LOG: complete

[ignitesoul.livejournal.com]

When; August 18, late afternoon
Rating; G? PG?
Characters; Kamina [ignitesoul] & Yoko [redsniper]
Summary; Kamina has never seen the beach before, so Yoko takes him, telling him it's a "surprise". Sweet fluff ensues. WARNING: You might develop cavities/diabetes.
Log;

“No peeking, Kamina.” Yoko had to remind, leading the older man by the hand through the forest on the way to the beach. It was hot, and sweat had already long beaded on the back of her neck, between her breasts, but, hey, wasn’t hot weather the right weather for this? It was a walk, but she didn’t mind, keeping a tight grip on his hand, as if he could disappear if she didn’t.

She was sometimes afraid he would.

But she didn’t want to think about that, smiled, and took a deep breath when they broke from the tree’s shade and out into the hot sun, feet resting on sand instead of loam. The beach… Kamina had never been to the beach. Coming up beside him, she released his hand, tugging on the blindfold she’d insisted he wear, smiling.

“You can look now.”

At Yoko's insistence, Kamina's hand dropped from the cloth around his face. He stifled a grumble; the suspense might not have been killing him, but they had been walking for so long already (though that was an exaggeration at best) and the delay because of the previous day's "rain" put him on the edge of his proverbial seat.

Then he felt the shift in ground, having grown up underneath it and so used to its feel. The moment Yoko permitted him sight, his hands flew up to the blindfold and he tore it from his head. "Oi, the earth, it's—"

But no other words came. He might as well still have been blinded, it was so bright, the soft grains of loose earth beneath his feet. And just beyond this barrier of white-gold was an ebbing tide of the widest stretch of water he had ever seen.

"Yoko..." He found himself grasping at words. "This place... What do you call this place?"

The girl smiled excitedly, biting her bottom lip lightly and hands clasped tight behind her, watching him. He… he really liked it.

“It’s the beach, Kamina.” She explained, pointing out to the water. “And the ocean.” The cool sea salt breeze whipped her long red hair about her face, turning to watch him again.

“I thought you’d want to see.” Because he hadn’t seen. Because he hadn’t got to see. But he could see it now.

"The ocean, eh?" Kamina raised a hand to his eyes, shielding them from the glare of the sand. "Imagine, Yoko! With all this water, a village won't ever go thirsty!" He paused, suddenly. "Do you think this is where rain comes from?"

But it didn't matter to him in the least. It was breathtaking, all this open space. There was no horizon like on land: the water and the sky merely merged together, as if there was no limit to either. That's how he liked it, he decided. He liked infinity, and the beach—the ocean—was infinity.

"I wonder why we don't have any of these back home."

“… We do.” Yoko murmured, reaching to grasp on to one of his fingers lightly, standing beside him and looking out into that vast expanse between earth and sky.

“It’s just as beautiful as this one… just as beautiful.” She smiled somewhat reverently, watching waves crash against the tide.

“And the rain does come from it… but… don’t try drinking it now.” The girl made a face. “It’s salty.”

Kamina's gaze fell to her face at the touch, and instantly he understood: he'd died too soon. Offering her a reassuring smile, he twined their fingers together, a small gesture of comfort.

"It's definitely a quiet place," he remarked, scanning the landscape once more. And then an idea ran him over like a train would; tightening his grip on her hand, he began pulling her towards the water. "Let's go swimming, Yoko!"

He couldn't remember the last time he went swimming... but that didn't matter.

"Ah- Kamina!” Yoko was caught off guard, hopping a few steps on hot sand before she began digging her heels in, a few short hops in being pulled before a halt, though she’d started to laugh lightly.

“You have to let me change first!”

That froze him to the spot, and he gave her a half-confused, half-hopeful expression that might possibly earn him a slap in the face. "Change?"

The quick sweep of her curves and he was thoroughly convinced. "Of course! A woman can't enter the water without changing. What was I thinking?" He grinned and let her go, expectant. "Go on."

Yoko did contemplate slapping him, but only for a moment. Instead, she blushed, and turned around abruptly with a huff, hair whipping about as she ran back up the beach to the forest edge.

“No peeking!” She shouted back, but she was laughing again, ducked behind a tree and sat down her rifle and her pack, rifling through before stripping out of her regular clothes and into her swimsuit. It had been tricky, sneaking out to get it when he wasn’t looking. Nowhere near what she’d worn before, last time she’d had occasion to swim. Everyone had mocked her for how “modest” it had been, and it had annoyed her, so. She slipped into the black bikini, simple, but it was enough for her, and less than the yellow one she’d had before, taking her gun and pack again back to the beach’s edge to rest as she trotted back down to Kamina.

Again with the no peeking. Kamina sighed, but wasn't discontent, and lowered himself to sit facing the ocean. It really was nice, he mused, kicking off his sandals and digging his toes into the warm sand. The whisper of the waves brought this immeasurable sense of calm over his person, one he would have hidden had he been around others, but alone, he allowed himself this respite.

And then he heard Yoko approach, so the man twisted to look at her from over his shoulder. A grin split his face again.

"Looking nice!" he praised, taking in her new outfit. It was a marginal change from her previous one, but it showed more skin, and it was sexy. "And I didn't think you could wear less clothes than you normally do."

“Idiot.” Yoko responded on instinct, crossing her arms over her breasts with a ‘hmmph’, but she couldn’t stay mad at him, really, not now, especially, so she shrugged and let her hair down only to retie it, higher up off her neck.

“Everyone made fun of me last time, so.” She offered as a way of explanation, trying to turn her lips down in a frown and failing miserably.

Whatever it was she was trying to say, he didn't understand, so he shrugged it off and stood, leaving his shoes where they lay upturned in the sand. He glanced over at the water, then down at his pants, then back at the water.

"Wait a moment." Bending over, he began rolling up the pants' legs until they were at his knees. "Better," he remarked, straightening up. Then he turned his grin to her again and took her hand.

"Let's go!" And they ran for the water.

Her eyes had widened, about to think that he was going to take them off, (oh, the horror, she told herself), but she breathed a quiet sigh of relief when he rolled them up.

Yoko followed a few paces, smiling, before she broke from his hand and bounded a bit ahead, hair streaming out behind her. “Race you!” She shouted, as she passed, a laugh on the breeze.

"Ah—" At first, he'd been caught off-guard a little at her sudden challenge, but just because she was a girl, just because she was Yoko, didn't mean he'd be left in the dust. With an extra burst of speed, he chased after her, still racing as they hit the tide.

The water was cool, a stark contrast to the warm sand, and it seemed to pull him towards its vast expanse. There was a tangible force in the waves, and it knocked his feet out from under him. Kamina collapsed into the water, limbs flailing.

… Did he know how to swim? Surely.

Yoko had to hop over a small wave when they hit the surf, a small yelp at the sudden change in temperature hitting her skin, before she turned back to him, steadying her stance on the shifty sand beneath her feet and bracing against the waves more choppy here at the front.

“I win.” She smiled, bending to grab his arm and haul up.

Kamina came up sputtering, making disgusted faces as he spit out salt water. "Man, this stuff is gross!" He had to resist wiping his tongue on his wrist because that was salty too. "Gross, gross, gross!"

He looked up in time to see Yoko's offer of help, and just as he was about to haul himself to his feet... he changed his mind. The man grabbed her arm and pulled hard enough to knock her off-balance and into the water.

Yoko yelped before she shut her mouth and eyes tight and hit the water, hands braced on the bottom to shove back up to the surface and break, releasing a spray of water as she cleared her throat, spluttered and opened her eyes only to find her hair had come undone and was hanging wet and heavy in her face.

“Cheater!” She protested, trying to move her hair aside to find him, vision totally obscured, drifting out away from the shore to get away from the rougher waves.

Laughter spilled from his lips, and he waded backwards into deeper waters, feeling for the smoothest parts of the bottom. He circled around behind Yoko, trying to be as silent as possible, until he was about a short distance away.

"Hey, Yoko, over here," he shouted, ready to splash water in her face once she turned around.

“Eh?” Yoko stood on tiptoes to keep her head and shoulders above water, turning to face him, lifting her hair to look, blowing air up at her face and shaking the water from her eyes.

Just as he'd planned, she'd turned, and he swatted water at her face before floating away as fast as possible.

"I got you again!" he shouted giddily, laughing.

Yoko spluttered again, shoulders slumping as she waited in silence a moment, squeezing her eyes shut from the sting of salt. She twitched.

Slowly, she ducked under the water, came back up with her hair back behind her and tied it again, blinking away the water before she smirked.

“Lucky shots.” She proclaimed, hopping up to disappear under the water again, a short burst of swim, opening her eyes in a squint to find his foot and tug.

There was suddenly no earth beneath him, and Kamina disappeared, thrashing wildly, into the sea. He came back up sputtering and coughing, wiping the water from his eyes.

"That was playing dirty!" he accused, jabbing his finger blindly. He had no idea where she was, even if he squinted. He scanned the ceaselessly moving surface for her. "...Yoko? Oi, where'd you go?!"

Yoko stayed under the water as long as she could hold her breath, kicking idly in circles around his feet, smirking a bit, before she came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders to lift herself out of the water by using him for leverage, feet kicking in the water due to their difference in height.

“Right here.”

If he tried hard enough, he could see her out of the corner of his eye. She was a comfortable weight on his shoulders and back, especially since the ocean helped to buoy her.

But, he decided, this wouldn't do at all.

By prying her grip loose just slightly, Kamina held her up with his hands as he turned so they were face-to-face. He readjusted her arms around his shoulders and wrapped his own around her waist, pulling her flush against his body.

"I thought so," he remarked, smirking.

Yoko blushed lightly, wrapped her arms around him loosely, and shifted a bit, reached back to adjust her top before pushing back wet hair from his face.

“Bet you didn’t.” She teased a bit, smiling. “Bet you didn’t have a clue where I went, thought you lost me.”

"I won't lose you," but he left out the unspoken word, the word they both knew was there: "again", and he kissed her because he knew damn well that she deserved it.

She was almost desperate when she kissed back, desperate not to leave him again, not to lose him again, not to know that despair again when someone she loved died, to feel him when she’d never thought to again, to know that… that he loved her.

“I know, Kamina.” She breathed when she finally broke from him, smiling confidently, all the spark and fire she possessed.

“I know you won’t.”

He laughed again, genuinely happy, because he was alive and experiencing something, even if it wasn't the life he'd always wanted. But he was learning new things, visiting new places, and Yoko was with him, and... well, it was just another adventure, wasn't it? Sometime later he'd have to thank fate or luck or whatever for this fortunate turn of events.

Reluctantly, he slipped away from her grasp, shifting to float on his back on the water. He stayed within reach of her... just in case.

"We should come back again some time," he stated, lazily, squinting at the blue overhead that matched the blue beneath him.

Yoko floated beside him, treading water and watching him softly. Kamina… really here, really solid, and alive, and… here. With her.

“Yeah…” She looked out across the horizon to where the ocean and the sky seemed to finally converge.

“Whenever you want, Kamina.” She promised, wiling to promise him anything in that moment.

"Oi!" He pointed at her, careful not to poke her in the eye because he wasn't really looking. "What's this mushy sentimental stuff, eh? Brighten up a bit, Yoko! You sound like a little girl who's lost her teddy bear!"

But he was smiling at her—not a smirk, not a victorious grin. Just a smile.

That had come dangerously close to poking her in the eye. Yoko reeled back a moment, laughed lightly, swatted at his hand, and smiled back, “I didn’t lose him.” She said, teasing lightly again. “Kamina is just a big, fluffy, soft hearted teddy-bear.”

He shifted again so he was upright, and he leaned in close, giving her the best mock-serious face he could muster.

"Yoko." Even his tone was grave as he put a finger to her lips. "That's a secret. The Great Kamina-sama is a badass fighting machine, not a fluffy teddy bear. Bears are okay, they're ferocious and everything, but people don't cuddle with Kamina-sama." He paused. "Except maybe you."

Yoko smirked against his finger, trying to be just as serious.

“As long as I’m the exception.” She managed to get out before she started to laugh, clutching her sides and letting all her nervousness out with that, with that laughter.

As she descended into fits of laughter, Kamina's own stoicism broke, and soon he too was chuckling at his own words. They were pretty ridiculous, if he thought about it. Ahh well. Few people took him seriously in the first place.

He waded back towards shallower water, fighting the pull of the waves and managing not to trip this time. The heat of the sun beating against his back was a welcome change to the cool water, and he plopped down on his back on the sand.

"Come over here," he called out, gesturing to Yoko. "It feels really good, lying down!"

Wading after him, Yoko shook her head, droplets swinging from her long hair and flinging her arms to dry her limbs, plopping down beside him with a small grunt, leaning back on her arms.

“We’ll get sand all over.” She grumbled, but it wasn’t a true complaint. She slid onto her back, scooted closer, and settled next to him, staring out at the ocean again. It was… calm. Peaceful. Yoko smiled and put her arms behind her head.

She wanted to watch the sunset.