Moriko flung herself behind a bush as a dodgeball came hurtling at her head with enough force to potentially give her a concussion. She made herself small, hiding behind the leaves. When Tomioka had declared war, Moriko had thought it was a figurative kind of announcement.
Now it was literal.
A campwide dodgeball game had pitted all of the cabins against each other in a massive battle spread out across the biggest field. Everyone was wearing their camp t-shirts with colored armbands to show which cabin they were a part of. Presumably, each cabin was out for blood. They had been at it for only five minutes, and three people were on the sidelines with the nurse at the small emergency station she had set up. Moriko was determined to not be the next in line.
There were manmade hiding spots, like the painted barrels and stacks of hay, and there were the natural ones, like the bush Moriko had chosen.
Something whizzed through the air nearby. There was loud plastic thump as it smacked into someone. A boy from Trout Cabin fell over, dust billowing up.
He rolled over, coughing. He blinked as he noticed her. "Run. She's coming."
Laughter, carefree to the point of being borderline sinister, erupted off to Moriko's left. "You're out, Aoki!"
"I think I'm going to bruise, Susamaru…"
"Walk it off!" the recreation counselor yelled. Another dodgeball pounded the ground next to the boy's head. "You're cluttering up the field. Get moving."
"Yes, ma'am." Aoki rolled back over and began crawling toward the nurse's station.
Moriko stayed quiet as Susamaru passed by, one dodgeball in hand while she had another shoved under one arm. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" the woman called.
Once Susamaru was far enough away, Moriko started moving, running from bush to bush and trying to stay as close to the sidelines as possible. She would be happy as long as she didn't catch Susamaru's attention. Across the field, someone shrieked, and the recreation counselor burst into renewed cackles. Moriko considered crossing out of bounds and putting herself out, but her cabin really wanted to win and she didn't want them to prank her out of revenge. Another girl in her cabin had recently annoyed the majority in some small way and found a frog in her bed.
Moriko would rather avoid amphibians in her pillow.
A ball slammed into the bush, nearly hitting her elbow. "You're out of bounds, Kochou."
Moriko darted away from the bush, spinning to confront Tomioka. "I'm not. I'm simply close to the bounds."
Tomioka rolled her eyes. "Fine. Are you just going to stay still while I get you out?" She walked toward the ball that was only five feet from Moriko.
Moriko frowned. "I'm not interested with some kind of rivalry with you. Or archenemy status."
Tomioka's eyebrows raised. "You're not my archenemy, Kochou. Not yet." She kept walking. "Did you want to be?"
"I just said I wasn't interested," Moriko said stiffly. She started walking toward the dodgeball as well. She was closer, after all, and she didn't want Tomioka to fling it at her very exposed head. Concussions were difficult to recover from. "You are the one who reacted so poorly when I tried to give you the plunger."
Tomioka's blue eyes flashed. "And you're the one who wouldn't take it back. And yesterday you made sure all the canoes were gone when my cabin got to the lake."
Moriko walked faster. "I was tired of you trying to splash everyone with the paddles."
"You could've just asked me not to."
Moriko didn't think Tomioka would've agreed. She had purposefully encouraged her own cabinmates to tell the other campers to take out the canoes before Tomioka's cabin arrived. It had been hard to get everyone on board with the plan at first, but it had allowed her to take a leisurely row around the lake instead of having to worry constantly about being bombarded by Camellia Cabin and their beaver-like paddle-thwacking.
Tomioka reached the ball just as she did. Both of them tried to grab it, Moriko doing it more out of spite than any desire to actually play the game. Their heads slammed together, but Tomioka twisted and grabbed the ball anyways.
She jumped back and lifted the ball, launching it at Moriko, who gasped and rolled out of the way. The ball bounced off the ground.
That eerie laugh rang out again, and another dodgeball whooshed toward Tomioka. She dropped to the ground, rolling like Moriko and bumping into her.
The recreation counselor threw a ball up and caught it with one hand, frowning down at the two of them. "Um…which is which? I was aiming for Kochou, Honey Bee Cabin is almost out…"
"I'm Akemi!"
"Hey, it's not my fault you two are easy to get mixed up," Susamaru said.
"We aren't," Moriko said, getting up.
Tomioka got to her feet as well, glaring as Moriko brushed herself off. Tomioka let herself stay dirty. Ugh. "I'm definitely not Kochou," Tomioka said, showing off her pink armband.
"Obviously," Moriko snapped.
Susamaru rolled her eyes. Before either of them could bicker anymore, she hurled a dodgeball and got Moriko out before picking up another from the ground and hitting Tomioka in the hip. "Now it doesn't even matter. You're both out."
"I'm fine with that," Moriko said. There was no shame in getting put out by Susamaru. No one could stand against her.
Tomioka bristled and glared at Moriko. "We could've beat her."
"You can live in your delusions alone," Moriko said, heading for the sideline. "I'll stay here in the real world."
She could feel Tomioka glaring at her as she made her way off the field and dropped down in the shade of a large tree. Much better. Hopefully her cabinmates wouldn't despise her.
"So how long have you been dating this woman?"
Giyuu tapped his foot against the surface of the lake, sending out lazy ripples. "A few months."
"And you've kept it a secret for that long?" Sabito let out an amused whistle. He lifted his fishing pole, reeling it in the line so he could put new bait on the end.
The two of them were sitting on the dock at Giyuu's house, which sat on the edge of a lake, not far from Urokodaki's home where they had grown up. While Sabito fished, Giyuu watched the scenery. Around them, the mountains soared up toward the sky and the late afternoon sun shimmered on the still water. Somewhere down the shore, music was playing at another house, drifting their way on a calm breeze.
"I thought it was best."
Sabito's lure plunked into the water. "Huh. Usually you've already talked yourself out of the whole situation by now."
Giyuu blinked. Well…Sabito wasn't wrong. Ever since…yes, his relationships never worked out. He would eventually start comparing his date to a certain tiny, purposefully aggravating, kind-hearted, quick-tempered, blunt, clever woman. And the date always fell short.
"Saika's different," Giyuu said, almost in an argument against his own thoughts.
"How?" Sabito asked.
"She's very nice," Giyuu said.
There was a long extended silence. Sabito slowly reeled in a part of his fishing line. More silence.
"Bro."
Giyuu glanced over at Sabito, who was staring at him, unamused. "Yes?"
"More details. There's got to be a good reason why this one is sticking around."
"She…she's well read. We can talk about books we've both read. She's talkative, but she doesn't force me to talk. And she's…thoughtful." He ran his thumb carefully over a board. "She wants to be a mother."
Sabito let out a huff. "She knows about Akemi."
"Yes," Giyuu said. He was upfront about having a kid when he went on dates. "Once Akemi gets back from camp, I'm considering letting them to meet."
Sabito's gray eyes widen. "Serious?"
"I think so."
"Damn," Sabito said. He pulled back on the fishing rod, tugging the lure along. "You must actually like this one."
He did. While Giyuu had dated before, he had never let any of them meet Akemi. She was so friendly, he didn't want her becoming attached to someone who wouldn't be around for very long. Saika, though, seemed more permanent, potentially. He wanted to see how she would get along with Akemi first, but if it went well…
Sabito nodded. "I want to meet her before the kid does."
"Why?"
"For reasons."
"Hmm."
"Don't hmm me," Sabito said, "Look, I'll plan a family dinner." He reeled in another portion of fishing line. "Then she can meet all of us, minus the anklebiter."
"Please don't." He couldn't see how that wouldn't wind up in a disaster, especially since Sabito never planned family events unless it involved a trip to something adventurous. Even then, he gave the meal planning portion of the trip to someone else.
"I'll get Nezuko to plan a family dinner," Sabito said.
Giyuu gaze out at the water, regretting telling Sabito anything about what was going on in his life.
"I'll send you the details, you invite Saika, we meet her, ask her some questions—"
"Sabito. No."
"It'll be fun. Keep next weekend free."
Giyuu briefly contemplated shoving his brother into the lake to escape his sudden inevitable fate.
