Shoreshipping (Shizuka x Ryouta)
Shizuka loved the ocean...but only from afar. She loved walking along the shore, stepping among the tiny waves that washed up on the sands, but she would not go any farther. It reminded her too much of the day when she opened her eyes for the first time, and the first thing she saw was her brother being dragged down into the sea to his death in the cold, unfeeling, depthless ocean –
She shuddered, and shook the thoughts off. It was fine from here. The ocean was pretty and silvery from the shore. She liked it from here.
"Augh, watch out!"
Shizuka turned around – and a beach ball bounced off of her head.
"Aw, Ryouta, you hit her!"
"Hey dork, go apologize!"
"Gah, you guys, you were the ones that flung it at me so suddenly –"
Shizuka blinked a few times. It hadn't hurt; it was only a beach ball after all. But now a dark-haired, sun-tanned boy was running over to her, looking red with embarrassment. Shizuka glanced away to find the beach ball, and saw it floating on the waves. She picked it up and turned to face the sheepish looking boy.
"Oh, hey, sorry," he said, taking the ball from her. "My friends just threw it at me, and I just reacted. I didn't mean to aim it at you."
"Oh, no, it's fine," Shizuka said, smiling brightly. "It's only a beach ball, it didn't hurt."
"I'm still sorry," the boy said.
Shizuka laughed a little.
"My name is Shizuka Kawai. What's yours?"
"Me? Oh, I'm Ryouta Kajiki."
"It's nice to meet you."
"Y-yeah, nice to meet you too..."
Ryouta's face was slowly turning beet red.
"So, um...do you come to the beach often?"
Shizuka found a bit of color stealing into her cheeks. Ryouta was kind of handsome, now that she thought about it.
"Only occasionally," she said. "My brother used to take me a lot before our parents divorced."
"Oh," Ryouta said, as though not sure how to respond. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. Um...do you come a lot?"
"Yeah," Ryou said, and now he looked a bit more animated. "I come from a long line of fishermen, actually. Me and my friends were actually planning on going fishing."
"Oh, that sounds nice. Well, don't let me keep you then."
"Oh, right, yeah. Well, um..."
He started to turn. His face reddened a bit more, and then he turned abruptly to face Shizuka again.
"Um, would you like to come with? On the boat, I mean? To go fishing?"
Shizuka blinked. Now she was definitely blushing. Was he...asking her out? Oh, no, no, that couldn't be it, after all, his friends were along too.
"Um...I...well..." she stuttered.
And then she thought of the ocean. All around that boat, splashing against the sides, the depths going on beyond where she could think, where she was struggling once again to get to the surface with her heavy, waterlogged brother in tow –
"Is something wrong?" Ryouta asked, suddenly concerned.
Shizuka snapped out of it.
"Oh, I...I'm fine," she said quietly. "Um, thank you for the offer, but I'm...I'm a bit afraid of the ocean, you see...I don't think I could handle that."
She chanced a glance up at Ryouta, and found that he was staring at her as though dumbfounded.
"Afraid of the ocean? Really?"
"Sorry, I guess it's hard to understand," she said.
"Oh, no, I can definitely see where you're coming from. A lot of people are afraid of the ocean, even me, sometimes."
"Really? But you're a fisherman."
"Hey, the ocean's not nice sometimes. You've got to respect it."
When Shizuka looked up again, he was staring off into the wide expanse of the ocean.
"It looks calm now, but it can whip up into a frenzy in only a moment," he said. The wind picked up a little, causing Shizuka's bangs to blow into her face. "The depths and the spread go on for what seems like forever. Just about anything can be hiding in it."
"Right," Shizuka said, looking down. She was a little embarrassed about telling this guy about her fear, even though he seemed to understand.
"But yet...despite all the scary things about it, it's really amazing, isn't it? A thousand years ago, the ocean was here. A thousand years from now, it will probably still be here. If you dip your hand into it, you're instantly connected to every continent in the world. With a boat and a few navigational tools, you can go absolutely anywhere."
Shizuka looked up. A smile had grown on Ryouta's face, calm, deep, and peaceful. Shizuka blushed slightly. He seemed so deep in thought, in the idea he was speaking. She felt a little flutter in her heart at his words. He blinked, and then blushed slightly.
"Oh, sorry, I got carried away."
"Oh, no, it's okay," Shizuka said. "Actually..."
She clasped her hands in front of her, ducking her head.
"You kind of make me...not want to be afraid of the ocean..."
Their eyes met for a moment, both faces slightly red.
"Um, well, maybe not today, then," he said, as the voices of his friends sounded across the beach. "I'll...see you again, I hope."
"Yeah, me too," Shizuka said.
Ryouta turned and started to jog away. Shizuka ran a hand through her hair, but the wind blew it out of place once more. She turned and started back towards him. Then a voice caught her attention, and she glanced back.
Ryouta was waving to her from far away, and then he cupped his hands around his mouth.
"Kawai-san! I'm going to break your fear of the ocean, you hear!"
Shizuka blushed even harder, and smiled.
"You can't stay on the shore forever – I'm gonna show you what you're missing someday!"
Shizuka smiled even wider. She raised a hand to wave at him.
For just a moment, the ocean seemed happy...
A/N: I actually like Ryouta a surprising amount. I'm not sure I support this pairing, but it was cute while it lasted. Next is Shivershipping (Anzu x Shizuka x Mana).
