[ Jun waves his hand in front of him, gesturing to the hotel staff that they don't need to bow and apologize so much.
The third years of Seidou High School are in Okinawa enjoying their last school trip, although for Jun and the other baseball team members, this is also their first one. Their trip dates always coincide with the beginning of baseball season every year, so now they've finally got to go, now that they don't play officially anymore.
Ha.
It still stings Jun whenever he thinks of that — actually, it's more that it still hasn't completely sunk in yet — but whatever!!! They're there to have fun for these three days, and spend more time with their classmates that they don't hang out with that often outside class.
Except he's roomed with Ryousuke who's not only also a baseball team member, but also lives in the same dorm as him, which means they've already spent almost every waking hour with each other. Jun totally pays no mind, though, it's always comfortable to be around Ryousuke, even if they're just sitting around, busy with their own things and not talking to each other.
But well — it's only the end of the first day and things were already happening. They came back with water all over their hotel room because of some pipe leak. Thankfully they didn't have stuff on the floor, but they had to move to another room, which apparently is a better suite because they didn't have any regular double rooms left. Jun considers themselves pretty damn lucky. ]
Ooh, you can see the sea from here, nice.
[ Judging by the see-through bathroom (although thankfully there's an optional curtain), Jun's pretty sure it's a honeymoon suite, but there are things better left unsaid. ]
[Modern glass, shiny new fittings and a widescreen tv. Their hotel room is far too luxurious for two teenagers on a simple highschool excursion. In a way, they should count themselves lucky for an upgrade to a bigger room with a better view. There's one problem though.]
There's only one bed.
[Ryousuke just has to point it out, frowning as he sets his bag against the wall. He doesn't mind enough to kick up a fuss, but it bears saying anyway - it's sloppy that guests had to be moved around in the first place - but mostly because they're going to be the ones sharing it.]
And you can hardly call this a wall.
[The first thing you gotta do is inspect the room, Ryousuke?]
Aah? It's fine, there's plenty of room, it's a pretty big bed. [ He turns his head to the bathroom. ] That's still more privacy than taking a bath with everyone at the same time.
[ Okay, Jun is usually the king of complaining, or at least he shares the title with Ryousuke (?), but right now he's... actually pretty excited. He can pretty much hear the ocean! And it feels pretty cool to be able to enjoy a nice room like this — he's been on trips with his family before, but this is probably the nicest room he's ever stayed in that he actually forgives the pipe leak. He means, well, of course it'd be nicer if he's spending it with his girlfriend or something, but eh. No complaints for now, amazingly.
He tosses his bag to the floor somewhere, stretching his arms as he sits on the bed (he's already taking the window side, sorry Ryousuke), watching the waves coming and going still. ]
It's pretty damn nice. [ You've said that already. ] I'll totally go for a run on the beach in the morning. You wanna come with?
[Hey now. There is an important distinction that needs to be made here. Ryousuke's no whiner; he's the type to endure without any complaint. He's just... got a very critical eye for anything less than perfect, and sometimes (often), that means having to verbally take it apart.
Also Jun doesn't seem to care enough about the logistics of sharing. Normally, Ryousuke would be the same. But privately he'd prefer to keep him at a comfortable, friendly distance ever since he woke up to find Jun's head leaning back against his mattress, the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he slept with a book still in his lap, and no, it wasn't a weird fever dream.]
I'll join.
[He agrees easily. It's an odd feeling, not having to prepare for baseball practice this time of year. Even with exams and an upcoming graduation they've got to still keep in shape to segue right into university ball, he thinks.]
Apparently the beach leads to a lookout. Tetsu and the others will likely have the same idea.
[What was this about hanging out with their other classmates for once....?]
[ If you're in the baseball club, your teammates are pretty much 90% of your circle of friends. That's just a fact. ]
Cool.
[ Remote, remote... Ah, there it is. He reaches for it from the top of the drawer, then moves to face the TV, turning it on. ]
Is there anything tonight— Oh. [ His finger stops flicking the channels as soon as the screen shows a wide, green field with players occasionally shouting words. ] This is Swallows vs Carps from a couple days ago isn't it? Nice.
[ He lands himself to the bed, lying on his back and making himself comfortable with one of his legs crossing the other. You look just like a middle-aged man there, Jun. ]
[See, this is why they can't share the same space. Even if Jun isn't that much taller, his presence takes up the whole room. Ryousuke climbs onto the bed with one of his novels, pushing Jun's feet out of the way so he can lie on his stomach and face the tv.]
Your feet stink. [He flips his book to where he last left off.] The game doesn't pick up until the third inning. Go take a shower before you get too comfortable.
[ Jun immediately glares at Ryousuke, mincing his eyes with an irritated and somewhat offended look on his face. He sits up and brings one of his feet closer to his nose, smelling it then grumbling: ]
We walked all freaking day!! [ Sure, Jun.
He then proceeds to grab a pillow near Ryousuke's feet, smacking it against the back of the pink-haired's head. ]
You're the one getting too comfortable, dammit. Take a shower first if you've watched the match already. I'll go when it's on commercials.
[It is a testament to Ryousuke’s poker face that he doesn’t wrinkle his nose at that display.]
Disgusting.
[When he feels the thwack of a pillow at the back of his head, he doesn’t even react at first. Calmly, he slides a bookmark between the pages, turns over to face his assailant, and then he’s throwing a pillow of his own to sock Jun in the face, and hard]
I haven’t had the time to watch, I’ve only read the play by play. [The Swallows have been his favourite team since before he even started little league. He’s been keeping up.] Aren’t you just being lazy?
Gravity took course of the pillow Ryousuke threw, and as it does it releaved a completely irritated Jun. He grabs that pillow to seriously whack the top of Ryousuke's head. Did they just start a pillow fight literally the minute they lay down in a honeymoon suite's bed. ]
I wanna watch too, aight?! [ And to show this, he leans forward, one hand on his cheek supporting his head, the other still holding the pillow. ] I'm going when it's on commercials!! Why aren't you going first if you've read it already.
[If you didn't want to fight, maybe someone should have thought about that before hitting him? Because Ryousuke is bound to retaliate.
He gets buffeted back by Jun's pillow, surprise flicking across for a second before it's overtaken by a menacing smile.]
As you're very much aware, reading and watching aren't the same thing.
[Casually, he places a pillow over the top of Jun's head, smiles wider, and then pushes down in an attempt to smother his classmate into the mattress.]
[ Jun was about to respond to that ("At least you already know what's gonna happen!") when the pillow to his face takes him by surprise. Not because of the hit itself, but because the blow is soft. There must be someth—
Yes there is.
Caught by surprise, he falls back with his head forced against the bed. ]
Oi, you—!!
[ His voiced is muffled by the pillow, and in an attempt to fight back, he grabs Ryousuke's arm and pulls his teammate toward him. ]
[Sorry, Jun. It's a bit difficult to hear you down there.
He can feel Jun struggle against him, but it's a lot harder to lift your head from off the ground than push someone's face into it. For now Ryousuke still has the upper hand, and even when pulled closer, he can still use that to his advantage by applying more weight to the murder weapon (the pillow).
His two hands are laced together, pushing downwards, and he lowers his mouth near where Jun's ear probably is to murmur, sweetly, hoping to disguise his slight breathlessness:]
[ Other people might just give up at this point in fear of their life, but not Isashiki Jun because "fearless" is his middle name. Along with "loud", "angry", and "ridiculous", probably.
So instead of tapping his hand to the mattress to admit defeat, Jun's arms swiftly move to wrap Ryousuke's torso, and his right foot kicks down the bed to give him extra power as he tries to topple the other over, rolling his body in hopes that they'd get their positions reversed with him on top of Ryousuke. ]
[Four star hotels are truly amazing. If this were the spirit dorm bunk beds, they most certainly would have hit the wooden bedposts or collided with the ladder. They miraculously don't go rolling off the edge, Ryousuke shoved backwards, feeling himself fall back onto the mattress.
He's definitely looking disgruntled now, his smile uncharacteristically crooked as he looks up to meet Jun's eyes dead on, still looking for a challenge.]
Well?
[Go take a damn shower already! Not that this fight is even about that anymore. More like neither of them want to back down.]
[ Maybe the occasional times he's watched wrestling with Kuramochi is influencing him because he's enjoying this now. Jun stares back, Ryousuke's head between his arms. ]
Well? [ He grins with the satisfaction of returning Ryousuke's back at him. ] I ain't moving.
[ How is Ryousuke supposed to take a shower then?!? (Not that he even remembers about that anymore now.) ]
[Problem is, with Jun bearing over him, his arms so close and bracketing him in, Ryousuke's hit with the gravity of the situation. And Jun doesn't register it at all, he bets.
Ryousuke suddenly breaks eye contact first, face turning away towards where the wall where the tv is built in. His voice feels sticky in his throat as he says the plain and obvious:]
It's a commercial break.
[Sure enough, a peppy jingle of a sports drink ad is playing.]
[ Jun blinks, looking confused for one and a half seconds before it hits him. Right, the shower thing. His frowns a little in disappointment as he gets up, walking toward his backpack. ]
Fine, fine, I'm going now.
[ He hums to the jingle on the TV as he takes out a change of clothes and bathing necessities then strolls himself to the bathroom. After setting the temperature, he turns on the faucet for the bathtub, noticing that there are rose petals on the bottom of the tub, okay.
Completely disregarding the fact that the bathroom is surrounded by glass instead of... a not-transparent surface, he takes off his clothes and tosses them to the sink, but luckily still conscious enough to actually close the curtain when he gets to the shower. It's semi-transparent in which you can still see the silhouette from outside, but it covers the most important part. ]
Tell me when the break's over.
[ He shouts that as he turns the shower on and the puring water kind of muffles his voice. The bathroom's layout is actually pretty nice, designed so that you can watch the TV while you're chilling in the tub. He's totally gonna do that after shower. ]
[It's only until the bathroom door clicks closed does Ryousuke allow himself to sigh. How can Jun cause so much trouble and then suddenly decide to get up and leave Ryousuke staring up at the empty ceiling instead? And even if they had to bathe together all the time, please have the decency to close the curtain if it's there??
Jun should just go slip in the shower so he wouldn't have to think.
He props himself back up against the headboard, returning to where he last left off in his novel. The tv continues to chatter, and there's the rush of water from the shower. Ryousuke finds he's read the same paragraph at least three times already without absorbing it. That's pretty unlike him.
He raises his head and his voice, to call out over the sound of the shower running:]
[ The shower's curtain open in a loud dragging sound and a wet Isashiki Jun with shampoo all over his hair steps out, sprinkling water to his surrounding. ]
How did he score—
[ As soon as he lays his eyes on the TV and sees a bunch of guys in different sports uniforms dancing, it hits him. ]
OI!!! IT'S STILL THE COMMERCIALS!!!!!!!!
[ Jun, you're in a hotel room, please think about other guests. Although maybe they'd have better soundproof here since it's a honeymoon suite... Anyway, he grumbles a loud: ] Why did I believe you, freaking—!! [ and gets back to finish his shower. Are you happy now Ryousuke. ]
[How predictable. Ryousuke sits in the middle of the bed, drowned out by the size of it, and snickers. Revenge improves his mood, somewhat.]
Your face was hilarious.
[Keeping things like this would be okay, he thinks, returning back to his terrible cosmic horror story. Not long after Jun returns to his shower, the match broadcast starts up for real.]
[ That's what he says, but he washes off the shampoo on his hair quickly anyway. He's already finished showering okay!! It's got nothing to do with what Ryousuke said!!! He was finishing off before Ryousuke said that!!!!!
The shower curtain opens as Jun's hand reaches for the towel and he glances at the TV. Oh, it's really starting. He dries his hair quickly and walks to the bathtub, the water is at a good temperature and the rose petals actually make it smell pretty nice. He gets into the water, sighing like an old man as he sits down, his head peeking out of the heart-shaped tub. ]
Damn, that sure hits the spot.
[ He grins, closing his eyes for a couple seconds, then opens them as he positions himself to look at the TV. Baseball and a nice hot bath, he's pretty sure this is the closest thing to heaven. Thank you, pipe leak. ]
He's in good condition, they're going to find it hard to hit here.
[Sure enough, the little figure in the Swallows uniform winds up and strikes, and the volume of the crowd swells and grows. Ryousuke hasn't looked up at the screen once. Even if his eyes are steadily fixated on the page, somehow he manages to beat the commentator to the action.]
For someone who didn't want to get up and shower so badly, it sounds like you're enjoying it, Jun. [The luxury of a bath loses its appeal when it's with a bunch of sweaty guys and one of them is the Coach. But he doesn't need to look to hear Jun sigh and sink into the water, relaxing - it's still satisfying after a hard practice. Baseball and a nice hot bath, huh. It's just weird to not be a participant for either of those things anymore.] Don't fall asleep in there.
I told you I just wanted to wait for the commercials, okay.
[ Sure, sure, Jun. It's probably because of the bath, though, that he doesn't sound as angry as his words. It feels really nice, plus the match is pretty good and made better with Ryousuke's occasional almost-predictive commentary and Jun's sometimes excited sometimes frustrated yells. He almost forgot to get out of the bath there.
It's the bottom of the sixth inning when he decides it might be a good time to finally get out before Ryousuke needs to drag his unconscious self out of the tub. ]
That was good. [ Finally he's wearing some clothes now as he walks back to the room, towel on his neck. ] I left the hot water in the tub if you wanna use it too later.
[ He sits down at the edge of the bed. ]
Man, Sato's four seam is so damn nice. [ Sighing, Jun lets his body fall to the bed, eyes looking at the ceiling, head now only inches from Ryousuke's legs. ] Makes me wanna throw some balls now...
You just washed up and you're thinking about pitching?
[That's not a serious question. He knows whenever they're away from the baseball field Jun is itching just to get back. Those excuses to cut into the new team's batting practice ("otherwise I'll freeze!") are completely transparent to Ryousuke.
He snaps his book shut and crawls over to the edge of the mattress. From here he can stare down Jun - pull the towel away from neck - and not stare too long, because he's dropping the towel straight over his face.
And then he extends a hand to reach over and roughly towel off Jun's hair, thoroughly messing it up.]
[ Whatever Jun was trying to say, it's cut off by the sudden darkness that is the towel on his face. He's about to protest when Ryousuke starts messing up his hair, what the fuck. It's not like he wasn't prepared for this when he found out they were gonna room together — they've spent too much time together that he knows all too well about the weird habits this teammate/classmate/dormmate of his has — but, y'know, still.
One of his hands reaches to grab Ryousuke's wrist, the other to take the towel off his face. ]
OI!!! Cut it out—
[ This time, he isn't cut by Ryousuke— well, in a way, it is because of Ryousuke. Jun stops moving and yelling as he stares into the other's face, eyes blinking, eyebrows furrowing, and after a few seconds he lets go of Ryousuke's wrist and— ]
GOTCHA!!
[ —jumps to wrestle Ryousuke into the bed. You are going down, Kominato. ]
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