Isn't This Where We Came In? [Akira]

[Karin Norling]

It hadn't exactly been a long day yet, but it sure felt like one. Karin still wasn't quite used to the dorm warden position. Sure, it would still be some time before hotshot students started trying to challenge her to battles, but she still had to deal with running the dorm. Which meant that she had to make sure a group of teenagers knew all the rules, remind them to keep their rooms clean (lest the dorm get set on by a swarm of hungry bug pokemon), and be the first person anyone came to if there was trouble. And of course, there was. Already in the first few days, three students had come in complaining about room assignments. Two of them weren't even first years!

Either way, she needed a break already. So she'd called Akira out and made her way to the hot springs. It was equally fitting, this being the first thing they did together on their own time since coming back to Gray Garden. The hot spring had been where they first met, and where they'd first gained an interest in each other.

The trek out there was as long and hot as ever, but Karin had long since learned how to combat the heat. Aya had been at their side the whole way out, leaving large pockets of cold air and ice crystals mixed into the sand, dust, and volcanic rock the whole way up.

Once they got to the hot springs, Karin did a quick check to make sure that, yes, they were empty. Satisfied, she stripped down and tossed her clothes into a nearby locker, then made her way out to the girl's side. She let out a contented sigh as she lowered herself into the hot water, then slid down on the rocks until it was up to her neck. Ahh, this was the one kind of heat she could live with all the time.

After a few blissful seconds, she called out to Akira. "Come on, the water's great!"

[Akira Mikan]

Of all the things that Akira had been looking forward to since returning to the Island, this was one she had been looking forward to the most. Not only was it in the hot springs that she met Karin for the first time, but she ended up coming here many times so that she could relax in the hot, soothing water. And, since it was near her dorm, she was able to come quite often. No matter what, she never seemed to get tired of coming here, so it was nice to be able to do so after such a long time. That Karin was with her made it even better. All in all, she couldn't really complain about coming back to the island. 

Once the two of them arrived, Akira watched as Karin proceeded to immediately strip and and head out to the girl's side of the spring upon confirming that there was no one else there at the moment. She let out a sigh. Like Karin, she had went felt like a rather long day. Two students in her dorm proceeded to start a Pokemon Battle right in the living room of the dorm. Thankfully, she was able to put a stop to it before there was any serious damage. Admittedly, she couldn't help but admire the students for how passionate they were despite having just arrived. But there was kind of a reason that battling within dorms wasn't allowed. Ultimately, she let them off with a warning. 

Beyond that, there wasn't anything she wasn't expecting. Some students complaining about their room assignments, most of which she responded to with a shrug. Either way, she proceeded to undress, placing her clothes into a locker and grabbing a towel; not wrapping it around around herself like she used to. Just holding it in front of her to cover the front of her body. While it was no where near as bad as it used to be, she was still a bit self-conscious when it came to others seeing her naked. Karin, was a bit of an exception, having had plenty of opportunities to see Akira naked, though it took Akira a while to get comfortable letting even her see it.

That said, being seen naked didn't necessarily bother her. It just made her feel a little self-conscious. Since it was just her and Karin, though, it wasn't an issue. At least, for now...never know if/when someone might show up. Either way, setting her towel down at the edge of the spring (the simple fact that she wan't still wearing it was a sign of how far she had come in regards to self-confidence), she stepped in and slowly lowered herself into the hot waters. Letting out a relaxed sigh, she spoke "...aw yeah...this brings back memories..."

[Karin Norling]

It didn't matter how many times she'd seen Akira naked since they got together, Karin still couldn't help but take a moment to admire her as she lowered herself into the spring. She smiled as she watched, not bothering to hide it and in fact making it very clear that she was admiring the view. Karin firmly believed that it would continue to help Akira's issues with self-consciousness if she made her feel like she had nothing to be ashamed of. ...That, and Karin was still a total pervert, but never mind that.

Once she was in all the way, Akira mentioned the experience bringing back memories. "Doesn't it, though?" Karin asked, shifting herself in the water so that she was next to Akira. "I hope it's much less awkward this time around though, at least. We've come a long way from 'I didn't see anything, especially not your chest'." Karin added the last part in a teasing tone, giving Akira a wink. She was still amused by that whole incident, even if it most likely contributed a lot to them being together now. "Still, we only just got back to the island, and I already wish we'd come here sooner. I guess that just goes to show how much I've missed it."

[Akira Mikan]

Akira's face turned red as Karin brought up memories of their initial meeting, which took place in this very hot spring "Sh-shut up! I was nervous!" Looking back at that moment, Akira felt pretty dumb. Of course, it couldn't be helped. Akira was already awkward enough as it is; getting an eyeful an extremely attractive girl didn't help in that regard. Not that the view wasn't nice. Either way, while she wasn't so shallow as to fall for someone just because she saw them naked, that moment did leave a fairly strong impression, making the awkward crush she ended up developing all the more awkward. Naturally, there were plenty of awkward and embarrassing moments after that, but all of them were well worth it in the end.

Letting out a content sigh, she smiled and Karin moved closer to her. Listening to Karin's comment, she nodded in agreement. "I know, right? Heck, in general, I've been finding myself missing this whole academy. When we graduated, I couldn't wait to get out and go exploring with you...but, once we were gone, I started to remember all the great times we had. "Don't know what you've got until it's gone", right?" And with that having been said, Akira proceeded to sink deeper into the water, letting it come up to her chin. Yep. This is was the life. Akira could only think of a few things better than relaxing in hot springs with her girlfriend.

Hint; they all involve doing something with her girlfriend.

[Karin Norling]

Karin laughed. "I don't know about that. I think I knew it the whole time," she answered, smiling. "This place was like some kind of paradise to me, back in the day. Sometimes I even wondered if that was more literal. But it's just one place in a big world. That for me is why I couldn't wait to go exploring." Yeah, she's pretty much bolted out the door once they were done. But that was just how she was. Always running off into the unknown, sometimes without a map or any other way to find where she was going. That hadn't changed, and Karin didn't think it was ever going to change. After all, the world was big enough that there would always be some unknown, somewhere.

"Still, it's a wonderful place, and there's always something to be said for re-visiting wonderful places. I know for one I don't plan to just stop exploring because I came back here, and I hope you'll keep accompanying me. But taking a break to re-visit and help some other kids along for awhile in the meantime, that's fine too." Karin sank deeper into the water as well, then gently leaned against Akira. Ahh, this was a perfect moment.

[Akira Mikan]

Akira smiled as she listened to what Karin said in regards to their school days, which pretty much sounded like something Karin would have said. Of course, she understood completely. However brief it was, she enjoyed the time they spent exploring together very much, so long as she didn't have to go through anything that attracted a lot of Ghost-type Pokemon. She still didn't like those very much, so anything that was rumored to be "haunted" was pretty much one giant NOPE for her. Luckily, Karin didn't hold it against her when she sat out on any explorations of such locations. If only there were more awesome Ghost-types like Honedge and its evolutions. Golett and Golurk were, also pretty cool. Damn...now Akira kinda wanted a Golurk.

Either way, when Karin leaned against her, she smiled. Looking over to Karin, she smiled a bit. She wasn't quite sure what to say, so she decided to strike up a little small talk. She was never very good at it, but she was a lot better than she used to to be. "So...any interesting students in the Mana Dorm?" She hadn't gotten much of a chance to go around and check out the students from the other dorms, having only had time to get the students of her own dorm settled in. As such, she was legitimately curious. Besides, this was the first time she had gotten to spend some time alone with Karin; like hell she was going pass up a chance to do something like this with the girl she loved. If there really was such a thing as paradise, it'd have to be pretty damn awesome to beat this.

[Karin Norling]

Karin gave a soft chuckle at Akira's question. "Oh, most of them are pretty normal. I've got a few shut-ins, a couple brooding loner types, and the occasional crazy, but that's standard for Mana Dorm. So far from what I've seen, none of them hold a candle to the people who were around when we were students." Karin thought back to her student days, and the weird and amazing people who seemed almost like regular occurrences in her dorm back then. Charlotte and Catherine came to mind immediately, but there were also a few people so far off the wall that even Karin had kept her distance. If they had anybody like that this time around though, Karin didn't know them well enough yet to tell.

But, knowing her luck, someone like that would transfer in after a few months, just like Charlotte had. Then things would get interesting. "What about you? I can't imagine Lava Dorm being lacking for crazy types. I know if it weren't for you and these hot springs I'd have to be crazy to come anywhere near this volcano." She grinned. "Yes I did just say you're worth all this heat."

[Akira Mikan]

Akira smiled as she listened to Karin talk about some of the students in her dorm. She had been to the Mana Dorm a number of times, and there were plenty of "unique" people there; Karin included. Of course, most of them seemed like pretty decent people, so she was never one to judge anybody. Besides, the Lava Dorm also had its fair share of "unique" people as well. A lot of "COURAGE AND HOTBLOOD" types. As for why Akira herself chose the Fire Dorm, two words; "Charizard" and "Aggron". They had always been favorites of hers when growing up, so when she heard that Pokemon were chosen based on dorm, it took her approximately two seconds to pick a dorm when she options were presented.

Besides, she didn't mind the heat, plus the dorm itself was well air-conditioned, so they were more than able to be comfortable despite how hot the area could get. Either way, it came time for Akira to talk about her students now, prompting a soft sigh "There is one student in particular. He seems like a good kid, but I think he loves fighting a little too much, and he's about as subtle as a rampaging Gyarados. There's another one who's always talking about his brother who's apparently a TV star or something. I've never heard of him, personally. Then again, I never watched a whole lot of TV so...eh. Other than that though, no one that stands out too much."

She let out another sigh. She had only gotten to know a few of the students, having mostly just observed so far. However, she could already tell that this was going to be an interesting school year. Either way, something popped into her head, and she turned to Karin with a bit of a smirk on her face. "So...gotta ask. How many times have you been through the ruins or that haunted mansion since we returned?" This coming from the girl who was often found napping under a tree in the forest.

[Karin Norling]

Karin laughed softly at the description of the students. That seemed pretty typical of the Lava Dorm, from what she remembered. In fact, the first one sounded like the old Warden there from when they were students. The second...well, that wasn't much of a surprise. She hadn't recognized all too many names either, least of all one shared with a TV star. Not that she watched much TV either, aside from anime. "Hm...I did look over the roster, but the only names I recognized were in different dorms. So I guess I don't know who that is either," she said, shrugging.

Then...Akira hit her with the question she knew was coming. "Hey, it's not like I spent all my time in there," she said, scratching her head. "Just once each, actually. For old times' sake. I've been looking more into that island up north since coming back." Now, she returned Akira's smirk. "So...gotta ask. How many times have you gone and napped under that tree since we returned?"

[Akira Mikan]

When Karin turned her question around on her, Akira gave her a look to the effect of "you little shit". Admittedly, she should have expected this...she did spend a lot of time sleeping under that tree. Letting out a sigh, she smiled. "Heh...I wish. I've been so busy with getting the students settled in that I haven't had the time for a nap. Once everything settles down, I might go to the forest. You know, for old times' sake~" Then, she paused for a moment, as if something that Karin said had just registered "Wait...island up north? I remember hearing about that, but I don't remember seeing anything like it..."

[Karin Norling]

Karin responded to Akira's dirty look with a playful wink and a knowing smile. Seemed like Akira remembered how much she'd done that too. Or, failing that, one time in particular. "If you're really doing it, I might join you this time," Karin said, only half-teasing. "With how much you did it, it must be a very nice place to nap." She giggled softly.

She wasn't too surprised that Akira didn't recognize the island she mentioned. Much like the more haunted locations that they visited on their travels, it was the kind of place that she would probably sit out. "Yeah, there's a pretty small island north of here that's full of psychic and ghost types and all the usual stuff I like. Pretty hard to get to, you have to surf out there. Anything that tries to fly there gets grounded. Or dunked, as the case may be."

[Akira Mikan]

Akira smiled softly as Karin offered to join her the next time she goes out to take a nap in the forest "I'd love nothing more. And yeah. There aren't many wild Pokemon in that particular area, and the few who do show up are usually harmless as long as you don't mess with them, so it's quite relaxing. The trees provide plenty of shade, so it's usually nice and cool, even in the middle of summer." She then listened as Karin explained what this island was, at which point she wasn't the least bit surprised that she would want to explore such a location. "Yeah...that I can see why you'd be interested in that...for what it's worth, I hope you have fun."

Having been in the hot water for a while, the heat was finally starting to get to her. Thus, with much reluctance, she ended up gently pushing Karin off "Sorry...the heat is beginning to go to my head, so...I think I'm gonna get out." Leaving it up to Karin whether or nor she wanted to follow, Akira stood up and got out of the water, grabbing her towel from where she left it. Then, after waiting a moment to see if Karin would come with her, she headed back to the lockers "Oh, just so you know, if I'm not busy with Warden stuff or in the forest, you'll probably be able to find me near one of the caves. Igneel, Elwin and Gon enjoy smashing things, so I let them go to town on the various boulders there when they need to blow off some steam."

[Karin Norling]

"I'll look forward to it then," Karin said, then chuckled as Akira expressed a complete lack of surprise at her interest in the island. "You know me too well."

Sadly, it wasn't too much longer before Akira pushed her off and said that she was getting out. A shame, but Karin didn't blame her. Even if it was the hot springs, Karin could only take so much of the heat as well. Once Akira was out, Karin pushed herself up and stepped out as well. Then, before Akira could cover up with her towel or anything like that, Karin took the opportunity to look her over. Sure, okay, she was a pervert, and much less subtle about it now than before Akira got accustomed to it. And she had no shame about that. So she didn't try to hide it, either. "Hey," she said, once Akira mentioned where to find her. "I know I say this a lot, but...you've become so beautiful since we first met." Now she gave Akira an innocent smile, as though nothing had just happened.

[Akira Mikan]

She noticed Karin checking her out as she got out, not even being subtle about her perverted she was being. Of course, they'd done far more perverted things than look at each other naked, so Akira couldn't be anything other than mildly amused by it. However, what she said next caused Akira's face to turn completely red. Indeed, while she was far less shy and awkward than she used to be when the two of them were still students, she was still pretty easily flustered. Naturally, no matter how many times she heard her say it, that one managed to get her every time.

"Y-yeah...w-well...you were always beautiful..." She then went over to her locker and began drying herself off. Once that was done, she'd start dressing herself. All in all, she couldn't complain about this trip to the hotsprings. It was nice to have been able to come here after so long, and she was definitely looking forward to coming her more often.

[Karin Norling]

Akira's response gave Karin pause for a second, as usual realizing all the wrong ways what she'd just said could be taken. That wasn't what she'd intended, but Akira didn't seem to have been taking it badly. So Karin brushed it off once again, accepted the compliment with a smile, and went to get changed as well. She grinned with amusement as she realized that the first time she'd properly checked Akira out was right here, after they'd gotten out of the hot springs. At the time, Akira hadn't realized that Karin had been watching her and...well, Karin had never admitted to it. Whoops. Oh well, no point doing so now.

That aside, she got dressed pretty quickly, then waited on Akira to do the same. When they were both done, she grinned and asked something she hadn't said since they were still students. "So, your dorm or mine?"