Welcome to Gaia! ::

Kai looks over at her and rolls his eyes. The food came like an answer to his prayers. He takes off the top bun and puts on a few mushrooms and replaces the bun. He takes a bite and thn as though he hadn't eaten in months he chews quickly and eats fast polishing off his burger within a few minutes. He smiles and sits back in his chair lazily eating his fries and what was left of the mushrooms.

"much better...." he says in a much happier tone his cloudy vision and dizziness seem to subside substantially.

Tomoro smiled as she walked along the boardwalk which she had done so long ago, clinging to Bukotsu's hand. The air still had a salty scent to it, and she loved it greatly; she owed plants AND water her entire life. The sky was a clear blue, but clouds were beginning to come through the North, and she shrugged it off; they would probably disappear soon. Tilting her head to the side, Tomoro took in all the scents of this area, there were enough to put her on a high for a bit.

Noticing an empty space down on the beach, she smiled and began running her flipflops scratching along the sand on the wooden planks set up around. When she reached the very base of the beach, she kicked her shoes off near the bench, and sat down for a moment, not waiting for Bukotsu to do anything. She always had so much fun here... Tomoro quickly slipped off her dress, revealing the black bikini with white trim and ribbons she wore last time on their trip here. Normally, she would go out and buy an entirely different suit, since this one had bad memories in it.... but since she was changing, Tomoro figured she could deal with it one last time.

"Bukotsu, are you ready...?" She asked a bit impatiently. "I want to go in the water..." Looking over at it, there were many other people on this side of the beach... little kids, old people... today was a busy day. It seemed as if everyone chose the same spot she did.

For a moment Tomoro looked at Bukotsu like he was strange, but then it finally clicked in her head. Oh! He's... complimenting me...! Not knowing what to say, she looked down, a slight red, moving her hair over her shoulder. She bit her lower lip, and kicked at the sand a bit with her bare feet, her manicured maroon polished toes scratching against the sand. "I... haven't done anything... I guess I'm just getting older.." she said softly, almost hoping Bukotsu wouldn't hear her.

She then smiled, and mustered up the courage to speak once again. "I don't know what we're doing... you pick. There's too many great things for me... to choose..." Tomoto shut off her vocal cords once again, and looked away innocently at all of the other things to do. There were ice cream stands, games up on the boardwalk... so many things to do. She couldn't possibly choose. Although she REALLY wanted to go in the water, that would bring back the memories of her first kiss, and she'd turn a bright red then, totally embarrasing herself.

Tomoro smiled weakly, and hesitantly moved toward the water, dipping her toes in before jumping in completely. For some reason, she thought, Bukotsu was acting differently.... first the sudden affection, then taking her out... it was like he was getting ready to spend one last moment with her before breaking up. Tomoro couldn't help but keep these thoughts in her head... why else would he do this?

Taking a deep breath, Tomoro dived into the ocean, closing her eyes to keep any salt from reaching them. There was that first feeling of floating, and then the weight setting in, which meant she was losing her air. Deeper she went, until her lungs stopped moving completely, and from that point on she shot up from the ocean, taking a deep breath of the air. God, I missed that.... I wonder... Swimming over towards Bukotsu, Tomoro stopped in front of him, still breathing heavily. "Did... I do... something wrong...? Cause... you've been acting different lately." Her eyes showed a look of concern, and Tomoro couldn't help but wonder why he was doing all this so suddenly.

Tomoro's eyes widened at his words, and she knew she was turning a deep red, because she was growing warm, despite the cold water she was in. It was a strange feeling. All... over again....? She put her right hand to her mouth, her left hand feeling the scar on her right wrist. There were indeed a few people staring at her, and that caused her to blush even more. She'd never had that much attention on her during one period of time, except for once when she was back in her hometown...

She shook that thought off; no way was she going to go into the saddest memory of her life at a time like this. Diving under the water, Tomoro relaxed underneath it, her tension slowly unwinding until she couldn't even feel her arms anymore. She also thought about what he had said directly after going under the water. How can he prove anything... anymore? This world is so messed up, I don't even know what he means. Coming back up for air, Tomoro pushed her bangs out of the way, and coughed a bit. When Bukotsu came back up, she hoped she wasn't as deep of a red.. but she still approached him anyway. "What... do you mean, you can prove your words are true? I... don't understand." She still had that soft edge to her voice, if not softer and quieter, for fear other people might hear in on their conversation and wonder what it was about.

She turned an even deeper red than she was before, her cheeks now totally flushed as if she'd just come out of a hot shower. Tomoro tried to constrain a smile, she didn't know why, but it wasn't working... and her lips curved upwards as she wrapped her hands around Bukotsu, pressing her body against his gently.

Meanwhile, a little girl was swimming with her sister, and they dropped a beach ball they were holding, looking over at the two, whispering quietly. "Whatcha think they're doing, sissy?" The little brunette asked to her sister, which almost looked like an identical twin. "I think... they're in love!" The other one said, her eyes twinkling brightly. "It's like all those fairy tales..." She sighed happily, and her sister nodded, and they began to giggle excitedly, picking up the beach ball and running back to their mother.

If anything, that caused Tomoro to flush even deeper, and she let go of him instantly, diving back under the water to try and get rid of her blushing face. Biting her lower lip, she opened her eyes underwater.. and of course she could see clearly. That was her father's fault. There were a lot of feet around her... and it was a pretty gross sight. She never did like feet. Finally reaching some strange plants about 15 feet away from Bukotsu, Tomoro plucked one from the ground, and then covered her ears, coming back up for air. Why her ears? Somehow, water amplified the sound, and she could hear plants scream when they were picked, and she didn't want to hear it.

Coming up for air, Tomoro gasped a bit; she had gone at least 30 feet down... which wasn't a lot, considering the last time they were here. With the seaweed in her hand, a sickening green color, she didn't really know what to do with it... so she stuffed it in her bathing suit. This is... SO GROSS... GOTTA...GET OUT OF THE WATER... WITHOUT... BUKOTSU NOTICING... Feeling his presence near, she ducked out of the way, behind some old man, and came up for air, paddling as fast as she could. Finally, she reached land and took the seaweed out, stuffing it into her dry clothes on the main area of the beach. A few people looked at her strangely, so she glared at them, and boy, did they back off.

Running back, Tomoro leaped out with her arms extended, then forming a straight shape, splashing into the water, her hair flowing like a flag behind her. Hopefully nobody had really noticed what she was doing... there were so many wonderful plants that grew in the ocean, she just couldn't resist them. She moved back towards her original spot, darting inbetween others, trying to dodge them all. However, it wasn't working, and she accidentally bumped into a younger looking man, who smirked and turned away. For some reson, this pissed Tomoro off, but she pushed away the urge to yell at him, instead of just apologizing. Now was NOT the time to be picking fights.

Her head up in the air, but the rest of her body floating under the water, Tomoro kicked up and down to keep steady, using a nearby large rock under her feet as a major support. She blew a few bubbles... and looked around with her right eye, coughing a bit after she had gotten some salt water in her lungs. This doesn't seem right... maybe I should just leave. But then I'd be ditching Bukotsu... not good. She bit her lower lip, and stood out of the water, revealing her entire body covered with sand. She furrowed her brows a bit, and began wiping it off in disgust; that was the only part she didn't like about swimming in the ocean.

It was then that two guys came up, one in front of her and one behind of her, the one in back pushing her forward onto the man in the front's chest. Startled, she looked up at him, her eyepatch falling off, and gasped slightly; it was that boy. The one that had tried to drown her when she was so little. Standing up quickly, she silently tried to dive underwater, but the man in the back grabbed her by the arm, twisting it and pulling her back against his chest. Tomoro let out a small yelp, and then was quiet again... they hadn't changed. Personally, she knew them when she was really little. The man in front's name was Saguchi, and the man in back was Coasine. Both had brown, moppy hair that reached just past their earlobes, and were considerably fit... girls still gaped at them.

Looking down and then up at Saguchi, Tomoro smirked. "Well, you haven't changed, have you? Still the same undecent conceited son-of-a-b***h, aren't you?" Saguchi looked stunned, and pointed at Tomoro's cheek, and Coasine brought out his spare hand, slapping her across the face. "W....what ever happened to Darem?" Darem was the third boy in that little group that had tormented Tomoro day after day... they always traveled in a group. Saguchi moved directly up in front of her, pushing his body onto hers, with Coasine backing him up by pushing Tomoro forward.

"Our little pirate.... what a strange question to ask. Darem is dead. That day when you came out of the water... and walked away... something happened to him after that. He just... fell over and died. Doctors said it was a heart attack. We knew it was you. Stupid pirate b***h." Saguchi moved out his right hand, and slapped Tomoro with the other hand, while a few people looked at him like he was a crazy man. Tomoro heard whispers of 'abusive boyfriend' and 'gang rape.' She knew it wasn't true.

Meanwhile, Coasine had grabbed a chunk of her hair, pulling it back, causing Tomoro to fall into the water. It wasn't deep at all... she could lay there and sunbathe if she wanted to. Saguchi, however, had somehow crawled onto Tomoro, and pinned her down as if she were a wild animal. She didn't move; her eyepatch had fallen off completely now, revealing her scar. What do they want with me...? They were always this way. Always. They haven't changed at all, these stupid bastards. I might as well summon something on them... "Do you... have a reason for coming to see me, Saguchi? Coasine? I'm not the same person I was thirteen years ago." Tomoro looked at both of them, attempting to resist grinding her teeth together. Both of the boys then looked at eachother and grinned, shaking their heads. "You're gonna wanna be the way you were thirteen years ago when we're done with you, pirate. You'll be screaming with mercy."

Saguchi then moved his body onto Tomoro's chest completely, locking her down and pressing his lips harshly against hers. She tried to scream... but it was too late. She couldn't move as well, because Saguchi had her pinned down and Coasine was just standing there, smirking. Finally, he crawled away from her and stood up, high-fiving Coasine, then folding his arms and looking at Tomoro. She stood up as well, wiping her lips off with the back of her hand, glaring at him. "Is that all you wanted? To pretend you had me? You always hated me, anyway." Shrugging his shoulders and sighing harshly, looking up at the cloud cover coming in faster than usual, Saguchi frowned and looked at Tomoro with puppy eyes. A small crowd around them was forming. Just what I needed... a damn mob scene. I need to get out of here. "You're still gonna pay for what you've done to Darem. Violence or sex, we're gonna have it."

Tomoro said no more, her eyes dulling quickly. Why was it that after all those years of torture... they came back? She was finally somehwere she was happy; she had friends, a boyfriend, a new life... and they came back to haunt her with her past. Tomoro fell to her knees, and Saguchi came up behind her, grabbing her by the waist like an overused doll and holding her against his chest tightly, almost in a death grip. Coasine was just standing by... he would be there anytime. He was always the henchman in this stupid game. That's all it was. A game. They had come back to play with Tomoro more, and it disgusted her. But... she was too tired to fight back. She just... didn't have the strength anymore, after all of those memories returning after she had shut them out.

((OMFG. LONG.))