Chapter One: When Time Stood Still

I woke up that morning in good spirits. Ayame, one of my best friends, made plans with everyone to meet up at our favorite swimming spot. We all have been waiting for this day when we all could get together and have some fun. I quickly jumped out of bed, almost stepping on Ogi, the family dog.

"Sorry Ogi, I didn't see you there." I knelt down and patted the small dog on the head before I rushed to my dresser and grabbed mt swimsuit and rushed in to my walk in closet.

I pulled on my swimsuit and put on a pair of jean shorts, an Olive green tank-top and a zip-up light blue jacket. I brushed my short red hair and then made my way down the hall to my brother's room. I guess you could say I'm his personal alarm clock.

"Oi Ryō! Wake up! You need to get ready, so we can go meet up with everyone. If we're late because of you I'm dunking your head in the ocean when we get there!" I yelled at him as I opened his door to pear inside.

It took a while, but finally I managed to see Ryō's head finally appear from underneath his blankets and pillows. I never understood how he was able to sleep like that. During the winter I can understand, but during the hot summer I just couldn't.

His medium brown hair was a total mess. It actually looked pretty funny from my point of view, and it made me laugh. I couldn't help myself.

"What's so funny there, Shrimp?" Ryō sounded irritated but he knew what it was that I was laughing at.

"Oh, nothing, just get ready already. This is the first time in forever that we've all been able to get together. I don't want to be late getting there."

"Alright... alright, I get it. Get out so I can get dress."

I left Ryō's room and made my way downstairs to get something to eat. Man, I'm always starving when I wake up in the morning. I guess that's normal for everyone except my brother who never seems to be hungry in the morning.

Quickly I made my breakfast and ate before I rushed back upstairs to pack a bag with extra clothes and a few of Ogi's things. I love taking that little guy anywhere and everywhere I can, especially to our swimming spot. He loves the water just as much as we do. By the time I was done Ryō was finally coming out of his room. His hair was perfectly combed, you wouldn't have thought that it was a mess only a few minutes ago, and his indigo eyes didn't look so sleepy as they did before.

"You ready to go?" I asked as I hooked Ogi's leash to his collar.

"Give me two minutes and then we can go. I have to do a few things first."

When my brother says he'll take a few minutes he usually takes much longer then what he said. I picked up Ogi and took a seat on the couch. Surprisingly he didn't take as long as I thought he would. I placed Ogi in his dog carrier and hooked it to the back of my moped. My brother and I each have one. The two of us. Turned on our mopeds and revved them up before heading to our favorite swimming spot to meet up with everyone else.

When Ryō and I reached where we were meeting up with everyone else. Ayame and her older brother Natsu were just getting there along with Mai Igarashi. Shortly after that our younger friend Sakura Hitara came running up towards us. Man, that girl has tons of energy. None of us know where she gets it from.

"Ryō-kun!!" Sakura suddenly jumped while running and tackled my brother to the ground. I swear she has a little crush on him.

"Sakura-chan, you need to be more careful. That was dangerous." Ryō patted Sakura on the head before ruffling her long blonde hair.

"Sorry Ryō-kun, I'm just really happy to see you! I'm happy to see everyone! It's been a while since we've all been able to get together like this. It's going to be even harder once school starts. Ayame-chan, Mai-chan and Inari-chan are all starting high school. I'm still in middle school while everyone else is moving on."

"Don't be discouraged Sakura. You'll be moving on as well once the summer is over. You're not too far behind us." Natsu helped Sakura up off of Ryō and I could see that Natsu words were calming her down.

"Do you really think so Natsu-kun? Do you really I'm not too far behind all of you?"

"Of course! Just because you're younger doesn't mean you're falling behind. But let's not worry about that at the moment. We still have plenty of Summer left and there's an ocean waiting for us! Let's have some fun!"

This was great! Everyone getting together like this. We knew it was going to get harder once we all get back into school. But until then we're going to make the most of this summer and have some fun.

While we girls hit the water, we left the boys to set up our stuff and keep an eye on Ogi. When the ocean water hit my skin, the coldness made me jump. It was so cold. Mai on the other hand took to the water like a fish. It didn't seem to faze her that the water was freezing.

Once the day was getting late and the air became warm the water did as well. Making it more bearable to stay on. Mai, Sakura, Natsu and I along with Ogi were all in the water, Ayame was on the shore sunbathing on her towel and Ryō was cooking up some food for lunch.

Ayame had been up on the shore for a while now and playing jokes on her was always fun. I swam over to Natsu, wrapping my arms around his shoulders from behind him before whispering in his ear.

"Hey Natsu, why don't you get that sister if yours back in here. She's been sunbathing for a while now. Let's get her back in the water."

"Will do!" Natsu gave his usual bright smile and made his way towards the shoreline as fast as he could.

The rest of us watched as Natsu snuck up on Ayame and scared the shit out of her. We couldn't help but laugh because she just couldn't stay made at that lovable brother of hers.

The two of them returned to the ocean and in almost no time at all day became late. The sun was starting to set, giving the sky a splash of orange, red, yellow, purple and pink ball but Natsu and Ayame returned to shore. Those two went up to the rock bank to rest.

As the rest of us started packing up our things I noticed Ogi was looking out over the water. He was growling and showing his teeth. At first I thought that maybe there was a shark nearby and Ogi could sense it, but I couldn't see anything. After this continued for a few more minutes something deep down told me to turn on the small handheld radio we brought with us. Right away the storm alarm rang out.

"ATTENTION TO THE IWATOBI AREA! A SEVERE STORM IS QUICKLY COMING IN FROM THE NORTH! IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE CLOSEST SHELTER. IF YOUR IN A VEHICLE, PLEASE PULL OVER AND WAIT OUT THE STORM. AGAIN, THIS IS FOR THE ENTIRE IWATOBI AREA!"

After hearing this I looked towards the north where Ogi was growling at. The different colored painted sky had suddenly turned an angry black and gray. The storm was really coming in fast. That's when I also realized that Ayame and Natsu were still out on the rock bank. I had to tell them about the incoming storm.

"Natsu!! Ayame!! You should start heading back to shore!! The radio said that there's a really bad storm coming in and it's coming in fast!!!" I yelled as loud as I could.

"Alright Inari!! We'll be there soon!!" I could hear Natsu faintly yell back.

I kept my eyes on the skies which were changing much too quickly. The winds started to pick up and the waves were starting to become big and violent. Natsu and Ayame weren't going to make it back in time. Before I even had a chance to yell out to them a giant wave came crashing down. They were almost to safe spot. Why did this have to happen? When the water pulled back out into the ocean Natsu was still clinging onto the rocks but Ayame had been pulled into the ocean.

"Natsu!!" I could faintly hear Ayame tell to Natsu as the waves crashed her against the rocks.

"Ryō!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. He came running up to me and I pointed out towards Natsu and Ayame. Before either of us could do anything Natsu fell into the water.

"Ryō, what do we do?!?"

"Take Ogi to Natsu's truck and stay there. We can't leave Ayame and Natsu in the water like this. Especially by the rocks. If they keep smashing against the rocks like they are they're going to die!" Ryō was about to sprint towards the water when I grabbed a hold of his wrist.

"You can't do this by yourself! There's two of them, you're going to need help with this!"

"There's no time to argue about this Inari. I can't let you or Mai or Sakura get involved in this. As your brother I can't let you get hurt or possibly killed."

"But they're friends too Ryō! We're family!" I tightened my grip on Ryō's arm. I wasn't going to let him do this alone.

"She's right Ryō. Ayame and Natsu are our friends too, and the longer we stand here arguing about this the less time we have to help them." Mai suddenly came running up next to us. Trying to pull up her long dark brown almost black hair.

"Don't worry Ryō-kun! I'll look after Ogi-kun while you three rescue Ayame-chan and Natsu-kun!" Sakura picked up Ogi and tried to shield him from the heavy rainfall and the strong winds.

Ryō slightly nodded and the three of us took off running towards the water. The waves were so strong. They were like nothin give ever felt before, and I've fought against strong waves before.

"Inari! You and Mai take care of Ayame, I'll get Natsu!" I faintly heard Ryō yell through the crashing waves and howling winds.

It took us awhile, but we were able to pull Ayame and Natsu to shore. Both looked badly beaten from being smashed up against the rocks. Right after we pulled then to shore Ryō made a call to the Iwatobi Hospital saying we were bringing in two friends that almost drowned. My brother and I threw out mopeds into the back of Natsu's truck and quickly drive to the hospital.

When we got Natsu and Ayame to the hospital the rain had finally stopped. Doctors rushed out to meet us as we pulled up in Natsu's truck. As they were taken away by the doctors to get treated I remember doctors coming up to all of us and asking us questions about what happened. Again, and again Ryō, Sakura, Mai and I told our story of what happened and having to tell it again when the police showed up.

I tried calling Ayame's and Natsu's parents, but I was unable to get a hold of either of them. Forcing me to call the next people u could think of. Some of their cousins who lives nearby. Right away they rushed over, frantic to know what happened and if they were going to be alright. We all wanted to know if they were going to be alright. Finally, after an hour of waiting a doctor came out to talk to us.

"Is there any family for Natsu and Ayame Mitsuho!"

We all stood up which startled the doctor.

"Sorry, we're their cousins, these people here are their closeted friends. What's going on Doctor? Will they be alright?" One of the Mitsuho cousins stepped forward.

"We have the two of them stable, so they'll be just fine. It's a good thing you kids brought them in when you did we had to pump Ayame's stomach to get the water out, but she's fine. There is an issue with Natsu though."

"What do you mean there's an issue with Natsu-kun?!?" Sakura suddenly stood up. I had to hold her back, so she wouldn't jump the doctor.

"While we were treating him, his heart stopped twice. We were able to bring him back, but he's slipped into a coma. We don't know when or if he'll wake up. I'm sorry, all we can do is make the both of them comfortable and hope they'll wake up on their own. You may go see them now if you would like."

Ryō, Mai, Sakura and I waited out in the lobby as Natsu and Ayame's family went to go see them. We couldn't believe this had happened. The day started off so beautifully and now it's like this. Two of our best friends were now laying in hospital beds. One we didn't know if he'll ever wake up again.

A few days had passed before we got word from the hospital. Ayame had woken up after four days of being unconscious. I was so happy to hear that she was alright that I quickly rushed to the hospital without telling Ryō where I was going. When I reached the hospital and made it up to the Mitsuho room the excitement I had was slowly starting to fade away.

"Ayame?" I lightly knocked on the door. When she looked at me there was a dead look in her eyes. Who was this person sitting in Ayame's bed.

"Y-you look like you're doing well Ayame. Everyone's been worried about you and Natsu. It's a beautiful day today. Maybe the nurse will let me--"

"Don't belittle me Inari!" Ayame suddenly snapped at me. There was anger in her tired eyes. I've never seen that look in her eyes before.

"I'm not belittling you Ayame. I'm just glad to see that you're alright."

"I don't need this Inari. I don't need yours or Mai's or Sakura's pity. Just leave and don't come back to visit. You or the others."

"Ayame...?"

"Just... leave... now..."

I didn't want to stress Ayame out anymore then she already was. I was hurt that she was acting this way. I placed down a plant I had brought with me on the side table that was between Natsu and Ayame's beds.

"Alright. I'll talk to you later then."

After that visit Mai, Sakura and I lost contact with Ayame. She was nothing more than a hollow shell of her former self. The summer slowly ended, and a new school year was about to start. I tried one last time before our first year as high schoolers to get in touch with Ayame, but as usual, I had no luck.

"Hey Ayame, it's me... Inari. I know we haven't talked since that day I came to see you at the hospital. You probably know that it's not just me who's been trying to get in contact with you. We're all worries about you so please, talk to us! You're not alone in this. We all love Natsu like a brother as well. We don't know what school you'll be going to, but that doesn't matter. Just know that you can talk to us about anything. Please call be back. Please Ayame."