Ribs - bokuaka

Chapter 5

    We're currently stopped at a rest area off the side of the road, because Bokuto insists that we picnic in the grass instead of eating in the car.

    I pull out our gas station sandwiches and the orange juice Bokuto got for us, and follow him out into the small field. He has our beach blanket laid out so we have somewhere to sit, but he's sprawled out on it. There is not a single place for me to sit that isn't directly on top of him.

    "Hey, scoot over." I say, kneeling down in preparation for having to physically push him out of the way.

    He looks over to me with a laugh and sits up so that I can set our food down and kneel on the blanket. "Did you grab the orange juice?"

    "Yes, Bokuto, I grabbed the orange juice. We don't have cups though, so you'll just have to drink half and then I will drink the rest." If I had known before we left that we would be gone this long, I probably would have thought to bring some cups and paper plates or something.

    It's been about four days at this point, most of which has been spent in the car. It would have been quicker had Bokuto not decided we were going to be taking the scenic route to the city. I'm not really complaining though, we've had a relatively good time so far.

    Bokuto reaches over me to grab his sandwich and the aforementioned juice, and immediately starts eating. I follow suit, wanting to quickly get back onto the road. We've got a long day of driving left before we hit the city, and I want to get it over with as quickly as possible. But stops like these every once in a while are necessary for Bokuto's sanity, I'm sure.

    After a moment, I find my eyes drifting to look at Bokuto. He's finished eating, and is now laying on his back staring at the sky. He looks incredibly content.

    "Do I have food on my face or something?" He asks, reaching his hand up and waving it in front of my face. He caught me staring.

    "No, sorry. I just spaced out." I say that, but I can feel my face heating up out of embarrassment. I put the hood of my jacket up to hopefully hide that fact from him.

    He smirks, turning his face back up towards the sky. "I'm devilishly handsome, I know. No need to be embarrassed."

    I scoff, shaking my head. "I was not staring at you intentionally." I rub my face, thinking that might make the redness go away.

    All of a sudden, Bokuto snaps up into a sitting position to look at me. "Let's run laps."

    "In the grass?" I ask, confused as to why he's even suggesting that.

    "Yeah! We're cooped up in a car all day, some exercise would do us good." He stands up and starts jogging in place, waiting for me to join him.

    I sigh, standing up and taking the last bite of my sandwich. "I suppose you aren't wrong." I start to jog off ahead of him, expecting him to follow.

    He does, and we run laps around the grassy area side by side. We run for a good half hour before Bokuto stops and sprawls out on the blanket again.

    I sit next to him, going to stretch out a little. I can feel his eyes on me as I stretch, but decide to ignore them in favor of focusing on my stretches.

    "See? Much better." He says, sitting up once again.

    "It was refreshing, but we should probably head out now." I stand up, pulling the blanket out from under him and collecting our trash. I turn and walk back to the car, popping the trunk and putting everything I was carrying in there.

    He walks up behind me and puts his hands on my shoulders, spinning me around to face him. "You sure are serious all the time Akaashi. Lighten up!"

    "That's just how I am." I say, a questioning look on my face. In all the years I've known him, he has never questioned my somewhat cold demeanor. I certainly did not expect him to start now.

    "Well, yeah I know that. But you don't always have to be so... intense. It's just us, you're allowed to have fun." This is weird. I didn't think he actually cared that much.

    "I do have fun." I respond, starting to feel a little bit uncomfortable. I look around, searching for some way to change the conversation.

    "You know what I mean," he says with a shrug. He then moves away from me and goes to get into the car.

    Under the guise of checking my belongings, I stand out at the trunk for a few more minutes. I'm trying to push that whole conversation out of my head, and pretend it just didn't happen. That was very unlike Bokuto, and it freaks me out.

    Once I am semi-calm again, I close the trunk and take my place in the passenger seat. Bokuto's whole mood has changed. He's back to his normal, non-invasively questioning self. Admittedly, he didn't seem much different than normal when he asked me those questions.

    We didn't say anything for a long while, only talking when Bokuto needed me to look at our map. This continued until I eventually fell asleep.