Evening picnic

“Once we have the code, we'll go all out.”

Nadeshiko watching anime while eating snacks as she drew on her tablet.

“Attack!!!”

She paused drawing from time to time when the movie presented an interesting scene. Reaching one hand to the snack on the table, Nadeshiko ate as she got carried away.

The gun shot echoed in the sky, “don't let him get away.'

“Nadeshiko, hey Nadeshiko,” her mother called to her.

Nadeshiko seemed to have lost in her own world.

"Nadeshiko!"

"Yes?"

“Don't you have to hang out with your friend today? It's almost eight o'clock already."

“That's right. Thank you, mom."

“Nadeshiko, clear your table first. Don't leave leftover snacks on the table like that."

"Roger."

“Remember to turn off the TV too.”

"Affirmative."

Nadeshiko put on her helmet and tied her shoes, preparing to go to Nitori’s place.

"I'm leaving now," Nadeshiko lifted her skateboard up.

“Here, take some fruit for your friend. When you come back, remember to stop by auntie Rin's house to get the flowers for me," her mother left a bag of fruit beside her.

"Ok."

Nadeshiko quickly rushed to the location Nitori had sent her. Crossing the rows of green trees, under the gentle light of the morning, the colorful city gradually became more visible. As usual, the city was bustling with sounds and colors. Nadeshiko stopped at a confectionery shop to buy a cake she liked in order to share with her friends. Through the vibrant neighborhood, she skateboarded while enjoying the beautiful and unique architecture and houses on the main street connecting to the intersection.

Standing in front of the house according to the location Nitori sent, Nadeshiko checked her phone again to make sure she was at the correct address.

'I'm here,' Nadeshiko texted Nitori.

'I'm outside right now, please come in and wait for me. Sora is home, she will open the door for you. Truly sorry for the inconvenience. Be back real soon.'

*Ding dong* Nadeshiko rang the door’s bell.

'Looking closely, the house she is currently staying at is seriously big and luxurious,' thought Nadeshiko.

"Hi there, Nitori texted that you're coming over," Sora opened the door.

“Morning, Sora. Nice to meet you again."

“Woah, you know how to skate? That's lit. I'd love to see some tricks,” Sora marveled at Nadeshiko's skateboard and helmet.

“I can only skate normally though, I don’t really know any cool tricks.”

"Understood. Come on, let’s go inside."

"Excuse me then."

“You can leave your shoes there. Use whatever house slippers you like.”

“Thank you. I have brought some fruit and sweets for everyone.”

"Sweet, thank you Nadeshiko, please wait on the sofa, I'll go and prepare tea and the fruit you brought."

“Ok.”

‘Marvelous, this place is like a luxury hotel. Nitori's friend must be a very famous person,' Nadeshiko glanced around in awe.

“Hot stuff coming right up. Just make yourself at home.”

"Thank you," Nadeshiko drank some tea.

‘So fragrant, even the tea has a taste beyond my imagination. Gentle and sweet, it feels like I'm in heaven. Does the rich always enjoy such wonderful things like this everyday?'

Nadeshiko couldn't help but marvel at what she was experiencing.

“This place is so beautiful. I heard about you guys currently staying at a friend's house, but I didn't expect it to be so wonderful."

“Ahaha, thank you for the compliment, Nadeshiko. Glad you like my city house.”

“My city house…Ehh!? Is this your house, Sora?”

"That's right."

“B…but didn't you come here to visit a friend?”

“Hee hee hee, time to reveal the big secret. That friend everybody was visiting is actually me.”

"Really?"

“I know you're surprised. I was even surprised to learn that electric stoves can cook food without fire.”

"Ah no, I'm not surprised by that."

“Say, you wanna take a house tour of my wonderful and majestic palace?”

"Of course."

“Alright, prepare yourself. There will be a lot of things you've never seen before."

Like a child, Nadeshiko anxiously awaited Sora's "House tour". She braced herself to try not to let out the exhilarating emotions that made her want to jump up at this moment.

“Welcome to Sora's city house. Please present your ticket.”

“Sora, do we need to do that?”

“Alright, before we begin, please do not litter and jostle. Especially please do not arbitrarily feed wild animals in the garden.”

“Is this a visit to the zoo now?”

Sora then showed Nadeshiko around the house.

“This is the kitchen.”

*Snap*

Nadeshiko took a photo.

“This is the garden.”

*Snap*

“This is the swimming pool.”

*Snap*

"This is a vase of flowers."

*Snap*

“This is a random stone in the garden.”

*Snap*

"Fabulous, just as you said, your house has a lot of wonderful things," said Nadeshiko.

“Ahaha, thank you for the compliment.”

'This is so much fun, she's totally into everything,' Sora mused inwardly.

Nadeshiko was startled when the cleaning robot touched her feet.

“Oh, you have a robot vacuum too. So cute."

"It's a landmine, be careful."

“Heh?”

“That thing is my home security system disguised as a robot. Listen to me, stay calm and slowly walk towards me.”

"Really? Come on, there is no such thing."

“That thing can recognize strangers and automatically explode within 10 seconds.”

“Haha, that sounds great if it were true.”

“5, 4, 3…”

“Gawhhh, Sora, save me,” Nadeshiko ran quickly towards Sora and hid behind her.

"I was just joking," Sora laughed subtly.

"Gosh, you're too mean."

'Nadeshiko is so cute, teasing her is just too much fun,' thought Sora.

She then quickly returned to the house tour she organized.

“Next attraction, 2nd floor, where the great warrior queen Sora reigns.”

They continued upstairs.

“Look, my own gaming room.”

“Wow, you have your own game room?!”

“Of course, there has to be a place to entertain yourself.”

Nadeshiko was quickly attracted to "Sora's" desk.

"No way. 3 screens, color changing keyboard, custom computer case. So freaking cool. Hey, you must be a streamer right?”

“Ah..ahh that's right,” replied Sora even though she didn't understand a thing.

"I got it. So that is it. You're so mature, I admire you so much Sora. You're already so successful at such a young age,” Nadeshiko took Sora's hands.

“Eh? Huh?”

“Streamer work must be tiring, right? How can you even study and stream at the same time, please show me how. I find live streaming quite fun, I also want to try a live drawing with everyone. By the way, what's your channel name, I'll subscribe to support you,” Nadeshiko's eyes lit up.

“Ahaha, let’s just put that aside for now. Let's play some games. I also have all kinds of consoles and the latest released games here,” Sora tried to change the subject.

“Sounds great. Sure thing."

“The loser will cover the winner's drinks on the next outing.”

"Deal."

A butterfly perched on one of Himari's flowers in the garden.

“Onii-chan, say aahhh.”

“Ahh,” I ate the piece of cake in Yui's hand while driving.

“Woo, the monkey driving the car ate.”

Himari, Mio and Nitori tried to hold back their laughter while I was speechless.

"Wee", getting out of the car, Yui immediately ran to the garden to play.

"Nadeshiko is here," Nitori quickly took off her shoes and ran into the house to find her friend as she saw a strange pair of shoes. “Nadeshiko,” she called out in a hurry and almost fell, giving us a heart attack.

“I'm fine👌,” Nitoriquickly turned around, gave an Ok sign and said.

“I almost forgot we also have a Yui 2.0,” commented Himari.

"It's fun to be as active as she is," I responded.

“Okay, let's go prepare lunch together,” after taking a deep breath, Himari imitated Nitori's dynamic.

Her face soon turned red from embarrassment after being looked at by Mio and me as if she was a strange animal.

*Snap*

“Don't take pictures of me senpai.”

Yui kept running around in the garden. She seemed to be interested in watching ants doing their things.

"Nadeshiko, I'm back."

"Hello, Nitori," Nadeshiko waved back.

“Oh Nadeshiko, did you bring your friend here?” Nitori looked at Sora with a bright expression, “I'm Nitori. Nice to meet you,” she then told Sora.

Sora was completely motionless while displaying a complex facial expression that couldn't believe what she just heard.

“Hello,” I appeared soon after.

Nadeshiko was completely motionless with a surprised face when she saw me.

“…”

Nitori looked back and forward at me and at the two of them to analyze the situation. She quickly imitated the two of them and looked at me with a surprised expression.

"Not you too, Nitori."

"Greetings. I am your fan. Would you kindly give me an autograph?"

"Hello, you must be Nadeshiko."

“Ehhh??!! What's happening?" said Sora.

“He…he's a famous streamer, what is he doing at your house Sora?”

"Sora's house?" I wonder if I heard wrong.

“Ahhh, he's a friend of mine and Nitori. Surprise?" Sora tried to drift the direction of the conversation.

“You know him?! Sora, you're amazing,” Nadeshiko innocently praised Sora.

“Ahaha, thank you. Hey Niko-senpai, what are you doing here?”

“Good question. What is it about this is “your house”, Sora?”

“You must have heard wrong.”

“Hmm, I also heard her say it's your house, Sora,” said Nitori.

"Wait, so this isn't your house?" Nadeshiko seemed to realize it just now.

The three of us looked at Sora.

“Ehehe, looks like I’m exposed,” Sora 👉🏼👈🏼.

“This is my place. Don't believe this idiot, it’s not possible for a fool like her to own a house like that," I talked to Nadeshiko.

“Ha, you are wrong. If I marry you, this house will also belong to me as well. Ah ha ha.”

“Nitori, please give me the bucket. I think I need to vomit.”

“Ehhh, do you have a problem with that? If you're so popular, why don't you have any girlfriends?"

"Does that have anything to do with you?."

Once again from a "peaceful diplomacy", the two leaders Niko and Sora soon used all the resources at their disposal and launched relentless counter-attacks against each other..

"They're like that most of the time, you'll get used to it," Nitori said to Nadeshiko, "come on, let's grab some popcorn."

"Nitori, I don't think we should do that..."

~

Lying in the cool wind, after running and jumping around the backyard, Yui slept on the floor in front of the garden door. Cards and chess-boards were scattered around where we sat.

"So cool," said Sora, along with Nitori and Nadeshiko, laying down and enjoying the summer breeze.

“Do you guys want some raisins?” I approached them and asked.

"Yes," Nitori and Nadeshiko sat up.

“Are you guys playing cards? Who's in the lead?"

"It's Nadeshiko, she is just too lucky," said Nitori.

“Ehehe,” Nadeshiko smiled brightly.

“Is that so? That sounds great. Hope I can join everyone next time.”

“Oh senpai, are you done with your work?” Himari came out from the kitchen.

"That's it for the time being."

“I never knew a streamer had to work so much. I look forward to seeing a new video from you,” said Nadeshiko.

“Thank you. This series will be very interesting.”

“We'd have more fun on our own, it’s no fun watching him play games,” lounging on the floor, Sora whispered as if she was out of breath.

“Sora, go to sleep already,” I fired back at Sora.

“Haha, you should try live streaming like Niko-san. You also like to play video games, yes?" Nitori encouraged Sora.

“Yeah, come to think of it, even though she's stupid, her approach to video games is quite unique. I believe she can easily get used to the entertainment industry.”

“Perhaps later.”

“Look, she flatly refused the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity without thinking,” Nadeshiko commented.

"Himari-nee, can I borrow you for a bit?” Sora turned her attention to Himari.

"What do you need, Sora?"

"Please sit with your legs closed."

“Ok.”

Sora laid on Himari's lap.

"Sweet dream,” Sora signed off and fell to her sleep.

We laughed while looking at Sora. We continued chatting under the midday sun. Nadeshiko was very excited about our hometown.

"She's really asleep."

“Also lying like a starfish, she really has no shame.”

"Look how comfortably she is sleeping."

"I feel like I'm stealing Mio's sister,” Himari expressed her feelings.

“Right, Nadeshiko, let me introduce you. This is your starfish. Do you want to take a souvenir photo?” I said.

“Absolutely.”

"Okay, everyone, choose your positions."

“Remember to stay quiet, else she might wake up.”

“1, 2, 3.”

*Snap*

We looked at the photo of the 4 of us together featuring Sora sleeping with the words 'starfish'.

*bzzz* my phone vibrated.

“Looks like I will be busy again. Sorry guys."

"It's ok."

"Thank you for coming and spending time with us, Nadeshiko."

"Thank you for having me. I am also very happy and grateful that everyone has spent time with me.”

I then went upstairs to do my job.

“He sure works hard. If only I could concentrate like him,” Nadeshiko said.

"I understand ya."

“As long as you find joy in everything you do, It's quite simple to concentrate. That's his secret."

“Ehhh, I'm not sure I can have fun doing homework, I think I'll skip,” commented Nitori.

“Homework is troublesome.”

"Girls, can you two talk about something else, hearing the word homework seems to give Sora nightmares," Himari said as Sora's expression worsened every time she heard the word homework.

After the gentle laughter, everything became quiet, only the sound of the wind blowing the leaves and the occasional birdsong. Nitori and Nadeshiko casually watched the blue summer sky as Himari messed around with the sleeping Sora.

“Ouch,” reading a book next to everyone nearby, due to sleepiness, Mio dropped the book on her face.

“Are you okay, Mio-nee?” Nitori worried.

"I think so…."

"Mi-chan, if you're sleepy, come over here."

Mio rubbed her eyes and walked towards Himari.

“Then excuse me,” Mio lay on Sora's stomach and fell asleep.

Transition scene:

Going downstairs to drink water, I was surprised at the sight of Himari crawling on the floor.

"Are you okay, Himari?"

"I'm fine, I'm just trying to find out where my legs are."

"Are they behind you?"

"Oh, that's true," Himari smiled as she turned around and saw her legs.

Because of the numbness in her legs, she completely lost the feel of her legs.

End.

Laughters echoed in the park.

“Woohooo,” Sora shouted as she tried out Nadeshiko's skateboard.

“I want to try skating too,” Yui eagerly said.

"Get ready? 1, 2, 3!”

After putting on a helmet for Yui, everyone pushed her to skate forward.

“Hahaha, I'm flying,” Yui happily beamed.

"Seriously, I’m good, you girls can just skate together," Mio nervously said as Nadeshiko was adjusting the helmet for her..

"Don't worry Mio-san, you'll be fine," Nadeshiko said.

“1, 2, 3!”

Everyone pushed Mio toward.

“Uhhh…Wahhh….,” out of fear, she skated while covering her eyes with both hands.

“More, more,” Yui wanted to continue skating.

While they were playing at the park, I was helping Himari rest and prepare food for everyone at home.

“Having a picnic at night seems like a strange idea,” I said.

"Yeah. But it's always fun when we do something out of the ordinary."

“You’re right. Anyway, how's your legs? Do you feel better?”

"Yes."

“You know you could just get a pillow for them to lie on.”

"Hehe, they were just so cute that I didn't want to wake them up."

“I guess I would too if I were you. By the way, do you want something to eat? With the smell of food everywhere like this, you must be hungry.”

"I'm fine. You should rest a bit, I'll do the rest."

"It's okay, I've been under your care for the past 1 year. It's fun for me to swap positions with you like this from time to time."

"Senpai, you know I can’t stand watching you do everything by yourself, it really makes me feel guilty. Though, I'm happy to be taken care of like this every once in a while."

“Well, then feel free to feel tired anytime, I will go on and continue to take care of you.”

“No way senpai, that just makes me feel more guilty.”

“Haha, but I also feel guilty when I’m not able to give you a hand, so it’s fair."

“You are too kind, senpai. You should get yourself a girlfriend.”

"Maybe later. If I have someone now, I won't be able to spend time with you guys."

“You sure are hopeless.”

“How can you feel hopeless when you have everyone by your side, right? Besides, for me, life as it is now is more than enough.”

“Since when did you become so cheesy, it’s not like you at all. Could it be that your streamer personality has taken over you?”

“Losing who you are is quite scary, I remember reading a book on that subject some time ago.”

"Don't worry senpai, no matter what happens to you, I will always be by your side," Himari smiled.

I tried to keep my face straight and not smile.

"You’re really cheesy, Himari."

"Gosh, I'm not like that. It's because you started first."

“That aside, thank you very much, Himari. You've helped me a lot, so let me take care of everything this time,” I said, handing Himari a plate of fruit, and patting her head.

“Jezz, you really are cheesy.”

I quickly finished preparing the food while Himari searched for a place to buy some camping gear her friend suggested. We had decided today was the day to tell everyone about our upcoming camping trip after days of planning. And since it was still early, we decided to go shopping for camping gear before heading out to the park with the girls.

*Clack*, we closed the car door after we finished preparing.

In the car, on the way to the camping shop, we played music and sang together.

“Senpai, look, this oil lamp set is so cute.”

“You’re right. We should buy it too.”

"Wait a minute, you seriously want to buy it already? We haven't checked our checklist yet. Besides, my friend will lend us some camping gear so we don't have to buy one."

“You’re right. We’ll buy it.”

“Oi, are you listening to me?” Himari told me while I was glued to the phone.

“Sorry, I was checking out the tent samples my friend sent me,” I showed her the phone.

“Look how nice they are.”

"Let's head over there, they seem to have a tent display that way."

"Ok."

We went to the area where the store displayed most of the items.

“Woah, they look so cute. Like mini houses,” a small tent nearby caught Himari's curiosity.

“The inside is also comfortable. This is just like our old base back home,” I took a peek inside the tent.

We continued to visit the showroom.

“There are pet tents too, they really have everything.”

“Ah, here it is.”

“Senpai, did you find something?”

“This is the model my friends recommend for new campers. Do you think the girls will like this tent too?”

“In my opinion…”

Himari froze when she saw the price of the tent in front of her eyes – '17900 yen'. (~130.99 USD)

“Senpai, are you really going to buy this tent?”

"That's right. According to my friends, it is very flexible and easy to build, spacious and breathable inside. Specially designed to withstand the weather of 4 seasons all year round.”

"But…"

“And they seem to come in so many colors,” I said as I checked the info on my phone, “it seems like the perfect choice. Do you think so?”

“Senpai, is there a tent that you got recommended at a reasonable price?”

“This one is the cheapest so far.”

Himari secretly wondered what the definition of "cheap" is for people with money.

“Don't you think we should buy something cheaper? There are much larger tents over there…”

"Ah don't worry about that, I'll buy four."

'He's a monster,' she was speechless.

“This doesn’t feel like you at all. I remember you being frugal.”

“If something is needed, I wouldn't mind splurging a little. We'll continue camping next year too, right?"

“Yes, I hope so.”

“Then we get this one, we still need to buy a few more tools. Feel free to choose whatever color you like."

"Yes…."

Himari decided to give up all her reasoning at this point.

~

“Drawing in the afternoon is pretty boring, it's all yellow and orange,” said Nadeshiko, stretching and yawning.

“They call it the golden hour, right?” Nitori asked.

“It seems so, but I have no idea what it means.”

“Probably just when everything around turned orange like it is now.”

“So the evening should be black-and-white hour, right?”

"It's the hour where we get to eat and sleep comfortably."

“Agree..”

The two of them looked around in silence.

"Hey Nitori, do you really have to go back to your hometown?"

“Um. My summer vacation is coming to an end, I have to go back to prepare for the new semester.”

The wind blew and swayed the leaves.

“I almost forgot that you have to go home. Time goes by so fast," said Nadeshiko.

“Heehee, I already miss you already.”

"I'm still here."

“I wish I could take you with me. There are a lot of places in my hometown that I really want to show you.”

“I also want to continue to show you around the city. There are still too many places we haven't visited yet. It's just not fair."

Sitting quietly, Nitori noticed the familiar sound of summer cicadas.

“But this is more than enough for me. I had a great summer vacation. Thank you for being my friend.”

“You're too fast, Nitori. Whatever I was going to say, you always said it first."

“Haha.”

Looking into the distance, the two of them continued to enjoy themselves.

“I also had a great summer vacation. Thank you very much, Nitori."

"So refreshing, did you guys draw anything cool?" Sora went to Nadeshiko and Nitori while drinking water.

“Kind of. But we've run out of yellow, so we have to stop for now."

“Running out of one color seems tough. But why yellow? What are you drawing about?"

“It's just about the scenery of the park. What do you think?” Nitori showed it to Sora.

"It looks good. But I don't see yellow, only orange."

“It's orange yellow. We needed yellow for that color scheme.”

"Interesting. You artists are a genius. You guys want to go find something to snack on? I'm hungry. Waiting for those two is getting boring at this point.”

*Beep*, a message was sent.

Nitori checked her phone, "they said they're coming."

“That's kinda trippy. It feels like they can read minds,” said Sora.

"I don't know what it's going to be like tonight. This is our first time having a picnic in the evening for all of us. I'm so nervous," Nitori suddenly showed her excitement.

“It feels strange to have a picnic at night. I don't think I've ever seen anyone having a picnic at night before," Nadeshiko recalled.

“It sure is weird to have a night picnic. But you don't have to worry Nadeshiko, we'll make sure your first picnic goes well," Sora reassured.

"Ahh, now I'm jealous of you guys, you guys get to have picnics with your friends every week."

"Those were the days before, we don't go much now," said Nitori.

"What happened?"

“You know, we don't have as much time as we used to. There is homework every day, our classmates are all living in the city. Besides, Niko and Himari are college students now, they can rarely go back to the countryside to spend time with us. Things aren't just the same anymore."

“It is true that the older we get, the busier we are. I wonder if we will still have peaceful times like now.”

“Of course we will. Why do we have to work all day like a robot? We should play more. It's our choice. Ahahaha,” Sora laughed menacingly.

"This is why she is often reprimanded by our teacher for not doing her homework," Nitori casually sold her friend out.

"Oi Nitori, don't tell her that."

"Hahaha."

"Thank you guys for today, I seriously have so much fun," said Nadeshiko.

“No problem, thank you for coming to hang out with us today. Still, shouldn't you leave that formal speech for last?"

“Girls, the food is here,” Mio called out to the three of them from afar.

“Did Mio just call us food?” I asked Himari again.

"Yes…"

“Onii-channn~.” Yui jumped and hugged me like a rocket. I fainted after that.

With the soft glow of the mini lamps on the seating mat, the moonlight and the soft lights of the park, we shared sandwiches and bentos. The peaceful chatter was soon replaced by excitement when everyone heard the news of going camping. We all had a great evening picnic.

With sketches Nadeshiko drew with Nitori, or pictures of her hanging out with Nitori and the rest of us in the past few days, Nadeshiko smiled as she remembered about today when she saw a picture of 'starfish' Sora on her phone. Those were definitely memories she knew she would cherish forever.

Holding a guitar, Nadeshiko cherished today’s memories under the moonlight.

“Maybe I should learn how to play the guitar again,” Nadeshiko realized she had forgotten everything she had learned.

THAT'S ALL FOR THIS CHAPTER.