Part 29: 6/17/11-6/18/11

6/17-18/11

How best to sum up the school campout? In a word, harrowing. It turned out all the trash-picking was the highlight of our time on the mountain. When we were done Yukiko and Chie started making what they said was going to be curry.

VIDEO- "Mystery Food X"

Click Here For Video!

Ugh, picking up all that trash was murder on my back…
I can't believe someone threw away an entire bike. Dammit, litterers should have to deal with their own garbage…
Anyways, time for dinner! Man, I'm starvin'.
Dude, the girls cooked just for us!
Not that I expect much outta Chie, but Yukiko's got the full tradition of the Amagi Inn behind her food!
You know it's gonna be out of this world!

When he said that I remembered that boxed lunch she made and what they got at Junes and no lie I almost threw up right there.



H-Hey, what's the matter? Is it okay if I have yours?
I can't wait to dig in!
Should we… taste this?
Huh? O-Only if you do it first…
Oh man, here it comes!
Uhhh, sorry for the wait. Um…
We… put a lot of love into it…
Whoa, really? That's kinda clichéd, but still awesome!
Okay then, chow time!
Urh, agh, aaarghraaaaw!

Yosuke choked, sputtered, and fell.



WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?
I mean, what kinda--*cough cough*
Curry's supposed to be like "really spicy" or "kinda mild"… This just stinks!
And it's gritty too!
It's somehow both gritty and slimy… And it's got squishy parts in it…
It's so frickin' nasty I can't swallow it!
Well, it just didn't mix too well… But it does offer a wide variety of textures…
It's nauseating!
C'mon, it's not THAT bad…!
That's just your opinion!
I'm telling you as a friend… Don't do it. I wouldn't even joke about trying that slop!
> You're being looked at with expectation…

I earnestly did at least give it a shot.



> You lack the Courage to go through with it…
> You're being looked at with expectation…
> Pretend to eat and discard it.
> Chie and Yukiko are staring at you…
> It doesn't look as though you'll be able to fake it…
> ……
> The second you put it in your mouth, you sense that something is wrong…
> You can tell after one bite that this isn't edible…
> There's no way you can swallow it…

In my wildest nightmares I'd never envisioned that you could make food taste like that. So yeah, none of us ate.



Sorry…
*sigh * What're we gonna do? Our group's the only one without food.
I mean, if was even slightly edible, that'd be one thing… But I'm not taking another bite of this Mystery Food X.
Something smells good…!
H-Hey… Uh, Hanako?
You… wouldn't happen to have any extra curry left, huh?
C'mon, give us some! We're begging you! We're starving to death here!

But there was no luck for us that day.



I'm on a diet right now, so this is all that I made. It has to last me.
All that you made…? It's like a bucketful…
*sigh * I wonder if there's any way we can get something delivered here.
But our cell phones don't get service up here…
And dinnertime's almost over…
Alright, back to your tents! Men's tents are this way, and the girls' tens are that way!
Come on, people, look alive! Youngsters like yourselves should hurry up and get to bed after they eat!
It's now time for us teachers to have some boo-I mean, err, off to bed! Lights out!
You guys are gonna pay for this…
A-Ahaha… haha.
…Night.

So we went back to our tent. And I literally mean our tent because it was just me and Yosuke, and Kanji for some reason I wasn't totally clear on.

VIDEO- "That Night"

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And how the hell did you end up here?
My teach threatened to hold me back a year if I didn't show.
And the first-year's tent is all quiet, like someone died.
Well, if you were in there with 'em, I'm not surprised…
Is it just you two in this tent?
The other guys called in sick. Smart move…
So it's okay if I hang out here?

I didn't have any problem with it at the time.



Hey, you're a stand-up guy, Senpai.
Don't worry, I won't make any trouble for you. They won't catch me unless we raise a ruckus.
*sigh * Alright, alright. You can sleep over there.
Dude, there's a huge rock under there. How'm I supposed to sleep? It's gonna hurt like hell.
Pipe down… Didn't you say you weren't going to make any noise?
Yo Senpai, can't you go just a little further back?
Nope. There's a slope just past here. I'd roll down the hill in my sleep.
If you don't like it here, go back to the first-year tent.
Hey… wasn't your teacher some guy called King Moron?
That guy stopped me outside earlier, and he pissed me off so bad I was about to lose it.
He was going on and on about when I was in middle school, when he doesn't know shit about any of that…
Not only that, he was bullshitting about how I'll be expelled immediately if I cause trouble… That ain't funny, man.
Yeah, that guy's set a speed record for jumping to conclusions…
Check this out, right? I heard it from a guy in my class.

Morooka really does piss me off more and more every day.



King Moron was talking about Ms. Yamano and Saki-senpai…?
It was like, "It's no surprise that people who are unfaithful or run away from home meet a bad end…"
I dunno, maybe he was exaggerating. Everyone seems to hate that son of a bitch Morooka.
Damn, I can just picture him saying that…
He never shut up about me either when I moved here last year.
Not that I remember anything he said…
Even if it's only a little true, it still pisses me off… The dickhead's a damn teacher, for god's sake.
Ahhh, don't waste your energy getting pissed at that clown. *munch munch*
Yeah, you got a point…
Wait a sec, what are you eating!?
Animal crackers.
What the--!? Those are mine!
Dammit, I was so pumped about finding the penguin today…
Penguin?
The secret animal cracker! You were eating them and you didn't know that!?
A-Are you serious? Well, you shoulda said something!

Yosuke didn't even share them either, prick.



Ughhh… This isn't gonna fill me up…
*sigh * Let's just go to sleep…
That's all you got to say for yourself after taking my snacks…?

And things managed to get even worse soon after that.



Man, I can't sleep over there, or my back's gonna break.
Oh… Okay.
Uh… Hey.
Yeah?
…Why'd you come to this tent?
Huh? I already told you.
Geez… 's wrong with you?
This is as good a time as any, so… I-I want you to be honest with us.
Uh… okay?
A-Are you really… you know…?
Am I really what…?

God damn Yosuke, he knew this was gonna start shit and his dumb ass couldn't help himself.



What--!?
Wh-Wh-What the hell's that supposed to mean!? I-I already told you guys I'm not like that!
W-Well then why are you all hot and bothered about it!?
That's just more suspicious!
Hell no!
We settled this already, dammit! Right now, I'm… Well… How do I put it…?
Oh God, don't train off like that! You're freaking me out!
I'm trying to tell you that I have no problem being around girls now!
Can you prove it!?
P-Prove it…?
'Cause if you can't, we're gonna be stuck here all night, half scared to death.
Tch… To hell with this. If that's what you really think of me, then I'm gonna go hit the girls' tent right now!
Huh? Wait, well that's a little extreme! You don't have to go that far!
They'll expel you if they find you! Don't tell me you forgot! King Moron's got his eye on you!
Yeah… like that'd stop a man like me!
Dude's seriously going for it… Hey man, you gotta stop him.

I tried, but damn did Yosuke get under his skin.



> You tried to convince Kanji not to go through with it…
> But he's not listening!
Y'think I'm gonna put up with this crap!? I'll show you guys!
To hell with King Moron! No one's stopping Kanji Tatsumi, dammit!
Raaaaaaahhhhh!!
Uh, hey! Wait!
What a putz. I declare myself not responsible for anything that happens.

The details of what happened next remain sketchy. Chie and Yukiko weren't exactly forthcoming.

VIDEO- "The Balance of Terror"

Click Here For Video!

I can't sleep…
*sigh * I'm hungry, too.
I should've eaten a little more of that curry…
It might've knocked us unconscious…
Sheesh… We can't sleep, we can't walk around…
I wonder what Teddie's doing right now.
Being alone all day's pretty rough when you think about it… You know, a while ago he-
……
Uuuugh… Aaaargh!
That does it! Yukiko, we're outta here.
Where'd we go, though? I don't think climbing down the mountain is a good idea…

I guess Hanako was snoring. Yukiko muttered something about a "breeder hog" whatever that means.



N-Nononononono! Yukiko, NO!
Ugh… I can't take it anymore…
Wh-Who's there!?

The story trailed off between this point and when they showed up at our tent.



What're you guys doing here!? This is the guys' side!
Let us in!
Don't be ridiculous! If King Moron finds out, we'll all be expelled! Go back to your tent!
We can't!
Are there any rotten apples out and about!? Any indecent students out there…?
A-Alright, hurry up and get in!
So, why're you two here?
Well, it's Kanji-kun…
He's out cold…
I-I don't know what happened!
H-He just came in and then, and then… he fainted all of a sudden.
That's all. Right, Yukiko?
Huh? Y-Yeah.
So there was no way we could sleep with him lying there, and you know… If we woke him up, he might've made a fuss.
That's why we left him there.
What? That makes no sense. He busted into your tent, then suddenly fainted?

All this noise had attracted Morooka, though he seemed pretty out of it.



It's him! He's right outside!
H-Hey, turn the light off!
> ……
> You can sense King Moron getting closer…
Hey, are you two in there? Answer me!

No point pissing him off even more than he normally is.



Huh…? Ahhh, so you're in there…
Is Hanamura already asleep?
Yessir! Fast asleep, Sir!
Don't get cute, Hanamura! Shut up and go back to sleep.
*yaaawwn * Ugh, I think I had one too many. I'm so sleepy…
> ……
> It seems that King Moron left…
*sigh * There goes a couple of years off my lifespan.
No joke… We were nearly expelled…
Hey, this is you guys' fault!
Wh-What else were we supposed to do!?
Anyways, we can't leave now. We'll sneak out before the others wake up tomorrow. Is that good enough for you!?
What're you so pissed off for…?
You better not try any funny stuff while we're asleep, is that clear?
H-Hey, we didn't say you could-
Dammit, you owe us for this!
> You set up a barricade inside the tent using everyone's belongings…
> You spent the night, cramped up in a tight space…

Sure enough they snuck out early in the morning, and managed to get Kanji back into our tent somehow. I guess it's a good thing Chie works out so much. We all got together by the river the next morning.

VIDEO- "The Final Humiliation"

Click Here For Video!

What's wrong? Got a stomach ache?
No, it's just… I thought I got pissed and ran out of the tent last night…
It's so weird… Was it a dream? When I woke up, I was in Yosuke-senpai's tent…
It-It was a dream. Must've been a dream.
Okay…?
Alright, then let's get swimming!
Are you seriously taking a swim? I'll pass… I'm still all stiff.
What're you guys looking at us for…? If you guys wanna swim, go right ahead.
You know, you two still owe us.
Huh? Whoa whoa whoa, we're not going in there.
I mean, we do owe you, but…
Oh yeah! We don't have swimsuits with us! Man, of all the luck!
Y-Yeah, it really is unfortunate.
Oh, I see how it is.
We put up with your dinner, we save you from King Moron, and you won't even have some fun with us in the river.
N-No, it's really too bad. It'd be no problem if I just had a swimsuit. Haha…

Then we discovered what Yosuke had been doing while we were failing to get the right ingredients for curry.



They're Junes-brand originals, from our brand-new line of swimwear that just came in for the summer.
I had a clerk friend of mine choose 'em for me. Pretty swanky, huh?
Dude, that's just wrong…
Did you have those this whole time…?
C'mon, let's all go swimming!
What should we do, Yukiko…?
"It'd be no problem if I just had a swimsuit."
Urgh…
Y'know, we really were looking forward to dinner.
Ngh…
I wonder what would've happened if we didn't help you guys last night…
We get it already! Sheesh, you never let things go!
Alright! That's more like it!

Yosuke certainly is persistent, and it's a good thing he didn't tell them how the thing with Kanji was all his fault.



C'mon, let's get in.

Yosuke had made some good choices, I'll grant him that.



……
S-Stop staring like that!
H-Hey…

We, uh, should have started to pick up on how this was going about now.



Wh-Where did that come from!?
> They both look embarrassed…
Man, this is going even better than I expected.
Kinda makes up for having to eat that Mystery Food X last night.
C'mon, you guys gotta admit I chose some good suits.
Those girls might be childish on the inside, but I bet they're gonna turn into some fine-looking women before too long!
Don't you think so, Souji?

Okay I'm going to be honest when I say we really did deserve this.



You guys crossed the line…
…Definitely.



So what I hadn't been counting on is that the Samegawa is ICE COLD up in the mountains.



Who cares!? You were going in the river anyway!
They brought this on themselves. Sheesh… Aren't they the worst, Kanji-kun?
Hey, you've been awful quiet. Are you feeling okay? D-Don't tell me the injuries from yesterday are still…
…Uhhhh…

Yeah I'm pretty sure Chie beat the everloving shit out of him last night.



> Kanji has a nosebleed…
Ewww!

Poor Kanji, reaping what Yosuke sowed.



That was close…
What was that for!? I didn't do anything!
*sneeze *
H-Hey! What's gotten into you!?

THEN IT GOT WORSE. SO MUCH WORSE.



> You hear a man heaving upstream…
> It seems that King Moron is vomiting further up the river…
So that's why no one else was here… Good thing we noticed before we went in.
Senpai…
Don't say it…
> You feel as though a million showers will never make you clean…

So yeah we're never speaking of this day again, and I need to go steel wool all my skin off. All in all a magical time was had by all.

Next Time on Persona 4: Idols