Camping Partner

 

Season 3 of Yuru Camp is here! Have a wholesome caption. Nothing based on the characters, I’m just borrowing the screenshots for my own story. Though the vibes are definitely inspired by these episodes – these scenes are from S3 eps 3 and 4. It seems like every time I get an idea for a TV-based caption, I get all set in and particular about something that barely has any useable shots, lol. I wanted to imagine our protagonist as Aya-chan ‘cause she’s cute, but in every scene she has a big casual smile and Rin has a frowny face. I’ve sort of switched the personalities, so that made it hard, but I’m really happy with how it turned out.

Full text and screenshots below (plus a couple more that I didn't use):

I always thought that there was nothing that I needed in my life. I even had a childhood friend – who happened to be a girl. It wasn’t like we would hang out or anything – she was more like a friend of my parents that they would bring over to play with, back when we were little kids. I just thought that we were both nice, quiet people who liked to stick to ourselves, and didn't need anyone else. There was only one thing that she told me that I couldn’t relate to her at all with... She really wanted to go camping...

No one wanted to camp with her, which was probably why she talked with me, even though I was a guy. There was going to be bugs, dirt, rain, expensive gear... not to mention that it was the middle of winter (though not snowy here, at least...) People around here wouldn’t understand it – I was probably the only one whose parents would even be lenient enough to let me go. But it wasn’t like I had ever done it myself. Her parents would definitely not let her go alone... and I could guess that they wouldn’t take kindly to going with a boy of any kind.

It was strongly rumored that, at this shrine in our small city, you could write what body you wished to have – and if the gods liked you, you just might get it. It was a chilly, lonely day, and as we went, I got a sinking feeling that it could be a one way thing – I kinda didn’t really want to be a girl – but I shrugged off the thought, as I often did with things. Maybe something cool would happen, or maybe we would laugh it off and go home.

Stuff happened, but long story short, I was fully committed. My eyes were literally the same level as hers... and I would have to get used to my dark magenta hair and higher voice. I pushed aside weird thoughts and we discussed plans. She had this dream of driving around on a motorcycle and touring around and camping in the mountains... and it almost sounded kind of fun. When I got home to my (surprisingly normal, but uncanny) teenage girl life, I promptly dumped all of my lame old stuff and spent all of my meager savings on gear.

I hadn't gone far beyond school on my motorbike before. Just getting to the place took all morning, but it felt like it was the entire day. It wasn’t enjoyable, with the frosty air blowing on my sensitive face and hair constantly flopping around in the wind... all while being barely five feet tall and feeling like I weighed as much as a piece of paper. But as I saw her in front of me, driving steadily along the road, I imagined that she might have a huge smile on her face.

When we finally got there, even I had to admit that it was cool – just something about the trees and the air was nice. She patiently helped me and taught me how to unpack and do everything. I was worried that I would get bored, or that it would be awkward with just me and her around, but it didn't feel like that at all. It was like another side of her had opened up, one that was genuine but also relaxed. And I was actually able to keep up the conversation – I thought I was a hopeless city person, but I actually knew some stuff about nature and science that I was able to share with her. It made me feel like I wasn't useless.

 

The sun set fairly early, and as the twilight went away we huddled by the fire and listened to the sounds of the night, and then we went to sleep in our separate tents. The thoughts and worries of myself being in a new body barely even registered at all. It was cold, but as I lay there, wrapped in layers and hugged on all sides by my sleeping bag, I drifted off to a tired sleep, and it was like I didn’t have a care in the world.