Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any other characters created by Rumiko Takahashi.
A/N: Ahoy! I am terribly sorry for taking so long to update, but there's good news. I have made a map of the camp so that you have at least a clue of what I'm talking about. Just go to my homepage and click on my email address or ask in a review and leave me your email address. Justask me and I'll send you one. Thanks for your time!
Reviews: I would like to thank all reviewers.
Peace out!
Camp of Unending Dreams
Itsumademo Yume no Bakuei
Chapter 4
Welcome to Itsumademo Yume no Bakuei!
Upon entering the mess hall, the companions were surprised to see the majority of the camp already seated and eating. This could have been because they were held up a couple of times, but still. Being the last ones to arrive really put a damper on things.
The food, however, easily cleared away those depressing feelings. Making their way to a fairly unoccupied table, the group decided amongst themselves what delicious foods they would care to enjoy.
For Inuyasha, this meant everything on the menu (not literally meaning they have menus, just the fact that he was starving) as well as anything else he could mooch from the cook. Did I forget to mention the apple juice and icing sugar (not that he put it on anything…he just liked the taste, but not together).
Miroku decided upon having a plateful of steaming, hot pancakes, smothered in delicious raspberry syrup. Also, he wanted some bacon and chocolate milk (he didn't much like eggs). Topping it off with P.B&J toast and hash browns on the side, Miroku had one full meal.
In the mood for a fairly large lunch (brunch, I guess you could call it), Kagome leaned toward the whole bacon and eggs idea with a piece of toast on the side and a couple pieces of bacon. She also fancied a glass of partly-skimmed white milk.
Sango, on the other hand, went full-out for pancakes and bacon. She didn't care too much for toast and hash browns (or eggs, for that matter). Topping it off was an ice-cold glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.
Going for the more sophisticated 'bacon and eggs' trend like Kagome, Ayame also decided upon having a few pieces of toast and some hash browns as well. She couldn't go the morning without first having her supply of apple juice. It was a gift...and a curse.
Kouga didn't much care what he ate as long as it was food. He would've wolfed down anything that was put in front of him. This also went for Wazuryou and Ikkarawashii though they made sure to get their desired drinks. For Wazu, a glass of white milk with a bit of icing sugar in it and for Ik-kun the same, but with chocolate milk.
Rin, though still quiet, vouched for a good helping of pancakes and eggs, with a piece of toast on the side. She also had chocolate milk.
Shippo, loving chocolate milk as much as Rin, decided on having that, but with a load of bacon and hash browns. He had a couple pieces of toast as well.
Lastly was Hojo, who insisted on having whatever it was that Kagome wanted.
Finally, after everyone chose their items from the large buffet type of counter that separated the hall from the kitchen, they were able to sit down and eat. The seating arrangements went like this: (Side one, Left-Right) Ik-kun, Kouga, Kagome, Shippo, Sango and Hojo. (Side two, Left-Right) Ayame, Inuyasha, Miroku, Rin and Wazu.
After everybody was seated, they wasted no time in devouring their food. Though they were the last ones to enter the mess hall, they seemed to be the first ones done. Well, first servings anyway. While all the guys (save for Hojo and Shippo) were busy re-stuffing their faces, Kagome tried to start up a conversation between Sango and Ayame, but it was quite difficult due to the seating arrangements. Kagome ended up talking a bit more with Shippo (who was sitting beside her) and Rin (seated across from Shippo). Though Rin didn't talk much, she was always smiling. Kagome let her own smile show as Shippo explained his reason for being there.
It was really nice, she thought. Being able to spend time with your friends, talking about nonsense. Though Rin was now the only one listening to Shippo, he kept on as if the whole world were listening. Glancing around the table, Kagome realized that coming to this camp wouldn't be so bad after all. She could tell that there were good times ahead and she couldn't wait to experience them…even if it meant getting over the bad times.
She glanced up from her empty plate and her eyes locked with Inuyasha's for a split second before he quickly averted his gaze down to his own plate. Kagome looked away as well, but her eyes almost immediately met azure ones. Kouga grinned before chugging down the rest of his apple juice. Kagome smiled back and began scanning the table once again.
Inuyasha, after he was caught staring, found his food suddenly very interesting and began playing with his eggs, a slight blush playing across his cheeks. Although his head was down, Inuyasha was still able to see the smile on Kagome's face out of the corner of his eye. There was only one problem. It was caused by Kouga.
As Kagome watched everybody with interest, she noticed a couple odd happenings. First of all, Inuyasha was staring gloomily at his eggs while poking them with his fork. Secondly, Ik-kun and Kouga were talking rather abruptly to Ayame, cutting each other off every half-sentence. Ayame didn't seem to notice, but Kagome sure did. She smiled inwardly, but then sighed wearily. She just didn't seem to have luck with the opposite sex. Not that she had been considering either Kouga or Ik-kun, but generally speaking.
She momentarily wondered what it would be like to have more than one guy (Hojo not included) fighting over her. It seemed a far-off aspect, but she reveled in the idea no less. Caught up in her daydreams, Kagome hadn't noticed that Shippo was currently asking her a question or the fact that she was staring almost straight ahead…straight at Inuyasha.
"Hey, Kagome?" Shippo called again. He noticed that she was a bit zoned out and looked down her line of sight. Noticing Inuyasha at the end, Shippo sat there confused for a second. What was so interesting about Inuyasha? He took a closer look across Miroku to make sure the hanyou didn't have anything on his face or something like that. Not noticing anything (and still not understanding), Shippo turned to Kagome again.
"Kagome, why are you staring at Inuyasha?" This question caused both Inuyasha and Kagome to jump slightly and everyone else to look at what was going on.
Kagome saw as Inuyasha's head lifted. He looked directly at Kagome, who was now looking a bit flabbergasted at everyone looking at her. She was a severe shade of cherry red by the time she was able to get something out of her mouth.
"I…uh…umm…well, I wasn't staring, Shippo," she pointed out to the little boy. "I was…umm…"
"Then why were you looking at him with a funny expression on your face?" the child asked.
Kagome stole a glance at Inuyasha (though she wished after that she hadn't) and found him gazing expectantly at her. Kagome knew that unless she could think up something fast she would be 'mistaken' for staring at him. Knowing that she probably couldn't handle that, Kagome said the first thing that came to mind.
"I was…just, umm…wondering!" She finished exuberantly, having been proud of herself for at least saying something.
"Oh?" Let's just say the questioning glances were many in number.
"Y-yeah," Kagome mentally slapped herself. Now she would have to think up something else to lie about. Just great. After receiving a quizzical glance from Inuyasha she continued. "Well, I was just wondering…" the raven haired girl thought a moment, considering her options, "how you manage to get your hair to shine like that!" She finished her sentence with amazement in her voice as if that had been her question from the beginning.
Inuyasha pulled back and stared. He glanced at Miroku who had the same bewildered expression. Well, at least he wasn't hearing things.
"My hair?" the Inu-hanyou questioned. "You were wondering about my hair?" He asked as if it were an unreasonable request…which it wasn't…exactly. Odd, maybe…but not so much unreasonable.
"Yes. Please tell me your secret." Kagome 'pleaded.'
Throughout this, some sort of enlightenment dawned on Shippo and he decided to share it. "So, you were admiring him?" Shippo asked, though it was more of a confirmation.
Kagome let her head fall to the table. Why did everything she say have to be twisted to sound exactly opposite of what she had intended. She made up the excuse so that she wouldn't be pinned with staring at Inuyasha, but now they thought she had been admiring him. Sighing, Kagome stood up (face still a bit flushed) and took hold of all her dishes. She made her way wordlessly to the counter and placed them in their respective bins (forks, spoons, plates, cups, etc…). After she accomplished said task she returned to their table and grabbed her bag that she had previously placed underneath her chair.
"Uh…Kagome?" Sango asked skeptically as Kagome made her way to the double doors that served as another exit/entrance without a word of explanation. They were located on the north wall of the mess hall (as opposed to the west door that they had originally entered in). Sango glanced at Ayame who wore the same worried expression. They had both known Kagome for a while and thought that she was acting strange, but figured she just needed time to herself.
Feeling suddenly awkward, Kagome turned around only to find eyes gazing at her. And not just one or two pairs. There were 10. Everyone at their table was watching her curiously and it made Kagome a little uneasy. She sighed and fully faced her companions.
"Uh…" she started out, "I was just going outside for some fresh air…so, uh…see you guys in a few minutes." With that she once again turned towards the double doors and continued on her way. Once she arrived, Kagome pushed open one of the doors and disappeared into a blinding ray of sunlight.
On the other side, Kagome went and sat down at one of the six tables that were placed right outside the mess hall. She breathed deeply and placed her elbows on the table. After a few moments, she rested her head in her hands and thought about how much 'fun' she was going to have.
Inside, the table was silent for a moment after Kagome left. The awkwardness was disrupted, however, by shuffling. Everyone's head turned to the source of the noise and their eyes came upon Hojo who was trying to untangle himself from the bench, presumably to go after Kagome.
"Oh, no you don't," Sango stated as she pulled Hojo back down onto the bench after he managed to rise.
"But…I-"
"Need to give her some space," she finished for Hojo. The sandy-haired teen slumped down in defeat as movement began to commence once again.
Although Inuyasha was still confused about the whole hair thing, he didn't concern himself too much for almost as soon as Hojo was back in his seat, Inuyasha was devouring his meal. 'Act first, ask questions later' was his motto.
Miroku, all the while, continued his antics of trying to flirt with Sango. It didn't work too well, however, due to the fact that she was on the opposite side of the table and a couple people down. But, still, he tried and it's the thought that counts.
Kouga and Ik-kun had stopped biting each other's tails and were now conversing over how much more basketball rocked than any other sport. Ayame joined in every now and then, having some experience in that category.
Shippo continued to talk to Rin who, still not saying much, was clearly listening and was responding with expression.
Wazuryou, like Inuyasha, continued to inhale his food until there was nothing edible left on his plate.
A few minutes after Kagome left, Kaede entered through the side (west) door and called everyone's attention. The room went silent after a few moments and all eyes were on the old lady.
She cleared her throat before beginning. "Now I know ye are all excited for the coming events this summer, but ye must first learn what is to be expected of ye throughout the duration of thy stay here. None of that now," she scolded as half the room grumbled and groaned their protest. "Now," Kaede continued, "First of all…"
Surprisingly, the whole 'Learning the rules' speech took only about 5 minutes and consisted of the usual camp rules. These including anything from no fighting to respecting property and other people. To say the least, everyone was glad it didn't turn out to be a long, twenty-minute speech.
"So, that leaves us with the afternoon plans," Kaede finished another annual 'talk' and was ready for the next part of the day. "Now we will tour the camp grounds so that ye can have a chance to see where thy courses are and where ye will sleep. If I could please get everyone to put thy dishes away if ye hadn't already and assemble thyself outside the Hall and follow me to our first destination," she stated more than asked as everybody in the mess hall began to gather their dishes and bags.
Ayame and Sango tried to make it out quickly to confirm that Kagome was okay. They finally were able to make it outside and noticed Kagome sitting alone at a table. They moved over to her.
"Hey," Ayame greeted, sitting next to her friend. "S'up?"
Kagome lifted her head from her hands and looked to her two closest friends. They were both smiling brightly at her, making it difficult to stay so isolated. Sighing, Kagome returned their smiles and replied, "Not much. So, what did I miss?"
Sango glanced at Ayame who wore the same bright, knowing expression. Their Kagome was back and it felt like old times again. "Well, you missed the most important part…" She notified Kagome, sounding completely serious. Kagome looked intrigued, but didn't seem too worried.
Ayame caught on quickly. "Yeah, I mean they were sorting us into groups and everything." The red-headed girl smirked inwardly when she received the expected reaction from Kagome and decided to take it a bit further. "Oh," she put on her best downhearted face, "But because you weren't there…You weren't put into one."
Kagome stared on in shock. She didn't think leaving would have been that big a deal. She started having breathing problems when she thought about having to leave her best friends and go home to spend the summer alone.
When Ayame and Sango noticed that their friend was hyperventilating, they decided to fess up. "Uh, Kagome?" Ayame looked worriedly to Sango.
The brunette girl sat down beside Kagome and explained, "Kagome, they didn't do the sorting yet."
"Wh-what?"
"We were, uh…just playing around when we said that you missed out. Sorry, we didn't mean any harm," she added, seeing enlightenment dawn on Kagome's face.
Kagome, however, was too relieved to be angry. She released a great, big sigh and said, "Thank goodness." Ayame herself sighed with relief when she realized Kagome wasn't mad or anything.
By now, everyone from inside had found their way out and were waiting somewhat patiently for Kaede. When receiving a questioning glance from Kagome, the girls quickly explained what went on inside.
Inuyasha and Miroku managed to squeeze their way outside and were currently swinging their bags at each other, seeing who could hit harder and who could dodge faster. They, apparently, didn't mind waiting for the old lady that was taking her own, sweet time.
Kouga detached himself from their little group when the announcement to leave the mess hall was made. He headed outside and quickly found Ginta and Hakkaku. They caught up on missed events and Kouga was re-informed of the prank they pulled on 'some poor, weak kid.'
While all of this was going down, Ikkarawashii and Wazuryou had brought up the once-forgotten topic of the bet. Both, naturally, claimed that they had won and that the other should face the wrath of dying their ears hot pink. They continued to banter until attention was called to Kaede once again.
"Would ye all make sure that everything ye brought is with ye now and that none of thee is forgetting anything," she asked, waiting a minute as shuffling was heard before continuing. "Now, we will make our way to the front of this building here," she motioned towards the cubic building that was situated in front of the mess hall, "and then we will start the tour." With that, the whole lot of kids and teens began to surge their way towards the front of the indicated building.
Once situated there, everybody waited for their next set of orders. After only a moment, Kaede appeared, though this time accompanied by a few other people. Calling everyone's attention, Kaede cleared her throat. "Hello, again. I would like to commence with the tour as soon as possible, but first I would like to introduce a handful of the staff working here. This is the girl's councilor, Kaguya." All attention was turned to a young woman with long, black hair. She nodded her acknowledgement and Kaede continued. "Kaijinbo here will be the boy's councilor. And Tokajin, Totosai and Jinenji will be around doing a different assortment of jobs. Ye can all learn a bit more about each other at a later time, but right now we will continue on with the tour."
(-: Please contact me for map of camp ..)
After the last word exited Kaede's mouth, a cheer erupted from the children. It was full of enthusiasm and almost promised to be as exceptional a year as before.
Almost.
With Kaede in the lead, the large mass began it's tour. They first started out right where they were standing. The building that they were standing in front of was the main office, thus the sign, 'Main Office.'
"This is where ye can find me most of the time if need be. I file and write up the paperwork for ye to be here. Also, I hold everyone's contact information," Kaede added, eying the kids, "So make sure you behave." The campers subconsciously nodded their understanding.
After the main office came the mess hall.
"And as ye already know, this is the Hall," Kaede explained. She walked up the steps and opened the door, disappearing into the almost-empty hall. Everyone looked a bit skeptical, but relief came a moment later when the old lady reappeared. This time, however, she had a small man in tow.
"Children, attention, please. This is the head cook, Myoga." The tiny man that she had in her grasp was grumbling about something or other. "He has assistants that he would like to introduce, doesn't he?" Kaede looked warningly at Myoga, who heaved a defeated sigh.
"Oh, if I must," Myoga acquiesced. "You in there!" He called through the door. "Get out here." Four people came to Myoga's call and he cleared his throat. "This is Onigumo. That would be Urasue. Over here we have Goshinki and last, but not least, the lovely Tsuyu. Is that everyone?" He asked no one in particular. "Good." And with that he turned to leave, but was stopped by Kaede. Sighing, he turned around and said, "I hope you all enjoy your summer vacation here (don't even think about discriminating the food) and have a great day." He turned around and went back into the mess hall.
Kagome poked Sango in the ribs. "Gee, I can tell that comes from the heart," she muttered sarcastically as they made their way to the large building that was situated, in the west corner, beside the northwest path. Sango laughed in response and poked Ayame in the ribs to tell her.
Miroku 'happened' to be looking that way and noticed the girls poking each other in the side. So, naturally, he had the brilliant idea to try it. Looking over to make sure Inuyasha wasn't paying attention to him, Miroku lifted his pointer finger to chin level, a look of extreme determination in his eyes. Without a second thought, Miroku thrust his finger straight at Inuyasha. It was a direct hit right between the ribs.
Inuyasha felt a sharp pain in his side and flinched while throwing out his elbow. Said limb hit Miroku square between the eyes. Inuyasha turned to the direction the poke came from when his elbow came in contact with something very hard. He laughed when he saw Miroku clutching his face in pain.
"That's what you get for poking me!" Inuyasha just laughed some more, Miroku grumbling the whole time. He was definitely not going to try another 'girl' thing again.
Arriving at their destination, Kaede silenced the crowd. "This is what we call…well, it doesn't really have a name," Kaede confessed," But inside contains four different rooms. First, we have a storage room on the left. It is fairly large and consists of sports balls, nets, clubs, bats, rackets, etcetera. Also there is the equipment needed for games and such. Outside there are two basketball courts, a tennis/badminton court and enough grass for a couple soccer fields.
"The storage room inside is connected to the indoor gymnasium, which is also on the left. Now, over on the right side of the recreational building we first have the art studio. It is a large, naturally-lit room with many work tables and storage.
"Beyond that, still on the right, is the music room. This room is large enough to hold all of the camp's instruments and the students playing them." Kaede was interrupted by a chorus of, "Wow's," and, "No way's." She decided it would be best to cut the speech short and just let the kids have a look for themselves.
"Now, everyone inside, please. Single file!" She called, trying to get them desperately to listen. "Try not to touch anything," Kaede warned as the kids pushed their way inside the rather large building. She sighed and followed after.
The first room to the left was just a storage room, so they moved to the one on the right. Once everybody was inside the studio, Kaede made her way to the counter that had somebody standing beside it. "This, children," she heard many protests to being called children, but chose to ignore it, "Is the arts and crafts teacher, Nobunaga." Said teacher waved to the kids who looked skeptically back.
"As ye can see, this is the art studio and it is very bright and open," Kaede stated, gesturing with a wave of her arm. As more and more people began to look around the room, they noticed that the wall between them and the outside was mainly windows. It was hard to notice at first because it looked so natural that they had just overlooked it. Overall, the room was quite aesthetically pleasing.
"Thanks, Nobunaga," Kaede whispered to the man before continuing, "And now we will make our way to the gymnasium." Said room was large in size (very large) and looked to be in mint condition. It looked really well kept, the hardwood floors shining brightly as proof. Kaede quickly introduced the gym instructor, Naraku (whom everyone thought was creepy), and exited the gym without any further ado.
"And last, but not least," she began, motioning to the door across from the gym, "Is the music room." Everyone seemed to be interested in this room.
Miroku turned to Inuyasha. "What d'ya think?" he asked, gesturing towards the room that they were about to enter. Inuyasha shrugged in response, making his way inside.
Once everyone was inside, Kaede began, "This has been one of the most enjoyed features here at Itsumademo Yume. We introduced it a couple years back and have received very reputable comments. Ye should all enjoy this program that we have seeing as everyone is partnered with a compatible instrument."
Kouga nudged Ginta. "Do you believe this crap?" he asked quietly. Ginta snickered and shook his head. Hakkaku, on the other hand, seemed to like the idea of learning an instrument. Kouga and Ginta looked to him, then to each other before shaking their heads in disappointment.
Ayame had both of her arms linked with Sango and Kagome's (her being in the middle). "This looks so…cool," she said, mesmerized.
"Yeah, it looks like fun," Kagome put in.
Sango looked around a minute before adding her own two cents.
"I wanna try the drums!"
Inuyasha shook his head at his friends…immaturity. "If you wanna try the drums, try 'em," he stated simply.
Miroku pouted. "But we're probably being assigned according to what the teacher says. By the way, where is the teacher?" He looked around the room and, as if on cue, a tall man came walking through a door that looked like it lead to a small office.
"Ah, and here he is!" Kaede was finally able to introduce the music teacher due to the fact that he was finally there. "This will be thy music instructor, Ryuukotsusei."
Said man grinned at the introduction and grabbed a guitar from a nearby stand. It was a simple classical guitar, but when he started playing, everyone was listening intently. It sounded like a guitar solo for somebody's recorded song. There was no denying it; Ryuukotsusei was good.
After he finished the Mexican tune, Ryuukotsusei cleared his throat. "I, as you are already aware of, am Ryuukotsusei and I will help you develop the talents that you already have." When he heard protesting, Ryuukotsusei held up a hand and all was silent again. "You all do have talent; You just don't know where it lies," he stated with a grin. "Now, I don't want to see you until you have lessons so, be gone with you!"
Kaede laughed and herded the kids outside once again. Once out, she paused and looked to the basketball courts. There, a large, strong-looking man was practicing his hoops and was too preoccupied to notice them. "Royakan over there," she gestured towards the man, "is the games coordinator. He is the one seeing to it that ye always have something to do, even after the courses are finished with. Mostly, he handles the games. Ye will all meet him soon enough."
Kaede once again began walking, the rest of the camp following suit. She showed them the washrooms when walking by and explained that there were showers in them. The girls were sighed in relief as the boys shrugged.
After the washrooms came some cabins. They were the ones that were visible from the hilltop leading from the woods. These, however, were not for them, Kaede pointed out. These were the councilor's cabins and no kids were allowed in them.
They passed by those cabins quickly enough, there being no reason for them to be there long, and made their way up the northeast trail (on the right side of the washrooms). After a minutes walk, they came upon a clearing of some sort. Ahead were tables and a concession stand and to their right was a beautiful, large lake. Seirei Lake.
Kaede pointed out that this was where they would be swimming and that it was, in fact, a very clean lake. And who would doubt it, with the turquoise water shining as brightly as it was. Also, to everyone's joy, there was a dock. It went out a good 25, maybe 30, feet.
Once everyone's shock dissipated, Kaede called out to a figure in the water. Said person waved their acknowledgement and began making their way to the shore. During this time, she showed them the concession stand, where a bored-looking employee was serving himself up a cool glass of lemonade.
"Menomaru is the concession worker. He will usually be here if ye want something from the concession," Kaede explained. Just then, the figure made its way to the shore and revealed itself. "Ah, here he is," she said. "Children," once again with the grumbling protests, "this is the swimming instructor, Musou."
A dark-haired man emerged from the water's edge. "Hey there!" he greeted, grabbing a towel from the near end of the dock. "They're finally here, hey?" he asked Kaede while trying to dry his mass of hair. "Well, good luck," he said as he made his way to the north end of the lake where there was a couple more buildings.
Kaede nodded and moved in that direction as well. The campers followed her.
"This," she motioned towards the larger of the two buildings, "Is the boathouse. It is where we keep the canoes and paddleboats, along with lifejackets, paddles and other such materials. This smaller one is the changing rooms." With that information said, Kaede moved on.
They headed due west and came upon a large, circular gathering of benches and wooden stumps. "This is the fire pit. We light it up every so often to hold little get-togethers and relaxation periods."
Moving on to the next part of the tour, Kaede noticed that they seemed excited about the lake and fire pit. She sighed and continued on. They passed a clearing that had more cabins in it and headed south down a path. Said path branched off onto another path. They took this one and it led them to a large, clean clearing. The kids saw targets at the other end and figured out that they were probably at the archery range.
Kaede told them so and introduced the shooting instructor, Tsubaki, before exiting down the same path that they had come. Once they got onto the original path, Kaede turned right and headed north again. Looking south, the campers noticed that the path was the one between the bathrooms and the recreational building that led northwest.
The camp was a big circle, with the archery course in the middle, they figured out while making their way back up the path to where they had just recently seen the cabins. This is where Kaede stopped and turned to them.
"These, as ye may have guessed, are the cabins that ye will be staying in. I hope ye enjoy yer stay in them," she said as Jinenji came up the path carrying a clipboard. "Thank ye, Jinenji," Kaede took the board and called the kids' attention once again. "Before ye go running to choose what cabins ye get, ye must listen first. Now I want ye all to get into groups of four without fighting. If ye can't do this in an appropriate manner, I will choose for ye. Now, off ye go, but make sure ye are all around the same age."
It took a couple of minutes of confusion before the groups were decided. Kaede looked them over quickly and nodded. "I will give ye all yer cabins and schedules and ye can go and unpack," she notified them and turned to a page on her clipboard.
There were 12 cabins (6 for girls and 6 for guys). They were 2x6, so there were two rows with 6 cabins in each row. The girls had the far row, meaning that the boys got the close one.
The arrangements went like this (1A being the bottom of the girl's row and 1F being the top. 2A- bottom of boy's row, 2F-top):
1A- Kikyo, Yura, Kagura, Taizon 2A- Shippo, Bunza, Jaken, Taromaru
1B- Suzuna, Satsuki 2B- Inuyasha, Miroku, Kouga, Hojo
1C- Serina, Nazuna, Zureigo, Koharu 2C- Hiten, Manten, Kamori, Ryoukai
1D- Kagome, Sango, Ayame, Kiara 2D- Satoru, Ikussou, Sacchoku
1E- Rin, Mayu, Shiori, Souten 2E- Ginta, Hakkaku, Wazuryou, Ikkarawashii
1F- Momiji, Botan, Ruri, Hari 2F- None
Kaede gave each group a schedule and sent them off on their way. Everyone went scrambling, calling out dibs on which bunks they wanted.
Kagome stated racing Ayame to their cabin, but was passed by Sango. All three of them burst into their cabin, laughing the entire time. They saw the two separate bunk beds on the left side of the room. Straight across was a door with a small porch out back. On the right side of the cabin near the door was a couch and two chairs with a table between them. In the far right corner was a shelving unit with open and closed shelves and cabinets. There was also a small table beside the door.
The three girls were still admiring their new home for the next month and a half when an unknown girl came through the door. "Umm…hi," she said. "My name's Kiara and I am supposed to be in this cabin. I'm assuming you guys are my bunkmates?"
Kagome smiled at the newcomer. "It would seem so, Kiara. My name is Higurashi Kagome and this is Shuzokashii Sango," Kagome indicated to Sango, "And this is Kusamajii Ayame-"
"A wolf demon," Kiara noted. Ayame nodded her assent and noticed an inhuman scent on Kiara. "I, myself, am a lynx demon," she smiled at Ayame. "It's nice to meet all of you." Sango sighed with relief. At least they had a nice, if interesting, bunkmate. The four of them decided to sit down for a while and talk to get to know each other better.
Inuyasha raced Miroku to their cabin and rushed through the door. Although he won, he was also the first one to fall over Hojo who was standing right in front of the door, not knowing what to do.
They both ended up getting tangled together (bags and everything) by the time Miroku showed up. Apparently he had seen pretty ladies outside and had stopped to chat. He sighed when he entered the cabin. After placing his bag beside the door and making sure it was out of the way, he made his way over to the struggling Inuyasha and whimpering Hojo. "Sit still, both of you," he commanded as he attempted to untangle them. It was quite a feat and took a whole 5 minutes.
During that time, Kouga had been talking to Ginta and Hakkaku. They hadn't managed to get in the same group due to some strange, new friendship between the two wolf demons and the Hakussho brothers. Which means they dropped Kouga like a rock.
Fortunately, Kouga was pretty solitary and decided not to make a big fuss about it. After all, that hanyou was pretty close with Kagome (who he had the slightest crush on), so he might as well go with them.
But now, they were discussing their 'plan'. Their first prank of the summer (at camp) was going to be great and they couldn't wait to put it into play. Kouga snickered as he made his way to the cabin that he would be sharing with the Mutt, the Mutt's friend, and that Hogo guy (he was the last one and no one else would accept him).
He arrived to a cabin filled with yelling and cowering (on Hojo's part). They were apparently fighting over which bunks they wanted ,which turned out to not even be the same one. He laughed at their antics and walked over to the furthest bunk bed and threw his bag onto the bottom one before doing the same with himself.
This caused everybody to stop their yelling and fighting. The three of them looked to each other for a moment before all scrambling to get their bunk. Turns out, Inuyasha and Miroku got to the ones they wanted (Inuyasha's being the top corner above Kouga and Miroku's being the other top bunk) and Hojo didn't exactly have a preference. He had just wanted to get out of the way.
With everything settled, the four teens decided to just kick back, relax and listen to music. Miroku jumped off his bunk and switched on the radio that was sitting on the empty shelf in the corner of the cabin. The song, 'Pinch Me' by the Barenaked Ladies was playing on whatever station it happened to be on. Miroku sighed. Well, at least it was a summery kind of song.
In the girls' cabin things were going much smoother. After they finished talking about themselves a bit, they all decided to choose bunk beds. This only took a minute for they were very lenient about it. Kagome ended up taking the far bottom with Sango on top. Kiara had the bottom of the close bunk with Ayame up top. They all seemed fairly pleased with themselves.
Turns out, Kiara had a lot in common with the girls and they all got along like natural-born sisters. It wasn't long before Ayame found the stereo and they were listening to one of Kiara's CD's, dancing like there was no tomorrow while unpacking some of their things. The current song playing was 'Riot Girl' by Good Charlotte. It was a very upbeat song and they all moved in time with it.
Wazuryou and Ikkarawashii chose the closest set of bunks to the door. Their theory? Simple. You never know when you need to escape without warning. They found no point in unpacking their bags, but realized that the hair dye was in one of them…somewhere.
Their task to find the pink hair dye lasted only about 3 minutes due to the fact that their search consisted of mainly throwing clothes, toothbrushes, etc. throughout the room until they came across a hot pink bottle.
Although they found it, Ik-kun and Wazu still didn't know who had one the bet. They were in the middle of a heated debate when Hakkaku and Ginta walked in.
"Hey guys. What's up? That's good and- Is that pink hair dye!" Hakkaku asked in amazement. "Ginta, look! Pink hair dye!"
Ginta ran over to where Hakkaku was making such a fuss. However, when he caught a glimpse of it, Ginta too started to act a bit unusually. "Here, Wazu," he said, holding out his hand. It was shaking with anticipation. "Give it here."
"What?" Hakkaku seemed to disagree with the fact that Ginta would have pink hair dye instead of him. "I want it! Give it to me, Wazu!" he demanded while trying to hold Ginta back.
Wazuryou looked on as Ginta and Hakkaku fought over who was going to have the pink hair dye. He then glanced to Ikkarawashii. Their eyes locked for an eternal moment before…
Ik-kun dived for Wazu, not holding anything back. "Wazu! Give it here!"
"Not on your life!" Wazuryou answered, holding Ik-kun's head in one hand while the other (with the dye) was stretched as far away as possible. "You're not getting it! I want it!"
"NO! I want it more!" Ikkarawashii wasn't going to give up without a fight. They tackled each other around the room, rolling over couches and people. (Said people being Ginta and Hakkaku.)
Finally, Wazu managed to crawl under the bunk beds and was sitting on the hair dye in the corner of the room. "You won't get it from me, Ik-kun," he wheezed.
Wazu's twin crouched down in front of the bed. "Why not! I want it just as much…as…you…" Enlightenment struck Ikkarawashii as he crouched down there. "Wazu, you dolt," he scolded, "There's enough for both of us in that bottle if all we want to do are our ears."
The expression of deep thought crossed Wazuryou's face as he considered what his brother had just told him. He nodded (hitting his head on the bottom bunk) and cautiously made his way out from underneath. Once out, the two brothers snickered and ran off in the direction of the washrooms.
Ginta and Hakkaku ceased their roughhousing and watched on in horror as Wazu and Ik-kun left with their beloved hair dye.
"NO!" Ginta hollered, Hakkaku's hair still locked in his tight grip.
Hakkaku hung his head. "The opportunities," he choked out. "Oh, what we could have accomplished! Think about it, Ginta! So many people…pink hair dye! Oh, the humanity! Think of all the opportunities!" Ginta just nodded is agreement, too depressed for words.
Sango smiled to herself as she laid back on her bunk, having just finished laying out her sleeping bag. They finished unpacking their toiletries and other small items on the shelves, each girl receiving their own closed cabinet for whatever they so chose. Their duffel bags were pushed underneath the bottom bunks so that they were out of the way. Each girl unrolled their sleeping bag on their respective bunk and were currently relaxing, either on their bed or on the couch.
Ayame was sitting in the Converse Corner (they named it that due to how it was being put to use) with Kiara and they were discussing the topic of different sports. Sango was relaxing on her bunk, drifting off to the sound of Simple Plan's, 'When I'm with you' flowing through her ears. Kagome sat on the front porch reading a book that she had brought with her keeping the door open so she could hear the music. It was a relaxing period for the four of them, but they had forgotten to check their schedule even though Sango remembered placing it on the table beside the door. Oh well. They would just have to wait.
Deciding to unpack later, or not at all, Inuyasha stuffed his bag underneath the bunk he was sharing with Kouga and threw his sleeping bag up top. He then sat on one of the chairs in the corner of the room and began tapping his foot in time with the music. It was 'Teenage Dirtbag' by Wheatus.
Miroku figured he would have fun throwing marshmallows at Hojo while Kouga slid banana peels under his squirming feet. The marshmallows Miroku packed with him, but the banana peels, well…Kouga apparently likes bananas. This cabin was entertained pretty easily, to say the least.
Hakkaku and Ginta quickly got over their 'lost opportunities' and began running around their cabin…literally. One or the other would start out and run out the back door, jump over the porch railing, run around the building and up the front steps, tagging the other so that they could go. This little game lasted them quite a while until they decided it needed more competition and decided to race instead.
Wazuryou and Ikkarawashii were still missing.
Around 7pm, Kaguya and Kaijinbo asked the camp to make their way over to the fire pit for some social activities before turning in. Everyone gladly acquiesced. Well, everyone save for Kagome anyway. She was reading the whole time she could have been resting and she was now too tired to move her own legs. Sango, Ayame and Kiara managed to convince her to get up and follow them to the Pit where everyone else had accumulated.
Kagome just followed them and sat where she was told. Fatigue overcame her body and she struggled to keep her eyes open. The four of them sat down at the newly kindled fire, huddling together to keep warm. Although it was summer, the nights could still get a little chilly.
Coming upon the area covered in benches and stumps, Miroku was debating on where to sit. All was decided, however, when he caught site of Sango sitting with her little group, though now there was an unknown girl there as well. Shrugging, he made his way over to her.
Behind him, Inuyasha snorted, but followed anyway. They came upon the group and Inuyasha was so not going to be the one talking. He looked away when his friend looked at him, as though he found his surroundings interesting.
Miroku shook his head and turned to the girls. "Hello, ladies. And how was your lovely afternoon?" he asked with one of his characteristic smiles. The girls subconsciously returned his smile, save for Kagome who was practically sleeping.
"Well, I would say it actually went pretty good," Ayame answered for them, receiving nods from her bunkmates.
Miroku nodded and decided to continue when he heard Inuyasha sigh impatiently behind him. "Sounds good. So, who might this lovely, young lady be?" he walked over to her.
"I am Kiara. Rinkuza Kiara," she answered for herself while holding out her hand.
Miroku took it, but instead of shaking it he kissed it gently. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kiara," he said, still with her hand in his. She blushed deeply and Miroku pulled away. "Well, I believe you should meet Inuyasha here and let us take a seat," Miroku laughed as he pulled the hanyou forward. "My dear, Kiara, this is Inuya-"
After shoving Miroku, Inuyasha introduced himself, "My name is Tsuyaku Inuyasha and yours is Rinkuza Kiara. Nice to meet you." He made their introduction short, sweet and to the point. Kiara nodded.
Miroku then clapped his hands together. "So, would you lovely ladies mind if we joined you?" he asked hopefully.
Ayame raised an eyebrow. "From what I understand," she began, "you can sit wherever you want."
Miroku grinned. "Well, in that case, I would like to sit right here," he stated as he squeezed in between a half-dozing Kagome and a surprised Sango. "What do you think?" he asked the latter as he draped his arm over her shoulder.
"I think," Sango pushed his arm away, "you should keep your hands to yourself." Miroku held up his hands innocently.
Inuyasha seemed confused about where to sit. Sure, it didn't really matter, but still…
"Hey, Yash. Grab some bench," Miroku snapped him from his current train of thought. He glanced beside him and grew aware of Inuyasha's predicament. "Well, do someone else a favor, if not for you," he said, trying to help his friend out a bit. "Sit on the other side of Kagome. She's shivering."
"Oh no!" Sango's hands flew up to her mouth. "I completely forgot. She was tired, but we made her come anyway. I'm such an idiot! She must be freezing-"
"Calm down," Inuyasha told her, though he started to internally freak out when he moved to sit down beside her. "It's…no…no big…deal," he managed to get out, convincing himself of the same thing the entire time. Finally, he got his body to do what he told it and he was sitting beside Kagome…almost a foot away.
"The only thing you're keeping warm like that is the bench," Miroku stated to Inuyasha who was debating on how close to sit. The hanyou's head shot up when he heard Miroku and he noticed everyone watching him.
"What!"
Sango sighed exasperatedly. "Look, Inuyasha. I know you probably don't want to repeat the events from this morning, but please just keep her warm. I would really rather not have to take her back to the cabin right now. Please," she pleaded to him with her best puppy dog eyes.
Inuyasha glanced up at Miroku who was giving him a death glare that clearly stated, 'If you make her move I will personally make your life miserable.' Sango was currently leaning over Miroku to look at Inuyasha and she was snuggling up against him a bit due to the cold.
Miroku knew that Inuyasha would be glaring at him now if it weren't for everybody else. He sighed, relieved. Miroku knew that Inuyasha would do it.
As proof of this, the hanyou nodded to Sango and scooted closer to Kagome. He noticed as everybody's attention turned elsewhere and he looked to the girl that was once again sleeping next to him. A shiver wracked her frail body and Inuyasha removed his hoodie, wrapping it around her. Kagome snuggled closer to his warmth and mumbled something in her sleep.
Inuyasha sighed contentedly, watching the orange-red tongues of the fire reach up into the sky as he wrapped his arm around Kagome's shoulders.
The spectacle that everyone's attention had previously turned to was the return of the Hakussho brothers. They walked into the clearing surrounding the Pit, looking quite pleased with themselves.
Ginta and Hakkaku, who had been sitting their talking to Kouga for a while, burst out laughing. Kouga looked amused and confused.
Ginta was clutching his stomach while hitting Hakkaku with his free hand. "You…you see…that!" he asked through bursts of laughter. "They…" more laughing, "they saved us…the trouble!" He was obviously referring to the idea of pranking somebody by putting pink hair dye in their hair.
"What?" Ik-kun and Wazu asked at the same time. They looked to each other and shrugged their shoulders in unison.
Miroku, Sango, Kiara and Ayame's attention was clearly fixed on the brothers. Then Ayame, too, burst out laughing. "What did you dolts do?" She pointed to their ears and started laughing some more.
Kiara looked confusedly from the brothers to Ayame. She then looked to Sango who was trying to hold in her laughter. "I'm assuming their ears aren't normally that color," she stated.
Miroku just shook his head and sighed.
After Ikkarawashii and Wazuryou sat down and everybody was finished making fun of their ears (which they couldn't even remember the reason for dyeing), the rest of the evening seemed to trickle by soothingly. Kouga, upon seeing Kagome sleeping against Inuyasha and deciding not to wake her, moved to sit by Ayame and Kiara who were currently sitting by themselves.
Everybody sat by the fire, relaxing for the rest of the evening until the time came when they were called to get to their separate cabins. Miroku walked Sango to her cabin as Kouga did Ayame and Kiara. Inuyasha ended up carrying Kagome to hers handed her off to Ayame and Sango when he arrived there.
'Lights out' was called at 10 and Inuyasha lay in his bed thinking about how he was grateful that she hadn't woken up. It would have hurt too much.
To be continued…
A/N: Whew! Well, I finally got this chapter up. And once again, I am so sorry that it took so long. I'll try to make it worth the wait by having the next chapter up soon. Sorry you guys and thanks for reading. Remember, email me for a map. Always a pleasure.
Ankoku no Ookami
Next Chapter: I plan on writing their first day of actual camp. There will be courses, lessons and hopefully some swimming! Oh, and I have a surprise planned for one of the future chapters! Yay! So, tune in next time.