Chapter Text
It was after school about a week later and not much had changed for Amane since he made the wish from Yashiro. Well, except he found himself having to clean the pool more often than not so he would be free to use the outdoor pool. As it turns out being bound had a few interesting side effects besides being able to breathe underwater—more specifically he found that he passed out from dehydration more often then not if he didn’t jump in the pool at some point. Especially if he forgot a water bottle at home so he could stay hydrated that way.
Yashiro was lounging on the side of the pool as he continued to scrub the concrete. She was lost in her own thoughts as he continued to tirelessly scrub away at the ground.
“You know this would go faster if you helped right?” Amane chastised her to which she rolled her eyes.
“I can’t clean the outside of the pool because I’ll grow a tail remember,” Yashiro countered back.
“And what excuse do you have for not helping clean the dirt from inside the pool?”
“I do clean the inside of the pool thank you very much.”
“Yeah, and you do such a good job at it,” Amane noted as he looked to where he could still see dirt at the bottom.
“Well, what do you expect me to do? It’s not like the school has a water vacuum or anything like that!” She was flushed pink from having been called out like that and it made Amane chuckle a little. Honestly, the cleaning was worth it if it meant he could keep teasing her like this.
“Oh, that reminds me, I’m going to be hanging around school for a while longer so don’t wait up for me to go home.”
“What part of cleaning reminded you of that?” It was Yashiro’s attempt at a joke and it was cute. He noticed he found most things about the mermaid cute as of late. “What are you staying to do anyway? It better not be a date or I will never forgive you!”
“Awe Yashiro I didn’t know you felt so strongly about me?” She splashed water at him making him jump a little to avoid getting his clothes too wet. Breathing underwater didn’t magically make him able to not freeze in the chilly spring air.
“You aren’t my type and you know it. I just refuse to think about a pervert like you getting your first date before me.”
“Don’t worry Yashiro it’s nothing like that. The astronomy club is just having it’s first viewing party tonight. It’s open to other school members as well if you would like to come.”
“A viewing party? Like you all look at the night sky and stuff?”
“Yeah, does it interest you?”
“I don’t know how you can find looking at a pitch-black sky that entertaining.”
“Pitch…black?” Amane blinked once. And then twice. “Yashiro… do you not know about stars?”
She dipped under the water then and Amane blinked again. In his time with her, he had learned a pretty good bit about her. She was quite the chatterbox after all. She had first started attending school in middle school and her confidence got shattered pretty quickly when the first human she liked made fun of her legs. But the idea that she didn’t even know what stars were? It baffled him completely.
He waited a little bit for her to resurface and when she didn’t, he sighed and went to the locker room to change into his school swim shorts—something he found himself bringing to school quite frequently. When he finished, he wasted no time jumping into the water and swimming down to where Yashiro was laying at the bottom of the pool staring up.
“Yashiro you don’t get to ignore my questions when you’re embarrassed.” Amane pulled her cheek to get her attention, careful not to accidentally grab one of the wild tendrils of her long hair. She slapped the hand away quickly which was what he expected.
“Just lay down and look,” she scolded. Curious, he listened to her instruction and laid down. The dimming sunlight filtered through the water but its warmth was lost. It wasn’t nearly as bright as it was when he was on the surface. And then it just kind of clicked to him.
“Thinks like starlight wouldn’t filter down to the ocean where I live. I would usually be home before nightfall so I haven’t seen them before. I’ve heard it mentioned a few times but I didn’t realize it was something people could see easily.”
Hearing her say it, so casually even, pulled at something in Amane’s chest and made him want to reach out for Yashiro’s hand so close to his. He had never known a time when he wasn’t looking at the stars, either laying out on the porch or looking through a telescope. But he supposed there were things in the ocean Yashiro had seen he could never dream of.
“So, why don’t you come with tonight and see them for yourself?”
Yashiro turned her head to look at him, her wide ruby eyes blinked in shock as the invitation was extended again.
“I’m not going to understand anything about them you do know, that right?” She asked and Amane waved off her concern.
“Understand or not, new experiences keep life interesting.” He gave her a wide grin that she gave in turn. “So come, please?”
“Fine, I guess I’ll join you. But if I get grounded for being out late I’m going to dump cherry blossom petals in the pool and make you clean them.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Test me,” Yashiro quipped back and then both were in fits of laughter as they began to swim to the surface. After all, they were going to have to dry off if they were going to make it in time.
…
By the time evening rolled around it was more than a little chilly. Thankfully the astronomy club had the foresight to bring blankets and hot chocolate for everyone to enjoy as they stargazed. For the students that weren’t familiar with earth and space sciences, they provided a little game of constellation seek and find so they could layout and attempt to find the seasonal star patterns in the sky. Other places telescopes were places to see other objects closer like planets and nebulas.
Amane was grabbing two cups of hot chocolate for him and Yashiro. She was sitting on one of the blankets on the roof, her eyes glued to the night sky above her. Amane would sooner die than tell her she looked beautiful at that moment.
He sat down next to her and handed her the Styrofoam cup which she happily took and began to drink before pulling back with a wince.
“It’s hot.”
“Thanks, I figured that out.” Amane laughed at that. He tried not to think too much about how much he had begun to laugh since he met Yashiro. Something he didn’t even realize he could do an abundance of until recently.
“What’s that one?” Yashiro asked as she pointed up at a constellation in the sky.
“You have a guide that tells you what they are.”
“I want you to tell me what they are though.” Amane sighed and he began to list off the various constellations off to her. If there was a story, he knew about the star pattern he would tell it to her with animation. He noticed that some of her favorites were the Greek myths. But he also noticed that she just seemed to like stories in general. No matter how scary or gross she always seemed to wait with bated breath to see what would happen next and he enjoyed every second of it.
“Hey Yashiro, you wanna take a look through one of the telescopes?” Cautiously she nodded and Amane somehow knew he lit up light a Christmas tree when he grabbed her hand and took her over to the nearest telescope. Quickly, he checked the magnifying device to make sure it was still facing the appropriate astral body before he moved and let Yashiro look at it.
Watching her face change as she looked at the little beams of light and watched them take a completely different form was worth every second of it to Amane.
Too bad neither of them could see the eyes watching them from the shadows.