Washed Up
A/N: Halloween chapter.
Authors: Celianna (Momo) & Happiestwhen (Kaidoh)
Rating: K+
Events leading up to this log:
- It is Halloween, and Momo has convinced Kaidoh to have a test of courage on this day, secretly making Hazue play the ghost
Date: October 31, 2012
It is an hour till midnight.
That's how long Momoshiro is planning to walk around the jungle today; an hour. Why? Because it's Halloween! And while Momoshiro doesn't exactly celebrate Halloween (that would be Echizen's thing, since he's the American and all), he'll never allow the opportunity to scare the hell out of Kaidoh slip through his fingers. At least with Halloween he's got an excuse, since it's supposed to be a scary day. He managed to get Hazue to join him, and play as a ghost, while he and Kaidoh will walk through the jungle using a predetermined route (drawn on paper like a pirate map, courtesy of Momoshiro himself, he quite likes it).
Momoshiro is expected to see a lot of funny reactions coming out of Kaidoh tonight, so he's got his cellphone stored away in his pocket, nice and safe, and ready to use when he needs it. Armed with a flashlight, Momoshiro is ready to go. He slips on his jacket (it does get cold at night, especially since it's the end of October), then stops and stares at Kaidoh, who is trying not to make eye contact with him, and standing in the corner.
"Yo, Kaidoh—don't need a jacket? You're gonna get cold, you know."
"I'll be fine, idiot," Kaidoh replies tersely. He's not going to get cold. Or scared for that matter. At least, that's what he's been telling himself for the past five minutes while he was trying to psych himself up to do this stupid thing.
He shouldn't even need to. It's just trees and vines and bushes in there, right? It's just the jungle, and Kaidoh's run past it more times than he can count. Not through it exactly, and certainly not when it's pitch black outside on Halloween night, but … Kaidoh's determined not to let that get to him and give Momoshiro the satisfaction of seeing him freaked out. At least, that's what he's telling himself, but saying and doing are two different things.
He huffs and shoots a glare in Momoshiro's direction. "Let's just get this over with," he says.
"Okay, okay. If you're ready for it," says Momoshiro with a snort. He walks over to their new shiny door—again, courtesy of Momoshiro—ready to open it, before he turns to Kaidoh. He sticks out his hand expectantly, palm up, smiling at him like a loyal dog wagging its tail.
Kaidoh stuffs his hands into his pockets and drags his feet across the floor towards Momoshiro, like his body's still reluctant to do this and he's having to force it along. Well, actually every part of him is reluctant to do this, since it's dumb, but this is a matter of pride and principle and Kaidoh's not going to back down from a challenge. Especially not when it's coming from Momoshiro.
When he stops, he pulls his hand back out of his pocket again so he can punch Momoshiro in the shoulder, just to get that out of the way while he still has a clear head. He grumbles, "Yeah, I'm ready." He is … right?
"You're not supposed to punch me, ass," says Momoshiro. He narrows his eyes at Kaidoh. "You're supposed to hold my hand, you know, when you get scared and stuff. And so you don't run away."
"I'm not going to run away!" Kaidoh protests, feeling an edge of annoyance creep under his skin. He's not a chicken. He can handle a walk through the jungle in the dark. Probably.
After all, what's the worst that could happen? Kaidoh shakes his head. No … he shouldn't open his imagination up to worst case scenario possibilities, because his mind can get a little carried away when he's nervous. Instead, he should just focus on what's actually going to happen, which he tries to convince himself won't be anything scary. Just him and Momoshiro following some dumb map. It's not like there are actually ghosts on this island. At least, Kaidoh doesn't think there are. Not that he's scared of ghosts in the first place. He just doesn't like them.
He should stop thinking about that though, because just wondering if there are ghosts in the jungle makes Kaidoh shiver a little, which he hopes Momoshiro didn't notice. It would be annoying if Momoshiro thought Kaidoh was scared already, especially since he most definitely isn't.
"So, how far into the jungle are we going anyway?" he asks dismissively.
"Faaaar," Momoshiro drawls out his words. He slings an arm around Kaidoh's shoulder, opens the door, and pushes him out. "It's a full hour, we'll be walking for a while!"
They both walk down the steps and into the chilly night, and Momoshiro seriously wonders if Kaidoh won't get cold wearing those stupid shorts and sleeveless shirt. Honestly, he's nuts. It reminds him of that day during Christmas, where he was running out like this in the snow—absolutely crazy!
But that was five years ago, Kaidoh should have gotten some common sense by now. Well, at least Momoshiro can stick close to warm him up, if needed. Not that he wants to. He pushes Kaidoh away from him and clicks on his flashlight.
"Alright, so let's get started." He shines it down on his nicely made map (which consists of a dotted line circling all around the jungle, with an X at the end). "Oh, before we get in there, I forgot to tell you—did you know a bunch of people were saying the cruise ship was haunted on the day that we ran ashore here? They say it was the ghosts who made us get stuck on this island, creepy huh?" He moves the flashlight right underneath his chin to make his face look all ominous.
Kaidoh gulps. "Yeah right, asshole," he says, but sounds wary as his voice comes out. If there were ghosts on the ship then they might have climbed off it and onto this island. Which means … they could be anywhere. Kaidoh throws a nervous glance over his shoulder, but all he sees are trees. Momoshiro's probably just making shit up again as usual, trying to get under his skin.
"If you're trying to creep me out, it's not going to work," Kaidoh adds, but he hunches his shoulders a little and clenches his fingers into fists, like his body is ready to shield himself against an attack of angry spirits.
Momoshiro laughs and pats Kaidoh hard on his back, then starts to walk ahead of him at a faster pace, eager to get to the jungle.
"Right. You're totally not going to freak out." But Momoshiro knows Kaidoh totally is. He managed to convince Hazue to play the role of the ghost (bedsheets should be good enough to convince Kaidoh), and to scare Kaidoh on their route a few times. Momoshiro has marked the areas in which Hazue is supposed to stand guard on his map, so he knows exactly when and where he can scare the hell out of Kaidoh. He snickers to himself; this is going to be so much fun.
Momoshiro throws his head back at Kaidoh. "Come on, if you don't hurry up, I'll leave you alone!" he says as he approached the narrow line of trees, separating the beach from the jungle.
Kaidoh's sneakers scuff into the sand as he picks up the pace so he can catch up with Momoshiro, because there's no way he's going in there alone. At least if Momoshiro's there, Kaidoh can use him as a barrier between himself and whatever evil supernatural creature might be lurking between the trees. Not that things like that exist in the first place … Fuck Momoshiro for planting the seed in his head that the cruise ship was haunted.
"Stop walking so fast," Kaidoh growls once he's at Momoshiro's side again. Under any other circumstances, he'd be saying the opposite, but right now Kaidoh isn't feeling particularly eager to run headlong into the dark and creepy jungle.
"Says the running freak," Momoshiro snorts. He pushes himself through the trees, shining light in front of him, but he does slow down a bit.
Kaidoh swings his elbow so it knocks into Momoshiro's arm. "Yeah, well, we're not going running right now," he points out in a low mutter. Because if they were, he'd be feeling a lot more at ease. Instead he's treading lightly over the ground, like his footsteps might alert someone—or something—of their presence. Not that their voices aren't doing a fine job of that anyway. He stays close to Momoshiro, because he's the one with the light, and because he doesn't seem to be hesitating at all, which is enough to keep Kaidoh walking as well. If Momoshiro can do this, then Kaidoh can too, no problem.
"As long as you don't run away, " Momoshiro says with a roll of his eyes. "Speaking of, my arm's still completely available for some groping." He almost drops his flashlight. "I mean grabbing." Thank god it's dark.
"Moron," Kaidoh replies. "I won't need to." He's not going to freak out and cling to Momoshiro's arm—that would be super embarrassing. He digs his fingers back into his pockets so they won't be tempted to do something stupid like that. Sometimes his body just does things on its own, especially when freaky things happen. But that won't be the case this time, because there isn't anything freaky or weird out here in the jungle. Maybe if Kaidoh keeps telling himself that, he'll start to believe it.
"Whatever. Anyways, the hour starts now!" Momoshiro cheers. He looks down at the map, but doesn't really need to, since he was the one to plan the route they're walking anyway.
The jungle is quite noisy at night, lots of crickets chirping, and other unidentified insects making sounds. The rustling of the leaves of the trees, the branches swaying in the calm breeze; the jungle doesn't sleep. Neither does Momoshiro, not right now at least, as he's making headway into the dark and densely populated jungle. Kaidoh is right next to him, huddled close and twitching and jerking away from every rustle of the leaves, obviously scared something it going to jump out and grab him.
Momoshiro hums to himself; it sure didn't take long for Kaidoh to get scared. Now, to make his way towards the first point Hazue was going to scare them … He directs his flashlight on the map again. Along the trail are little circles which are markers for Hazue to appear at, and the first one should be coming up soon. Momoshiro can't wait what the little brat has in store for his brother. When the tip of Momoshiro's shoe hits a small rock in the dirt, he stumbles forwards a bit and quickly shuts up. He composes himself again with a huff. Kaidoh's supposed to be stumbling around here, not him.
"So yeah, do you think it's real? The story I mean, that there were ghosts on the ship. I mean, I didn't see any, but people were definitely acting weird a few hours before I ended up on this island. They say we're stranded in the Bermuda Triangle, did you know? Lots of mysterious stuff happens there … like airplanes disappearing … cruise ships too I guess. And either Atobe didn't have any staff on board, or the staff just mysteriously disappeared, because they were certainly not with us when we got here! I wonder what happened to them. Maybe they drowned, that'd be awful. But hey, it explains the ghosts. Maybe they're back to haunt us, and don't want us to leave the island because they never had the chance to escape in the first place. That would explain why we've been stuck here for so long, don't you think?"
The logic does make a weird kind of sense, but it's not the sort of explanation Kaidoh wants to hear. At least not when it's dark, and he doesn't know where they're going, just that they're slowly edging further and further into the jungle and away from the safety of his hut.
"That can't be true …" he says, his voice nervous and small. It can't be true because it's way too creepy, so Kaidoh's mentally willing it to not be true. He does remember reading something about the Bermuda Triangle before, just once, and he didn't really read all it had to say because the idea of a place with unexplained phenomenon and mysterious disappearances made him uncomfortable. Not scared, because that would be stupid. He just doesn't like things like that.
He never thought that, years later, he'd find that, like it or not, he'd be experiencing the weird ways of the Bermuda Triangle firsthand. Not that anything particularly strange or creepy has happened to him yet, apart from no one coming to rescue them, and hopefully that's as bad as it will get. The idea of there being ghosts on the island too is simply too much for Kaidoh to handle—since it's an island and there'd be nowhere to run to escape them. Can a person even outrun ghosts in the first place?
A tree branch snaps loudly somewhere in the jungle, jerking Kaidoh out of his thoughts and back into the present and he makes an embarrassing, squeamish yelp, his eyes darting wildly around looking for the source of the sound. But it's dark, save for Momoshiro's flashlight, and impossible to see anything but eerie shadows anyway. He does hear Momoshiro let out what sounds like a chuckle. Asshole.
Kaidoh hisses and nudges closer to Momoshiro as they walk, making sure to bump his shoulder against his in retaliation. "Can't you talk about something else besides ghosts?" he asks, annoyance in his voice. Like it's Momoshiro's fault that Kaidoh's all jumpy. It probably is. He's probably the one who made that branch snap.
"I can talk about lots of things! What do you want me to talk about? Halloween? Witches? Monsters? Walking skeletons? Zombies? Take your pick!" Momoshiro swings his flashlight around, feeling happy that his plan of scaring Kaidoh is working so far.
The branch snapping was probably Hazue. Or maybe it was Kaidoh himself. Either way, Momoshiro is delighted at everything working out so far. Kaidoh's even walking closer to him, as much as possible anyway; another plan succeeded. Now to get Kaidoh to grab his hand when he's scared … hehehe.
"Or would you prefer I talk about cats?" asks Momoshiro. He smirks at Kaidoh as he flashes the light in his eyes.
Yes, actually Kaidoh would prefer that.
"Idiot," he grumbles, squinting as Momoshiro turns the flashlight around again and his eyes readjust to the darkness. Why did they have to do this in the middle of the night, again?
"Well, whatever," he says, because he doesn't want to sound overly eager to change topics to something less creepy, and then he quickly adds, "As long as you aren't going to talk about something dumb like zombie cats." Because he's sure that, if Momoshiro really wanted to, he could make even something as nice and harmless as cats into something scary. And then Kaidoh would have to punch him again.
"Zombie cats would be awesome! I mean, cats are already really good at hunting prey, imagine if they preyed on humans—that would make a good movie actually." Momoshiro wonders if he can find some sort of movie company to sell his idea to, he's sure it would sell a lot.
In a few more seconds, they approach a clearing in the jungle, with less trees spaced around. It's almost as if someone lived here before and decided to cut down trees to make space. Maybe there really was … Anyways, Hazue is supposed to be here and walk around like a ghost (a.k.a with a bedsheet pulled over his head). Momoshiro shines his light around at the trees, looking around for him. He nudges Kaidoh in his side.
"Hey, do you hear anything weird?" Momoshiro asks. Meaning; can he hear Hazue's footsteps? because he sure can't. Just stupid crickets.
Kaidoh feels like he's hearing a lot of weird things, but it's probably just his mind playing tricks on him. Like the wind through the trees kind of sounds like a voice whispering, and the sounds of insects all around him makes him feel like they're being followed. He's been doing his best to ignore it, and focus instead on the sound of their breathing, and Momoshiro's annoying voice, and their footsteps over the ground, but now that they've stopped in this clearing and Momoshiro's stopped talking, Kaidoh's whole body feels alert and aware of everything around him.
He looks nervously at Momoshiro. Does he hear something? Or is he just messing with him? His eyes scan the trees that circle the open space they're standing in and something seems to slide across his frame of vision, an eerie shadow moving along with inhuman grace. Kaidoh gulps audibly, blinks, and looks out again into the trees, but the shadow is gone. Kaidoh must have imagined it … right?
"T-there's nothing out there," he says slowly, in a feeble attempt to reassure himself. So can they … keep moving now? Kaidoh doesn't really want to wait around here for the weird shadow thing to come back, but there's no way he's telling Momoshiro that he's worried about something as stupid as that.
"Hmm." Momoshiro squints his eyes, studying the the dark places between the trees with his flashlight. Where is Hazue? He's supposed to pop out now and run around. "You sure?" he says in a loud voice, loud enough for Hazue to hear it if he were there.
Maybe he got the place wrong, or perhaps Hazue is waiting at the next point instead.
He takes one more look around the circle of trees, before deciding that Hazue is indeed not there. "Hmm, I guess not then … well, onto the next checkpoint! Err, I mean, you know, back on track, hehe." Momoshiro bites his lips and wonders if Kaidoh knows by now that he's set him up to be scared or not.
After all, it's not a test of courage when no one is displaying any courage in the first place! And hey, who knows, maybe Kaidoh has enough courage to not run away the first time he'll see Ghost-Hazue. Or maybe he'll cry. If that happens, Momoshiro might just die laughing.
Momoshiro starts walking again, checking the map one more time to see if they're not straying off the path. Well, that might actually happen; it's not like Momoshiro drew the most detailed map of the jungle or anything ... just a few sticks to represent trees, and the dotted line going in swooshes and circles. Ah well, if they get lost, Hazue will help them. Maybe. If Hazue doesn't get lost. Oh crap—what if Hazue did get lost? And that's why he wasn't at the first checkpoint?
"Hey, uhm, Kaidoh. What would you do if something were to happen to Hazue-chan?" he asks a bit warily.
Kaidoh narrows his eyes at Momoshiro. "… Why? Did something happen to Hazue?" he asks, not sure what that has to do with anything. As far as Kaidoh knows, Momoshiro didn't drag his brother out in the jungle for some dumb test of courage, too, after all. No, he's pretty sure this treatment is reserved for him only.
Well, at least he only has to do it just this once. Kaidoh keeps walking alongside Momoshiro, still sticking close like glue, and not just because the hairs on the back of his neck are standing up straight and his palms are sweaty—which still doesn't mean he's scared! He also simply doesn't want to separate from him and end up lost. Because that would be annoying, as well as creepy. How can Momoshiro even tell where they're going in the dark like this. All the trees they pass just look the same to Kaidoh. They might as well be going in circles.
Momoshiro has one secret that he keeps from everyone else.
He's terrible at reading maps.
Not that he'll tell Kaidoh, and nor will he admit that he's off track—he's perfectly following the dotted line after all! Ugh, he should have tied ribbons to the trees or something. Anyways, they should still be close to the route, he thinks, they'll be fine. In the darkness of the night, perfectly fine.
"No, nothing happened. I hope. I think. I don't know. Do you know where he is?" Does Momoshiro know where they are? He shines his light on the map again; it's not very helpful. They should be coming across a cliff soon though. That's the next checkpoint. As long as they stumble upon that landmark, Momoshiro knows they're not lost.
Kaidoh shrugs. "As far as I know, he should be in his own hut, getting ready for bed," he says, since that's what most normal people would be doing at this hour and he didn't say he'd be doing something different. He guesses Hazue could be out training or something, but that's more wishful thinking than anything else, and Kaidoh has been doing his best to back off of his brother where running is concerned. If he wants to do it, then he'll do it. And if he doesn't … well, much as it puzzles Kaidoh why anyone wouldn't want to go running as much as possible, he'll be understanding.
"I hope you know where we're going," Kaidoh grumbles, changing the subject back to the task at hand. He glances over Momoshiro's shoulder at a paper that's kind of swinging in and out of his vision with the movement of the flashlight. He can't get a good look at it since Momoshiro's walking along and the flashlight isn't steady over the paper, but instead directed into the jungle ahead. Is that Momoshiro's map? Kaidoh can't understand it at all. It just looks like a bunch of dots to him. He hopes Momoshiro knows what they're doing and isn't just walking Kaidoh closer and closer into some ghost trap.
Actually, considering it's Momoshiro, that's probably exactly what he's hoping will happen.
Well, at least they're moving again, although Kaidoh keeps getting the eerie feeling that something is moving along with them. He glances over his shoulder and maybe it's his vision tricking him, but he swears he sees that weird gliding shadow thing in the trees behind them, like it's been following them along their path all along. He tugs on the sleeve of Momoshiro's jacket.
"How much longer?" he asks nervously. He can't really make out a facial expression on the shadow—or a face at all, for that matter—but if it's real, which Kaidoh would be dumb to believe it is, since he doesn't believe in ghosts in the first place. He isn't a stupid chicken like that … But if it's real, Kaidoh doesn't trust it to be in a good mood. Ghosts usually aren't.
"Dude, we've barely been out here for ten minutes," says Momoshiro. His eyes travel down his arm to where Kaidoh's fingers are still clutched to his jacket. Heh. He knew Kaidoh was going to grab it sooner or later. He looks back up at Kaidoh and smiles at him.
"Or are you scared or something?" he teases. Well, if Kaidoh knew that Hazue didn't show up at the first checkpoint, he might have had a point of being a little wary.
"Shut up," Kaidoh growls, dropping his hand immediately. "Of course, I'm not." He's grateful the darkness is helping to hide his now stupidly red face. He's not supposed to be acting all wimpy and freaked out. He has to pull himself together and stop being an idiot.
He lets out a dismissive huff, to show how casual and totally not scared he is. "It's just that this is kind of stupid," he says flatly.
Momoshiro huffs; this is not stupid at all. Doing any kind of activity with the great, super awesome Momo-chan is a delight in itself. Kaidoh should be happy he's spending time with him—and it's not like they're real ghosts! And just as he thinks that, something rustles up high in the tree close to him. He shines his flashlight at it to see what it is, just in case something was going to fall on top of his head if he walked under it. The beam of light falls on the green leaves, moving with the wind. Hmm, he's sure he heard something, oh well, back to his map.
"Are you saying it's stupid to walk here with me, huh?" Momoshiro says out loud. He jabs his elbow into Kaidoh's side. "Ass. If you didn't want to come you could have just stayed home." It's not like Momoshiro forced him to come or anything. He simply manipulated him, it's different!
Yeah right, like Kaidoh would have refused a challenge like this! He'd never live it down if he did … Not that he'll live it down either if he turns into a shivering scaredy cat out here because of a few shadows or weird noises. He's still doing his best to stay strong and keep that from happening.
"Whatever," he says. "Let's just keep going." He takes a step forward, walking a little ahead of Momoshiro this time, which turns out to be a mistake, because he's not the one carrying a flashlight, and knocks right into a tree branch and sends something horrifying and dark swooping down at his face.
It all seems to happen very quickly, and Kaidoh is caught completely off-guard. He splutters and squawks, his arms flailing around. "What the hell?!" he yells, his voice sounding choked and panicked. It's too dark to see, but whatever it is beats audibly at the air and makes a frantic, high-pitched squeaking noise. Then Momoshiro's flashlight swings around and Kaidoh catches a glimpse of wings. Huh? Is it a ghost? Oh god … Kaidoh really hopes it's not a ghost. He's too young to die.
But is that what ghosts are even supposed to sound like?
Kaidoh spins around and his eyes are caught in the beam of Momoshiro's flashlight so he's temporarily blinded and probably looks like a deer in the headlights, his face a wash of shock and horror. He throws his hand in front of his face to shield his gaze and then his expression changes into a grimace as he sees something small and dark flutter between them, looking suddenly a lot less ghost-like and a lot more like a common bat.
"Heh … just a bat," says Momoshiro, a bit out of breath. That scared him too, well, not scared him, but made him jump a little. It's a reflex! You can't control reflexes. At least he didn't think it was a ghost or anything like Kaidoh probably did.
Seeing Kaidoh's scared face, he snorts a little, then changes the direction of his flashlight. "Moron, just stick close to me this time, don't walk in front."
This time, Kaidoh seems to listen, sticking close to Momoshiro, as if they're glued together by this invisible force. Momoshiro doesn't mind—there's been a lot of things lately he hasn't mind about Kaidoh. The closer they are, the better, he thinks. Maybe he can like, pretend to save Kaidoh from ghost-Hazue, and then Kaidoh will be so grateful to him—to the point of tears—that he'll cook for him every day. Or something. Oh yes, Mamushi cooking for him sounds good. And Momoshiro gets to act like a hero, it's a win-win situation! For him anyway. And hey, Kaidoh did say he needed to do something to earn that medal …
When they approach the second checkpoint, the large cliff (or large block of dirt intersecting their path, really) hidden between all the trees, Momoshiro throws his arm around Kaidoh's shoulders.
"Don't worry Kaoru-chan, I'll protect you if anything happens," boasts Momoshiro. Now this is Hazue's cue to come out and scare Kaidoh.
Kaidoh shrugs out of Momoshiro's arm and glares at him. "I'm not going to need—" he starts to say, but stops when he hears a low, ghostly moan coming from somewhere up on that cliff. Kaidoh freezes and throws a wild, nervous glance at Momoshiro, because this time, Kaidoh is pretty sure that wasn't all in his head.
As if to confirm Kaidoh's worst fears, the voice wafts through the air again like it's being carried closer by some unknown force. Whooooo, it seems to say, like it's demanding to know who these two intruders are. Kaidoh really doesn't want to stick around and give it time to find out, but he feels rooted to the ground, totally petrified.
Then a branch snaps, and another, until the whole cliff sounds like it's alive with eerie cracking sounds. It doesn't take more than one for Kaidoh to practically jump out of his skin and grab for Momoshiro's hand in the dark, gripping it like his life depends on it—at the moment, he feels like it kind of does. He doesn't know what he thinks Momoshiro to do … magically transform into a ghostbuster and destroy whatever the hell is up there?
Well, whatever effort he'd make, it would be better than what Kaidoh can manage at the moment. So much for not freaking out.
While Kaidoh might be scared out of his mind, Momoshiro on the other hand is brimming with the satisfaction of getting Kaidoh to hold onto him. Or well, hold his hand—either works. Except it's slowly starting to turn into torture, because wow, Kaidoh's got a really strong grip on his hand! It's starting to cut off his blood circulation!
Momoshiro shakes his hand a bit to get Kaidoh's attention. "Come on, I said I'd protect you, right? Whatever is making those sounds up there won't be able to hurt you." But Kaidoh is kind of hurting Momoshiro right now. At least he knows Hazue is doing a fine good job at scaring Kaidoh, it's pretty fun. They should do this more often.
"Alright, let's go onward then!" Momoshiro exclaims loudly so Hazue can hear as well. He tugs Kaidoh along, who clings to him like a magnet, being unable to separate from him all of the sudden. Momoshiro twists and turns his hand around until Kaidoh's grip slowly loosens on it, and he can get comfortable again. He wraps his own fingers around the palm of Kaidoh's hand and now they're here; two guys in the dark, holding hands with each other.
Not that Momoshiro will complain; he's having a blast.
He better get a medal for this.
The next checkpoint is somewhere along the river. Momoshiro thinks that the sound of the river flowing along the jungle, in the middle of the night, can sound quite eery. Not to mention make everything misty looking. And soon enough, they do start seeing mist cling around the trees, covering everything like a milky white blanket. The crickets stop making sounds up till this part, and he can only hear a faint buzzing—those might be dragonflies near the river. The fog is pretty thick though, and Momoshiro's flashlight isn't really doing much aside from giving them visibility for about 3 meters in front of them.
The river should be somewhere along here … Momoshiro hopes. He gives Kaidoh a reassuring squeeze when he feels him tense up.
"What are you so scared of huh, you've been here before," says Momoshiro with a chuckle. "It's the same as during the day!"
"I told you I'm not scared!" Kaidoh growls, and then defensively adds, "And anyway, it's not the same!" As though the time of day is to blame for making his pulse beat nervously. The dark is making everything seem unfamiliar and creepy. Kaidoh hardly recognizes where they are, and the mist certainly isn't helping. It just makes everything seem alive and oozing toward him. At least the ghost doesn't seem to have followed them this far. Or if it did, it's being awfully quiet about it.
That thought isn't really helping to calm Kaidoh's nerves. He doesn't like when things sneak up on him, and he tightens his hold on Momoshiro's hand, since that, at least, is something familiar.
His eyes flick back and forth, scanning the area around them, although he wishes he could be peering through his fingers as he does, because he's terrified that he'll suddenly spot something horrible out of the corner of his eye. In fact, he keeps scaring himself into shutting his eyes entirely, and just letting Momoshiro pull him along. But right now, there isn't anything out there. Or rather, it's hard to see much of anything at all. The jungle feels still around them, save for the gathering fog.
Kaidoh is very aware of how loud his own breathing suddenly sounds, and the way his shoes trudge into the ground and crackle over fallen leaves. He might as well have a blinking neon beacon over his head, alerting all supernatural forces in the vicinity of his presence.
"Where are we anyway?" he asks, feeling a little stupid, since Momoshiro is acting like Kaidoh should know. It's not his fault he's spent half the walk squeezing his eyes shut. But he can vaguely hear running water somewhere nearby. "Is that the river?"
"Yeah, should be anyway." Momoshiro is secretly glad they're still on track. It's kind of hard to focus when he can't see a damn thing, and Kaidoh is being so clingy—not that he minds, but it doesn't help him concentrate on the task at hand when Kaidoh is, well, holding his hand.
They keep walking towards the sound or running water, eerily dampened by the fog around them. This could be a horror movie with all this damn fog around, and Momoshiro is starting to think someone bought a smoke machine and turned it on. Not that there are any of those machines here on the island …but it's still a lot! He narrows his eyes, feeling the tips of his eyelashes covered in small drops of water now.
"Well, come on, the river's on our route, which means we're halfway there, aren't you glad?" Momoshiro snickers a bit; it's so easy to scare Kaidoh. Kaidoh grumbles a bit, but doesn't seem to be concerned about talking all that much. Instead they keep walking together in silence, both of them able to hear their own breath intakes loud and clear. It's kind of chilly in this fog, even with Momoshiro's jacket on.
"Hey, aren't you cold?" Momoshiro looks down at Kaidoh's arm. "You've got goosebumps."
Kaidoh wants to point out that the goosebumps are not entirely due to the cold, but that would mean admitting he's scared. And he's still trying his best to avoid doing that, despite all his physical reactions to the contrary.
"I'm fine," he says gruffly, although that's kind of a relative term at this point. Well, he's fine if fine means he hasn't run screaming out of the jungle yet. As long as Momoshiro doesn't let go, Kaidoh should be okay. It would be kind of hard to run unless Momoshiro gets scared and decides to run with him, which doesn't seem likely. Momoshiro seems fine with this, more or less unfazed by all the creepy surroundings. It's annoying.
Soon the trees thin out and the river comes fully into view, glistening in the night like a silver trail cutting through the earth. The movement makes Kaidoh freeze for a second, his fingers squeezing around Momoshiro's, until he realizes it's just the water, and then he hisses, frustrated with himself for being frightened by basically everything at this point.
He tries to relax again because, at face value, the scene is actually kind of peaceful. The ground is misty and the river is sparkling through the center of it. It's kind of hard for Kaidoh to find it relaxing though, since he's still thinking about those haunting sounds and shadows from before. He nudges against Momoshiro's side, like he's trying to make Momoshiro take the lead, in case there's an angry water ghost waiting for them.
"It's just the river," says Momoshiro. But he walks towards it anyway, gently pulling Kaidoh along. He really is helpless when it comes to the dark and the unknown. Hell, it didn't even need to be Halloween today, Kaidoh would be scared regardless.
Not that Momoshiro minds taking the role as the hero. He's so awesome, nothing fazes him, and Kaidoh needs to rely on someone as big and strong as him. Momoshiro chuckles underneath his breath, completely full of himself. This night should go on forever in his opinion. He still needs a picture of Kaidoh looking scared though.
Anyways, Hazue is supposed to show up here, if everything went well. He hopes Hazue can see through this fog, it's not like he's really using his own flashlight—Momoshiro hasn't noticed any other lights besides his own. Maybe he decided not to use it, so that he can hide better in the shadows of the dark. What a stealthy dude. Kaidoh should be taking notes from his younger brother, especially when it comes to being brave and not scared. What a useless snake. Momoshiro shakes his head and pulls on Kaidoh's hand again.
"See, nothing sca—"
Splash. Splash. Splash.
Suddenly they can hear something, or someone, wading quickly through the water, making splashing noises everywhere. Momoshiro sees the ripples of the water, but can't see anyone up ahead at all. This mist is just too damn thick!
"What the fuck is that?!" Kaidoh sputters, and plasters himself to Momoshiro's side like he's trying to shield himself from an incoming attack. The splashing continues, drawing closer and closer, getting louder and louder, and Kaidoh is pretty sure his heart is going to pound its way right out of his chest—
And then, just as abruptly as it started, the splashing stops.
For a moment, Kaidoh's too scared to move and can't do anything but stick to Momoshiro like a wimpy glob. A shiver creeps up the back of his neck and he lets out a low, terrified sound, almost like a whimper, and squeezes his eyes shut because this is usually the part in scary stories where the ghost suddenly appears right in front of your face. But when another second passes and nothing happens, he slowly opens his eyes again and … there's nothing there. It's completely silent again save for the sound of running water.
Maybe it was some kind of animal, the logical part of Kaidoh's brain suggests. But the rest of Kaidoh doesn't believe for a second that it was an animal. Or that it was even alive at all. He shudders and looks over at Momoshiro for some kind of reassurance. Well, he doesn't have to look that far since he's now squished against him.
That's kind of embarrassing. Kaidoh pries himself away from Momoshiro's side and looks awkwardly at his feet. "That was …" he starts to say, and tries to find a word to end the sentence with that isn't "terrifying". "Weird," he finishes.
Weird. Indeed, there's a pretty weird look on Momoshiro's face right now. It's a cross between a smug smile, a smirk and a 'you're so stupid' look. At least Momoshiro is enjoying this; Hazue is doing a pretty good job of scaring Kaidoh! He'll have to do some sort of favour for him in return later, like maybe get him out of training with Kaidoh for a day, or two. Too bad he didn't stick around long enough for Momoshiro to heroically dash towards the ghost and bash its head in to protect Kaidoh.
"Right …" Momoshiro clasps his fingers firmly around Kaidoh's hand and pulls him in close. "Now stick close to me, unless you want the water monster to come get you."
"Shut up," Kaidoh grumbles, glaring at Momoshiro. "I didn't think anything was actually going to happen." That's a blatant lie, and they both know it, but Kaidoh feels the need to say it anyway. He glances warily in the direction of the river, which is still quiet. But something was there. There's no way both of them were hearing things. The burning question on Kaidoh's mind is, where the hell is it now? Hopefully not right behind him. Cautiously, he cranes his neck a bit so he can look back over his shoulder. Nothing there but more darkness. It makes Kaidoh shiver. Stupid jungle.
"Will it make you feel better if you get a medal awarded at the end for going through all of this?" asks Momoshiro. Everyone wants a medal, right? It should spur Kaidoh on to be more brave, he thinks. If Kaidoh thinks everyone likes running, then Momoshiro can think everyone likes shiny objects.
"Besides, it's not like we're going to die here, or something, that'd be stupid." Momoshiro snorts. "And next time something happens again, I'll just whack it over the head with my flashlight—take that water monster! Haha!" Momoshiro swings his flashlight from left to right like a sword, almost hitting Kaidoh in the process.
"Asshole, you're going to whack me over the head if you're not careful," Kaidoh growls, elbowing Momoshiro roughly in the side. "And I kind of doubt a flashlight can kill a monster …" he adds skeptically. Then he realizes what he's even arguing about, and how dumb it is, and amends his statement with, "… not that monsters even exist in the first place. That's stupid."
He huffs grouchily. Of course monsters aren't real. And ghosts aren't either. And everything that's happened so far tonight must have a perfectly logical explanation. Kaidoh knows this, but even so, he's having trouble convincing himself that it's true. Just the air is giving him a creepy bone-chilling feeling that has nothing to do with the weather.
He tugs Momoshiro's hand towards him and curls his fingers more tightly against Momoshiro's own. "But yeah, whatever," he says with a dismissive shrug, "if something comes again, you're welcome to try and fight it." So I won't have to.
"Glad to see you're depending on me, Mamushi," teases Momoshiro. "Just leave any imaginary monsters to me, I'll be your hero." He bites his lip and shakes his head; that sounds stupid. "I mean, I'll be a hero. Right."
Kaidoh rolls his eyes. "Moron," he says, but feels his pulse calm down a little at Momoshiro's words. At least one of them is confident right now. Maybe a little over-confident, but Kaidoh's used to that from Momoshiro.
"So where are we supposed to go next?" he asks, hoping it's some place less drenched in fog.
Momoshiro looks down on his cool map. The next checkpoint seems to be a big black pit. Oh wait, that's just a marker stain. Uhh. What was behind that stain again? Something about a formation of rocks, he knows that. He thinks. Or maybe it was the big scary tree he found a while ago? Ah crap he forgot the order!
"Forwards, I guess?" says Momoshiro, a bit unsure. He then points to his left, shining the flashlight into that direction. "That way." He pulls on Kaidoh again so he can move with him. "We're already halfway there, not much left to see." Aside from a big scary tree. If they ever get to that part, that is. Momoshiro doesn't know which one comes first; it seems he managed to smudge out the ink every time he folded the paper and stuffed it back into his pocket. Well, he'll just have to wing it! What's the worst thing that could happen?
"Good," Kaidoh says. To be honest, he thinks he's seen quite enough already, thank you very much. But he's come this far, so he might as well stick it out until the end. Maybe he can still recover some of his dignity and prove that he's not a coward after all. He's ignoring the fact that he's still got a bit of a death grip on Momoshiro's hand, because that doesn't count as being scared. Although if he's just holding Momoshiro's hand for the hell of it, then that might seem even weirder.
Whatever, he's not really in a clear state of mind right now, he can't be held accountable for his actions.
They weave their way away from the river and back into the thick of the jungle, and Kaidoh is both relieved and nervous again, because at least they're out of the creepy mist, but they're headed towards unknown territory instead, and Kaidoh doesn't really trust what he doesn't know. Especially when it's this dark out. Even Momoshiro doesn't seem entirely sure where they're going. He keeps changing course and correcting himself, so Kaidoh really has no clue what direction they're headed in at this point. He wonders if Momoshiro is messing with him, if this is some confusion tactic to try and make Kaidoh more freaked out. Well, if it is, it's sort of working, much to Kaidoh's annoyance.
He really hopes Momoshiro isn't just lost, because Kaidoh's been too busy nervously scanning the trees for signs of ghosts to remember the way they came. He has no idea how to get back to the beach from here.
To be completely honest, neither does Momoshiro.
He lost track of where they were after the river pretty much—that stain on his already inadequate map didn't help matters. Kaidoh's death grip on his hand is also quite distracting. But hey, he's been here loads of times, right? He should know the way, he doesn't need a stinky old pirate map. That he drew.
It was an awesome map though. Momoshiro folds it in half and stuffs it back into his pocket. He knows exactly where he's going.
It's a good thing they're holding hands, because Momoshiro steps on something slippery and almost slips up and falls down, but Kaidoh's got him. At least, that what should have happened, but instead he drags Kaidoh down with him with a loud yelp. This could have just been a silly mishap and they could laugh about it later, but Momoshiro choose the wrong spot to slip on something; on a hill.
It's dark and damp, and Momoshiro ends up eating a bunch of leaves as he rolls down the dirt hill, unable to stop himself from barrelling along like some big dumb rock. Kaidoh is right behind him, dangerously close. His flashlight is knocked out of his hand, and what feels like his last dying breath, because he gets punched in the stomach by Kaidoh's flying foot of doom. Momoshiro is gasping for breath when he finally comes to a grinding halt, running into some kind of tree.
He can't see, not much anyway, the flashlight it still somewhere on the hill, shining right into Momoshiro's eyes. He sits up straight and wants to look around for Kaidoh and ask if he's alright, but can hardly find the strength to utter his words as an evil shadow is cast along his feet. It's got long evil tentacles creeping over the fallen leaves of the jungle—no wait, those are just tree branches. Momoshiro looks up at the tree he hit on his way down.
It's the really scary evil tree. It's actually a dead willow tree (well, it looks dead to him), no leaves, and covered in jungle vines. It casts a truly awful shadow what with the angle of the flashlight right now. That's one way to get back on track, Momoshiro thinks. He snorts a bit, shrugging his shoulders.
"Hey Kaidoh, found the tree," he says without looking at the fallen snake. He's busy trying to see if Hazue is hiding somewhere around here.
Kaidoh feels like his head is spinning, and he's definitely going to end up with a couple bruises from that tumble, and there are leaves and grass wedged under his bandana and in his hair, but all of that seems unimportant when he finally looks up and sees where they've ended up. The tree looks like something straight out of a nightmare, and Kaidoh scrabbles backwards up the hill a bit, his breath hitching up in his throat.
What the hell, so Momoshiro was trying to find this thing? Why would anyone choose to come here? Kaidoh can't even try to hide the fear in his eyes. He has an excuse this time though: The tree is undeniably scary. Its shadows seem to reach out towards Kaidoh, and when the wind blows, even just slightly, the whole thing seems to lurch, like it's trying to pry itself out of the ground by its roots.
"G-great," he stutters, his voice sounding a bit hoarse. He doesn't really want to stick around this place. Kaidoh opens his mouth again to say as much, when suddenly Momoshiro's flashlight, which is still halfway up the hill, starts flickering wildly, not like the batteries are dying, but like someone—or something—is systematically switching it on and off. Kaidoh whirls around but he can't see much in the darkness, just a beam of light cast towards the tree that keeps blinking. On. Off. On again.
Kaidoh's whole body shivers and he inches down the hill again, away from the demonically possessed flashlight and towards Momoshiro.
And then, the light clicks of entirely, and stays off, and Kaidoh holds his breath for what seems like forever—but what is actually no more than twenty seconds or so—halfway convinced he's about to be sucked into the underworld. His hand fumbles forward in the dark and he feels his fingers swipe across Momoshiro's nose, which is not really what he was going for, but he's glad to know Momoshiro's still there at least, that no ghosts got him yet.
When the light comes back on again, all the air leaves Kaidoh's lungs in a giant sigh of relief. That was … weird. There must be some kind of explanation, one that doesn't involve ghosts, but Kaidoh is too shaken up to think about what that might be.
"Kaidoh … You can let go of my face now," grumbles Momoshiro. He'd been stabbed in the eye earlier, and now Kaidoh's fingers are still clutching his face.
"Oh." Kaidoh's fingers quickly recoil and he looks down at the ground like he's trying to come up with a good excuse for why they were clinging to Momoshiro's face, but everything he can think of just sounds embarrassing. "Uh …" Yeah, that's articulate.
"Go for the hand, not the eyes, dude." Momoshiro shakes his head a little bit. Though he had to be honest with himself; that was pretty scary when the flashlight started turning on and off. If he hadn't known Hazue was going to be in on this, he might have jumped in Kaidoh's arms himself.
"Wonder what's wrong with the flashlight though, think the battery is dying?" Momoshiro asks, already knowing it was Hazue who did it. That kid sure plays a good ghost.
Kaidoh scowls. "It better not be," he says firmly, like that'll make it true. "I'm not walking back in the dark." That part is true, or will be, if the flashlight really does go dead, because Kaidoh would probably be too petrified to walk anywhere in pitch black darkness.
"Well, I can just leave you behind and go back alone, you know," Momoshiro suggests.
"I'll kill you if you do that," Kaidoh replies with a glare. That is, if the ghosts don't get him first.
"Really … you sure you're able to do that if you're shaking too much to be able to move?" Momoshiro is having fun with this. He walks past Kaidoh to go and retrieve the flashlight.
Kaidoh hisses. "I can move, dumbass!" he protests, his expression turning sour. He takes a step closer to the giant, creepy tree as if to demonstrate just how not scared he is. It kind of backfires on him though when his foot catches over a root and he stumbles, sputtering and cursing, his eyes wide and all the color draining from his face like he'd been grabbed by some phantom hand in the ground instead.
"Stupid tree," he mutters.
Momoshiro snickers. "Big bad Kaoru-chan owned by a tree. Nice. I can see how you'd kill me." He bends down and swoops up the flashlight again, and flicks the light in Kaidoh's face for a bit, before he shines it on the ground.
Then he holds his other hand out to Kaidoh, beckoning him. "Well come on, you don't really want to stay behind, right?"
Kaidoh grouchily trudges up the hill to reach Momoshiro, throwing an annoyed glare back at the tree when he does, as if to say, Hmph, you're not that scary.
Once they're side by side again, Kaidoh huffs, trying to distract from the fact that his fingers are already reaching out to curl around Momoshiro's hand again. This time there isn't even some creepy shadow out there making him jump. No, he doesn't really have a good excuse, he just feels more comfortable like this. He'd probably argue that, objectively, it's better for them to not separate, since it's dark out. Yeah. That sounds like a good reason.
"That's it," says Momoshiro in an encouraging voice. As if he were talking to a dog who had its tail between its legs. "Now stick close, and uhh, try to not fall down with me, ok? Your foot really hit me hard in my stomach … I might just throw up later." Momoshiro would rather not throw up his lovely french fries dinner.
"Yeah well, then try not to fall in the first place," Kaidoh grumbles matter-of-factly, as though it's Momoshiro's fault for not being able to see where he's stepping in the dark, even though just seconds ago Kaidoh had himself been tripping over a tree root. Then he looks down at the ground and adds in a smaller voice, "But uh, sorry for that. I guess."
Momoshiro's grouchy look transforms into a smile; Kaidoh apologized. Wow. Without even asking for it.
This really is Halloween … strange things are happening. They're even holding hands as if it's not weird or strange at all. No, it feels comforting, actually—Momoshiro likes being the protector. The hero. Kaidoh's hero. Hehe. That's got a nice ring to it. Kaidoh can go and hold his hand like a little wimp, while being very agreeable, and Momoshiro will make sure nothing happens to him (not that there's any real danger here).
"... It's okay." He smiles a little bit too happily at Kaidoh as he squeezes his hand. "Ready to see the last checkpoint? Uhh. I mean landmark, or whatever. Yeah. Then we'd be almost home. It's been like forty minutes right now, I've actually gotten sort of hungry. Do you think we can make some french fries again? They were seriously delicious. And maybe we can carve out some of those mangos into those pumpkin things they do in America, just because. I don't know what they're called, but it has a monster face carved on it. Well, I guess you wouldn't like that, how about a kitty face on it then? And then we add a candle inside, and tada; kitty light! It will protect you from the monsters!" Momoshiro laughs at his own wacky train of thought.
"I don't need anything to protect me from monsters!" Kaidoh gripes. "Don't be stupid, I know they're not real."
Knowing and believing are two slightly different things, though. And while Kaidoh has never actually seen any kind of scientific proof of ghosts or monsters—not that he'd put much effort into seeking out that sort of thing, that would be creepy—he's also never seen anything to the contrary, and something must be giving him all these goosebumps and chills. He can't just be imagining it, because that would make him a pathetic coward who gets scared of jungle noises and the dark, and wouldn't that be stupid.
Whatever. He doesn't really want to talk about what he is or isn't scared of, so instead he swings their arms, knocking the back of his hand against Momoshiro's stomach. "And how can you be hungry this late?" he asks, although what he really means is, How can you think about food when a ghost might leap out at us at any second?
Momoshiro gives him this deadpan look. "When am I ever not hungry?" Isn't it always a given Momoshiro is hungry, constantly?
"Dumbass," Kaidoh replies, but he doesn't sound like he means it. "Fine, we can find something for you to eat when we get back so I won't have to go to sleep listening to your stomach growling."
Momoshiro pushes his head against Kaidoh's shoulder. "Hmm, and will you feed it to me?" he teases.
"You can feed yourself, idiot," Kaidoh grumbles, shrugging his shoulders to knock Momoshiro off him. He's already walking all around the dark and creepy jungle because Momoshiro asked him to, isn't that enough?
"Alright, I'm fine with you just making a late night dinner for me then." Momoshiro snickers; he knows which buttons to push to get Kaidoh to feed him—which is always a fun idea, in his opinion. "But let's head back first, which is uhhh." Momoshiro looks around, then point his flashlight at the tree. "That direction, towards the ocean!"
Truth be told, Momoshiro has one more checkpoint, but he has no idea where that is anymore. He's just going by the sounds of the ocean waves right now, and if he listens closely, he can hear it, so he knows which way to go at least. He hopes Hazue will head home as well. He'll continue putting up a front so that Kaidoh won't freak out about getting lost. Though that would be kind of funny to see. Instead, he just guides Kaidoh around the big scary willow tree, and he sees Kaidoh twitch and jerk away whenever a tree branch swings ominously in the wind. Now that's what he came for.
To see Kaidoh jumping away at every little thing. Not to hold his hand. Though that's kind of nice as well. If only Kaidoh would sweat less and ease on his death grip, that is. There's a little too much perspiration trapped between their clammy hands, and it's not Momoshiro's fault! No, he's being calm and not scared at all.
Momoshiro swings their hands between them in a joyful manner. "You will make me a late night dinner, right? I'll help peel the potatoes, I guess."
Kaidoh hisses. "Fine," he sighs, sounding put upon and completely unenthusiastic about the idea. Which is, well, not all that different from how he sounds the rest of the time anyway.
He lets Momoshiro take the lead, blazing their way back towards the beach, since Kaidoh doesn't trust himself to know where he's going. He doesn't trust the jungle either—not right now, anyway—but he can kind of hear the ocean sounds growing louder as they walk, and that's reassuring, as though the sand will be some kind of force field that the ghosts and monsters won't be able to break through. If they can just get back there before they're followed …
Kaidoh steals another glance over his shoulder, just to check, but it's just black behind him. He can't even see that giant scary tree anymore, and can't decide if that's comforting or creepy. He squeezes Momoshiro's hand, not even thinking about how later he'll probably feel embarrassed about it, because right now it seems like the only thing that makes sense to do.
The trees start to thin out as it becomes brighter and brighter the longer they walk; they're getting towards the beach. Momoshiro can feel the dirt slowly transform into sand right beneath his feet, and the loud waves crashing ashore rings in his ears. Kaidoh should be happy; they didn't get completely lost. In fact, if Momoshiro's sense of direction is correct, then they should be right around …
"Hey look, it's the hammock!" Momoshiro exclaims.
Now that they're at the edge of the jungle, Momoshiro can see the low hanging palm tree curving over the beach, a white net stuffed with pillows hanging from it peacefully and undisturbed. He happily pulls Kaidoh with him as he starts to race towards it; at least he knows the way back home from here. They come out into the clearing of the beach, kicking up sand as they dash towards the hammock (well, Momoshiro is dashing, Kaidoh is stumbling along). He finally lets go of Kaidoh's hand when he reaches the net, and looks at it with a happy grin.
"Great, everything is still here, even the candles." Momoshiro stuffs his free hand into his pocket to pull out his Zippo lighter, which he's been using for months now. He stands on his tiptoes to unhook the empty bottles from the palm tree and flips them over so the half-way burnt candle falls out. He lights it and puts everything back—he does the same to the second one, so that now there's a nice warm glow around them. He clicks his flashlight out and turns to look at Kaidoh with a grin.
"We can rest here for a bit," says Momoshiro. Meaning to say, they should just chill out here together, alone, without Hazue watching. "Test of courage is over!" He holds his fist out to Kaidoh, waiting for Kaidoh's equally enthusiastic bump.
"Good," Kaidoh says, his voice thick with relief, and he knocks his fist against Momoshiro's. More like, thank god. Kaidoh isn't sure how much longer he'd have been able to last in there. The whole experience has left him a lot more shaken up than he'd like—well, he'd prefer to not be shaken up at all—so resting doesn't sound like such a bad idea.
"I'm getting a medal for this," says Momoshiro as he tries to climb on top of the fluffy pillows. "For protecting you, and all. You know?" he boasts.
Kaidoh huffs and looks at Momoshiro incredulously. "Yeah, but you're the one who dragged me out there in the first place," he points out. "Why should you get a medal for that?"
"Because I'm awesome, and you're still alive, I think that's a good reason for being awarded." Momoshiro topples over inside the netting, and tries to sit upright, or find a comfortable position at least. He ends up kicking his feet off at the end, and sit in it, staring at Kaidoh.
"Coming?" he asks.
Kaidoh makes a grumpy, disagreeable noise, like he's going to protest, but instead simply says, "Moron, move over a bit." He waits for Momoshiro to shift so he's not sitting dead center in the hammock, and then turns around and sits himself down amidst the fluffy pillows.
Immediately, the whole thing dips at the middle, their shared weight dragging both of them back towards each other, and it's a little hard to balance. Kaidoh's grateful that at least they're not falling out of it this time.
Momoshiro slides up against Kaidoh, not feeling weird or uncomfortable by this in the slightest. "So how about you? I guess since you made it all the way out here, you'd need an award or something too. You're not getting a medal from me though!"
"Whatever," Kaidoh says, rolling his eyes. "Not like I want one anyway." He's not fixated on shiny metal objects the way Momoshiro is. And he definitely doesn't need something to commemorate the night he had to wander around terrified in the jungle—although he'll argue adamantly that he wasn't terrified, or even scared, for that matter.
Maybe he was just having an allergic reaction to all the weird vegetation. Sure, sounds reasonable; he'll take whatever excuse he can get. And Momoshiro said it himself: Kaidoh did put up with the whole thing, even when it was taking every ounce of his willpower not to run off screaming. Not that Momoshiro would be able to know that.
"Why … did you think I wouldn't make it, moron?" Kaidoh asks testily.
"Uhh." Maybe. "Well it doesn't matter, since you came out in one piece. Sort of. So I'm getting a medal, right?"
Kaidoh gives Momoshiro a skeptical look. "You really want one, huh."
"Yes. Obviously. I wouldn't ask for one if I didn't want it, idiot."
"Fine."
"Great! But don't take forever, okay?"
"Don't tell me what to do," Kaidoh replies with a huff.
"Well, fine—I'm asking you not to take forever! Sheesh. As long as I get it, hehe. I want to hang it around my neck, and it should say Super Awesome Great Momo-chan Is The Best. And it should be gold. Or shiny at least. You got that? Maybe you can draw a peach on it as well, that'd be cool."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I got it." What, is Momoshiro trying to see how many words Kaidoh can squeeze on a medal or something? Kaidoh's afraid to ask because he's sure the idiot could come up with several other stupid adjectives to describe himself.
Momoshiro chuckles to himself, already excited at the prospect of wearing something shiny around his neck, created by Kaidoh, of all people! He moves his hands, that's wedged between their bodies, and his fingers stretch to cover Kaidoh's, which are right next to his own. He covers them entirely as he laughs again.
"Great, can't wait." Momoshiro turns to Kaidoh, still smiling happily. "It wasn't so bad, right? You got out and now you don't even seem to be scared anymore."
"Idiot, who says I was ever scared to begin with?!" Well, all the nerves in Kaidoh's body, for one.
Momoshiro simply continues to stare at Kaidoh, as if his eyes are saying 'of course I know you were scared, you can't hide it from me', but he keeps his happy little blabbermouth shut for now. Instead, he uses this closed mouth, to lean closer to Kaidoh, and give him a quick peck on the cheek. He pulls back immediately, fingers curling around Kaidoh's in an exciting way.
"That's your reward," Momoshiro says in what could be perceived as being bashful.
Kaidoh's cheeks heat up instantly like Momoshiro's lips have injected warmth into them, and he turns away, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Dumbass," he says quietly, but his fingers give Momoshiro's hand a soft squeeze.
"Happy Halloween, dumbass," says Momoshiro.