For a moment, all of the work from the days prior melts away under the heat of the sun and the lulling crash of the waves against the seashore. And they are left with a hint of something to the air, something light, something maybe a little predictable but in a fun way rather than a monotone predictability.
And Kiki's trying to feel less like dissolving into the ocean, less uncomfortable at the moment to be in her own skin, because a beach is not a normal place for her and to be comfortable at one really isn't either. She's wearing a t-shirt that's a couple sizes too big, a light green color that drops and drops, nearly burying her swim trunks beneath it.
She knows it really isn't all that common of an outfit for a woman to wear to the beach, but it feels a bit less strange for her. A bikini is too much exposure, and a one piece swimsuit feels strange on her. So, Kiki's definitely not comfortable in either of the normal outfit choices a trip to the beach would normally entail for a young woman.
But swim trunks and a large shirt, that can be something she can work with. And yet, it's a game of beach volleyball they are drawn to. Split mostly evenly down the middle with Kiki playing with the other girls of their group. Yuzuri, Kihal, and Shirayuki.
Zen, Obi, Mitsuhide, and Suzu make up the other team, and somehow it's a fierce competitiveness that arises within Kiki as she works to compete against Mitsuhide, because normally they are a team, a team that flows and works together.
Right now, she's determined to be his downfall, and if there's a bit of fire in her blue eyes, so be it. Kiki's eyes are trained on her competition, and her feet are moving at a quick and steady pace, though she's not trying to take the game away from her teammates. Her goal isn't to leave them bored on the sidelines, but to be a formidable opponent to Mitsuhide, a fun challenge that is definitely giving her a new angle to try out.
And when the ball comes back towards her, she launches it with a steady hit right back at Mitsuhide, and it innocently hits the ground at his feet, just for him to look down at it with an element of confusion that Kiki's not used to seeing, but is glad to have put there.
"Kiki?" Mitsuhide's voice breaks in his shock, "How?"
"I hit it." She tells him, trying to hide the grin that's threatening to peek out across her face.
"That shouldn't be possible!" Mitsuhide tells her and raises his hands in the air, both of them, a quick sign of his still existent confusion.
"She's just a really good player." Yuzuri pipes up and comes to lean across Kiki's side, all relaxed and maybe a little bit giddy.
"She is." Mitsuhide admits half-reluctantly, though his lips are twitching up into the beginnings of a smile. The competition between the two of them forgotten for the moment as Mitsuhide takes a moment to just think about how proud of Kiki he is.
"Who's got the next serve?" Zen asks, and the game resumes fairly quickly once more. And Kiki readies herself for a renewal of her competition with Mitsuhide.