Chapter Text
Summer break.
The most dreaded time for parents who work—or workaholics with kids. Kids don’t have school anymore, meaning they're at home all day, doing nothing. For those lucky parents that are able to afford it, sending their kids to camps feels like a blessing.
Especially summer day camps.
It’s what gets filled up the quickest during the summer. It’s cheap, it includes field trips with no extra costs for the day, it’s open until 6 pm, and best of all, it’s located in an elementary school so their young ones can begin getting used to their new school.
But, working families are not the only ones that love summer camps. High schoolers and college students also love it.
A seasonal job that you're guaranteed to have when you come back from school, the pay isn’t awful. You get to work with your friends and the stories you have to tell about these kids are almost unbelievable. Things you couldn’t make up even if you tried.
Hunter lake, a 1st-5th grade school, is the most popular location throughout the program. Parents gatekeep sign up and try to bribe staff to reveal the signup day earlier. They wake up hours before, they have many devices ready in queue, they sign up for every available day and then cancel what they don’t need later.
This isn’t just daycare sign up anymore, this is war.
Anyone who has had the misfortune of working the morning of registration opening, would tell you that it’s the worst thing they encounter on the job.~.°｡
~.°｡𖦹˚𓇼 ｡𖦹°｡.~⋆⁺₊⋆☼⋆⁺₊⋆~.°｡𖦹˚𓇼 ｡𖦹°｡.~
It’s the first day of summer and the weather is reflecting it. The sun is almost done rising and it’s getting hotter and brighter. The smell of spray-on sunscreen hung in the humid air.
All of the kids are trickling in. Some of them are struggling with drop off, others can’t wait to abandon their parents and find their summer friends.
A little boy, who couldn’t be taller than 3 feet and some, is being dropped off by his aunt. “Okay Gon, have a good day! I’ll pick you up later at-...”
Tiny footsteps pattered on the blue tiled ramp, meaning the boy already ran away before she could finish her sentence. “Okay! Bye love you!” He yelled back all while waving down at her from the top of the ramp.
She waved back with a small smile then turned to look at the two staff members sitting at the front table. “Seems like he’s ready to leave me, right?” She commented with a lighthearted chuckle, “But, uhm, I’m checking in Gon Freecss. I’m his aunt, Mito Freecss. Primary caretaker.” She handed them her ID.
The staff smiled at her comment, glancing at the card. “An adventurous soul, can’t keep those at home forever.”
“Right? Even at home, it’s a struggle to even keep him inside when he’s sick or injured.” Mito replied while the staff pointed to the tablet on the table.
“So every time you drop off and pick up you’ll put in the phone number of the account, then click yourself, then Gon, then sign and you’re all good!” The staff guided her through the process.
After the signature was sent through, the screen filled with confetti and “You’re all set!” read on the screen.
“That’s easy enough. What time can I pick him up?” Mito asked and put her ID back into her wallet.
“We’re going swimming today so you can get him afterwards. We should be back at around 3:30 to 4:00. But we close at 6, so definitely by then.” The staff joked with her, “I’m Bisky, and I’ll be in charge of Gon’s group. If you have any questions about his day or anything, I’m always here to help!”
Meanwhile Mito was learning the logistics of this day camp, Gon was already off to his new adventure.
~.°｡𖦹˚𓇼 ｡𖦹°｡.~⋆⁺₊⋆☼⋆⁺₊⋆~.°｡𖦹˚𓇼 ｡𖦹°｡.~
Gon took a sharp right turn to make his way outside onto the black top with everyone else. Immediately after arriving outside, there were staff there ready to greet him.
They were wearing blue t-shirts that read, “Summer Adventures”. A big sun on the left side of the shirt, taking up most of the space, and “Staff” on the back of them.
The first to greet him is a blond haired teen, he barely looked to be old enough to work here, and Gon spoke his mind about it.
“Are you old enough to work here?” He asked with a big smile and brown doe-like eyes.
The teen’s eye twitched, “Yes. What grade are you in?” He held a clipboard in his hand and a highlighter in the other hand.
“I’m in first grade! Can’t you tell? I’ve grown like this much-” Gon opened his arms as wide as he could, exaggerating how tall he’s gotten, “-Since kindergarten because I’m a big kid now!”
The teen only smiled and nodded, the kid spoke so quickly the only thing he caught was first grade, kindergarten, and big kid.
“Well, my name is Kurapika and I’ll be your staff. What’s your name, bud? Can you help me find it in my list?” Kurapika knelt down to Gon’s level, showing him the list so he could help him find his name.
Gon scanned the paper and quickly found his name. “Right there! I know that because it’s this-” He held up three fingers, “-many fingers.”
Kurapika smiled again and nodded, holding back his laughter because he knew that if Gon’s name were any longer; the poor oblivious kid would not be able to tell you what his name looked like.
“Am I the first one here?” Gon couldn’t hide his excitement. He has never been at a day camp, and he hasn’t been on a list as long as that one. A list that is two whole pages long.
Gon was used to small daycares with maybe 15 kids in total. This place felt enormous.
Also, why are there no teachers, just staff?
Kurapika couldn’t hide his judging face, looking around the playground and blacktop you could clearly tell Gon isn’t the first one. “No. But, you're the 37th one here for our group.” Kurapika highlighted Gon’s name and the number 37 before standing back up.
“You can set your backpack down against the wall and go play when you’re ready. Do you want me to help you find the other first graders…?” Before Kurapika could finish his question, Gon had dropped his things against the wall and ran off, again.
Gon ran at full speed, dodging stray balls that were kicked or thrown, navigating through the groups of older kids standing on the blacktop and hanging out on the rope pyramid.
Just as he was about to run past the pyramid, he abruptly stopped, falling to his knees from the motion.
“What. Is. That?”
Gon flips over onto his back, looking up at the blue sky and the giant rope pyramid in front of him. “So cool!” He shrieks and gets back up onto his feet.
The little six-year-old with black gelled up hair is meticulously climbing his way to the top of the pyramid. A pyramid that is only made of red ropes connected to a large green metal pole in the middle of it.
His tiny tan hands are grasping the rope tightly while other kids got on the pyramid and jumped.
The entire structure is shaking, Gon along with it. “Uhhh…” he said to hear the silliness in his vibrating voice.
“This is fun!” Gon yelled at the kids jumping, then joined their jumping while screaming in excitement.
The commotion attracted the attention of the staff supervising them outside. Specifically, the attention of a tall man with sunglasses and long limbs. “Hey! What’s going on over there?” He yelled out before approaching the structure.
Gon turned to look at the man. “Why are you yelling?” He screamed back, tightly shutting his eyes before opening them with a big wide grin. Satisfied with his retort. Before the man could tell him to lower his voice, they were already calling everyone to group up.
“All right, Summer Hunters! It is snack time! Grab your things and find your group!”
“K/1! Come sit in the circle!”
“2nd grade! Sit under the hoop!”
“3rd grade! In the grass!”
“4/5! By the wall!”
All 122 children playing on the playground suddenly rushed onto the black top area. Everyone is running to grab their belongings and find their group. Gon jumped off of the tall structure, landing on both feet with a fist against the ground.
He ignored the slight sting he felt coursing through his ankles. All just to pose like a superhero before standing up and running alongside the others.
There’s so many backpacks and kids near the wall that he became dizzy just trying to follow them. Especially since kids are accusing each other of stealing the other’s backpack.
“Ugh so many kids! Can’t. Find. My. Things!” He whined dramatically, his stance wide with both legs far apart from one another. He waited just a few seconds more to observe. “Okay, I got this. I’m going in!”
Gon was talking pretty loudly to himself. In normal settings, it would probably draw attention to him but no one at summer camp cares. His stubby little legs quickly sped up and rushed into the swarm of children.
Luckily, since he was one of the last people to get there, his backpack was safe and easily accessible as it laid inside the nook where the door is.
With a quick movement, he grasped the straps of his large green bag and jumped out of the crowd. Again, landing the same way with a hand against the ground.
He looked up to scan the area.
There were groups of children already sitting in different areas of the blacktop. Some were on the grass, the wall, under a basketball hoop, and in a painted white circle.
“Where should I go?” Gon questioned and stood up. He shrugged on his backpack, chubby hands held onto the dark green straps and went to sit with the closest group. With a big smile, he confidently sits down with a group of big kids.
“Hi everyone!” Gon energetically greeted the group of boys he sat with. He didn’t speak very clearly, still struggling to pronounce his r’s. One of the kids turned to look at Gon. He had long hair and sharp eyes, “What are you doing here?”
Gon ignored the question, who cares what he’s doing there? Can’t a boy just sit and eat his snack? He opened up his green backpack and pulled out a plain green lunchbox. If you couldn’t tell by now, his favorite color is currently green.
“The heck? Is he deaf?” The long haired boy is growing increasingly annoyed. He took a bite out of his apple while watching Gon spin his lunchbox on the blacktop. “Why is your hair so long? Is it because you’re gonna donate it when it's super super long?” Gon asked him.
The boy looked to his other friends, “Can you guys deal with this? I can’t right now.” Defeated already, he opted out from the conversation and let his other friends converse with the child.
One of his friends, with short dirty blond hair, spoke up first. “What’s your name, kid?”
“Gon! And I’m 6 years old!” Gon replied, excited and with a lisp.
The group smiled at his response, “Okay Gon, is this your first day at Summer Adventures ever?” A girl, with bright pink hair that is tied up into a pony tail, asked.
“Yeah! Is this your first day ever too?”
“No, it’s my sixth year here. So I’ve been here for as long as you’ve been alive dude.” She smiled, “We all have.” She said and motioned to the other four kids besides her.
Gon’s eyes widened, “Woah no way dude!” His shocked expression, alongside his use of the word dude, caused laughter to arise for the others.
The response had him smiling, he loves making people laugh, because it meant they were happy.
So with his wide grin, he unzips his lunchbox and lays it on the ground in front of them. “Do you guys want snacks? I’ll share!”
A blond bowlcut boy is about to reach for a snack, but the girl hit his hand. “Stop it, Shalnark, those are his snacks. You have plenty of snacks.” She turned to look at Gon, “We don’t need more snacks, but thanks Gon.”
Now both boys were pouting. Gon because he’s being rejected, and Shalnark because he just wants an extra snack.
“Aw man! Shal.. Shalnark can have one! I promise it’s okay!!” Gon continued to insist on sharing, they went back and forth.
Everytime Gon said it was okay, Shalnark would perk up, excited, but every time the girl denied the request; he would sulk. “Machi please! Let the kid share with me! I’m sure it’d make him oh so very happy.”
The two boys were giving her the biggest puppy eyes ever, and she eventually caved. “Okay fine. If it’s okay with Gon then I don’t care.”
With those words of defeat, the two boys cheered. Gon let him choose a snack from his lunchbox.
Gon is staring at the pudding cup stored next to his sandwich intensely, hoping that his new friend won't pick his chocolatey treat. Shalnark, didn’t pick up on his yearning for the pudding cup, and grabbed it from the lunchbox.
Gon’s eyes were still stuck on his treat. His smile faltered, he really wanted the pudding. But since he offered, and he was doing it to make new friends, he decided to be okay with it.
Gon grabbed one of his cuties and carefully peeled it while sitting on his bottom, both legs spread out in front of him.
He is taking up as much space as possible. “So,” He started his sentence and popped a cutie slice in his mouth, “What’s your names?” Gon tilted his head to the side, still chewing on the citrus in his mouth.
His bad grammar and lisp captured the hearts of a few of the older kids. “My name is Machi.” The pink girl from earlier replied. Which set the trend for everyone else.
“My name is Shalnark!” The boy who stole his pudding cup shared next, chocolate smeared on his lips and chin.
“I’m Phinks.” A raspy voice spoke up, he’s the one that asked for his name.
The long black haired boy from earlier reluctantly shared his name, “Nobunaga.”
There was a black haired girl next to Nobunaga that hadn’t spoken until now, “Shizuku.”
"Emo girl." Shalnark teased, which earned him an elbow to his side.
Gon had finished his cutie by the time everyone shared their names. He wiped the orange juice off his chin and spread the sticky citrus juice onto his shorts. He then stood up, “Okay, I think I got it.”
He began to point at each one and recited their names back. “Machi, Shalnark but…I’ll call you Shark! And, Phinks, Nobunaga…hmm too long. Your name is Nobu now. Then Shizu!”
“Shizuku.”
“Shizu!”
“Okay…”
Gon had recited everyone’s names with a single breath. At the very end he had to take in the biggest breath of air he has ever taken. Proud of himself, he smiled and crossed his arms. “I got them all!”
“Yooo my name is Shark now, guys that makes me cooler than all of you.” Shalnark bragged about his cool new nickname given to him by the first grader. This started an argument to break out between him, Phinks, and Machi. The two were already beginning to feel jealous that they didn’t get nicknames.
With all of the yelling and name calling, a staff went over to check on them. “Hey, what’s with the yelling? Hangry?” The staff teased them. He had black hair which is slicked back with a headband that’s the same shade of black as his hair.
Shizuku spoke up for them, “They’re upset cause Gon didn’t give them nicknames but he gave me, Nobunaga, and Shalnark nicknames.” She said with a shrug.
“I’m Shark now!” Shalnark blurted but was ignored.
“Who’s Gon?” The staff questioned. Then all of them looked at Gon, who’s staring back at them with his heartwarming doe eyes. “Oh. Hi, Gon.” The staff is looking down at the boy, who looked up at him and waved. “Hi!”
“Where are you supposed to be?” The staff asked, a hand scratching the back of his neck while he questioned Gon. This seemed to inconvenience him, a bit uncomfortable talking to a little kid.
Gon replied with a shrug, “I dunno.”
“Okay yeah, you’re definitely K/1. C’mon let’s go.” He extended his hand to Gon, which made the group of kids protest.
“No! He’s part of our group now!”
“Don’t kidnap him Chrollo, he’s supposed to be in 4/5!”
Chrollo, the staff, looked over at them with a look that said, Cut that out.
Gon pouted but listened, packing up his things and holding Chrollo’s hand. When Chrollo felt the stickiness of the cutie Gon was eating earlier, he pulled away and wiped his hand clean onto his shirt. “Eugh kid why are your hands sticky?” He questioned Gon.
Gon looked up at him, “I ate a cutie!” He responded, too cute for Chrollo to stay disgusted with him for long. He sighed and reluctantly took Gon’s tiny hand in his again. Oh well, sticky hands came with the job.
Gon is being led away from the wall and towards a group that is sitting inside of a painted white circle. “Chrollo, where am I goin’?” His question fell on deaf ears, being ignored up until they reached the group.
Reached Kurapika.
“You lost one.” Chrollo attacked Kurapika, who tucked the clipboard under his arm while opening someone’s snack. He looked down at Gon, who’s still smiling and holding Chrollo’s hand tightly. “Hi!”
Kurapika glared at Chrollo, “I did not lose him, I haven’t even done name to face yet.” He is now also ignoring Gon, who is starting to become annoyed with the coldness.
“Well, why haven’t you done a name to face yet? They’re gonna start asking for our headcounts.” Chrollo attacked Kurapika again, his words sharp and in an annoying matter-of-a-fact way. He let go of Gon and crossed his arms.
Kurapika is glaring at him, “Gon go sit down with the others. Wait, did you eat your snack already?” His voice softened when he looked down at Gon, a cute and energetic boy who just wanted attention. Gon nodded his head eagerly, “Mhm! I even shared some with Shark!”
Kurapika’s face contorted in confusion for a second, “Okay bud, whatever you say, just go sit down now.” He dismissed Gon’s odd comment, who reluctantly went to sit down.
Sulking and pouting, he sat criss-cross-apple-sauce on the blacktop, his elbows on his thighs and his head resting on his hands.
“I’m not an amateur, Chrollo. If you’re so worried about me doing name to face, then why did it take you so long to notice there was an extra kid with you, huh?” Kurapika just had to snap back at Chrollo.
The two continued to bicker back and forth before Chrollo was called back to his group by the kids.
Kurapika sighed out in relief that Chrollo had finally left him alone. The stressed out teen looked over at all of the kids, who were surprisingly sitting nicely and eating their snack.
“Maybe this group won’t be all too bad…” He muttered to himself before holding the clipboard with two hands.
“Alright my K/1 friends! I am going to do name to face, so when I say your name raise your hand-” He raised his hand in demonstration, “-and say here loud and clear!”
Kurapika began to call names, waiting to see a hand up in the air with a “here!” paired along with it. He managed to get through all 40 names on his roster, with 3 kids missing.
This was going to be a long summer if that’s how many he’ll have on a regular. He doesn’t even think he has enough chairs for all of them, how is he going to seat them now?
“Leorio!” Kurapika called out to the other staff in his group. Leorio looked over at him, then reluctantly got off of the ground to go talk to him.
He’s taller than Kurapika, his limbs lanky and he wore sunglasses. The same staff that was trying to talk to Gon, who screamed in his face.
“Yeah?” Leorio replied.
“We have 37 right now but we’re supposed to have 40. We don’t have enough chairs or desks for that.” Kurapika notified him.
“Oh! And they’re siblings, two of them twins! Amazing, how great and amazing.” Kurapika is complaining, nothing new, but they’ve just barely started their shift. His words were rapid attacks that he’s out of breath by the time he finished.
The two teens stared at one another for a few moments. Completely dumbfounded because what were they gonna do? They can’t magically spawn more seats or even space for all of the kids.
The K/1 group has always been the biggest, since it merges incoming Kindergartners and First Graders, they both know that.
But this is insane.
Forty. Kids. In one singular group. One!
Kurapika groaned, making a fuss drawing the attention of the little ones eating on the ground. “Bisky, can you come outside please…pretty please.” He called for the lead in charge of their group through the walkie talkie.
Every group has at least two walkies, and everyone in the leadership team also has one. Easiest way to communicate at a big program like this.
“Kurapika. Are you serious? I’m trying to do headcount.” Bisky sassed back, then made an announcement. “On that note, headcount time everyone! Take it away Kurapika, what’s K/1’s count?”
“37.” Kurapika huffed into the walkie. “Which is why I wanted to talk.” He said after letting go of the talk button. He’s rolling his eyes, frustrated with his lead already and they have barely started summer.
“Oh that’s a lot.”
Hearing Bisky’s comment, Kurapika’s face fell and looked out straight ahead. The comment was so out of pocket there just had to be cameras here for his own sake. This has to be a show that he’s unknowingly become a part of.
“Anyways, 2nd grade what’s yours?”
“30.”
“3rd grade?”
“20.”
“4/5?”
“35.”
“Woah! What a great start! We got everyone accounted for and the numbers are lining up!” Bisky cheered through the walkie, hoping to get the staff in good moods for the treacherous day ahead of them.
“Super good job everyone! Let’s start with 4/5 wrapping up in five minutes to change into swimsuits!” A cheerful and preppy voice, that isn’t Bisky, is heard over the walkie.
Only a few people rolled their eyes at that: Chrollo, Kurapika, and Leorio. Having been working for a few years now, they knew this cheerful voice and hated working with him.
“Will do, Pariston!” A voice of one of the newer staff cut through before Kurapika turned down his walkie. Then clipping the black and bulky device onto his backpack strap.
He’s looking over at Chrollo, who’s standing with a blonde woman. Chrollo also turned to look at him, with a nod, they silently agreed to have K/1 change first.
It’s the obvious reason. They had the most kids, and would take the longest to change, pack up, just everything.
They need the most time.
“K/1, you guys have two minutes left for snack!” Kurapika made his announcement, though they had five minutes he said two, and handed off the clipboard to Leorio. “I’m gonna go change really quick before we all head in. Hold onto the roster, and don’t mess it up.” He teased Leorio, who mocked him with a laugh. “Oh ha ha so funny.”
With that, Kurapika wearily left behind his group and the chaos outside.
While Kurapika is changing into his swim uniform, Leorio is tasked with looking over the kids. His eyes jumped from one tiny head to the other. He usually worked with the second or third graders.
But, with the low numbers and low maintenance kids in those groups—they decided to bump him down to work in this group.
Leorio couldn’t fight against the worry lines on his forehead and how his eyebrows knotted in stress.
How the hell am I going to get through this summer?
The same question echoed in his head, ever since he was told to be with the little ones. As a veteran staff, unfortunately, you are entrusted with more responsibilities and you witness more BS throughout the years.
For example, on his first day ever, he was abandoned with a group of thirty kids and expected to teach them how to make rainbow loom bracelets.
Luckily, little sixteen year old Leorio, spent a lot of time with his cousins and neighborhood kids. He had picked up how to make bracelets and was able to keep the group calm for that hour.
But still, not only is it awfully unsafe and illegal to leave him alone with that many kids– it was just plain right disrespectful!
He should’ve taken that first day as a warning. A warning to run away as far as possible from this job but the money that came out of it seduced him. The pay was better than minimum wage, though there weren’t many perks other than a free gym membership, he was at least able to work overtime.
Their leadership didn’t care all that much, so when he got paid overtime, time and a half, oh those checks would hit.
Leorio’s hidden eyes glanced at the roster in his hands, “Such odd names, eugh COVID babies and millennial parents. I mean what kinda name is Zushi?”
“Yeah?” The voice belonging to an incoming kindergartner interrupted Leorio’s voiced out thoughts.
Leorio looked down and saw a brown haired boy, who wore a ninja headband. “Oh, nothing bud, nothing.” Leorio smiled, “Okay yeah, he’s cute I guess.”
On the two pages of paper, It listed the names of every incoming kindergartner and first grader in the group. Alphabetically, and separated into two pages. At the top of both white sheets, it read: “K/1 - Monday June 10th” The group name is printed, and the date was handwritten.
Written by none other than the group’s control freak: Kurapika.
His handwriting is neat, compact, and so are his highlighting skills. Leorio is lucky to have Kurapika in the group. Since he knew that Kurapika would take charge and do everything.
All Leorio would have to do is listen and do whatever has been instructed. Which he is great at, well, great at doing the bare minimum when he could.
~.°｡𖦹˚𓇼 ｡𖦹°｡.~⋆⁺₊⋆☼⋆⁺₊⋆~.°｡𖦹˚𓇼 ｡𖦹°｡.~
10 minutes flew by and Kurapika made his way out at the perfect time. Leorio had managed to get the kids to pack up and line up in front of the door.
“You said five minutes.” Leorio is giving Kurapika’s the ugliest side eye.
Kurapika shrugged, “I was trying to track Bisky down.” He replied. Probably best Leorio just dropped the subject.
Gon is the first one in line. Struggling to stand still in line and keep his voice off. He kept rambling about nonsense and waited until they gave him the go ahead.
“Gon, do you want to hold the door for us? It would be very helpful.” Kurapika asked and emphasized how helpful it would be.
Gon’s eyes widened at the opportunity, he is being tasked with a huge responsibility. He couldn’t reject an offer like holding the door open for everyone and making sure they made it inside.
He eagerly nodded, “Yes of course!” Exclaiming, he took over the doorholding from Kurapika.
Using his entire body weight to hold the heavy metal door back against the brick wall. His unproportionally large head is awkwardly positioned against the bar in the middle of the door.
The bar of the push door protruding out is right behind his head. Focused and determined, he fought against the urge to bounce his head against the collapsable bar. He waited for all thirty six kids to go in. Not moving until the last staff held the door and thanked Gon.
“Thanks for your help bud. Let’s go inside now.” Gon looked up at the staff in front of him. His soothing but stern voice caught him by surprise.
He’s heard this voice before.
Doesn’t know when and why he remembered but when he finally looked up. Gon recognized the dark raccoon-like eyes.
“Hey! Aren’t you my babysitter?” Gon exclaimed and pointed up at the staff.
“I didn’t think you’d remember me, Gon.” The staff smiled, guiding Gon in through the door and catching up with the rest of the group.
“Of course I remember! Your name is…it’s uhm…” Gon’s sentence trailed off along with his confidence, unsure of what this staff’s name is.
“Kite. Now don’t worry, I only babysat you a few times over a year ago.” Kite reassured Gon that forgetting his name is okay, “Do you have your swimsuit on or do you need to change?”
The sudden switch up from casual reunion to professional childcare worker left Gon still for a moment. Processing the switch and the question.
“Swimsuit?” Gon looked down at his current clothes. A dark pink magenta shirt that is similar to the staff shirts. The matching sun and Summer Adventures on the front. Except on the back, it had the contact number of their company HQ instead of the Staff name.
With his pink shirt, he wore green shorts and green knee high boots. Little dude is completely decked out in green, his original shirt must have also been green before being replaced with the pink shirt.
“Yes, Gon. Swimsuit. Because we’re going swimming today.” Kite sighed with his response, praying that Gon had a swimsuit packed because if Gon is anything like he was a year ago—it would not be a fun time for either one of them.
“Here c’mon, let’s go check your backpack upstairs with everyone else.
Gon is pouting, he’s really hoping that he has a swimsuit. If only he had known they would be swimming then he would’ve made sure to pack accordingly. Gon reached to grab Kite’s pale slender hand.
While holding hands, Gon skipped beside him as Kite led him up the ramp to the main floor.
Gon and Kite walked past a set of doors, walking up the hallway that became steeper with blue ramps. Finally, at the very top of the hallway, They took a right, walking towards the crowded hallway with his other K/1 peers.
Lucky for them, they were given the biggest classroom and also the closest one to the bathroom. Right across from the classroom, there is the girls bathroom and a drinking fountain.
All of the kids are lined up inside of their respective bathrooms, sitting down while waiting for someone to be done. Under the close supervision of Leorio and another staff, Melody, they assured that the kids waiting were still in view.
Kurapika is leading the kids to hang up their things and take a seat on the carpet in the classroom.
Kite and Gon stopped in front of the boys bathroom, “Alright Gon, open up your backpack. Let’s check if you have a swimsuit or we can call your dad.” Kite instructed with a small smile.
Gon knelt down with his backpack, unzipping it, “My dad is on a trip, you have to call Aunt Mito.” He replied while digging through the green backpack.
After he took out the lunchbox from earlier, he saw sunscreen, swimming goggles, and a large ziplock bag with his swimsuit inside.
“I have my swimsuit!” Gon exclaimed while pulling the suit out of his bag and into the air, too excited to quiet down or keep still. He is jumping while holding his swimsuit, “Can I go change now Kite? Can I?”
Kite’s eyes widened at the sudden surge of energy, “Yeah, uhm, just line up with the others. And wait your turn.” Gon’s energy caught him by surprise but it was adorable.
As Gon went to join the end of the line, Kite stood up and looked at Leorio. They were both trying to hold back a laugh while they watched Gon being unable to sit down.
“Gon, buddy, take a seat.” Leorio redirected Gon’s behavior, he knew this was going to be a long summer with Gon’s seemingly never ending energy. “Okay!” Gon replied before leaning against the wall, and slowly letting himself fall onto the ground.
Once he hit the ground, with his legs sprawled in front of him, he began to hit his heels against the cool tiled floor.
“Gon don’t- y’know what, I’m gonna pick my battle here.” Leorio is just about to correct Gon’s behavior again but instead he decides to let it go.
Kite grabbed Leorio’s shoulder, “Good choice. I used to babysit him and let me tell you. He will always find a way to move his body. Always.” Kite’s warning scared Leorio to say the least.
His broad shoulders slumped down, “Great…amazing…”
Kite laughed at his defeated demeanor, “C’mon man, summer just started! He’s a good kid, just lots of energy for his tiny body y’know?” Kite tried to reassure Leorio, he couldn’t be the reason that a staff already decided to clock out a few hours in. “How about you go change and I’ll watch them.”
Leorio nodded, muttering a quick thanks and leaving supervision up to Kite. Luckily for these teenage staff, most of the parents read the emails and sent their kids with swimsuits already on. It helped that most of these millennial parents were helicopter control freaks, since they are their first kids.
Kurapika is inside of their classroom, Melody had joined him since all of the girls were done changing. They were still waiting for a few boys to finish.
“Melody, do you think we’re gonna survive this summer? Because I don’t. I don’t have high hopes for the way this summer is gonna play out. Our leadership is lowkey trash, these kids are all COVID babies, and these numbers are unbelievable.”
Kurapika is complaining, being met with a sigh. “You need to fix your outlook on this Kurapika. Not just for your sake, but for mine, Leorio’s and these kids'. It’s gonna be a great summer. Just gotta have fun, pick your battles. Y’know-da-vibe.” She ended her pep talk with an inside joke from their first summer.
With the reality check, Kurapika’s shoulders relaxed. “Yeah, I know da-vibe. I just can’t believe they’d let Pariston come back. Dude cannot lead.” He’s fighting against the need to swear, since they did in fact have 30 kids currently sitting on the carpet.
Melody only listened and nodded every so often as Kurapika let it all out. They’ve been working together since they started, a duo that no one else could separate.
It’d honestly be dumb to.
Melody is the only one that could give Kurapika feedback without being ignored for the rest of the day. The only one that could rationalize Kurapika’s spiraling and step up when he needed a break. That’s why they’re best friends.
With that, a few more boys filled the room, Kurapika raised the walkie up this mouth. “Hey, K/1 is done.” He announced so the next two groups could come in and change. A couple minutes flew by and they successfully had the group sit in a circle.
Though, they did have to relocate a few kids (Gon) since they couldn’t stop talking.
“Okay friends! We are going to do a quick morning greeting. So, we’re gonna go around and say our names, then everyone is gonna say good morning! And repeat your name.” Kurapika looked around the circle, seeing their confused faces.
“Okay, I’ll start. My name is Kurapika! Now everyone says: Good morning Kurapika!” With his example, the kids were able to catch on. High-pitched voices all repeated back, “Good morning Kurapika!” With that, they were able to successfully go around the circle and learn each other’s names with few interruptions.
All 5 staff introduced themselves as well. This is not only relationship building for the kiddos, but also team bonding for them. They could only pray and hope now, they had 30 minutes left before they needed to be seated and ready to go on the bus.
20 minutes flew by during their process of packing their bags, lining up, getting onto the blacktop, getting into bus order, making their way down the ramp to their bus. Kurapika went down the roster to make sure very kid was accounted for while Melody seated them.
They were ready to go, even early and ahead of schedule! Kurapika couldn’t help but celebrate right as he was about to turn and board the bus himself, three more kids showed up in front of him.
A tall figure, who he recognized, with short black hair, that used to be long and silky, stood behind three tiny bodies.
“Zoldycks are here.”
~.°｡𖦹˚𓇼 ｡𖦹°｡.~⋆⁺₊⋆☼⋆⁺₊⋆~.°｡𖦹˚𓇼 ｡𖦹°｡.~