Below The Surface (A Shugo Chara Fanfic)

Chapter 6

"Mariana-san!" Calls a familiar voice. I look to my right and see Amu and Tadase walking over. I smile and wave. Tia comes out and smiles in greeting, swinging her tail back and forth.
"Morning Amu. Morning Tadase," I greet.
"Morning Mariana-chan. Morning Tia," greets Amu. I look around them quickly.
"Where's Ran, Mikki, Su, and Kiseki?" I ask. Tadase laughs.
"They said they had something important to do and went off ahead," explains Amu in amusement. I nod my head and keep walking. Tia swims through the air. I don't quite understand the whole floating thing, but Tia seems to propel herself forward by swimming through it so...
Tia swims over and sits on my shoulder for a bit, flicking her tail out every once in a while. I look at her tail and a sudden thought occurs to me. I stop in my tracks. Amu and Tadase turn to see what I'm doing.
"Tia?" I start. She looks up at me, as if saying to continue. "Since you are... You know... Half fish. Don't you need water?" I ask curiously. She blinks in surprise. I can tell that the thought hasn't crossed her mind either. Tadase and Amu both think about it as well.
"I suppose so. Lucky us there's a fountain in the garden," she says in her melodic voice. I smile and nod, continuing to the garden. As soon as we walk through the door, Ran and Su rush up to us.
"Tia-chan! We have a surprise for you! Come on!" She calls out happily. Me and Tia share a look before she swims ahead. I follow behind with Amu and Tadase. I hear Yaya before I see her.
"Can we see now?" She whines.
"Sorry, not until she's here," says Mikki. Musashi stands over by Kairi. Ran and Su are talking to Rima. Everyone else is huddled together, blocking something from view.
"See what?" Asks Amu. Yaya turns to us with hopeful eyes.
"Finally! Tia, can you please get them to move so we can finally see what the surprise is?" She begs. Tia blinks in surprise.
"Uh, I can try," she says. She swims over to the other charas. "What is it that you wanted to show me?" She asks calmly. They all move away.
An old tray sits on the table. The rock from yesterday sits in the middle of a water filled tin dish, creating a makeshift pond. Around the edges is a tiny bit of sand. Moss covers the rest of it and little plants stick up in a few spots. Near the back of the tray, a little waterfall cascades down into the pond.
A few gasps go around at the stunning site. Tia swims up to it and examines each little piece. From running her hands along the moss and washing it under the little waterfall, to sitting on the rock and dipping her tail in the pond. She smiles a dazzling smile and I smile as well. Ran, Su, and Mikki float over to Tia.
"Here, I painted you these little fish to fill the pond a little," Mikki says. Sure enough, she hands a few little wooden fish to Tia.
"Me and Su found this in a box and thought you would like to have it," says Ran. Su nods and smiles. They hand Tia a brush like you would get with a doll. It's blue and has a pretty little pattern on it. She nods gratefully as she takes it from Su.
"Thank you, it really is a wonderful surprise," she says quietly.
"Thank Musashi. It was his idea to create the pond for you," pipes up Su.
"Yea, and Kairi set up the waterfall," comments Ran. I look at Kairi. He pushes his glasses up his nose with his index finger, trying not to blush. With his eyes closed, he starts talking about how it works, but I pay no attention. He really did that? For my chara?
Kairi... He stops and looks up at me in surprise. I realize I said his name out loud. I look down as a blush shows on my face.
"You know... You didn't have to go through the trouble of setting up the waterfall," I mutter. He blinks in surprise and looks down at the table.
"I know, but I-it wasn't that big of a deal," he replies. I look over at at Tia and Musashi who are looking at each other. They nod in agreement to something. I hear the pop and know Tia's in control. I look at Kairi and realize he character changed with Musashi as well. Part of his hair is up like Musashi always has. We both face each other and stand up straight. I would blush if I were myself.
"Thank you Kairi, it was very kind and generous of you to create the waterfall for Tia," I say. My voice comes out more melodic. Kairi shakes his head.
"It was Musashi and the other charas idea, I merely helped," he responds. His voice is full of confidence and is much stronger than the Kairi I'm used to. I smile nicely.
"Your work is still appreciated Kairi," I say happily. Kairi bows about an inch and looks me in the eyes.
"You are very welcome Mariana-san, Tia-san," he says politely. I hear the pop and blink a few times. What just happened?
"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Tia asks softly. Musashi smiles and looks up at the both of us.
"All they needed was a push," he comments. KusuKusu snickers in the usual way. Some of the other charas and Yaya join in. Amu and Tadase smile at us and chuckle quickly. Me and Kairi both blush a little bit. I end up looking down again.
"Class will be starting soon. I think it is time we leave, yes?" Says Tadase. We all nod in agreement and make our way out the door. Tia swims up and tells me she wants to hang out in the pond, I smile and nod my head in approval. She waves goodbye and goes back to the table.
Walking through the halls, people make room for me and Kairi as we walk. I realize a few people are looking at us as we walk side by side through the hall. I clutch my things to my chest and look down, my hair falling over my face. I don't understand how Kairi can stroll through the halls so easily.
I get jarred out of my thoughts when I bump into Kairi. I instantly get knocked back. Preparing for the landing, I close my eyes. Instead hands grab my waist and wrist. I open my eyes to see Kairi has caught me... Again. He is mere inches away from me. I realize how tall he really is in comparison to others in our class. My head comes up around shoulder height on him.
"Are you alright?" He asks. I blink and look at the ground blushing. I nod my head in reply. I become aware of the looks as people see us like this. Kairi realizes it too.
"You need to be more careful Mariana-san. We can't have you injured before the week is over," he says. A bit louder than necessary I might add. Then as people stop looking, I realize what he did. I steady myself and he lets go.
"Th-thank you," I whisper. He nods.
"I was stopping to see if you were ok before you bumped into me," he explains.
"Oh"
"That is, you are feeling a bit better now, right?" He asks. I nod my head slightly. He thinks for a moment, but takes it without further question.