AN: It took a while, but here it is. This is the first part of a rather long oneshot I've been writing for the past...two weeks or so? I saw a prompt on Tumblr and I instantly fell in love with it (here it is if you want to see: post/ 141339331837/ i-just-have-such-a-profound-need-for-best-friend). And of course, I thought of these two. God, they're adorable-they need more love, really. But I digress.

As said earlier, this is the first part of a really long oneshot that I'm still currently in the making of writing, actually. But, unlike my other multi-chaps, it's going to be very short (or at least, I pray it's going to be short), ranging to about five chapters or so if I actually stick to the mental schedule I set myself. But that's subject to change.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy. Forgive mistakes if you see any; it's been a tiring couple of weeks for me.

Ciao. c:

You remembered the first time she met Chika.

She liked to think it was a chance meeting—had she arrived too early, she wouldn't have seen Chika at all; if she had arrived too late, who knew where that girl would have gone. And You, being the secret hopeless romantic she was, liked to believe that fate was guiding her, pulling the strings in such a way to beckon her to go to the park that particular day on that particular time. She would describe it as destiny….

Destiny translating into: a little orange-haired girl sprinting down the slide, stumbling over her own two feet, then landing flat on her face with a smack!

At first, You didn't know how to react. She expected the girl to start sobbing or, at the very least, sit up—and then start sobbing. But instead, the girl stayed where she was, face-to-face with the tanbark of the playground. Now You was beginning to worry; was this girl…dead? The thought, although horrifying to think let alone imagine, was exactly what gave You the courage to tiptoe over to the fallen girl, the chunks of wood crinkling under every step.

"U-um," You stammered, finally reaching the girl after an excruciatingly long minute. "A-are you okay?"

Instantly, the girl pushed herself up from the floor and clambered to her feet. You had to lean back quickly in order to avoid slamming her face against the other girl's head.

"Yeah, I'm totally fine!" The girl exclaimed as she grinned.

The thing was she wasn't: tanbark clung onto her orange hair, which was standing at attention in all the wrong places; there were two angry cuts, both vibrantly pink, that marred her right cheek; a small trickle of blood was beginning to leak down her nostril; and perhaps, the most glaring detail of all, was the chipped front tooth that destroyed what could have been a charming smile.

But if the girl said she was fine, then she was fine—or that's what You tried to tell herself.

Apparently the girl caught onto You's silence and wiped the blood off with the back of her hand, smearing a thick, red line across her left cheek. The girl gave an even bigger grin, this time with a thumbs-up.

Yeah. She wasn't fine.

"Here," You said as pulled out a bandage from her pocket, "I'll put this on the cut on your face."

Although the girl pouted, clearly disappointed that her assurances had completely and utterly failed, she surprisingly didn't voice her qualms at all. She stood there and allowed You to do her work, and when You took a step back, the girl touched the bandaged cuts with a blank face.

It didn't take long for her grin to come back in full force. "You're good at this! You're like Shima-nee and Mito-nee!"

You couldn't help the small flush of pride in her chest. "I learned it from my dad."

"Is your dad like, a super-cool doctor or something?"

"W-well, no. He's a captain of a boat."

"Whoa, a captain?!" The girl's eyes grew wide with awe and wonder.

You nodded.

"That's so cool! I wish my family did something like that, but instead we run a ryokan. I mean, it's not bad, but it's not as cool as being a captain, you know?"

You nodded a little more enthusiastically. "Yeah, I do. I want to be a captain just like my dad when i grow up."

The girl's grew impossibly bigger. "Whoa, you already know what you want to be when you grow up?"

"Uh-huh," You said as she smiled; she liked talking to this girl. "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

The girl held her chin in her fingers and closed her eyes tightly. She wrinkled her expression into one of taut concentration, then began to hum as if doing so would make her answer come any faster. Then like a lightbulb, she broke into a grin and placed a fist atop the palm of her other hand.

"A mikan!" She declared.

It took a while for You to find her words and even longer for her to say them. "A-a what?"

"A mikan! Like that one, right above you!" You arched her neck, and, there it was, a dangling mikan hovering a good six feet or so from the ground.

"Why a mikan?"

"Because that's my favorite food! I loooove mikans so much!" A nervous giggle compelled You to straighten her neck so that she was able to look at the girl. "It's why I jumped off the slide."

Now You was confused (later on in her life, she wondered how she even understood any of the conversation). "Why what?"

"Well, you see," the girl looked up to stare at the fruit, "I've wanted a mikan since this morning, but since we didn't have anymore I decided that after school I would go and find one to eat! And i saw that one and thought it was perfect, but it was too high for me, so I thought that if I ran super fast down the slide and then jumped, I would be able to get the mikan! You know, like in the video games!"

Ah. Now that explained everything. But that raised the question of—

"Why didn't you just climb the tree?" You asked.

"Because I fell from a tree one time, and now my mom doesn't want me climbing trees," the girl said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

But before You could say anything else, a cry from the distance cut her off.

"Chiiika! Come heeere! We're going hooome!"

"Oh, that's Mito-nee!" The girl named Chika said, beaming. "I have to go now, but it was super fun meeting you! Thanks for everything!" They exchanged waves as Chika ran off to her sister, and You stayed where she was, waving, as a grin began to gradually take its place on her face.

Chika.

It was a cute name.

-X-

The next time You met Chika was at school.

All the other kids were running, jumping, sometimes even hitting each other. It was a maelstrom of chaos, with the teacher trying to settle everyone down, but in the eye of the storm sat a small You, drawing all by herself.

Now, You wasn't a lonely child or anything. There were times where she would play with the other children in her class, and she would always have a fun time doing so. But such things were only temporary, and when the next day came and You tried to play with them again, they had already moved on to another person, leaving You to stand outside awkwardly before inevitably deciding to head back inside.

That's why she didn't like it when her mother asked how her friends were—it was because she didn't have any.

That was, until today.

"Whazzat?"

You never took her eyes off her paper. "A ship," she said as she drew the hull.

"Whoa, it's really good!"

You stopped and scrutinized her own drawing. Like any other child's drawing, it was primitive: the lines were crooked, faded outlines of erased mistakes still showed, and the most complex part of the boat was the bent triangle that served at its flag.

To be honest, You couldn't find the charm in it—it wasn't exceptionally well-done, nor was it horrendously bad. It was just...okay.

"It's not that good," You finally said before scribbling her surname on the hull of the ship.

"But it really is, though! I can tell you tried your bestest to draw it, and you didn't give up. That's what really matters. That's what Mom always tells me!"

You hummed, thinking it over. Then, oh-so slowly, she began to feel the faintest swell of pride in her chest.

Yeah. Maybe it wasn't so bad.

"Yeah, i guess it's okay," You said as she turned in her seat. Her mouth was open to add onto her previous sentence, but her words died in her throat when she saw who it was.

Chika, whose orange hair was now free of tanbark and whose cuts were now fading, gave You a chipped-tooth grin.

"Hi!" Chika exclaimed, giving a salute as a greeting.

You gave a dumb nod in exchange. "H-hi."

"I didn't know you go to this school!"

"I didn't know you go here, either."

Chika laughed, a light and airy laugh. You felt herself becoming entranced by such a sound.

"Where do you live?" Chika suddenly asked, rocking her weight back and forth like a boat at sea.

"N-Numazu," You stammered; Chika's bluntness always caught her off-guard.

"Whoa, all the way in Numazu? That's so far! How do you get here?"

"My mom drives me."

At this, Chika pouted and crossed her arms with a huff. "Wow, you're lucky. I have to walk here," she said. Suddenly, her expression brightened and she broke into her trademark grin. "But I walk here with my friend Kanan! She's super fun, I think you'll like her! But she's a year older, so it's super hard to find her during school, but maybe we can go over to her house! She lives on an island, you know? Her family runs a diving shop, it's super cool. I've always wanted to go diving but…."

Chika's words faded into the distance as You slowly zoned out. She couldn't believe it—this girl, the same one she met at the park, was actually talking to her. To be honest, You couldn't help but feel happy; this was the first time in a while anyone from the outside approached her in school.

It felt nice.

"—ey. Hey. Hey." After each word, You felt a poke on her forehead. She blinked several times, gathering herself from her thoughts. The insistent poking stopped, and Chika grinned once more. "I never got your name," she said.

"I didn't?"

"Nope!"

"Uh, well, it's You."

"You…." Chika repeated. It was as if she was tasting something new for the first time and couldn't get a grasp on the flavor. Eventually, she looked as if she liked it and smiled, one that was tamer than the other ones she had given. "I'm Chika! I really like your name. It's really cute."

You could feel her cheeks filling with blood as she beamed. "T-thanks."

But inside, she still thought that Chika was a cuter name.

-X-

From that day on, Chika and You were inseparable. They made many efforts to see each other, both in and out of school (they even took a trip to the dentist together to get Chika's tooth fixed), and as the summer breeze blew past, bringing with it the joy of vacation, the both of them were practically joined at the hip.

One particular day, the heat was overwhelming. Chika instantly decided that it was the perfect opportunity to take You out to visit Kanan, and on the first available ferry, they sailed over. During the ride, You remembered talking nonstop about her father and the adventures they had together, and Chika listened attentively. Throughout her story, You couldn't help but notice how pretty Chika's eyes were, and would oftentimes lose track of what she was saying.

It was during that conversation that You began to notice a fizzy feeling reminiscent of ocean foam in her chest.

Once they arrived, Kanan was sitting on the patio, looking over the horizon. When Chika caught sight of the older girl, she was ready to jump off the ferry and swim the rest of the way to hug her friend. The only thing that held her back was You's tight grip around her waist. But once the boat docked, Chika wasted no time and sprinted her hardest to tackle Kanan into the tightest embrace she could muster. They exchanged casual greetings, and Kanan eventually turned to You, who was awkwardly but happily watching them.

"Chika talks a lot about you," was the first thing that Kanan said to You.

Chika made a noise, one that was caught between a scoff and a gasp. "K-Kanan!" From her voice, You could tell that Chika was thoroughly embarrassed, and there was no doubt that her face was as red as her eyes.

The image of Chika blushing was enough to make You's pale face fill with burgundy.

Eventually, after much light-hearted bickering from Kanan and Chika (You could really feel the sisterly love between them; it made her feel a tad envious of their relationship, for some reason), all three of them decided to swim in the ocean. Despite Chika's protests and futile attempts to go deeper, they stayed near the shore, where Kanan assured it was perfectly safe.

"You-chan, look!" Chika called out as she adjusted her goggles. You did the same, and Chika ducked under the surface of the water. You took a big gulp of air and held it, before following suit.

It took a moment for You to get a bearing on her surroundings. She blinked, once then twice, before the image of Chika became focused.

You couldn't believe her eyes.

Chika was there, curled into a little ball, her cheeks puffed and her red eyes shimmering behind her goggles. Her short orange hair was now floating freely in the water, swaying with the waves above, each strand dancing its own routine. The filtered sun shone down on Chika as she waved, her movements sluggish yet graceful. You couldn't help the urge but wave back. In that moment, she was reminded of the stories her father would tell her about the beautiful creatures that lived inside the ocean, creatures of mystery and of unspeakable wonder. Her father would swear to her that such creatures were real, and You would always shake her head and play along, never once believing him.

But as she stared at Chika, You felt foolish for not taking his word.

-X-

Later on that day, after their adventure of the day came to a close and they sailed back, Chika and You sat on the beach of Uchiura. The sun was resting on the horizon, and the sky was a beautiful tapestry of reds, oranges, and indigoes. Such a sight being coupled with the sound of the ocean's waves almost lulled You to sleep.

The only thing keeping her awake was the girl sitting beside her.

"It's so pretty," Chika muttered, never taking her eyes off the sunset.

You nodded dumbly. "Yeah…."

"You think your dad can see this?"

The thought coaxed a small smile from You. "Uh-huh. He always told me and Mom that no matter how far away he was, we would always stare at the same sky and at the same ocean."

"Wow, your dad's really smart."

"He really is," You agreed. Suddenly, a question, one that had been nagging at her mind for a while now, struck and she turned to Chika. "Where's your dad?"

Chika's peaceful expression suddenly chilled into a stoic mask., and the luster in her red eyes dulled. "He's gone," she said quietly.

For a moment, the crash of the waves was the only thing filling the silence.

"I'm sorry," You finally muttered. Chika smiled somberly and gave a quiet chuckle as she shook her head.

"It's okay," Chika said, "We've gotten used to it."

"...is it lonely?"

"No. I have a lot of people with me. I have Mito-nee and Shima-nee and Mom and Kanan and Kanan's friends, and now I have you. I'm surrounded by a lot of people that make me really happy. But sometimes," Chika's smiled faded and she trailed off.

"Sometimes…?"

"Sometimes it feels empty. I don't know. I'm probably saying weird stuff," Chika said. She gave a laugh, but instead of the airy gaiety You was so used to, this one was heavy and cynical.

You didn't like it.

So, she scooted over so that she was much closer to Chika, and rested her head on her friend's shoulder. A light weight gently leaned against her.

"You probably think I'm weird, huh?" Chika asked, her voice just above a whisper.

"No," You began, "i get like that too."

"Hey, You-chan?"

"Mm?"

"We're going to go to middle school soon."

"I know."

"Is it selfish of me to ask you to stay by my side?"

You shook her head, laughing. She couldn't help it; the thought of staying by Chika's side made her heart soar higher than the birds overhead. "No. I wouldn't mind that."

"How about staying forever?"

"I wouldn't mind that either."

"How about getting married?" At this point, Chika's familiar humor slipped into her tone, and You laughed at such a suggestion.

"Of course I wouldn't mind," You said with a grin.

She meant every word.