aloha !

Would you believe he hadn’t even noticed the knob? Because he hadn’t even noticed the knob until Holokai pointed it out.

“Wow, that’s really cool… it’s nice that you get to pick, I think.”

He remains fixated on the knob and its apparent miraculous powers of tide control for a moment or so, but Holokai’s enthusiasm ropes him back in to that conversation real quick. The idea of getting taught something is pretty exciting, no matter what it is.

“Oh, are you sure…? It would probably be good to learn how… and you seem like the best teacher for that, I think, so if you want to, I’d like that…”

Swim Time Surf Time Hell Yeah

“Yeah, of course! C’mon, let’s get you changed! No street clothes in the ocean!”

He grabs Ayumu by the elbow and pulls him over to the changing area, where there are racks upon racks of swimsuits.

“Well, as long as you don’t sleep there, it should be fine… Then again, Ayumu-san apparently sleeps whenever and wherever.”

Danger really didn’t come for those that left themselves the most open, huh? Then again, maybe Kanpei’s naivete was on par.

“I’m sorry for not noticing you then… I guess I was just zoning out too much. The ocean does that to me.”

He scratches at the nape of his neck, his sheepish bout ending when Kai asked him a question.

“Yeah, I thought I’d make something. I’m just not sure what… I know ramen is the whole main point of this kitchen, but that’s not the kind of meal I learned to make…”

“Hey, Holokai-san, do you… you know, by chance, know how to cook?”

Kai nods understandingly. He can understand zoning out as an effect of the ocean. 

“It’s fine, I zone out too! The water’s really, uh-- memorizing! Hey, Haru-- are you from the seaside?”

He tilts his head curiously, not noticing he got the word wrong. 

“Cook?”

He lets out an uproarious laugh and slaps Haruto on the shoulder.

“You’re lookin’ at Wailuku Beach’s best beach grill chef! People come from all over the island when I barbecue!”

“Oh, it’s fake? That’s too bad…”

With all the whimsical sights of the station, it was easy to forget that things here were probably not as it seemed. Or, perhaps more likely, it just never occurred to him to think that “station = underground = everything about this situation is really really weird.”

At least Holokai seems optimistic about it, which means Ayumu’s feeling pretty optimistic by proxy. Probably.

“Yeah… I mean, you can still do surf things and stuff, right?” 

He glances vaguely in the direction of the boards. The fact that he recalled Holokai’s talent without prompting was a miracle in itself. Or maybe it was just a lucky guess.

“The water also looks really nice, even if it’s fake, I think… I’d like to try it, maybe, but I don’t know how…”

Surfing? Swimming? Who knows, honestly.

“Yeah, it’s a really good fake, but still fake. No sun, no natural surf... but I’ve got this radical dial that makes it easy to turn up the intensity of the waves!”

He points to the knob on the wall, grinning. Almost as soon as Ayumu says that, though... his face splits open into the brightest grin you ever did see. 

“Oh, man, really?! For real?! You don’t know how?! Lemme teach you!”

Kioku stares back intently, her face covered with an expression of pure confusion.

“…I-It does?” She thinks it over for a moment, the movements used in surfing…

“But you want to go out to the waves, right? Does it not make more sense that surfing is used to go outwards to sea? …Or perhaps it’s due to the waves pushing you back to the shore that you are explaining to me…” She continues to mumble for a moment, before shaking herself out of the daydream.

“…I apologize. Thank you, Kai-san.” Ooh. nickname, eh? “…It would be great if you could do that for me… I would appreciate it.”

“…Let us just hope we don’t get flipped over.”

“Yeah, you paddle out. but you’ll totally get soaked if you do that. You can’t surf into the waves, only back to shore!”

“But no problem! Any reason is a good reason to jump in the water, haha!” 

With that, he sheds his shirt and tosses it onto the sand, jogging over to the shack to produce the widest board he has, settling it down on the sand and patting it invitingly.

Even without the circumstances of the killing game, time always seemed to come and go. It had already been a day since they lost two more members of the class, and then some. Eventually the green station unlocked, and thus eventually Ayumu found his way there. It was certainly a big change from the previous station, bright sun rather than cold dark. He’d rolled up his sleeves a little bit to accommodate for the change as he wandered aimlessly across the sand.

Eventually, that wandering brought him to the wooden shack, where his attention was quickly drawn to the beach towels. Not terribly surprising, given that they were probably the softest thing in there, but he managed to catch that he wasn’t alone in here a little quicker than last time. He was still headed for the towels, but he was perfectly capable of handling two things at once. Probably.

“Oh… hello. It’s good to see someone else here.”

“This is a really nice beach, right? I’ve never seen anything like it…”

“Oh, hey!”

He finishes mounting the board and turns his body to Ayumu. 

Stay somewhere long enough, and you’ll eventually grow hungry. Haruto’s not sure how much time he spent at his own lab, but he knows it’s been long enough to make his stomach grumble even if he had remembered to actually eat breakfast this morning.

Good thing this station had Mayumi’s lab too. It had to have food of some sort there right? If not another kitchen entirely.

He makes the trek there, still wet from the swim he had to take from his lab back to shore, and he’s in the middle of inspecting all the equipment at their disposal when he notices a certain surfer walk in.

“Oh, hey.”

He pauses for a moment, thinking something over before adding:

“Hey, bro!”

He waves and jogs over, smelling of salt and sand. It seems he’s gotten his pep back into his step since the opening of his lab. And it seems like hunger had gotten the best of him, too. 

“Haha-- you got it! I kinda don’t wanna leave!”

“I saw you swimming in earlier, but I guess you didn’t hear me say hi!”

Kioku stands on the beach, glancing out to the ship, holding a surfboard she had obtained from the… item… lake… thing. She kept staring out intently… Jeez, how the hell was she even gonna get over there?! She glanced around, spying Kai at the other end of the beach. Approaching him, she held the surfboard out.

“Kai-san! Perhaps you could help me?” She gave him a polite smile as she stopped in front of him. “Oh! Uh… For starters, this is for you.” She held out the board. A gift! Who else was she gonna give this to anyway?

“Hey! Kioku!” 

He comes to a stop inches away from her, spraying a bit of sand at her shoes. 

“Oh, for me? Thanks! Wow, this one’s a beauty...!” 

He marvels over the surfboard as Kioku talks, before nodding along. When she asks him to give her a surfing lesson, however... he laughs a little!

“Well, I’d be so stoked to teach you to surf, but--”

“Well, surfing gets you to the shore, not away from it!”

Kioku stood next to Kai, giving him a polite smile.

“Hello, Holokai-san…” She stood, staring for a moment longer before glancing off in another direction. Great conversation!

“…How are you doing? After that trial… I just hope you’re keeping it together, is all.” She takes seat on the ground next to him in a slouched position.

“…At least the admittedly artificial weather in here is nice… It almost feels like we’re outside. Almost.” It’s the best she can hope for in this situation.

Kai sits up alongside her, rubbing the back of his neck. He’s got some fake grass blades stuck in his hair. 

“Yeah...”

He lets a long moment of silence pass between them before he clears his throat again. 

“Um--”

This whole winter place seems way too unreal for Kai. The closest he’d gotten to this was watching Christmas movies on TV… and in those, there were always talking toys and dancing reindeer. Images that reminded him of his new bro…

“Hey! Broel!”

He manages to track her down in Station Red’s Main Hub, flagging her down with a raised and waving arm.

“Just the grom I was lookin’ for! Can I get a favor?”

Well… she doesn’t actually mind. The guy’s a friend. She turns around to face the mountain. “Hey there, Holo–”

“G… grom?” What’s a.. grom. 

“Huh? Oh--!”

“Grom! It’s like-- a newbie at surfing, but we call everyone that’s little and younger than us groms! Short for grommet!” 

“Oh-- Okay, here’s the deal! This whole place is makin’ me think of Christmas, and it’s making me all nastalic--”

Nostalgic.

“I hear that a lot, but it’s nice to get complimented for it~!”

Though it probably wouldn’t have bothered Tsukiko anyway if he just said that it was weird and nothing more. Tsukiko knew that they weren’t quite like others, but that never stopped them from loving themselves nonetheless. If people can appreciate them for whom they are, that’s always great! If not, well, then their opinions didn’t matter anyway.

“Of course you can! It’s not like as if it’s my hut.”

They step aside, so Kai could finally get inside. While they wanted to go and see what would happen if they rapped outside, it wouldn’t run away from them. Might as well talk to those whom they barely spoke to yet!

(They learnt one thing from the two deceased, after all.)

“I’m not surprised that you’d do especially bad with cold weather. If only we’d have a thermostat here as well… Honestly, the architect of this place was absolutely illogical in their designs!”

They huff, but seem to recover quickly enough.

“Anyway, if we warmed up a little, do you wish to accompany me outside? According to Sheebo and the note here, something happens if we rap outside! I’m really curious what’s going to happen, huhuhu~”

Kai bundles in, rubbing his arms and shivering. 

“Thanks! Man, I’m really not built for the cold! I’ve never even seen snow before this, haha!”

He warms himself by the fire, finally buttoning his shirt up to conserve warmth. 

“Huh?”

Hearing Kai walking and having an accompanying symphony of schlaps from the new slippers on his feet is…discomforting. This feels wrong. She’s glad he’s wearing shoes in literal fucking snow, but it feels…like an out of body experience. She’s pretty sure she would have to do a double-take and interrogate “Kai” if he ever showed up in a shirt that was buttoned because that would be an alien impersonating Kai very poorly.

Of course, once he almost slips on the ice, Arisa runs over and tries to catch him, but it seems like that was unnecessary since he manages to not do that like some sort of magician or something.

“Dude, what water are you talking about? There’s no water around here that I can see…I mean, I guess the snow is water. I think. Is snow water? Yeah, yeah, it’s water.”

Shoutout to first grade science class knowledge! Snow sure is frozen water!

When he agrees to be Cheerleader Super Squad with her, she jumps and cheers, pumping a fist in the air! Hell Yeah!! She just shoves the outfit into his hands so he can go off and find a room to change.

“Fuck yeah, bro!!!!! Get changed, and I’ll put your hair up into little pigtails or something if you want!!! You wanna learn some basic cheer stuff!? I can do that, too!”

Someone’s excited.

Kai’s eyes light up. He snatches the outfit and salutes.

“Aye aye!”

He runs off to find somewhere to change-- he’s not that immodest that he’ll just strip right there! After a few minutes, he runs back in. Somehow, he lost his slippers along the way and is sliding around on bare feet. 

This was one hell of a whiplash, from sweltering heat to icy coldness.

While their jacket managed to keep some warmth, they still felt pretty cold. Therefore, they found the hut near the entrance to this blizzard like area to be a solace and thus, seeked shelter in it. Well, it was still cold in here, too, it allowed them to avoid the icy wind for the time being.

All things considered, Tsukiko didn’t think they would go to the red area too often, especially not the cold areas. It’d be one thing if it had a thermostat like the Narrator’s lab, but it didn’t. Thus, Tsukiko felt compelled to keep their exploration to a minimum.

However, when their eye caught a note that said that one should try rapping outside, their curiousity was piqued. This was a rather vague statement. What did it mean? Well, there was only one way to find out–!

However, when they went to the door, it opened and they clashed against someone. A surprised yelp came from their throat as they stumbled backwards, somehow managing to keep their balance against all odds. You’d think that having a sling would make it even more difficult, but miracles still happen, no matter how small they are!

“Fuwawawa? Now that was not expected!”

Go figures.

Or at least he would have, if he weren’t met with a door right to his face. 

“Ow-- oh, hey, lil’ grom!”

“You got a weird lil laugh, I like it! Um--”

Although Arisa’s fair skin was much more suited towards the cold than the heat thanks to sunburn being a thing, it didn’t mean she liked it all that much. In fact, she’d much rather be hanging out at the beach than ice skating or some other winter-y sport. Part of it was because it’s what Mitsugi always loved to do, and she would put up with spending most of her day under an umbrella next to a cooler full of drinks if it meant he got to have fun while sometimes stepping outside to play in the water with him.

Most of it was because her winter wardrobe was so much less fun than her summer/regular wardrobe. However, there was no way she was traversing Shiba’s hellish area without bundling up for it. Fuck that.

Bundling up was entirely worth it, though, since she found her own lab soon there after, and it was basically everything she ever hoped for it to be. A fucking palace!? Just for her!? Fuck yeah! Did she appreciate the little stab at her maybe being an Ice Queen? No. Did she like that there was some lame-o puzzle in her palace? No. However, she appreciated a fucking palace a whole of a hell more.

She definitely appreciated the performance area, and she gave a few test bounces on the floor before discovering the costumes. Oh Fuck Yeah!!!! She definitely had to rope someone into wearing one with her.

…And then, her first victim strolled in. And it was her Bro. No way he wouldn’t be down for this!!

“Kai-kun!!!!!!!! Kai-kun, look!!!!!”

She would be yelling louder, but she does not want to Hurt Her Bro. Arisa excitedly holds up a uniform that looks to be his size.

Well. They’re slippers, but. It’s better than nothing. 

Venturing into the castle makes Kai want to break into that song his little sister likes from that old D*sney movie, but he’s quickly pulled from that impulse by a familiar voice echoing through the halls. Rubbing his bare arms, he shivers a little as he looks up, instantly brightening. 

“Arisa--!”

He waves at her, bouncing over and nearly slipping on the ice.

“Bro, your water’s, like, hard! You should get that checked out-- oh, huh? Cheer stuff? Oh, sure!”

“Wow she must’ve been amazing if she almost made it to the olympics!  Clearly that means that you gotta get there one day yourself right?”  

As soon as they all escaped from here of course.  Then this would make for an interesting story wouldn’t it?

“It’s a deal then, though in exchange for teaching me I’ll do you a favor.  Anything from cooking, to painting… as long as I can do it I’ll make sure that we get an even trade.”

Even though he brought up the fact that Kai’s lab would be up sooner or later… he couldn’t help but ponder as he looked around Kanpei’s lab a bit.

“I do kinda wonder why they got all these areas for us though.  Like this place was made for us or something, but I can’t really think what for?  They call them research labs so… are they researching us or are we supposed to be practicing our talents?”

“Totally! I was gonna go to the Olympics in her honor, but...”

“Guess I missed qualifiers, huh...”

“Aw, what? No need, bro! Surfing isn’t a chore, it’s stuff I like to do! No need, no need!”

He can’t really imagine taking something in exchange for sharing his craft... it’s something he enjoys, so how is that work?

Oof. Stingy. Arisa barely even flinches with the powerful highfive. You really have to love being BFFs with a different super strong guy.

“Like….that’s what I don’t get! Because, like, ground up flowers used to be used as pigment to dye clothing back in the day so, like, why would we cook with that?”

Maybe that’s….

“OMG MAYBE THAT’S HOW THEY MAKE FROOT LOOPS!! They change the color of the flour!!!!”

“BRO, PROBABLY!”

If he were to ever tell her that, she’d use it to her advantage. Either way, seeing nothing in the chest she just sighs, disappointed with it.

“Was it always empty? Or are you just, like, naturally kinda sus?”

With the whole shirt fiasco, Fumiko was leaning more towards the second option.

“Um--”

“It was totally empty when I checked before! I guess I’m just naturally sus, haha--”

“That’s nice!  Sounds like the surfer community is mostly welcome and friendly, even the ocean seems to acknowledge that.”  

Was that really something karma could do?  He’d better make sure that he had a positive reading on that the next time he went over to the ocean.

“Your mom was a pro huh?  Guess that means that your skills got passed down from mother to son.  That’s nice of her to help nurture your talent.  Even working at a surf shop probably helped you meet some nice people.”

Kai’s odd little detour isn’t missed on Jitō, for a brief second he seems to grin but it fades pretty quickly back to a normal smile. 

“Yeah that makes sense, if you’re right by the beach then you’d probably like swimming, surfing, and anything involved water and sand.”  

If he didn’t, then he felt sorry that he got stuck with that on an island where those were probably the main pastimes.

“Anyway, since you’re the local surf expert you know that means eventually you’re going to have to teach me how to surf.  We can trade lessons… course we’ll probably need to wait and see when we get a wave pool or something but I’d really love to give surfing a try.  At least once y’know?”

“Oh yeah! Everyone around the islands knows Kawehi Kahananui, she almost made it to the Olympics! She had to retire early, though, but she was never gonna give up surfing, so she passed it on to me!”

It seems the momentary darkness is gone, and now he’s right back to grinning.