Chapter Text
"It's just a hiking trip, Daichi, you'll survive," Suga laughed, adjusting his cellphone to rest between his ear and his shoulder, chuckling at the myriad of complaints the other seemed to have. He zoned out slightly, focusing mostly on just cooking the eggs in his pan.
Daichi had been invited by none other than Kotaro Bokuto to attend what they called "the first official captain's bonding trip," which was a mouthful. Suga had found Daichi's shortened version, "hell," much for apt.
"It would be different if it were like… official," Daichi said. "If this were a volleyball event, and it was supposed to build our skills as captains, and if all the captains were invited, but it's not! It's a thinly veiled excuse to hang out."
"And what's wrong with that?" Suga laughed. "Come on, they like you! It's fine!"
"Spending a whole day climbing through the woods with Bokuto and Kuroo would be intolerable enough if they hadn't also roped Oikawa and Ushijima into it!"
"It'll be fun , Daichi-san," Suga replied, fondness dripping from his voice. He knew what Daichi wanted - if even one of his peers told him that he didn't have to go, he'd get off the bus that second and walk back home. Suga was not going to give that to him.
"Fun!" he echoed back, before Suga could hear him sinking lower against his seat. He took the pan of eggs he was cooking off the element, carefully sliding them onto his plate.
"Fun," Suga confirmed. "And when you get back, you can whine and complain about how awful all those nice people are. How dare they like you enough to include you in their lives."
"...Stop making me feel like a bad person."
Suga laughed, shaking his head. "You're just a bit stiff. I think you'll have more fun than you think you will."
"Well, I'm already on the bus, so I guess I've committed to it…"
"Exactly."
There was a quietness on the other end of the phone for a bit, and Suga smiled as he took his finished breakfast over to the table. He didn't find the quiet weird at all. He liked to listen to the rumbling of the bus from the other end, the soft breath Daichi let out when they went over a pothole. It was almost like being there with them.
He wished they'd invived vice-captains, too. He could do with a day out of town. And hiking in Gunma sounded lovely.
"I supposed I should let you go," Daichi said after a moment, and Suga hummed, thankful he'd spoken up before he'd put the forkful into his mouth.
"I suppose," Suga agreed, chuckling softly in response to the dejection in his voice. A silence hung again, but this time it wasn't quite so comfortable. It felt like Daichi wanted to say something.
Suga's patience was rewarded when he spoke again.
"When I get back," Daichi started. "Tomorrow night, do you maybe want to… do something?"
Suga held his breath, then broke into a laugh, nodding lightly. He had thought, for a moment, that Daichi might have finished that sentence with go out, preferably followed by with me. But, no, he just wanted to hang out, in a more relaxed location. With a friend he actually enjoyed.
"Sure," Suga said, leaning back in his chair. He tried not to contemplate the slight disappointment burning in his chest. "Did you want to invite Asahi too? We could order pizza, get a movie…"
There was silence on the other side, then Daichi said: "I was kinda thinking just me and you. And maybe somewhere in town? There's a new restaurant that just opened up downtown, I've been wanting to check it out."
Suga's eyes raised slightly, and he chewed on his lip for a moment before saying: "Yeah! Of course, that sounds awesome. Tomorrow night, then."
Suga could hear the smile in Daichi's voice.
"Tomorrow night."
Another pause - far happier, comfortable.
"I'm gonna hang up now," Daichi said, his voice soft and amused, when Suga realized he'd been supposed to say goodbye.
"Oh! Yeah, goodbye. Have a good trip!"
"I'll try," he said, before the soft click disconnected their call.
Suga stared down at his breakfast, leg beginning to bounce in excitement before he was unable to contain it, letting out a little shout of excitement and standing up. Yes! Yes! Sure, sure, sure - neither of them had said the word date, but that had to be what it was, right?
He can't help but laugh, excitement burning through his body. He wanted to hit something, or run a mile, just to get rid of the tingling energy he felt under his skin.
This was perfect! All he had to do was get through a day and a half and he'd be going out to dinner with Sawamura Daichi . He gave another small shout, and then was silenced by his mother shouting for him to shut up.
---
Daichi got off the bus, adjusting his bag over his shoulder and crossing the parking lot. That had been a lot of driving, just to get to a place that he'd have to do a lot of walking. Made even weirder by the fact that Ushijima Wakatoshi had gotten on after him, and ridden exactly three seats in front of him, and across the aisle, without even once looking back to him after their brief nod of acknowledgement.
Daichi was supposed to hike with this guy?
And now he was following him across the parking lot, to where the other captains were already gathering. Oikawa had come in the night before, supposedly so that he could be well rested and pretty for the hike instead of dragging his ass out of bed at 6 am for a 2.5 hour bus ride.
The sun was up, nice and warm and honestly, had Daichi been more enthusiastic for this whole affair, it would be a perfect day for it. He stretched his arms up, working out the kinks in his shoulders after the ride.
"Daichi! Ushijima!"
He looked across, watching Bokuto wave them over excitedly. "You made it!"
"We made it!" Daichi agreed.
"I didn't know you two boys were coming together," Oikawa teased. "I'd have made it a trio, that sounds fun!"
"It was fine," Ushijima replied, and Daichi felt himself frown before he could control it. Why was he responding as if they'd actually ridden together? He may as well have been alone!
"Yeah," Daichi said, in agreement, because what else could he say?
"Well, are you two ready to go?" Kuroo said, adjusting his own backpack. "Brought lunch? Extra water?"
"Got it all right here!" Bokuto said, swinging his bag off his shoulder and smacking it into Oikawa, who stumbled to shove it right back at him.
"Watch where you're swinging that thing!"
"Sorry man, I'm just excited! This is gonna be awesome!"
"I have everything I need," Ushijima agreed. Daichi gave a nod.
"How long is this hike going to take?" Oikawa said, rubbing his arm where Bokuto had hit it, as they started towards the small wooden fence lining the beginning of the path.
"Three hours!" Kuroo chirped, bravely leading the way down the path. Bokuto followed him up, and Daichi found himself falling into step just slightly behind Oikawa. Ushijima stayed behind, further back.
"Three hours?" Oikawa replied. "Man, I thought this was going to be quick!"
"Why would I have you pack a lunch if it was going to be quick?" Kuroo laughed. "We get to the summit around noon, we'll eat, take some photos, explore, then head back down."
"W-wait," Oikawa said, voice stiffening slightly. "Not three hours round? Three hours one way?"
"Yep!"
Daichi felt himself die a little bit inside, but he supposed he always liked a challenge. It was good exercise, and they were all athletic men. This trail didn't include anything particularly challenging, so it should just be a good day of work.
"It'll be fine," Bokuto said. "What, do you have something more important to do?"
"Honestly, if I'd known this was going to be a six hour event, I would have found something more important to do," Oikawa muttered. "I thought we'd all be able to get lunch in town after like… an hour, hour and a half at most…"
"You people complain so much," Kuroo said. "Now come on! We got a hike to complete!"
Bokuto gave a shout of excitement, trying to amp everyone up with him, and they all picked up their feet to try and be at least a little bit energetic.
Daichi adjusted his bag again, smiling slightly. This might not be so bad… and besides, he had a date to look forward to at the end of it all.
---
Okay, this was very bad. Daichi decided he didn't like this.
"It's just a little bit uphill," Ushijima said, probably a dozen meters ahead of Bokuto, who was a dozen more meters ahead of Kuroo and Daichi, who had both stopped to take a breather.
"It's a little more than a little bit uphill!" Oikawa shouted from the back, frustration etched across his face. "It's been like two hours of this! I'm exhausted, and my knee hurts!"
"We can take another break," Daichi offered, taking a deep breath and trying to straighten up. He cleared his throat slightly, pulling his bag around to take his water bottle out. He took a swallow, permanently worried about using up all his water before they even had to start returning.
"This will be the seventh break we've taken," Ushijima replied, putting his hands on his hips. "We're already almost an hour behind schedule."
"I know, man!" Kuroo called. "I know! But I'm tired, and this is way more uphill than I thought it would be!"
Ushijima gave a sort of disapproving mhpm, but just turned to start back up the path. Bokuto groaned, dragging sore legs up and up again, following after the man. Kuroo looked at Daichi, clearly in pain.
"This was your idea," Daichi reminded him, seeming almost offended that he dare look at him with that much tiredness. "I didn't suggest this."
"I know," Kuroo grumbled, before dragging himself up to start on the trail again.
Daichi glanced back to where Oikawa was, somewhat concerned. There was clear pain written across his face, and although Daichi had never liked the so called Great King, he felt bad for them. A sports injury - especially to the knee - never really went away. It could get healed enough to perform well for an hour, two hours, sometimes whole days, but it would always give first compared to the rest of your body.
And Oikawa's knee hadn't been injured that long ago, all things considered.
"Do you need-"
"I don't need help," Oikawa spat back, brushing past Daichi with a determined look in his eye. Daichi nodded to himself. He'd find a better way to phrase it, next time.
A group of leaders, they were, neither one was particularly used to nor fond of taking orders from anyone else. So they all continued to trudge on, enjoying this significantly less than they had been an hour ago. Things had been fun, for a very small period of time.
Daichi took a slow, deep breath, then pulled himself up and started back up the path, watching everyone climb on ahead of him. Sure, it was almost noon now, and they still had a solid hour of hiking to go before they reached the summit, and then another three hours of hiking to get back, which mean Daichi was definitely going to miss the bus he intended to catch. Despite all that, even if he didn't get home until 1 am for some ungodly reason, he'd still have his date to look forward to.
And a story to tell.
---
The end of the hike was actually quite beautiful. A small plateau in the mountains, with a wide patch of sunny, green grass overlooking an ocean of trees and hills below them. Daichi let his breath out, lifting a hand to wipe sweat off his forehead. The pleasant sun and weather had been the only saving grace of this whole affair. That, and the view was pretty damn cool.
"Finally!" Bokuto cried, finding one last reserve of energy to take off in a jog to get ahead of them. "Look at that view!"
"See?" Kuroo called, putting his hands on his hips. "All worth it."
"It's pretty beautiful," Daichi agreed, pulling his phone out. He noticed that up in the hills here they didn't have any reception. That was too bad, he was kind of looking forward to calling Sugawara and pretending like he hadn't suffered through hell just to get to the top of the hike. He didn't want to come off as lazy or weak or unathletic, after all. He'd have just said that Oikawa's knee had set them back.
That's why they were an hour and a half late to the top.
Well, a photo or two would have to do, he'd send them once they got back in range of a cell tower.
Everyone else seemed to have the same idea. Ushijima seemed to be quite committed to getting a good photo, crouching down and angling the camera dynamically to get the most pleasing shot. Bokuto was snapping as many photos as he could, and both Kuroo and Oikawa seemed more concerned with taking selfies than the scenery.
Daichi took a few photos of the view, before Kuroo was shouting for his attention and waving them over.
He was crushed in between Bokuto and Kuroo, with Oikawa and Ushijima pushing in on the edges. Kuroo raised the camera, smiling wide and cheerful, as if they hadn't just endured the worst hike of their lives.
---
Daichi almost began to think this was worth it. After eating his lunch he felt a lot better, and Bokuto had brought up some homemade cookies, and after some coaxing from Oikawa had agreed to share them with everyone else.
Daichi was chewing on that while he laid in the cool grass, legs no longer burning and lungs taking easy breaths of air. It was a clear, cool and lovely day. He closed his eyes to enjoy it.
"Man, we should have brought a volleyball up here!" Bokuto was laughing, from where he was somehow still full of energy, despite his complaining.
"I agree it would be fun," Ushijima said. "But I'm not a hundred percent sure how we would play, the ground is sloped and the ball would bounce away almost immediately. Plus, there's no net, or any lines."
"Hah! Stop being so serious," Bokuto snickered. "We wouldn't need those things just to play around."
Ushijima hummed at this, and Daichi smiled slightly. The stern captain had really started to come out of his shell, and Daichi was beginning to wonder if, perhaps, he was just shy, and not mean. He certainly hadn't been mean, though perhaps a little bit too determined on some of those steeper uphill strips.
"What if I threw some rocks at you?" Kuroo said. "Think you could spike a rock?"
"Hell yeah I could spike a rock!"
"You're gonna hurt your hand," Daichi called, lazily, before cracking open an eye as he heard movement beside him. Oikawa settled into the grass by his head.
"They're not listening to you," Oikawa said.
"Yeah, I'm used to that."
Oikawa laughed - actually laughed - though it was just a small sort of chuckle, before the other captain leaned back on his palms to look out over the view and enjoy the rest.
"How's your knee feeling?" Daichi asked, tilting his head up to look at him. Oikawa didn't look back, but offered a small shrug.
"Better, now that I've rested it a bit."
"Think you'll make it down fine?"
"I'll be-"
Thud- "Ow!"
Daichi lifted his head towards where Bokuto was rubbing his hand. Kuroo was standing a few meters away, snickering softly.
"He actually tried to spike a rock, huh?" Oikawa said, something that wasn't exactly fondness in his voice.
"I mean, he said he would," Daichi offered, before laying back down again.
"Wanna try again?" Kuroo teased.
"Hell yeah, toss me another one!"
"God, they're dumb," Oikawa muttered. "How do they even survive on their own?"
"They're not on their own," Daichi mumbled.
There was a moment of silence, before Oikawa gave a soft sort of gasp. "Oh my god, are we in charge of them?"
"Mhm, there you go," Daichi murmured.
And apart from Bokuto's next exclamation of pain, the world drifted off into serene calm, with just the breeze and the view and the grass around them. Maybe Suga had been right, maybe this was a good thing. Daichi would never have expected to enjoy the quiet and contemplative presence of Oikawa Tooru, but here they were.
When Ushijima sat next to him on his other side, he was even more surprised. He actually sat up a bit, expecting something needed of him. But Ushijima just closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and Daichi realized that maybe all of the captains here had a bit of excess stress built up.
Maybe they all needed this.
"Hey," Daichi said after a moment, pushing himself up to sit properly. Ushijima peeled open an eye, hard and narrowed as always. He looked unapproving, upset, and downright disappointed in him, but if the last 4.5 hours of his life had taught him anything, it was that Ushiijma did not control the glare in his expression. He was nicer than he thought. "You were getting pretty into the photos a while ago, did you take anything good?"
Ushijima's eyes widened slightly, a sort of surprised look crossing his face before he nodded and pulled out his phone, opening it up and opening his gallery.
"Here," he said, showing the first photo. Daichi was actually quite surprised, the photos were absolutely stunning. He'd never have expected the solemn and quiet man to have a creative eye for something like this, but the way the trees and flowers and grass framed his photos, and the way the sunlight lit everything up…
"You have got to send those to me," Daichi chuckled. "They're way better than the ones I've got. You're really good at that."
Ushijima stared at him for a moment, then said: "Thank you."
Daichi laughed. He'd probably always be a man of few words.