The ride up to the mountainside cabin would have taken about two hours, had Taiga not insisted they stop at a supermarket. The subsequent chaos of wrangling a bunch of teenagers with 20,000 yen each to spend was like herding cats.
Ryota had all but tossed Yuta in the bed of a shopping trolley, while he and Eiji went about burying him in packets of crisps, instant noodles, and sports drinks. They bought gel cooling mats for their feet after practice and blister patches. Insoles too. Kaho watched them pointedly ignore a can of bug spray and sighed, putting it in her basket.
Captain Hirano's basket was full of low-fat, low-carb, high-protein yoghurts and superfoods. Objectively the most expensive and least value for money. Beside him, Sunada had multiple different flavours of energy drink and maybe a dozen the cherry flavoured 'Pokari' for the two boys to share. On top, in pride of place, was a big bag of cool ranch nachos. Konoishi was armed with celery, carrot sticks, hummus, more nachos and salsa, but also three bottles of cola, marshmallows, and 'Twinkies'.
Fumiko came out with a few splurges herself, a massive plastic tub of American candies, and a blue raspberry 'Slurpee', but also a meal deal, some "emergency" soy sauce, and a bag of rice. Kaho raised her brows. Of all the students, she'd expected Fumiko, who wasn't obligated to spend the money on anything healthy, since she wasn't training, to buy candy and ice cream, and yet, she'd still paid some attention to the potential needs of the team, even if they were mostly in the form of seasoning.
Matsushita, Nitta and Yamada, who had been swept along with the two upperclassmen came out of the store with a whole rotisserie chicken, beef jerky, sweet chilli sauce, at least five individually wrapped red bean brioches, a handful of apples, and exclusively red grapes.
Omura, despite his wide owlish eyes, and youthful face, made a valiant attempt of spending his, and a reluctant Tomorhiro's pooled cash on a big bottle of sake. They were subsequently ejected from the store and had to hand their cash back to Fumiko, who punished them with salted peas, green peppers, okra, plain vanilla protein powder, glace cherries and a handful of orange sports drinks. Their least favourite flavours. Served them right.
Some of the team took longer than others. It was Ryota and his friends, Kaho and Taiga that lingered in the store for the longest, even Fumiko's second lap with an extra 40,000 yen was quicker than Kaho's pensive pace.
Kaho lapped the store at least once before picking out food. There was just that solitary can of bug spray. She'd lost track of Naseru in the store almost immediately and didn't manage to get a glance of what he'd bought for his weekend snacks. Kaho wondered if the trip was self-catering, but when she asked Taiga he didn't dignify her with a response.
"Just let the team have some fun," he said, "What do I lose? I'm getting paid for this trip anyway. Might as well treat the kids, too."
"Don't let Omura hear you say that. He was eyeing up a bottle of sake."
Taiga snorted. He slung an arm around Kaho's shoulders. His trolley wasn't giving anything away; orange juice, mangoes and instant coffee. He grabbed a multi-pack of matcha 'Kit Kats', and held them out to Kaho. She took them and put them in her basket. She did the maths in her head.
Taiga seemed to be above it all, like nothing could touch him, even as he set a hurricane of teenagers loose at a supermarket, and let them spend his hard-earned cash on whatever they wanted, even though he was still living at home, and living off a teacher's wage, he seemed willing to blow all his money on whims and wants. He would certainly be an influence on Kikiyo and Ichigo, that was for sure.
Taiga turned on his heel and frowned, prising Kaho's bug spray from her basket and tossing it in his trolley.
Kaho grinned and turned down the next nearest snack aisle, while Taiga searched for something or other else, probably health stuff, like spinach. Kaho shrugged, nearly colliding with Yuta in his trolley. She stumbled back and collided with a display of potato chips. They came raining down on her. She laughed and tossed them at the boys. Eiji picked up the crisps and Ryota gestured for Kaho to get in the trolley.
Yuta leapt out and helped tidy the mess they'd made, leaving a perfect Kaho-sized spot in the back of the trolley, facing Ryota. She got her phone out of her pocket and began to film him. His smile was something else in the light of the supermarket. Childlike mischief brimmed behind his eyes. He took off, steering the trolley down twists and turns. Kaho shrieked in delight, being jostled among the sweet treats like she was on the dodgems. She dropped her phone into her lap and clung to the sides of the trolley, craning her head back, letting the draft Ryota conjured under the trolley's wake was whipping her hair. Eiji and Yuta jogged along in step with Ryota, laughing and whooping and shrieking as Ryota turned sharply around corners. Kaho hadn't felt so alive, free and unburdened in so long. Did Ryota know? Did all of those boys know that? Was it instinct, or had their Future Self warned them? Just the thought soured her mood. She lowered her gaze.
"I'd like to get out, please," she said.
Ryota skidded to a halt.
The boys held the trolley still so she could dismount and resume her shopping. She took her basket out of the trolley once her feet were on solid ground, and returned to browsing. She picked up some juice shots, concentrated fruit juice in a squeezy bottle, for fruit juice on the go, one orange and one that was blackcurrant and apple flavoured.
Kaho grabbed some bread and a little jar of strawberry jam, and a bottle of lemonade too. Then she grabbed a four-pack of toilet roll and a little jar of salsa, some more plain nachos and small box of coffee cream chocolates – to treat herself with.
Taiga had everyone line up and be counted onto the bus, cranked up the radio and took the group onward to the lodge. It was dark by the time they pulled up to the dirt track that lead to reception, and the team were still brimming with excitement. Most of the boys were loud and boisterous on the way up, making jokes and singing along to the radio. Fumiko was on her phone, probably texting Naoru. Kaho probably ought to text Tatsuya, but telling him, or worse yet, refraining from telling him that she was away from home with none other than the guy he was worried about her being with, was a bad idea. Better to tell him absolutely nothing. He was probably snowed under with work.
Taiga jumped up and put his fingers between his lips. He whistled and the group snapped to attention.
"Alright, team," Taiga said, "I'm going to sign us in and get our keys. Fumiko. You're in charge."
She got up from her seat and saluted. The chatter from the boys on the team began to bubble up as Taiga rummaged through his rucksack for his clipboard and files. He saluted at Fumiko, who saluted back. Then, left the team in her capable hands. The second the door closed behind her, Fumiko's hackles rose. Her gaze narrowed and she put her hands on her hips.
"Okay, dipshits," she said, her voice loud and authoritative, a tone Kaho hadn't heard before from her, "You've already embarrassed me enough. I'm looking at you, Omura, Tomohiro. Sake, are you kidding me right now? God, you're idiots. Be grateful Coach found it funny that you two of all of us tried to get booze. If it had been Sunada or Matsuoka, we could have been in some real deep shit."
If Naseru was surprised by Fumiko mentioning how he could pass for twenty, he didn't look it. She pursed her lips and glared daggers at the boys, "You two are going to do sunrise yoga with me and Satoru in the morning as penance."
Konoishi, who had been sitting in the seat behind Omura, leaned forward and put his head in the gap between Omura's and Tomohiro's seats.
"One of us, one of us!" he chanted, a grin splitting his face.
"No!" Omura wailed, "You know my balance is awful."
"It would have been worse if you were balls deep in a bottle of sake, now wouldn't it?" she said, strutting down the coach aisle. She glared down at him. Omura squirmed under her gaze.
"Damn, girl, you kiss Naoru with that mouth?" Matsushita snorted.
Fumiko rose her hand and made a crude gesture, simply spurring Matsushita on.
"Oh damn, does he let you speak to him like that?" he jeered, making a whipping sound. Fumiko spun on her heel and glared at him.
"Thin ice, Matsu'. Unless you want to join us for yoga, shut your trap."
She walked to the front of the bus again, "Now, Coach has already given me some mild insight into the Hell you guys will be experiencing this weekend. He told me this was the regimen the Kenjoku Kaijus did when he played for them."
Ryota groaned and slunk down in his chair, "Thank God for those cooling mats we bought, boys. We are going to need them."
"You're kidding," Captain Hirano said, "He's giving us a college-grade training regime? Is he insane?"
Fumiko shrugged, "Doesn't matter much to me. I just manage you."
She walked back to her seat and grabbed her slush, having the last few sips of it, making a long, irritating slurping sound. Her tongue was bright blue from all the syrup, not that she cared.
Taiga came back with a fistful of keys and a wad of papers. He opened the door to the bus and Fumiko returned to her seat. Kaho was stunned, too stunned to speak. She knew these boys, not unlike how she knew Ryota, but she clearly had a relationship with them all, completely irrespective of her love-life, and clearly Naoru harboured no qualms about letting his girlfriend go gallivanting into the mountains with them. Maybe it was because she was such a firm manager when she had to be?
She'd never heard Fumiko speak like that, she held the team in rapt attention with the commanding presence of a leader who was so distinctly different from Taiga or Captain Hirano. She was like the team's pissed off older sister, who was deprived of all the hot water. She was just what they needed, and she'd simmered the team down to a much more palatable, less rowdy version of themselves. They were silent when Taiga called out the room assignments and tossed the keys about.
Most of the team were divided into rooms for twos or fours – Ryota was with his fellow second-years, Yuta, Eiji and Yamada, while Hirano and Sunada were rooming with Matsushita and Nitta. Konoishi was with Tomohiro and Omura, perfect for their sunrise yoga penance. Unfortunately for Naseru, he was also sharing with them. Taiga had his own suite, and the girls were sharing one room too.
Kaho felt her stomach tighten. She had thought she'd be sharing with Fumiko, but this was one way to force yourself to be closer with your upperclassmen that Kaho had never anticipated. She didn't need to know what Fumiko's pyjamas looked like, or whether she did a face mask before bed. It was bad enough to feel inferior under the scrutiny of her stylish wardrobe.
The team disembarked the bus, shuffling along with their luggage and shopping bags weighing them down. Kaho and Fumiko lingered at the doors while Taiga locked up.
"You two can go and settle in," he said. He turned his gaze up to the sky and a small, fond smile crossed his lips, "A lot of good memories here."
"We'll leave you to them," Kaho said gently.