Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mark leaned in his chair and yawned, “I’m boreeeeeed.” Leaning even farther on his chair, he put a finger to his chin and thinked, “Let’s do some team bonding!” 

“Why that’s a great idea, Twain! What shall we do?” Fitzgerald immediately jumped onto Mark’s idea, eager to get away from work. 

Twain’s eyes squinted shut as he wracked his brain for ideas, “An outdoor bbq, maybe?”

“Where would we get the supplies though?” Poe asked, looking up from where he was typing his report; Louisa nodding along in agreement. 

Twain turned on his computer and started typing, after a couple minutes, he turned and said, “I have compiled a list of places on where to obtain the supplies required for hosting this fun event,” dialing up the oh this is so very important, it requires big boi words, and a big boi tone. 

“Costco, Target, Walmart.” Mitchell reads over, “The main stores.” 

Hawthorne peeked over Twain’s head before saying, “Where are we going to go?”

At this, Louisa poked her head through, saying, “It depends on how many people we’re going to host. If it’s just us, I’d say Walmart as it’s smaller or Target depending on how we’d like to host the event. Costco would be more suitable if, for example, we hosted the whole building.”

“Let’s do it!” Fitzgerald exclaimed. 

“Do what, sir?”

“Host the entire building!” 

“Well, if we host the entire building, we’ll need to let them know as well as set a date for this event.” Louisa stammered out as she tried to get over the shock of suddenly having to host an entire building. 

Melville was in the back, and finally said, “Well, today’s Tuesday, we can let them know that the event will be hosted on Sunday, since that’s a weekend, with the shopping happening on Saturday.”

“As expected from the senior supervisor of The Guild, what a great idea Melville!” Fitzgerald clapped a hand on Melville’s back.

A knock from the door alerted Agatha to a visitor, “Come in.” She said, not even looking up from where she was typing, “Oh, Miss. Mitchell, are you taking up on my offer to join the Clock Tower?” She greeted Margaret after hearing the familiar clip of her flats. 

“No, ma’am, not today. I’ve been assigned a task from my colleagues from The Guild.” Mitchell replies, voice laced with the accent of the South. Taking a sip of tea from the cup that Agatha gave to her, she continued. “Apparently, they want to do some team bonding this weekend. On Saturday, they want us to go to Costco together to get supplies in preparations for the barbeque on Sunday.” 

“Interesting… and you’re telling me this because…?” 

“We’d like to come with us, it’s team bonding with the whole building, and last time I checked, you’re a resident of this building.” Mitchell says back, not missing a beat. 

Agatha weighed over the invitation in her head, and after a few minutes, she finally nodded her approval, “I’ll attend this event.” 

“Great! I’ll let the others know! Pleasure doing business with you Madam Christie.” Putting her hand forward. 

Agatha clasped it firmly and gave it a shake, “A pleasure Miss. Mitchell; remember my offer still stands.” 

A little smirk made its way across Mitchell’s face, as she smoothed her apple green dress shirt and made her way out the door.

“Now that Mitchell is on her way to talk to Agatha, you’re next Poe!” Twain shouted. 

“What? Why meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?!!!??!?!” Poe screeched right back in return.

“Relax, Poe, you’re just going to the ADA to convince them to attend this team bonding event.” Steinbeck said with a pat on Poe’s shoulder, “And besides, don’t you stop there in the mornings to talk to them?” 

“Well, yes but-” 

“Then you should be alright!”

“B-but-” Poe tries in vain to avoid having to do this task, but Steinbeck wasn’t having any of it.

“You can do iiit. Go, go.” Steinbeck planted himself against Poe’s back and pushed him out the door, not an easy feat, as Poe could be stubborn and hold his ground if needed. But he did eventually get Poe out there and…

... right in front of the ADA. Poe stood there for a bit, staring at the little sign on the door, signalling that he was, indeed, in front of the Armed Detective Agency. He took a breath, twisting his shaky hands, smoothing his jacket, before lifting a hand to knock. 

But then suddenly it wrenched open, and sent Poe’s heart racing, until he saw the mop of yellow hair suddenly lean up and say, “OH Mr. Poe!!! Hi!! How’s Karl? What brings you two here?” Kenji said, a bright smile on his face as Karl leaned forward to pat his paw on Kenji’s head. After determining that yes, the head was solid and therefore safe, Karl crawled forward until he was perched safely on Kenji’s head.

“Hello Kenji-san, I was sent on a mission of spreading the word of an event one of my colleagues have put upon me to pass!” Poe announced, every word laced with his usual dramatic tone. 

“Oooo!!” Kenji said, in awe, hyping up Poe. 

Poe starts explaining, “Yes! My colleagues want to bring the whole building into this team bonding event, and that includes you guys, so my mission really was to convince all of you guys to come along with us.”

Ranpo, who was in the corner of the room, pipes up, “Team bonding?”

“Yes, Ranpo-kun! Team bonding!” Poe exclaims. 

Kunikida, about to sense somebody agreeing to this idea, to get out of work, hurriedly pipes up, “WHAt day is it happening on?!??@1” 

“This weekend. Mister Melville planned that the shopping would occur on Saturday, near the start of the day as there are less people, and the actual party can occur on Sunday.”

Quickly flipping through his notebook, occasionally mumbling and looking at dates on the computer, Kunikida finally closed his book shut and said, “Well, we’re good to go. It’s on a weekend, and your senior supervisor planned that out so I don’t have anything to counter with. You’ll just have to run this through our president to see if he’ll agree.” 

“Oh I don’t think there’s a problem with that.” A soft, dainty voice radiated out, dragging their attention to the door where Fukuzawa was standing with Naomi at his side. “The one and only President!” Naomi announces with a flourish of her arms. 

“I heard all of it, and I would have to say it’s a great idea on the part of the Guild, considering your past ideas.” Fukuzawa said pointedly before continuing, “Anyway I allow my agency to partake in this, though I can’t really say anything as it’s a weekend and they're free to do as they wish, though I highly encourage you all to go out and have some fun. Especially the young ones. Anyway tell Fitzgerald-dono to send a message concerning dates and other details.” Before turning on his heel and gliding out the doors. 

“Well, you heard the boss!” Dazai says. “We’re doing team bonding!”

“Why do I have to talk to the Port Airlines?! Have you seen them? OR HEARD THEM?” Lucy shrieked when she heard she was assigned to convince the Port Airlines to go on team bonding. 

“You’ll be fine, Lucy.” Louisa tries to calm Lucy down, by a few degrees. 

“JFALKJFDSKALDJFAKMZNGARQPUR.”

Lucy was going to allow herself a few seconds of panicking, she counted down from 10 to get her breathing back together. She straightened her back, planted her feet, and gulped; her tense shoulders braced for impact. 

She was about to put her ear to the door to check, before realizing that they had soundproof doors after getting multiple complaints and threats from Agatha, who resided below their floor. So Lucy knocked on the door and waited. 

The door unlocked to reveal a yellow bun and brown eyes.

“Higuchi-san!” Lucy squealed, excited that this person was normal.

“Oh Montgomery-san!” Hugging Lucy after realizing that she was in fact, a sane person. 

“What brings you here today Montgomery-san?” Higuchi asks, pushing open the door for Lucy to walk into. 

“My Guild has instructed me to invite you guys, the Port Airlines, to a team bonding event.” Lucy explains as Higuchi guided her to the room where the higher ups were located. 

Knocking on the door and receiving an affirming noise, Higuchi nodded to Lucy and said, “Alright, the staff are ready for you, Montgomery-san.” Giving her a quick pat on the back, Higuchi turned on her heel and left the scene. 

Lucy took another breath, which honestly, if you wanted to deal with the Port Airlines, a whole oxygen tank would be necessary. 

She gave a quick bow to Mori, Kouyou, and Chuuya, who were sitting at their respective desks, going through paperwork, but decided to put them down in favor of listening to Lucy. 

“Lady and gentlemen,” she squeaks out, “My Guild was wondering if you’d like to join them for an act of team bonding this weekend. It involves a little barbeque, party, I suppose, on Sunday.” 

That got Chuuya’s attention, “Is there anyone else coming along?” raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, The Guild of course, Poe’s getting the ADA to come along, Miss. Mitchell has already convinced Agatha to come along, and I believe Lousia is trying to get the HD and DOA to come along with us.” She breathed out. 

“And what’s happening on Saturday?” Kouyou’s voice cut clear and sharp throughout the room.

Lucy replied, “Mr. Melville said we’re going to Costco to get supplies, a part of team bonding, as the Guild can’t get all the supplies for hosting this big party in one day.” 

At that, Mori let out a sigh, “Hahhh,,, I don’t believe I can make it to this event, I have things to do with my daughter as well as work… so I can’t attend. Send my apologies.” 

Lucy let out an inner sigh of relief, there was just something about Mori that put her on her toes and left her feeling uneasy. 

“I leave Kouyou-kun and Chuuya-kun in charge of making sure our group doesn’t disappoint us.”

Double nods came from the other two staff members. 

“Alright, we’re attending this event then.” Kouyou said with a note of finality and that signalled to Lucy to take her leave.

As Louisa approached the door where the HD and DOA was located she heard, “I’m not mad, I just want to know. Who broke it?” 

Ooooooh no, no, no, no, they’re having another argument, this is not good, no, no, no. Alcott’s steps were beginning to slow down as anxiety started kicking in and she found herself stopping entirely, trying to stop the shaking that was going through her.

It took a couple minutes, but in the end, she got her breathing under control and her nerves to back off and relax. She put her ear to the door and there was yelling going on, but not as tense as before, so she assumed things had “calmed down.” 

Knocking on the door, Louisa waited for an answer. After about half a minute, someone opened the door and she was greeted with a man with white hair fading to red tips, an impish smirk on his face. 

“Jouno-san? Did something happen?” 

A little chuckle escaped Jouno at Louisa’s question, before sighing, “No… nothing happened.” 

Louisa didn’t believe that at all. 

“Well then, Miss. Alcott, how can I help you today?” Jouno continued after noticing that his answer didn’t affect Louisa in the slightest. 

Well, better just cut to the chase, yes? “Would you be interested in attending a team bonding event?” Louisa asks. 

“When you say ‘you,’ does that mean me or my team.”

“Your team.”

Jouno lets out a sigh and brings a hand to rub his temples, ‘Well, if we’re bringing my team, we have to consider the chances of being kicked out of the place permanently, paying charges, and suffering in general.” 

Well… Louisa hadn’t thought about that part yet. 

“Hold on, let me ask them.” Jouno turns from where he was standing in the doorway, before yelling, “DO YOU GUYS WANT TO DO TEAM BONDING.”

Gogol yells right back, quick as ever, “DO WE GET TO ESCAPE THIS HELL.”

At that, Louisa commented, “It’s technically on the weekend, and none of us work then, so…”

“Oh.” A simultaneous mumble of disappointment left them and a silence distended over the room before Tecchou asked, “What’s the event going to be?”

‘Oh we were planning to have a little party on Sunday and stop by Costco on Saturday to get the supplies.” 

Letting that sink in for a few seconds before a, “Oh. OH.” As realization struck them. 

“PARTY.”

“COSTCO FOOD SAMPLES.”

“YEEEEEEEEEEHAW.”

Jouno just mentally facepalmed at his team, wondering what on earth caused him to be the manager of these demon spawns.

Chapter Text

this is hell 

#announcements 

the great fitz: @everyone ‘Team Bonding Event’

Saturday: ‘Arrive at Costco by 9:30pm’ We will be discussing groups in the days to come. 

Sunday will be the actual event held at the dorms’ courtyard. 

😼15 🤡30 🤪10

#general

sigma: how are teams going to work?

the great twain: idk man

the great whale: I don’t have the foggiest clue. 

chuu chuu: weren’t you two part of the guild who came up with this idea

bringing the holy to this server: they are

i can sense your bs: thank god we have someone holy here

hacker man: well, if we do have teams, what are said teams going to do? i mean the party isn’t just going to drop out of thin air. 

louisa: main meals, snacks, drinks, decorations and supplies. 

i can sense your bs: so that's like four groups

that’s the tea: i want the ladies.

going with the wind: wh

office doctor: wot

that’s the tea: i said what i said, and besides there are enough of us to make this balance, yes?

i can sense your bs: im taking my crew, im not letting them out of my sight. 

queen of ze soul: sure. i mean its a great time to stay with @lion_dude, right?

lion_dude: whot

louisa: okay that's settled! the hunting angels are one team. do you guys know what you want to be in charge of?

tecchou | ants enthusiast: drinks.

traitorhara: why

traitorhara: WHO CHANGED MY NICKNAME AGAIN. 

mackerel: 👀

chuu chuu: wasn’t me 

chuu chuu: i mean,,, i didnt come up with it

traitorhara: SO YOU DID USE YOUR ADMIN PERMS TO CHANGE IT

traitorhara: @gingin WERE YOU THE ONE TO SUGGEST IT

gingin: 👀 i dunno

louisa: so… the hunting angels are taking the drinks?

tecchou | ants enthusiast: yuh

i can sense your bs: i guess

that’s the tea: ze ladies are going to with me

luuuuuuucy: huh

going with the wind: okay, say we do, statistically, wouldnt that be like, not balanced. 

that’s the tea: no it wouldnt, the H.A have jouno, tecchou, fukuchi, sigma, gogol, fyodor, tachihara, and teruko. thats eight. if we come together, thats me, mitchell, louisa, higuchi, lucy, kouyou, gin, naomi, kyouka and yosano. thats 10. around the same range. 

kouyou | server watcher: i feel like you put an awful lot of thought into that. 

that’s the tea: i did. 

louisa: so i guess another guild is settled? we’ll take decorations and supplies then.

tanizaki part 2: hhhhhh, i wanna be with my brother but i guess its okay

the great whale: and the guild will be another guild

the great twain: nice one gramps

the great fiz: as expected from the senior supervisor

the great grapes: nice

the great old one: how “fun”

the great raccoon: oki

the great holy: sigh

kunikida: am i seeing that right or ALL of you ‘the great’

the great wind: youre seeing that right

chuu chuu: oh good lord. 

the great louisa: so the guild is another guild, but without the girls. so thats just fitzgerald, hawthorne, steinbeck, lovecraft, poe, twain, and Mr. Melville. 

kunikida: LOUISA YOU TOO????!?!??!!/2?!1 

the great louisa: they forced me 

the great whale: we’ll take snacks and extras. 

tanizaki part 1: that leaves the ‘main meals’ section and two other teams. 

ryuuryuu: i don't want to say combine the ada and port airlines together, but thats what we got to do.

jinko: ryuuryuu? AM I SEEING THAT RIGHT. 

gingin: the tanizakis aren't the only ones with cool matching nicknames 😤

ryuuryuu: thats right

kouyou | server watcher: so the ada and port airlines are combining to take care of the meals?

chuu chuu: OFFS

mackerel: 

master detective: .

fukuzawa: now i understand that we have all had difficulties in the past between one another, but lets be civilized and leave the building in which we came in intact. 

master detective: k

kunikida: sure

the great louisa: so i assume that we are all good?

chuu chuu: yeah

#announcements 

the great louisa: teams have been decided!!

team 1: hunting angels, taking charge of drinks. members @i can sense your bs, @tecchou | ants enthusiast, @queen of ze soul, @lion_dude, @traitorhara, @sigma, @hacker man @clown_kun

team 2: bsd ladies, taking charge of decor/supplies, @that’s the tea, @the great wind, @the great louisa, @higucci, @the great lucy, @kouyou | server mom, @gingin, @tanizaki part 2, @kyouka | bunny enthusiast, @office doctor 

team 3: the guild, in charge of snacks and extras, @the great fitz, @the great holy, @the great grape, @the great old one, @the great raccoon, @the great twain, @the great whale

team 4: now we have the ada+pm, in charge of the main entrees, @fukuzawa, @kunikida, @master detective, @mackerel, @tanizaki part 1, @jinko @chuu chuu @ryuuryuu @kenji | cow enthusiast, @hirotsu | server gramps

🍄10 😼5 🤡30 🤪16 😇3 🅱20

Chapter Text

Jouno had arrived 15 minutes earlier than everyone and was just vibing near the entrance of the shop and had seated himself down on one of the empty food court tables. 

He let out a sigh when he finally sat down; he had woken up earlier than usual to escape his roommates and then took a bus ride to the store, so he was kind of tired and was starting to relax. 

Until.

“Jouno!” A voice called out upon recognizing who was sitting on the table. 

“Don’t run. You’ll trip.” Comes the soft scold from Jouno.

Tecchou stops, but he still powerwalks, “Right, sorry.” 

“And make sure to calm your heartbeat down, I don't want to sit next to a train.”

“Yes. Right.” Tecchou starts his breathing exercises to get his heart rate back under control. After getting it back to normal, a soft voice comes up, “Can I sit now?” 

“You’re already moving, so I don’t know Tecchou-san, what do you think?” 

Tecchou hopped over the little barrier and straight into the seat parallel from Jouno, knees brushing from the smallness of the table combined with their height. Jouno immediately turned his body to the right to create more space. 

Tecchou put his hand on his palm and stared out into the parking lot and street watching the cars drive by. He was starting to doze off before Jouno nudged his shin and said, “Wake up.”

Letting out a grunt of acknowledgement, Tecchou rose up and stretched his arms to Jouno’s amusement. 

“What time did you wake up, Tecchou-san?” Jouno asks. 

Gathering up his posture, he said, “5.”

“Do you always wake up that early?” Not like Jouno was one to judge, being an early waker, but he always woke up after 6:15. 

“Well, it’s usually 5:30 but I guess I fell asleep too early.” He answered, his tone neutral and calm. “I usually run in the morning for a bit too, so it wasn’t too bad.”

To which Jouno hummed his answer, silence settling over them like snow falling on trees. 

“When do you think the others will be arriving?” Tecchou asked, upon seeing the doors begin to rise and let customers come inside. 

Angling his eyes at Tecchou in amusement, “Did you really expect those people to arrive on time?”

“Touché.” 

Silence descended again, before Jouno asked, “What time is it?” 

“9:10.” Tecchou answers after pulling out his phone. 

“Jouno-san! Tecchou-san!” They heard a voice call out. 

Turning their heads to the source of the noise and seeing a familiar redhead running to them they immediately shouted out, “DON’T RUN. YOU’RE GONNA FALL!”

Tachihara in his focus to get to them, combined with the sudden yell, caused him to trip and stumble a bit, but he didn’t fall. Thank god. 

“Tachihara-kun! Good to have you here.” Jouno said, one hand patting his head, and the other rubbing across his back to rub off any dirt, not that Tachihara had fallen though.

  Tecchou who was hovering over them, finally said, “Yeah. Good to have you here Tachihara-kun.” A soft pat on the shoulder. 

“W-well.. um… thanks you guys.” Tachihara nervously spews out, his hand scratching through his head. 

Suddenly, Jouno lifted up his head and turned sharply towards the entrance, “Now, they’re arriving.”

And bright as the sun, the Port Airlines strolled their way into the entrance, albeit in a more subtle way than one would expect; as they were wearing casual clothes. Not that Jouno, Tecchou, and Tachihara could disagree with that, all of them wearing the same color palette: black pants, Tachihara was wearing ripped ones for goodness’ sakes, a black or white shirt, and a cardigan, button up, and cropped jean jacket on top of their shirts, respectively. 

The Port Airlines, showed up with Chuuya wearing a casual red shirt with black pants, Akutagawa with his usual black wear, though he switched out his coat for a more “normal” one, Hirotsu was wearing his usual, Gin was matching with Ryuu, albeit a bit more laid back but still the same concept. Higuchi was wearing a soft yellow and blue dress with lemons on them, looking very comfortable, so one could assume this dress was a personal favorite. Kouyou was wearing her usual clothes and had a little bag in her hand, and was waving to Kyouka who had just arrived with the rest of the ADA. 

The ADA, who were gathered around Fukuzawa like cats flocking to the nearest human providing them fish. Yosano who had traded her usual skirt for pants, ‘Because comfort’ she said, Kunikida was wearing jeans and a shirt thrown on top. The Tanizakis and Kyouka were in their usual clothing as it was pretty versatile, while Atsushi had thrown on something more comfortable like pants and a hoodie. 

Sigma and Fyodor were walking up to their group, Sigma wearing a tye-dye shirt with various stars and planets and Fyodor with his usual getup. Agatha followed not far behind, black slacks and a purple button up on. 

And the Guild, already eccentric their clothing was on the usual days, they decided to just wear their usual outfits, looking straight out of Party City. 

They eventually just gathered near one of Costco’s walls, away from the entrance to avoid their very large group before Kunikida raised his voice and said, “I have the distinct feeling that we are missing someone.” He turned his head left and right before declaring, “WHY ARE WE MISSING TWO PEOPLE??!?!??! aND, praY do tell me, WHY IS IT RANPO AND DAZAI??!?!?” 

“You know, now that you mention it. WHERE IS GOGOL?” Jouno shrieked, instantly thinking about fines, crashes, and police. 

Poe raised his hand and Fukuzawa pointed on him, “We’re missing Twain.”

Melville, senior supervisor of the Guild, “So Ranpo, Dazai, Gogol, and Twain are missing.” 

“I’m going to faint.” Jouno mumbles. 

Tanizaki muttered loudly, “Oh good lord. Why is it that group.” 

Part of them were happy that they weren’t there, because it was that group. But there was another part of them that was kinda sad, things just weren’t the same without them on board.  

Said sad feelings were demolished, destroyed, and rolled over by a hot pink convertible that had Dazai behind the wheel, the radio BLASTING, the circus theme song. Fitting, as they had RONALD MCFUCKINGDONALD IN THE BACKSEAT. But looking closely, they saw the telltale braid dyed bright red for the occasion. Props to Gogol for committing himself to the part. 

Twain was sitting on the passenger seat in the front, with his feet propped on the dashboard, khaki shorts on his legs, and a neon green Hawaiian floral button-up shirt, and was currently moving his fingers to the volume button before twisting it up a good couple notches. 

Ranpo was in the back seat, next to the one and only Ronald McDonald, sipping from a ramune bottle. He too was dressed in khaki shorts, sandals, and a neon orange Hawaiian shirt. 

“I really am going to faint-” Jouno breathes out; causing Tecchou and Tachihara to take position behind him to catch if he fell.

Even Kunikida couldn’t say anything, his jaw slack at the audacity. Other pedestrians and shoppers had frozen in their place, looking at the convertible that had just pulled up with a clown.  

Dazai took off his sunglasses and ruffled his hair before raising a hand and, “Helloooo, Kunikidaaa-kuuun~~!!!” With a bright smile on his face smelling mischief. The clown in the back letting out a cackle and a, “Gluck gluck, huehue.” 

Upon hearing Gogol’s imitation at Goofy while wearing a Ronald McDonald suit, they straightened up and their faces turned stoic. 

Akutagawa was the first one to step out of the trance, gesturing to Atsushi to follow him, and whispering, “Get Dazai-san out of that…” He struggled for the right words, “...that monstrosity and I’ll take care of the rest.” 

Atsushi gave Akutagawa a firm nod and stalked over to Dazai and hauled him by the arms, causing a “Oomph” to escape Dazai, Ranpo looking on with a gleeful gleam in his eye.

After seeing Atsushi hand Dazai to Kunikida who was surely preparing a speech, Akutagawa sent three Rashomon tendrils picking up Ranpo, Twain, and Gogol causing yells of pure glee to escape them… until they landed in front of their boss. 

“Uh-oh.” Gogol squeaks out under the closed-eye glare of Jouno; who looked very, very, pissed. 

Gogol grabs him by the collar, “Uh-oh indeed, mister. Now, I would surely like to know what the absolute hell are you doing, and why are you wearing that.. that thing.” 

Naomi and Gin were busy trying to disperse the crowd, and bowing and saying apologies to them over and over. 

“U-um.” Gogol tried to get something out that wouldn’t end up with him being in trouble. 

“You’ll be staying in that thing for the duration of this event.” Jouno continues, not bothering for a reaction. 

“W-what-” A raised eyebrow from Jouno. “Okay fine.”

Gogol tensed, as if bracing for something he didn’t know what.

“You should be lucky I’m too shocked to come up with something more horrific. That will be all.” Jouno concludes, turning around before shouting, “Kunikida-kun! You done, yet?” 

“Yes! I’m done now.” Kunikida yells back letting a strangled Dazai drop to the floor, Chuuya giving Kunikida a pat on the back, and Ranpo who was off the hook, for some reason, was currently poking Dazai in various places. 

Mitchell, done lecturing Twain, said, “Right then, let’s get moving.” 

Walking up the entrance, the entrance-checker glanced up at them warily, and they were about to move in, when Lucy asked, “Wait, do we have cards to get in here?”

Each of the managers of their respective organizations - Jouno, Melville, Kouyou, Chuuya, Fukuzawa, Agatha flashed their cards. ((if you read ‘a day at the office with season four’, you’ll know why it’s jouno and not fukuchi))

“The higher-ups gave them to us.” Agatha explains. 

“Why does the Port Airlines have tw-”

“The Port Airlines is a more elaborate company and we need more supplies.” Kouyou answers Lucy’s question. 

At this, Lovecraft who was looking around, says, “Carts?”

“Got them.” Akutagawa answers, a cough accompanying it, along with four rattles as carts dropped from Rashomon’s hold. 

Poe mumbles, “Can we go now? We’re blocking the entrance.” 

The entrance checker, Kajii, with a lemon shirt, nodded his approval and let them in the store. 

Walking a bit farther into the store, away from the entrance, Louisa turned around and said, “Right, so you guys know what to do right?” but nearly everyone had gone ahead. The Hunting Angels were already a good couple aisles in front of The Guild, who were hovering behind the ladies. The ADA and Port Airlines going to the left of the store towards the food section.

Yosano let out a chuckle, “Damn, they’re fast.” 

“We should get going now.” Kouyou said, waving over to Kyouka who was looking a bit lost. Turning to the Guild, she said, “Bye now.”

“Right, so we’re in charge of the main courses?” Tanizaki said, looking over the list that Kunikida had written with possible meals. 

“Yes.” Kunikida said, pushing the cart through various aisles. “We also have a budget of $150.” Looking at Fukuzawa for confirmation on the price, who nodded his approval. Fukuzawa was currently examining the many bags of cat food, asking Kenji who was hovering nearby if he thought whether the cats would like it or not. 

“Back at my village, we didn’t have these prepared foods like in the city, so I can’t really say so for sure, President!.” 

Fukuzawa nodded, “Understandable.” 

“CHUUUUUYAAAAAAAA~!” Dazai said, tailing after Chuuya who was walking around, inspecting the various foods. 

“What.”

“Can we get some crab?” He whined out. 

Kunikida turns around in shock, and whispers, mindful of the other customers, “nO, have you seen the prices on those things? Two crabs and that's a third of our budget gone.”

“AHA! Let’s get some ramen!” Dazai said, looking up, where the ramen was located up high on the very top of the shelf. 

“Dazai, you idiot. That’s on the very top shelf-” Ranpo replied, before turning around and yelling, “OH C’MON DAZAI. WHAT THE HELL. GET DOWN FROM THERE.” to Dazai who was climbing the shelf to get to the ramen. 

Hirotsu facepalmed himself, sighing, he’d seen plenty of the brunette’s antics back when he was still working at the Port Airlines as an intern with Chuuya, and merely said, “Dazai-san, would you please get down.” Before dropping his voice and mumbling, “We’re going to get kicked out.”  

Dazai, had made it to the top, and was currently just strolling around, looking at the various brands of ramen. “Oh ho ho ho. What do we have here. I was wondering where the two of you went off!” Dazai chuckled, “Atsushi and Akutagawa-kun!” 

“JALJFDAKLDJF, DAZAI-SAN!” Atsushi nervously laughed, quickly tucking his hand away from where it was holding Akutagawa’s. “What are you doing up here?” 

“Looking for some ramen.” 

“Eh?” 

Akutagawa looked up from where his gaze was on the floor before mumbling into Atsushi’s ear and then saying aloud, “C’mon, Jinko, let’s get down now.” Rashomon was beginning to appear and firmly wrapped itself around Atsushi’s waist before softly dropping him down to the floor. 

“So you guys are just leaving me here?” Dazai yelled into the store, somewhere…

“No, we’re not. Don’t worry.” Shooting a thumbs up? to the ground. Chuuya gave a nod and a good yank. And Dazai stumbled. Another yank, and Dazai fell down… straight into Chuuya’s arms. 

“Oh my~~ Is this my prince in shining armor~~” Dazai giggled. “As if.” Chuuya grunted and dropped the walking bandages to the floor and quickly untied the rope around Dazai’s waist that was used to bring him down and tucked it away. 

“We’re not getting anywhere…” Tanizaki mumbled and rubbed his forehead. 

Kenji suddenly got hit with a bolt of inspiration and said, “Let’s go to the meat section! Surely, there will be something there for us!”

“Hopefully…” Tanizaki said, fumbling with his sleeves in nervousness. 

Kenji hopped to the cart, gently nudging Hirotsu out of the way, and said, “I’ll push the cart!” 

“Decorations and supplies, huh.” Lucy wondered, looking through a little scribble of supplies made by Alcott; who hummed in response and continued looking through various brands of plates. 

“Seriously, how many types of plates can one have?” Mitchell said both in horror and awe, “Like, there’s plastic, paper, lamented paper, is this clay?” Giving one of the display plates a tap. 

Agatha, who was also wandering the aisle, examining various cups, and lifting them, “Some plates are more suited for other purposes. Such as food, soups, or even…” Catching her eyes on a pretty saucer, “Tea!”

Kouyou merely examined it all with a cool eye, years of working with the Port Airlines caused her to develop a good poker face that gave nothing away. How hard is it to find plates, cups, and utensils. As her cool eye examined the aisle, something caught her eye. 

“I found some good utensils!” Kouyou rushed over to the box, pulling out packs of forks, spoons, and plastic knives. 

“Oh look, knives! Kyouka come here!” Yosano enthusiastically shouted, Kyouka running to her and intertwining their fingers like a parent would to their child to ensure they didn’t run off. 

Mitchell examined them, “Reasonable prices.” She grazed her finger through the plastic and touched the supplies, “Not bad.” 

Gin and Naomi found their way over and nodded. “Right. So we have about 50 people, and these things come in packs of 50 so..” Gin looked over at Naomi, who nodded, and began picking one of each type. 

“Chopsticks, forks, spoons… I think we have some knives in the dorms?” Naomi trailed off, thinking, and a nod from Higuchi confirmed her answer. 

“I found some plates!” Lucy yelled, waving them over; Mitchell using her skill to pull the cart with them. 

They examined them before Mitchell said, “Yes. Price is good, quality is good. Yes, let’s take them. Are we done? We’re done now right?” A look of desperation to get away from this place was apparent in her voice and face. Wind began stirring around her. 

“Yup, we’re done, now.” Lucy said, giving Mitchell a pat on her back. 

Kouyou had successfully managed to (peacefully) pull Yosano away from the measly plastic knives, and whispered in her ears, “Those are plastic. I can help you find the real deal.” and everyone just chose to ignore that. 

Louisa signalled to Mitchell, who then controlled her skill and made it pick up some plates and small bowls to the cart, before spinning it around and directing it out of the aisle. 

“Right. So snacks. How hard can that be, right, Lovecraft?” Steinbeck said, before realizing that no one answered. “Lovecraft?” 

“He’s over here.” Poe called out, fluffy head peeking out of the aisle, where Lovecraft was absolutely glued to the ice-cream section. 

“Can we get ice-cream.” Lovecraft creakily turned his head and stared at Steinbeck. “There’s chocolate.”

Steinbeck looked to Poe’s curtain of hair, and saw the faintest glimmer, before Poe turned away leaving Steinbeck to fend for himself. “U-um.” Steinbeck mutters, “It’ll melt before we can eat it, and I don’t really think they’ll have the stomach room for it…”

Lovecraft’s face falls for the briefest second and softly touched the ice cream through the window, before saying, “Okay.” He turned and started walking after Poe who was with everyone else, “Let’s go.”

Steinbeck’s heart kinda dropped right then and there, so he made something up on the spot, “I’ll get you some ice cream in the food court! Chocolate, right? Right, I’ll get it for you. Don’t worry about it.” With a flushed face he threw something up. 

“Oh, that’d be nice. Thank you.” A soft smile creeped it’s way onto Lovecraft’s face; overriding the initial shock. 

“Yeah, yeah. No prob…” Steinbeck trailed after Lovecraft; dazed, only waking up when Twain nudged him saying, “You got yourself a date or something, dude?” 

“No!” Steinbeck hissed. 

“Suit yourself, man.” Sauntering off, Twain trailed after Poe who was pushing the cart with Karl sitting in the cart’s seat. 

Melville was looking at a jar that held whale-shaped cookies in little pouches with a little twinkle in his eye, before walking over to the cart and placing it there. No one commented anything out of respect for the old man. 

Fitzgerald, who had walked out, suddenly appeared with three boxes of little bags of chips. “It was on sale.” 

“Hey, Lovecraft!” Hawthorne’s voice rang out. “What kind of chocolate do you like?” Lovecraft appeared so fast, it was as if he teleported. It was kind of an odd sight, seeing two grown men crouching down discussing chocolate. 

“Milk chocolate is good.”

“Alright.” Hawthorne straightened down his pants, his hands full of graham crackers, marshmallows, and milk chocolate. “We’ll have some s’mores later tomorrow.”

“Right, so that’s it?” Poe asked. 

Melville nodded. 

“Right! Let’s go now!” Poe gave the cart a 360° and was going across the back of the store and came across the Dairy section where they heard some yelling-

“JOUNO! GET ME THE JUG OF MALK!” 

-and quickly sped up past them.

“C’mon, we’re at Costco, Sigma! Let’s get Naked!” Gogol screeched, haphazardly pushing and off the floor causing the cart to go that much faster. Teruko who was seated in the cart let out piercing noises of glee. 

“Jouno! Jouno! Put me on top of the cart!” Teruko was jumping at Jouno’s knees, screaming. 

Jouno swallowed the disgusted face he so wanted to put on, but he couldn’t as the manager of these demon spawns, he couldn’t, he couldn’t-

He finally snapped and said, “OooOw! Fine, fine! Don’t jump on my feet!” He firmly tucked his hands around her ribs and under her armpits and lifted her onto the cart, “Don’t pull my hair! OWOWOOW!” He screeched when she caught a firm grasp of his earring. 

“Fufufufu.” 

Letting out a scowl and rubbing his earlobe, muttered, “Shut up.” 

“You are NOT getting naked, Gogol!” Sigma scolds him. 

Gogol merely twirled the carl, tucking it into his coat, and transporting him from one end of the aisle to the other, “Why ever not, my dear cookie~~? It’s a drink~ And isn’t that what this group is in charge of getting? What was your pretty little head thinking about hmm~~~?” 

Sigma merely flushed and spluttered something, “You’re such a clown!” 

“It’s what I do best, dearie~ And I’m dressed up for the part, yes?” Gogol traced a red gloved finger down Sigma’s cheek. 

Fyodor, cleared his throat and said, “We’re not getting naked.” Ignoring the scandalous glares of the other customers; various parents covering their childrens’ ears. “As I said,” he continued, “We’re not getting naked. What are we going to do with those measly little bottles? Finish one and dunk them? Besides we’re here for a fun time, why settle for “healthy” juice...smoothie..things.”

“Well, if we’re not getting naked,” Tecchou piped up and looked around the aisle, “Jouno, go get some malk.” 

“Don’t order your higher-up around.” Though Jouno was already moving. 

Tecchou matter-of-factly replied, “I’m older than you though.”

“...tch.” Jouno opened the window and said to Tecchou, “They don’t have any malk but I can get you some milk.” 

Tachihara looked up from where he was leaning on the cart, scrolling through his phone, “...That’s what he just said.”

Tecchou, with a perplexed look on his face, said, “Yeah… it’s just malk.”  

“No, you’re saying it wrong, you’re saying m̶̡̞̮͉̘̳̘̦͎̱̠͕͐̄̑̏̈́͊̌͝il̷͙͇̤͓̮̊k̴̨̧̡͈̳̝̘̰̭͇̺͉͉͈̓́͆̅̑̂̐̔͝ͅ, like it’s a disease.” Jouno continues, “And it’s hurting my ears.” 

Tachihara tucked his phone into his pockets, chuckling in bewilderment, “Well then, Jouno, how do you say it.”

“I’m saying it the way everyone ought to say it, milk. em, eye, el, kay.” Jouno explained with the patience of a preschool teacher. 

“Right, like Tecchou-san said.” Tachihara said.

Tecchou, nodding along, “Yeah. Whole malk.”  

Shaking his head, Jouno said, “nononono, say ‘milkshake.”

Tecchou, playing along, said with a note of bewilderment, “Milkshake.” 

“Now say, milk.” Jouno instructed. 

Tecchou said, “Malk.” causing Jouno to flopp his arms in disbelief, patience quickly evaporating. He shook his head, “Tachihara-kun, are you hearing this?”

“Yeah!” Tachihara replied, almost saying Why would I not? “The man wants a class of mulk!”

Jouno physically gagged at that, “Mulk?!” 

“C’mon, Jouno-san! Just give Tecchou-san the glass of mulk!” Tachihara snapped and shouted back at Jouno. 

Teruko who was filming this nudged Fukuchi, who spoke up, “Tachihara-kun, calm down.”

“Sorry, Fukuchi-san.” Turning around, with a sheepish smile on his face, Tachihara bowed and apologized.

“JOUNO! GET ME THE JUG OF MALK!” Tecchou suddenly yelled, surprising everybody because Tecchou rarely raised his voice. 

Shrugging his shoulders and raising his palms, Jouno innocently said, “Why are you yelling at me?” 

“Oh my god, Jouno-san, just give him the FREAKING MULK.” Tachihara exasperatedly shouted, nearly yanking his hair out. 

Jouno, nearly brought to tears, “YOU GUYS AREN’T EVEN SAYING THE SAME THING!” 

Tecchou roared right back, “We’re ALL saying MALK, Jouno!” 

“No! You, Tecchou-san, are saying malk,” He turned to Tachihara with his voice cracking, “And you’re-” But he was interrupted by Tachihara and Tecchou throwing up the word “milk.” 

“MuLk, MuLk, MuLK.” Tachihara groaned and moaned. 

Tecchou fake-vomited and cried, “UULGH, ULLGH, MALK, MALK, URGGH.”

“BLURRGH, BLEEEEH”

“MULK, MUUULK, AARRRRGH!”

“ugggggggggggggggggh.” Tecchou rumbled out, deep within his diaphragm. 

Jouno just slouched and flopped against the window-door, before snapping, and drawing his sword from the middle of nowhere and aiming it at Tecchou and Tachihara , “SHUT UP! SHUT UP!” Tachihara and Jouno just stared at Jouno, with their eyes wide open. 

After a few tense seconds of silence, Jouno turned his sword on himself. Tachihara and Tecchou automatically drew their own swords from somewhere, automatically yelling, “Don’t do it Jouno-” “Put it down-”

“Oh, it’s getting good.” Fyodor said, sipping some of his coffee.

“Yeah.” Sigma whispered, grabbing a cookie from Gogol’s hands. 

“Mmmf, I agree,” Gogol said back, munching through the popcorn. 

Fukuchi just stared at them before asking, “Where’d you get that food?” 

Gogol waved his cloak in response; Fukuchi nodded in understanding. 

Jouno stared close-eyed at Tachihara’s and Tecchou’s drawn swords, before exclaiming, “YOU GUYS ARE GONNA STAB ME IF I STAB MYSELF?! THAT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE!”

Tecchou and Tachihara exchanged glances; they hadn’t thought about that. Automatically, Tecchou turned his own sword on himself and Tachihara assumed a stance between the two other men, sword drawn to stop anything from happening. 

“PLEASE JOUNO-SAN, DON’T DO IT. YOU’RE LIKE A BROTHER TO ME-”

“I CANNOT BELIEVE THE AUDACITY. I’M GOING TO STAB MYSELF OVER THIS??!!”

“Jouno, this wouldn’t have happened if you just got the-”

“DON’T YOU DARE SAY IT.”

“malk.”

“aaaaAAAAAAAAAAE!”

Kouyou examined the ADA and Port Airlines as they made their way to the checkout station. Noticing that they looked fairly okay, she completed the transaction and Gin wheeled the cart out of the way and pushed to a spare bench where Naomi, Higuchi, Kyouka, and Lucy were hanging out. Yosano was hanging on Kouyou’s kimono. 

As the ADA and Port Airlines wheeled their luggage, she looked and saw various types of meats, a pack of shrimp, and some salads. 

“You guys were successful then.” She nodded to Kunikida. 

“Huh? Oh, of course we were.” He brought the packages onto the conveyor belt. 

“Who got the salad?” She inquired. 

Kunikida who was now organizing the packages to take up the least amount of space on the conveyor belt and setting a divider for the next customer said, “Tanizaki did. He said, ‘Some people might not be comfortable with all this meat, so let’s get some salad.’ Dazai wanted crab, but it was too expensive so Chuuya bargained with him and made him accept some shrimp. It was mostly Kenji who selected the meat.” 

The cashier, a small boy, Q, handed Kouyou her receipt with a sweet smile and, “Thank you for shopping here with us! Have a good day!” 

She gave a soft smile to the cashier before gesturing to the rest of the girls who were resting on the bench to get up and leave. 

Fukuzawa was standing in front of the cash register, looking at the price intensely. Ranpo hanging by his side, whining, Are we done yet? Do you have some candy? C’mon…. what’s taking so long. Before sighing and giving up, he pulled from a hidden pocket a bag of candy. 

“Here you go.”

Ranpo grabbed it and held it as if it was an ancient relic from above, “Woaah. Thank you.” Satisfied with the offering, he made his way to where Junichoro, Atsushi, and Kenji were waiting. 

“And your total today sir, is $82.58.”

Fukuzawa let out a breath, grateful for having Kunikida in his agency, because this price left plenty of room left in their budget. 

“Thank you.” 

“No problem, sir! Have a good day!” He turned to the next group in line, the Hunting Angels. “Next!”

Gogol rolled Teruko and the cart through the cart-only entrance zone, and the cashier asked, “Did you find everything okay?”

To which Teruko snorted and said, “Yup. Me and Gogol here found everything okay.”

Gogol’s eye faded into a crescent as he smiled, “Yup! Like all this stuff in this cart, we just got in the past 15 minutes.” Teruko had ordered him to get various drinks like Coca-cola, water, apple cider, and juices because she noticed that Jouno, Tecchou, and Tachihara weren’t going to do anything anytime soon. 

“Your price is $50.”

Jouno stepped up to the cash register and swiped the card, put in the pin, grabbed the receipt with a short, “Thank you.”

The Guild walked up, Twain instantly broke into a smile and responded to Q’s usual greetings, “Yes, I’m doing fine today! and you?” 

Really, Twain was a blessing to the world. 

Melville went up to pay for the purchase with the card, helping calm the cashier down since Melville possessed the calm of the ocean. 

Agatha who was leaning on her cane, outside the exit of the store looked over the Guild and Hunting Angels as they exited, “So you guys are finally done?” 

“Yeah.” A single word united them. 

“Let’s go home now.” Pushing off the wall, she grabbed her share of the loot and made her way to her car. 

“Lovecraft! Come on, let’s go get your ice cream!” Steinbeck suddenly remembered the promise he gave to Lovecraft, who was power walking to the lines. 

“Jouno, do you want me to drive you home? I mean, we live in the same dorm.” Tecchou asked Jouno, nudging him, to which he only got a “eh” in response. 

Atsushi, Juni, Naomi, and Kyouka were sharing a churro that they got from the food court. 

Ranpo was munching on a half, with Poe sharing his half with Karl. 

Ryuunosuke was staring at the ice-cream in his hand like it was a bomb while Gin was going to get some spoons. 

A little girl with reddish hair walked up to Kunikida and tugged his pants, “Daddy?”

“JLAFDKJAKA, do I look like-” Kunikida spluttered, but nonetheless helped the little girl, Aya, back to her parents. 

Dazai and Fyodor were having an epic showdown and communicating in some alien language. 

Tecchou had somehow convinced Jouno to allow Tecchou to drive him home, because “C’mon, Jouno, if we carpool it’ll help with pollution and less pollution means you’ll be happier smelling.” With that said, Jouno agreed, albeit with a little grumbling but nonetheless he got in. 

Everybody was preparing to go home and recharge their batteries to get ready for tomorrow. 

Chapter Text

“Hey!!” Louisa greets to the group heading to them where the girls had come earlier to set things up. Mitchell’s skill making everything slightly easier.  

“Hello.” Jouno greets as he drops the box of soda onto the table. Followed by Teruko dropping the pack of water. Various packages and bottles of apple cider and juices dropped down. 

Yosano walked by and examined the packages, “No alcohol?”

Tecchou stares at her, “We have minors.”

“You guys are no fun.” 

Teruko pats her hands, “Well, the drinks have arrived, like we were ordered too.” 

Suddenly plant vines attached themselves to the trees above them. 

“Woohoo!!!”

“Do please calm down Twain.” Hawthorne sighs, walking down the stairs he created with his ability. 

“whenisthisover.ohkarl...pleasesaveme”

“Do you think my boosted body can handle a fall from up here?”

“Do a flip!” 

“Twain.”  

“Sorry Mr. Melville.”

Lovecraft walks over to Lucy, holding out various boxes, “The snacks.”

“Oh..um.. thank you Lovecraft.” Lucy offered him a sheepish smile. 

“Are the ADA and Port Airlines here yet?” Jouno asks with a scrunch in his eyebrows. 

Agatha answers from where she was swinging on the hammock, “Yeah. They’re grilling the food.” She swings some more, “Well… more like it’s alternating between Kunikida, Fukuzawa, and Chuuya.” 

Jouno didn’t need to angle his ear to hear the yells of Kunikida calling for Dazai to help. Fukuzawa was currently manning the griller as Chuuya helped put on various foods and transfer them to tables where some of the kids were already sitting munching at the snacks. 

Sigma walked over and dropped into a spare seat, pulling out a pack of cards, “Wanna play?” 

Atsushi and Tanizaki shared a hesitant glance, “We’re not supposed to gamble.” Atsushi said.

“Who said anything about gambling?”

A couple card games later, a can of soda sipped and crushed…

Kunikida yelled, “Right! It’s eating time!” 

Everyone yelled and went to grab plates, Gogol rubbing his hands together. “Hhuehehueue.” Before Fyodor pinched his arm, and hissed, “Don’t do that, I can see Kyouka’s skill coming out.” 

Soft ‘thank yous’ came out as the food was distributed and then, the fairy lights came on, eliciting soft sounds of pure awe. 

Yosano chuckles, obviously proud of herself, “See? I knew it would be nice.”

Eating with their friends underneath the stars, with the glowing golden pastel lights glowing over their heads, it was truly a wondrous sight. 

“Wow! This is some good stuff!” Kenji said, picking up a piece of beef and chewing it. 

“Ryuu- I swear- you eat too little.” Atushi and Gin both said before picking up some food from the platters assorted on the table and placing them into Akutagawa’s bowl. Where he picked and prodded at the food, before mumbling, “...Thanks.” 

Agatha who had pulled out tea from nowhere poured some out to Melville, Jouno, and Fyodor, saying, “Shall we have-”

“A super happy chit-chat?” Fyodor completed with a little smirk. “Yes, yes we shall.” 

The Guild, well just Twain and Steinbeck, were huddled around a pile of sticks, trying to set it on fire, for legal purposes. Lovecraft was staring at them with his chin on his fists, sitting on one of the logs he had brought over and formed in a circle pattern for everybody to sit. Poe was there, but he was busy exploring one of his many ideas with Ranpo.  

“Well, what should we do?” Twain asked, laying on the ground, trying to catch his breath.

Steinbeck merely glanced down at Twain before saying, “Can’t you just ask your ability to go something?”

“Huck and Tom are busy playing with Kaarlllll.” He whined and groaned back. 

Steinbeck let out a sigh, wiping the sweat from his forehead, looking around, and his eyes landed on something. “Go call Huck and Tom, get them fire-proof gloves.”

Tom lifted his head tiredly before letting it go with a thump, he let out a little whistle, and immediately Huck and Tom appeared above him, “Steinbeck has something to tell you guys.” He said with a yawn. 

“You know where Chuuya’s watching the griller, right now? Put on these gloves, and when not looking swipe some coal, and then drop it here.” He motioned to the bundle of sticks. Huck and Tom shared a look, because playing with fire? THAT SOUNDS FUN! 

“Sure, me and Tom will take care of it.” Huck says, remote as ever. “Won’t we Tom-”

“YEEEEHAW.” Tom squeals as he flies off. Ten seconds later, “I’m back~~~” 

“Dump them there Tom.” Huck directs. 

“Hup!” The heat from the coal immediately catching fire upon the sticks. 

Ranpo looked up from where he was seated against Poe’s shoulder, “Oh, we’re making some s’mores?” 

“Yup.” A thump from a bag came from Nathaniel. “It’s campfire time!” He shouted to the group gathered around the picnic table. It drew lazy eyes, drunk on the non-alcoholic drinks. 

A “woosh” drew his attention to the bag, where a certain clown was going through them. “Milk chocolate, graham crackers, marshmallows.” He mumbled under his breath. 

“Wh-” Flinching at the sudden presence, Hawthorne stumbled backwards. 

Gogol gave him a pat on the back and went to sit between Sigma and Fyodor on the log. 

Yosano, Agatha, and Kouyou walked over to the bag and began spreading it around. 

“OhMyGod! Tecchou-san, your marshmallow is on FIRE.” Jouno screeched, while Tecchou just sat there, looking at it in awe. 

“Woah..” He said whimsically. 

“Don’t “wOaH” ME, DUNK IT IN WATER OR DO SOMETHING.” 

So, Tecchou waved it in Jouno’s face. 

“OHMYGOD, YOU IDIOT.” 

“So, who wants to hear about some of the WEIRDEST things I saw while looking out of my window.” Sigma yells out over the fire chaos. 

“Me!”

“Do please share.”

“Okay, so I saw this dude, one time, wear a blow-up swimming ring-thing, but it was a flamingo. He straight up looked like he came from the pool.” Sigma starts. 

“And one time, I saw someone pose on Chuuya’s motorcycle-”

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAH????!??!?! SPILL THEIR NAME NOW!” Chuuya choked out his drink and roared. 

Sigma merely giggled with, “Tee-hee.” 

“Thith ith goodth.” Atsushi said, rolling the treat in his mouth, going Hasshsaharfahr, in an attempt to brush off the heat. 

Kenji and Kyouka were following the same method, “Yesthh, I agree, very goodtha.” 

“Jinko, you wimp.” Ryuunosuke said, swallowing the hot treat down before letting it cool.

Atsushi stared at him in bewilderment, “yoUr’E the one swaLLowing it down before YOu even ProPerLy chewed iT.” 

“Yeah, so you’re the wimp.” 

“...” 

Teruko piped up, “You know, doing these sorts of things aren’t so bad.” 

Kunikida sighed and agreed, “Though this whole thing was stressful, I have to agree with you Teruko-kun.” 

Raising his cup of cider, Dazai said, “To the stray dogs?”

“To the stray dogs!” 

“Twain?”

“Yes, Mr. Melville?” Twain looked at the log to his left, looking at Melville, while blowing on his s’more to cool it down. 

Melville side-eyed him, “This idea wasn’t so bad.” He said with a soft smile.

Twain’s eyes widened, Melville wasn’t the type of person to give out praise that easily. Getting after the shock, he chuckled, “Haha, I’m glad you think so! This idea isn’t so bad, if I do say so myself!”

He leaned back on his log, staring through the molten honey of the fairy lights and into the night sky. A shooting star was passing by. The stars are endless, like the possibilities. He turned his gaze towards his friends spread around the fire with him, and softly whispered to the wind, “This is a worthy entry into The Adventures of Mark Twain.”