Gone Fishin'

With unseasonably warm autumns in Japan came a few things. More pay days for lifeguards and a renewed interest in the numerous picturesque and sandy beaches along Japan’s coastline. Crystal waters and serene backdrops with an ethereal radiance that would inspire artists to paint the most resplendent portraits…

…would not be noticed by the rowdy gang of jocks tossing a pigskin along the sandy turf, blending into the raucous chattering’s of a fairly busy shoreline teeming with families and burgeoning youths wearing suggestive swimsuits and teeny weeny bikinis.  Those same machismo fueled lunk heads, were living breathing stereotypes of “Dude bro” culture, tribal arm tattoos, nose rings, and backward baseball caps were everywhere. Sectioning off their own private area for some foosball, one member of their group stood out from among the rest as having no ink or ridiculous looking metallic nose adornment. A tat or piercing would endanger his modeling career...and well, some guys just shouldn’t wear jewelry.

“Dewd…saw that spiral?!1” Dressed in dark blue swimming trunks with an unbuttoned matching blue Hawaiian shirt littered with palm trees, Bryan heaved the football back to his fellow model compadres and enjoyed the time off from work to soak up some sun at….the exact same place he came off from work. That same beach was where his last modeling gig took him a few days ago, also running into a determined and clearly smitten interviewer who ambushed him there. Bryan was still getting situated for his extended stay in Japan for his promising career change in AFW, so when the guys left it to him to decide on a place to chill, his choices were kinda limited on that front.

Honestly the time off with some simple leisure activity was just what the doctor ordered. The culture shock from the  big move was wearin him down, learning Japanese might have maybe been a good idea before agreeing to all this. Plus his debut match was on the horizon….not that he was nervous that his entire future in the fashion industry as well as his prospects as a potential leading man in films would be decided within the next few mon- *Shit…..threw it into that kids sandcastle….looks pissed…..*

Wincing from his errant throw, B-RY glanced to his right to notice an extended pier leading out into water. He followed it along with a bored look on his face until he came to the curious sight of someone actually fishing off the edge of the pier. Definitely a senorita….the curvy rear end was a dead giveaway. A tad peculiar, this lady going so far out of her way to seclude herself from the rest of the world. Whoever this lovely lass was, it was apparent to the thickest numbskull that she might have wanted to be alone...

“Hey, uh…T.O. guys!!. Gotta go see about a lady~…” Bryan confidently stated before turning his back to companions to sharpen his skills at sparking up a conversation out of nothingness. He could use the practice and some light chatter may soothe some of his nerves over his upcoming debut. Girl had a fine body in any case, from what he could tell from behind. And like he always told people who said they were nervous about talking to women...“You always lose 100% of the time when you don’t try.”

Now only a feet away as his strapped sandals clomped on the wooden pier, he overheard the soulful 60’s music being played from the mystery lady’s ipod. *Heh…wonder if she knows she has a pretty cute singing voice.* Stepping to her side, Bryan would squat down to bent legs and actually start singing and snapping his fingers for as long as it takes until the soulful singer noticed him.

“If I have to beg and plead for your sympathy, I don't mind coz' you mean that much to me…” Hoping the mystery lady wouldn’t suffer from a jump scare from the sudden company, Bryan would extend his hand for a handshake with a non-threatening and well-practiced grin on his face.

“Hey, name’s Bryan. This seat taken?” Bryan said with an underlying smile, knowing fairly well that no one was with her.

*Phew…she speaks English, thank the matrix. Consider that ice...broken. Gotta sneak your introduction in within the first few seconds of meeting her. Put yourself on a first name basis right out of the gate and boom, you’re already seen as less of a threat and she’s put at ease with lowered defenses. In like Flynn…*

Now that B-RY was within arms’ distance and could get a closer view of her, Bryan glanced Kozue over quick enough to soak her in but not long enough to get caught staring. A rookie mistake if there ever was one. Girl certainly had a thing for denim, dressed more like she was about to work on your tractor trailer than chillax at a beach. The tight pants did show off her slim thighs, and along with the toned abs the demure lady with the sky high pony tail was still quite the looker despite the workman’s clothing. What did immediately raise an eyebrow was her manner of speech, sounding more like one of the guys than one of the vapid airheads than Bryan works with. Curiouser and curiouser...

“Well thank ya kindly. Hope ya don’t mind the company, promise not to scare off the fish…” Bryan would whisper that last part as he leaned forward to peek past his dangling legs towards the cerulean water below. Not a fish to be seen….He looked back towards the rolling waves ahead with his hands propping himself from behind and spoke up before there was any dead air.

“….Ya know...not to sound like an asshole here…if yer really jonesin for some seafood, Japan’s kinda got a monopoly on the whole enterprise. Pretty sure you can buy fried fish at the post offices round here...unless you’re ready to clean it, gut it, descale it, de-bone it, de-turd it yourself…all that fun stuff…” Bryan coyly quipped with a sarcastic tone, crossing his fingers in hopes of getting a rise from Koz.

Bryan looked on as Kozue eased up on the line to let it go further off shore. He was no aquatic expert but he figured although the waves were fiercer she might have a better chance of snagging some tuna if she set the hook as far away as possible. Bryan wanted to ask if fishing so close to a noisy coastline was a good idea….but decided against it at the risk of him being right and making Kozue look bad.

“Yeah, I feel you. But the second you wanna splurge at the sushi bar I’m buyin. I dunno, I've always thought people who go out of their way to fish tend to have a lot on their plate. But as for me, guess I was never hooked on it.” Bryan smiled to himself, hoping the fishing humor wasn’t lost on Kozue. Now that he was sitting here though the relaxing atmosphere was already soothing his nerves. Maybe there was something to this…

“Hah…yeah I don’t look the part of your average islander, do I?” B-RY sat back up and looked down at his flashy, touristy get up before looking over at the bag of roasted nuts. Seeing the subtle offering as a sign of good will, he reached in and started cracking one open. “Yepper, moved out here on a wing and a prayer a few weeks ago. Expanding my horizons, man. I mean, ya can only be a devilishly handsome male model for so long before the scene can start to get stale. Mayhaps you’re aware of some of my work…Vogue, Apollo, GQ….yepyepyep, you name a mag and I’ve you might've seen my face on the cover~…” B-RY’s ego was threatening to get the better of him again, flashing Kozue a sparkling toothed grin he’s mastered in his best photo shoots with his chin supported by the side of his index finger and thumb in hopes of the ninja girl recognizing his work.

“...Ah….y-ya sure? Cause the GQ one was…n-nevermind.” Bryan’s cocksure smile deflated to a barely maintained grin. Not even a passing familiarity? Nothing? Well…..guess it IS asking a lot for someone off the street to recognize him from his still extensive body of work.....wait, she called him cute!! He thinks….whatever, he’s still got the mojo~.

B-RY would glance over to notice her fidgeting with her Ipod. No es bueno. A sign she’s losing interest in the conversation? Better steer things back to her interests, post haste!! “Oh, a fellow shredder huh? Man I havn’t touched my ride since I got here, gotta look up some skate parks man. Something to break up the monotony of all those wrestling training sessions. Those goddamn mat bumps...” B-RY would rub his lower back just thinking about all the times he’s had to fall flat on his ass, afterwards shuffling and clapping his hands together to let the shells in his other hand from the peanuts fly away in the breeze.

“So, you a casual skater or prof?”

Bryan raised an eyebrow at how nonchalantly she accepted his unintentional admission of adding ‘wrestler’ to his growing list of job experiences. Kozue seemed damn near unflappable, cool as a cucumber with sunglasses. It was starting to make him seem overeager, now that he thought about it…

“Heh…alright, fair enough. I’ll reel it in then…” B-RY coyly grinned back towards Kozue as his fishing puns kept coming, although that one was completely unintentional. Honest. Though seeing Kozue smile like that was sort of putting things at ease for him…it was worth sticking around just to see how much longer he can keep up brightening her day.

“So…..what made you wanna come out here and spend the day hooking some bass all by your lonesome instead of chilling with your friends? It’s gotta be kind of heavy if such a lovely lady is willing to spend the afternoon secluding herself from the world?” Bryan was going out on a limb assuming Kozue was having a hard time with something, but he always thought anyone who looks like they have nothing to say are actually just waiting for someone to listen.