Mitsu – This Is Why We Don't Go Camping

Ugh, how exactly did things turn out like this?

It has been one day since the two of them decided to take a camping trip together, and so far they've both been bitten half alive by mosquitos, tripped over rocks in the path, and almost got lost hiking.

"Why exactly did we decide to go camping this weekend, Mio?" asked Ritsu, scratching at her arm.

"Because it's been so long since you and I have had the same day off, so I figured that we could spend some time together," responded Mio, swatting away Ritsu's scratching hand and rubbing ointment onto the bites. "Hold still, I can't get them if you're scratching at them."

"It feels weird, Mio, I don't want that stuff on me!"

"Hey, don't squirm."

"No, don't wanna!"

"You're a college graduate, act your age!"

"Oh yeah?" Ritsu slid out of Mio's grip and grabbed the tube of ointment. Squeezing a large glob onto her hands, she lunged at Mio.

"Take . . . this!" she shouted, smacking both her hands on Mio's cheeks and rubbing furiously.

"Wha? Ew, geez Ritsu, get off me!" said Mio through her squished expression. With her hands still moist from the ointment, she copied Ritsu and connected her palms with Ritsu's cheeks. They struggled for a little bit before the heat got to both of them and they lay sprawled on Mio's sleeping bag.

"Ugh, I don't wanna do anything right now . . ." said Ritsu. "Can't we just make tea like before?"

"Why don't you make some, then?"

"Because we were supposed to bring Mugi with us, but she got too busy and had to back out. I was gonna make Mugi do it, but after she backed out I forgot to bring some. Wait, what about Azusa and Yui?" asked Ritsu.

"Azusa said that she wanted to teach Yui how to drive."

"Huh?" said Ritsu. "Yui still doesn't have her license?"

"She has her permit, so she wants to start learning as soon as possible," said Mio. Rolling over, she stared at Ritsu, who continued to look at the tent ceiling.

"Remember when I was teaching you how to drive, Ritsu?"

"Yeah, that was quite the adventure, now wasn't it?"

"Ritsu, we got pulled over by the police! I was freaking out at the moment and you were just laughing!"

"Aw, c'mon, it was in the moment, and it was the first time, I dunno what came over me, I just started laughing."

"It wasn't funny! We're lucky that he let us off the hook, but next time . . ."

"Next time, I'll make him laugh, and he'll definitely let us off the hook!" interjected Ritsu, making a funny face.

"This is serious!" said Mio, trying to keep herself from bursting into giggles.

"Yeah, yeah, serious Ritsu-mode, activated," said Ritsu sarcastically. She turned over and kissed Mio on the cheek.

"Yuck, your face tastes weird."

"Your fault for sliming me with the cream," said Mio, wiping her cheek.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I guess I'll kiss somewhere else then!" said Ritsu, a glint in her eyes.

"W-Wait, no!"

Too late to stop her, Ritsu started tickling Mio's sides while kissing the side of her neck. Caught between gasping for breath from being tickled and getting chills from Ritsu's kisses, Mio started squirming harder. Eventually the two grew tired, as their antics made the tent heat up once more. They lay there in silence, barely noticing that a few hours had passed and they were in darkness. The sound of insects and the night wind filled the campsite, and as the night continued, the site quieted down as the weekend campers settled down.

Ritsu and Mio fell asleep without too much trouble, with Mio clinging to Ritsu's arm. Several times during the night, Ritsu had to reach over and push Mio's leg out of the way, as she had a habit of clinging to Ritsu with her legs as well.

Remind me again why we're sharing a sleeping bag? There wasn't much room in here to begin with . . .

Ritsu's glow-in-the-dark watch gave a small beep at midnight, and that was when a loud rustling sound from outside their tent startled Mio awake.

"Wh-Wha? Ritsu! Ritsu!" she whispered.

"C-Cabbage . . ."

"Don't do that, wake up – AAAH!"

Hearing a louder rustling sound, Mio gave a small shout and clung to Ritsu. The lack of oxygen forced Ritsu awake, only to make her promptly black out once more.

"Mi . . . ooooo" she gasped, clutching at Mio's arm, which was wrapped tight around Ritsu's windpipe.

"There's something outside the tent, there's something outside the tent!" Mio kept repeating, squeezing tighter. Ritsu finally managed to escape the death grip that was Mio's arm and took deep breaths.

"It's *cough* probably nothing . . ." she said weakly.

"B-B-But I am like 99% sure that there's something out there and it's probably a bear or a mountain lion or a moose and I just want to make sure that we're okay, and don't scoff at me, moose are formidable creatures and maybe we should wait just so you can make sure the coast is clear, and . . ."

"Calm down, breathe between your sentences. You could give those fast rappers a run for their money."

"Go outside check for me!" said Mio, trembling.

"Go with me."

"Don't wanna . . ."

"*sigh*, fine . . ."

Pulling the tent zipper open, she pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight app. Shining it out straight into the darkness, Mio and Ritsu found that they were making eye contact with a large brown rabbit. It stared curiously back at them.

"Don't move, I think it can smell fear," said Ritsu sarcastically. Mio smacked Ritsu's shoulder.

"I was genuinely terrified, don't joke around about stuff like this!"

"Yeah yeah, I know. Can we please get back to sleep? I still have to recover from that chokehold."

"Y-Yeah . . ."

Mio fell asleep surprisingly quickly, and in her sleep wasted no time wrapping her whole body around Ritsu once more. Given the experience that Mio had gone through that evening, Ritsu allowed her to keep her arms and legs around her.

Yeah, this is definitely why we don't go camping.