Whoop.
That was a long period between updates.
Anyway, enjoy Umi Chapter 6! I do not own Mermaid Melody by the way! But I'm sure you guys know that by now!
Snooooooore.
"I swear to god Kinoh if you don't wake up I will drag you into the VIP box and throw you out the window in the middle of a game" a deep voice sighed, kicking the girl who was trapped in a very loud slumber.
"Maaa, Hiromu?" The girl asked, waking up and staring into the deep red eyes, covered with glasses.
"I made you some coffee Kinoh, so wake up as soon as you can and meet me in the town square" Hiromu told Kinoh as she left the girl's apartment room.
"H-hey? What time is it? And when did you get back from the Orange Mermaid's kingdom?!" Kinoh exclaimed as her boss and best friend walked out the door.
"I'll tell you that later! Just wake up!" Hiromu yelled from down the corridor. Kinoh sighed and picked up plain white her coffee cup.
'Always so busy that one…those princesses better find those other princesses soon, or Hiromu will die from stress" Kinoh thought to herself, sipping the almost cold coffee.
After throwing her long myrtle green trench coat over her wrinkled work clothes from the previous day and slipping some thongs on, Kinoh ran outside her apartment and into the centre of the town. The entire town was bathed in an orange sheen from the setting sun.
"I can tell why Hiromu was so impatient in waking me up, I must've been asleep for hours…" Kinoh thought, flicking her short myrtle green hair back and walking over to where she spotted Hiromu.
"So, when did you get back?" Kinoh asked Hiromu, sitting on the fountain edge like Hiromu was.
"A few hours ago" Hiromu replied, adjusting her business suit's tie. Kinoh raised an eyebrow to what Hiromu was wearing, but didn't say anything about it.
"You should stop trying to look like a boy Kinoh" Hiromu said, catching a look at Kinoh's gender ambiguous outfit.
"Speak for yourself" Kinoh said, leading Hiromu to laugh and stand up.
"Do you want to know why I'm here and not looking after Seira?" Hiromu asked Kinoh, who nodded slightly.
"One reason is because I miss my part time job at the Basketball stadium" Hiromu started "Two is because I need to be on land for the operation's purpose…and three is because I missed you!" Hiromu laughed. Kinoh sighed and look at her friend.
"Quit hitting on me" Kinoh said with, trying to sound somewhat serious, but her slight smile gave it away that she didn't mean it. Hiromu laughed at that and sat back down.
"Today a mermaid turned into bubbles right here, as I was told" Hiromu said, her face turning serious. Kinoh felt her stomach go funny and shivers ran down her spine.
"Two girls were the only ones who stepped forward and completed the girl's wish, to be taken to her father" Hiromu continued.
"They were girls from the operation, right?" Kinoh asked.
"Obviously" Hiromu replied back "anyway, the girl was apparently called 'Chiho Doumoto'"
"Kaito Doumoto's daughter?" Kinoh asked, surprised. Hiromu nodded.
"That is a very vital lead, considering his relationship with Lucia, and the fact that he has children after Lucia disappeared, hinting that the woman could still be alive and in this town…" Hiromu started
"No, Lucia isn't in this town" Kinoh said, as she cut off Hiromu "The only person that is possibly a mermaid, other than you and Chiho, is Chiho's little sister and Houko"
"Houko?"
"Houko, from the cake shop near the ocean" Kinoh said, surprised that Hiromu didn't know the famous cake lady "Her adopted son Kojirou tells everyone the way they met was when Kojirou saw her staring at the ocean for 10 minutes". Hiromu raised her eyebrow and nodded.
"We should ask Houko, is her shop still open?" Hiromu asked
"No, it closes much earlier on Saturdays" Kinoh said, pushing herself off the fountain's edge and onto the street "I suggest we find out where the two princesses are and ask them…"
"No, we can't do that!" Hiromu exclaimed "If those two find out that I'm kind of stalking them, then the operation will fall apart!"
"Oh, is there some part of the operation that you keep secret from them?"
"Yes, there is, because if they know that then they won't have the courage to trust me in anything and I could possibly be kicked out of the Mermaid Kingdom forever!" Hiromu said bitterly. Kinoh raised her eyebrows at the last statement.
"Why is that a bad thing? Why are you so attached to a Kingdom that isn't even your home?" Kinoh asked, crossing her arms.
"I have my reasons" Hiromu sighed, straightening her tie again and walking toward Kinoh's apartment.
"I'm hungry; do you have any fresh food?" Hiromu asked, turning her head to face Kinoh.
"Yes, I have some carrots and lettuce" Kinoh replied, catching up with Hiromu, who was busy rolling her eyes.
"Yum, salad" Hiromu muttered sarcastically.
Suzumi looked down at her microwave dinner that was just placed in front of her and sighed. Kaito looked up from his dinner and laughed nervously.
"I haven't had a chance to send Shizu to the shops for ages, so this is all I have, sorry…" He said, earning a raised eyebrow from the aqua haired girl across the table from him.
"Why can't you do it?" she asked, dipping her fork into the mashed potato.
"Because I'm…kind of hiding…"
"Hiding?!"
"Yes, ever since Lucia disappeared I don't really want to reveal myself to the public, because the man that forced her to disappear could still be in this town, and I don't want to disappear and leave Shizu all by herself" Kaito replied sheepishly. Suzumi nodded and continued eating her dinner.
"Where did Sakura go anyway?" Kaito asked, looking out the small window of his apartment.
"Oh, to visit her father" Suzumi replied "And she was going to see where Shizu was". Kaito laughed at the last statement.
"She shouldn't bother, Shizu will come home when she feels like it" Kaito replied.
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"Yes, but I have faith in her to return safely…it's all I can do when she's upset…"
"Why aren't you upset about Chiho?"
"Because…nah, I won't be sappy about that"
"C'mon, tell me!"
"Because I know she's in a better place"
"With Lucia?"
"Lucia?" Kaito exclaimed "What Chiho said before was a misunderstanding! Lucia isn't dead, Chiho was talking about that from where she is now she can see where Lucia is!"
"So where is Lucia?" Suzumi asked, completely changing the subject.
"I told you before, she's in hiding like the rest of the Princesses" Kaito replied "She's probably changed her name or changed her appearance…I know she's still alive because she send birthday presents to the girls every year"
"Oh" Suzumi said simply, finishing her meal.
"By the way, if you're looking for a place to stay, a room down the hall, 208, isn't being used, and I usually keep my stuff in there…" Kaito said, taking a key out of his pocket and placing it on the table.
"Really? Thanks!" Suzumi exclaimed, taking the key and bowing to the orange haired man in front of her before running off to the empty room. When she arrived, she was amazed by the amount of surfing gear that was stored there. The walls were lined with surf boards and the floor was littered with sand. There was a knock on the door and Kaito walked in the room.
"The bed is in the cupboard…have you ever slept on a futon?" Kaito asked, walking over to the cupboard.
"Nope, I've only been on land for four hours"
"Okay, would you mind getting the broom and cleaning up all this sand while I make the futon?"
"Okay, does Sakura need one?" Suzumi asked, picking up the broom from the corner of the room.
"If she does, I'll make her one…" Kaito replied, unfolding the futon in a sand free place and began to set up the sheets.
"You don't need to worry about that, I'll make it for her…"
"No, Shizu and Chiho were so independent; it's nice to do something for someone"
Suzumi was left in silence again. She never met anyone like him, she couldn't put her finger on why, but he seemed so different.
"Ah! Dad, where are you?" a faint voice called from down the hall.
"I'm in the extra room Shizu!" Kaito called, neatening the pillow and standing up. The thumping of Shizu's running was heard until she stopped in the doorway of the room.
"I've calmed down dad…Kojirou helped me" Shizu said simply. Suzumi was stunned at the lack of grief this family was having over Chiho's death.
"That's fantastic! And did you see the blonde haired girl who took Chiho home?" Kaito asked, walking over to Shizu.
"Yes, she said she had been looking for me and told me to go home right away" Shizu said in a monotone voice
"Do you know where she's spending the night?" Suzumi asked, continuing her sweeping job.
"Hmm? Yes, she's spending it with her father" Shizu replied, keeping her voice monotone. Kaito sighed.
"Well, the sun's gone down, I think it's best you do your homework now Shizu" Kaito said, ushering Shizu out of the room.
"How old is Shizu?" Suzumi asked, before Shizu was out of earshot.
"I'm nine" Shizu's muffled voice answered instead of Kaito. Kaito looked at the door and sighed.
"Has she always spoken that…blankly?" Suzumi asked, searching for the right word.
"Yes, she has" Kaito replied, looking somewhat disappointed that he had to tell Suzumi that "She's had quite a…dark personality for the past few years…probably thanks to Lucia 'abandoning' her" he sighed.
"Anyway, you're free to roam the town; you don't have to stay here" Kaito said, opening the door and leaving the room. Suzumi caught the door as it was closing and ran down the hall, down the flight of stairs and into the warm air of the night. Suzumi looked around, and then tried to trace her steps from back when they were taking Chiho to the apartment.
"I wonder how Roselle and everyone is coping back….down there" Suzumi asked the stars.
"Ha! I owned you! I owned you bad!" laughed Yukina, knocking over Roselle's king with her knight. Roselle then picked up all over her beaten chess pieces and threw them at Yukina, but all they did was start to float up towards the high ceiling of the centre of the Orange Castle. Roselle let them float up and hit her head on the small table they were playing on.
"That was your second try…you perfect Mary Sue…" Roselle cried, leading Yukina to laugh, and then stop in confusion.
"What's a Mary Sue?" she asked.
"Never mind…Mary Sue…" Roselle said, getting up and smirking.
"It's Yuki! Yuki I tell you!" Yuki cried.
Senna and Mayumi looked at the girls and sighed.
"It hasn't even been a day since they left and we're already bored" Mayumi sighed, looking at the rising black chess pieces "It feels like days since I woke Suzumi up and told her Seira was here this morning"
"It feels like hours instead of 'minutes', like Hiromu told us, since that advisor left…" Senna said, swimming over to where Roselle was sitting before she got up to get her chess pieces.
"Don't worry, she has random disappearances every now and then, she'll be back when she feels like it" Seira laughed, looking up from her book. The Princesses raised their eyebrows, but they continued talking about what they were talking about before.
From the highest window, which was pretty much on the ceiling, a young man was surveying the room below him. His long red hair floated in all different directions and his light blue eyes were squinting to see through the fog of his goggles
"She's not there…" he muttered through his breathing mask. He looked around at the kingdom below him, and then he found the roof with his legs and pushed off towards the surface.
"Worthless girl…" he thought furiously as he flew towards the surface "She's supposed to be with the other Princesses…"
Well. Did yoy enjoy the character development chapter :D
Anyway, soon I'll be assigned a hellava lot of assignments for Highschool, so this might be the last update for a while. I might slip an update in there, but from this week on my only computer time will have to be for homework or checking emails/forums ect.
So yeah, you can review and flame as much as you want now!