A/N: Kado back at it again with the long titles! I wanted to have this ready for Odaiba Day but work had other plans.

Kado Notes:

*So I don't know how long the summer camp was supposed to be and as far as I know it never says anywhere. I know some Japanese elementary schools do an overnight camping thing and I know when my sisters went to (church) camp it was a week long so I just went with the assumption that it was going to be a week or more because of the tents. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't really matter.

*Always pack extra socks and underwear when going on trips, just in case.

*I'm still not sure how to refer to the Adventure kids. I learned the Dub names first and it's what I default to but this is Japan. On the other hand the dub names could almost count as nicknames, especially since they're all so young and I could treat them like that? Opinions?

*Can you spot the extremely small and quick Haikyuu! cameo?

Nishijima Minami woke to the taste of salt on her lips and the sound of waves fading from her ears. She groaned, rolling onto her stomach to bury her face into the pillow. It conformed to her face, making it difficult to breathe but it smelled like her fabric softener; the familiar scent chasing away the last vague remnants of her dream.

'It's summer,' the girl reasoned as she nuzzled her face into the soft fabric of her pillowcase, 'guess that's the perfect time to dream of the beach.'

Mina shivered, despite the sweat sticking her hair to her face, and pulled her covers closer. Nothing remained of the dream now but the uncomfortable pit in her stomach made her think it had not been a fun beach visit. Soon the need to breathe outweighed her contemplation on a fleeting dream and Mina lifted herself from the safety of her pillow and covers with an exaggerated gasp for air. Needless dramatics aside Mina dropped her feet to the floor and took a moment to stretch her arms above her head.

"Well," her hands dropped to her head, fingers attempting to pry some of her sweat-stuck hair from her face. Between that and bedhead her ash brown hair must look more like some desert bush; but that was a problem for after-breakfast-Mina. "Guess it's time to face the day."

"Minami!" Her mother called from the kitchen, nearly as soon as the bedroom door had opened. "I hope you're packed and ready. Mr. Fujiyama is already here."

"Um," the girl shuffled towards the kitchen, caught between walking and pulling on her socks. "What?"

The day, it seemed, had decided to face her with her former elementary homeroom teacher seated at the kitchen table; complete with a plate of breakfast and the morning newspaper as if he had replaced her father in this version of reality. Mina's hand wavered between her pajama shirt (stolen from her brother years before and showing just as much wear) and her bed-head as if there was still some hope of saving her dignity.

Catching sight of her over the top of the paper Fujiyama-sensei smiled. "Good morning, Minami-chan. Are you all set for summer camp?"

"What?" she repeated, wondering if she hadn't just fallen back asleep face down in the pillow and the lack of oxygen was giving her strange dreams.

"Don't be rude," her mother scolded, frowning from her place at the table. "You agreed to help with the summer camp for the elementary kids. Did you forget?"

'I didn't forget,' Mina bit the inside of her cheek to keep her expression neutral. 'You just volunteered me for something and then didn't tell me about it.'

Outloud she said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Fujiyama. It must have slipped my mind, but it won't take me long to get ready." Mina gave her best apologetic smile and backed out of the room before another issue could be raised.

The door to her bedroom shut with a quiet click and the girl took a moment to breathe; forehead resting against the wood of her door and shoulders rising and falling as if the exaggerated motion would bring relaxation to her sooner. Suddenly all of after-breakfast-Mina's problems were right now problems. Right now problems with a time limit and roughly two to three weeks of unplanned obligations.

"Okay," Mina began, stepping away from the door. "Okay, okay. Clothes. We'll pack and find something to wear and then deal with...this." She waved a hand in the vague direction of the chaotic cloud of her bedhead. "Where's that duffle bag?"

The duffle bag had been tossed into a back corner of her closet, still sporting spots of dust from the track and the white 'Odaiba Middle Track & Field' embroidery was now more gray than anything. Mina frowned and gave the bag a few good shakes.

"At least it doesn't smell."

The girl tossed the duffle bag onto her bed and began rummaging through her drawers and closet to find what she wanted to pack.

"Jeans but also shorts in case the day is hot. A couple of shirts and extra socks and underwear just in case. Another pair of shoes? No, that's excessive. I still need to fit toiletries and - will I need a swimsuit?" Mina paused her hurried tirade to consider. Her time was ticking away and she still needed to change and attempt to look like a proper fifteen year-old and not living underbrush. "No, forget it. I don't have time to find the stupid thing anyway."

The girl clicked her tongue and gave the duffle bag a hard shake to settle the contents and grabbed her clothes for the day. Tucking them under her arm Mina opened her bedroom door once again and power-walked to the bathroom, lest she be seen again by her mother and former teacher and her wavering dignity took another heavy blow.

Thankfully if anyone was looking her way as she hurried to the bathroom she didn't notice. Inside the safety of the bathroom Mina thought longingly of a shower and how it would guarantee well-behaved hair. Grumbling to herself the girl stepped out of her pajamas and carefully folded them for when they were added to her duffle bag. She pulled on her clothes quickly, brushed her teeth, and washed off her face.

Mina picked up the hairbrush as if she were preparing to do battle. "Alright. Time to fix...all this."

Ten minutes later and the tangled bush of her hair had been beaten back into something much more normal looking. Internally she cursed the cowlicks that her brother seemed to think counted as a hairstyle and ran the brush through her hair one last time for good measure. Mina caught her own eyes in the reflection of the mirror; a stray bead of water trailed down the curve of her cheek.

It hit the porcelain with an abnormally loud splash.

The sound seemed to echo around the suddenly too-small bathroom. It felt impossible to tear her eyes away from her own reflection; the light brown of her eyes seeming to reflect impossible colors. She could hear the ocean from her dream, feel the ice cold ebb and flow threatening to pull her...

Where?

Something was calling.

"Minami!" Her mother's voice called, concerned. The moment, whatever it had been, shattered around her as the girl jolted. The hairbrush clattered against the countertop, nearly knocking the toothbrushes into the sink. "Aren't you ready yet?"

"Almost!" Mina scrambled to gather her needed toiletries, piling them on top of her pajamas and gathering everything into her arms. She almost walked face first into the closed door as she turned, instead smacking into one of her brother's dumb sweatshirts hanging on the door hook to air dry.

Bear With Me read the font, surrounded by the outline of a grizzly bear, as if asking for her forgiveness. Her nose scrunched, though the scent of the fabric softener was pleasant, and Mina yanked the sweatshirt from the hook and added it to her pile.

"Minami! The time!"

"I'm coming!" The brunette bit back a sigh as she finally left the bathroom and headed back to her room. Pajamas and toiletries went into the duffle bag but the stolen sweatshirt she tied around her waist. Mina zipped the bag with perhaps more force than was required and did a last minute scan of her room for anything she had missed. Her eyes found her preferred summertime bag, hanging across the back of her desk chair. She snatched it up and added some of her snack stash to the contents as breakfast was becoming a fleeting impossibility.

Shouldering both bags Mina shuffled back into the kitchen just before her mother called for her again. "I'm ready."

"Is that your brother's sweatshirt?" her mother asked, looking over from where she was setting the breakfast dishes out to dry.

"No," Mina answered, turning to face her former teacher. "I hope we're not running late."

"Sorry to rush you so early in the morning, Minami-chan," Mr. Fujiyama offered an apologetic smile. "Would you like to eat something first or-?"

The girl shook her head, adjusting the straps of the bags on her shoulder. "I'll be fine. But we should probably get going; you know how elementary school kids are."

The teacher stifled a laugh as he folded the newspaper and stood from the kitchen table. "Yes and you're so much older."

"Do you want my help or not?" Mina said before she could think better of it. She caught the disapproving look forming on her mother's face and promptly turned on her heel to power-walk to the doorway to step into her shoes.

It didn't save her. Like some sort of animal spurred on by the movement her mother followed. "Minami! I'm surprised at you!"

In the end it took another ten minutes before they were out the door, Mrs. Nishijima using the time to scold her daughter for such improper behavior. When they finally piled into Mr. Fujiyama's car Mina felt as if they were running inexorbantly late. It pulled at an anxiety she wasn't aware of, leaving her feeling fidgety and nervous.

"- yet?"

Mina blinked, tearing her attention away from the car window and the moving scenery outside it. Her focus had been caught by two boys walking down the sidewalk- one absorbed in his gameboy and the other with horrible bedhead and a brochure, talking animatedly to his friend. They were having a normal summer. "Sorry, what?"

"Have you decided on a high school yet?" Mr. Fujiyama repeated.

"Oh! Yes, I have." Mina answered, twisting her fingers around the strap of her bag. "If everything goes well on the entrance exams."

"I wouldn't worry too much," her former teacher assured her. "You've always been a good student." He laughed, as if remembering some private joke. "Actually you remind me a bit of one of the older elementary kids. You'll meet him at the camp. He's a bit jumpy though, so try not to startle him."

"Thank...you?" the girl said slowly, unsure of how to take the statement. It was certainly meant as a complement...wasn't it?

Only by the time Mr. Fujiyama pulled his car into the parking lot of Odaiba Elementary, with the gaggle of elementary students and several long buses, did Mina's nerves begin to settle. The children, however, seemed to be growing restless. Energy was spreading through the throng of children tired of waiting, making them shift and shuffle.

"Well," Mr. Fujiyama began as he parked the car. "Best get them on the bus before they riot."

Mina chewed on her bottom lip, watching the children. "Won't it be worse to put them in an inclosed space?"

"Not much of a choice now, if we're to get them to camp." the teacher opened his car door with a flourish, gesturing to the children. "Come, Minami-chan. Adventure awaits!"

"That seems a bit dramatic, I think." Mina muttered, though the corner of her lips curved upward, and she followed the teacher out of the car and across the parking lot.

"Sensei!" One of the children called out. From this distance he looked like little more than a fluff of brown hair and a streak of blue clothes and goggles? "It's about time you showed up!"

'I did make him late!' The thought was nearly enough to ramp her nerves back into overdrive with guilt and regret until one of the other kids- blonde and in green-interrupted.

"It hasn't even been that long," blonde kid frowned, watching the first kid from the corner of his very blue eye. "Can't you wait for ten minutes?"

"Now, now," Mr. Fujiyama waved a hand as he approached, sensing conflict as the two boys stared each other down. "There's still plenty of time for camp fun. But I had to grab an extra set of hands."

At this the elementary homeroom teacher presented Mina like a game show assistant and she was the prize behind door number one. Or maybe the discount prize from the skeptical way the children watched her.

"Um, hi?" Mina offered as she approached the gathering of students. It felt like beginning of the year introductions only now, thanks to Mr. Fujiyama's excitable declaration, everyone seemed to be paying attention to her.

There was a general murmuring of greetings and a few confused looks exchanged but the children largely seemed to accept the addition of a stranger.

"She's so tall," A girl outside of Mina's line of sight whispered. "She must be in high school."

Her burning ears were hidden behind the strands of her ash brown but there was nothing to be done about the color creeping onto her cheeks. Mina opened her mouth to respond, decided better of it, and turned on the ball of her foot towards the bus. "Well, it looks like we're the last ones. Better get the luggage into the bus so we can head out."

The words left her mouth in a jumble, matching the too-fast movement of her power walk away from the situation.

"Yeah!" the goggle wearing kid from earlier cheered. "Let's get this camping trip started!"