Mermaid Melody Pitchi Pitchi Pitch Fan Fiction ❯ Ride the Wild Surf ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

RIDE THE WILD SURF
a Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Fanfiction

by Adrimarie

 

CHAPTER 2

 

I have watched you from the shore

Standing by the ocean's roar

Do you love me

Do you, surfer boy?

 

Lucia had no care in the world when the rabid fan girls of the boy of her dreams occupying the edge of the beach, watching their beloved idol surfer boy rip his way through the raging wild surf and making history of being a part of the day the beaches of Nijibe emerged the largest, turbulent surf. It was also the perfect time that plans for holding a brand-new surfing tournament here in Nijibe would actually go through with so many approvals and sponsorships. Though still unannounced with the exception of professional surfers and surfing enthusiasts those who knew began to prepare for that big event.

 

While Hanon and Rina continued to watch and cheered on the surfers ripping these huge waves like this was their ultimate ride of their lifetime. It was not until almost the entire population of Nijibe arrived at the beach that sent Lucia back to the rocks again but she did not mind at all. She always enjoyed watching the surfers, most especially Kaito Doumoto, from afar and simply let her imagination wild. Being hidden behind the rocks also gave her a lot of advantages: one being no one else throughout town would figure that she is a hidden admirer of Kaito Doumoto and second being she can quietly sing a song dedicated to him. One of Lucia's hidden talents aside from spending her time weaving friendship bracelets and bead rings was coming up with her own songs, lyrics and composition, right out of her own head. At the moment she got herself lost in her cloudy world with the perfect picture of Kaito Doumoto riding his wave and doing various somersaults that proved his right to be a champion surfer any other surfer may fear.

 

We could ride the surf together

While our love would grow

With our dear friends you could take me

Everywhere you go

 

So I say from me to you

I will make your dreams come true

Do you love me

Do you, surfer boy?

 

While humming the tune of the song she quietly sang her tranced cloudy world suddenly disappeared when Kaito reached land with smooth cleanliness. Lucia found herself distracted right when the fan girls as well as his fellow surfer friends crowd around him. It was not just because that was Kaito himself that caused the enthusiastic rage of the spectators but the fact that the entire team and the town they represent have full confidence that they will own the upcoming First Annual Regional Surf Scenes Tournament.

 

Still, the crowding and the ravishing of the hardcore fan girls all over Kaito Doumoto did not bother her at all. She knew that he deserved all the attention because he earned it, and that was another one of the qualities she loved about him. He worked hard to get to the top of the surfing world in addition to his own studies in school. Even when an embarrassing moment had to happen in front of him he still kept is calm and cool composure. He was also openhearted to those who wanted to have a word with him and would not mind take some time off to spend a few moments with that person. Those were a few of the qualities that Hanon also liked about Kaito but failed to respect those qualities during her one-week girlfriend period with him. No wonder she only had a limit of one week. Lucia continued to smile while making herself comfortable at her rocky hiding spot, sighing at the godly sight of Kaito Doumoto from the distance.

 

In the meantime the Rainbowside Surf Tribe surfer boys gently pushed the girls out of the way so Kaito can have some room for him to return to the sand. Once he found room he met up with his twin brother Gaito while Daichi and Kengo warned the fan girls that they will be having a short meeting and they needed to be alone. Rina and Hanon noticed their movement and decided to leave the scene to look for Lucia.

 

As the boys gathered using their surfboards to build their own small meeting room Gaito reached for his messenger bag and took out a folder with some documents inside. Their small meeting immediately proceeded.

 

“Okay--- first annual Regional Surf Scenes Tournament, guys,” Gaito began the meeting. “It used to be known as the Regional Surfing Championships Tournament but they expanded it this time.”

 

“Expanded it?” Masahiro questioned curiously. “What do you mean?”

 

“Well surfing is no longer the only event involved in this particular tournament,” Gaito answered directly. “It's going to be a lot difficult and we only got about two months to get ourselves ready. We have to expand our representation for Nijibe.”

 

“In other words,” Kaito added along, “this new tournament doesn't limit to just surfing competitions anymore. I read the documents myself earlier today. It's gonna be really tough.”

 

“Well,” Nagisa spoke, “what exactly do we need? You said expanded, not changed, right? What's the new stuff?”

 

“I'm about to get to that.” Gaito removed the documents from the folder and read the important points from the overview page. “We need a team of three female surfers, a six-member tandem surfer team, a surf band, and one beach babe who will be our entry to the Beach Girl Pageant.”

 

The entire surf tribe exclaimed in shock to hear the requirements to participate. “What the hell? We can't have all that!” Nagisa exclaimed in slight frustration. “We don't know any girl who can actually surf... and we don't even know anybody who is a part of a band who plays surf rock or beach songs or whatever... though we won't have a problem with looking for one beach babe for the pageant and all but.... what the heck is a tandem surfer team?”

 

“Easy,” Masahiro answered. “Six-member tandem surfer team, which means three couples--- three girls, three guys. In other words, pair surfing.”

 

“Pair surfing?” Daichi and Kengo curiously asked.

 

“Pair surfing, dudes. One couple per surfboard. They do all these crazy tricks like figure skating except their skates is the surfboard and the ice rink is the ocean.”

 

Both Daichi and Kengo turned to each other with slight panic in their eyes. “We're dead!”

 

Kaito sighed and shook his head, disagreeing with the requirements. He turned to his twin brother with his concern. “G, we can't do this, man. We don't have enough people or resources to actually participate in this new surf scenes tournament thing. I don't think we'll succeed with just entering the tournament itself.”

 

Gaito slammed his fist on the sand and answered his twin. “Kaito, do you have any idea what other teams are going to participate here? Seiyo Valley, that's who.”

 

Masahiro raised an eyebrow right after hearing the town name of Seiyo Valley from Gaito. “Seiyo Valley... don't tell me--- that dude... the West Regional Champion dude... what's his name again?”

 

“I know,” Kaito answered, resting himself on the sand. “Kousuke Sakiya.”

 

“Yeah! Him!” Nagisa exclaimed. “I know you're being all good sport with Sakiya, Kaito, but his ego is larger than his surfboard, seriously! I'm sure he's gonna be there too looking for another rematch. When is he going to realize that you kick his ass anytime in those major tournaments, man? He needs to retire, seriously! And remember the last time we ran in to him? The Southern championships, right? He tried to even hit on our babes--- Hanon, Ayaka, Mika--- what's up with that? We gotta protect our babes from dudes like him!”

 

“Well then,” Masahiro spoke, “do you have any game plans in mind, Gaito?”

 

“The reason why I mentioned Seiyo Valley was because of this. A few weeks ago while I was out on my date with Sara I ran in to Sakiya at that restaurant. He actually thought I was Kaito and threw a challenge against me. His town of Seiyo Valley wants to challenge Nijibe--- meaning us, obviously--- to this tournament. He wants to see what else we're really good at besides a champion all-male surfing team. I was going to mention it to you guys but I thought he was joking around. I didn't realize he was serious when we ran in to each other again a few days ago at the mall. He still thinks I'm Kaito and he mentioned it again. I had no choice but to accept his challenge because Sara happens to be the prize---”

 

“WHAT?!” Daichi and Kengo shrieked in shock.

 

“Way to go pretending to be me, G,” Kaito sighed, shaking his head. “Sara is your problem, man. Good thing I don't have a girlfriend to lose to idiots like Sakiya.”

 

“You didn't!” Nagisa gasped with a hand on his mouth. “Gaito, why?”

 

“Nijibe deserves all the glory anyway,” Gaito continued. “And I love this town, damnit! I'm not gonna let some punk town like Seiyo Valley run over any one of us who live in Nijibe. We gotta protect what we love and we need to show those Seiyo Valley punks that we own them and our way of surf scenes life! We're talking about all or nothing here!”

 

Silence fell between the surfers, all in contemplative mode. The Rainbowside Surf Tribe of Nijibe carried a long tradition of excellence and prestige in terms of almost every major team-based surf tournament in the country and at times, the world. As a team they have held championship titles for the past five years since the Doumoto Twins joined at their very young ages. Their father, though a famous composer, was a champion surfer himself in his teens and also led the surf tribe to many consecutive years of championship titles until his retirement. The entrance of the Doumoto Twins, most especially the younger twin Kaito, saved and preserved the surf tribe's elite reputation in the surfing world.

 

Until today with this brand-new type of surfing tournament the surf tribe was facing their biggest challenge yet. Sure things seemed at ease with just six of them, but to form a three-member female surfing team, a surf band, a six-member--- three couples--- tandem team, and one perfect beach babe for the beauty pageant was definitely their biggest obstacle they need to overcome, not as individuals but as a team altogether. The surfer boys need to find a solid way to accomplish the requirements before they submit the entire application document to the tournament officials.

 

“Okay leader,” Masahiro broke the silence as the others turned their eyes towards him. “We got about two months to form all those units. We need to come up with a solid plan to get all those ready. I think we need to do some kind of a checklist and put which item is the most priority.”

 

“Let's start with the easiest item first then deal with the hardest stuff later.” Kaito provided a suggestion. He nudged his twin next to him. “Do you have paper and pen to write? We need to vote on the priorities from the easiest to the hardest--- easiest being first on the list and the hardest as the last item.”

 

“Good idea, Kaito!” Daichi and Kengo cheered as Gaito tore a page from his notebook and handed a blue pen to Nagisa.

 

“Wha--- why me?” Nagisa frowned just as Gaito was handing him the piece of paper and pen.

 

“You're the rookie, Shirai, so you take notes, dude,” Daichi reminded the youngest surfer of the team.

 

“Fine, fine.” Nagisa reluctantly took the paper and pen and waited for the seniors to pitch in their ideas.

 

“Okay, we'll do it this way,” Kaito continued. “We vote on each item that we need to prioritize and assign that task to one of us. The harder the tasks that we list it would take more than one person to fulfill it.”

 

“Ready when you guys are!” Nagisa called out.

 

“I think first priority would be the signature all-male surf team!” Kengo quickly made his suggestion, giving the rest of the boys a reason to moan in disagreement.

 

“Uh, duh?” Daichi rolled his eyes towards his close friend. “That's us, idiot! We're already done with that!”

 

“Um... okay...” Kengo scratched his head and continued to contemplate. “Oh I know! We need to get our beach babe to represent us in the beauty pageant portion of the tournament.” Quickly he turned his head towards Kaito as Nagisa jotted down his suggestion. “Kaito can attract the entire female population in this entire town so I think he should fulfill that!”

 

Kaito glared quickly towards Kengo. “Why me?”

 

“You got the entire fan club to choose from, dude! You can use our one-week girlfriend system for you to get to know the chick and see if she's best fit to be our beach babe for the pageant! See, I'm smart!” Kengo grinned, patting himself on the shoulder.

 

“Hell no.” Kaito shot his reaction. “I'm not spending the entire summer getting to know each girl I pick for one week. I cleared out this entire summer for surfing practice. I don't have time to deal with chicks every single week, dude. Sure I went overboard last time but even if this was the first time this surf scenes thing will be held it is a huge deal to me.”

 

Masahiro reached for his bag and took out a fresh copy of the Posh Mode fashion magazine and displayed the cover to the rest of the group. He grinned and answered with a wink. “I got that covered, Kaito. No worries.”

 

The boys turned their attention towards the bikini-clad girl on the front cover. Daichi and Kengo began to drool on the illustrious sexy model while Kaito, Nagisa, and Gaito had no reaction at all. “What's with the magazine, Masahiro?” Nagisa asked curiously.

 

“Take a look at the girl--- not her bikini set, but her face and the hair and her body shape. Who does she remind you of?” Masahiro grinned and still held his magazine upright.

 

The boys stared long and hard at the cover girl, gazing their eyes in every detail from each bikini piece to every curve of the girl's body. As they continued Kaito made his answer.

 

“Hm... Well she is kinda hot but I see where you're getting at, Masahiro.” Kaito softly chuckled. “The chick on the cover kinda reminds me of that Touin girl in my homeroom class...”

 

Gaito nodded in agreement. “That so-called pick up line of yours you did on that Touin girl earlier today. You weren't kidding!”

 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Daichi chuckled with a slight smirk afterwards. “You mean--- Rina Touin? As in... the Rina Touin?”

 

“Are we talking about tomboy chick Rina Touin? You're kidding, right Masahiro?” Kengo covered his mouth to prevent himself from laughter. “I hope you realize that we're talking about the biggest tomboy in our school here... how on earth are you gonna pull that off without getting your ass kicked by her? That chick is just untouchable, man!”

 

“Why, Kengo?” Daichi wondered curiously towards Kengo. “How many Rina Touins do we know who go to our school? Is there another girl with the same name or what?”

 

“I wasn't kidding when I told Rina that she looked like the cover girl in this month's issue of Posh Mode. I don't know about you guys but I think Rina Touin is our perfect beach babe for the beauty pageant. All the dudes would be drooling on her perfect beauty once she steps up on stage. She's going to make us proud.” Masahiro felt confident at his statement. The only thing he had a slight problem with was that Kaito, Daichi, and Kengo knew Rina Touin more than him since they were in the same class.”

 

“You're going to turn street-fightin' rock-fist Rina Touin in to a beach babe?” Daichi still looked unconvinced but intrigued at the same time. “Now this I gotta see!”

 

“Dude, let me, Kaito, and Daichi here tell you more about Rina Touin,” Kengo began his statement. “Most of us guys agree that she's a total babe, but in all honesty you will never see Rina Touin in a skirt or a dress. She'll kick your ass literally if you even mention makeup or cologne to her. I bet you a million bucks she'd rather commit suicide than wear a two-piece bikini like that cover girl is wearing, Masahiro!”

 

“You really are an idiot when it comes to girls, Kengo.” Masahiro returned the statement with his response, keeping calm and confident. “I'm pretty familiar with girls like Rina Touin. She lacks confidence in herself and her natural beauty, that's why she always comes out being cool and making herself comfortable by not wearing anything feminine. She is hiding herself in her own comfort zone and she needs to be shown that there's no shame of her to break out of her shell and show her true self to the world.” He turned to Gaito and continued to insist in taking on this item. “Let me take this task, Gaito. Let me work on Rina. I'm confident that I can get her to agree to represent us for the tournament's beauty pageant. She would make a very beautiful beach babe. I can see it.”

 

Nagisa wrote the notes down just as Gaito gave the okay to Masahiro's mission in getting Rina Touin to enter the beauty pageant portion of the surf scenes tournament. After he jotted the note on the paper he gazed up to the boys and began his statement. “Rina Touin scares me a little... why not Hanon? She's cute and she looks really hot in a two-piece bikini! Even Kaito agrees with me on her!”

 

Kaito quickly shook his head. “Of course you would always prefer Hanon in beauty contests, Nagisa. Although I agree that Hanon's a fine babe but I think Masahiro's already got this covered. If he thinks he can get Rina Touin to be our beach babe then I have faith in him.” He turned to Masahiro and gave him a thumbs up. “Go for it, Masahiro!”

 

Masahiro gave thanks to Kaito as they move on to the next item. Kengo raised his hand again. “The three-member female surf team! That should be our second priority, I think.”

 

“Personally I think just having a three-member female surf team is a little biased.” Daichi provided his statement and continued. “On the other hand if they ask us for more then we got major problems.”

 

Kaito sighed and shook his head. “I've talked to most of the girls in our town and so far none of the girls I've met are surfers or even know a thing or two about surfing. I don't know if I'll be able to assemble a three-member all-female surf team that would represent us.”

 

“Man, there has to be some surfer girls in our town, Kaito!” Nagisa exclaimed with worry. “Why don't we just give open trials or something to see if there are any girls interested in surfing, then we can teach them!”

 

“Dude, Nagisa, we don't have time to teach girls how to surf,” Masahiro sighed and lowered his head. “I bet the difficulty level with the female surfers would be the same as ours so we're going to have to go with the seasoned and experienced surfer girls.”

 

Gaito coughed to get the team's attention as he made his statement. “I think we should assign the surfer girl team assembly to all of us. I can talk to Sara and see if she knows any girls who can surf. Nagisa, I'm pretty sure you want to ask Hanon regarding her hookups with other people. Kaito---”

 

“I know, I know,” Kaito crossed his arms with a frown on his face. “I'll talk to the entire fan club or even those annoying Rainbow Pop Girls and ask if any one of them knows how to surf.”

 

“Then it's a done deal!” Nagisa wrote the next item on the list, assigning the mission to the entire surf tribe. “Next!”

 

Silence fell within the tribe as all went back to contemplative mode. There were only two items left for them to accomplish, which was the formation of a surf rock band and the six-member, three-couple tandem team. The only thing they needed to decide was which one of the two would be the most priority.

 

“Surf band!” Right then the entire team responded.

 

Nagisa wrote the item on the paper and quickly answered at the same time. “Don't fret, man. I got this one covered, dudes!”

 

The rest of the team stared at him with curiosity wondering how a twelve-year-old kid like Nagisa would pull this particular task off. “You know a surf band in our town, Nagisa?” Daichi questioned him with uncertainty on his eyes.

 

“You dudes ain't the only ones who got hookups, heh.” Nagisa smirked with his arms crossed.

 

“Indulge us, little man,” Kengo insisted for the young member to explain.

 

“There's a certain kid who works at Pearl Waters who's got this really awesome musical talent there. I know none of us have been to Pearl Waters as much before but every Friday night there's a band there that plays everything from surf rock to love ballads with that kid being a member or something. I think he sings sometimes and I think I recall him being the drummer. The Pearl Waters band is gonna be our surf rock band!”

 

The boys remained silent, wondering how they can answer to what Nagisa provided to them. Nagisa continued. “These guys are original because they actually write their own music. I heard from my... sources... that the kid's cousin is a songwriter or something and can write songs from classical instrumentals to surf rock instrumentals and that he'll be moving in here in town pretty soon. Tomorrow's Friday so if you dudes don't believe me I think we should head to Pearl Waters tomorrow night and watch them play their stuff on stage.”

 

Gaito felt impressed with Nagisa's piece of information. “Nice work, Nagisa. You're becoming a lot more useful as of late.”

 

“See, I knew you'd find me useful. I'm not a poser like most people think.” Nagisa smirked and wrote his name next to the surf band item. Afterwards he continued to write down the final item of their agenda.

 

“So, who exactly is this... source of yours... Nagisa?” Daichi asked the junior surfer boy curiously.

 

Nagisa sighed and slightly lowered his head. “My ex-girlfriend... before I met Hanon... last year.”

 

Kengo jumped in to the conversation with a startled tone. “You had an ex? What the hell--- Daichi and I always luck out with the babes--- and this shrimp here even had a girlfriend before he started hanging out with us?”

 

Nagisa glared at Kengo and turned his head away. “She dumped me... for... him...”

 

Masahiro snickered at the fact. “Him... that would mean the kid who was with us earlier? What was his name again?”

 

“Nanami's younger brother--- Hippo Nanami or something, I think.” Daichi answered quickly. “I didn't know Nanami's bro got a girlfriend too---”

 

Nanami... Lucia Nanami? She was with you guys earlier? Why wasn't I there...? Stupid fan girls stealing my surfboard away that I had to run off to get it back... Idiot... Idiot... Idiot... Kaito's voice spoke within him right after hearing the last name from Daichi's answer. As he kept that thought he gazed at his right hand in which he used to take Lucia's hand earlier to escape the fan girls. I held her hand earlier...

 

Nagisa shook his head. “It's not that. Hippo Nanami doesn't have a girlfriend. My ex happens to have a crush on him, but the problem is that she's too shy to go up to him because he doesn't look like the dating type.”

 

“Well good luck to your ex then, Nagisa!” Masahiro snickered. “I can see why you and he couldn't see each other eye to eye earlier today. Now the mystery has been revealed.” Nagisa shrugged his arms and decided to move on with the next issue.

 

“So, we all agree that forming our very own tandem surf team is going to be the biggest challenge for this tournament.” Gaito confirmed to everyone of their agreement to the difficulty level of the final item. “I agree. This is gonna be tough.”

 

“Agreed,” Masahiro confirmed. “Because they're calling for three couples, it's gonna have to be the three of us and three chicks.”

 

Nagisa jumped in to the issue and volunteered. “Me and Hanon! We can do it! We can be the first couple!”

 

“Hanon, again? When are you gonna start thinking about other girls besides Hanon?” Daichi sighed, staring at Nagisa. “How are you going to get Hanon to partner up with you?”

 

“I got my ways,” Nagisa grinned with confidence. “True love takes time, you know.”

 

“True love, he says,” Kengo snickered while nudging Daichi at the same time.

 

“Laugh all you want, losers,” Nagisa returned the snicker. “At least I know how I can get a girl's attention.”

 

“Okay, guys, enough,” Gaito interrupted them and moved on with the subject. “I volunteer on this one. Sara and I can do it. Besides, I gotta show that Sakiya punk that Sara belongs to me.”

 

Masahiro nodded in agreement. “I didn't know Sara is in to surfing, Gaito. You should bring her along with us more often.”

 

“She'll be coming home tomorrow,” Gaito answered Masahiro. “She's out of town today with her sister to visit some relatives. I'll talk to her about this tandem surfing thing.”

 

Masahiro confirmed with a nod. “I don't have enough confidence to do pair surfing. I would take Rina with me as a partner but two people on one surfboard is just too much for me.”

 

“Hey!” Daichi exclaimed and turned his head towards Kaito. “You do it, Kaito!”

 

Kaito snickered and turned his head away. “I don't do tandem surfing, Daichi. Not my style.”

 

Gaito raised an eyebrow towards his younger twin. “Lying is not an option, bro. You've done it before with a few of your one-week exes awhile ago and you're pretty strong and cool with those moves. You can do your tricks with a girl the same way as you do your 360s on the air.”

 

“That was an experiment, G! It's not like I'm gonna get in to that tandem surfing thing for real, you know.” Kaito stood his ground with his arms crossed, glaring right at his twin. “Besides... those girls forced me to do all that tandem surfing stuff with them since they did their research from some loudmouth surfers I know...”

 

Masahiro quickly shook his head. “Don't look at me, Kaito. I thought they were interested in the sport so I mentioned it.”

 

“Besides,” Kaito continued with his reasoning. “If you want to win in tandem surfing it's not about the tricks that you gotta worry to impress the judges. It's your communication with your partner that scores the highest.”

 

The rest of the surf tribe fell silent with curiosity on their expressions as Kaito continued on. “You can't just pick some girl you caught your eye on and then make her your partner. You also need to build trust, eye contact, and close-knit coordination. You and your partner should be able to read what's in your mind in a weird mental way without words or actions exchanged. You should be able to read each other's intentions just by looking at them through their eyes. It's like... it's like...”

 

Gaito continued the trailing statement from his twin brother. “... like you and your partner are truly in love with each other?”

 

“... I guess you could say that, G.” Kaito shrugged and switched his position to get himself comfortable. “I voted tandem surfing as my final priority because finding the right partner is the most difficult part in forming a winning pair. And you guys know me already. I'm used to winning every tournament and second place or lower is no option to me. I enter every major competition I can get in to and I get in there, not just to impress and inspire, but to win. If you want me to do this tandem surfing thing then losing is not an option to me. That's why I didn't want to volunteer earlier but I guess at this point I have no choice. Daichi and Kengo here can't even pick up any girls for themselves and I had to do it for them and if I have to resort to that then we lose this entire tournament.”

 

“A little deep there, Kaito,” Masahiro responded in the same serious tone. “You're making it sound like we have to sweep this entire tournament just to make a statement to the world that we are the best. That would mean Rina has to win the pageant, our surfer girls have to win the female tournament, and that the band Nagisa's going to get us has to win the surf band contest too. It's already obvious we're going to win our usual tournament, but dude, you're just expecting too much.”

 

Kaito glared towards Masahiro, shooting a more serious look than ever. “Thanks to this idiot twin of mine who had to pretend he was me and even agreed to give up Sara to punks like Sakiya I have to say this. If we don't win this not only G here will lose Sara over some stupid bet but we would be the laughing stock of the entire surfing scene.”

 

Daichi and Kengo turned to each other, silent at first, but at the same time they felt a change within their champion best friend. “Looks like the one-week girlfriend trend is gonna end today...”

 

Nagisa sighed and realized where Kaito was trying to explain. “You all may think that my feelings for Hanon is just some silly little boy crush, but my feelings for her are real. I just need to get Hanon to take me seriously... somehow. If I was able to win the heart of my ex long time ago then I would be able to with Hanon. But I know Hanon is different so I have to work this in a different way.”

 

“Gaito and Sara are already in a relationship so I'm sure they'll do well with tandem surfing,” Kaito continued on. “I have to get serious if I'm going to do this tandem surfing too. The thing is... I'm just not interested in anybody...”

 

Masahiro sighed and straightened his eyeglasses. “That can mean one thing, Kaito. Find the right girl, fall in love, and be her boyfriend before the tournament starts. You've only got two months to find her.”

 

“You make it sound so easy, Masahiro,” Gaito began his statement. “Falling in love is not a project with deadlines, man. It's a lot deeper than that and it takes a lot of time. It can take a month or two... maybe even years. It took me three years to get Sara's attention right after she broke up with her ex and it's no fun and games.” He turned to Kaito and faced him with concern. “Kaito, you don't have to do this. We can probably just find another surfer boy who isn't in the team and just pray he's got a girlfriend to do this tandem surfing.”

 

Kaito shook his head and gazed his eyes towards each member of the tribe. “I'm gonna do it, G. We don't have time to look for another surfer to join the team. I want to sweep this tournament just as much as you do and probably the entire town too. I want to rub that smirk off of Sakiya's face once we meet at the tournament. I'll find her, G. Just watch me.”

 

Silence fell within the team as Nagisa wrote the three couples to form their tandem surf team: Nagisa and Hanon (?)... Gaito and Sara... Kaito and (?)...

 

“Okay, we're all set!” Nagisa cheered and handed the notes to Gaito.

 

Before Gaito was about to adjourn the meeting Kaito interrupted. “One more thing before we end the little meeting, G.”

 

“Hm? What's that, little brother?” Gaito asked curiously while the others gave their attention towards the younger twin.

 

“We need a new name. I'm kinda getting tired of the name Rainbowside Surf Tribe. I don't know... it's not... it's not convincing enough.”

 

“Oh?” Gaito found interest in Kaito's new proposition. “Then again that name has been around since each of us came to existence. What made you suggest for a new name?”

 

“I don't know... I just feel like if we're going to win this whole surf scenes tournament thing at least we need to have one name—- not just for us but for our female surfers, our band, our tandem surf team, and I also think whoever our beach babe is going to be deserves a spot in the name too. I think with a new name it would make all of us look more united.”

 

The entire team went back to their contemplative mode to see if a name change would be more appropriate prior to entering their names to the tournament officials. What was wrong with Rainbowside Surf Tribe? How is the name not convincing? On the other hand Kaito did have a point too.

 

“I haven't come up with a name yet,” Kaito added, “but I want to take that task too.”

 

Nagisa yawned and sighed. “Just who on earth came up with Rainbowside Surf Tribe anyway? Is it because it's sorta related to our town name? I guess Kaito's right. The name's too long, not cool enough, and with the word rainbow in there it makes us look like wimps. We need a name that has meaning.”

 

“A lot more umph too,” Masahiro added. “Something intimidating and something that's right in your face.”

 

“Something... uhh... something that would seriously stick in your mind,” Nagisa added another idea. “Man, this is hard... we've got too many problems to deal with just to get in to this tournament. Who comes up with stuff like this anyway? I think this whole female surfers, surf band, tandem surfing thing are just a waste of time.”

 

“Dare to be different, as they say,” Masahiro preached in response. “But hey, I think this would be fun. It's good we got something like this so we can prove the world that Nijibe isn't about hot and handsome champion surfers like us, but our babes and our non-surfer peeps deserve recognition too.”

 

Kaito nodded, still looking confident. “Look, you guys stick to what you guys need to do as we planned. I'll take care of the name change. I'll come up with something.” The team gazed at each other and provided their agreement and consent to the name change idea.

 

“Okay, meeting adjourned.” Gaito ended the meeting as they all stood up from their spots and took down their surfboards to show the public that their private team meeting was over. They agreed to start with their assigned tasks today as they had no time to waste.

 

Kaito showed himself to the public after the meeting. He was already anticipating that the fan girls would approach him abruptly. At the moment he began to scan around the beach to see if there would be any girl he may be interested in getting to know more. He admitted that the one-week girlfriend idea he started a few years ago was fun while it lasted, but somehow something came on to him that made him change to a different view regarding girls altogether.

 

And at that point the image of the mysterious Lucia Nanami appeared in his vision. He gazed at his right hand again, recalling the rush earlier today where he took Lucia's hand and led her to his path to the beach. He even realized that Lucia did not complain regarding his decision on how he can get to the beach without getting caught up by the fan girl stampede. At the same time he realized that Lucia looked at him straight through the eyes and quickly knew what he intended to do next. They both jumped over the low fence and landed on the sand on foot with neither of them stumbling on the ground. Somehow that moment gave Kaito the idea that he and Lucia were temporarily connected to each other. The only problem now was how were he and Lucia connected?

 

While going through his collected thoughts he could hear several girls calling out for his name. Oh well. I can't help it if I'm that attractive. I wonder if I'll be able to find a girl who would like me for who I am, not for my looks or my reputation...

 

 

In the meantime Hanon and Rina joined Lucia at her rocky spot at the beach. Hanon still continued to persuade Lucia to gather her courage to introduce herself in person to Kaito. Lucia still lacked confidence and the courage to break through her shell and face the handsome surfer boy with a simple hello. Rina also attempted to provide comfort and confidence to the confused Lucia except her approach took more time than Hanon's crash course.

 

As they continued to talk Lucia spotted Kaito with his wetsuit halfway open and carrying his surfboard on one arm from the distance. Though there were a number of fan girls conversing with him Lucia somehow felt this huge brimming of energy within her, signaling to her that she had no time to waste just sitting far away and watch him without saying a single word. Hanon and Rina were right, she thought. This summer should be the summer. She would have to use all the courage and confidence she possessed to face Kaito one on one for the very first time.

 

“That's right, Lucia,” Hanon said after Lucia explained to her what she wanted to do just now. “Here's your chance--- show Kaito who you really are. You can do it, Lucia. Even the stars of Nijibe are cheering for you! You and Kaito Doumoto are meant to be together!”

 

Lucia chuckled nervously and pumped her fist upright. “I'm gonna do it, you guys! I'll march up to him and say hi and maybe we can pick up from there. I just... I just felt this energy within me... telling me that Kaito would want to make a new friend this summer. I want to be that new friend, Hanon, Rina.”

 

“Good for you,” Rina winked along with a thumbs up. “Now go!”

 

“Right!” Lucia stood up and jumped over her rocks to get to the front area. She approached to where Kaito was standing, ignoring the fan girls she passed by with some making snide remarks about her and her appearance. Hanon and Rina followed her from behind to witness this moment.

 

Just as she was getting close Kaito quickly broke from the fan girls chatting with him, zipped up his wetsuit, and was about to head off to the water. While the fan girls made their way out Lucia continued to run after him. She called out to him as loud as she can to overcome the loud sounds that the waves were making as they broke.

 

“Doumoto! Wait up!” Lucia called, referring to Kaito by his last name first. She wanted to gain his respect and trust first before she can make a move by calling his first name.

 

Kaito stopped right when he heard Lucia calling his name--- last name even. Slowly he turned his head and spotted Lucia standing right behind him with the wind blowing through her dark blond hair and her red ribbons on her hair. Deep within somehow he felt a lot more respect coming from the girl in his homeroom class whom he never had an open conversation with before just by calling him by his last name. For Kaito, that was a good sign.

 

“Ride... ride...” Lucia murmured those same words she shouted, trying to keep cool and not look like she was confused or lost.

 

Right when she spoke those two words Kaito caught them with his ear. He gave a thumbs up, a smile, and a wink simultaneously right at Lucia to show her that he heard those words she spoke. Lucia smiled happily seeing the thumb up, his signature wink, and his alluring smile as Kaito proceeded to the ocean, rowing his surfboard until he found his perfect wave to ride on.

 

Lucia could not believe her eyes at Kaito's acknowledgement of her presence with the familiar wink, smile, and thumbs up gesture she always loved from him whether he was acknowledging his fellow surfers or the audience cheering and supporting him. Little by little from holding hands and jumping over the fence to just receiving a wink, a smile and a thumbs up became a collector's item for her. So what if she only received those two gestures coming from him? Most girls she knew around town demanded more from him and would do anything just to get a piece of the mesmerizing surfer.

 

Hanon dashed right next to Lucia with a grin on her face. “Lucia--- do you know what that means?”

 

Lucia turned her head towards Hanon, looking curious. “What are you talking about?”

 

“I saw that, Lucia!” Hanon winked and nudged her on the side. “Kaito winked, smiled, and gave you a thumbs up!”

 

“But Hanon,” Lucia responded. “Kaito always does that before he takes on the waves whether if it was just practice or in the tournament. He always gives a wink, a smile, and a thumbs up to everybody.”

 

“I know that, Lucia, but see, you were alone! Where are all the stupid fan girls? They weren't here! He saw you. You caught his attention. You shouted ride! And he winked at you--- smiled at you--- and a thumbs up!”

 

Rina caught up with the two girls, overhearing the conversation. She snickered at Hanon's attempt to convince Lucia that Kaito's small gesture may be major signs of interest and possibly attraction. “Hanon, a wink, a smile and a thumbs up doesn't mean anything. He always does that to anybody who cheers and supports him. I don't see anything different about this one.”

 

“Rina! This is history made to any girl who dreams of having a special romantic relationship with Kaito Doumoto, okay?” Hanon continued on with her enthusiasm. “Yes, I know he always does that same gesture but he always does that to a huge crowd of people. Today, he gave all that to Lucia--- alone! You hear me Rina? The thumbs up, the wink, and the smile were all for Lucia!”

 

“Okay Hanon, whatever you say.” Rina grinned and turned her attention to the sea where the rest of the surfers make their wild ride.

 

As for Lucia, it did not matter if Kaito's signature gesture was directed only at her. She wanted to speak to him about anything. It did not have to be about surfing or himself or even their classes together since they were in the same homeroom class. It can be about anything. But the matter of greeting and speaking to him would be her first baby step to building a form of relationship with a boy like Kaito Doumoto.

 

“I love surfing.” Lucia broke the silence which gathered Hanon's and Rina's attention to her. “I know I can't surf myself but the sport itself rules.”

 

Hanon raised an eyebrow with a curious mind. “What are you babbling about now, Lucia?”

 

Lucia turned to Hanon and smiled humbly. “Can't you feel the wild adrenaline rush pumping rapidly inside you? When you row your board all the way to the breakers and catch your wave you would surely feel that you rule the world, both the land and the sea. My parents used to tell me crazy stories about just being out at the sea. Sometimes they made me convinced to believe that the sea itself is alive. It's not just a giant body of flowing water with other lifeforms living underneath. The waters are living things. They have voices in the form of clashing waves and the formation of the swell and the time it takes to roll in and roll out to the shore. If you listen carefully without any distractions you'll hear what the waters are trying to say to you. Sometimes it even gives you signals from the swell patterns to the measurements of the breakers as its way to pass on their message. Right now with the breakers this huge the ocean is calling out to all surfers, rookie to king, giving them a major challenge. I dare you to ride my breakers, all you surfers. Show me what you're made of!”

 

Hanon chuckled, shaking her head at the same time. “You really are a weirdo, Lucia. No wonder you haven't had any luck with guys, seriously. You think the ocean's talking to you? Who the heck thinks of that?”

 

“Preach on, Lucia!” Rina cheered with a smirk on her face. “That's one thing I like about you, girl. You're not like the other Kaito-loving girls out there. You actually appreciate the sport itself.”

 

“If I didn't like surfing I wouldn't be out here at the beach, Rina. Besides, if it weren't for my love of surfing... I would have never discovered Kaito Doumoto as a surfer. I mean... I saw him for the first time in the summer not too long before my family moved here. I saw him as a surfer way before I saw him as my homeroom classmate. Okay, so he's hot and attractive and he knows it but that wasn't the reason why he caught my eye, guys...” She continued to gaze at Kaito from afar when a familiar tune in her head began to play. The intensity of that tune somehow gave Lucia a bit of a pump to burst herself out in public.

 

“Besides, a song is already playing in my mind right now.”

 

Hanon's eyes widened, knowing one of Lucia's personal quirks was already playing a role within Lucia's enthusiasm. “Oh no... not one of your crazy mental songs again... Lucia! Not in public!”

 

Lucia paid no attention Hanon's concern knowing that Rina was the only person who actually appreciated her unusual mental songwriting habit. Rina felt more familiar with Lucia than with any other girl knowing that any type of unusual quirk within them sets them apart from everyone else. She could not wait to hear what Lucia was about to sing from out of the blue.

 

“Listen, Rina. This is what I'm hearing in my mind now!” Lucia grinned with her attention towards Rina and began to clap her hands to form her own fast-paced beat. After a certain number of beats she began to sing.

 

Well I look at the breakers, they were rollin' in fast

I knew I better make it cause they just don't last

I'm surfin', swingin' and a surfin'

Oh the sand and the sea is the only life for me

Just surfin'... Yeah, I'm surfin'

 

Hanon raised an eyebrow in uncertainty with her arms crossed. “Oh great, Lucia. You're singing about surfing? Who on earth sings about surfing?”

 

“I do!” Rina chuckled at Hanon and turned to Lucia. “I got a verse! Let me join, Lucia!”

 

“Go for it!” Lucia giggled and continued her beat-clapping for Rina's added verse.

 

When I darted from my board, gonna have me a ball

I thought I couldn't ride and that ain't all

I'm surfin', swingin' and a surfin'

Oh the sand and the sea is the only life for me

Just surfin'... Yeah, I'm surfin'

 

Lucia and Rina laughed and exchanged hi-fives while Hanon restrained herself from laughing at the two girls at that point. She remained her composure as she watched both Lucia and Rina doing their beat-clapping, unaware that their singing and their pattern clapping caught attention of beach goers nearby and in addition the surfers from the tribe reaching the shore.

 

“I got another verse, Rina!” Lucia exclaimed and sang her new verse.

 

When I went to the beach where the dudes played tricks

I rode a breaker in, gonna get my kicks

I'm surfin'... swingin' and a surfin'

 

Before Lucia was about to sing the last two lines Rina joined in to sing a duet vocal.

 

Oh the sand and the sea is the only life for me

Just surfin'... Yeah, I'm surfin'

 

Right at that moment the witnesses who gave attention to the two girls clapping, singing, and even dancing a little joined in with the pattern clapping. Lucia and Rina noticed the attention they received and also realized that the surfers out at the ocean no longer receiving any attention to those at the shore. Hanon, on the other hand, covered her face in embarrassment.

 

Nagisa and Masahiro touched the shore after their long ride out in the ocean and noticed Daichi and Kengo, who had been resting at the sand, watching Lucia and Rina performing their freestyle singing and clapping from a good distance. Nagisa was the first to listen to the song and the clapping and dragged Masahiro with him.

 

“What? What?” Masahiro blinked in curiosity as Nagisa pointed his finger towards Lucia and Rina's direction. The tall dark-haired Masahiro followed Nagisa's finger and directly stared at Lucia and Rina making up song verses related to surfing in general. Whoa... I didn't know Rina Touin can sing...

 

“Hey... isn't that Nanami's older sister and Rina Touin...?” Nagisa wondered curiously and also caught Hanon standing still, looking embarrassed at her friends. Hanon... is embarrassed? I think her friends are cool like that...

 

“Dang,” Daichi spoke in the conversation. “Who would have thought boring Lucia Nanami can actually sing... she's not even in the school choir or something.”

 

Moments later Gaito arrived from his ride and joined the rest of his team. “What's going on here? What are you looking at?” The boys quickly pointed their fingers towards Lucia and Rina and Gaito followed their fingers and watched the girls from afar.

 

“What do you know... someone is singing an anthem about the sport. Now this is interesting...”

 

At that time Kaito reached the shore and found his group of friends watching towards a particular scene and wanted to see what it was about. Just as he was about to dash his way to their spot he was immediately stopped by two of his school's popular girls, known to everyone as the Rainbow Pop Girls. Hanon was an original member of these group of girls until she had a sudden change of heart after her one-week girlfriend moment with Kaito. She left the Rainbow Pop Girls to find better and most of all, real friends. She found the qualities she was looking for in Lucia Nanami and Rina Touin. Though the two were not exactly well-liked by her former crew, with Lucia being referred to as Lucia the Loser Nanami, Hanon knew within that having Lucia and Rina as friends would make her a better person altogether.

 

The two Rainbow Pop Girls embossed themselves against Kaito with their arms around each of his arm as if Kaito was their own life support. The surfer clung on to his surfboard on one arm to show his disinterest in making small talk at this point. “Kaito--- where are you going? You don't even say hi to us anymore!”

 

Kaito raised an eyebrow of suspicion towards these two familiar girls. He did not even bother trying to recognize them if he actually had one-week girlfriend sessions with any one of them but for these past days he felt that every single girl he dated was the same as the one before. He did not struggle at first but instead began a light conversation.

 

“What do you want...?” Kaito asked curiously.

 

“You, Kaito, who else?” The other girl clinging on to his surfboard-occupied arm answered. “You seem really tired and exhausted from your surfing out there so we thought that we'd help you get comfortable! What do you say, Kaito?”

 

The surfer boy learned a lot of lessons from his past experiences and thanks to those out of control experiences he felt that he had wised up this year. He vowed to himself that he would not let the opposite sex control him and please them as they asked. He wanted to know what the fuss was about on shore and why his entire tribe, along with his twin Gaito, were fascinated with whatever it was they were watching. He had to get there fast before that something ends.

 

“Really?” Kaito played along with the girls. The two girls giggled and nodded excitedly and he snickered in return. “Good. Hang on to my board for me.” Quickly he shoved his surfboard to one of the girls and ran off from them. “Take care of it!” He saluted to the two and ran to his tribe.

 

“About time you arrive,” Gaito responded to his twin. “You really need to learn how to get to us earlier than that. Lately you've been always the last person to show up.”

 

“Very funny, Gaito,” Kaito glared and found his place next to Daichi and Kengo. “So what are you dudes staring at?”

 

“Um, Kaito,” Kengo spoke first. “Were you aware that Nanami and Touin can sing?”

 

Kaito shook his head. “Not that I know of. Why?” The surfers pointed their fingers again as Kaito turned his head to where Lucia, Rina, and those who joined their freestyle singing, clapping, and snapping. Just then he gave complete focus and attention to what was happening at that scene.

 

Back to the crowd after the random dancing from the witnesses with Lucia and Rina providing the beat clapping and snapping they finish their freestyle singing with their last verse:

 

I met a handsome dude and he asked me for a date

He said, “Come on, baby, you can watch your board later”

I'm surfin'... swingin' and a surfin'

Oh the sand and the sea is the only life for me

Just surfin'... Yeah, I'm surfin'...

 

Yeah! surfin' with the dudes, I'm surfin'

Oh the sand and the sea is the only life for me

Just surfin'... Yeah, I'm surfin'...

Well, I'm surfin'... Yeah, I'm surfin'... Just surfin'...

 

After the singing was over those who watched the girls go freestyle applauded as Lucia and Rina exchanged hi-fives again, then an embrace. Hanon stepped forward to them with a grin on her face.

 

“Okay--- so everybody here thinks you're cool doing that crazy freestyle singing you guys did. That doesn't mean the Rainbow Pop Girls and the Rainbowside Surf Tribe are just gonna say the same! I personally think you two are a bunch of weirdos, really!”

 

Rina snickered towards Hanon and answered. “Hanon, you should ditch this whole Rainbow Pop Girls thing because they're history. You need to be more open-minded, you know.”

 

“I still think your freestyling is really cool and all, Rina, don't get me wrong, but in public--- and in front of Kaito and the surfer boys and the Rainbow Pop Girls--- and even the entire Kaito Doumoto Fan Club? Have you two gone insane? I mean here's your chance to seriously stand out throughout the entire town and you guys blew it!” Quickly she turned her head and made the same statement towards Lucia. “And you, Lucia! Your one and only chance with the hottest surfer dude in the entire town--- today--- you seriously blew it! Kaito is very selective with the girls, you know? You'd think he'd want to go out with a girl who spontaneously sings from out of the blue--- and in public, no doubt?”

 

“But Hanon, I...” Lucia wanted to answer how she felt when Rina interrupted quickly.

 

“Hey, back off, Hanon! Today is not Lucia's one and only chance with him, okay? Tomorrow's the official first day of the summer. She's got plenty of chances with him, so give it a rest.”

 

“Look,” Lucia began her statement. “What Rina and I sang today--- it felt wonderful. I can't help it if I feel very connected to the beach, the ocean, and the adrenaline rush that the surfers are going through while riding on their waves. This is the open beach, Hanon--- the open beach! And it's not like I'm desperate to be with him. I just want to be his friend---”

 

Before Lucia ended her statement a voice broke through the conversation. “Hey! Can we talk to you for a sec?”

 

The three girls looked up and spotted Masahiro and Nagisa calling for them. Hanon sighed in annoyance while Lucia and Rina stood still, waiting for them to arrive. “Masahiro! Nagisa! What's up?” Hanon asked curiously.

 

“Can you give us a few, Hanon?” Nagisa answered with a smile on his face. “We just wanna talk to your friends.”

 

“Oh...” Hanon blinked in surprise as the two surfers turned to Lucia and Rina.

 

“Hey Nanami,” Nagisa began. “I was wondering--- you guys are really awesome with that freestyle singing you did earlier! I like the song too--- it's like... a surfer's anthem!”

 

Lucia chuckled softly while Rina gave a small smile and shrugged. “Thanks. That was just... out of the blue, you know?”

 

“I was wondering if you girls are---” Just as Nagisa was getting to the point Masahiro jumped in.

 

“--- are you surfer girls?”

 

Lucia and Rina froze right when the question was popped up. Sure, both were surfing enthusiasts and were already classified as hardcore fans of the water sport, but of all the questions anyone would ask of them, surfer girls?

 

“Well, we heard every single word that you girls sang... and to us it sounded like you girls know what you're talking about. We've never met a girl who knows a lot about surfing... until today that is,” Masahiro continued.

 

Nagisa jumped in quickly and moved forward with his question. “No, that's not what I wanted to ask! Nanami, Touin, are you girls part of a surf band? I mean that song seriously rocks and it's fast-paced too with all the clapping and stuff! I mean you guys have gotta be in a surf band--- aren't you Hiroki Nanami's sister?”

 

Lucia chuckled nervously and said “Well, you see, Hippo---”

 

“Hard to say.” Rina immediately answered with a snicker on her face.

 

Masahiro sounded a bit more desperate. “Then you two are surfer girls--- girls who surf--- aren't you?”

 

“No!” Nagisa shouted. “Surf band! I've never seen these two actually surf but they rock at singing and making those beats and stuff! Say you girls are in a surf band---”

 

Hanon interrupted with annoyance within her. “Look, you two, are you here to talk to my friends or are you labeling them as someone they're not? Surfer girls... surf band members... what the heck is all this?”

 

“Wow, this is just way too flattering,” Rina snickered as she and Lucia reached for their schoolbags. In just a few minutes their shifts at Pearl Waters were about to start and that Lucia's older sister and aunt, Nicola and Taki Nanami, had to drive out to the train station to pick up Lucia's fresh-from-graduate school musician cousin, Taro Mitsuki. Both Lucia and Rina promised Hippo to open Pearl Waters while they were away. “Hey, listen, thanks for all the compliments and stuff but Lucia and I are gonna head out now---”

 

“Yeah, sorry guys,” Lucia confirmed with a nervous smile on her face. “Thanks for everything but we gotta go now!”

 

“Um, yeah!” Hanon exclaimed and also ran to her schoolbag. “I work tonight too, so... we'll be going now---”

 

“Hanon, wait up!” Another voice joined in the rather messy conversation in which Hanon immediately gave attention to. In fact, it was the particular male voice Hanon was still in love with even if they did not converse as they used to before ever since their one week moment together. Nevertheless she still looked up to him with utter respect.

 

“Kaito?” Hanon wondered curiously as the tall, brown-eyed dark blond surfer boy appeared right in front of her. “Hi! What's up?”

 

Kaito?! Lucia's voice shrieked within her and began rushing to pick up her things. “Hurry, Rina, we're gonna be late---”

 

“What's the rush, Lucia? We still got thirty minutes,” Rina chuckled when she caught the eye of Kaito Doumoto present in front of Hanon. “Hm?” Right away she turned her head to witness what was going on.

 

“Hanon...” Kaito murmured the daffy blue-haired girl's name. “I was wondering...”

 

“What is it, Kaito? Spill,” Hanon giggled while gazing her eyes towards him.

 

“I was wondering if your friends don't mind me talking to them?”

 

Hanon felt a hammer nailing her heart through right when Kaito asked permission. “Oh Kaito, you silly. Why are you asking me permission? It's not like I'm their guardian or something. Go ahead!”

 

Kaito patted Hanon on the shoulder with a grin on his face. “You rule, Hanon!” Right then he ran past her and reached both Lucia and Rina just as they were about to head back to the street.

 

Lucia felt her legs completely frozen just as she found Kaito standing right in front of her. “Wait... can we... talk?”

 

Rina's grin became wider and gave a small wink towards Lucia. “I'll go ahead and start opening Pearl Waters with Hippo. See you there!”

 

“Rina, wait--- don't... don't leave me...” Lucia quickly reacted nervously as she watched Rina wave at her and made her way across the street. Don't leave me here with him, Rina... I'm... I'm not ready to face him yet... As Rina's vision faded at the distance Lucia knew she had to suck it up and face the boy whom she hoped she can call her own. “Doumoto... um... hi!” She sighed deeply and lowered her head. Good going, Lucia. Real smooth...

 

Kaito approached Lucia a few feet closer to her and began their very first conversation after a few years of being in the same homeroom class since late elementary school. “I... I didn't know you could sing... like that...”

 

Lucia gulped nervously but had to be quick to answer to what he just said. “Well... it's... one of my... um... hidden hobbies...”

 

“Then... what Nagisa was asking you earlier... are you part of a surf band?”

 

“Surf band? Well, I... it's just that... it's all work... yeah, work!”

 

Kaito quickly scratched his head, not because his head was itchy but like Lucia he could feel a bit of nervousness crawling within him. “Work?”

 

“Um... yeah... I sing... occasionally... with my brother and the band every Friday nights at Pearl Waters... but I... I wouldn't really necessary call it a surf band since we play all kinds of music... depending on the mood, I guess.”

 

Kaito nodded, understanding Lucia's explanation regarding the surf band part. He was indeed sure that Lucia was no surfer girl either or else he would have known about it a long time ago. On the other hand Kaito did not know anything about Lucia at all. He admitted to himself that he had a very strong, dominating sex appeal that called out as many females of almost any age throughout Nijibe to him, which gave him a chance to get to know as many of the females as she can. He was not expecting Lucia to be one of those girls but to him it would not be fair that he knew nothing about Hanon's mysterious friend. The only thing he knew about Lucia was that her family owns Pearl Waters and that she is Hanon and Rina's friend. He already knew as much information as he can about Rina aside from being the tomboy of the school, but at this point Lucia seemed to have a certain accent about there that interested him. He was not sure what that particular accent that may be but right now it was her freestyle singing that got him interested in her.

 

“I'm wondering... I'm wondering... how often do you get in the mood of singing about surfing... it's just that I've never heard a song like that ever, not even around the beaches in this town.”

 

Lucia felt that somehow she was able to get Kaito's attention at that moment. She felt that Hanon's concern was dead wrong and that she needed to use this opportunity to make Kaito become more interested in her as a person and possibly a new friend. “Oh, stuff like that just comes out on a whim. Rina and I were just being spontaneous, silly, and dumb, so it's really nothing...”

 

“No,” Kaito reacted quickly. “I really like it... the song and how you guys sang it... I hoped maybe... maybe... you would sing more songs like that...”

 

“You think so?” Lucia gasped excitedly but at the same time tried to keep her cool composure. “Well... um... I'll try--- we'll try, that is! I think the surfing scene is the coolest scene ever, especially if you live in a beach side town like Nijibe, you know? Sure I can't surf because I've never really learned how but I've been one of the biggest surfing fans in this town. I go to as many tournaments as I can to watch you guys and cheer you on and give my full support. Nijibe surfers represent!” To keep herself from breaking apart from nervousness she pumped her fist of victory afterwards.

 

Silence fell as Kaito just gazed at Lucia's rather silly pose. After a few moments both Kaito and Lucia burst in to laughter. She lowered her arm down and placed both her hands behind her and ended her laughter. “Well... I guess I should get going now. I have to open Pearl Waters and all and... your girlfriend's probably looking for you right now.”

 

Girlfriend? Kaito raised an eyebrow in suspicion just as he heard the somewhat forbidden word in his vocabulary. Lucia was indeed different from the girls he got involved with in the past; even way more different than Hanon. He chuckled at Lucia's remark and answered. “No, I don't have a girlfriend. Well... not yet anyway.”

 

“Oh!” Lucia chuckled in return. “My bad! I mean a guy as kind and sweet as you must have a girlfriend.”

 

Kaito humbly shook his head. “No girl would ever say that I'm kind and sweet. You're actually... the first one.”

 

Lucia found herself blushing even more that she was afraid to lose control of herself. Luckily for her Hanon arrived with her schoolbag on her hand. She appeared grinning as she was about to meet Lucia and Kaito on the way.

 

“Oh, Hanon,” Lucia greeted her friend with a shaky tone. “Glad you're here. We should go---”

 

“Oh I'm going on ahead,” Hanon quickly responded with a wink on her eye. “I know I'm actually off tonight but I'll be bored at home, so I'm gonna work an extra shift tonight.”

 

Lucia began to feel that there may be a conspiracy about to come once she headed back to Pearl Waters in a minute. “You... you are?”

 

Hanon continued to snicker and patted Lucia on her shoulder. “You've been working too much, Lucia. I know your family owns the place but you need to take a break sometimes. Besides, I got plenty of time to ask for a day off anyway. I'll cover your shift tonight. I'll explain it to Hippo and Nicola when I get there.”

 

“But Hanon...”

 

Hanon giggled and turned towards Kaito. “Well Kaito, I'm gonna head to work now. If you want to stop by Pearl Waters is just across the street. Take care of Lucia, okay?”

 

“Hanon!” Lucia shrieked in surprised and hid her face by lowering her head face down.

 

Kaito chuckled in return. “You know you can trust me, Hanon. See you around.”

 

“Bye now, Lucia! You two take care... if you know what I mean.” Hanon winked once again and dashed away giggling at the same time.

 

Lucia took a deep breath and laughed nervously, trying to keep herself calm and cool. “I know this is really awkward and all but um... I'm pretty sure you have plans later tonight with your dudes and... all that... right?”

 

Kaito lowered himself to the sand and sat with legs crossed. He patted the empty space next to him, inviting Lucia to sit with him for awhile. Lucia smiled and accepted his invitation by sitting down next to him. At the same time she continued to remind herself that her goal for today with Kaito is earn his friendship. There was plenty of time for her to continue dreaming of the day she and Kaito discover true love with each other and tie their love officially. That can happen later on. Today was not the right day and Lucia knew it.

 

“The dudes are moving in for the summer at our place later today. Gaito and I are supposed to help them out but it looks like the guys got some things covered.” Kaito answered, looking right across towards the ocean. He took the towel around his shoulder and wiped his hair dry at the same time. “Gaito and I only live just two blocks from Pearl Waters. You can't miss it. It's a two-story white house with an entire glass window wall at the front, plus our last name is at the gateway. If you want to come and visit you're always welcome to. We're practically neighbors!”

 

Lucia felt her heart beating rapidly. She could not believe that Kaito had just given the location of his home to her. On the other hand she thought that all of his one-week ex-girlfriends probably knew where he lived. Hanon was definitely no exception but Lucia did not want to go to that route just yet. “Thank you. I'll be sure to let you or your dudes know!”

 

Kaito nodded with a small smile on his face. He continued on with this short conversation while he still continued to watch some of his friends riding the wild surf out at the ocean. “Well, since you're one of the very few girls who are hardcore surfing fans I'm pretty sure you've already heard about this new tournament coming up in a few months from today.”

 

“The first annual Regional Surf Scenes Tournament, right?” Lucia asked curiously. She was pretty sure this was the tournament that Kaito was asking about. “I've heard a little bit of it. Hippo knows more about it since he takes ocean and surfing photos as his hobby and is subscribed to surfing magazines too in hopes that he would get to submit his photos for publication, but anyway. What's so different about it?”

 

Right at that moment Lucia finally found a way to lose her inner worries. She felt blessed that she was also quite heavy and knowledgeable with the sport of surfing that she can finally break the ice between her and the boy of her dreams. At the same time Kaito also found a way to break the ice with Lucia knowing he too was a bit nervous with her. The tension that was building up within him was unusual for Kaito as he was always direct, straight, and open whenever he communicates with any girl he wanted to meet. On the other hand it was easy for him to interact with females with some similar qualities as he, but with Lucia it was a whole different ballgame with him.

 

“For one thing it's a team tournament. We were used to enter individual competition tournaments and we barely enter any contests which the rankings are by team and not by individual surfers. This particular one isn't an all-male team tournament. We have to have more in order to enter--- a female three-member surf team, a surf band, a really hot girl who can represent us in a beauty pageant segment, and the hardest of all--- a three-couple tandem surfer team. We only have two months to assemble all of them or else we can't enter and compete. The Seiyo Valley surfers are going to be participating in this one and they threw us a challenge. You've... heard of those surfers, have you?”

 

Definitely, Kaito, Lucia's voice spoke within her. Now she felt that the ice was shattered. “Kousuke Sakiya, right?”

 

Kaito raised an eyebrow in amazement. “You have heard of them...”

 

“Who doesn't? I mean... Kousuke Sakiya is probably the perfect match against you according to the magazines and all the other interviews and all. He's like the Seiyo Valley version of you. He's fast and intricate in his rides and he's quite popular with the ladies too. Just... thinking about it... it's just scary...”

 

Kaito fell silent for a few moments wondering how much Lucia knew about his surfing rival. From out of nowhere he made an assumption. “He's not your boyfriend... is he?”

 

What? He thinks that loser Sakiya is my boyfriend? Where did he get that idea? Lucia was tempted to laugh but instead she continued to keep herself cool as always. “What makes you think that he's my boyfriend? I'm not that kind of girl!”

 

“Sorry... it's just that you're way too nice to hang out with punks like him... is all...”

 

Lucia turned her head away for a few moments and smiled to herself. She felt as if Kaito showed a bit of jealousy once she mentioned her general knowledge of his rival, however she did not want to reveal more about Kousuke Sakiya and her more or less connection towards him. She did not want to make Kaito think that she was somewhat desperate for protection whenever she attended these surf meets and Kousuke Sakiya catching up to her and attempt to make passes at her. During the first attempts she was able to avoid him, but the more she avoided him the more he became persistent to get her attention. At one point she even had Hanon and Rina come along with her but her two friends also ended up as two more of Sakiya's attempts. She even had younger brother Hippo stay with her instead of him wandering around the beach to take his photos but even the younger brother's strict personality did not phase the rival surfing champion.

 

“Lucia...”

 

Eyes opened wide right when Lucia listened to Kaito's gentle voice calling her name. She turned her head towards him while making sure she did not burst in to some crazy behavior that would scare him off. You called me... by my first name... Quickly she shook her head to avoid those thoughts playing in her mind.

 

“Are you alright?”

 

Lucia laughed with a slight tremble. “Sorry... I just have... a lot of things in my mind, that's all... the thing with Sakiya and this crazy surf scenes tournament and all... don't worry about a thing about me, Doumoto, I'm all good!” She continued to laugh to ease the tense inside her. Luckily for her she hoped Kaito would buy that excuse because his presence and his approach at her was the only thing that was causing the tension inside of her.

 

“Kaito.” The surfer boy answered right then, which made Lucia fall silent. “Call me Kaito.”

 

“Right... I forgot. I don't want you and your brother get all confused when I call you by your last name... it's a habit. Sorry about that!” Right then Lucia stood up realizing that she had been staying out at the beach too long and that she was supposed to open up Pearl Waters with Hippo and Rina even if Hanon insisted she would help them instead. “Well, look at the time!”

 

Kaito stood up along with her and right then he realized how much he kept his eyes at her while switching his view from the sea and back to her. Just at first sight he cannot imagine a girl like Lucia become a one-week girlfriend right then because of her broad knowledge of his personal first love and that despite of her plain appearance that she spoke the same language as him. She did not seem to be the romantic type as well but he did not want to assume that about her. Even if it was for a short time he felt a lot more relaxed talking to Lucia than with any other girl only because he can openly talk about his love of surfing to someone who would actually listen and understand all at once.

 

“I'll... bring you home... if you like...” Kaito sighed with a rather shy smile on his face.

 

Lucia chuckled at his reaction, feeling a lot more at ease than ever. “It's only there across the street from here... unless you and your dudes want to hang out at Pearl Waters for awhile. Nothing really special is happening at the restaurant tonight except that my cousin's moving in from the South.”

 

“Oh... of course...” Kaito chuckled along. “Well, before you go then, I'm just wondering if you can... help us a bit.”

 

Lucia gazed at Kaito through his sultry brown eyes and still battling her tension at once. “Help? Sure thing. Is it in regards to the upcoming surf scenes tournament?”

 

“I know it's kinda stupid asking you but I figured you knew so much about what's what and who's who in today's surfing scene so I thought you may know anybody who can help us get in to that tournament.”

 

“No. Not at all. I'll be glad to help. I'll do my best though.” Lucia remained smiling comfortably, making sure she was not making Kaito nervous or anything else.

 

“Surfer girls... and a surf band... or if you know any girls who may be interested in forming up a tandem surf team...”

 

“Ah, gotcha!” Lucia answered with a nod. “I'll ask around the Pearl Waters staff... my sister... Hippo... I'm sure they know some people. I'll stop by the beach tomorrow morning--- or maybe I can come over your place too--- well, whenever I get any news. Besides, it'd be totally awesome if we sweep the entire tournament so we gotta form a seriously rockin' team!”

 

Kaito winked and gave a thumbs up just like his earlier gesture to her before. “Thanks, Lucia! You rule!”

 

“Always welcome, Kaito!”

 

The two exchanged laughter and their goodbyes as Lucia ran across the street to Pearl Waters Restaurant. Kaito watched after Lucia to be sure she arrived at the door safely even if it was just across the street. As he watched her the rest of the surf tribe arrived on spot looking curious at what had just happened.

 

“Dude...” Kengo was the first to break the silence. “Kaito... was that Nanami that I just saw with you?”

 

Kaito turned and joined his twin and his friends. “So? What of it?”

 

Daichi scratched his head, showing confusion. “Kaito, we never really imagined you would actually talk to a girl like Nanami from out of the blue like that. I thought you had personal standards when it comes to girls?”

 

Kaito shook his head and shrugged his arms. “I still have personal standards when it comes to girls, but what's that got to do with Lucia?”

 

Both Daichi and Kengo gasped in shock right when he mentioned the first name while Masahiro joined in the conversation. “Lucia, eh? What happened between the two of you there? I thought you'd only refer girls by their first names if you're interested in them--- like those potential one-week girlfriends that you had in the past?”

 

“Uh, because I don't want her and her brother get confused by calling them by their last name? Why are you dudes concerned about her? She didn't do anything wrong!” Kaito turned his head around in annoyance and led his friends back to their spot where they gather their things and make their way back home.

 

“Don't look at me, Kaito, I didn't say anything,” Gaito answered. “These dudes here were just surprised to see you talk to someone who isn't one of the Rainbow Pop Girls--- or even your fan club.”

 

Kaito rolled his eyes, looking a lot more irritated than ever. “I still don't see why you guys have to make a big deal about it. Lucia is... Lucia... so what?”

 

Nagisa ran next to Kaito with curiosity in his eyes. “You're not gonna hook up with her, are you?”

 

“Why do you ask, Nagisa?” Kaito shifted his eyes towards the youngest surfer without turning his head.

 

“Wouldn't her brother get mad if he finds out you're hitting on her, Kaito?”

 

“Nagisa, what do you take me for? If anything happens I'll just deal with it. Just chill, really.”

 

Once they cleaned up their things along with their surfboards they headed back to the streets towards the direction to where the Doumoto Residence is located. The surf tribe simply called the house as their shack as part of their inner circle lingo.

 

“I talked to Lucia because of the song she and Touin freestyled earlier today.” Kaito began explaining his reasons why he interacted with Lucia earlier. The rest of the team remained silent to listen to him. “If you guys concentrated on the lyrics of that song those two girls were pretty much talking our language. I learned that Lucia and her brother are hardcore surfing fans and they're really familiar with who's who and what's what in today's surfing scene. I asked her if she can help us a little bit about our mission for the next two months. I figured that since she knows a lot about our lifestyle and the sport itself that I thought she may know some people who can join us in competing in this tournament. I was able to gain her trust and confidence, so in other words, I just made our mission much easier than when we planned.”

 

Gaito patted his twin on the shoulder to compliment him. “Well then, my brother, you're already ahead of us. Who would have thought the Nanamis would become invaluable to us?”

 

Nagisa sighed deeply. “So I guess Nanami's older sister and Rina Touin aren't surf band members. I guess I was too hopeful after all...”

 

Kaito snickered and patted Nagisa on the shoulder. “Little dude, we're still going to Pearl Waters tomorrow to check out their band, right? Lucia even invited us to come over too. She said she occasionally sings with the band on Friday nights.”

 

“Then she is a member of that surf band!” Nagisa exclaimed happily. “I'm gonna call Seira up tomorrow when she and her sister Sara come back from their vacation. We gotta check out the band!”

 

“Look, let's talk about this when we get home,” Gaito reminded the rest of the team. “I think it's time for us to refine our plan now that Kaito did his homework and found Lucia Nanami an asset to our tournament goals. Before you guys know it we may even accomplish these requirements next week and we get plenty of time to train. It's all about preparation, dudes!”

 

The team dashed their way forward as they were nearing the Doumoto Residence, or in their language, their shack. The twins stayed behind them with Gaito speaking first. “How is she, Kaito?”

 

“Who?” Kaito wondered curiously.

 

“You know... Lucia Nanami.”

 

“Uh... she's fine, I guess. Why do you ask?”

 

Gaito walked further slowly and turned towards his twin brother. “I think she would make a really good girlfriend.”

 

Kaito raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “What? You're gonna cheat on Sara, G?”

 

“Not for me, bro. For you.” Quickly Gaito ran towards the gates, leaving Kaito behind.

 

What on earth is he talking about? Kaito ignored what Gaito stated earlier and turned his head behind to the direction where Pearl Waters was located.

 

I wonder if your heart is already taken, Lucia Nanami...

 

 

Meanwhile at Pearl Waters, Lucia entered the restaurant with her heart beating rapidly, catching up her breath at once. At the same time she did not even notice that her face was completely red after they exchanged her byes with Kaito Doumoto earlier today. It looked like fate was in favor of Lucia's summer mission today.

 

Hanon and Rina were sweeping the floors by the time Lucia arrived while Hippo was on stage checking to be sure the sound systems were working properly. Lucia remained leaning against the wall next to the entrance, still getting herself relaxed after her initial talk with her dream boy with a hand clutching right on to her chest.

 

“Well?” Hanon asked curiously with her broom resting against the edge of the juice bar counter. “What happened, Lucia? Spill!”

 

Rina took a break from the sweeping and sat on one of the juice bar seats, still grinning at the thought of her friend on the way to winning her longtime crush's heart. “Details, Lucia, details!”

 

Lucia stood up straight and shrieked happily. “He's the sweetest boy I've ever spoken to, you guys! I mean... he even thinks that I have a boyfriend too because he thinks I'm so nice!”

 

“Aw, now isn't that nice?” Rina made her statement while Hanon still looked suspicious. Hippo listened along with the girls' chit-chat but decided not to interrupt them.

 

“What the heck... that's a first!” Hanon exclaimed in shock. “Kaito would never assume something stupid like that to a girl he's interested in... he actually thought you had a boyfriend?”

 

Rina shook her head, disagreeing with Hanon's complaint. “How do you know Kaito is interested in Lucia in the first place?”

 

“Because he asked my permission to talk to her earlier, that's how, Rina!” Hanon answered briefly. “I mean why on earth would Kaito would do such a thing like that? Knowing him he would just walk to some cute girl he sees and just talks to them like it's all natural to him. But asking me, of all people, my permission to talk to Lucia? He didn't have to do that, seriously. He made it seem like Lucia's delicate that he needed to ask permission to speak to her... What the heck is that?”

 

“Then again, that was a little strange,” Rina contemplated on Hanon's response, nodding in agreement.

 

“Gosh...” Lucia approached the dining area and sat at the edge of the stage, not noticing of Hippo's presence there. “I wonder... I mean... do you think Kaito... likes me too? I mean I gotta agree about him asking you just for him to talk to me was a little... weird...”

 

Hanon was still skeptical, not because she was jealous, but because she cared for Lucia too much for her to get hurt by some handsome guy leading her on. Though that have not happened to Lucia at all she can never be too sure. “I wouldn't go to that route yet, Lucia. But more importantly is that you and he finally get to talk to each other!”

 

Lucia began to hum another tune coming from her mind, still thinking about the talk she had with Kaito earlier. Although she was at her daffy state she never forgot the favor he asked of her regarding the upcoming surf scenes tournament. She wanted to mention about that but decided to save that piece of news later when everyone is present.

 

“Then again...” Lucia faded her humming and sighed. “What if Kaito finds me weird too... I just... talked so much...”

 

“Well of course that's natural, silly!” Hanon giggled. She took a seat next to Rina and continued with the story. “You're totally in love with Kaito so it's really easy for you to open up to him and just--- talk about anything, you know?”

 

“What did you two talk about anyway if I may ask?” Rina chuckled.

 

Lucia looked up towards Rina with stars in her eyes. “We talked about surfing!”

 

Hanon shrieked with shock in her eyes. “Wait--- your mission is to get him to like you even if it was just for a friend and all you two talked about was surfing? Lucia, you are in love with him! You're supposed to give him really good compliments--- like how awesome he is and how he makes your heart soar whenever you watch him ride those waves! And you ended up talking about surfing in general?”

 

“Don't forget that Lucia isn't like you or your Rainbow Pop Girl friends, Hanon,” Rina snickered with her arms crossed.

 

“Rina, no girl in this town talks to Kaito about the sport itself! They always start with talking about themselves--- you know... introductions!” Hanon explained further. “Light flirting here, hello! Besides, I bet Kaito would seriously find Lucia all weird and stuff just because all she wanted to talk about was surfing in general.”

 

Lucia interrupted with her hand raised. “We talked about his rival too, Kousuke Sakiya, so it's not just surfing in general, Hanon.”

 

“Oh hell no.” Rina glared at the sound of the rival surfer's name, immediately providing her bad visions about him. “You talked about surfing and then you talked about that conceited punk Kousuke Sakiya?”

 

“Oh yes! He even thought Sakiya was my boyfriend too! He's too funny!” Lucia chuckled with her hands placed on her cheeks to hide the blushing.

 

“I don't think that's a compliment over there, Lucia, but still... good for you.” Rina grinned nervously. “So, did you guys exchanged phone numbers and stuff?”

 

“Even better!” Lucia jumped up to her feet from the stage. “He told me where he lives!”

 

Just with that remark Hippo tripped himself with the microphone wires, falling face flat on the stage floor. Quickly he turned to the girls and joined the conversation. “Kaito Doumoto told you where he lives?”

 

Lucia nodded, still grinning. “He only lives two blocks from here so we're practically neighbors!”

 

“Okay... that worries me...” Hippo gets up to his feet and fixed the wires to be sure they were out of the way. “To me that's like an invitation for you and him to... well you know...”

 

Lucia glared towards her brother: “You're really sick, you know that Hippo? Kaito wouldn't do something like that! He only told me where he lives because he was inviting us to come over to his place anytime--- and vice versa! I mean he already knows where I live, which is just upstairs, so it's just fair for him to let us know where he and his brother and his dudes are staying, right?”

 

Hippo still had suspicion in his mind and sat on the edge of the stage. “You better be careful with guys like Kaito Doumoto, Lucia. I'm not saying I don't like the guy but you may never know what his hidden agenda is with you...”

 

“Hippo, when will you ever be supportive of my quest for true love?” Lucia felt irritation within her regarding her younger brother's protective concerns. “Why does it seem that every single boy I end up having crushes on you always warn me not to go for them?”

 

“Uh, I'm pretty sure Kaito Doumoto was your one and only crush ever since you were younger, Lucia,” Hippo continued with the argument. “And don't think I don't know anything about his one-week girlfriend system, Lucia. I'm very familiar with it. That idiot Nagisa Shirai couldn't stop bragging about it to his dudes in my class and I'm telling you this. You are seriously not one-week girlfriend material, Lucia.”

 

Lucia tightened her fist and continued the argument. “I don't want to be just a one-week girlfriend, Hippo! I want to be his... permanent girlfriend... but we all know that's not gonna happen... ever...”

 

“Don't give up hope, Lucia,” Hanon joined in the argument. “For all you know Kaito may want to have a change with his dating habits. And don't forget the signals he sorta gave us today.”

 

“Well, I was going to wait till everyone is here but I guess I'll start.” Lucia changed the subject immediately and decided to reveal to them what Kaito's plans were for this summer. “Well, Kaito asked me to help him assemble our surf scenes team for the upcoming tournament in two months, which was why we talked so much about surfing, okay?”

 

Hippo's eyes widened in intrigue. “Wait--- are we talking about the first annual Regional Surf Scenes Tournament, Lucia?”

 

“What the heck is that?” Hanon asked curiously.

 

“It's a team tournament with a lot of events,” Hippo began to explain. “I recently got the information packet for my reference a few days ago and skimmed through the details. There will be five events included in the new tournament: male surfing contests, female surfing contests, tandem surfing contests, a beauty pageant, and a surf band contest. Without the requirements our town won't be qualified to enter.”

 

“Whoa!” Rina exclaimed in intrigue. “Sounds like they expanded the Regional Surfing Tournament. That's tough!”

 

“And knowing the Rainbowside Surf Tribe,” Hippo continued, “I'm predicting that they want a sweep. Now I see why Kaito asked Lucia to help him form this new team.”

 

“Well, I need to ask the people around here if they know people who can best fit the requirements,” Lucia said. “But then who am I going to turn to?”

 

Hippo gave a slight snicker. “You don't know very many people in the surfing scene, Lucia... But I do.”

 

 

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

 

A few notes to mention...

 

#1 - I've done a bit of extensive research regarding surfing in general, the science regarding ocean waves, and a bit of the surfer lingo. I give credit to Surfline.com for the information provided.

 

#2 - I forgot to mention this in my notes at the previous chapter so I'll mention it here. I know that Gackto is the name of the villain/Kaito's twin brother in the manga. In the anime they changed his name to Gaito. I'm still a major fan of J-Pop and I am quite familiar with J-Pop/Rock star Gackt. Personally I feel weird using Gackto for his name in this fic (I mean the character design in both the manga and anime very much resemble the real-life Gackt!) which was why I chose to use the name used from the anime.

 

#3 - Tandem surfing? Yes, there is such thing. It's not very common, but it exists in real life. I've seen real-life tandem surfers before in my local beach and it's not as easy as you think.

 

Please take your time to READ AND REVIEW this fanfic. Constructive criticism is always welcome! I haven't received any feedback ever since I uploaded the introduction chapter and it may be giving some signs that no one is interested in reading it. I'm sorry if you want mermaid action and any form of magic but like I said before I don't want to use an idea that's already been used, plus I'm not very good at writing magical/mermaid action scenes like that.

 

More to come, obviously!

 

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

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch is © 2003 Pink Hanamori and Michiko Yokote. No copyright infringement intended.