Ride the Wild Surf

by Goldenwolfhowl

AU:: In a small beachside town of Nijibe, here is a story of a girl named Lucia, a boy named Kaito, and a surfboard... and everything else in between. NEED REVIEWS, THANKS! (ADOPTED FROM ADRIMARIE!)

11. Dream Tandem Betty

RIDE THE WILD SURF
a Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Fanfiction

by Adrimarie

Dream Tandem Betty

THREE WEEKS DOWN, FIVE TO GO!
(OFFICIAL COUNTDOWN to the Regional Surf Scenes Tournament)

Gaito woke up from his bed right smack in the middle of the night. He usually had no trouble sleeping at night but this particular night was an exception. He checked the time and his side table clock read three o'clock in the morning. Though he did not wake up irritated he did feel that there was something wrong. Whenever he had this slight sinister feeling the first thing he would do was to check his twin brother's bedroom just to be sure nothing drastic happened.

Though they were the same age, Gaito felt that he was a lot older than just a few minutes. Ever since seven years ago he vowed to himself and to his late parents that he would do anything to take care of Kaito, protect Kaito from any harm, and at the same time make Kaito as his priority. He did not care if he was the one being overshadowed because he knew Kaito would never intend to look down on him simply because of his higher fame and reputation. Once when Kaito began winning a lot more tournaments from the minors to the majors, Gaito already felt that he had already accomplished his vow. Even if that was the case, Gaito thought he had no reason to stop working his way to make Kaito the greatest surfer ever lived and that he should continue on from where he started. Kaito tried to do the same for Gaito despite of his overwhelming popularity for many hardcore surfers to the seasonal surf enthusiasts around the world. Whenever he was awarded and asked for a shout-out speech, Gaito would the be first person he would always thank. It was this type of trusting relationship that drew the two twin brothers closer together than ever.

When Gaito exited his room he noticed Kaito's bedroom door open. Quickly he ran to his room and peeked inside. He found his undone bed empty, which meant Kaito woke up and walked out of the bedroom somewhere around the house or even outside the house. When he came out from Kaito's room he heard a familiar male voice humming a particular tune and a slight draft nearby. Right then he knew where his twin was and approached the open glass door that lead to the front patio balcony. When he got there he found Kaito with his bed robe on, looking out at the ocean across from their house and a bottle of water on his hand. At that time he was humming a particular song Gaito was unfamiliar of, but what surprised him was that the cool and untouchable kahuna of the Nijibe Coast was humming a tune in general because Kaito rarely even hummed a song, let alone a song about surfing.

"Kaito," the older twin called for the contemplative champion surfer as he walked outside and stood next to him. "Let me guess- a dream?"

Kaito took a sip from his water and turned to Gaito with a smile on his face. "You said it, Bro."

"Judging from that smile of yours I'm assuming it's a happy dream- so happy that you just had to wake up and start a brand-new day, right?" Gaito gave a slight smirk.

Kaito walked to the patio set and sat on one of the chairs. "Hell yeah! I'm ready to start the new day, G. I'm ready to face the ocean again and rule over the seas with my sticks in handy!"

"Right..." Gaito smirked as he took a seat across from his twin. "So, what's this dream about if you don't mind telling?"

"Check it, G. I've never had this dream before but somehow it just makes me feel dang excited!"

"Alright, let's hear it."

"I remembered her name, G. Now it's easier for me to find her!"

Gaito raised an eyebrow of curiosity, wondering what his younger twin was talking about. "Her... wait... you mean the girl who saved your life seven years ago?"

"Yup," Kaito gave a slight wink. "It was a pretty name too... I remember how much I liked that name. If I ever have a daughter one day in the future I'd give her that name- that is, if I don't succeed in finding that girl and end up marrying someone else..."

"Heh... right. Okay..."

Kaito took another sip from his water bottle and continued. "Leolani."

Gaito blinked in surprise. "Leolani...? She's Hawaiian?"

"Who cares, G? She was cute and adorable! And she had a really cute singing voice too..." Kaito grinned, feeling a slight blush on his cheeks.

Gaito burst in to laughter, joining his twin's glee. "I gotta admit. Hawaiian names are really cool. Remember when we used to live in Hawaii when we were little? Heck we were born in Hawaii too- when we were born they even gave us Hawaiian names."

Kaito nodded and continued sipping on his water. "Yup. G, why did we stop using our Hawaiian names?"

"'Cause we moved here to Japan, that's why," Gaito answered quickly. "Who's gonna remember Kainehe and Kaikane when Gaito and Kaito are easier to remember? You know how the Japanese people in general are getting lazy nowadays that they shorten everything now."

"So, here's what I was thinking, G. I'm gonna head out at the Nijibe Public Library and look up some records to see if there were anybody with Hawaiian names who reside here in Nijibe. I mean, what are the chances of having Hawaiian people or people with Hawaiian names ever to exist in Nijibe, G? Very slim, right?"

Gaito gently rubbed his chin and began to think. "You got a point, Kaito. But it'd still be impossible because you don't even know that girl's last name. For all you know Leolani could be a second name like how we have second names and she's actually got some common Japanese name like Yoko or Hanako or something, you know?"

"Damn... you got a point there too, G." Kaito sighed and drank more of the water. "Man, I do hope I'd be able to find Leolani, G... Hopefully right away."

"Eh? Why right away, Kaito? Why wait now when you got later? We got the tournament to prepare and you still haven't picked your tandem surfing partner yet."

"G, I was going to get to that. I hope that once I find Leolani, I'll ask her to be my tandem surfing partner."

Gaito almost startled and fell off of his seat as he clung on to the edge of the table. "You're going to- what?"

"She saved my life, G. She was on a surfboard when we first met somewhere at the sea. Remember that day seven years ago? It was our parents' wedding anniversary, but we were all depressed because that same day was also the day their lives were taken by the Dainami-Oniwave. We were out at the boat on this ritual thing to say farewell to Mom and Dad... and I was singing my song for them. That night... she appeared to me... and she was riding a surfboard. From what I can barely remember the shape of the surfboard looked like a gun board. She and I made it safely to the shore because of the surfboard we were riding. I can remember... she was hanging on to me because I felt her arms tight around me while we were riding that surfboard and she let the wave drive us back to land. That board she rode saved us, dude, and she knew exactly how to maneuver that thing. That's why she's a perfect candidate for my soon-to-be tandem surfing partner."

"Well... she's a very smart girl, Kaito," Gaito said with a smile. "The gun was specifically designed to ride huge waves like the Dainami-Oniand that board practically saved both your life and that girl's life..."

"When we were riding that board... it was like... we were tandem surfing... except we were both lying down on the board instead of standing up and do tricks. That's what I dreamed about."

"So... you dreamed about you and this Leolani girl tandem surfing yourselves to safety?" Kaito nodded. "Thus you want to find her and then ask her to be your tandem surfing partner."

"Bingo!"

Gaito sighed and patted his twin on the shoulder. "Well... how to say this... if you need any help in finding her be sure to let us know. You know we're here for you, right?"

"Thanks, G. You rock." The two exchanged pump fists while Gaito patted his shoulder again.

"By the way, Kaito, heh," Gaito changed the subject with a slight snicker on his face. "What song was that you were humming earlier?"

"Eh?" Kaito raised an eyebrow curiously. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Don't be modest, little brother. I heard you humming some song before I went out here!"

Kaito frowned and glared at his twin and crossed his arms. "Dude, I dunno what you're talking about. You're hearing things."

"Really, Kaito? There's nothing wrong with a dude humming a song from out of the blue like that-"

"I don't sing, G! Okay?" Kaito was getting slightly irritated by his twin's teases towards him.

"Alright then. Whatever you say." Gaito shrugged his arms and rested himself against his chair, joining Kaito watch the ocean rolling in across the street.

Two hours passed and the entire surf tribe were now awake and ready for the new day. Ever since the Iria Sisters began to do voluntary work a week ago at Pearl Waters they moved out of the Doumoto Shack and in to Pearl Waters. It had been somewhat lonely in the house itself with the boys living their breakfast meals with frozen microwave dinners and missed the traditional home-cooked meals both Sara and Seira would always make for them. Masahiro, Nagisa, Kengo, and Daichi looked rather drowsy as Gaito placed the frozen dinner trays freshly heated from the microwave on to their places.

"Man..." Daichi frowned and stared at the microwave breakfast tray with somewhat soggy pancakes, sausages, and scrambled eggs in disgust. "Dude... this looks disgusting, man... My pancakes are frickin' soggy!"

"Dude, that's the only thing we have in the fridge. Live with it or go buy your own breakfast." Gaito said with a frown as he took his seat on the table. "Sara and Seira decided to dedicate their time to helping out at Pearl Waters. Sara takes the afternoon shift since she and I still have to train in tandem surfing ourselves while we train the grom and the gromette to do the same."

Nagisa raised an eyebrow and turned to Gaito. "Gaito, I've been with you guys for over a year now and you still call me a grom? Okay, I understand Hanon but I know I can do this. I learn fast, you know. And I've been working out a bit, lifting weights and what not!"

"Well, as long as Hanon Houshou doesn't gain any more weight then you'll be fine," Kengo made his statement while Nagisa glared quickly right at him.

"Hanon's one of those girls who keep watch of her weight, so I'm sure she's responsible. Oh man... I wonder if Hanon can cook..." Nagisa sighed and grinned thinking about Hanon.

"Hanon?" Daichi chuckled and snickered. "I heard from some of the Rainbowside Pop Girls that she blew up a cake batter in the microwave at one time at their Home Economics class a few months ago. I'd rather not imagine seeing her in the kitchen alone, yo..."

Masahiro quietly nibbled on his microwave breakfast and turned to the boys. "I'd love to drag the family cook to cook for us but my parents can't live without the cook, so... sorry."

Nagisa shrugged and shook his head. "I can't think of any other option but to borrow my mom's recipe books and we can just buy the ingredients and we cook dishes together..."

"Kid, we got no time to cook! We got surfing practice!" Kengo responded impatiently. "I swear we're gonna starve to death if we don't eat some real breakfast, man!" He then turned to Gaito and continued. "Gaito, you're the crewmaster of the tribe! Why are we living our butts off with soggy microwave trays? We're all rich, right? Why not chip in and hire a seasonal cook or something!" Quickly both Gaito and Masahiro slapped Kengo on the head for that remark. "What? Dudes got needs, yo!"

"Because we don't have time to look for a good cook and chip in, Kengo," Masahiro reminded him. "And right now time is precious. The competitors are here now and we have to really prepare. We've got less than two months to get ready and we haven't even submitted our application entry yet because Kaito hasn't found his tandem surfing partner until now."

"Hey, speaking of Kaito," Nagisa began to wonder while eating his slightly soggy microwaveable pancakes, "where is he?"

Right when Nagisa asked for Kaito, the subject being spoken of arrived at the scene. Kaito appeared with a more stylish-looking t-shirt tucked in to a fresh pair of expensive jeans, and a brand-new pair of sneakers in which he purchased six months ago but never actually wore it until today. He looked like he was dressed for a special occasion when the boys noticed that his hair was fixed at a certain style many females would actually fall in love with.

"Dang, dude!" Daichi exclaimed in shock. "You ain't gonna ride the wild surf today?"

"I'll do that later, Daichi," Kaito said with a huge smile on his face. He took the empty seat at the breakfast table and picked up a fresh apple from the fruit basket on the table. "I got an appointment at the library in the morning today."

Masahiro raised an eyebrow of suspicion towards Kaito. "Uh, I don't recall anyone needing to have an appointment to go to the library, Kaito- unless if you're meeting someone there..."

Daichi and Kengo turned to each other with eyes wide open knowing something shocking may have happened with Kaito and were not informed of it. "Oh no... he's met someone..." Kengo gasped in shock and turned back to Kaito. "Dude, ya got a date with a fine chick or something?"

Kaito raised an eyebrow with a slight smirk on his face. "Hm... perhaps..."

Nagisa gasped and accidentally hit his fist on the table. "Oh come on, Kaito! Why you gotta play us like that, man? You used to tell the entire tribe what's up with you and now you're all getting all stealthy and all that with your lovelife! Hell you're getting a lot more stealthy than Gaito here!"

"Nagisa, I'm not playing with you dudes, come on now..." Kaito gave a slight frown on his face. "What do you all take me for? Yeah, I'm meeting someone at the library, but I'm on a mission, you know!"

"Mission...?" Masahiro asked curiously and returned the smirk. "What exactly kind of a mission is this, Kaito?"

"He is finally searching for his dream tandem betty, Hamasaki." Gaito answered for his younger twin.

The rest of the surfer boys froze in both shock and amazement at Gaito's statement. After three weeks since their decision to enter the regional surf scenes tournament in less than two months away the kahuna of Nijibe finally set aside some time to find his tandem surfing partner for the tandem surfing contest portion. Kengo stood up and stared right towards Kaito.

"So, you got your tandem babe already, dude? You're gonna meet her over there at the library?" Kengo asked curiously. "Come on, dude, we haven't been talking about chicks for awhile now since we're all so busy getting ourselves in shape and training our other teammates to ride their surf, man. And you're only telling us now that you've found your tandem surfing partner?"

"Kengo, Gaito said that Kaito is going to look for a tandem surfing partner," Masahiro answered in his usual cool and calm manner. "That also means, Kaito hasn't found his tandem surfing partner- yet."

"Whoa, lemme get this straight," Nagisa joined in the conversation. "You're gonna look for your tandem surfing partner- in the library? Strange place to look for a hot surfin' beach babe, man!"

Kaito stretched his arms as he finished eating his apple. "Not quite. I'm meeting with a library volunteer who's gonna help me search for my ideal tandem surfing partner. But Gaito pretty much got the summary correct."

"Still is a strange place to find a tandem surfing partner in the library though..." Nagisa began to contemplate with his fingers under his chin.

"Oh you'll see," Kaito grinned, still filled with so much enthusiasm within him after that rather nice dream he had with his mysterious rescuer who bore the name of Leolani. "She's gonna be the best tandem surfing partner I'll ever have once I find her..."

"Uh, in all honesty, this lucky girl would be your very first tandem surfing partner in your whole entire surfing career, Kaito." Masahiro corrected him in a low voice. "What gives, dude? The way you're acting right now seems like you already know who you want to be your tandem surfing partner."

Kaito remained silent but still grinning. The rest of the surfers turned to Gaito, who was just finishing his microwave breakfast tray. The older twin looked up and found the entire tribe staring at him. "What?"

"What do you make of this with Kaito, Gaito?" Kengo asked curiously. "Seriously these past few weeks Kaito's been acting strange lately."

Gaito shrugged his arms at the team and replied: "Why is it that when you worry about Kaito you expect me to say something about him? I got no comments about all this. If Kaito has high hopes that he'll find his perfect tandem surfing partner then it's good news for us. We can finally enter the tournament officially with a complete team. You dudes are trippin' too much..."

"Well, I don't get it," Nagisa still continued on with his curiosity. "The library doesn't open till eight in the morning. How come you're up and early and ready to go, Kaito? It's like five-thirty in the morning right now!"

"He had a dream," Gaito suddenly answered while Kaito immediately hushed his twin.

"G, let me handle this," Kaito said with a slight frown on his face.

"Go ahead, Kaito. You are the master storyteller of the tribe after all." Gaito shrugged his arms.

Kaito began explaining to the tribe about the dream he had. It was his reason why he was already up and early and ready to go. When he woke up after the dream he immediately dialed their official surf instructor of the tribe, the cool and handsome skilled surfer named Subaru Shibatani, and left him a message in his voice box knowing that the cellphone signals are weak at the Ranbowside S-Cube.

"So you're meeting Shibatani dude at the library?" Kengo asked to clarify the entire story.

"No. He's coming over here so we can head to the library together." Kaito clarified to Kengo. "You all know his girlfriend, right?"

Masahiro snickered and finished his breakfast tray. "Yup. Misao Koshiki, our school's disciplinary committee president. You know... bookish nerd girl with the eyeglasses and braids. She does volunteer work at the library, you know."

"Man, figures..." Kengo chuckled softly and shook his head. "Little nerd girl actually dating one of the town's hottest surfer dudes around... I dunno what Shibatani sees in that girl..."

"He has a bigger heart than the rest of you morons," Masahiro answered quickly with a smirk on his face. "She was his online tutor with his studies in his school and if it weren't for her he would've flunked and will be behind everyone else in our grade level. But fear not, he's transferring in to our school after summer vacation so he gets to kick it with us afterwards!"

"Hey, I like him. I think he's cool," Nagisa made his comment regarding the young surfing instructor from the S-Cube. "I saw him surfed a few times last week when we were at the S-Cube and the dude's got mad skills!"

Kaito nodded in agreement. "Yeah. If Subaru were a competitor he would've been my rival. It's too bad though. He would have been really awesome and definitely on top of the surfer champs lists, but like Hamasaki said, the dude's got a bigger heart than the rest of us. He's more of a mentor than a fighter."

"Whoa," Kengo blinked curiously. "So the Shibatani dude is really that good, huh?"

"Yeah," Kaito snickered softly. "The dude likes teaching little kids though instead of people his age or older, especially if they're girls. Before he met Misao Koshiki, all the chicks wanted him as their surfing instructor, only to find out later that they only chose him so they can get his attention. Pathetic, really. No wonder we don't get very many surfer girls in this town."

Daichi laughed softly thinking of this rather bizarre love story between a popular attractive surfer boy and Nijibe Junior High's most stern and conservative nerd girl in the Disciplinary Committee. "I swear... how the hell did he do it- taming Miss Demerit Addict down like that... and I thought she seriously hated surfer dudes, especially the ones tons of chicks want to get with! That Koshiki girl's insane, man. You dudes have no idea how many demerit notes I got from her since I started school there!"

Masahiro snickered. "What were the demerit notes for?"

"For gellin' my hair upward, for leaving the top button open, for talking surf talk with Kengo one time, for referring girls as chicks when I was talking to some other non-surfer dudes one time, and some other dumb violations I supposedly did... well, violations according to Koshiki's Law, that is..." Daichi crossed his arms with a frown on his face.

"I feel you, Daichi," Masahiro responded. "I got two demerit notes from Koshiki four months ago. She accused me of driving my cycle without a license when I actually got one and showing up in the school building with my cycle helmet on my head."

Kengo raised an eyebrow and also crossed his arms. "I got seven demerit notes for talking about her behind her back to seven girls who were complaining at me, Daichi, and Kaito when they got demerit notes from her for having really strong perfume on their bodies. Then later I got four more after that because I didn't take a shower after PE class and I stunk!"

The boys chuckled as Gaito joined in. "I got seven demerit notes for sleeping in all seven classes in one day. The lectures were boring!"

Kaito snickered and rubbed his chin gently. "What is this? Are we determining which one of us has the highest record of demerit notes or something?"

"No," Daichi answered in sarcasm. "We were determining which one of us has the highest record of demerit notes thrown at us by the Demerit Demon, Kaito."

Nagisa gulped nervously and sighed deeply. "I... I haven't gotten a demerit note from her but after what you guys had just reported I'm gonna have to be careful." He turned to Kaito and asked curiously. "What about you, Kaito?"

Kaito slightly turned his head away and sighed. "I'd rather not talk about it..."

"Whoa!" Masahiro exclaimed in interest. "Let me guess- you had the highest number of demerit notes from Koshiki among the tribe, don't you?"

"Ugh..." Kaito shook his head and continued on. "I got about seven demerit notes from Koshiki last year for my pierced ears, my neck pieces, my wristbands, my rings, black sneakers instead of black shoes, top button of my uniform shirt open, and leaving my shirt out instead of tucking it in the pants, plus five more months later when I got caught being kissed by some of the Rainbow Pop Girls and the time when I got caught making out with one of the exes at the cubbies in public..."

Nagisa almost fell from his seat and gulped nervously. "Man... that means you had a lot of detention after school, Kaito?"

Gaito smirked and answered. "Detention? Sure, he had detention, but the teachers love him because he had one of the highest grade point averages in the entire school so they can't really suspend him for having very minor... violations. Besides, it's not like he broke the ultimate rule in school or anything. His high grades made up for them."

"Teacher's pet, baby!" Kaito winked with a thumbs up on his right fist. "Listen well, Nagisa. Don't be neglecting your studies just because you're part of the tribe and all the kids think you're cool. You got no excuse walking around and act like a moron with a surfboard under your arm when some smart kid asks you a question you can't even answer. Besides, we're a coastal town, which means we get special rules. It's the same with you being part of a school sports team. If you don't lift those grades up the teachers ain't gonna let you play. It's the same with surfing when you have to go out of town to compete in surf meets. If your grades are poor ya can't surf."

Nagisa nodded in agreement. "Oh I don't have a problem with school. I get okay grades. I just wish the teachers wouldn't be that boring or even complicated..."

"Well then. Guess everyone's done!" Gaito said as he and the rest of the boys stood up and cleaned out the breakfast table and the kitchen.

After they cleaned amongst themselves from disinfecting the table's surface to popping in the utensils in the dishwasher, the rest of the boys got themselves ready. The clock struck five in the morning and Kengo reached for the Doumotos' stereo remote.

"Dude, it's the Nijibe Youth Talk Corner with CC and Gizmo on the radio! Can I turn on and listen?" Kengo asked permission from the twins with a grin on his face.

"Dang, Kengo, you still listen to that stuff?" Kaito made his slight complaint with his arms crossed. "All the crap they talk about on air are all bull, plus these peeps are really cruel and mean for talking about other people behind their backs like that- and in public too!"

"But it's youth gossip, Kaito! It's wonderful to be young, man!" Kengo answered excitedly. "I mean yeah, it's kinda mean they talk about other people when most of them aren't even true but you know... for entertainment purposes..."

"Fine, fine... Go ahead."

Kengo turned on the stereo and flipped the channels to the particular station where the famous Nijibe Youth Talk Corner segment was being aired. The popular radio show regularly aired every Friday night during the school year, but during the summer season the show was aired every other day from Sunday to Friday, twice a day. A show was aired in the early mornings from five in the morning until eleven in the morning and another show would be airing from nine at night until midnight. The show played the hottest music but the show focused more towards all youth cultures of Nijibe, more specifically the surf culture. Listeners would contact the radio station through the phone, by email, or even by leaving comments at the radio station's blog site and whatever news the DJs can gather will be announced and discussed on the air.

Kaito was not very fond of the show itself, not because majority of the discussion were nothing but gossip and rumors, but most of all he was also aware that he was one of the favorite teens the entire Nijibe Youth loved to gossip and discussed about on the air. He had to learn how to be discreet most of the time to avoid being talked about on the air again. While the boys sat around the living room area looking rather lazy they began to listen to the show being broadcast right now.

"I hope they talk more about the chicks here," Kengo murmured with hopeful eyes. "I'm getting tired hearing girls talk about certain dudes all the time..."

"Uh, maybe because most of the listeners to this show are chicks?" Daichi answered with one eyebrow raised.

"Dang. You got a point."

The show started with a song which was enjoyable to listen. After that song was played the juicy stuff began right away. The introductions of the DJs came about and then the topic was mentioned.

"So CC, the peeps at the station gathered as much messages as they can from the phones to the blogs and you took the time to sort out which one of the hottest teens of Nijibe we're gonna be chatting about this morning!"

"Well, Gizmo, I've read and listened along with the staff and man you won't believe this but it looks like for this morning's show there's only going to be one particular kid we're gonna be chatting about today!"

"Okay then, CC, let's hear it!"

"Well, I'm pretty sure all of Nijibe are aware that we'll be hosting the first-ever annual Regional Surf Scenes Tournament and everyone's anticipating that Nijibe will be very well-represented by our very own Rainbowside Surf Tribe!"

"So we're talking about all the surfers of the Rainbowside Surf Tribe then?"

"No, Gizmo! We're talking about the head stud kahuna of the Nijibe seas, baby! I think all of our listeners are already aware that this hot surfer dude's name is already synonymous with the Rainbowside Surf Tribe for the past five years!"

"No way! Whenever you mention the words 'head stud kahuna' that can only mean one thing, CC."

"Mm-hmm, got that right, dude!"

"And we haven't heard from him for the last three months that we all thought he had gone AWOL! Now the entire Nijibe Youth have been wondering what's up with Kaito Doumoto as of late!"

Right when Kaito's name was mentioned, Kaito stood up from his seat looking both furious and startled all at once. True, he had not been a favorite topic to be chatted about in the Nijibe Youth Talk Corner show for the past three months but he knew he should have anticipated that he would be another top topic of all the listeners of the show sooner than he thought.

"Hey, put the volume up for a bit, would you?" Kaito asked as Kengo used the remote control to pump up the volume for a bit. "I wanna know what these losers are gonna say about me this time..."

"So, CC, what has the entire Nijibe Youth been buzzing about our hot stud champion surfer Kaito Doumoto?"

"Well, a lot of the kids who called in and left messages and even commented in the radio blogs were all asking the same question. You ready for this, Gizmo?"

"Ready as everyone else!"

"Our new topic for this show, everyone, is this! 'Is Kaito Doumoto searching for his true love so that he can finally have a tandem surfing partner for the upcoming tournament?'"

"NO WAY!" The entire surf tribe shrieked in major shock as Kaito quickly turned off the stereo manually.

"Hey yo! Kaito- turn it back on!" Kengo shouted in disappointment. "I wanna hear this!"

"Sit down and shut up, Kengo," Kaito immediately glared right at his friend as Kengo fell silent. He turned with a furious expression on his face towards the entire tribe. "Okay! One question, one answer. Which one of you dudes leaked that out to the radio station, huh? Who?"

Gaito stood up and hushed his twin brother calmly. "Calm down, Kaito. Just calm down."

"I'm not kidding, G!" Kaito shouted in chagrin with fists tightened. "That's supposed to be private! Who the hell leaked that out? Man, just great... now every single girl in this town is gonna be running after me right after that damn show is over!"

"Dude!" Nagisa answered immediately. "We only told our trusted friends- fellow surf tribe peeps- and the Pearl Waters people about it! I don't know if any one of them actually listens to this radio show, Kaito!"

Gaito turned on the stereo manually and the chatting between the listeners and the DJs began the conversation. Though this particular statement was indeed fact he sighed in relief that there was no mention of a Hawaiian girl's name within the conversation, but either way this was going to be problematic. "Then again, you should get used to this already, Kaito. The surfing media writes about you all the time. This is no different." And let's keep it that way... at least this radio show doesn't know about that missing girl Leolani... or even that competition bracelet of his...

Kaito sighed deeply and lowered his head. "Yeah... I suppose. I swear, my life has been an open book for a long time now..."

"Kaito, our lives have always been an open book even way before we were born. There's no point hunting around people and pointing fingers for leaking out that little news. Okay, so someone was eavesdropping on us and decided to let it all out in public. Big deal. On the other hand, maybe this will encourage you to work hard and find that tandem surfing partner."

"Yeah... that too, G."

Gaito stood up from his seat at the couch and turned the radio back on again as the boys continued to listen with the show. They reached the discussion segment when listeners began calling and the DJs were reading emails and comments they received from their radio station blog site.

"So, CC, I got a couple of blog comments and emails from our listeners just now and they all asked the same question regarding our super-juicy topic of the day! The question they asked is- What is tandem surfing?"

"Well, it's a good question, Gizmo! I'm not a heavy duty beachster but I did ask around the locals. Tandem surfing is basically this- a boy, a girl, and a board. What that means is that two people riding the waves on one surfboard! Wow... crazy stuff! In front of me right now is a copy of the entry application to the upcoming Regional Surf Scenes Tournament and it says in the regulations here that the Tandem Surfing contest segment that it has to be a guy and a girl with the guy being the experienced surfer, of course. There's bunches of other rules here but we're not here to talk about the tournament itself."

"Whoa! Maybe I do need to hang around the beach even more and meet some kids who actually surf there. But this is a very interesting topic too! Our national champion surfer Kaito Doumoto also plans to compete in tandem surfing? I wonder who the lucky girl may be! A couple riding a wave on one surfboard... and do cool tricks... it's very uncommon and yet it sounds exciting at the same time!"

"Ah! Before we continue, Gizmo, we got a phone call here from one of our listeners. RNBW FM here! Welcome to the Nijibe Youth Talk Corner with CC and Gizmo!"

Immediately a very familiar voice was aired on the radio show that startled the entire surf tribe at the living room. "Thats not true about Kaito seeking for true love! In fact, he's already in love with a particular girl and it's for sure he's going to ask her to be his tandem surfing partner! But I can't believe he didn't say anything about it... Oh I feel so bad... Poor Kaito! I mean, surely if I was the one he's in love with, I'd definitely would be happy and honored to be his tandem surfing partner!"

Masahiro raised an eyebrow of curiosity. "Don't tell me that's..."

"Yeah," Kaito nodded with a sigh. "That's Michal. Wow... I didn't know she actually listens to that show..."

"Dude, every teenager in this town listens to CC and Gizmo!" Kengo exclaimed happily with a thumbs up. "Those two seriously rule the air waves, man! They never talk bull when it comes to cool and engaging discussions!"

"Yeah, heh," Masahiro snickered, making his own statement. "Even if the stuff they talk about in their show are pretty much bull."

"Man, Rihito should forbid Michal from listening to crap shows like that," Kaito provided his thoughts. "Now I'm beginning to worry."

"Wait! Wait! Another call!" Kengo hushed the boys as they fell silent while listening.

"RNBW FM- CC and Gizmo here! You're on the air! Talk to us!"

"Hi, CC and Gizmo! I just wanna say something to all the fellow girls around town who are deeply in love with the oh-so-hot-and-sexy champion surfer Kaito Doumoto. If you really want to know what's up with him and if you think that you're the girl he's been looking for, you can easily find him at Sector 7 Beach with the rest of the oh-so-hot-and-sexy dudes of the Rainbowside, just across from Pearl Waters and on Friday nights you can also find the hotties at Pearl Waters during OC-5 night!"

"Okay!" Kaito hurriedly stood up from his seat with a slight shiver on his entire body. "Now I am really worried!"

Gaito quickly turned off the stereo and yanked the remote control from Kengo to prevent him from turning back the stereo again. "I've heard enough." Gaito answered with a slight frown on his face. "I have a feeling that starting today there's going to be a bigger mob of girls all over Nijibe after Kaito and this is going to be a major concern."

"Why not call the police and report it?" Nagisa asked curiously. "In that way we can have like barricades and bodyguards and stuff so no weird chicks can get near us, especially Kaito!'

"Nagisa, if we do that then all the more those crazy girls would know where we're hanging." Masahiro warned the youngest surfer of the tribe. He turned to Gaito with his own concerns. "Looks like we lose Sector 7 Beach for training, Gaito. We'll have to head further to the S-Cube."

Gaito nodded in agreement. "I agree with you Hamasaki. We're bringing the surfer girls and OC-5 with us since we need Taro Mitsuki to drive us there."

"Hey, Hamasaki can drive, Gaito!" Kengo suggested while Masahiro shook his head.

"Yes, I know how to drive, Kengo, but I'm too young to go to jail." Masahiro answered right away. "I agree with Gaito. Taro Mitsuki's the only dude within the surf scenes team who has a driver's license. Sara can't drive, none of the surfer girls can't drive either, and I'm still too young to take driver's test to get my license."

Gaito turned to his younger twin, who showed signs of discomfort from his expression and his current pose on his seat. "You okay with that, Kaito?"

"Whatever, wherever's safe, G," Kaito responded with worry on his eyes. "I'm seriously going to find the culprit who leaked that to the radio station and now the entire town would be after me."

"Well, aside from hiding at the S-Cube, Kaito," Gaito spoke directly to his twin, "if you really want to save yourself from the all-girl lynch mob then you better find your partner today."

"I do plan on doing that, G! I'm gonna head out to the library with Subaru later today and find Leolani through the library town personnel archives!"

Right when Kaito mentioned the mysterious girl's name the entire surf tribe fell silent and all their eyes were fixated towards the kahunasurfer boy. Kaito noticed the boys' reactions towards him.

"What?" Kaito wondered curiously with slight irritation. "What is it now?"

"Um... Kaito?" Nagisa asked curiously, scratching his head lightly. "Who's Leo... uhh... Lee... who?"

"Leolani, was it?" Masahiro completed the name for Nagisa. "Wow... very exotic name..."

"No way!" Daichi and Kengo exclaimed in shock and turned to Kaito. "You're seeing a new chick behind our backs?"

"Hey, lay off, will ya?" Kaito warned the two with more irritation in his expression and tightened one fist, knowing he messed up right there.Ugh... I can't have any more people know about Leolani... These dudes better not leak about her to anyone else, dammit!

"Who's this Leolani, Kaito?" Masahiro asked curiously. "Is she the mysterious tandem surfing partner you plan to ask out?"

Kaito crossed his arms and slightly turned his head from them. "Well... uh... what of it?"

"Oh come on, Kaito!" Kengo began to feel anxious. "You didn't answer Hamasaki's question, dude! Who's the exotic-named chick you've been keeping secret from us? Come on now- share!"

"Hey, leave him alone, Kengo!" Nagisa suddenly turned to his defensive mode, standing right in front of Kaito. "Maybe this Leolani girl is very special to him and he's just being protective, you know? If he wants to keep her a secret from us then fine! Maybe this Leolani girl is shy or something..." He then turned towards Kaito with a smile on his face. "And besides... you didn't tell us because you don't plan to share her with the rest of the other drooling idiots, right?"

Kaito remained silent, refusing to talk to them more about the girl of his dreams while Gaito calmed everyone else present. "Alright, dudes, enough. Let's get ready for another wild surf day, okay? Remember- tournament is priority. Don't bug Kaito or any one of your fellow teammates about anything personal or else we'd easily lose focus."

The boys followed Gaito's statement as they made their way to their rooms to get ready for another day at Sector 7 Beach. Luckily for Kaito he did not have to go to the beach with them in the morning. All he had to do at this point was to wait until the tribe's surfing mentorSubaru Shibatani arrived at the shack.

The sun rose at six in the morning and so did the entire Pearl Waters staff. Thanks to Subaru Shibatani and their reinforcement surfers within the unknowingly expanded Rainbowside Surf Tribe, the Pearl Waters staff were able to find more volunteers to work at the restaurant while their original staff concentrated on their tournament roles. For this particular schedule, the volunteers from the S-Cube Beach had been training the past week with the current staff and now ready to be put to work. Seira was placed at the juice bar to collect the payment while Michal, somewhat reluctant, became the barista for their popular juice and coffee bar. Though Michal still refused to do volunteer work she knew Rihito would be close by within the Pearl Waters facilities and had no choice but to work. Coco, Caren, and Noel were now given the summer off for their surfing practice with the boys, while Sara and Hanon join Gaito and Nagisa for their tandem surfing practice.

As far as OC-5, Taro was able to record a few of the rehearsals from other rival bands around town on his very miniature recording MP3 player and wanted to sit down with Rihito to analyze the songs they were rehearsing and see if they would compose something that would rival those songs for the surf bands competition. Seeing it will take a bit of time for them to compose some samples, Lucia, Hippo, and Rina were given a break temporarily.

For the three remaining OC-5 band members, this was a good time for them to investigate some more. The two younger Nanami Siblings needed a third person as their witness and there was no one else within the Pearl Waters staff to trust with their findings except for Rina. For Rina, she still had yet to figure out what she will do for the talent contest segment of the beauty pageant. She wanted to look in to her other talents just in case most of the contestants may probably be doing music from singing, dancing, poetry reciting, or playing instruments. Though that was the case, Masahiro hoped that she would just stick to singing or playing the keyboard or saxophone, though it was possible to do both singing and keyboard playing.

Hippo had been busy analyzing the names from the photos he took from the mysterious cave he and Lucia stumbled upon the past week. Though he was still curious as to why the names of the Doumoto Brothers were omitted from the official wall of lists there were a few names that caught his eye. Using whatever free time they have, he knew that some things need to be uncovered before the tournament begins.

He wrote the names that caught his attention on a piece of memo pad for the entire week. Then the day before today he showed the list to Lucia and Rina along with his plan. Today, the Nijibe Public Library will be open at eight in the morning. The library was one of the largest facilities in the entire region, with all sorts of various collections of archives, records, and other relevant information related through the entire region, most notably the residents of Nijibe, past and present.

Though anyone can come in to the library for their own personal research and check out books they would like to read, all visitors were required to set up an appointment with an archives and records representative before they were allowed access to the archives and records floor of the library. Hippo made an appointment in advance with none other than Nijibe High School's disciplinary committee president, fourteen-year-old Misao Koshiki, exactly at eight-fifteen in the morning. What Hippo did not expect was that Kaito and Subaru also set up an appointment with Misao fifteen minutes after their appointment, but at the same time he rarely paid attention to the surfer boys in the first place.

Hippo, Lucia, and Rina got up early, had their breakfast, got ready for the day, and were now on their way to the library. The clock just struck at eight o'clock, which was the opening time of the Nijibe Public Library. The three decided to get there by riding their two-wheeler bikes in the small commercial area of the town, where the library was located.

Once the three arrived at the library they were required to wait at the waiting lobby of the archives and records floor until Misao or someone else who works there arrived at the front desk. They sat at the seats with Lucia reading the names aloud on Hippo's memo.

"Hi-Mac, T-Mac, Sea-Moon, Rite-O, Sunshine..." Lucia read the names on the list while Hippo and Rina listened. "These surfer dudes sure got strange names and trends back then, don't they...?"

"I've done extensive research all over the net, Lucia," Hippo responded promptly, "a lot of these surf tribes, not just here but all around the world, would always have these silly nicknames and code names, otherwise known as surf nicks. Back then surfing wasn't exactly a so-calledacceptable sport because of the culture that surrounded around the sport. The old fogies had all these beliefs that only juvenile delinquents get in to surfing so they can fool around and pick up chicks at the beach. In order for these kids to hide their real identities they identified themselves with surf nicks. Sure it's a trend too but that was one major way for them to keep their real identities hidden."

"Well, I can see why people think that way," Rina answered. "When you're at the beach you're pretty much exposed, not just mentally and emotionally but most of all physically too. Girls barely have any clothes on, guys flirting with girls and some of them pretend they're surfers just so they can score girls, and all other things that are questionable but already considered indecent to some people."

"Well, here are more names," Lucia said as she read more names aloud. "Tack and Tish Seahart and children, Gen and Kim Doe and children. Wait... the entire family of those two couples?"

Hippo nodded to confirm. "Cole Seahart, as we know it, is the daughter of Tack and Tish Seahart. She wasn't the only child though. She had two younger siblings. Gen and Kim Doe, the other couple who also perished from the Dainami-Oni after Tack and Tish Seahart, were also married and had two kids. It's interesting how they did not write the names of those kids in the S-Cube cave wall; probably the same reason with the surf nicks bit."

"Well, it makes sense," Lucia responded right away. "I mean, those children may not turn out to be future surfers so that's why they just putand children underneath the couples' names. I noticed that too back then when we first discovered the cave last week."

"Hm..." Rina began to contemplate while she stared at the names on Hippo's list. After a few moments she may have a guess. "Hey... this gave me a thought."

"What's that, Rina?" Lucia asked curiously.

"The part about the children of surfers... they weren't named... I'm thinking this, guys... maybe that's the reason why Kaito's and Gaito's names were not in the latest list. What if those two were also one of those and children people? Didn't I overhear one time that they said their parents were tandem surfers?"

"Yeah?" Hippo wondered, listening to Rina's reasoning.

"Why don't we look in to those pictures again that you took, Hippo. We can narrow down the list and write down names of surfers or tandem couples with and children underneath them. Like for example, we already got the two famous tandem couples- Tack and Tish Seahart and Children, then Gen and Kim Doe and Children. I mean, we also noticed in those pics that Cole Seahart's name is not even in the official list, right? It's obvious that she's one of the and children people underneath Tack and Tish Seahart's name, right? What if it applies the same to the Doumoto Twins?"

"Hm... you got a point there!" Hippo pointed his finger, confirming Rina's hypothesis. "Good thing I brought my laptop here..." He patted his trusty backpack. "We can check it out later after we're done with the archives section..."

Right then they hear the door open from behind the archives and records doors and the diminutive bespectacled girl with her usual long braids and bangs down appeared right at the booth. Misao Koshiki fixed her eyeglasses when she spotted the Nanamis and Rina at the waiting lobby.

"Ah... Nanami number one and number two... and Miss Rina Touin too?" The slightly stern-looking girl gazed at the three with the suspicious stare right at them. "Sorry I'm late. I was helping out the staff in there organize some newly-acquired records there."

Hippo stood up and approached Misao with his list. "Well, here's the list like I mentioned at our phone call last time."

Misao turned on her desktop system as she took the list from Hippo. She fixed her glasses again and read the names carefully. She looked up towards Hippo and asked: "Strange names you got here. I doubt you'd find any info about these... people... in here."

"Oh, I'm sure there's something in there, Koshiki," Hippo answered. "I'm pretty sure the names below would be recorded and archived too since these two couples here died in a major tragedy at the beaches in a tandem surfing competition seven years ago. They're important because our family may be involved with these people and our own family wouldn't even want to talk about these people."

Misao's system booted right then and she began to open her in-house database, typing in the names to see if there may be some information regarding the names Hippo provided. After moments of waiting for the results, the bookish-looking girl stared right at Hippo. "Well, there is something about the Seahart Couple and the Doe Couple, but I don't know about these other weird names you came up."

"Awesome!" Hippo cheered happily. "So, can you tell us what records you guys have about them?"

Misao gave a slight frown and checked the time. "Well, I'm afraid I can't really help you with that, so I'm giving you this pass to gain access to the floor and find those records yourself. I have another appointment in about ten minutes."

"Eh?" Hippo gasped curiously. "Come on, Koshiki, you gotta guide us through the archives floor, girl! I don't particularly like hanging out in the library because I get easily lost in between shelves. I mean can those people who are coming later wait until we're done?"

"I'm sorry, Nanami, but I made a vow to these people I'd help them. I can't help it. I'm the only one available in this floor today so I'm pretty much booked..."

"Wow... I guess the people after us are as aggressive as Hippo is here," Lucia chuckled softly while Hippo immediately glared at his sister."

"Hey Lucia, which side are you on?" Hippo frowned with his arms closed and turned back to Misao. "Just who are these people after us anyway? Won't they realize that the youth of today are always priority? What's up with that?"

Misao simply shook her head. "Kid, the people after you are part of our generation too. Besides... I made lunch for one of the people too!"

Hippo raised an eyebrow, still not happy with what he was hearing. "What the heck- why make lunch to that stubborn, impatient jerk when you've got more serious customers you need to help out, man?"

Lucia chuckled softly, knowing about Misao Koshiki's not-too-known romantic relationship with the young and handsome Rainbowside surf tribe surfing instructor named Subaru Shibatani, but tried to keep herself calm about the situation. "Oh, Hippo, I'm sure this person after us must be a very special person to Misao... I mean, normally girls would make homemade lunch for the guys they're secretly in love with, you know?"

"Hey," Rina chuckled and joined in the conversation. "Lucia, don't you think it's time for you to make lunch for that certain boy you've been crushing on since childhood?"

Lucia lowered her head in embarrassment and blushed. "But... I can't... he's too busy... and... plus there's way more other girls who'd probably are better cooks than I am..."

"Oh come on, Lucia! You're one of the powerful cooks of Pearl Waters when you work! You and Maki and Mrs. Nanami are like the true trio of the Pearl Waters Kitchen!" Rina continued to chuckle while Misao gave a slight smile for the worrying blonde girl.

"It's wonderful to be in love, isn't it?" Misao softly giggled and began to think about her dashing surfer dude boyfriend Subaru in her mind. "You know I never thought I would ever fall in love with a boy who also feels the same about me at this young age. I vowed myself to meet a boy who is simple, kind, prim and proper, intelligent, and you know... just your wholesome perfect boy. But my boyfriend- he's all of those qualities except he's got that really cool aura around him that makes him stand out, you know?"

Hippo crossed his arms while giving a very irritated look at the girls. "Hey yo! This is the library, not the gossip corner! Can we get this problem fixed? How about we start searching for these names at the floor now, Koshiki? To hell with those impatient jerks after us- this is seriously very important to us!"

Misao sighed and stood up from her seat. "Alright, alright. Let's get this started. Come on in-"

Just as she was going to lead the three through the doors, those impatient jerks Hippo complained about arrived at the waiting lobby. Once they heard the doors open, both the Nanami Siblings shrieked in shock when they learned that Misao's next guests to assist were none other than Kaito Doumoto and her soon-to-be-former all-boys prep school surfer boyfriend Subaru Shibatani. When they arrived it seemed as if they were short of breath and were heaving heavily to catch up.

"You!" Kaito exclaimed with eyes open wide with suspicion on his expression.

"Oh hell no..." Hippo murmured his own response while Lucia gave a huge happy smile and Rina showing a slight smirk on her face.

"What the- Kaito Doumoto and Subaru Shibatani...?" Hippo gasped in shock. "What's up with you dudes being here?"

Kaito also became startled to see the Nanamis and Rina present and right in front of them at the same time. "What are you three doing here? Shouldn't you all be rehearsing with the rest of the OC-5?"

Lucia blushed slightly and felt an overwhelming happiness surrounding her. "Kaito! I didn't expect you guys to be here at the library!"

"Not to mention at the somewhat restricted archives and records floor too," Rina added her statement.

Misao gave a concerned look towards Subaru while the boyfriend shrugged his arms at her. Then the instructor to the competitor and then towards the three OC-5 band members. "Kaito wanted to leave early so the all-girl fan mob doesn't spot him and chase after him from street to street, corner to corner, beach to beach..."

"Yeah right..." Kaito frowned as he sat down on the seats to rest. "On the way here we got encountered by a group of chicks in bikinis making their way to the beach. Sadly they recognized us and started chasing us just like that."

Subaru frowned and took his seat next to Kaito. "Even if I yelled at those girls that I'm already taken they refused to accept the truth."

Misao sighed and walked right to the group. "I wish I was powerful enough to protect you, Subaru. But most of the girls are just plain horrible with me, so..." Right then she slowly took his hand and held it tightly but snug at the same time. Hippo's eyes widened in surprise to see the gesture the strict glasses girl just made.

"Silly," Subaru chuckled softly and released his hand from Misao's grip. Then he placed both arms around Misao's waist and slowly pulled her to him. "Protecting our special treasure is my role. I'll take care of those crazy girls, okay?"

"Subaru... I... I..." Misao gulped nervously while the Nanamis, Rina, and Kaito fell silent with their eyes giving attention to the young couple. She ended up having her hands now on to Subaru's rock hard chest. "Subaru... I was wondering how long you guys are gonna be here...?"

Subaru was not aware that the others present were already witnessing them with different reactions but even if that was the case he had no care in the world. Let everyone stare, he thought. They should be envious because they were in love. "Not long. I have to take Kaito back home and then escort him to Sector 7 Beach after we find what we're looking for in there. Why do you ask?"

Misao sighed and and murmured softly. "It's just that... I made lunch... for you... and I've spent the entire night making it. I... I was hoping if we can spend some time together during lunch because I'm only working half day today..."

Subaru flashed a happy and excited smile and held her tighter to him. "R-really? You made lunch for me?" Misao nodded shyly once more as the surfer boy gently lifted the timid girl's head towards her. "Aw, why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Well... it's just that I miss you... I hardly get to see you anymore because of the surf tribe thing you're doing with other kids and... we even rarely talk on the phone because you can't even get cellphone signals at wherever the heck you were- probably at that beach or something... and it's been so hard to keep in touch with you lately. I know I sound stupid right now but-" Misao could feel her eyes filling up with tears at that time.

"Aw, I'm sorry, Misao... I didn't mean to ignore you or anything. I'm kinda caught with this upcoming surfing tournament thing coming up. I need to have the surfers condition themselves and practice- most of all with tandem surfing. That's why I called you last night to set up an appointment with Kaito. He's competing in two events- the men's individuals and tandem surfing. But let's have lunch together, Misao! I'm all yours today!"

"Subaru!" Misao cheered happily as Subaru cuddled her in to his arms and gently kissed her on the forehead.

"Aww..." Lucia and Rina sighed in awe and delight to see the couple united happily.

Kaito raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms with a rather upsetting expression. "Subaru, whatever the hell happened to you being my bodyguard for the day?"

"Jeez, get a room!" Hippo made his response with a frown on his face.

Subaru lifted his head from Misao and turned to Kaito with a humble smile on his face. "Sorry, Kaito. My girl needs me..."

"Traitor..." Kaito frowned and leaned himself against the wall, glaring at the couple.

Rina looked slightly envious and murmured her own words as she witnessed this very brief romantic moment. "I wish I had a man who'd be as sweet as he is..."

"I wish the guy I'm secretly in love with would be as sweet and kind as he is..." Lucia softly mumbled as she continued to watch Subaru and Misao have their short moment. Kaito heard the mumble and turned his head right at Lucia with a slight suspicion on his face. Lucia noticed his reaction at her and slightly frowned. "What?"

"Do you mind not daydream in here, Lucia?" Kaito crossed his arms with a slight glare towards her.

"What's it to you, Kaito?" Lucia retorted immediately. "A girl has a right to daydream about the boy she's deeply in love with!"

"Still! I don't care—- daydream somewhere else when I'm not around!"

Lucia tightened her fist and stood up from her seat, staring furiously at the surfer boy next to her. "What the heck is that about? You always talk and daydream about girls with your dudes especially if you're daydreaming of- indecent things- with them- bunch of perverts you people are- and you're telling me I can't daydream about the boy I'm in love with?"

"He's jealous, Lucia, that's why he's not happy with you daydreaming!" Right then Rina spoke out with a snicker on her face.

Kaito glared right at the tomboy and retorted. "Yo! What makes you think I'm jealous?"

"Simple reason, Kaito," Rina began her explanation. "Lucia made a small mention of the boy she's secretly in love with... and you react all annoyed and you tell her to not daydream about the boy she's in love with. We all know you, Kaito. You just loved to be talked about by any girl who may be in love with you and here you meet a nice, sweet girl like Lucia who isn't talking about you. You aren't the only dude around here girls dream about, you know... Why isn't the disciplinary committee president Misao Koshiki daydream about you? Even when she's dating Subaru Shibatani now she still hates your guts. Lucia has a right to fall in love with whatever boy she ends up falling in love with and when she makes a small mention, it bothers you. Conclusion? You're jealous."

Lucia gasped and turned to Kaito with worry. "Kaito, really? Does it bother you so much? But you talked to me about the girl you're in love with back at the beach last week. It didn't bother me because I know you deserve to be happy... but I deserve to be happy too with someone I love!" To Lucia, little did Kaito know that he was the boy she was talking about. At the moment Kaito was not in the sweet and gentle mode as Subaru is with Misao at that moment.

"Okay- that's it!" From out of the blue Hippo stood up from his seat looking very impatient. "I wanna get my access to the archives and records floor so I can make my research on these names! Koshiki, hurry it up and get us in there!"

Subaru and Misao released from each other and right then, Misao's cheerfully innocent girl in love face mask completely changed in to her usual stern and serious expression. "Right. Step this way."

Misao lead everyone at the waiting room through the electronic security-locked doors. As they got inside Kaito asked Lucia the same question earlier today. "So, what are you, Touin, and your brother doing in here anyway?"

Lucia answered briefly: "Well, we're doing some research on a part of our family history and-"

"It's confidential, Doumoto!" Right then Hippo placed his hand on Lucia's mouth to keep her from continuing. "This is very personal within the family..."

"Personal- really? If it's very personal then why is Touin with you then?" Kaito continued on with the questions.

"We need a trusted witness on this one and Rina Touin is that trusted witness!" Hippo responded promptly.

Rina shrugged her arms and said "Actually they just dragged me along since Rihito and Taro are on their composer mode right now so the three of us don't really have anything to do..."

"Well... what about you, Kaito?" Lucia removed Hippo's hand from her mouth so she can speak. "I never thought you'd be here at the most random times ever..."

Kaito was startled at the curious question and returned the stern look. "My mission? It's confidential! I'm searching for a certain someone I need to interact with-"

Just as Kaito was about to continue, Subaru joined in the conversation. "He is searching for his dream girl to be his tandem surfing partner-"

Hippo gasped in shock and literally amped up his volume. "YOU HAVEN'T FOUND YOUR TANDEM SURFING PARTNER YET?" Immediately Misao, Lucia, Rina, and Subaru hushed Hippo down, knowing that they were still in the library. Hippo softened his voice down and continued: "You've only got less than two months to train and you still haven't found a partner?"

"Hey! I got personal standards with surfing in general, dude!" Kaito returned the response as Misao hushed him right then.

Misao lead them to a table of computers where they would use special database programs to search through the archives and records about their town and its people. They sat down where a computer was available and began to do their searches. Rina answered to Kaito's previous statement.

"You know, kinda weird for you to look for a tandem surfing partner in the library, Kaito. Whatever happened to checkin' out chicks at the beach?"

Kaito gazed at Rina with curiosity and suspicion. "You're too prejudiced, Touin. No, not all of us surfer dudes check out chicks at the beach. Besides, the chicks I always see at the beach have always been the same chicks I saw from yesterday and the day before and so on and so forth anyway."

"So now you're gonna check out chicks at the library, Kaito?" Rina could not help herself but to laugh at this statement while Kaito continued to glare at the tomboy beauty. "Dang, you really are a player, dude!"

"Whatever..." Kaito frowned and turned back to the system to do his search. There was only one name he needed to search for and prayed he would get results.

I'm going to find you, Leolani. I'm not going to let you go just like that. We've still got so many things to talk about and things we need to fulfill together...

Meanwhile at Pearl Waters, Rihito and Taro were at the piano with Taro being on the guitar and Rihito at the piano with empty music sheets they needed to write their compositions on. They just listened to some sample sound bites of the tracks their competitors will be playing for the surf bands contest thanks to Taro's innocent spying on the other bands and recording their samples on his recording MP3 player. After hearing and analyzing them together they knew they would have to come up with newer, fresher, and something better-sounding than what they have heard. Thus today was somewhat of a day off for the OC-5 band so the two professional composers can sit down and compose new songs for the contest.

Maki entered the rehearsal room with a box filled with musical score sheets. The two composers asked him to lock the door behind him when he entered, which he did as asked. When he approached them he placed the box next to the piano.

"Well, this is all I can find. All the other boxes in the attic were all duct taped and I can't open them without getting in trouble by the boss." Maki opened the box carefully, revealing old musical scores written and composed by hand.

Taro reached for the paperwork and took out a stack of dust-collected music notebooks. The three men blew out the dust as they looked through each of the notebooks with composition scores written in pencil. Rihito found a particular music notebook with the following information written in pencil at the front.

I'LL BE YOURS MY LOVE
In Dedication:
The 9th Wedding Anniversary of Genji and Kimiko Doumoto

Lyrics by Takerou & Chisa Nanami

Composition by Taro Mitsuki
Date Completion: 20xx/8/20

"Hey!" Rihito exclaimed in surprise and gazed right up at Taro. "Hey Taro- look at what I've found!"

Taro took the notebook and read the title at the front cover and smiled lightly. "Yeah. My first composition. It was also gonna be my entry to the Southern National Conservatory of the Arts when I was applying for a spot in that school. I was preparing everything early for the admission requirements then. It was also going to be our present for the Doumotos' ninth wedding anniversary, but... well... never happened."

"Yeah..." Rihito sighed sadly and lowered his head. "You completed the song on the twentieth... then nine days later at the actual anniversary date... well..."

Maki sighed along with them. "God Bless those couples... may the gods of the seas take care of their spirits, wherever they are..."

"So how come you never used this as your entry? You could still have used this instead of writing another one for your entry then, Taro..."

"I know, Rihito," Taro answered, still smiling. "But there's a lot of reasons other than the usual as to why I didn't use that for my admission entry. You see, I wrote all of that on the cover... and I lied."

"Lied?" Rihito and Maki exclaimed in curiosity.

"Well, I did write the composition and I did complete it on that date, as well as I named the composition as written. It's the purpose and the part about the lyrics were lies."

Maki blinked in curiosity. "What do you mean by that? You lied about the purpose and who wrote the lyrics?"

"You all know that times were different then, especially in small-town settings such as our town. Originally, the song wasn't written for the Doumotos' wedding anniversary. It was a dedication from a particular seven-year-old kid to another seven-year-old kid. Back then it's not exactly normal for Nijibe society to see two underage kids to have crushes on one another and none of us are sure on how the parents were gonna take it so I decided to lie about it and wrote this instead of the real thing."

Rihito and Maki nodded, remembering the society restrictions back then in regards to the townspeople of Nijibe. Under-teen aged kids were not allowed to have crushes or fall in love with other kids their ages until they reached their teens. There were various reasons why this was not allowed then, but at this present, things did change and now under-teen aged kids falling in love with each other became a norm.

"So, who's this seven-year-old kid we're talking about, Taro?" Rihito asked curiously.

"Well... you won't believe it if I told you," Taro responded. Right at that point the three men gathered around as if it was storytime around the campfire.

I was around sixteen then. I actually wanted to participate at the summer music program at the Southern National Conservatory of the Arts because I knew I would have major chances on getting in to that specialized university once I reached nineteen and completed high school. Because Nijibe was closer by distance to the school than from my old inland town I decided to spend more time with the relative here in Nijibe and find my inspiration in to composing my own first piece as my admissions entry in to that program. I was able to come up with a tune but the program also required a piece of music with wordings on them. The tune I came up with was pretty much classical and it is a piano piece, but the only way for me to make this piece of music work with lyrics is somewhat turn the piece in to something more... pop... so it would be appealing to all ages, not just those who are in to classical music. I was completely stumped with the lyrics part because poetry was not really my forte.

One summer weekday I was right here at the rehearsal room, locking myself up, and concentrate on writing down the lyrics. Sara Iria and I just started dating at that time and because of this summer program I was seldom at the beach and hang around with the Rainbowside while watching and cheering on for Cole Seahart's surf training at the ocean. But that particular weekday, Sara came for a visit with two boys with her. She did babysitting jobs over those boys every summer so that's why she was always with those boys. I remember how she and I became interested at each other. We were both fond of taking care of kids. When we first met long ago, she was with those two boys and I was with my three younger cousins.

When Sara arrived, it was my uncle and aunt who invited her and the boys in the rehearsal room. They explained to her why I was locking myself up in here and she decided to help. When she came I wondered why she brought the boys with her. She then explained to me that one of the boys was somewhat of a poet.

"What are your names?" I asked the boys.

The boys- two fraternal twin brothers, but they still look alike to me anyway- stepped up from Sara and introduced themselves formally to me. I always thought kids that age were bratty and snot-nosed, but not these two boys. They were really polite and quite kind, though I noticed that the older twin kept on clinging on to Sara's arm like he was shy and needed protection or something. On the other hand just talking with those two twins felt as if they knew how to talk to people and I felt rather pleased with it.

"People call us Kainehe and Kaikane Doe." The older twin answered. "I'm Kainehe Doe."

"I'm Kaikane Doe." The younger twin replied along with the older twin.

"Exotic names- nice!" I said to them, just laughing softly because I was a little nervous. "So, Sara- I mean Sunshine- said that you two are going to help me?"

The older twin, Kainehe, pointed his finger towards his twin brother. "Just him. He's the poet and the singer."

"Hey! You're supposed to stick with me!" The younger twin, Kaikane, reacted nervously.

"Well, either way works," I just laughed along while Sara joined in the laughter too. While we were trying to be comfortable with each other I realized something then about those two boys...

Maki answered, interrupting Taro's small memoir at that time. "Kainehe and Kaikane Doe... never have I thought I would hear those names again. They were Gen and Kim Doe's boys, weren't they?"

Rihito chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Man... those were the good times, Taro..."

Taro continued on with his memoir as Rihito and Maki listened along.

Kainehe was not kidding when he said that his younger twin, Kaikane, was indeed the poet and singer. I played what I completed on the piano and let Kaikane listen to it. For such a young age he sure had a good ear with music and he was pretty critical with it. As you know their parents were classical music composers themselves as their full-time jobs while surfing and living the beach life was just their other life outside the professional world, so I was sure that both the twins- or at least one of them- were also taught and be more familiar with the ins and outs of musical compositions, so I was expecting Kaikane to be critical about any type of music. Though he was critical, he did like my rough draft of the piece altogether.

"May I try something?" Kaikane asked me in a calm tone. I scooted my seat to the side so the kid can sit down right next to me.

"Sure thing. The piano is open to everyone!" I said to him. For a sixteen-year-old teen like me then I was kind of nervous around a prodigy-minded kid like Kaikane Doe, but he made me feel comfortable as if he didn't want me to feel intimidated by him.

He played a small, short piece that was something I never thought of. It was a pretty nice complimentary introduction to the rest of my composition and he wrote the entire piece on a fresh empty page of my notebook so I won't forget. He turned to me with a smile and he said: "You're gonna be a really great composer one day, Mister Mizuki!"

"Thanks," I said to him humbly. "I can say the same with you."

"I hope so. I want to carry on my parents' legacy as musicians one day. Me and Kainehe together, but I think Kainehe prefers the other hobby we're in to."

"Oh? Other hobby?"

"Yup. My parents' other hobby too- surfing."

"Surfing? You and your brother know how to surf?"

Kaikane nodded shyly. "Well, we're not very good at it. We're still learning, even if everyone else says we're almost at pro level. I mean, no one's going to believe us being professional surfers at this age, you know? We have to be like thirteen or something for us to be considered professional."

We proceeded in to continuing to make improvements on the music when an unexpected guest arrived at the rehearsal room. Just her voice alone already changed the entire atmosphere. When I saw her I gave her the usual wave but with Sara and the twin brothers they reacted as if the goddess of the heavens just stepped in to our door.

"Wow... it's Cole Seahart..." I heard Sara and the twins mumble in awe as their eyes were completely fixated towards her when she stepped in.

"Hiya! Whatcha doin'?" The slightly timid-looking teen girl asked me as she invited herself in and stood next to the piano. "I heard really nice music playing from here so I thought I'd stop by."

"No way- Cole Seahart in the flesh..." I heard the twin boys continue to mumble their awe towards Nijibe's coolest surfer girl. Just hearing those words really made me feel proud. She introduced herself to the rest of the kids including Sara and since there was nothing much to do that day she decided to stick around.

"So, Cole Seahart was another witness to this song?" Maki asked curiously. "Interesting..."

"Yeah," Taro chuckled as he opened the old notebook. Inside the front cover he saw another pencil writing at the corner. Though the handwriting was quite childish-looking it was still legible enough to read.

Yo Sea-Moon! Thanks for writing this song with me. I hope I'll be ready to sing this song to that special girl once we finally meet. Also, it was really fun writing this song with you because Cole Seahart was with us along with Sunshine and my other half. I think you're going to be a great musician, like my mom and dad, one day. I'll be rooting for you when that time comes!

Rainbowside till infinity! - K.D.

Taro decided to keep that small note to himself and not show it to Rihito and Maki. "Well then, let's play this on the piano so you guys can hear it." He placed his guitar on the stand as Rihito stood up from the piano seat for Taro to take over. He placed the notebook on to the stand of the piano and flipped the first page and then began to play the completed composition. Along with the composition were lyrics to the song. Rihito and Maki stood over Taro, watching him play, and with the lyrics, Rihito began to sing the lyrics.

I'll be yours, my love

We'll stay together forever

I'll be yours, my love

And it will be like heaven

I'll just stay in your arms

To feel your charms around me

Forever

After the first part was played Maki asked another question regarding the history of the song. "So, are you telling me that your aunt and uncle didn't write those lyrics, but that kid did?"

Taro nodded to confirm. "Yup. Kaikane Doe's name should be in there but the poor kid was too shy to reveal his name behind those lyrics, so he asked me to lie about it. He had a secret crush on some girl his age but he never learned her name. Ever since then I haven't heard from him until about three years later. He completely changed a lot and... I don't know... his polite and gentle self sorta faded away."

Rihito frowned slightly with a nod, knowing what Taro meant with the latter. "He gave up what he used to love when he was a kid. Now he's some hotshot surfer dude who could care less except winning and having things his way. Yeah, I know who you're talking about, Taro. You didn't need to use his surf nick to hide his real identity."

"And this little girl he had a secret crush on... did you ever learn her name?" Maki asked once more.

Taro shook his head once more. "I've never heard of that story ever again. He completely changed and the next time I saw him again he was having multiple dates with different girls almost every day. It gave me the idea that he no longer was interested in that girl he dedicated this song to. I wanted to talk to him about this song again but decided not to because he was way too carefree to even get in to the sentimental stuff like this song."

"Man, Cole Seahart," Rihito chuckled softly, thinking about the story Taro just told them regarding the song they found in the box. "You guys notice something? These past few weeks, it seems that everything in the past that we've been buzzing about all had Cole Seahart's name in it. Regarding that Kaikane kid, was it Cole Seahart whom he had a crush on?"

Taro shook his head. "Well, this kid and his twin were huge Cole Seahart fans. In fact, most of the Rainbowside would just halt at everything they were doing then once Cole Seahart walked in and made her unexpected appearance. Of course, Cole herself never realized how much she was looked up by everyone. The underage kids loved her, like she was their role model or something. But Kaikane, he did tell me a bit about this girl he had a crush on. He said something like... 'If it weren't for Cole Seahart, I would have never saw her.'"

"The girl he was in love with was a Cole Seahart fan too!" Rihito chuckled.

"Might as well be that way, Rihito."

"So, are you gonna play more of the song?" Maki asked curiously. "I'd like to hear the entire song."

"Me too," Rihito nodded. "Maybe we can squeeze in this song for our lineup for the surf bands contest. Though it's a ballad, there's nothing mentioned in the rules that you can't have love ballads in your lineup, as long as you've got surf tunes in there."

"Alright, alright," Taro laughed and turned to the piano again. He began to play the entire song from the beginning and continued from where they halted.

At that time, Nicola was carrying a basket filled with laundry when she overheard the music. Right then something clicked in her and found herself smiling. She placed the basket down and tiptoed right at the slightly open door of the rehearsal room and listened to the music being played on the piano.

Hey, I remember this song... sweetest song I've heard back then. That poor boy... hopelessly in love with a girl he's never met personally and not even knowing her name. I wonder who that girl was...

As the song continued Nicola could not help herself and opened the door. She entered, inviting herself in the rehearsal room. Once she made her presence, everything that was happening in the room suddenly halted in fear and nervousness.

"Uh... Nicola! Sorry about this!" Maki immediately answered. "I just accidentally found this box and this music notebook happened to be in it-"

Nicola chuckled and shook her head. "No, Maki, don't apologize. You got nothing to apologize for. I'm actually glad that you found that box... and that song too."

"Oh, you know this song, Boss?" Rihito asked curiously. Nicola nodded.

"Very familiar with it. That kid who wrote the lyrics was just hopelessly in love with whoever that girl was. I wonder what happened to him and the girl he was pursuing back then?"

Taro closed the notebook and turned to Nicola with a rather shy smile. "Sorry about all this, Nicola. It's just that... well... you know..."

"Keep playing it, Taro! I wanna hear it. Somehow it just makes me feel happy listening to it."

"Are you sure, Nicola?"

Nicola walked next to the piano and rested her chin against her crossed arms, making herself comfortable against the piano. "I used to listen to you play like this, Taro. You always make my day whenever you play- happy... sad... in between... it just makes me smile. It still does, you know?"

Taro chuckled nervously and began to play the song again from the top. Rihito and Maki turned to each other rather looking nervous at the same time. Rihito whispered to Maki with his concern: "Hey... is this the Boss talking here...?"

Maki shrugged and whispered in return. "Something good must have come on to her today. I'm not really sure that is, but you know... just looking at her now... I kinda miss seeing that cheerful smile on her face."

Rihito slightly nodded and began to gaze his eyes towards his boss. He realized that he and Nicola were pretty much the same age and began to wonder if Nicola ever dated in her past young life or even today. It was not as if he was interested in her or anything but rather the mysterious aura around Nicola Nanami began to interest him, somewhat. He then gazed at Maki, whom he felt he was more of a guardian than just another employee. He gazed back at Nicola again, and right on a certain angle from where she was standing next to the piano something struck him.

Is it just me or at a certain angle that the Boss looked a lot like Cole Seahart...?

After the composition of I'll Be Yours My Love was played, Nicola made her comment. "You know, Taro? I kinda miss that kid. That kid had a lot of potential. It was like... all the good times just disappeared... and nice boys like him are very rare now. Every time I think of Lucia I worry she may end up getting her heart broken by a boy she may be in love with. She's a bit naïve with romance, thinking that some princely-like guy would come to her and sweep her off her feet..."

"I'm sure there's a nice boy out there for Lucia... just not right now, you know? But he's out there..." Taro said with confidence within him.

Nicola sat on the empty space next to her cousin and sighed. "The first time I met that kid- Kaikane Doe- for some reason I kinda wanted him to be the one little Lucia would be with. He's a really good kid... really mature too. Sometimes I giggle whenever Lucia would talk about him... how she wanted to meet him and speak to him one day but you know... she only sees him whenever we have surf practice gatherings and was too shy to even introduce herself to the Doe Boys. Lucia doesn't remember now, but she always loved looking at the Doe Twins, most especially Kaikane. She loved it whenever he sings from out of the blue like that and it's just so adorable to witness!"

Maki chuckled and answered. "You even notice all those things with your sister, Nicola?"

"Of course, Maki!" Nicola chuckled and gave a huge grin. "I always keep an eye on my little siblings, especially Lucia. It's just too darn adorable, especially the times where I used to tuck in to her bed at night. She would always say to me that she would want to marry Kaikane one day- though it's too bad she never learned his name." After a short moment of pause she sighed sadly and lowered her head. "Where have all the good kids gone? Now most of the teen dudes I see around town are either a bunch of heartbreaking players or immature jerks who only cared more about themselves than anything else."

Rihito almost choked and cleared his throat. "Kaikane Doe? Oh I won't exactly say he's gone... He's very much still around, except he's not exactly... you know... here..."

"Hm...?" Nicola raised an eyebrow of suspicion. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

Taro chuckled nervously and remained grinning. "Oh, Rihito's just saying that those kids are still here- except they're no longer kids- they're pretty much sorta grown up now- and you know... different!"

"You know... I wonder if the Doe Twins ever knew or heard of Lucia, since they're pretty familiar with us, you know?"

Before anyone could respond to Nicola's statement they were interrupted by a familiar ringtone that was leading towards Rihito's pocket. Rihito stood up and reached for his cellphone in his pocket. "I'll be back really quick." He exited the rehearsal room and closed it so he can talk to whoever he was speaking to on the phone.

With Rihito gone the atmosphere around Taro and Maki immediately changed and gave serious expressions towards Nicola. The boss became curious about their facial expressions to her.

"What?" Nicola asked curiously.

Maki sighed deeply and looked down while Taro answered right then. "How long are you gonna keep playing this game, Nicola? I'm just sick and tired playing along with you for the past seven years!"

Nicola gave a slight frown to her concerned cousin. "Just... just a little longer... I need time..."

"How much time, Nicola?" Maki asked curiously. "Kid, I vowed to help you with anything you need help on, but I just don't feel comfortable deceiving your younger siblings regarding what happened seven years ago. Long ago you used to be more understanding even if you don't like the upcoming results. Now you're just being stubborn and selfish."

"Stubborn and selfish? Maki!" Nicola gasped in shock. "What's wrong with being liked and respected by all the people I love?"

"Nicola, be reasonable, please." Taro became more concerned about his younger cousin than ever. "You can't live your entire life pretending that nothing happened and be okay with it. These past few weeks you've been complaining to me that you've been getting dreams about that incident again. It's been bothering you, you said. But if you don't do anything about it you'll always get those nightmares for the rest of your life until it's too late. Everyone in town is already aware that the Dainami-Oni will be returning this coming month, and worse yet, during the tournament. If you continue to keep your mouth shut to everyone, most especially to Lucia and Hippo, there is a huge chance that the same tragedy will happen again, and not just another tragedy, it may claim more lives than how much they claimed seven years ago."

"But Taro-" Just as Nicola was about to make her statement, Maki interrupted her with another statement from him.

"Nicola... I know this is a rather unrelated question but... has this got to do with my brother?"

Nicola and Taro froze right when they heard Maki's rather random question. Tasuki... Nicola sighed deeply and gazed her head below. Taro turned his eyes toward Maki and asked: "Your brother... T-Mack?"

"The one and only, Taro," Maki confirmed promptly.

Nicola sighed and shook her head. "Maki, I've gotten over Tasuki seven years ago. What a complete jerk..."

"He designed the GG I and the GG II, Nicola. Don't forget that." Maki reminded the young manager.

"He never saw me for who I was. He always looked at me as some annoying brat who thinks she's some kind of a Rainbowside kook. I thought he liked me, Maki... turned out all along that I was just one of the girls in his list he loved to toy with for pleasure. And back then seven years ago, every decent dude were all taken- even the really bad-mannered girls were able to win their hearts too. What the hell did I get back then?" Nicola attempted to hold back her tears, not wanting to continue.

Taro stood up and placed his arm around his cousin. "Don't say stuff like that. Everyone loved you! Maki and I loved you then and we still do now! Aunt Taki, your staff, and most especially Lucia and Hippo- we all loved you and we still do. Why on earth would you let some jerk put you down like that? Just because some dude lead you on to thinking he wanted to be with you, doesn't mean everyone else would look at you the same."

"You don't get it, Sea-Moon!" Right at that moment Nicola blurted out a particular surf nick which she had not used for the past seven years. It was also the same surf nick that both Taro and Maki had not heard of for the past seven years. Just with that, Taro found the chill completely running down his spine just by hearing that honorary surf nick he earned from his late uncle for the Rainbowside.

"Wow... you've never called me by that name for the last seven years, Nicola," Taro answered in a slight faint voice.

"Sea-Moon... I had the biggest crush on T-Mack back then. I... I loved all his cool maneuvers and the way he controlled the surf when he road his board. I was determined to be good at surfing. I didn't just want to be good just for the sake of Mom and Dad's role at the Rainbowside. I wanted everyone to like me for me and not say that I'm only surfing just because it was the coolest thing in town and because of my parents. I wanted to get T-Mack's attention... it's bad enough I can't even get my parents' attention whenever they hang out with the rest of the Rainbowside. I even wished we could be tandem surfers together..." Right then, Nicola trailed from what she mumbled, which gave both Taro and Maki.

Maki stood up and patted Nicola on the shoulder. "That is why I was being a pest to you when you were young, girl. I didn't want you getting involved with Tasuki- T-Mack. He may be my brother, he may be a top-notch surfer, and he may be a true expert in shaping boards which was why he quit surfing to get in to the board shaping business with a few of our old pals, but when it comes to girls he was really lousy. I know sometimes we all gotta learn things the hard way, Nicola, and it's unfortunate you had to learn it the hard way instead of listening to good ol' Hi-Mack. But I don't hate you for making that mistake."

"Hi-Mack... thanks..." Nicola gave a light smile on her face. "Say... I want to take the day off today. Would you and Sea-Moon manage Pearl Waters for me while I'm out?"

"Where are you going, Nicola?" Taro asked curiously.

"I... I just need to take a walk... or drive... or whatever... that's all."

Maki agreed with a nod. "Don't be out too long. We'll take care of things from here."

"Thanks, guys." Right at that time, Nicola exited the rehearsal room. Taro and Maki turned to each other looking rather confused at what had just happened.

"What's her thing with T-Mack got to do with her reasoning of not telling Lucia and Hippo the entire story about what happened seven years ago, Hi-Mack?" Taro asked curiously with his arms shrugged.

"I have no idea..." Maki gave a slight shrug. "It just came out of my mouth... but I think she's got a bit of a low self-esteem."

"How's that?"

"Well... she wanted compassion and love from the people she was close with. She didn't just want attention from the public. Maybe that was her motivation to push herself harder and become one of the best surfers around. Maybe something happened when she was younger... you know... when her parents were still alive, you know?"

Just as Taro was about to continue with the conversation, Rihito entered the rehearsal room a few moments later with a cellphone in his hand. The two found Rihito approaching them with a concerned look on his face. "Hey, I saw the Boss heading out somewhere. Where's she going?"

"Out." Taro and Maki responded simultaneously.

"Hm. Something happened with you guys?" Rihito asked curiously.

"Ah, well then!" Maki chuckled nervously as he headed to the door. "I promised Nicola to manage the dining area while she's gone so I might as well get going! You boys still need to do your composing. Later!" Quickly Maki exited the rehearsal room, leaving Taro and Rihito alone in the room.

"Well then, let's get back to work, Rihito," Taro said and reached for his guitar.

"Tell me something and tell me honestly, Taro." Rihito suddenly changed the tone of his voice at him.

"What about?" Taro asked curiously.

"The Boss... she's Cole Seahart, isn't she?"

Taro raised an eyebrow and stared at Rihito. "What makes you think Nicola Nanami is Cole Seahart?"

"I was a grommet nine years ago when I first saw Cole Seahart surf at Sector 7 Beach. First time I began hanging out with the Rainbowside too. I gotta admit I had a slight childhood crush on her."

"You were in love with her, Rihito?"

Rihito chuckled and snickered. "You think too much, Sea-Moon. Not in that sense... it's more of like... I wanted to be like her once I became seasoned. She was an inspiration to me and pretty much the entire Rainbowside, you know."

"Okay, what's that got to do with Nicola, Rihito?"

"Taro, she's the reason why I began working here at Pearl Waters for free. Never mind that my family was really loaded, but... I as a fellow Rainbowside surfer always wanted to hang out with her... get to know her... share some of her secret skills with me, you know?"

"Right." Taro snickered and turned to his guitar, tuning the strings. "Are you sure you're not in love with her?"

"You hope too much, Sea-Moon." Rihito snickered as he responded.

"Whatever you say, Rite-O." Since the return of the surf nicks emerged at that moment, Taro ended up calling his fellow band member by his old surf nick. Rihito proceeded in seating at the piano while Taro continued to tune the strings of his guitar. Taro reached for a small cooler not too far and brought two ice cold water bottles. He placed one on top of the piano while he handed the other to Rihito.

"By the way, Sea-Moon..." Rihito broke the silence while he was organizing the music sheets. "That was Kainehe Doe on the phone."

Taro's eyes opened wide and became intrigued with Rihito's statement. "Yeah? What's going on?"

"You know how Hippo, Lucia, and Rina were heading in town to go to the library to look up for something important? Whatever that was..."

"What about it?"

"Looks like the kahuna with the aid of the instructor also went to the library to look up for something important... and something else."

Taro gave a rather confused expression wondering what Rihito was trying to hint. "What's that something else you're talking about?"

"He's looking for his tandem surfing partner. Go figure."

"He's- what?"

"Yeah! He's looking up through the restricted archives and records to look up for a certain name. Who would have thought he'd be that devoted!"

Taro began scratching his head, trying to make sense with what Rihito just mentioned. "So... the young kahuna along with the younginstructor went to the library to look up the archives and records to look for tandem surfing partner? That's gotta be one of the strangest methods I've ever heard of just to look for a tandem surfing partner..."

"Well, only reason why he's hitting the archives and records section was because he already knows who he wants for his partner. The problem is, he only knows one single name. No last name, no stats, nothing!"

"Must be the girl of his dreams, Rihito. Man, that kid's growing up fast... I kinda miss the seven-year-old version..." Taro shook his head and rested himself against the side of the piano. "So Rihito... did he tell you the name?"

Rihito nodded. "The name is as exotic as the kid's name. I guess Hawaiian names were an in thing back then!"

"Heh, you forget that the sport of surfing was born in Hawaii, so a lot of the general surfing terms amongst surfer to surfer are based on the Hawaiian language. Kahuna and Wahine, for example, as well as the mighty kai!"

Rihito quickly wrote the kanji character for sea on a clean sheet of music notebook paper after recognizing that particular vocabulary word. "Like this kai?"

"Yup!" Taro nodded. "It's the same in Hawaiian. The meaning of kai from both Japanese and Hawaiian is the same. They both mean sea orocean."

"Wait... Kaito writes his first name using this kanji. I think Gaito also writes this kanji on his name too, not sure. And also the last nameNanami- seven seas, like this, right?" Rihito wrote those names on the paper in kanji and showed it to Taro.

"We're all from the mighty kai, my friend! Nijibe belongs to the mighty kai!"

Rihito softly murmured his own statement: "The Seaharts and the Does are of the mighty kai..."

"Exactly! No land creature can ever be the master of the mighty kai, dude. It's funny how all the people closest to Pearl Waters and theDainami-Oni tragedy seven years ago. Funny how those same people are completely involved with the upcoming tournament."

"Yeah, seriously. Man, that's just interesting that we've got at least one single word in common... though in Japanese we read it in conjugation with another kanji, but still... the mighty kai!"

"Good thing I took Hawaiian language back in college so I know a bit," Taro snickered. "Those surf nicks that the Does gave their twin boys when they were born years ago- Kainehe and Kaikane- have special meanings too. Kainehe, Gaito's surf nick, means whispering sea. Kaikane, Kaito's surf nick, means strong and mighty sea."

"Good to know that, Taro. Thanks for sharing some of your knowledge. Anyway, I know you're somewhat familiar with the youth of Nijibe though you usually just spend your summers here before. Are you familiar with anybody here who are Hawaiian or have Hawaiian names aside from the twins?"

Taro began to ponder and became silent to concentrate. He unscrewed the cap of his water bottle and began to drink it. Rihito continued on: "The name Kaito was looking for at the archives and records section was something like... Leilani... Luaini...? No... not that... Leolani-"

Right at that moment Taro accidentally spat out his water from his mouth once he heard the name. "What- say that again?"

"You heard me. Leolani." Taro held his chest to prevent himself from bursting in to laughter while Rihito began to stare at his friend in curiosity. "What?"

"Nothing... um... nothing..."

Rihito crossed his arms, looking more suspicious than ever. "Taro, you're hiding something from me. Who's that Leolani girl anyway? The poor kid's been looking for her for the longest time. I mean all that one-week girlfriend thing he did in the past? He did it all because he was looking for that girl. What's so funny about that?"

"It's just that..." Taro took a deep breath and exhaled. "Leolani...? He didn't have to go to the archives and records, although since you mentioned that Kaito's there at the library the same time as the rest of the OC-5 band members... well... Leolani is just right in front of his nose."

Rihito became more intrigued. "Really...? So who is this Leolani girl anyway?"

Taro sat at the empty space next to Rihito on the piano seat and began to tell him the entire story.

Leolani had been asleep for about thirty minutes after the very harsh Dainami-Oni wave attack that lead them to this mysterious candle-lighted cave at an unknown beach. She cried herself to sleep after attempting several times to wake the unconscious boy up. But even if she cried she continued to hold the boy in her arms to keep him warm. There were tears still pouring slowly from her eyes while she slept, clinging on to the boy like a teddy bear.

Right at that moment, the boy opened his eyes. He gained consciousness miraculously, though the young girl's warmth may have helped him wake up. He turned his head slowly, wondering where he ended up after they were carried by the powerful currents of the Dainami-Oni. At least he knew that he was still alive. He felt gentle warmth surrounding him at that time, realizing that he was indeed alive, safe, and well. He slowly turned his head to his left and found his rescuer holding on to him all this time. He noticed the tears from her eyes and slowly moved his right hand on to her face, slowly wiping the tears from her eyes. The tears were warm but her skin was almost ice cold.

"You're still crying, Leolani..." The boy murmured his words and gave a slight smile. "Were you afraid of losing me too?"

The boy slowly moved closer to her and placed his arms around her so he can return the same warmth she gave him when he was unconscious. When he placed his hand on to her cheek he found something hanging on his wrist. It was a handwoven bracelet with shades of blue and white thread. The boy did not remember wearing this particular piece of handmade jewelry, then he gazed at Leolani again and noticed a few number of different-colored bracelets on one of her wrists. He turned to his again and smiled.

"Were you the one who gave this to me? If so... thank you. I won't take it off. With this on my wrist I'll always remember you."

Once he was only a few inches closer to Leolani's face he continued to examine the girl's facial features. At that time he caressed his fingers on to the girl's cold yet soft skin. While he continued he began to familiarize with the face.

"I... I know you... Leolani... you're the special girl I've always watched for a long while now. You were always there whenever Cole Seahart was around. I wished you and I met and knew before our parents died. I first saw you when Sea-Moon and Sunshine first met. It's funny because they used us little kids so they can finally meet. But then again... I always wanted to meet you, but I was too scared... until now. I... I even have a song for you that I wanted to sing for you... one day you'll get to hear it, I promise! I don't know why but... I always felt that one day we'll be together... I just wish it was different, not like this... not in exchange for our parents' lives..."

The boy felt Leolani moving slowly and then her arms around him became tighter. He blushed red, now they were this close. He wanted to do the same by holding her tight to him. As she slept he continued to talk to her on his ear.

"You know where we are now? I recognize this place. This is the secret surfing spot of the Rainbowside. I know because you and I have been here many times whenever our families- and Cole Seahart too- would come out here just to surf. After you saved me by riding on a surfboard and took us here to safety I knew that you know how to surf too." He lifted his head and placed his chin gently on top of Leolani's head and held her closer to him.

"Maybe we can surf together one day. Maybe we can be the next Tack and Tish Seahart... or even my parents, Gen and Kim Doe. Want to know how they died? They paddled out to the sea after the evil Dainami-Oni pulled Tack and Tish Seahart down to the sea. They paddled because they wanted to save them. But sadly, the Dainami-Oni was just too powerful for them and they ended up the same way as the Seaharts then. Everyone cried earlier today... I cried so much... my brother cried so much... but most of all, I saw Cole Seahart cried the most... and I saw you... and another kid... in her arms... like this..."

The boy closed his eyes, trying to control his emotions and not to cry again. Instead he changed the subject in to a happier note. He continued to whisper on to Leolani's ear as the girl continued to sleep. "People call me Kaikane. Mom and Dad said it means 'strong and mighty sea.' And I know what your name means, Leolani. It means 'beautiful voice'."

Just when he whispered he heard the girl murmuring something. Slowly the boy, Kaikane, lowered himself so he could hear what she was murmuring in her sleep.

"Kai... ka... ne..."

The boy hushed her and gently rubbed her back so she can be more comfortable in her sleep. At least then he knew that she heard him when he mumbled his thoughts to her ear. He smiled in content and knew that despite of the tragedy that happened earlier he knew his parents would not want to see him and his brother sad for their loss. He slowly withdrew from her but he still had his arms around her and took another gaze at her face again. At that time he was beginning to feel drowsy and he knew he could not stay awake for that long. He gulped nervously as he found Leolani's lips open, fresh, and in some ways, wanting. He was tempted to kiss her all the way, yet also at the same time he did not want to scare her. On the other hand, he also saw signs coming from the girl that she truly liked him in the same fashion.

He found a song that appeared in his mind and he began to sing it, just to put Leolani in to deep sleep for the night.

Hush-a-bye, hush-a-bye

Oh my darling, don't you cry

Guardian angels up above

Take care of the one I love

Lullaby and goodnight

In your dreams, I'll hold you tight

Lullaby and goodnight

Till the dawn's early light

Pillows lying on your bed

Oh my darling, rest your head

Sandman will be coming soon

Singing you a slumber tune

"This will be the last time I'll hear this song, Leolani. At least... I wanted you to hear it. My mom would sing that to me and my brother whenever we go to sleep... But now she's gone... the song will be gone too..."

Kaikane yawned afterwards, now the drowsiness was truly getting to him. He finally decided that it was time for him to sleep as well. Since he knew the location itself he knew they were safe and secure.

"Goodnight, Leolani. Sleep tight." Without even realizing it then he leaned closer to Leolani's lips and gently kissed her goodnight.

After the slightly lengthy kiss he released himself from her and closed his eyes.

"Lucia! Hey! Wake up!"

With an abrupt response Lucia shrieked from out of the blue. She found herself sleeping with her head against the table with her arms to cover her sleepy face after waiting for Hippo to go through the archives and find the information they came for. She sighed in embarrassment when she heard Subaru Shibatani chuckling softly at the scene. Lucia found Rina joining in the chuckling, recognizing that it was the tomboy who woke her up.

"I don't blame you, Lucia," Subaru spoke from across the table of computers. "It does get pretty boring in here because it's so quiet."

"Oh!" Lucia felt her body completely shivering and realized that the entire floor was air conditioned in almost full blast. "No... I... I think I fell asleep because it's cold in here..."

"Well, Misao just lead Hippo at the shelves to look for whatever he was looking for, so they'll be back shortly." Rina reminded Lucia regarding Hippo and Misao not present.

Slowly Lucia lifted her head from the table and rubbed her eyes. "But man... what a dream..."

"Dream?" Rina asked curiously. "I figured as much. You were murmuring some weird stuff and I thought you were speaking a different language or something."

Lucia's eyes opened wide right when she realized what the dream was about. Oh my god... could it be...? I... I think I remember that boy's name... oh man... I thought it was Kaito... though both names start with "kai"... but still... While going through her thoughts she looked up across the table and spotted Kaito, who surprisingly was also napping, with his head supported by his elbow on the surface and his fist keeping his head up. I even remembered now how that boy looked like... and he still looked so much like Kaito... except Kaikane was- that's right! His name was Kaikane! He was so much nicer than this player... But what am I saying? Kaito's nice too when he wants to be...

"Speaking of dreaming, you're not the only one who fell asleep and most of all dreaming." Subaru chuckled humbly and tapped the napping Kaito on the shoulder. "Dude... Kaito! Wake up, man!"

"Huh?" With the same abrupt motion Kaito woke up from his brief napping and blinked his eyes, shaking his head. "What the hell... I fell asleep..."

"And you were dreaming too!" Subaru snickered while Rina joined in the laughter. "Sounds sweet and romantic!"

"Hey, I don't dream cheesy love stories, dude!" Kaito quickly yelled at Subaru regarding his teasing. "Only wussy girls do that!"

"Hey!" Lucia shouted right at Kaito. "So now I'm a wuss because I dreamed of some cheesy love story which I think may actually have happened in the past?"

"I didn't mean that, Lucia. I was just making a random statement... but I fell asleep because it's freakin' cold in here!"

"Excuses, excuses." Subaru snickered with his arms crossed. "Well, since there's hardly anyone here and Lucia's brother and Misao are still out looking throughout whatever it was they were looking for, we got some time to talk while we wait."

"Yeah!" Rina cheered with the same smirk on her face. "For example- What did you dream about earlier today on your little nap, Lucia?"

Lucia blushed heavily once she realized that two of the Rainbowside's most handsome surfer boys were just right across the table from them. Rina waited by staring at her best friend with a smirk on her face. "Well... it's... um..." Quickly Lucia turned to Rina and whispered: "I... I can't tell about my dream in front of these guys..."

"Oh come on, Lucia, it's just Kaito and Subaru... and it's only a dream... not like it's for real, you know." Rina whispered her response. "Unless of course if that dream has Kaito in it-"

"Well that's just it... it's about... you know... my mysterious boy from my past... I don't want Kaito knowing too much about it or he's gonna tease me about it-"

Rina chuckled softly and placed her hand on her mouth. "Wow... well... who says you have to reveal the name, huh? And besides, aren't you in love with Kaito anyway? If you tell them without revealing the name, Kaito may get jealous... and you know... that'll tell us how he really feels about you!"

Lucia sighed and lowered her head. "Fine... fine... I'll talk."

Right then, Subaru stood from his seat to look past through the computers and see why Lucia was taking so long to begin. "Hey, you okay?"

"Um... I'm ready to tell you guys about my dream now..." Lucia answered while gulping in nerviness.

"Oh good 'cause Kaito's waiting impatiently here-"

"Man, shut up, Subaru! Why the hell would I be waiting impatiently for some chick's dream?" Kaito glared towards his friend.

"Hey, I'd keep my mouth shut if I were you!" Rina retorted in an intimidating tone. "This isn't just some chick, this is our beloved Lucia we're talking about!"

"Hmph." Kaito returned the glare towards the tomboy and turned his head away.

Lucia cleared her throat and began her story. She did not mention the name Kaikane but somehow in almost every small detail she brought out, Kaito felt sudden jolts within him as if he had been there in that dream himself. As Lucia continued, Kaito began to shiver, not because of the chill that the powerful air conditioning system was blowing out throughout the floor. The champion surfer boy felt every detail, every emotion, and every tidbit of scenery, atmosphere, and dialogue jolting immediately on his mind. Right then his mind drifted to contemplation mode.

No... you can't be... That's just impossible... That's exactly what I saw in my own dream! Kaito shook his head quickly, trying to get rid of these inner thoughts away. Even if that was the case he discovered how much he wanted to hear more. He decided to keep cool at the moment as he listened.

After Lucia was finished with her dream, Rina smiled in delight. "Aww... Seriously you need to look for that boy somehow, Lucia. I mean, who would have thought that boys at age seven can be really nice, friendly, and sweet too! He's gotta have a good heart altogether!"

"Heh, nice," Subaru snickered. "Ya got yourself a decent dude for your true love, Lucia." He then quickly turned to Kaito and made his statement. "Yo Kaito- the boy Lucia was in love with in her dream sounds a lot like you."

Kaito felt another jolt of surprise and glared right at Subaru again. "The hell...? I ain't nice, friendly, and sweet, dude! Why the hell are you comparing me to that dream dude?"

"Don't be all acting tough, man," Subaru continued with the snicker. "The Rainbowside dudes know you well, man. You're usually humble and honest like that and despite of your one-week girlfriends thing, just breaking a girl's heart isn't really your thing. Let's take Michal, for example. We all know- even you know- that she's got the hots for you. You're not particularly interested in her but you still let her hang around you. And what about-"

"Okay, okay, I get it, Subaru." Kaito hushed the young surfing instructor and became silent afterwards.

"Well then, now that we heard Lucia's dream in general, what's yours, Kaito?"

"Huh... mine?" Kaito blinked in surprise as he noticed Subaru, Lucia, and Rina staring right back at him. How the hell am I supposed to tell them my dream when it's... it's... exactly the same... as Lucia's...? "Uh... nothing important."

"Hey, don't give us that excuse, Kaito," Rina glared with her arms crossed. "Lucia already told hers. Why can't you tell yours too? That's just downright unfair, man!"

"Look, it's not important! Besides... I just remembered something I forgot to do." He then turned to Lucia right away. "Lucia..."

"Y-Yeah, Kaito?" Lucia blinked nervously once she felt a loud thump within her chest. "W-what...?" Kaito quickly headed to Lucia's side and took her by the hand. Gently he dragged her with him all the way outside the library. "Wait! Kaito- where are we going? Where are you taking me?"

"Hey, what gives!" Rina frowned as she watched Kaito and Lucia exit the library. "Where the hell are they heading out to?"

Subaru shrugged his arms. "Beats me. He didn't even search for that girl's name... the one he was gonna ask to be his tandem surfing partner." He turned to the computer Kaito was using earlier and only saw a rather strange spelling of Leolani in the kana writing system. "What an idiot... for someone who knows a bit of Hawaiian he can't even spell her name right in katakana. Why can't he just use the English version of the database search and just spell the name in romanized alphabet?"

Moments later, Hippo and Misao arrived, with a rather huge cardboard box on Hippo's arms. "Sorry we're late," Misao said to the rest of the group. "The stuff that the Nanamis were looking for was just really... interesting... but we packed up the stuff from the archives in this box, so we're good to go."

Hippo noticed that two people were missing at their table. "Say... where are Lucia and Kaito?"

"Out." Rina and Subaru answered simultaneously.

"Oh great... That Kaito better not make Lucia cry or he's seriously gonna get it!"

Meanwhile at the very secretive Rainbowside S-Cube Beach, the rest of the surfer dudes had begun their surf training. Nagisa and Hanon were finally getting used to surfing together in one tandem longboard they lent from Masahiro though they still have not trained in doing the very difficult and treacherous tricks they needed to impress the judges and everyone watching. Gaito and Sara were already ahead as they were already making their first few lifts at the very shallow swell that was accelerating them back to the shore. The three surfer girls, Coco, Noel, and Caren, had been dominating attention from the S-Cube regulars, not only due to their amazing skills with both the shortboard and the longboard, but their grace and beauty also took the males' attention rather than the type of bikini they were wearing. Masahiro, Daichi, and Kengo were resting at the shore while doing some light weightlifting with their small weights.

The entire Rainbowside felt a lot safer and more secure just being at the S-Cube. They should have taken this particular beach as their training spot instead of the Kaigara Boulevard Sector 7 Beach, in which Pearl Waters was one of the familiar spots located across from that beach. Though it was the usual fun times at this particular beach, somehow it was not as exciting or as hype as it always had been only because two of the Rainbowside's favorite surfers, champion competitor Kaito Doumoto and surf instructor Subaru Shibatani, were not present. At the same time they knew that Kaito was somewhat in hiding from his many admirers from near and far including the media and the paparazzi.

Nagisa and Hanon just got back from step one of tandem surfing basics and headed to their base spot where Masahiro, Kengo, and Daichi were resting. Afterwards, the three surfer girls also finished their rides and met with the others already at the spot.

"Whew!" Hanon sighed in relief and lied down on her beach blanket, resting after the rather wild ride she and Nagisa had together. "I never knew how hard tandem surfing is altogether! But wow... how come it's so rare to see couples surf together on one board?"

"Yeah, I wanna know the reason too." Nagisa nodded in agreement with Hanon.

"Aside from... you know... tandem board in general cost more than an arm and a leg." Masahiro answered, knowing that the tandem boards that the two tandem couples were using for training cost him close to a hundred thousand yen per board. "That's why professional surfers are sponsored by these surfboard shaping companies and provide him their very best boards for training and competition. That's another thing that Gaito and I talked about recently. We need to find a sponsor and supply us some tandem surfboards so we don't have to spend our personal life savings just for them."

"How much do these tandem boards cost anyway?" Hanon asked curiously. Masahiro provided her an average price, which jolted Hanon in shock. "... Never mind..."

"Hey guys!" Coco called from nearby as the four turned to her and the twin girls. "Look out there at the swells! Check out those moves!"

Hanon, Nagisa, Masahiro, Kengo, and Daichi stood up from their spots and gazed their eyes towards the beach. Right at that time, Gaito and Sara, both carrying their tandem board, arrived at the scene.

"What's going on here?" Sara asked curiously when Noel and Caren pointed their fingers towards the sea where a lone surfer girl rode her wave and displaying some of the smoothest moves any surfing enthusiast had ever seen. Her way through the waves and her maneuvering her board was a true reminiscent of Kaito Doumoto's skills that earned him the championship title in almost all of the major competitions he participated since his debut as a professional.

"Did she just do...?" Daichi murmured his reaction right when they spotted her doing a 360-turn aerial three times from the waves that launched her up on the air.

"That's a triple spinner aerial..." Masahiro and Kengo identified the move the girl just executed.

"What the hell- how'd she do that?" Coco exclaimed in shock. "Even I can't do that!"

"I don't think I've seen Kaito do a 360 aerial three times!" Nagisa gasped in shock.

"I don't think I've seen any other hotdogger do a 360 aerial three times." Masahiro made another statement.

"Dude, that chick seriously owns the world's champion shortboarders with a move like that!"

Gaito gasped in complete shock once he observed this mysterious surfer girl riding her wave in style. No way... Only a true champion surfer would be able to do those moves. Kaito and in some cases Hamasaki were able to do those slick moves on the surface, but this girl...? Unless if this girl is...

"Wait! Wait!" Caren exclaimed while she continued to watch the surfer girl in awe. "Hold on... I think I can see her a bit closer now... Is that...? No way... it can't be... it just can't be!"

"Hm... now that you mentioned it, Caren..." Sara murmured while she continued to watch. As the surfer girl's ride was closing in near the shore they were able to have a clearer look of how this girl looked like. Quickly she took Gaito by the arm and slowly dragged him to the front. "What do you think, Gaito?"

Gaito stood still, still staring at the surfer girl in amazement. As leader of the Rainbowside he knew no outsider would ever know of this spot and the only ones who would were any Rainbowside members, former Rainbowside members, and those related to both current and former Rainbowside members. In conclusion, this particular girl may be a former Rainbowside surfer. Her skills were way too advanced for her to be labeled as a new member.

"There was only one surfer whom I've seen do that kind of crazy move just now..." Gaito murmured his response to Sara. "In fact... it was one of the biggest childhood memories I'll never forget."

"Really?" Sara asked curiously. "Who would be that surfer, Gaito?"

Gaito answered in a soft tone. "The legend herself..."

"Gaito... you don't mean to say... Are you thinking the same name I'm thinking right now? I mean... just by how she looked- wetsuit, slim figure, and that hairdo? Either that or I'm seeing things..."

Right then, the surfer girl made her kick-out from the ocean and concluded her ride. Quickly she carried her shortboard and dashed to a different direction from where the rest of the Rainbowside were standing. It was rather obvious to the surfer boys, especially Gaito, that this surfer girl did not want to show herself to the public.

"Wait!" Nagisa called out for the surfer girl as Gaito quickly pulled him back on his shoulder. "But Gaito- aren't were supposed to confront her and ask her how she knew about our S-Cube?"

"There's no need, Nagisa." Gaito answered to the younger surfer. "It's obvious she was a former member of the Rainbowside. As the saying goes, once you're part of a surf tribe, you'll always be part of that surf tribe. Your family members are automatic Rainbowside surfers should they pursue and enter the sport itself. Besides... I'm pretty sure she'll be back soon."

"Oh..." Nagisa slightly lowered his head. Sara stood next to Gaito, still looking rather overwhelmed at what she had witnessed.

"Still... she reminded me so much of her... even the hair too..." Sara made her comment while Coco, Noel, and Caren stood next to her.

"You know, one day," Noel spoke. "One day, ladies. We'll approach her and speak to her. We don't have to ask her to join the tournament team, but it would be awesome if she does come and watch the team do their stuff and win, you know?"

"Yeah." The girls nodded as they continued to watch the surfer girl fade from their vision.

Outside at the park where the library was located, Kaito brought Lucia further away from the public and were now standing underneath a tall cherry tree. Though there were no more blossoms left, a few of the soft petals coming from the blossoms still complimented the very atmosphere they just entered. Lucia never looked more nervous with Kaito than how she was nervous whenever he found her gazing at him. This time, she was standing against the tree with Kaito just less than a feet apart from her, facing her head on with a rather serious expression on his face.

"What... why did you bring me out here, Kaito? What's the matter?" Though she had to show her concern she can feel her heart beating as hard as a timpani drummer. Quickly she placed her hand on to her heart so she can keep calm at this moment.

Kaito gazed at Lucia with no distinctive expression on his face, but also at the same rhythm as Lucia's heart the surfer boy also felt his heart beating at the same pace and the same impact. Just like Lucia he also placed his hand on to his heart to keep himself calm as well. He gulped nervously and began to speak.

"Who are you?" Kaito asked her a direct question.

"Who am I- what do you mean by that?" Lucia began to retort with another question. "I'm Lucia Nanami... your homeroom classmate for three years now... and... your friend... well... that is if you consider me as one..."

"Look deeper within yourself, Lucia," Kaito answered and still had his eyes fixated on hers. "Then tell me who you really are..."

Lucia shook her head and lowered her head. "Why are you acting like this? It's like you think I'm some kind of a faker or something... well I'm not a kook or a poser, Kaito. I haven't done anything to make you feel like I'm the most annoying pest you've ever encountered..."

Kaito realized his being pushy towards Lucia and switched his positions to the side next to her, sighing out and slightly sat down on the ground. Lucia slowly sat down so she can be with him. "Kaito... what's wrong? You don't seem so happy... did I do anything wrong?"

"No... it's not you, Lucia... it's just..." He swallowed deeply and sighed again. "Lucia... look... I know you're probably finding this weird and all but... The reason why I didn't tell everyone my dream after you because..."

"What is it, Kaito? You know you can always count on me when you need help..."

"Lucia... my dream was exactly the same dream as yours... I'd repeat myself to them if I told them what my dream was about."

"Wait... you mean... you dreamed about being in a candle-lighted cave with a little boy and a little girl keeping themselves warm as they go to bed... and they were lying on a sand-covered surfboard as a pillow?" Lucia asked curiously to confirm if this was the actual dream Kaito saw on his. Right then Kaito nodded slowly.

"It was weird... it felt so real... and the girl was the girl I met at the secluded side of the S-Cube... the girl I told you about last week."

Lucia fell silent right then as she felt her heart continuously beating heavily and rapidly. She could not believe what she was hearing that she asked a few more questions afterwards. "Was the girl sleeping? Was she shedding tears?"

"She was... a lot."

"And... was the boy... keeping her warm... and whispering his thoughts on her ear? And before he went to sleep did he kiss her goodnight?"

Kaito nodded. "Yeah. I held her warm as close as she can to me... and I kissed her goodnight before I went back to sleep..." Right then, both fell silent while both also began to blush heavily. Both were thinking that all this time that the ones they sought for the past seven years were just right there all along, but at the same time they were too afraid to ask the next question. Even if that was the case deep within they both had the urge to ask that particular question.

"Are you-?" Both turned to each other and attempted to ask the question, only to be interrupted by one another. This time they did not turn away from each other, but instead their eyes locked at one another. There was a type of force that neither can determine that was completely drawing them together regardless of the differences between the dreams they practically shared that day.

Why... why can't I turn away from you, Kaito? I know the boy's name... but my heart still says it's you... Oh I still wish you were him... Maybe you have a second name you go by and I hope it's that name I heard from my dream... Lucia's conscience spoke her thoughts. Though that was the case now, Kaito was thinking the same.

Are you her, Lucia? Were you the one who rescued me that night? Where you the one I kissed that night? Why won't you tell me who you really are? On the other hand, I didn't use my real name either so I guess you couldn't recognize me... But still... why does it feel like I have to be with you? Why do I feel that I have to have you? Why do I feel like I can't allow any other guy to win your heart? Why do I feel like we should always be together?

Just at that frozen moment Lucia found her eyes filling up with tears again. There was no doubt that Kaito had to be her missing Kaikane. Why would he be dreaming the same thing she did at the same time at the same place? Furthermore, why would he take her out from the library to talk about his dream and not tell everyone else about it? After examining his features from the smallest to the whole picture she was truly sure that he was the one she rescued and the one she fell in love with- her first love, her only love.

Before Lucia was going to break the silence she immediately felt strong and secure arms around her waist and just as she was going to take another gasp of surprise she found herself closer to Kaito than before. Her hands ended up on his chest and her cheeks blushed even more red than before.

"Kaito... I... I can't take it anymore..." Lucia mumbled her words with one tear already dropping slowly on to her cheek. Kaito said nothing after her words. Somewhat on an unconscious mode he began to get closer to her.

I'm sorry, Lucia... I'm confused right now. There's only one way I'll know if you really are her. Forgive me... In his mind he felt as if Lucia never kissed anyone or if any guy ever kissed her at all. He knew he could be her first kiss if applicable, but at the same time he knew he may get an unfavorable result that can scare her away from him. Though that may be possible he hoped that would not happen as a result.

Kaito... are you going to... Kaito... Lucia suddenly closed her eyes as her heartbeat sped up and pumped harder at the intense anticipation that something special was about to happen. She waited as she felt the warm aura surrounding her and Kaito were becoming a lot warmer and warmer as he got closer.

A few inches. Just a few inches more until their lips were about to meet. If only they were not so much in the open distractions would have never existed. Just a few inches more and excited voices just had to break the special silence.

"We're not interrupting anything, are we?"

"GAH!" Kaito quickly withdrew himself from Lucia when he turned his head to a huge mob of fan girls led by those infamous morning gossip DJs on the radio- a young lady named CC and a young man named Gizmo- with microphones on their hands, pointing directly towards this period's most talked about surfer boy on the air. At the same time he got himself in front of Lucia so no one would be able to identify the mystery girl he was about to kiss. Lucia turned her head away and stayed behind him. "What the hell's all this...?"

"Hey there, surf stud!" CC winked with her microphone right at him. "The whole day all our faithful listeners had been going around town looking for you! We're CC and Gizmo of the Nijibe Youth Talk Corner and you are the main favorite subject of our talk this morning and the past mornings before that! The listeners would like to know what you have been up to as of late!"

Kaito froze, unable to say a single word from his mouth as Gizmo joined in the interview. "What was that latest talk? Oh yes- finding true love for his tandem surfing partner?"

"No, Gizmo! He already found his true love and he was going to ask her to be his tandem surfing partner! Isn't that right, Kaito Doumoto?"

What the-? Lucia's voice gasped within her as she closed her eyes, trying to keep herself hidden. The entire town knows about him not having a tandem surfing partner?

"Kaito- tell us the truth! Who is that mysterious true love- and is she going to be your tandem surfing partner?" The fan girls exclaimed in anxiousness and in curiosity.

Gizmo quickly made his move by heading to the spot behind Kaito in order to get Lucia to speak. Just as he switched his position, Kaito used his arm to block his way from getting close to Lucia.

"Yo, lay off!" Kaito suddenly exclaimed with chagrin on his expression. "I'm on intense surf training for the tournament. I'm not here to fool around. If you're wondering what the hell's going on with me, then talk to me. Anyone involved with me including any one of the tournament team players, OC-5 band members, or even my twin, back off!"

You're... protecting me, Kaito...? Lucia continued to keep herself hidden while blushing more intensely.

The fan girls began to break in panic as they mumble to one another about their reaction to Kaito's response. CC, the more aggressive of the two Djs, continued to pursue her interview. "Well, tell us this, Mr. Doumoto! Have you found your tandem surfing partner yet? Your entire admiration crew are very happy and willing to volunteer to be that aiding partner, you know!"

Kaito blinked in confusion at first and gazed at his entire fan club. Immediately he snickered and said: "Sorry, ladies, but I already found her."

"What? You have?" The fan girls and the DJs exclaimed in shock.

Already...? Lucia also heard his response and her heart began to gradually break in to small pieces. Oh no... but... but I want to be your tandem surfing partner, Kaito... Why was I too late? This is all your fault for not volunteering, Lucia! Now he'll end up falling in love with that new partner and I'll lose my chance for him- maybe even for good...

"Yeah, I have." Kaito repeated his response. "As of this morning."

"So," Gizmo continued with the short interview, "who's the lucky girl? Do any of your admirers know of her?"

"Hm... hard to say..." Kaito went on with his usual smooth tricks towards his media. "Why are you all interested all of a sudden when you should become more interested in my tandem surfing team after we win, right? The real surfing media become hyped and interested in a surfer after he wins a major tournament and boy- you get serious sponsors from all the major surfing companies from gear to board- not to mention major advertisements too! My partner and I, we haven't even started, we haven't surfed in front of the public yet, and most of all, we haven't won any contests and surf meets yet. You want to know more about our tandem pair? Wait until the end of the tournament."

"Well then!" CC cheered with a nervous grin on her face. "You got a point there, Mr. Doumoto! Very well then! We can't wait to see you and your mysterious tandem surfing partner rock at the tournament this coming month!"

After a few final words exchanged, the DJs led the fan girls out of the library park, considering that they were at the library. When the huge crowd disappeared, both Kaito and Lucia sighed in relief.

"So... you already found your partner, Kaito?" Lucia asked curiously, feeling rather nervous at what he was going to say. "Or did you just say that to drive those weird DJs away?"

Kaito leaned against the tree, resting. "Both."

Then he already found his new partner then! Well... there goes my chance at true love... Lucia sighed sadly and lowered her head. Before she can make her statement, Kaito beat her right then.

"Don't worry about surfing, Lucia. The only thing you need is to know how to swim. I heard you're one of the best swimmers at PE class in school, so... it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Lucia's eyes opened wide in shock and quickly turned her head towards him. "Wait... what were you saying? Are you telling me...?"

Kaito slightly blushed and smiled right at her. "Well... if you want to..."

"But Kaito... Why did you tell them you're... well..."

He slightly shook his head. "When I got to the library earlier I had a name that came in mind but when I got to the database search I didn't care about the name anymore. I don't have time to search for her and time is running out. I'm sorry if I seemed to be messing around with you earlier today, but after that dream... well... I realized I can't yearn for her anymore. So... what do you say, Lucia?"

Lucia could not help herself but give him a huge smile of content. Kaito! I... I can't believe it... it's like a dream come true... except it's not a dream. This is real!

"I'll talk to Taro and Rihito first before we make it official. Okay, Lucia?"

"Mm!" Lucia nodded immediately and instantly embraced him tightly to her from behind. "Kaito... I'm... I'm very honored to... compete with you..."

Kaito just chuckled and to Lucia's surprise, he placed his hand gently on to her embracing hands. While the two had their small moment at that point, the rest of their group earlier at the library were already finished with the archives and records searching. Rina, Subaru, Misao, and Hippo witnessed the two from a good distance, not just from witnessing but also eavesdropping.

"Oh, hell no..." Hippo mumbled his reaction to himself.

"Did Kaito just asked Lucia to be his tandem surfing partner...?" Misao asked curiously towards Subaru while her boyfriend continued to grin throughout the entire scene.

"Kaito Doumoto, you are the man, dude!" Subaru made his statement.

"Holy cow..." Rina chuckled and turned to Hippo. "Looks like I'm not the only one who has a second event to compete to."

"Well... he better not make her cry- or else he'll seriously pay!" Hippo glared right towards Kaito with a fist tightening on his right hand."

"Hippo, chill. He'll talk to Taro and Rihito first regarding the new tandem partner team before they make it official. I can see he is a very responsible person when it comes to things such as this."

Hippo still could not believe his eyes and ears that his older sister would end up surfing at one point of her life. Now this new tandem surfing partnership began to intrigue him.

"Dude..." Hippo mumbled that one single word as the four approached Lucia and Kaito. It was time for them to head out to town again and have their lunch.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

I recently got a job and I'll be starting on Monday at 3/30, meaning the fic updates will be a little later than the usual.

#1 – A betty is another surfer lingo for a female surfer girl. It's another variation of what a honey is, except it's specifically towards girls who can actually surf, not just surfer boys' girlfriends (or wanna-bes...).

#2 - Just a short explanation on Kanji (for those who aren't familiar with the Japanese writing system). On the scene where Taro explains to Rihito about the particular word (kai), he was talking about the Kanji for umi (海). The Kanji writing system is basically borrowed Chinese characters with more than one reading in each of them. There are two kinds of readings: kun-yomi (kun reading) and on-yomi (on reading). Kun-yomi readings is basically the standard Japanese reading for that character, while the on-yomi is the original Chinese reading at the time the character was introduced in to the system. In the case of 海, umi and mi would be the kun-yomi reading for that character and kai will be the on-yomi reading. The only time that you use the on-yomi reading for that character is when it is in combination of another character, although at times mi is also used (usually when it's used as a second character rather than the first, sometimes used in the beginning, depending on the situation).

Examples of the usage of 海 are below:

海 (umi) – ocean/sea (by itself)

七海 (nanami) – seven seas

海斗 (kaito) - several/many seas (I'm not sure about this one because the "to" character is actually used as a measurement unit for volume, so it can be used when you write something like 14 liters of water or 10 kegs of sake, so I'm kinda leaning in the lines of "several oceans/seas" since there are a lot of bodies of water existing throughout the earth. ^_^; )

海斗 (gaito) – Same as Kaito, slight reading/pronunciation variation (always common in Japanese). I think his name was written in katakanathough in the anime, but if it was written in Kanji, it'd probably be written the same way as Kaito's name.

海月 (mitsuki) – sea moon (Why did I give Taro Mitsuki's surf nick as "Sea-Moon"? :P)

While doing research of surfer lingo to apply to some of the scenes of the fanfic I also made a discovery. I'm not familiar with the Hawaiian language, but I also found kai to be part of general surfer lingo, most common in Hawaii and California. I've heard a few local surfers in the past with saying things like "When you're out there surfing the waves, you are one with the mighty kai!" but I'm not sure if it's still common. In Hawaiian, kai also means ocean/sea, just like in the Japanese onyomi reading for umi, and its usage also has a similar application to form new words (or names). For instance, I used the Hawaiian names Kainehe and Kaikane as the "surf nicks" for Gaito and Kaito (yeah, it's a spoiler, but if you haven't figured this one out from before then here you go). The meanings are the following:

Kainehe – whispering sea

Kaikane – strong & mighty sea

Taro was trying to tie in Kaito's name with his surf nick of Kaikane, though Rihito already knew which one is which among the tribe anyway. But then again, imagine that- the kai wordhappens to be yet another surfer lingo, not just a part of a name pertaining to the ocean! ^^;

More to come, obviously! Please keep the reviews coming! I really appreciate it! ^_^

RATED T for the VERY mild language and slight adult situations.

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch is © 2003 Pink Hanamori and Michiko Yokote. All songs used are © respected songwriters/owners. No copyright infringement intended.