Act 4: It Was From the Deep!
Another day had begun for Mai, things starting normal after quite the eventful day. She had befriended a girl from her school, Kokoro Yukimura, alongside a new yokai, Urusakage Gorgeous-Tashi.
Like many students her age, the blonde found herself walking out on her way to school, with time to spare as well! She didn't have to do the "rush outside the door with toast" deal a few kids did.
However, to her surprise, she ran into someone.
"Kokoro?" Mai asked, noticing the other girl.
"Mai?" Kokoro questioned as well. "Didn't know you walked the same route as me."
"Me neither, but I guess there are only a few routes to go after all," Mai questioned. "Though, some kids say you're usually late nine times out of ten!"
"Eh, I'm not late that often," Kokoro shrugged off. "Usually once every three days, some routes are a bit long. Plus it's only by like five minutes or so."
The two girls kept walking along, Mai about to turn onto one street she always took without a second thought. Yet to Mai's surprise, she was stopped before turning down the street.
"Let's...not go down that road," Kokoro suggested to Mai, sounding worried.
"Why? It's quicker if we go this way," Mai said, Kokoro looking a bit distant.
"I have...bad memories going down that way…" Kokoro answered, biting on her lip a little.
"Did something horrible happen that way?" Mai questioned once more. She didn't really want to prod the other girl, but yet she was curious. She had only been in this town for half a year, after all, and Kokoro was more experienced.
"Yes, actually…" Kokoro began, giving a deep sigh. This was going to be quite the thing to explain…
It was roughly a year and a half ago, in the middle of winter to be exact. Kokoro at this time was still in MIddle School, still a bit of a rough gal, but not as intimidating as she was now.
The landscape was covered by a thin sheet of snow, giving a calm atmosphere to the town. Though, that didn't stop the spirited girl from running down the streets with plenty of energy.
"Yeah! School's out for the day, now I can finally have time to myself!" Kokoro excitedly said with a bright smile. "Well, before I have to worry about dumb exams, but I can still have fun before then!"
She started to slow down a little when going onto the residential street, knowing the neighbors didn't exactly appreciate kids running and screaming all the time.
There was some form of construction going on, perhaps something requiring several metal pipes. Kokoro didn't think twice as she passed by the truck carrying those poles, all strapped to not move in the slightest.
Or at least, that's what seemed like it for the young girl.
Unknown to Kokoro, the straps holding the metal poles were rather loose, starting to loosen more and more until…
"Look out!" Somebody from behind the middle schooler yelled, pushing Kokoro out of the way from being crushed.
Being pushed out of such a situation made Kokoro open her eyes and realize what had just happened with the loud crashing sound of the several dozen solid metal poles. Her eyes were open to what had just happened.
Somebody Kokoro had never ever seen in these parts of town saved her life. While she was thankful, she could feel a tinge of fear crawl up her spine as her stomach sank.
From the glance Kokoro got, she could see that this mysterious savior had their lower half crushed by the poles, leaving them unable to move. It was quite the mess too...She couldn't look at it for too long.
Kokoro knew she had to bolt as soon as she saw people come out of their houses to inspect what had happened. If she stuck around longer, people would assume horrible, horrible things.
She had no choice but to flee from the situation. Hopefully she could forget all about this guilt…
...But upon arriving home, Kokoro could see something on the TV within her living room as she turned it on.
"...Tragedy has struck within the residential district of Sakura New Town," the newscaster began, showing photos of the accident Kokoro had barely managed to escape from. "It seems a thirteen year old male has had his lower half crushed by fallen construction pipes. He has yet to be identified, but doctors say it's unlikely for him to live, and if he were, his lower half may be permanently paralyzed."
Kokoro saw photos from the scene she had tried so dearly to escape from, but seeing all this...It made her feel worse...absolutely horrible…
...It was her fault this had happened…she could not escape from it, not now, not ever...
"I...I regret a lot of things…" Kokoro began, really gritting her teeth.
"Oh my...I'm...I'm sorry that had happened to you…" Mai apologized. "I wish I was there to understand things better, so I can help you."
"It's scary to think about, the kid who saved me was my age…" Kokoro added, her voice shaking. "I never even got to thank 'em...which is honestly my biggest regret of them all…"
Mai put her hand on the shoulder of her friend, who couldn't help but cry a little.
"I know it's very different, but I had to leave a lot of my old friends behind…" Mai tried in her best efforts to comfort her friend. "I had to move suddenly so I never got to say goodbye to everyone, a lot I've known since kindergarden..."
"So you never got to say goodbye to them either huh…" Kokoro responded to her friend's help. "That makes us both on our own then, yeah?"
Mai shook her head, holding her friend's hand. "No, we stick up for one another. It's what you said when we met, right?"
"Right...Right!" Kokoro said, responding as she snapped back to reality. "We're the underdogs, and dang it, we're gonna stick up for each other!"
A bell over the horizons could be heard as the two girls nodded.
"Oh no, we might be late if we don't hurry!" Mai yelled, running up ahead.
"Well, let's hurry then!" Kokoro responded with enthusiasm. "Let's race and see who gets there first!"
The day carried on by without a worry on Mai's shoulders despite the morning being a bit heavy on the emotional front. Upon walking out of class for the day, something caught Mai's eye.
"Huh, seems the clubs have already begun to post sign up sheets…" Mai observed, looking over the different sheets for different clubs. "Though it seems right now the more artsy clubs are going to have to wait, so I got to choose a sport…"
This was a rather tricky choice for Mai. She wasn't the most athletic of them all, even if her transformations into the pure heart maiden made it seem like it.
"The girl's swim club sounds fun, I'll check it out...today in about fifteen minutes from now!" Mai yelped in shock. She had to make a break for it. Even if she wasn't the best swimmer, she could at least try to make more friends, right? It's what these high school clubs had, after all.
Scurrying through the halls as fast as she could, she ran into the indoor pool on campus to meet with the swim club.
"Huh, didn't expect to see another new member join in," The coach said, adjusting her sights at the blonde who rushed in.
"I...I just saw the pamphlet for sign ups...today..." Mai replied, catching her breath.
"Oh, it's alright if you just saw the sign ups," Another student said, looking a bit older than Mai with sleek, long black hair and rather nice looking glasses. "Could we have your name?"
"I'm Mai Suzuki, I'm a first year student!" Mai introduced herself, the older student nodding.
"Well hellom Mai, I'm Shinju Mori, a second year student. I'm a member of the student council, but I also help out with the swim team," The older student, Shinju introduced herself. "I'm glad you could join us today."
"No problem, did tryouts already happen or…" Mai asked, sounding nervous. Shinju bit the bottom of her lip.
"Well, tryouts were last Saturday actually…" Shinju informed Mai, trying not to break the first year's heart. "But I might be able to see if I can work you in a position."
"Really?" Mai answered shocked.
"Yes, that being well...knd of a trainee of my position as sort of a team assistant," Shinju stated.
"Well, that sounds like something I can probably do," Mai nodded. "Count me in!"
"Alright so our first duty for today is making sure the towels are fresh and dry, do you think you can do that?" Shinju asked of Mai, the blonde to nod in response.
"Yes!" Mai stated, quickly getting to work. As she was happily folding and drying, she noticed the other girls try their absolute hardest at swimming with such strength and prowess! Practice was going by fairly quickly as Mai kept on working, through something rather fishy struck in the waters.
"Feeling...Not...So good…" One of the top swimmers in the team said, sounding more and more sleepy.
Before anything else could be said, she stopped moving, much to the dismay of the other girls.
"What!? Quickly, someone get her out!" Another swimmer yelled, having taken a break and starting to rush over.
"I...I would but I feel very weak all the sudden…" Yet another swimmer said, not feeling very well. "I swear...I was feeling fine before now…"
"My head hurts…" A fourth swimmer said.
Thankfully the one swimmer on break was able to start hauling the other ones out before they passed out as well. Naturally, Mai decided to rush over to Shinju about the situation as quickly as she could.
"Shinju! Have you gotten paramedics on this situation?" Mai asked, Shinju nodding.
"Yes, we might need to have an investigation open about if there's something contaminating the pool," Shinju stated, keeping calm even in the times of a sudden crisis. "But until then, the club has been dismissed due to emergency reasons, so I would try to head home before something from the pool gets into your head."
Mai was already out of where the indoor pool was and out on the school's courtyard, but she was soon joined by her main partner in crime.
"So, I see you're in the swim club now eh?" Kokoro asked. "Didn't know you were the swimmer type."
"Well, kind of. Sort of," Mai answered a bit hastily. "Our meeting ended kind of early due to something happening."
"And what would that something be? Something supernatural possibly?" Kokoro asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Swimmers started to get very tired very quickly, one of them even passing out and nearly drowning," Mai stated, sounding fairly worried. "It's suspected it might be something in the pool."
"Or it could be the ocean dwelling vampiric youkai, Nure Yojemo!" Kokoro concluded. "Legends say in the coastlines they dwell, tricking poor souls into well, giving her their souls!"
"But why would such a thing be in a pool?" Mai asked, Kokoro coming up with a counter to Mai's doubts.
"There's probably too much salt in the pool, thus attracting usually seabound youkai like her!" Kokoro explained. "Both in terms of the actual chemical compounds and the metaphorical sense when somebody loses!"
Kokoro cracked her knuckles, looking off in the direction of the pool.
"What are we waiting for Mai!?" Kokoro began, sounding pumped up, "Let's go wrangle us a sea monster from h-"
"We are sorry to apologize, but the school's practice pool is closed for health concerns regarding too much chlorine in the water," An officer said, revealing there were do not cross signs and plenty of security around the area.
"Ah, I see...Apologies for my friend here…" Mai apologized on behalf of Kokoro.
Though within the practice pool's building, Shinju was talking with several investigators about the incident that had occurred that day.
"Officer I don't know who or what was responsible for the chlorine overdose in the pool waters," Shinju tried to explain, it seeming like her voice was not being heard.
And she would be right.
"Officer?" Shinju asked with a tinge of worry. Things didn't seem right.
The officers she was talking with all seemed to have vanished without a trace. The sun was starting to set, so maybe that was why things were getting darker.
Yet...it shouldn't be getting this dark this fast during this time of the year, right?
Outside, Mai noticed the eerie ambience as well from the swim practice building. Coming out from their hiding in the trees were Mai's two feline advisors, Nyanmajo and Sailornyan.
"I don't like the feeling of this atmosphere," Nyanmajo commented, getting out Mai's Great Yokai Dictionary.
"I can say it's coming from the practice pool building, that's for certain!" Mai said, pointing in the direction of the building.
"Usually I like the water, but only if it's ocean waters," Sailornyan remarked. "If it's overflowing with chlorine, no thanks. Besides, Nyanmajo is afraid of the water."
"Hey!" Nyanmajo responded fiercely. "D-don't you say that out loud!"
"Then what should I do if you two aren't going to tag along?" Mai asked her feline friends. Nyanmajo pointed to the Great Yokai Dictionary.
"I'm pretty sure Gorgeous-Tashi is too much in his own...uhh...fabulous ego...to notice if things get wet..." Nyanmajo suggested. Mai turned to the back of the book to grab the blue yokai jewel of the gorgeous yokai.
"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai began, inserting the jewel for the fabulous yokai. "Urusakage Gorgeous-Tashi!"
One appropriately flashy transformation and summoning sequence later, Mai had transformed, now matching suit with her yokai friend. She wore a nice looking ball gown, modern but very regal, complete with a boa and a golden fan in her hands and a small crown on her head with a blue jewel. To say the least, Mai felt confident, extremely so.
"C'mon, I wanna see not only a youkai up close, but fight it fist to fist if I gotta!" Kokoro thought aloud to herself, trying her hardest to open the door of the building.
"Is someone there?!" Shinju yelped, running over to the door to try and open it. It seemed it was locked from the inside as well. "Please help me!"
"I don't want you to escape from me, girlie," A voice from within the pool laughed, darkness bubbling more and more out of the pool.
Emerging from the pool was a yoma that took the appearance of half woman, half sea serpent. She never seemed to have been dry once in her life, her long black hair sticking to the back of her. She had rather reptile like features that just about shot fear into the heart of Shinju.
"W-What are you!?" Shinju asked, frightened by the serpent woman.
"Huhu, I'm Yoma Nure Onna," Yoma Nure Onna introduced herself with a sultry tone, "I think it might be best if I have you join me."
Busting on into the scene was Kokoro, finally having busted down the door with rocks and sheer moxie.
"W-Woah, is that a real youkai?" Kokoro asked, being shocked at the scene. She got in a bit closer, "I wouldn't suspect such a thing would happen to frequently…"
"I am not a youkai you fool, I'm a yoma!" Yoma Nure Onna hissed. Her serpentine half was much larger than it seemed, being able to extend out of the water and behind the two girls.
"So you can see this thing too!?" Shinju questioned.
"Y-Yeah!" Kokoro said, trying to keep her confidence, "I don't know why, and I don't like where this is going. I can't swim!"
"Stop it right on there!" A dramatic and sassy tone of a duo made their presence loud and clear.
"Who dares enters!?" Yoma Nure Onna questioned with a hiss.
Entering the building dramatically was none other than Mai and her yokai friend, Gorgeous-Tashi.
"For humans and yokai, love and justice too! The ever changing Pure Heart Maiden is my name!" Mai had introduced herself, oozing with glamor and sass, much more than usual. "I will protect both from the threat of yoma, starting with you!"
"Disgusting, I never liked those overly fashionable types." Yoma Nure Onna scowled. "I'll make you slip on those designer heels!"
Retracting her long tail a bit, Yoma Nure Onna tried to make a wave of water. Which would usually be fine aside from getting a bit wet, but it was overodesed with chlorine which would be extremely painful.
With quick work, Mai entered the scene, using her fan to blow away the acidic water, stepping on the yoma's tail while she was at it.
"What did you say about my heels again?" Mai questioned the yoma sassily.
"I don't think she was as sassy when I saw her last," Kokoro whispered Shinju.
"Wait, you saw her before?" Shinju asked.
"Loooooong story," Kokoro whispered back.
Yoma Nure Onna kept glaring at Mai and Gorgeous Tashi, preparing another attack on the two once again.
"Why, if I can't give you a welcoming splash, I'll drag you in myself!" Yoma Nure Onna shouted, lifting her constantly wet, slippery arms to try and drag the magical duo in.
"What's that?" Gorgeous-Tashi stated, lifting his leg up so high it kicked Yoma Nure Onna up her jaw. "I can't hear you over how dazzling I feel today being perfectly dry today."
"I swear this time, I'll get you!" Yoma Nure Onna hissed at the fabulous duo once more. "I'll get you pesky sparkly little fiends!"
The long sea serpent yoma tried to grab for Mai, whom quickly twirled out of the way of the yoma's clutches. Mai, having her free hand opened, was grabbed by Gorgeou Tashi's hand. The holding of the two friend's hands caused the blue jewel on Mai's dress to shine, making way for the finisher.
"Sparkly Show Stopper!" Both the magical girl and her yokai yelled, as with fabulous poses, a shining shower of sparkles flooded the area. It was intense, even Kokoro and Shinju had to slowly walk out of the situation. It was simply too fabulous for the both of them.
Once the flashy attack had died down, Yoma Nure Onna was no more as the pool was returned to a clean, beautiful state. Sitting in the pool was a yellow finned mermaid yokai.
"I'm quite thankful I landed in a swimming pool." The mermaid yokai said. "It's better than trying to defy gravity by floating. Oh how I love the water."
The mermaid quickly caught eye of Mai, who was back to looking like her usual self.
"I'm not the best at knowing this world...you know...up where they walk...up where they run...that sort of thing. Anyways, I'm Nyororon Yao Bikuni!" Yao Bikuni introduced herself. "Do you mind being my guide here?"
"Hello, I'm Mai Suzuki," Mai introduced herself, leaning over the pool's water to get a closer look at the dazzling mermaid. "I don't mind being your guide in the human world, in fact, I'm more than glad to."
Upon reaching her hand to shake Yao Bikuni's hand or rather, fin, Mai noticed a bright light had flashed when they shook hands. Once the light had died down, there was a cyan yokai jewel, as usual, symbolizing the Nyororon tribe of yokai.
"Huh, usually yokai hand me their jewels," Mai noted, holding the jewel gently in her hand.
"They say you learn something new every day," Yao Bikuni stated, before shrugging a bit. "At least, that's what I've heard."
Before safely keeping the jewel in her Great Yokai Dictionary, Mai flipped to a blank page and offered Yao Bikuni a pen.
"Here, sign this so I can keep track of our friendship together and protect you from ever becoming a yoma!" Mai informed Yao Bikuni, handing her the book. "Though, I'd be careful with it. The pages are bleedproof, but I'm not sure about water proof…"
Yao Bikuni's signature shimmered once she was done shining her name in the girl's book, handing it over with not a splash in sight. The two parted ways for now, knowing she could be called upon anytime if Mai was in danger.
Slowly, the girl walked out of the pool's building, everything having gone back to normal.
"Mai!" Kokoro shouted, noticing the girl. "There you are!"
"Oh, hey Kokoro, hey Shinju." Mai greeted back with a wave, joining up with her friends.
"I don't know where you went, especially since a great danger happened when I was locked in the pool building," Shinju explained, adjusting her glasses in deep thought. "There was this crazy sea serpent lady in the pool…"
"Are you sure something wasn't in the pool's waters?" Mai asked.
"I was there too, it was real!" Kokoro yelled, giving answer to Mai's question. "And like, this really freakin' cute and beautiful girl came on in with his sparkly man and kicked the guy's butt with so many sparkles! I wish the sparkles weren't so intense because man I'd love to have seen that!"
"That does sound really cool, I don't know why I keep missing cool things like that," Mai sheepishly responded with to her friend.
"Maybe we should keep up with that Harmonious app everyone's been talking about…" Shinju said. "I think I can trust you with that at least."
Shinju quickly handed Mai a sheet of paper with the screen name of Shinju's instant message profile on it.
"Got it, I've been keeping up with Kokoro that way as well, even if I'm not the best at computers," Mai admitted. "At least I can keep up on my phone as well, it's a bit easier for me."
"Computing whiz or not, I think we got ourselves something going on here," Kokoro stated. "Especially with all the weird things me and Shinju have seen lately, I wonder if it'll keep up."
"Yeah, it's not like much this crazy has happened in this town," Shinju added in. "It's a both frightening yet also quite exciting."
"I can't wait to see what else is in store for us," Mai said with a nod, before realizing something. "Oh! I should probably be getting home soon, I don't know when my brother or parents are going to be home!"
"Well, we won't keep ya around," Kokoro finished. "We'll talk on Harmonious alright!?"
"Got it!" Mai waved away, hurrying on home.
"Do you think you can trust those humans with your identity as the Pure Heart Maiden?" Nyanmajo asked, having followed Mai on the side of a fence.
"Maybe soon...I think I've developed enough trust with Kokoro, a bit of Shinju too." Mai answered to her feline friend.
"Haven't you only known that Shinju girl for less than a day though?" Sailornyan questioned the girl.
"Yeah, but same with Yao Bikuni," Mai responded with a shrug. "I dunno, we will have to wait and see."
With that, Mai had begun to return home without much fear. She was becoming more confident in her ability to build bonds, of both between people like her and the supernatural yokai. Slowly, it felt like Mai was settling in, slowly breaking her shell.