[b]Kotori Shirohane - Sadaomi Beach | Saturday - Morning[/b]

As it turned out, the object of Samuru's and Kanna's little discussion - which Kotori had reluctantly stepped away from, giving politeness the edge over curiosity when it came to accidental eavesdropping - was not far away indeed. Glancing about, Kotori saw Rui stepping out from the changing room, the final one to join the others in his own beach-wear. With everyone thus accounted for, Kotori's attention turned back to the beach that stretched out before them as she peered out from beneath the rather low-held brim of her sunhat in search of the two Shoujin High students that had gone off to find a suitable spot to put down the bags. Shifting the strap slung over her shoulder, Kotori wasn't exactly opposed to no longer having to actually carry her around.

Incidentally, she soon spotted at least one of them - a sight which furrowed her brow in slight confusion when she realised that Kazuki was both going at a rather speedy pace and, judging by his breathing, had been doing so - or more - for quite a distance. As he drew closer, he only now seemed to actually spot the group strewn about the immediate vicinity of the changing rooms - and seemed a little preoccupied as he pointed to where he'd just come from, letting them know that Megumi and he had indeed found a good place before heading on with no break in his pace. The confusion on Kotori's face was not hard to read - at least, if one stood close enough to see beneath her hat - as her eyes followed Kazuki on his way onward for a few moments more. After that, she shook her head briefly and decided to simply take him by his word and assume that he was just hungry, rather than suspect some strange ongoings to have taken place.

Either way, the fact that there would be somewhere to keep their bags was not an unwelcome one - and Kotori turned to head in the direction that Kazuki had pointed; finding herself to not be the only one doing so when Rui too began walking. However, before she got more than a few steps, Kotori looked back when she realised that perhaps not everyone had actually heard the brief exchange or noticed Kazuki's return and subsequent departure. Samuru and Kanna had surely been right there, so Kotori's gaze turned to the others - but skipped over both Sato and Mako as well as Shizuka and Matt when she realised how awkward she'd feel if she walked up to them and perhaps interrupted either par's time on the beach. She still couldn't help an inaudible sigh escaping her lips when she realised that it was much the same reason that she hadn't been really been able to do anything to help the latter couple return to the more light-hearted mood that they'd been just a few weeks ago.

However, once she cleared that thought from her mind too, there was still one member of the group unaccounted for, Kotori realised. Sitting a little ways off, Ryan was evidently already enjoying the feel of the ocean lapping at his feet - but in doing so, Kotori wasn't sure if he'd heard that they were going to head on over to the spot that Megumi was occupying by herself now. Glancing back to Rui, who was going ahead already, Kotori stopped in her tracks - and then headed back, walking up to the younger boy. It was only once she got closer though that it occurred to her that she hadn't really spoken much to him before - or, as she noticed upon looking past her sunhat, seen him without anything covering the telltale discolorations of scars, faded though they may be.

Kotori's steps faltered at the sight as she brought a hand to her own chest - though she couldn't help her curiosity being piqued, the topic of scars and how one might have gotten them was not a topic she would want to be approached about. As such, she afforded him much the same courtesy - even if she felt some measure of sympathy, given that Ryan did not have the fortune of being able to hide his own scars.

[color=green]"Uhm... Chideta-san?"[/color] Kotori said, her voice as quiet as ever as she quickly glanced back to make sure she didn't lose sight of the others as they went on ahead. [color=green]"S-sorry to bother you, but, uhm, M-Morinaka-san just came by, so..."[/color] she said, her voice trailing off with every word, whilst keeping her eyes firmly on the ground somewhere in front of her; only hesitantly looking up to see if Ryan had even heard her - and then making a vague gesture toward where Rui and the others were heading in order to finish her sentence. She remained standing somewhat awkwardly for a moment, glancing between them and Ryan as she waited for a response - before then turning to follow the others to wherever it was that Megumi was waiting, albeit at a slight distance.