Chapter Text
Yusuke isn’t sure which sound wakes him up-- Akira’s alarm, or Akira’s groan in protest of the alarm.
Akira reaches for his cell phone to shut it off, while Yusuke takes this opportunity to press his face against his boyfriend’s back. He’s not sure if he was the big spoon when they fell asleep, but that does seem to be how the situation developed during the night. Akira is sleep-warm and smells faintly of stale coffee; Yusuke finds both things soothing enough that he nearly slips back into dreams.
“Are you two wearing clothes?” Morgana yowls from halfway down the stairs, and Yusuke is forced from his comfortable drift into cold reality.
“Yeah, we’re dressed,” Akira calls back, his voice scratchy and a little slurred. Yusuke is too tired to be properly annoyed that he can’t lay here and observe his muse slowly wake up; that is a weekend treat.
Instead, Morgana bounds into the room and hops up onto a chair. Yusuke squints at him. He’s not sure why Morgana insists on being so high up when he talks to them; it would be easier to hear him if he just sat down next to the futon.
“It’ll be your own fault if you miss your plane,” Morgana says.
Oh. Right. That’s today. Akira seems to remember all at once, just like Yusuke does, because he’s suddenly out of bed. They made out last night instead of packing, so Akira devotes himself single-mindedly to filling his suitcase now.
Morgana sighs heavily as he watches the frantic display, while Yusuke attempts to be helpful. He passes Akira the wrong book at least twice, but they do actually get the suitcase packed and ready before Sojiro arrives. He knocks before he comes upstairs, and waits for Akira to shout an okay. Yusuke still marvels a little at the respect there, although Akira says it’s mostly because he doesn’t want to catch them with their pants off.
Not an unfair concern, but still surprising.
Sojiro looks between Akira, a bit ruffled but fully packed, and Yusuke, who hasn’t even brushed his hair yet.
“Forgot you two were taking different planes,” he says, then turns his attention to Akira. “You’re taking off, huh? Don’t go cutting loose just because I’m not there to keep an eye on you.”
“Yusuke won’t even be there,” Akira says, like this is an obvious answer and not a non sequitur.
Sojiro sighs heavily, but smiles while he does it.
“Well, you’ve certainly got monogamy figured out. You going to survive the separation?”
“Probably not,” Akira says, shrugging. Yusuke knows he’s only half joking; he’d whispered ‘I’m going to miss you so much’ into Yusuke’s ear at least four times last night.
“As long as I don’t have to explain it to your parole officer. You just focus on enjoying your trip, I’ll look after Futaba and the cat while you’re gone. You owe me one.”
Yusuke follows Akira’s line of sight as he glances over at Morgana.
“We’ll talk more about our next job once you get back,” the cat assures both of them. “And I’ll bully Yusuke into packing something other than pretz and art supplies.”
“Thank you,” Akira says, reaching over to give the indignant feline a scratch behind the ears.
“Are you thanking me or the cat?” Sojiro asks, amused.
“Who’s to say?” Akira says, which makes Yusuke smile harder than it should.
“Well, come on, then, kid, I’ll take you to the airport,” Sojiro says, gesturing for Akira to follow him. Akira steps back over to Yusuke and kisses him. Yusuke sees Sojiro avert his gaze before he closes his eyes.
“See you in a few days,” Akira says, softly. Sojiro and Morgana can probably still hear them, but the sentiment is more intense for its feigned privacy. “I love you.”
Yusuke’s heart flutters wildly in his rapidly constricting chest.
“I love you too. Travel safe,” Yusuke says, and accepts a second, quicker kiss before Akira steps back.
“I’ll text you from the airport,” Akira promises as Sojiro ushers him out of the room.
*
Akira does, in fact, text Yusuke from the airport. He sends him a photo of the rest of the team smiling at the camera, with the words ‘wish you were here’ typed underneath it. Yusuke immediately saves it to his phone, then gives in to Morgana’s scolding about packing instead of texting.
“You saw him less than four hours ago!”
It feels longer than that, but Yusuke decides not to mention that.
*
Sojiro drives Yusuke to the airport that evening. He does his best to follow Yusuke’s explanations of his most recent abstract painting, but Yusuke can tell he doesn’t really get it. It doesn’t matter; the thought means more than any understanding would.
“Do you have your passport?”
“Yes,” Yusuke says, presenting it to Sojiro for examination.
“Akira remembered to give you money, right? I’m not giving you any,” Sojiro says as he gets his wallet out.
“He did,” Yusuke says, nodding. Akira has given him a lot of money, directly out of the team fund. Ryuji had protested for approximately five seconds before Ann said something about ‘not eating’ and kicked him.
“Just… buy food before souvenirs, okay?”
“I will. Akira has already stressed that point.”
“God help us when he’s the responsible one. Go on, then.”
*
Yusuke brings his sketchbook with the full intention of capturing the city from above, and perhaps some of his fellow passengers. The clouds had also been an option, but he ends up with the seat closest to the aisle and decides to count his blessings. He can see the maximum number of people this way, and will have minimal trouble should he need the restroom.
The clouds, however, seem to be much more upset about this arrangement than Yusuke is. They’re a few hours into the flight when an announcement informs them that their route has been changed-- it isn’t safe to fly to Los Angeles. They’re going to Hawaii instead.
This complicates things. Yusuke’s homeroom teacher struggles to discuss hotel arrangements with a stewardess who can’t contact anyone at either hotel and doesn’t speak Japanese. There is a lot of frantic guidebook checking and confused translating back and forth between English and Japanese by one of the kids from another class. Yusuke falls asleep in the middle of it, and wakes up without any real solutions having been found.
Going through customs is similarly confusing, although the woman looking at his passport is interested in his sketchbook. The conversation is awkward and stilted, as Yusuke remembers very little of his English lessons, but it’s still very pleasant.
He’s glad he slept on the plane, because some of his classmates are asleep on their feet by the time they get into the hotel lobby. It’s morning in Hawaii, and Yusuke knows enough about jet lag to know that going to sleep right now would be a bad idea.
He’s stretching out his shoulder and thinking about breakfast when he hears a familiar voice. Ryuji? No, that can’t possibly be Ryuji. He hadn’t paid much attention to the hotel arrangements for Akira’s school, but the chances are--
He doesn’t have time to finish that thought. He’d started towards the voice on autopilot, and now he’s abruptly, unexpectedly made eye contact with his boyfriend. His brain stops processing anything, all thought boiling down to a surprised expression behind familiar glasses.
Yusuke drops his suitcase as Akira drops his conversation; they meet halfway across the lobby. Akira’s embrace feels overjoyed and desperate, his arms uncoordinated in spite of how much they’ve practiced holding one another. Yusuke just wraps him up the best he can and tucks his nose into Akira’s shoulder. He can feel his own heart beating in his ears and fingertips, like his whole body is one big exclamation point.
Home was waiting for him in Hawaii. Who knew?