Haru groaned as she leaned back in her chair, pencil perched between her lip and her nose as she furrowed her brows. Summer break was finally here, a welcome break from all the schoolwork, and college.
Ugh. College.
Her expression only became more disgruntled at the thought of college and the flurry of work and assignments she'd had to do. Of course, her art classes were fun, and she enjoyed history, but writing the reports and essays were frustrating.
"They wouldn't be so frustrating if you'd start them earlier," her mom always told her when she called home, but like she had the time to do that between everything for her other classes too.
It was terrible, but she soldiered through, somehow. But even with summer break, her blessed respite from the hell of classwork, she was still in a sour mood.
Perhaps sour wasn't the right word, but she was definitely pouting a bit. All of her friends had gone somewhere for the break. Hiromi and her boyfriend were going on a cross country roadtrip to go visit his parents. Ami and Risa had both gone home to visit their families too. Haru would have done the same, of course, had her mother not been out of town at a quilting convention, and she wasn't too keen on being home all by herself for a week. But that of course, left her with a week of absolutely nothing to do. No one to hang out with.
She suppressed another groan and pressed her hands to her face, leaning a bit too far back and tipping her chair over. She went down with a strangled cry and flailing limbs, whimpering softly as her head smacked against the floor. To add insult to injury, her pencil landed eraser first on her head and bounced off, rolling under her desk.
"Owww..." A small whine escaped her, and she lay there, staring up at her ceiling as she tried to cradle the back of her head, knowing there would be a large bump there within minutes. She probably should have gotten up to get an ice pack out of the freezer, but moving required more energy than she felt she had at the moment.
At least, until her phone rang.
Haru's eyes widened and she scrambled out of her chair and over to her bed, where her phone lay charging. It wasn't as easy as it sounded, mostly because she was wearing socks, which made the ordeal a bit more complicated than it needed to be.
Finally securing her phone, she realized it wasn't her mother calling, like she'd initially thought, but her cousin, Shizuku. Well, it was still better than doing nothing, and Shizuku was arguably the family member she was closest to.
"Hello?" Haru answered, chirping with more enthusiasm than was probably necessary.
"Oh, you picked up sooner than I thought you would," Shizuku laughed, and there was a small pause as she called something to someone in the background. Likely Seiji, her fiance. "I'm glad I got caught you, though. Do you have plans for the summer?"
Ouch. Right off the bat. Haru dropped her cheeriness and let out a loud sigh. "No, and I hate it. Mom's off at a convention, so I can't go home just yet. Everyone else has already gone off for the break." Leaving her there. Alone.
Shizuku winced on the other line. "Unfortunate. But also fortunate for me, I guess. You want something to do for the break?"
"Yes. Please. Anything. I'll literally bathe Seiji's grumpy pet cat."
"Hah-no, nothing that drastic, but you might have to bathe the dog," Shizuku laughed, her voice slightly muffled, and Haru could picture her cousin placing her hand over her mouth to smother her giggles. "No, I was just wondering if you'd be able to watch our house while we're gone. Gives you something to do while Aunt Naoko's out of town, though we'll be gone longer than a week.
Haru blinked, adjusting her phone slightly as she sat down on the edge of her bed. "Yeah, sure, I don't mind, but where are you guys going?"
"A cruise, to...Italy, I think? Where Seiji was studying," her cousin answered, sighing dreamily. "It's gorgeous, and I can't wait. But we can't find anyone else to watch the house while we're gone, and with the pets, it's not...ideal at all. You were the last hope, honestly. If you were busy we would have had to cancel."
"I'm glad I ended up having no plans then," Haru smiled. "You two deserve this."
"Thanks, Haru. You really are a lifesaver. How soon can you get here? Not to rush you or anything."
"No worries," the brunette laughed. "If I leave in an hour, I should be able to catch a train and be there by.." she trailed off and pulled her phone away from her ear to check the time. "Probably by midnight, I think."
"Oh, good," Shizuku breathed a sigh of relief. "We have to leave tomorrow afternoon, so that works perfectly. We'll pay for your ticket and everything."
Haru squawked, eyes widening. "Wha—Shizuku, you don't have to do that! It's fine, really!" Sure, her cousin might have been a published author, engaged to a famous violinist, but still! She could afford her own ticket! They didn't need to go out of their way like that!
"Oh, don't be silly," Shizuku shot back, and Haru could practically feel her glare over the phone. "I'm dragging you into house sitting totally last minute. I'm paying for your ticket. And really, thank you, again. I'm glad I'll get to see you for a bit before we have to leave too."
Haru smiled and nodded, even though her cousin couldn't see it. "Me too, it's been a long time. But I'm glad you two finally have some time to yourself."
"Yeah, me too," Shizuku giggled softly. "Well, I better let you get packed. We have to finish packing too so we're not in a rush tomorrow. Kitchen's fully stocked too, so you shouldn't need to worry about groceries while we're gone. Call me when you get to the station."
"You got it. I'll see you guys in a few hours."
"Alright. Bye!"
With their goodbyes said and the call ended, Haru sat there for a moment, wondering if her cousin was psychic. Still, Shizuku was right. It would give her something to do over the summer, especially while she waited for her mother to get home. Plus, it would be easier to stay in a house that hadn't been overrun with crafting supplies while she was gone. Quilting had definitely taken over in her absence, but she couldn't blame her mom. That was her passion, the same as art was Haru's.
"Welp, better get ready," she said to herself as she stood and brushed herself off.
It took a bit of digging to even find her suitcase amidst all the old sketchpads and boxes of art supplies stuffed into her closet for more room in her small bedroom. From there, she packed a few outfits to cycle between while she was there, plus she also knew she could borrow something of Shizuku's if she needed it, though she still packed her favorite, fluffy gray sweater just in case.
She glanced at the mountain of art supplies she'd displaced, and paused. She pursed her lips, squinting at the pile. Well, wouldn't hurt. She grabbed her newest sketchpad and her graphite pencils, then after another moment of hesitation, she grabbed her pastels and carefully stashed them in the suitcase and cushioned them between her clothes so nothing would end up in pieces by the time she got there.
Next was her purse, which spurred a quick check to make sure she had her wallet and her ID. Thankfully that reminded her to stuff her phone charger into her suitcase too. Definitely wouldn't be a good idea to forget that.
Running through her mental check list, she decided she had everything, and then changed out of her pajamas, and into something more appropriate for travel. Just a plain white tank top and denim shorts, and a light jacket. She was just tugging on her sneakers when her phone dinged, with her ticket information.
With that, she was all ready to go. Or so she hoped, at least. She'd always been a bit forgetful.
Which was proved a minute later as she hurriedly unzipped her suitcase to stash her laptop and its charger in before sealing it up again.
Then, finally, she was out the door with her phone in her purse, slung over her shoulder, while she lugged the suitcase behind her. She locked the apartment door behind her and dropped her keys into her purse, and then she was on her way to the station. At least it wasn't far to walk at least.
As expected, the train was pretty packed, but she managed to find her seat in a less crowded section and settled in for the trip, suitcase carefully stowed in the compartment over her head. For a while, she played a few games on her phone, but over time, as the train began to empty and it grew quieter, and her battery began to edge toward the red, she gave into fatigue.
She awoke with a start a bit later, with the announcement of the next stop—the one she was waiting for. Haru grimaced and rubbed her eyes, groaning softly. Everything felt stiff and sore, but that was to be expected for sleeping so long. But at least the trip had gone by fast. She was glad it was a train she wouldn't have to switch off either. She really would have been in trouble then.
Finally, the train screeched to a stop and she stood and retrieved her suitcase. A few other people filtered off of the train with her and she shuffled over to a bench to text her cousin.
Her hometown was fairly small by city standards, but it was lively. Familiar. Even as she stood outside the station, watching the city hustle on, cars zipping by and people walking along, some staring at their phones as they passed.
"Nice to know some things don't change no matter where you go," she laughed to herself.
Right about then, Seiji's sleek black car pulled into parking lot and she could see Shizuku waving enthusiastically in the passenger's seat. Haru's grin widened, and she shifted her suitcase to one hand so she could wave back. Her cousin's fiance pulled up to the curb, and Haru was quick to slide into the back as smoothly as she could.
"Welcome baaaaack!" Shizuku cheered, stretching out her arms and almost smacking Seiji in the face. He wrinkled his nose and gently pushed her hand away before she actually could smack him on accident.
"Good to be back," Haru smiled as she clipped her seatbelt. "Glad to have something to do for the summer," she added.
"I told Shizuku we should have called you from the beginning, but she didn't want you to have to cancel any plans," Seiji rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Then you could have been here sooner and had more time together."
"I...well, no one ever said I was good at planning out things like this. Now, you give me a story idea, and I can plot that to the moon and back. A trip? Well." Shizuku shrugged, but gave her cousin a conspiratory wink when she thought her fiance wasn't looking.
Haru stifled a giggle and eased back into the seat. "Honestly, I'm glad you called either way. I was bored out of my mind trying to figure out what I was going to do for a week. I couldn't just sit there and binge something on Netflix for a week. Then I wouldn't want to do anything at all."
The conversation was light and easy, but it was still late at night. It was clear the two were tired and had been up waiting for her, and even after her unbelievably long nap on the train, she was tired too.
The pair lived a little outside the city in a small cottage. It was quaint and cozy, and the yard honestly looked like something out of one of her cousin's stories. In fact, it probably inspired some of them. The garden was well cared for, and ivy had made its home crawling across the left side of the cottage. A little stone path led up to the front door, and a forest stretched out behind the house. It really wasn't hard to tell why the couple had chosen this place. It was definitely good for the imagination, and Haru was already feeling the itch to sketch it—though paints probably suited the idyllic scenery better than the pastels and graphite pencils she'd brought.
The door was lit by a small lantern, and it made it look all the more like some fantasy cottage in the middle of the woods. It made Haru smile, and she couldn't wait to see it in the daylight. Then she'd really have to draw it.
But the view that took her breath away the most was looking down from the top of the gently sloping hill the cottage sat on. The city seemed to glow, full of twinkling lights. It reminded Haru of looking at the stars, even though she could see them clearly from the house. It was breathtaking, really, and so entrancing that Haru didn't even notice her cousin calling her.
When she finally did, she turned and laughed sheepishly, but her cousin just smiled knowingly and shook her head.
"The guest room is all ready for you, so make yourself at home. I'm sure you're still pretty tired," Shizuku told her as they filed into the house.
Almost immediately, they were greeted by the sound of scrabbling nails on hardwood floors, accompanied by loud barking. Haru's grin widened and she set her suitcase down, crouching down and almost getting knocked over by the black dog that came barreling around the corner of the kitchen.
"Moon! I missed you!" she laughed, petting the eager puppy, whose tail wagged hard enough to hurt if it happened to hit anyone. Moon wasn't a big dog by any stretch, barely even medium sized, but she was friendly to people she recognized, and a bit scared by anyone she didn't. But she was a good dog, still happily energetic, even though Shizuku and Seiji had had her for about five years, just before Haru had gone off to college in the first place. Shizuku had been the one to bring her home, and Seiji had suggested the name, after one of the cats he'd had when he was younger, back around the time the couple had first met.
Her cousin and fiance apologized for the fact they couldn't spend more time with her tonight, and said their good nights as they trudged to their room. Moon was more than happy to trot after Haru as she headed to the guest bedroom.
She set her suitcase on top of the trunk at the end of the bed and sank down on the corner, whereupon Moon immediately set her head on top of Haru's knee, looking up at her with her eternally sad puppy dog eyes, no doubt expecting ear scratches and headpats. Haru was more than happy to comply though, and found herself wishing, not for the first time, that her apartment allowed pets.
Pausing to shield a yawn, she realized how tired she was and wriggled her way under the covers after turning off the light. The bed dipped, and a weight settled against her side, and she almost laughed.
"Good night, Moon," she smiled as she settled into bed. The dog answered with a heavy exhale and snuggling against her some more.
At least now it felt like her summer had actually begun.
A/N: Boy it's been a while, hasn't it? Yet here I am uploading a new story when I have so many unfinished ones already. Whoops. Anyway this was inspired by a dream I only remember bits and pieces of, so I'm still not entirely sure where it's heading, although I have a bit of a vague idea to work with. That said, fear not, for Baron and crew will appear eventually! Along with some other cameos, as you can probably tell from this chapter.
And the bit about Shizuku and Seiji having a dog was mostly because I imagined Haru playing around with a dog like my own, and I had to. Anyway, hope you enjoy!
Just for the record, when writing this, my image of Haru and Baron were mostly reflective of the face claims picked out on haruxyoshioka and creatxn, so if you're confused about the cover image, that's why!
Next chapter, hopefully soon!
