Keiko hiked up the mountains, the fresh air cascading in her lungs. She stopped to look at the view. "Such beautiful clouds," She thought. As she enjoyed the scenery, she realized the whole class had left her behind! She ran to find them, and got lost in a turn,

and now haqd no idea where she was! As she sat there thinking of her problem, Obari-Sama appeared. "Keiko, you have to get away from here! There are craters and cracks everywhere!" He warned her.

"Oh!" She quickly moved, then stopped dead in her tacks. "K-keiko?!" She studdered.

"Oops.." Obari-Sama blushed.

"You mean, you know?!" She exclaimed. Just then, her voice let out a rumble, and rocks came falling down the mountain. She screamed, as Obari grabbed her and quickly brought her to safety.

"My Hero." She sighed. He smiled at her, leaned in to kiss her, and..

Keiko woke up to the sounds of the noisy bus. Kakeru sat next to her, elbowing her.

"Stop! I'm awake already!" --Ikuno

Kakeru glared at her. "Well, good, you were snoring." he stated simply. "It's hard to do anything with noise like that."

Keiko folded her arms in annoyance. For the first time, she noticed, sitting on Kakeru's lap, was a pile of sheet music. She leaned closer, observing the tiny notes on the page, when Kakeru covered the papers with his arm.

"What?!" Keiko questioned in a huff, "It's not like I can read music, anyway! I just wanted to see what you were doing!"

Kakeru sighed and glared at her. "I was just trying to memorize this piece! I have a performance the week we get back from this trip, so I wanted to be prepared."

Kieko nodded. "Well, ya see, it really wasn't that hard to tell me! Getting all worked up over nothing... geez..." her voice trailed off and she busied herself with rubbing a spot off the window. Kakeru watched her from the side of his eye, wondering, not for the first time, how he had managed to get here. Next to a girl he had fallen in love with, only recently. He could feel a blush rise to his face as he realized that he would be spending nearly an entire week with this girl...

He had been on the camping trips before and knew certain things that Keiko did not. He knew that, every year, tent partners were assigned to do nearly everything together. Share the same raft, the same food supplies, the same short classes... they did EVERYTHING.

He had failed to notice, in his thoughts, that Keiko had stopped cleaning the window and was now staring at him angrily. He panicked, and all the sheets of music fell to the floor. He hurried to pick them up and shove them back into a small bag by his feet. He took as long as he could, simply to avoid the look on Keiko's face.

A sudden jolt of the bus caused Kakeru to hit his head against the seat in front of them. He cursed in pain. He had only just recently recovered from the incident in the Music Hall, so his head still hurt him, if pressure was applied. He rubbed the spot in agony.

Keiko watched him, forgetting, for the moment, that she was supposed to be angry with him.

"Hey," she said, helping Kakeru to sit up, "You gonna be okay?"

Before Kakeru could reply, the bus driver stood up and announced that they had reached their destination. The students on the bus errupted with excitement, as everyone piled off. --TD

Otaru and Jiro stepped off the bus, as Jiro's crew followed them. One of them was yelping in agony with every step on the uneven gravel.

"You see, Otaru?" Jiro laughed. "It IS possible to lose your shoes in a poker game."

Otaru smiled slightly, but watched to see Kakeru and Kei get off together. He sighed, then began to talk to Jiro more.

Keiko looked over to Otaru. "I didn't know Otaru and Jiro were so close." She said to herself, as she saw the two laughing and talking with some others.

"Watch your step." Kakeru stated, as Keiko slipped and fell right on her face. Otaru turned around just in time to see it. He wanted to rush over there and help him up, but he stopped, as he watched Kakeru lean down and lend Kei a hand. He frowned, and turned back to his new friends. -- Ikuno

As Otaru walked down the rough path towards the campsite with Jiro and his friends he found himself wishing that the camp would end soon so everything would go back to normal with him and Sempai....

--Twylise

"Ouch!" Keiko whined as Kakeru helped her to her feet. "That hurt!" She rubbed her head in the spot where she had fallen. Kakeru grinned.

"What distracted you?" he asked, not bothering to loosen his grip around Keiko's wrist. Keiko shot him a look of plain ignorance.

"Whaddya mean?"

"I MEAN," Kakeru replied, "That not even ditzes like you just up and fall. Something had to have caught your attention and set you off-guard. What distracted you?"

"I resent that ditz remark," Keiko said indignantly, "and, if you must know, I was just wondering why Jiro and Otaru were suddenly so close, that's all." She jerked a thumb in the direction where Jiro and Otaru stood among a group of students, all laughing together. Keiko noticed an ironic smirk on Kakeru's face.

"You know, he's prob'ly wondering the same thing about US," he stated, crossing his arms as he watched Otaru from behind Keiko. She looked at him dumbly.

"I don't think so... Otaru would understand that I have other friends besides him...?"

Kakeru's mouth jerked into a frown. "You would think so, wouldn't you?"

Keiko stared at him blankly. He continued.

"It's amazing what kind of feelings for a person develop when you realize that they're not all yours, anymore..."

Keiko opened her mouth to reply, but was surprised to find that no words left her throat, only a tight squeak. Kakeru looked at her sympathetically, before dragging her along with him to retrieve their bags from the other bus.

Kakeru could feel his heart do a funny sort of jump in his chest as he caught Keiko stealing another look at her friend Otaru, laughing and joking with the group of students. Even Kakeru had to admit to himself that Otaru was a very likable person... it was no wonder Keiko had the feelings she did for him... --TD

"Wow! You sure don't pack light do you..." Keiko stared at the over stuffed back pack Kakeru was heaving onto his shoulders. She remembered what Anji had told her, "You'll never make it up the mountain with all that."

Kakeru smirked. "Don't worry Kei-chan. I won't need half this stuff by the day we start hiking..."

Kei-chan sweatdroped. "Is it true you.....at every camp you....play a couple of practical jokes on people?"

Kakeru tossed his head up high and struck a pose, "I wouldn't call them 'practical jokes'! I call them my 'masterpieces'! Nobody has be..."

He stopped suddenly as Keiko was looking at him like he was nuts. , "Is that what that stuff in your bag is for? What are you planning on doing?"

Kakeru responded by smirking at her eevvvviiilllyy. He's voice grew low and husky and he leaned forward to talk to her. Keiko leaned forward too, eager to hear what he was planning.

"That....is for me to know and for you to find out my dear Kei-chan!" This was followed by a short burst of maniacal laughter.

Keiko gulped. --Twylise

"I don't care how clever he is! This year I'm gonna catch that phsyco in the act!" Jiro rose his fist into the air proudly. Than he turned around to Otaru and fixed him with a predatory smirk. He wrapped his arm around the other boys shoulders. "AND your going to help me Otaru!" This was followed by a short burst of maniacal laughter.

Otaru gulped. --Twylise

"Excellent."

Mitsui Staci lowered her binoculars across the roadway after spotting the two TUA busses. "They showed up on time without so much as a bump in the road."

"What are you anticipating, Staci-chan?" Ikegami Naoki knelt closely to the reporter, her dark eyes round.

"Same thing as every year. Those boys always find SOME way to screw up the dance at the end of the camping trip." Staci grumbled. "Not this year. This year, I'm going to make SURE that the boy-girl dance goes smoothly."

Naoki grew a little nervous at Staci's determination. "Isn't that...Rina-san's job?"

Staci frowned at Naoki. "It's not a job. It's a personal vow I made to myself after last year's disaster."

"...." Naoki took another worried glance across the street to the boy's campgrounds. "Maybe Keiko-chan can do something about it." --Mippa

As Kakeru unpacked in the small tent, he tried to think about his pranks, but his mind kept shifting to Otaru and Keiko. "What's so special about him?" He thought. Why did she like him so much? Why couldn't she feel that way about him? He needed to get his mind off it. He unpacked all of his goodies for his 'masterpieces', and layed them out. "Who's my latest victim?" He laughed. Then it hit him. The one person who he's been thinking about, the one person he's been battling with in his thoughts. "Otaru.."

"What?" Keiko said walking in the tent.

"Hey!" Kakeru sheilded his 'toys' with his hands.

"Oooo." Keiko's eyes glowed.

"I could have been changing you know.." Kakeru glared.

"But you weren't." She smiled. "Can I help?"

"What?!" Kakeru looked as if he was in shock. "YOU?! HELP?! Never! These are like art! You can't mess with ART!!"

"Fine. Don't be so critical. So what, are you going to TP some tents or something?" Keiko looked in interest.

"TP??? Ye of little mind.." Kakeru grinned. --Ikuno

"What was that?!" Keiko snapped.

"Nothing. Anyway, I work alone." Kakeru said.

"Fine! You can be alone all you want." Keiko shrugged. "Get out."

"What?!" Kakeru looked at her.

"I need to change. LEAVE." She folded her arms.

Kakeru walked out, and sat by the door. "Is it cruel of me to pull this on Otaru just because I'm jealous?"

He thought. He wrinkled his nose. "I'm not jealous, am I?"

"I'm not jealous, am I?" Otaru thought in his tent. "Jealous of Kakeru? Is that why I'm helping Jiro?

I guess I don't have a choice in the matter, though." He looked at Jiro, who sat at some plans with two of his trusted friends. "Otaru, you are going to watch this sector. Call me on the radio if you find anything suspicious." He moved his hand to a red circle as he talked.

"Are you serious?" Otaru gave him a look. "Isn't this a little much?"

"I know how he operates! We have to strike full force!" Jiro said in a powerful voice. "My codename is

Black Eagle. Yours is Blue Turkey."

"What??" Otaru blinked.

"This is Red Hawk." He pointed to the one to his left.

He then pointed to the other and opened his mouth to speak, but Otaru cut in. "Let me guess. Green Pigeon?"

"No, that's White Crow." Jiro said in a tone of total seriousness. Otaru looked at him again.

"Why can't we just say, 'Jiro, this is Otaru'?" Otaru asked.

"This is a covert operation! We need codenames!" Jiro looked like a general.

"You're insane." Otaru thought. --Ikuno

"You done?" Kakeru asked, annoyed, as Keiko stepped out of the tent. She nodded.

"All yours!"

Kakeru grinned maniacally and creeped back into the tent, looking about suspiciously as

he zipped up the tent. Keiko shook her head and walked away, observing that a lot of

students were still struggling to put up their tents.

"I wonder what Otaru's doing..." Keiko wondered outloud to herself, attempting to locate

her friend among the sea of tents. She began to wander around, searching for him.

She nearly tripped, several times, as the ground became rockier and the tents became

fewer. Keiko guessed that Otaru would probably be in some remote area, alone.

But, as the trees became thicker, Keiko realized that she had been wrong. There were no

tents in sight. All she could see were trees, ground, and a squirrel eating a nut in a tree.

"Well, all I need to do is turn around and go back from where I came!" Keiko turned around hopefully, and looked ahead. Then she turned around again, her smiling fading slightly. Then she turned again. And again. And again, until she was once again facing the squirrel eating the nut. She panicked. "I don't know where I am!" She whined to the tree in front of her, her eyes stinging. And she hadn't even been camping for an hour...

Keiko rubbed her eyes behind her glasses. It wasn't fair! Things like this always happened

to her...

Sitting herself down next to the nearest tree, she decided it best to just sit and wait.

Somebody would find her, eventually. Just like in all of those rescue stories on TV. Keiko's hopes rose a bit at this thought, as she thought of Obari running through the forest, ready to risk his life to save her... She smiled, and began to wait.

And she continued waiting.

Then she thought she'd just wait some more.

It was about this point of all the waiting that Keiko finally drifted off to sleep. --TD

Otaru sighed, Jiro was lecturing on and on about their plans, and all Otaru was really

concerned about was Sempai, since he hasn't seen him around at all, he went to 'spy' on

Kakeru, but ended up asking about Kei, and geting a glare as a reply, and Otaru was

getting a bit worried.

Out in the woods:

"ZZZzzzzZZZZzzzzzZZZZzzzz" keiko layed there, mouth open, enjoying another Obari

dream, drool included. the squirrel sitting on her head.

Kakeru on the other hand was grinning insanely, preparing for his "little prank" (yeah right)on Chinen-kun. --LaNnY

ALTERNATE SCENE:

Otaru stared at Jiro and two friends. Once he would have said that they were... well...

relatively sane. Now?

He missed Sempai. At least when he acted weird he wasn't... scary.

But that wasn't the whole reason. Otaru just... missed him, that was all.

I should talk to him. He thought, I will talk to him!

Yes, that was a good plan. It might not solve anything, but maybe, if he could just get his

friend away from Kakeru for a little bit, maybe everything would make more sense.

Otaru stood up and began to sidle his way out of the tent.

"Blue Turkey!" Jiro shouted, "What are you doing?"

"I thought I'd go see how Kei-kun was doing." He answered honestly, still moving towards

the flap of the tent.

"No!" Jiro cried, blocking his path, "Fujishige-kun isn't part of the solution! And if he's not

part of the solution, he's part of the problem! A problem who's rooming with the REAL

problem! That makes him a bigger problem then all the other problems!"

The others in the tent blinked.

One of Jiro's friends seemed to be working what the class president had said out on his

fingers.

"But couldn't he be useful as some sort of spy?" His other friend ventured cautiously.

Jiro thought about that for a moment, "I don't know, I hadn't thought of that. They seem a little too friendly for that to work..."

Otaru suddenly felt a little sick, and wasn't sure why.

Jiro turned to Otaru abruptly, "Go find Fujishige-kun and see how he stands on this whole

prank thing, okay?"

Otaru nodded, and gratefully ran out of the tent.

"Blue Turkey!" Jiro's voice sounded from inside the tent, "Don't forget the rendezvous

point!"

Otaru sweatdropped and headed towards the tent that Kei-kun and Kakeru shared. --Harkly

A whistle rang through the camp, signalling the ten o' clock hour; time to get into tents.

From inside his tent, Kakeru could hear the shuffling of feet and faint groaning from some

of the other students around him, griping about it still being too early. As tents were filled,

flashlights were turned on, and the camp glowed almost as brightly as the moon.

Kakeru had just finished working on his latest scheme, which he was planning to do that

night. He sat back and waited for Keiko to enter the tent, so she could dress first and be

asleep while he carried out his missoin. He grinned to himself in expectation as he waited.

But Keiko never came.

Kakeru sat up from his position on his sleeping bag and checked his watch. Half an hour 'til

lights out; eleven o' clock. His stomach did a funny kind of summersault (sp?). Where

could she be? He knew he shouldn't have concerned himself with something like that, but...

Reaching under his pillow, Kakeru pulled out a piece of paper, which included something

he'd been working on the entire day; a map of the whole camp.

Tracing with his finger over a few of the squares (which represented tents), his finger finally

reached the destination of Jiro and Otaru's tent. It was only about five or six tents away,

and Kakeru suspected Keiko would be there. He was relieved to note that it was only a

short walk away; Keiko could make it back to the tent easily.

Grinning once again, Kakeru took this Keiko-free opportunity to carry out his plan. While

everyone was distracted in their tents was the best time to sneak about. Tonight, his

destination would be the forest. --TD

Keiko woke up with a yawn. The sun had set, and the sound of a million forest animals

were heard. The Hooting of owls, the rustling of raccoons, and all kinds of other things that

frightened her. She got ready to scream, but then thought a moment, "What if a bear

hears me?!" She held her arms, it was getting cold now. She then heard the sound of footsteps. Scared out of her mind, Keiko started running, but as soon as she got a good

pace, she hit a dark figure head on.

"Oww!!" It said.

"AHH!!!" She screamed, and started hitting in with a loose tree branch. "DIE!!"

"Oww! Stop!! Please stop!!" He covered his head, and as the moonlight shifted, got a good

view of his enemy. "Sempai? Is that you??" --Ikuno

"Aa. Otaru, what are you doing out here??"

"I could ask you the same thing Sempai."

"Well, I got lost...you?" Keiko could feel a slight blush on her cheeks, maybe it was from

being alone in the woods with otaru, maybe it was cuz she didn't want to admit she got

lost, who knows? but anyway, she hoped the darkness covered it so Otaru wouldn't see.

"I didn't see you around, so I thought I should come and look for you."

Keiko thought for a sec, trying not to say something too girly... "Thanks, I have a horrible

sense of direction, I'd end up back at TUA before I got back to camp, you alright? I'm sorry

I hit you with that branch"

"So that's what it was? I'm alright, it's nothing..."

"Do you know the way back?"

"Yeah, I think so"

"Great! let's go!" Keiko brushed herself off and they set off! ::insert happy traveling

music::

Naoki lifted up her walkietalkie. "PheonixScout to PheonixBase, come in PheonixBase"

Staci's voice came over. "This is PheonixBase, what's the update PheonixScout?"

"I found Keik- uhm, sorry, I found Siren, but Blue Turkey got to her first, they're heading

back to enemy camp."

"Alright, proceed back to bace, we'll have to catch up with Siren later. PhoenixBase Out!"

"Staci's over doing this..." Naoki sighed and walked off through the woods. --LaNnY

Kakeru walked through the forest, looking for Otaru. "Where is he?! I saw him go this way,

I know it!" He heard laughing, and hid behind some bushes. Two dark figures passed by.

"What would you have done if I hadn't come along, Sempai?" Otaru asked.

"I don't know, starved to death?" Keiko said, smiling.

"Or got eaten by bears." Otaru laughed. "Or scavenged for food and become a wild man.."

"Wouldn't that be fun." Keiko said sarcastically.

How was this supposed to work now?

Keiko would get in the middle of it! He could stop it, but then it would be ruined! Keiko

would understand, wouldn't she? What if she never spoke to him again? Why did he even

care all of a sudden?

Otaru smiled. Finally, everything was back to normal. Kei and he were laughing and joking

around like always. --Ikuno