Five Excited Idiots Plan For A Trip

Another hot summer day saw Juzo hanging out at Nikko's house, spending their time simply trying to not die. Both of them laid on the floor in front of the fan.

"Hey, Nikko, what's the date today?"

"The 25th."

"What day does school start again?"

"The 1st."

"Shit."

Silence once again enveloped the room. Many moments passed, but Juzo eventually got up.

"Man, what are we doing? It's summer break, and we're sitting here wasting our lives. Let's go somewhere fun."

"But where? We have no money."

"Matsuyama isn't too far. We could easily afford a weekend trip."

Nikko sprang up.

"Matsuyama, you say? Well, it is a big city, got plenty of people, and beautiful beaches. You might be onto something."

"Let's do it, then! I'll call everyone over."

"Ok… wait, who's everyone?"

"Reina, Shinobu, and Toshiharu."

Nikko had to think for a while.

"I don't know about Toshiharu. You saw how quick he got Shinobu all over him, imagine what he could do on a beach."

"You got it all wrong. Toshiharu will be too focused on Shinobu to pay attention to anything else."

"Alright, but if something goes wrong, it's your fault."

A few phone calls and several hours later, everyone arrived at Nikko's house. Nikko was not happy with the arrival time.

"What took everyone so long? We called like two hours ago."

Reina didn't like the attitude.

"Well, I'm sorry dumbass, but you didn't give these two your address, and neither of you were answering their texts. I waited for Shinobu's shift to finish to show her, and we found Toshiharu wandering around the neighborhood on our way here."

"Oops. Sorry."

Toshiharu was out of breath, looking completely exhausted.

"I searched for over an hour. At least give me some water."

Once Nikko had brought Toshiharu his refreshment, the discussion started with Shinobu's inquiry.

"So, why have you called us here, guys?"

Juzo took the presentation lead.

"Well, school is starting next week, and I've spent a good chunk of my summer doing nothing. While there have been several activities, lacking from my portfolio is a beach trip. So, my proposal to you all today is a weekend trip to Matsuyama to celebrate the final days of summer. Thoughts?"

Reina raised her hand.

"Sounds fun, but I have very little money."

Nikko answered the question.

"Well, we've done some quick math, and it actually isn't that bad. There are some bargain places we can stay at, so it's actually surprisingly cheap. We're gonna be spending most of the time wandering outside anyways, so it should be fine."

"Okay, if you say so."

Now Shinobu raised a concern.

"I'd like to go, but I don't know if I can get time off."

Reina had a quick solution.

"That's not a problem. My uncle will understand if I explain what's happening."

"Really!? Then I'm in!"

Toshiharu was left for last, but didn't say anything. Nikko waved his hand in Toshiharu's face.

"Hello? Toshiharu?"

Toshiharu brushed the hand away from his face.

"What?"

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

"I thought you were taking questions right now, but I didn't have any."

Nikko was puzzled by Toshiharu's excuse.

"You thought we had a question period? Does this look like some workplace safety lecture? Whatever. What's your answer?"

"Sure. Seems fun."

Juzo clapped his hands.

"Alright! Let's start planning right away!"

The rest of the day was spent hotel hunting, searching for places of interest, and restaurant researching. The planning went late into the night, but soon the entire weekend was planned out. With a few days before they would be leaving, the group decided to meet at Nikko's house to plan a shopping trip.

"Good morning, welcome back everyone. Once again, I have summoned you to my home to discuss the upcoming trip. On today's agenda…"

Reina couldn't tolerate Nikko's bizarre speaking.

"Nikko! Please speak normally, for the love of God."

"Fine. One of the most important things about a trip is that everyone is prepared. So, today, we are going to gather all the essential things we'll need: swimsuits and other beach items, plenty of snacks and drinks, and games or things that are entertaining."

Shinobu was excited to go shopping.

"Ooh, sounds fun! Are we going to the mall?"

Nikko froze.

"Sorry. No mall."

"What? Why not?"

Juzo rose up from his seat on the couch.

"Funny that you should ask. It just so happens that the last time Nikko was at the mall, he was thrown out for being a creep hanging outside of a women's clothing store."

Nikko devilishly stared at Juzo.

"I wasn't the only one thrown out. You were too."

"Shut up. The only thing wrong I did was associate myself with you."

Reina interjected.

"Putting the mall aside, the shopping center will work. It's got everything in it, so we should be fine."

Toshiharu was getting excited.

"Ooh, I haven't been there in ages! Let's get going!"

The group arrived at the shopping center with a large list of items, so they tried to devise a plan, masterminded by Nikko.

"Okay, to find all the things on the shopping list as one group will take hours, so we'll split up. Who needs a new swimsuit?"

Everyone raised their hand.

"Really? That completely ruins the plan to split up. Thank you."

Shinobu offered her thoughts.

"What if we just split up after getting our swimsuits?"

Nikko thought about it for a moment.

"I guess that works. Let's go find the swimsuit section."

As the girls split off to the women's section, the trio of boys scrounged around for the cheapest options they could find. Juzo held one up to examine.

"Nikko, what do you think of this one?"

"Doesn't look bad. How much?"

"¥800."

"That's really cheap. You better check the quality."

Juzo started to pull on the shorts, but they suddenly ripped down the middle.

"Oh, shit."

He put the hanger back on and shoved it towards the back of the rack. He swiveled around to check for employees, but he was clear.

"Good job, dumbass."

Nikko was laughing at him, and it didn't take long for Juzo to start laughing too. Meanwhile, Toshiharu had found a gold mine.

"Guys, look at these! All these shorts are ¥1000, and they seem like they're good quality."

Juzo and Nikko came to investigate, so Toshiharu held up a pair to show them.

"What is that!?"

Both fell into a hysterical fit, unable to compose themselves in the presence of the shorts.

"What's so funny? These look cool."

Toshiharu inspected the pair more closely. The bright green shorts were covered in a plethora of mini dinosaurs, looking as if it was made for small children. Juzo and Nikko struggled to talk, still out of breath from their laughing fits, having to do so in short gasps.

"Dude… awesome!"

"Yeah… you got… any more?"

Toshiharu checked the other shorts on the rack, and to his joy, there were.

"Boys, you're going to love these."

Toshiharu pulled out two more pairs. One was a light blue pair covered in little ducks, and the other was red with tiny robots. Juzo and Nikko began to freak out.

"Ahh… duckies!"

"Tiny… robots… cool!"

The three took their shorts and quickly tried them on. Once everything was good, they reconvened with the girls, who had also finished. Nikko once again took the leader role.

"Okay, if everyone has their swimsuits, it's time to split up. Who wants to find snacks?"

Nikko raised his own hand, and Reina followed.

"That's settled. Now, what about entertainment?"

Toshiharu's hand shot up first, but Juzo wasn't too far behind.

"And that leaves Shinobu to get beach items. Alright, let's meet back up here when we're done. Good luck!"

Each group went off on their mission, with Juzo and Toshiharu going to the games section. Juzo was browsing through the various card games, and Toshiharu started up a conversation.

"Hey, why are we going on a beach trip if we already live near beaches?"

Juzo continued looking through things as he responded.

"It's always more fun to hang out in an unfamiliar place."

"Yeah, I guess, but we could save money by staying here."

"It's not about the money. You only have so many years to be young and do stupid things with your friends. Going on a trip like this is something that provides memories that we'll all cherish forever."

"Wow, I didn't think you would get all sentimental."

"Things develop a different meaning when you've spent years being ostracized from the rest of your classmates."

"What happened?"

Juzo finished picking out some games and had gotten up.

"Oh yeah, you don't know the story. I'll tell you at a better time."

Juzo started walking back to the meeting spot, and Toshiharu had no other choice but to follow. After meeting up with everyone, they checked out the goods. Nikko decided to play the role of the judge.

"As you'll see, me and Reina have collected a diverse collection of snacks and drinks that will have something for everybody. You're all welcome. Now, let's look at Juzo and Toshiharu's spoils."

Nikko thoroughly checked out the games they had brought.

"Hmm, a good variety of card and trivia games. Very nice. Finally, what have you brought, Shinobu?"

Shinobu spread out her things: sunscreen, an umbrella, a bucket, a ball, and a shovel.

"Fantastic! This is exactly what I hoped to see! Good work!"

Shinobu took a bow.

"Thank you for your praise."

"Now that we have everything we need, all that is left is to wait. Let us go pay, then begin our wait for the promised time."

Reina slapped Nikko.

"Stop talking like that."