Everyone knew Rei Ryugazaki was as serious as a person could get when it came to ethics and logic. The cobalt haired teen was one of the brainiest at his university. He was the star of the track team, a physics genius, and, as he claimed, very knowledgeable about many things

Rei firmly believed that what his eyes couldn't see didn't exist, meaning as a child he was never one for stories about magic or mythical creatures.

That is until his own two eyes proved him wrong in his assumptions.

Rei rode the train to the university everyday, his nose usually buried in a book along the way. At the stop before the school, he would get out and jog the last stretch as part of his training. Even as a first year student at the university, Rei had made himself known as an accomplished track star. His pole vaulting was envied by several upper classmen, and he was one of the most physically fit members of the team.

Solitary was a word that described Rei pretty well. He didn't have many people he could call friends. Most of the people he talked to were acquaintances from class or teammates. He was probably the most introverted a person could get. He didn't like going to parties, preferring to spend his nights alone studying rather than texting or hanging out with anyone he knew.

"Oi! Ryugazaki!" A call came from across the track training area and Rei looked up from tying his shoes to see a third year, Kakeru Shiba, jogging towards him. "Hey! So Ryugazaki, we're having a little get together after the meet this weekend at the beach. Since you're a big part of the team, we wanted to you come! How about it?"

"W-well," Rei stammered, blinking a few times, "I don't really-"

"Yeah everyone knows you don't go out a lot, but come on! It'll be fun!" Kakeru said, giving Rei a grin.

"Alright," Rei agreed, nodding and adjusting his glasses, "But I won't have to swim right?"

"Eh? You can't swim Ryugazaki-kun?" Rei sheepishly shook his head. Swimming was foolish in his mind. A complete step backwards for mankind. Plus, science had only explored a minuscule 3% of the ocean! What could exist in the dark, cold waters…

Not that Rei believed that anything was down there except fish. Silly things like sea monsters were absolutely ridiculous.

"Well, that's no problem! There'll be a barbecue and we might get a boat to go out on the water if the weather is nice. You can ride with us there on the train after the meet, yeah?" Rei nodded and Kakeru gave him a grin. The coach hollered for the third-year to get back to work running laps and Rei finished tying his shoe before immersing himself in the calculations for his vaulting.

Needless to say, the track meet went very well for the team. Rei won several medals for his pole vaulting and other students also succeeded in their specific events too. After the meet, numerous members of the team, Rei included, were on the train headed for the beach. There was excited chatter among them about the successful meet and the fun planned for the beach.

"Yeah I totally secured my uncle's boat," Kakeru bragged to the other teammates on the train, "It's gonna be awesome!" Rei was listening quietly. He was a bit tired from the meet but he wanted to seem upbeat for some reason. He actually wanted his teammates to like him and not think he was some sort of completely anti-social person. His mid kept wandering back to the homework he had for the weekend but he kept shaking the thoughts away. That was what the weekend was for.

The weather at the beach was perfect. The sky was starting to get dyed a deep orange as the sun sank. Rei could only describe the sky as beautiful. The blending light pinks, oranges, and yellows swirling through the sky, outlining the deep sun was breath taking to Rei.

Not that he'd ever utter that out loud of course. He knew most guys weren't keen on expressing things they found to be beautiful, but Rei had found all this life he had a keen eye for beauty, to pick up on what was beautiful.

"Hey, Ryugazaki-kun! Stop spacing out! Let's go!" Kakeru grinned, nudging Rei before he and the other ran onto the beach, most of them ditching their shoes in favor of feeling the sand between their toes. Rei followed hesitantly, depositing his bag under a tent set up and toeing off his shoes.

The smell of the grill frying fish and the sounds of cheers and laughter filled the air as the night went on. Rei was surprised by how well thought out the occasion was. From what he had been told, it was just a small get together, but it turned out that more than half of the team showed up, bringing various friends and girlfriends along with them.

Rei participated, finding himself locked into a few conversations occasionally with teammates he hardly spoke to. Mostly they praised his talents and then caught up with someone else they'd much rather talk to. Despite that, Rei found himself having a decent amount of fun. The fish made was good and the night air was cool but not too cold.

"Hey! Let's head to the boat!" Someone yelled out the suggestion and it was met with loud cheers of agreement. Rei fund himself shuffled forwards and onto a decently sized fishing boat. It wasn't the most ideal of transportation methods. It reeked of stale fish and bait, but none of the other people seemed to care, or even notice for that matter,

"You sure about this Shiba-sensei? Those clouds look like they could come in pretty soon," a second year student asked.

"We'll be fine! I looked up the weather reports and everything!" Kakeru grinned.

The boat moved onto the open water swiftly, the motor sputtering a few times during the start-up, but running smoothly afterwards. Several people had leapt recklessly off the boat, their bodies splashing against the water and sending spray up onto the deck. Rei was glad he left his shoes in a dry place. He disliked getting his clothes wet, but his shoes especially.

Rei had gotten used to the slight spray of salty water against his clothes from the careless team members, but he tensed when a fat drop of rain fell, hitting him in the forehead and trickling down his face.

"Shiba-sensei!" He called up to the third-year who was manning the boat controls, "It's starting to rain."

"Don't be such a worry-wart, Ryugazaki-kun! It'll pass!"

But the rain didn't pass. The storm moved in quickly over the ocean, the wind picked up, and the waves started to surge higher, only bringing hollers of joy from the students still in the water.

"Shiba-sensei, I really must protest. I think-"

"Gosh, Ryugazaki-kun! It's fine! I take this boat out all the time with my uncle. There's nothing to worry about." Kakeru gave him a grin that quickly disappeared from his face when the boat rocked dangerously to the side, hit by an exceptionally strong wave, "Well… Maybe we could head back now," Kakeru said sheepishly.

People were still clambering back up the ladder of the boat when the rain started. The drops felt in sheets, hard and heavy against the boat, creating a din of water on wood and metal. The last few people weren't even on the boat yet when the waves seemed to almost suddenly become even more violent. The water slammed the sides of the boat, sending large splashes of water onto the deck.

A cry rang out from the ladder when the last student was trying to clamber on. The metal rungs were wet and slippery, and a wave hitting the side of the boat had sent someone falling back into the water. Rei dimly heard the yell of the person's name as his eyes scanned the deck of the boat for a life jacket, a life preserver, anything that would float.

A splash rang out as someone made the move, a completely idiotic move in Rei's opinion, of jumping into the water to get the other student.

Yells were lacing the air among the sounds of the wind, waves, and rain. People were screaming to get back in the boat, yelling for assistance, and Rei was frozen in place. He certainly didn't know what to do. He had been roped into this! He didn't even want to come on the boat in the first-

Rei's thoughts were cut short as the boat lurched and his balance failed him. His feet slipped and skidded dangerously on the wet deck and, with another shake of the boat, he fell to the side. He eyes widened and he felt himself slipping as his scrambled to find purchase onsomething on the deck. His hands were sliding against the cold, wet wood and, finally, he grasped onto a metal bar.

Then he realized he was practically hanging off the side of the boat. His logical sense failed in that moment, his heart beat picking up as he cried out for help over the rain. Everyone else was trying to help others on the other side of the boat. Rei was alone. He felt himself losing grip on the slick metal, his fingers going numb from the cold and his grip failing from the water.

His fingers slipped and he cried out, scrabbling for anything. He was in the air for not even a second before his body hit the violent waves.

Rei had been in a pool once in his life, when his parents tried to get him to take swimming lessons at a summer camp as a toddler. He had hated the water, pitched a tantrum about how the chlorine stung his eyes, and never went back in.

Until now.

The ocean was nothing like how he remembered that pool. It was hopelessly dark, his eyes burned even worse from the salt water. The taste of the salt in his mouth was overwhelming and vile. It made him want to lose his dinner, but he didn't even have the space in his head to think about getting sick in that moment.

He was flailing in the water. Some how he had come up twice by kicked and moving his arms to gasp a breath of air and cough up some of the water that had made it's way down his throat. He was panicked and cold, and exhausted on top of it. He kept yelling for help but his voice was lost in the storm.

Water rushed down his throat as he sank into the water again and didn't have any more strength to push himself up. His vision was darkening at the edges, though he could barely distinguish the change from the hopelessly dark surroundings.

He witnessed a flash of color before his eyes slipped shut. He felt something warm brush his cheek before he body sank into unconsciousness.

And, oddly enough, he felt a calm wash over him, as if there was nothing to worry about in the world.