Bokuaka Week 2020

Day Five:

      Most people would agree that vacations are fun. It's a generally accepted opinion. One the Fukurodani Academy volleyball club did not share. After all, a good vacation wouldn't normally start with a plane crash. They were supposed to be in Sapporo, for the snow festival, not split up over a series of rocky islands in the freezing cold of Febuary. No one knew what was happening, and were lucky to have landed with their seat mate.

       Poor Akaashi, his spindly arms and small hands were prone to frostbite, and all his belongings were lost in the ruins of the plane. Freezing rain poured onto him, seeping through his thin jersey, and chilling him to the bone. He was lucky to be able to move. Akaashi staggered across the rocks, praying to anyone who would listen to find a cave, his team, even just one person. None of which he found.

       His lips were blue, fingers frozen, soaked jacket sapping his body heat. He was certain he had hypothermia. He could not feel his limbs. Akaashi shivered violently, so much so he had trouble walking, although that may have been his low heart rate. Weak legs, supported by fragile bones carried him to a large rock. It was no house, but at lease it blocked the wind. Stiffly, he slumped against it, sliding down and sitting on the wet ground. His legs and back had given up, as he curled into a quaking ball. Akaashi's vision was blurry with frost, and he could barley blink his eyes. Bokuto looked like a fuzzy blob as he walked up to Akaashi. His strong arms were warm as he lifted the frozen boy.

       "Akaashi," Bokuto's scratchy voice said, "You're gonna be okay. I found a place. Just stay awake." Akaashi couldn't nod, but he tried his best to shiver less, so that Bokuto knew he heard him. He was carried for five minutes, or ten, or twenty. Time all slurred together, it could have been hours for all he knew. Eventually, Bokuto stopped walking, and put Akaashi down. He had warmed up enough from Bokuto's body heat that he could shift his head and torso. The place he had been brought to was a small cave. It looked big enough for six people, lying down. Unfortunately, it was just the two of them.

       "I'm gonna keep talking to you. You need to keep your brain working," Bokuto was working at a pile of wood, moving it over towards Akaashi. He fished a wet lighter out of his pocket. "God, I hope this works. It's soaked," Choosing a relatively flat rock, he sat down, starting to work the lighter up and down on the smooth surface. "Did you know you can dry out a lighter by doing this. You've got to flip it upside down, and rub it on a hard rock. If you turn the wheel directly on the surface, it'll light," And it did. Bokuto flicked the lighter, and a flame came up after a few tries. "The wood is wet, too, though. Grrr! Fire with wet wood is a pain in the ass."

       Akaashi was too tired to follow Bokuto's process, but his words kept his brain occupied, and slowly, he pulled himself into a sitting position. Before he knew it, a fire was started and he was getting as close as possible, with his small amount of energy. He pulled his wet jacket closer around his torso.

"No, no, no!" Bokuto quickly walked to him. He moved Akaashi's stiff arms to his sides, and slowed worked off his jacket.

"What are you doing?" Akaashi asked, alarmed. He did not want to undress. If he did, he would freeze. His voice was cracking from the cold, barely able to get any words out.

"Your clothes are soaked, we have to get them off you," Bokuto said, moving to take off his shirt, "The water'll make you colder. You need to get dry."

Akaashi was now topless, with Bokuto moving to remove his pants. He spotted a bag across the fire. It looked like a carryon, and was surprisingly dry. Bokuto went over to it, and pulled out a coat.

"How did you get that?" Akaashi's brittle voice asked. Bokuto turned to him, and grinned. In one fluid motion, he swung the coat over Akaashi's bare back. As gingerly as he could, he pushed Akaashi closer to the fire, then went back and dragged the bag so it sat next to them.

"I always keep my carryons in my lap. Never know when you're gonna need something, but can't get up," Next, a blanket came out of the miracle bag. It was small, and relatively thin, but that too was layered over Akaashi. And this time, Bokuto was under it with him, "I try and fit as much as I can into my carryon. Y'know, in case something like this happens. Better safe than sorry, right?" Extremely right, Akaashi thought.

Bokuto unzipped the coat he was wearing, slipped it off his shoulders, than took off his shirt. In any normal situation, Akaashi would have blushed, but his face was already red with cold, and his brain was so tired, he really didn't care. Heat was heat, and Bokuto had a lot of it.

Strong arms wrapped around Akaashi, again, and he was pulled into Bokuto's lap. His skin was hot against Akaashi's frigid shoulders. The shirt came back over the both of them, and the jacket did, too, zipping them inside. With the addition of the fire, Akaashi was in a tent of heat. He huddled against Bokuto's chest, grateful that they had been stuck together.

"How did you know what to do?" Akaashi asked. His voice was getting more coherent each time he spoke.

"I have siblings," Bokuto said, "We move a lot, so I've been drilled on stuff like this since I was seven. Duty of an older brother, I guess," Akaashi laughed. It was hollow, but it made Bokuto smile. "I always try to keep extra stuff in my bag. Good thing, too."

Bokuto talked as Akaashi warmed up. His speech was soothing, and his breath was hot against Akaashi's neck. They were there for what seemed like forever, until the loud wind was broken up by the wirring of helicopter blades. Both of them looked up to see a rescue team entering their cave.

"Took you long enough!" Bokuto laughed.