Sports are fun.... a new friend!

Sora spent so much time working on the robots new design that he missed his next class. It was lunchtime, and he was getting hungry.

He had herd the cafeteria was serving sloppy joes today. He hadn't had a sloppy joe in years. It sounded so, so good.

Sora walked into the serving line anticipation in his eyes.

As he reached down to grab the last sloppy joe, he heard the clanging of the plate as another hand grabbed the opposite side.

"Hey, hey." Sora looked up. "What are you doing? Don't take that one!" Sora tried to pull it away from her, but it wasn't budging. The person who held onto Sora's sloppy joe seemed oblivious to Sora's cries.

Sora followed the hand up to see a athletic and toned. Her hair was short, spiky blue hair covered with a baseball cap. Her eyes were bright blue, with a mischievous glint.

Her lips curved into an amused smile. She was pretty cute actually.

"Hands off! We only get these once a month, this one is mine!" the girl said.

"I had it first!" Sora protested.

The girl smacked him on the head and laughed. "I like you, the names Rina!" she held out her hand.

"So you're the mysterious stranger I keep hearing about," she replied.

"And you're the trouble-making girl I've heard about, too."

Rina smiled.

"So, can I have my sandwich please?" Sora asked.

"Of course."

Sora took his sloppy joe. He ordered a side of fries and a Coke.

He went to his table, Rina followed him.

"Well, let me introduce myself properly," she said. "My name is Rina Kato. But call me Rina."

She sat across from him at the round table. They started eating.

"Your the boy that works with robots right?" she asked.

"How'd you know that?"

"The rumors in the hallways... Anyway, what's the story behind your robots? What kind of special training did you go through?

"Nothing special. I've always had a knack for robotics. Plus it's part of my family tradition."

"Oh really? Then why don't we say you are the heir to some ancient clan of robot engineers!" She playfully raised her hands up in front of her face as if to cover her mouth.

"Stop, that's stupid! It's more like, I'm from the future sent back in time to start the robot uprising!"

Rina burst out laughing. It was clear she found Sora hilarious.

"Why are you here, what's your story?"

"I'm an Immortal ninja. I was sent here to destroy you!" Rina burst out laughing again.

"No, but really. I love sports, been doing them my entire life. I'm fantastic at baseball, and my school was expecting me to join the team. That wasn't my passion though, I want everyone to enjoy physical activities. In my parents' basement, on the weekends, I developed an artificial arm. It mimics a real human arm perfectly. Keeping fairness in mind, of course."

"And you came here looking for a way to test it."

"Pretty much. Someone from the government heard about my research and invited me to this school. it's hard though, nobody here likes sports. Everyone is so obsessed with their grades, or video games, that they never leave the classroom. There aren't many people who share my interest in sports..."

"Swimming?" Sora asked.

"What about it?"

"You like swimming? Want to swim together after lunch?"

"Really?"

"Yhea! The pool is always open. We could go now."

"Are you serious? Really?"

Sora smiled. "It would be nice."

They went straight to the pool room.

***

Rina kicked off her shoes as she stepped onto the tile flooring of the changing rooms. She was excited that someone wanted to compete with her, it had been so long since she had gotten to really enjoy herself.

Rina changed into her swimsuit, then made her way down to the water's edge, where Sora was waiting. Rina began splashing around playfully, enjoying the sensation of water against her skin.

"Wanna race?" she asked.

"Sure, what were you thinking, 100 yards?" Sora replied. He was wearing a speedo, but no goggles. His eyes lit up in excitement.

"No problem," he said.

Rina raced him across the pool. He was fast, crazy fast. He beat her by a full body length. They swam back and forth several more times, and Rina ended up losing every single time.

She loved it though. It felt good to move so quickly and freely again. To have such an amazing feeling of freedom, without any care in the world.

"How... are.. you... so damn fast..." Rina said panting, resting on the side of the pool.

"My family had a house near the beach. I spent almost every day in the water. I love swimming almost as much as robots."

Sora and Rina spent the next hour, swimming and playing. They talked about anything and everything under the sun— from school, to Sora's hobbies (he mentioned his robot designs), to Rina's past life before coming here. The two found they had many common interests. The decided to meet up over the weekend and check out the schools activity center. There was supposed to be a dynamic rock climbing wall being unveiled.

The two were becoming fast friends, and headed to the changing room. They continued talking as they undressed for their shower, when suddenly, it dawned on them...

"Um... this is awkward." Sora said.

"What are you talking about?" Rina asked.

"Do you see anything wrong with, this situation?" he said as he tossed a towel to Rina.

"I don't think so. What am I missing?" Rina asked.

"It's just that we're, going to the same place together," Sora replied. "You know, the shower, to... shower.. with out clothes..."

Rina paused. "...Okay, well that seems kind of weird actually..." as she covered herself with the towel.

"Yeah," agreed Sora.

They laughed nervously. Their relationship had advanced so quickly, they hadn't even noticed they were getting naked in front of each other. They were just chatting away like they had done this a thousand times before, even though they just met a few hours earlier.

"So, I'm gonna go over there now. Meet up outside in a few?" Rina suggested.

"Yeah sure."

Rina and Sora went to opposite sides of the shower room, even though they had seen each other in the buff, it didn't really feel awkward, no was it sexual. It was like two childhood friends, It was nostalgic, but at the same time very exciting. It felt natural. It was comforting. As if their friendship would last forever.

Rina pondered this. She thought about how much fun she'd had today, after having been through hell these past couple weeks— she couldn't help smiling as she soaked her head under the water. This was the start of a wonderful friendship.

Sora finished showering first, drying off his body while he watched Rina finish up from across the bathroom. He felt a little strange, he had just undressed Infront of Rina and didn't think anything of it. He has her smooth toned body, and her perky breasts. But it didn't feel sexual to him, she was cute true, but nothing more than that.

They met outside the locker rooms and exchanged phone numbers. They planned to hang out again over the weekend.

"See you on Saturday then?" Sora said.

"Of course. You too, right?"

"Yeah."

"Bye."

Rina turned to leave, waving goodbye as they headed to their next class.