Day One

Rin and Len bickered like children as they dragged their bags up to the bus. "I'm gonna be the one who sits next to Miku!" Rin declared.

"As if she'd want to sit next to you!" Len retorted. "I just know that she'll sit next to me. She likes me better than you and that's that."

Rin tried her best to refrain from punching her twin brother. "How could Miku resist a girl as cute as me?"

"I can think of many reasons why."

"Ugh!"

"Please stop yelling at each other and get on the bus already," Mr Hiyama commanded quietly. "Um… if that's okay with you. The bus driver will put your bags in the bus."

Rin sighed and dropped her bag, stepping onto the bus with Len. Her eyes widened when she saw Miku sitting next to her friend Luka.

"Damn it. Who am I going to sit next to now?"

"I guess we'll have to sit next to each other," Len replied. Rin sighed again and reluctantly sat next to Len. "Can we eat snacks on this bus? I've got some chocolate we can share."

"Ask Mr Hiyama."

"Mr Hiyama, can we eat snacks on the bus?"

"Um… no, I'm sorry," Mr Hiyama replied. "Please don't."

Meanwhile, Luka put a pair of earphones in her ears and pulled out her iPod. Miku looked at her with surprise.

"I thought we weren't allowed to bring technology with us."

Luka smirked and put a finger to her lips. "Shh." Miku gave her a warm smile, her cheeks slightly pink from the hot weather.

The bus began to move. "So how many days is this camp again?" Miku asked

"It's a seven day trip," Luka replied. "Would you like to listen to this with me?"

Miku nodded happily, taking one of Luka's earphones and putting it in her own ear. The song was unfamiliar to her, yet it had a sweet sound to it. The air inside the cramped bus became hotter, causing Miku's cheeks to become even pinker. Yes, that must have been the reason for Miku's cheeks burning up.

Kaito looked at Miku from the other side of the bus and noticed the colour of her cheeks. "How cute," he whispered. Meiko, the girl next to him, scowled at him.

"You shouldn't call other girls cute," she scolded him. "You're supposed to love me, remember?"

"Don't get upset. I do love you."

"I'm not so sure anymore. You smile every time you look at Miku. Come on, let's do something together."

"What can we do?"

"We could talk or something. What do you think this camp will be like?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot that we're going on a camp."

"You're an idiot, you know that?"

Kaito sighed softly. "I bet this camp will be boring like all the other school trips I've been on. Either that or it'll be… what's the word? Ex… excru… well, it'll probably be really bad."

"How bad could it be?" Meiko asked. Kaito shrugged and grabbed Meiko's hand, causing her to blush brightly.

Gumi jealously stared at Meiko and Kaito, wondering why she couldn't have a happy relationship with someone. The boy sitting next to her tapped her on the shoulder.

"What is it, Gakupo?"

"I… I have a secret I want to tell you. I've been thinking of telling you and I figure that now's a good enough time. Do you swear to never tell a soul?"

"That's what best friends are for, right?"

Gakupo leaned in and whispered in Gumi's ear, causing Gumi to shiver. "I have a crush on Luka."

Gumi's eyes widened. "O-oh, is that so? I hope she returns your feelings." Gumi tried her best not to cry in front of Gakupo.

"Are you going to tell me one of your secrets? It's only fair. Who do you like?"

"N-no one! I'm perfectly fine with being by myself."

"Stop lying."

"I'm not-"

"I'll find out who you like eventually."

The two shared an awkward silence. Gumi looked out the window and saw farmland rush past her. She replayed the conversation she had a moment ago, a single tear falling down her cheek.

The bus stopped for a lunch break at Ajisen Ramen. The students stepped outside and stretched their limbs, breathing in the warm but fresh air.

"Do you want me to buy something for you?" Luka asked Miku.

"You weren't supposed to bring money, you know," Miku replied. Luka shrugged. "When are you going to stop breaking the rules?" Luka shrugged again.

Rin glared at Luka. "How come she gets to hang out with her?" she asked Len. "I mean, what does she have that I haven't got?"

Len smirked. "Oh, so you're admitting that Miku's just not into you?"

"I never said that. Ugh, let's just have lunch. Can I have some of that chocolate now?" Len shook his head. "Why not? Okay, how about I let you be with Miku in return for you giving me chocolate?"

"Sounds like a deal. Here." Len took a block of chocolate out of his bag. "It's probably slightly melted by now."

A girl named Lily glared at Miku. "Who does she think she is, hanging out with Luka like that?" Her friend Piko frowned.

"I thought you said that you were over Luka," he pointed out.

"I am, I am. It's just that I don't think she should be so close to Miku. They just don't suit each other at all. Maybe Miku's not as sweet as she seems. Maybe she's controlling Luka and Luka needs someone like me to save her."

"Maybe you're just overreacting."

"Maybe."

Sitting on the ground were Galaco and Yohioloid, having a heated debate about politics that ended with petty insults.

"You'd never make a good Prime Minister," Yohioloid told Galaco.

"I'd make a fabulous leader. You're just jealous because you're an idiot no one likes."

"I have the highest grades in the class!"

"Whatever."

"What are you two talking about?" a girl with salmon pink hair asked as she sat down.

"Hi Iroha," Yohioloid replied. "We're talking about politics."

"I came here to get away from all the drama. Is it just me or is everyone else glaring at each other? It's kinda scary. I wish I had Hello Kitty with me now."

"Didn't you bring her with you? I thought you brought her with you everywhere!"

"Well, I put her in my big bag so that she'd be nice and snug. Is that weird?" Yohioloid and Galaco nodded in unison. "Well stuff you. Where's Mizki?"

"She's over there trying to catch Yuuma's attention," Galaco answered as she pointed to Mizki. "When's she going to learn that he simply isn't interested in her?"

"I heard a rumour that Yuuma has a crush on Kaito," Iroha said quietly, her eyes shining with mischief. "I say we out him, what do you say? I can't wait to see the look on Kaito's face."

"You're crazy. Yuuma would probably beat you up. I hear that he has a sword at home, so maybe he'd cut you to pieces."

"I'm willing to take the risk so long as I get to see Kaito's reaction."

"You're really evil, you know that?"

Iroha shrugged. "I try."

Everyone hurried back onto the bus. Mizki sat next to Yuuma before asking him if she could. Yuuma frowned but tried to remain polite.

"Hello there," he said.

"How is it going?" Mizki asked. Yuuma smiled. "You know, I was talking to a friend back home when I discovered that public schools have about thirty people in each class! How strange is that? I do not know what I would do if there were more than fifteen people in my class!"

Yuuma stopped listening to her as she rambled on, instead paying attention to how amazing Kaito's hair looked.

Meanwhile, Piko tried his best not to grab Lily's hand as they sat together, reminding himself that she couldn't be interested in a boy like him.

"We're here!" Miku exclaimed with wide eyes, causing Luka to smile at Miku's cuteness. "I wonder what we're going to do when we get there. We might go hiking or-or white water rafting or-"

"I think we have to get off this bus," Luka said with a small chuckle. Miku blushed and stepped off the bus.

"Everyone, please grab your bags and sit in a circle over there," Mr Hiyama ordered.

"What if we don't want to?" Lily asked with a sneer.

"It-it would be nice if you did what I told you to, if you please."

"Calm down. Jeez, I was just kidding."

"Yes, o-of course."

The students did as they were told and were greeted by a woman with long black hair and eerily pale skin.

"Hi! My name is Mew and I'm your camp leader. If you have any questions feel free to ask me."

"Is this where we're setting up camp?" Miku asked eagerly.

"No, we have to walk a little until we reach our campsite. I hope the bags you brought are easy to carry."

"B-but I have a suitcase!" Galaco exclaimed. "Yohioloid, carry my suitcase for me."

"I've got my own baggage to carry," Yohioloid retorted. "You weren't supposed to bring suitcases, remember?"

"Well excuse me for wanting my clothes to be in a comfy spot!"

"Anyway," Mew interjected. "Once we set up camp we're going to go rock climbing. It shouldn't take us more than half an hour to set up camp. Sound good?"

The students nodded and grabbed their bags, carrying them with them as they followed Mew for about ten minutes.

Mr Hiyama couldn't help but notice Mew's graceful movements as she walked, wondering how someone as elegant like her became a camp leader. He also wondered why Mew didn't have a tan already from being outside for so long.

"Why is your skin so pale?" he burst out awkwardly. Mew raised an eyebrow and giggled.

"It's just the way I am. That and I use a lot of sunscreen. Do you blurt out random things all the time because I'll be super annoyed if you do."

Mr Hiyama blushed and looked down at his shoes, taken aback by Mew's harsh words. "I'm sorry for asking."

When the group arrived at their destination, Miku smiled as she ran to the middle of the campsite. Luka tried to catch up with her.

"The materials you need to build the tents are over there," Mew pointed out, pointing to a pile of small bags under a tree. "There are to be two people in each tent." Rin ran to the pile and grabbed a bag. Len tried to take it from her, starting a fight over the bag.

"I got it first!" Rin yelled.

"If you have a bag before me, you'll get a chance to share a tent with Miku!" Len shouted back.

"Boys aren't allowed to share tents with girls anyway, so don't bother trying!"

"Guys, you do realise that there are plenty of bags to go around, right?" Mew asked before turning to Mr Hiyama. "Do they always act like this? I'm not sure I can handle it."

Mr Hiyama sighed. "I'm afraid that they're always bickering. I've tried to stop them but they're a hopeless cause."

Mew smirked. "Maybe you're not a good enough teacher. I'll see if I can change their behaviour by the end of this camp."

Rin ripped the bag out of Len's hands and ran towards Miku. "Would… would you like to share a tent with me?"

"I'm sorry," Miku apologised. "I've already agreed to share with Luka."

Yuuma reluctantly agreed to share his tent with Yohioloid despite desperately wanting to share with Kaito. Galaco shared with Rin, Iroha shared with Gumi and Gakupo shared with Kaito. Meiko shared with Lily and Len shared with Piko. Mizki frowned when she realised that she was to be alone.

"It is not fair!"

"There, there," Mew said gently as she patted Mizki on the back. "Now that you've all got your tents up I think I need to start learning all your names. Tell me your name as well as something about yourself. We'll go in a clockwise direction. Get in a circle now."

"I'm Miku and I want to be a singer when I grow up."

"I'm Luka and I can play five instruments."

"I'm Yohioloid and I want to be a scientist."

"I'm Galaco and I am fabulous." The other students glared at Galaco. "Fine, I am interested in politics."

"I'm Iroha and I have six pets. Four of those are cats and the other two are birds."

"I'm Gumi and I want to be an inventor when I grow up."

"I'm Lily and I love rock music."

"I'm Piko and I don't know how I'll survive seven days without my iPad."

"I'm Kaito and I don't have any life goals yet."

"I'm Meiko and I will kill anyone who gets near Kaito." The other students' eyes widened. "I mean, uh, I want to own a bar when I grow up."

"I am Mizki and I am an expert in flower arranging and traditional dancing."

"I'm Yuuma and I have a black belt in both Kendo and Karate."

"I'm Len and my favourite food is bananas."

"I'm Rin and I want to be an actress."

"I'm Gakupo and I'm an expert in Kendo just like Yuuma."

Mew smiled. "Well, I'm Mew, as you all know by now, and I've been working here for ten years."

"How old are you?" Rin asked. "You must be over thirty or something."

"You're not supposed to ask a woman for her age! Just kidding! I'm thirty-four."

"You don't look that old," Hiyama whispered under his breath. Mew turned towards him, hearing him just barely.

"I'm not sure whether I should take that as a compliment or an insult. Please don't speak to me like that again. Okay, you're all going to put these helmets and harnesses on." Mew pointed to a pile of helmets and harnesses. She then began to instruct the class on how to put them on. After that she told the students to pick a pair of climbing shoes from the ground and take them with them to the cliffs.

"I cannot put this on!" Mizki complained while attempting to put her harness on, causing Mew to sigh before helping her. "Thank you."

"No worries. Now let's head over to the cliffs."

The walk to the cliffs took the group almost fifteen minutes. Meiko grabbed Kaito's arm as they walked, as if she feared losing him. Piko stared wistfully at Lily, who stared wistfully at Luka. Miku noticed Lily's eyes on Luka and frowned.

Yohioloid and Galaco had another conversation, this time about music. Iroha joined in from time to time. Gumi talked to Gakupo about a new phone she bought the day before the camp began.

Mizki daydreamed about the thought of being with Yuuma. Her cheeks flushed and her heart beat faster than usual. Yuuma, on the other hand, was deciding whether he should confess to Kaito or not. He shook his head and reminded himself that Kaito had Meiko.

Miku smiled when she saw the cliffs, which were taller than the ones she saw when she visited the beach. Mew taught the students how to attach their harnesses to the ropes on the cliffs and what they were supposed to do to keep the climbing students up.

"Remember to never let go of the rope, even when you're pulling the rope back. Get into groups of five."

Piko, Lily, Meiko, Kaito and Yuuma joined a group. Yohioloid, Iroha, Gumi, Galaco and Gakupo joined another. The final group was comprised of Miku, Luka, Len, Rin and Mizki.

"We should come up with group names," Galaco suggested. "Our group will be called the Space Rangers."

"Why do you get to decide?" Yohioloid asked.

"Because I'm awesome. So what are the other groups going to call themselves?" The other two groups began discussing names.

"We'll call ourselves the Fiery Five," Meiko said.

"We shall be the Rock Stars," Mizki declared.

"I bet you spent a lot of money on that name, didn't you?" Lily asked with a smirk that perfectly matched her sarcastic voice.

"Shut up. No one asked for your opinion, Reverse Okama."

"Did you just call me what I think you called me?" Lily rolled up her sleeves and snarled at Mizki. Mr Hiyama sighed.

"Are you going to control your students?" Mew asked him. "If you can't you're a failure as a teacher."

Mr Hiyama winced. Why did he originally think of Mew as graceful again? Maybe it was his heart being stupid again. It had been almost a year since he last dated someone so perhaps he was feeling desperate.

Miku, Yohioloid and Meiko were the first to climb up the cliffs. Meiko climbed up to the top with ease, much to Kaito's surprise and admiration.

"Well, I am a rock climber," Meiko explained. Kaito blushed at how 'cool' Meiko appeared. Yuuma glared jealously at Meiko, determined to climb up the cliff faster than her. It was because he wanted to be strong, honestly! It definitely had absolutely nothing to do with impressing Kaito. No, definitely not.

Miku was almost at the top when she wanted to give up. Luka cheered her, giving her the will to keep on climbing. Luka had a strange effect on Miku and she had the ability to make her do crazy things, like smuggle donuts during sleepovers and climb up huge cliffs.

Yohioloid took longer to climb up than the other two but his resolve was strong. He had the determination of a honey badger hunting for food.

Yuuma climbed up the cliff fairly fast, but not quite as fast as Meiko. Meiko was impressed with Kaito, who was slow and wanted to give up but gained strength by looking down and seeing Meiko smile. Luka was determined but spent many minutes complaining about the experience after the climb.

Lily was weaker than she looked and gave up halfway through. Iroha, Rin and Len reluctantly climbed all the way to the top. Gakupo gave up a few steps from the top. Gumi, on the other hand, climbed up quickly.

Mizki climbed up to the top and began cheering herself in a failed attempt to attract Yuuma's attention. Piko did the same thing to receive attention from Lily but was considerably quieter than Mizki.

Galaco initially refused to climb at all. "It'll ruin my nails and…" Her cheeks turned scarlet.

"What?" Iroha asked, gaining a sick amount of pleasure from seeing Galaco look so flustered.

"I… I'm afraid of heights, okay?"

"I thought you were so 'awesome' that you've never been afraid of anything."

"Fine, I'll do it!" Galaco put on her climbing shoes and hooked up her harness. "Is everyone ready?" the other members of her group nodded. Galaco then began a slow, tiresome and nerve-wracking journey up the cliff. "I… I can't do it! Can I get down now?"

"You're almost there!" Mew replied. "Well, if you feel that you can climb no more I guess you can get down. Good job."

"Is that all you've got?" Iroha asked with a smirk on her face. "If you can't do this you can't become Prime Minister."

Galaco frowned. "I'll show you! I'm going to keep on going!" Galaco put her foot up into another crack and pulled herself up to the top, earning applause from people who weren't holding the rope. She smirked in a similar fashion to Iroha when she went back to the ground. "I told you I could do it."

"Whatever."

"Has everyone climbed yet?" Mew asked. The students nodded. "Let's head back to our campsite!"

Luka grabbed Miku's hand as she walked. Miku suddenly realised how warm the weather was and smiled. She loved the warm feeling spreading through her body.

Lily glared at Miku while Rin and Len glared at Luka. "Get away from her," Rin mumbled under her breath.

"Just give up," Len whispered to her. "I don't know about you, but I think it's pretty clear that she isn't interested in you."

"You give up! What makes you think you can-"

"Are you two seriously fighting again?" Mew asked. "What are you fighting about?"

Len gulped. "Um, ah, nothing."

Mew raised an eyebrow. "Riiight. Oh, look, we're here already! Now, put your harnesses, helmets and climbing shoes back. Our meal shall be stew. Tonight our food is going to be cooked by… the Rock Stars. The Space Rangers are in charge of cleaning tonight and the Fiery Five are in charge of collecting firewood. Understand?" The students nodded. "Mr whatever-your-name-is, you can help out the Fiery Five."

"Hiyama," Mr Hiyama corrected Mew, causing her to glare at him.

"Is anyone vegetarian?"

"I am," Mr Hiyama and Iroha said in unison.

"Rock Stars, come with me." The Rock Stars followed Mew to a space covered by a tarp. Mew kneeled down and taught the students how to cook the stew, explaining the role of each utensil. She then assigned each student a particular job.

Mizki took out a chopping board and some vegetables, chopping the vegetables into perfectly-sized slices.

"Wow, you're really good at chopping veggies!" Miku complimented Mizki, who held her head up high.

"Well, a proper lady always knows how to chop vegetables."

Meanwhile, Mr Hiyama almost had a panic attack. Where were his students? He hated to admit it but he was completely lost. He had managed to find a few sticks, but aside from that he felt useless.

Suddenly he jumped when he felt something tap his shoulder, causing him to drop his pile of sticks. He turned around and saw Meiko.

"Have you seen Kaito?" Meiko asked. "Oh no, what if he snuck off to talk to one of the girls?"

"Don't you trust him?" Mr Hiyama asked back.

"It's not him I don't trust, it's me. I… I can't trust that I'll be someone that he loves for long. I'm sorry; I shouldn't be talking to you about this."

Mr Hiyama smiled as he picked up the fallen sticks. "No, it's okay. It's important for my students to feel like they can talk to me if something's troubling them."

The meal took almost an hour to cook, leaving the other students waiting impatiently. Galaco asked if the food was ready for the fifth time. Her question was soon answered by Mew, who told the students to form a line. The students carried their bowls and cutlery with them. Iroha and Mr Hiyama were the first to receive their meal before beef was added to the stew.

Everyone sat in a circle around the campfire. After ten minutes of eating Luka smirked at everyone else, much to their confusion.

"You know what? I think tonight's the perfect night for scary stories. I've got one. Long, long ago, there were people who weren't like the rest of us. You see, they were called bisexuals and they liked men as well as women." Everyone else around the campfire gasped. "Apparently a living bisexual was discovered recently. Who knows when this bisexual might strike?"

"How come I've never heard about them on TV?"Miku asked. "If they're not on TV they can't be real!"

Lily frowned. 'Yeah right,' she thought. She looked at Piko but when he looked back at her she looked away, suddenly feeling very confused. 'As if someone could like boys as well as girls. That's crazy, right? Right?'

"Well, I think that's enough for tonight," Mew told the group, clearly shocked by Luka's tale. "After everything is cleaned up you can all go to bed."

Luka blushed when she realised how close she was to Miku in the tiny tent they were sharing. "Good… good night."

Miku smiled. "Good night."

In another tent, Yuuma looked up at his hand, wishing he could put it in Kaito's hand. Yohioloid saw the frown on Yuuma's face and sat up.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"You're thinking about Kaito, aren't you? Why do you like him so much anyway?"

"I don't… fine, I like him. I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's because he's always so kind to me. I know that Meiko hates it when he acts like an idiot but I find it… endearing, honestly. Like this one time, Iroha convinced him that the classroom had changed so he went walking around the school completely lost! He… hasn't been the same since Meiko became his girlfriend, though I can't really explain how."

Yohioloid smiled. "Things will be okay. I'm sure of it."