She reached her normal spot, and propped up her bike on its stand. After setting up her campsite, she sat down in her folding chair, wrapping her blanket snug against her legs and pulling it up around her chest. Books were stacked a foot high on her stand, not because she thought she could read them all in a night but because she liked to have variety and options. She reached for one close to the top of the stack, carefully extracting it and opening it to her bookmark.

Untold hours of the lovely transitional season between autumn and winter had passed like this; the sun’s warmth faint but palpable on her skin when the wind allowed it to settle, no distractions of society or other humans, just Rinko, enjoying the fresh scent of the fallen, crunchy leaves mixed with books.

Three hours passed similarly before Rinko finished her book, checking the time on her phone. 4:50. The late time checked out, the sun was starting to fall behind the trees and get dimmer. Rinko wasn’t particularly hungry yet, but now seemed like a good time to go ahead and make dinner, before it got too dark or she got into her next book.

Igniting her small camp burner, she poured some water into the pot. As she ate, she checked her phone, reading through the messages in one of her group chats of her online game friends. They were planning a campaign for later tonight. She took a picture of the mountain, cloudy but still impressive, and sent it.

Such a beautiful scene o(*^▽^*)o  Today’s weather is perfect for a nice cup of hot milk and finishing that book~! Good luck on your quest tonight, I’ve heard you need to do a lot of grinding for that one monster’s drops like we were doing yesterday, other than that it’s supposed to be pretty easy (´・ω・`)

A few people immediately replied with cries of jealousy of her beautiful view, and she smiled.

After finishing her ramen, Rinko grabbed another book from her stack. It was one she hadn’t started yet, but looked promising. As she read, she fell into the story, time slipping away until she read the same sentence three times over and realized that it had gotten dark. She turned on her lantern, marveling at the book that had kept her attention so rapturously that she had forgotten to take a picture of the sunset. It’s not like it was all that unusual, though. Rinko often found herself completely swept away by books, especially the fast-paced young adult genre ones like she was reading now. Although she liked mature, deep novels, she couldn’t resist the captivatingly simple passion of young adult fiction. She re-adjusted her blanket, pulling it as high around her shoulders as she could before nuzzling back into her chair and pulling her legs up, falling back into her book.

As time passed and the chapters flew by, Rinko began to get tired, She had forgotten her mini book light, so once she went into her tent she wouldn’t be able to read anymore. Weighing her odds, she decided to just finish this last chapter, and…

“Hey, come back here!”

Rinko was drawn back from her sleep by the distant shout. Wearily, she rubbed her eyes, wondering who else was here, when suddenly, she was knocked off her chair.

Rinko tumbled into the cold grass. She felt a warmth on top of her, and realized that it was a huge dog. Screaming, she was torn between batting it away and hiding her face, panic washing through her chest. It kept trying to get it’s face close to hers, but with shaking arms she pushed it away.

“Stop, stop!” She cried helplessly, until the dog was pulled off her chest.

“Bad dog, very bad dog!” Someone said, but Rinko was shaking too hard to really focus. She caught her breath as quickly as she could, but it was stolen away again as the other person kneeled by her, grabbing her shoulders and helping her sit up.

“I’m so sorry, are you okay?” Rinko stared wide-eyed at the girl. Her blue-green eyes were the most expressive Rinko had ever seen, and they seemed to be filled with pure concern for her. Focusing so intently on her...

“I-I… I’m fine, sorry,” Rinko whispered, looking away. The girl’s hand was still on her shoulder, and although it felt nice, and she felt strong, Rinko could feel the anxiety of being so close to a person so suddenly starting to set in.

“No, no, it’s not your fault!” The girl said, giving her one last pat on the shoulder and letting go, allowing Rinko to let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. “I was just watching my sister’s friend’s dog, and she just gets excited around new people. She’s totally harmless, just likes to lick, I think,” she gave the dog a bit of a disgusted look. “Kind of the complete opposite of her owner,” she laughed, and Rinko felt her heart flutter at the sound. Her voice was deep, but every word was sincere and joyful. She seemed so confident. The kind of person who would always know what to say, or be comfortable saying nothing, and the silence wouldn’t be awkward. Rinko was jealous. She wasn’t like that.

“Ah,” Rinko nodded, watching quietly as the girl pushed herself off the ground fluidly and walked over to the dog.

“My name is Tomoe, by the way,” the girl, Tomoe, said.

“M-my name is... Shirokane Rinko,” Rinko whispered. She watched with wide eyes as Tomoe knelt by the dog and cooed at it, petting it and making faces. Rinko wondered where Tomoe had come from, after all, she hadn’t seen any other tents or anything.

“Shirokane-san, nice to meet you!” Tomoe grinned at her.

“Nice to meet you… Tomoe-san,” Rinko found herself smiling, even though she was still a bit nervous.

“So, Shirokane-san,” Tomoe said suddenly, startling her. “Were you asleep just now, before Carrots ambushed you?”

Carrots…? An odd name for a dog, Rinko thought. “Um, yes, I-I guess I had fallen asleep reading,” she said. Rinko has a sudden thought, and checked the time. It was only just past eight.

“Wow,” her eyes widened. “I’m not a big reader myself, your book must have been good,” she laughed. She squatted down next to her dog, scratching her ears and playing with her. If Rinko didn’t get the feeling that Tomoe was very cautious and attentive to people, she might have thought that she forgot Rinko was even there.

“Aren’t you cold, by the way?  You don’t have a fire or anything,” Tomoe said, startling her again.

“Oh, um… I guess. I’m used to it, though,” Rinko shrugged. She pulled her blanket tighter around her shoulders. “Um, by the way,” she started, but tripped over her words when Tomoe looked up at her and they met eyes. Rinko looked down, fiddling with the hem of her blanket between her fingertips.  “By the way… are you camping here tonight? I-It’s just that… I didn’t think anyone else was here,” she managed.

“Oh, no, I was just walking the dog. This park is so beautiful,” Tomoe awed, looking up and around.

“It’s usually better at night. It’s cloudy today, usually you can see the stars, and they’re really pretty,” Rinko smiled. She was proud of herself for saying it, but it was always somehow easy for her to talk about camping.

“I bet,” Tomoe smiled back, warm and inviting, gentle. Rinko blushed.

Tomoe’s stomach interrupted the moment by growling loudly.

“Ah, sorry! I didn’t eat dinner before I came, I didn’t think I would be out so late but I just didn’t want to leave this park, you know?”

“I-It’s fine! Actually,” Rinko said, digging in her bag, pulling out another bowl of ramen. She glanced at Tomoe, then looked down, awkwardly offering it to her.

“Oh, no, I couldn’t impose like that,” Tomoe shook her head, raising her hand as if to say, “it’s fine.”

“No, please, it’s no problem,” Rinko said, putting it down to start up her camp burner to heat up some water for it.

“Well, thank you, then,” Tomoe hesitantly shifted toward Rinko, Carrots following curiously. Tomoe held her back, clearly worried about Rinko. Rinko smiled slightly in thanks, feeling nervous butterflies in her stomach. Nervous because she was still not totally comfortable around big dogs like Carrots, but pleasant from how Tomoe was so observant and caring towards her. No one ever really gave her that much thought aside from her parents. Rinko was fine with that; it’s not as if she was a social butterfly, she preferred being on her own, not having to worry about others judging her or bothering her. But somehow, Tomoe made her feel like she could maybe be with other people, even friends, after all.

Rinko kept her head down as she prepared the ramen. It offered her about ten seconds of reprieve as she turned on the stove and poured the water, then there was nothing to do but wait.

Tomoe seemed comfortable to sit together in silence. It was a miracle to Rinko, that the other girl wasn’t uncomfortable, but something about her presence made Rinko herself feel a bit more at ease as well. Tomoe sat down on the grass, brushing her deep red hair behind her ear as she looked up at the cloudy sky. She was breathtakingly beautiful, and seemed to know that, but not in a way that made her seem obnoixous or condescending. Rather, she seemed to be content, with herself and the world around her. Peaceful. When Tomoe glanced at her, Rinko realizes how long she had been staring, and looked down with a yelp.

“Do you mind if I go do something real quick while we’re waiting for it to boil?” Tomoe asked, pushing herself up and dusting off her black jeans.

“Oh, sure, of course,” Rinko nodded.

Tomoe took Carrot’s leash and they headed off towards the entrance of the camp, Rinko guessed to go to the bathroom or something. Regardless, she was relieved that she was leaving for a moment to alleviate the awkwardness of Rinko getting caught staring at her.

When Tomoe came back, the water had already boiled. To Rinko’s surprise, she arrived carrying a pack of firewood from the camp store.

“No, no, no, that’s way more than a pack of ramen, you shouldn’t have bought that!” Rinko jumped up, waving her hands. Tomoe dropped the logs on the ground, the dog hurrying over to sniff them.

“What? I felt like having a campfire, is that wrong?” Tomoe grinned. “Unless, of course, you don’t want to. I wouldn’t want to impose if you’re tired and want to go to bed or something.”

“No, no, I’m fine, but…” Rinko trailed off, trying to remember how much the firewood packs cost here. She rarely bought them, so she couldn’t remember, but they were never exactly cheap.

“Seriously, it’s the least I can do for interrupting you and letting this knucklehead ambush you,” Tomoe chuckled, nudging Carrots with her foot. Rinko smiled as the dog jumped around before realizing that it was just Tomoe.

Once Tomoe's ramen was finished, she ate it fast. She must have been hungry. Rinko watched her as she slurped up the noodles with vigor, barely stopping to breathe, but somehow not making a mess of her face. Somehow, she made cup ramen look tastier than Rinko had ever thought it could be.

Tomoe let out a sigh as she finished them, slamming the cup on her knee. “Thanks for the food,” she said.

Rinko nodded. “No problem.”

Tomoe started to unpack the firewood, and Rinko excused herself to grab a bit of kindling from the forest. When she got back, Tomoe had arranged the logs into a beautiful tower, looking very proud of herself. It only made it that much harder for Rinko to tell her that she would have to deconstruct it so they could build it around the kindling.

Once the fire was set up, Rinko gave Tomoe a blanket, and they sat down across from each other. The crackling of the fire was another addendum to the idyllic camp scene they were a part of. Neither of them talked for a minute, just relaxing and staring into the fire, or around them at the scenery.

“Sorry again, about Carrots, earlier,” Tomoe broke the silence.

“Oh no, it’s nothing, I’m fine,” Rinko said. She shivered slightly, drawing her blanket up higher around her shoulders. The action didn’t go unnoticed by Tomoe.

“Are you cold? Here, take your blanket back,” Tomoe said, getting up and wrapping it around Rinko’s shoulders before she could protest.

“Aren’t you, too? Cold, I mean,” Rinko looked up at her. Tomoe brushed her worries off.

“I’m fine. Anyway, I really should be taking Carrots back home, before she gets too tired to walk all the way. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to carry her part of the way,” she laughed. Rinko's eyes widened slightly. Carrots was a big dog... And besides, how often was it her responsibility to walk her sister’s friend’s dog?

“But, the fire’s just started, and…” Rinko stood too, holding the blanket Tomoe had given back to her.

“Maybe we can do this again sometime, then. And enjoy the fire properly,” Tomoe smiled, extending her hand. Rinko was confused for a moment, before she realized that she was holding her phone open, asking for Rinko’s number.

“O-oh!... Oh…” Rinko drew her shoulders in, feeling strange. “Sure,” and she entered her number. “I’ll get yours, too,” she grabbed her own phone, rushing to unlock it and fumbling, dropping it on the grass.

“I got it,” Tomoe picked up her phone for her, smiling. She was standing really close. Rinko stared into her eyes, until Tomoe smirked, poking her with her phone and Rinko remembered what was happening. Rinko blushed and stepped back as she grabbed it, unlocking it and giving it back to Tomoe to put her number in.

“Alright,” Tomoe smiled at Rinko one last time, sliding her phone in her pocket. She took Carrot’s leash and headed off. “I’ll see you again!” She called as she began to walk away, turning and waving at Rinko. Rinko waved back, a small smile on her face.

She felt strange. No one had ever really befriended her like this, in real life, and certainly not interrupting her camping. It was new. It was strange. Rinko looked at her phone, laughing to herself as she saw that Tomoe had named herself “That cute girl I met while camping (Udagawa Tomoe).”