Summersus
dorkasm
Prologue
Write your secrets in the sand and entrust them to a mermaid
There is a fine line between what is believed to be true and what is the truth.
The words echoed in my brain, emptying it of all other thought until it was the only thing I could hear.
I tossed and turned on my tiny bed, in my tiny bedroom, in my equally tiny apartment, wishing that I'd skipped that weird seminar on myths... or was it history?
The lecturer was, unlike the typical boring old man, a slightly eccentric man, if his odd facial mask was anything to go on, and his unkempt shock of pure white (silver?) hair and shabby clothes had attracted a lot of stares.
The only words I'd caught in between my sleep-deprived state were something about mermaids and fairy tales. I remembered being mad at my friend for not coming even though he'd insisted that it 'sounded like fun'.
The words that were haunting me though, were not spoken by the Eccentric Lecturer, but a curious looking girl who'd sat in the seat next to mine.
"That's not true. Kaka-chan knows better."
I know that the girl next to me blurted this out without thinking, for as soon as the words leave her lips, her cheeks flush slightly and she winces. It is barely perceptible, but there.
I look at her questioningly, and she flashes me a somewhat apologetic smile.
"I'm terribly sorry. That just slipped out."
Being seated in the very back of the hall, our conversation (if it can be called that) cannot be picked up by the Eccentric Lecturer at the podium, talking animatedly about something called Kappas and their recorded sightings.
"It was true though," I say, offering a small smile of my own (although it probably looked creepy, with the bags under my eyes and my unnaturally pale skin), assuming she meant the mermaid-talk the guy was spouting.
"You think so too?" she asks, her slim eyebrows lifting.
"Yeah," I say, and our semblance of a conversations fades out as we focus our attention on the Eccentric Lecturer's words once more.
At least, she does.
I take the opportunity to surreptitiously study her features.
I can't see what color her eyes are, and her hair is long and silky and as shockingly pink as it was when I'd first spotted her entering the room. It's probably a dye job. Her pale skin is marred by a smattering of freckles and she has a small button nose.
A scent I cannot identify lingers around her. It isn't unpleasant.
She wears a simple black shirt and basic blue jeans.
She is one of those girls who were easy to overlook in a crowd, just another one of the people you walk past on the street, if not for her outrageous hair.
This girl is too normal.
She turns, once again, to face me and I notice her eyes.
They are breathtaking.
You know how people say 'She's got the brightest, greenest eyes I've ever seen,' and in all honesty, the eyes in question are just plain, bland green?
Her eyes were honestly so green that I thought she was wearing the colored contacts that were a fad among some of Konoha's youth population.
They were the bright color of the foliage on the trees this city is so well known for.
But then, as though perfectly natural, her eyes shimmered and momentarily turned a pale blue.
All this happened in the span of a second, so I'm not entirely sure if it wasn't just a trick of light.
She is speaking to me, and realizing this, I focus on her words.
"-do you suppose then?"
"Sorry, could you repeat that? I wasn't listening," I say.
She has a trace of a smile and she says, " Do you believe in mermaids? "
I think for a moment. Did I not agree with her when she said their existence was false?
"Not really."
"Oh. Well, Mr-" she pauses here, looking expectantly at me, and I realize that she wants me to say something.
"Uchiha. Sasuke Uchiha."
"Well, Mr. Uchiha, why don't you?"
What kind of a question is that supposed to be?
"Because they're just figments of imagination. Fairytales." I say.
She smiles as though there is some secret she knows that I am not privy to.
"There is a fine line between what is believed to be true and what is the truth, is there not, Sasuke Uchiha?" she smiles and gets up, for the seminar is over, and everyone is leaving.
Giving me a wave, she delves into the crowd and disappears in a way that is generally impossible for pink haired girls.
