Just Go in Already

“Umm Haru?”

“Yes, Minori?”

“This is certainly a nice view of the ocean but this isn’t exactly the underwater adventure we spoke about yesterday.”

“Yeah I know that. We’re just going to get prepared up here before our little dive.”

“Oh ok that works for me. Here, it's easier if you just keep making the things we need instead of trying to explain it to me.”

She hands him her red spider lily brush.

“Cool, I'll set up everything we need.”

After a few small clouds of magical black smoke, all the equipment was ready.

“That looks like a lot of stuff. Do we really need to bring all of that?”

“Yeah we do. It's not as much as you think it is, I promise. I even picked us out small tanks that work in tandem with a snorkel so it automatically switches in between functions. And this bulky looking box is an underwater jetpack. Oh and we’ll also have diving fins.”

“Why do we need the fins if we have the jetpack?”

“No marine animals are going to let us near them if we are just raging torpedoes.”

“That makes a lot of sense. Well, let's get walking down toward the beach already.”

“No no no. We’re starting from there.”

He points over towards the oceanside cliff.

“I'm not really sure if you checked along the edge of that but I did so I'll  just tell you now. That's a cliff!”

“Haha. Yeah I know! We’re starting off with a cliff jump. And no, you can’t use your magic instead.”

“Ugh I shouldn’t even be surprised by the ideas you come up with anymore.”

“It's just a 50 foot jump. Don’t be such a chicken.”

She playfully makes a goofy face at him.

"I’m not scared, let's just go already.”

“I’ll go first and then be sure to follow after me.”

One after the other they jump off the cliff, diving into the ocean feet first.

“Ok so we need to get a bit further down the coast, but I don’t want to ruin the surprise for either of us so let's just lay on our backs for a bit and let the jetpack propel us over there.”

Once they arrived at the spot he planned for them, they both looked at each other in anticipation for the dive.

“Are you ready?”

“You betcha!”

The glare of the sun momentarily blinded them just before their face broke through the surface of the water revealing the beautiful ecosystem below. A reef teeming with marine life and vibrant colors as far as the eyes could see. Small schools of fish foraging for food, sea anemones wisping in the gentle current and eels hiding away in crevices below. They were both awestruck by the surreal setting around them.

Beyond the most condensed area of the reef was a curious sea turtle that decided to join them for a swim as they continued their dive. It swam around them as if it was trying to identify what type of creature they were.

 Just before running low on air in their tanks, they decided to test the limits of the jetpacks by spiraling through the waters past one another and shooting through the surface into the air like missiles.

“It was beautiful down there.”

“It was, but it still can't even hold a candle to your beauty Minori.”

She looks over at him with a subtle blush across her cheeks.

“I don’t know why you're trying to flatter me, but it's not working.”

“Oh is that so?”

Minori noticed the watch Haru was wearing today was blinking pretty aggressively.

“What’s happening with your watch?”

“What? Oh this. It's a GPS tracker. The blinking is just because I’m having a friend pick us up for one last activity for today and that means they should be close.”

“Pick us up? For us to go where exactly?”

“We’re just going a bit deeper into the sea for something special.”

“And let me guess, you won't tell me what it is? “

Haru had a smile on his face.

“Oh you know me so well already.”

A boat quickly came into their sight and stopped to let them board. On the boat was just a single person, the captain. She was a tan skinned young woman with jet black hair. She didn’t speak a word, but very clearly looked shocked when she saw them both and couldn’t keep her eyes off of Minori. She started the boat back up and headed a bit further out into sea.

“This is Ichika, she's not much of a talker but she's harmless.”

“…Hi. So Haru, are you going to tell me what we are doing out here yet?”

“Yeah I can. We are here after all.”

He reaches over to a cooler and pulls out a few blood chunks of fish and tosses them overboard. He looks back at Minori with a huge smile.

“We’re going shark cage diving!”

Minori’s jaw dropped in shock.

“Yeah I don’t know, that might just be a bit too much for me.”

“Just get in the cage. If anything dangerous happens and we don't get pulled out from the water then you can use your scythe and whatever magic you want just don’t forget about me.”

“I’ll try my best I wont make any promises."

“Ugh! It wouldn't hurt you to be just a little sweeter to me.”

After refilling their tanks they put their gear back on and jumped into the cage that sat beside the boat and shut the gate above them. It wasn’t a very spacious cage, but it was certainly big enough for them to both be inside and stay out of harm's way. Upon first looking around their surroundings it seemed like the chum did nothing to attract any sharks but then the cage began to sway as something crashed into them from underneath. From the darkness below them emerged a massive great white shark that must have become agitated by the appetizer that was thrown into the water moments ago. The overwhelming size caught them by surprise as they latched onto each other in fear of being too close to the walls of the cage. After hitting the cage a few times the monstrous shark decided to latch on with its teeth and ragdoll the entire thing.

Ichika, noticing that the shark was progressively getting more aggressive, decided to toss a shark repellent into the water and quickly get them out of the cage once it created a bit of distance.

“Now that was so exhilarating!”

“There’s now a new rule, Haru. No more sharks! Not even at an aquarium. I want nothing to do with them.”

“Aww was that too much for you?”

“It was fun up until I was in the perfect position to give it a dental exam. Maybe if it was a little smaller or if I had enough room to pull out my scythe it would've been a different story.”

He gently patted her head to comfort her.

“I’m sorry Minori, I promise I'll make it up to you tomorrow.”

“You better!”