Airi raised an eyebrow at Katie's deep blush, the abrupt change of subject not lost on her, but decided to let it go in the face of her obvious discomfort. It was probably a favorite site for hazing and she didn't want to relive the story, or something. This was a private school, after all, so there were bound to be the obligatory vicious packs of elitist girls intent on cowing all newcomers. She brushed her hair back as she thought, using her hand as a quick shield to cover the fierce grin accompanying her opinion on the matter: Let them try.

Ahead, the beach beckoned, cerulean water rippling invitingly up the white sand, the late sun giving it an unearthly glow, stark against the shadows deepening beneath the rocky outcrops. A true smile came to Airi's lips, and she took off down the beach, hair streaming behind her as she called back, "I vote close to the water!" Her bag and towel landed with a soft thud in the sand as she skipped into the deepening waves, only stopping when she was in up to her neck, swaying gently with each rise of the ocean, its salt tang a familiar scent in her nose.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Katie squeaked as her new friend took off toward the water. She set her bag and her towel down next to the other girl's wriggling her hips as she worked the small shorts down her thighs, revealing the matching black bottom with the same cute pink skull motif.

She splashed into the water, the tropical climate leaving it so much clearer and warmer than it was back home. The waves splashed up her body, causing her to shiver pleasantly, feeling goosebumps sprouting on her pale skin as she made her way out by Airi.

"Not so bad, eh?" she giggled.

Airi laughed as she heard Katie's indignant squeak, continuing to race down the beach to the beckoning waves. "Not bad at all," she agreed as Katie reached her, splashing playfully.

Spying her swimsuit, she added, "And the suit is adorable, by the way." Smiling, she stretched back to float on top of the water, bobbing gently away from Katie in anticipation of potential revenge, enjoying the warm rays reflecting off of the water to dance in rippling patterns over her. Seeing no retaliatory splashes forthcoming, she paddled to drift closer to her new friend, asking, "So, where are you from, anyway? Is it anything like this?"

Katie gave another little yelp at the splash, wiping the water from her face, her pale skin glistening nicely in the hot, downbeating rays of the sun. She was content to tread water, kicking her legs beneath her before laying back and floating alongside Airi.

She blushed at the compliment to her bathing suit, "Thanks, yours is cute too" she added with a smile, eyes glancing down the girl's body."

"It is absolutely, one-hundred percent, nothing like this. I live in Maine so our weather is nowhere near this nice. Usually in the summer it's humid and sticky with mosquitoes the size of pigeons flying around... and in the winter the wind is biting and frigid so I never want to go outside..." she sighed, "I miss it, hah."

"So what about you, hun, where are you from?"

Airi laughed. "Originally, Stockholm, Sweden. Unless, of course, you count the fact that my family's Finnish, so technically somewhere in Finland. I was a problem child all through primary school and junior high, so I got sent to a boarding school in London to complete my secondary school. Depending how you look at it, I'm Finnish, Swedish, or English by association, although England would probably prefer I consider myself a foreigner so they don't have to be embarrassed on my behalf."

She shot Katie an amused glance, as if to reassure her that she didn't find England's opinion of her disturbing in the least, and added, "Fortunately, none of these places sport pigeon-sized mosquitoes or extreme weather, although London really should declare open season on the pigeons themselves. They're everywhere, and large enough to eat small dogs."

Despite her levity, her brow creased at the melancholy in Katie's voice. "Would you prefer we talk about something else?" she asked frankly, hoping that the American wasn't put off by her bluntness. Delicacy when dealing with emotional issues was something she'd never acquired, or at least not in a form that most people recognized. "Homesickness isn't a problem for me, but I don't need to pry if you don't want me to."

Katie laughed softly at the pigeon comment, floating over towards the girl as they lay near the surface of the water, soaking in the sun. She felt her arm brush against her new friend's a shiver running up her spine. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, not in the least, that gentle bit of skin-on-skin contact, slightly slippery underneath the salt waves.

"No, you're not prying at all, don't worry..." she laughed, "It's just that... well... I didn't exactly leave on the best of terms with my folks. I thought I'd never want to go back, but I've found myself getting more and more homesick the more time I spend on this damn island."

Airi sighed heavily, letting her feet drop to the sandy bottom. That was something she could understand- not parting on good terms with one's family, anyway. Airi had spent roughly half of her life at different boarding schools, her family hoping that one of them would send the young lady they desired home some holiday instead of the young miscreant they kept sending abroad. Thanks to their deep pockets and connections, Shokushu University was the next logical step- exclusive, on an island, and all-girls. Since Airi had never bothered to tell them that she was bisexual, that last detail was what sold the place as perfect for their little renegade, and off she went. She was understandably bitter, and doubted that it was possible for her to feel homesick anymore, but she could still feel for Katie. She had gone through much the same thing, albeit at a younger age.

Gently, she pushed a wet tendril of hair off of Katie's forehead, telling her simply, "I've been there, and I know what that feels like. I don't know your family, so I can't say anything regarding them, but whether you see them again and make up or not, you'll be fine. You're not the kind of person to fold under homesickness; I can tell."

A moment later, Airi's face went red, her blush showing brilliantly against her fair skin, and she added hastily, "God, I must be getting sentimental in my old age, haha..."

The heat in her face directed her attention to heat on other parts of her skin, and she realized something that gave her the perfect escape. "Shit! I forgot to put on sunscreen!" Without another word, she raced for the beach and their bags, face still glowing like a ruby. Since when did she give out sage advice? Her friends would be laughing themselves sick if they could have seen her back there. At that thought, a pang of homesickness hit her so hard that she bent double over the bag of swimming gear, thinking ruefully as her heart ached, What is the phrase? Friends are the family you choose.

It wasn't that Katie was directly antagonistic towards her family, far from it, but that still didn't mean that they had parted on the best of terms. Coming out to her parents was probably the most stressful and traumatizing event of her life (before she made it to school, that is) and she figured fences would definitely need to be mended when she got back. If she ever got back, that was. That was the troubling part, she couldn't remember any of her summer break, the days from May to September just seemed to blend together. The nurse had said she suffered a concussion during turbulence on the plane ride back to the island and that this type of amnesia was perfectly normal, but she thought she would at least remember bits and pieces, and it was an oddly specific amount of time to blank out.

Still...

Airi almost sprinted out of the ocean and Katie called out after her, "Hey! Hey wait up!" she waded in behind the girl, panting, out of breath, "Just... didn't want to... be left alone out there..." she managed between heaving breaths, a soft smile on her face.

"Need any help on the back or shoulders, or you got it covered?" she asked, a little blush on her cheeks.

She was still horribly red, she could feel it, and Airi was perfectly aware that most of the redness was due to the blood suffusing her face. Still, she turned, undeniably apprehensive as Katie approached, relaxing slightly as she saw her soft smile. Well, she isn't laughing hysterically at my sudden attack of the warmfuzzies. That has to be something, Airi thought, brightening as she realized, And she still wants my company.

It didn't banish the uproarious laughter she knew her friends would be indulging in, if they weren't currently serving time for reckless endangerment and non-licensed use of pyrotechnics at a school function (only blackmailing her parents into hiring good lawyers for them had gotten that much), but it helped calm the writhing in her stomach enough to let her answer.

"Actually," Airi said, offering Katie the sunscreen and pretending she didn't see her blush, "it would be great if you could get my back for me." If Katie was interested in pursuing more than simple friendship- and Airi was happy to have simply met someone who wasn't the spoiled scion of a family like hers at this exclusive school- then she certainly wasn't going to frighten her away by letting her know that she had guessed her interest before she was ready to say anything.

All Airi did was simply offer her the bottle of sunscreen and a warm smile, her own blush faded from her cheeks, leaving the pink glow from the sun.

Katie barely noticed the blush. She wasn't even really aware that there was anything to be embarrassed about. As the type of girl that normally wore her emotions on her sleeve, Katie was more than grateful for the helpful words, they certainly made her feel better.

She skipped up the sand as she approached Airi, the sand sticking to her long, glistening legs. Laying out a blanket, she sat down, catching the suntan lotion with a soft giggle and smiling as she squirted it out onto her palms.

"No problem," she said working it over her palms, "What are friends for, right?" she laughed, smiling up to the other girl.

Airi relaxed and laughed with the girl, basking in the beautiful weather and the unexpected blessing of companionship. Who knew that there would be real people here, not just rich-girl cardboard cutouts? A small tingle went through her as Katie began to smooth the lotion into her skin, and Airi closed her eyes, turning her face to the sky with a smile.

"Katie, I know you miss your family," she said. "But I'm really glad you're here."

Katie giggled, feeling a blush creeping into her features as she leaned in. She rested her chin on the girl's shoulder, smiling as she saw those delicate features turned up into the sun. She moved her hands across the smooth flesh of her back, making small circles with the lotion as she trailed down, massaging Airi's sides.

"I'm glad you're here too," She laughed softly, sighing as she rested her head against Airi's, "It can be kinda hard to make friends here."

Airi made a quiet, happy noise, stretching her back as the muscles loosened under Katie's hands. "Then I'll count myself doubly lucky- I've made a friend on my first day here, and she has magical fingers. Don't be surprised if you find me outside your door around exam time, begging for a massage."

As Katie's hands circled down her sides, Airi squirmed slightly. "Careful," she laughed. "I'm ticklish."

A moment of silence passed, and Airi glanced over her shoulder warily. If Katie was anything like her English friends, she may well have just set herself up.

Katie giggled at the comment about Airi stopping by for massages, a light blush coloring her cheeks as she realized that she wasn't even slightly averse to the whole idea. Her fingers spread the slick lotion across the small of the girl's back, massaging little circles on her spine.

She gave a little tickle with her fingertips, just a tease. Turning her lips, she kissed the sensitive spot behind Airi's ear softly, smiling, "Ticklish, eh? Don't worry, I won't do anything untoward with that grave information, hehe."

Squirming as her fingers went for her waist once more, Airi stopped completely as she felt the satin warmth of Katie's lips press the delicate skin behind her ear. Well, I wasn't expecting that, she thought, eyes wide with surprise.

A mischievous light in her eye, Airi turned towards Katie, remarking, "Oddly enough, I don't believe you." A grin grew on her face as she continued, "But I can think of an alternative activity..." Leaning in, she met Katie's lips with her own in a gentle, lingering kiss. Drawing back, she crooked a playful eyebrow at her. "Is this a fair replacement?"