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

Chapter 4

Yua yawns in exhaustion after having her mom and cousin freak out on her the night before, hearing that kids from Shioshishio were going to school made them practically corner the young girl and question her.

She holds two cans of orange juice in her hands as she glances up to the ceiling of the hallways to fight her own eyelids that were trying to close. "I didn't think they'd be so shocked by it all." She hums to herself and turn to walk into the classroom. When she steps foot in, it takes a moment to register that Manaka was standing in front of Tsumugu's desk while bowing slightly.

Within a flash, Yua dashes towards her desk and places the drinks on it. She then uses her now free hands to lean on her desk and lean forward towards Manaka, her violet eyes shining up towards the sea girl, "Mukaido-Chan! Are you thanking Tsumugu for yesterday? Praise me too!" She points to herself with a grin.

Yua's sudden words made Manaka stumble back in surprise as the excited girl had suddenly jumped into the conversation. The blue eyed girl trips over her words as she tried to speak, already having barely worked up the courage to thank Tsumugu. "W-Well, of course!" Manaka tries smiling at the enthusiastic girl.

"Thank and praise are different." Tsumugu glances at his friend to which the girl's expression turns fierce as she faces him, "Shes praising you for your efforts! That's a thank! I want the same!" A huff leaves Yua's lips and she reaches over to place one of the cans of Juice on Tsumugu's desk. She then turns towards Manaka with a gentle smile, "Either way, I'm glad that you got home safely!"

Touched by the surface girls words, a blush crosses Manaka's cheeks and she goes to officially thank the girl for her hospitality as well. Someone walks in Manaka's way, a seemingly grumpy someone. He glares down at Tsumugu for a moment before summoning up the will to speak to the boy who was sitting down, "Thanks for taking care of Manaka yesterday." He nods in appreciation. His words cause joy to fill Yua with the slightest hope that he was now opening up to them but her dreams are absolutely crushed when Hikari slams his hand down on Tsumugu's desk, "I'll tell you right now, you land guys have no right to stick your nose in our business."

With those final words, Hikari walks out of the room with an absolutely frazzled Manaka chasing after him. Tsumugu watches the pair from around Yua's body for a moment until Yua's body plops into her chair. She's bent over in defeat, confusing Tsumugu until he puts the puzzle pieces together.

Yua was sad that Hikari told them to stay away.

Tsumugu stares at her for a moment longer, the only thought going through his mind being that Yua was such an easy character to read. Yua's hands that rest on her legs shake a little until her head flips upwards to frown at Tsumugu as though he was the culprit of making her upset. Her cheeks are flushed from her frustration, making the freckles that riddled her face darker and more noticeable, "Why is everyone only thanking you?!" Yua slams her fists down on her legs like a child throwing a tantrum, "It's like I'm invisible!" She waves her arms around for a moment before sighing and relaxing into her chair, seeming to give up on her annoyance.

"Oh well, there isn't anything to do with that." Yua stares off into the distance until a small smile does come to her face, she turns her head to face Tsumugu once again, recalling all that he did to help the girl. "Tsumugu was pretty cool though, enjoy alllllll of the praise. I'll be the one anyone's thanking next time!" Yua winks at Tsumugu.

An exasperated smile graces Tsumugu's lips as he watches Yua open her orange juice and begin drinking it. Sometimes, it was hard to keep up with Yua for Tsumugu. It was as though the girl had so many different emotions that were overflowing, slowly lapping over one another like waves that try to replace the one that came before it. That was one thing that Tsumugu envied Yua for. Try as he might, it was hard for him to express even half of the emotions that Yua did but as years passed, it was as though Yua learned draw a little out of him.