Description: Natsu and Sakura hop off the boat early, for a quick dip in the Zack Island surf before the camera crew can catch up.
"Can you believe it, Natsu-chan?!? A -tropical island-!!" Sakura giggles with glee, shading her eyes with her right hand as she stares at the surroundings. She hasn't embraced the tropical life fully yet--after all they just arrived and she hasn't changed. But the bright sun falls upon her sailor fuku, the breeze ruffles her skirt and blouse, and her Converse are actually well-suited to the sandy beach.
Her duffelbag, Ryu-issue but with a reinforced leather bottom, sits next to her, slumped over just like Ryu's does. It's still clean, the canvas not having earned the stains and scars of travel, but she'll put it through it's places. "Maaaaaaaaan.. this is gonna be -awesome-." Pause.
"... Hope Hinata's takin' good notes in class."
With her friend Kayoko back in action, the Gorin volleyball star actually has a bit of leisure time to step away and take part in an event like this. With 'field trip' and 'vacation' in equal measures, Natsu's glad to be out in the sunshine instead of stuck in some classroom watching the snow fall.
Still. Natsu's been around the world for Neo League, and has fought on a beach before, so the notion of a place that's sandy even in the winter is... well, it's not new. Plus, she's a bit more moderate than Sakura is -anyway-, so she's left laughing lightly at Sakura as she walks in, smiling cheerfully -- just without the overflowing enthusiasm of her longtime friend.
"... Yeah, we'll have to send her lots of pictures, I guess...? Maybe Brett's actually called her by now, hee-hee." Like Sakura, Natsu wore her school uniform, but of course she has her volleyball gym bag... Well, two of them, because clothes. She'd taken her shoes off as soon as the pair left the marina, though, and hung them by the laces over one shoulder.
"... I guess we're staying at the cottages, but it's still early yet. They're not supposed to open up till 3..." she wonders aloud, focusing more on the feel of the sand shifting beneath her feet.
Sure, Sakura's been on the beach before--though she hasn't fought on one yet--but the -setting-. A private tropical island is way different from Shirahama Beach, or Nanki Shirahama. Even if it isn't in a lot of ways. Sakura looks at her friend and teammate, as if she knows what Natsu's thinking--and then she laughs. "Yeah. Tons of pictures!" Speaking of which, Sakura pulls out her phone and starts snapping pics.
"Brett? Oh, that Pacific guy?" She hmms, tilting her head. Him and Hinata? She isn't sure about that... but.
"... well, maybe he has, I haven't talked to Hinata in a little while. Snap, snap snap. Man, these are some nice facilities.
"It's almost too bad we have to fight..." She trails off for a moment, then grins. "But not bad at all. This is gonna be -awesome-. The cottages? Yeah, but we're guaranteed a cottage already aren't we? So we don't have to go dump our stuff there yet. Let's hang out on the beach for a while!"
Natsu laughs as Sakura snaps off a few photos. "Maybe Hina-chan will get some free time this weekend and drop by, I'm sure she'll love it..."
As Sakura talks, Natsu seems to already be a few steps ahead of her. Unzipping her duffel, she withdraws a towel, draping it over her shoulder and the shoes. "... Um... yeah, he's kind of... adorably shy, but I keep telling him he'll have to run extra-fast to keep up with Hina-chan, you know? Maybe he'll pick up the pace..."
And while Sakura's off admiring the view, Natsu's already peeling off her school uniform. Seems Sakura's habit of wearing sport uniforms under her fuku is habit-forming as well: Natsu had prepared for this beach trip by donning her black two-piece racing suit. Dropping her duffel, she laughs, "I'd say the last one in the water's a rotten egg, but..."
But Natsu's already off running, not wanting to sacrifice an early lead to Sakura by mere words! PFOOOM! Sand clouds spill out from her feet -- can Sakura catch up with the long-legged Gorin athlete?!
"--hey!" Sakura frowns. _She_ didn't bring a towel... was gonna grab one from the cottage. Then again... Sakura hehs. "Yeah, he's gonna need more than hockey skates to keep up with -her-." Totally unironic, that statement, given how lively Sakura is. But hey. She watches Natsu get out of her school uniform and smirks.
"More prepared than I am, I guess--" she laughs, as Natsu takes off running. Catch up? Hell no. Natsu's got legs at least three times longer than Sakura is tall! Or, maybe that's an exaggeration. Still, Sakura doesn't hesitate in pulling her top off, revealing a maroon sports-bra type, and of course, matching bloomers once the skirt comes off. The shoes and socks are next and then Sakura takes off running.
Catch up? No way, but she'll do her best, running flat out, arms pumping up and down, her motions strong and fast but not wild, her form an economy of movement learned from hours upon hours of training.
Natsu doesn't even slow down when she runs into the surf, feet splashing as she enters the water. Running through the sand in Al-Mazmar was fun, but this? The tropical island -is- awesome, just like Sakura said.
She casts a quick glance back to Sakura, sticking her tongue out at Sakura! Biiih! And then she dives into the next oncoming wave, having a good ol' time.
Truthfully... she'd needed the vacation, after the chaos of the last few weeks. When she emerges from the water, she's sure to see Sakura not far behind -- and she'll be sure to give her longtime friend a splash when she gets into range! Beware!
"Saku-chan. I... really have to thank you and Hina-chan for getting me into this fighting thing. Not... y'know, not just for all -this-," she says, spreading her arms wide in demonstration. "But for the chance to experience everything for myself! It's... it's pretty eye-opening, really. To realize limitations, and work for a new goal. Is that what got you into this?"
Sakura takes the splash good-naturedly, recoiling as if hit by one of Natsu's volleyballs, then surfaces again and laughs. "I... mmm. Kinda?" She sounds a little puzzled, as if this is something she's analyzed herself but never really got to the core of.
"I mean, really all I knew was... I saw Ryu-san fighting on TV, and... I knew I had to try it myself. I mean," she says, as she rolls over, onto her back, backstroking lazily--certainly not as skilled as Natsu, but decent enough thanks to gym classes, "of course I'd seen other fights... can't live in Southtown without seeing 'em, right? But they'd never caught my eye that much until I saw Ryu-san fight. And I can't even explain it, it's just like--he inspired me."
"So I guess you really should thank him," she says, between swooshes of water lazily being pushed around, "because without Ryu-san, I wouldn't've gotten into this, and Hinata might not've, and without her, I'm not sure we could've convinced you to do it... and then..."
She lifts a hand and gestures around. "We'd never be here."
The boat had arrived ahead of schedule. The entire trip had been full of long, drawn-out explanations -- the price of free travel, apparently. The terms were simple: barring the need for personal needs, practically everything that the reality show participants do would be on camera, and would be subject to editing for later broadcast. Cameras would be everywhere, would see everything.
And the two Southtown schoolgirls had run off during a slow moment, when their handlers were busy occupied with other tasks like 'making sure the boat didn't run aground'. The two had jumped onto the dock before the ropes were even tied about their cleats!
But there they are. The cameramen, off in the distance. They may have lost track of the two girls, but their belongings are like a beacon -- and the splashing definitely set off warning bells.
Natsu, though, is paying more attention to her friend, snickering as the ocean waves roll into Sakura, disturbing whatever zen state she could hope to be achieving by floating lazily on her back. She'd better be lucky this island has some sandbars to nerf some of the intensity out of the anything-but-peaceful Pacific waves. "I'll be sure to thank him, then. Maybe I'll put in a good word for you if I see him," she answers, a sunny smile on the girl's face.
She happens to spot the cameramen off in the distance at that point, raising a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun. A wave slams into her back, forcing her to step forward to keep her balance, but she gives a small, near-mirthless chuckle. "... Ah. I'd almost forgotten. What do you think about those guys following us around everywhere? You ready for 'em?"
Sakura rolls with the waves, rather than going down burbling. It takes a few seconds--well, maybe more like ten--but she comes back up and looks in the direction of the cameramen, then offers a cheery wave. "I guess," she says to her friend, glancing off at the cameramen still, straightening up and bobbing in the water as she treads it.
"I mean, it's not that weird... if you think about it, nowadays there's cameras -everywhere-, nowadays. But you're kinda right, having cameras focused explicitly on us is gonna be kind of strange." Sakura turns to face Natsu and grins her trademark grin.
"I bet Shoma's gonna be watching a lot," she teases. She fully expects that bringing up -that- name is going to get her splashed again, so she's already mentally preparing for it, even as she continues. "Hmm... looks like it's maybe 3pm now. Maybe we should head back in and go to the cottages? I'm getting kind of hungry and we should find out what our food options are while we're here, y'know?"
If anyone but Sakura or Hinata were to give her that kind of remark, it'd result in two discolored faces: Natsu's, from blushing, and whoever said it, from bruising. Suffice to say, Sakura getting another tsunami splash from the volleyballer is getting off easy.
"I know, I know..." laments Natsu, once Sakura can hear her again. "But I never know what to say on camera! All I can do is just stand there and look silly, and all people are gonna say is, look at that tall girl and how goofy she looks!"
The camera crew has already set up their tripods, already started filming. Ayuhara smirks back at her friend. "Well, here it starts." And then the tall girl fulfills her chosen persona -- flashing a goofy smile back at the camera, and waving like a loon. Yeah, that's a shot that'll end up on the first episode, for sure...
Log created on 19:29:33 01/29/2015 by Natsu, and last modified on 19:04:51 02/01/2015.