A/N: I do not own Inazuma Eleven.
The song used in this fic belongs to the sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea.
You may want to watch episode 100, on which the camping idea is based, before reading to allow for better understanding. It's not necessary though.
Words in italics refer to flashbacks.
With the exception of Hiroto and Midorikawa, the other 3 Aliea Captains will be called by their alien names for easier reference.
Requested by LoveHealsEverything14 in her reviews for "White". I hope you'll enjoy this one as well.
Onwards
Liocott Island. Known also as Soccer Island.
Home of the Football Frontier International that had just recently been concluded, it was the battlefield on which fierce competition from all over the world took place. Yet at the same time, it was the grounds where many friendships were forged between the international teams.
Two days after the Christmas party, Inazuma Japan received their second invitation from Edgar Valtinas. He was organizing a little get-together among the Group A teams on Liocott Island for a countdown party.
It wasn't any normal reunion though. Instead of a formal event which required them to dress like ladies and gentlemen, they planned to go camping in one of Liocott Island's many forests.
Under excited pressure from Kogure, Inazuma Japan accepted the invitation.
"How come WE have to gather the firewood?" complained Someoka.
"Yeah! It's so boring!" agreed Kurimatsu.
"I'm t-tired…" panted Kabeyama.
"Oh, come on you three! It's good exercise!" grinned Hijikata.
"That right. And you're not even carrying as much as us," smirked Terrace.
"Just a little more and we'll be done," encouraged Fubuki.
Upon arrival at Liocott Island, Inazuma Japan received a warm welcome from Edgar Valtinas, Terrace Torue, Mark Kruger, Dylan Keith and Fidio Aldena. The five of them had already scouted a location to set up camp, which was in a forest clearing near the edge of Liocott Island.
The Inazuma Caravan was brought along to the camping site to provide a means to prepare the food. Before that however, firewood had to be gathered first. Hiroto merrily sent six "volunteers" off into the forest to do so, cheerfully explaining, "it's an important part of camping!"
Meanwhile, Endou, Sakuma, Domon and Ichinose were pitching tents for the night. No one was allowed to sleep in the caravan, so they had to set up about ten tents in total to accommodate the entire group. Not wanting to intrude on their gathering, Furukabu had left for town after parking the caravan, promising to return the next morning to drive them back.
At the other side of the clearing, dinner was being prepared. Rika was mixing batter for her okonomiyaki, Toramaru was marinating chicken meat for some special recipe from Toranoya's menu, Tobitaka was chopping onions for cooking Rairaidon, while Aki, Otonashi and Fuyuka were preparing salad and dessert. With Kogure eager to help out with the cooking and use the kitchen utensils, the girls took him into their group. There was no fire yet, so they were getting the ingredients ready.
"We're back!" announced Hijikata as he led the group of firewood gatherers out of the forest.
"Thank goodness!" sighed Someoka, Kurimatsu and Kabeyama as they dumped their pile of wood on the ground.
"Time to start the fire!" Hiroto called Kazemaru, Kidou and Gouenji over.
In order to make a big campfire, Kidou instructed them on how to build a large, stable structure with the firewood before creating a spark to light it up. When they were finished, Hiroto began to rub a stick on some dry leaves to create the fire.
"Can't we just ask Gouenji to do Fire Tornado?" asked Kazemaru.
"That… might not be such a good idea," replied Hiroto, sweatdropping as he turned to face the midfielder.
"Why not?" Kazemaru questioned innocently.
Impatient to wait for Hiroto to start the fire, Burn picked up the soccer ball at his feet.
"What are you doing?" asked Gazel. Midorikawa and Desarm looked up at them from where they were seated on the ground.
"Gran's taking too long. I'm tired of waiting," he replied while sending a bored glance at Genesis's captain, who was rubbing a stick on some dry leaves. Hiroto glared at him.
"Leave it to me! I'll get this fire started in no time!" Jumping into the air, Burn prepared to do his hissatsu technique. "Atomic Fl-"
"Northern Impact!" Gazel's ice hissatsu technique extinguished the fire on the ball, but Burn still managed to kick it into the firewood structure that Desarm took an hour to build, smashing it into pieces. A vein popped in Epsilon's captain's forehead while Midorikawa gulped.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" yelled Burn as he landed back onto the ground.
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" Gazel shouted. "YOU COULD'VE STARTED A FOREST FIRE!"
"HAH! MY ACCURACY ISN'T LIKE YOURS! I WOULD'VE HIT THE WOOD WITH A PERFECT BULLSEYE!" Prominence's captain shot back.
"You sure did all right…" growled Desarm, standing up and cracking his knuckles.
"Uh oh…" With the realisation of what he did finally sinking in, Burn's eyes widened at the furious captain and took a step back.
"This ought to be good," smirked Gazel, folding his arms as he leaned against a nearby tree to watch the show.
Hiroto whistled to himself as he turned his focus back to starting the fire. Gazel laughed as Desarm chased Burn around the campsite. Midorikawa sighed and picked up the scattered pieces of wood, trying to put the wooden structure back together again.
"Hiroto?"
"… Just trust me. It won't turn out well."
With the tents set up, firewood gathered, fire started and dinner cooked, the group sat around the campfire to eat and chat. Most were sharing about what they did after the FFI and how their Christmas celebrations went. When Fidio casually brought up the topic of mistletoe, the members of Inazuma Japan went unusually silent.
Mark and Dylan prodded them with questions, trying to get them to talk, but the only thing they managed to get out of them was the word "blackmail".
Then, Edgar and Natsumi brought out several bottles of champagne and sake.
"You should have seen it! Kogure practically avoided Fuyuka like the plague for the next few days!"
"I did not!"
"Oh yeah? You made sure Aki and Otonashi were between the two of you when you guys were making dinner!"
"That was… uh…"
Everyone laughed as Touko recounted the embarrassing incident during their Christmas party several days ago. Kogure turned bright red as he tried to defend his pride.
"Hey Otonashi! Looks like you're no longer the only one who can keep him in line! Fuyuka can take over your job!" quipped Someoka.
Terrace and Fidio exchanged smirks. Looks like the champagne and sake were making them talk more freely now. They gave secret thumbs-up to Edgar and Natsumi as Dylan listened attentively to their interesting stories. None of them were drunk though, they were just rather high at the moment.
"Megane, before I forget, here's the item you asked for," said Mark, passing a brown paper bag to him.
Peeking inside, Megane's eyes widened and shined at the sight.
"The American limited version of Cosmic Pretty Reina! She's finally in my hands!" he cried in joy as he rushed to hug Unicorn's captain. "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!"
"Eh heh… don't mention it," Mark sweatdropped as he tried to pry the otaku's arms loose from his waist. Was it his imagination, or was Dylan growling?
Noticing the tension, Tachimukai was quick to intervene. "Does anyone have any New Year resolutions?" he asked the group.
"I do!" answered an excited Endou as his hand shot up. "And I'm sure all of us share this one too! We aim to train harder next year to grow stronger and improve our soccer! Then we'll work towards seeing one another again at the FFI! Right guys?"
"Yeah!" Everyone cheered.
"I'm going to conquer the oceans! MUAHAHAHAHA!" Tsunami proclaimed maniacally in the midst of their agreement, standing up to strike a heroic pose.
Silence.
"Can we play games and sing songs now?" asked an excited Kogure, totally ignoring what the surfer had just declared.
"Why not? There's not much time left until midnight anyway. It'll be a good way to pass the minutes," said Fubuki.
"Is there a song that we are all familiar with?" wondered Fuyuka aloud. "It'll be nice if we can all sing together."
Mark, Dylan, Ichinose and Domon smiled evilly. "Forget that! We know a song that is fit for camping like this!"
"Really? What is it?" questioned Fidio.
Exchanging smirks, the four Unicorn players took a deep breath.
"Let's gather round the campfire, and sing our campfire song…" they started. Originally leaning backwards against a tree trunk with eyes closed, Fudou snapped his eyes open and jerked up to a sitting position.
"Our C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song…" Fudou began to twitch.
"And if you don't think that we can sing it faster then you're wrong…" A vein popped in Fudou's forehead as everyone watched in anticipation.
"But it'll help if you just sing along…" With full-blown identical grins on their faces, the Unicorn members began to stand up.
Before they could sing another word though, Fudou finally snapped.
"KEEP SINGING THAT STUPID SONG AND YOU'RE DEAD!" he yelled, jumping towards them with hands outstretched to strangle their necks.
"C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song! C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song!" Undaunted, the American players continued to sing while they ran around the campsite as Fudou chased them, his eyes alight with fury. Everyone laughed uncontrollably as the entertainment went on. Hiroto inwardly felt a sense of déjà vu.
"Guys, cut it out! It's time for the countdown!" shouted Aki.
"10…" Glancing at her watch, she began to count.
"9…" Everyone quickly joined in.
"8…" Fudou was still chasing the four of them around, but they had stopped singing to count down as well.
"7…" Sakuma suddenly thought of something, and whispered in Edgar's ear. The captain of Knights of Queen nodded in understanding.
"6…" Dylan grasped Mark's hand as they continued to run.
"5…" It was Tsunami's turn to steal a glance at Touko.
"4…" Ichinose looked nervously at Rika while inching closer to Aki.
"3…" Otonashi gently stretched out her hand to catch Fudou on the shoulder, stunning him in his tracks.
"2…" Gouenji and Natsumi blushed as their eyes locked.
"1…" Endou and Kazemaru looked at each other and smiled.
"HAPPPY NEW YEAR!" Everyone cheered. Hearing loud sounds, they looked up in the sky in pleasant surprise to see fireworks shooting upwards. Flashes of colours danced with the stars as the night sky lit up.
Winking at Ichinose, Edgar approached Rika. "I believe it is customary to present a lady with a New Year's kiss to usher in the upcoming year," he stated, lifting her right hand up and pressing his lips against the back of her palm. Rika blushed and squealed in delight.
With Rika distracted, Ichinose was able to give Aki a full, hard kiss on the lips, supporting her with his hands as she stumbled back in surprise.
This time, it was Tsunami who crashed his lips against Touko's, while Dylan and Mark shared a quick peck on the lips. Gouenji and Natsumi met each other halfway as Endou grabbed Kazemaru by his slim waist and pulled him in for a deep kiss.
Otonashi shyly tugged on Fudou's shirt. Smiling at her silent request, he leaned in to –
A pair of strong hands grabbed his shoulders in a death grip. Fudou froze and slowly turned his head around to find himself facing a very, very angry Kidou.
Fudou was a split second from bolting when Domon, Tachimukai and Fubuki came to his rescue. They lunged at Kidou and dragged him away, with the strategist struggling to fight back and pummel Fudou to the ground. Too bad he did not have enough strength to go against three people at once, even with the determination to "save" his sister.
Blinking at the turn of events, Fudou's shoulders were suddenly grabbed again. The hands, smaller and gentler, spun him around to meet Otonashi's lips in a soft kiss. His eyes widened for a moment before he closed them and leaned in.
Staring around at all the couples, Kogure began to twitch nervously while moving away from Fuyuka. However, she noticed his movements and gave him a wink and a smile.
"W-WAH!" The prankster freaked out in paranoia and dashed towards Terrace and Hijikata to hide behind them. The others laughed at his panic as he peeked out from between their legs to watch out for her.
Leaving Rika in a dazed state, Edgar made his way over to where Hiroto was admiring the fireworks in the sky. "Looks like this camping idea of yours was a splendid one," he praised, looking up at the show of colours.
"Well, I did promise Kogure we'd all go camping together sometime," came the reply.
Turning his gaze towards all his friends enjoying the moment (perhaps except for Kidou), Hiroto decided that this was definitely a good way to start the New Year.
A/N: Have a good year ahead. Happy New Year.