Chapter 1

Pop! The sound was right next to his ear as his alarm clock started up. Hiroto rolled over and stretched, his spiderman t-shirt riding up on his slim form to reveal his stomach. His blankets were bundled and twisted around his legs from the tossing and turning he’d done during the night. His roommates swore he never stopped moving. Above the young man, many little bubbles had formed, popping all around him loudly. He reached over and hit his alarm clock so it would cease making the bubbles.

A new day and a new adventure, one that Hiroto was anxious to start. He jumped on his bed for a few minutes, then decided it would be fun to jump onto Tora’s next. The older male mumbled into his pillow in protest, blindly swatting at his excited friend. Hiroto decided to sit on Tora’s back them, poking him repeatedly in the head. “Tooooora...”

“Mmmph!” Was the muffled reply. Hiroto quickly crawled off Tora and pressed his ear closer to Tora’s head.

“What was that, Tora?”

“Fuck off.” Tora mumbled, turning onto his side, his back still to Hiroto. Hiroto pouted. He pouted so hard it almost hurt. He knew Tora could feel the pout even if he couldn’t see it.

Tora was distressed. He could feel the pout and it was interrupting his sleep. He didn’t like to be up this early on the weekend. So he let Hiroto know how he felt. He pulled his pillow out from under his head and threw it back at the smaller one. The pillow hit Hiroto’s face and he stared, shocked at Tora. He then frowned and smacked Tora back with the pillow before hopping off the bed and going to hide in Nao’s. Nao was always nice.

Nao mumbled something that sounded vaguely like Starbucks and rolled onto his stomach, nuzzling his pillow. Hiroto pet his head, smirking. Oh, he knew exactly what would get Nao out of bed. Hiroto quickly rushed to get showered and dressed so he could get Nao’s sugar loaded latte from Starbucks.

After much sugar and espresso consumption, Hiroto managed to pull Nao out of bed and soon Tora followed too, giving up on the idea of sleeping in. They went to the main docking station to start up their underwater vehicle to film the coral reefs for their school project. The vehicle was shaped as a dolphin, maneuvering through the water with echoing clicks as radar.

“Where’s Saga?” Nao asked with a little frown as he spoke from the driver’s seat. Hiroto stared out one of the large windows along the side, hands pressed to the glass.

“Maybe he’s sleeping in, like I wanted to.” Tora muttered, leaning back in his passenger’s seat with his eyes closed.

“He’ll be missing all the good shots!” Hiroto exclaimed, as he moved to get his underwater camera and wetsuit on. It was the perfect day for taking pictures. The waters were calm and the sun was filtering down into the water, casting a warm glow on the ocean’s reefs. Within no time, they were at the chosen spot to take the pictures.

“All right, ready?” Nao asked, glancing back at Hiroto, who had been strapped into his wetsuit and had all his gear on, with a little help from Tora. Hiroto nodded enthusiastically before stepping over to the ladder.

“I’ll go out and take the pictures, pick me up here in ten minutes.” Hiroto replied, slowly climbing up to exit the submarine from the top and slide into the water. Once surrounded in the deep blue waters, he swam, his camera dangling from his neck. Fish passed him, of all colors and sizes as well as a few turtles. He lifted his camera, snapping away at every angle.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hiroto saw a dark shadow pass by and he felt a nervous jolt at the sight. What if it was a shark, he thought irrationally and he panicked, turning to swim back toward the submarine.

He didn’t make it though as the strap of his camera got caught on a part of the coral. He tugged at it frantically, tempted to just leave it there. However, just as he was about to pull the camera off his neck, a hand reached out and freed the camera strap. Completely startled, Hiroto looked up and stared into a pair of big, dark eyes. Human eyes, none the less. He was frozen in place, taking a few moments to comprehend what was in front of him.

Right in front of Hiroto was a boy, a bit older than himself, with lightly colored hair and a beautiful face. He looked delicate and kind, though it was obvious he’d built up some muscle from swimming. Speaking of swimming, the stranger also had no oxygen tank or...any clothing for that matter. Hiroto blushed as he realized this, glancing to the side. He didn’t need to be checking out random naked boys who swam around coral reefs for fun.

After a few more seconds of the awkward encounter, Hiroto felt himself beginning to run out of air. He gasped and looked down at his oxygen level, which was dangerously low. He needed to quickly get back to the sub. The stranger was still watching him with the innocent doe eyes, that tempted Hiroto to stay.

With one last look into the stranger’s eyes and seeing the light smile touching those full lips, Hiroto began to swim away again. He paused, raising his camera and snapping a quick picture of the other boy. He had to hurry to the submarine, gasping for breath once he was safely inside again.

“You’re late.” Tora commented, looking up when he watched Hiroto slowly climb down the steps.

“You’ll never believe what I saw!” Hiroto exclaimed, quickly stumbling out of his wetsuit and running over to show Tora and Nao the pictures on his camera, stopping on the one of the boy. Hiroto felt a little stab in his heart upon seeing the expression that the stranger wore in the picture. It was one of sadness, loneliness, and disappointment.

“Who is that?” Nao asked, staring at the display screen in curiosity.

“He was just out there, swimming. My camera strap got stuck and he helped me.” Hiroto replied, pulling the camera back and staring at the display screen some more. He wanted so bad to go back, to find out who this person was...

“I’ve never seen him before...I wonder what colony he’s from.” Tora commented, frowning slightly. “No one I know goes swimming without oxygen or a swimsuit at the very least.”

“I think he could hold his breath for a long time...” Hiroto muttered softly, finally turning off his camera.

Nao just smiled at Hiroto, moving back to his chair. “We should get this back to the docks. Lunch will be served soon.” Hiroto sighed and moved to sit as well, clutching his camera to his chest.

I want to meet you again...

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