༄ Heart of the Sea༄ ༄ A lull in the sea fanfic ༄

Chapter 1

I walk along the harbor with a sigh as the wind blows harshly against me, forcing the smell of saltwater into my nose. The smell makes me smile, only fond memories of my childhood emerging with the scent. The cry of the seagulls draws my attention and I tear my eyes away from the sky just as a harsh slap of wind comes at me, forcing my hair to hit me in the face.

"Mmmmm!" I push it out of the way and fix my bows in my hair that held my two half up ponytails out of the way. "By the time I get to school, I'll look like I've been through a hurricane!" I groan. The watch on my wrist ticks by as I wait for my friend, tapping my foot impatiently since we agreed to walk to school together!

Finally I see the boat slowly begin pulling up to the harbor, I skip my way over and hop on without waiting for them to stop. "Morning grandpa!" I beam up at the man behind the controls as the boat slightly rocks back and forth from the ever changing waves. "What took you guys so lon-!"

"Manaka!!"

A voice from behind me screams and I hear multiple pairs of feet running towards us. My head whips around and there, I see three kids around our age all running towards the boat as though their lives were in danger.

"Mana...?" I tilt my head in confusion trying to make out what he said but another voice shouts back in response from a few feet away from me. To my right is a cute girl with long brown hair and shimmering blue eyes that brighten up at the sight of the new kids. She giggles before hopping out of the boat and towards everyone else who met her halfway, the three kids crowding around her worriedly.

"When did she get here?" I raise my eyebrows in surprise, not having realized that she was there. I was too focused on grandpa to see her standing next to Tsumugu. The random friend group merely cast us quick glances before being on their way while I'm left to my own confusion.

"That there's the reason we were running late. Tryin' to catch a haul when she came up instead." Grandpa responds while scratching his head underneath his cap.

At his words, I slam my hands on to the control panel and lean on it, "Eh?! You caught a girl?! She wasn't hurt, was she? Was she from Shioshishio? So are they the ones who are gonna-!"

"Are you gonna sit here to interrogate me or are you gonna head to school?" He frowns at me.

That's when I'm snapped back to my previous task: Walk to school with Tsumugu.

I turn around and begin climbing out of the boat to join Tsumugu who had already exited and was waiting on me. "Sorry! We'll be on our way now!" I wave at grandpa as he drives away to continue fishing.

Tsumugu had promised we'd walk to school after he helped his grandpa fish in the morning. Although, now it appears that I have something to bug him about on our way to school!

As we begin walking, I quickly turn towards my friend and shake him by his arm. The movement causes his body to jerk back and forth with slightly widened eyes. "What happened! How did you manage to catch someone from Shioshishio in the net?!" I exclaim.

Tsumugu glances at me with his dark eyes, slightly tilting his head in question, "Is it a big deal? We just accidentally caught her." He shrugs before continuing to walk.

I, on the other hand, stop and sigh in disbelief of the boy leaving me behind. It's like he doesn't think into too much detail! Everything comes and goes with the tides when it comes to Tsumugu, it seems. A quick jog catches me up to him and I grip the ends of my hair, tugging at it slightly in frustration, "No, it's not a huge deal but that doesn't happen everyday! Her friends were worried, what if they think that we're making fun of Shioshishio? I mean, catching her in a net seems-."