Umi felt cold. She could feel water surrounding her, but she could breathe. She must not be underwater anymore. She could feel someone pushing on her chest. She started coughing and opened her eyes. There was a man there. It looked like he had tan skin, chesnut brown hair, and ocean blue eyes. "Thank god you woke up!" he exclaimed. He has a thick Irish accent like Dave.
"W-who are you?" Umi stuttered.
"Mizu. My name is Mizu," he said. Umi tried sitting up only to have a migraine and lay back down.
"You should be careful. You hit your head when you fell. How did you fall?" he asked.
"I... I was attacked. I didn't see who it was, though," she explained. Mizu looked at her with sorrow in his eyes. He then noticed something.
"Off topic, but is your hair naturally that color?" he asked. Before she could answer, she heard someone call her name.
"Umi! Are you out here?" a man called. She heard a splash and noticed Mizu disappeared. She tried standing up, but fell over. The man's light shined onto her and she saw who it was. It wasn't her father, but a police officer. He helped her up and lead her to his car. He wrapped a blanket around her and started questioning her.
"What were you doing out here all by yourself?"
"I was trying to return a locket to an underwater cave. I was attacked, though."
"By who?"
"I don't know. I didn't see who it was," she answered. The man took notes and eventually drove her home. Her father bandaged her head and let her go to her room. She laid down and tried to sleep. She dreamt of the man who rescued her. Only he wasn't human in the dream. He was a merman.
The next day, she went back to the beach and sat in shallow water. She closed her eyes and took in the sounds and smells. The smell of the salt, the sound of the seagulls. It helped calm her down. Especially since she wasn't allowed to swim with a head injury. She opened her eyes and saw a figure go behind a nearby rock. It looked like it had shoulder length brown hair.
"Mizu?" she asked. The figure poked his head around the corner revealing ocean blue eyes amd tan skin.
"Why are you hiding behind a rock?" she asked.
"I just didn't expect you to come back here. Especially after what happened," he replied, softly. Umi smiled and stood up. She walked along the shoreline and climbed the rock he was hiding behind.
"I love the ocean too much to stay away. Besides, I'm meeting a friend here today."
"Who?"
"His name is Dave. He's pretty much the only friend I've made since moving here," she replied. Mizu looked around, cautiously. "What are you looking for?" Umi asked.
"Just being cautious. You never know who you may run into," he replied. Mizu waded in the water until he was on shore. He was wearing jean shorts and sat down in shallow water. Umi hopped off the rock and sat next to him.
"Tell me more about Dave. He seems interesting."
"He's really shy and timid. He loves marine life, but he seems afraid of the ocean for some reason. He's a sweetheart, though." Umi looked around and saw Dave walking up to them. She smiled and waved at him. He sat down next to Umi and looked curiously at Mizu.
"Who's your new friend?" Dave asked.
"I'm Mizu Moon. It's nice to meet you. I'm guessing you're Dave?" he replied. Mizu reached his hand out to shake Dave's. Dave looked hesitant for a minute before taking Mizu's hand and shaking it.
"So, are you from school? I don't remember seeing you around before," Dave asked.
"No, I'm home schooled. I met Umi last night. I was walking along the shore when I saw her fall into the water. I dove in to save her," he answered. Dave didn't look convinced. He stood up and looked down at Mizu.
"That sounds like a load of bullshit! You just conveniently happened to see her fall? How do we know you didn't push her? How do we know you aren't playing with her mind?" he asked. Mizu looked innocently at him and stood up. Mizu was at least 6'5 whereas Dave was 5'4. "Why would I hurt a girl? Especially one who loves marine life," Mizu asked. Umi stood up and pushed the boys away from each other.
"Boys! Knock it off! I get it, you don't trust each other, but we still need to figure out who attacked me and why," Umi said.
"I think I know who it is. It's got to be Mizu! His story is way too suspicious!" Dave exclaimed. Mizu scoffed.
"You seem to forget, Umi would have drowned if I wasn't there," Mizu shot back. Umi growled and started walking back to her house.
"Umi? W-wait up!" Dave called. Dave and Mizu started following Umi.
"Don't follow me until you can get along!" she yelled. Both boys looked at each other in anger. They continued following Umi until she got back home. She went to knock when she noticed the door was slightly ajared. She opened the door to find the house in shambles. Everything was flipped or broken.