Chapter Fifteen: This Is Luxury?

When the two cars pulled into the area, they parked as close to the cabin as they could. Truthfully, they ended up somewhat far from it because of the surroundings. The grass was still pretty high and the ground looked rather bumpy. So, to stay on the safe side, the drivers both decided to keep their distance.

"Wow..." Kanako said as she got out of the car. "This is amazing." Her comment came as she got a good look at the area. The first thing that caught Kanako's eye were the mountains that were hazy in the background. They weren't extremely tall like the ranges one would see in pictures, but the scene of the couple of peaks flowing together certainly made for a picturesque skyline. Coming down from that was a lot of forest, as far as the eye could see. In fact, it surrounded nearly the entire area, leaving only one path in that vehicles could take. The trees varied in size, but no matter where you looked, each one towered above.

Accompanying the forest was plenty of tall grass, filling in the circular clearing that the cabin sat in. Within that space was also a small river (closer to a creek really) that steadily ran along its path, creating a soothing sound of flowing water.

Finally there was the cabin itself. It was tall, easily indicating it had two stories. The design was an old-fashioned log cabin type, with large logs making up the exterior walls. But, even though they had been taken directly from trees, the logs had been sanded down and finished, creating a smooth and deep-brown look. Attached to the front was a porch with well-designed rails, and all of the walls were spotted with windows here and there.

"Whoa, check out that cabin! It's huge! It's like a house!" Itsuki said excitedly. "Looks just like the pictures my boss showed me," Chitose commented. "Well what're we waiting for? Let's go!" Chiyo said, rushing off with Itsuki as they ran over to their lodgings. "Hey! Come back and grab your stuff!" Chitose called, but it was useless. However, as the two girls ran, they began to slow down before suddenly coming to a halt. "They do know that the door is closer than that right?" Haruna said. "I think they're looking at something," Kanako said. "Shall we join them?" Mayu asked. The others agreed, so everyone else made their way through the tall grass to see what was going on.

Once they were all close enough, the rest of them stopped as well. "U-Um... this... doesn't seem as nice now..." Kanako said. "Maybe it's just... well aged?" Mayu said, not even believing herself. "No, this is just..." Haruna trailed off. "It's like, kinda a dump right?" Jasmine said what everyone else was thinking.

Upon closer inspection, the glamorous view that they had all gotten had turned out to be a façade. The logs that made up the walls were chipped and weather-beaten, with some even having moss growing on them. The windows were cloudy, with a couple having major spider webs spun across the glass. The porch's floor had one or two holes in it and parts of the railing were broken.

"So... this place isn't h-haunted or something, is it?" Itsuki asked, turning back fearfully to Chitose. "Huh? Of course not. Come on girls, it's probably fine on the inside. No one expects a cabin in the middle of nowhere to be shiny and new!" Chitose's comment was met with silence, having the effect of creating more worries instead of lessening them. Really, being reminded that no one else was around only made things worse. They had all been told that they'd be near a camp ground, but the closest one was 20 minutes back by car. Combining those feelings with the ones the group got from seeing the cabin up close made them all wonder if they had made a mistake.

"H-Hey, y'know, my big sis is right!" Chiyo said, attempting to lighten the mood. "It may look all shabby, but I bet it's nice and cozy on the inside!" Looks of doubt and uncertainty were exchanged, but ultimately, the group decided to proceed forward. Slowly following behind Chitose and Chiyo, they made their way up the stairs and onto the porch.

Chitose tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. "Huh? Is it locked?" she wondered aloud as she kept trying the doorknob. The only response she got was the clicking sound the knob made as it refused to go any further. "Well, that's too bad, guess we have to go home now," Michi said, faking being upset. "Oh, here's the key!" Chitose said as she looked under a board. "Ugh..." Michi moaned.

Inserting the key, Chitose turned it and got an approving click this time. "Alright! Girls, here's how you get to camp in luxury!" she proclaimed as she swung the door open. It went around on rusty hinges, creating a loud squeaking sound until it collided with the interior side of the wall. With a dull thud, the door stopped, leaving an opening for everyone to peer inside.

"Hey... big sis..." Chiyo began. "Yeah?" Chitose said as they both stared into the cabin. "D-Didn't you say it be all nice because your boss owned this cabin?" Chiyo asked. "Hmm. Did I say that?" Chitose said, pretending not to remember. "Yeah, you totally did. So, like..."

"...why is it empty?!"

The view that greeted all of them was nothing but empty space. Well, empty as long as you didn't count dirt and spider webs as décor. The area that presumably was the living room was void of any sort of furniture, and looking further back, it seemed like the kitchen was more of the same. The entire space was also poorly lit, with the windows being so caked in grime that the sunlight could hardly get through. "What the hell..." Haruna sighed as she slapped her hand to her forehead. "Oh my..." Mayu let out. "I-I-It's so spooky in there!" Itsuki squealed.

"What���s the deal big sis?!" Chiyo yelled as she turned on Chitose. "I thought you said your boss wasn't using the cabin this year so that's why we could use it? So why does it look like NO ONE'S used it in like, years?!" "Hmmm. Well, now that you mention it, I think he did say something about it not being used for a while..." Chitose said nonchalantly. "Ugh!" Chiyo let out. "Now what're we going to do? We can't stay here can we?" "Huh? Why not? Just put a little elbow grease into it and it'll be good as new," Chitose said.

"Wait... we have to clean this place?" Jasmine said. "What?! No way! Absolutely not!" Michi protested. "Big sis, there's no way-" Chiyo began to say, but as she turned from looking at the cabin again to looking at where Chitose should've been, she was gone. Looking further out, Chiyo found her standing by the car, along with Ai who had stayed behind at her own car. Waving, Chitose shouted, "Have new experiences! Try new things! Live life to the fullest!" Then, she hopped into her car and both vehicles left, leaving a pile of luggage behind.

"Ah... um..." Chiyo uttered, truly dumbfounded. Turning back to everyone else, she was met with stares that displayed disappointment, anger and confusion. "Sooo, haha... I hope everyone's ready to clean!" Chiyo said, trying to play it off. "Forget it, I'm going home," Jasmine said flatly. "Aw, come on Jas-chin!" Chiyo cried. "I'll just call a ride or something," Michi said. "Huh? No signal?!" The group was beginning to fall apart. Surprisingly, it was Haruna who came up with a solution. "What if we took a vote?" she suggested. "A vote?" Mayu repeated. "Yeah. We can all vote on if we stay or go back home. I mean, there's seven of us here, so it's not like we have to worry about a tie." "That... makes sense," Ituski said as she thought it over. "Alright, then let's do it!" Chiyo said with hope. "Everyone in favor of staying, raise your hand!"

The ones who voted to stay were Chiyo, Mayu and Haruna. Then, the ones that wanted to go were Jasmine, Michi and Itsuki. "Huh?! Itsuki-chan, I thought you wanted to camp!" Chiyo said in surprise. "N-No way! Not in that creepy cabin!" Itsuki said, scared. "Hey wait, someone didn't vote," Jasmine pointed out. After a moment of thought, all eyes turned to the one that didn't raise their hand.

"Kana-chan? What do you want to do?" Chiyo asked. "I, um..." Kanako said. "What should I say?" she wondered. "It seems like no matter what I do, some people won't be happy..." "Hey, Kanako," Haruna said, getting her attention. "Just... do whatever you feel like." Kanako stared, feeling appreciative of Haruna trying to help. "Okay... Then I..."

"...want to stay."

"Kana-chan?!" Michi exclaimed. "But the cabin..." Itsuki whined. Jasmine sighed. "Whatever. It's not like we could call anyone here to get us anyways." At that remark, everyone got back on the same page. "Okay! Let's get to work!" Chiyo said as she pretended to roll up her sleeves.

Reluctantly following behind the gal, the group walked into the empty space within the cabin. It only took a quick look around for one of them to notice something. "Hey, isn't that a couch over there?" Jasmine said as she pointed to an object covered in a white sheet. It was placed up against the same wall as the door, which is why no one had seen it earlier. "It looks like a couch," Itsuki said. "Only one way to find out!" Chiyo said as she ran over and ripped off the sheet.

Sure enough, it was a couch. Considering what everyone had seen so far, there had been expressions displayed bracing for the worst, but to their surprise the piece of furniture was actually in good condition. The material covering it was velvet, being a crimson red in color, and it was wide enough to easily fit three if not four people on it. After a brief once-over, it appeared to have no holes or tears of any sort either.

"So... why was this thing in the corner?" Haruna asked hesitantly. "Oh hey, a chair!" Itsuki suddenly exclaimed, sliding a wooden chair out from behind the kitchen counter in the back. The chair itself was fairly simplistic in nature, with its only notable feature being the back rails. Each one was a decorative rod topped with a 2-D image of a bird, as if it was perched atop the rail. "Wow that's tacky," Michi commented. "Really? I thought it was kinda neat!" Itsuki replied. "Is no one going to talk about the fact that none of the furniture is where it should be?" Haruna said, getting annoyed by her own confusion. "I wonder why... maybe the owner had to clean the floors?" Kanako suggested. Taking a glance down, it was clear that while the floors may have been polished before, the wood was now covered in a layer of dust and dirt. "...O-Or maybe not..." Kanako concluded.

"Well, at least we know the place ain't completely empty!" Chiyo said. "Before we move anything else, perhaps we should clean this room?" Mayu said. "Right! Let's see if anyone can dig up any cleaning supplies!" Chiyo announced. As the girls began to look, Kanako and Haruna happened to go to the same spot. "O-Oh, you thought they'd be over here too huh?" Kanako said. "Yeah, but it doesn't look like it," Haruna said as she stopped peering into a small compartment in the wall. A shout suddenly rang out, causing the two girls to look around for the source. They found it quickly, as Itsuki was proudly showing off a pile of soaps, towels, buckets and brooms. The items appeared to have come from the storage closet behind her. The shout had come from Chiyo, who seemed more excited than ever now.

Kanako giggled at Chiyo's actions. "Chiyo seems to really be enjoying this," she said. "Yeah, it's kinda weird,��� Haruna said. "You wouldn't think someone like her would be so into this. I mean, look at Jasmine-chan." Kanako turned her eyes to the other gal. She was standing stock-still with a look of absolute dread in her eyes as she stared at the cleaning pile. "I-Is Jasmine-chan going to be okay?" Kanako asked. Haruna shrugged. "Who knows?"

With the things the group needed gathered, it was time to split up the chores. "Alright! How about Itsuki-chan and Mayu-chan wash the windows, Kana-chan and Mi-chan scrub the floor, and Haru-chi and I will knock down the cobwebs!" Chiyo told everyone. "Hey, wait! Why do I have to scrub the floor?!" Michi complained. "Hm? Isn't it obvious? Because you're so short, you can reach it easily!" Chiyo teased. "You jerk!" Michi yelled as Haruna snickered unnoticed.

"Hey, what about Jasmine-chan?" Itsuki asked. "Oh don't mind her. If you need an extra person, just grab her," Chiyo said as she went to grab a broom. Itsuki looked at Jasmine, who seemed to look even more dejected then before. "Does she really hate cleaning that much?" Itsuki wondered, but it was a fleeting thought, and soon enough everyone was hard at work trying to turn what looked like a haunted cabin into a sparkling one.

*****

"PFFF!! Gah, gross! This is so stupid!" Haruna shouted for the third time. "Haru-chi, you should swing your broom away from you, not above," Chiyo instructed. The pair had been knocking away spider webs for the past 20 minutes and Haruna had managed to get several to land right on her mouth. "I swear, the second one of those spiders goes in me, I'm out of here. I don't care if I have to walk home," Haruna said as she continued swiping away. "Come on Haru-chi, isn't this fun? It's like we're wrecking balls! Boom, crash!" Chiyo joked as she sent her broom into another web. "I don't think we've ever had the same definition of fun..." Haruna sighed.

Meanwhile, Itsuki and Mayu were scrubbing away at the windows. "Geez, this gunk is really stuck on here!" Itsuki said as she scrubbed harder on a spot on the window. "Yes, the glass has gotten rather dirty," Mayu agreed as she attempted to make the window she was working on see-through. It seemed to be a task in futility however, as no matter how much Mayu slid her brush up and down, the dirt refused to budge. "What should we do? I'd hate to leave these the way they are," Mayu wondered aloud. "I know!" Itsuki said suddenly. "Hey Jasmine-chan! C'mere a second!"

At the track girl's call, Jasmine shuffled over. "...Yeah?" she said with hardly any emotion. "Do you think you can get these clean?" Itsuki asked, motioning to the windows. Wordlessly, Jasmine took the brush out of Itsuki's hand and began scrubbing. "Uhh... Jasmine-chan?" Itsuki said uncertainly. "Ah, look, it's coming off," Mayu pointed out. Looking more closely, Itsuki saw it too. The dirt was simply falling away. "Hey, how'd you do that?!" she exclaimed. Jasmine stopped and looked over at the girl with dead eyes. "I scrubbed," she said in a completely flat tone. "O-Oh... okay," Itsuki responded, not sure of what else to say, then whispered to Mayu, "Is she okay?" Mayu stared. "I'm... not sure," was all she could come up with.

Down below, two other girls were silently going up and down the floorboards as they changed them from dusty-brown to the original deep hue it was. Currently, Kanako was on one end of the room and Michi was on the other, but gradually they were getting closer, now at least within conversation distance. However, when both girls realized this, they only exchanged uncomfortable glances with each other before turning away and back to the task at hand.

"This sucks..." Michi brooded. She thought that for two reasons. The first was the fact that she didn't understand why she had to clean on what was essentially a vacation. The second reason though had to do with Kanako. Michi knew that they were still in that awkward stage after a fight, where you're not really still fighting, but you also kind of are. It was hard to know what would be okay to say or if sitting down and having a whole conversation about the issue would be necessary. "Why does it have to be like this?" Michi wondered as she rubbed her towel on the floor. "If she would just listen to me instead of saying stuff that doesn't make sense, we wouldn't be how we are now."

On the other side of the room, Kanako was having similar thoughts. "I don't understand why we have to keep fighting..." she thought. "All I wanted was to have a simple talk about how I was feeling, and instead Mi-chan yelled at me..." Kanako looked over at her best friend, who was keeping her face toward the ground. She was almost tempted to say something, but she stopped. "I'm not even sure what to say..." Kanako thought sadly. "...when did this distance grow between us?"

All the girls continued to go about their tasks at different levels of success. For the most part, Chiyo and Haruna managed to get all of the spider webs, and fortunately, not a single spider landed in Haruna's mouth. Itsuki and Mayu were still working on the windows, but they kept getting distracted by Jasmine's speed and tenacity. Although, perhaps tenacity wasn't the best word to describe it. Jasmine was certainly scrubbing fast and hard, but the expression on her face was blank. The best comparison would be if you programmed a robot to do the same task quickly.

Kanako and Michi were beginning to near the end of the floor cleaning, and the spots they had already gotten to practically shined in the light that was coming through the now-clear windows. "Hooray! This area's almost done!" Chiyo said happily. "This area? We have to do more?!" Michi protested. "Welllll yeah. This is only the living room. There's still the kitchen, bathroom and whatever's upstairs," Chiyo said like it was obvious. "Ughhhhh... why did I come here?!" Michi yelled. "No one's stopping you from leaving," Haruna said under her breath. Michi glared at her. "I heard that you leech," she spat. "What the hell?! What'd you just call me?!" Haruna shouted. "C-Come on guys, don't fight," Kanako said, trying to pacify the situation. "You heard me. Now why don't you get back to hacking away at webs, since that's all you and your height are good for," Michi said. "What, jealous pipsqueak?" Haruna fired back. "Hah?! Jealous of you? Who'd ever be envious of a ug-" Michi was about to shoot out another insult, but Chiyo came over and put her hand over the girl's mouth.

"Come on Mi-chan, we should all try to get along," Chiyo cooed, pressing Michi closer to her. "Mmph! Mmmmmph!" Michi let out, now mad for a different reason. "C-Chiyo, maybe you should let her go..." Kanako suggested. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess you're right!" Chiyo said as she released her hand. "Puah! Ew, ew, ew! Your hand is disgusting! What is wrong with you, putting your infectious germs all over me?!" Michi screamed. "What's a few germs between friends?" Chiyo said with a laugh. "We're. Not. Friends! How many times do I have to say that! Geez!" Michi yelled before storming off through the front door.

"U-Um, Chiyo, are you-" Kanako was about to ask if Chiyo was alright, but she was cut off by a clap. "Okay! More cleaning to do! Let's give it our all so we can relax the rest of the time!" Chiyo said. Then she wandered off to the kitchen. "It kind of feels like..." Kanako began to think. "Chiyo intentionally made Mi-chan mad at her instead of Haruna... Or am I just imagining it?"

"Tch... what a bitch..." Haruna muttered. Kanako looked at her. "I wish Haruna and Mi-chan could get along," she thought. "I wonder... how the rest of this trip is going to go..." While Kanako was lost in thought, Chiyo came back over with good news. "Guys, check it out! The fridge is fully stocked! Cabinets too! The kitchen is even clean!" "What?! No way!" Itsuki exclaimed, running over to check for herself. "Whoa, she's right! There's so much meat in here too! This is awesome!"

After double-checking the kitchen to make sure it had everything they needed, the girls checked the rest of the first floor. As it turned out, not only was the kitchen clean, but so was the bathroom, the back area with a back door that led outside, and even the storage closet that had been holding all of the cleaning supplies in the first place. "How odd," Mayu commented. "Yeah. Why was only the living room dirty?" Itsuki wondered aloud. "I'm starting to get the feeling we just got roped into cleaning this place up," Haruna said, annoyed. "W-Well, at least it'll look nice," Kanako said, trying to lighten Haruna's mood. "Whatever," Haruna said back. "Well, let's all check out floor number two!" Chiyo said. So the girls made their way up the stairs.

What they found was a singular hallway, with the left side lined with four doors, and the right was a blank wall with not even a piece of generic art hung on it for decoration. The wall color itself was a faded white, drastically different from the all-wooden first floor. The doors were basic as well, completing the feel of an old hotel hall. "Why is this floor so different?" Mayu asked. "M-Maybe it was easier for people to sleep because it looks more modern?" Kanako suggested, though she doubted her own reason. "Why do I feel like that's not why?" Haruna said. "W-Well, it was just an idea," Kanako said.

Deciding to check out the rooms, the group went through each one. They were all identical, with the same white walls as the hallway and closets to store futons and sheets. The floors were made of tatami mats, which ultimately made it feel like they had went into an entirely separate building just by going up a staircase. "This cabin is weird," Haruna said what they were all thinking. "A-At least they have futons. I was getting a little worried about what we'd do if there weren't any..." Kanako said. "Huh? Didn't you bring a sleeping bag?" Haruna asked. "Huh?" "Huh?"

"..."

"Kanako, what were you planning to do if there weren't any futons?" Haruna asked. "W-Well..." Kanako trailed off. Haruna sighed. "Well, I guess you just go lucky then..." "Y-Yeah..." Kanako agreed quietly, now feeling like she had failed in her preparations. "Maybe I should've asked about what to bring," she thought. "And what to wear."

For the most part, everyone was wearing clothes that they could get dirty in. Chiyo was wearing a pink t-shirt and jeans, Michi had a plain white t-shirt and grey sweatpants, and Haruna had had on a black jacket earlier, but removed it to reveal a blue tank-top, and below those were black athletic shorts. Jasmine had gone with short-shorts and a simple t-shirt. Finally, Mayu and Itsuki wear dressed rather similarly as well, with Itsuki wearing a pair of her work out clothes for track and Mayu borrowing a pair. As for Kanako...

When she had gotten up in the morning, she had been so focused on the idea of going out that she had forgotten exactly WHERE she was going out to. So, she had put on a relatively nice, beige-colored top and tied on a red bow. Luckily she had thought to put on jeans as well, though she was beginning to wonder if she had only done that because they had been lying right in front of her, rather than her planning well. Overall, it had all worked out, but Kanako made sure to make a note to herself that for future trips, she'd make sure to do her research.

With the cabin now clean, the girls went to go grab their luggage, which was still piled outside. They met Michi along the way, who begrudgingly agreed to rejoin them at Itsuki's insistence, then they carried in all of their stuff. Once that was taken care of, the group had to face another problem.

"S-So, who's rooming with who?" Haruna asked, a bit nervous. "Huh? What do you mean?" Michi asked. "There are only four rooms upstairs, so only one person will be on their own," Mayu explained. "What? I thought you said we'd all get a room?!" Michi yelled at Chiyo. "Did I say that?" Chiyo said, mimicking her sister's behavior from earlier. "I wanna be with Mayu-chan!" Itsuki announced. "Hey, why don't we bunk together Mi-chan?" Chiyo suggested. "No way!" Michi shot back. "Should we choose? Maybe drawing straws would be better," Mayu said. "Yeah, that's a great idea Mayu-chan! Let's mix it up!" Chiyo said happily. Finding some straws in the kitchen, Chiyo held them out to everyone. "Okay, if you get one that matches another, you get to room with them!" Chiyo said. She was holding a bunch of different colors. There were pairs of blue, red and green, with there being a singular yellow one.

"Wait, shouldn't someone get that other floozy outside?" Michi asked. "Huh? Other floozy?" Chiyo repeated. "Oh! Jas-chin!" Chiyo then dashed over to the door and went out. A few seconds later she came back, dragging a dead-looking Jasmine with her. "She was out there still cleaning the windows! What a good girl!" Chiyo said, rubbing Jasmine's head. "More... to clean... scrub harder..." she said robotically. "What happened to her?!" Itsuki exclaimed. "Oh, this?" Chiyo said, lifting Jasmine up by the back collar of her shirt. "Jas-chin always gets like this when it comes to cleaning. One year in junior high, she was punished almost every day for her hair color, so they made her clean for hours after school. Now, any time Jas-chin has to do it, she gets into this weird way. Kinda like a robot!" Chiyo explained. "That's what I thought!" Itsuki said back. "Haha!" Chiyo laughed, then continued. "Well, the good thing to come out of it is that Jas-chin's practically a cleanin' wiz! She can make anything sparkle." "B-But will she be alright?" Kanako asked, staring at the seemingly lifeless gal. "Oh yeah, she'll be totes fine. Just give it a few hours and she'll be back to her sexy self!" Chiyo said.

"Okay everyone, close your eyes!"

On Chiyo's command, everyone closed their eyes. Chiyo mixed around the straws in her hand just in case any memorized the order, then began to go around the circle and have each person draw one. In the end, the rooms were:

Haruna and Itsuki,

Kanako and Chiyo,

Michi and Mayu,

And Jasmine by herself.

"Okay, that settles that!" Chiyo said. "Aww, I wanted to be with Mayu-chan!" Itsuki whined. "Itsuki-chan, you should be nicer. You wouldn't want to hurt Endo-san's feelings would you?" Mayu said. "Ah! Sorry, it's not like I don't like you or anything!" Itsuki panicked, quickly apologizing to Haruna. "It's fine. I'm sure you can't be any worse than when Chiyo's spent the night in my room," Haruna said. "Are you sure you won't be lonely without me Haru-chi?" Chiyo teased. "As if," Haruna said flatly.

*****

A few hours later, the girls made dinner. More accurately, it was the members of the cooking club that made it as Chiyo and Haruna just watched. Jasmine was laying on the couch with a towel over her face, still recovering from her bout with cleaning. "They're pretty good," Chiyo said as she stared at Mayu frying something in a pan. "Well yeah, that's why they're in the club they're in," Haruna pointed out. "I'm just sayin', I don't think I could cook like that," Chiyo said. "Yeah..." Haruna was inclined to agree as she thought back on all of her failures in her cooking elective.

It wasn't long after that dinner was served. With limited seating, most of the group simply opted to sit on the floor, although Michi and a now-somewhat coherent Jasmine decided to sit on the couch and eat instead. Michi hadn't seemed too pleased about having to share her space, but considering Jasmine's lack of... well, everything at the moment, Michi just ate in silence next to her.

Once dinner was done and the dishes were washed, the girls weren't really sure what to do next. Chiyo had wandered outside to look at the scenery, but it was only moments later that she came back in. "Hey guys!" she said excitedly. "I didn't notice it before, but there's a fire pit out by the porch! And wood too! Let's have a fire!" In response, everyone stared, with Jasmine being the first to speak. "...Does it have to be cleaned?" she muttered. "What? No, of course not Jas-chin. It's outside, it's always dirty," Chiyo said, a little dumbfounded by Jasmine's question. "...Oh, okay. Good," Jasmine said, seeming to finally be coming back to her normal self after clearing this potential hurdle.

"Chiyo, do you even know how to start a fire?" Haruna asked doubtfully. "Ooh, I can do it!" Itsuki said with a raise of her hand. Haruna gave Itsuki a look that suggested she both worried and doubted that Itsuki could actually make a fire. "Come on, don't give me that look! I promise I can! Watch, I'll prove it!" Itsuki said, then ran outside. "Ah, I-Itsuki-chan, come back! Fire's dangerous!" Kanako called after her. "I guess we��re doing this then," Haruna sighed.

Surprisingly enough, Itsuki was true to her word, setting up the logs with precision and getting the fire started with ease. "Haha!" she shouted proudly, hands on her hips. "I told ya I could do it!" "Yes. Well done Itsuki-chan," Mayu said kindly. With larger logs set up around the pit, the girls all took seats around the now-blazing flame.

"This is nice," Kanako said quietly as she stared ahead. "Yeah, but's it's a little too quiet," Haruna said as she looked around at the darkening surroundings. "Hey, I can fix that!" Chiyo said as she got up and headed inside the cabin. A few minutes later, the gal came back out with a surprising object in her hand. "Huh? C-Chiyo, is that a guitar?" Kanako asked. "Yep, it sure is!" Chiyo said happily as she held it up in a display-like fashion.

The instrument was pretty much an exact copy of pictures one would see of acoustic guitars. The base was a smooth, light brown, shining dimly in the firelight. It's only highlight was a red mark right next to the hole of the base. Extending upward was the neck, both well-strung and coated in a matte black color.

"Wow, you can play Chiyo? That's so cool!" Itsuki said. "What a pleasant surprise," Mayu said. "Tch, whatever. She hasn't even played anything yet," Michi spat. "Haruna, did you know Chiyo played guitar?" Kanako asked the girl next to her. "Well, I guess I knew, but I never see her actually play, so I kinda forgot," Haruna answered. "I wonder if she's any good." "Oh she's good," Jasmine said, finally back to 100 percent. "She plays at local bars sometimes and she always gets a lot of cheers. Tips too." "What? She's never even mentioned that to me!" Haruna said. "Chiyo's shy about it for some reason," Jasmine sighed. "I-I'm not shy! I just like to have a good atmosphere to play in," Chiyo said, turning her nose up at the comment.

Moving back over to her seat, Chiyo sat down and set her guitar on top of her legs. "Shall I play for you?" she asked. "Yes, please do!" Kanako said excitedly. "Well aren't you eager! Okay Kana-chan, I'll play just for you," Chiyo said with a wink. "A-ah, no that's not what I meant!" Kanako panicked, her face blushing a little. Chiyo laughed, then put her pick-holding hand up to the strings. "Okay, here goes."

A soothing set of chords began to play as Chiyo's hand moved up and down. It continued for a handful of seconds, and then Chiyo began to sing. As she did, everyone began to feel captivated by her voice. It was light and charming, but it also felt like it held something deeper.

The lyrics told the story of a girl struggling with heartbreak, not just from love, but from loss as well. They spoke of how the girl felt, how much she cried and how much she wished things were different. It was a sad song, but by the last verse, it seemed that the girl was on her way to at least getting a little better.

When the song ended, it was silent for a moment. "Wow... that was really good Chiyo," Kanako said in awe. "I'm glad you liked it," Chiyo said with a smile. "T-That was... s-so good..." Itsuki said through tears. "There, there Itsuki-chan," Mayu said as she rubbed her back, then asked, "Did you write that song Chiyo?" "Yeah, I did. Most of what I play is original, but I do know some covers too," Chiyo explained. Then she turned to Michi. "What did you think Mi-chan?" "It wasn't awful..." she muttered, barely audible. "Really? You liked it?" Chiyo asked. "I-I didn't say that! Geez, just forget it! I'm going to bed!" Michi yelled before storming off inside.

Kanako watched Michi march away, then looked at Chiyo. To her surprise, she was smiling. "Little by little," Chiyo said to herself. Kanako wasn't quite sure what Chiyo meant by that, but she decided that it might be impolite to ask.

As the night went on, Chiyo played a song whenever the conversation died out, and slowly, each member of the group began to make their way back to the cabin. Soon enough, it was only Haruna, Kanako and Chiyo that remained. "Well, what now? Should I play a love song for the couple in the back?" Chiyo teased. Haruna's face turned redder than the fire. "C-Come on Chiyo, Akio-kun's not even here. We don't need to pretend now," Kanako said anxiously. "Is that right? But y'know, I could tell Akio-kun that you two aren't acting very couple-like on this trip. I bet he'd be reeeaaalll disappointed by that," Chiyo said. "W-Well..." Kanako said.

Suddenly she felt a hand grab her own, the fingers curling around and interlocking with hers. "H-Haruna?" Kanako stuttered, surprised by the girl's actions. "J-Just deal with it for now," Haruna said, looking away from Kanako. "O-Okay..." Kanako said sheepishly. "This is bizarre," she then thought to herself. "Last summer, Haruna would've never gone a trip like this if she knew I'd be there. Now, she's with me and holding my hand. She's going so far... just how much does she like Akio-kun?"

Chiyo began to play another song, which did turn out to be all about love. As she sang, Haruna began to feel really embarrassed. "It's not like I've never held her hand before, but... this atmosphere feels kinda romantic... it's making me all nervous," she thought, then looked at Kanako. The girl was right beside her, smiling and slightly swaying along to the sound of the music. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter," Haruna thought as she looked back ahead of herself. "After all, Kanako was right..."

"...this is nice."

End of Chapter Fifteen.