You're a little shell-shocked for a moment but you hurriedly pull yourself together. You're supposed to be the one in charge, so you need to tackle this with thoughtfulness and maturity. You take a breath.
"Jirou, you shouldn't say that sort of thing. It's rude!" You know enough about the situation that Maki and Yuu are in to know that, at least. "We're all here to support each other, so try and be more mindful in the future." Maki is still glaring at the other boy and you feel a little flutter of anxiety. Are you doing this right? You're just not sure. You take a breath.
"And Maki, I know you're angry but you shouldn't be hauling off and punching people. Both of you should apologize and let's get back to work." You look between the two, putting on your best Mom voice as you try to coerce them into making up. Reluctantly, the pair both apologize to each other. Jirou tends to his nose and slowly everyone gets back to setting up tents and what not. You stand there nervously supervising as a feeling of rather brittle calm settles over the scene. You're grateful when Sayaka and Daisuke return eventually with a couple other kids in tow. Pulling them aside when you have a chance, you relay the events that have taken place. The pair listen and at the end of it Sayaka gives a little grimace.
"...I was worried about stuff like this. We do our best to make sure the kids understand each other but it's not always easy. You know how it goes. I'll talk with Jirou. Daisuke, if you want to talk to Maki? Let's see if we can smooth things over a bit better before dinner." They head off and you're left with dinner prep. There's a collapsible table with a portable camping stove and plenty of ingredients for a delicious curry. Along with precooked rice, you're all set! You recruit Yuu help with chopping vegetables (something you notice makes her rather happy) and set to making dinner. Yuu has been a little quieter than normal since the whole bad business earlier in the afternoon and you smile at her as you work.
"Ah... are you doing okay, Yuu?" You murmur to her as you work through some onions. She glances over at you and gives a taut little nod.
"Hm? Yeah. Jirou's just an asshole."
"...I don't think he meant anything by it," you start speaking up and Yuu exhales. Her growing hair is tied back in a pony tail and she's looking much better than she had when you first met her, but she's still a little scrawny as far as you're concerned. S'weird.
"Of course not. No one ever means anything by it, it's all just innocent mistakes..." She mutters, her face taking on a dark look. "I'm tired of people making innocent mistakes. This is supposed to be relaxing in a space where I don't--don't have to worry about this stuff and he goes and makes it weird." She glares at the potatoes she's chopping.
"We go to school together. He knows me. He's just being a little jerk because he can. He's lucky none of his stupid friends there knows he comes to group--" She takes a breath and cuts herself off as her knife slams particularly roughly into the chopping board.
"He's stupid," she concludes. You swallow, not sure how to really deal with this. There's an anger here, frustration and sadness that you're not used to seeing from Yuu. Even when things have been bad for her she always seemed just more... sad. Other than that she's usually bright and cheery and... not like this.
"Well, I hope he learns better then," you say lamely. How are you supposed to navigate this? Sure you're like... similar to her in a lot of ways but you're also
different. And you don't know how to bridge that difference.
"It's just us girls right now, you know," you say after a moment. "If you want to talk, I can listen. Even if I'm not. Like. The best at this stuff..." Yuu glances over at you and smiles slightly.
"Thanks. I just... school has been kinda weird since I started coming as a girl, you know? Like... Most people seem okay with it, at least to my face. Some of the girls avoid me, though. And some of the boys, you know... make fun of me. Call me stupid names. Ask if I'm a pervert or whatever. I dunno what to do about it. The teachers stop it if they see it but they can't like... be everywhere. Honestly, I just wanna get to high school where no one knows." You grimace. The idea of people
knowing about you right now sounds... honestly kind of terrifying.
"That sounds rough. You have friends though, right?"
"I do! They keep me from just. Going completely crazy. And I'm just happy I can live as the real me, you know?" Yuu smiles a little.
"Mmhm! And I gave you my number, right? Text me. We still need to go shopping--I can drag Mari along. She knows way more about cute fashion than anyone I know." Helping others is... good. You like this., It takes your mind off other stuff.
"I...I'd like that," Yuu says with a small smile. "I'll text you this week."
"That's the spirit. Anyway, about this curry..."
You keep chopping vegetables together and you segue the subjects into cooking, which makes Yuu cheer up a lot more and soon the two of you are chatting away about family recipes and how much she enjoys being in the kitchen and you can almost forget the frustrated, angry venom in her voice from earlier.
Dinner, thankfully, goes off without a hitch and everyone scarfs down the curry like it's the best thing they've ever had in their lives. A late night is spent around the campfire and you find yourself telling scary stories to the delighted shrieks of the middle-schoolers. It makes you happy, knowing that this stupid stuff you spend so much time on can make others have a good time. Soon enough everyone is in their tents and you fall asleep almost as soon as your head hits the proverbial pillow.
The next morning you're not on breakfast duty, thankfully. It also sees the arrival of Jesse who's been busy all during the week with continuing baseball practice. He's happy and chipper as always, but you can sense... something behind that. When you get a chance later in the day (during the planned day hike) you pull him aside for a word as you hoof it down the trail. Taking a moment after he's finished griping about summer homework, you jump in to ask him if anything is on his mind in particular. Jesse grimaces for a moment, then lets out a long-suffering sigh.
"It's... Satou." You tilt your head.
"Satou? What about him?" Jesse's cheeks tinge a darker red. "I just. I can't stop thinking about him. I thought that if I just joined the baseball club with him and kinda hung around with him I'd be happy but like..." He frowns and rubs the back of his neck, wavering a little in his words. "...I can't get him out of my head, Hanako."
You take a moment to think (and to scramble up a steeper part of the trail), then reach back to help him up.
"Awww you're so into him. That fluffy tail and soft ears, the chiseled athlete's bod..." You wink at him as you tug him up towards you and Jesse's cheeks turn even redder.
"Hanako, shut
up. It's more than that he's like... okay he looks really gruff, but he's a good guy. Really. Really laid back and kind..." You smirk as Jesse keeps talking.
"Have you thought about like. Confessing to him?" You ask after a moment. Jesse looks panicky just at the thought!
"No! No way! What if he--he would like, reject me for sure. And then the rest of the team would find out and..." He trails off. "Not worth it..." Privately, you think it might be worth it because he looks pretty miserable now thinking about the whole thing. What he really needs is for someone to do some investigation and find out some more about Satou to help him. You know just the lady for the job, too... You can keep that to yourself for now, though. So instead of saying anything you just nod.
"I get that. I was... really terrified of anyone finding out about me, too," you admit as the pair of you continue along the trail. You're at the back of the line, making sure no one straggles too much which helps you have a good conversation with Jesse. "How's your summer going otherwise?"
"Ahhh you know. Homework, all that crap. How about you?" You chew on your lip.
"Ah. Pretty good I guess. Homework, you know? But I went up to my grandparents place last week? And I met this girl..."
"Hanako, you have a girlfriend."
"Let me finish, you jerk! She's going to university in Center City and she's a couple years older. She's studying astronomy and she's pretty cool. We're not like, dating or anything. She did try to put the moves on me..." You admit with a blush. "But I told her I had a girlfriend and she was really cool about it. We're just friends!" Jesse smirks at you.
"Hanako, you have all the luck, you know that?"
"What's lucky about it?! I don't want Erika to think I'm cheating on her!"
"Good point, but
still. You must be pretty darn gorgeous to have girls coming at you like this." Now it's your turn for your cheeks to turn pink. You cough and shake your head. You've never considered yourself pretty, honestly... Though you're a little taller than average do have that long, silky black hair. You've always thought of yourself as more lanky and boyish in terms of figure than
pretty.
"Flatterer," you mutter and roll your eyes, trying to shove off the compliment. "How would you know?"
"Just 'cause I'm gay doesn't mean I don't have eyes, duh." Jesse winks and then picks up the pace a little. "C'mon, we're gonna fall behind."
The rest of the weekend seems to go by way too quickly. By Sunday afternoon, camp has been struck and the kids with their own rides have headed off. You're the only one left, waiting for your own ride home. You could ride with the van but you kind of agreed that your parents would grab you so here you are. Waiting. Jesse's already gone and you're just waiting with Sayaka in the parking lot. You check your phone again, unsure of why this is taking so long when
finally you see your family's car roll in off the main road. Thank God. You stoop to pick up your bags, then freeze as the car pulls up to a stop in front of the pair of you. Your mom is behind the wheel and Dad is nowhere in sight. There's an icy stab of anxiety right though your chest and your mom steps out of the car. She smiles warmly and embraces you in a hug.
"Good to see you, dear. Did you have a good time?" She steps back and holds you at arms length as she looks you over, as if making sure you haven't hurt yourself.
"Um, yeah. We had a lot of fun and I think it was a good experience," you say quietly. Mom's attention is turned immediately at Sayaka.
"Thanks for giving her this opportunity. I hope she did a good job, miss..."
"Hakozaki. Sayaka Hakozaki. And I'm happy to do so. Hanako came to us highly recommended and she's more than met my expectations," Sayaka says with a smile.
"I'm so glad. I'm Fumiko Mikuru, her mother. Who gave such a glowing recommendation to you about my girl. I'd love to know..."
"I'm afraid I can't really say, Missus Mikuru. Part of what we do here at Live Out Loud is protecting the privacy of our members who may not be prepared to out themselves or be public with who they are. I'm sure that if they want to tell you, they will." Sayaka is cool as a cucumber deflecting the question in a professional, calm manner. Your mother smiles, though you can see the polite strain in the expression that someone else might miss.
"Well, do thank them for me. Ready to go, Hanako?"
"Uh, yeah," you mumble, then turn and bow slightly to Sayaka. "Thank you for the opportunity, Miss Hakozaki." It feels so weird being formal with her when you're so used to treating her like an older sister. It makes you feel brittle and awkward. Like there's something curled up in your gut and gnawing on you. Liar. Why do you have to lie?
"Of course, Hanako. Take care."
Mom is already loading your stuff in the trunk and you step around the car to clamber into the passenger seat. She says goodbye to Sayaka as well and then she's in the car and you start to roll off. You glance back to look at Sayaka as she stands there, looking after you with what you assume must be a look of concern. Though maybe you're imagining things. Mom is quiet at first, then as you pull out onto the main highway, she glances over at you and you remember that you have an hour or more in the car with her. Alone.
"So. How was it, really?"
"It was fine, mom."
"You don't have to be polite about it now that you're not in front of her, you know."
"I said it was fine! Sheesh..."
"I just wanted to make sure. I mean, you did run out on the family, after all. And don't look at me like that, I know you said you had already agreed but family is
important and you could have just canceled. Anyway--We went out to the lake yesterday and that was a lovely time. I'm sorry you missed it. And really, you will be too some day. Grandmother and grandfather aren't getting younger and they could be gone soon. Then what will you do, hm? Besides that, I was worried sick about you. Sleeping in a tent with people like that--what if she had decided to take a fancy to you? She didn't do anything to you, did she?" You can feel the anxiety in your belly starting to build up more towards anger, a sick, unhappy feeling that makes you wish you could scream.
It's not like that, you want to say.
Sayaka is like a sister to me. But you can't say that. So you don't. Your mom takes your silence as permission to continue. Not that she needs it from you.
"Also that new friend of yours? The Yamada girl? I wasn't sure
what to think about her. She seemed so foreign. Your father seemed to think thought she was alright but she just gave me a weird feeling. What did she want hanging out with a high schooler when she's going into university? The only
boys I knew when I was your age who hung out with high school girls were after one thing and she's probably just the same. Honestly, I don't think you should be hanging around these types of people it makes me so
nervous for you, Hanako..."
[ ] Just. Sit here in silence. It's better not to say anything now that she's going and if you stare out the window hard enough, maybe she'll get tired of hearing her own voice and shut up and you can just try and remember that you were supposed to be having
fun this weekend.
[ ] Try to argue this calmly. Just take a deep breath, tell her she's wrong and that these people are really nice and you like them and none of them have ever tried anything weird (technically not true with Kaylee but you can keep that to yourself). You just have to find a spot to try and get a word in edgewise.
[ ] Shut up, Mom. Just SHUT UP! DO YOU EVEN KNOW THEM? OR HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT? NO? THEN SHUT UP! I can't believe you! These people are my friends! Sayaka is my friend! And if I'm being honest, she's supported me through more stuff recently than YOU have!
-[ ] And so what if they DID?! What if I
want them to do that?! (Optional)
With thanks to @Jeboboid for her feedback and assistance. Go check out her quest about magic schools and cool kids. 
