Her Element

“I’ll take you to the endless blue…” Hana voices, her eyes soft and her smile pure.

“I…” I stumble over my words, completely dumbfounded. It was as if she could read my mind…

“Hey, you guys, hung…ry?”

Both of us turn to the sound of Emi’s voice, who’s standing there, a bag of chips in her hands.

“I just ruined a moment, didn’t I?” She smiles wryly, before tossing a potato chip in her mouth.

Seriously now? She was ignoring everyone this whole time, and decided to speak up NOW?! Talk about bad timing!

“Never mind me, I’ll just… go back. You guys, can continue!” After not receiving a reply, she tries to downplay the whole thing with an innocent smile.

“Continue WHAT?! You already ruined it!” Hana finally speaks up, stomping her way towards her friend, and snatching the bag from her hands in one quick sweep.

After making her irritation known, she proceeds to stuff her face with the bag’s contents.

“She’s right, you know…” I voice nonchalantly as I join in on the feast of potato chips.

“Hey, I didn’t say you could eat it all, I just off-“ Emi starts complaining about her stolen chips, but both of our perfectly timed glares make her take a step back.

“You know what? Enjoy!” She forces a smile, trying not to act like her whole soul was exposed to our mean looks, and trots back under the parasol’s shade.

“These are good, though…” I voice.

“I know, right? Barbeque is to die for!” Hana chimes in.

After our little snack, Hana wasted no time and jumped right back into the water, while I decided to take a moment to relax outside.

The sun makes it feel like hell, and the sunscreen seems to serve as much purpose as a good luck charm now, since I didn’t bother to put some to begin with.

Noticing Emi sitting on the sand a little ways from the shoreline, I decide to see what she’s up to.

Walking closer to her, I notice she is building a really grand castle, or more like a whole town…

“Wow, what’s all this?” I ask, the admiration apparent on my voice.

“Heh, this is the kingdom of Barronia.” Emi smiles proudly at her work, poking a window with her finger, on a tall castle.

“Barronia?”

“Yep. This, is the royal palace…” She points to the tall castle from before. “…And this is the rest of the town…” She then points to smaller buildings that were about an inch or two off the ground.

“You’ve got a real knack for this, you know.” I admit sincerely, gazing at her work. “…Any way I can help the… founding of this new kingdom?” I offer to help in a roundabout way.

“Sure, that will be 20,000 yen.” She stretches out her hand with a grin.

“Wait! I was talking about human labor, not funds!” I throw my hands up as I protest, while Emi chuckles. She soon sets me up with a few tips and I start helping her build some more small houses for the sand people of Barronia.

“Wow, this house is seriously crooked…” Emi voices, looking at my creation.

“Hey, the people living here are poor, okay? Cut ‘em some slack!” I shrug, already getting ready to make a copy of my first creation somewhere else inside the kingdom’s borders. Before I start though, I steal a glance at Emi’s sand structures.

She’s got a talent for this, huh?

“Say, Emi…. You wanna be a sand artist or something?” I blurt out.

“Huh?” She looks at me confused before laughing a little.

“Pfft… No, I think painting is more of a hobby for me…” She voices, while molding small sand people.

A knack for the arts, then?

“So you’ve got any paintings to show me?”

“Hey, that’s embarrassing dude!”

“Hahaha!” I laugh at her reaction.

“Hana’s been a good influence on you, huh?” She blurts out, as I give her a funny look.

“What?”

“Well, I for one, have never heard you laugh like that. I’m assuming it’s that happy-go-lucky girl over there that’s the cause of that.” She points to the ocean as she speaks.

“Me? Influenced by Hana?” I fall in thought.

Nah, I don’t think so…

I shake my head as Emi gives me a grin.

“One day, maybe I’ll show you…” She says, looking at her feet.

“So… are you like, going to an arts college?”

“I hope so. But my parents aren’t too happy about it.” She gives a wry smile, as she gets back to her construction.

“Well, now that you’ve found what you want to do, I guess you’ll just have to hang in there.”

“Don’t YOU have any plans, Yukky?” She smirks at me, expecting an immediate answer from someone like me.

“Nope. Nothing.” But my reply takes her by surprise.

“What? But, you’re almost at your last year, right?”

“I am, that much is true. But that won’t help me decide any time sooner.”

“Don’t you have like any hobbies, or something? I mean you look well-built… Something like soccer or basketball?”

It was true that I wasn’t really on the skinny side, but I wasn’t in the extremely muscular side either. If I had to say, I’d probably put myself in the lean but toned zone. Nothing too extreme though.

“Well, I AM at the track and field club back at school, but that is mostly because it’s popular with the girls.”

“Heh, you little playboy!” She smirked at me, in her usual teasing tone.

Of course, I was completely honest here. I have been living my life back at Tokyo, complete devoid of passions and hobbies. Most activities I used to engage into, were mostly obligatory for me. Even now, I didn’t know why I was telling her all this, but for some reason, when I was talking to Emi, I felt l could relax. I guess she seemed the closest to the friends I had back at home, and I didn’t have to pretend to be THE Yukio that used to live in Ryusejima.

As I thought to myself, I turned to the ocean, and then to the girl, playing with the waves.

Hana on the other hand, is so energetic, playful and full of life, that you hardly find anyone like that in the city. And even if you did, the routine would get to them soon enough, so their energy levels would take a literal nosedive.

“Hey, guys, what up?” Daichi joined us, rubbing the back of his shoulder.

Now THAT was a muscle freak.

“Nothing much, just talking about life…”

“And building Barronia…” Emi added.

“Still, Hana is taking way too long in there…” I voice as I look back at the ocean before me.

“Well Hana will be Hana.” Daichi states, while I give him a confused look.

“She just LOVES the ocean...” Emi simply voices, preoccupied with her sand works.

“She does, huh?” I mumble, thinking to myself.

“She has a natural talent for swimming. She can hold her breath for who knows how long, and I swear if you see her moving underwater, it’s like watching a fish. She really is in her element when she’s in the water. Her parents seriously believed she had gills, when she was younger!” Daichi explains, looking off at the vast ocean.

“That’s why she’s one of the instructors back at our shop. Getting a license was mere child’s play for her.” Chinatsu chimed in, as she came and sat next to me.

Now that they all mentioned it, it really made sense. Despite how clumsy Hana is on shore, when you see her in the water, she really gives off that feeling, that she’s really free of everything. Her swimming form is natural and beautiful, and just like Daichi said, she truly looks like she’s in her element. She really must be having the most fun while swimming…

So that’s why she said that earlier…

A girl who loves the sea. I wonder what she felt like when she heard a city boy like me saying I hate it, without even having a clue what I was talking about. But, if Hana remembered what I was like in the past, I bet she must have been really surprised to hear me say that. And now that I think about it, how come she didn’t question me when she realized I couldn’t swim? I guess, I’ll just have to ask her myself…

“Hey guys!!” And as if on cue, the bubbly and energetic girl emerged from the ocean and trotted towards us.

“And just when we were talking about her…” Daichi smiles to himself.

“Here comes the mermaid.” Emi chimes in.

“What were you all talking about?” Hana asked, quickly closing the distance between us.

“Oh, you know. Stuff.” I shrug, avoiding the question.

“Oh come on, tell me!” She pouts, still walking right towards us. What she hasn’t noticed though, is the small kingdom right at her feet.

“Hana!” “WAIT!” Both Emi and I try to stop Hana’s foot from pulverizing both mine, but mostly Emi’s, hard work.

“Woah!” “Hey, watch it!” But our warnings fall a few seconds short, as Hana’s foot hits the magnificent royal palace, which collapses right on top of the peasant houses.

“Barronia! NOOO!” Emi’s distressed cry earns us a few weird looks from the onlookers but that’s the least of our problems now.

The girl responsible, has taken a complete tumble, and has fallen right on top of me, her face pressed against my torso, while I use my hands to support myself.

“Ooooops…” Hana mumbles, as everyone turns to Emi, who smiles like she’s ready to transcend this mortal plane, fed up with the world.

“All these poor sand people…” I hold back a sniffle, imagining all the lives this irresponsible girl has just ruined. As I speak, only then does Hana notice she’s lying on top of me, and turns her head up, as we lock eyes. Not a second later, her entire face, and trust me when I say ENTIRE, burns crimson, and looks away to the side.

Okay, touching each other with THIS much skin exposed, is really embarrassing… Wait, that sounded even MORE embarrassing!

A blush threatens to form on my cheeks, too.

“Hana…” Suddenly, an ominous voice is heard, by none other than the creator of Barronia.

“…I’ll grant you one last wish, before…”

Hana audibly gulps, before turning to look back at me, this time seeking help.

Sorry Hana-chan. You have brought this upon yourself, no amount of puppy dog eyes will save you…

My eyes speak volumes, as Hana turns to everyone gathered, one by one.

Chinatsu and Daichi, shake their heads simultaneously, before the dam, that is called Emi, bursts.

“I’M SO SORRYYYY!!”

Case in point: Hana is clumsy.

After Hana received her punishment, which, in case you were curious, was 15 forehead flicks, and drowned her tears of pain in the ocean once again, the time went flying by.

We all had lunch rather late, but thankfully it wasn’t one of Hana’s meat-bombs, but a standard meal instead, made by Daichi’s mother.

We used up the rest of our time by taking a dip in the ocean here and there, playing some beach volleyball, or just relaxing under the parasol, and before we even knew it, the sun had set.

After setting up the two tents that we would use to sleep for the night, we all sat around a fire and, much to Hana’s disapproval, it was horror story time.

“And then, he turned around slowly…” Daichi, held a flashlight, illuminating his face from below, as he spoke.

Seriously? I mean that’s so cliché…

While everyone could maintain their poker face even at the climax of Daichi’s scary tale, Hana was the only one wrapped in an orange and white beach towel, and had grabbed hold of my arm without me even noticing.

“BUT HIS HEAD WAS MISSING!” Daichi raised his voice, while Hana screamed and scrunched her eyes shat.

“AAAAAAHH!!”

“Woahhh…” Was the rest of our reactions. Safe to say, not the scariest story we’ve heard. But, Hana got spooked all the same.

Soon it was Emi’s turn. Apparently she was a horror master, and I have to say, I’ve been looking forward to this.

“Somewhere in an island far, far away…” Emi started speaking ominously, without a need for a flashlight like Daichi.

“Uhm, can we talk about something else instead… please…?” Hana gingerly raised her free hand.

“Shhh, Emi-onee-san’s talking…” But the 10 year old of the group shushed her older sister, clearly anticipating the horror master Emi to deliver on her reputation.

“There was a man, who had lost his wife and daughter…” She continued the story, while Hana continued to tremble like a leaf.

I realized she couldn’t handle horror back at that haunted cabin, but seeing her like this just drives the point home.

For a moment, I think about teasing her, but the angel on my shoulder takes ahold of my mind this time around.

“Hey, it’s all just made up, you know? It’s not real, so there’s no need to worry.” I try to comfort her, my voice barely a whisper.

Surprised, the terrified girl looks up at me, sniffling.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” I reply with confidence.

“You promise?” She gives me a look, not a single guy in the world could refuse and I give her a small but reassuring nod.

“Promise.”

And just as I reply, Emi finishes her story with a bang.

“And then the woman covered in blood shouts, “Die, human!” as she cuts him open!” Our blonde horror master finishes her story, as she stands up and bows to her audience.

“Woaahh!” Daichi and Chinatsu clap enthusiastically, while I feel nails digging into my arm.

“Ouch…” I exclaim, turning to look at Hana.

“It’s all made up, it’s not real. It’s all made up, it’s not real. Hahaha. It’s all made up, it’s not real…” The girl, and cause of the stabbing pain in my arm, repeats over and over as she looks off into space.

Is she possessed?!

“Guys, I think Hana is at her limit here…” I turn to the others in concern.

Ultimately, I didn’t get to hear Emi’s masterpiece of a horror story, and my promise to Hana didn’t help much, but the others seemed to be satisfied enough as we decide to wrap up for the night and head to sleep. We’ve got an early rise tomorrow anyway, since we need to see the meteor shower even before the sun rises.

We say our goodnights as we split up into our two tents. Of course, the girls share the biggest one, while Daichi and I have to make do with what remains.

I turn and toss around in my futon, as various thoughts keep assaulting me, while Daichi’s snoring can already be heard in the background.

Yeah, this will probably be a long night...