Oofuri Secret Santa fic
My recipient was @hawberries for the @oofurixmas! I hope you enjoy this story~~ There’s a last scene coming but I figured I should post this while it’s still...2017...sorry about the wait;;; I keep getting distracted by pocket camp...
Oofuri Animal Crossing AU!
Gen, pre-abemiha, vague background haruaki??
In a perfect world, I’d have drawn bad art of what animals everybody is, but here’s a list (including the Nishiuras who don’t appear):
Mihashi: narcissus flycatcher, black with white spots on the wings and yellow chest/eyebrows
Abe: black and tan akita
Oki: sheep
Sakaeguchi: hamster, pink and brown
Tajima: magpie, v dark purple with white on wings, spatter of white “freckles”
Suyama: deer
Mizutani: rabbit
Izumi: cat, medium blue w/dark blue accents including acne scar-lookin spotties
Hanai: horse,
Nishihiro: octopus,
Hamada: lion, sandy colour overall
Shinooka: cub
Haruna: wolf, black, green eyes
Akimaru: koala
“Are we there yet?”
“Yuu, if you ask that one more time, I am going to throttle you.”
Tajima sticks his head around the back of Izumi’s seat. “You’ve said that like four times already, I don’t beli--HEY!” He dodges a chucked burger wrapper. Mihashi flinches too, but Izumi’s ears still point forward and Mihashi can see the corner of a smile.
Hamada bats at Tajima with one huge paw, not taking his eyes off the road. “Sit down or I’ll pull over. We’re almost there, anyway, aren’t we?” He glances over briefly; Izumi nods, taking out his phone.
Mihashi peers out the open window, beak falling open. The scenery isn’t that different from Nishiura, but it seems to sparkle in the late afternoon sunlight with an aura of adventure. He looks back at Tajima, flapping excitedly, and Tajima beams back.
“Yeah, we’re gonna have a blast!”
“Do birds have some kind of supersonic speech?” Izumi’s watching them in the rearview mirror. “You gotta teach me someday.”
“Nope, it’s a strictly ren-yuu club!” Tajima folds his black and white wings over his chest and sticks his beak in the air for a second before grabbing the back of Izumi’s seat again. “Hey, you gonna come swimming with us?”
“Yes, stop shaking me!” Izumi’s ears snap back briefly.
“Kou, is it this turn?”
Izumi checks his phone briefly. “Yeah.”
The main campsite is teeming with chattering animals, and despite coaxing from each of the others, Mihashi stays in the minivan while they talk to the peculiar bare-faced animal who appears to be in charge. Mihashi still keeps curious watch out Tajima’s window. Curious, and a tiny bit wary. There’s no way that scary neighbour would’ve come here too, though, right? Not that he’s looking for Abe.
Feeling flushed and antsy, he fidgets with his seatbelt for a moment before unclipping it to rummage in the back for a baseball to play with. Then flops back in the seat. And freezes.
A long furry snoot full of sharp teeth pokes through the window.
“Aren’t you tired of sitting?” The snoot belongs to a large glossy black wolf who looks Mihashi over sharply.
“Nn? No?” Mihashi fumbles the ball, tips of his wings shivering up in front of his chest.
The wolf grins at him. “You totally are, though! C’mon, you look hungry. I’m Haruna, by the way…” He opens Mihashi’s door, stepping back.
Out rolls the ball. And after it flops Mihashi.
The wolf snerks out a laugh but grabs him by the back of his shirt, hauling him up (in a debatably helpful fashion). “Hey, you play baseball?”
Still dangling from the wolf’s grip, balanced on one toe, Mihashi chirps, “Y…yeah!”
“He’s our pitcher.” Tajima comes around the back of the van with a pair of fruity-looking drinks. “You’re not hassling Ren, are ya?” he asks, in the same chatty tone.
“Eh? Just saying hi.” The wolf finally sets Mihashi down, briefly glancing in Tajima’s direction before returning his attention to Mihashi. “You pitch?”
“I’m…yes!” Mihashi confirms, feeling a swell of pride. Also a return of that flush.
Haruna smiles, patting him on the shoulder. “Me too. Maybe we’ll play against each other sometime.” His smile broadens to a toothy grin. “Let’s both do our best!”
“Yeah!”
Haruna leaves with a wave, heading for a sandy-brown koala with glasses.
Tajima passes one of the drinks to Mihashi. “Drink it quick. I just picked ‘em up off a table and I dunno if they belong to anyone.”
Izumi and Tajima shake out the tent, Izumi yelling when Tajima runs underneath like it’s some kind of parachute game. Hamada passes Mihashi the bag of tent poles, huffing a laugh at the others, then turns back to get something else. Mihashi wobbles his way over to the other two still wrestling with the hopelessly tangled fabric and each other. At Mihashi’s questioning noise, Izumi pokes his head out from under, but his gaze shifts from Mihashi to something off behind him.
He smiles, calling, “Hey, guys!”
Tajima rolls to his feet, coming up with a grin and waving wings. “Hiiiiiiiiii!”
A familiar voice calls back a greeting and Mihashi whirls with his beak open to say hello except then he claps eyes on who’s with Mizutani and then he’s half-flinging the tent poles away and continuing the turn to dive under the tent.
He can hear someone retrieving the poles, probably Shinooka by the closeness of her voice, Izumi thanking her. Scuffling and small talk and then sudden evening sunlight as someone lifts the edge of the tent.
“You okay?”
Mihashi spares a quick glance at Abe where he’s crouched down with the tent held above his head, then tucks himself back beak-down to hide a blush. “Y-y…”
“What’re you even doing under here?”
Mihashi curls around to peek at Abe from under one wing. “I was…there was a…b-bug…? Or…rock?”
Abe’s eyes narrow and his black ears twitch, but before he can do more than open his mouth, Tajima appears beside him, prodding Mihashi with a pole.
“Ren, move, so we can put it up!” He gives him another poke, then attempts to turn it on Abe, who irritably bats him away one-pawed.
Before Tajima can find more mischief, Hanai grabs the pole out of his hand. “Give me that. We’ll help you guys, ‘kay?”
Mihashi hovers on the periphery while the others work, listening to them make bug-catching plans for the next day. It sounds kind of fun. Or maybe terrifying. His eyes flick to Abe, who’s carting some packs over from the car. Both?
In no time, the tent is up and the other four say goodbye, continuing on their walk. The boys roast supper over the fire, scarfing it down as if they’d run all the way from Nishiura. They sprawl on their backs with stuffed tummies and make contented conversation as evening chases away the sun.
Mihashi’s wondering whether there are more stars here or he just never noticed them all when Hamada nudges his leg. “Hey, you finally chilled out again!”
“Sure, point it out, that’s gonna help,” Izumi mutters from further away.
“I did??”
He can hear Hamada roll over to look at him. “You’ve been jumpy--okay, extra jumpy--for a while. What’s up with that?”
Mihashi’s wings twitch restlessly. “I’m…not! I’m fine?”
“And you were doing better until we ran into those guys from--”
“Whatever, he’s feeling better now.” Izumi rolls to a crouch, stretching. “Let’s go to bed before we pass out here.”
Tajima rustles to his feet, darting back towards the tent. “First dibs on the good air mattress!”
“Yuu!” Izumi streaks after him.
Sleeping arrangements argued out, they snuggle down to sleep. Mihashi finds himself lying awake, though, listening to the soft sleep sounds of the other three and wondering. Concocting disasters and miracles, both equally disproportionate to the mundanity of bug-catching. But the happy daydreams eclipse the anxious ones and he finally falls asleep with the distinct feeling tomorrow will be a very good day.
By the time the next morning rolls around, however, he’s pretty certain that if he goes on this outing, he’s going to end up braining Abe with a net. Or scaring every single bug away and making everyone hate bug catching and each other and mostly him and he keeps losing the thread of exactly what all is going to happen but he can tell for sure that if he goes, it will be Bad.
When he overhears Hamada ask if it’s time to go, Mihashi strongly considers hiding.
And yet somehow he’s sitting in the front seat as they head for the island, staring wide-eyed and unseeing as the landscape rolls past.
They arrive, clattering nets out of the car and yelling greetings to the others and it’s hard not to get caught up in the happy bustle but then he notices the one unpleasant possibility he had not considered:
Abe is not there.
Mihashi fusses with his net, trailing in Tajima’s wake as the group fans out to look for bugs. He walks into Tajima about four times before the magpie firmly steers him in his own direction. Maybe it’s just that it’s Tajima, but somehow realising his fears of being Bug Scarer Supreme isn’t as bad as he’d worried. He spots a likely-looking blob on a tree and edges towards it.
“Were you looking for Abe?”
Shinooka’s voice is gentle but Mihashi still leaps in the air, sending his quarry buzzing away. “Hlrglef??”
“Sorry!” She laughs, not unkindly. “…I just thought you seemed to be looking for someone?”
Mihashi’s not really sure how to answer so he just smiles uncertainly at her paws.
Fortunately, Shinooka seems to interpret that as a yes. “He said he wanted to explore on his own. I think he went to check out the windmills? You know where that is?” She dips her head, trying to catch his eye. “I don’t think anyone would mind if you went and looked for him. Maybe if someone asked him specifically, he’d feel more like coming.”
Shinooka’s smile is so nice, filling him with hopefulness and a feeling of Purpose--it’s almost like it’s a job, now, like he’s been told to go fetch Abe. His heart flutters nervously at the thought of spending that long walk back alone together.
“Tha…thanks!” He treats Shinooka to a quick smile before scampering back to the car to stow his net and striking off.
Such a long walk might make his enthusiasm wane, but there’s so much to see. Flowers under the sparse dappled cover of trees, the scent of ripe fruit making his mouth water as he comes in from the coast. The orange-y roof of the lighthouse just visible when he crests a small hill. Other animals relaxing and playing at their campsites, and though Mihashi stays out of sight, he smiles at them with a feeling of camaraderie.
At one point, the bald-faced person runs up to him, shoves a fish and two coconuts into his arms, and runs off. Mihashi watches them go, perplexed, and then stashes the Fish of Indeterminate Freshness and its fruity friends between the roots of a tree.
He’s still puzzling over that when he spots movement ahead. Mihashi freezes, watching the black and tan akita step out into the light of a small clearing.
His heart thumps. Now he’s faced with actually initiating conversation with Abe, even Shinooka’s aegis of purpose seems inadequate. Mihashi edges behind a tree.
When he peeks out, Abe’s casting about with a frown. Mihashi ducks out of view. Probably good that he hid. He should go back, he should--
The sound of pounding feet interrupt his thoughts.Haruna runs past a couple meters away, then checks himself and sprints toward where Abe was. Mihashi cautiously peers over again. Maybe with that nice wolf there, maybe he could go talk--
“Takaya! Fancy meeting you here.”
Abe’s face has gone strangely blank. “Haruna.”
“You camping? What’re you up to, all by yourself?”
“I’m busy, and it looks like you are too. Bye.” Abe pushes past Haruna.
Haruna turns towards him, crossing his arms. “You’re always so rude. We haven’t talked since you moved! …What’s it like, living in some weak baby town?”
Abe stops, then turns. “They’re not weak.” He crosses his arms in mirror to Haruna.
Mihashi’s mind is rushing, things he’d gleaned from the nice hamster who’d moved to Nishiura around the same time as Abe, things about an amazing pitcher…
“That so?” Haruna’s ears prick, intrigued.
“We’ve got some strong players. And a pitcher with way more appeal than you.”
Mihashi’s still reeling over the thought that this friendly wolf might be that strong pitcher he’s been worrying about, he almost doesn’t process Abe’s reply. The second he does, heat blossoms from his head to his toes. He runs in a little circle, flapping frantically, before curling up with his wings over his face.
“He’s not with you, is he? Scraggly little black and yellow bird, looks like a stiff wind would blow him over?”
Mihashi edges out again to see Abe’s reply. “That ‘scraggly little bird’ is going to beat your ass when we play Musashino.” Abe’s nose twitches and he frowns. “He’s here, yeah. Not with me.”
“Well, obviously, he’s…” Haruna leans toward Abe, saying in a slight sing-song, “He doesn’t like you.”
Abe’s eyes narrow, and then he turns away again. “Look, I’ve got somewhere to be. Bye.”
“Bye!” Haruna waves enthusiastically at Abe’s retreating form.
And then turns and looks directly at Mihashi.
Mihashi squeaks and scrambles back behind the tree, back against the bark.
Footsteps pad over, then Haruna calls, “Come on out!”
Tentatively, Mihashi edges out from behind the tree. “Hi??”
Haruna’s mouth opens in a grin. “So you’re Takaya’s new pitcher, huh?”
“Mm-hm!”
“Then why the heck were you hiding?” He blinks at Mihashi, paws on his hips. “You do like him, don’t you? Or else why would you spy on us?”
Mihashi misses the end of that because there’s blood rushing in his ears and the blush that had dissipated comes back full force. He flaps agitatedly, avoiding looking at Haruna.
Who is definitely looking at him. “Oh? You like-like him.”
Hearing the words spoken aloud freezes Mihashi. Like. He likes Abe. It seems impossible, given how much Abe terrifies him. But maybe that’s part of it, maybe that’s normal? And this just opens up a whole slew of new problems. Does Abe like him? Could he even like him? Abe’s warm description of him floats back into his mind and Mihashi covers face. But that was just as a pitcher…
“You okay, there?” Haruna waves his paw in front of Mihashi.
“Ylnf?” Mihashi answers, lowering his wings enough to see. “Help??”
Haruna seems taken aback. “What? I don’t know anything about that kind of stuff!” He’s almost as flustered as Mihashi. “I mean…I kind of…we…it’s not really like…”
Mihashi blinks at him, not really sure what to say to rescue both of them from this nebulous request he’s made. Or what on earth Haruna’s talking about.
Haruna crosses his arms. “Okay, maybe I can find a way help you. And…maybe you can help me. But first, you wanna come with me on my run?”
Relief fills him, mixed with a tingling happiness. “Sure!”
Side by side, they run into the woods.