your gaze slides down to meguru's shoes.
he's also wearing nikes like you, only unlike your plain black ones, he's wearing green and white ones.
"nice shoes." so you give, to which he looks at me dumbly. "likewise."
overwhelmed, yoichi looks between you. "okay, okay. don't panic. whatever happened, you're both extremely cool, you just need to get to know each other properly first, all right?" the unease in his undertone is impossible to miss.
it's logical; he doesn't want to disappoint his girl best friend, with whom he's been planning the vacation for months. of course, he also doesn't want to leave his cousin behind. and it looks like both meguru and you are aware of that, which is why both of you respond simultaneously with an approving "all right."
you really need to stop saying everything at the same time.
sighing, meguru holds out his hand to you. "peace?"
you eye him for a few seconds before taking his hand in yours. "for now."
yoichi exhales in relief, sitting down in the driver's seat. "then we're good to go."
meguru and you look at each other for a few more seconds before you roll your eyes slightly and let go of his hand.
yoichi didn't see it, after all, so it's all good.
you open the passenger door and are about to get in when meguru leans against the car behind you, looking at you through clenched teeth.
"what?" is all you ask, raising your eyebrows.
"well, you'd have to, um, let me get in the front." he puts on a crooked smile, looks at you with googly eyes.
interested, you cross your arms in front of your chest. "oh, would i have to?"
"i always get sick when i sit in the back." he mumbles to himself, looking down at his feet as he turns a pebble back and forth under his shoe.
slightly, you shake your head, put on your "that-was-absolutely-clear" look before sticking your head out to yoichi in the car. "please tell me this is a joke."
"i wish it was," he says, giving you an apologetic look.
your eyes fall on meguru again. "fine, just sit up front, it's no big deal," you squeeze past him and open the back door before dropping into the back seat. "it's much better back here anyway, much more room."
yoichi laughs softly while meguru turns his head to you again for a second before you drive off.
[...]
after a 20-minute search for a parking space and check-in at the airport, you finally settle down on three chairs in front of the display board.
"our flight is delayed by half an hour," yawning you lean back in the chair. you're dead tired, because by now it's almost two in the morning. "i'm going to get a coke and something to eat, do you guys want anything?" rubbing your eyes you look at the two of them.
they both shake their heads, while meguru unpacks a purple snuggle blanket from his backpack, wrapping himself in it, like a cocoon.
"all right."
after buying your coke, you decide on two granola bars and a pack of saltines from the vending machine; you never know.
especially not with the airplane food these days.
just as you sit down again and polish off your first granola bar, meguru suddenly gets up and walks over to the vending machine where you were standing until a few seconds ago.
is he serious right now?
you asked him if he wanted something and he said no. instead, he'd rather run himself like a dog. instead, he walks over to the machine himself, looking like a complete idiot in his purple blanket, and types something on the keys.
shaking your head, you watch the whole thing until he finally drops back down next to you.
"i thought you didn't want anything," you're trying to sound disinterested.
"i wanted something really special and i was sure you wouldn't find this." he holds up a bag with some berries on it.
"aha, you think i'm stupid? i just happen to know what dried strawberries and raspberries look like." you lean back in your chair, only getting an eye roll from him.
"hey guys, look. we can get on the plane right now, can't we?" yoichi points his index finger at the big display board where the flight from tokyo to mancala, spain is lit up in green after all.
"thank god" you're grabbing your backpack since you wouldn't have lasted a minute longer here.
with quick steps you walk along the long aisle until you finally enter the plane. friendly, the stewardesses greets you before you continue walking.
"here's my seat. a34, see you when we land in three hours," you briefly state, dropping into the seat in the middle, whereupon yoichi and meguru look at you, waiting. "ugh, what is it?"
"y/n, i booked the whole row for us, we're all sitting together." he laughs softly.
"you're joking, yoichi, right?," your eyes dart to meguru. "and let me guess, you have to sit in the window seat because otherwise you'll get sick?"
the black and yellow haired shakes his head slightly. "no," you're about to exhale in relief when he continues speaking. "but i have to sit in the window seat because otherwise i get scared."
softly and ironically you laugh to yourself before slapping your own forehead. "why didn't i think of that myself?" rolling your eyes, you climb back out of the row of seats and let him sit in the window seat. "at least let me sit on the aisle then." you say to yoichi, to which he smiles apologetically at you, points to his stomach.
"weak tummy, you know that."
so, sighing, you drop down between the two of them and buckle up while your best friend puts his thick blue headphones over his head, looking like a minion.
no sooner has the plane taxied off than yoichi has arrived in the land of dreams.
it's only when you're really in the air and everything around you is quiet that you notice his loud music.
is this guy seriously listening to tetris music?
and then also at such a volume?
you're surprised he isn't deaf yet.
apart from the fact that the music absolutely sucks.
surreptitiously you try to reach for his phone, but he clutches it in his sleep as if his life depended on it.
giggling, you sink back into your recliner and let a glance drift to meguru, who is nervously kneading his hands. "are you okay? where did your big mouth go all of a sudden?" you ask, to which he turns his head, hakes it slightly.
"i'm afraid to fly."
"and then you'll fly with us on vacation?" you laugh softly, but he doesn't seem to feel like laughing at all.
"can i please hold your hand, y/n?" he holds out his hand to me, whereupon you look at him in horror.
"you're kidding me, right?"
he shakes his head. "this will help get my anxiety under control.. please." his panicked look is not lost on you, and in a way, you almost feel sorry for him.
he seems like a changed guy.
"forget it." you reply anyway, whereupon he looks pleadingly.
now you struggle with yourself for a few seconds before you finally reach out to him and inhale deeply through your nose.
what are you doing here, y/n?
so now you're sitting here; a sweaty hand in your own to your left and loud gameboy music to your right.
the next hours are sure to be fun.