Moriko had thought she was improving her situation by keeping the Honey Bee Cabin extremely clean and relatively spotless. Roaches, ants, and mice would be much less likely to assume it was a safe haven if there wasn't anything to attract them to the cabin.

However, she hadn't known about the Ultra Clean Award. Or what the actual award was.

The gold spray-painted plunger sat on the edge of the cabin's short porch, displayed for everyone in the girls' side of camp to see. No. There was no way she could let a plunger define her cabin. Not only was it garish, but it was a toilet plunger.

Gingerly picking it up by the end of the handle, she held it as far out from her body and marched through the scattered cabins. She had seen the look on Camellia Cabin's unofficial leader's face when the Honey Bees had won the award. Surely she would accept it as an offering.

It was Quiet Time. Everyone was supposed to be resting in their cabins, reading or napping or otherwise occupying themselves. Soft music was playing in Camellia Cabin. Maybe they didn't understand the meaning of quiet.

Moriko used her free hand to knock on the door. She waited, expecting a certain girl with non-regulation streaks of color in her hair to answer.

She was proven correct.

"Hey!" Akemi Tomioka looked startled and then grinned at her with that face that people said looked just like her own. Moriko definitely didn't see it. They didn't share the same sharp chin or delicately pointed small nose or blue eyes at all. These features were common. They were simply similar in appearance. A twist of genetic fate. "What's up?"

"Hello," Moriko said. She held out the plunger. "I believe you wanted this."

Tomioka's eyebrows raised. She laughed. "Well, yeah, but we have to win it. Thanks, though!"

"No, you don't. It's a silly contest. We shouldn't have to pitted against each other in order to feel the need to clean our cabins." Moriko leaned forward, offering the plunger again. "I'm giving it to you."

Tomioka's smile became strained, and Moriko, for a split second, was reminded of the smile her mother sometimes plastered onto her face. "That's not how that works. You're Moriko Kochou, right?"

"Right," Moriko said, "You can refer to me as Kochou. And I'll call you Tomioka."

"Akemi's fine," Tomioka said. Moriko was not calling her that. Tomioka rested her hip against the doorway and crossed her arms over her chest. "Look, Kochou, Camellia Cabin doesn't take pity awards, we win things fair and square."

"Oh, this isn't out of pity," Moriko said. She set the plunger down on the edge of the porch in the same place it had been on the porch at Honey Bee Cabin. "I don't want it. It's outlandish."

"That's sort of the point." Tomioka tugged on one of her rule-breaking bright locks of hair. "I think it's a fun contest."

"I feel otherwise."

"No kidding," Tomioka said. She pushed away from the cabin, glancing at the plunger with obvious distaste. "I guess the other girls in your cabin put you up to this? To stir the pot?"

"No," Moriko said, surprised, "Of course not." In fact, they might've been a little upset but really, it was a plunger. So unsanitary. She backed down the steps of the porch, thinking the matter was over.

Tomioka frowned, a little crease forming between her eyes. "You can't leave this here." She picked up the plunger and held it out to Moriko, bell first, the thick rubber almost touching her arm.

Moriko sprang back, instantly aggravated. "That's disgusting!"

"It hasn't been used!" Tomioka said, exasperated. "You're making a really big deal out of this, just take it back."

By now, girls from Camellia Cabin were pressed up against the screened-in windows, watching the argument unfold. Around them, other campers from the girls' side of camp were peeking out of cabins or stepping out onto their porches.

"I won't," Moriko said. She took another step back, shoes nudging into the pine straw. "You looked like you wanted it, so you should keep it."

"I don't want it anymore right now," Tomioka said. Lifting the plunger back, she tossed it toward Moriko. It landed at her feet. "We'll win it, or we won't get it at all."

Someone stormed by Moriko and snatched the plunger off the ground. Sakura, a girl from Moriko's cabin, brushed dirt off the handle and scowled at Tomioka. "What do you think you're doing throwing our award around?"

"She was trying to give it to us," Tomioka said, gesturing to Moriko.

"She wouldn't do that," Sakura said, lifting her chin, "Would you, Moriko?"

"I was trying to—"

"If she brought it here, she was trying to say sorry for how pitiful you looked when you lost!" It was another girl from Moriko's cabin, Nobuko. She smirked at Tomioka as she took the plunger from Sakura and twirled it in her hands like a baton. Was this some kind of camper intimidation tactic? "She was probably trying to give you the plunger as a pity prize."

Moriko's mouth fell open. This was the most she had interacted with her cabin mates all week, and they were making up things about her. "I wasn't—"

"I thought so." Tomioka put her hands on her hips. Her frown morphed into a dangerous grin. "Okay. I guess we'll consider this a declaration of war."

"Yeah!" chorused the girls from inside the cabin.

"From now on, our cabins are rivals," Tomioka said, raising her voice so all the other cabins listening in could hear. "Every competition, we'll stomp the Honey Bees into the ground."

Moriko blinked. "Let's not."

"And we'll crush the Camellias!" Nobuko yelled right back. Her smile was also borderline feral. "Watch out for us, Tomioka."

"No need," Tomioka said, shrugging. "I won't be looking backward."

Sakura put her arm around Moriko's shoulder, and Moriko tensed. "Come on, Kochou, let's get back to the cabin."

"But I didn't…"

Nobuko also put her arm around Moriko, who was being crushed by the sudden unwanted companionship. Together, the two older girls swung her away from Camellia Cabin and hauled her back toward Honey Bee Cabin.

"You did good, newbie," Nobuko said, "A good rivalry will really get the camp motivated."

Motivated for what? The apparent competition war? Or what? Whatever it was, Moriko was already dreading it and having to deal with Akemi Tomioka.

"She really thought I was going to accept a pity plunger!"

"An award given out of pity is always unacceptable."

"I'm just saying, even if it's spray painted gold, a plunger isn't very flashy. That camp's freakin' expensive, they could afford a better prize."

"Did you hit her with it?!"

Akemi smiled despite her bad mood as she pushed her heel against the rec hall's wooden porch, sending the porch swing rocking higher back and forth. Out over the lake, the sun was setting, drawing shades of orange and purple across the sky. She was on a speaker-phone call with what seemed like half the gym. Originally, she had just called Tengen to see if Shinya was around, but he had put her on speaker. She had already called most of her family, but she was waiting to call her dad last.

"How hard did you hit this kid?" Inosuke demanded, adding onto his previous question. He was an up-and-coming MMA fighter, one of many who frequented the gym for training with Hakuji and Keizo. The gym catered to MMA fighters, but anyone could come and work out. "Did she cry?"

"I didn't hit her at all," Akemi said, "I might get kicked out of camp if I did that."

"Worth it," Inosuke said smugly. "Next time, smack her in the head with it."

"I know you weren't planning on it, but I wouldn't take that advice, just saying," Shinya's voice cut in. He was a year older than her and Tengen's eldest kid. The professional MMA fighter had three long-term girlfriends in three different cities, and they all knew about each other and were completely fine with the situation. They often met up to hang out or go on vacation and also let all the half-siblings have family time. Due to the gym's location, which was where he trained, Tengen did wind up spending a little more time in Sagiri. That was where Shinya and his mom Hinatsuru lived.

"No, do it!" That was Hayato. The same age as Akemi, he was Hakuji and Koyuki Soyama's son, a total gym kid. And almost as wild as Inosuke. "Then she won't look down on you anymore."

"I think this girl looks down on everyone," Akemi said, her nose scrunching up. She had tried to talk to Moriko Kochou more than once before that afternoon, but every time she approached the other girl, she practically ran away. It was disheartening and made her feel like she was emitting seriously bad vibes. But yeah, she had heard from other people that Kochou thought she was too good for camp. Seemed like that might be the case.

"Rise above it, little one!" Rengoku encouraged. He was a former famous baseball player, and now he was a personal trainer at the gym. "Be the better person."

"Or get even in a secret but satisfying way," Tengen said, "I can give you some ideas."

"Both of those sound nice," Akemi said, pulling her feet up onto the swing. "I'll figure out how to handle it."

"I'm taking the phone, she was calling me," Shinya said, "She doesn't want to talk to all of you people." Akemi grinned at the exaggerated protests and yelling.

"That's my phone, kid."

"I know, Dad…" The call switched over from speaker to a normal call and instantly became quieter. "It's just me. And Hayato's around."

"Cool," Akemi said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to complain so much."

"Nah, Plunger Girl sounds like a pain in the butt," Shinya said, probably struggling to not curse. Hinasturu was always worried about him picking up bad habits at the gym, and if he cursed too much, he would wind up spending more time at the ice rink than the gym. Which wouldn't be awful, but Akemi knew he liked the gym better, even though he would never say that to his mom, a former silver medal Olympic ice skater and current trainer. For the most part, he took after her personality-wise, though he did have a certain love of adventure, a snarky streak, and a quick temper. "But don't let her get to you."

"You've got to beat that cabin into the dust," Hayato said, probably leaning over Shinya's shoulder. "Every time!"

"Yeah, I know," Akemi said, "I'm making plans."

"Dominate! Power strike! Conquer!"

"Dude, that's my ear you're yelling in," Shinya said. "Quit it."

Akemi smiled, half imagining herself at the gym, sitting between the two of them and watching Rengoku and Tengen spar. While her dad avoided the place like the plague, she often joined her uncles when they visited or worked out. Uncle Sabito was best friends with Rengoku, which meant he was also besties by default with Tengen and Hakuji, and Inosuke was one of Tanjiro's best friends.

"Anyways, is camp going okay besides that?" Shinya asked, "We got your letters."

"I sent another one today," she said, "Straight to your house, this time. Since my dad's untrustworthy."

"You know he doesn't like coming here," Shinya countered, "Quit pushing him out of his comfort zone. Or shoving. You're shoving your dad."

"His comfort zone is so small!" Akemi replied.

"That's his choice," Shinya said, "Camp? How is it?"

"It's good," Akemi said, looking out at the sunset shimmering on the lake, lending a golden glow to the air. "I wish you guys would come one year. You'd love it."

"I don't want to leave my mom that long, not with Dad's crazy schedule," Shinya said. "And Hayato wouldn't last long with that no punching rule."

"I know, I know," Akemi said, twisting her hand into her hair. She had heard those arguments before, and she didn't have anything to fight them with. "But yeah. It's really nice, and the competitions are fun, and the lake is so pretty, almost as nice as the one at home."

"We'll go out paddleboarding when you get back," Shinya said.

"Welcome home lake party at the Tomioka's!" Hayato yelled. She heard conversation explode in the background, and she winced.

"No, nope," she said, "Not without Dad's permission, no party!"

"I'll go see if I can stop that rumor," Shinya said, "No promises."

"Good luck!" Akemi said.

They said their goodbyes, and Akemi called her dad. As the phone rang, she pressed her heel to the floorboards, rocking the swing again.

He picked up on the fourth ring. Usually it was the second. "Hey, troublemaker."

"Dad!" She pressed the phone closer to her ear. "Where are you?"

In the background, she could hear music. Relatively loud music of the string quartet kind.

"At a wedding reception," he said, "Are you having a good time?"

Akemi sat up, trying to think of which friend of her dad's could possibly be getting married. The list of friends was short. And no one in their family was getting married because obviously she would be there. And no one was seriously dating anyone except Nezuko, who for some reason she couldn't fathom was still dating Zenitsu. Okay, he wasn't the worst, but he was scared of everything. Sometimes she thought he was scared of the coffee grinder.

"Akemi? Did I lose you?"

"No, still here!" she said, "Whose wedding was it?"

"A friend of a friend's."

"Which friend?"

A quiet pause. "You don't know this friend yet." And then a distraction. "You're being careful when you're practicing for the underwater treasure hunt, right? You mentioned that again in your last letter."

"Um…" She shook her head, deciding whether to let herself be distracted or not. Comfort zone… "Uh, yeah, of course. Super careful." She proceeded to tell him more about her first week, brushing over the details of the plunger incident after having fussed about it so much to Team Gym. "I'm still having a really awesome time. Thanks for letting me come here."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," he said. "A care package should come for you tomorrow, by the way."

"Yes!" she said, genuinely excited. "I'll make sure to share." Her care packages were legendary around the camp because they were always packed with baked goods. Even the counselors would show up to beg for a cookie. "Are you having a good time at the wedding reception?"

"It's not awful."

For her dad, that was practically the equivalent of saying he was having the time of his life. Akemi nodded. "Good!"

"Giyuu!" someone in the background of her dad's call said. A feminine voice. "Let's go get more wine?"

"Was that the friend?" she asked, feeling a twinge of…well, she didn't know what to call it, but something felt weird in her chest. Just a friend…

"Yes," he said, "One moment, Saika, I'm talking with Akemi—"

"It's okay!" she heard herself say, though she didn't want to. "I've gotta go anyways, limited phone call time."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, yeah," she said, standing up from the swing. It hit the back of her legs. "It's a party, go dance."

"Oh. I don't. No."

Akemi laughed a little bit. "I'll talk to you later, Dad. I love you."

"I love you, too, Akemi."

As the phone call ended, Akemi tapped her very basic cell phone to her chin. The friend was a woman. A woman who had managed to drag her dad to a party. A woman named Saika. Hmm. Well, at least her dad had gotten out of the house. She took the assumptions her brain was trying to make, wrangled them into a ball and hurled them into a corner of her brain, stuffing them away.

Just friends!