Chapter Text
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Fukurodani, Nekoma, Karasuno, Shinzen, and Ubugawa's high school volleyball teams made their way up the forest trail in near pitch-blackness, save for the 12 cheap battery-powered lanterns distributed as evenly as possible amongst the 60+ high school boys. A buzz of adrenaline coursed through the group. It was nearly 9:00 PM, and every rustle in the dark forest foliage was met with someone pretend-screeching, followed by giggles and shouts of "shut up!" or "stupid, dumbass"!
The summer training camp was over, and as a special treat the coaches had arranged for a little party. Near the training campus gyms, roughly a 15 minute drive, was a private camping ground with a meadow clearing. It was furnished with firepits, benches, and utilities. It was going to be a 3 hour camping getaway, complete with Smores, stargazing, and socializing.
Absolutely none of this interested Kenma, who was busy checking his sweatshirt pocket every three seconds to make sure his 3DS hadn't fallen out. As soon as Kuroo has caught wind of the outing, and had subsequently told everyone the news, Kenma had raced back to Nekoma's room and plugged it in so it would be 100% ready to go for the long 3 hours. He had immediately figured that wifi would be a no-go. Sure enough, as soon as roll-call had been taken at the trail head and each team made their way single file into the forest, his phone displayed 0 bars.
He was already unpleasently sweaty and winded and was tripping on nearly every bump in the path. He had taken to gripping onto Kuroo's shirt in front of him, adding his weight to Kuroo's already full arms every time a stray root decided to assault him. It also didn't help that Lev's big feet kept stepping on the back of his shoes, so often, in fact, that Lev had run out of sorry's and had taken to chattering with Yaku behind him, ignoring each time he nearly pulled Kenma out of his sneakers.
As Kenma tripped for the upteenth time, Kuroo stopped and adjusted his grip on the share of Smores ingredients he'd been tasked to carry.
"Oi, Kenma, how you holding up? Want me to have Lev give you the latern?" Lev didn't even seem to register the comment, instead bumping into Kenma as the line stopped, finally issuing an apology and calling out to the rest of the lineup for a "stop!"
"... No, it's fine. Sorry." Irritated by, well, everything at this point, Kenma used both hands to grab onto Kuroo's shirt and pouted. "... How long till we get there?"
"Mm, dunno," Kuroo began moving again. "My guess is soon though. They said it was a 10 minute trail..."
A shout from the front-most group (Fukurodani) rang out, and as the message was passed back to each team, the Nekoma Caboose heard that they'd finally made it to the clearing.
"See? My intuitions always right." Kenma heard the grin in Kuroo's comment. "We got this, almost there."
As Nekoma broke into the clearing, the coaches began shouting, ushering each team into lines so that roll could be called. Nekoma's coch had offered to stay behind at the training camp to be the official supervisor for those who didn't want to go, so Nekoma's roll call sheet had been given to Karasuno.
As they lined up, Kenma, still grasping Kuroo's shirt, scanned for Shoyo. He spotted his orange hair, dulled in the darkness, bouncing up and down. He could hear him chattering loudly, chirping away like a bird. Kageyama loomed behind him, undoutedly telling him to "calm down, dumbass", but the rush of excitement in the air was undoutedly affecting even the most serious and stoic of Karasuno's misfit team. Even Tsukishima, Kenma noted, was looking about the clearing with interest, leaning into Yamaguchi, who lightly gripped at Tsukishima's sleeve with nervous energy.
"All here!" Karasuno's coah called as he finished roll call, and looked toward Fukurodani's coach, who'd been dubbed the Camp Outing leader.
"Alright," the Fukurodani coach yelled, "Everyone can make whatever groups they want from here on out, but here are the ground rules! There will be no leaving the clearing or going down any trails! If anyone walks to a bathroom, take a buddy! The bathrooms are located at the west end of the clearing! Each campfire needs food supplies, and those have been dolled out: you know who you are! Make sure each fire pit has an equal portion! Team captains, vice captains, coaches, and advisors are the only ones who start the pit fires, so ask for their assistance! When we're finished here in 3 hours, they will also put them out! Everyone is in charge of cleaning up their own garbage, so take responsibility for your trash! Let's respect and take care of this campsite we've generously been allowed to use! We line up for roll call in 3 hours! With that... let's go!"
Suddenly everyone was running. Kenma, swept up by the rush of bodies, found himself lost somewhere in the center of the clearing, slightly dazed as he watched everyone clamor for bench seats and yell for their captains and coaches to start the fires. The managers trotted in shortly after, including one very shaken Yachi who held Kiyoko's arm and trembled.
The dark clearing began to light up as fires were stoked, like little orange fireflies blinking into existence. Kenma watched the spectacle for awhile, mind racing as he wondered how he would find a place to sit. There was no sign of Kuroo, and no one in his immediate area was familiar. Stuffing his hands into his pocket and gripping his 3DS like a lifeline, Kenma ducked his head and decided to go look for Shouyou.
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