Chapter 43

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The next day you were able to visit Marie in the hospital. You figured she was going to be just fine when her first words to you were: "The doctor said I'm still going to be able to travel to Japan in December!"

She had a concussion, but other than that she was surprisingly okay. Of course, she had a lot of bruises and she had to stay in the hospital for observation for a few more days. But it could have been way worse.

Two days later you went to visit her again and you brought your laptop with you. You were going to figure out some of the details of your vacation. 

There were a lot of places you wanted to visit mostly in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka but you really wanted to go to Sendai first, of course. Marie was able to convince you that the most logical approach was to start in the south-west and work your way up north, then you could stay in Sendai for however long you wanted.

"About that, what are the finances saying? Do you have any idea yet how long you're going to be able to stay?" Marie asked as she browsed a booking website for cheap hotels to stay at.

"As it's looking now, I'll probably be able to do a month. Sendai is not the cheapest place to live, it seems." You sighed. "But a month is already a long time, it's better than the week and a half I had before."

Marie snorted. "More like half a day! You should've just gotten together the moment you locked eyes. What a wasted opportunity."

"Right, 'cause that's what you're going to do the moment you lock eyes with Noya or Oikawa, or whoever you're chatting with nowadays." You mocked. 

"Maybe I will." Marie said seriously, making you snap your head up.

"What, really?"

"Nah, I'm just joking! I don't really chat with them all that much, to be honest." She then turned her attention back to the laptop screen. "What are you going to do about college though? I'm just taking off from work, but you still have the classes you're supposed to attend after the winter break."

"Yeah, I'm taking all my books with me and I'll just study up whenever I have the time." You explained your plan to Marie, who did not seem convinced.

"But you won't have time! You'll spend all your time with Ushijima, won't you?" She asked, making you shake your head.

"He also has a job, you know? Most of his mornings are strength training and there's team practice in the afternoon. I'll have enough time to dedicate to studying, unfortunately." As you spoke the words, you started to realize that you might be seeing a lot less of Wakatoshi than you had first anticipated.

You were sure you would be allowed to watch him practice now and again, but all the other days you would mostly spend exploring on your own and maybe meet him for dinner or something.

"Hmh. Well, there'll be enough to do with or without him." Marie assured you. "You can visit all the places of that one sports anime you love! You know, the one that's mostly set in Miyagi prefecture?"

That made you laugh. "That's a great idea! But let's focus on what we're going to be doing together first."

"Yeah, the most important one is of course..." Marie said and looked at you expectantly.

"Akihabara!" You answered and she nodded enthusiastically at your answer.

"Bingo!"

Both of you started making a list of all the things you wanted to see or do and based on that list you figured out how many days you would be spending in each city. You found hotels that were on the cheap side, but nice enough to make sure you would be comfortable. After that was done, it was time for you to go back home. You said goodbye to Marie and told her you'd keep your fingers crossed that she'd be released from the hospital at the end of the week.

As you arrived back at your dorm you were surprised to find your roommate seated at her desk. She was absentmindedly scrolling on her smartphone and barely spared you a glance when you came in.

However, before you could take a seat yourself, she unexpectedly called out your name.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" She asked you and you had to take a moment to register that she was actually talking to you.

"Uh... Yes, I do." You replied, having no idea where this conversation was leading.

"For some reason, my boyfriend really wants to go on a double date, but all my friends are busy. Do you want to go?" She asked you and you couldn't help but think that this was simultaneously the longest and weirdest conversation you had had with her.

"I can't." You told her and she raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"I haven't even told you the date yet. If you don't want to, just say so." She said to you, annoyed.

"No, no that's not it! I can't because my boyfriend lives in Japan." You explained to her.

"Oh, I see. An online boyfriend." She seemed mildly interested.

"We've met in real life." You felt the need to elaborate.

"Do you have a picture?" She asked, taking you aback.

"Actually, not really." She seemed to lose interest when you remembered something. "I think I can find a picture though."

You were not about to let this opportunity to bond a little with your roommate go to waste. You couldn't deny that you also wanted to grab the rare chance to show Wakatoshi off to someone.

You quickly went to the FIVB website and looked for a link to this year's Under 21 tournament. It didn't take you long to find a picture of Wakatoshi in the gallery and you showed it to her.

"Nice." She told you and then continued. "So he's an athlete huh?"

"Yup, I met him at an international competition." You replied and she continued to ask you a few more questions before she got a call from a friend and had to leave.

Even though you didn't get the feeling that anything had really changed in your relationship, it was nice to have finally had some sort of conversation with the person you had been living with for months now.

Marie was released from the hospital at the end of the week, as you had hoped. She had gotten strict orders to refrain from doing anything that would risk her hitting her head again but otherwise she had gotten a clean bill of health.

You got together with her a few more times outside of work to book hotels, buy a rail pass, and some other things to prepare for your trip. You had even found someone who shared a lot of your classes who was willing to film in class when it was something important that was not in the books.

You had gotten some tips from both Wakatoshi and Tendou on things to bring and some stuff to add to your itinerary.

And like that, all of a sudden it was the evening of December 17th and you were checking your suitcase and bag for the umpteenth time, making sure you hadn't forgotten a single thing.

Tomorrow you would be meeting up with Marie at the airport and in 24 hours from now, you should be arriving in Japan.


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A/N:

Hey guys, as you might have noticed, the chapter is a day late. My life suddenly took a turn for the hectic yesterday, with no real end in sight. 

I'm trying to figure out how I can best combine it with my update schedule so please bear with me until I get everything back in order! m(_ _)m

I was actually hoping to get a few more events in before we got onto the plane, but because of all the things that suddenly came at me, I wasn't able to prepare enough.  But I'm sure none of you mind if we take off for Japan (and our man ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ) a few chapters early o(≧∇≦o)

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