Chapter Text
“Come on,” she called back. “Paddle harder.”
“I am!” he exclaimed, nearly throwing the water behind him as he fought the rip current. His knees burned as he followed her every move. Sitting atop his shins, crouching forward, and rotating to maximize his reach as he pulled at the water.
Her head turned slightly as she raised an arm. “Look at my hand, Keep your fingers together and curve.” Her hand plunged into the rapidly darkening water. “Pretend you’re scooping ice cream with your hands. It's a pull and push. Pull towards you, then push behind.”
“Easier said than done,” Satoru rolled his eyes, doing as she said.
“Fair enough,” she laughed. “But I’m not buff enough to pull you and me.”
Satroru squinted, wrinkling his nose. “Are you insinuating something?”
“You’re a big guy!” she exclaimed, ears turning red before grumbling something he couldn’t hear over the cries of the gulls..
“You calling me fat?” he couldn’t help but goad, beginning to get the hang of paddling like this.
“Yeah,” she said louder. “You weigh eight thousand pounds. Get paddlin’ or I’m gonna have to call my boyfriend to come help.”
Boyfriend? The word slithered through his ear and down to his stomach, spoiling his hopes for the girl whose name he didn’t even know. Something else grew along with it. Something with a spark.
“What’s your name anyway,” he asked, stopping mid-scoop.
She said it back to him, but it got swallowed by the wind that quickly picked up.
“I’m Satoru-”
“Get ready,” she interrupted. A wall of water swelled behind them. He did as she instructed before they got caught in the evening current. “Even your balance, shoulders over toes, feet just over shoulder width!” She continued to paddle, scooching further back. As the wave crested, she shouted, “Steady… Pop!”
He did as she asked and suddenly they were gliding. This was… amazing. The salt spray and wind whipped his hair and he couldn't help but grin. Feeling confident, Satoru pushed up from his knees and to his feet to match her. The board wobbled, prompting her to shout some insult at him and back up to regain control, accidentally walking into him in the process. Satoru forgot everything else save for the feeling of her against him. His hand hovered over her hip. He wanted so badly to hold on but thought better of it after noticing the man in red watching from the shoreline.
She turned the board sharply, shouting for him to jump. The sound of water crashed around him, turning to silence a moment before returning as he stood up on solid ground. Satoru grinned, shaking the hair from his face. She surfaced, head poking out with her body still mostly underwater.
“You squatting?” he questioned, splashing a bit of water her way. She just laughed in response and kicked her legs, the splash of seafoam raining down on him as the burning sunset faded to lavender skies.
“I prefer the water to the wind, thank you very much!.”
“What are you? A seal?” he wiped the salty water from his eyes, still grinning.
“Maybe I’m a siren,” she chuckled before raising her hand out of the water and waving to the beach.
Satoru followed her line of sight to the man in the bright red swim shorts and white tank. The tanned man jogged out to the two. Her lips curved into a smirk, the kind directors would put on a movie poster Satoru thought. “Did your job for you, Zac.” She sounded smug.
The man laughed a little. “Technically not a lifeguard.”
She cackled in response, “But you’re one today. Can’t catch you slacking on the job.”
Job? Satoru realized Zac’s white tank had the words ‘Coast Guard’ written on it. “Coast Guards can lifeguard?” Satoru asked.
“As long as I’m not on active duty.” Zac smiled, “I’m Zac.” He held out a tanned hand.
Satoru gripped it, giving a firm shake. “Satoru.”
“Well, I gotta take you out of the water to make sure you’re all good, then we can all dip and head on out since the beach is technically closed after dark.”
“I’m alright, promise.” Satoru began trudging to shore.
“Gotta make sure there’s no water in your lungs still. It's just protocol.” She shrugged, the smaller waves brushing over her shoulders.
“You gotta get out too, babe.” Zac held his hand out to her.
“Nooooooooo.”
“C’mon-” Zac grunted as he moved to lift her up by the shoulders.
“Aw don’t take the mermaid from her natural habitat.” Satoru teased. “She’s still got her tail.” He motioned his head to the peach colored surfboard connected to her being by a black cord. Satoru wasn’t certain they heard his joke as Zac pulled her from the water anyways, mumbling something about sharks being more active after dark.
Satoru made it to the beach first, trudging up through the shifting piles of sand ruffed up from countless footprints to his bag and towel. He dried off, wrapping the towel around his waist and pulling on a green hoodie to stave off the biting pacific wind. He turned to look back at the water, catching sight of her speeding ahead of Zac (who was carrying her peach colored longboard) to the towel hanging off the light blue lifeguard shack.
“Hey snowflake,” she grinned as he approached.
Satoru blinked. “Snowflake?” he asked incredulously.
“Do you bleach that or is your hair just that light naturally?” she blurted from under the towel she wrapped over herself like a shawl. It was peach colored just like her board.
“Jealous?” he cocked a smile, rubbing his hand through his hair until it stuck up in all directions.
“I quite like my hair,” she retorted. “ Just never met an albino before.”
Satoru paused. “I’m not–”
Just then, Zac let her board fall against the side of the shack with a loud smack. “Ok time to check you out.”
“I swear I’m fine,” Satoru started.
“It’s just protocol.” Zac walked up the ramp with a frown and she ruffled his light brown locks with a smile.
“Can I steal a sweatshirt?”
“Have I ever said no?”
She grinned and ran inside.
“Is she allowed to–” Satoru began to ask, pointing to where she disappeared in the door.
“No,” Zac answered quickly, seeming a little annoyed. “But she’s good at getting away with it.”
Satoru scoffed in response, sitting down in the shack and letting Zac check him. “Really, I swear I’m all right.”
“Don’t wanna risk a civil suit in case you get mad at me later for not doing my job,” Zac replied. “It’ll be over in a sec.”
Silence passed between the two. The girl that saved Satoru came back out from the back room, snug in a sweatshirt with baggy shorts barely reaching the middle of her long legs. “Hey.”
Zac pulled away, his brown eyes glancing towards her. “What's up?”
“I’m gonna head home. Apparently Nobara has no idea how to cook for herself and you know my mom, she’ll kill me if I let her survive off of pizza alone.”
“Yeah that’s fine,” Zac replied. “We still on for tomorrow morning?”
She caught eyes with Satoru. The moment seemed a lot longer than it must have been because their conversation caught back on without missing a beat, but Satoru swore he could’ve counted every freckle on her slightly burnt nose in that moment.
“Yeah, I’ll be at Deb’s by seven at the latest.”
Zac raised a brow.
“I promise!”
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“Trust.” She smiled a little, pecking his lips briefly.
She caught eyes with Satoru again, smiling briefly. “See you around, Snowflake.”
“Yeah.” Satoru managed to say before she was gone. He gulped, waiting for Zac to finish up. His eyes trailed to the line of the mountains carving through the windows and down to the ocean horizon. The last bit of lavender faded from the sky, leaving the dusty indigo and inky blue of night to settle in.
“You’re all set.” Zac pat his shoulder. “Watch out for the waves next time. Especially when they start to form a V-shape since that’s a big indicator of riptide which has killed too many.”
Satoru nodded, giving his thanks before he sped out and up the beach to the teal blue partition separating the parking lot from the beach.
Satoru didn’t have a car, not for lack of wanting one, but rather because he just moved to the country and didn’t have a license to drive yet. He moved to the coast thinking it would surely be more walkable, but he’d underestimated how far everything was here. “You’d think the PCH would have sidewalks for the views,” he grumbled to himself, walking on the edges between the treacherous asphalt and the steep drop off to jagged rocks or tiny beaches. Satoru looked up, spotting the first stars but no moon in dusky blue sky. It was going to be dark tonight. He needed to get home fast.
Satoru jumped at the sound of a car from around the bend, risking a step further away from the road. The people here drove like mad and he’d rather tumble down the dune than get struck; he shuddered at the thought. To his surprise the car slowed. It was an old pickup truck with a peach surfboard sticking out of the back window. The window rolled down revealing the pretty girl who’d saved him earlier, her formerly wet hair now in poofy, frizzy curls. “Hey you good?” she called out with a squint. “You could get hit out here!”
“Hasn’t happened yet.” Satoru felt the curve of a smile. “You offering a ride?”
“I don’t pick up hitch-hikers, sorry.”
“What about me screams hitch-hiker? I didn’t even stick out a thumb?”
She paused for a moment, eyes studying him before she came to a conclusion. “Fair. Hop in the bed and I’ll drop you off if you’re close.”
Satoru fully grinned. “My savior yet again. I’m not far, promise.”
“Just tell me where to go and be sure to duck if you see a cop.”
“Yes ma’am. Just keep going down the road for a bit.” Satoru climbed into the truck bed, staying low and close to the open back window for her to hear him over the wind.
She started driving again, just barely reaching 100 feet when Satoru shouted at her to stop. She slammed on the breaks, looking around. “What?”
Satoru pointed to a house above the small cliff covered in bougainvillaea to the side of the highway. She followed his line of sight, eyes catching on the subtle sandstone staircase built into the cliffside leading up to the home. Her brows knit and curls whipped as she looked back at him accusingly, “You didn’t need a ride!”
Satoru laughed wickedly, “Promised I wasn’t far.”
She scoffed and shook her head, but Satoru caught the curve of her mouth curving ever so slightly up. “What No insult this time? First you call me fat, then liken me to a delicate snowflake—“
”Truth hurts,” She deadpanned. Satoru blinked and a moment passed between the two before she burst out laughing, “I kid. I kid.”
Satoru looked at her skeptically as he hopped out of the truck bed with his bag.
“Promise!” She assured him, before adding, “Even if you do suck at swimming.”
”Annnnd there you go again Miss Peach,” He shook his head. “Absolutely ruthless.”
She raised a quizzical brow, “Peach?”
”Yeah, seems like you’ve got a theme,” Satoru gestured to the pink board and bag in the passenger seat, the color popping against the dark blues of dusk overcoming the sky. Before she could respond, Satoru turned and raised his arm in goodbye, “Thank you~”
He didn’t turn back at the gravelly sound of her tires moving on the pavement, merely focusing on his sandals and the sandstone staircase that was rapidly disappearing under the darkening sky. Satoru didn’t want to strain his eyes trying to follow the car with the peach board until night fully awoke.