year, and they attended the same university together. They met the other two in first-year, where Kushina and Mikoto became close friends from orientation week. The four of them had managed to get into a group for chemistry—which had been a massive mistake in first year.
But Minato's getting himself distracted. His phone buzzes with another message—a private one this time. He glances at the group chat, but it had just been Fugaku asking if anyone was online, and clicks on the newest notification instead.
Fugaku Uchiha: Any chance you want to go for a road trip?
That's unexpected. Fugaku is the one who's got his whole life planned out, down to when he wants to move out and where he wants to move out too. He never wants to do anything unplanned, especially not something that usually requires planning.
Minato taps out a message in response, then sends it.
Minato Namikaze: I wouldn't mind it.
He doesn't bring up how strange it is, the unexpected nature of it. He doubts Fugaku wants to have that pointed out—there has to be a reason behind this. It's not like there's anything major coming up anytime soon either. Enrolment closes in another week or so, but that's not really important.
Minato Namikaze: Are you asking the group or just us?
Fugaku's response comes almost immediately, confirming the former. And then asking how long it'll take Minato to pack. It's obvious that Fugaku wants to get out and just go. Go where, Minato doesn't know. But he's felt the desire to just leave before, to just drive and drive and drive.
You can't outrun your worries though, and Minato's tried time after time.
Minato Namikaze: Give me half an hour and I'll be at yours with the car.
That gives him enough time to pack and grab chargers. There's probably going to be things he forgets, but hopefully the others will have him covered. He grabs out a duffle bag that he'd stashed away on top of his wardrobe. Clothes go in. Towel. Basic toiletries. Phone charger with a portable charger. Drink bottle. He checks the pantry and grabs a bag of chips that's been sitting there for a few weeks.
He's done in just over half an hour, and then he's chucking the bag in the car and driving to Fugaku's. On the passenger seat, the phone goes off. Vibrating constantly.
The drive to Fugaku's is short, only fifteen minutes with little traffic. He parks on the opposite side of the street and picks up his phone, scrolling through the notifications. All of them are from the group chat.
Kushina and Mikoto have agreed to come too, though Kushina can't leave for another few hours. The pair have decided to come a bit later and will follow Fugaku and Minato up… wherever Fugaku plans on going.
It seems that Fugaku has managed to get things organised, though it's likely a good part of that is due to the fact they're all ready to do anything all the time. He adds his own input to the conversation, which has died down a bit with Kushina's disappearance.
Minato Namikaze: We'll keep you updated on the drive! Fugaku Uchiha I'm outside.
Fugaku heart reacts in response and Minato places his phone down and starts going through the CDs in the passenger glovebox. There's one that has one hundred songs from the last decade which Minato decides will be the best one to listen to. If it's shit, Fugaku can always decide.
"Hey," Fugaku says, after shoving his bag in the boot. He looks tired, dark bags beneath his eyes, and oversized hoody on. Minato knows full well that Fugaku would never let himself be seen like that by just anyone, and it makes him glad even as he worries because those are comfort clothes. Fugaku rarely wears comfort clothing.
Instead of mentioning any of that, though, he just smiles. "Hey! Any idea on where we're going or are you just picking a highway and we're going to drive along for a while?"
Fugaku shrugs as he puts on his seatbelt, pulling his knees to his chest in what is probably not a safe position. "The girls won't be able to join us for a few hours, so we can't go too far out of the way."
Humming, Minato puts the car in drive and leaves the parking spot, pulling out onto the road after checking for oncoming vehicles. "Have you had lunch yet?" He asks. "I haven't, so we can stop somewhere for food if you want. Don't know if I want to stop at some highway rest stop though."
"Sure," Fugaku says, picking up Minato's phone and unlocking it with a press of his thumb. "Also, do you want to go to the coast or up more into the forests?"
The weather's cool enough that the sea doesn't sound like the best idea in the world, but there would be no people around. However…
"More into the forests," Minato decides. "If there's a lake or something that'd be cool."
Minato loves the sunrise and the sunset, watching the colours stretch across the sky in a mesmerizing painting that appears day after day and yet always changes. When there's the reflection of it in water, things are improved even further. And, though Minato will never tell Fugaku this, it's known that Fugaku loves taking photos with his phone, creating perfect pictures. He doesn't talk about it, but Minato's seen the man's endless photos on his phone—and there are some beautiful pictures there.
So yes, maybe it's because Minato loves seeing the sun rise and set reflecting in the water, but it's also because Fugaku is upset and he enjoys taking photos. It's a bit more of a subtle approach than Minato would normally take, but he has a feeling this will work out better.
"Okay," Fugaku says, typing away on Minato's phone. "I've given us a location that might take us the better of an hour if you can wait that long for lunch."
Minato shrugs. He's had snacks for the past few hours and can definitely last without lunch for another hour. "If they have ice-cream, we should get that," he decides. "It feels like an ice-cream kind of day."
"Sure," Fugaku says. "If you want ice-cream though, we'd be better off sticking to the coast."
"Nah. This is the way to go. We'll just have to try a bit harder to find an ice-cream place. It can be like a treasure hunt—no using google maps to find it once we get into town."
Fugaku laughs. It's the first laugh Minato has pulled from him today. "That sounds good," he says. Minato chances a look in the mirror, catches Fugaku yawning. He looks tired, looks exhausted, in a way that he really shouldn't be looking considering that the semester and exams have ended. "If you've put the destination in my phone, why don't you get some sleep? We've got a way to go."
For a moment, it looks like Fugaku will argue, but then he huffs and closes his eyes, stealing one of Minato's jumpers from the backseat to use as a pillow against the window. Soon enough his breathing even outs and Minato turns down the volume of the music. Ahead of him, the road stretches out, long but far from lonely. He drives on.
Fugaku wakes up ten minutes before they make it into town, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "Had a good nap?" Minato asks as he turns the indicator on to get off the main street.
"Mm, yeah," Fugaku agrees, yawning again. "Better sleep than I've had in a long time actually. Hope you didn't mind driving alone."
"Looks like you needed it to be honest," Minato replies, "and I was fine. You just missed my beautiful singing, which is your loss really."
"Can't say I'm sad I missed the opportunity to hear you screeching," Fugaku says with a smile, meeting Minato's eyes in the mirror. "We're almost there then?"
Minato drives through a roundabout and the town appears as the road curves. "I'd say so," he answers. The town's small, seems to only have a main street with a few side streets turning off. "Tell me if you see any good places to stop for lunch."
"There's a sign for parking over there," Fugaku says, "we can walk around and take a look at places."
"Sounds good."
The parking lot is gravel and there's only three other cars. Minato parks half-under the shade of a tree in a deserted corner. "Let's go," he says as he grabs his phone and wallet before leaving the car. The door thumps closed behind him and he locks the car, which flashes its lights in response.
It's a beautiful day. The sun's shining above and there are blue skies are far as Minato can see. It's nice out here too, quiet. "Hear anything from the girls?" He asks Fugaku as they stroll down the street.
"My phone's off," Fugaku says quietly, which. Isn't good, to say the least. Fugaku isn't sure what's going on but it's clearly something. Still, Minato doesn't comment and instead pulls out his phone, flicking through the notifications. There's a message from his parents, saying that it's fine he went out but they want more notice in the future and to look after himself and to call if he needs anything. He sends them a heart and flicks to the group chat with everyone in it.
"Looks like Kushina managed to move the timeframe forward," he says. "The message you sent about this town is where they're heading. They might be about forty minutes behind us."
"So it'll be around five when they reach us," Fugaku says. He stops, leaning forward to look at a menu. "This place looks good."
"Lead on," Minato says. The door chimes when they enter and they're quickly greeted and led to a table outside. "Do you have a destination in mind? Or do you want to check the maps on my phone?"
"I want to keep things unplanned," Fugaku says. "So I don't know whether we'll be able to get anywhere to stay. Which I didn't really think about earlier."
Minato shrugs. "It's not tourist season or anything," he points out as he picks up his menu. "So we should be right. Worst case scenario, Mikoto managed to bring a tent and stole some cots from her family and siblings. And we've got blankets in the back if we really need."
Fugaku laughs, and he looks so happy. Minato wants him to look like this always, happy and content, but life doesn't work like that. He'll just have to keep Fugaku laughing as often as he can.
The waitress passes them by and asks for their orders. They give them. Minato picking a burger and Fugaku going for a fruit bowl and waffles instead. Fuguka places the phone in the middle of the table, Minato leans over to get a better look. "We're here," Fuguka says. "And I was thinking we could try to get up here to this lake, but it's a few more hours to drive for and I don't want to force the girls to do that especially when it's already so late.
"So I was thinking we could stop over here for the night," he moves the map to a heavily forested area near a national park. "And meet up with the girls and make more plans later."
Minato picks up the phone and figures out the directions. "Not too far from here so we can get a room and everything for the girls, probably make dinner plans as well. Good plan, Fugaku."
Fugaku smiles, pleased, and Minato taps out a message to the group chat. The girls can miss the town he and Fugaku have stopped in, though it won't really shave much time off their journey. But some time saved is still less time to drive.
The food comes quickly and it's good, not too pricey either. Even better, there's ice-cream that Minato orders after which is pleasantly cold and divine. Fugaku, on the other hand, questions his sanity since it's cool outside and he's eating ice-cream. In revenge, Minato dumps some of his ice-cream of Fugaku's fudge and steals half of it for himself. Somehow, both deserts taste even better and Fugaku stops complaining—so Minato assumes he agrees as well.
After that, they decide to get back on the road to make the twenty-minute trip to their night stop. This time, Fugaku seems awake enough that Minato turns the music up when he gets into the car.
"You can change the music if you want," Minato says as he turns the car on. "CDs are in your glovebox, but there should be a few behind the centre console as well."
There's a clatter as Fugaku starts going through the CDs as Minato reverses out of the parking space and heads back onto the road. "You have ABBA here?"
"It's a good band," Minato protests. "They have some great hits."
"Don't want to listen to music from your generation?" Fugaku teases.
"You lot joke that I'm a grandpa in a teenager's body so I'm not sure what you want from me. There are some good CDs there though. The Best of Summer CDs are usually good."
"There are some alright songs here," Fugaku says, though reluctantly. "Alright, I'm putting in this one and hopefully we'll both enjoy it."
"Not ABBA?" Minato asks, glancing at the CD cover in Fugaku's hands, but the sun is shining off of it and he can't quite make out its title.
"No, something from this century old man."
"ABBA is from this century!"
Fugaku hums and settles into his seat as the first notes of Mr Brightside starts playing. Minato grins and turns the volume up. This song he knows from the get-go.
"I'm coming out of my cage, and I've been doing just fine!"
They sing the words, out of tune and off beat and probably missing the lyrics, but they sing and grin and drive on. Around them, the world turns but, for a moment, it seems still and everything they ever could have wanted.
"Got two rooms for two each," Fugaku says, returning from the office of the inn. "They had no rooms for four people."
"Next time perhaps," Minato says. "You gonna room with me or with one of the girls?"
Fugaku opens Minato's phone and types something out, likely sending it to the group chat once again. "Kushina has bagsed you," he announces. "So I guess that decides that."
"Bet you we'll end up falling asleep altogether anyway," Minato says as he parks the car. "The TV has Netflix, yeah?"
"Mm, yeah, there's something there. Whatever lets it all work. The receptionist mentioned it."
"Ace," Minato says, before getting out of the car and stretching. It hadn't been a long drive but it has been a long day, and he certainly hasn't ended up where he thought he would. "Want to put the bags down and then go for a walk?"
"Don't know if there's much around," Fugaku says, "but sure. There's a park nearby apparently."
Minato tosses Fugaku his phone as he pops the trunk and grabs their bags. Thankfully, Fugaku didn't drop his phone and is holding it awkwardly in one hand, looking unsure. "You can tell the girls what's up," Minato says decisively. "I've put you in charge of communications. You're the Communications Operator of this Op."
"You're such a dork," Fugaku says, laughing, but he presumably sends a message to the girls anyway. They leave the bags in the one room, deciding to deal with it later, and then they're back out in the sunshine. "C'mon, the park is this way," Fugaku says and Minato follows.
The girls arrive just before six, when Minato and Fugaku return from their walk, which they'd gotten lost on and enjoyed regardless. Upon seeing the familiar blue car, Fugaku brightens further and Minato grins.
"Hey," Minato says, as Kushina gets out from the passenger seat. "It's good to see you. How was the drive?"
"Not bad," Mikoto answers. "Had a pretty clear run, though Kushina did get hungry during it."
"Lunch was hours ago!" Kushina protests, grinning, "We got McDonalds and it was good. You enjoyed it so don't complain."
They share a hug now that they're close enough, and Minato presents his key to Mikoto. "Ma'am," he says seriously, "I believe this is yours. Take good care of it now."
Mikoto laughs and glances at Fugaku. "Has he been like this the whole time?"
"You have no idea," Fugaku says. "I'm the Communications Officer apparently."
"Well you have been in charge of the phone," Kushina points out as they all neatly sidestep the fact Fugaku hasn't used his phone.
"Ha!" Minato says spinning to point at Fugaku, "Kushina agrees with me."
"That said," Kushina continues as if Minato had never spoken, "it's a dork thing to do."
Minato pouts, even as he grabs his bag to put it in the room he's sharing with Kushina. "You guys are all so mean to me."
They laugh at him, Mikoto even going so far as to link arms with him, "You know we only do it out love," she says, before turning her gaze to Fugaku. "Now, how about we create a small plan so we know where we're going, hmm?"
Mikoto wakes up with an ache in her neck and no pillow. Lifting her head, she looks around only to find that there's no pillow because they're using the pillows as a mattress with a blanket thrown over the top. She vaguely remembers watching a movie. Something to do warriors and fighting? It'd been something animated and a hopeful.
She yawns and gets up, shoving the blanket off of her. Beside her, Fugaku grumbles and rolls over, slipping an arm over Minato and clinging to him. It's a cute picture and Mikoto grabs her almost dead phone to snap a picture of it. In contrast, Kushina's on the other side of Minato having stolen an arm for a pillow, and stolen a blanket as well living poor Minato with nothing. Though he's probably warm enough, trapped between the two as he is.
Mikoto leaves them to sleep and heads into the shower, grabbing a towel from her bed as she does so. The shower comes to life with a whine, hissing and shuddering, before finally hot water comes pouring out.
The hot water does more than she could've expected for her aches, easing them, and all too soon, she's turning the shower off and getting changed.
A glance at the watch tells her that it's just past seven in the morning. She frowns. Normally, Fugaku is up by seven. He usually wakes up the same time as she does, but he had seemed overly tired yesterday. She's worried about him. He's not normally looking this exhausted, not without reason. And the whole road trip idea is definitely out of the ordinary.
But, well, there's nothing to do until he talks to them and they certainly can't force him to do that. There's no quicker way to have him clam up than try and get him to talk. She checks her phone. It's only at twenty-five per cent, which is better than the two per cent it had been on. Good enough, she decides, unplugging it.
She heads out the door, ready for her morning run. Maybe tomorrow she'll convince Minato to join her, if he can pull himself out of bed early enough. You'd think he'd be used to the early starts considering he used to do athletics. Clearly, university changes people.
She returns with cups of coffee, having been messaged orders from Kushina's phone just as she was passing a small coffee shop. Well, three coffees and one hot chocolate since Kushina prefers to avoid coffee.
She knocks on the door with her foot and waits for it to open. When it does, she glides in, "I come bearing gifts!"
Kushina cheers and, like a whirlwind, comes and steals all the drinks from Mikoto without a word. Somehow, she hands them out without spilling them or causing an incident which Mikoto is always surprised by.
"Oh shit, this is good coffee," Minato says, eyes wide and looking far more awake than when Mikoto had last seen him. "I wasn't expecting it to be this good."
"We owe you anything, Mikoto?"
She shakes her head in response to Fugaku's question. "You can shout me next time," she says. "We'll even the odds somehow. There's never any debt between us."
"If you say so," Fugaku says placidly.
Mikoto takes a sip of her coffee now that she's not trying to juggle four drinks at once. And Minato's right, it is surprisingly good. She hums in appreciation. "Alright, where we off to today?"
"I was thinking we could go check out the nearby lake," Fugaku answers. "It's just over an hour away and we might be able to raft on the river."
"Sounds like a blast," Kushina cheers. "I love rafting! I did it as a kid once for camp or something. Good times. How long until everyone's ready to go?"
"You're going to have to give me another half an hour to wake up," Minato says.
"Enough time do a sweep and make sure we're not leaving anything behind," Fugaku says with a nod. "And put the pillows and blankets back on the bed."
Mikoto laughs, "Sounds like a good plan," she agrees. "Also, if I can request one thing for today, it'd be to not fall asleep on the floor. I love you guys, but my body is not thanking me."
"And what about us poor souls who are unfit?" Kushina asks. "It's even worse for us, surely."
Meeting Kushina's gaze steadily, Mikoto says, "Then suffer."
Kushina gasps, shocked, and then throws a pillow at Mikoto, who's forced to spin, letting it hit her back rather than risk spilling her coffee. "I'll get you for that you little shit," Mikoto says, chugging down her coffee so that it doesn't get spilled.
"You know, technically, I'm taller," Kushina says, dancing out of reach of Mikoto's wriggling fingers. "Also, revenge isn't a good idea. You should never seek revenge, did Avatar: The Last Airbender teach you nothing?"
"It taught me the power of determination and that Toph's a badass," Mikoto says solemnly. "Now, stand still!"
"Never!" Kushina says, spinning and darting forward, which is when Minato helpfully sticks out a leg, tripping her over. With an oof, Kushina lands on the bed and Mikoto dives forward and starts tickling her.
It's to this scene that Fugaku returns from his shower, picking up his coffee from where he had left it near Minato. He surveys the two, then glances at Minato, then back to the girls. "It's no wonder people always think we're having a foursome."
Minato chokes on his coffee, bending over and wheezing. "You dick," he says, eyes tearing up, when he can finally speak again. "No one thinks that!"
"Um," Mikoto says, looking at Minato with a blush, "I'm not saying I've had people proposition me to join our foursome, but also…"
Minato's cheeks are burning and he buries his face in his hands. "Where was I when this happened? Why did this happen?"
"Mid-sem break when you went out clubbing with me and Fugaku, although that time it was just the three of us that got a proposition. Though, the time before us, when we went out around Christmas—all four of us—that time was definitely for someone to join all four of us," Mikoto says.
Minato remembers the club they'd gone to over mid-sem. Kushina couldn't make it, babysitting for her cousin or something, and he'd been willing to go. He'd gotten a bit tipsy, hadn't been fond of the crowds, but he had been fond of Fugaku and Mikoto. He can remember constantly telling them he loved them and how beautiful they are. He also remembers kissing Fugaku a bit more passionately than he normally does.
His whole face is burning.
"I don't-" He cuts himself off, awkward and slightly tense. A hand runs over his back and then he's trapped between his partners.
"Hey, it's alright, we can change the topic if you want," Mikoto says, running a hand over his head. "It was for a laugh not to embarrass you. You're very pretty and you look fantastic when you were kissing Fugaku that evening."
Minato doesn't mind people finding him beautiful and he does love his partners. "I don't mind," he manages, voice slightly strangled, "I just didn't expect it? I mean. It's also a bit uncomfortable. I'd also forgotten how public I'd been those evenings."
"We definitely didn't mind," Fugaku says, voice soft. "I was certainly into it. Are you comfortable right now or do you want us to back off?"
"Fuck," Minato spits out, because he's not so much embarrassed anymore as he is in love. Mikoto's beside him, so he reaches out and squeezes her hand. "I just love you three. So, so much. You are the best partners I could've asked for."
"Aww," Kushina coos, pulling him up and into a hug. Minato rests his head on her hair, and then ducks down to lay a kiss on her forehead. Fugaku is within reach as well, so Minato reaches out and threads their fingers together, squeezing lightly.
"Onwards to the lake," he says, voice only slightly off. Thankfully, the others make no mention of it, just smiling instead.
"Onwards indeed," Fugaku says.
They spent most of the day in the water. It's not hot, could barely be called warm, but once they're in the water and moving it's fine. Kushina dares them all to race her, and cheers from the end after she's won.
Ten minutes later, she dares them again, and Fugaku bows out, deciding to sit in the sun on a towel instead. When she next checks on him, he has Minato's phone in hand and is holding it out like he's taking a photo. She grins, then hides it by leaping at Minato and dunking him under the water.
Minato rises, spluttering, and slaps the water to send a wave at her. He makes the mistake of getting Mikoto as well. Kushina smiles and dives forward, Mikoto at her side, and they take down Minato. He gives as good as he gets, twisting and slipping around for them, putting his speed to good use. But Kushina has grown up her whole life swimming and soon he has to admit defeat and Kushina takes her rightful spot sitting on his shoulders.
"I can see the whole lake from up here," she says, plaiting the wet strands of Minato's hair. "Well, maybe to the other riverbank. You're not that tall Minato."
"I'm taller than you by fifteen centimetres," Minato protests. "I'm tall! I'm the tallest out of all of us."
She pats his head. "We'll let you keep your delusions," she says cheerfully like she, herself, isn't the shortest of the group. "Did you see where Mikoto went by the way?"
Minato turns so she's looking back at the shore. "Oh, that's where she went." When Mikoto catches her gaze she waves, and both Fugaku and Mikoto wave back. Lowering her voice, she asks, "Do you know what's up?"
For a second Minato's shoulders tense and then relax, like he'd planned to shrug before remembering where she was. "No idea," he says quietly. "But he hasn't picked up his phone since we left his house."
"That's not good," Kushina says frowning. Then she says, remembering what Minato had planned to do this week, "Did you complete your enrolment?"
A heartbeat of silence, then Minato says, "No. I was looking at it before we came here."
"Do you know what you want to do?" Kushina asks, tapping Minato's shoulder so he lets her go. She slides off his back and back into the water. "Or are you still not sure? I remember you saying you had planned to complete an extended major to try for an honours year?"
Minato hums, chewing on his lip for a moment. "Yeah," he says, breathing out slowly, and there's tension in the way he holds himself, uncertainty in his eyes. "But I don't know whether I'm good enough to get the scores required for honours. Is there a point enrolling if I don't think I'll get the scores?"
"You enjoy those classes, right?" Kushina says and, before Minato can respond, barrels forward, "You do. You say you do and you talk about them all the time. Does it matter whether you get great grades for them? Your options are still going to be open even if you don't get into honours year. It's not the end of the world, you hear me?"
"It's not the end of the world," Minato repeats, and Kushina rolls her eyes at him. "I do know what you mean though," he says. "I just… It's a lot of money and it feels like it'd be for nothing if I don't get into honours, you know?"
"I do," Kushina agrees. "But even if you don't get into honours, you'll still have your grades and your job. It's not like you need university to survive, you know? A degree isn't always required to get where you want to get to in life. You can be happy without one."
Minato breathes in, then breathes out, and smiles at her. It's like the sun coming out all over again. "You're right," he says, and he sounds so much more settled now. "Thank you, Kushina. You're a legend."
"And you know it!" She says. "Now, race you back to shore!" She shoves at Minato and then races off without a countdown. She can hear splashing behind her as Minato struggles to get out of the water and then follow her back to shore.
She laughs, and it feels like the wind laughs with her.
The day winds down. Fugaku finds himself feeling pleasantly tired by the end of it. Spending the morning in the water and having lunch by the riverside had been good. It had felt like a picnic and he'd felt so free from all his worries. There was no stress sitting in the back of his mind, wearing away at him.
There was just him. And Minato. And Mikoto. And Kushina. Just him and his partners.
They'd laughed and giggled, sharing chaste kisses like teenagers until their lips were kiss swollen and the world felt golden around them.
The day ends with them by the lake once again, this time with take-away dinner. The sun is setting behind on the lake, turning the world colourful. The sky is streaked with oranges and pinks and blue peaking through the gaps. The clouds have turned impossible colours, and it reflects on the water.
Far away, the sun sent slivers of yellow through the gap in the clouds, and it seems like the light really is golden. Fugaku picks up Minato's phone and takes a few photos of it. Focussing the camera on the water, and then the sky. Playing around with the light exposure settings.
He turns back to his partners when the sun's only a few minutes away from setting completely, and he can't help but take a photo of them. A photo of Minato glaring at a seagull, a chip in his hand. A photo of Kushina's hair turning to fire in the light. A photo of Mikoto laughing, head tossed back, and free. A photo of the three of them, grinning and smiling and laughing and loving.
"Would you like me to take a photo of you?" A woman says, coming up from behind him.
He startles, then smiles, and hands over the phone. "If you could that would be amazing," he says. "Hey guys, photo time!"
The group shoot to their feet and join him. The woman holds the phone out, tilting her head. "Hmm, wait a second," she says, shifting to a new position. "Okay, here's good. Smile!"
The woman takes a picture, and the sun sinks below the horizon. She hands Fugaku the phone back. "Keep on smiling and enjoying life," she tells him, and then she walks off, hands in her pockets and whistling. Strange advice, but not unwelcome. Fugaku returns to the table to finish off his food.
It's so easy to be in the moment, to be with them, to laugh with them, to love them. It always has been. He hopes it always will be.
And maybe that's why—maybe it's the hope that this will be forever, maybe it's because he's loving what they have, maybe it's because he's happy and not tired for what feels like the first time forever—he tells them.
"I failed my core classes this year," he says, the words falling from his lips. All he feels is relieved at saying them. He rolls one shoulder and glances at his partners. They don't seem shocked or worried or pity him or anything. For a second, it seems like they won't do anything but then Minato reaches out and grips his hand.
"We're here for you, no matter what," he says. Behind him, the seagull screeches and Minato flinches.
Fugaku laughs, he can't help it. "I know," he says, speaking to all of them—not just Minato. "That's why I wanted to tell you. I just… I told my parents. A few days ago. They weren't happy, to say the least."
Frowning, Mikoto says, "They're the ones who wanted you to do that degree, right? It wasn't really your choice."
He hums in response. "Yeah," he says lightly. Tries to say lightly. It's hard to keep your tone light when you've hated your degree and spend two years on it, stressing and worrying and hating every second of it. "They want me to retake the classes. Redo the whole year."
"And what do you want to do?" Kushina asks, her gaze piercing him and holding him to his seat.
He shrugs. "I'm not sure," he admits honestly. "But I don't want to repeat the year. I don't even want to complete this degree. I haven't since first semester, first year. I hate it. It's awful and I'm always stressed and worried and I feel like I can never sleep. I feel guilty when I do sleep, when I do anything else, because it feels like there's something else I have to do. Something more important."
"You don't have to complete university," Minato says evenly. "I know you have your whole plan and everything, but you don't have to stick to it. Plans are allowed to change. You can throw them in the bin or feed them to the seagulls if that's what you want."
The group laughs at Minato's seagull comment, but quickly grows serious once again.
"I do think I want to complete university," Fugaku says. "But I don't want to stick with this degree. I want to do something I enjoy; you know? Something fun and interesting and enjoyable."
"Yeah," Mikoto says. "I can understand that. Do you know if you credits can carry over to another degree or will you have to start from the beginning?"
"I think I can count them as electives," he answers. "A few of them might not be necessary anymore, but they should count as electives and I should be able to complete everything sooner as a result. I'll have to talk to a course advisor though. Once I figure out my course that is."
"What about photography?" Kushina says. "Potentially coupled with journalism. You enjoy taking photos and you've won a few competitions with ones from your phone."
Fugaku tilts his head. "That's not a bad idea," he says thinking it over. He'd have to look into the classes, look into the degree itself, but it sounds like a good idea to be honest. He's warming to it now. "Thank you."
His partners smile back at him. None of their futures are certain, none of them have plans that go for years and years. But that's alright. They have each other, have laughter and happiness and love, have the memories of what has been and hope for what might be in the future.
And they have a route mapped out on google maps. They have a road to follow and a road trip to have finish. There are so many things waiting for them. Sunrises and sunsets. Picnics and celebrations.
They have nothing but themselves. But what more could they possibly need? After all, they have love.
Title is shamelessly stolen from a song by The Wanted called We Own The Night. I definitely recommend checking out that song.
There are so many things I did not include here. So I'll add them in the notes because why not:
The gang did first-year chemistry but the majority dropped it after the first year. They were placed under the same TA for chemistry in Group I, as a result their group chat was called Group I(diots) for much of first year and a decent portion of second year as well. Definitely stole some of this from real life
Fugaku is keeping his phone off/not answering his messages because it's his family hounding him and telling him how he can't escape from his problems by running. He's definitely planning on moving out, thanks to the money he's earned from a job, and the others will probably chip in so that they can houseshare.
Man, I want to go on a road trip. So, so much. I definitely pulled some of these things out from times I went on long drives with my friends. Good times. I miss them.
I did my best to avoid figuring out where this was happening because I don't know places at all. I did, however, use some of my own memories of road trips and camping and used Google maps to figure out travel times. Do what you want with that information. Ultimately, none of these are real places though. Just things I vaguely know and then twisted.
Minato is ace. I take no criticism.
Minato probably did Atheletics in school but then stopped competing or something. Mikoto is not the fittest, she just runs in the morning. Kushina is definitely the best swimming.
Minato definitely lauds his height over the rest. He's very proud to be the tallest.
I did not check any of this for typos or anything and I'm only mildly sorry but editing things is not happening today.
I also didn't expect this to have a romantic tinge to it? But then Mikoto was like 'Hey remember that time' and I was like what? Anyway, the characters decided it and I make no decisions. Writing that scene felt awkward, but whatever.
How much of this comes from me slightly panicking about university and the knowledge that next year matters for my grades for honours year? A good bit. But we'll see what the future brings.
Fugaku gets his happy ending and so do the rest of them. And I hope you enjoyed the first time I wrote any of these characters. Thanks for giving this a read!