Log o10.

[chidori]

WHO: Kaname Chidori, Duo Maxwell, Heero Yuy, Macua Huitl, Meiya Mitsurugi, and Johnny Domino.
WHAT: BEACH TRIP!
WHEN: June 12th.
MISSION: Volleyball!
WATCH OUT FOR: Garish swimsuits.

Kaname Chidori stands on the edge of the beach, a hand pulled up to her brow to shield her eyes from the sun. It's perfect beach-going weather. Things couldn't possibly be more perfect. Except for one thing--

Kaname glances over her shoulder, at the group gathering behind her: Meiya, Macua, Johnny, CC, Duo, and a dark-haired boy she doesn't recognize, most of them carrying bags and towels.

But one person is absent. One very important person. And it was for this very important person she had bought the two-piece she was currently wearing... though she'd likely never admit it.

She wears an open yellow windbreaker over her her top, and blue jean shorts over her bottom. Her hair, usually loosely tied back with a red ribbon is pulled back into a a tight ponytail at the back of her head. Under her free arm, she holds a watermelon for them to break open when the mood strikes.

"This place looks good," she says, lowering the watermelon to the beach below. Though she'd carried it this far without complaint, the watermelon was surprisingly /heavy/.


Oh my god. Is that ...

Yes.

Cecil Ciele is walking along by the group on the beach; he's rather short compared to them, but his wear more than makes up for it. The boy's swimwear fits snugly -- almost skintight -- against his flat body, leaving little to imagination. It's one of those old-fashioned 1920s swimsuits that men would wear; it's patterned with wide, loud, and awfully garish lemon yellow and black stripes. His hair is loose. He's carrying a pink towel over one shoulder.

He squints up at the sun. "... Hmm."

Cecil Ciele is also wearing a pair of sweet shades. B)


A boy wears near nothing, skintight striped swimsuit. Meanwhile, Heero trails slowly, a towel on him, but the muscle shirt and shorts that he usually wears still worn. Her stares towards Duo, and at the others.

Federation. He could kill them before they would know who was with them. Although.. perhaps Johnny would recognize him. He at least recognizes him. From the BBQ. From the Con.

Heero follows after, slowly, wearing sandals.. and just. Doesn't. Speak.


"AHHHHHHHHHHhhhh I can't wait to put all this down!" Duo sighed out aloud, leaning foward with his hands full and on his back a backpack-- with a laptop safely nestled within it. Yes, he brought a laptop to the beach, it was his own fault he'd neglected to come up with some solutions to homework due for the coming day. He took school seriously when he was playing student, more or less. It was tough balancing being a 'terrorist' and regular student while doing research.

But back to the beach thing. He'd forgotten his trucker-hat, squinting down through the sun where his shades were tauntingly just out of reach-- holding back his bangs from his eyes. Decked in more fashion friendly simple white shirt and three-quarter swimming trunks of tropical ocean blue and orchid prints, he turned with a scowl. "You know you /COULD/ have helped me out with some of this?!" Hollering at Heero where he ambled away on some private mission or the other. "Oh sure, ignore me!" Then lowly, "Jerk. Why did you even bother to come, I swear..." the rest dissolving into a grumble.



Meiya Mitsurugi walks along the beach in her own swimsuit, as opposed to say, wearing someone else's, which would be weird. And her own windbreaker, not the one Kaname is wearing, because that would be especially weird. She's carrying her own towel and bag of beach things.

She glances back at Duo as he starts raving "Uhm... I would have carried sometihng if you said anything sooner."


When Kaname told Johnny Domino that she and her friends were going to the beach, Domino promptly announced that he was going to join them. The fact that Johnny's announcement wasn't immediately followed by an argument either meant that Kaname didn't care, or it meant she was planning on inviting Domino to begin with. Who can tell?

Clad in a white t-shirt, shorts and sandals, Johnny walks alongside the group. He does not recognize Heero, nor does he feel an urge to claw his eyes out at Cecil. The reason is simple: Domino finds about everything else on the beach far more interesting than Kaname's group of friends.

Over here, a bunch of girls dashing through the sand and giggling. Over there, a kid playing tag with the waves lapping the shore. And over yonder -- IT'S AN ICE-CREAM VENDOR! YES!!

Johnny's eyes dart across the scenery, taking all these details in with silent enthusiasm. A little fun in the sun is exactly what the young man needs. As Kaname stops, Johnny similarly comes to a halt. He hoists the bat he's been carrying all along, waves it in the air, and announces with a big grin, "I claim this spot! Come near and I'll bash your heads in!"


Macua was looking forward to the beach time given how things had gone earlier that week. She cant really talk about it to her friends. Still their company would be a welcome distraction to her life as it is right now. Shes wearing a wind breaker over her own swim suit but just as pair of shorts over the bottoms.

Shes got a beach bag slung over one shoulder likely carrying something for the beach aside from her towel. Perhaps some food or drinks? Given her connections she is prone for having non Japanese food items to bring to various get together, like this one.

Then she spots her friends she calls out and waves. "Hey! Meiya! Kaname!" Then she stares its been a very long time since shed seen or even heard a peep of Duo. "Duo! Cecil, Johnny! " Her world about ends when she notices Heero here? Was he actually to relax?


Okay, so maybe they were a pretty weird group to all be gathering at the beach. The shota, the tsundere, the goofball, the loud-mouth, the rich girl, and the human experiment, all gathered in one place to swim, play volleyball, and eat some watermelon.

She drops her towel on the beach, which until now had been tucked under her arm, right next to the watermelon; she's about to kneel down to spread it out when Johnny abuses his bat privileges, and brandishes it like a weapon.

Kaname's reaction is immediate; in one swift gesture, a harisen is brought down upon Domino's head. "Do you want everyone on this beach to think that we're /weirdos/?!"

As if the entire beach didn't think that the ragtag group of teenagers weren't weird already.

With a sigh, Kaname spreads out her towel and sits down. Johnny /seems/ cheerful enough, she supposes. But she'll still keep an eye on him.

She turns her head to face Duo. "Why do you have all that stuff, anyway?" she asks, pointing at his backpack. "Don't you think it's a little excessive?"



"......" Heero turns towards Duo, looking at him, silently staring. It only lasts for so long. "I'm merely attempting to blend in." He claims, to Duo as he walks off, letting Duo take everything back. He doesn't understand it all completely, and even though there are a rather few hot women around, Heero doesn't find any of them interesting, just glancing at the group.

Her, as well. That soldier that was so heavily on their belief of right from wrong. He turns from Macua, walks towards the water.

Leaving Duo alone, Heero stands, somewhat overdressed, within calf high water, staring out aimlessly.

What an exciting life Heero leads.



"It's just asking to get wet," Cecil remarks on Duo's pack, idly wrapping a lock around one finger and twirling it around momentarily while he scans the area. He removes his shades then, looking a little sick. He has no idea who most of these people are -- and there's something about Heero -- that boy's got the eyes of a killer. Like his.

He turns to the approaching Macua. "-- Hello," he greets, as calm as usual.

The blonde-haired boy gives Johnny a sharp look until Kaname slaps him with a fan; satisfied, he starts to walk out, feeling the sand between his toes. He hates it.


The beach was a good place to kick back and enjoy life. When a man wasn't using the blade of his soul to cut down those who challenge him, he was tempering it in the relaxation of a job well done. The Devil King was on his own, leaning back in a beach chair and sipping on a Sapporo. Life was pretty damn grand for Kamina right now. The leader of Team Gurren presses his shades to his face, grinning like there was no tommorow.

"Ugh...what the hell is that guy wearing."

"Mommy. That man is scaring me."

"It's okay dear. Lets go to the other side of the beach."

Kamina looks up with a grunt, wondering what the hell was the problem. "Tch..."

He reaches down and scratches the problem. Rather than wear a contemporary bathing suit, Kamina is currently wearing a flame red Fundoshi with a flame over the sac area. There is even text on it: "Real Men Fight With Heart."

Kamina continues to relax.


Duo shook his head at Meiya, sucking in a deep breath as he huffed the rest of the short distance to where Kaname had picked out their spot on the sandy beach. "Nah," he served Heero one last scathing glare before he continued, "that guy just gets on my nerves no matter what sometimes. I'll be fine! Just he could learn to offer sometimes, you know?" Blending in was it? Phah! Heero, Heero, it would only work if he had a bow in his hair, wore a skirt and his lastname was Peacecraft right?

Depositing the goods, the teenager didn't even bother tossing a towel down, he just collapsed into the sand with his arms thrown high above him, stretching his back out. Crack. Ow. "Huh--?" His backpack. "No /it's not/!" Finding himself almost snapping at the fashion-failure Cecil. If his precious laptop ended up in the ocean, he...He might do something drastic! Don't be fooled by his slender and short composition! Duo was a /deadly/! Like...a /Deathgod/!...Y..yeah.

"I have to play catch up, and I figure the beach was as good a place as any. It's calming out here..." He was about to say quiet, but Duo may have to reassess that shortly. Shrugging, he gently sought to detach the backpack from himself. "If I get the chance anyways." He didn't know this Johnny fellow, when he was a regular at the highschool the guy wasn't around. Trusting wasn't something he did automatically, but if Kaname favoured him...He'd reserve judgement till later. Which reminded him.

"Say, where /is/ Sousuke anyways." His tone mild and mischevious. Johnny was the replacement? Saved everyone else the abuse! Er, attentions!

WAUGH! Harisen'd!

Domino turns heated eyes on Kaname, rubbing the back of his head following the assault. "So what if they do?!", he demands, then bites back on a potentially venomous comment. Johnny's here to have fun, darn it. He will not be roped into an argument with Kaname, no matter how hard the girl tries to bait him.

Which is also why Domino doesn't smack Kaname with his blunt instrument. Yeah, that would've showed her. She thinks she's so mighty with her paper fan... well, Domino's carrying a WOODEN BAT! But no, no, Johnny does not stoop to such wanton violence. Instead he waits for Kaname to turn around, then proceeds to stick out his tongue at her back.

Yeeeaaah, and this guy is, what? One year older than Kaname? Two years?

No matter. There's watermelon to be had... and if Johnny understands things correctly, he needs to smash the thing open. NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT!

"Hookay then, step back, this will leave a stain!" Domino prepares to smoosh the poor veggy-fruit, unaware that there's some sort of creepy Japanese tradition involving a blindfold when it comes to stiff bats and juicy melons.


Meiya waves to Macua then looks at Duo "Oh well..." Then she hears Kaname and Johnny beginning to argue, and looks skyward, as if asking for God to give her strength.

"Ah, Johnny... It's too soon for that."


Macua looks at the others for a moment before she just laughs at Duo a little bit. "Well good to see you Duo, you seem you haven't changed? "He had shift at work today and couldn't make it." The poor guy kept getting swamped by work. At least he had a sane normal job right?

She grins at Kaname and Meiya and just shkaes her head at Johnny. They were here for fun, right?

"Now how about we get better dressed for the beach hummm?"

Just as shes about to take off her shorts and wind breaker thats when Cecil greets her.

She pauses with the windbreaker half way off looking at the boy and the relic of a swimsuit he has on.

"Oh hey Cecil."


Kaname's eyes follow Heero as he makes his way out into the ocean; were he and Sousuke separated at birth, or something? 'I'm merely attempting to blend in' sounded exactly like something the boy soldier would say.

But before Kaname can further deliberate the boy's origins, Duo offers an explanation.

"Catch up?" There's confusion at first, and then recognition lights up her face. "Oh, you're still taking classes via correspondence, right?" Like a strangely high number of students these days.

Just the mention of Sousuke is enough to turn Kaname's neutral expression into a full-fledged scowl. "How am I supposed to know where that military maniac is, anyway?! If he doesn't want to come, then /fine/! I didn't want him here to begin with!"

Thankfully, Kaname hasn't noticed Kamina. YET.


Looking back to Duo, Heero glances around at Macua, and then the smaller boy, Cecil. He has to keep them all in sight.

"He's probably nearby, or deemed this as unimportant, busy with other things." He doesn't even care that Kaname is unhappy to the extreme and is yelling about it, wondering where it is. As Johnny gets ready to smash the melon, Heero does his best existing expression as he wanders back over to Duo.

"So you've met quite a bit of people..." And that seems to be the end of it for Heero and saying things, except.. for a small bit. "That will get in the way when they eventually oppose us. Unless you think you can kill them."

After all, Heero's helping Karaba, and not one of these people support it.



Cecil blinks cooly at Duo 'shootin skulls' Maxwell. "-- Whatever you say, then."

He doesn't know who this 'Sousuke' is or why he's important, but he does turn his attention to Johnny then, the yellow-and-black clad boy deciding to step in by the watermelon, arms planted on either side of his hip.

"... Aren't you a little old to be hanging around high-schoolers?"


Appearing out of nowhere, Kamina approaches the group of high school kids. He doesn't realize he's dressed...oddly? However, the group now knows that Kamina has alot of tattoos, as there isn't much his suit leaves to the imagination. He strokes his chin, eyeing Kaname with a raised brow. "Don't I know you?" He raises his orange shades and scans her face, not really checking her out.


Oh, was someone planning on stopping Domino from smashing the watermelon prematurely? Anyone? No?

TOO LATE NOW!

Johnny swings the bat and utterly crushifies the defenseless veggy-fruit. A loud, wet noise erupts - the watermelon's dying breath. Delicious goo sprays from where Johnny's blunt instrument has struck. No one who is standing (or sitting) in close proximity to the watermelon gets spared. /Especially/ Duo.

Oh, look, and there's Kamina. Once again proving he has Awesome Timing(c), the leader of the Gurren Brigade may find himself bathed in the sweet juices secreted by Domino's assault.

Johnny stands, arms rigid, bat plunged deep into the shattered watermelon. The front of his shirt, as well as his face, drip red. He blinks, his eyes like two blue pearls floating in a pond of blood. He turns to look at Cecil following the younger man's question... and just STARES at him, smiling wildly.


Cecil's face, meanwhile, has abruptly been splattered in sticky, sugary fluid.


"You must be some kind of loser," the boy adds, not even missing a beat.


Somewhere along the way Duo had sized up the immeadiate area, and all those nearby in a fashion that was more habit than anything else. Each person's location was filed away in the back of his mind, and then dismissed for the time being since, well. He wasn't /expecting/ to have to dodge around and avoid being shot in the face, or stepped on by some mobile suit. Ofcourse, times ere unpredictable! Who was to say what could happen. Like. Exploding watermelons?

"Me, change? HA!" Digging around his backback, he flashed Macua a devious grin, "Why change what's already perfect right?" Ohhh, yeah. He waved with a hand dismissively, "I know how it can be." Work getting in the way of well, everything. And that brought it right back to Kaname's comment about his classes. Pausing in his hunt for external drive, he made a small face.

/Flashback/

The brown-haired youth sat on the lisp of the cockpit, busy typing away at a small laptop furiously, checking his watch several times. The Deathscythe stood for the moment still, though the faint hum of electricals running hinted that it was infact powered up, and ready. Wires hung from parts of it, monitoring readouts-- and on the screen was an open notepad titled : Socities Changing Roles of Youth In The Last Fifty Years. An end of term paper due, also over ten pages long. It was due in a couple hours, and just one more paragraph--

"Hey Duo, we're going to check the hydraulics on the lower stablisers, just give us the right!"

"What?" Snapping out of it, he looked down.

"We're testing!"

"OH yeah one second right," He slipped back leaving the laptop where he'd been sitting, leaning for the controls.

"What, RIGHT? OK!"

"Eh--" The Gundam jerked into movement, Duo went sliding, and so did the laptop...sailing merrily on down where it crashed with heart-splitting finality.

/Now.../

Duo had faint tears in his eyes with the memory. He got marked lowly for failing to comply in a timely fashion. Drifting off in his own world he said to himself, "It's ok buddy...I forgive you..."

But wait this was about teasing Kaname. "Sorry sorry! My bad, it's not like you're his girlfriend..." Ahem, "Why should you know..." Do your work Johnny and save Duo from retaliation.

"Hey hey, I know my duties." Shooting back at Heero, he frowned a little, then looked back at the group with a thoughtful skew to his features WHEN--

"..................." /Drip/.


Kamina's muscular figure is struck by the assault of sticky, sugary fluid. He spits out some of it, still looking at Kaname. "Hmmm"

The Camera shows a close up of the front of his fundoshi....Girls on the internet rejoice.


Johnny stops smiling at Cecil's final remark. "Hey, kid," he says a little ticked off. "I'm not the one with red all over my face."

HMMMMM...


Johnny may feel like his soul was slipping away, like someone had walked over his grave. Surely he would normally associate this with a terrible look from Kaname...

Instead, it's coming from Meiya, as she silently fumes and glares at Johnny hard enough to make Gundarium wither.

He scored a full hit on her new bathing suit.


It takes a minute for Kaname to place that face to memory, but when she does--

"Oh, it's /YOU/," she says sharply. Kaname is not quick to forget, or forgive. But before she can say anything more, she's interrupted by the sharp crack of wood against watermelon.

And it is Kamina's reappearance, Duo's 'carefully-chosen' words about a certain boy-soldier combined with a sudden surge of watermelon juice and slush that has just /rained down/ all over her hair, her new swimsuit, and her things that sends Kaname stumbling off the deep end.

Kaname twitches slightly, her fists tightly balled at her side.

Then wordlessly, she gets up, sidesteps past Kamina, and walks away.


Kamina watches Kaname step past, eyeing her butt. He grins and whistles. The beach was an awesome place to be. Kamina pulls at the string holding the suit to his ass, adjusting it because the thing is itchy. He looks over at Cecil, crossing his arms. He gives the boy a nod which could inspire a snail to scale a mountain...Mostly because Gainax is using its Lensflare budget this episode.


Cecil pauses as he sees a shadow cast from his peripheral vision and turns away from Johnny -- he doesn't have anything to say to the man, given that what he himself said was /true/.

He licks a bit of watermelon juice off of his lips -- and then raises a towel cooly, wiping his face. The blonde-haired pilot squints as he is now faced with a wall of Kamina in front of him.

"... What?"

Not to mention Meiya looks angry and Kaname is so much that she just up and left.


With the greeting to Cecil over and the young boy moved on she finishes pulling off her windbreaker and then quickly gets off her shorts. Under it is her bikini the blue one she bought when she was out shopping for swimsuits with Meiya and Kaname a while ago.

"if thats the way your going to play Duo. You might just end up for a swim like that!" She grins widely pondering sending Duo for a little flight into the water sometime before the day is done. The thoughts are distracted by the arrival of Kamina. She remembers the slumber party all too well.

As for Heero she just tilts her head a bit, shes got no real hostility towards Karaba but shes with the AEUG and very suspicious about the fact that Karaba has been given a Venom unit by someone. But she doesn't focus on the unit class Gaurons infamous for. Its more about they might be under the manipulations of someone else.

Shes just here to relax and forget for a little bit and shes not going to poke Heero at all. Kamina gets a bit of a glare, if he causes trouble, it will not end well for someone here. Shes got no idea who though. She glances over to Meiya now.

"Hey Meiya? How do you get your hair to stand."

She sees Kaname starting to stalk off after Kamina showed up, she drops her bag into the sand and tries to chase after her friend. "Hey! Kaname! Wait up!" She can't help both at once hopefully with Kaname calmed down she can then help Meiya?


Duo is horrified. He held his hands out at his side, watching the muck just ooze on off and drop to the sand, his precious backpack wasn't even spared the veritable fruity assault. And his hair, did anyone have any /idea/ how much time it took to keep his hair in workable order? Now he'd be finding not only sand, but watermelon seeds for the next week. "Why did I even think this was going to be a 'normal' day at the beach?" Speaking to himself, he massaged his fingers into his temples.

Kaname's rapid departure was noted in due course, though Duo didn't run to give chase. Oh /no/. He had business between his legs, that meant he was open to more pain than any of the other girls if they dared! He'd sit where he was thanks! "I didn't do it..." Well, he didn't /alone/! His argument fell to no one's ears in particular.


Meiya just turns on her heel and storms after Kaname, the pair of tem are like two tropical storms off the coast of Florida just ready to hit land as twin typhoons.


Johnny Domino hmph's at Cecil, turning back to his delightful handiwork. The watermelon is going to taste that much better with Johnny knowing he scored the kill.

Unless somebody scores Johnny as a kill before the young man gets the chance to have a final meal?!

Kaname stands up. Somewhere, somehow, deep down, Domino knows that this means something BAD. Couple that with the glare Meiya is giving him, and Johnny is overcome by a sudden primal desire to flee. Which, naturally, means that Johnny ends up doing the exact opposite - freezing in place like a deer caught in headlights.

Kaname storms past. Meiya storms past. Macua walks past.

...maybe they're like a T-Rex, and couldn't see Domino because he stayed still. Sloooowly, Johnny relaxes. He reaches down, nabs a pieces of watermelon and begins nibbling nervously. His face might be directed at the ocean, but his eyes are screwed sideways, staring at the departing girls. Man, that was a close call.

Nibblenibble.


Everything seemed so much simpler before everything that happened her second year of high school; before the class trip when she'd been kidnapped, before Sousuke Sagara unceremoniously stumbled into her life, the biggest problem she had to really worry about was what brand of curry mix to buy at the grocery.

But as time went on, more problems cropped up. Some were serious, like worrying about the well-being of a number of friends who all piloted giant robots and dealt with issues that were probably far beyond her understanding; others were less serious, like the problems Sousuke caused at school on the regular basis.

Occasionally, all she really wanted was a break from all that /trouble/, to just get away from it all and relax like a normal high school student the way she did /before/ her second year. But somehow, things always ended up messed up. If it wasn't a bomb detonating in the school locker room, it was the Gurren Brigade barging into her apartment in the middle of a slumber party that had apparently been infiltrated by an tentacle monster-gone-magical girl.

And today, it happened to be Johnny Domino, smashing a watermelon without /any/ consideration for anyone else around him. She'd been worried about him; he had been acting a little weird during their last study session. When she extended the invitation to him as well, his agreeability had all but confirmed her suspicions: something was wrong.

But Johnny made these things so /difficult/.

From behind her, she hears a set of footsteps, and then another; Macua's voice rings out and Kaname turns around.


"I sure wouldn't want to be in your shoes." Duo called on over to the deer-ified Domino. "That's three verses one." He didn't turn his head, trying to scoop off the majority of the watermelon with a mildly irritated yet resigned slowness. "Ordinarily I'd take those odds, but not with /those/ three." Just passin' conversation on your green mile 'friend'. Now that Heero had opted to engross himself with a stranger, he refused to involve himself with the kind of worry that one could induce. He hoped there were no explosives anywhere on his fellow Gundam pilot, but Duo bet /somewhere/ under his clothes was atleast one weapon. Just one.

The teenager studied his backpack for a long moment, then just closed it and moved it aside. Who was he kidding, there'd be no work done today.


And all Meiya would like is to know what being normal /is like/. It's like her attempts just drag out the weirdness...

Never mind that her house has four maids and they're all NINJAS. Maybe she really is too far removed from normal to understand it.

Her anger though is starting to abate "Come on, I saw showers up on the hill..."

Kamina looks down at Cecil. There has been a long silence. A cold wind blows by as they continue to stare at one another. Kamina's eye begins to twitch. "Tch...Creepy kid." He begins to walk away, noticing Heero's gaze. "...." There is another staring contest...This time ending when a strong wave hits Kamina in the back and smashes into his butt. His eyes widen before before he is swept into the water. "GUH!!"


Cecil stares.

Then he turns around, sighing deeply -- raising his arms behind his head to stretch as the party's been rained on in the form of Johnny Domino. He throws the man another look before he just sort of tosses his watermelon-soaked towel over his shoulder and starts to turn. "... Hnn. What a disappointment."


Heero turns to Kamina. The world moves. Clouds float by. Things happen.. but Heero and Kamina stay staring.

And that's when Kamina is hit by a wave. Heero does not smile, but instead, turns back to Meiya and Cecil. Although. He is talking to Kamina.

Odd, perhaps. "So. You're part of the Gurren Brigade." Heero starts, "I hadn't noticed before - the beastmen as they call them. Yet with that threat, you're still here.." He notes, still looking away. "How do you do it?"


She had had no life a year ago, this was about the time she started remembering strange things other than the day to day grind of her experiments, combat drills and training. Which eventually lead to her fleeing the attackers until shed been saved by Garrods intervention

It had been pure chance shed met Kaname just when shed needed a friend like her to ground her a bit more in reality than shed otherwise have been. Shes worried about her friend as she tries to catch up with Meiya and Kaname.

Macuas life was normal once she cant remember those days well. The strange life she has now is all she knows.

"Look Meiya! Kaname! Look I dont know whats got Johnny being an jerk. For Kamina he was just born that what but it doesn't excuse either of them!" She clenches her first.


With the girls at a safe distance (safe for Domino), Johnny turns to Duo. "There are witnesses around, they wouldn't try anything."

."..maybe.."

Johnny shivers. He isn't even sure what he did wrong, other than possibly splattering the girls with goo. Speaking of which - Domino looks down at his shirt. The sun has already started drying the watermelon juice and turning it into a highly uncomfortable sticky concoction.

"Eugh."

Leaving the bat and disemboweled watermelon behind, Johnny steps into the ocean. Yes, let the pristine clean ocean waters cleanse Johnny of this filth.


Leave it to Heero to come all the way out here, and to talk shop. That was the last thing Duo wanted to think about, why if he was planning on pullin' out the moves he'd have parked the Deathscythe in some truck nearby, ready to hoof-it too for some scythin' action. Instead he was out here, hot, sticky, and becoming more and more attractive to flies by the second. Johnny had it right, as he watched the other guy move on off to the water.

With a last glance to where the three girls had gone, his expression unreadible, he kicked off his flip-flops, tugged off his shirt, and ambled on down to the water himself. It might be safer out here, and this way he could dive underwater if the wimmen' folk looked to be fixin to get them thar men collared up.

Or something. Look, the point is he nolonger had flies wafting about his head, and it was relaxingly cool in the water. He sank below the surface and rose just high enough to have his nose and eyes peering over the gently undulating waves.

Peace. And Quiet.


Kaname nods, trying her best to brush the clumps of watermelon off of her; it's gross and sticky--and the weather just makes the sensation all the worse.

"You know, I don't know why we can't all behave like adults," Kaname says, waving a hand. "I know I don't ever have to worry about you guys, but when it comes to people like Sousuke and Johnny, if they don't manage to screw everything up before the end of the day, it's practically a /miracle/."

Once they reach the showers, the windbreaker and shorts are discarded temporarily. After a moment underneath the cool spray of water, Kaname can feel her frustration abating, if only a bit.


While the girls get all serious in the showers, Johnny has the best beach day ever. He gets out of the water to dry in the sun, buys himself ice-cream, then sits down to build a sand castle.


Kamina groans in discomfort. Cold water was not a good thing down there. The Gurren Brigade's leader stands, looking down at Heero as he talks to him. He raises a brow, listening to his question. "What the hell do you mean kid?! You don't ask why or how! You just stands up and punch anyone who gets in you or your friend's way. You stand up and deliver the fire that lives in your soul!! YOU DO THE IMPOSSIBLE AND KICK REASON TO THE CURB! Heh, thats how it's done."

He ruffles Heero's hair like he is some kinda kid. A very serious kid. Probably one of those ones like Rossiu. Poor kid needed to get a couple of beers in him.


Meiya takes off her own windbreaker and unties her hair, letting it fall down from it's usual ponytail, then steps into the shower. "Johnny..." she sighs. "I don't think really understands what goes on in other people's minds."


"Of course he doesn't," Kaname says, turning the faucet off. "If he had any idea how other humans /act/, do you really think he'd behave the way he does?"

She lets out a sigh.

"In any case," she says, gripping a tightened fist, "There's no way I'm going to let the first day on the beach of the summer of my last year in high school be ruined by this! I'll have fun without the both of them!"

Who the both of them are, Kaname neglects to say. She does, however, storm with a newfound determination back to the patch of beach unceremoniously claimed for them by Johnny Domino.


Macua makes a slight slip without thinking about it at Meiyas comment.

"It could be worse one could latterly know the feelings of another. Sometimes its good other timesyoud wish you were just a plain old type unable to feel such things. There are just times I hate when it happens to me."

Oh crap that was a royal screw up there. Shes not quite realised her mistake yet. "Who knows what drive them to it. There are people who are far more broken. Isnt most of Sagaras antics is because hes worried about you Kaname? Hes just a bit umm clueless about some things."

"Lets go get clea."

She then realises what she just let slip oh this could be bad maybe Meiya wouldnt notice?


Focused entirely on Kamina, Heero looks to him now as he speaks. He's silent, for the most part. Those who know Heero knows that he is a very focused boy. Shop talk. Constant work. Refusal to take himself into the equation for an end to violence, or rather, survival.

What the hell does he mean!? The question, unanswered. Don't let anyone in the way. Deliver the fire that lives in his soul. Kick reason to the curb. Normally, Heero is a violent soul, and his clothing hides a gun, as well as a small explosive, in case.

His hair is RUINED.

"Acknowledged." Heero simply accepts. "The future cannot be obtained if you adhere to the rules set in place."

Kamina's hand, however, may have a cut... /due to hair/.


Cecil pauses from where he was about to walk off -- the boy is standing on top of a little dune (which is, in hindsight, probably some person buried in the sand but whatever). His horribly garish suit makes him stand out like a sore thumb.

All he knows is that he sees Kaname and the other girls coming back.


Meiya looks at Macua for a moment, blinks, then turns off her showerhead. "Well... Maybe highschool will get Johnny to grow up a little." she turns to follow after Kaname. The remark about 'those two' makes her sigh a little.


Sometimes she wonders! With Sousuke, it's hard to differentiate what's 'his duty', and what isn't. For all she knows, she's simply just 'work' to him. Considering how obsessed he's been with it recently, it's entirely possible.

She heads over to the group's set of towels, but finds the area vacated. A quick glance around and she spots Cecil standing on the edge of a dune, and Duo in the ocean behind him. Johnny is also spotted in the distance, but Kaname disregards him with a huff, and turns her attention back to the pale-haired junior high student.

"You want to come swimming, Cecil?"

Swimming, it seems, is next on the agenda.


Kamina eyes his hand with a raised brow. That guy had some pretty sharp hair. Or maybe he had some kinda shark in his hair. The leader of the Gurren Brigade listens to Heero's answers and blinks. "Eh?! THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN!? I didn't say that at all! YOU NEED TO PUT YOUR HEART AND SOUL INTO IT. DON'T JUST NOT CONFORM, FIGHT THE POWER!!!"


Cecil regards that.

He hops off of the dune, head pulled to the side and eyes closed as if attempting to disperse his pure disgust at the situation. "... I suppose. There's still some watermelon in my hair."


He thinks he understands Kamina.

Then he tells him to PUT HIS HEART AND SOUL into it.

Heero does not understand these concepts. "I am fighting." Heero glares at Kamina, staring. "My life has been the least important thing.. and no matter the risks, I never let them decide what course of action to take."

"I don't need to put my heart or soul into either... because otherwise I might make the same mistake again." More glaring. Heero.. goes away from the water?! Clearly, so angry, he stands at the edge of the water, staring at Duo.


And Kaname makes her way into the ocean; the first step of two, the ocean feels cool. But once she's in past her waist, it quickly warms up.

She hasn't been to the beach since last year. Strange how her group of friends has changed and grown over the past year. But some things still remain the same; she glances at Meiya and Macua, still on the beach, before turning back to Duo.

"Why are you out here all by yourself? Why aren't you out there with your friend?" She nods her head towards the mysterious dark-haired boy, who appears to be conversing with the leader of the Gurren Brigade.


Narrowing his eyes, Duo from his partially submerged zen-state spotted the other Gundam pilot stomp in his direction and halt at the shores edge. Slowly...very slowly...he sank under water from view.../blurb/.


Kamina listens to Heero further. With each word about how disposable he was, Kamina begins to become more and more aggravated. He narrows his eyes as he sees this guy continues not to get it. He might fight but he is doing it all wrong. He is one of those robots...Like Rossiu. The leader of the Gurren Brigade grinds his teeth as Heero begins to leave. "THAT'S IT! GRIND YOUR TEETH!!!!" Kamina suddenly throws a sucker punch toward Heero's head, without warning. He somehow puts an epithony into his punch. He snarls loudly. "DON'T GIVE ME THAT CRAP ABOUT YOUR LIFE BEING NOTHING. YOU THINK THAT AND YOU ALREADY LOST! AS LONG AS YOU KEEP STANDING, YOU CAN KEEP FIGHTING! YOU CAN KEEP DOING WHAT YOU DO! THE SECOND YOU FALL DOWN BECAUSE YOU THINK YOU CAN DIE IS THE SECOND YOU LOSE! YOU FIGHT UNTIL YOU FALL DOWN! NOTHING LESS! GET IT?!"

Kamina stands over Heero, ready for whatever this kid has next. "You don't get it at all!...Now, did that open your eyes?"


Macua Huitl is game for swimming and she looks at Meiya her hair's down and she says "Actually I don't think we di...." She pauses. "Apparently we did get one! Come on to the water!" Macua breaks off from her friends as she tries to get to the water now.

Shes lagging behind Cecil and Kaname and she turns to Meiya. "Get the ball and lets join them!"


Macua continues her run to the water she gets in to the water now slogging through to catch up to her friends and once she does? She leaps into the air yelling out.


"WHEE!"

She comes down with the expected splash which may very well swamp Cecil and Kaname!


Cecil, who is still standing in the sand -- albeit heading closer now -- scratches his shoulder, frowning as he watches Kamina and Heero start to get into a rather tense situation.

In time, though, he turns to the girls who seem to be enjoying themselves in the water -- standing at its edge, letting it lap at his feet.



Kaname turns at the sound of the yelling; she misses as Duo sinks into the water, but--

She's completely splashed by Macua, whose sudden leap into the water swamps her from head to toe.

"H-hey!" But instead of getting angry, Kaname retaliates, playfully splashing Macua with the water as soon as her head bobs on the surface.


Meiya turns around at Macua's prompting, and looks at the ball "Oh, there it is... When did we inflate it?" she wonders. She shrugs and picks it up and walks into the water with her friends.

MEANWHILE, in the bushes.

Three little ninja maids sit in a circle... "Being a ninja at the beach is the best, you get ice cream." and have ice cream they do.

Meiya smiles and throws the beachball at Macua "Catch!"


Heero stops - grind his teeth? The stoic boy turns around, a sucker punch snapping into him. All the training in the goddamn /world/ doesn't mean a damn if the fist is coming from a friendly, or neutral. The boy is struck like he had never been struck before - Kamina's got some strength behind him, and it feels like .. of all things ... something only mecha combat would cause.

Heero stares, now in the sand, staring upwards. The words, loud and clear, are yelled at him. That woman said the same thing. Teletha had said it was part of her missions for him, but when he was off a mission, what did it matter? The fist allows him to /feel/ something, as ... terrible as it sounds.

Of all the things, Heero smiles, listening to the words. Then he laughs. It's a bit mocking at first, bit ceases as a *click* is heard.

Of course it's a gun. Of course it's pointed at Kamina.

"Maybe you're right. Maybe I can't just throw my life away... but that means taking the lives of everyone in my way." Oh, Heero 'Gunboat Diplomacy' Yuy is at it again. "Someone has to die in war. Otherwise, it will never end... are you saying neither side should give up?"


Cecil glances sharply behind his shoulder as he finally steps into the water -- lapping halfway up to his knees now. He recognizes that sound anywhere; it's like a second nature to him. He sees Heero pointing a gun.

He smiles.


Macua Huitl acks as she's splashed by Kaname and about and she splashes her friend back. "Oh no your not getting away with that now are you! I'm going to send you to Davy Jones' locker YARR!" Then comes beach ball! Wait what? It bounches off her head but she manages to catch it on the way down.

Then she throws the ball to Kaname. "Heads up!" She's also unaware of the ninjas they are in control enough to not set off her newtype flashes!


Kamina does not back down, staring down the barrel. The leader of the Gurren Brigade only grins, knowing this guy didn't get it again. "You really are thick headed, aren't ya. Tch, you fight until the other guy gives up. You kill them if you gotta. Thats the way it works....You also learn to deal with punks who don't get it." Kamina suddenly kicks sand right into Heero's eyes, using the moment to move to the right of Heero's aim and slug him again with equal force. This time the punch is aimed at his gut. "HA! I have a girl shooting at me everyday. You think I haven't seen a gun before?!"



Kaname only just barely dodges Macua's splash, but manages to grasp hold of the ball; she throws it over to Cecil, who's still practically at the water's edge. It's there that she catches sight of it--a familiar metallic glimmer in the hand of the dark-haired kid whose name she hasn't caught yet.

She'd seen them often enough with her misadventures with Sousuke; in fact, he had his 'toy guns' confiscated by the teacher almost every day. And while most of Sousuke's exploits with the weapon could be handled easily with the hard THWAP! of a harisen, the same couldn't be said for the strange sullen boy that had come with them.

"H-hey!" she shouts out in protest, wading slightly closer to land; she's not sure what to do.

If only Sousuke were here!


The gun aimed up at Kamina, clearly, the guy wouldn't make a move.

Heero's never met Kamina before. The leader is grinning, and soon, kicks sand into his face. His eyes are hurt, but he doesn't care - it's the slug again that causes Heero to finally do it - pulling the trigger of the gun - though it's aimed upwards. It hits nothing. The blast rings through the air.

Heero is up in the time people might notice. His glare, covered in sand, like ice as he stares at Kamina. "...For an idiot..." The youth begins, "You really understand how things work..." It's put away afterwards, the gun, as Heero begins to stalk off.


Cecil, still with that smirk on his face, snaps his gaze over in the direction of the approaching Kaname. "Don't get close."

-- Of course, the situation has rectified itself. As Heero walks off, the blonde-haired boy raises an arm parallel to the ground, pointing his index finger. It jerks up. "... Bang."