Hello There~ ( Ray and Kazu)

It had been a while since Kazu had been to the beach, and since it was spring, it was a lovely time to be at the beach. Kazu's short hair was pulled up in the back of her head and a small flower tucked in behind her ear. I can't believe the years have been going by so fast. She thought. It's amazing to see how everyone has grown, and new people are coming the island every day.

The sea breeze felt nice to smell; Ray swore that he could taste the salt on his tongue by merely breathing in and out. It was a good feeling, being at a beach. The one at Mineral Town was nice and all, but after hearing about the one in Forget-Me-Not Valley for so long, he decided to check it out. He was totally relaxed against one of the rocks, feeling the sun beat down on him as he rested. It wasn’t even close to summer, so he was merely dressed in casual clothing. He had on a colorful neon blue vest with copper buttons over a simple white t-shirt, long baggy jeans, and a Celtic necklace. He almost looked over dressed since he was right where the sun was shining the hottest, but it felt too good to move.

“Zzzz…” He eventually fell asleep, a small anime bubble appearing over his mouth as soft snores tiptoed out of his mouth. Ah, he had to give in to laziness sometime or another, right? There weren’t that many kids in this kind of neighborhood anyways, so it wasn’t as if he was expecting to be pranked or robbed.

Kazu took in a deep breath of fresh salty air, ad began to sing.

"I don't know if you can see
The changes that have come over me
In these last few days I've been afraid
That I might drift away
I've been telling old stories, singing songs
That make me think about where I've come from
That's the reason why I seem
So far away today

Let me tell you that I love you
That I think about you all the time
Caledonia, you're calling me, now I'm going home
But if I should become a stranger
Know that it would make me more than sad
Caledonia's been everything I've ever had

Now I have moved and I've kept on moving
Proved the points that I needed proving--"

Kazumi stopped when she heard a soft snoring noise. Someone's sleeping? she wondered. Here?

It was funny, but in his dream he was sitting on a cloud where a whole flock of angels fluttered all around him. A beautiful female one, her face unclear, extended her soft hand to him as if to carry him away into the sky, but he merely refused as he laid back down on his cloud. It was soft but a bit grainy; something that could be held in his hand but so tiny that it could fall between his fingers. One of the other angels in his dream started strumming a golden harp, one that he could easily see the craftsmanship on by the details carved into its handle. Several of them started to hum, though he could vaguely recall the words. It was really only the melody he was paying attention to; words were meaningless, and that in itself was beautiful.

”…hmth?” Ray started to wake up again when the background noise stopped, and something within him sensed that something was amiss. At first his eyelids twitched, afraid to meet face to face with the sun, but he sat upright to better protect them. There was sand all over his hair, and the most he could do was shake it off like a dog until he went back to the inn for a shower.

He quickly snapped out of his half asleep trance, feeling pretty well rested from the nap, and started to look around the beach. It was funny, but there was a girl all the way over there by herself. She looked a lot longer than he was, maybe even right out of high school. She had a weird look on her face; as if she was searching for something.

”Oy. Did you lose something?” He asked from where he was sitting, still not sure if he should go other and greet her. He didn’t want to look like a creeper, after all.

"Hm?" Kazu asked. So the stranger had woken up. "No, just looking at the ocean." she replied. "Becuase, well, it's a beautiful ocean. There's not another one like, so I try to get out and enjoy it when I get the chance. I won't see it forever, after all." Kazumi offered the man a smile. "I'm Kazumi, by the way. I don't believe I've seen you around here before."

Ray perked up at her explanation, understanding exactly what she was talking about. The ocean held so much in it, and most of his favorite childhood experiences were held right next to the ocean. To him, it was a very special place indeed. She seemed to think that he was the kind of guy that could be talked to, which made him feel a little better. He was getting tired of seeing grumpy faces around here, so he walked a bit closer to the girl—at an appropriate distance of course. He hated being weird, and since he was a guy, there were too many stereotypes that followed him.

”I get what you mean, it’s a special place. It’s funny how Mineral Town is such a long travel away, but it’s still the same ocean. “ Ray breathed in another good whiff of that salty air. Yep. It still smelled just as good as when he first came here.

”I’m Ray, and I don’t doubt that because I’m not from around here. I’m staying in Mineral Town for the time being.” He smiled back at the young girl, noticing that when she was sitting down she still looked like she was a bit taller than he was. To feel a bit taller, he kept standing up so he wouldn’t be forced to realize just how short he was.

”It’s funny how quiet this place is. Where I come from, the beach is a place where tons of people come around, even in the Spring. It’s pleasant though.” He had a toothy grin on his face, though he doubted Kazumi could see it if her gaze was so focused on the scenery.

Kazumi laughed. "You know, I've actually been to the beach in the winter before. I took off all that heavy-duty warm wear and just ran for as long as I could. Of course, I got a cold later, but the feeling was absolutely amazing." Kazu stood up and slammed her fist in her hand upon remembering something. "Oh hey, do you want to go swimming? I brought my swimsuit just in case, since It's been getting warmer out."

”Eh? In the Winter? You’re tough for a girl.” He chuckled, not expecting such a dainty looking thing to actually do something as carefree as that. Especially alone, which was pretty dangerous in the big city. Even he had to be cautious from time to time so he wouldn’t get mugged, since it happened to one of his friends in the middle of the day. Again, he extremely doubted that that would happen here, which was another reason why this place was so different and special.

”The beach can be a little boring in the winter, but I actually had a few bonfires out there before. It was so deserted, it was perfect.” He explained with a playful twinkle in his eyes, obviously fond of the memories he had. What he didn’t expect though was for this girl he just met to offer to go swimming with him…but it didn’t sound like a bad idea at all.

”I didn’t bring my swim suit…but I’ll go in anyways.” Ray did look a little unsure of himself, but he did have an extra pair of clothes in his room at the inn. He wasn’t expecting good swimming weather, so he left it at the inn room in Mineral Town since he basically lived there now. Ahhh. The confusion of inn hopping.

"Awesome!" Kazu said smiling. Kazumi proceeded to remove her jean shorts and her tank top to reveal her two-piece swimsuit. The bottom half was a black scort and the top half was a purple bikini top. "Right then, I'm ready when you are." She said.

Errm. He wasn’t expecting the girl to strip down in front of him. He looked at her for a second before realizing that he shouldn’t be watching, and bashfully turned his head to the side to give her some privacy. He didn’t actually think she had her swim suit on underneath, just that she was gonna run back to her house to change really quick. Well besides that catching him by surprise, he was still going to roll with the idea.

” Well of course I’m ready. I said I was going in with my clothes.” Ray chuckled as he suddenly raised his arms up in a ‘w00t w00t’ manner before running playfully into the water. Ah, he couldn’t help it. He was always a kid at heart.

”You’re a good swimmer, right?” He asked as he splashed into the deep end as quickly as he could. He simply loved being in the spot where he could hardly touch; it was safe, yet it felt so free and fun. Of course he was a great swimmer, why else would he love the ocean so much? But it was good to know these things before someone else got hurt.

Kazumi laughed and ran in after him. "Ya, I'd like to think so." she replied. She dove into the deeper waters and dove underwater. Then, she shot back up and smoothed her bangs out of her face. "Wow, it feels really good!" she exclaimed.

”That’s good. Then I guess it’s ok if I do…” His voice got mysteriously low for a second as his head ducked under the water. Only for a second though, to out of a random playful mood of his, and then he came back up and splashed a little water right at her. ”this!” He grinned, expecting to be splashed back in retaliation.

The sun shone all over him, taking away his vision as it was positioned right in the way of his eyes. Of course in any splash war, this was an incredibly disadvantage. He blocked the rays with his arm, but that meant less splashing power in the process. Goodness! Who knew playing in the water had to be so strategic!

Kazu laughed as she was splashed with water. Then, Kazu jumped on his back and messed up his hair. "You let your gaurd down!" she teased. Then, Kazumi dove back under the water and swam away, then popped back up, then went back down. She repated this process until she was at a rock sticking out of the water. Kauzmi sat upon it and shook her head like a dog, causing water to splatter everywhere.

Oh shoot, he wasn’t expecting this girl to actually leap on his back! He was dragged underneath because of her weight, but managed to kick back up for air with the aid of some extra kicking power. He shook his hair once he felt her hands ruffling through it as if she was a kid petting a dog the wrong way; it felt weird, but he was ready for some revenge.

”…you know, you could always just do the front stroke.” He commented with a raised eyebrow, thinking she was wasting a lot of breath in order to get to a nearby rock. Not wanted to be left behind, he started floating on his back and started kicking his way through the gentle ocean waves. He was constantly moving up and down because of the curl of the waves, but it was fun, like he was an apple bobbing up and down in the water.

”Heh, slow and steady always works though.” Ray admitted when he reached the rock, holding the ends of it tightly so he wouldn’t have to make an effort to swim. ”Huh. I wonder if I can touch from here. Be right back…”’ He held in a great glob of air and sunk into the ocean, attempting to swim as low as he could before his lungs ached in pain. He had been down there for almost a minute before he came up panting.

”N-Nope. T-That’s a good diving spot though.” He admitted, wondering if he should give diving a try. It’s been a while since he had actually managed to do something like that…

Kazu laughed. "But going up and down is more fun." She replied. Kazu slipped back into the cool ocean water. "We should hunt for sea glass and seashells. Oh, and crabs too." Kazumi said. "We'll have a contest to see who can collect the most. Just for the sake of competition, that is. Unless of course you want to bet something." Kazu wasn't a gambler, but she was all for games.

”…ehhh? Are Crabs even out at this time of year?” Ray had a quizzical expression as he looked right at the splash of water, where Kazumi quickly re-emerged. He thought about the challenge, not particularly feeling up for a random game like this, but the bet made things interesting. It’s been a while since he had fun like this, so why not loosen up and hear what the girl had to wager?

”Well…I guess I could. What kind of a bet do you have in mind?” Ray didn’t doubt that sea glass and sea shells would be too hard to find. The only thing was that the beach was a bit on the small side, so if they did go through with their little game, it was sure to end quickly. They’d also need a time limit of some sort, or some sort of boundary to mark the winner.

”How about the first person to find 10 different kinds of shells wins the bet?” He suggested, and then thought it would’ve been smart to explain that a bit more. ”Like, none can look really similar to the rest in your collection. Clams would count; if you manage to find one.” Ray used to find them all of the time as a kid, but they all looked the same…except for size.

Kazumi smiled and nodded. "OK." she said. "But first, I’ll race you back to shore." Kazumi dove underwater and started swimming towards the shore. 10 different kinds of seashells. She repeated in her mind. And I'll find some sea glass as well! Kazu came up for a breath of air, then dove back under.

Once he explained the goal of this contest, he was expecting a fair starting point at the beach, but this girl AGAIN surprised him with some silly game. A race to shore? Now how was he going to complete the first challenge if he was gonna be tired by the time he got there? Not wanting to disappoint anyone, he let out a small ”Hey!” as he chased after her. She had a good lead on him, but he was catching up. Halfway through the race to shore, when it looked like he was finally going to pass her, he simply gave up and started floating lazily on his back.

’Eh. Why waste that much effort when I know I’m not going to win…?’ Hey, bonus points for trying, right? He kicked a little to propel him to shore, where he finally reached the imaginary finish line. Bleh, he was more tired than he thought he would be.

”We really should know what the bet is before we start collecting anything.” He pointed out, half thinking about where he would find some good things to collect, and half thinking about a good bet idea. It would be mean to have her do anything embarrassing like do the chicken dance in the middle of town, so he needed something easier.
Then, he had it!

”If I win, you have to dye your hair pink for a week.” That sounded good, plus, it would be a bit funny to see more pink haired girls roaming around.

"Pink?" Kazumi asked, surprised. She had never thought about dieing her hair before; the thought was strange to her. 'Hm, well OK." she said shrugging. "But if I win, you have to be my friend." It was childish, sure, but Kazumi liked getting new friends. No amount of childishness would stop her from making new friends.

’…I thought I was your friend anyways, whether I liked it or not.’ Ray thought with a funny look on his face, but he did appreciate the sweetness of the gesture. He shook his head and chuckled, wondering if he should go easy on her because she was a girl. Not that girls liked that kind of stuff, or knowing that you were doing it, but maybe if he gauged her pace he would be able to match it to make it look like a close call.

”Fine, but you have to earn it fair and square.” He teased, standing up straight and folding his arms, smirking at Kazumi. As sweet as her suggestion was, he was kinda curious about seeing her with pink hair. He just didn’t feel like putting all of his time and energy into it, that’s all.

”On the count of three we start. Ready? One…two…three. Go!” He exclaimed as he started going straight for the point in the beach where the waves licked the golden brown sands. That was where he typically found shells, but he imagined that the cooler stuff was in the deeper end. But you’d need goggles or some good eyesight for that. He found a tiny clam shell, and one snail shell. Both weren’t all that pretty, but he had already started on his own pile, occasionally peeking at Kazumi to see what he was up against. His back started to get really cold from the spring air around him, even though he was wearing clothes. Shoot, he was gonna get a cold for this, wasn't he?