I do not own Maid Sama.
"Misaki!" My friend Sakura called, coming up to me, a huge smile on her face. One of the things that made Sakura such a great person to be around was that she was almost aways happy.
"Hey, what's up?" I was in a particularly good mood today due to the fact that it was the last day of school, and then we had three weeks off.
"Look at what I got!" I saw a couple of tickets in her hand.
"What are they?" I questioned.
"We're going camping! It's this really fancy camping place; I looked online. Apparently they have one main building with things like a hot tub, and TV, and then the rest is surrounded by a forest!"
"Oh." Well, that immediately scratched out any chance that I had of going.
"What's wrong?" She now looked worried.
"Sakura, I'm not…I can't afford it," I said quietly.
"Misa, it's fine, I won them at a fair, they're free, and everything is paid for. I mean, we have to bring food and a tent, but other than that, the trip, which is about 10 days, is free."
"Sakura, how did you…" I was stunned.
"Well, I was just walking, and I passed a fair. It looked interesting so I entered, there was a wheel of fortune sort of thing, and I got three free tickets. I asked Shizuko if she wanted to go, but as soon as I mentioned hiking, she mysteriously had other plans."
I shook my head. Shizuko hated gym, and it was typical of her that she wouldn't want to go.
"That's too bad," I said. "It would have been nice if she could have come. What are you going to do with the third ticket? It's not like you can just throw it out." Sakura nodded, all business-like.
"Well, I was thinking maybe your sister could come with us."
"Suzuna?" I asked her incredulously.
"Sure, don't you think she would like to come?" I sighed.
It was true that Suzuna had never been camping, and this was a rare opportunity, so it was best to invite her.
"Okay." Sakura squealed.
"Bye Misaki!"
"Bye Sakura," I replied.
I walked in the hallways, and saw two boys who were being loud. How dare they? This was a school, not a circus!
"You!" They looked at me. "Get to class, and stop acting like fools!"
They looked panicked, and ran off.
I went to my last class, English, and I was staring at the clock, impatient. Although I worked hard and was top of my class, even I enjoyed vacations. Of course, as president, I was going to have to meet up with the student council periodically, but I would worry about that later.
Finally, after one painful hour, the bell rang, and everyone rushed out of their seats, including me.
I looked at the ticket that I had in my hand as I walked home. Did we even own a tent?
I wasn't ashamed of my rundown house, but sometimes I did wish that we were better off. If my stupid father hadn't fled and left us in debt, then we wouldn't even be here.
Today was my day off at Maid Latte, and I immediately went into the house.
"I'm home! Suzuna, I have to ask you something?"
My sister appeared, and stared at me.
"What is it Misaki?" She asked, yawning.
"Um, do you want to go camping?" I asked.
"When?"
"Well, Sakura got free tickets, and Shizuko couldn't come, so we wanted to invite you. We're leaving tomorrow, sorry it's such short notice."
"Thanks for inviting me, but I'm going to be spending a lot of time with someone," she said.
"Who?"
"My boyfriend," she said simply. I almost fell down.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, stunned. You would think that she would tell me first.
"Because you hate boys, and I didn't want you criticizing him if he came over."
"God, Suzuna, I'm sorry. No, those are just boys in general, especially the ones at Seika. If he's your boyfriend, then I'm sure he's fine. You're not stupid, and have good judgment."
She smiled. "Thanks, Misaki. I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun, though. Maybe you could try asking mom," she suggested.
Mom? Would Sakura really want my mother to come along? But my mom probably wouldn't go camping any time soon either.
I found her after a few minutes, explained the extra ticket, but she politely declined.
"Misaki, go have fun with your friend. We even have some extra money this month, so you can use it for food and other things, okay?"
"Mom, are you sure? I have money from my job. I'll let you know if I need any more. By the way, would we happen to have a tent?" She thought for a minute.
"There might be one in the basement. If I remember correctly, your father bought one five years ago, but never used it."
I hugged her. Whenever the subject of my father came up, even the slightest mention of him, it made the whole family sad.
"Thanks mom," I said quietly.
I flipped on the light to the basement, and slowly walked down the stairs. There wasn't much lying around. I looked through all of the boxes, until I saw what I was looking for. Sure enough, it was a tent, and large enough for two people.
I lifted it up, and carried it back to my room. I shut the door, and counted my money. I had saved up enough for food. Besides, Sakura was probably bringing money too.
The phone rang, and I immediately picked it up.
"Misaki," I heard Sakura's excited voice over the phone. "I found some money, and a tent. My mom said that she could drive us; it's about three hours away. I'll have my cell phone, so we should be okay. Can you be ready around noon?"
"Sure, thanks for the ride."
"No problem, bye!"
I continued getting everything ready, and after about thirty minutes, I was prepared. I thanked my mom for letting me go, and fell asleep.
Following day, noon…
I saw Sakura through the window, and ran out. She grinned and waved.
"Hey Sakura! Thanks for picking me up, Mrs. Hanazono." We talked for a while, and the three-hour car ride seemed to go by fast.
"Well, this is it," Sakura said. "Bye mom, see you later."
"Sakura, if you run into any trouble, you must tell me immediately. The website said that it's possible to charge your phone and that there is reception by the main building, so I am expecting a call from you every night." Sakura rolled her eyes.
"Sure mom." We both said good bye, and unloaded the tents and my backpack. We stared at the main building for a few minutes.
The place was huge, and if Sakura had not come across free tickets, there was no way that I would ever be able to afford to come to a place like this.
"Let's go explore!" Sakura squealed.
"Wait, Sakura! Let's find out where we're staying first, pitch the tents, and then we can…" She cut me off.
"That's so like you Misa-chan! Working first!"
"There's no harm in being prepared," I said.
"That's true, but we're here to have fun!"
"Fine, while I pitch the tents, why don't you go look for things to do. How's that?" I suggested.
"Are you sure? I could help."
"No, Sakura, I'll join you in a bit. It may take me a few minutes, so let's meet by the food court, okay?"
"Thanks, Misaki! I'll see you later." She waved and ran off.
I couldn't help smiling at where I was. The manager at Maid Latte had been extremely understanding, and I would have to find some way to repay her.
I lifted both tents, and walked off. I finally came across a nice grassy patch, and it looked big enough for two tents. It wasn't completely isolated, but far a way enough, that Sakura and I could stay up later without bothering anyone.
"Okay, instructions," I muttered to myself.
I opened Sakura's first, and I was already having problems setting it up. Mine was next, and when I took out the instructions, I could only stare at them like an idiot. There were no pictures, and about three words per step. How was I going to do this?
I looked at the picture on the box, and tried to put it together using the picture as a guide. Finally, after at least half an hour, the tent was up, but it looked like a slight breeze could knock it over.
I slowly went inside, and as soon as I sat down, the stupid thing collapsed.
"I'm going to kill it!" I yelled to no one in particular. It took me a few minutes to untangle myself from the fallen tent.
"Those stupid instructions, how useless!"
"Um, are you okay?" I heard a new voice say. The guy who was standing in front of me was gorgeous, but he was still a boy, no matter how good looking. Ever since our father had left, I no longer trusted men; all of them were the same.
"What do you want?" I snapped. He raised his eyebrows.
"Nothing, you just looked like you were having trouble." His tone was casual, and he seemed completely relaxed, even though I was glaring.
"That's none of your business!"
"You're right it's not. But, don't you think it's kind of irresponsible to go camping without even knowing how to pitch a tent?" I was getting mad.
"Look, I don't know who the hell you are, nor do I care, but if the students of Seika were to see me right now, I would be the laughing stock."
This time, he looked mildly surprised. "Seika High School?"
"Yes, is there a problem with that?" I asked him rudely.
"No, but wasn't it once an all boys school?"
"I think that I have a right to know your name," I said firmly. "And yes, it was. How can I be student council president and not be able to pitch a tent?"
"Student council president of a school filled with boys?" He sounded mildly impressed, but bored as well.
"Yes, stop distracting me. I told Sakura that I would have both tents up before I met her, I can't just leave them here." I was determined. He sighed.
"I'm Takumi Usui, but I usually just go by Usui. What about you? What's your name, or should I just call you president?" He asked me.
"Misaki," I said while lifting up one of the shorter poles of my tent.
"Well, Misaki, like I said before, do you need help?" He said.
He took the instructions out of my hands, and frowned. "This is impossible to understand."
"Yeah, genius!" I said, getting angrier by the minute.
He took the pole out of my hand, and started demonstrating how to set everything up.
I stood there watching him, feeling like a complete idiot.
