Daichi rolled across the ground, spraying a wave of dust that fell over his classmates.
"Dude, come on!" Denki complained while coughing on dust.
"Sorry!" he said after getting back onto his feet. After saying that, he ran full speed at a pair of gloves floating in the air. She ran to the left, but Daichi performed a sharp turn once his paws hit the ground.
He slammed her to the ground with enough strength to knock the air out of her lungs.
"I told you I'd get back at you," he said
Her head flopped on the ground in defeat.
"Excellent job, Jinneko," Aizawa said while scribbling some writing down on a clipboard. "Okay, Kaminari and Bakugo are next."
Denki started sweating while Katsuki smirked.
After an hour of training under the hot sun, the students dragged their sweating and beaten bodies inside the air-conditioned building. Daichi brushed off the dust clinging to his pelt and clothing. He strapped his wristwatch back on and stared at it; it was 13 o'clock.
"I'll have to go home soon," Daichi muttered. He licked his fur a little.
Daichi walked over to Toru's desk.
"Hey, I heard an outlet mall's gonna have a big sale at their food court. Wanna get some cheap cakes?" he suggested.
"Sure," Toru said.
Daichi sighed internally.
"Ojiro?" Toru turned around towards his desk.
"I guess so," Mashirao shrugged.
As soon as class ended, the three of them left for the mall.
Days went by with the trio hanging out. Each time, it was somewhere new such as the movie theater or the park. Each day became longer, Daichi dragging them to other places. Mashirao would get slightly annoyed at this, but Toru was enjoying herself too much to get upset; it probably helped that Daichi always offered to pay for a lot of the purchases. Unfortunately, when he got home, he also returned to shouting matches. He holed himself in his room while he waited for his parents to stop. But at night, the fights stopped keeping him up. Those nights were spent texting with Toru funny and cute gifs. As he talked with her, he could feel the tension leave his muscles. He went to bed much more relaxed than when he woke up. Instead of focusing on his parents, his mind was occupied by new ideas for activities and places he could go to with his new friends.
This time, they were hanging out at Mashirao's house. Daichi carried a pile of papers while Toru carried a heavy box with Mashirao, all of them under the sweltering sun. Daichi set down the stack of paperwork in a box in the back of a truck. As soon as he was finished, he sat down in the shade of a roof above the door. He looked back at the two struggling to get to the truck. He grabbed the side of the box, making it a little lighter.
"Of all the places we could have gone, you chose your home?" Toru said, her voice strained.
"You were the one who let me decide where we go this time. Besides, you agreed to help my parents and I move a few things to a storage facility."
"Alright, fine. But why can't your parents hire some workers to do this? And why does all the stuff they need to move so heavy?"
A man with a long, skinny tail walked behind them, carrying another box. "It's not a lot of stuff, so it would be a waste of money to hire movers. But, sorry, these 3-D printers weigh a ton," the man said. "I promise to reward you when it's over." After that, he walked back inside.
Mashirao, Toru, and Daichi placed the box in the back of the truck with a loud thump. They looked back at the rest of the boxes they would have to haul and sighed in unison.
A few hours later, The trio was sitting in the living room, exhausted and coated in a thick layer of sweat.
"Everything hurts," Toru whined from her spot on the couch.
A woman set down a plate of perfectly cut egg sandwiches and bottles of energy drinks.
Daichi sat on a plush chair with an energy drink in one paw and a sandwich in the other paw. He gulped down the offered drink greedily.
"Thanks for helping us out. And thank you, sweetheart, for carrying all of those heavy boxes," the woman said while walking into the kitchen, her blonde hair swaying in motion with the rest of her body.
"Your folks seem nice," Daichi said.
"Yeah. I wish my mom didn't do all of that in front of others," Mashirao said, slightly embarrassed.
"I think it's sweet," Toru said.
His mother walked over to Mashirao and whispered into his ear. With Daichi's ears, he could easily hear what she was saying to him.
"She's a keeper, son."
Mashirao quickly hid his flushed face behind his tail.
Daichi snickered a little.
Mashirao's blush became a deeper red after hearing that.
As he continued to restrain his laughter, Mashirao's father went over to the group and handed them a 1,000 yen bill.
This day just keeps getting better, Daichi thought. He placed the dollar in his pocket.
His father took a seat on the chair across from Daichi's.
"So, what do you all have planned for Golden Week?" he asked.
"My family is going on our annual camping trip, Daichi announced.
"I've got nothing planned," Ojiro said.
"I don't know yet, but it's gonna be awesome!" Toru declared excitedly.
Mashirao looked at Daichi. "Your family goes camping?" he inquired.
"Yeah. We go fishing, hiking, swimming, watching movies, sleep in tents, and make tons of s'mores."
"I love s'mores! Dang it, now I want one right now!"
"Sorry," he said while chuckling.
Mashirao's mother looked at the clock on the wall. "It's getting a little late. You two should start heading home soon."
"Okay, Mrs. Ojiro," Toru said in her usual cheerful tone.
Daichi took a slow sip of his drink.
Daichi sat at the table with his spoon scraping against his plate. It was another night of uncomfortable silence at the dinner table. While Daichi took small bites of his curry, he glanced at his parents. His father and mother avoided eye contact with each other while putting on a face of civility.
He cleared his throat a little. Soon, their eyes were on him. He made a rumbling sound in his throat, a sentence waiting to be released. The longer they stared at him, the harder it became to utter a word. Focusing on his claws popping in and out lowered his anxiety enough to blurt his sentence out, "So, Golden Week is going to be here soon. I'm excited about the camping trip."
"That reminds me, have you got everything ready for the camping trip?" Katsuo asked.
"Yes, I do."
"Well, I can't wait," Haruko said, overemphasizing. "An entire day of family time out in the woods. No one else to bother us."
It was then that the realization of his situation sunk in.
I'm going to be alone. In the woods. With my parents.
He imagined himself sitting by the fire with a burning marshmallow on a stick with his parents arguing loudly in both of his ears.
He shook his head violently to forget the scene.
"Are you okay?" Haruko asked.
"Yes, I just thought of something weird and wanted to get it out of my head."
Haruko looked skeptical but did not pry any further.
"So, how are your friends?" Katsuo asked.
"They're great. Today, we went to Ojiro's house and helped his parents move some boxes. They gave us sodas and sandwiches."
"Good job," Katsuo said.
Daichi purred softly.
"We'll need to thank them, then," he continued.
"Hagakure keeps making me laugh, and Ojiro is pretty reliable at keeping bad situations from getting worse," Daichi added.
"Oh, really?" Haruko said in an unamused tone. Then her face contorted into this overly sweet grin that made Daichi's fur prickle. "If you'd like, you could invite them to go camping with us," she proposed.
"Wait, what?" Daichi and Katsuo asked simultaneously.
"Yeah. Just think, your friends sitting by the fire, swimming in the lake, and looking up at the stars together."
Daichi's eyes lit up.
"Awesome! I'll ask them right now!" He took out his phone.
Haruko placed her hand over the phone. "Why don't you finish your dinner first?"
Daichi quickly woofed down his food, and once he finished, he tossed the dirty plate into the sink.
He started running up the stairs, but he slowed down when he heard his parents.
"What the Hell were you thinking?" Katsuo yelled.
"What? It's not like they're going to say yes," Haruko said nonchalantly.
"And if they do, I'll have to buy more food and rent extra tents for two more people."
"I'll pitch in the money."
"No, you won't."
Daichi ran into his room before he heard the fallout of that argument.
He opened up his laptop, opened his school's video-phone app, and called Mashirao and Toru. It took them a few minutes to answer the call.
"Hey, guys, how's it going?" Daichi said.
"Sore," Toru complained, "I feel like I carried an elephant from one side of the neighborhood to the other." She rubbed her shoulder for emphasis.
Mashirao rubbed his neck while avoiding eye contact with Toru.
"Listen, remember when I said my family goes camping on Golden Week?"
"Yeah," Toru nodded.
"Yes, but why are you telling us again?" Mashirao asked.
"I was wondering if you want to go with us."
There was a moment of silence.
"You want us to go camping with you?" Mashirao questioned.
"Yeah, it'll be fun. We can go hiking and watch movies while eating s'mores."
"I'm not an outdoorsy person, Daichi," Toru said.
Daichi frowned.
"But I am still craving those s'mores," Toru added with her long-sleeve near her face.
"I only have a sleeping bag. Does the site offer tent rentals?" Mashirao asked, adding to his multiple questions.
"Oh yeah, for like 2,000 yen," Daichi said, literally waving off his concern.
"That is a decent pricing," Mashirao said, "but I don't know. I was thinking of trying out aikido that week."
"You could do that in the woods!"
"I don't think I can find an instructor in the woods."
Daichi tapped his desk and looked all over his room. Suddenly, a memory from the deep recesses of his mind cropped up.
"Hey, have you ever heard about the field of wishes?" he said.
"No. What's that?" Mashirao asked.
"It's supposedly a secret part of the forest that, when found, grants you any wish."
"And you believe this?" he questioned.
"Of course not, but there has to be some truth to that story. Maybe there's some treasure there."
"That sounds even more ridiculous."
Time for Plan B.
Daichi gave them his patented kitten eyes.
Mashirao tried to avert his gaze, but he could not pull his eyes away from Daichi's which were shining from unshed tears.
He sighed. "I'll talk about it with my parents," Mashirao said.
"Same here."
Then someone yelled in the background.
"Oh, that's my parents. Dinner must be ready. See ya!" Toru turned off her monitor.
"I should head to bed. See you tomorrow, Jinneko." Mashirao turned off his monitor.
Daichi closed his laptop with a slight click. As soon as he was sure no one was around, he leaped out of his seat and did a little dance. When he was done, he plopped onto his bed, hugging his stuffed animals.
"This is gonna be the best camping trip ever!" he announced.