Chapter #3: No Need For Entertainment!
Nobody really noticed how long it took to arrive at the camping site, and nobody cared. When they finally did get there, everyone who was awake got out of the van and stretched. Tenchi had fallen asleep sometime during the trip, and Ayeka took it upon herself to wake him up. Ryoko was far too captivated in Breath of Fire 2 to notice that she had just missed an opportunity to touch Tenchi legitimately. Currently she had a vise grip on the controller and her palms were so sweaty that they had probably eaten off some of the paint on the back. She was looking intensely at the tiny screen with her teeth clenched as she tried to beat the final boss ten levels below the recommended limit.
Ayeka exited the vehicle right behind Tenchi, who was rubbing at his eyes and still trying to wake up. He walked around to the door closest to Ryoko and gave it a knock to snap her out of her trance. This simple action had a horrible reaction. For Ryoko, not being in contact with the world for about three hours and then suddenly being brought back into it was like getting tossed into a swimming pool that had a temperature of about twenty degrees below zero. She reacted accordingly by jerking violently and dropping her Gameboy to the floor. It landed on its back with a loud thump. The pretty colors the screen had been displaying distorted briefly before turning into a blue screen of death.
Ryoko gasped and grabbed the device, switching it on and off and waiting for the load screen to pop up. It did, but all her game data had been erased. She swallowed the knot in her throat and suppressed the scream of anguish she wanted to let lose. Her head slumped forward and landed softly on the seat in front of her. Ryoko tossed the Gameboy over her shoulder carelessly. It landed on one of the backpacks and slid off the surface, crashing into the steel floor beneath the packs. Thirty two hours of gaming had just been lost due to a wake up call and there was absolutely nothing she could do to retrieve the data.
"I wanna go home." Ryoko groaned.
Tenchi opened the door next to her.
"Did that erase your data?" Tenchi asked.
Ryoko nodded.
"I don't know what to say other than I know how aggravating that can be." Tenchi said.
"Oh, well." Ryoko lamented. "Maybe I can get Sasami to play up to the point where I was at."
Tenchi stood aside as Ryoko hopped out of the car and began surveying the scene. The area they were in was quite pretty. There was a large clearing with an old brick building that probably had the bathrooms and showers inside of it. Two moveable picnic tables were also in the general area. Other than that there were trees, trees, more trees, and a dirt path leading somewhere surrounded by a bunch of larger trees. No doubt about it, this area was heavily forested. More so than back home. The paths were beaten and composed of upturned soil. They were nearly unmistakable, so getting lost while following them would be quite a challenge.
Ryoko headed for the building in which the toilets and showers were located. Ayeka tagged along at a distance as did Sasami. Nobody could blame them. The door opened with a heavy squeak. Ryoko stood in a small room full of nothing but cold concrete. There were two doors on either side of her. When she opened the door on her left, she walked into a pitch black room. She switched on a nearby light and lit up the restroom. Everything was in stalls. Best of all, it didn't stink to much and it looked as though it had been kept in pretty decent shape.
Sasami wandered in and tried the sinks. A loud rumbling noise emitted from the pipes and there was a moment's delay before clear water came from the faucet. The water in all the toilets was dirty, but that was probably because they hadn't been used in a great while. Ayeka began flushing them all as Ryoko examined the other room. She had to search for a light again. When the area was illuminated, she noticed that there weren't any windows in this building. That was probably to discourage the campers from being perverts. There were a total of three showers and a large stone counter Ryoko assumed was used to hold clothing until after the person was done bathing. It currently played host to a variety of dead insects. Tucked away in a corner at the far side of the room opposite the showers was a coin operated washer and dryer. Much like everything else in the building, it looked old but useable.
Ryoko inspected the showers further. Each one had an entrance with a curtain. Ryoko stepped inside and saw the actual shower head and temperature knobs a few paces ahead of her. The head wasn't easily adjustable and didn't have any spray settings. The shower floor was stone and had a large drain. There was also a light covered in a protective plastic barrier on the ceiling of the shower. The switch for it must have been elsewhere. She stepped out of the shower and startled Ayeka and Sasami.
"Are the showers bearable?" Ayeka asked.
"See for yourself." Ryoko responded. "I think they're alright."
"It's kind of cold in here." Sasami said.
"That unfortunately can't be helped."
"Is that a washer and dryer?" Sasami asked brightly, pointing to them while at the same time completely forgetting the slight chill that hung in the air.
"It looks like we won't need to worry about wearing dirty clothes." Ayeka thought aloud.
"There's also a store and a lodge a couple miles north." Tenchi said as he entered the room.
"A lodge?" Ryoko asked, shocked. "How come we aren't staying at the lodge?"
"Good question." Tenchi said, sighing. "But at least this way we're closer to nature. I think it'll be nicer."
"That's what a balcony is for, Tenchi." Ryoko said.
"Oh, come on, Ryoko." Sasami urged. "Remember, Washu is providing the tents so I'm sure they'll be very comfortable."
"Yeah, I guess you're right about that." Ryoko agreed.
"Of course she is!" Washu announced brightly.
She had to nudge Tenchi aside to enter the room.
"They're super durable and extra comfortable and coincidentally, I'm about to set them up so let's all go see, alright?"
"So you can gloat?" Ryoko said.
"Please! I deserve to." Washu asserted arrogantly.
"Is anybody else out there?" Sasami called, noticing how everyone was pouring in.
"Nope, just me!" Nobuyuki called from the bathroom.
A toilet flushed. Ryoko looked at Tenchi, Tenchi looked at Ayeka, Ayeka looked at Sasami, and Washu had a hand covering her eyes while she grimaced. Everyone exited the building. Washu ran back to the van to retrieve her super tents while the others began sitting down at the picnic tables. Washu pulled out her distinctive purple backpack and unzipped the only sealable portion. Unlike most packs, Washu's only had one place to stuff her belongings into. That's all it really needed, anyway. She knelt down on her knees and rolled up her sleeves as everyone watched her out of curiosity. Washu took a deep breath and reached inside the bag with one arm very carefully. She used her other arm to steady the one doing the searching. Washu fished around for several minutes until she pulled out one of the tents. After a moment she took out another.
"She's being awfully careful with that thing." Sasami thought aloud.
"You know why that is, don't you?" Ryoko asked, grinning. Sasami shook her head. "It's because Washu could very well fall inside that paradox she created."
"So if Mihoshi found it and wasn't careful. . ." Sasami began.
"She would more than likely be floating around in a vortex of infinite space." Ryoko finished.
"That's cool!" Sasami declared.
"A little disturbing, if you ask me." Ayeka muttered.
"Agreed." Tenchi said.
Washu took the two square pillows and laid them out perfectly adjacent to each other. Once that was finished, she pulled both of their ripcords and scurried back a safe distance. Instead of inflating slowly they exploded into a full shape, sending stray twigs and leaves flying everywhere. One of them momentarily became airborne. Washu was the only one who didn't jump at that. The peculiar tents were light blue and in a perfect dome shape. The fabric was thick enough to prevent anyone from seeing what was going on inside. They seemed to be bolted into place the moment they finished imploding and didn't even budge when the wind blew against them. Each one had a large zipper door a few inches above the ground.
While Washu pulled some sleeping bags out of her backpack, Ryoko approached one of the tens, unzipped it, and crawled inside. She was courteous enough to take her shoes off first. The atmosphere inside the tent was different from the feeling outside of it. Obviously Washu had implemented some automated climate control device somewhere inside the tent. Whereas it was slightly humid outside, inside it felt like a breezy day in the middle of spring. It even smelled like one. The tent had plenty of space, as well. Additionally, it didn't look like any bugs would be able to work there way through the shell unless they got in through the door when it was already open.
That satisfied one of Ryoko's concerns. Now she wouldn't have to worry about ants crawling down her pants or waking up covered in mosquito bites. Ryoko noticed that the tent was sturdy enough to withstand assaults from bears or drunken campers. It was probably very hard to cut. Washu didn't miss a trick. Finally, the floor was soft like a bed. She couldn't feel the ground at all. All of this was quite pleasing. Washu tossed in some sleeping bags which seemed to be made out of the same material as the tent. So far so good. Now all Ryoko needed to do was keep a ho-hum mentality and not suddenly fall into a must-harm-Ayeka mood.
Ryoko crawled out of the tent. Washu stood proudly in front of her with her arms folded across her chest. A twisted smirk was on her face as she tried to restrain her glee.
"Go ahead, Washu." Ryoko said blandly. "Say it."
"I am such a genius!" Washu shouted.
"Alright, everyone. Come on out, now." Katsuhito instructed.
Anyone inside of a tent immediately exited it both out of fear and respect. Katsuhito kneeled down and picked up a stick.
"I will only say this once." Katsuhito began.
He drew a crude picture in the dirt of the two tents beside each other. He scratched the word "women" in the dirt next to the tent on the right. Katsuhito scribbled "men" near the one on the left.
"The men will sleep in one tent while the women will sleep in the other tent. It would be a wonderful thing if this rule wasn't violated. Right?"
He briefly glanced over at Ryoko, who folded her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes. Tenchi sighed in relief. Ryoko took this momentary defeat in stride, considering why exactly it had occurred. She had done nothing to earn Katsuhito's trust, whereas Ayeka and the others were in good with him. Even Washu had some leverage when dealing with him, although she lost a great deal of it when he learned about Locke. Still, it was better than what Ryoko had. She made a mental note of this and decided to dwell on it a little later.
Of course, winning trust would entail being nice to Ayeka, and that thought would have quickly driven her into depression if she didn't immediately remove it from her mind.
"There will also be no foul play of any kind. Being naive about it will not be an excuse. Everybody here is old enough to know the difference between right and wrong except for maybe Nobuyuki." Katsuhito joked.
Nobody laughed.
"What?" Katsuhito asked. "That wasn't funny? I thought it was."
"Humor is a hard thing to convey." Ayeka said.
"Especially when you're not funny." Ryoko muttered. She caught herself and choked. "I mean, isn't there a lake around here?" she asked excitedly.
"Alright!" Washu interjected suddenly. "I see where this is going now and I think it's about time for me to leave before all the fun starts. Just exactly what time is it?"
Nobuyuki checked his watch.
"Quarter after four."
"Well what do you know; it is time for me to leave!" Washu said sarcastically. She then looked at Katsuhito. "I will be about a mile south of here, where I should be safe from any of the commotion that may occur. Don't worry about sending someone out to check up on me, I'll provide for myself. And if you hear any explosions, I'm fine. It's happened before; I know how to deal with it."
"Just to be sure you're safe I'd like you to report back every night if you can find the time to do so." Katsuhito requested. "I want to be sure that you haven't been attacked by a bear."
"Or a drunken camper." Ryoko added suddenly.
"A what? Don't be ridiculous." Washu snapped.
"Hey, I saw stuff like that on the late show. A camping trip like this isn't exactly a walk through the daisies. I know what dangers Ryoko's talking about." Nobuyuki stated, trying to support Ryoko, who merely gave him a glare that would make anyone take a step back.
"Anyway, I see your point, Katsuhito. I'll come back once a night." Washu assured him.
With that having been said, she didn't bother wasting any more time. She zipped up her special backpack and began heading south down an unmarked path. While walking away, she waved in a parting gesture.
"Bye, Little Washu!" Sasami shouted.
"Watch out for that nasty poison ivy when whipping! If it doesn't shine, you won't whine!" Nobuyuki warned.
Sweat drops appeared on all those present that sadly heard what Tenchi's father had cautioned.
"And be extra careful! You never know what could be lurking around in the woods. Watch out for things like Ryoko!" Ayeka said. She narrowed her gaze at the space pirate. "Or a drunken camper, but I guess there's little difference between the two."
"Say what?" Ryoko asked dangerously.
Washu picked up her pace from a nice little walk to a nervous dash. In her mind she knew that it had just started. What that it was could not be explained in words. The bitterness and hatred Ryoko and Ayeka harbored for each other was eternal. They were like two chemicals that would never mix well and no matter what was done to alter the formula, they would always explode when combined together. That's how Washu chose to think of it. Ryoko looked at Ayeka with her fists clenched together tightly. Ayeka gave the pirate a superior expression along with a smile. Tenchi looked at the two women and began breathing heavily. He was about to say something, but Sasami grabbed his shirt and held him still. She also shook her head and waved her other hand in a frantic gesture silently urging him not to interfere.
It then occurred to him that this might be how the rest of the trip would go. After that thought sunk in, so did the fact that Washu was camping separately. Nobody was going to bother her. He remembered that Washu had always kind of liked him. Maybe as a worthy guinea pig and nothing more, but that was okay. Perhaps she would let him camp with her. It was worth a shot. Tenchi desperately jogged after Washu, who was almost out of view.
"Wait!" Tenchi shouted. "Let me come with you!"
"No way!" Washu yelled back. "You're Ryoko bait, and I don't want any of that!"
"That's not funny!" Tenchi yelled.
He stopped pursuing her, feeling very bitter about what she had said to him.
"This is no way to start a week of relaxation." Katsuhito said calmly. "We're all friends here, right?" his tone once again was calm, but it held danger underneath.
Ayeka nodded with a sigh. Ryoko eased up a bit and dropped the thought of fighting a winning battle with the princess. They both faced each other, trying to stand up as straight as possible to appear domineering.
"Yeah, friends." Ryoko said lightly.
The space pirate extended a hand for Ayeka to shake.
"All I want to do is relax." Ayeka stated strongly.
"For the first time, I couldn't agree more." Ryoko said.
She grabbed Ryoko's hand, clutched it hard, and shook it fiercely three times. Neither of them let go so they both shook again. After a third time they finally separated so fiercely that their palms popped.
"Alright, everyone." Katsuhito announced to bring everyone's attention back to him. "Let's get our gear out of the van. You're free to explore the area for the time being, but don't wander off to far. We'll be going hiking shortly after we get situated."
Ayeka and Sasami went back into the girls' tent and began arranging the sleeping bags while Ryoko fetched her backpack as well as Sasami's and the princesses as a gesture of good faith. The guys grabbed their packs after her. It didn't take very long. Only the bare essentials had been packed which led Ryoko to believe that they'd probably be eating fish for the majority of the trip. Sasami had brought some canned food, but there was no telling how long it would hold out. At least the situation wasn't entirely desperate. They could always fill up on supplies at the lodge. Hopefully Katsuhito would allow them to do that. There was no reason why he shouldn't, but sometimes there was no telling with that guy.
Before entering the ladies tent, Ryoko noticed Tenchi pulling out a large cooler. Good. At least she wouldn't be thirsty for a while. If there was a lake nearby, the water would probably be clean enough to drink from if the beverages got tight. Ryoko smirked. She was making plans on how to survive when there was no need to anymore. At least she was getting some practice in if she ever had to do it again. When Ryoko stepped inside the tent, she noted how the beds were set up. Sasami would be sleeping in-between Ayeka and Ryoko.
She probably was hoping to be a moderator. Ayeka noticed Ryoko just in time to catch the bag she threw at her. Ryoko slung Sasami's pack off her shoulders and held it by the strap until the little princess took it from her. Ayeka grinded her teeth together and silently encouraged herself to be extra patient with Ryoko. That was going to wear her out quickly. Ryoko sat down on her sleeping bag and opened up her backpack, momentarily searching through it until she realized how bored she really was.
This sucked. She needed to go exploring. Maybe there was a cave somewhere. Tenchi abruptly stepped inside the tent, causing all the women to jerk in surprise and leap to attention.
"Hi, Tenchi!" they all said at once.
All the girls blinked twice, looked at one another, and then went back to what they were doing. Tenchi approached Ryoko with something in his hands. She didn't notice him right away as she was to busy looking for something in her backpack that she swore was in there. Finally, Ryoko located Ryo Ohki's wet suit and nodded happily. Tenchi touched Ryoko on the shoulder lightly, getting her attention. What he held in his hands was an odd looking gismo that had two antennas sticking out of it. It was dark blue and in the shape of a square. In addition to all the details, there was a blank screen in the middle with a green button below it. Tenchi handed it to Ryoko.
"Washu made this." Tenchi said.
"Is it dangerous?" Ryoko asked instinctively.
"Of course not. . .I hope." Tenchi said. "Washu said it wasn't dangerous."
"Are you sure you can take her word for it?" Ryoko asked, raising one eyebrow.
"She said it's a television. You press the green button to turn it on and then give it voice commands. It will tune in to any channel, so you girls should be able to watch your soaps. Plus, Washu says it follows you around so you're never to far away from it."
Ryoko nodded in approval, taking the device from Tenchi. For a television, it was surprisingly light.
"It's about time she made something that everyone can use. What exactly does she call it?"
"Dr. Spencer." Tenchi responded. "I didn't ask."
Ryoko blinked and looked at the television, wondering how Washu had come up with that name. Unable to find an answer, she simply shrugged and decided to accept it for what it was.
"Well, time to see if Spencer works." Ryoko said, almost to herself.
Ayeka and Sasami sat behind the space pirate, curious to see this device in action. Ryoko hesitated at first, but quickly got over it. She pressed the button and the thing instantly came on. The two little antennas at the top of Skeeter's frame glowed dark red. It then lifted itself out of Ryoko's hands and floated in front of her face. The screen lit up with a happy expression against a white background.
"Please specify a function, mate!" Spencer requested cheerfully. It's voice program made it sound like an Australian.
"How about channel ten?"
"From the same service you use back home, I presume?" Spencer asked.
"Yes."
"Right-O, I'll get right on it."
Spencer's screen displayed a loading bar.
"Searching. Acquiring. Displaying." Spencer said as the bar filled up.
Instantly Ryoko's favorite soap opera, My Bleeding Heart, appeared on the narrow screen. The picture was severally enhanced and made the program look ten times better on Spencer than it did on the big screen at home. Sasami laughed and Ayeka shook her head. Before anyone could say anything, Katsuhito poked his head into the tent.
"So are any of you still interested in that hike I mentioned?"
Tenchi, Ayeka, and Sasami nodded. Ryoko, on the other hand, was lost in her own world. She could hardly wait to see how today's story developed. Far as she knew, Aya had been dumb enough to have sex with several men in a hot tub. She thought the father of the child might be Daisaku, but then again Aya really wanted it to be Eikichi because Aya suspected that Daisaku was also sleeping with her ex friend, Hyatt. This made her a prime candidate for some type of sexually transmitted disease, but she was afraid to run any type of check for one. She mostly told herself the pain she felt was just in her mind. With all the excitement going on in Aya's world, Rei was having far more personally devastating problems. He had been placed in the hospital after a terrible car wreck that was caused by him not paying attention to the road because he was to busy chewing out Kasumi.
After the car wreck, he had sustained a serious injury to his liver and had also landed face first after being thrown from the vehicle. They manage to piece his face back together as best they could using his parents money, but his liver was a more pressing problem. It had to be removed within twenty four hours or he would bleed to death internally. There was one problem with that, though. Tenko, the only physician certified to perform such an operation, had locked himself in the break room so he could privately wallow in self pity while contemplating if he should end his miserable existence with the nearest weapon, which just so happened to be a plastic spoon. All those situations were good on their own, but the most intriguing part of the soap opera had not come up just quite yet.
Ryoko was eagerly anticipating the latest chapter in Yumi's life. She was in high school but was planning on dropping out so she could live with her dream boyfriend in Osaka. The guy had four kids and had been married twice, but he swore that he had now found his soul mate in Yumi. She did nothing but brag about him. Now she was on a plane headed toward Osaka, where she would meet Watanabe and start the rest of her life with him. It was the most awful gut wrenching scenario on the show, but what made it viewable was the lesson a person could learn from watching it.
"Ryoko, did you hear what I just asked?" Katsuhito said.
"I don't think so. There's only one thing that can be done to gain her attention." Ayeka said.
"And what might that be?" Katsuhito asked.
Ayeka smirked.
"Tenchi, how about you and I go on the hike together? Alone."
"Whoa!" Ryoko shouted.
Ryoko was up and in-between Tenchi and the princess before Sasami had a chance to blink at the rush of air that assaulted her eyes. Katsuhito's clothes rippled as the gust blew past him.
"You act like he's all yours. I don't see your name on him." Ryoko said.
"Is that so? Funny, I don't recall seeing the chicken scribbles that make up your name anywhere on him." Ayeka pointed out evenly.
"Check his right sock." Ryoko instructed.
Ayeka and Tenchi both blinked. He rolled up his pants, took off his right shoe, and examined the sock he had on. Sure enough, Ryoko's name was stamped on it in red ink. Ayeka fumed and Tenchi gazed at the letters in disbelief.
"Now that's spooky." Sasami said.
"How did that get there?" Tenchi asked, but his question was ignored.
"The ink isn't even fresh." Sasami said. "She must have done that a long time ago. Then again, I guess you don't really look at your socks all that often when you put them on, huh? I probably wouldn't have noticed it either."
"So, Ryoko. . .will you be joining us on the hike?"
Ryoko looked at Spencer, who was still hovering above the ground and displaying the soap opera. She then looked at Ayeka and Tenchi, who would have a chance to bond if she wasn't around.
"If you'd like, I can offer a suggestion." Spencer asked. "I recommend the exercise."
"Are you saying I'm fat?" Ryoko asked.
"No, not at all! It's always right and good to have a nice fit body though, eh?" Spencer said nervously.
"You'd better turn yourself off." Ryoko warned.
"Okay." Spencer said timidly.
Spencer abruptly shut off and collapsed to the floor with a loud thump. Ryoko turned to Katsuhito and nodded.
"Let's get going." she said.
Day One: The Hike.
It was not long afterward that everyone but Washu and Spencer were following Katsuhito on a trail. The Shinto priest held a walking stick in his hand and occasionally used it to point out certain things when he had an interesting explanation for something. For a man that spent most of his day at a shrine, Katsuhito seemed to know quite a bit about nature. Ryoko and Ayeka walked close to Tenchi on either side of him, behaving as they did. Sasami was walking beside her sister while carrying Ryo Ohki on her shoulder so the little animal would not wear itself out. Nobuyuki was just a pace behind the little formation, carrying a backpack that was stuffed with supplies suited for emergencies.
To her surprise, Ryoko found herself actually enjoying the trip. Though not quite as good as watching a marathon of My Bleeding Heart, hiking proved to be amusing. They soon came across a lake that was supposedly inhabited by a monster of some sort. A little while later they discovered a cave. Harmless forest animals watched as they passed by. At one point Ayeka noticed a raccoon staring at her from a patch of bushes. Tenchi reached inside his pocket and pulled out a sack of food he had packed just in case such a scenario occurred and handed it to Ayeka. By this time, Ryoko had noticed that the two were having a moment. Just before she was about to break it up, Katsuhito grabbed her shoulder, causing Ryoko to jump in surprise. She smiled nervously, but Katsuhito's placid expression did not change.
Tenchi, Ayeka, and Sasami didn't notice this. Ayeka knelt down and coaxed the creature over with the food. The raccoon hesitantly approached the princess's hand. Once directly in front of it, the animal began eating. After that incident, they continued forward while listening to Katsuhito lecture about nature's beauty. Once they got to a nice spot that had plenty of large rocks, Katsuhito announced that it was time to take a break. Everybody sat down and began resting up. Ryoko wasn't really feeling the hike anymore. Ayeka and Tenchi seemed to be in a mood, and that singled her out. Sasami sat down on the same rock Ryoko had decided to claim. The space pirate looked at her mildly and then returned her gaze to Ayeka and Tenchi, who were engaged in a conversation she chose to tune out.
Ryoko felt a tugging on her shirt and looked down at Sasami, who had large pleading eyes.
"Don't spoil the trip." Sasami begged. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're going to get Tenchi's undivided attention sooner or later like you always do, right?"
"Maybe." Ryoko answered.
"Remember what you said earlier. You have to take your loses in stride."
"I haven't forgotten about that."
"You just didn't choose to remember it?"
"Exactly."
Ryo Ohki mewed in a worried manner, concerned for her master. Sasami reached into her pocket and pulled out a carrot, feeding it to the animal. That's when Ryoko realized she hadn't had anything to eat for the entire day. Immediately her stomach rebelled harshly. The initial growling was so loud that Sasami figured it was just Ryoko vocalizing her angst over how Ayeka was the one getting attention today. When Sasami heard the growl again, she looked over at Ryoko and realized that the noise had been made from her stomach.
"Are you hungry?" Sasami asked, to which Ryoko nodded. "Nobuyuki brought some food with him."
"What kind?"
"Mostly trail mix, I think. The good stuff is back at the camp."
"Gag." Ryoko said.
"Well, there should be some berries growing around here. If you're that desperate, you could try eating them."
Ryoko scanned the area for berries and found a patch of them not to far away. While they would not completely fill her up, they would show that she knew a fair share about survival skills and camping as well. It might even manage to impress Katsuhito. That's not why she wanted to eat them, though. Ryoko was ravenously hungry, but not to the point where she was starving and would have settled for the trail mix. Then again, maybe it wasn't so much the survival skills Ryoko had as it was the luck she possessed. She chose to use luck in this situation, as she'd never been stranded in a remote area when all she had to eat was whatever grew on a tree. Ryoko had her fair share of natural fruit in restaurants, though.
She knelt down in front of the patch and picked a handful of green berries, which she quickly swallowed. They were horribly sour and not the least bit tasty. Still, they'd tide her over until she got back to the camp. Hopefully. It'd be better if other types of fruit were growing in this forest. Katsuhito gasped sharply, which caused Ryoko to brace in case she needed to run. He was looking right at her, his eyes wide with shock. That wasn't a good sign. She looked at her berries, and then at him.
"Ryoko." Katsuhito said, getting her attention. "Listen to me very carefully and never forget what I am about to say." he held up a finger, closed his eyes, and spoke. "Red is sweet and good to eat, but when they're green they come up mean."
"You mean these are supposed to be tasty?" Ryoko said.
"Only when they're red." Katsuhito repeated.
She dug further into the bushes and found some red berries. Ryoko blinked in surprise. Curious, she picked one and ate it. The berry was sweet and juicy, which was quite a contrast to the green breed. Ryoko swallowed hard and began to wait for the effects of her mistake to happen. For a few minutes, there was no difference. Perhaps she had not eaten enough for something bad to happen. That seemed to be the case until she felt her stomach roll over and curl up into a fetal position.
"Poison berries!" Ryoko groaned in pain, collapsing to the ground. "Oh, my god!"
The pain was incredible. She grabbed her thin stomach and dug her nails into it, trying to drive out the cramps that were torturing her. As she lay on the ground sweating profusely, Ryoko cursed her mistake. Even Ryo Ohki would have been able to know something was wrong just by the taste of the green fruit. Anyone would stop after such a vile taste. But not her. She had to wait until she'd made an ass of herself to learn. Ryoko didn't know what hurt more, the embarrassment or the cramps. Her stomach acid rebelled within her as it mixed with the acid of the berry, causing her to nearly vomit.
Some fluid came up, but she swallowed it right back down, refusing to lose anything in front of the group. But as the warm juice came up the discomfort became even worse. It burned all the way up and left her throat on fire. Her stomach revolted harder, seemingly punishing her for not expelling the mess it contained. Cold sweat emerged all over her body, soaking her shirt right into her skin.
"Oh, god. Oh, god. Oh, god." Ryoko whispered quickly. "Hold it, hold it, hold it."
"At least you're not allergic." Nobuyuki said helpfully. "That would be a real mess, wouldn't it Sasami?"
Sasami gave him a look. Nobuyuki laughed nervously.
"Dad, do you have anything that might help Ryoko out?" Tenchi asked.
"Hmm, let me see."
"Please. Please have something." Ryoko muttered desperately.
At this point Ryoko was frozen in place. She felt that if she moved, her defense would break. Perhaps she should have run off immediately and not have waited until the discomfort became so great. At the moment she felt delicate enough to explode if she breathed wrong. She looked over at Nobuyuki, who pulled three bags of trail mix out of his bag and an apple. An apple. Ryoko would have settled for that. This memory would come back to haunt her the next time she even considered taking Sasami's word for something, no matter how simple it was. Nobuyuki pulled out a few graphic novels and a First-Aid kit. None of that would quench her raging sickness.
She inhaled deeply, knowing she was no longer capable of restraining herself.
"I'll. . .I'll. . .be right back." she grunted in pain. "Wait up for me."
Katsuhito nodded.
"Poison ivy is mighty shiny. . ." Nobuyuki began advising.
"Whatever. . .I think I'm just going to go curl up somewhere next to a tree and die." Ryoko groaned painfully.
She then sped off into the woods. A sweat drop appeared on all those present as they watched her go. Nobody laughed, as doing so would be horribly disrespectful even if it was kind of funny. This became harder to do when they heard her shouting garbled profanity from somewhere nearby. Obviously she hadn't managed to make it out of earshot. Twenty minutes passed before Ryoko stumbled back. Once her presence was made clear, Ryoko put both her hands on her knees and slumped forward. Her face was pale and worn with exhaustion. Sweat caked her body. Her spiky hair was slightly out of place. Katsuhito reached into Nobuyuki's bag, avoided the Hentai manga, and located some water jugs. He took one out and held it in front of Ryoko.
"Get some fluid back into yourself." Katsuhito instructed, tossing her the bottle.
She caught it and drank eagerly, quickly swallowing three huge gulps that amounted to half the bottle. The ice cold water inside the plastic container soothed her sore throat and sent a cool wave through her humid body. Once she finished hydrating herself, Ryoko handed the empty bottle back to Katsuhito and regained her composure.
"I hate camping." she said in a dull tone.
"Mother nature can be tricky, can't she? Do you need to go back to the tent?" he asked her.
"I'm fine. Don't let me slow you down." Ryoko said.
Everyone looked noticeably pleased. At least she had earned back some of the respect she probably had lost due to the mistake she made. Katsuhito offered her his hand, which she took. He helped her up and pulled her in close enough to whisper in her ear.
"Nice save." he said.
"Oh, I try." Ryoko responded.
Katsuhito probably knew why she had eaten the green berries without asking anyone if they were safe or not. Hopefully nobody else was as wise as him. Ryoko chose not to think about it. After all, she made up for the mistake by handling her reaction properly. They continued hiking shortly afterward. Ryoko lagged behind and tried to ignore how dirty she felt. She also didn't want anyone else to pick up the earthly scent she'd acquired rolling around in the dirt in pain while ridding herself of the toxic terror she'd ingested. Ayeka and Tenchi were still chatting with each other, but she was far more concerned with taking a shower at that point.
It was annoying how he always seemed to try and balance each of them out. He'd hang out with her for a while and then run off with Ayeka, just to keep things even. Of course, he never tried conversing with either of them at once. She didn't need to think of the reasons for that. Nobuyuki struck up an intelligent conversation with Sasami as Katsuhito led the group onward. Ryoko was alone. That was alright, though. Ryoko could keep company with herself so long as she wasn't agonizing over romance. Eventually Katsuhito stopped and looked up at the sunset.
"Alright, time to head on back." he stated. "I believe we've had enough fun and exercise for one day."
"It was fun, wasn't it?" Sasami piped in.
"Whew, my legs feel so erect." Nobuyuki said, wiping sweat off his brow. "And my butt is tighter, too!"
"We didn't need to hear that, dad." Tenchi said.
"Meow!" Ryo-Ohki added, using the only word in its vocabulary as it couldn't really say anything else. Normally.
"And one of us learned a very important lesson." Ayeka said, alluding to Ryoko.
"Come over here and say that to me." Ryoko dared.
Ayeka huffed and strode curtly over to Ryoko. Once she got within five feet of the space pirate she recoiled, grabbing the bridge of her nose and coughing violently. Ryoko smiled.
"That rancid stench about you is overpoweringly appalling. You smell like a wet boar!" Ayeka said.
"Yes, well. . .it's better than gunpowder or a load of lotion and perfume." Ryoko mused. "Do you bathe in that stuff, princess?"
"I don't have any of that on now." Ayeka responded.
"I meant usually, not all the time."
"Oh, well in that case I. . ." Ayeka caught herself and stopped being nice. "I think we'll have to burn those clothes of yours."
"That might be the only way to fix the problem, I suppose."
"To do that we need to start heading back to camp." Katsuhito interrupted. "Right, ladies?"
The stare-down they had been having came to an abrupt end. Ayeka and Ryoko nodded curtly. Ryoko returned to her position behind the group and followed everyone back, all the while hoping that the showers had steaming hot water. The trip back didn't seem quite as long as the hike forward. Ryoko began noticing certain landmarks the group had passed on their way up. A funny looking tree, a bunch of green berries lying on the ground, and that damnable raccoon were just some of the highlights they had all encountered earlier. Today had definitely not been her day and she felt as though all the surprises hadn't quite stopped coming yet. If the quality of her experience up to this point had been any indication, things were about to get even trickier.
And they did the moment she arrived back at the campsite. For one, Washu was there. She was probably stealing soda out of the cooler because she had forgotten to bring her own supply. Ryoko would put a quick end to that. The scientist was trying to start up a fire while keeping company with Mihoshi and Kiyone. Ryoko wasn't entirely pleased to see Mihoshi, but Kiyone was alright in moderation. She sighed and headed straight for the showers. Tenchi watched Ryoko go as the character perspective trade-off commenced without flying sparks or dismemberment. Sometimes authors have to exercise great care when performing this feat if they don't want to insert one of those horribly annoying "Later. . ." sequences that take up space.
Tenchi noticed an economy car parked next to the family van and knew inherently that it belonged to the two police officers. It wasn't too terribly fancy, but the paint job was nice and there weren't any dings or dents on it. The car would probably stay that way so long as Kiyone was the one driving it.
"Hey, when did you two get here?" Sasami asked them cheerfully.
"A little while ago. Washu was already here when we arrived." Kiyone answered.
"Stealing my damn soda!" Ryoko shouted as she entered the necessities building, adding on to what Kiyone had said.
"So she did notice." Washu said, pulling a can of PeepSee out of her pants pocket and taking a drink from it now that the cat was out of the bag.
"By the way, you guys don't have to worry about sharing anything with us. We brought our own gear."
"It's good that you managed to get some time off at work." Ayeka asked.
"Oh, that. Well, uhh. . .yeah!" Kiyone said nervously, laughing at the end of her sentence.
"But the manager said we were fired." Mihoshi corrected. "Usually that means we never go back to that place again, even if they do have the lowest prices in town."
"Patience. Patience." Kiyone told herself quietly.
"At least you're still Galaxy Police Officers." Sasami said, trying to be helpful. "I thought you had a higher rank. Doesn't that mean you get paid more?"
"Yes, but it's good to be making a lot of money and in order to do that, we have to hold two jobs."
"You have security issues, Kiyone. That's why you can't get a date." Mihoshi chided while winking.
Washu choked on the soda she was drinking and restrained herself from laughing. Ayeka and Sasami were noticeably shocked. Kiyone turned red with embarrassment and anger. She momentarily considered beating Mihoshi, but she remembered how well that had worked in the past so she decided not to exert herself. Washu was still trying to start the fire, getting more and more frustrated as her efforts proved to be in vain. Suddenly the two little Washu-Bots popped up on her shoulder in order to give their verbal support.
"You can do it, Washu!" Bot A announced.
"Nothing to it, Washu!" Bot B added.
"Remember the tents!" Bot-A continued.
"Yes, the glorious tents!" Bot-B agreed.
"Right!" Washu shouted. "I can't let something as simple as starting a fire beat me!"
"Kind of hard to do something without one of your inventions, isn't it?" Mihoshi asked, smiling.
Being patient with Mihoshi was an art that nobody would ever be able to perfect. Ryoko's scream suddenly cut through the night and chilled the blood of everyone who heard it. It wasn't a scream of pain, so nobody bolted to see what was wrong. It was more like a scream of surprise. Still, when that woman screeched you could hear it for miles.
"Kagoto!" Mihoshi shouted, reaching for her gun.
"He's dead!" Kiyone snapped.
"But Ryoko. . ." Mihoshi protested.
"Dead!" Kiyone repeated slowly.
Ryoko came bolting out of the necessities building covered only in a towel and chasing three raccoons, two squirrels, and one very large lizard. She was dripping wet and still had a lot of shampoo in her hair. Enraged, she took aim at the critters and shot some energy beams around them, but not at them. Frying an innocent animal in front of everyone would have gotten them mad at her.
"Who left the door open so all these things could get in?" Ryoko demanded while blasting one of the raccoons over on its side.
Nobody answered and there was no telling who did it, but Ryoko knew it had to have been Mihoshi. Whether or not she was right didn't matter, but someone had been lazy and now others were suffering because of it. She turned her head sharply toward Washu, noticing the scientist was still trying to start a fire. In one fluid motion she took aim and shot a beam right at the pile of sticks Washu had gathered. It ignited fiercely with enough force to blow Washu back and cause a plume of flame to shoot up into the sky. After a moment the blaze calmed down considerably. Now they had a fire.
"Ryo-Ohki!" Ryoko called. "Get over here! I need you to see if there's anymore animals left in this shack!"
The creature jumped off of Sasami's shoulder and quickly ran over to its master. Ryoko slammed the door behind her when the animal had finally rushed inside. Washu sighed and slowly sat up. She wiped off as much dirt as she could while Mihoshi looked hypnotically into the dancing flames. Kiyone held the back of her shirt just in case her partner got to close to the fire. Katsuhito approached Washu while at the same time devoting some of his attention to Mihoshi.
"Okay!" Washu said, turning to Katsuhito. "I didn't have any problems setting up camp and the area I'm in is fairly safe. Or at least it will be. And since I have a pizza in the oven, I better get going."
Washu then made a break for it, chuckling manically. Peace and relaxation were awaiting her. Instead of camping a mile south of the family as she had told Katsuhito, she was actually half a mile to the east. The joke was on them if they actually tried looking for her. Maybe it wasn't smart to lie to Katsuhito, but she really wanted to be alone for once. Back at home no matter how well protected her lab was, they always seemed to find a way to get in. Out here with no idea where to begin looking, they couldn't do that. As half a mile was quite a long way to walk, she'd hidden a small hovercraft in the bushes about two hundred yards away. Even so, that was still quite a long way to run while bubbling over with enthusiasm, but Washu figured she needed the exercise.
"Hey!" Sasami called.
Washu stopped in her tracks and groaned in frustration. She slowly turned around and faced Sasami.
"Could you please stay a little while longer?" Sasami asked.
"Yeah, we brought some marshmallows with us so we could roast them. Well, maybe Kiyone won't because she's on a diet." Mihoshi said.
Kiyone bit her bottom lip so hard she drew blood. Washu sighed and nodded reluctantly. She could sacrifice more of her patience for the sake of Sasami's enjoyment. Maybe that would bring her some good karma. Then again, Washu already had plenty of karma. It just had a bad habit of not coming back to her. Kiyone retrieved the marshmallows from the trunk of her car and tossed them over to Tenchi. She then took out a handful of pikes which she personally distributed. Eventually everyone was gathered around the fire engaged in this activity. That included Ryoko, who joined a little later but didn't bother eating because her stomach was still slightly upset.
For once, there was a general atmosphere of unity among the peculiar group. Such instances occurred rarely, if at all. They didn't last long, though. Washu guarded her emotions carefully, being sure not to fall into a false sense of security. It was only a matter of time before something bad happened.
"Well, this is all very fun, but I feel as though there's something missing." Nobuyuki said.
Washu sighed. Trouble would soon emerge.
"Like what?" Ryoko asked evenly.
"Oh, you know." Nobuyuki said, expecting Ryoko to pick up where he left off.
"I do?"
"Yeah. A scary story. Right?" Nobuyuki asked. "I thought that's what people do at campfires. They tell spooky stories."
"Hmm." Ryoko mused.
"A scary story? That would be Ryoko in the morning." Mihoshi declared, laughing at her own joke.
If Mihoshi clearly understood the extent or her stupidity, Ryoko would have attacked her right then and there. But as her foolishness could be considered a threat to her immediate health, Ryoko concluded that Mihoshi was already hurting herself just by being so idiotic. There was no point in harming her because of that fact. Physically, at least. That gave Ryoko an idea.
"Well, Mihoshi. . ." Ryoko began. "I suppose if given the benefit of the doubt, you are right in that respect. However, don't bask in your happiness for to long or the Woods Demon might get you."
Tenchi rolled his eyes. Ayeka sighed. Washu buried her head in her hands. Kiyone looked away from the family. Nobuyuki ate his twentieth fried marshmallow. Katsuhito was almost asleep. Ryo-Ohki was asleep. Sasami smiled and eagerly waited for Ryoko to continue. Mihoshi almost pissed herself.
"Woods Demon?" Mihoshi asked.
"Yes. The very same creature that has been plaguing this area for more than five hundred years."
The tale of the Woods Demon was an elaborate and inaccurate account of a Ronin who encountered a mysterious fox while searching for his dead master around the area they were all camping in. Unlike most fox demons of Japanese folklore, this one was highly psychotic and transformed into the worst fear of whoever it encountered. In the case of the Ronin, the fox took the form of the ninja who had killed his master. That same ninja had almost managed to kill the Ronin as well, but she escaped from the battle severally wounded. Why he was looking for his master in a forest and other gaping plot holes were not covered by Ryoko. Neither was her cultural insensitivity. The story concluded with the fox killing the Ronin and eating his body, which allowed it to consume the dead warriors' soul.
Throughout history the fox appeared again and again, killing its victims using the same technique. Nobody was really impressed with her story, but she didn't care because Mihoshi bought every single second of it. Ryoko wasn't sure if Mihoshi understood the concept of payback, but she still felt satisfied having instilled fear into someone that had insulted her. Everyone knew it, too. After Ryoko had finished her story, Kiyone immediately began comforting Mihoshi.
"Now you know that story isn't true, right?" Kiyone asked sternly.
"Oh, of course it's not, Kiyone!" Mihoshi said. "Ronin's aren't a part of Japanese history anyway."
X
Ryoko woke up feeling quite hungry. It seemed as though the effects of those damnable poison berries had completely worn off and now she was starving. Her stomach growled loud enough to make Ayeka stir, which made Ryoko smirk slightly. As she became more alert, Ryoko tried figuring out what she wanted to eat. She wasn't in the mood for marshmallows. No, Ryoko wanted meat. Hopefully the convenience store was still open so she could get some jerky. If not, she would take some anyway. In fact, Ryoko hoped they weren't open because then she wouldn't have to pay. Stealing the food would be a piece of cake. Having thought that, Ryoko was now also hungry for some sweets.
She silently slid out of her sleeping bag. Ryoko neglected to put on shoes and was about to unzip the tent and leave when she heard someone slinking around outside. The sound stopped the second she became alert.
"Kagato?" Ryoko whispered to herself. "No, don't be stupid, Ryoko. Come on."
Ryoko didn't feel like taking chances. Her little food run would have to wait until she found out who was wandering around when everyone else was asleep. If it was Washu stealing soda again, Ryoko was going to instill a beat down and innocently claim she thought the scientist might have been a bear. A little bear. Yes, she'd add in that last bit just to irk Washu further. Then again, if the lurking terror was actually a larger animal, Ryoko would probably leave it alone unless it was breaking something. It might be another camper who was trying to rob them of something. Whatever it was, Ryoko wasn't getting any closer to finding out just by standing in the tent amongst two sleeping princesses. She counted to thirty and unzipped the tent, focusing intently on remaining silent.
The night air was relatively cool and a full moon was out, rendering many possible shadows useless. Ryoko quickly stalked over to where she heard the noises and felt a presence ahead of her. She left the campsite and wandered into the forest. Whatever or whoever it was had to be heading out of the area by now, but her curiosity was not satisfied. It was instead rewarded with a rather loud snap and the sensation of being hoisted into the air. For a moment Ryoko didn't know what was going on. The shock made it hard for her to concentrate. When she finally snapped out of it, she was dangling from a rope around her foot about twenty feet in the air with a very bad muscle pull.
It caused quite a bit of discomfort, but Ryoko ignored it and instead tried figuring out how she was going to get down from this thing and kill whoever set it up. The rope was abruptly loosened and Ryoko found herself plummeting toward the ground. At the last minute the rope became tight and tore her injured muscle even more. Whoever had caught her had just checked to see what had stumbled into their trap. This person was soon going to scream in agony.
"Woods Demon!" a familiar voice declared.
That wasn't quite what Ryoko had in mind. Mihoshi was behind all this. Before Ryoko could react by losing her temper, the Galaxy Police officer placed something cold against Ryoko's belly. Instantly more electricity than the shock collar could have handled passed through her body. Why exactly her life was so shocking as of late Ryoko could only chalk up to bad luck.
"Mihoshi!" Ryoko yelled. "It's me! Ryoko!"
"And thus I face my worst fear, the space pirate Ryoko! That's a cheap trick, Woods Demon, but you won't fool me! I am a Galaxy Police officer! I've dealt with worse scum than you!"
"You're dead!" Ryoko snarled at Mihoshi. "Dead!"
Suddenly her electrocution stopped and Ryoko heard the sound of multiple people approaching them. It must have been the others.
"Mihoshi!" Tenchi chided. "What are you doing?"
"I caught the Woods Demon." Mihoshi declared.
"You caught Ryoko." Sasami announced, but she checked just to make sure.
"Close enough." Ayeka interjected.
"But don't you remember what Ryoko was saying? The Woods Demon turns into what you fear the most so it can eat you? Maybe what we all fear more than anything else is Ryoko!"
"Good point." Ayeka said.
"I've always been terrified of her!" Mihoshi admitted.
"There is. . ." Kiyone began patiently. That didn't last long. "There is no such thing as a Woods Demon, Mihoshi! You didn't catch a demon, you caught a human!"
"This is all rather hilarious." Ayeka said to herself. "Did anybody else see this coming?"
"Sort of." Katsuhito admitted.
Tenchi wormed his way to the front of the crowd and knelt down in front of Ryoko.
"Are you hurt?" he asked.
"I'm fine." Ryoko said. "My right leg has a bad pull, but other than that I didn't break anything."
"I'll get you out of this. But only under one condition."
She looked at him attentively.
"Don't kill Mihoshi." Tenchi requested.
"Whatever." Ryoko said indifferently, rolling her eyes.
Tenchi carefully undid the loop around her right ankle. The moment she was released and on her feet she began limping towards Mihoshi with her energy blade drawn.
"You said. . ." Sasami began.
"I'm not going to kill her. I'm going to bring her within an inch of death!" Ryoko said.
She took a swing at Mihoshi, but the police officer ducked out of the blade's reach just in time and retreated, screaming in terror. Kiyone, who was standing right next to Mihoshi, quickly ducked under Ryoko's deadly arc and covered her head with her hands as the space pirates overemphasized attack came to an unbalanced end. Ryoko took a deep breath and regained her balance before charging after Mihoshi. As Mihoshi ran like a ditz even though she had years of academy training, Ryoko had no problem catching up to her even with a bad leg. As Ryoko was closing the gap just enough to allow her to attack again, Mihoshi noticed and took a sharp turn to the left. It happened so quickly that it surprised Ryoko, who didn't turn and instead kept running forward.
After a few more steps she stepped on some soft ground that immediately fell out from under her. Ryoko spiraled into an awaiting pit trap. She landed poorly on her right knee and held back a scream of agony as she collapsed face first into a puddle of horribly smelly mud. Now she had two wounds instead of one and the second felt even more painful. Other than mud the pit was littered with poison ivy, stink weed, chiggers, dry dirt, potentially lethal mushrooms that reeked, and a piece of wood with a kanji seal painted on it. Ryoko's anger momentarily subsided as she painfully rolled over and examined her wounded limb. Her knee was already swelling up quite fiercely. It looked like a bad sprain.
Ryoko looked up and saw Mihoshi peering over the edge of the hole fearfully. She gritted her teeth so hard they cracked and her jaw popped.
"You want a Woods Demon?" Ryoko asked viciously. "Get down here and I'll give you a Woods Demon!"
More people began to appear above her. Ryoko sighed and looked down at the mud, breathing as little as possibly because she smelled so horrible.
"I found a rope!" Sasami announced.
"Then throw it down here!" Ryoko ordered.
"Are you going to stop chasing after Mihoshi?" Katsuhito asked.
"I can't very well do that with a bad sprain and a muscle pull, can I?" Ryoko asked.
They had to think about that for a moment.
"You could fly." Tenchi said.
"I suppose I could." Ryoko admitted.
"Then don't fly after Mihoshi." Nobuyuki said.
"Don't crawl after her either." Katsuhito added.
"Or launch energy bolts." Sasami said.
"No. . .no, please do." Kiyone mumbled before leaving the scene.
"Fine, I'll leave her alone! Just get me out of this smelly hole! It reeks like a backed up portable bathroom down here!"
"Wait, if she could fly out of there then why are we throwing her a rope?" Ayeka asked.
Again, the group paused to think the problem over while Ryoko felt something spiky crawl into her pants. She quickly pulled out a very large beetle which she crushed in her hand after it bit her.
"We're using the rope because her leg is hurt." Tenchi explained to Ayeka.
"Yes, I know. But if we use the rope and we have to drag her up the side of the pit, then her leg will be constantly agitated by the friction."
"Ohhh. . ." everyone said.
"That's thinking smart, Ayeka." Nobuyuki said.
"Good job, sis." Sasami congratulated.
"Ryoko, we think you should just fly up here." Tenchi called down to her.
She was no longer in the pit.
"I'm here!" Ryoko said.
Everyone looked up. She was hovering a couple feet above them. Ryoko settled down near Mihoshi, who cringed in fear and didn't bother moving because she wasn't certain Ryoko was being honest with them about not chasing after her.
"You're my crutch." Ryoko said in a tone that left no room for an argument.
Ryoko threw one arm around Mihoshi and intentionally put all her weight on the simpleton. Mihoshi bore it quite well, gradually realizing the enormity of her mistake.
"Back to the camp, you ignorant whelp." Ryoko ordered.
"Yes, ma'am." Mihoshi said, her eyes filling with tears.
"Nobuyuki, go start up the van. We need to go get Washu." Katsuhito instructed.
"Sure thing."
"Mihoshi. . ." Katsuhito said. "Did you set any other traps?" he asked slowly.
Mihoshi looked at her fingers and silently counted two traps. She shook her head and counted again. This time she came up with three, but then after another count she came up with two. On the sixth attempt she came up with six but then rounded it off to three. Mihoshi gasped and nodded at Katsuhito. As if on cue they all heard Kiyone screaming from somewhere nearby.
End of Chapter 3.