DOPAMINE [Kuroo Tetsurou x Reader]

Chapter 01 - Ama

One of the lesser-known but fascinating parts of Japanese culture is that of the Ama pearl divers. Ama (海女 in Japanese), literally means 'woman of the sea' and is recorded as early as 750 in the oldest Japanese anthology of poetry, the Man'yoshu. These women specialised in freediving some 30 feet down into cold water wearing nothing more than a loincloth. Utilising special techniques to hold their breath for up to 2 minutes at a time, they would work for up to 4 hours a day in order to gather abalone, seaweed and other shellfish.

Reference:
Gakuran, Michael. (2013, November 5). Ama - The Pearl Diving Mermaids of Japan. Retrieved from: http://gakuran.com/ama-the-pearl-diving-mermaids-of-japan/

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"Ah... It's so quiet... and cold..."

An eternal abyss... That's where I was... There was nothing except for the feeling that everything had ceased to exist.

~~~

(Few years ago... High school...)

"Hey, hey. Is she in our class?" I overheard some of my classmates talking about me.

"Hmm... Kinda? I mean, she's here so she must be!"

"But she's always... distant, don'cha think?"

"How 'bout we talk to her?"

"Eh? For real?"

"No way."

"Look at her. She's so plain."

"Besides, she's also awkward to be with, so..."

"Yeah, I guess we should just leave her alone. She probably wants it, too."

"Yeah, probably."

~~~

(Back to present...)

"Ah, goddamit... Why am I remembering this now?"

Suddenly, the silence was disturbed when I heard a noise. A series of splashing, to be more exact. And then I felt something wrapping around me, pulling me up.

"Oi! Oi, miss----------"

"What the hell, man?! Let go of me!" I shouted as I flail my arms around, splashing the seawater around me in order to shake off the guy that was holding me out of nowhere.

His eyes widened as his mouth flew open, looking so surprised like he had seen someone back from the dead.

"Y-You're alive?!" he yelled.

"O-Of course, I'm alive!" I replied.

"B-But you're dead!"

"I'm what?!" I reacted as I couldn't believe what was happening.

"Well, I thought you got killed and then thrown out on the sea since you're wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants. Plus, you were floating with your face down and not moving a fucking inch!"

"Oh..." he had a point. If you ever saw a girl floating like that and not moving, you'll definitely think that she got dumped into the sea to hide a crime.

"You really gave me the biggest scare of my entire life," he told me. "Why were you so far out anyway?"

"Well, I... I was trying to find a place far from the crowd... Away from the noise and disturbance of other people whom I was sharing the sea with."

"I see."

"Kuroo! Kuroo, ya bastard!" we were interrupted by the sound of someone yelling. "The ball's gone out of reach because of the current. You had it but you ditched it to flirt with a girl!"