[Vanessa]
by verloren1983
Road Trip
"I'm hot," Shindou whines.
Waya just grunts in response, because it's too hot to spend any energy on anything beyond breathing. Japan is in the grip of a heat wave, and so instead of going somewhere cool like a sane person, his best friend had decided that the best thing to do would be to come over to his place to play video games. His insanely hot place. Waya's not even sure how he got convinced to go along with it.
They'd abandoned the game a while ago in favor of both of them laying spread out on the floor in their underwear. Waya still feels like he's melting, so obviously it's not doing much.
"You know what we should do?" Shindou asks. Waya doesn't answer, because he knows Shindou will continue anyway even without one. "We should go on a road trip. Go to the beach or something."
So much for it being too hot to talk. Waya can't help himself. "We live on an island, dumbass, we don't have to road trip anywhere to get to the beach. It's kinda right there."
"Yeah, but we can go to one further away," Shindou says. He reaches for his pants and pulls out his cell phone, staring at it intently after punching at it for a minute. "Okay. Emerald Beach? That sounds cool. Water's green and everything."
"That's in fucking Okinawa, Shindou. No."
"But-"
"My parents went there on vacation once. It takes like two days to get there if you're driving and taking the ferry. No."
"You're no fun."
"Somehow I'm okay with that."
"Oh whatever, a road trip would be great, and so would the beach."
"Beach, yes. In a hot car with you for god knows how long? No."
"Waaaaaaaayyyyaaaaaaa."
"No."
And yet, somehow, fifteen minutes later Waya found himself in Shindou's fucking car- how fair was it that Shindou of all people had a car, anyway, seriously- going god knows where. Fuck.
"Where are we even going, anyway?" he asked.
"Dunno. Just gonna drive for a while, I guess."
"That's not a road trip, that's getting lost."
"You're pissy today."
"Yeah, well, it's a million degrees, if you hadn't noticed, and your car doesn't have air conditioning." Because cranking the windows open really wasn't the same thing, not with this kind of heat.
"It's old," Shindou shrugged, as if that was some kind of excuse. Well, maybe it was, Waya didn't really know anything about cars, to be totally honest.
Waya rolled his eyes. "Let's just get somewhere before I die of heat stroke, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. So hey, did you read the new chapter of Bleach?"
And that, of course, launched them into discussions of what had happened and the characters they liked and the characters they couldn't stand, and theories about what was going to happen next. It was actually kind of brilliant on Shindou's part, because by the time Waya thought to ask him where they were going again, it had been quite a while.
"Okay, seriously, Shindou, come on."
"I'm coming on."
Waya looked out the window and was startled to realize that he had absolutely no idea where they were.
"Uh. Where are we?"
"Um..."
"You did not seriously get us lost."
"We're not! We're just. Uh. Taking a detour. Yeah."
"Fuck, Shindou, when I mentioned it, it was a joke, not a suggestion."
"We're not lost!" Shindou protested again. "I mean, you said it yourself, we live on an island. It can't be that hard to get back."
"I hate you so much right now."
"You do not."
"I do. The only thing keeping me from strangling you right now is that it sounds like a lot of work when I'm so hot."
"We'll get to the beach soon. I mean, we have to, right?"
"Don't talk to me, Shindou."
Shindou pouts, but stayed quiet, at least for the moment. Why had Waya allowed himself to get in this situation again, anyway? He should've at least insisted that he drive. Although it had been a while since he'd driven, so that was maybe not the best idea either. Waya sighs and looks out the window again. That's when he sees the sign.
"Ota?" he screeches.
"What?"
"How the hell did we get in Ota? Why would you even get off the highway? Oh my god."
"It's fine, I've totally got it under control," Shindou says, and Waya wants to punch him.
"No. Pull over."
"What?"
"Pull over. I'm driving."
"You're not driving my car."
"I will anyway after I freaking bash your brains in."
"That's not very nice."
"I'm serious."
"You know, I got off the highway because I'm hungry, and I figured you were too," Shindou says. Waya feels a twinge of guilt. "But whatever. We can get back on the road."
Waya sighs. It has been a while since he'd eaten, after all. "Well you should've said that in the first place, god."
Shindou flashes him a quick grin and they pull into a NcDonald's parking lot. Waya sighs happily as they walk into the cool building. It's nice to get out of the heat, aside from being hungry. Even still, though, they make quick work of their food and get back in the car, mostly because Waya doesn't want this trip to take any longer than it already has to. Speaking of...
“Shindou, we should go home.”
“What? Why?”
“Because we're still really far from a beach otherwise, and this has already taken forever.”
“But what was the point if we didn't even get there?” Shindou asks, pouting.
“It was an adventure?” Shindou's frown deepens, it's not working. “By the time we even got anywhere else, it would be getting too late to go to the beach anyway.”
“I guess...”
“Hey, we had our road trip, and it'll be totally worth it when we can finally get in the water, right?
“Yeah, that's true,” Shindou said, finally smiling. Victory. “Okay, yeah, let's go back. I haven't given up on this, though.”
Waya rolls his eyes. “Bring Touya instead of me next time.”
“Nah, Touya won't get in my car. Something about my driving?”
“You mean beyond the fact that it's terrifying that they gave you a license?”
“Oh, shut up, you don't even have one,” Shindou sticks his tongue out.
They alternate between bickering and talking about games they'd seen recently, and about two and a half hours later, Waya is relieved to see Tokyo again. He's begun to think that Touya's right about at least one thing- never get in a car with Shindou.
Road Trip
"I'm hot," Shindou whines.
Waya just grunts in response, because it's too hot to spend any energy on anything beyond breathing. Japan is in the grip of a heat wave, and so instead of going somewhere cool like a sane person, his best friend had decided that the best thing to do would be to come over to his place to play video games. His insanely hot place. Waya's not even sure how he got convinced to go along with it.
They'd abandoned the game a while ago in favor of both of them laying spread out on the floor in their underwear. Waya still feels like he's melting, so obviously it's not doing much.
"You know what we should do?" Shindou asks. Waya doesn't answer, because he knows Shindou will continue anyway even without one. "We should go on a road trip. Go to the beach or something."
So much for it being too hot to talk. Waya can't help himself. "We live on an island, dumbass, we don't have to road trip anywhere to get to the beach. It's kinda right there."
"Yeah, but we can go to one further away," Shindou says. He reaches for his pants and pulls out his cell phone, staring at it intently after punching at it for a minute. "Okay. Emerald Beach? That sounds cool. Water's green and everything."
"That's in fucking Okinawa, Shindou. No."
"But-"
"My parents went there on vacation once. It takes like two days to get there if you're driving and taking the ferry. No."
"You're no fun."
"Somehow I'm okay with that."
"Oh whatever, a road trip would be great, and so would the beach."
"Beach, yes. In a hot car with you for god knows how long? No."
"Waaaaaaaayyyyaaaaaaa."
"No."
And yet, somehow, fifteen minutes later Waya found himself in Shindou's fucking car- how fair was it that Shindou of all people had a car, anyway, seriously- going god knows where. Fuck.
"Where are we even going, anyway?" he asked.
"Dunno. Just gonna drive for a while, I guess."
"That's not a road trip, that's getting lost."
"You're pissy today."
"Yeah, well, it's a million degrees, if you hadn't noticed, and your car doesn't have air conditioning." Because cranking the windows open really wasn't the same thing, not with this kind of heat.
"It's old," Shindou shrugged, as if that was some kind of excuse. Well, maybe it was, Waya didn't really know anything about cars, to be totally honest.
Waya rolled his eyes. "Let's just get somewhere before I die of heat stroke, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. So hey, did you read the new chapter of Bleach?"
And that, of course, launched them into discussions of what had happened and the characters they liked and the characters they couldn't stand, and theories about what was going to happen next. It was actually kind of brilliant on Shindou's part, because by the time Waya thought to ask him where they were going again, it had been quite a while.
"Okay, seriously, Shindou, come on."
"I'm coming on."
Waya looked out the window and was startled to realize that he had absolutely no idea where they were.
"Uh. Where are we?"
"Um..."
"You did not seriously get us lost."
"We're not! We're just. Uh. Taking a detour. Yeah."
"Fuck, Shindou, when I mentioned it, it was a joke, not a suggestion."
"We're not lost!" Shindou protested again. "I mean, you said it yourself, we live on an island. It can't be that hard to get back."
"I hate you so much right now."
"You do not."
"I do. The only thing keeping me from strangling you right now is that it sounds like a lot of work when I'm so hot."
"We'll get to the beach soon. I mean, we have to, right?"
"Don't talk to me, Shindou."
Shindou pouts, but stayed quiet, at least for the moment. Why had Waya allowed himself to get in this situation again, anyway? He should've at least insisted that he drive. Although it had been a while since he'd driven, so that was maybe not the best idea either. Waya sighs and looks out the window again. That's when he sees the sign.
"Ota?" he screeches.
"What?"
"How the hell did we get in Ota? Why would you even get off the highway? Oh my god."
"It's fine, I've totally got it under control," Shindou says, and Waya wants to punch him.
"No. Pull over."
"What?"
"Pull over. I'm driving."
"You're not driving my car."
"I will anyway after I freaking bash your brains in."
"That's not very nice."
"I'm serious."
"You know, I got off the highway because I'm hungry, and I figured you were too," Shindou says. Waya feels a twinge of guilt. "But whatever. We can get back on the road."
Waya sighs. It has been a while since he'd eaten, after all. "Well you should've said that in the first place, god."
Shindou flashes him a quick grin and they pull into a NcDonald's parking lot. Waya sighs happily as they walk into the cool building. It's nice to get out of the heat, aside from being hungry. Even still, though, they make quick work of their food and get back in the car, mostly because Waya doesn't want this trip to take any longer than it already has to. Speaking of...
“Shindou, we should go home.”
“What? Why?”
“Because we're still really far from a beach otherwise, and this has already taken forever.”
“But what was the point if we didn't even get there?” Shindou asks, pouting.
“It was an adventure?” Shindou's frown deepens, it's not working. “By the time we even got anywhere else, it would be getting too late to go to the beach anyway.”
“I guess...”
“Hey, we had our road trip, and it'll be totally worth it when we can finally get in the water, right?
“Yeah, that's true,” Shindou said, finally smiling. Victory. “Okay, yeah, let's go back. I haven't given up on this, though.”
Waya rolls his eyes. “Bring Touya instead of me next time.”
“Nah, Touya won't get in my car. Something about my driving?”
“You mean beyond the fact that it's terrifying that they gave you a license?”
“Oh, shut up, you don't even have one,” Shindou sticks his tongue out.
They alternate between bickering and talking about games they'd seen recently, and about two and a half hours later, Waya is relieved to see Tokyo again. He's begun to think that Touya's right about at least one thing- never get in a car with Shindou.