Aloha! RUHLSAR000 here! For people just joining welcome, and to returning readers, welcome back and I am sorry for taking so long. I was working on my other fanfiction, but couldn't get up the energy to type it up. I am sorry and Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Magic readers, the next chapter is coming. I have a system to make sure they both get up dated semi-regularly. When I finish one chapter, I start a new chapter in the other fiction. I am sorry for delays, errors, and long winded authors note. Thank you for taking the time to read this chapter. Thank you reading this note, and I DO NOT OWN MERMAID MELODY PICHI PICHI PITCH!
I am screwed! I am so screwed! Have I mentioned my life sucks? Cause it does. I entered the classroom on my first day of school. "I am Nanami Lucia," I said to the class.
There was only one open seat in the class room, and guess who that was next to. Yep, Kaito. Now the million dollar question. Does the universe hate me? Is it putting an innocent boy in danger to make me pay for my bad karma?
As I take my seat, Kaito said, "What a coincidence."
"Yeah, Kaito-kun," I responded. His words sent my heart a flutter. Why? Why? Why? Why do I have all these problems? Why couldn't I have been born a ditzy human girl, like my classmates, free to pursue anyone I like? Why? Why? Why? Why am I whining? Whining does nothing.
"'Kaito', I liked how you called me it at the competition," Kaito smiled.
I heard one of the ditzy girls in my class say, "I wish I was her." You and me both.
"Sure... Kaito..." I said, loving how his name rolled off my tongue, "You can call me 'Lucia' if you want." Why did I just say that? Do I have a death wish? Am I an idiot? Don't answer that.
"Sure, Lucia," Kaito smiled. Is it wrong that I love the sound of my name on his lips? And don't answer that, because I know the answer and really don't like it. I am an idiot. "I don't think I ever caught you name before today."
"Oops. Sorry," I blushed.
"No biggie," Kaito smiled and turned towards the board.
I did too, for about five seconds, in hopes it would distract me. A very low chuckle escaped my lips as I realized my bad luck. Of course, it had to be something I already knew extremely well.
I had never been much of a student until I was captured. Gaito had an amazing library that offered more privacy than my room. Let just say Gaito had no problem walking in on me there. The library was so massive it was easy to hide. By the time I left, I knew every single square inch of the library by heart. Not to mention the library's content provided a world away from where I was trapped. I became particularly fond of the subjects, math, literature, and history. Math because of it simplicity and logic. Once you know the proper way to do math you can solve just about any problem. Really most people make it much harder than it is. It is logical, unlike my life. History and literature are stories, places I could go and be faraway from the palace. I enjoyed science, too, but all the science I know is just theoretical since I haven't been able to experiment. But any distraction I welcomed with open arms. I read every book in the library by the time I left.
I sighed, and discreetly looked around. No one noticed. Hanon was making goo goo eyes at the teacher, what was his name. She really was boy crazy. Rina was taking notes. Kaito was acting like he was paying attention, all while sneaking glances at me. He did not notice my glance, as he didn't look away from me when I caught him.
Well, I was going to have to do this eventually. On the paper I had out for notes I started a list of things to worry about, and, because worrying does nothing, hopefully fix. Lists are a good way to organize thoughts. First I write down Gaito, then erase it. Gaito was way to broad a topic. When I finished my list looked like this:
1) Gaito's my master.
2) He's ordered me to capture the mermaid princess.
3)The sea is in disarray (Thank you, Gaito).
4) My feelings for Gaito (How strong are they?).
5)My feelings for Kaito (This could get us both killed).
6)Do I want to fight Gaito? (Sure I did, when my emotions were high at the surf competition, but now with my logical side present... I just don't know.)
I was sensing a pattern.
7) What are Kaito's connections to the Panthalassa Clan?
That reminds me. At the bottom of the page I wrote, Note: Find a way to safely return Kaito's pendant. I still had it, in my book bag actually, and it still had my pearl in it. I hadn't felt safe putting it in my necklace. And, while Aqua Regina was sure of my virtue, I wasn't so sure I had a right to wear it proudly in my necklace.
Two more things added themselves, all be it, slightly against my will. These things should have the least of my worries at this point. Yet, they were worries that lay as heavily on my mind as the others.
8) My kingdom. (Has my kingdom forgotten me? Is there enough food for everyone? Is it being governed properly? And worse of all, did Gaito keep his promise? Is everyone all right?)
9) Turning to bubbles.
To delay thinking about the ones I really didn't want to think about, I focused on the last two.
Number nine, turning to bubbles. The mask Aqua Regina gave me protects my identity as a mermaid princess and only a small number of humans know of the existence of mermaids. Any human that sees me will not make the connection to my human form. The only possible exception is Kaito, since he has a reference point from when we were seven. Also turning to bubbles only activates when a mermaid reveals herself, there was no rule against him figuring it out.
Number eight, my kingdom. Sadly, I had no definite answer. Sure, Nikora remembered me, but she was one of my lady-in-waiting and someone I looked up to. And Madame Taki probably did, but she raised me. What of the rest of my kingdom? They probably forgot about me. I'm sure everything is alright in my kingdom, right? If they had problems with who would govern they would surely hold the Elections, right? The Elections are held when a mermaid princess can no longer govern, but for some reason or another a successor cannot be born. Then everyone elects a new princess to rule, hence the name the Elections. Then again, Aqua Regina had called her 'princess'. So maybe they haven't? What could possibly keep them from holding the Elections? I added to the bottom Note: Ask Nikora about kingdom.
I mulled over my kingdom until the bell for lunch finally rang. I was insanely relieved. The lessons bored me to tears and provided no distraction. Plus, by this time I really needed to clear my head. Whacking it against a tree a few times should do the job.
"Nanami-san could I speak with you?" Our math teacher asked.
Walking over I asked, "What is it, Sensei?"
"Well, since you've arrived in the middle of a unit, I think it would be beneficial if you had a study buddy," the teacher said.
"Thank you for your concern, Sensei, but," I said gently, "I understood everything perfectly well."
"Everything?" Sensei said in disbelief. Understandable, considering that everyone else in the class was groaning over how difficult the was lesson. Systems of three variables are rather complex.
"Yes," I said calmly, "Math is one of my strongest subjects."
"Then you wouldn't mind demonstrating." The teacher said. He clearly wondered if I was just saying this. He wrote a rather hard problem on the board and turned to grab something. I am certain a gleam entered my eyes, as I was being challenge in one of my favorite subjects for the first time that day. "Of course you'll be allowed a calculator," the teacher handed me a small rectangular device.
I just looked at him, "X=37, Y=14, and Z=23."
His jaw dropped, "You figured it out that quickly." He turned to the board, "And in your head?" His tone was utter disbelief.
"Yes, sir," I said. "May I go to lunch now?" I asked in a bored tone.
"One moment," the teacher said, "How would you feel about being a tutor?"
"Sure," I said. It sounded interesting.
"Excellent," the teacher said. He turned to a group of boys that was still in the classroom, "Domoto-san, could I have a word?"
I seriously thought I would have a heart attack. Does the universe hates me? Kaito, who was eating lunch and joking with his friends, came over. The teacher turned me and said, "Nanami-san, I'm assigning you to be Domoto-san's tutor. Heaven knows he needs it, especially after last weeks test results." The teacher walk out of the room.
"Well, that can't be good," Kaito mumble under his breath. I had a feeling he was referring to the test scores. Call it a hunch, but I had a feeling that this would not end well.
"So," Kaito said, "should I come to your house or you to mine."
"I'll come to yours," I said. Why I do not know, but my life sucks.
"Great we can walk there after school," Kaito smirked. Have I mentioned I love his smirk? Have I mention I'm screwed?
"Fine," I walk out of the classroom. I really needed some fresh air and to whack my head against a brick wall.
The bell finally rang. It released me from a seemingly never ending chain of boredom, though history and literature were good. I don't mind rereading material or looking at something in a new light. But boredom is never a good thing for me because when it happens my mind wonders to where it shouldn't go, like the list of my worries or how it would feel to kiss Kaito.
"So, when will you be ready to go?" Kaito asked next to me.
Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Crap.
"I'm ready," I said as put my binder into my bag and sling it over my shoulder.
"Shouldn't you tell your friends?" Kaito looked at me surprised.
"Why would I do that? My business is my business. They shouldn't worry about it," I said bluntly.
"Okay?" Kaito said sounding even more surprised But then smiled and said "Let's go."
It was getting annoying how much I like that smile, I really shouldn't. I slapped myself mentally. Like that had been stopping me lately. Recently I had broken so many rules. Rules that had kept me alive for the past two years.
As we walked to Kaito's house we fell into a semi-comfortable silence. Semi-comfortable because, it wasn't really comfortable but I wasn't going to risk an uncomfortable chat. My mouth had a mind of it's own around Kaito.
When Kaito stoped at a house. My eyes widened in surprise. It was a huge beach front property.
Kaito chuckled at my expression, "Yeah, my parents were world famous musicians." We walked in to the house.
"You said were, what happened to them?" I asked as I removed my shoes.
"They died the night the mermaid rescued me," Kaito said not looking at me.
"Oh, sorry," I said.
"It wasn't your fault," Kaito put on a playful grin, but I saw through it. I had hit a nerve.
"Let's get to work," I said as a distraction, as much for him as me. We settled in his living room, sprawled out on the floor. In truth, we were both much closer than we needed to be. I felt the heat radiating off him.
"Okay," I said, opening a text book, "Math really isn't that hard once you get the hang of it."
Kaito snorted.
I rolled my eyes, "There maybe two or three different ways to get the answer, but only one correct answer. Even in quadratic equations, when there are two numbers in the solution, usually, it's both numbers together that is the correct answer. Once you learn the steps you can do just about any problem. Math is kind of like surfing."
"How so?" Kaito asked confused. Ah, he was listening. I was beginning to think he was just looking at me.
"Did you just picked up a surfboard and were amazing? I don't think so. You practiced and practiced until you were amazing. You need to do the same in math. Math maybe simple in it's basic form, but quickly becomes more complicated as you advance, as you know. However, the more advanced stuff is based off of the simple stuff. You need to practice, just like surfing," I smiled.
"I guess," Kaito sounded unconvinced.
"You also need confidence in what your doing," I said.
Kaito's lips raised into a smirk, "Did you just call me amazing, twice?"
I mentally slapped myself and blushed hard, I said, "Focus."
I turned back to the text book and selected ten problems for him to do. I showed him the problems, and he looked at me like I was speaking a different language. With a chuckle, I started explaining the process step by step.
A hour and a half later, Kaito was biting his lip. He had quickly discovered I was not an easy grader. I did explain everything afterwords, then made him redo the problems, and then ten new problems until he got them all right. Looks like it payed off, however. And not a moment too soon, we had gone through almost all the problems in the chapter we were working in.
I turned to Kaito, who looked like he didn't want to see another math problem, ever. Which I was fine with. I wasn't my job to get him to love math, my job was to get him to understand math. I smiled, "Congrats, it looks like you got them all right."
Kaito let out a breath he had been holding. Then his eyes widened and he got really excited, "That's the highest percent I've ever gotten."
"Congrats," I was proud of him. He had picked up on two variable systems really quickly. I guess he just wasn't applying himself before. I was not sure how I felt about that.
"Yes!" Kaito exclaimed.
Just then I noticed how close we were. Kaito noticed, too. Our faces faces were centimeters a part. Again, I do not know what possessed me, but I was possessed. I repeat, I was possessed. Our forehead touched.
My foot hit something and music burst through Kaito's speakers.
I jumped about two meters off the ground. Kaito burst into laughter, then got really quite. I looked at what CD was playing. It a musician named "Domoto". So it was Kaito's parent's music. It was one of the most beautiful pieces of music I had ever heard.
Suddenly I had no clue what to say. Kaito wasn't looking at me.
My head, then, started to throb. I heard Hanon scream. An image of SheShe and Mimi attacking Hanon flashed into my vision. I glanced into my bag. My pearl was glowing. Hanon was in trouble. What should I do? What was I suppose to do?
The answer to the last was easy. According to Gaito, I was suppose to sit back and watch.
The first one... I don't have time for this. I have to help Hanon. But how?
The mask, of course.
"I just remembered I have something I have to do," I said, shoving my things into my bag, "Don't forget about your homework."
I had a feeling Kaito was suppressing a groan, but I was already rushing to the door and slamming on my shoes.
"Lucia!" Kaito said, but I was already out the door, running at top speed to the Pearl Piari, that was where my vision took place.
Note to self: Worry about getting strange vision.
When I was twenty meters away I ducked behind a wall so no could see me. I pulled out Kaito's pendant and wrapped it around my wrist.
"Pink Pearl Voice!" I exclaimed and then I was engulfed in a pink light. When it faded, I was in my pink dress, gloves, and boots. I vaguely acknowledged that Kaito's necklace was still wrapped around my wrist. My hair was long and light blonde. My mask was on my face, like I suspected it would be, and my mike was in hand.
I rushed out from behind the wall and closed the distance to the Pearl Piari. I burst through the doors. The music of the Black Beauty Sisters was playing loud and clear. I briefly register that Nikora was unconscious on the floor. Scanning her with my mask revealed that she was fine. I ran as fast as I could to Hanon's bedroom.
The Black Beauty Sisters were standing there about to take a semi-conscious Hanon.
"Pichi Pichi Voice Live Start!" I exclaimed.
The sisters turned to see me. They seemed to recognize me, which I prayed was because of the experience with Kaito and not from realizing it was me.
I sang Legend of Mermaid. Half way through Hanon was able to transform into her idol form and complete the song with me. Her idol form consisted of a light blue frilly dress and her hair being slightly lighter and way longer. When she sang with me it double the impact of the song on the Black Beauty Sisters.
"Love Shower Pitch!" I exclaimed.
This caught Hanon off guard, but she recovered and said, "Love Shower Pitch?" in a tone that made me think she was wondering if she had said it right.
I smiled, "How about an encore?"
The sisters couldn't stand it any longer.
"Damn you!" SheShe said and they both vanished.
Hanon turned to me, "Who are you?"
I smiled at her, "I am a great many things, you may call me what you'd like. But know that as I wear this mask," I pointed to my mask, "I am a friend." That was more true than anything else in my life. I could not be her ally when I wasn't wearing the mask, because it would spell disaster for my kingdom. But when I wore my mask I was free to be her ally.
Before she could process what I said, I was out the door. I left the Pearl Piari, fast. I ran to the same wall as before, ducked behind it and turned back to there human form. I walked casually back to the Pearl Piari.
"Lucia-san!"
I turned to see Rina, "Oh, Rina-san."
"How was tutoring Domoto-san?" Rina asked.
"It was fine," I said, " How was, um, whatever you where doing?"
"I was taking a walk and it was fine," Rina answered.
Ah, that is why she wasn't at the Pearl Piari during the attack.
"But," Rina continued, "My pearl started to glow and that means a mermaid princess is in trouble, so I rushed back but it stopped a minute ago meaning the danger has passed."
"Lets hurry up and check on Hanon," I said. I also wanted to take a second look at Nikora.
"Right!" Rina said, we moved quicker than before.
"She was amazing," Hanon said for the umpteenth time.
Okay, the first three time she said that, it had taken everything I had not to blush. But now it was just annoying.
"She was in an idol form, it was pink. Hey, you don't think..." Hanon let her voice trail off.
I couldn't breath. I knew exactly what Hanon was suggesting, as did everyone in the room. So the mask wasn't as affective at concealing my identity as well as I would have liked.
"No," Nikora said, she held an ice bag to her head because she hurt her head when she collapsed. I missed that because it was a relatively minor injure and I had been focused on getting to Hanon, who was is more danger. I felt a little guilty about that. I accidentally slipped in my facade and visibly relaxed a little. "Just a because a mermaid has an idol form does not mean she is a princess. Though unusual, it is not unheard of for a mermaid that has a strong pearl to have an idol form even if she is not a mermaid princess. Besides the Pink Pearl Princess was taken by Gaito two years ago. If she broke free she would have revealed herself, not to mention the person Hanon described doesn't sound a thing like her."
On Nikora's face flashed something so well hidden that everyone missed, everyone but me. Hanon's words had given Nikora some small piece of hope. A hope Nikora was trying to use reason to crush before it crushed her.
It was so well hidden that I only saw it because I recognized it from personal experience. A year before I had done the same thing. Too much hope in a hopeless situation can crush a person, make it harder to survive.
But maybe I hadn't squashed all my hope of escape. How else could I have integrated so quickly? Maybe I carried a small flame of hope. Maybe I protected it more than anything. Who knows?
"She was most likely a powerful pearl, she's no princess," Nikora said utterly hopeless. But I heard a small glimmer of something that made me want to smile. Nikora couldn't get rid of all her hope either.
"I wonder if she has anything to do with The Waters of Succession," Rina said. Everyone's jaw dropped and it didn't take much to see the shock on everyone's face. What was surprising though, given their reaction, was that they were seriously thinking about it.
What the heck?
"Okay, I'll bite. What are 'The Waters of Succession'?" I asked. Was I the only one who didn't know?
"You don't know?" Hanon asked stunned. Yeah, I was the only one who didn't know.
"I was being held hostage for the past few years, so excuse me for missing that class," I said in a snark tone to Hanon, who was looking very uncomfortable all of a sudden, as did everyone.
"Ah, right," Rina said uncomfortably, "Every thousand years, give or take a decade, the old Aqua Regina passes the title to a younger, stronger woman, normally a mermaid. But it takes a very special type of person to be Aqua Regina."
Hanon took over for Rina, "Physically and mentally, that person takes on a lot of, well, the best word I can think of is stress. But that is not exactly right. Well, lets just say most people cannot handle being Aqua Regina, mentally or physically. So candidates, who can handle it, are born when it is time for the the title of Aqua Regina to be passed. The number of candidates varies but usually it is around four to ten, rarely three. It has never been less than three."
Nikora took over, "The candidates grow up and who ever is deemed the most worthy is named Aqua Regina's successor and eventually Aqua Regina, herself. These events are called 'The Water of Succession'. It may sound far fetched, but, as the time for The Waters of Succession is fast approaching, we cannot rule it out. This girl is unusual and very powerful."
"When is The Waters of Succession?" I asked.
"We are in that time now," Hanon said.
"Gya!" I was shocked. Now, as in I could wake up tomorrow and there could be a new Aqua Regina. What if she was not as understanding as her predecessor? What if she took away the power of my mask? Breathe I commanded, as I didn't think I was. What if it already happened? Yeah right, they would know if it already happened.
While I was have an internal mental brake down, everyone had moved the subject back to the girl, me in my mask.
"She saved Hanon so as far as we know she's an ally, but," Rina said, " I think we should be careful around her, we don't even know her name."
"Speaking of which she said we could pick a name to call her," Hanon said, "Oh, I know how about we each brain storm a name and pick from that."
This was going to be interesting. I hoped it wouldn't be too, um, lame, tacky. But I shouldn't care. As long as they don't know it's me, I'll be fine.
"The Masked Knight," Rina suggested. Not bad, a little clique.
"Masked Voice," Nikora suggested. It could be worse.
Hanon wrote both suggestion and then said, "Mask of Pink." I nearly laughed, is this really the best you can do.
Hippo's was by far the worst though, "The Masked Mystery Ally." Enough said.
Hanon wrote it down, "Lucia?"
I was caught off guard. I didn't know what to say. Then something popped into my head, "Um... Pink Rose..."
Hanon smiled, "Wow! That's perfect. It's beautiful, elegant, just like the aura she gives off."
"It's an excellent idea," Rina said.
"I concur," Nikora smiled.
"I still like the Masked Mystery Ally, but," Hippo said, "Pink Rose does have a certain ring to it."
"So were all agreed?" Hanon said. Everyone nodded. "Pink Rose it is," Hanon declared.
I had a strange sense of pride in being the one to come up with the winning name. I almost laughed at the irony. I had told them to pick what they wanted to call me, but, in the end, I was the one who picked the name.
Have I mentioned my life sucks? Right, good. Because it still does.
I closed the door to my bathroom. It was late, everyone should be asleep. I sank to the floor.
I was, at this point, very confused. I'm in love with two men, I think. Both men have some connection to the Panthalassa Clan. I still had to capture the mermaid princesses, who were quickly becoming my best friends, which I didn't want to but I had to, to protect my kingdom. I was protecting mermaid princesses as Pink Rose, which could destroy my kingdom, if I was discovered. And then when this is over I have to go back to the situation I was in before. I shuttered at the thought of Gaito's hands touching me. Whether it was a positive shudder or negative shudder, I didn't know.
I had left Kaito's necklace, my pearl, in the other room. I opened the communication shell. Gaito's image appeared.
"What news do you bring, my pet?" Gaito said in a chilling voice.
"A new ally of the mermaid princesses has appeared," I said submissibly.
"I am aware of it," Gaito said. Of course he was, SheShe and Mimi must have told him.
"Well," I said, "The mermaid princesses know no more about her than you, Master." It was not technically lie.
"Really?" Gaito said, " Keep an eye on her. Tell me anything else they learn."
"She didn't reveal her name, but the mermaid princesses are calling her 'Pink Rose'," I reported.
"What a lame name," Gaito said.
I kept a strait face but felt a tinge of sadness as he called my idea lame.
"You love me, my pet?" Gaito said.
I responded automatically, "Of course, master."
With that Gaito's image vanished, our conversation over.
I sat on the floor, sobbing. Eventually I fell asleep, because Rina woke me up the next morning for school. Apparently that was not the first time someone fell asleep, crying on the bathroom. No questions were asked. All that was said was, "If you need someone to talk to anyone here will listen."
If only I could talk about it.