Akaashi's 18th (and the events that followed...)

4. Invitation

Suga grabbed Daichi's phone, which had begun to ring, from inside his trouser pocket, unlocking it with his fingerprint. "Kuroo?" He answered from his position shotgun, glancing questioningly at Daichi, who kept driving steadily along.

"Oh, hi Suga-chan!" Kuroo said, then cackled on the other end of the line. "I was gonna play this with your captain, but never mind, you'll do."

"Play what?" At that moment, the line crackled, and a brief second later Suga discerned two mouths breathing slowly and deeply, but perfectly in synch with one another. "Is that you and Kenma?" He guessed wildly, entirely unimpressed.

"Nope, it's our birthday boy and his ace." Suga could feel Kuroo's smirk through Daichi's speaker. "Well, it's sort of morning now anyway so no longer the birthday boy."

Suga checked the time on Daichi's phone screen, which read '00:48, 6th December'. "How have you not woken them up?!"

"They're both sleeping as if they're in a coma - I'm standing right over them!"

"Kuroo, get out of there," Suga heard another voice in the background.

"Fine Kenma - see ya Suga-chan!" And with that, Kuroo hung up.

"What did Kuroo want?" Daichi asked after a second.

"Bokuto and Akaashi-kun finally got together," Suga replied, noticing the bags under Daichi's eyes and holding a square of dark chocolate out to him - his preferred source of caffeine, as opposed to coffee.

"That's good for them," Daichi hummed, rolling his shoulders and pressing his head further back into the headrest. Suga caught him blinking slowly, fighting to keep his eyes open, and extended his hand with the chocolate further, so that it hovered in front of Daichi's lips.

Daichi bit into the chocolate straight from Suga's hand, face slightly red. Being the responsible driver he was, of course, Daichi wouldn't ever take a hand off of the wheel, not even for one second. So he waited patiently for Suga to hold out the chocolate again before taking another bite.

"Speaking of dating," Suga looked at his friend slyly. "You haven't had a girlfriend since you and Yui broke up six months ago." He paused. "Unless there's one you're keeping secret from me," he laughed, trying to force it to be as genuine as possible, whilst also keeping the question casual.

"No no! There's no one," Daichi replied sheepishly. "I haven't really had time, you know?" He paused again, with a deep sigh. "I'm also cautious to approach a friend in a romantic way again, especially since our first-year exams are upcoming. Yui and I are still great friends - and, thankfully, breaking up didn't make anything awkward between us - but I can't help but be worried to date someone else who's a friend, in case it goes south again."

"That's just cowardly," Suga elbowed Daichi, as they pulled into a petrol station. "And I didn't take you for a coward, Sawamura." He giggled as Daichi shivered. Though he had always just been the vice captain, and Daichi was famous for his stern glares, Sugawara felt a satisfying surge of power that he was still the only one who could obtain that reaction from his friend.

Daichi took hold of the gear stick to pull the vehicle into reverse, but Suga grabbed his wrist. "I can't help wondering - why did you break up?"

"Well..." Daichi stared straight ahead, pensively, as if the registration plate on the car at the gas tap in front would spell out the answer for him. "It wasn't as if we fell out or anything... I think it was more to do with expectations. We're childhood friends, we both love volleyball, and she used to have a crush on me; things should have been perfect. But that in itself was the issue. We were both too shy around each other, and neither of us would want to upset the other. She's one of the kindest people I know, and I respect her so much, but we just didn't... click."

"Okay." Suga yawned loudly, and Daichi whipped around. "What?"

"Is that it?" Daichi raised an eyebrow, clearly expecting a grander result.

"What did you want me to say?" Suga smirked his fingers travelling from Daichi's wrist up to his elbow as he spoke, then further up, to his biceps. "That you're an amazing man, and that you have nothing to be worried about because you're so responsible, and I know you'll always pull through no matter what?"

"No, no!" Daichi blushed furiously, and Suga withdrew his hand with a slight cough. "Nothing like that. Just... Just okay?"

"Well it wasn't a very interesting reason. But that's a good thing." Suga turned around. "Shimizu-san, can you take the wheel for a while after Daichi fills up the tank? He looks like a zombie, and I've already driven." Kiyoko nodded.

As soon as the rest of the sleeping team smelled the meat buns that Daichi had bought, on the way back from paying for the fuel, they all sprung to life. "Meeeaaatttt!" Hinata yelled, and Noya, Tanaka and Suga all pounced on Daichi.

"Not you as well Suga~!" Daichi exclaimed, as Suga reached for a hot bag before chucking Kiyoko, Ennoshita and Asahi a meat bun each - they were the only three still sitting patiently in the van.

"It's like a proper team reunion now!" Hinata exclaimed, his voice muffled by the sounds of chewing dough and blankets of steam.

"Well, we did want to get everyone together again before the winter holidays," Suga explained. "Nishinoya's going to be away for the holidays with our families, and I'm sure the rest of you have plans too."

There was no reply, as the rest of the food disappeared rapidly. Daichi handed him another bun, and they both headed towards the back of the van. As soon as Tanaka realised Kiyoko would be driving, he leapt up from beside Noya. "Kiyoko-san! Let me ride next to you!"

Suga smirked, waiting for the rejection. To his surprise, Kiyoko just shrugged and slid the keys into the ignition. Tanaka whooped, and Noya yelled in frustration. "Asahi-san!" He called. "Come sit next to me now or I'll have no-one to talk to."

Asahi paled, and Suga couldn't blame him. It was a health hazard to travel beside Nishinoya, what with the excitable bouncing around. However, he had little choice, as Nishinoya had already dragged him over to Tanaka's empty seat, clicking his seatbelt. Suga laughed and sat down in the back.

"What's going on?" Even in his last moments of consciousness, Daichi was still trying to keep the second and third years in line. Ever the captain. Suga smiled to himself.

"Nothing. Sleep," Suga pushed his captain's head against his shoulder, expecting some protest. However, Daichi just leaned on his best friend, relaxing into the man's fluffy, silver hair.

"Suga?" He asked tentatively, after a beat.

"Hm?" Suga yawned contentedly as he felt Daichi's arm wind across his shoulders for further support.

"How... do you feel about going for a trip over the winter holidays?"

Suga accidentally knocked Daichi off his shoulder in surprise. "Of course! We can invite Asahi and..."

"No no!" Daichi scratched the back of his neck, a habit Suga secretly loved. "I just meant us, and my family, who are currently booking the place we're staying at. Asahi and Shimizu-san both have plans anyway."

Suga smirked. "Sure. Kuso! They just have to be so organised. We could've all gone together." Daichi hung his head slightly, and Sugawara's heart thudded. He couldn't mean...? "Daichi? You ok?"

"Huh? Yeah!" Daichi grinned widely to match the one still plastered over Suga's face. "So, I was thinking we could go to see the Caretta Shiodome; there's lights and music and it's on display up until around February, so we don't have to go on a specific date or anything. Like, date as in a day..." he added hastily.

Suga rolled his eyes internally. "I'm free on new year's, so let's go then." He yawned again, this time resting his head on Daichi's shoulder, whilst the other man laughed gently. Looking out the window at the Tokyo streets, whizzing past in a blur of light, Suga almost lost himself in the comforting thrum of Daichi's voice box as he hummed to himself. "But I want to sleep now, so talk to me about it later."

(Word count: 1347)
(Total word count: 5635)