Some camping trip shenanigans to keep you all amused. May or may not be updated sometime before the heat death of the universe. Almost all events unfortunately based on personal experience.
"Hey kid, catch!"
John ducked automatically at those words, and a rolled-up tarp sailed above his head. On the other side of the room, Yasuhara caught it, grinned, and flung it back.
"There's no more room in my backpack. You take it."
Monk made a face at him. "Sure, push everything off on me." But there was a happy gleam in his eyes as he turned around and began shoving the tarp into his own pack.
"Monk, quit fooling around!" Mai called from among a pile of food on the other side of the room. "Naru says that if we forget anything we won't be able to go back for it. Don't make us regret inviting you along!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I've got everything." Monk forced the zipper on his pack closed with some difficulty, and heaved it off the ground. He began the trek down the stairs to his car, mumbling the whole way.
John resisted the urge to cover his face and sigh. Takigawa's pride was very sensitive, and he was still stinging from the revelation that no exorcisms would be necessary on this case. They were going up to a small campground in the mountains, and their purpose was merely to confirm or debunk rumors of ghostly activity. The owners of the campground wanted to use the presence of spirits as a selling point, so they were not to chase the spirits away unless they posed an immediate threat.
Technically they only needed a small amount of Naru's equipment, along with Masako's abilities as a medium, in order to deal with this case. In fact, it was such a simple case that John suspected Mai had twisted Naru's arm into accepting it, the same way she had convinced him to invite the whole group of them. She thought the idea of a camping trip sounded fun, and she was throwing herself into the preparations despite Naru's repeated warnings that they would be there to work and slacking off on the job would not be tolerated.
John would feel more comfortable if there were cabins they could stay in. He didn't mind not having electricity, but he was very suspicious of the abilities of tents to keep animals out. Takigawa and Yasuhara had promised to evict any uninvited guests, but that wasn't exactly a comforting promise. Besides, this was the time of year when the weather was unpredictable, and he didn't relish the thought of sleeping outside in the rain with only a flimsy canvas between him and the outside.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by a tap on his shoulder. "John, are you ready to go?" It was Mai, giving him a funny look. "Everyone else is already down by the cars."
John jumped to his feet, nodding hastily and struggling into his backpack. Once he had it on, he nearly toppled over. The downside of their destination was that there was no way to get the cars all the way up to the campsite, which meant that they had to carry all their food and water with them. Which meant that the backpacks were very heavy. He had no idea how Takigawa had managed to make lifting his seem so effortless.
He staggered out the door and crept slowly down the stairs, clinging onto the handrail with a death grip. Somehow, he managed to make it down to the cars without falling and killing himself. There, he learned that they had run out of space in the equipment van, so his backpack would have to go in Takigawa's car. And since Yasuhara's backpack was already taking up the trunk, John's pack would have to go into the backseat. This didn't make the already-cramped vehicle any more comfortable.
"Mai, move over! You're squishing John, and he's squishing me!" Ayako snapped.
"You move over!" came the reply. John didn't have to look to know that Mai would be glaring daggers at Ayako over his shoulder. "I'm up against the window here! How come Yasuhara gets the front seat?"
"Because I called it." Yasuhara turned around and smiled cheerfully at them, making sure to stretch his legs out to emphasize how much more space he had. "And because I'm bribing the driver."
Takigawa slid into the driver's seat. "What about me?" He started the car and they took off after the van.
John shrunk back against his seat as Mai and Ayako began complaining loudy on both sides of him, accusing Takigawa of favoritism and pointing out, very loudly, that "He got the front seat last time!" It reminded him of nothing so much as a field trip with a bunch of third-graders. He closed his eyes, wishing he were somewhere else and doing his best not to touch either of them. Were they there yet?
As the car reached the highway and it became clear that no amount of complaining would change the seating arrangements, eventually they did settle down. Even Mai couldn't keep up a high energy level on a five hour drive. John leaned his head back and looked for patterns in the cracks on the ceiling of the car as they sped down the road.
Sometime around noon, John looked around and realized that he was the only passenger in the car who was not slumped against the nearest available surface, fast asleep. They had fallen behind the van some time ago, so the only noises were the occasional buzzes of Takigawa's phone as Lin sent him reminders about where to turn, or occasional alerts about roadwork and traffic.
Takigawa was reading one of those messages as John looked around to try and get his bearings. He caught John's eyes in the rear-view mirror and muttered "Masako was feeling carsick, so they've stopped at a gas station about ten miles down the road. Lin thinks it might be a good place to stop for lunch."
John copied his quiet tone. "Sounds good, but I hate to have to wake them up." He looked around at his sleeping friends. "Everybody's had a rough week, and they're tired."
He didn't know just when he had become the unofficial group therapist, but over the past few months he had found himself meeting with his friends more and more for coffee or lunch, and during that time he would somehow hear about all the problems in their lives. So he knew that Mai and Yasuhara had been struggling with exams, Ayako was stressed out about her work at the hospital, Masako was bickering with her mother, and Takigawa's band was in a creative slump.
In fact, it was partially thanks to him that they had this time to get away for a while. He had happened to be in the office when Mai had been arguing with Naru about inviting everyone, and he had taken her side because he'd thought it might be a nice idea.
Two hours later, gasping his way up a hill with a backpack that probably weighed almost as much as he did, he was beginning to regret that decision. The hike wasn't supposed to be very long, but he had already fallen far behind the group and was beginning to get worried. The sun set earlier in the mountains, and the light was already beginning to fail. What would he do if he came to a fork in the road? He didn't know where they were, it would be very easy to get lost out here. And the path was covered with little stones that slid about under his feet. What would happen if he fell and hurt himself? How long would they wait before turning back to check on him?
He didn't have to wait long to have that question answered, as Takigawa came bounding back down the trail. "Hey John! We were worried you'd been eaten by a bear." He was obviously kidding, but John wasn't really in the mood for jokes. Were there bears out here? He thought he might cry if he found out the answer to that question, so instead he asked the other question on his mind.
"You reached the campsite already?"
"We've been there for twenty minutes." Takigawa clapped John on the shoulder. "Come on, it's not much farther. I can take your pack if you want."
John dropped his backpack, sighing with relief. He'd never hear the end of it from Ayako, of course, but the straps were starting to dig into his shoulders. He was sure they were going to bruise.
When they reached the campsite, they were greeted by the sight of two tents already pitched and Yasuhara sitting by the last empty spot, tossing a stone to himself. Takigawa set John's pack down, muttering under his breath, then stood up and called "Hey kid! I thought I told you to start setting up the tent!"
"You did," Yasuhara agreed, nodding amiably. "But I couldn't, because John has it."
John felt a cold chill go down his spine. He looked back and forth between the two of them and gulped.
"No I don't."
Yep, this stinks. As always, if you actually read all that I sincerely apologize for wasting your time.