Chapter IV: Surface! Magical Mermaid from Hanada City!
A/N: Trivia placed at the end of some chapters are for story support and general information. If there is any conflict with the trivia with the facts, please notify the author through PM ASAP to make necessary changes.
"I can't believe you would do such a thing, Haruka (May)." Kanata (Kelly) began scolding her friend the next day. "You were practically out of control yesterday."
"I'm really sorry, Kanata. I failed to control myself." Haruka felt very guilty and sad.
"If I hadn't appeared you would've attracted too much attention. Sometimes I worry about you."
"It won't happen again. I promise."
"I hope what you're saying is true."
Kanata was acting like a big sister to Haruka after what she witnessed yesterday afternoon. The brunette girl really let herself go and placed her crush under heavy submission. She didn't know how Satoshi (Ash) will now react to her now that her first impression seemed to be ruined. She needed to give Satoshi some elbow room at least to forget their little "Love in the Pavement". But a single mistake won't be enough to bring her down. Cruel fate was going to need some serious firepower to defeat Haruka. Unfortunately, cruel fate may just have found itself a new object of manifestation.
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During lunchtime, they decided to eat in the cafeteria for a change. Haruka has always been a fan of different kinds of noodles including the three-minute instant ones. Ramen never tasted the best anywhere but the school cafeteria as reiterated by Satoshi during their meeting in the first day of high school. Kanata settled for the traditional curry with rice—not really her favorite but it was enough to satisfy a grumbling tummy. It was all for a change of pace and an adventure to try something new.
"When Satoshi meant cafeteria noodles are the best, he wasn't kidding kamo." Haruka said.
"I'm not surprised. The head chef turns out to be one of the best noodle makers in the region." Kanata replied.
"I'm a sucker for noodles…and I will always be."
They were about to eat when their attention over their meal suddenly shifted to a nearby conversation. Three girls were sitting down right next to them; possibly seniors. Normally they wouldn't eavesdrop but the subject matter somehow caught their undivided attention.
"Did you see the orange-haired girl in swimming class today?"
"Yeah, she's very good—better than a triathlon runner."
"I heard she came all the way from Hanada City (Cerulean City). If you ask me, the distance between here and Minamo City (Lilycove City) is far enough."
"I wouldn't expect anything less from a junior. Plus, she's the talk of the junior boys and the envy of all junior girls."
"I wish I could be like her…beauty and brains all in one package."
When they heard almost everything they needed to hear, the noodle topic was discarded to make way for a new kind of topic.
"Wow…beauty and brains; I think I have the beauty…at least some of it. But the brains part; I'm not really sure, kamo." Haruka admitted.
"They must be talking about Arisawa-senpai."
"Who…?"
Kanata dropped her spoonful of curry, in which it was about to land inside her mouth, upon hearing a "who". "Haruka, don't you know about Arisawa-senpai?"
"Um…not at all…is she that important?"
"Haruka, that's plain blasphemy!" Kanata slammed her hands flat on the table. "Everybody knows Arisawa Kasumi (Misty Waterflower)!"
"Okay, okay, I get your point! But who the heck is she?!"
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One surefire way of introducing the orange-haired junior to the brunette girl is by watching the swimming club practice after class. Kanata tugged Haruka towards the campus swimming pool: at least four to seven feet deep and surrounded by a fence a few feet away to prevent Peeping Toms from moving in for the kill. Of course, the area was strictly off-limits to non-members but the girls were given access of a view of the pool from the rooftop. Kanata gave Haruka her portable binoculars and pointed to her brunette friend who she was referring to a few hours ago. With the help of the binoculars, Haruka located the subject of interest: an orange-haired junior high school girl with a body envied by others of the same gender and worth the opposite gender's precious time.
"So the rumors were actually true, kamo." Haruka said.
"Haruka, it's not a RUMOR!" Kanata almost shrieked…and almost gave away their position to security. "It's true! The evidence is right there on your sights."
"She's so beautiful and athletic. I sure hope she doesn't bump into Satoshi, kamo."
"Everybody knows her, Haruka. Last year, she topped the finals with flying colors. She even managed to grab the gold in last year's interschool sports festival in swimming. But that's nothing compared to the real mystery behind her."
"What do you mean?" Haruka took off the binoculars and turned away from Kasumi for a moment to look at her friend.
"There are rumors going around that she is actually a mermaid in disguise. They say that her legs instantaneously turn into a tail when they come in contact with water."
"Kanata, you're scaring me kamo."
"Come on, don't take rumors seriously. They tend to be half-true and whole lies. Let's go home; I'm tired."
"Anything's better than listening to your creepy stories."
"What's the matter, Haruka? Are you scared of a pretty mermaid who's going to take your beloved Satoshi away?"
Instead of being afraid of that possibility, the brunette girl got so much annoyed she dragged Kanata up to the edge of the rooftop floor and threatened to drop her several feet into the rough ground unless she stops involving Satoshi with Ms. Almost Perfect (since nobody's perfect anyway).
"Kanata, I won't have second thoughts about dropping you from this height." Haruka said indignantly. "I wonder if I could still identify your remains afterwards."
"Okay, okay, you win! I'll stop! Just pull me back up, pretty please?!" Kanata began panicking as she dangled several feet above the ground with her friend's grasp keeping her away from a one-way trip to the hospital morgue. Having sworn to stop, Haruka immediately pulled Kanata back up to the safe zone. Kanata had never seen her friend so pissed off.
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The next day, the two best friends were on their way to school together when they noticed something different in the lake along their merry way. They could've sworn that they saw Kasumi taking a cool dip in the lake. Of course, the lake was not actually off-limits and it didn't contain any funny stuff like nuclear waste or anything close to being highly radioactive. They just wondered how the orange-haired junior finds time to cool off just as soon as the gates were about to close.
But soon they discover something that was a bigger issue than reaching school before closing time.
"AAAH…! A-Arisawa-senpai is…is really…" Haruka couldn't believe her eyes. Her shriek almost gave away her hiding spot behind the bushes.
"A mermaid…" Kanata added. "The rumors were really true."
"Rumors…?! I thought you said it was impossible!"
"Well, that's what I thought. Don't blame me for the misinformation."
Unfortunately, Kasumi caught sight of the two in hiding and called out one of her Pokemon.
"Hitodemon (Staryu), use Water Gun on those bushes!"
A jet of water was released from the topmost point of the star-shaped Pokemon. The attack hit its target; not only drenching both of them in water but also forcing them to bring themselves out in hiding. For starters, they've seen too much about Kasumi's little secret. The mermaid jumped out of the water and, strangely enough, landed on her two feet which used to be her tail a few minutes ago.
"Who are you two? Why were you spying on me?" Kasumi interrogated them very sternly.
"Well, I wouldn't call it spying; Arisawa-senpai." Kanata tried talking her way out of the interrogation. "We were just on our way to school when we saw you by accident, that's all."
"Nice try but you're not getting your way out of this so easily."
"W-W-What did we do wrong? We just happen to see you on our way to school—"
"Hitodemon, use Water Gun again. This time, set it to full power."
"Waaaaaaah…! Please have mercy, kamo!" Haruka and Kanata screamed in unison (the "kamo" part came from Haruka alone); embracing one another and bracing for impact. Just when they were about to drown in their sorrows, Satoshi arrived in the nick of time and put a stop to what it seemed to be the execution part.
"Kasumi, stop it!" He yelled.
"S-Satoshi…" Haruka let out a sigh of relief and a smile.
"It's about time you came!" Kanata shouted.
"Kasumi let them go. They're my friends."
"Are they?" Kasumi snapped. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry you two. You were hiding in the bushes so I thought…I've done it again. Hitodemon, return…"
"Sorry about that, you two." Satoshi apologized. "Kasumi has the tendency to be excessively aware of her surroundings…not to mention spies."
Haruka jumped towards him and gave him a tight hug of love while she cried and wept. She had never been so glad to see Satoshi in the most unexpected place before.
"Haruka, everything's alright now." He patted her head. "There's no need to be scared anymore."
"Oh Satoshi, I'm glad you came. I was so terrified, kamo." Haruka cried even more.
"Don't push your luck, Satoshi." Kanata stood up. "If I know Haruka, she's just faking it."
"Huh?" He noticed that his affectionate friend stopped crying. The brunette girl raised her head and looked at Satoshi's eyes. Her eyes were as clear as day.
"Gotcha…" She jumped slightly forward and kissed her beloved's lips abruptly.
"H-Haruka, you're out of control again!" Kanata yelled; pulling her infatuated friend away from Satoshi.
TO BE CONTINUED
Kamo! Trivial Trivia #3: The word "kamo" acts like an involuntary extension word in the event Haruka feels certain emotions (e.g. anxiety or excitement). In other words, it's kind of a habit to her to add the word given the emotions in some of her lines. This kind of catch phrase helps the character gain popularity among his/her viewers. According to some sources, there is no accurate definition of the word "kamo" (according to one fanatic source) but as mentioned before, it has something to do with the feeling of either fulfillment or nervousness. You'll probably notice the word being used since the first chapter. A good trick to understand this is to think that the lines are spoken in Japanese so it doesn't sound very awkward.