Relaxing in the Sunlight

[Rika]

"Uwah~!!" Rika exclaimed happily, holding a hand in front of her forehead to keep the sun from blinding her.

Rika had finally gotten some time off from both of her jobs to visit the beach. She had been working part time as a herbal healer in Fijion for a while now yet her time was spend mostly at the facility and in transit to Evnae for her other job as a waitress in a cafe.

"So pretty!!!" She exclaimed, taking in the side of the beach and the beautiful blue ocean that sparkled in the sunlight.

She wore a light pink bathing suit with white trimming and darker pink polka dots. A large pink and see through bag on her right arm contained all her beach necessities.

She dropped the bag on the sand and stripped off the wrap that covered her legs and ran towards the water.

The thing about running in the sand is that it's not very stable ground. Furthermore, while Rika was so focused on the water in front of her, she didn't notice the presence of a man coming from her left side. As the two collided, Rika lost her footing in the sand, effectively falling down on top of this man. At the same moment a small wave approached and lapped water at their heads upon impact with the ground, leaving them both rather soaked.

It took Rika a moment to realize what had happened. "Ah!" She exclaimed, sitting up quickly. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm rather clumsy sometimes and I was so excited by the ocean that I didn't see you! I'm so sorry!!" She apologized heavily, not realizing yet that she was actually still sitting on him.

When she looked down and realized this, her face flushed an even deeper red. "Ah! I'm sorry!!" She exclaimed again before scrambling to get up. "I really am very sorry!" She said again with a worried expression as she leaned down, offering a hand to help him up. "Are you hurt?"

[tag Hikaru]

[Hikaru]

After being summoned out of school, Hikaru had had nothing but bad luck. He couldn't find a job, he got mugged several times, his temporary room in the hotel got broken in, his guitar was stolen, and somehow he always pisses off his youngest sister, Muri.

So when he noticed that today is a great day, he decided to go to the beach to wind down and just have fun for a day. So he walked over to Arrayan Beach, which is not so far away from the hotel he's staying in, with only his orange shorts, a loose unzipped jacket in case it gets cold, a towel over his shoulder and a simple straw hat somebody gave him when he visited Kumo.

What he didn't expect to happen was the wind mercilessly blowing his hat off his head and Hikaru has been chasing said hat. So as he was speeding up, he did not take into account of someone running right in his way and they roughly collided on each other.

For a moment, Hikaru thought he'd be the one to end up on top with how fast he was running and knocked this person over, but what turns out happening is this stranger got a strong footing through the sand and ended up knocking him down.

Before he could even react, the ocean decided to drown him in its salty goodness, or rather, only his head. By the sound of it, this person experienced the same thing. Hikaru is busy coughing and hacking since the water got to his throat when he realized the one who he rammed into is a girl, for obvious reasons considering his jacket is now sprawled open and his chest pretty much felt it against him like that.

It didn't take too long for the lady to sat up and Hikaru hasn't even opened his eyes because it stings so bad, and that he's still hacking. Though he did try to signal her with his hands in a defensive posture, as if to say he's sorry too. The moment when she got off of him did Hikaru finally pries his eyes open and sat up to knock his chest lightly with his fist. 'The ocean tastes horrible...'

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm fine.." He managed to choke out with a hand raised, now finally tilting his head up to see who is this girl. That's pecisely the moment when she offered her hand to pull him up. With the sun and lighting at the perfect position along with the drops of water against her skin, she looks like she's glowing and sparkling with the ocean.

"..A-are you an angel....?" Hikaru questioned breathlessly as he unconsciously accepted her hand and pushes himself up with the other hand. Being an essence of light itself, Hikaru is drawn towards individuals who has light in their affinity. He can tell by simply seeing them under the sunlight and watches how their whole being mirrored the sun's bright beams.

"Hi..." Now standing in his full height, Hikaru can see how he's taller than her for at least half a head. 'Aaaaaand she's cute. She's really cute, wow. ...Who is she anyway?' "Uh, I-I'm Hikaru and yeah, sorry about..uh...earlier.. I... my hat, it.. um..." Why does this always happens when he attempted to talk to attractive girls?

[Rika]

Rika held a worried expression as she watched the boy cough from the water and struggle with opening his eyes. Only when he finally spoke, announcing he's okay, did she let her worried expression melt back into a smile. Her eyes still held a bit of worry, but she smiled nonetheless. "I really am sorry," She repeated again, feeling terrible for not paying attention and crashing into him which caused him to get a face full of water. Being on top, her face wasn't as affected by the water as his was.

Surprised by the boy's sudden question of her being an angel, Rika's stared at him a moment as though her brain had paused to process such a question while her body instinctively helped him up when he accepted her hand. She then cracked up into a laugh, now smiling cheerfully at him. "Nope! Just a regular person~!" She replied after she regained herself and she smiled happily at him. "I'm glad you don't seem hurt."

Rika giggled at his 'Hi' and replied with a "hi" of her own accompanied by another giggle. Rika's smile was practically beaming, just happy that he wasn't annoyed at how she crashed into him before. "My name is Rika." She replied happily, giggling at his slightly awkward speech. "Hm? Your hat?" she questioned with an inquisitive expression before smiling again sheepishly. "Did it blow away? I'm sorry I interrupted your chase. Do you want me to help you find it?"

[Hikaru]

"Really?" Hikaru gaped at her in surprise when she pulled him up and admitted she's a regular person. "You don't look like a regular person... I honestly thought you're an angel, ahaha." He laughed at himself as he said so, genuinely mistaking her like Mitsuko. "You have that glowing thing going on. Or maybe you're naturally pretty like that." The redhead nodded as if to verify what he said was the ultimate truth from the heavens. Hikaru has a certain way of complimenting someone so honestly and genuinely that it doesn't sound like a flirt at all.

As if to stop from further embarassing himself with his awkwardness, Hikaru faked a cough to clear his throat. Fortunately, Rika seems to get what he means, "Yes! It's an old straw hat, it's precious to me." The realization that Rika is willing to help him find the hat caused Hikaru's smile to brighten so much, his body started to slightly glow with his emotions. "Would you?! That'd be great...! Thanks!!" The idea that he has an excuse to walk side by side with a cute girl and have an extra pair of eyes to look for his hat excites him. It's until he realized his body's actually glowing did it make him aware of how overly excited he is, "Oh! Sorry." And with a calming inhale, Hikaru lessened down the light that's illuminating his skin.

"I need to stop doing that," he hissed to himself and quickly looked over to Rika to make sure she's not freaked out. "...Uh. I'm...actually not a regular person, but I'm not bad...! S-so does the offer still stands?" Some of his friends joked that he looked radioactive whenever he does that, and their jokes actually scared a few strangers away, so Hikaru mellows down after a while in embarrassment of his abilities being so closely connected to his feelings. His brother Zephel said he has grown mature, but really it's because of his bashfulness resulted from his circle of friends.

[Rika]

Rika almost blushed slightly at this boy's questioning if she's really not an angel. "Mhm!" She replied happily to his questioning, ensuring that she actually is a normal human. Rika giggled again at his insistence on saying she looked like an angel. The compliment of her appearance was such that it caused her to blush a bit as well. While most people may've looked at them and thought he was seriously flirting with her, Rika was a bit dense to those types of things, so she merely took his words as the intended compliment they were. She just thought the compliment may've been too gracious, though it made her happy regardless. "Um.. Thanks~" She replied with a massive smile and blush.

Rika smiled at Hikaru as he agreed to accept her help and explained what the hat looks like. "If it's precious, then we'd better find it." She responded cheerfully, not yet noticing his skin beginning to glow. When Rika opened her eyes a bit more, she finally noticed that he seemed to be illuminating unlike before. The sight caught her by surprise and she just stared at him with slightly widened eyes, the smiling blush from before remaining stuck on her face despite her surprise.

When she noticed he realized the glowing and made a point of lessening his glow and looked back at her to explain, Rika suddenly just giggled again. "So who's really the one that glows then?" She said in a joking manner, not seeming at all put off by the fact. "How are you able to do that? Are you the one that's an angel?" She commented, jokingly tossing the term angel back at him with a giggle.

[Hikaru]

Hikaru's face flushed almost instantly at Rika's comment regarding his glowing body. He's glad however, that she doesn't seem to be wary of his accidental firefly impression. He's deeply embarrassed though, that she cleverly used the moment to repeat his initial assumption of hers right back to him. "I...! I-I'm not! ... That's not fair, Rika..." Hikaru's voice trailed off into a mumble as he brings up his hand to scratch the back of his head. As he's collecting his thoughts on what to respond back to her, he notes of how genuinely bright Rika's smile is, and the effect got him smiling as well. "Heheh. Well, to be honest, my glow is from my own power. Your glow is natural, you don't need light powers to shine. So I think you'll make a better angel." Smiling earnestly to her, Hikaru flinched a bit by the sudden breeze. 'Man, my hat might've already gotten blown off to the sea at this rate...'

Hikaru gestured for Rika to walk with him, due to the winds blowing the sands and the little particles stinging his bare feet. "Are you really okay though? I can heal if you're hurt.." He was reminded of how big he is compared to her while they walk side by side, and the thought that he actually rammed against her full-force horrifies him. Since his glowy magic would shock some people, Hikaru is now used to treating people traditionally with massages and herbs.

'Rika didn't seem like she's bothered by the light show earlier though... So maybe she's not afraid of a little light-based heal?'
"Or I can scan you myself with my hands to check for possible injuries?" To add the effect, he raised both his hands and they glowed on cue. "Hahahah! Kidding, kidding~! I'm light. An essence of light, that is. That's how I'm able to do these." With them still glowing, he did a little jazz hands effect and it dims off as he laughed amiably. "But I'm human too! ...In a way." Frankly, Hikaru doesn't quite understand what he and his siblings are, probably because he often spaces out when either Eyami or Petra were explaining the important details of their existence and roles in this world. "I'm just Hikaru."

"So what does Rika means?"

[Rika]

At Hikaru's denial of being an angel and his uttering that it wasn't fair, Rika couldn't help but giggle cheerfully. She stopped giggling and just smiled at Hikaru as he began to speak again. Her cheeks were already faintly pink from the strain of smiling, but his comment about her glowing naturally despite not having glowing powers caused her cheeks to flush a bit more pink as she giggled again. Rika figured she could easily turn the angel thing back on him again by stating that real angels should have light powers like him anyway, but decided not to keep pushing it. "Well, unfortunately, I'm just a normal, boring human~" Rika said lightheartedly with a chuckle as she clasped her hands together behind her back, not realizing that that action of hers actually made her chest look a bit bigger because it was pushed out more.

At Hikaru's gesture to start walking, Rika happily obliged. Rika looked at him as he asked if she's really okay and giggled again. "I'm fine, really. I fall and bump into things all the time." She admitted with a sheepish chuckle. "You can heal, though? Is that one of your special light powers?" She asked with curiousity, pausing a moment before continuing her line of thought. "I can heal too, but only with plants like herbs and such."

Rika was a bit surprised to hear that Hikaru suggested he was also capable of scanning someone for injuries with his light power. Her eyes widened slightly, though her cheerful smile remained, as she saw his hands were glowing. When he started laughing and saying he was kidding, Rika just giggled more again. She smiled at him as he explained himself. She giggled again as he did jazz hands to show off his glowing hands. "That's really amazing, Hikaru~" She said cheerfully, always feeling excited to meet people with unique abilities.

When he asked Rika what her name meant, Rika's cheeks flushed a bit again as she thought about her past. She faced forward as her eyes began to hold an almost sad but loving glint in them and her smile wilted slightly. She remembered her brother, her family, her village. Trying to push out of her mind the fact that they all died tragically some years ago, Rika thought further back into her memories to when she was small. She recalled what her mother said while she was learning how to write her name. "It... means village sun." Rika said a bit quietly after a bit, blushing faintly while remembering the past, not yet realizing that the meanings of their names were somewhat similar.

Rika's smile brightened up again as she turned her head to look at Hikaru again. "When my mother taught me how to write my name, she explained how my name was chosen with the hope that I would be a sort of cheerful light for the village even in its darkest times." Rika's hands clasped behind her back again as she smiled up at Hikaru. She felt a sense of pride in her name and in the fact that she has always somehow been able to remain cheerful just like her family hoped for.

[Hikaru]

"Really?!" Hikaru couldn't help exclaiming at her casual remarks that sounds too much like him as well. "I bump into things a lot too! And, and, and! I study that too!!" In pure surprise, his voice sounded a bit louder than he intended it to be. However, Hikaru did not stop, "Herbology! That class was so cool. I often had to travel between Kumo and Fijion for odd jobs with the monks there. They really like their herbs." It has been a while that Hikaru felt such a strong connection with someone, he's absolutely thrilled that they seem to share the same traits and interests. He's so excited, he missed to realize something that he normally would if he were be to be calm; her gracious chest.

When Rika thought of an answer to his question, Hikaru's overexcited energy slowly ceased. He can sense something sad must have happened, thought that's easy to see by simply looking at her eyes. Rika has such a unique set of eyes that Hikaru thought that if the term 'windows of the soul' has an example, then her eyes could be the perfect one. While he wanted to ask what's wrong, Hikaru has enough tact to understand that he does not have the right to pry like this out of nowhere. "Village sun..." Hikaru repeated, his eyes intent on Rika's. He unconsciously smiled at her explanation and nodded at it, as if agreeing with Rika's mother. "Seems her hope is well-placed." And with that earnest smile of his, Hikaru gave one last firm nod.

"You know what? Screw the hat, do you want to swim with me?" And only then did he finally notice Rika's plumped up chest with how she clasps her hands behind her back like that. Hikaru looks visibly distracted. "...I like your swimsuit design, by the way. Pink matches you."

[Rika]

Rika giggled again as Hikaru excitedly claimed he bumps into a lot as well. Her eyes opened a bit wide again as he claimed to study the same thing also. She smiled cheerfully at him as he continued on about loving herbology class. She giggled again at his statement about the monks he worked with. "I currently have a part time job with the healing center here." She said with a proud smile.

When Hikaru spoke in agreement with her mother, confirming she's fulfilled her namesake, Rika smiled proudly at him. "Thank you, Hikaru."

Rika's eyebrows lifted in surprise when he suddenly decided to forget about the hat and asked her to swim instead. "I thought your hat was important to you, though." She said as her still smiling face showed a bit of concern, confused about why he'd give up on something precious to him.

Rika's smile softened into amusement as Hikaru suddenly began complimenting her bathing suit now. "Thank you." She said as she giggled again and decided to repay the compliment. "I like yours also."

[Hikaru]

Hikaru's jaw drops when Rika shares that she works at the nearby healing center, "No way! I go there all the time to deliver the extra herbs I picked before they oxidize! I only need a little bit for my travels, they usually wilt before I reach... um.. Fijion..." He realize midway that he's ranting and his voice slowly disappears by the end with an awkward cough. "I'm surprised I've never seen you there. Maybe we passed right by one another?"

When Rika pointed out how Hikaru is willing to part with his missing hat when he claimed it's important, the redhead smiles sadly. "People and things I treasure go missing a lot... or break apart." His eyes slips downwards as he said so, thinking of his own brother who went missing twice, and everything inside his room right now in various states of disrepair. "At some point in my life, I just began to accept it. Treasuring the things I have right now became more important than finding the things I've lost."

His rather sad smile then turns into something like guilt when he notices he's pulling the mood down. "It's okay, really! That straw hat really helped me when it did! I'm thankful." His gaze passes over to the ocean from where he had last seen his hat, an expression of gratitude now settles on his face. "Rather than the hat itself, I'm more thankful of that Kumoan who gifted me that hat, hehe."

He turns to Rika with an embarrassed grin for complimenting her swimsuit and wipes the underside of his nose with the back of a finger, distracted. Hikaru had to look down to see what he's wearing when Rika complimented him back, forgetting what he put on himself.

"Huh, thanks! It's just normal swimming trunks though. I don't think I'll look good in polka dots, much less in pink, heh." He scratches the back of his head as he looked over the ocean, waves sparkling as it hits the shores. It's such a beautiful sunny day today, he can't believe his luck in meeting a girl under such a perfect weather. "So Rika, do you swim often?" Hikaru looks back at her with a smile, intending to invite her to swim with him if his luck persists.