With the Waves

Chapter 1: A Fictional World

There she was. A girl surrounded by the ever-encompassing expanse of blue. Her weary eyes flickered open and closed. She looked worn out, seeking shaky breaths to keep herself afloat. Her skin was decorated an unhealthy red burnt to the point of peeling. Long dark hair flowed out behind her dancing to the rhythm of the waves.

How misfortunate she was to be stranded out at sea, kept afloat only by the small broken surfboard she lay on. Kept alive. Time was only perceivable by the harsh sun bearing down upon her letting her know it's been more than just a couple hours with no rescuer in sight.

She felt so helpless, so small, in the presence of the grand stretch of the ocean, a place she used to love. It's at a time like this she wishes she had the power to help herself, to not succumb to her own weakness, but no such thing exists.

Staring up into the blinding light of the sun she curved her lips into a weak smile. The action caused her dehydrated lips to split with a stinging pain. She was so tired. Every breath she took felt like fire against her lungs and her skin burned painfully in the embrace of the sun.

Darkness eventually stole her vision and a numbness seized control of her body leaving her to sink deeper and deeper into the ocean abyss.

*

The girl awoke desperately gasping for air in a panic as she took in her surroundings.

A sparse room entered her sight decorated to the bare minimum, with no personal belongings in sight but definitely not a hospital.

'Didn't I die?' the girl thought confusion evident on her face. She was sure she did, but the reality seemed to defy so. Her disorientation grew the longer she thought about it.

Her eyes caught sight of a mirror and in absolute bewilderment, she observed her different self. She was young, 13 maybe and had beautiful blue eyes so saturated with colour they looked borderline unnatural. Dark hair cascaded down her back and shoulders reaching about half-way down. Her cheeks withheld the pudginess of youth giving her a cute yet still-defined look.

This is where panic overtook the girl once again. She had somehow become a different person after death.

Still in a panic, the girl's attention was placed on the phone and ID card on the table. Picking it up it read; Name: Kairi Aiko, Age: 13, Status: Student, Esper Level: 1, Esper Ability: Water hand.

'Hold on this seems familiar' she contemplated before a look of absolute disbelief crossed her face. In a frantic state, she checked the phone eyes widening further as the date stated she was more than 10 years in the past. She rushed towards the window throwing it wide open.

'Holy shit.' Before her stood the large technologically enhanced academy city decorated with its iconic unpractical wind turbines scattered between skyscrapers. The streets were spotless uncharacteristic of urban settings roamed by students and the occasional adult. A large blimp crossed the sky displaying the daily weather update.

'This is the world of the index franchise' she thought before promptly falling back to the bed she woke up on contemplating life or well, death. She had loved the railgun series from her past world. Though crazy and downright a miracle to be able to exist in this fictional world she now has the opportunity to become what she had always wished for; strong. Not to mention meeting her favorite characters and being an Esper with actual powers even if her power is just a generic one.

'I'll make it strong' she quipped.

*

For the past couple of weeks after Kairi vowed to become stronger, she had been training every day.

She enrolled herself in multiple different martial arts places within the vicinity of her dorm room using the allowance academy city provided whilst also making sure to train strength and endurance outside of these sessions. In her spare time, if she wasn't resting, she'd be developing her ability to manipulate large bodies of water into precise forms.