Chapter 8
"We're here!" Kakeru cried as he jumped off the bus and stretched his legs. Rin wasn't far behind him as she and the rest of the club barreled off the bus. It had been a long bus ride and she was relishing the fresh blood that was coursing through her sore legs.
They were only about a five minute walk to a small town that had a medium sized amusement park. Iwaki had already let them know that they could get one day to enjoy the park.
"The fresh air!" Rin inhaled deeply as she stretched her arms above her head. She exhaled in a rush and turned to look at the establishment that their coach had rented especially for them. Since they were such a large club, they had to rent an entire building.
The hotel they were staying in for the five days they would be there was a quaint place that looked well-kept. It was a small family owned building and was a popular tourist spot. Apparently, a lot of people enjoyed the chance to get away from the hectic hustle and bustle of the city.
From the front entrance, a middle aged woman and her husband appeared to greet their customers. Iwaki went to talk to them while the high schoolers roamed around the perimeter.
"Look, Nana! Fish!" Rin exclaimed as she knelt next to a shallow, natural pool.
The second girl leaned down next to her and peered in. To be sure, she saw a school of medium sized koi swimming around aimlessly.
"They look so cute!" Rin cooed. She loved all things cute.
Nana agreed. "They do have beautiful scales."
"Let me see!" Kakeru dropped to his knees next to him and looked at the fish. He dipped a finger slowly in the pool, making it ripple.
"Hey, you'll scare them off!" Araki warned as he stood over Kakeru's shoulder.
"I just want to touch one!" Kakeru protested as he inched his finger closer to the milling fish, trying not to make too many ripples.
Just as he got within a few inches of the closest fish, a white and orange one, it darted away, along with its brethren.
All the onlookers let out long sighs of frustration. "Fishies, come back!" Rin called to the fish who were huddled in the far corner of the pool.
"Guys! Let's go inside!" Iwaki called from the entrance. Everyone picked up their stuff and made for the door.
Inside, the place was simple, yet there was a sort of homeliness to the place that instantly made Rin feel like she had returned home.
Along the hallways, there were various painting and photographs of the natural landscape that surrounded the place. There were some pictures of the various types of wildlife that lived near the hotel as well.
Rin kept stopping to look at the pictures of the animals and almost lost her party many times.
"This will be the girl's room," the hostess said, stopping at a door. Nana opened it and gasped, along with the other female managers.
The room was very large and had beds arranged in a circle near the middle of the room. Above the beds, in the center of the circle hung a glass chandelier. The room itself was circular and had an even number of support beams near the outside of the circle of beds.
"This is so cool!" One of the managers exclaimed. The girls all crowded into the room and fluttered around in excitement. Rin followed, having been delayed by a photograph of a momma and baby deer drinking from a glittering pool in the forest.
She took the room in with a critical eye and then nodded to herself in satisfaction. It reminded her of a princess's room.
"Do we get rooms like this?!" Araki demanded as he and the boys closest to the door looked around in awe.
The hostess chuckled. "I'm sorry, but this is our best suite. The rest of you will have rooms of four. This way, please."
She turned away from the girls' room and headed down the hall again.
The boys' rooms were in a different part of the building since the girls' had the premium suite. It even had a Jacuzzi tub and a flat screen TV in the large entertainment center.
The males' rooms looked like ordinary hotel rooms with four beds and a bathroom.
Rin couldn't help but snicker at the difference in the rooms. She knew that being born a girl had its advantages.
Nana seemed to agree with her as the two of them teased Kakeru, Araki, Mako and Oda about it endlessly when the group sat down for dinner.
"So, what do you guys want to do tonight?" Rin asked as the rest of the boys and girls went to their rooms to finish their unpacking and getting ready for the intense training the next day.
"Well, we have to get early tomorrow, so why don't we play a quick card game and then go to bed?" Nana suggested. She looked at Kakeru who nodded in agreement.
"I have cards!" Rin said as she ducked into her room and return a few seconds later, brandishing a pack of cards.
The two girls, Kakeru, Araki, Mako, Oda, Kota, Kaoru and Takase went to the large sitting room and sat on the floor in a circle.
"What do we want to play?" Araki asked.
"Poker!" Rin yelled out.
"I don't know who to play poker," Kakeru said.
"Oh, then, what about Egyptian Rat-Killer?" She suggested instead.
"I've never heard of that game before," Mako said.
"Well, it's known by a few different names, but I saw taught as Egyptian Rat-Killer. My friend call it a different name," Rin shrugged. "What matters is, how to play."
She shuffled the cards and dished them out as she explained the game.
After she had explained the rules and how to play, as well as answering any questions, she waggled her eyebrows and said devilishly, "Watch your hands."
The game started relatively slow since most of them were still learning, but after a few rounds, the game began to pick up and become intense.
"Got it! That was mine!" Rin yelled at Araki. Their hands were both touching the card.
"No, you don't! I slapped it first!" He tugged the stack of cards towards himself, but she tugged back.
"It was Araki's win," Kakeru said timidly.
"No! I got it first! His hand is clearly on top!" Rin protested loudly. She pointed at the fact that his pinky finger was on top of her thumb.
Araki scoffed. "That doesn't mean anything. I got it first!"
"Just do rock-paper-scissors to determine the winner," Nana said as she watched the two with interest. They had really gotten into this game.
"Fine," they growled.
"ROCK, PAPER, SICSSORS, GO!" Rin yelled, fist behind her back. She whipped out rock while Araki presented scissors.
"No! Redo! Redo!" Araki cried as Rin gave a triumphant yell and pried his hand off the cards.
"Heh, heh, heh, foot fairy, these cards are mine!" She waved the stack in his face and he scowled at her.
The game went on with more scraps like the one Rin and Araki had gotten into. One was with Kakeru and Kaoru, surprisingly. Neither wanted to give up the cards as they also had to play a round of rock-paper-scissors.
Rin narrowed her eyes as she watched the other place their cards down and then her own. She was looking for that difficult to spot sandwich. She saw Araki put a 5 down and then Nana placed a 3 and then Kakeru slapped a 5 down on top of the other two.
Her hand shot out like lightning and slammed the floor loudly. She grinned evilly at Mako who had been a split second behind her.
"Hands off, kid. That slap was mine." Mako pouted, but withdrew his hand. Rin ignored the sting in her hand as she gathered the cards and brought them to her rather large pile. "I am so going to win this game," she smirked.
"Hmph, don't be too sure of that, yet!" Araki challenged. His stack of cards was about the same size as her own. Of the others, he had picked up the game the fastest. His reflexes were quite sharp, too.
"You are so on, pretty boy," Rin teased.
"Let's do this," he snipped back.
...
Rin threw herself onto her bed in despair. "I can't believe I lost!" She pulled her pillow over her face and thrashed back and forth in frustration. She had been winning, but then that brat had changed the tide and eventually won the game.
"Stupid Kaoru," she growled at the orange-haired first year. He had been holding out the entire game and then beat both Araki and herself at the end. She couldn't believe she had been played like that.
"He's cunning," she heard Nana say from the foot of her bed.
She took the pillow off her face and sighed, looking at the ceiling, absently.
"That was a good game, though," she admitted.
Nana smiled. "It was fun. Thanks for introducing it to us."
Rin grinned at her. "I play it all the time with my cousins. My older cousins introduced it to us one year at Christmas time. We've been hooked ever since." She rolled her eyes and sighed, "They also got us hooked on strip poker. I can't believe those two."
Nana stared at her with wide eyes. "Strip...poker?"
Rin nodded and rolled onto her stomach. "Yeah, I was...how old was I? I think I was thirteen when they suggested it. It's pretty fun, if you can get over the awkward part. Of course, our parents don't know." She smirked and winked at the blushing girl.
"You actually...play?" Nana asked in disbelief.
Rin shrugged. "It's not true strip poker, we do have limits. It's just fun because everyone tries their hardest not to have to strip. It's more challenging that way. We also play a lot of mercy." She grinned at the antics of her weird family when all the cousins gathered for family holidays. "At least I can say that we never have boring family get-togethers." She laughed out loud at the shocked look on Nana's face.
"You've never played any kind of games like that?"
Nana shook her head furiously.
"Wow, we also play a lot of drinking games. Of course, not with actual alcohol, just soda and fruit punch for me! We go through a lot of non-alcoholic fruit cocktails and Shirley Temples."
"H-how old are yo-your cousin...exactly?" Nana stammered.
"Well, I don't know about actual ages, but my family has three main age brackets. There are the older grandchildren, which are mostly in their late twenties, early thirties, then there's the middle grandchildren, which is the youngest is...hold on...fourteen and the oldest is twenty...four-five?" She couldn't be too sure of all her cousins' ages. She had a lot of cousins. "Then there are the younger grandchildren from newborns, to age eleven. They mostly play outside or their own games.
Nana nodded. "Wow. I don't have a lot of cousins."
Rin shrugged. "Well, my grandparents had a lot of children with a lot of time between them. It certainly makes family get-togethers fun, though, so I'm grateful and not complaining at all." She suddenly got off her bed and headed for the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower. Are you going to bed?"
Nana waved her on, "I'm going to take one in the morning. I'm going to bed."
"Good night then. Turn the lights, I have a flashlight so I don't bother you guys," she indicated the other girls.
"See you in the morning then."
Rin smiled and then closed the bathroom door.
I apologize for not updating, even though it is winter break. I'll try to finish this story with in a few chapters. For now, though...