Chapter 8

441 15 11
                                    

Pucca nervously got on the boat. They all decided to go to the beach that day, and it was Pucca's first time riding a boat on such strong waves. The bodies of water at Heaven weren't this wavy, and they were always clean. Which is why Pucca didn't feel safe.

Her nervousness only got stronger when the boat drove further away from the shore. She was confused as to why her friends were so calm, as well as the other boats. Why did she even agree to go on this boat ride with them? Then, the waves startred getting stronger!

"Ahhhhh!! It's so stroong!!" She yelled out.

"P-Pucca, calm down!" Garu exclaimed. "If you panic, the boat is going to get heavier and we're going to sink!"

"Ahhhh we're going to fall heeeelllppp."

The boat started rocking back and forth as Pucca continued to panic, and the water even splashed on the six of them, thus entering their boat. And Pucca was standing on the edge of the boat, falling over and landing on the sea!

"Pucca!"

All of her friends panicked and tried to save her, but Pucca was already under the sea before she could grab their reaching hands! Garu, realizing that the girl needed his help, jumped into the frigid sea without thinking.

"Garu!"

But he didn't bother to reach for their hands. Instead, he continued to swim downwards to reach the floating Pucca, who was desperately trying to get up from the depths of the ocean.

And when he finally reached her, he pulled her into his arms. The both of them looked at each other for a brief moment, before Garu started swimming up again while holding Pucca. The sea was a beautiful sight indeed, but the only thing that was concerning him at that time was Pucca's safety.

Finally, Garu and Pucca got out of the sea, their heads popping out from the huge body of water. Garu raised the unconscious Pucca up, basically telling his friends that they have to rescue her first. And when she finally got on the boat, Garu reached out to his friends and got on the wooden ride.

"Tobe!" Ring-Ring exclaimed. "We have to take this boat back to the shore now!"

"I'm on it!" Tobe respojnded.

Tobe and Ring-Ring grabbed the pedals of the boat and quickly began rowing back towards the shore, meanwhile Garu was pressing his palms against Pucca's chest, hoping to get a response out of her.

And finally, they got to the shore, where Garu carried Pucca from the boat and layed her down on a blanket that the others had quickly prepared for her, noticing what was going on from the shore.

His current method wasn't working, so he had to perform mouth-to-mouth! He placed her lips against Pucca's, breathing in and out, hoping to share some of his air to her. The people at the beach worriedly watched as Garu continued sharing his air with Pucca, hoping that it was going to work!

"Hahh!!"

Pucca's eyes shot awake and Garu quickly pulled away, causing the people around them to sigh in relief. Pucca looked around, wondering what just happened. When she saw Garu, she quickly realized what he had done. He was blushing, which could only mean one thing...

"Did you kiss me?" Pucca asked him.

"T-T-That was a CPR!" Garu exclaimed, looking away from her out of embarrassment. "That didn't count as a kiss!"

"It does in my world~." Pucca chuckled. Seeing Garu looking so embarrassed was very cute for her, but she loved seeing his smile more.

"Man, you two are lucky you didn't get to see the sight of the legendary fish!" Abyo chuckled. "If it ever sees you, then you're doomed!"

"Legendary fish?" Ring-Ring questioned Abyo. "What's a legendary fish?"

"You haven't heard?" Abyo asked her. "It's a very popular myth around Sooga Village! It's said to be a very big fish, even bigger than a gigantic ship! There are other good myths around here in Sooga too, like going to another dimension through a well or having your face literally fly out of your body!"

"I bet fish like that would make some good Sushi." Tobe added. "I can only imagine the number of sushis that can be made once that fish is caught."

"I bet that, too!" Ching exclaimed. "But have you ever wondered if there was a backstory behind this 'legendary fish'? And the name actually sounds funny."

"I don't think it has a backstory." Abyo said. "People say that it just happens to be in the sea, close to Sooga Village. And I heard that it EATS people it sees!"

Abyo had both of his arms stretched upwards and also sidewards, hoping that his tone could scare his friends. However, instead of showing him the reaction he wanted to see, they gave him bewildered faces as if saying that he was a lunatic. An unpleasant sweat dripped down Abyo's face.

"You do know you're not being scary, right, Abyo?" Garu chuckled awkwardly but honestly.

"What?" Abyo gasped. "Are you saying that none of you were scared with what I just said?"

The friends looked at each other with total awkwardness before silently shaking their heads, causing Abyo to groan in frustration. He had failed to scare them.

"Well..." Pucca sighed. "Sorry for almost drowning earlier... and thanks for saving me, Garu~."

"I-It's no big problem." Garu said, red filling his cheeks. "Father said that a good ninja always needs to be honorable... and I can't just leave my friend to die now..."

Pucca blushed as well. "I do know how to swim! I guess I just panicked, you know?"

"Maybe you're just not used to riding boats. I was like that at first, too."

"Not me!" Abyo added. "I was the only one out of them all who didn't panic!"

"You were like, the first to panic." Tobe said to Abyo. "And then you drowned and someone had to use CPR on you. And if you thought it was a girl, then you're wrong. It was actually me."

"WHAAAAAT?!" Abyo gasped loudly. "NO WAAAAYYY!!"

"What do you guys say we go to the library after this?" Ching suggested. "I feel like we could read a bit about Sooga's history at the kids' section!"

"That sounds like a great idea!" Pucca said to her. "Let's go, then!"

Tale of Our Love // PuccaWhere stories live. Discover now