This is more or less just a place holder. I wrote this about a year and a half ago, and haven't touched it since, but I am planning on resuming it fairly soon.
Summer Camp- A tentative title. An All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku original flavor comedy by Nugar. Email the author at nugarthebarbarian@yahoo.com with any comments. All characters and situations copyright their creators and and Pioneer and are used without permission. This is a nonprofit work only.
"Isn't it nice that your Mom arranged for me to come along?" Yoshimi asked, turning from her spectacular view out the window of the personal helicopter they both rode in. She wore a simple cream colored blouse and skirt, already prepared for the dress code at their destination.
Ryunosuke nodded grimly. "Misery loves company," he replied melodramaticly. He toyed idly with his personal computer, whiling away the time. He too was dressed in the regulation uniform, a plain white button-up shirt and kaki shorts.
"Oh, don't be so sour. I think it'll be fun!" she chided.
He snorted softly. "Yeah, but you don't know how it'll be. Stuck up snobs, all of them." His frown deepened as he remembered past incidents. Giving in to some half baked scheme to play a practical joke, which naturally went sour and left him with all the blame. Refusing to back down, then being ridiculed and shunned by the entire passel of kids at a party he and his parents had attended. No, he knew how it'd be. "After we get back from this summer camp, you are going to be _so_ _glad_ you go to a public school that you'll... I dunno, kiss Mrs. Tanaka or something."
Yoshimi made a face. Mrs. Tanaka was the bane of their grade, a wrinkled, cynical old woman who invariably managed to suck the fun out of everything. "Eww. You're sick."
After a moment's reflection, he nodded. "Yeah, that was."
Up front, in the cockpit, a similar conversation was taking place.
"You know, Kyoko, this may actually be kind of fun. Not to mention we're getting a BONUS! WOOHOO!" Arisa twisted and jerked her controls around in a wild burst of exuberance.
Kyoko, who had wisely transffered all piloting duties to her side long before, shuddered. "Arisa, this is more than just going above and beyond the call of duty. This is like going to Hell just to get coffee for Lady Akiko."
Arisa looked puzzled. "I've never heard of anyone growing coffee in Hell."
Kyoko sighed. "What I mean is that this is going to be the worst assignment since we were ordered to destroy Android NK 1124."
Arisa shrugged. "I doubt it'll be that bad. Kids are much easier to hit than robots."
Kyoko looked at her partner askance, but remained silent.
"I'm just amazed that Lady Akiko managed to get us assigned to this place. This is a pretty exclusive summer camp for the kids, and usually you have to have all kinds of training and degrees and stuff to work there."
"The Lady made some kind of huge donation to get us in as dorm mothers. All we have to do is wipe their noses, get them warm milk, and carefully avoid strangling them when they start whining. It's not like we'll be teaching them anything." Kyoko checked her position on the digital display to her left, estimating the time they had till arrival.
"All that just so we could be bodyguards for the the kids in back." Arisa shook her head.
"As I recall, it was the Lady's husband's idea. It was the only way she'd consent to let them go. And now we get stuck with hundreds of little rugrats." She frowned, brushing back her short red hair. "At least Ryunosuke and Yoshimi aren't bad."
"And that dratted android was left behind. My fingers itch for a gun every time she smiles at me..." Arisa replied with deep feeling.
"Lady Akiko isn't the only one worried about her kid, and this place spent major bucks to make sure the parents wouldn't be worried. The moment she tried to get through the perimeter every automated defense system money can buy would be locked on and firing." She paused. "Come to think of it..."
"Yeah, too bad," Arisa agreed.
****************
"Welcome, everyone, welcome!" boomed the hearty voice of Dr. Hadokawa over the PA system in the large auditorium. It was packed full of childred, ranging in age from seven years old to early teens.
Ryunosuke slouched in his seat, settled between Yoshimi and a larger boy of about his own age.
"You have all been selected out of thousands of other bright young students like yourself, because we feel that _you_ stand to gain the most from this experience! We here have endavored to create a custom learning environment tailored to meet your unique needs. However, we have also tried to make this a fun experience!" He paused to survey his audience. "
Finish speech. No risks of terrorists, top security system, only he has the codes. Sends them off.
Dorm room. Ryunosuke has met new roomates, they are listening to the commotion up and down the halls. They are on a lower floor of the large dorm building. Administration can be seen out the window, across the water.
Kid comes down the hall, says he has plans from the older kids above, tells them to turn their lights out at exactly nine o clock.
R: Why?
K: It'll spell something across the face of the building.
R: Probably a curse word.
K: No, it'll say Thank you Dr. Hadokawa.
R: Yeah, right. I don't want to get in trouble.
K:Don't be so suspicious. It really will. Even if it did, they couldn't punish everyone.
R:Ant anh, no. Everyone! Don't do it!
R tells everyone on his floor not to do it, it'll probably get them in trouble.
K gets mad and leaves.
Sure enough, about half of R's floor doesn't, which sort of garbles the message. Dr. hadokowa does see and does appreicate, but K sees a relay from a security cam and knows that it was messed up. Blames R, correctly. Starts making fun of him, turning the other kids against him. In particular, most of the people on his floor start picking on him.
A&K deal with spoiled brats, warm milk, nightmares about terrorists, and one water balloon. Although a mix, they both get nailed by the water. A starts to see what K meant, but tells her it was funny.
Routine. Classes, getting picked on, seeing Yoshimi, work. Classes are interesting, R excels at robot theory. Dr. Hadokowa takes personal noticewith R privately, being that kind of guy.
A&K have work, one kid in particular is starting to drive K nuts over the monster under the bed. A more or less enjoys herself, but is bored. K offers to let her shoot one of the kids. A declines.
Kendo. Some are good, some are bad, R is bad, K is good. Fade out.
R has bruises. Y is sympathetic.
K gets R's roomates put jello in his shampoo.
Emboldened by success, they try to pull the old shaving cream trick. Y hears, warns. R wakes up and nails them with the goo. Reactions are not good.
Home, NN is getting bored and lonely, why doesn't she get to do anything like that.
K&A take her on a short vacation.
E shows up with a new weapon after having been missing for weeks. Wants to try it out. NN isn't home. E hears about the summer camp. Maybe NN went there?
Dr. H has a stroke. Nurses rush to his aid, but he's still out of it. Needs more medical care.
E shows up, pokes around, sets off security system, gets shot at on the way out, takes out one pylon. System gears up, shoots, destroys weapon. E leaves.
Security system is on full alert. Only Dr. H can shut it off, and he's out of it.
Everyone starts to freak. Nothing is going in, or out.
R and Y stay calm, as does K. Others don't.
A&K would love to try to bust out, but can't. May get shot. They resume their job of placating the kids. A is particularly upset at the lack of carnage. One girl complains of monsters under the bed. K takes out gun, shoots under the bed several times, and the little girl isn't afraid anymore. A starts to feel better, as does K.
K&A&NN hear of the incident. NN will save them!
R hears of NN showing up. R&Y&K watch from a window. K is properly skeptical.
NN tears into the system, does well. It's no match.
Big, bad ass robot pops out. K is oddly pleased.
NN has trouble. Can stop it, but not destroy.
R recognises a modified version of something his father built. Runs out, followed by Y&K, and yells its weakness to NN. Dodges getting hurt.
Armed with knowledge, NN destroys it.
K is very slightly impressed. Apologises to R, then insults him. Agrees to call off vendetta, as argued by Y.
A&K are mildly happy with the way things turned out. K feels a sense of accomplishment over finally getting rid of a little girl's fear of the monster under the bed. A got to watch stuff blow up.
Despite risks, A is glad she sent R, and happily makes plans for the next year. R is NOT amused.
"Summer camp? What do you mean?" Ryunosuke asked, stunned from his mother's announcement as they sat down to dinner.
"I received an invitation from Dr. Hadokawa to send you to his special summer camp outside Osaka for six weeks on your summer vacation," Akiko replied, carefully spooning up a bowl full of rice and layering thin strips of beef over it. Passing it to Ryunosuke, she continued. "At first I was worried, so I called and talked to Dr. Hadokawa. The camp has a perfect saftey record since it was opened, and is protected by a state of the art security system. Now I know that sometimes I'm too protective of you, and I've been trying to not smother you, so I though and though about it and I've decided that it-"
"Akiko, dear," Kyusaku interrupted, laying aside the pamphlet advertisement he was reading.
"would be good for you to go," she continued without pause. "They've got a wonderful variety of classes. You can learn foreign languages and about nature and they even have a mecha workshop that I-"
"Akiko, you're babbling," he tried again.
"think you'll just love, I even had our PR department donate several older mecha to the program, you've already been around those so much I'm sure you'll be in the top of the class-"
"AKIKO!" Kyusaku roared.
Akiko broke off in midsentance and remained silent for a few minutes as she tried to regain her composure.
Kyusaku sighed. "She's been like this since we got that letter," he said to Ryunosuke.
"Ryunosuke, what is summer camp?" Nuku Nuku asked from beside him.
"Summer camp is like school, but not in the city. You have to live there the whole time with all the other kids, too," he replied. Then something occurred to him. "Umm, just what type of summer camp is this?" he asked his parents.
Akiko smiled proudly. "It's a very exclusive summer camp for the children who will one day shape Japan. Dr. Hadokawa wants to set our future businessmen on the right track early with a very advanced program designed to expand their horizons while still keeping them rooted in the everyday skills they will need to succeed," she recited from memory. "I'm sure you'll do fine."
Ryunosuke stared levely at her. "It's summer camp for rich kids, isn't it." It was not a question.
"Nonsense," Akiko huffed. "Money has nothing to do with it. It's for those special students who can excel in any field they choose. Your grades brought you to their attention, not your family name."
Kyusaku nodded. "Yes, even though we could afford the heafty price tag, it was only because you do so well in school that you were invited."
"It's summer camp for rich kids," he repeated.
They only nodded helplessly.
Ryunosuke's Summer Camp Blues.
Ryunosuke shifted uncomfortably in his seat on board his Mom's private VTOL. Beside him, Yoshimi stared out the window at the ships below. He'd looked out the window for a while as well until the land had given way to sea, so he'd promptly closed his eyes and sat back.
Rich kids. Uhg. Ryunosuke was not looking forward to this experience. What little he could remember about meeting others from similar background had been dominated largely by spoiled brats who screamed if they weren't first in line or weren't allowed to go play when they wanted to.
Those were the worst, in his opinon, because they were so difficult to deal with, but what had really soured him was the ones that were perfect little angels in front of adults but would get really mean and pushy when away. At first he'd tried just going along with them, but it always seemed to result in him getting in trouble, while the others got away. He knew all about those. They made him glad he went to a public school.
"I can't wait until we get there!" Yoshimi said, full of nervous energy. "I wonder what the school is going to be like?" Yoshimi had been sent along to keep him company, an idea concocted by his parents. Although she hadn't been originally invited by the Doctor, his mom had explained that Ryunosuke might be less stressed by the new environment if one of his friends came along. Yoshimi's school record was actually better than Ryunosuke's in many areas, so Dr. Hadokawa was more than happy to make arrangements. Strangely, he didn't seem surprised by the request.
"Mom said it was small," Ryunosuke replied. "There're lots of teachers and we're all supposed to get as much individual attention as possible."
"I hope we meet lots of new people. And thanks for letting me come along," she said, turning to him.
Ryunosuke shrugged. "Misery loves company," he muttered.
In the cockpit, a similar conversation was taking place, with a few twists.
"I can't wait till we get there!" Arisa exclaimed, squirming in her seat uncomfortably.
Kyoko stared at her partner, wide eyed. "Can't wait... WHY? Mou, I've been dreading this assignment since Lady Akiko first told us about it!" She shivered dramatically. "Rugrats, hundreds of them! And all of them with runny noses, monsters under the beds, and their cheese toast has to be just _so_, I'll count myself lucky if I make it through this without throttling one of the little brats!"
It was Arisa's turn to stare at her suddenly homicidal partner. "I thought you liked kids, you said you'd grown up with enough of them."
Kyoko nodded vehemently. "Yes, and that was four too many. You know we're not going to get a wink of sleep for the next six weeks, and you can't just blow something up to relieve stress. We didn't even get sent with sidearms, much less a powersuit."
Arisa's face fell, but then she brightened up again. "Yes, you're right, the next six weeks are going to be bad, but just think! We're actually getting paid for this one! Real money! In our hands!"
Kyoko thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Nope, it's not worth it. You don't know how it's going to be."
Arisa shook her head. "What an optimist."
****************
The first thing the group noticed was the air field. It was somewhat large, at least for such a small school. However, there was no somewhat to it when it came to the number of planes, helicopters, VTOLS, and in at least three cases, fully armed and armored military escort mecha flying different circling patterns over the grounds.
"What happened?" Yoshimi asked, a little scared. "Are we at war? Why do they all have guns?"
"I don't know," Ryunosuke replied. He reached forward and thumbed the intercom switch. "Miss Kyoko? Is something wrong?"
"No, Ryunosuke, everything's okay. It's just a little crow-OHNOLOOKOUTFORTHAT-" the rest of what she was saying was abruptly cut off and the craft was sent through a short series of lurches before it went back to its previous smooth flight.
Beside him, Yoshimi went white as a sheet before pulling the shade down over the window and closing her eyes.
Kyoko's voice came back over the intercom. "Don't worry kids, everything's fine. Arisa was just in, umm, high spirts because she's glad to be here, right Arisa?"
"Yeah," came Arisa's voice, completely calm and composed.
"Right, then, you kids sit tight and we'll have you down as soon as we can." Her voice cut out.
As soon as they could turned out to be quite a while, as it took some time before it was their turn to land and get off.
"You go on with the kids," Arisa said, busy getting parking details from the traffic computer. "I've got to find a place to park, and it looks like it's going to be tough. I swear, how many kids came in their own jet?"
Kyoko nodded sympatheticly and got out to help the kids with their luggage, which fortunately didn't amount to much. Yoshimi had two suitcases, where Ryunosuke wore a backpack and carried a duffle bag. Arisa would bring their baggage when she came.
As they walked over to the transport shuttles, Kyoko sighed happily with the knowledge that while she had to deal with them all for the next few weeks, at least she didn't have to deal with them full time. And Ryunosuke and Yoshimi were nice kids, not like those brats bawling and making life miserable for their servants struggling valiantly with the weight of huge suitcases and trunks.
Although, she thought, watching one boy ride by on a little motorised trunk, it could be better, too.
Ryunosuke was quiet from the moment he stepped off the plane, eyeing everyone around him with suspicion.
Yoshimi, on the other hand, was smiling and friendly, even waving at others. In many cases, they waved back.
A small line of attendants waited for them next to the shuttles, entering names into their computers and directing them to the appropriate transports. Their transport wasn't there yet, so they stood back and waited.
Among those waiting was another boy, standing patiently beside a pale-skinned butler. He looked at Yoshimi and smiled.
"Come on, Ryu, lets go talk to him," Yoshimi said, grabbing Ryunosuke's hand and dragging him over dispite his feeble protests.
"Hi!" she chirped when she ran up to him. "I'm Yoshimi, and this is Ryunosuke. What's your name?"
"My name is Hiro Watanabe. Pleased to meet you," he replied formally.
"Nice to meet you, too," Ryunosuke replied in kind.
"Where are you from?" Yoshimi asked. "We're from Tokyo."
Hiro looked at Ryunosuke carefully, examining him. Although both had chosen to wear shorts and a t-shirt, Hiro was just a bit shorter and slimmer than Ryunosuke. "I live in Nagasaki. My parents own many office buildings, both there and in other cities."
Ryunosuke sighed, remembering this part of the game. 'My parents are better than your parents.' had always seemed kind of silly to him. Of course, -everyone- knew who Mishima was, so he tended to downplay his family. "Watanabe, right, you flew in on that new model Sunrise helicopter, didn't you?" A safe bet, considering how many there had been. The new style for the executive on the go, that had been the advertisement for the most popular personal aircraft of the year.
"Yeah, I just got that for my birthday," Hiro replied. "It's not as nice as Mom and Dad's, but it'll do."
Yoshimi whistled appreciatively, not really understanding. "Oh, here it is, the shuttle is finally here!" she said as three smooth white buses pulled up.
Kyoko stepped forward and motioned for them to come to her. "Okay, now, Ryunosuke, you're on shuttle five, that one there. Yoshimi, you'll come with me. We'll be heading over to the girls dorm to get you unpacked. There will be instructions waiting on your bedside terminal."
Once inside the dorm, Ryunosuke followed the directions of one of the male counselors to the suite he shared with four other boys. Inside he found two boys already unpacking.
"Hi," he said cautiously. "I'm Ryunosuke, I guess we'll be roomates."
One of them was a large boy, several inches taller and well fleshed, who gave him a friendly nod. "I'm Hanza, and this is Kimura."
"Hello," Kimura replied just as hesitantly, pausing in his unpacking of several small, complex electronic boards. Ryunosuke could see several more stacked on the shelf abouve the head of his bed. Kimura was about Ryunosuke's height, but he was skinny to the point of looking starved.
Ryunosuke was instantly interested. "Are those control boards?" he asked, leaning over to get a btter look.
"Yeah," Kimura replied neutrally. "They're part of a kit to a small mechbot. I've got to finish it by the time we get out of here if I want to enter the automated robot wars."
"Automated robot wars?" Hanza asked.
"Teams from different schools compete to see who can build the smartest mech, and the best fighter. They've got obstacle courses and battles, and the best at one may not be the best at the other," Ryunosuke explained as he started unpacking into his ample closet space.
"You know about it?" Kimura asked, his thin face lighting up.
"Yeah, my dad used to compete in it, until he started building the real thing."
Hanza watched the two talk back and forth easily as he put away the last of his clothes and turned his terminal on.
The door opened and a new boy walked in, dragging three suitcases. "Hey, have you seen all the bodyguards and stuff?" he asked by way of greeting. "There're so many that they have their own separate dorm! Oh, and hi, I'm Rion."
Hanza turned around to look at him. This newcomer was average in height and weight, but had well toned muscles and a deep tan. His short hair stuck wildly in every direction, making him look as if he'd just woken up. "Hey, I'm Hanza, this is Ryunosuke and Kimura. Yeah, I saw the crowd. Kind of ridiculous, really."
"Did you see that one really tall girl in the really short skirt? What I wouldn't give to have her take care of me!" He dragged his suitcases over to the last closet and threw them in, not even bothering to unpack. "Well guys, I already heard that we're supposed to head down to the assembly hall in that big building with the dome on top, so I'm going to run down there. Who else is going?"
Ryunosuke, who had long since been unpacked even though he'd started late and had been talking, stood up. "I'll go, I'm supposed to be meeting someone there."
"Really? Who is he?" Hanza asked.
"Her name is Yoshimi, she's over at the girl's dorm right now," he replied.
"Oooh," came the collective chorus. "Ryunosuke's got a girl friend, Ryunosuke's got a girl friend!"
"Hey, is she cute?" Rion asked, leaning over and nudging him in the ribs.
"Hey, it's not like that! She's just a friend!" Ryunosuke sputtered.
"Sure, sure," Rion nodded. "Right. I believe you. Now, lets go meet this 'friend'."
Hanza glanced at Kimura, then waved them on. "You go on, we'll be down later."
****************
Although she'd never admit it, even Arisa could get annoyed at her boss on occasion. This was fast becoming one of those times. Not because of the kids, oh, no.
"What do you mean you want to do a strip-search?! I've already been scanned!"
Her burly opponent refused to back down in the slightest. "For reasons of internal security, I must search all potential threats, including you."
Arisa studied him intently. No doubt he was a top notch bodyguard for his ward, one of the type that knows every martial art and weapon, all the poisions, electronic gagets, and terrorist strategys in the book, and still checks under the bed for monsters. Someone's Mommy or Daddy was worried.
Tapping her nametag on her shirt, she said, "Look, I _am_ internal security, hired by Doctor Hadokawa himself!" Well, that was a half-truth, she thought. Lady Akiko had really arranged it. "How do I know that you're not the real threat, trying to neutrilize the people really responsible for the children's welfare?" she screamed, getting in his face. "Or maybe you're what you say you are, but while you're standing there in my way a real threat is out sneaking around planting gas capsules or bioweapons? They could hold this entire compound hostage and it'd be ALL YOUR FAULT!"
She paused, getting her breath back, but didn't back up from his personal space. He was already pressed against the wall, but in order to get respect, you've got to intimidate. "Now, you will go away and not bother me for the rest of our stay, or I will personally see you thrown out of the compound for interfering with authorised personel! DO I MAKE MY SELF CLEAR?!"
To his credit, he didn't appear outwardly nervous, but his 'Yes'm' was a bit terse.
Without a second glance, she grabbed her and Kyoko's luggage from where it had sat to one side and marched into the building for
TBC