She had swum a long way now, and knew not where she was still. But the water had become warmer, shallower, better lit. At this point, however, she did not care where she was, she would simply search for the others. Finally, sea met shore. Here, large waves broke on black sand, and a variety of colorful vegetation grew on the volcanic island.

What was that? Someone's voice? The red mermaid quickly hid behind a rock.

"Dad" A small voice asked. "I thought we were going surfing today!"
"No, your mother wanted to visit this beach. She's never seen a black sand beach."

Humans? Thought the mermaid. Huh. So I must have come to an inhabited island.

She changed into a human. Her red tail transformed into legs, and her hair turned brown and shoulder length, in a partial ponytail. The mermaid now stood as a human with blue eyes, wearing a white, sleeveless hoodie with black lining and denim shorts, with tennis shoes.

Now that she stepped out from behind the rock, she saw many people swimming in the water as well as on shore. There were a few people that caught her eye, however. People standing on long, ellipse-shaped boards riding on top of the waves. What the heck are they doing?

"Watching the surfers?" a voice asked her. She turned, a boy, about her age, grinned at her. "Surfers?" the girl asked. "What are these 'surfers'?"

"You're kidding! You don't know what surfing is?" Shocked, his face showed his hope she was joking. But she shook her head no. "Man, I can't believe you're in Hawaii if you don't know what surfing is."

So I'm in Hawaii…She thought. If I remember correctly, the pink and yellow pearl kingdoms are near here. Perfect.

As she looked back out at the sea, she felt a twinge of a feeling she had not felt in a long time. "Whatever this 'surfing' may be, it just looks…so…so…"

"Fun?" The boy asked.

"Yeah, that's it. It looks like fun!" She smiled.

"We-l-l, it is, so why don't you give it a try? There's a surf shop that will give you lessons not far from here. Wanna go?" He asked in response.

She thought over it for a moment. "Sure!"

Sometime later, she found herself waiting in line at a surf shop. In the end she had to borrow a life guard swimsuit, which was ok with her. And that strange guy had payed for the class for her. But there was one little problem...

"We're going to get wet?!" She panicked.

"You really are clueless, aren't you? Of course we're going to get wet. You can't surf if you're not in the ocean." Her newfound friend told her.

"Uh--yeah. I guess that's true isn't it?" Laughing lightly, the girl sweatdropped. The boy slapped his forehead. "I er--need to go to the restroom. Hold my place in line, 'kay?" She told him, then dashed to the restroom and safety.

Clack.

After the bathroom door was locked, she slid down the wall, sighing.

What an idiot I am. She thought. Of course I'm going to have to get wet.

Something clinked in her back pocket as she hit the tile floor. Suddenly she looked up. She searched around her pocket.

Yes! I still have it. Great!

The mermaid pulled a silver anklet out of her pocket. She held it to her pearl, and both glowed, harmonizing with each other. The anklet turned red. She put it around her ankle, and it quickly shrank to tightly fit to her leg.

She stepped out of the restroom and back into the line. A man looked at her from over the counter. "Are you signing up for the class? he asked. "Yes" She smiled. "What is your name? he asked. "My name...its Miyu*"

"Can you sign here?" the man asked.

"Sure." Miyu signed her name: 美結...

"Great! The bus is over to the left of this building."

When she walked out, the boy from the earlier was waiting for her. "You..."

"Hmm?" Miyu asked.

"You're japanese?" He asked.

"Er...yeah. I guess so."

"Me too. Say, if you're Japanese, why don't you have much of an accent when you speak English?"

"I know so many languages, it doesn't really matter anymore."

"Ah."

"So what's your name?"

"My name's Ryou*."

"Ah, nice to--I guess I've already met you, so...nice to meet you, Ryou."

She hadn't really thought about the boy before, but now that she knew him, she took a moment to remember what he looked like. Short brown hair, darker than hers and more of a true brown, and blue-green eyes, rather tan. He wasn't much taller than herself, and din't look much older. There was something, she couldn't tell what though, that somehow bonded them together. Not love, but related in some sort of way, even though she had never met him in her life until now.

The bus ride was noisy, and as they drove away, Miyu wondered why she was taking this course. I got distracted, I guess. I do this a lot. This is exactly why that happened back then. I should be trying to find the other mermaids.

"That's the way, Miyu!"

Miyu was being cheered on by the overexcited instructor as she paddled her board on one of the waves that was rolling in towards shore.

I can do this.

As the wave crested, she stood up on the board, shakily riding the wave. Suddenly, the wave slowed. Miyu fell into the water. However, the magic had done its job well. Even as the mist billowed up around her and she submerged, she remained in her human form. Miyu was still able to breath underwater, but it was much harder to swim. At last she reached the surface. She breathed in heavily, as she was tired from the swim. Miyu then picked up her board and carried it back out into the waves. Crawling on top, she waited until she felt a signal.

Now!

She paddled on the wave, and when the pressure built up enough under he board, she carefully stood up. Not hard at all, if it's like this.

Miyu waited until the wave slowed to hop off the board. Maybe I'll try some harder waves. I have an advantage, after all. She pulled her board to an area of the beach with larger waves.

Just wait until I can feel the wave about to come...

...

...Here it comes.

The wave had not even begun to form yet, but she could tell it was a good wave to surf, and that it was going to gave her enough time to paddle before it crested.

Perfect.

Somehow, larger waves were easier for her to deal with, but it was unusual that this would be true for a first-time surfer.

Unless you're a water creature.

Miyu was already surfing as if she had much practice. Not quite pro yet, but well on her way there. She was not the only one...

After a few more waves, Miyu toppled off her board for what felt like the fiftieth time. She wiped the saltwater from her eyes, but not that she needed to. Not far away, Ryou was trying out the same waves she had ridden--but doing better. A twinge of jealousy filled her mind.

Arrgh! Why is he doing better? Yes, I know this is his second time to this class, but HE'S HUMAN AND I'M A MERMAID!

Miyu dragged her board back to shore and decided to take a short break. She watched her new nemisis as he surfed the waves almost perfectly to her, while everyone seemed to be cheering him on.

"Yes, come on, you can do it!"

"Here comes a bigger wave! Lets see him ride it!"

"WOOHOO! Look at him go!"

"Atta boy, Ryou!"

"Aww--he fell."

Ryou, drenched with seawater, came back to shore to rest as well as Miyu had a minute ago. Miyu had just gotten up to go back out. The two met eyes. It was not a love glance, however.

In fact, sparks seemed to be flying between the two's eyes.

"Oh, you're good. There's no denying that..." Ryou said, breaking the silence. He smirked. "It's just you'll never be better than me."

"You--you..." Miyu stuttered.

"What?" Ryou asked.

"ARROGANT JERK!" Miyu replied.

"Competitive much?" Ryou asked, trying to stay looking calm.

"I guess so." Miyu grinned at her rival's dwindling ability to keep his composure.

"Whoa, whoa whoa. Come on, guys, let's settle this. How about a little competition? Three rounds. Your classmates judge. Got it?" The instructor asked.

Miyu and Ryou turned. "Got it." They said in unison.

"Round one: Blue, win!"

"Damn." Miyu grimaced as Ryou smirked.

"Having a little trouble, girly?" teased Ryou.

"Shut up!" Miyu retaliated.

"Round two, Red is up!"

Miyu ran with her board and paddled out to the bigger waves. Oh yeah? I'll show you.

A large wave produced a strong reaction in her body, pulsing as the wave built up energy to crest. Miyu swam fiercely to catch up with the wave and stood up. Now she turned, avoiding the water that was crashing to the surface behind her. It felt incredible to her, this feeling when surfing. Finally, the wave slowed, and she hopped off her board near shore.

Ryou paddled out with his board to the same area. His timing was remarkable, he couldn't have been better for his skill level. However, luck was with Miyu today.

"Round two: Red, win!"

It was quite fun seeing the look on Ryou's face. But he soon recovered from the shock.

"Round three, Red is up!"

Miyu knew she had to do something really impressive to win now that it was tied. She waited, this time, until a slightly bigger pulse came her way. Like before, she stood up easily, but now she attempted a trick. Miyu turned her board and twisted her board. Suddenly she found herself feeling unsupported. Struggling to regain her balance, she strayed from the wave for a moment. After starting up again she rode the wave to the end, feeling not so great about that try.

Ryou was already paddling out, aiming for a wave of similar size. The wave heightened, he stood up, and when it crested, Miyu gasped.

How the heck did he do the same trick without losing balance?

When Ryou came ashore, the instructor announced, "Well, we have 2 wins for blue and 1 for red. We have our champion!" He held Ryou's hand in the air."Sorry. Better luck next time, Miyu."

Ouch. Miyu had lost on her home field.

How did this happen?

How did everyone like this first official chapter?

YES, I know it seems pointless. But don't worry, it'll all make sense later.

Translations:

Miyu/美結= Beautiful bond

Ryou/涼= Cool, Refreshing

Oh yeah, expect to see some characters from the series soon ^^~

Please Rate+Review!