"Why not? This island seems to have a lot of good places for camping. And we have time now that the FFI is over."
In which Kogure gets the camping trip Hiroto promised him.
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"Camping?" Endou said, blinking curiously at Hiroto.
Hiroto just grinned in response. "Why not? This island seems to have a lot of good places for camping. And we have time now that the FFI is over."
No one could deny that. Coach Kudou and Hibiki had decided to book a plane a few days after the tournament ended, not only to let the players rest a bit before the long journey.
Endou especially had been thrilled since he got to spend time with his grandfather, but Daisuke had left for Cotarl yesterday. The entirety of Unicorn was gone as well, having left to check on and support Ichinose during his recovery. Seeing no reason to stay, The Empire and Knights of Queens had left too. Endou didn't know what happened to The Kingdom, but Detective Onigawara assured him that they were in good hands, which was more than enough for Endou. Fidio and his team were still there and would remain there for a while, at least.
Looking around the cafeteria, it suddenly hit Endou that this team wouldn't be there next year. It was Hijikata and Tsunami's first and final year within the age group allowed in the FFI, and there was no guarantee that all of the rest would make it next year either. After all, back home, there were amazing players like Genda, Saginuma, Midorikawa, Shadow and countless others training for the next FFI already. And there was also the possibility of a new hidden talent emerging from nowhere like Toramaru had.
Endou tried not to be too disappointed. He was looking forward to next year's challenges and friendships, and it wasn't as if they would never see each other again. Even Fudou, no matter how much he grumbled and muttered, hadn't really objected to sharing his contact information with others.
Still. It wouldn't be the same.
So why not have one last trip as a team?
.
"Come on ," Kogure said from the caravan window, already seated. A few others trickled in as well as Haruna and Megane checked their luggage, making sure that everyone had everything.
"Wait a minute, will you?" Megane said, not even turning to look at him.
Kogure groaned loudly in response. "This is so stupid."
Everyone else shared a look. It wouldn't take long for Kogure to say or do something that would escalate into an argument.
The last minute check wasn't really necessary, but Megane had insisted, stating that it would be an unnecessary hassle to return all the way to the lodges for one or two things. And, well, arguing with Megane when he got like this was always a hassle in itself — the only ones who could talk him out of something were Kidou and Haruna. Probably Fudou too, but he usually didn't bother arguing or listening.
Seated next to Kogure, Kazemaru smiled weakly even as his own patience thinned. "It can't hurt to be careful."
Kogure sighed, throwing his hands up in frustration. "Fine."
.
Haruna inspected the stick in her hand. It seemed dry and she couldn't spot anything green in it. Still…
"Hiroto-san, is this one okay?"
Hiroto took the stick, somehow holding his own smaller pile in one hand, and examined it. "Looks fine to me."
Suddenly, there was another stick in his face. He blinked at it, seemingly startled, before slowly taking it from the tiny hand.
In front of him, Kogure was standing on the tip of his toes, staring intently. There was something strangely insecure in his eyes, like he was craving for Hiroto's approval. Haruna stopped her rant before she could even start, and she couldn't help but stare as well. This was new.
"Yep. Nice job," Hiroto said, smiling. He reached out to ruffle Kogure's hair, and by some miracle, Kogure didn't object. In fact, he beamed.
Huh. Normally, Kogure hated it when people did that; he always insisted that he wasn't a child and they didn't need to patronise him.
With a cheer, Kogure ran off a little further in search for more sticks.
Suddenly, Haruna managed to find her voice again. "Kogure-kun, don't go too far."
"Yeah, yeah."
Haruna heard Hiroto chuckle. "I'll drop these at the camp," he said, accepting the few that Haruna handed him. "I don't think we'll need many more, but it doesn't hurt to be careful." He tilted his head up to look at the sky, and Haruna went back to keeping an eye on Kogure. "It'll get dark soon, so don't stay out too long."
"Right," Haruna said, and distantly registered him walking away.
Suddenly, Kogure disappeared behind a large bush, and Haruna raced after him. He was in no danger though, merrily picking up whatever stick he could find.
Haruna held her hands at her hips and sighed. "I told you not to wander off."
Kogure rolled his eyes. "I didn't even go that far. And we went even further when we met the kappas." He stood up and stared into the distance, searching. "Hey, I think the field is somewhere around here. We could—"
"No," Haruna said, using the firmest tone she could manage. "It's about to get dark soon, so we should head back."
Kogure looked at the sky — or what little they could see of it — and sighed. "Fine."
"Come on," Haruna said, turning to leave. Kogure followed, trying very hard not to drop the sticks in his hand. She slowed her pace for him. "I can hold some of them."
"No, I'll be fine." Kogure adjusted his grip so that he was practically hugging them.
"You know," Haruna said, "I didn't expect you to be so excited about collecting sticks."
Kogure tried his best to shrug while still hugging the pile. It was an attempt he always made at being nonchalant whenever he was about to talk about something important to him. "Camp is like soccer. There are no unnecessary positions."
Haruna stopped momentarily, but Kogure didn't seem to notice. Those didn't seem like Kogure's words, but he also genuinely seemed to believe that. Well, it wasn't like she could disagree.
Slowly, Haruna smiled. It seemed like Kogure was growing up a little after all.
.
It turned out that even Hiroto had never actually cooked with camping utensils. Apparently, that job was always Midorikawa and Reina's. Of course, the managers and Tobitaka had banned everyone else from using even before they could offer — not that they would; none of them would deny that they were horrible in the kitchen and would probably have died a long time ago without the four of them.
Some of them could be of assistance though. Gouenji, though he had never used camp equipment either, was helping prepare the ingredients. And Fudou of all people was with him. Sakuma hadn't even known that he could cook.
Still, there was someone even more surprising and terrifying helping out.
"So," Sakuma said, "Are we sure we want to trust Kogure with our food?"
No one replied. Well, Endou tried to, but even he couldn't come up with a convincing argument.
Then, of all people, Hiroto spoke up. "Come on, guys. Trust him a little."
Easy for him to say. Hiroto hadn't been pranked in a while. Since the whole kappa incident actually. Whatever happened on that fake magical day must have been really important for those two.
"Hiroto's right," Endou said, finally finding his voice. "Look how happy he is. He wouldn't ruin it."
Well, no one could deny that. Kogure had been unusually over the moon all day; he hadn't even tried to get back at Someoka for pointing it out loud earlier. And it was hard to miss how he looked at Hiroto as though he hung the moon. If he was that elated, he probably wouldn't even think of pranks.
Still…
"If it's any consolation," Kidou said, "Tobitaka, Gouenji and Fudou are all there. Kogure's not stupid enough to try something with them keeping an eye on him."
That, they all decided, was much more reassuring.
.
The curry didn't set their mouths on fire. Kogure didn't seem to even notice everyone's surprise as he happily ate his own food. For once, he looked like any other child his age.
They shared a collective look that went over Kogure's head — literally. No one spoke about it, but a unanimous agreement still passed amongst them.
No one was going to mention it to him. It was nice to see him act his age for once.
(They didn't notice it, but the adults with them were thinking the same thing about all of them. It was nice to these middle-schoolers just hanging around for once, not worrying about the fate of the world and trying to save it from national, international and even mythological threats.)
.
Kogure was the last to turn in for sleep. As his excitement finally wore off, he could feel the exhaustion drape over him like a really heavy blanket.
"Thank you," he murmured as he zipped up his own sleeping bag.
Next to him, Hiroto smiled in his sleep.
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October 23, 2022
Word count: 1511 words