title: competent child psychologists and underpaid babysitters

notes: That's it. That's the title. I've recently started working as a counselor for a summer camp and while it's fun, the kids can be quite a handful. Which thus inspired this drabble of sorts. In which Houka is a brat. And Ryuko kind of, sort of, not really, questions her choices.

notes 2: This was already posted on my tumblr, but I think it's time I got around to posting it here as well. This is going to be a collection of unrelated drabbles, most of which will probably be AUs.

-.-

Ryuko whirls around at the sudden sound of a splash, hands still stained white with sunscreen as it hovers over Mako's arm. She does a quick head count, running through the names of every camper assigned to her, as she wipes her sunscreen stained hands on her own arms. It doesn't take long to figure out that Nonon is missing, if only because of the halo of pink hair that appears on the surface of the water as she sputters for air.

Her entire group runs over to the edge of the swimming pool, staring wide-eyed and amazed, Omiko tugging on her pant leg and asking why Nonon was allowed to swim when she couldn't. Ryuko answers absentmindedly that Nonon wasn't swimming, eyes fervently searching the area around for the lifeguard stand, knowing that Uzu is on duty.

Not finding any signs of him, Ryuko's ready to jump into the pool herself. Her whistle, shoes, and socks are tossed to the side and she's about to dive into the waters when Uzu surfaces, Nonon safe under his arms.

Ryuko releases a relieved sigh, grabbing two of the towels from the stack by her feet. She rushes over to the edge, and after asking all her campers to move back, helps Uzu pull Nonon back onto land and wraps one of the towels around her shoulders, leaving the other for him to take.

"Houka pushed me in!" Nonon whines through chattering teeth, arms held straight out as she allows Ryuko to wipe off the water.

"He did?" Ryuko asks, gently pulling her hair out of the pigtails they had been tied in to get at her hair.

"Yes!" Nonon confirms adamantly, glaring at the bespectacled boy standing behind Ryuko.

With a long-suffering sigh, Ryuko shifts on her toes so that she's still able to dry Nonon whilst reprimanding Houka. "Houka, did you push Nonon into the pool?"

His eyes flicker over towards the still fuming girl and, without any visible remorse, says, "Yeah."

"Well, why did you?"

"Because she was talking too much."

"Because she was – " Ryuko repeats incredulously. She shakes her head, cutting herself short, and brings up a hand to rub tiredly at the bridge of her nose. Turning to Uzu, she has him take care of Nonon so that she can focus her entire attention on Houka. "We don't push people into pools for talking too much, Houka."

He purses his lips. "But she wouldn't shut up."

"That's still no reason to push someone," Ryuko chastises, chancing a glance over at Nonon. Uzu's drying her hair and she doesn't look as mad as before, which lifts a heavy weight off Ryuko's mind. "We ask nicely, alright?"

"But she wouldn't shut up," he repeats and Ryuko suppresses the urge to bang her head against the nearest hard surface. She's trying so hard not to swear, and she's not admitting to anything, but a couple might have slipped through unawares.

"We ask nicely and we do not resort to pushing," Ryuko says once more, firmly and with no more room for arguments.

Almost a little reluctantly, he nods, and Ryuko takes it as it is. She knows that Houka's not repentant in the least and no amount reprimanding will change that. But she's not going to let him off easy. She has him sit on one of the lounge chairs and states, quite firmly, that he is to stay until she decides he can leave.

Omiko tugs once again on Ryuko's pant leg, asking if they could go swimming already. After double checking for sunscreen and helping Shiro out of his shirt, Ryuko agrees with the condition that they stay in sight, and soon enough, she's left alone with Uzu, the towels, and a sulking Houka.

This is one of those times where she severely questions her choice in becoming a camp counselor. She loves working with kids. They can be adorable and sweet when they want to, but then there are those (like Houka, she thinks a little bitterly) who just test her patience.

She can feel her muscles aching and her feet hurt from standing all day and all she wants to do is sleep, but she has to keep an eye on the kids. She cricks her neck and reaches a hand up to rub at her sore muscles, trying to work out the kinks, and thinks that it might be time for a massage.

Uzu pushes aside her hand, replacing them with his own, and rubs soothing circles against her shoulders, working at the knots that have built up in the past week. "How're you feeling?"

"Tired," she murmurs, leaning into his ministrations. "Sore."

"Yeah, I can tell," he huffs amusedly, thumbs digging into a particularly painful lump of muscle. She tenses in pain and he immediately apologizes by returning to rubbing circles and gentle kneading.

Her kids are all splashing around in the shallow end of the pool, except for Nonon who's making her way towards the wading pool. Ryuko moves, Uzu following after, still working her knots, until she's positioned between the two, as well as keeping Houka in view.

"Well, think of happy things," Uzu offers.

Ryuko tilts her head to the side as an indication that she's listening, her eyes flickering between the two pools. "And what would that be?"

"For one, today's Friday."

Ryuko hums and nods.

"And for another, I'm taking you out on a date tonight."

"Oh, you are, are you?"

"Yep," he answers, popping the 'p'. "Dress nice, but nothing fancy."

"Oh?" she hums, moving away from Uzu's hands when Shiro comes running to her, crying about how Mako got water up his nose and how much it hurts. "Not going to tell me where you're taking me?"

He grins. "That'd ruin the surprise."

"You know I love your surprises," she teases, leading Shiro over to the towels. "But this date's not going to happen if your supervisor catches you slacking."

They both glance at the empty lifeguard chair and he curses the fact that he's on duty. She shoots him a reprimanding glare, head tilting towards the kid beside her. Thankfully, Shiro's too busy nursing his burning nose to notice Uzu's slip up.

"I'll pick you up at eight?" he asks.

"Eight," she agrees, angling her head so that he can kiss her cheek before returning to his post. He smiles, giddy and excited, and waves at her the moment he settles his butt onto the seat of his chair. She rolls her eyes, but waves back nonetheless, her own smile gracing her lips.

She can't wait.