Chapter 18: Camping Trip!

Daniel breathed in the air as he stood outside of his home, watching his father packing up their stuff into an RV his parents rented. He messed with his cap as his mother came over with a smile on her face.

"You ready for a weekend of fun?" She asked him, smiling brightly.

"Yeah, it's been a while since I've been camping," Daniel replied.

"It has, hasn't it? Well, this year your aunt is going to meet us there, and your friend, Haruhi and her father. Oh, it's going to be so much fun!" She exclaimed.

Daniel smiled at his mother's excitement before his father called them over. "Alright, everything's packed! Let's go pick up your friend." He told him as his mother hurried to the RV and climbed into the passenger seat.

Daniel hurried and climbed into the back as his father got into the driver's seat and started the vehicle before driving off.

They made it to the apartment buildings seeing Ranka and Haruhi waiting outside with some bags. Daniel let out a wave as his father got out of the RV to help.

"Hey, Haruhi." Daniel smiled as she got into the vehicle looking around in the RV.

"I never been in an RV, before." She commented before taking a seat next to Daniel.

"Yeah, neither have I. This is the first time we rented one out for camping. My aunt helped pay for it." Daniel told her.

"You've never really talked much about your aunt, what she's like?" Haruhi asked as this was going to be her first time meeting her.

Daniel let out a hum in response. "Well, Aunt Yua as you know owns her own bakery, where my dad is working with her now. She's a bit... Tough? I guess, she's a loud, outgoing, and bright person. I'm pretty sure she wrestled a bear one year." He told her making her sweatdrop.

"She sounds... Interesting." Haruhi commented before Ranka made his appearance.

"Oh! What a lovely RV! I can't believe I get to spend the whole weekend camping!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, it was nice of your family to invite us," Haruhi told him.

"No problem, you just have to not mind my friends being there," Daniel told her. As much as he wanted fewer people there, he knows he hasn't been hanging out with them as much as he should.

"I don't mind, they're tamer than the Host Club, especially with their lack of focus on me," Haruhi replied as they started driving.

"Yeah, they have similarities, but they're different people. They won't bother you unless if it's a group thing." Daniel smiled slightly.


It took an hour of driving time to get to the camping site. He could already see Jiro along with Hikari and Yuri helping set up while Riku was with his aunt.

The RV parked beside his aunt's RV and Ranka got out of the vehicle followed by Haruhi then Daniel. "Oh, this is so nice! Isn't it Haruhi?" Ranka asked his daughter.

"Daniel! You're here! Finally!" Jiro exclaimed running over and hugging him before letting go. "Now we have more hands to help set the tents up." Jiro grinned.

"Now why don't you boys hold on a second, I want to see my nephew!" His aunt, Yua said approaching them and giving Daniel a big bear hug lifting him off the ground. "My you gotten big." She told him as Daniel felt like he was being crushed.

"M-Miss you too, Aunty." Daniel gasped out before the woman let him go making him take deep breaths. "Aunt Yua, this is my friend Haruhi and her dad, Ranka." Daniel introduced them.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am," Haruhi replied.

"Yes, thank you for allowing us to come camping with you all. I haven't been on vacation in such a long time." Ranka said shaking Yua's hand.

"Of course, I've heard a lot of good things about you two. You're practically family now with those four." She smiled pointing back to Daniel's friends who were trying to set up the tents.

"So what part goes where again?" Jiro asked when he got back to the others holding poles.

"Just stick it somewhere, it'll be fine," Yuri told him.

Riku just let out a small sigh while holding the instruction booklet.

The only one who seemed to know what they were doing was Hikari who already set up the first tent. "Hey, Daniel, you want to see if this tent works?" Hikari asked.

Daniel shrugged and walked over and climbed into the tent with Hikari. "It's nice, you should probably help the others make their tents." Daniel chuckled.

"Probably, but I'll let them suffer for now. If things get worse I'm sure your aunt will jump in anyway. She's still as... Well, you know as to when we were kids." Hikari smiled softly.

"Yeah, I'm surprised there are still animals around with her here. She could intimidate a moose if there are any in Japan." Daniel told him.

Hikari chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I don't doubt that."

"Hey, there you guys are," Haruhi said opening the flap to the tent. "You really made this on your own, Hikari?" She asked.

"Yup, every year I go camping even if it's not with the others, my dads rent out a log cabin every year, but we always make a tent for those cool summer nights to just look at the stars" He replied with a soft smile.

"That sounds nice." Haruhi smiled. "The sky is always pretty when the stars are out."

"Well, this time you're with us to see them, the skies are clearer out here." Daniel smiled.

Haruhi nodded with a smile before looking back at Hikari, "You said dads, so you have more than one? What are they like?" She asked.

Hikari hummed. "Well, like every other family pretty much, as for specifics my father is my biological dad is a bit of a drinker, he's not much of a morning person, but he always makes sure to get up even with a hangover to spend time with us for breakfast that my dad or I make. As for my other dad, he's more energetic, he's a preschool teacher. They love each other very much."

"Do you have a mom, if that's not too sensitive of a question?" Haruhi asked.

"Technically yes, but no. She was a surrogate for my dads, I don't see her often. I would call her my aunt in my opinion. It's not the same with everyone.

"What about the other families?" Haruhi questioned, curious about Daniel's other friends.

"Yuri's parents, they are quite wealthy, but we don't consider him rich like the people in Ouran, he has just a mom and dad. Riku has only one parent too, but it's his mom. For Jiro, I never met his parents... No one has, he refuses to talk about them so I don't know." Daniel told her.

"Why doesn't Jiro talk about his parents?" Haruhi asked with a slightly curious frown.

Hikari was about to answer before a horn was heard. "HARUHI, DANIEL, WE'RE HERE TO SAVE YOU!"

"Oh no." Daniel groaned as Haruhi laid her head on the tent ground in defeat.


"My my my, you have quite the group of friends, Daniel." Yua chuckled as Daniel and Haruhi were standing next to her, both just done with everything.

"So you actually sleep outdoors in these small tents?" The twins asked looking at the tents.

"Yeah, we use sleeping bags that you zip up and it keeps you warm." Jiro grinned as he showed the others around their campsite.

"What if bears come and attack you guys!?" Honey asked frightened.

"We'll leave that to Aunt Yua." Jiro said and waved at Daniel's aunt.

She chuckled and walked over. "Yup, nothings coming and attacking us when I'm here." She chuckled as the hosts just looked at the short, plump woman.

"Really?"

"How?" The twins asked.

"My aunt is tougher than she looks, she wrestled a bear when we were younger." Daniel told them making them sweatdrop.

"Yup, that beast expected a meal but I taught it a lesson, yes I did!" She boasted proudly. "I used to be a sumo wrestler back in my golden days."

"How did you go from a sumo wrestler to a baker?" Tamaki asked thinking about it too much.

"That's a simple answer, my father. He was getting old and the business wasn't being handled as much so I stepped in and took care of it. I couldn't let my brother do so when he and his at the time wife were going to have Daniel."

"Wait, what do you mean? Isn't that Daniel's mother?" Haruhi questioned looking over at Daniel's mother who was talking with Ranka.

"Well, of course she's my mom, she's just not my biological one." Daniel replied slightly, looking away.

The others were shocked to hear this. "Not your biological one!?" The twins and Tamaki exclaimed.

"What happened to your real mom?" They asked Daniel but Daniel looked a little uncomfortable and upset to answer.

Yua stepped in though. "She died when Daniel was eight. We don't talk about it much and we prefer to not make a big show of it." She told them before clapping her hands together. "Now, enough talk about it, you boys want to learn the ropes to camping?" She asked with a grin.

"Yeah!" The hosts cheered while Haruhi looked over at Daniel who seemed to be down.

"Hey, you alright?" She asked him softly.

Daniel snapped out of his thoughts and smiled at her. "Yeah, just didn't expect to talk about my mom like this."

"Well, you seem happy with your other mom."

"Yeah, she's great, I do consider her my mom, just she'll never be my mom you know." He told her making her nod.

"I miss my mom too." She told him making Daniel smile softly.


"People actually do this for fun?" Hikaru asked as he, Honey, and Mori were sitting on a tree trunk with Daniel each of them holding a fishing pole.

"Yeah, it's surprising I know," Daniel said sarcastically making Hikaru narrow his eyes at him.

Hikaru let out a bored sigh as he held his own line. He glanced over seeing the others spread out with the others, Kaoru with Haruhi, Jiro with Daniel's dad. In another direction was Tamaki, Kyoya, Yuri, and Riku with Daniel's aunt.

"This is so boring." Hikaru yawned stretching. "When will the fish come?"

"You have to be patient. You can't just snap your fingers and they'll appear. You have to work for it." Daniel replied watching the water. "Besides, fishing is relaxing." He told him smiling and taking in the scenery. "Don't you think so?" Daniel asked looking over at Hikaru.

Hikaru was just looking at him when Daniel looked at him and asked him that question. He blinked and shook his head. "I guess..." He replied looking at the water and glancing over at Daniel a couple of times.

"Hikaru, your line!" Daniel exclaimed snapping Hikaru from his thoughts and noticed his fishing pole was being tugged. Hikaru panicked.

"What do I do!?" He exclaimed.

"Turn the reel and reel it in." Daniel told him as Hikaru immediately started reeling it in quickly. "Wait, not that fast!" Daniel exclaimed when Hikaru tugged his fishing pole back making the fish get out of the water and hit a tree behind them.

"I did it!" Hikaru laughed as he stood up.

"Good job, Hika-chan!" Honey told him as Daniel got up and went to the fish with a wince.

"We're not putting that fish back." Daniel muttered as the fish wasn't even moving making him sigh and pick it up.

"Wait, you're picking it up!?" Hikaru exclaimed.

"Duh, you have to, it's pretty big we're going to have some fish. You did good for your first time." Daniel smiled as Hikaru felt his face heat up.

"Thanks." The twin replied looking away not sure why he was feeling like this now.


Later that night everyone was surrounding the campfire having a good time chatting. Aunt Yua was showing off her skills, picking up a pile of logs with ease to the Hosts amazement.

"I think your aunt likes them." Hikari chuckled watching Aunt Yua show off.

Daniel chuckled. "Yeah, my aunt's a jack of all trades." He joked.

Haruhi came over and sat next to them. "I can only imagine what she was like when she was younger." She sighed as they looked back over seeing Daniel's aunt picking up Mori as Honey clapped with Tamaki, Riku, and Jiro. They could only sweatdrop at the scene.

"Well everyone's having fun so that's all that matters, right?" Hikari said with a slight smile.

Daniel smiled, yeah." He replied relaxing.

Meanwhile Hikaru could only watch from the side. "You've been staring at Daniel for awhile now, what cha thinking about?" Kaoru asked Hikaru as he sat next to his brother.

"I... I don't know, it just... Ugh, I don't know. It's just I can't stop. Everytime I see him smile it makes me feel weird. Especially when he smiles at me. I can feel my heart practically beat out of my chest at the thought." Hikaru told him putting a hand to his chest.

Kaoru smiled and chuckled. "Really?" He asked.

"It's not funny, Kaoru, I'm seriously confused. I never felt like this before." Hikaru frowned and laid his head in his hands.

"Alright, how about this, imagine Daniel saying 'I love you' to you." Kaoru said making Hikaru's face turn red and hide his face more. Kaoru smiled more not needing Hikaru to answer as he kept hiding his face more and more trying to disappear.

"Hikaru are you alright?" Daniel asked making Hikaru jump and fall back off his seat.

"YES! I'm alright! Everything's fine, I'm fine!" Hikaru exclaimed.

"Are you sure?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, you're acting unusual." Haruhi added coming over.

"I'm fine! Leave me alone, I'm going to bed!" Hikaru said getting up and heading to one of the tents and closing himself in one.

Daniel blinked and looked at Kaoru who looked like he was close to laughing. "I better go after him." Kaoru chuckled slightly and got up. "Don't worry." He told Daniel smiling before following after his brother.

Eventually the others noticed that the twins were gone. "Hey, what happened to Hikaru and Kaoru? They're going to miss the smores." Tamaki asked looking around.

"They're in a tent, I think they're going to bed early." Daniel told him.

"That's no fun." Jiro pouted.

"It's been a long day I don't blame them." Yuri huffed as he held a stick with a marshmallow on it over the fire, showing Honey how to do it as the small blonde copied him with Mori.

"I think after smores we should all head to bed." Daniel's father told them.

"Yes, we have a busy day tomorrow if we want to get home in time." Ranka agreed to the dismay of the others.


HIkaru felt bad for staying in the tent and having his brother with him as he watched the others have fun and make smores.

"There's still time, we can go and join them." Kaoru told him.

"I... I'm staying here, you can go. I need time alone." He told his brother.

Kaoru let out a sigh. "Alright, but you know, it's okay that you like Daniel you know." He told him before going out to join the others.

Hikaru sighed and laid back on the sleeping bag. 'I hate feelings. I can't like Daniel, even though every time I see him it makes me want to go up to him and kis- No stop that!' He mentally argued with himself covering his face with a pillow. 'This sucks.' Hikaru thought and groaned.


Reviews:

From Quotev:

Ichimatsu Is Bae: Poor Haruhi and Daniel, they just wanted a peaceful day and they had to get roped into host club shenanigans again.

Just another day for them, lol

From Fanfiction:

Shinmei33: I really enjoy the story. 3 I look forward to the next chapter.

I'm glad you enjoyed the story! Hopefully, you'll like the next chapter too.

From Archive of Our Own:

soobyunvie: it's kinda funny to see how haruhi was mistaken for a boy when she's actually a girl and daniel getting mistaken by a girl when he's actually a boy, idk it's curious...
so far ive enjoying the story! i can see this will have the sense of the anime in being a kinda comedic style/slice of life, probably will have the dramatic and sad moments but im prepared and excited for it!

I'm glad you like my story! Yeah it is kinda funny how that works with them not knowing who's a girl or who's a boy at first, lol

BlossomGirl: This book was Wow-! Amazing. I really enjoyed it while reading this Fanfiction!

BlossomGirl: Hey writers, would you mind making Honey mention about Mc's first kiss being stolen by him when he was giving Daniel CPR? Somehow I want to know the reaction of the person who likes Daniel the most in this book. Pretty please, okay?

I'm glad you enjoy this book! As for the CPR thing, that might be something that shows up in the future!