Come to the Water [p/nk]

Life was hard for Kozue. Whenever she smelled that freshly baked fish on Wednesday afternoons, her heart (or rather, her stomach) cried out in yearning. She lived next to one of those unpleasant buffet restaurants that had a regular schedule, so every week on Wednesday, she promptly dressed and walked out somewhere. Last time, she went out to train. Today, however, she really wanted some delicious fish. Where could she get some.... for free? She was pretty dirt poor, after all. Heading out onto the street, she sniffed around, then regretted it as her tummy rumbled even harder than before.

Walking grumpily away from the restaurant, feline ears laid back in disappointment, Kozue wandered down the street. There was a street vendor selling one of those tilting bamboo water pipe thingies that tilted on a fulcrum when water was poured through it. She stopped to look at it, the ears on top of her head perking up in curiosity. The trickling of water.... hey, that's it! She could get some fish at the river. A happy smile on her face, she tore her eyes away from the trinket and started jogging toward the waterway. It wasn't too cloudy, and hopefully the fish would be biting... not her, of course.

Panting a little, she reached the steep, grassy bank of the gurgling river. Ayy, time to start! She took a step forward, then abruptly stopped. When she usually went fishing, she usually had something in her hands... uhm.... oh, crap! Of course, in her eagerness for her favorite food, she'd forgotten to bring along a rod... or any bucket, for that matter. Well, this was awkward. Should she just go back home and see if she could find one, or do something else for the day? As if in response, her stomach grumbled in reminder. Ooh, what to do?

[WC 308]

Junko and Katashi were walking through town, headed to the training fields near the river, Katashi doing his normal thing where he gives a "death glare" to anyone who he thinks is "checking out" Junko. Junko would just smile and roll her eyes anytime that happened, and at one point would say "people will think we're a couple if you do that all the time, silly!" as a slight giggle escaped her mouth. Katashi seemed to not care, however, continuing to stare of death everyone who did anything, basically.

Finally they got out of the village and were walking down a path alone. Junko stopped, tilted her head down, and with her arms straight by her sides, her fists tightened. Her teeth were grinding by the time Katashi turned around and asked "What's wrong?" while stepping closer to her.

Junko looked up sharply, and slapped him right on the cheek, putting all of her might, which wasn't much, into the slap. Then again, Katashi wasn't super good at taking pain, so he still winced and jerked back a bit. "YOU DRIVE EVERYONE AWAY, WHAT THE HELL!?" she yelled, obviously mad.

"SO DO YOU!" Katashi yelled back, miffed that he had just been slapped, especially for that.

"BUT I JOKE WITH PEOPLE! YOU SCARE THEM AWAY!" Junko yelled back, tears starting to come to her eyes.

"WHAT ABOUT THAT GIRL THEN, I LEAVE HER ALONE."

Junko's face reddened, and the tears dried up. "I DON'T LIKE LIKE HER, SHE'S JUST A FRIEND!" She yelled back, her face growing redder the whole time. "Besides, she doesn't like me like that anyways.." Junko's face paled almost instantly as her anger faded. Right now she wanted to just wanted to be alone.

Katashi sensed this, and took the cue. "I'll, um. I'll like go get some apples or something. There's a grove of apple trees just a bit this ways through the forest. I'll meet you at the river." With that, Katashi walked off into the forest.



Junko kept walking down the trail. She would approach the river and wash her face, completely oblivious to anyone that wasn't making their presence obvious.

[358 words]

It was there, in her indecision, that Kozue picked up a familiar scent. It was a distinctively girly scent, with some boy's with it. Her face brightened as any concern with her dilemma was forgotten. Junko! She hadn't seen her friend in a while, nor her brother. She couldn't smell him nearby though... weird, she was always with Katashi. She couldn't possibly imagine what might cause them to be apart... then again, she was a very stupid kitten. At least, that was what she had been told. The ears on the top of her head perked up, listening for any sound that Junko might make.

Splish, splish.

The sound of tiny splashing... Kozue started a brisk walk towards it. Being on top of the bank, she could now easily see the white-haired girl down below. Was she... washing her face, or something? Stealthily, she crept up to the edge of the slop, directly behind Junko. Sure enough, Katashi wasn't there. Hah! Her senses of smell and hearing rarely failed her. Maybe when she was sleepy. A sudden, rather mischevious thought popped into her head.... hey, why not surprise her friend with a surprise tackle! No doubt, Junko needed something to brighten her day, and what better way to do it then with some playful physical contact?

Quietly, Kozue wound up for a pounce, her profile low, and her cat ears laid back flat against her head....

"Nya!~"

Leaping forward, she'd barrel into Junko from behind, arms around her friend in a genial hug. What she didn't think about was the river in front of them, as the momeuntum would carry her forward into the river. The surprising feeling of the cool water hit her hard, and it took her a full second to start trying to tread water upwards.

"Gahchgh!" She spluttered as her head cleared the surface. "Halp! I can't swim!"
[TWC 620]

"WHAT THE!?" Junko yelled as she was plunged into the water. Then, a deep breathe in, and SPLUUUUSH as the combined weight of the two girls hurtled into the river.

Junko sunk down a bit before opening her eyes, planning to let out a bit of air through her nose when suddenly KICK RIGHT IN THE BACK! She lost most of her air in that moment and was propelled deeper into the water, although not by much as there wasn't much to go. Her vision went dark and she worried that she had blacked out. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. It was only a large amount of grit that had been knocked loose and into the water by her sudden descent to and collision with the riverbed.

Regathering her thoughts, she swam to the surface, having to do little more that stand up. Her toes just barely touched the bottom of the river when her nose was above the surface. Except she didn't stop at her nose, she kept rising until her head was above the water and took several deep breaths, remembering how good it felt to have air in your lungs.

And then she noticed Kozue. Junko couldn't help a small snicker as the cat girl struggled to stay above the water in a river only slightly taller than her. However, Junko thought better than to talk sense into the girl, she was practically hysterical!

Slipping back under the water, Junko would swim right under Kozue. She then stood up, forcing Kozue's thrashing legs to sit on her shoulders, and grabbing Kozue's arms and bringing them down, using this to hold Kozue up. Junko was still bent at the knees under the water, but Kozue would have about half her chest above the water, and would hopefully calm down.

Junko would then begin walking, letting out a stream of bubbles with every step. The water helped, but Kozue was still rather heavy, it was a bit of an exercise.

Finally, Junko's head breached the water. It was now significantly harder to hold Kozue up, and suddenly Junko "dropped" her. It was more like she bent down and quickly, rather forcefully, pushed Kozue off her shoulders, and only the ground. She backed up a bit, her face bright red as she realized what had just happened.

---

Meanwhile, Katashi went off to gather apples and other nice little fruits from the orchard. It took him a while to find it, since he got lost for a little bit, but eventually he found his way. Once he got there, Katashi decided to use this moment for some training. First on his docket was using one of the jutsu he recently learned, the surface walking one. So with a short interval of charging chakra in his feet, he took off running up the closest apple tree and started picking them. After a couple of minutes doing this, he found this was no fun, and jumped down to the ground to think of more fun ways to collect the apples.

[865 words]

Among several things, Kozue REALLY didn't like water. This was why she took showers rather than basking in a bathtub... because she couldn't relax even in moderately shallow water. It always felt like she was falling, even when the floor was right beneath her. As a result, she stayed the hell away from swimming pools as well. It didn't bother her much that she had this strange panic disorder (until she was in the water, of course). Wasn't it natural for cats to be afraid of the water? Kitties didn't swim. As she splashed around, she remembered how much of a fight she had given her parents when they had tried to give her a bath as a young girl.

Just when her limbs started to feel weak, she felt something between her legs. With a swaying motion, she was lifted into the air and toward the riverbank. Looking down, she saw something white, like a dove. Was it.... a bird?

"Waaaaaah.... I'm flyi- MMPH!" Whatever was carrying her dumped her face-first into the grassy bank. It hurt, just a little, and small tears came to the corners of her eyes as she turned around to see who had deposited her there so unceremoniously.

Oh, of course. In her wild, watery panic, she had forgotten completely about Junko..... er, who she had tackled. Right. Looking at Junko's clothes and face, it was apparent now that she wasn't too pleased. But now that they were both soaked, Kozue could see right through to-

"Um..... sorry?" She spoke rather sheepishly, the look on her face submissive and remorseful, while the now soggy and bedraggled cat ears atop her head tilted back slightly in apology. Like Junko, her cheeks were now burning red with blushing, but probably for a different reason, and it wasn't JUST the guilt.

[TWC 924]

Junko was still blushing when Kozue finally broke the awkward silence between them. Kozue was blushing, but that could rather easily be attributed to her "life" having just been "saved" by Junko. With a shake of her head and a deep breath, Junko stood up. The river got ever shallower, although it was still up to her knees. "Dammit, Kozue! What were you thinking!? We seriously have to get you over your fear of the water!" Junko yelled in a tone that implied more amusement than anger. She would continue walking out of the river, closer to Kozue, wraggling her finger in disapproval. "Why, we cou--" she said as she tripped. Her foot had caught on a rock, or perhaps the edge of the river. Junko had been standing almost directly in front of the sitting Kozue, so her plummet to the ground would land her directly on top of the cat girl and, should Kozue not dodge it, their heads would be about lined up.




Meanwhile in Katashi land...

After some thinking, it hit him like a lightning bolt, an epiphany, what if he used this time as target practice! So he would pull out two kunai and two shuriken, and aimed for the stems of the apples holding them up on the branch. Then he launched them. The shuriken were aimed too low and got stuck in the apples instead, while the kunai were aimed too high and they had struck the branch. Well, this was embarrassing. Katashi, being glad that no one was around to watch his fumble with the ninja tools, climbed the tree and retrieved them to go another round.


[1140 words]

W-was she berating Kozue? Putting on an unwittingly cute frown of protest, Kozue was about to speak when Junko abruptly fell forward, directly onto her. As it was now, Junko was on top of Kozue, their faces almost touching, and the rest of their bodies mostly in contact. She could smell Junko..... it was so..... so.....
Kozue's breath got a little faster, and her blush intensified. What's this weird feeling? Having another girl on top of her like this... she shouldn't feel so.... excited! She could feel both her and Junko's heartbeats against each other, both getting a little faster.
N-no, this wasn't right! Moving her hands, she placed them against the other girl's shoulders and pushed, attempting to get the girl off of her. Even if she succeeded, it would be obvious to Junko that even despite everything, she push somehow lacked intent behind it.
"W-what was that? You know that I don't lean that way!" Kozue burst forth in exclamation, faltering a little on the second sentence.
Her face fell and she averted her eyes to the grass beneath her as she next spoke.
"Besides, you know that cats don't like water. What was I supposed to do?" She said, in a subdued tone as a small breeze swept through the area, causing her to shiver slightly as her soggy self was chilled by the gust.
[TWC 1132]

The only thing that had prevented Junko's nose from colliding with Kozue's was Junko catching herself. With their bodies lying almost in parallel, well, it was quite awkward. Junko's face was the color of a rose, and when Kozue began pushing her off, her momentary lapse in thought corrected itself and she rolled over, now laying next to the girl instead of on top of her.

Junko was caught off guard by Kozue's accusing tone when she had been the one that caused all this. However, when Junko was about to respond, Kozue continued talking, having looked away from Junko. Having heard her words, Junko sat up. She wasn't looking at Kozue right now, but she said "I-I don't either! It was an accident!" she replied to the first statement, stammering for words in the first sentence. "And maybe you should have thought about that before you tackled me." This sentence was said without any malice. More of a lighthearted tone, emphasized by a small chuckle that she released afterwards. Looking over to Kozue, Junko would say "Now, how about we teach you to swim? There's a pond not far from here, and I have an idea on how to get you swimming..."

With that, Junko stood up and shivered as a brisk wind came across her. It was unusually cold that day, although she would have been fine if she hadn't been soaking wet. "Let's get a move on, we can start a fire when we get there."




At the same time...

Back on the ground, Katashi aimed once more, and launched. Sadly, he again missed his mark, the shuriken hitting the branches this time, while his kunai found nothing but leaves. Once more Katashi would go out and retrieve this tools. The two shuriken and two kunai just sitting in the palm of his hand as he stared at them, wondering what he was doing wrong.


[1478 words]

As the warmth of Junko's body faded from her, it felt like her soul was missing something.
...
Nah, it was just the chill, it had to be. Regardless, the other girl's scent still lingered in Kozue's sensitive nostrils, like the tender caresses of caring arms. She shook her head violently in an attempt to clear it out (without much success), and to attempt to get some of the water out of her hair and ears. It was how she had dried herself often before... it had always been instinct to her.
At the moment, though, even though she felt cold and wet, she was somehow feeling hot and wet too...
"S-sure.... I guess.... the water's kinda scary, though." She looked up at Junko, some of the bashfulness gone, with a sort of pleading look in her eyes that said "don't make me do this". The ears on the top of her head were now angled back slightly in supplication and submissiveness.
Should Junko decide to drag her along anyways, they would arrive at the pond, where Kozue would set aside anything that might kill her if it got too soggy and chilled, placing them on a flat rock nearby. Shivering again, she cast a nervous look about her.

[WC 1340]

Junko wouldn't acknowledge Kozue's apprehensions. Instead, Junko grabbed Kozue's wrist and started walking, not releasing it until they arrived at the pond. It was a fair bit off the trail, so it was doubtful anyone would wonder upon them. Following suit to Kozue, Junko removed anything potentially hazardous (or things that could be harmed by water) from her body, but only once she had constructed a fire near the rock that Kozue and her had put their possessions on.

"The fire should last awhile, so let's get in the water. It's pretty shallow over here, so you can just walk in." Junko would then walk over to a gradual slope into the pond. "There's even a hot spring that feeds into this pond. Keeps the water fairly warm, though not hot by any means." Junko turned her head around, twisting her body a bit with it, to look at Kozue. "Also makes it a great home for fish," she said, winking her eye before turning back around and wading into the water. "Just slide yourself in slowly. It's nice and warm, and you need not be afraid of getting wet." Junko was already waist deep in the pond, although she didn't expect Kozue to get much further than knee deep yet. That would take some cajoling.


And over in the apple orchard...

Katashi would not give up just yet. Once more he would stand up and throw his ninja tools. Then suddenly, by surprize, he had done it! One of the shuriken had cut an apple down from the tree, slicing through just the stem! He would jump for joy as he started to run to gather his tools and the apple. This was the start of a very auspicious day!

[1769 words]