Disclaimer - I don't own Mai Hime. It is owned by Sunrise~
~Surf and Skate~
"Hang left, hang left!" Natsuki Kuga yelled out over her shoulder at her best friend Nao Yuuki, as they shredded and grinded around the corner of a brick building.
"Take the stairs, take the stairs! I dare ya! No no, I triple-dog-dare ya to do it!" Nao yelled back at her friend, as she jumped a curb and almost side-swiped a little old lady walking across the street. The little old lady began calling out obscenities at Nao's retreating back, and Nao laughed loudly as she flipped the old woman the finger.
Natsuki flashed a bright grin over her shoulder at her friend as she kick-flipped over a garbage can, and landed perfectly before coming up on the long set of stairs.
"Oh, a triple-dog-dare huh? You're on!" the dark-haired girl cried out over her shoulder as she put her foot down, and pushed hard against the pavement to give herself more speed and power to hit the railing.
Nao whooped loudly behind her, and Natsuki put everything else out of her mind as she pushed down with her foot, popped her skateboard up into the air, grabbed some sweet air, and landed hard on the railing.
It was just her, the rail, the wind in her face, and freedom as she slid all the way down the railing, not giving a damn about the people who had to dive out of the way of her and her board. She was a rebel. She didn't give a damn about what people thought, and she did whatever the hell she wanted to.
No one could stop her, or tell her what to do.
"Hey! Hey, you there! STOP! That's completely illfegal!" Natsuki heard a loud voice cry out, as she once again made a perfect landing on the pavement at the bottom of the stairway.
"That's illegal, Officer Suzushiro," a softer yet no-less-authoritative voice spoke up, and Natsuki looked over her shoulder to see two police officers running her way.
Natsuki flipped them both the bird, and looked quickly back up to the top of the stairway, to see Nao waving a hand sign to her. Natsuki nodded once, signed back, and then quickly pushed off on her board, leaving the police offers shouting behind her, and headed towards her and Nao's secret meeting place.
It was time to get a bit of salty, cool air.
~o~o~o~
"Hey Shizuru, don't you think that my abs and pecks are god's gift to women," a low, cocky voice spoke near a chestnut-haired brunette.
Shizuru Fujino let out a deep exasperated puff of air, as she rolled her eyes at her full-of-himself step-brother.
"Reito, get a life," was all Shizuru said in reply as she picked up her binoculars from her lap, and went back to watching the breaking waves of the ocean, and the sunbathing beach-goers from her lifeguard perch.
"But Shiizzuuuu," Reito Kanzaki whined, as he flexed his arms and puffed out his chest. "I'm gorgeous, handsome, sexy. You'd think that females would be throwing themselves all over me. Except all they seem to want to do is swarm all over this dumpy, ordinary guy here," Reito groused as he pointed his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of a two-toned, sandy-haired boy laying on a beach towel near them.
"Hey, hey! I'm laying right here, man. Can hear every word you say," Tate Yuuichi grumbled, then grinned widely as a fawning female raised a grape over his lips and dropped it into his open mouth, while another continued to massage his shoulders.
Shizuru felt a grin pull up the corners of her lips, as she watched her step-brother become even more flustered, as he continued to watch females practically throw themselves at their friend Tate's feet.
"Maybe it's his cologne that's attracting them, Reito. Ew-du-Musk," Shizuru said with a light giggle, before she turned her binoculars towards the pier, where she saw some kind of commotion going on.
"What the..." Shizuru murmured quietly to herself, as whatever was happening on the pier captured her full attention.
~o~o~o~
"Yo, Nao!" Natsuki called out as she raised her hand in a wave to her friend, who was leaning up against the boardwalk by the beach, her skateboard leaning up next to her.
"Yo!" Nao called back as she grabbed her board, jumped on it, and rolled over to her friend. Once before Natsuki, she jumped off, and give her dark-haired friend some love with their own special brand of handshake/fist bump.
"I take it you shook off those popo easy enough," Nao said with a loud smack smack smack of her lips, as she chewed the gum in her mouth loudly.
Natsuki made a psshhh sound as she tucked her board against her side, and began strolling lazily down the boardwalk towards the pier.
"Come on, Nao. You know losers like that can't even touch me once I get on my board and start flying," Natsuki replied as she reached up, and twisted her cap into its customary backwards position.
Nao just smirked in response, as the two friends came up to the end of the pier. Nao looked over the edge of the wooden railing, down into the deep blue waters below them and a sudden, insane idea struck her.
"Yo! I bet you can't grind this pier railing!" Nao exclaimed, as she turned to Natsuki with a gleam in her eye.
Natsuki paused briefly, then looked down herself into the water below them. It wasn't too deep, but it was still deep enough that the fact that she couldn't swim, would pose a bit of a problem if she actually fell in.
But Natsuki Kuga was never one to back down from a challenge.
So, Natsuki gave Nao a quick grin of acceptance to her challenge, dropped her board to the wooden walkway, and turned to make her way back up to the top of the pier where the railing started. It didn't matter to Natsuki that the railing was wooden, and not nearly as stable or 'grind-able' as a metal or steel railing would be. She was going for it!
"Go Kuga, go!" Nao shouted out from the end of the pier, as she watched Natsuki push herself forward hard on her board. She watched as her friend popped the board off of the walkway, and hit the wooden railing with great speed. She then watched as Natsuki pulled off a stellar grind all the way down towards her...and then Nao realized with a sudden start that she had overlooked one small, but very important detail.
Where was Natsuki going to perform her usually perfect landing.
Going by the sudden panicked look on her best friend's face, Nao saw that Natsuki herself had also realized this grave miscalculation in their dare, and she saw Natsuki try to bail out of the grind. She'd probably lose her board, but at this point it was a small price to pay.
Natsuki tried to bail off of her board as the end of the pier quickly approached, but the laces in her shoes that she rarely ever tied got snagged in the wheels. Natsuki found herself and her board sailing headfirst over the edge of the railing, and splashing down hard into the waters below.
~o~o~o~
A sudden, terrified scream went up near the pier and Shizuru, who was already up and running after jumping down from her lifeguard watchtower, quickly made her way over to her jet ski. She didn't know what the crazy girl on the skateboard had thought she was doing, but the instant Shizuru had seen her jump up on that wooden railing, she had been in motion to try to prevent the potential tragedy unfolding before her.
Shizuru jumped on her jet ski, powered it on, and blasted through the water and waves towards the last place she'd seen the girl. The entire way there Shizuru was cursing the idiot off in her mind, but once she got to the spot beneath the pier she was mentally all business again, and quickly killed the engine to her jet ski and dived headfirst into the water.
~o~o~o~
Natsuki floated in a quiet, watery world.
It was peaceful here.
No sound, and no one bothered her here.
The background noise of her father beating her...her mother crying for him to stop...the sound of her apartment door slamming shut for the last time, as she ran away into the night...all of this noise that usually played in the background of her mind finally...mercifully...stopped...
It's okay now...I'm finally at peace...I can stop running now...I can...finally...stop now..., Natsuki drowsily thought to herself, as her eyelids began to close. Her lungs began to fill with water and the sweet, peaceful calling of death beckoned her forward.
Suddenly something flashed before Natsuki's almost fully-closed eyes. A bright bit of white, almost like fabric billowing through the water above her.
An Angel...there was an Angel reaching down towards her...beckoning for her to take her hand.
Natsuki smiled at the beautiful Angel calling her forward, and she slowly raised her arm above her in the cool, soothing water.
Mother...I'm coming home, Mother...please wait for me...
And then Natsuki Kuga knew no more.
Author's note - Hope you all enjoyed! Please review! ^^