"This one? Are you sure?," Takeda whispered to his student as they entered the lobby of a pretty expensive looking inn. It boasted separated outdoor bathing areas, as well as a large dining hall with a hearty winter meal available at roughly seven in the evening. Kitsuna double checked on her phone, and nodded at him before the receptionist greeted the pair. The older woman raised a brow at them, likely reaching some outlandish conclusion at the two standing in front of her requesting lodging of some kind.
"Um. Sorry, I know it's last minute. But do you have any large rooms available? Or one big one and one small one? For tonight," Kitsuna clapped her hands in front of her and bowed her head. The woman was even more weirded out by that, and Takeda stepped in to help negotiate.
"It's for our volleyball team, and managers. It's just for one night, if that's alright," he explained the situation more clearly. The woman took a drag off a long pipe, thinking. There was an older man who poked his head out from the back, curiosity winning him over. He whispered something to the older woman, and she reluctantly relented.
"We have one older room. It's a pretty big one, can have it cleaned up before dinner's served. You'll have to set up the futons though, and it's the only one," she flipped through a large ledger and checked things over.
"We can provide a few screens as well, if that's needed," the man chimed in before being waved away. The price was settled on, and Kitsuna piled up the personal bags in the lobby where she waited for the room to be cleared up. She was called up to the counter to settle payment as well, forking over a little more than she had hoped to.
"Here we go," the man led the way down a long hallway to a room at the far back of the building. There was a small porch and garden outside, though it was in pretty poor shape. Kitsuna and Takeda worked on moving the team's bags in while the man carried in some screens and a few futons from outside in the hall.
"I got it from here, if you wanna go get them. Thanks," Kitsuna poked her head out the sliding door to address Takeda and the other man. The two adults exchanged looks but agreed to let her handle things with a little more reassuring on her part.
"Thanks again," Takeda bowed to the man and took his leave. The older man, an employee of this inn, stole one last look at the girl lugging personal items and futons into the room. She was tall, easily reaching his height, and had a slender build. Her eyes were bright and warm, golden hazel. And hair that was a dull red, darker at the ends and curling wildly out of the low ponytail. It was familiar to him, though she didn't show any emotional reactions toward him at all. That kind of stung, but he had other work to do and took his leave.
…
"Everyone load up, we're heading out," Keishin gathered up the disheartened volleyball club members and ushered them onto the bus. He gave Takeda a discerning look, but the teacher avoided him and his silent inquiries. The students filtered into their seats, followed by the adults. Takeda took the wheel again, leaving Keishin to sit and think on his questions. Somehow, none of the students noticed that Kitsuna was absent. He did, though, and it was bothering him.
"Hey, Teach, I think you missed a turn?," Nishinoya called Takeda out as they drove right past where they had been staying for the duration of the national tournament. Takeda laughed nervously but didn't turn around. He could feel the piercing gaze of the coach he had worked so hard to recruit, and was starting to crack. Thankfully they reached the parking lot of their new temporary residence, and as the bus rolled to a stop the others caught on to the new surroundings.
"Hey, are you tired man?," Tanaka asked the teacher.
"Wait, where's Kitsuna?," Yamaguchi looked around the bus wildly, and some others joined him. Keishin had finally had enough of being left in the dark, and loomed over Takeda in the driver's seat.
"Sorry. There was a slight change of plans for tonight. Kitsuna..came back a little early to rest?," the teacher felt sweat beading up on his forehead. The coach gave him one more squinty look, then sighed and called for the others to dismount. There was a lot of murmuring and confusion as everyone climbed off the bus and into the lobby. The receptionist hardly spared a second glance as they turned down the hall and made their way to the room.
Excitement was starting to build as they squeezed down the corridor and peeked at some of the amenities along the way. They neared the end of the walkway, and an older man with graying hair ducked out of an open door. He spotted the group and flinched, but bowed his head and stepped out of the way so they could enter. Two faces in particular caught his attention, and he theirs.
"Huh? We're really stayin' here?," Noya's and Tanaka's excitement was fully reinvigorated now as they looked around the large room. There were three rows of futons spread out in the larger part, and a divider with a few rolled out on the other side of that. Two dividers, one smaller than the other and further sectioning off that part of the room. The boys all filtered in and settled in, with some finally noticing the scene in the middle of the room.
Kitsuna was there, leaning onto a stack of futons that hadn't been laid out yet. She was nearly face planted into them, with a light blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Asleep.
"Right. Dinner is at seven, so go ahead and get cleaned up. We have about two hours. The baths are, sorry, I'll go find out where they are," Takeda addressed the room before they could get further sidetracked. He rushed down the hall for more information, followed by Keishin.
"I'm not sure I like how everyone is starting to pick up her sneaky habits," Keishin chided the teacher.
"Sorry. It is sort of infectious though," Takeda chuckled nervously and Keishin let it go. He understood where the other man was coming from, having experienced the girl's stubborn little bouts before on multiple occasions. If nothing else, she was very good at convincing others to follow along when she wanted to be.