The Camping Trip
-by Michiru

"Michi, you aren't seriously considering taking those things, are you?"
"Why not?"
"They're dresses!"
"And what, praytell, will I wear if I don't take them?"
"Michiru, this is a bloody camping trip! You don't wear dresses in the woods!"
"I'm sorry," Michiru snapped. "I've never gone camping before. And I did ask WHAT IN BLOODY HELL DO YOU WEAR?!?!"
Haruka took a step back from the green haired nymph. Michiru usually had the most even temper. Even when she got angry, it was controlled. She usually kept her voice even, and never raised her voice. Haruka had been scolded many times, and it was always in a normal volumed voice, though very cold.
"Michi?"
"Well?" She asked again, her tone the familiar frosty coldness of anger.
"Like... shorts. T-shirts. Not dresses. They're impractical. They get caught on things. It's hard to hike and work in a skirt."
"How would I know? I don't you I've never gone camping before. You just grinned and said 'It's easy!'." You never told me a thing. You just assumed, that despite my telling you I never camped before, that of COURSE I'd know what to take, and what to wear. I cannot read your mind, Ten'ou-kun!"
Haruka winced. THAT was an insult. They had met each other about two days into summer vacation. That said vacation was now drawing to a close. They had six days left, and Haruka wanted to get some of that time in, having fun. The kind of fun she was used to. Not that art galleries and concerts weren't fun. She loved the music, and the art was beautiful- more so when seen with Michiru. Just... she wanted a bit of fun on her terms. Michiru seemed content enough about it.
She looked at her lover, and winced again. Michiru's eyes had darkened to smoldering gray. It looked like the ocean in the grip of a great storm. She had seen her angry a few times in the last month, but not this much.
"You have been testing my temper from the beginning on this."
"What have-"
"Waterproof the matches, please Miiiichiiii?" She mimicked Haruka. "How Haruka? Like you usually do!! How else!! Get the compass Miiiichiiii! This? No silly! The compass! That is a compass."
"I-"
"No it isn't, Miiichiii. It's a thing you draw circles with! Isn't that a compass? Oh yeah. I guess it is. I didn't always pay attention. But I want the other one. No Miiiichiii. That's just a smaller circle drawer."
"But-"
"And-"
"Michiru, how was I to know you didn't know this stuff?!"
"BECAUSE. I. TOLD. YOU. I. DIDN'T!!!!!!!"
"You. Told. Me. You. Had. Never. Been. Camping befo- oh."
"Oh," Michiru almost whispered.
"You didn't know any of that stuff," Haruka murmured, not meeting Michiru's eyes.
"No. I didn't know what waterproofing matches meant. I've never needed a compass. I don't know about freeze dried rations, or water purifying tablets. I was born, and raised in Tokyo. The only time I've been out of it was on my exchange student program when I was 14. And that was in the middle of New York City. No camping there, either."
"I'm sorry," Haruka mumbled. "I shouldn't assume that you know all the same things that I do. You don't do that to me."
"Now on to the present problem," Michiru said brightly, changing the subject entirely. "What will I bring. You already know my wardrobe."
"Yikes. Well, you'll just have to wear some of my clothes. The shorts will be a bit longer, and it'll be a touch loose, bu-ut......

Michiru looked at the area that Haruka had picked as a campsite in utmost horror. Already, she hated it all. The tent was a small thing that barely fit the two of them. Haruka was cheerful about it, saying they'd have to cuddle. It was hot, and there was no air conditioning. The only place to swim was a lake. The water was sulfureous and it was full of leeches. Haruka had marked a path to the lake, refusing to cut the brush back. There was no place for a campsite. The place was a ten foot by five foot clearing. At very best.
And they had to walk several kilometers to just get to the spot.
They had spent one night there already. Haruka was fishing, while Michiru sat on a stump petulantly, trying not to yawn. Peepers and crickets were fine in the city. But in the jungle, there were ten times as many. Night birds chirped. Brush rustled. Owls hooted. Something made some shrieking noises, and something snuffled around the tent. She didn't have any sleep at all the previous night. She laid awake from the time they went to bed, when the sun went down, until Haruka woke up, when the sun rose.
Michiru got up, and started down the 'path' to the lake.
"Ow," she muttered as a branch she bent back slipped out of her grasp and hit her on the breast. Twigs caught at her clothes and scratched her arms and legs. She stood bolt upright, heart pounding, as something warm and smooth brushed her legs. She looked down to see a porcupine. One part of her mind screamed in panic as the other, more detached part of her, calmly thought, so this is what a porcupine that has its quills flat feels like.
As soon as it was out of range of her bare legs, she ran as fast as she could down the area marked as a path. Branches scratched her, branched scraped, and one even rebounded, hitting her on the rear. She finally reached the lake a few minutes later, and ran to Haruka, breathlessly. She collapsed into Haruka's lap, upsetting the both of them.
"Whoa! What's going on?" Haruka asked quietly.
"He was big! He touched me! I thought he'd never go away!" Michiru shrilled. "He rubbed against my leg, and I thought he was going to hurt me and he took so looooong to walk away from me, and-"
"Shhhhhh!" Haruka said sharply. "You're going to scare away the fish."
Michiru looked at her dumbly. "Don't you-"
"Shhh!" Haruka put her hand over her mouth.
Michiru squeaked indignantly, completely forgetting about the porcupine.
"You don't even care!" Michiru cried, and stormed into the woods.
Five minutes later, she folded herself into some ferns, crying. "I'm looost!" She wailed, laying down. She took a small temper tantrum, pounding her fists and kicking her feet.
"Alright, Michi-chan, get yourself up," she told herself in the stern cold voice she used on others.
She got up, brushed herself off, and told herself to get un-lost.
It was almost full dark by the time she calmed down enough to stop walking in circles. She had bugbites all over, and they itched abominably. She found her way with her nose. She took a sniff of the air, and took off at a fast trot for the smell of the horrendously stinking lake. She reached the edge, and gasped. The sun was gone over the edge of the mountain, leaving a beautiful trail of vivid yellow, orange, pink and red, fading to a gorgeous midnight blue.
Stop staring at the scenery, wench, she thought to herself. You have to find your way back to Haruka: and beg her to take you home!!!
After another half hour she found Haruka's markers. She did it by feel, mainly. It was fully dark, the moon was a sliver. She had actually walked in a curved line in the forest, ending up almost at the opposite end of the lake. The lake side had been horrible. Sometimes there were beaches, other times... there were not. She was soaked, and the mountain air was definitely cooler at night. She shivered, as she started up the path, not concealing her noise. Hopefully it would scare away the animals. Her body ached from all the exercise, the rest ached from the thousands of tiny cuts and scrapes. She was quite literally NOT a happy camper.
She walked into the clearing they were staying in. Haruka had a small campfire going, and Michiru could smell baking fish. Haruka looked up, completely calm.
"Michiru! You-"
Michiru turned away from her and stomped into the tent. She wished she had a door to slam.
How dare she! Didn't she give a care at all to her supposed girlfriend's well being? She just sat there all afternoon after she ran off. She didn't even care that Michiru hadn't come back for a loooong time! Haruka was having so much fun.
Michiru put her balled up fists to her face, biting one of them to keep from crying out loud. Tears flowed silently.
"Michi?" A soft voice called.
"Go away!" Michiru yelled.
"Michi, are you Ok?"
"No! I hurt, I ache, I'm freezing, I'm wet, I'm cut all over, I itch, I think I wet myself, I'm miserable and you don't even care!"
"Of course I care," Haruka said softly, crawling into the tent. She touched Michiru's shoulder softly. "I wasn't worried about you because you had the compass."
"Oh, great. I could have fallen into a hole, or broken my leg, or gotten hit by thrice damned lightening! Then what use would a compass have done me?!"
"But you weren't hurt."
"Yes, I was!! I've been cut a zillion times! I aches from walking many miles! I've been lost Haruka! I found my way back by smelling the lake and then walking along the shore until I found the... trail is a kind word."
"But you had the compass."
"And what good did it do me? The only compass I know how to use is the circle drawing one!"
"But..."
"How am I going to know how to use a compass when I only just saw my first one yesterday?" Michiru asked sweetly, scratching her arm.
"Ooooo. Oh. Uh. Um...."
"Uh huh. It's your fault I was lost."
"But you went running off into the woods!"
"Why?" Michiru asked coldly.
"Because... I dunno."
"You didn't even notice? You didn't notice how upset I was? How scared I was when I got to you? You didn't even hear a word I said. You only cared that I was scaring away your precious fish. You didn't want to take the time and find out what had upset me so much."
"I... Alright. What happened?" Haruka asked as Michiru laid down. She turned away from Haruka without a word. Hugging the side of the tent. "Miiichiii!"
"Don't whine at me!!!!!!!!" Michiru screamed. "I'm tired of you not caring about me. I'm tired of you thinking of only yourself. She's just a hysterical girl, you tell yourself. You don't care that I was frightened by that.... You don't care that he could have hurt me. You only cared about your fish," Michiru sobbed. "You didn't care when I ran off. You didn't care, even though you knew I was in unfamiliar territory, that I had never gone camping before, and that the closest thing I had ever seen of a forest was that at the park in Tokyo.
"You didn't care even though I could have fallen over a cliff, or walked into a gopher hole or walked into a damned bear trap. You didn't care that I could have seriously hurt myself and bled to death. You didn't think that obviously, since I had never SEEN a compass before, I wouldn't know how to use one. I'm not a god! I don't know everything!"
"I'm sorry," Haruka said, her voice thick with tears. "You're right. I didn't think. I'm stupid, and a total monster. I'm not worthy of you."
"Yes," Michiru sobbed.
Haruka leaned down and gently put her arms around Michiru. "I'm brainless. I DO care. I just didn't think. How are you? Are you Ok?"
"No, I'm not."
"Michiru, I... I'm so sorry. I let this happen. Al I want to do is protect you. I- I love you. You mean everything to me. Seeing you cry like this makes my heart hurt."
"You love me?" Michiru whispered, looking up at her.
"Yes. Oh, yes. So very much. From the moment I saw you. I hate having you mad at me, even though I deserve it a lot. Oh, it hurts to see you unhappy. And to know it was my fault-"
"Oh, Haruka!" Michiru threw herself into Haruka's arms and cried into her shoulder. "I love you too. Thinking you didn't care about me hurt so bad."
"I love you. I care. So. Please. Tell me about your horrible day."

Michiru got up in the morning, having actually slept. Mostly because of sheer exhaustion.
"Michi!" Haruka exclaimed as she came out of the tent.
Michiru thought it was because she had nothing on buy her undies.
"Morning to you, too."
"What happened?!"
Haruka rushed over to Michiru, and made soft noises as she touched her skin. Michiru looked down and almost screamed. The skin on her arms and legs was splotchy red, and inflamed. The myriad of tiny cuts stood out more.
"Your face... it looks like poison ivy."
"Figures," Michiru said dryly.
"Oh, my poor Michi," Haruka sighed.
"I'm not surprised," Michiru shrugged.
"C'mere," Haruka said huskily, and pulled her onto the ferny ground. She disappeared for a moment into the tent, and came out with a jar.
"Whazzat?"
Haruka smiled. "Poison Ivy Liniment. Guaranteed to take the itch out of itchy."
"Hmm. I'll believe it when I feel it."
Haruka slid down onto the forrest floor, and opened the jar. "My poor thing," she murmured, taking a glob of pale green, pine scented goop onto her fingers. She began gently massaging it into Michiru's skin.
Michiru closed her eyes in pleasure. The itch was going away, and Haruka's hands were so gentle and loving. "Oh, that feels sooo good."
She felt a tickle on her thigh and looked down. A huge preying mantis stood on her leg, antennae and legs moving around.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed, and backpedaled, fast, using her feet to move backwards.
The huge, icky bug stuck fast.
"AAAAAGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
"Calm down, Michi. It's only a bug," Haruka laughed, picking the stick insect up. She put it on a branch, where it crawled, looking for food.
"So's a tarantula! So's my father!! And they both can poison a person!!"
"That was a preying mantis."
"It didn't look Godly to me!!!"
Haruka laughed again. "P-R-E-Y-I-N-G mantis. It stalks its prey."
"I must have looked nice and tempting!"
"It must have been your hair colour."
"Waaaahhhhh!"
"Michi!" Haruka fell beside her and gathered her up in her arms. "Poor Michi. You're not used to this sort of thing, are you, dearheart?"
Michiru shook her head wildly, tears flying. "No," she sobbed, "I'm used to big houses, and manicured gardens, and hothouse flowers and city life!!"
"Poor thing."
"I'm not a thing," Michiru gasped through her tears. "I do not like camping!!"
"I'm getting that impression. Why don't you come down to the lake with me. You brought your sketchbook, right? Sketch the lake and Mt Fuji."
"O-O-Ok," she nodded, drying her eyes, ashamed of her tears. She had been brought up a lot better than this! She had been taught to be an impeccable lady at all time. Never to give in to any social pressures. ANY pressures. In public, she was always composed at all times. The only time she ever let her guard down was when she was with Haruka.
She had been brought up as a pampered only child of a very wealthy, very old Tokyo family. Her room was actually a suite. A bathing room, a bedroom, and sitting room and a painting studio. She had had maids to clean for her, cooks to feed her and more maids to serve her.
Her father had her go to Juliard one year, during an experimental program where high school students could attend. She had done very well, though not many of the ten high school students had. The program had been cancelled, but Michiru had a year at Juliard, something not many others had. Her father had wanted to send her to a finishing school in Germany, instead of her going to high school. She would have learned much the same things she knew already. Etiquette, grace, embroidery... nothing useful.
Michiru loved going to school. She loved to learn. She had declined very firmly. Her father went into a rage and threw her out of the house, disinheriting her.
She had a lot of money saved up, and as well, her mother had given her as much money as she could. She took her favorite belongings, her violin, her rare paints and brushes, clothing, and left.
She had been living on her own for not as long as Haruka supposed. She had only had a half month lease at her old apartment, taking over another person's lease, when they decided to leave before it was up, testing to see if she liked it enough to get a full year. Fortune struck, and Haruka came along. She paid a lot less sharing a two bedroom than the bachelor apartment she had been in. And the bonus was Haruka. Beautiful, sexy, fun to be with... the most wonderful person in the world; when she wasn't making her mad!
Her and Haruka went to the lake side, and while Haruka fished, Michiru sketched, happier than she had been. The itch was gone, and it was peaceful. Haruka's head was against her knee.
"I have to go to the bathroom," Michiru murmured.
"Right through there," Haruka grinned cheekily, pointing at the woods. "Do you need an escort, m'lady? Protect you from those itty bitty bugs? OW!"
"Serves you right," Michiru said, getting up. Now her hand hurt from hitting Haruka.
She went into the woods and looked for a place to use the bathroom. She hated doing it in the woods. But she didn't want to hold it, either.
She found a good spot on an old tree, and squatted. What was good for a dog, was good for a people. They likes doing it on trees. Good fertilizer, she supposed.
She pulled up her panties, hating the lack of toilet paper, when she heard the angry buzzing. She looked down to see a huge amount of bees crawling out of the hole. She backed up and they began to follow her.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" She shrieked, running for her life. The swarm of bees followed her. "HAAAAAARUUUUUUUUKAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!! RUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!!!!!!"
She ran out of the trees at a dead run, and kept going, right into the water. She felt a couple of the bees had already stung her, and prayed that she wasn't allergic to bee stings. She'd never been stung.
She dove underwater, and the crawling on her flesh disappeared. She could actually hear Haruka call her name, and then yell. A splash told her that Haruka had dove under the water as well.
Michiru swum underwater for a good three and a half minutes until she was in the middle of the lake. THEN she came up. She could see a small golden head looking around and heard her name called.
"OUT HERE!!!" Michiru yelled.
Haruka turned, and from her body language, looked surprised. Michiru began to lazily swim the three miles back into the shore. Five minutes later, she caught up to Haruka.
"What happened?"
"I used the bathroom on the bees."
"You... Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!" Haruka began to laugh wildly.
"Not funny. I got stung a few times."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Haruka snickered. "Michi," she stopped suddenly as Michiru got out.
"What now?"
Haruka sighed.

Michiru dried her tears, as Haruka kissed her all over. "I wanna go home," she sniffed.
"Tomorrow. I promise we'll go home tomorrow," Haruka murmured lovingly, kissing the many little wounds Michiru had.
"I'm sorry I ruined your trip," she sniffed.
"It's Ok. I'll come again, and this time I'll take someone else."
"I'm a party pooper."
"No. You're not suited to this."
"If it had been in a nice camper..."
"It wouldn't have been the same. But if you want to try that out, I promise we will. I'm so sorry I did this to you. You're a true lady. I should have realized that you were soft."
"I'm not soft!" Michiru cried indignantly.
"Well, Ok. Not soft. Uh-"
"If you can do this, I can do this!"
"Um..."
"I can! We'll stay!"
"Michi, sweetie, darling, you're not having a good time."
"I will, though. I can adjust to anything. I know I can. This is just another step in becoming independent from my family." Not that I had a choice, she thought.
"Oh, honey," Haruka sighed.
"OW!"
"I'm sorry," Haruka said, inspecting the area she touched. She scratched out the bee stinger, and put it with the nine others. "That's ten stings. I'm so glad you didn't have an allergy to bee stings."
"Me too. Or to leeches." Michiru shuddered. Haruka had salted about 22 of the buggers from Michiru's body. Michiru hadn't gotten hysterical. It was hard to be hysterical when you were out cold. Haruka had taken the leeches off her and pulled the stingers by the time she woke. As her eyes had opened, Haruka had been putting anesthetic on her many little sore places.
Haruka hadn't noticed that Michiru had woken, and Michiru had been very surprised. Haruka had tears flowing freely, and she was muttering things about the forrest being hard on her lady, and that the spirits better straighten out or she'd never come back, and might even burn the place down. It was so sweet.
"We might as well pack up," Haruka sighed.
"I said we're staying."
"Miiiichiiii...."
"No backtalk, baby."
"Alright. I won't argue."
"Good."

Michiru looked around at the campsite. It hadn't gone too badly. First two days were horrible, but the last two had been fine. They were going to leave tomorrow. Michiru wouldn't be sad to leave, but she had a lot of fun.
Swimming had been out, but Haruka had taken her on a nice nature walk the day before. The two of them and the camera. They had seen a lot of beautiful birds and animals. The trees were impressive.
So was making love in the middle of the woods.
"Hi," Haruka murmured, putting her arms around her. "The fish is roasting."
"I'm glad I like fish."
"Sometimes I wish you didn't. You eat so daintily, but sooo thoroughly. And when you ate that uncooked part... ew."
"I told you my favorite food was sashimi."
"Yeah... but... ew."
Michiru twisted in Haruka's arms and gave her a hungry kiss. She wrapped her arms around Haruka's slender body, pressing her breasts against her. Both were only in their underwear, not always paying attention to clothing conventions. They ran around the apartment in less. And they were so wonderfully alone.
"Mmm," Haruka moaned, as she pushed her thigh between Michiru's legs. She began rubbing it against Michiru, feeling the wetness against her leg.
"Oh," Michiru gasped as Haruka suddenly tore Michiru's underwear off. Bra and panties flew onto a bush. Haruka picked Michiru up, putting an arm under her rear. Michiru wrapped her legs around Haruka's waist, and their kisses deepened.
Haruka's other hand caressed Michiru's silken bottom, loving the shape. Her fingers quested between her legs, going further up front, until she found the tender spot that Michiru loved being touched at so much. She began to rub and caress that spot with a finger, while using her other fingers to probe intimately inside of her.
Michiru began to move her hips up and down, riding on Haruka's hand. She began to get that feeling of utter freedom and total ecstacy when something physical- sort of- intruded on their lovemaking.
"Ahh!" Haruka cried, dropping Michiru.
"Ew!" Michiru gasped, her former good feelings evaporating.
"Oh, yuck!"
"Ah!"
"Yick!"
"Blah!"
Michiru saw what caused the problem. He looked quite pleased, if a skunk could look pleased.
"Oh, gag me!" Haruka cried.
"Do something! I stink!"
"So do I! Why now? The stuff I need is in the tent."
Michiru strode to the tent, trying not to get sick. She pulled the pegs, and shook some stuff out of the tent. Including Haruka's pack. With he toes, she upended it, and everything fell out.
"Thanks," Haruka said, finding the bottle right away. She opened it, and took out the salve. She immediately began working it into Michiru's skin.
"I can do byself," Michiru said, plugging her nose.
"I-"
"Do yourselb," Michiru continued what Haruka started, and rubbed the stuff into her skin. She rubbed until her skin was red. And then she put more into her hair. She then put some into Haruka's hair, while Haruka finished with her skin. "You have so much more skin," Michiru said.
"But at least we only got it on one side. At least the stuff didn't get it. Time for the river," Haruka walked down to where they were getting their fresh water. She got close to the shore before she started to use the water and mixed it with the salve. Suds began appearing. Michiru started to do what Haruka had done, and began getting it off herself. The scent of the salve was more strong now, and getting worse. But it was much better than skunk.
"Michiru?"
"Yes, love?"
"We're going home tonight."
"All right, dear," Michiru nodded, while scrubbing the stinky scent of skunk off of her.

-by Michiru