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Bokuto turned left and right, narrowly avoiding getting his tail fin tangled in the kelp, but the fish still managed to slip between his claws at the last minute. “Damn,” he muttered, releasing a low growl in frustration. He watched a seal catch it instead. Small seals swam all around them, playing and hunting as they did, their soft fur gleaming silver in the sunlight much like Bokuto’s tail.
Behind him rushed a wave of warm water and as Bokuto moved he caught a glimpse of his brother Kenma’s bright golden tail as he chased a fish of his own. Bokuto’s shoulders sagged slightly at the sight of him grasping it with ease. If he didn’t catch at least another fish before sundown he was going to lose the bet.
The bet said that whoever had caught the less fish by sundown would have to catch the other two a tuna each. Bokuto was agile and lean, he could handle himself pretty well, but his brothers were not that easy to beat. His younger brother Kenma was small but wicked fast, he could match a marlin any day. Kuro, his older brother, was slow with his thick, glossy black-scaled tail but with his strength, he could easily stop even the biggest sharks with a slap of his tail.
Momentarily distracted, Bokuto barely heard Kuro’s voice and didn’t quite comprehend. He was swimming close to the seabed just outside the giant kelp forest when he first heard a distinct rumbling. He moved his body immediately, gaze raised to inspect the surface.
His eyes widened, pupils sharpening against the bright sunlight, focused on the sleek white belly of the human vessel. It was small, smaller than an orca - and it was almost directly above him. He stood still, for how long he could not tell, frozen in place and mesmerized all at once.
It was supposed to be just another ordinary day, a fun hunting trip with his brothers before their migration south. Bokuto never expected to see a real, flesh and bone human…
He could hear muffled sounds from above and a voice. The words themselves were foreign, but still, Bokuto was perplexed by how similar it was to their own.
He knew from old tales that humans used to be their prey long ago. Females would lure them into an early grave with their singing, and occasionally, humans would sing to females as well. They had tried to outsmart them and although humans were clever, their grandma had told them, they were not quite clever enough. But that was generations ago, now they rarely saw any…
Suddenly, something dark breached the surface. Bokuto gasped, brought back to reality. He shot into the middle of the kelp with a powerful thrust of his tail, headed for the thicker stalks.
“Bo,” Kuro whispered, just a few meters away. “What were you doing, you idiot?! Do you want to be seen?!”
Bokuto pressed his lips into a thin line, his brows knitted together. He doesn’t say anything. What could he say? Kuro was right, of course. He’d been careless and put not only himself but his brothers in danger. He swallowed down the uneasy feeling on his throat, pushing the guilt away, promising himself he would do better.
Kuro was lying low to the ground, at a stalk’s base, not to hide his tail, but Kenma. Between the murky waters and the dark algae covering the seabed, his tail was well camouflaged. Kenma’s, however, was bright gold and like Bokuto, he would have a harder time concealing himself from the humans.
Bokuto’s gaze returned to the human vessel. The dark object had sunk to the bottom. A large chord attached it to the vessel and now two dark fins were breaching the surface, dangling from the vessel. Minutes passed before it came.
The brothers remained motionless, observing intently.
There was only one of them. It was a male, that much Bokuto could tell, seemingly naked except for something strapped to his back, and a piece of cloth covering the middle of his torso where his chest met the fabled legs.
He dove down, releasing bubbles as he closed the distance to the bottom. It wasn’t far, maybe ten meters, but he was slow and clumsy, nevertheless.
Kuro hissed in place, flexing his fingers. Bokuto took a glimpse at him, eyes fixed on his long-clawed fingers.
“Wait,” he said. “Don’t kill him yet!”
“Why?” Kuro shot back.
Why indeed... He didn’t know why. He wasn’t sure how he felt towards this creature. All his life he’d been told they were dangerous, but this human didn’t feel dangerous. When a storm was afoot, he felt it in the currents; he knew when to hide. When a large shark was nearby, his first instinct was to run, hide, kill it if he could. This human was small and didn’t swim very well. Was he really that dangerous to him?
Perhaps it was the similarities between them that made Bokuto feel this way. His voice earlier, the form of his arms and chest... Apart from gills on the neck and clawed, webbed fingers, they weren't so different.
He didn’t know what to call it and even though he knew better, it made him want to take a closer look.
Kuro had stayed put at his request, didn’t voice any complaints he might have and Kenma was motionless, his body simply swaying with the current. Both studied the human warily. They would wait him out, probably thinking he couldn’t possibly stay underwater for long…
But then, Bokuto sensed it. A tingling sensation, almost like an electric shock ran down to the tip of his tail; it was a familiar sensation. There was danger nearby.
He moved carefully, trying to remain hidden amidst the kelp. The seals playing there just a few minutes ago were gone, he noticed, hiding somewhere or running. They must have seen it. His gaze scanned the kelp forest first and then beyond into the open ocean. Finally, he looked up at the surface… and there!
A shark.
It was only a young bull shark, though, not yet big enough to be dangerous to his kind, Bokuto thought with no small amount of relief.
It circled the human vessel, clearly interested in it... It may not have been dangerous for him, but it was about as big as the human and much, much faster.
Bokuto's stomach tightened, a sense of dread was building up inside him. He didn’t want the human to die… but he couldn’t be seen.
Perhaps it had not seen him yet. A shark’s eyesight was different from theirs, weaker, but still, it must be smelling it or sensing it as sharks do. Perhaps it would leave.
But then, the human started to head or the surface and came to a halt, releasing a large column of bubbles. Too late, he thought.
It spotted him and started swimming towards him, making lazy circles around him. It didn’t seem like it was going to attack yet, Bokuto thought, but he didn’t doubt it was considering him for its next meal.
The human tried to swim towards the kelp forest every time he had a chance, slowly though and always keeping an eye on the predator. He was smart, he knew not to make sudden movements.
Bokuto couldn’t look away.
Kuro was calling his name, yelling at him, but Bokuto barely registered it as he inched closer to the human. His heart thundered against his chest, louder and louder each time the shark got close to him.
Bokuto noticed the change. He’d seen enough sharks to know - the change in the swing of its tail fin, from a sort of curiosity to a more sudden predatory movement.
Before he knew it, Bokuto was moving. The shark hadn’t seen him yet. It was coming straight at him, but it was only focused on the human. It was in for a nasty surprise.
In a matter of seconds, it was upon him, its jaws open - but so was Bokuto. He whirled around, bashing his tail against its snout and slashing at its eyes when it turned back. Blood spilled in the water, one of its eyes ruined. The shark fled.
Bokuto’s lip rose into a small smirk but it faded quickly once he remembered. He spun in place to face the human.
He didn’t move, eyes wide inside his mask, fixated on him. He was afraid, Bokuto suddenly realized with a startle. It made sense, but Bokuto hadn’t thought of it before, that he’d be something humans could fear.
Bokuto swam back, putting some distance between the two and raised his palms. It’s okay, he tried to convey, tried to look peaceful.
He muttered a curse to himself. This had been a bad decision. He hadn’t wanted him dead, but he didn’t think about the consequences; he'd just saved him without thinking. Bokuto was always reckless like this. Now, he’d been seen. He’d put his family, his entire kind at risk… All because he didn’t want him dead; because he was selfish and wanted to take a closer look… Even because he wanted to talk to him, see what he was like – though he’d never admit it aloud and knew it was impossible.
The human’s eyes roamed his body with an intense sort of curiosity. Slowly, he inched closer.
Bokuto retreated and shook his head with a serious look, considering even to threaten him if he tried to come closer again.
The human stopped, though. (He was relieved.)
Bokuto pointed at him and then gestured towards the surface. Leave.
It couldn’t happen. It never should have happened.
The human nodded; he understood. He made his way to the surface without even looking back.
Bokuto was left alone staring after it even as the vessel departed. His brothers gave him hell for it; they didn’t understand. Years later, he would remember that encounter and be left in a daze for the rest of the day. Wondering what he was doing, where he was, who he was and if he would ever see him again… Always wondering.