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* You cross the Mutsuki bridge over the Shiwagawa as you always do. As you always have. Every day, twice a day. Sometimes more, when you have club activities. You never stop. You may love the water, but this… You’re so used to it, there’s no point. You’re sick of it, even. Sick of everything. There’s no point.
* You stop. The river current is fast. It’s late spring, and it’s full from the snowmelt in the mountains.
* Who will miss me, you wonder with bitterness.
* No one.
* Your grandmother, she died not a couple months earlier. Your parents both left. Your father for work and your mother to follow him. You have no friends at school. You don’t get along with your team.
* Maybe because you aren’t really a fan of people.
* Climbing the bridge railing seems like it’ll be too much effort. You decide to get to the other side of the river, first. The concrete bank is steep, but, well. It isn’t as if you really need to get back up it. You can just slide down, even.
* You do. It’s fun. Then it’s cold. And then…
* Nothing.
[ … Huh? ]
[ Oh. Oh, no. No, no, no, no. ]
[ Hey! ]
[ Hey, can you hear me?! ]
[ Hang in there, okay? ]
[ You’re – you’re going to be just fine! ]
[ I promise. ]
* … Well.
* If last there was nothing, than you suppose what you open your eyes to must be the afterlife. To some degree.
* But it isn’t very light. There are lanterns placed around the room you awake in, emitting a soft glow though you can’t see any flame. The windows are dark behind their curtains. It makes you want to think it’s hell. But the space is decorated so lavishly.
* Even the Devil can have expensive tastes, you suppose.
* You begin doubting you’re actually dead, though. There’s a boy probably your age slumbering in a chair next to the bed you’re in. He looks like he’s uncomfortable. All slumped over the book in his lap like that.
* Also, it turns out he might not really be a boy. At least, not a human boy. A completely human boy, anyway.
* You notice long tufts of white drooping off his head. Reaching out to touch one teaches you they’re soft, and grabbing the edge makes you realize, ah, not just an accessory.
* You would investigate more but the boy startles awake when you try.
* “… Oh! Goodness, you startled me,” he laughs, embarrassed and cheeks pink. He rubs at the tuft-appendage, and you think they might be ears with where they’re placed.
* “You’re awake, now, though. That’s good. I’m so relieved! It was so worrying, finding you like that.”
* You blink silently, expression blank. You tip your head in question but really doubt this stranger boy will pick up on it. No one had. Even your parents couldn’t read you well.
* “Not a talker, huh?” the boy asks, laughing not unkindly. “Well that’s okay! I’ll just have to try really hard to figure out what it is you want to say.”
* You have your doubts. You’re so lost at what to do, now that your attempt failed, that you really couldn’t care less what this stranger does. Or what he doesn’t.
* “Hmm… This is hard… You seem… sad, though. Did you… maybe not want to be found?”
* You make the mistake of being surprised. It’s a vague guess, but it isn’t wrong. In fact this stranger boy, who may not even be human, is closer to knowing you than most anyone ever has been. And he’s known you awake for all of 5 minutes.
* “Is that… right? But, why? You were down in the garbage dumps of Waterfall all on your own! That had to be scary, and lonely, right?”
* The tears involuntarily spring to your eyes. Hurriedly, you turn your head.
* “…”
* “… Mom… said you were a human. I’ve never… seen one, before, so I wouldn’t really know, but… You really are one, aren’t you?”
* Of course you’re human, what else would you be?
* “… She told me how… most humans, how they… end up down here. The Shiwagawa. They—“
* The stranger inhales sharply. You continue pointedly staring away, weakly glaring at the far edge of the bed. If you’d known this all would happen after, you rather have just gone home, earlier. This was all so much trouble. You have a headache.
* “… I didn’t want to believe it, but I… I guess it’s… probably true, huh?”
* Sniveling, then the bed dips to your left. There’s a weight and a warmth pressed against your leg. A hand overlaps one of your own clenched in the covers and you notice the nails of it when it tightens over yours. They’re long, pointed.
* “I can’t know what you’ve been through, human… But it’s okay, now. It’s going to be all right. I’ll do whatever I can to make sure you’re never alone again! That you never feel lonely. … I – If you would want me to, that is.”
* You dare glance over. From the corner of your eye, at first. The boy looks self-conscious, yet radiates determination. His eyes remind you of the river. As you turn to face him more you realize they’re much clearer than the murky waters you nearly…
* “… Haruka.”
* His eyes widen. His jaw drops, a little, mouth open enough you can see an elongated canine.
* “That’s my name.”
* He visibly brightens. The smile that slowly grows actually makes you feel…
* “Haruka… That’s such a pretty name. It’s nice to meet you! My name’s Makoto. I hope we can be good friends! … Oh! I ought to let Mom know you’re up! She can make the butterscotch cinnamon pie, now!”
* … It all makes you feel like, maybe, you’ll be missed, one day.
[ … ]
* A week goes by in what you learned is called the Underground. Where the half-human, half-monsters collectively known as ‘magicals’ were banished long ago by your own kind. By the ‘purebred’ humans.
* Just another reason to hate all mankind, you guess.
* All the folk down here are the nicest and sweetest beings you think you could ever exist. They’re not all soft and kind and warm like Makoto may be. Deep down, though, where it counts, they care more than you think any human is capable of.
* Than all humans put together, probably.
* You contemplate this with a cold anger. The background noise that is the flowing water of Waterfall is disturbed by sloshing. By steps.
* “Oh, human kid. Haruka. Yo. You’re here an awful lot for not having any gills. Or fins.”
* Nosy, you think with a soft sigh. This guy, Rin, he’s a pain. He acts too familiar with you. His smile is way too sharp, both literally and figuratively. He’s always trying to get a rise out of you. It’s annoying. Mostly because you fall for it.
* “I like the water,” you say slowly. “The quiet, and the dark, too.”
* “Wouldn’t have guessed it. You look seriously pissed, little man.”
*
* “I hate humans. That’s all.”
* “Wha—Woah, now where did that come from all of a sudden?”
* You shake your head, slow. Like you’re groggy. It isn’t that sudden, not for you. This is a feeling that’s built a while. Years, now.
* Rin sits next to you. You think maybe he expects a long talk ahead. Which almost amuses you. You don’t talk, and certainly not for long. But, you appreciate the gesture. The companionship, too. Maybe. The half-shark is older… by a lot. But looks older by less. If he were human, on the surface, he might have just graduated high school.
* He might grate on your nerves, but you’re allowed to be negative and pessimistic with him. Makoto is great. He’s wonderful. You have always needed someone so upbeat and determined to keep your spirits up.
* But sometimes, you just don’t want to hear ‘it’ll be all okay’.
* “I hate humans,” you reiterate. “I wish they could all be gone. Then the surface could be yours.”
* “Wouldn’t that be nice…” Rin breathes wistfully. “We’re going to need a whole 6 more pure human souls for that, first.”
* You wish there was another way. A quicker way.
* “It’s been hundreds of years since the one before you fell.”
* Something else, anything.
* “One day, though. One day we’ll have those other souls.”
* There has to be.
[ … ]
* It’s buried in the dusty recesses of Dr. Aiichirou’s lab.
* The nervous, scale-y man needs help locating instructional tomes to continue his most recent experiment. He can’t now, the new episode of his absolute favorite show is airing. He doesn’t want to deal with spoilers. But results are needed in two days, and if he wastes tonight on forums like he knows he will, there won’t be enough time for results.
* You’re passing through, anyway. You decide to help.
* Hopefully Mom—… Mrs. Tachibana won’t worry too much if you’re overly late back home. Hopefully Mr. Tachibana doesn’t wait up, and Makoto gets to bed when he ought to.
* When you’re let into a part of the lab you have never been, you grow curious. It’s more like an actual laboratory than the rest of it is.
* You look for the needed books as much as you browse for your own interests.
* The last one is proving difficult to find. It’s now you find something for yourself. Something talking of the barrier. What it is. Why it is. What it’s made of. How it’s maintained. The reason it’s inescapable. How to break it with 7 pure human souls.
* How to break it with only one pure human soul.
* You find the last book on Dr. Aiichirou’s list. You’re not too late for dinner. Makoto asks what the book you brought back is about. If it’s a picture book or a cool story about the surface you both can read. Or have one of your parents read for you.
* You smile and say it’s a secret. He whines about that.
* You promise him he’ll know soon.
[ … ]
* Guilt is something you think you should feel. Makoto looked beside himself, he’d been in tears when you asked. He begged for you not to. To change your mind. Be patient. You ought to be remorseful for putting your best friend through this all. Especially after it’s obvious how against it he is.