THE NEXT MORNING!!
Ayame woke up early the next day so that he could do his morning stretches. He just never felt right unless he had sufficiently stretched in the morning. Today was no different as he touched his toes wearing nothing but his tighty-whitys.
"You're awake!" came a voice from behind him. "Now we can go swimming!!"
Hatori sprung up from his bed and looked at Momiji who was standing there as if he belonged.
"Momiji, don't come up here again." Said Hatori as he shielded Momiji's eyes from Ayame and brought him downstairs. "You may see some things that you really shouldn't see."
"But I want to go swimming!" Momiji whined. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, he saw that everyone was awake, with the exception of Haru, and climbing all over the couch and Akito who was just lying there as if nothing was happening.
"What are you doing?" Hatori said, coming very close to raising his voice as he grabbed Yuki and put him on the floor.
"We were playing King of the Castle!" Yuki explained.
"I AM THE KING NOW!!!" Kyo screamed at the top of his lungs when he saw that Yuki was now on the floor. But then he was pushed off the couch by Kagura who laughed cruelly at his expense.
"I am the QUEEN." She declared.
"The game is NOT called 'Queen of the Castle'!!" Kyo yelled, enraged.
Hatori then noted the fact that Haru was still asleep. "Everyone be quiet or you're going to wake up Haru." He said.
"Haru's not going to wake up any time soon." Said Momiji who was just getting down the stairs. "We already tried."
"…Where's Tohru?"
"I'm making breakfast!" announced Tohru as she waved her arm around. Hatori went over to the kitchen and looked at what Tohru was doing. She had all of the burners on full blast and was cooking empty pans.
Hatori turned all the burners off and picked Tohru up but in picking her up, he turned into a seahorse!!
"OH NO!!" Tohru cried as she picked Hatori up and ran around in a panic. She then ran into the bathroom and threw him into the toilet.
"Don't throw him in the toilet!!" yelled Momiji, poking his head in. "We have a lake right outside!!"
"OH RIGHT!!!" Tohru said.
"I'll bring him down since I already have my bathing suit on." Momiji said, taking off his pajamas to reveal that he was already wearing a girl's bathing suit with a frilly little dress. Then he grabbed onto Hatori and ran out the door.
Tohru paused for a second. "WE GET TO GO SWIMMING NOW!!!" she squealed suddenly as she ran over to her bag to locate her bathing suit which had Barbie on it.
"I HATE swimming!!" said Kyo, crossing his arms.
But everyone got on their bathing suits ANYWAY and ran outside to see Momiji splashing around in the water like a knave and Hatori sitting there, being a human but ALSO being naked, in the water.
"Could someone get my clothes?" he requested.
"I'll get them since I was the one who made you turn into a sea horse in the first place!" Tohru declared as she ran back inside the house. She returned a few minutes later and tossed the clothes into the water frantically. Of course, Hatori wasn't exactly expecting her to just toss the clothes in his general direction so the clothes just ended up getting ALL WET!!! NOOOO!!
So he just gave a heavy sigh and clothed himself quickly and tracked back to the house.
"You're not supposed to go swimming with your clothes on." Said Ayame when Hatori had opened the door. "Look, now you've got water all over the floor! Honestly, we leave you alone for a MINUTE and this is what you do?!"
Hatori, of course, did not take ANY heed to what Ayame was saying, more so to what he was WEARING.
"You are NOT wearing that in front of so many virgin eyes." Hatori said, pointing to Ayame's bright red Speedo.
"But it's my only bathing suit!" Ayame said.
"Well, that's why I brought an extra one because I knew you would do that." Said Hatori as he whipped out a NORMAL man's bathing suit from behind his back and handed it to Ayame.
"Hatori, you left six kids all alone outside in the water!" said Shigure, looking out the window.
"I did?" Hatori said, thinking back and then realizing that he did. "Shigure, you go out and watch them until I change."
"But I don't want to…" Shigure complained.
"I'm going out now anyway!" declared Ayame, revealing that he had ALREADY changed his bathing suit in record-breaking time.
"Well…that's not very reassuring." Said Hatori.
"What could happen?!" Ayame laughed as he frolicked outside. He looked around to see that Yuki was splashing Kyo who was throwing rocks at him in attempt to get him to stop. Kagura was also continuously dumping large quantities of sand on Kyo's head while he was distracted by Yuki. Tohru was building a sandcastle with Momiji.
"Shut up!!" Ayame yelled as he pulled out his lounge chair and lied down with his little mirror tanning device.
Everyone stopped their activity for about five seconds and then continued. It was then that Hatori, Shigure and Haru came outside. "I thought you were going to supervise them." Said Hatori to Ayame.
"I AM!" said Ayame, putting his sunglasses on.
"Doesn't look that way." Said Shigure.
"I don't want to go swimming…" complained Haru. "I just woke up…"
Hatori decided that HE would be watching the children in the water, Ayame would be doing absolutely nothing and Shigure would…ALSO be doing absolutely nothing!!
"That's not true." Said Shigure. "I will watch Haru." He then handed a baseball glove to Haru. "We will play a rousing game of catch."
"I don't want to." Said Haru.
"Then go swimming."
"I don't want to do that either."
"It's one or the other!"
"I'll play catch…"
"Good!" said Shigure, putting a glove on his own hand. Then he gave a very friendly and easy toss to Haru who, having six-year-old motor skills after just waking up, missed the ball entirely. "Uh…nice try. Now throw the ball."
Haru just kind of looked at the ball.
"Throw it!" Shigure commanded. "Throw it! Throw it!!"
"I AM!!" Haru said as he threw the ball as far as he good which was about a foot in front of him.
"That's okay!" said Shigure, running all the way over the ball, picking it up, handing it to Haru and then running back to where he was before. "Now throw it again! Throw the ball!! THROW IT!!! THROW IT!! THROW IT!!!"
"I don't wanna play catch!" Haru whined.
"You will play it and you will LIKE it!!" Shigure said.
"I'm gonna go swimming instead." Said Haru as he dropped the glove and ran off to the water.
"Fine." Said Shigure, sounding offended.
"Shigure, since you're not playing catch anymore, why don't you come in and help me watch everyone else?" Hatori suggested.
"I'm not wearing my bathing suit." Said Shigure.
"Then go get changed." Hatori instructed. Shigure shrugged and went back into the cabin.
"Throw me, Hatori!!" said Momiji as he ran into the water.
"Um…sure." Said Hatori as he picked Momiji up and tossed him.
"ME NEXT!!!" yelled Kyo, pushing Yuki out of the way who was waiting patiently for his turn. So Hatori picked him up and tossed him as far as he would go.
"NOW it's my turn!" Yuki declared. And Hatori threw him.
"Me now!!" Tohru said excitedly. Hatori was just about to throw her too when he thought back to what happened earlier and then decided against it. So he redirected himself and threw Kagura.
"Hey!!" yelled Kagura. "I didn't want to be thrown!!"
"Now throw me!" said Tohru, not caring that he had thrown Kagura even though she hadn't asked. But Hatori redirected again and grabbed Haru who was standing about ankle deep in the water.
"DON'T THROW ME!!!!" Haru yelled about as loud as he possibly could.
"Oh…uh sorry." Said Hatori putting him back down.
"My turn!" said Tohru.
"Does anyone else want to be thrown?" Hatori asked.
"ME!!!" demanded Kyo who had come back.
"Fine." Said Hatori, throwing Kyo even further than before.
"What about me?" asked Tohru, starting to realize that she was being purposely avoided.
"Tohru, I'll turn into a seahorse if I pick you up." Hatori explained.
"But that's not fair!" Tohru sniffled. "Everyone else got to be thrown and you threw Kyo twice!"
"Haru didn't get thrown." Hatori said, pointing to Haru who had still not yet moved from the spot he was in. And then he watched Akito float by in a Dead Man's Float. He paused, turned Akito around so he was face up and then let him float away. "Akito didn't get thrown either."
"They didn't WANT to be!" whined Tohru. "But I DO!" Then she burst into tears and ran away sobbing just as Shigure came outside.
"I'm ready to be helpful!" he announced.
"Then go and get Tohru." Hatori said.
"There you go, giving me another order!" said Shigure, throwing his hands up in the air. "It's always, 'Shigure, go get Kyo off the roof!' or 'Shigure, play catch with Haru!' or 'Shigure, go get Tohru!' When does SHIGURE have time for SHIGURE?"
"But you just said that you wanted to be helpful." Hatori reminded him.
"Sometimes you just have to IGNORE what I say." Said Shigure.
Suddenly, Tohru came back. "I'm sorry I yelled at you!" said Tohru. "I just got a little angry! I'm really really happy that you invited me on your trip and I should be grateful! Please forgive me!"
Then she ran back in the water.
"This swimming idea isn't proving to be very successful." Said Hatori.
"Let's go on an all day hike!" said Ayame, standing up and suddenly wearing hiking gear with a huge backpack.
"Sounds like fun!!" Shigure agreed, also wearing hiking gear.
"Well, I'll stay at home with everyone who doesn't want to go on the all day hike just like me." Said Hatori. "Obviously, we're going to split Kyo and Yuki up and Kyo is going to stay with me."
LATER!!!
"I'm carrying more weight than you!!" Kyo said, sticking out his tongue at Yuki as the two of them trudged behind Ayame and Shigure.
"No way!" said Yuki. "I am DEFINITELY carrying more than you!!"
"I'll race you to that tree!!" Kyo declared.
"You're on!!" Yuki yelled as the two of them dropped their backpacks and ran off to the tree but before they got there, Shigure grabbed them each by their collars and lifted them off the ground.
"That's enough child's play!" he said. "We are going to continue this hike even if it kills us!"
"You're no fun!" said Kyo.
"Hm…maybe we can set camp up here." Said Ayame, looking around.
"We've only been hiking for a few minutes!" Yuki yelled at him. "I can still see the cabin from here!" They turned around to see Hatori, Momiji, Tohru and Kagura waving them off.
"So we have…" said Ayame slowly.
"Let's at least hike for a LITTLE while longer." Shigure said, putting them both down and continuing to hike. "Hey…where's Haru anyway?" And then they looked back down at the cabin to see him slowly advancing forward with a backpack that was bigger than he was.
"What's taking him so long?" Ayame demanded.
"You switched backpacks with him!!" Shigure yelled, pointing at the teeny little white backpack with black spots that Ayame was carrying.
"Mine was too heavy…" Ayame complained. Just then, Hatori was there all in their faces with Haru in one hand and the giant backpack in the other.
"Maybe you two should stay home." He said.
"No!!" yelled Shigure and Ayame.
"It was all Ayame's fault!" Shigure said, pointing at Ayame. "We've got it all under control!! Don't worry about us!"
Hatori skillfully switched Ayame and Haru's backpacks and then left.
They trudged for a few more minutes until the cabin was out of sight.
"I'm tired." Said Haru. "I wanna go back now."
"No, you have to prove to everyone that you're a man!" said Ayame.
"But I AM a man…" Haru whined.
"Prove it then!" Ayame said. "I've already proved it so YOU need this giant backpack to show everyone. Here you go."
"I don't want to!!" cried Haru.
"I'LL carry the giant backpack!" said Kyo, jumping in front of Yuki.
"No, I will!" Yuki said, pushing Kyo out of the way.
"Don't be silly, Yuki, you know you couldn't carry THAT much weight!" laughed Kyo in a very forced manner.
"YES I COULD!!!" Yuki yelled.
"You two can SHARE the weight." Said Ayame.
"Share…WITH HIM?!" they said at the same time.
"I'd rather have HIM carry the whole thing!" said Kyo.
"No, HIM!!" Yuki argued.
"Here, we'll just equally distribute it in your backpacks." Said Ayame as he opened his backpack and started filling up both of theirs. "Be careful, though, because this is our food supply."
MEANWHILE!!!
"Okay, next time I turn into a seahorse, don't throw me into the lake." Said Hatori, opening the door and walking inside the cabin where Momiji, Tohru and Kagura were all sitting around the table coloring.
"We're sorry!" they all chimed at the same time.
Hatori then changed his clothes into something dry and then sat down at the table with the three. They didn't really do anything except color and comment on how pretty another picture was and it was about that time that Hatori started wondering how he had gotten the three well behaved ones and the other two had gotten the three troublemakers…or at least the two troublemakers and Haru. Then he started fantasizing about what could possibly be happening while he was sitting there fantasizing about what could possibly be happening.
After sufficiently cannibalistically eating Haru, the hiking group continued their way across the edge of some really dangerous cliff.
"Keep up, you too!" Shigure yelled to Yuki and Kyo who were fighting to the death on the edge of the cliff. Somehow, they had ALL managed to turn into animals so that was also a factor. Ayame and Shigure watched as Yuki and Kyo fought and fought until they both rolled off the cliff. They then shrugged and continued walking down a path that had a sign that said, 'Dangerous Landslides This Way!'
Hatori decided that he didn't want that to happen no matter how unrealistic it might be so he packed up Tohru, Momiji and Kagura to go on a hiking trip that eventually would meet up with the other group.
"Where are we going?" asked Tohru as they walked out the door.
"We're going on a hike too." Said Hatori.
"But I didn't want to go on a hike!" whined Momiji.
"Well, we're going to find everyone else and see how they're doing." Explained Hatori ever so patiently.
"But they're miles ahead of us now!" said Kagura. "There's no way we can catch up!"
"I'm sure we'll catch up really easily." Said Hatori.
MEANWHILE!!
"So explain this to me as if I CAN'T read your mind." Said Shigure as he unpacked a tent from his backpack.
"Well I was racing Yuki and I figured I could beat him if I took off my backpack." Explained Kyo.
"And WHY was the food in Kyo's backpack?" asked Shigure as he turned to Ayame accusingly.
"Beats me!" Ayame said with a shrug.
"I still have MY backpack." Said Yuki smugly. "I didn't need to put it down to beat Kyo."
"YOU DIDN'T BEAT ME!!" Kyo yelled.
"Well, if I had put mine down too then I would have!" Yuki said. "And if you hadn't tripped me!"
"I DIDN'T DO IT ON PURPOSE!!" Kyo bellowed.
"Shut up!" Shigure yelled. Then he sighed. "We're just going to have to FORAGE for our food like real campers."
"I don't want to be a REAL camper." Whined Haru. "I just want to eat now."
"Well, what do you suggest we eat?" Shigure asked sarcastically.
"I don't know." Said Haru quietly.
"Then don't complain and help look for food." Said Shigure.
"No one was looking for food yet." Ayame pointed out.
"Thank you, Mr. Obvious." Said Shigure. Then he thought for a minute. "Kyo, Haru and I will go down to the lake and go fishing. Ayame, you and Yuki go build a fire or something like that."
"ME go with YUKI?!" Ayame gasped.
"Yes." Said Shigure. "Hatori put ME in charge!"
Then Shigure, Kyo and Haru bolted off before Ayame could argue about the fact that Hatori had done no such thing! Even if he HAD, who originally put HATORI in charge?!
"So where are the fishing poles?" asked Haru as he looked around.
"We don't have any." Said Shigure. "We're going to have to catch them with our hands."
"WHAT?!" Kyo demanded. "THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!"
"No it isn't." said Shigure as he tossed Kyo into the water. "Now go on, Kyo, catch us many fish!"
"Why me?!" Kyo demanded.
"Cause you're the one in the water!" Shigure pointed out. "No sense in us ALL getting wet!"
Kyo stood in the water for a minute and looked around.
"There are no fish anywhere!" Kyo yelled.
"That's because you're yelling!" Shigure said. "If you shut up for ONCE in your life, maybe something will come near you!"
Haru, meanwhile was trying to be resourceful so he took out his shoelace and tied it to a stick. Even though that never works, he still tried it because HE didn't know that it wouldn't work! HAW HAW HAW!!
"I'm fishing." Haru declared stoically but he was ignored.
"There's one!!!" Kyo yelled as he dove down into the water only to resurface with absolutely nothing in his hands.
MEANWHILE!!!!
"Make the fire, Yuki." Ayame instructed.
"We don't have any firewood." Yuki said, crossing his arms.
"Then GET some." Ayame said as if it were the most obvious things in the entire world. Even though it kind of IS but whatever…
"You have to do something to!!" Yuki demanded.
"Are you trying to tell me what to do?!" Ayame yelled. "My hair is longer than your body and you're trying to give me orders?! Now, I COMMAND you to go and get firewood!!"
Yuki pretended to cry for a minute but he could tell that it wasn't going to work with Ayame so he sadly walked off with his head hung low.
MEANWHILE!!!
"Carry me too!" Tohru whined to Hatori. Hatori was ALSO carrying his own bag, Momiji's bag, Tohru's bag, Kagura's bag as well as both Kagura and Momiji. It's not like Hatori couldn't HANDLE Tohru's weight because you KNOW he can but he just wasn't interested in turning into a seahorse and then being tossed in the lake at the moment.
"I can't help but think that we forgot something." Hatori said suddenly as he held up another bag that had Akito's name lovingly embroidered on it. "Momiji, did you wake up Akito like I asked you to?"
"I tried." Momiji answered. "But I don't think he wanted to come."
"I don't really miss him." Confessed Kagura.
"I lost my shoes, Hatori!!" complained Tohru, pointing at her bare feet.
Hatori stared at her for a minute. "Uh…why did you take your shoes off and where did they go?" he asked finally.
"Because I wanted you to carry me…!" said Tohru. SHE probably thought it was a good idea.
"I'LL walk with you, Tohru!" said Kagura, hoping of Hatori's shoulder and then gasped as if she had just realized something. "I KNOW!!! FOOT RIDE!!!" Then she wrapped her arms around Hatori's leg and sat down on his foot.
"YAY!!" cheered Tohru as she did the same to Hatori's OTHER leg. YOU know what happened next, don't you?! And considering Hatori was carrying a whole mess of gear at the time, as well as Momiji, he got CRUSHED!!!
MEANWHILE!!!
"We're back!" said Shigure, walking back over to where Ayame and Yuki were sitting casually as if they shouldn't be doing anything.
"Did you catch any fish?" Ayame asked, looking at their empty hands.
"Well…we TRIED." Said Haru, holding up his fishing rod.
"Haru, why aren't you wearing any shoes?" Shigure said, just noticing.
"I took them off at the river because I took my shoelaces out to make the fishing rod." Haru explained. "They wouldn't stay on without the shoelaces so I didn't need them."
MEANWHILE!!!
"WOW!!" cheered Tohru, picking up a tiny pair of shoelace-less shoes with little cartoon cows on the side. "Shoes for me!" She then attempted to jam her feet in the shoes but her feet were far too large.
"We can share my shoes." Said Momiji, taking off one of his shoes and giving it to Tohru.
"No…your shoes are too small too." Said Tohru as she put it down but then accidentally dropped it in the river. "OH NO!! I'm so sorry!!"
"That's okay!" said Momiji, taking his other shoe off too. "I didn't really like these shoes anyway." And then they watched Momiji's shoes float off down the river.
"Here are your clothes, Hatori!!" said Kagura, tossing some clothes into a bush.
"Thank you." Said Hatori who was in the bush. There was a short pause and then he came out of the bush fully clothed. "What about my shoes?" he asked, pointing to his feet.
"Did you lose your shoes too, Hatori?" Momiji said cheerfully.
"Oh dear…" said Kagura. "Now I'm the only one with shoes. Well, I don't want to be THE ONLY ONE!!" And with that, she took her shoes off and tossed them in the river as well. LORD!!!
"Don't do that…" Hatori sighed, watching the shoes float away.
MEANWHILE!!!
"Yeah, I went in the water and my shoes got stuck in the mud." Kyo explained with a shrug.
"So you just LEFT them there?!" Shigure yelled.
"WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO?!" Kyo demanded.
"Oh I don't know…GRAB THEM?!" Shigure suggested angrily.
"I DIDN'T THINK OF THAT!!!!!" yelled Kyo at the top of his lungs.
"Oh…now Haru AND Kyo have lost their shoes." Said Ayame as if he was really sad about it.
"Maybe we should just go back to the cabin." Said Haru.
"What?!" yelled Shigure. "And PROVE to Hatori that we can't do anything right?! NEVER!! We will return to the river and retrieve both of your shoes!!" He then put Kyo and Haru under each of his arms and was just about to stomp off when Yuki grabbed his shirt.
"Wait, are you leaving me with Ayame again?!" he whined.
"We're only going down to the river to get Haru and Kyo's shoes." Shigure explained.
"Well…I lost my shoes too!" Yuki said, taking his shoes off and tossing them as far as he could in the general direction of the river. He only threw them about a foot past Shigure who raised an eyebrow and then looked at Ayame.
"Fine…we'll ALL go." Said Shigure. Then they all marched off to the river only to stumble across Hatori, Momiji, Tohru and Kagura who were still standing there foolishly.
"What are you doing here?!" demanded Ayame. "You don't think we can do anything right?!"
Hatori looked them up and down as if he were actually trying to decide. "No. I really don't." he said finally. He was GOING to point out the fact that they had left Haru's shoes behind but then THEY were going to point out the fact that no one had any shoes and not to mention that he had left Akito behind…
"Where's Akito?" Shigure asked, looking around. "You left him at the house, did you?"
Hatori just stood there with a stoic expression for a minute. He didn't have to answer if he didn't WANT to. And he didn't WANT to. So he wasn't going to answer.
"I'll take that as a yes." Shigure said as he shook his head with utter disappointment.
"I WANNA GO HOME NOW!!!" screeched a random child with no shoes.
"We have to go home now anyway." Said Hatori to Ayame and Shigure.
"But we were just starting to have fun…" complained Ayame.
"THAT'S a lie!!" yelled Yuki who was still under one of Shigure's arms.
"Let's go." Said Hatori as put Haru and Momiji under each of his arms and started walking off. Shigure shrugged and skipped after him. Ayame turned around and put Kagura under one arm and Tohru under the other since he wanted to be just like everyone else but he forgot entirely that he wasn't really supposed to be picking up Tohru so he only succeeded in turning himself into a snake!! HAW HAW HAW!!!
"I am a snake!" said Ayame the Snake knavishly.
"Ayame, that was very foolish of you." Said Hatori monotonously. Yuki then ran over to Ayame, grabbed him, swung him around above his head and hurled him as far as he could which, unfortunately for him, wasn't really all that far. After they had relocated Ayame, they all made their way back to the cabin.