Nagi no Asukara: The Storm and The Sea
By Windryder1
Thunderstorm season returned to the seaside town of Oshiooshi in full force. Storms were once a common occurrence this time of year before the 5 year freeze. They were simply a natural phenomena people prepared for if they chose to make their living on or around the ocean. Seasonal storms demanded respect, and if those on the land refused to give it, the storm would take it.
The ones arriving this year made up for lost time in their ferocity after the salt flake snow stopped falling. They easily eclipsed the minor atmospheric disturbances that lazily drifted over the region for the past half decade.
That's why hearing yesterday's morning news announcement of an unusually strong warm front colliding with a fierce cold front put everyone on alert. The local meteorologist predicted the next storm would hit the shore late afternoon. People had already taken precautions to secure their homes, shops, and businesses from the promise of heavy winds, high lightning frequency, and rain.
"They say it's the biggest one to hit Oshiooshi in a decade." One of the fishermen hefted his early morning haul onto a pull cart with six other girthy baskets already loaded with fish.
"You're not worried, are you?" The gruff voice of his peer chimed in as he tied off his own vessel to the docks.
"Me? I'm not worried about a damn thing."
"Says the guy who got up at 5am to fish for eight hours."
"Nothing wrong with being prepared," the fisherman puffed up his chest.
His friend laughed. "You and Mornings go together like whiskey and mayo. For you to see the sun before 10am means the news scared you good."
The scruffy-faced fisherman growled at the slight to his pride. "I'll punch those words and your nose into your face," he yawned. "After a pot of coffee."
His buddy patted him on the back and helped him pull the fresh fish to the wharf. "Breakfast is one me."
"Apologizing already?"
"No." He laughed. "I just do my brawling after breakfast."
They shared a chuckle that rang with decades of friendship laced with moments of rivalry.
The fisherman glanced up at the morning slate-gray sky. "Ever since the sea froze over and thawed out, the weather hasn't been the same."
"Yeah." His scruffy friend waved to a young man across the dock. "Hey, Tsumugu! Welcome back."
They were greeted in turn by a friendly wave.
Satisfied, they continued on. "Hey, that reminds me. I haven't seen any of the guys from the sea today."
"Me either. I'll bet they're sleeping in," the first fisherman harrumphed in jealously and yawned again. "Lucky bastards."
Tsumugu pressed his foot against the pylon as he wrapped the final chain and secured his grandfather's old fishing trawler to the dock. He set the lock and turned his attention to the dark skies prowling the blue horizon line. Gusts of strong winds had already picked up from the low pressure, sprinkling the town with rain droplets blown inland.
The waters rocked the boats gently. If this storm proved to be as volatile as the older sailors and the news claimed, he wouldn't have much time to gather data between the surface and the sea village of Shioshishio during a rare, hyperactive electrical storm.
Even though the seas moved once more after years of stillness and ice, he and Professor Satoru Mihashi of the university remained determined to find the connection between both sides, and a way to predict and stop the end of the surface. It didn't matter if that end would come generations after his own, the groundwork they laid here in this time would give the future sea people and surface dwellers hope.
Quickly, he gathered up his research equipment, slipped his laptop into his backpack, and hurried back home to store his equipment where it was safe.
The wooden door scraped closed along its aged track. "I'm back." He absently announced to the quiet house as he removed his shoes. No one returned the greeting. He cleaned out his backpack in his room to make space for two sensor nodes and their tripods, then cracked the laptop open on his desk and loaded up a recording program set to receive data from the equipment. It blinked in ready.
He shouldered the backpack and headed to the living room. The t.v. was off. His grandfather slumped in a comfortable chair, snoring away. Chisaki had bought that chair for him as a 'welcome home' present when he'd returned from the hospital. She'd saved up for it while Tsumugu studied oceanography in the city. Only one month passed, but it felt like forever. Being away from the sea and his family for that long hurt. "Gramps?"
Isamu snorted awake. "Oh, Tsumugu. You're home early."
"That storm is coming in. I wanted to get some research done before it hit."
"Mm," he grunted in loose confirmation. "Taking care of your ena like I taught you?" He asked en rote, like questioning if the boy had completed his homework. Both were unnecessary, for he knew the boy to be studious and very intelligent.
"Yes."
"Good."
"Where's Chisaki?"
Isamu stretched out his shoulders and stood. "She went home." He grunted from the effort as he shuffled to the kitchen. He'd healed, and could walk on his own, but it still took more effort that he liked.
"Shishio?"
"It was her home before here. She has every right to go back."
"I know, but..." He'd arrived on the first train in the morning due to the weather report, and was looking forward to waiting out the storm in this house with her. He'd wanted to surprise her since his original ETA was set for this evening. He glanced out the window at the darkening skies.
Isamu's blue eyes held a glint of knowledge that let him use a little manipulation on behalf of his grandson's well-being. "You only have a couple of hours to convince her to come to the surface. After that, you won't see her again until the storm's past."
"What do you mean?" Tsumugu asked.
"Here." Isamu dropped a bento sealed in plastic wrap in his hands. "Leftovers from last night. She made too much food."
"Thanks." He put it in his backpack. "I'll be home in a couple of hours."
"Tsumugu," he caught his grandson with his voice before the boy could walk out the door. "Don't underestimate this storm."
Of course he wouldn't. Nature was not a force to trifle with. The Sea God's wrath at the last Ofunehiki proved that for the second time in Tsumugu's life. He nodded, and left.
Isamu spooned some leftover curry and rice onto a plate and microwaved it. He smirked to himself in thought. Knowing those two kids, he wouldn't see them until the skies cleared tomorrow. At least he knew they were safe.
Once more, for the umpteenth time, he wished his beloved wife could have experienced the beauty of Shioshishio during an electrical storm. He whispered to the empty house, and the spirit of his true love. "See it with him."
Beady red lights winked to life on the smooth dome of the black sensor. Tsumugu set it up in his front yard. He deliberately placed it above the shore line and slightly inland in order to get the purist individual readings without much interference from the sea.
The second one he took with him to the pier.
He stared down at the waves lapping against the concrete, then out at the stone giants jutting up to the sky from the bay. The warm air brushed through his hair as he watched the storm crawl inland. Frequent flashes of silent lightning strobed inside the clouds. "Wow," he whispered to himself. This would be one for the records.
He checked the air-tight water proof casing on his phone—a present given to him by the professor in order to keep in contact with him during their research dives, and allow him to take quality photos no other divers could achieve—and shoved it in his pocket.
He took a deep breath out of habit, then chuckled to himself at the silly act. One of these days he would stop doing that. He scanned one more time for onlookers. Satisfied he remained alone, he dove finger points first into the ocean.
The cold water enveloped him, pulling the heat of the morning sun from his skin and replacing it with the embrace of the sea.
He instantly felt a strong sense of relief flow from his hair, through his spine, to his toes. It was his ena letting go of the stress of the surface world. He felt content with being completely submerged again, like someone sighing and saying 'finally.' He experienced this every time he got in the water, but none so prominent as when he would dive into the bay. A voiceless sense could tell that these waters, the town above, and village below, were 'home.'
He wondered if any of his friends, or townsfolk from Shishio recognized this, or if they noticed it at all. Perhaps this was his gift of being a newcomer to the world he always dreamed of.
As with each time he entered any body of water, he held his breath for a few seconds out of survival instinct. Pressure built in his chest. He released what air he had left in a flurry of bubbles and inhaled again. That first 'breath' of water slipping into his lungs felt surreal, but didn't frighten him anymore. It felt natural. He exhaled again, though this time -obviously-without bubbles. His scientific mind theorized that his ena was breathing-which would explain why drying out on land hurt his whole body, gave him a headache, and made it difficult to draw breath. It marked the beginning of his second life.
Ena existed in his body from the beginning, lying dormant until his brush with death woke it up. The one thing he'd wanted lay just beneath the surface, just out of reach. The same was true for Hikari's niece, Miuna, and his nephew, Akira.
He chose to refer to it as 'awakened.' Even when he lived in the dorm at the university, he could feel it pulling him to the sea almost like it was alive.
He still didn't know how ena altered his body to adapt to an aquatic environment. He hadn't quite built up enough courage to let anyone from the marine biology department in on his ability in order to monitor him medically—though it was on his to-do list. Eventually.
He blinked, staring far into the clear waters that were once so dark and mysterious. He swam down toward the glistening white rooftops of the village of Shioshishio. It was breathtakingly beautiful. The topography of vibrant hues of the landscape, the coral, the cliffs and hills, the roads, the trees, the buildings—everything below him would easily fit in with the surface. He swam above a painting of life. The only difference between Oshiooshi and Shioshishio was a few hundred feet of water.
Brightly colored schools of fish glided around him on small currents, greeting him home. He twisted a few times in the water to indulge that sense of play and enjoyment and smiled. The currents propelled him further down toward the village to a depth greater than anyone from the surface could achieve without scuba gear. It raised his curiosity as to how the water pressure didn't affect him at all. To him, it felt like flying.
He drifted easily to the bridge entering the village and landed. Yellow lit windows, and blue light from the Sea God's sacred fire danced within cages that speckled the town. The sight that met him radiated with life energy.
The villagers moved about their day like anyone topside would; fishing, tending their shops, and generally paying him no mind. He moved through the town with the ease of walking down a surface street. Part of the ena's gift, or magic, let him move freely without much hindrance from water resistance.
The world that stayed off limits to him since his birth was finally open, and he couldn't be happier about it.
For now, he was here with a ticking clock, and he had a job to do.
He made his way to the old Nami junior high school and took off his backpack. It floated to the sea floor, sending up a small curls of dirt into the water. Quickly, he set up the second sensor node. Once the lights indicated the node had established a connection with his computer back home, he relaxed. Data from both units transmitted simultaneously and saved. If anything happened to the gear, he'd have the research. Now he just had to return to the surface –hopefully with Chisaki at his side.
"Hey, Tsumugu! You're back!"
The familiar high pitched voice made him look up. "Miuna? What are you doing down here?"
She ran up and gave him a hug. "I saw you walking up the road and had to see you," she smiled. Her long dark hair drifted lightly behind her, but again, the differences between the way people moved here, and the way they moved on land were subtle. Even the sound waves form their vocal chords only held a slightly muffled echo.
"You do know there's a huge storm coming, right? Maybe you should get home. Your mom might worry."
"Nah, she's fine. Actually, I'm picking up some snacks for later."
"What's going on later?"
Her jaw dropped. "You don't know? That's not why you came down here?"
"I needed to set up my equipment before the storm hit. With the severity of it, I didn't want to miss this chance. The junior high school is the best location."
"You're such a nerd." She tapped the node lightly, then clasped her hands behind her back. "But, you are the only one who can do this, so you get a free pass."
"Heh. Thanks."
"Hey, when you're done here, you have to join us. We're having a storm viewing picnic."
He looked up through at least a hundred and fifty feet of crystal clear water to the shifting gray clouds darkening overhead. "A storm viewing picnic?"
"Well, mom had another word for it, but I can't remember what it is. It's like their version of a Hanami."
"I see."
"Mom allowed me to stay for it, so I'm staying with Hikari and Grandpa."
"Makes sense."
"So, are you coming?"
"I don't know if I'll have time. I have to find Chisaki and head back to the surface."
"Oh," she mewed sadly. "That sucks, because if you did, we'd all be together. It would be prefect."
She watched him tap on the sensor node to test the levels. "Chisaki's going to be there, too."
He paused, then finished checking the settings. "Do you know where she is?"
That was the opening she was waiting for. "She's at her house. I know! Why don't you get her, and I'll take the snacks to the picnic!"
"Um—" He'd be running out of time, This was not a good idea.
"Great! We're meeting at the crossroad tree by the bridge. See you there in an hour!" Before he could oppose, she took off in a half-run half jump-swim dash down the hill as fast as she could go.
"Miuna!—And, she's gone." He exhaled a long stream of water. Well, at least he knew where to find Chisaki, now.
Almost. "I...don't actually know where she lives."
A soft, nearly inaudible bass rumble pulsed through the water. He glanced up again. Was that...thunder? Couldn't be. It was still way too soon for the storm to be within range.
Tsumugu spent the next few minutes asking people if they could point him to the Hiradaira residence. A few people didn't, but kept him around with questions about how he'd gained ena, and their excitement of seeing a surface dweller in their town. He glanced at the sky, aware he was burning daylight, but wasn't rude enough to cut them off mid sentence.
Eventually, a kind woman running a tofu shop pointed him in the right direction. He thanked her and headed up the sets of bleached white steps weaving through the town in their own ancient maze toward the three derelict windmills.
Just as Miuna said, he found Chisaki at her house, or rather, on top of her house. Her family's home was settled up on a rise amid a cluster of others with flat white rooftops, and some painted blue with reflective stones. These were what he would see from the surface on a sunny day when the light would shine perfectly on the calm waters. It was on those days that he could barely make out the village, and those images fueled his dreams.
He pushed upward, pumped his arms a little, and floated up to join her.
"Tsumugu!" she blinked in shock and stood. "I didn't expect you here."
"Are you upset?" he settled next to her.
"No, I'm," she smiled softly. "I'm happy you're here. I was afraid I wouldn't get to see you for a while." Her hand caressed the side of his face. "I missed you."
He cupped it in his own and brought it to his lips for a kiss. "I missed you, too." Taking the moment, he pulled her into an embrace and relished in the touch of her lips he'd longed for this past month.
She happily stayed there with her arms around him, holding him close and listening to his heartbeat—calm and steady. That was her Tsumugu.
"Wait," she pulled back slightly. "Weren't you going to get into town this evening?"
"It's because of the storm. I got here a few hours ago. I wanted to surprise you."
"And get some research in?" she poked him playfully.
He recoiled from the slight jab to his ribs. "Ok, that, too."
"You're such a nerd," she chuckled.
"That's what Miuna said."
"Oh? She's here already?"
He nodded. "I was sent to get you."
"Ah," She sighed with a smile and sank to sit on the slanting edge of the rooftop. "I just wanted to see a little bit of the show before heading out."
"The show? Does this have to do with what she said about a storm viewing party?"
She craned her neck back to look up, and so did he. "It's called an Arashimi. When summer storms come around, we all gather in the hills to watch it pass over the sea. We eat, play games, hang out. It's pretty informal, but can be really fun sometimes. No one can go to the surface, so we created the Arashimi to give us something to do while we wait."
The sky above had darkened significantly to the shade of charcoal. Winds whipped the surface of the sea, rippling waves that gave their fish-bowl point of view an aquarium feel. Brilliant white flashes lit up the clouds.
"Are you sure this is safe? Sitting on the roof like this? On the surface, if you're anywhere near water, or outside, you become a lightning rod."
"It's fine as long as you don't go too high. From about there up," she pointed up at the ancient mills to its halfway point, "it can get really dangerous. But here," she pulled her knees up and rested her head on her arms, "it's just a pretty light show."
He watched the lightning flickering above, and even caught a periwinkle fork split across the clouds. "It's like we're not underwater at all. It's amazing."
He gasped, suddenly acutely aware of the time. He'd overstayed his two hours. If he could see the lightning from here, then the storm would be in range sooner than predicted. "Chisaki. Come back to the surface with me."
"What? Tsumugu, I can't."
"We should get back before it gets worse." He stood, but didn't notice her breath of concern. He pushed up from the rooftop. "If we wait any longer, it'll be too dangerous to be outside."
She caught his ankle, halting his ascent. "You can't go." She held on long enough to push her point through, then slowly uncurled her fingers. "It's already worse."
He looked past his shoes to her serious mien.
"Listen."
He did as she asked. Within seconds, a deep bass rumble vibrated through the water. "Thunder? You can hear that down here?"
She nodded.
He settled back to the rooftop. His hair drifted in the light motion. It wasn't very loud, but it meant that what he'd heard earlier at the junior high school was indeed created by the storm. Then again, sound does travel faster through water than air, and the ocean warmed up considerably since the thaw, so sound waves would continue until they hit the colder thermocline beyond the bay, which lay deeper than the village. The one rule of thumb everyone knew came to mind; 'If you can hear thunder, you're already within striking distance.'
"No one can go past the mills until the skies clear," she explained. "If you do, you run the risk of being struck by lightning. You become a target. Lightning mostly fans out along the surface and a few feet below it, but it has been known to hit pretty far in if it picks up on something. I don't want you to be that something."
He understood. The physics of it all made sense. "I don't want to be that something, either."
"Then I guess you get to stay here with me." She paused. "Are you upset?" She repeated his words with a lilting playful tone.
He actually felt relieved that he didn't have to leave her. "No. In fact, I think Gramps knew I'd be stuck down here. He even gave me lunch."
Chisaki settled back down to watch the approaching storm. "Hn. That old man. What an romantic softie."
"Not exactly the words I'd use for gramps," He sat next to her with one knee up and his right arm draped over it to watch with her.
"I hope the surface will be ok," Chisaki frowned. "They said this is going to be a bad one."
"They'll be fine," he assured her. "Everyone's been through worse. They can handle this."
"I guess you'd know. I trust you, so I shouldn't be worried."
Every few seconds birthed a new display of white, blue, and yellow flashes in the clouds above the ocean. A brilliant blue bolt of lightning struck the ocean. His eyes widened as the fork dipped into the sea and spread out just beneath the waves in all of two seconds. "Wow." The light bled through the water so the sea in the distance beyond Shioshishio flickered. "It really is beautiful."
"The storm?"
"All of it. I've wanted to see this place so much for all my life. I'd daydream about what the sky looked like from here. I dove in once just because I wanted to know, but it was so dark, I couldn't make out more than shadows. What's dark and murky to us is clear as day to you."
"You're part of this world now, too," she added softly.
He examined the shimmer on his skin from that same membrane coating that covered every cell of his body. "The gift of the Sea God. It's remarkable."
She rested her head against his shoulder. Her heart warmed that she could share this with him.
"We should meet up with the others soon."
"Yeah." She scooted closer. He took the hint and moved his leg around her so she sat with her back up against his chest and his arms locked around her.
As long as he was there, protecting her in the circle of his arms, she didn't care how long she needed to stay under water.
"We're still going to the arashimi, right?"
"Yeah," she nodded softly.
"Can I hold you like this a little longer?"
She leaned into him, rested her head on his chest and watched the storm rage harmlessly above them. Here, she was safe, and content. "Yeah."
They lingered in each others company for a while in silence, happy to be around each other.
"Tsumugu?"
"Hm?"
Chisaki turned her head slightly upward. "I...love you."
He moved his right hand under her chin to tilt it gently. Her parted lips waited to greet his once more. How could he be cruel to make her wait? He leaned over to kiss her as another soft rumble of thunder pulsed through the ocean, melding with their hearts. He knew her so well. She was the sea, and he was the storm. Between them lived a harmony that only the two could create. "I love you, too," he whispered against her soft skin. He didn't dare imagine his life without her in it, to be the sea that calmed his storm, and to be the storm that settled her sea.
"Hey!" Hikari waved his arm to get their attention. "What are you two love birds doing up there? Kissing?" He made over dramatic kissy face noises, which rewarded him a punch in the arm from Miuna. "Ow, Miuna, what?"
"Knock it off, Hikari, you're being a jerk."
"Well, come on, you guys! We're gonna be late!" Hikari took off down the street. "Last one there's a rotten egg!"
"Hey, wait up, you octopus!" Miuna shouted, stealing her best friend's nickname for him.
"Don't start calling me that!"
"Octopus! Octopus! Octopus!"
Chisaki and Tsumugu smiled to each other, got to their feet, and hand in hand, pushed off to swim over the city to meet their friends.
He looked askance at her in a sly manner and loosened his grip.
At first, she was a little upset he let go, until...
"You heard Hikari." And with a powerful kick, he sped up, cutting through the water.
"Oh yeah? You're on, Kihara!" Chisaki focused on her swimming skills and swam neck and neck with him through town. There was no way she'd let 'rotten egg' status fall on her head. She wished him luck beating her agility in water.
Chisaki laughed. Her heart raced with joy, and the storm and the sea existed with each other in chaotic grace and powerful harmony.
The End.
NOTES:
(Please leave a review. :) ^_^)
I did some oceanographic research, and looked into the facts regarding lightning's effects on the ocean. Just because the show threw physics out the window, doesn't mean I have to. After all, I wanted to be an oceanographer when I was 10 years old, so I do remember a few basic bits.
This is a One Shot for two reasons: 1) I had this amazingly clear image of the group at a picnic watching the storm pass over the ocean and ooing and ahh'ing at lightning striking the water, and 2) no one described Tsumugu's experience with suddenly living with ena, so I did.
"Arashimi" isn't a real thing. It is a combination of "arashi" (storm) and 'mi', used to describe a party or gathering. example: "hanami" = flower viewing party, or cherry blossom viewing party. or "Tsukimi" = moon viewing party. I double checked the use of "Arashimi" with a friend of mine who speaks fluent Japanese to make sure it linguistically made sense before using it. I wanted it to literally mean "storm viewing party." She said it does.
This is something specifically created for the people of the sea. Normally, being outside in a storm is seriously bad. But they don't have to worry about it. They can sit on the sea floor on a picnic blanket, eat snacks, socialize, and watch the storm until it's safe. Their ancestors created it out of boredom and appreciation for the incredible light show lightning strikes create. I imagine the view to be spectacular. :)