Well, I guess I had more to say about my childhood than I thought.

Anyway, as I mentioned at the beginning of all this: finding the armor was perhaps not the most unpleasant experience of my life, in hindsight, but at the time it was about the most traumatic thing that had ever happened to me.

It began with a very stupid and dangerous new stunt that those foolhardy brats came up with, hinged on a lie, and nearly got me killed. 

The sea at Hagi is no more dangerous than any other part of the ocean, but it's also no safer. We do occasionally get storms and heavy seas that send some fisherman's boat to the bottom, and several times in the distant past, larger ships had sunk in our area. I never really gave it much thought, except as a vague awareness that the sea could be a dangerous place and its power should be respected. Unfortunately, the local trouble-seekers got a different take on it the summer after I turned eleven. Some bright soul abruptly connected 'shipwreck' with 'treasure' and a perfect fever of ship-diving took over whatever rational thought might have been left in their heads.

I can't think why they imagined that a half-dozen fishing boats and a few sunk merchantmen would have been carrying any sort of treasure... especially since the merchant ships had been salvaged quite a few years before any of us were born. But then, I'm reasonably sensible that way.

I suppose it was their disappointment in the lack of gold and jewels that led them to think up their ridiculous stunt. Having decided there was no practical sense to diving down to a decaying, treasureless wreck, they came up with a dare instead: to dive down to a ship or boat, snatch off a piece of something to prove they'd made it, and then return. The insane part was that after a few attempts, they decided this was too easy and took to doing it without gear. Flippers were allowed, but were considered 'wimpy'. 

Poking around an old wreck in twenty to fifty feet of water with no mask or apparatus in search of a loose bit to break off to satisfy a dare...I don't know, someone must have been feeling suicidal when they came up with that one, because it was only a matter of time before someone drowned trying it. 

I made the mistake of saying this to most of the group when I learned what they were doing, and for the rest of the summer they tried to talk me into making the attempt myself. First they tried insulting me into it, saying they didn't think I had the nerve to try, I knew I'd fail, and so on- trying to goad me into proving myself. That annoyed me enough to respond, but not in the way they expected. I explained very pointedly that I, unlike others I knew, was secure enough that I didn't feel the need to show off and impress anyone- especially not with such a thoroughly silly and pointless trick. 

At this, they shifted tactics and agreed that any swimmer as good as I was would find it boring and no challenge, but surely I would be a good sport anyway and join in for the fun of it? After all, I was the best swimmer in the school; I had nothing to worry about. 

"If I'm the best swimmer in the school, it's only because I take swimming more seriously than others do," was my quick retort. "And part of taking it seriously is that I don't get talked into doing foolish, dangerous things while I'm in the water. And it's still showing off."

"Oh, forget it, he's hopeless," someone remarked, and the group wandered off in search of something else to do- though not without a few lingering, loud remarks about chickens and people who were too serious and stuffy and so on and so forth. I didn't watch them go, just sat down on the sand and let the waves roll up around my feet. I wondered what it was like to belong to a group like that- was the feeling of acceptance really worth it? I had my doubts, though it might have been nice to be part of a crowd. A quieter, more sensible crowd, hopefully.

....

Well, we are, in comparison, Kento. Scary, isn't it? Now stop reading over my shoulder. You're distracting me...

I did have a moment of rather smug satisfaction: it was the first time anyone had admitted I was the best swimmer in our school. It was true, though none of the fisher-kids had been willing to say so before, and it was precisely because I took it seriously. I swam far more frequently than anyone else, and I didn't spend my time playing around and rough-housing. I swam as though training for a competition, pushing for longer distances, timing myself, testing my depth- and honestly, I think I enjoyed it more than they enjoyed their water-games. I didn't doubt that I could dive to the wrecked ships if I wanted to, or stay down long enough to find several rotting tokens to bring up...but I didn't want to. Quite apart from the danger and the showing off, it was pointless. It wasn't as if it proved anything. In fact, it seemed ...disrespectful, almost presumptuous, as though trying to insist that one could master the sea. The sea would always be the stronger, by far.

I suppose I might have expected them to trick me into it. But I didn't. I'm not sure if that's a result of being too trusting or too naive...there's a fine line between the two.

It happened on August fifteenth. I left my house, went down to the beach, spread my towel on the sand, kicked off my shoes and walked into the water. It was a sticky-hot day, hazy and humid, and the water felt wonderful. I noted in an offhand way that the trouble-seekers were not too far off, then forgot it as I dove under an incoming wave. Surfacing, I paused to put on my goggles; like the cold, the sea-salt never seemed to bother me as much as it ought, but it was much easier to see with them on. And there was a lot worth seeing under the waves.

I hadn't been swimming long- maybe ten minutes at the most, probably less- when the sound of shouting caught my attention. I turned to see what was going on, and was a bit surprised to realize the trouble-seekers were calling me, and waving at me to come over. I hesitated, not so much suspicious as puzzled, then swam over to see what they wanted. It did strike me that there might be a trick or prank involved, so I stopped a few feet away. "What's up?" I asked- or started to.

"My brother!" one of the boys gasped, swimming over to grab my arm. "Niichan wanted to dive- tried to tell him not to, but he wouldn't listen- took my flippers- he didn't come up! I think he's stuck, but we can't stay down long enough to get him out! Please-!"

I took three deep breaths, held the last one, and dove. Exactly what I feared would happen, someone might die for this damned game, but there'd be time for 'I told you so' later. 

I could see the boat immediately, a little to my left- one of the merchant ships. I angled towards it, spotting the gaping hole in her hull that had sunk her. She was lying remarkably shallow- it couldn't be more than twenty feet down and probably less- and had come down more or less upright, leaning only a little to starboard. That made her doubly dangerous; a ship on its side at least couldn't fall over, but an upright one could topple either way. I swam closer, feeling the pressure increase and the temperature drop, and slowed, looking for any sign of the trapped boy. There was nothing out of the ordinary at the stern of the ship, but as I swam up to the big hole near her bow, I spotted something inside it. A flash of neon orange. Pausing, I peered in and made out the unmistakable shape of orange and black flippers on the ship's floor....pinned down by a large beam that seemed to have fallen from the ceiling. 

Horrified, I darted into the hole, wondering grimly if the boy had been crushed rather than drowned, but after a moment my mood changed to puzzlement. Judging by the sediment, the beam had fallen quite a long time ago, and in any case, it had fallen at an angle, the far side still partially connected to the ceiling. I tugged at the flippers, which came free with surprising ease, revealing nothing but wooden floor underneath. Scowling, beginning to suspect, I ducked under the high end of the beam- and glowered at the bare wooden floor on the far side. 

Those...bastards! Furious, I ducked back under the heavy wooden log, thinking of all the things I would say when I got back up and saw their deceitful faces-

And with a ripping crack, the beam parted from the ceiling and crashed down.

The crack warned me, but I wasn't quite fast enough. Pain shot through my left leg, and it was with tremendous difficulty that I kept from yelling; you don't do that when you're twenty feet under, no matter how much you want to. Clouds of sediment boiled through the water, obscuring my goggles, but I didn't need to see to know that I was pinned, the beam across my ankle, grinding my foot into the wooden floor. 

The pain in my leg distracted me for a moment from the ache that was beginning in my chest, but as I levered myself from the floor and tried to push the damned thing away, I became aware that I only had a few seconds to act. I had released most of my air, and I needed to breathe- promptly. Fear gave me strength, but not enough, and the pain was getting stronger. I pushed as hard as I could at the heavy spar, all too aware that I was weakening fast...and the thing wasn't moving even an inch...

Things get- a little hazy after that. I remember pain, and a terrible need to breathe, and icy fear turning to distant, resigned despair. I remember the old wood under my cheek and weak, helpless anger, and my mother's face in the darkness behind my eyes. And I remember a soft light coming from a point close to my hand, a blue-white light radiating from something small and blurry and somehow mine.

I don't remember reaching out to touch it, but I must have because it was in my hand, solid and warm. From far away, there was a blue-white flicker, and then the darkness.

I wasn't unconscious very long; my chest was still aching slightly when the darkness drifted off, and I was taking long, deep breaths. I felt too giddy to open my eyes, so just lay where I was, beyond anything but relief at the cool, sweet oxygen in my lungs and the absence of pain. The pain in my leg had faded too, and was now mainly discomfort...pressure, really. But something was a bit odd. I could feel something hard and gritty under my cheek, but I couldn't seem to feel it anywhere else. More than that; something cool was brushing across my face and lightly ruffling my hair, but again, I couldn't feel it anywhere else. My body was comfortably warm, but not restricted; it was no blanket covering me and no bed I was lying on. So I opened my eyes, confused and curious. 

And I- well- I freaked out. 

I was exactly where I had been. Lying on the hard plank floor with its filmy coating of sediment, in the smashed-in section of the sunk merchant ship, twenty feet down, my leg still trapped under the fallen spar. But I was breathing! 

Well, for a moment I wasn't, as I sort of choked and tried to hold my breath, but that didn't work at all. My lungs wouldn't have it, and I shook as I inadvertently inhaled another breath of water. It took several more breaths before I was quite convinced that the natural laws seemed to be suspended for the moment. What worried me was the possibility that they might be re-invoked at any second, so I sat up, determined to get my ankle loose and get back to the surface. And paused again, only then noticing what else was different.

Yes. I was encased in armor. In the under-gear, to be precise. I stared a second or two at the blue-and-white metal, thoroughly disoriented- I think the only thought in my head just then was something along the lines that Mother had been right, Torrent had found me. It must have been that light, that- whatever-it-was that I had felt before I-

Passed out? Drowned? I glared up towards the surface, then down at the flippers drifting on the current nearby, and thought some truly rude- downright profane, really- things about the wretched brats who'd first lied to me and then failed to check on me when I didn't come up. 'But of course they wouldn't check,' I thought bitterly, scooting closer to the beam. 'I'm the best swimmer, nothing could happen to me...never mind their meddling weakened this beam and made it fall when I disturbed it!' I punched my armor-covered fist into the floor next to my leg, and went through to sand. After that, it was the work of a few seconds to dig a hole sufficiently large to unwedge my foot. Free, I quickly scooted out of the gloomy little place and into the wide-open sea, glancing up again at the surface. Sunlight glinted down through the water, and I could distantly see the bodies and legs of the brat-pack treading water up there.

I almost went up to yell at them- almost. I actually lifted my hands preparatory to kicking off from the bottom. Then I saw again the white and blue metal, and paused. I would have to reveal that, if not explain it. I would have to admit it made me able to breathe the water. They would think that had been the secret of my swimming all along. Worse, they would insist that there was no harm done. I'd survived, hadn't I, thanks to my special secret advantage? Even if I explained that I had only just found the armor- and assuming they believed that- they'd try to turn it around, claiming they had done me a favor. They might even take to exploring all the sunken boats, in search of a 'treasure' like the one I'd found. 

No. Absolutely not. They were going to face what they had done: lied to me, tricked me, and sent me into danger. Sent me to my death, if suiko hadn't chosen that moment to find me. They were going to regret it.

Lowering my hands, I picked up the flippers and wedged them back under the beam, covering the hole I had made to get my ankle free. Then I pulled off my goggles, blinked at how much clearer everything seemed without them, and hung them by the strap on the splintered wood. There; they'd think I lost my goggles going in to search, become disoriented, and couldn't find my way out in time. That would teach them. Nodding, I turned from the wreck, pushed my booted feet into the sand and kicked my way into deeper water, moving out to sea. I would make a half-circle, going out and around them and come ashore out of their sight. And I'd have to hurry, because sooner or later they would investigate, and then they would have to go tell someone. And I didn't want Mother or Sayoko hearing it and maybe believing it. 

You'd think being encased in metal would make it harder to swim, but it wasn't, not at all. If anything it seemed easier. A reasonable expectation, considering that it was the water-armor, but I hadn't considered; I hadn't really had time to. But it did make sense; magical Torrent would naturally make one a swifter and stronger swimmer, and doubtless the metal was good protection against the pressure of the depths. It did seem odd, though, to feel the water only on my face, and I had to keep reminding myself that I didn't have to hold my breath. 

'This might not be a very good habit to get into, breathing underwater,' I mused after a while. 'Unless- is it only with the armor on, or will it be all the time now? Hm. That's going to be hard to test! I think I better just assume it's only with the armor on. Maybe Mother will know... Mother was right.' I angled to my left, starting my half-circle. 'It did find me. I wish...I wish it hadn't been like that! But- I guess if it hadn't come to find me right then, there'd never have been another chance...' I took a long, deep breath, shivering inside the protective metal. Strange how much it felt like breathing ordinary air- just cooler, and somehow sweeter. Was I really breathing water? Or was the armor letting me take the oxygen from it without actually sending the liquid into my lungs...? I liked the second thought a little better; it was a bit unnerving to think that the armor might have changed my lungs into gills or something. 

It was as I completed my circuit and moved into shallow water that the companion to that thought struck me, and I stopped still in the water to think it over. How was I going to get out of the water? Did I have to take the armor off to breathe air again, or could I just lift my head and take a breath? 'Am I a fish or an amphibian?' I thought with nervous amusement. 'And do I have to cough a lot of water up, or not?' I pondered for a long moment before two more thoughts urged me to action. One was that I didn't know how to take the armor off yet. Two was that Torrent was supposed to protect me, so I shouldn't have any trouble. I closed my eyes, took a last deep breath of the ocean, let it all out in a rush, and poked my head above the surface. Warm, moist air blew into my face and I inhaled instinctively, then let it out in a long sigh of relief. No pain, no choking, no strangling sensations, just the normal deep breath after coming up. I glanced around, making sure this area of the beach was deserted- as it usually was- then carefully dropped my feet and stood, wading slowly through the neck-deep water into the shallows and then across the sand.

I went home the back way. It took longer, but I did not want to be seen in the gear, and especially not by that brat-pack. 

I was surprised at how shaky my knees were as I went up the rear-porch steps and into the house. I was even more surprised when, on stepping into the living-room in my dripping metal, I dropped down by the sofa, buried my face in Mother's lap, and cried very hard. I really didn't know I was going to do that. 

I rarely cry. I rarely need to, and when I do, the sea- or a lake or pond or river- washes the need away. But not that afternoon.

Mother didn't say anything for a long time, just laid her hand on my head and waited, softly humming a familiar song until I calmed down. 

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you," was the first thing I said when I was able to talk sensibly again. 

"It is a hard thing to believe," Mother said quietly. "What has happened to upset you so badly, love?"

I told her everything, sobbing a little at a few points but more or less coherent. "And- and how do I take this off?" I concluded, looking down at the blue chest-piece.

"Concentrate, and the armor will obey," Mother supplied, frowning. I did as she said, and smiled a little as the armor glowed, turning into light that solidified into a small blue orb near my feet. I picked it up and looked at it, and realized why I'd had the impression it was mine; it had my name, shin, etched on it. Inside it, I discovered after a closer look. "Suiko is the armor of trust," Mother observed, and I looked back up at her. "Today you trusted those boys and risked your life to help someone who you thought was in danger. Suiko responded to the trust in your heart and came to you. When you are stronger and more familiar with it, you will be able to summon the full armor and the weapon that goes with it."

"The weapon? What weapon?"

"I don't know." Mother shrugged. "Perhaps you will tell me when it is given to you? I am curious." She smiled a little, then grew serious again. "It was difficult for you, my son, to have your trust betrayed and your life in such danger. But I think there is a lesson there, too, Shin. You belong to the sea, and the sea never gives any gift without a test. Or a reminder, perhaps, that however strong Suiko and its warrior may be, they must not forget that the sea is always the stronger. The sea givesSuiko strength."

I nodded slowly. "That's why I wouldn't ever do what those stupid kids are doing," I explained, my voice shaking a little. "It's like they were challenging the sea, proving they could beat it- and that's ridiculous."

My mother smiled again and stroked my hair. "That's right. I might have known you would see it. You will master the armor, in time; but you will never master the ocean."

"So I might as well not try." I sighed and put my head down again, feeling suddenly tired. "Mother, those kids, they're probably going to come- or maybe send someone to tell you- that they can't find me..." 

"Probably," she agreed calmly. "I don't think I would have believed that you were dead, but I am glad you hurried home to tell me you were safe."

She's very perceptive, my mother.

I squeezed her hand, then added, "I want them to think I am dead, so they feel bad for what they did and stop doing it. If they know I'm alive- even if I tell them I was in huge danger- they'll just say, 'oh well, you weren't actually hurt, so no big deal.' But if they feel responsible..."

Mother considered that for a few minutes in silence. "I'm not sure," she mused, more to herself than to me. "It is harsh, but... it may teach them something... Shin, you know you cannot avoid them forever. They will realize that you survived-"

"Yes, and deceived them right back," I muttered. "Though maybe they'll think I'm a ghost at first... but one bad turn deserves another, and I don't think anything else will get through to them."

"Probably not," she agreed ruefully. "I will not disillusion them, then. In the meantime-" she patted my head "-it is getting towards suppertime."

I nodded and sat up, then got to my feet. "Mother, could we- maybe- not have fish tonight?"

We didn't.