Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

In a sea of infinite variables Fate could assign to you, how high could be the chance to meet one of the most mystical creatures to ever exist in the folklore of your land?

In a sea of infinite values your variable could have, how truly high the chance for you to meet a merman was? Yes, you guessed it right: none, because merfolk, supposedly, shouldn’t be able to exist, if not in the collective fantasy of so many beautiful and different cultures and folkores. Then, why were you able to experience an encounter face to face with a shark merman, if said creatures should, allegedly, belong only to the fictitious world of legends and fairytales? To find a solution to the enigmas hereby presented, is it necessary to start from the very beginning, because no proper story can convey their true potential meaning without highlighting the origin of the events displayed in their words.

The ocean, the vast mass of salty dark waters oozing abyssal power in its alluring and evoking mystery, had always fascinated and enthralled you. Under its tidal mantel, the ocean housed so many mysterious species and not only, had you grew up devoting yourself to the knowledge of the abyss, but you had acquired an interests for the arcane, the mysteries and the unexplainable. If there was a myth or a legend of an alleged creature to exist, like the monster of Loch Ness, then your focus would be locked on said legend. If the legend was concerning a creature of the deep ocean, the interest would grow even more, since everything that lived and strived in the ocean’s dark waters was something you truly loved getting invested in researching. This passion for the seas, had brought you many times questioning the real existence of the merfolk, but any research that had been published, brought you to the same conclusion: mermaids and mermen didn’t exist and they belonged, solely, to the wild centennial fantasies of the folklore. There was no proof, no sign, no verified information that could testify the existence of said ethereal creatures, therefore science preferred to label their alleged existence as something that was a mere dream.

Your inquisitive nature, thought, begged to differ from the assumptions that denied the existence of the merfolk. There were, by far, too many myths about their existence, too many stories about their kind to believe that they were, solely, a product of fantasy. You had searched for so many months and invested yourself in the reading of all the possible myths and legends the human folklore had produced for them. From the stories starring their charming allure to their carnivorous nature or their kindness and their possible tolerance of humans, all the material you had acquired told you that not even humans knew exactly how merfolk truly were. For any myth about a siren luring a sailor to the pitch black pitch oceanic abyss to feast on him with abandon there was another legend that talked about beautiful and lasting love stories about your own kind and their own. They were mixed and thus, it wasn’t truly easy form a coherent opinion on their alleged nature with so many contrasting factors that told you so many different stories about their nature. Still, the fact that so many legends of so many different cultures covered the theme of said sea creatures was a clear sign that there was, indeed, something that longed to be discovered, under the foamy times of the ocean you so dearly loved.

Living the aquatic life would have been such a different experience from the way humans had adapted to live on dry land and this concept brought you to question how merfolk would even perceive the way of living humans had. From your reading, it seemed that some of them befriended humans while others despised them and other stories too narrated of how sirens were a mortal enemy to the humans that dared venturing the open ocean. The main misconception was that sirens were the demons of the ocean, waiting to slaughter and devour with ravenous intent, while sinking their long talons and sharp teeth on the warm flesh of their human preys.

Yet, you were sure that, generally, the product of such grim stories could be originated by the fear of the unknown peril that could be hidden by the ocean’s waves and, if paired with a general wave of paranoia and hysteria, then you could totally count on the fact that said legends had been poisoned by terror and biased point of views, that hadn’t truly submerged themselves on the beliefs of the inhabitants of the ocean. You were generally secure they didn’t pose such an impending threat, even if you rationalized about the fact that they, too, could have seen the humans as monsters since everything mankind touches, it is destined to wither away and rot. Even though there could have been such a misconception on the human kind, you knew that not all humans are an incarnation of pollution, greediness and shallowness and that humans with a golden heart and pure motives exist, too. Probably, they had the same biased point of views you humans had of their kind and for this reason, It was of crucial importance to understand how they viewed the world up above their watery home and if they intended on befriend your own kind, obviously admitting that they existed in the first place.

Every piece of information you had been collecting, seemed to point towards an “alleged” existence of the merfolk kind, yet you hadn’t been able to find any good trace of their true existence, nor had other people that, being gifted with the same passion you had to uncover the mystery, had investigated on the matter. Everything you could find were faint proofs, but nothing of true importance that could testify, clearly, that the merfolk existed and that, just as humans, had lived for hundreds of years in their oceanic home. They were mystical creatures, yes, but nothing forbade them from existing and to be able to find a proof of the theories about their alleged nature had become a goal of yours, since you truly believed that merfolk and creatures alike could be existing., while humans weren’t aware of them yet.

In view of the inquisitive typhoon that was your scientific interest on the species that inhabited the ocean, you had decided to collaborate with some people via Internet, in search of any proof that could decrypt the mystery and, hopefully, legitimating to your own studies and claims on the supernatural presence of the merfolk. Every form of evidence could be quite helpful to the main goal you had in common, even if it was a quite secretive group since outside people would see your interest as something totally odd, and, probably, useless, since the common believing found its focus on withholding the belief of the viability of the mermaids.

You tried to contribute with every data you found interesting and attention worthy, and, luckily, your two dearest friends, Noriaki Kakyoin and Jean Pierre Polnareff, helped you very often if you needed help in colleting any proof. Noriaki, specifically, found your passion to be quite endearing: he had, many times, marveled in front of the restless enthusiasm you had manifested while researching any fruitful data on the mermaid’s existence and he couldn’t help but chuckle when he would listen to your explanation, while you delivered your speeches about merfolk with the most determinate and passionate tone you could muster. He liked helping you, not only because he found your spirit to be contagious, but because he found your motives to be pure, since he knew you interested yourself in this particular and delicate subject, in order to know more about the world that surrounded you. Between you three, you had been always the most adventurous and curious one and he truly found your bright resolve and spirit to be quite remarkable.  Polnareff, on the other hand, liked to stick around mostly because he could use your  research visits as the beach as a way to have fun and flirt with so many beautiful girls. Even thought you always rolled your eyes when he started to behave like a womanizer, Polnareff did accompany you always because your research inspired him to be more passionate about his own life matters too and because he liked to support you in your own interests.

But how come so many different personalities had found themselves tied by a common interest? Well, Kakyoin had been your childhood friend since forever: the first memory you could recall had him in it, which seemed to suggest that you had befriended him when you were still a little kid, a fact that seemed to be vouched by the same Kakyoin, that always referred to you as his own and first friend. Noriaki had never been quite sociable, since he didn’t feel like most of the people could understand him or click with him the way you had. With you, he felt as if he had found a safe place where to escape from his daily life and the first time you had actually addressed him, he had instantly felt as if he had found the friend he always longed to have, almost as if a missing piece had snapped into place in the puzzle of his life. Growing up without having the companionship of a friend till that point had been rough for him but, fortunately, he had found you in his path and he had refused to live your side ever since. Kakyoin was the dearest friend you had and, in a sense, you thought that Fate was being too generous in giving you such a suave, elegant, witty and sweet friend. At the same time, Noriaki could be quite snarky and sassy if he wanted too, a characteristic you had seen when Polnareff had joined your little duo.

You had first met Polnareff when a common friend had introduced you to him. He had been very fast in trying to shamelessly flirt with you but the way he had cheerfully befriended you really had stricken you. With Noriaki or other people, you had experienced quite the shy approach but they way he had confidently strode over to you, calling you “Mademoiselle”, had really left you quite surprised by how bubbly he could be. If at first this side of his personality had left you speechless, you had started to learn more about Jean Pierre over the course of the months, since he would hang out with you and the other mutual friend you had. Soon, you had overlooked over his Don Juan mannerism and you had found quite a charming and brave individual, even if, sometimes, he was too stubborn. However, the French man had been able to carve a path in your heart and soon, you had introduced him to Kakyoin and they had become friends too. It was truly funny hearing Kakyoin being all sassy with Polnareff and this latter coming to you, lamenting the fact Noriaki was being mean to him, but, frankly, you loved the both of them too much that you couldn’t see yourself without them.

In such a short time you had found yourself in sharing your growing interests on the existence of the merfolk and they had seemed to accept this side of you, to the point, they too seemed to be engaging in the same infinite quest for an answer, just as you had been. Many times, they had accepted to accompany you to the beach, in order for you to collect any type of proof you were investigating on or to try to see any sign of the sea creatures. Sometimes, you even stayed all night at the beach, trying to sightseeing any head poking out the water, but nothing by far. If the merfolk were hiding, then they were doing an excellent job in not letting themselves be seen by you or any other person that was interested in the subject at hand. You hadn’t been able to detect anything, even using the most accurate and precise binoculars you had find on the market. Nothing, no trace existed of the merfolk. Expect, you weren’t willing to abandon your mission: you were sure that, under the boundless aquatic billows, the truth was awaiting for you to be discovered.

But what if you had been only wasting your time, daydreaming about the existence of a specie that belonged to the folklore? What would happen, if your dream was to crumble upon mountains of sand and salt, if you hadn’t been able to find any trace? Sometimes, your mind would wander to the possibility of everything you had been searching to be a mere chimera, something you never were going to bring light upon. It unsettled you to think about the chance of your dream and goal to be nothing more than a reverie, nothing more than a sand being dispersed in the shallow waters of the same ocean you were gazing upon in that moment, trying to get a glimpse of any subject that could be worth for your studies and research. This time, both Noriaki and Polnareff had decided to keep you company, while, in the dark starry night, you kept on monitoring, with your infrared binoculars, the placid waves that would crush themselves on the sandy dunes of the golden beach you three where stationed.

The lulling and tranquil sound of the waves meeting the wet surface of the shore, accompanied by the soothing refreshing breeze that crested the waves provided such a beautiful quietude for you three to enjoy. The starts shined brightly down at you, while the hypnotizing rhythm of the waves kept punctuating every passing moment. You and Noriaki were currently seated on a  large beach towel, while the fluffy polygonal hairdo of Polnareff popped up from the tent you three had set up, in order for your sightseeing to be comfier. You knew that, at one point, Jean Pierre would let out a whine over the fact that he was getting much bored, but you and Kakyoin couldn’t have done anything to relieve him from his temporary boredom, since sightings would take, usually, most of the night and would be spent in the most religious silence that could be kept up. Polnareff being Polnareff, of course, was bound to signal his growing need to have fun in some way, but nor you nor Noriaki could humor him, since you both were invested in scanning the dark placid ocean in front of your eyes.

While it was true that Jean Pierre was enjoying the cool breeze of the softy swinging wind on his rough skin, he wasn’t able to shake up the growing sensation of tedium he was feeling in waiting for already some hours without any good result to come from both your and Kakyoin’s observations. You had warned him  many times about the fact you weren’t going to a party, but to a scientific-like attempt of getting a proof of the existence of the merfolk and yet, he chose to tag along and pass most of his time sighing or demanding attention from you or Kakyoin. Even though you would have liked to humor him, you had to stay deeply focused since merfolk were believed to be quite conniving and swift in their movements. There was the chance for some of them to push themselves towards the shore when night would come, since there weren’t humans to witness their arrival.

This was an information that had been disclosed by  a random Internet forum dedicated to merfolk that you had visited once and that you had been able to become a part of The forum was dedicated only to the alleged presence of merfolk and populated by good people, that, like you, were trying to find an answer to the enigma. There wasn’t  the risk of somebody infiltrating the forum with the intention of hurt or exploit the information that were published on there, since nobody truly believed on such possibility and the access to the forum was quite restricted. Merfolk were nothing than a myth in someone’s eyes, but in yours and in some other people, that, guided by scientific interest, tried to help and bring light on the alleged presence of the mermaid kind.

Still, there could be the danger of somebody trying to obtain some more information on the topic with a much less moral intention that yours an d for this reason, the forum had to be always guarded and protected by attentive admin that shunned who tried to use these data with the intention of hurting the online community or exploit the information with the dark intention to hurt the alleged merfolk. It was, also, your priority to guard the merfolk from nefarious people interested on the chance of hurting them or selling them if found and for this reason, the admin and every registered members had to contribute for the general safety of the forum. And, truly, it was quite a safe place, since every information could be decrypted only with a specific code send by the admin after a “trial” to see if the use was truly guided by scientific reasons. You had been able to totally ace the test and you had become a prolific member of the community, trying to find a solution to the mystery.

And, upon reading that specific information you had started to spend more time at the beach, intent on discovering if this fact could be a fruit of truth or another fact without solid evidence to support it. Either way, the informant had been clear in stating that merfolk would be quite defensive if approached and that they, probably, wouldn’t let their guard down, since the menace of humans being present could be a variable they had to consider if they decided to venture nearer the coast.

Standing shoulder to shoulder with Kakyoin, while your interest was being fixed on the mutual scanning of the moving ocean, illuminated by the pale moonlight that reflecting on its surface, you almost failed to notice the tell-tale sigh let out from Polnareff, a clear sign that his time of endurance had terminated and he was researching a way to not feel bored anymore. Now, when Polnareff referred to you, he had grew accustomed to sought out your attention with the most random and corny pet names he could think of, most of which were in French or sounded extremely romantic, even if you two weren’t in a relationship on that sort. But it was still your dear Jean Pierre and with the passing of the days, you had grew used to his way of calling you, too. You didn’t mind him trying to be suave with you, because you knew he didn’t hold any malice in complimenting you or referring to you in such a lovey-dovey fashion.

“Ma dulcinée, je suis trés ennuyé"

He called to you, crooning in that flirty tone you knew all too well, while he played with the sand. He kept looking at you like a lost puppy, pouting, hoping you would communicate to him that it was almost time to go home and that the sightseeing had terminated. If it wasn’t, then, you could, at least, built a conversation with him, even if he knew you or Kakyoin would probably berate him for piping out in the way he had, disturbing the peaceful atmosphere that both you and Noriaki had built. Before you could even try to form an answer, Kakyoin’s own stern voice became audible, carrying the scolding directed towards Polnareff. Kakyoin would always be the one to sassily reprimand him or signal to Jean Pierre if something in his behavior wasn’t being right, which almost made him resemble a maternal figure. It was actually quite funny, actually, how between you three Noriaki seemed to be equipped with the same attentiveness and sharp eye of a mother like figure, while you were mostly laid-back, almost like the father of the family. Polnareff, of course, with the way he had whined and would lament his boredom, seemed to have gained the role of son for himself, which meant he was in for a big scolding from Kakyoin.

“I had almost started thinking you would remain silent, at least for this night. Unfortunately, it was too good to be true”

With such a too tempting offer to answer to Polnareff’s laments, Kakyoin’s snarky side  had joined  the conversation, while he kept his eyes fixed on the same horizon you were patrolling.

“Why did you come to sightseeing if you already  know that it will, most likely, bore you out of your mind?”

Boom, shots were fired.  In his irreverent seriousness, Kakyoin had struck Polnareff with his sarcasm, which made the other man whine even louder.

“Why do you always have to be such a meanie to me, Kakyoin!”

Vented Polnareff, sounding almost offended towards the way Noriaki had addressed him. Yet, you knew the duo was prone to bicker from time to time and they, too, didn’t speak with the intention of causing offence. Polnareff was used by now by Noriaki’s own witty remarks and he had, totally, saw something like this happening, since Kakyoin didn’t lose the chance to scold him if he could. While adjusting his position in the tent and getting more comfier, the French man kept his gaze locked towards your busy form, in hope you’ll put away the infrared binoculars and concentrated your attention on him.

“And why do you have always to disturb us, if you know that we’ll have to stay in silence?”

Again, Kakyoin wasn’t going to let Polnareff out of the hook just yet. If anything, this statement made the French man even more unsettled, while he huffed and puffed about the mixed teasing and berating tone Kakyoin was using to assert his phrases, while you pondered if interject their exchange, since Kakyoin’s own words seemed to be loaded with so much provocation.

“You are not fun at all, Kakyoin! And besides, I came here to spend time with mon chouchou, not to be the subject of your sassiness!”

As he said “chouchou”, Polnareff’s tone had slightly changed to a much more sweeter and flirtier one, only to take again his defensive verbal stance, in order to shield himself from Noriaki’s own attack. With those French words he meant that he was referencing you, which was something Polnareff would always do since he had such a various gamma of charming pet names to assign to you. They were so many but, knowing Jean Pierre for so much time, you had learned to recognize every single one of them. It didn’t come as a surprise since he held you so dear to his heart, almost as if you were a little treasure he always doted on. You didn’t know if it was a trait originated from his lack of self control in flirting with so many other females, but they way he treated you was so kind, that you always felt as if he cherished you almost as if you were holy and sacred to him. He, too, didn’t know why he was so attached to you, but, unlike any other girl he would flirt with for their looks, he found your personality and overall presence to hold such a magnetic allure, that you had captured his interest from the first time you had encountered him.

Something similar had happened with Kakyoin too, which seemed to further serve as a proof of the natural charm you had. Not only were you extremely determinate, but your aura held such a charming and soft glow that Polnareff used to say that everybody would fall prey of your charm. You didn’t know what he meant by that since you were only trying to be yourself and you weren’t trying to attract the attention or the friendship of the other people with your looks or personality’s traits, it was just as you were made. And when you asked to Jean Pierre, exactly, what had anchored his interest to you, he responded that everything you were was interesting for him to discover. He, too, reiterated the fact that it wasn’t something you did or tried to obtain using a specific trait of your character, it was just who you were in your spontaneity hat he liked so much. Just as Kakyoin had too, since he had been hooked in your mutual bond with him from the early stages of his life. Even if he wasn’t vocal like Polnareff and didn’t use any sweetness staffed names, he treated you with the utmost care and kindness, which was his way to signal to you he deeply cared for you. It almost looked as if you were a mascot of the peculiar trio you were a part of, but you truly liked your role since it meant that you had such dear friends by your side, ready to accompany you even in the most eccentric hobby you had, which was trying to find a proof of the merfolk’s existence.

Anyhow, Polnareff was growing restless and Kakyoin’s own taunting didn’t help much. It was your cue to enter in the conversation, since you always seemed to serve as a pacificator for the little altercations they had.

“Guys, please, let’s try to get along”

Came your soothing voice, cutting the hostile silence that had been installed by Kakyoin’s tsking in registering Polnareff’s words.  Polnareff’s eyes had been, instantly, attaching themselves to your frame again and he knew you had, finally, acknowledged his attempts to stir a reaction from you, which made him ecstatic. A foxy smile was quick to blossom in his sharp features, while his eyes dropped to a much dreamlike state, while he felt proud for having your attention. You weren’t looking at him, since you couldn’t afford to break your eyes focusing on the ocean, yet your stepping in was a signal that meant only joy to Polnareff. But that little moment of harmony was cut short by Kakyoin’s own taunting, asserted with the most teasing tone:

“We would if Polnareff stopped being such a whiny kid”

“Who are you calling whiny kid?!”

Like a thunder, Poolnareff had responded to Kakyoin, while he glared at him, undignified by the mockery of his friend. So much for trying to get along! A switch had been activated between them and you knew, that, you had to reiterate the invite to not bicker, because they had started a true verbal war, starring Kakyoin’s sassiness, Polnareff’s offended answers and you, standing in the middle of the two arguing parts.

“The only person that is whining here is you, so you can clearly answer the question yourself”

Kakyoin delivered most of his lines with the most amused smirk, while Polnareff failed to keep up with him, feeling absolutely adamant in responding to his friend with such an accusatory and aggravated tone, which was to be expected by somebody emotional like Polnareff. The most noticeable thing was that Kakyoin seemed to serve sassy comebacks almost as if he was born to do just that, while Polnareff would feel quite agitated in trying to sedate the silver tongue of his counterpart, who liked to speak fluent sarcasm, aside tasting cherries in that quirky way he had picked up.

 “Stop being such a smartass, Kakyoin, you are ruining the mood!”

“Am I, though? If I recall correctly, you were the one to start complaining out of nowhere…”

“Oh, then, excuse me if I stated the obvious, mr. I-love-staying-in-silence-for-five-hours-straight!”

It had started. From there on, you grimaced in thinking that they would start a back and forth discussion, which they did, as Polnareff seemed to be in the defensive tone he always took when his and Kakyoin’s own discussion escalated to them throwing witty remarks the one to the other. Yet, you knew that in order for them to stop, you’d have to step up again their discussion, open they would follow your request of peace this time. Yes, you had to do something, since the game was set and neither of them wanted to back down from the opened-up confrontation.

 “The only obvious thing here is how obnoxious you are being”

“As if you are behaving any better!”

“I am, in fact”

“Not”

“I am”

“No!”

“Yes”

“I said no, you aren’t!”

“Keep telling yourself that”

“Stop it already, Kak-“

“GUYS!”

Kakyoin and Polnareff shut their mounts instantly, in registering that you had interposed between the ruckus they were creating with such a chaotic interaction. Tired of having to endure their continuous quarrel, you had raised your voice and shifted your gaze from the ocean to them, which was a signal of how urgent you were in trying to state your point. Redirecting your gaze towards them meant having to look away, momentarily, from the ocean. You had to continuously keep your eyes pointed towards the horizon in order to witness any palpable trace of the presence of a mermaid., but to make the point clearer, you had went for this act, which, hopefully, would cease their discord.  And well, it indeed had, as the men looked at you, baffled by the sudden interruption.

“Please, don’t bicker anymore” You resumed, which a much calmer tone, now that they seemed to have calmed down. Both seemed to be perceptive of your request and Kakyoin was quick in responding with a nod of his head, which made his hair giggle along with him. He seemed to wore such a quiet expression in comparison to the provocative smirk he had wore during his little fight with Polnareff.

“My apologies, (Y/N), it was childish of me to behave in that way. I let myself go and I shouldn’t have”

Elegant and direct as always, Kakyoin was fast to own up for his little pettiness, since he had been the one to fuel the banter, while Polnareff had responded with such enthusiasm. But now, Jean Pierre, on the other hand, looked totally ashamed, since he had been the most loud one in responding.  Being acquainted with Polnareff’s own way of feeling things, you knew he could feel a little guilty about it all as he always looked when you had to raise your voice to serve in the position of peacemaker. For such reason, you were fast to throw him a smile and rejoice in the discourse you had started, showing to him that he didn’t need to feel guilty over this. Their bickering could be quite fun but they wouldn’t always start it in the most preferable situation.

“We have almost finished here anyway, Polpol. Soon you’ll be able to go home and have a pleasant dream about all the demoiselles your heart desires”

You smiled to him, delivering your quote with such a singsong teasing tone. Yours, contrary to Kakyoin’s, sounded almost as a croon and wasn’t meant to tease Polnareff a little, not to sass him out. As you had finished your speech, you had, even, took the liberty to wink and show him a little your tongue, in order to make Polnareff understand that you weren’t angry with him or them at all. It was, only, that it was preferable to bicker another time and in another situation. Polnareff seemed to receive clearly your message, which prompted him to give you a closed eyes smile, while he starched his head, chuckling.

“Eh eh, pardonne-moi, ma belle”

He said, while regaining  a much cheerful tone. It was truly amazing how far their respect for you went, only a word was enough for them realizing they had taken the little discussion for too long. You knew they didn’t many harm or had the serious intent to insult each other with malice, nonetheless the continuous back and forth of answers had started to make you too much distracted.

“Besides, you are the only mademoiselle I would love to dream about, chérie”

He finished his speech, while giving you such a provocative smirk and raising his brow bones to amplify the effect of his flirty behavior. At this you couldn’t help but chuckle, smiling in front of his forwardness.

“And you want me to believe I’m the only one? Not quite possible”

“Que méchante! You wound my heart, mon bijou! Of course you are the only demoiselle I dream about, my heart belong to you, only”

Mused Polnareff, snickering along with you

“Yes, yes, keep believing that”

You finished with a last laugh, followed by his own amused chuckling. Kakyoin opted to keep his eyes on the ocean, but he, too, was smiling swiftly in seeing your little interaction with Polnareff. With a score to 2 to 0, you both had triumphed over Polnareff, since you too, had teased him a little bit. But Polnreff did seem to grow much more gleeful, to the point that he scooted towards you, while you had diverted your eyes towards the binoculars that sat in your lap. While wearing the same smile you had given to him some seconds ago. In the midst of you trying to regain your once present focus on the matter, you hadn’t noticed Polnareff casting his large frame close to yours, while optioning to stay behind your shoulders, in order for him to put his face on your shoulder and his arms on your waist. It was his way of hugging you and while for a stranger’s eye said action would be met with the following statement: “What a cute couple!”, you two knew that it wasn’t the case. It was your and Polnareff’s way of hugging: it was a little intimate, yes, but you had quite gotten used to it that you didn’t flinch anymore when Jean Pierre would press his chin to your shoulder.

Sometimes he liked to scare you, sometimes he liked to just relish in the closeness of your friendship, but it truly was his way to manifest how tightly bonded he was to you. It was a friendly gesture, yours and Polnareff’s way to show your friendly bond. To somebody it could be seen as a too much lovey-dovey action but, truly, Polnareff liked to stay close to you just as much as Kakyoin would do, only that him, being the highly touchy person he was, he resorted to hug you close if he could. Of course, he had obtained your permission before even trying to get in your personal range of space, but now, that you, him and Kakyoin spent every day together, your space was tightly tied and mixed with their and theirs with yours, thus you had gotten quite used to the fact that Polnareff liked to hug in this way. And, even if it had taken quite some trying for you to feel totally comfortable with him in such closeness. Nonetheless, now, it was the way you two used to enjoy each other’s company and truly, you enjoyed these moments with Polnareff so much He was, practically, a big gigantic heater that provided you with so much heat, which was very much welcomed in the cold nights such as the one you were experimenting in that moment.

“By the way, did you find anything useful or remotely interesting? You have been unmoving for the past five hours, much like Kakyoin”

You heard him mutter behind you, while he was curiously glancing towards the binoculars you held in your hands, currently resting in your lap. His words had made you actually realize that you had spent quite some time in observing the ocean’s waves. Had it been so long? You hadn’t seem to realize, fully, that five hours had already passed, so enticed you had been with your quest of finding a trace. Now that Polnareff seemed to highlight the duration of the observing process, you couldn’t help but feel a little forlorn over the fact another night had passed and yet, no concretely proved fact. Not even a little trace. Not even a little tail flapping sound! Nothing. Nothing at all, sadly.

 You shifted your gaze towards his own eyes, gleaming with such a curious hue. This sign was a proof that he did care about your current research, even if he liked to not admit it at all. It wasn’t as if he followed you on the nocturnal sightseeing in virtue of the fact he would gain even more points in your eyes. He did feel enraptured with the subject and had tried, many times, to see the whole situation from different perspectives. But, as he would put himself to watch the ocean with his binoculars, he would grow rather bored by the placidity of it all. He couldn’t really find the right inspiration or the right will to devote himself like Kakyoin or you did, since he was quite active and always looking for some form of entertainment and well, staring at the ocean hours upon hours had revealed itself to not be his cup of tea. Yet, this didn’t mean he didn’t want to participate or that he didn’t want to show his support to your research. The whole sightseeing practice  would  stiffen his enthusiasm but he would find it again when he heard you elaborate about the signals you had picked up, if there were any. Or, he would be fully invested and interested by everything you had to share with him and Kakyoin about the matter, since he seemed to appreciate and enjoy your passion about the subject. Even if he could grow quite restless, he was trying his best to involve himself in the best way possible.

“Nothing new, unfortunately”

You sighed, almost defeated, while he requested for you to pass the binoculars to him, in order to steal a little glance to what you had been fixed on for all those hours. He was really curious to see to himself if he, maybe, could envision something that your eyes hadn’t perceived. You had been observing since so many hours, after all and it could be plausible for you to be tired. Kakyoin, too, had, therefore Polnareff wanted to be certain you two hadn’t missed out on anything. It was a little gesture that suggested, furthermore, that he cared for all the patience, passion and good will you put in this specific research, thus, he wanted to be certain your eyes weren’t fooling you. As a matter of fact, Polnareff secured himself of this fact because he deeply respected all the effort and resources spent in this trial for the truth and, if anything, he was positive you’ll totally achieve the answer you were looking for, because such determination was meant to be repaid. He just could feel it in his heart and this conscience seemed to guide and fuel him, too, in trying to help you in the best way he could muster.

“Oui, rien à faire cette fois aussi”

You heard him murmur, as he scanned, with the infrared binoculars, he same space you had been looking at for quite some time. He, too, sounded quite dejected as he took the goggles away and handed them over to you, pouting a little, as he resumed his previous position on your shoulder. He pressed his high cheek on your shoulder, looking at you apologetically and feeling quite dejected by the sigh you let go off, too.

“I’m so sorry this sightseeing was fruitless, mon ange. But, don’t lose hope, I’m sure that the next will go, undoubtedly,  better!”

Came Polnareff’s response, mumbled between the fabric of your shirt since he was leaning with half of his face pressed to your shoulder. And there he was, Polnareff, trying to cheer you up. You could feel how sincere and heartfelt his speech how in the way the vibrant rumble of his last  sentence resonated  while travelling on your skin. The hopeful tinge in his voice seemed to raise your spirits, also, in front of another uneventful night that had avoided giving any usable information for you to insert in the research’s files.

“I really hope you’re right, Polpol”

You muttered, while casting your eyes downward towards the binoculars that sat, again, on the top of your legs. You let go of another sigh, while southing out Kakyoin’s own responses on the dialogue and, surprisingly, you found him already looking at you, his own binoculars discarded on his lap, mirroring you. You exchanged a bittersweet glance with him, since he, too, seemed to be caught up in feeling quite disheartened since no evidence had been found, again. You had been enhancing the duration of your sightseeing and , even, started coming to the beach more frequently, but nothing. Some users of the forum related to the existence of the mermaid, that you frequently visited, seemed to have given every usable information you could find on its contents. Some users had suggested to go to the beach at night, some other had been quite certain that had witnessed some bizarre movements in the surface of the water and some others, too, could swear they had even seen a tail! But without a certain proof, they were only allegations waiting to be proved. You even had a special camera near you, in case a mermaid was to be spotted. If you could, at least, have the chance to take a little shot of the mermaid, even their tail, then you would feel as the luckiest person on Earth because it was a true evidence of their existence. But nothing had been born from your effort and the ocean had no revealed its secrets just yet.

“Do we call it a night, Nori?”

You questioned Kakyoin, while exchanging the same worry-written glance he had been sending you, regarding the whole ordeal you three were being the protagonists of. Another night, another fruitless attempt. You were used to feel such high expectations to be let down but sometimes, it could be a nice sensation to feel so much hope being rapid. Nonetheless, in the end, you weren’t giving up just yet. Nor was Polnareff nor Kakyoin. It was just that that night was another night spent without registering any good result and not getting the answers you desperately craved, could be quite an hassle, even if you would, eventually, wake the next day, ready for another round of sightseeing. You needed to stay the most positive and decisive possible, even if another day without answers had passed.

“I don’t know, (Y/N). It seems as if we haven’t been able to find any valuable information…”

He trailed off and you briefly nodded to him, letting him know he had your attention, a silent request for him to keep going on with his speech.

“But, if you want, as a last resort, we could explore the sea cave that we’ve visited some time ago. If I am not mistaken, mermaids do tend to visit them in search of food or any usable item that humans may have dropped…”

While his eyes kept being locked on yours, inviting you silently to consider the chance he had advanced to you, Kakyoin gestured towards the rocky cliff that kept the little sea cave hidden. You remembered venturing on that area once with Noriaki, upon reading on the Internet forum that an user had seen a strange silhouette in a little sea cave like the one you and Kakyoin had visited. While the user hadn’t been entirely sure they could have spotted a mermaid, other users seemed to agree on the fact and, even, suggest that merfolk’s presence on those areas could be, totally, plausible. And, upon finding out such notion, you had been quick in visiting said grotto. From the people that lived near the beach, it was called “The cave of the shark”, because some people had asserted to have seen a strange sharp tail moving on the part of the cave where the water arose and became quite profound.  The cave was a something akin to a grotto, a open cave where people could enter from the outside, passing over a shallow trait of the beach and continuing on a rocky pavement that reached the half of the cave. The rocky pavement crashed with a shallow trait of white sand, with little placid waves licking at the dusty grains. Yet, if you tried to find the end of the grotto, it was not visible and quite covered by darkness. On the top of the grotto there was a natural crevice that let the light of the sun or the moon stream on the waters, painting its reflect on the rocky walls. But, if you focused your eyesight behind the stream of light, you would instantly met with pitch black darkness and with the deep end of the cave, where somebody had swore the alleged shark was hidden.

While it was not proven and seen almost as a stupid gossip, you believed that the rocky walls of the cave could hide much more than just a simple shark. In fact, you knew that merfolk didn’t come in the same types, sizes or genealogies and that, maybe, there could be a mermaid presenting a tail that resembled the once of a  shark. But, of course, without having a clear proof, everything remained still as a mere daydream of a fisher, even if you knew that, sometimes, myths are meant to hold much more truth and depth than what they are depicted to do.

You pondered about said chance, before deciding that yes, it could be a favorable option. Walking to the cave of the Shark would take, more or less, ten minutes, therefore you wouldn’t spend too much time going and returning from the area Kakyoin had invited you to visit. If anything, it could be, actually, become quite a fruitful chance for you both. Without many people visiting the grotto, both out of fear for the alleged existence of said “shark” and because the location of the cave was quite hidden from the rocky cliffs in front of it, there could be a slightly superior chance for you to see a mermaid. Merfolk did tend to not dwell in the waters occupied by the presence of the humans and preferred to keep for themselves, away from harm’s way.

Therefore, it could be quite logic for one of them, to decided to roam the dark waters of the cave. And not only that: it had been quite some time since you and Kakyoin had visited the cave, thus, maybe, this could be the right chance for you to find something, since the other time you had come it was in the late morning, when more beach visitors would swim close to the cave. At those times, you hadn’t been equipped with all the information you knew of the merfolk, like the fact that it was more beneficial for them to come out at night. Yet, now, you had grown quite the list of all the usable data present on the digital surface of the web. While most of the sightseeing happened on open waters, some of them happened on sea caves too. These trains of thoughts seemed to propel you in shaking your head ad nodding towards Kakyoin’s offer. It was a good proposition.

“Yes, it could work. We haven’t visited the cave in quite some time and maybe, this could be the right chance to see a glimpse of a mermaid”

But just as Kakyoin was in the midst of gifting you a little nod as a mean to say that it was settled, a loud groan came from Polnareff, followed by his own tumbling on the beach towel. As you shifted your gaze towards him, you found him behind you, lying down, with and arm propped  on his eyes in such a dramatic manner.

“Quoi?! The cave?... And here I was, already picturing the moment we were going home!”

He lamented theatrically, while covered by his bulky arm. It was, actually, quite amazing how his bicep could hide all his face but you knew that in that moment he was giving his best impression of a distraught person. It was a little pantomime, true, but he did sound a little bit tired by it all, which would suggest that you and Kakyoin had to walk to the cave without counting on his company. Sometimes, it had happened for Polnareff to stay put on the little camp you three would set out for sightseeing, while you and Kakyoin moved on the beach. He said that he preferred to stay and “guard” your bags and belongings, even though the beach was desert at the night time you visited. It was a little excuse he used when he was feeling too tired to follow up with you two.

 While part of him recognized his own attention limits, his other part wanted to impress you and for this reason, he would say that he preferred to be your loyal knight and make sure that nobody stole your bags, since you and Kakyoin would carry only the most important belongings while you changed location. But, of course, his little pretend game could be, easily, unmasked by you, even if you chose to keep the little play going on, even if he, too, knew that you knew he wanted to lay on the beach towel and rest for a little while. Which would explain why he  wasn’t surprised when you utter these words to me, in such a singsong fashion as he had just done, too:

“Does my beloved knight prefer to stay here and sacrifice himself with the dire task of guarding our belongings?”

You joked back, while Kakyoin shook his head, chuckling in front of Polnareff’s  silliness. It was quite a positive reaction from their recent bicker but it only served to testify the fact that Kakyoin and Polnareff didn’t engage in banters with the sole intent of damaging the other but they did it because they liked to challenged themselves from time to time. Yes, it was Kakyoin, for the most part, that ignited the flame since he knew that Polnareff was quite the vivacious and emotional type of guy to have around, which served to him the occasion of tease Jean Pierre, while using his sarcastic side. But you knew that they deeply cared for each other as they did with you because both of them were quite considerate.

In hearing your answer, Jean Pierre couldn’t help but chuckle a little, hidden still by his muscled arm and basking in the little crooning tone you had addressed him with, which suggested to him that you were, indeed, partaking in his theatrically dramatic statement.

“Bien sûr, ma princesse” he then, proclaimed, putting the arm he has hiding with on his torso, his palm directly on his heart as his eyes shut in sign of deep solemnity, which made you giggle some more.

“Your loyal knight is ready to accept his fate and accomplish  this dreadful mission, only for you!”

“How courageous of you, knight Polnareff! I’m dutifully obliged for your courteous assistance”

You did a little curtsey towards him, which gained a whole bright smile from your friend, now knight in shining armor. You could see the charming smile Polnareff was sending your way, the only particular you could see from his half hidden visage. You could already picture him snoring when you would be back with Kakyoin from the visit at the cave since it always played out in this way: Polnareff would swear to be a watchful guardian, but then, he would drop fast asleep, while lulled by the soothing charming tune of the wind and the ocean breeze. And, in the comfy position he had acquired, which consisted of him laying down, with one of his arm covering his eyes and the other one propped under his head as a pillow, you could already see him slumbering peacefully.

With Polnareff “guarding” your belongings and nestled in the beach towel, this meant that nothing else remained to do if not take the essential belongings you and Noriaki would need in order to explore the cave. Kakyoin opted to bring a little satchel and his creamy shawl, that he always brought along to shield himself from the chilly air of the night, while you had preferred to bring your bag, which contained your camera, some files of your report about mermaids, the binoculars, some notebooks and pencils in case you would need to take some notes and even a hat that your mother had bought for you and that she had insisted for you to carry with you, if you ever decided to go to the beach all day long. It was a hat she had bought for you in order for you to use it to protect your head from the unforgiving heath of the Sun, since it had happened that, sometimes, you had stayed all the day at the beach and even if you were under a sun umbrella all the time, your mother had insisted for you to wear, at least, a hat in order for the heath to not harm you. And, frankly, it was quite a cute hat: when your mother had bought it, the salesman had given her some shiny golden plaques to stick on the top of the visor. She had chosen to put one representing a dolphin, since she knew about your intense passion for the ocean and the other one representing a sun. There were others pins the salesman had given to her but these were the one she liked the most and had decided to put on the hat. The hat in question was a little larger for you so it would occur for its visor to fall on your eyes and you had to adjust it every time, a detail that Polnareff deemed to be so cute, since he found it to be so adorable watching you wrestle with your oversized hat. You had put it in the bag the last summer and completely forgot about it since autumn had come and you didn’t required its assistance anymore, but it had always been there, accompanying you in your sightseeing, while nestled with your other belongings.

Anyhow, both you and Kakyoin were ready and, belongings in hand, you could leave for the cave. Kakyoin’s suggestion had really put in you in a good mood and you could’t help but beam in your friend’s direction as you said to him:

 “Shall we go, Nori?”

Kakyoin nodded, giving you the same gentle smile he would always give to you. Polnareff bid you a slurred goodbye as you saw him getting even more comfier, probably on the brink of falling asleep. Yet, you could cut some slack to your knight, since you knew Polnareff would be so tired at this hour of the night and that this little venture was already pushing the time limits you, Jean Pierre and Noriaki would set, habitually, for a sightseeing. As you had noticed before, your sightseeing rhythm had been growing recently, to the point you had started to come to the beach every night, along with your dear friends. If Polnareff was already bored when your trio visited the beach once or twice at week, imagine how he would be after keeping such a firm rhythm for so many days and nights. You appreciated how collaborative he tried to be but it was no secret that his flamboyant character would grow restless if exposed to so many hours of tranquility. Which would explain why the strict sightseeing schedule would take a toll on him more than you and Kakyoin and why he would find it easy to fall asleep after so many busy days.

Such determination was bound to strengthen your and Kakyoin’s hope too, but every night spent without obtaining a result, would, indeed, mark your faith. You knew your sense of hope would never falter, nor would Noriaki’s, but the need to see your faith repaid was growing stronger, every day a little bit more. You had put so much effort, time, passion and care in revising every detail for your research and your friends had been so kind to lend their time and dedication to your interests, too. In a way, you wanted to repay their faith too, not only yours. For this reason you truly hoped that intensifying the schedule would produce, eventually, some important evidences, not only rumors or blurry visions of a tail. You truly hoped that Kakyoin’s suggestion would bring some new insight to your research, even if a part of you was quite doubtful. In all the times that you and him had visited the cave, nothing peculiar or interesting had come out from the darkened waters of the sea cave. Would this, finally, be the right time for you to discover something new about merfolk?

You truly hoped it would be and you could see that Kakyoin hoped it would be too, as you engaged in a light conversation with him, while making your way to the rocky cliff that kept the cave hidden. Your steps kept sinking lightly, swallowed in soft puffs by the golden sand, while the Moon kept providing you both with its soft glow, guiding you to the destination you two were headed to. as you both proceeded in the wake of a hopeful discovery at the cave of the shark, you and Kakyoin kept yourselves entertained while commenting on the last battle games Kakyoin had bought for his console. At a first glance he wouldn’t seem like it since he looked like the type to entertain himself in videogames but if there was something that you knew Kakyoin would excel at, it was indeed playing F-Mega. He was absolutely skilled in playing the game and every time that he had invited you to play against him, the result would always be solely one: your defeat and his victory. He was quite good at playing other videogames too but F-Mega was his domain: he knew every curve and secret of the game and it was quite clear that he had spent so much time mastering his skills in playing the game. He knew every section of the game by heart, even the bit of the dark tunnel! He always seemed ready to pinpoint to exact moment the laser would shoot in the dark and while your car had been hit so many times by the light ray of the cannon, Kakyoin had been able to reach the finish line just fine. As he conquered the victory, you would always ask for a rematch, trying to follow his actions in order to see if there was something of his strategy that you could use against him. But, as the countless our she had spent playing the game would suggest, he was always able to cross the finish line and not only because he had played the game so many times, but because his wits would permit him to create a new different strategy every time, which meant you wouldn’t fully able to discern his playing pattern.

Games were the perfect territory for Kakyoi  to show just how brilliant he could be and you truly liked to play alongside with him, even if your battle concluded itself with your loss. It didn’t matter to you, though, because seeing Kakyoin so determinate to cross the finish line was a sign of how dedicated he could be. In these moments, you saw just how alike you could be with Noriaki, which would explain why you two had been both drawn to each other when you were just kids. Kakyoin had explained to you that he had felt something clicking when you first spoke to him, almost as if a magnet had been pulling you to the one another. Noriaki had always been quite solitary since he had always felt like he didn’t belong anywhere. The kids he had encountered would never have anything in common with him, which made him feel as if he had been forged to live a lonely life. However, everything seemed to change when you had came into the picture and with you, he had felt his hope renewed. In a sense, the way he cherished you was born from the light you had brought in his life and even if he didn’t outright expressed it in words every day, the way he remained loyal and focused on your research was a sign of him thanking you for the friendship you had gifted to him.

And, as you both kept a tranquil pace in your promenade, you recalled that Kakyoin had still to give you a rematch, since he had won against you the last time you two had played.

“You still need to give me that rematch on F-Mega, Nori”

You commented, while twisting your head to meet his amused stare. Kakyoin couldn’t help but chuckle in seeing how determined you were being in trying to surpass him in the game.

“Do you think you could win against me this time, (Y/N)?”

He said to you, with a crooning tone, which you read as veiled friendly request to keep trying to win against him. He was, actually, playfully teasing you as he always did when you communicated to him that you wanted to try to battle against him.

“I really hope to be able to do so, in the future. Sooner or later I think I will since I almost memorized the section of the dark tunnel. Your F-mega crown will be mine if I keep training, I can feel it!”

Kakyoin chuckled again in seeing how determinate you were being, even if you were referring to a F-mega match.

“Then, why don’t you try to win against me, now?”

He questioned teasingly, sending such a mischievous smile towards you. You frowned a little, sharpening your gaze in a matching fashion to his provocative way of staring at you. He was, indirectly, sending you a invite to partake in a little match and his little challenge had, indeed, engulfed your interested, as you stared at him quite intrigued. You couldn’t help but ask yourself this particular question: of which nature could be the challenge he had in mind? As you grew curious with this new idea Kakyoin was sending to your judgment, you didn’t register when he started to sprint away towards the cave, while shouting behind his shoulder:

“Race you!”

At first you hadn’t registered his speed snap but as the last letter of his phrase reached you, you launched yourself on his tail, running behind him since this was the new challenge he had set for you: racing to the cave. You couldn’t let him win this time too!

“Kakyoin Noriaki! Come back here!”

You screamed to him, while you followed him hot on his tail. You could hear his laugh as he registered that you had accepted the challenge and you couldn’t help but smirk too in front of the little running match you two were in the midst of partaking in. The sand flied everywhere as you two stomped on it, heavy footsteps sinking in the dusty little dunes and merging together on the golden surface as Kakyoin accelerated his pace and you followed suit. You saw his mop of auburn hair bouncing here and here as you tried to do your best to keep up with him, straining your muscles to bring you further since you didn’t want Kakyoin to asses a victory this time also. He was quite a good runner, you had to give him that: his legs were quite keen in taking him away in such a fast spur of energy, leaving a dusty trail for you to follow. As his footsteps sank on the beach’s sand, yours marked the same spot he had, previously, embedded on it.

You felt quite free in that  moment and Kakyoin did too. There was nothing to stop you, just the cold breeze of the wind and the rapid tumbling of your hearts, that was beating furiously while your breaths came less to you both, as the results of the fast run were already showing themselves. But you couldn’t back down of your friendly run, even though participating in it was functioning as a catalyst for your energies to be consumed but, well, you weren’t going to stop living in the freedom of the moment nor would you give Kakyoin the chance to win without trying to claim the victory for yourself.

As the cave’s opening finally came into view, Kakyoin was the first to arrive since he had been the first in line. Nor only had his legs been the fasted to take him across the beach, but the momentum he had gained from sprinting away out of the blue had helped him too in gaining this victory. You followed suit just as he stopped in front of the rocky opening, while gasping for air. You matched his behavior as your lungs inhaled all the fresh air they could, while Kakyoin shifted his cocky smile and gaze towards you, gesturing towards the cave.

“It seems…that I….” He stopped to pant again but refused to dismiss the proud smile he was displaying “…won this time, too, (Y/N). My crown…is still safe….”

“Today you win….” You had to stop also, since your lugs were screaming for air just as Kakyoin’s ones did “but…you shouldn’t underestimate me… mr. milf hunter!”

You snickered, winking towards his form. He was, currently, supporting himself with a hand on the wall of the rocky opening and he heard you address him with that nicknames, he seemed to be taken aback.

“Oh no, you too with that nickname…”

Ah, yes, you too using that nickname was quite a start for your friend. It was a nickname that Polnareff had given him when the mother of a mutual friend of you three had fallen ill. While returning home, you and Polnareff had been talking about unfair was for such a nice, kind and sweet lady to fall ill and it was in that moment that the legend of Kakyoin, the milf hunter, (as Polnareff would say) was born. Noriaki had simply stated that if he hoped the lady would heal soon and, also, he had added that if he was to fall in love he would have wanted to fall for a sweet woman like her, somebody who put other at ease. Polnareff had seen a golden mine in this statement to get back at Kakyoin’s snarky remarks addressed to him and he had been quick to rename him as the “milf hunter”. It was actually curious Polnareff hadn’t called him like that in the previous quarrel they had had, but probably, it had passed through his mind, since he was quite tired after all. But you, on the other hand, liked to tease Kakyoin too if the occasion required it and since you two were being quite playful even in the running match, why don’t tease Noriaki a little bit more?

As your breath was restored and calmed down, Kakyoin was quick to add:

“And here I thought that Polnareff’s stupidity wouldn’t be that contagious…”

He smirked towards you, which gained him the action of you sticking your tongue at him as a response to his final teasing. Kakyoin wasn’t angry at all, if anything he had been a little baffled to hear you use that little nickname to your advantage and to tease him back, even though he was quite humored by the little playful atmosphere of the whole situation. Yet, the cave had finally been reached and as you seemed to be in tune with his own thought, he nodded to you and gestured to you to the opening, optioning to have you walking behind him so he could monitor exactly where you were going, since he would be the first to sample the ground you two would walk on. He gripped your wrist in a  secure hold, not too much meek in order for you to slip away from him nor too tight for him to cause you pain. It was the perfect grip and even if he kept you secured and anchored to his frame, it was a precaution he took in order for you to stay close to him if you were to fall.

It was the usual pattern you two took when you explored the little cave and that Kakyoin insisted to put in place every time since he wanted to make sure you would be safe while walking in the cave. It could happen that the rocky pavement displayed some bumps and crannies that the dark didn’t allow you to see, which required much attention in order to not fall. You were quite attentive but Kakyoin wanted to make sure you weren’t going to meet any potential risks and being the watchful person he was, he preferred for you to be close to him so he could carefully look over you and catch you if you were to bump in something you couldn’t see. If you were to point out how protective and parental he behaved when confronted with the menace of you hurting yourself or slipping in the rocky concrete, Kakyoin would dismiss the whole ordeal, while shaking his head in front of your suggestion. But no matter how the man would try to hide his protectiveness, it was clear as the day that he almost looked like a parent holding his daughter’s hand as he conducted you towards the path to take. He wanted for you to follow in his steps in order for you to walk on the ground he was sure was secure to hold your steps.

As you two had entered the cave, you had remained flabbergasted by the sheer beauty of the cave in the nocturnal hours. The first thing you both had done was widening your eyes in front of the splendor that was being presented in front of you: the cave was pure enchantment at night, while the pale light of the moon shined on the inside of the caves, bathing the rocky surface and the green water with silver reflections. The purity of the water was seamless and it almost resembled a mirror, returning the exact features that you two would imprint on its placid surface. The soft reflection of the water fractals painted itself on the cave’s walls and on your visages as you ventured further, while taking a shaky step after another, in order to stead yourself more on the rocky ground you were walking on. Kakyion, too, was quite struck by the silver beauty of the scenery you two were being immerged in, almost as if the light of the moon that came though the natural crevice of the cave was painting the most ethereal picture you had ever been the protagonists of. Almost as if you two were starring in the realistic form of a daydream.

As you progressed and Kakyoin was guarding you, while keeping your form locked near his own, you couldn’t help but being amazed by how crystal clear the water was, it literally glittered under the rays of the Moon. Such a stark contrast from the shadowy waters that stayed under behind the rays of the moonshine, there were the cave met its end and the eye would lose focus on the darkness that was being stored right there. It almost felt as if the cave had two identities: one, pale and silver, that was being illuminated by the moonlight and the other one, mysterious and dark that say just after the moon rays that came from the outside. You almost felt as if you were in front of the same scenery that Simba in the Lion King had in front of his eyes while Mufasa explained the repartition of the territories: the lightened part of the cave was the Pride Lands illuminated by the Sun while the darkened parts full of shadows where the hyenas lived,  resembled so much the shadowy  part of the cave.

As you pondered about this specific parallel, something on the border between clear water and dark water seemed to catch your attention. It had been a fast segment of movement, a shift action that your eyes had caught upon in a brisk moment. Kakyoin didn’t seem to have noticed since he kept looking towards the path ahead, while sampling the ground quality with a testing step. Only you had seemed to notice about the swift shadow that had appeared and it had been so fast that in a blink of an eye it had disappeared. It didn’t seem to be a fin, it didn’t seem to be anything else if not a blurry moment, dissolved in the water in a matter of a half second. You questioned yourself about what your instinct was telling you was a sign of something interesting for you to study further. At  first you had thought that it could be only suggestion since you had been staring at the border between dark and clear waters for a while now, in the meantime that Kakyoin spent on assuring himself you could pursue the path going forth. You hadn’t see a fin, you were quite sure about it. It was only a shadow, just a mere shadow that in a  trice had disappeared under the contrast of dark and light. Yet, something told you that your eyes had been lucky in perceiving that little shadow, so much that you felt the urge to communicate to Kakyoin about your presentment. As you grew excited about the prospect of the mysterious shadow to be more than a sole shadow. The thrill of the unknown was already throwing gasoline to your fire and ha your mind spiraling in so many questions: what was that shadow? Was it only a fish? Or maybe something more?

A mermaid, perhaps…?

The sole thought of it got your scientific mind in a spiral of questions and need to investigate what your guts told you to discover more of. Your need to voice your feelings came rampant as you stopped completely walking and moved the wrist that Kakyoin was latching into, catching his attention in the process.

“Nori, I think I saw something in the water”

You uttered towards him, which made Kakyoin freeze on the sport and look towards you with such widened eyes. Your revelation seemed to elate him as he nodded to you and stopped altogether, while questioning, exactly, what you had seen that had caught your attention. In that moment, you two were whispering since talking openly on the cave would make your voice bounce in every direction and scare off the alleged creature. If there was something… or better, somebody with you there, then, you needed to be extremely cautious in not scaring them off. You had to give the impression that you hadn’t noticed anything and that the alleged sea creature could continue their swimming unbothered by your presence. It almost felt automatic for you two to think that, maybe, luck had invested you with its charm and gave you the chance to witness the very creatures you had been looking for years but, truly, you were being quite over optimistic. You didn’t know if there was a mermaid in the first place, it could be a simple fish swimming quietly in the water, for all you two knew. Yet, you felt as if there was something that needed to be discovered that night. Something that had been hidden for all these years, in the comfort of the darkness they inhabited. Something that could explain why some fisherman told the story of a lone shark browsing the cold waters of the cave. Something that could provide an answer to the long-term quest  you, Kakyoin and Polnareff had been pursuing for so many months and even years, now.

“It was a shadow” you murmured towards him, as hope was invading your heart and was in the midst of blossoming in Kakyoin’s chest too. The news of you getting  a glimpse of something that could be useful was quite the fortunate event, more over for the fact that Kakyoin felt even more happier to have suggested your visit there in the first place. It had been quite a desperate resort in order to try to cheer up your mood, gripping the last hope of trying to witness something, anything, that could be worthwhile for your report. Kakyoin had felt so sad when he had seen your face growing distraught at the notion that this sightseeing had been fruitless too, that he had tried to come up with any idea to try everything he could in order for you to feel better and find any usable information, even if it was late in the night. He had felt so urged to see your hope revitalized that he had uttered to come to the cave almost instinctually, almost as if his own heart dictated the need for you both to visit the cave. It was something verily akin to what you felt towards the general mystery of this cave: it was an undefined desire of the soul, something that needed to be proved and discovered, something that tied you and Kakyoin in a much ossified bond that served to prove the fact that you and him could be quite very much alike.

The calling that you felt was one and the same and the excitement you felt in front of the discover, held the same texture in his heart just as it did in your own beating heart. There, with you, there was something that, inevitably, you would face that night.

“It was a shadow, right there” You murmured to him, while motioning towards the line were the enlightened part of the water met its shadowy counterpart.

“It was such a fast movement that it practically disappeared  in a matter of seconds. In a flash, it was gone”

As you explained, both your gazes were fixated on the border, in search for any visible sign of a shadow. Everything seemed to be peaceful and still. The light kept shining from the natural hole up the cave, the little waves kept smudging the eternal placidness of the water and the contrast between shadow and light kept being prominent, without signs of any creatures lurking on the borders of the two areas. Optioning for complete and utter silence, Kakyoin repositioned himself in order to be shoulder to shoulder with you, as you two concentrated on focusing your gaze on any minimal movement but everything seemed to have frozen in time. You waited some more but the water kept being immaculate and the lazy rhythm of the waves didn’t seem to be smudged by any strange appearance below them.

Suddenly, as your questioning mind was losing itself in the repetitive fluttery movements of the ocean trying to pick up any signal of the alleged creature lurking in the waters, you jolted a little when you heard a whisper, breathed by Kakyoin directly near your hear. Noriaki had used the most delicate and discrete voice he could muster in order to not raise the volume of his tone and he had been so skilled in doing so that you hadn’t noticed it him at all when he had approached you from behind. Kakyoin couldn’t help but smile a little bit in seeing you so started but he was fast in directing your attention where he needed it to be, namely the border of the two sides of the cave, where you had previously spotted the shadow.

“I saw something over there”

He murmured, while pointing towards the exact spot he had witnessed the shadow moving. You were too focused in your own research for acknowledging his testimony but he had, too, witnessed a little shadowy wriggle, heaving itself in the seafloor. It was a great luck to have such a crystalline water on the cave, because, thanks to its immaculacy, every suspect shadow could be detected by a trained eye. And you both, having spent hours upon hours on observing the tidal waves, were quite acquainted with the signals sent by the creatures that roamed the ocean.

As you registered Kakyoin’s news, you nodded to him, feeling quite overjoyed by the fact that he, too, had seen something moving on the waters of the cave. Phew! It wasn’t a dream nor was it suggestion, then, since Kakyoin’s witnessing was a proof that there could be somebody observing you from below the waters! In front of such an evidence you couldn’t help but feel such a huge sense of relief of happiness because Kakyoin had sensed something worthy of attention too. You two were on the right track then, since now, your suspects were morphing is something much more realistic than just a quick glimpse of a shadow. Yes, you knew how attentive and careful Kakyoin was, how sharp is mind was and how fast his receptive senses could be in registering a fact or a action: if Noriaki said that he, too, had seen something that seemed interesting, then you fully trusted his judgment.

But a question remained: the mysterious shadow was only a fish or maybe…something much more interesting for you two to discover?

You sharpened your gaze even more and Kakyoin did too, since his own glance had individuated the same shadow you had denounced the presence of. Yet, the more you stared, the more everything returned to be motionless and still, accompanied by the lulling movement of the waves. Damn! This shadow was really teasing your nerves since it seemed to appear out of the blue and then disappearing in the blink of an eye. It felt, almost, as if there was an intent under its appearance. Now, if it was a fish, even a quite larger one, rationally you would think that he would have no qualms in persecuting his path in the water and continue to swim lazily on his own whim. If it was just a fish, then, both you and Noriaki would have seen him swimming there since it would probably for the fish to keep swimming in a straight line, which meant you were bound to see him exit the darker area of the cave and continue in the much illuminated area where you both stayed at. But nothing of the sort had happened, actually. Habitually, fishes would pass there and then on the cave, but as you focused more, you couldn’t seen many of them, almost as though they were avoiding the darker trait of the cave. And in studying their movements, they kept a much slow pace, swimming horizontally and changing direction once in a while. Yes, it the shadow was a fish, then it was quite a clever one because he was being quite attentive with its movement. Fishes wouldn’t put so much attention in their movements neither would any other sea creature who didn’t know you were trying to discover their position. You saw in this incongruence a precise line of action, something that was originated from a logical process and that had been administered with a solid will. Anything that was there with you, knew of you. They probably knew you were spying them from the very beginning and had decided to reduce their movements in order to make sure you would’ be able to see them. And, probably, they were waiting for you to leave, perhaps hoping you and Noriaki would throw in the towel, admitting defeat.

If there was such a clear intention in those silent and evaluated evasions of action, then the shadow was probably a very clever opponent but just as you didn’t back down from battling against Kakyoin’s impressive F-mega skills, then you wouldn’t back down even in the lingering challenge the mysterious silhouette had been throwing at you both. It was, almost, as they were silently inviting you to try to catch them and well, they could rest assured about the fact that you would, gladly, accept the match. At this point, thanks to Kakyoin’s previous statement also, you were almost totally sure about something concrete and very much real trying to conceal itself, edging your senses to locate where it could be.

 As if propelled by this new sense of awareness, you motioned to Kakyoin for you to get closer to the border of the rocky walkway, to have a better view of the exact point you and Kakyoin were studying.

“Maybe we should try to get a little bit closer”

You murmured towards Kakyoin, while deciding to move a step towards the border of the path, while Kakyion followed suit, gripping your wrist tightly in order for you to advance safely. You had seemed to guide him towards a specific point and even if Noriaki would have preferred for him to accompany you in the way he had done before, he decided to let you lead for once, even if assuring himself you weren’t going to slip on the rocks thanks to him latching to your wrist and keeping your form closer to his own.

“I’m almost positive that there is SOM-“

As you were in the midst of completing your sentence, you foot slipped when it met a particularly slippery rock under its heel. Not meeting the pavement, your body didn’t find the balance it had just till that moment and your legs catapulted you forth, towards the edge of the pathway, where the hard rock meets the water.

“(Y/N), careful!”

You heard Kakyoin scream to you, his eyes widening as he saw you slipping on the treacherous rock. Yet, you couldn’t do anything if not trying to brace yourself with a singular arm, since the other one was being held in place by Kakyoin. Everything had happened in such a blurry motion of events, that you had almost not registered that you were falling. Yet, as you opened your eyes, secure you would have registered the hard sting of the rocks, you were quite surprised to found out that your inevitable fall didn’t seem to become reality. You blinked a few times, before realizing that you were safe and sound, on your own feet, with Kakyoin  clutching tightly your form to his, while he bombarded you with so many preoccupied questions. At this point he didn’t seem to care if he raised his voice, his own urgency was locked in assuring himself you were fine and that you didn0t strain your ankle or injure yourself.

Yet, as he kept asking you how you were, you couldn’t help but marvel but how agile he had been. If it wasn’t for him you would, totally, be glued to the harsh floor, probably with half body directly in the water. Kakyoin had been always safer than sorry, you couldn’t help but think, and this time it had really paid off! Because while you body was in the process of being projected forwards, Kakyoin’s fast movements and keen eyes had been fast to kick in, while he, almost instinctively, had reached for you with his other hand and secured your waist in a tight grasp, fetching you from the direction you had previously taken. The fall nor the pain you were bound to feel if Kakyoin hadn’t intervened had been spared to you, fortunately, thanks to your friend’s intervention. Kakyoin had guided back to your previous position, taking your body backwards and towards himself, applying a much secure hold on you and you did notice the hold tightening a little bit when you hadn’t been responding to his questions. The fact was that you had passed from being in the middle of the pathway to almost fall in the rocky edge to being saved and blasted by so many questions at once by Kakyoin in such a fast way, that you needed a moment to regain your breath after the blur of so many events. You blinked again and focused on Kakyoin, trying to pacify his own incessant worry.

“I’m fine, Nori, You don’t need to worry” you uttered then, while laying your hands in his shoulders to give  a proof of your statement, since Noriaki seemed to be a little distressed by everything that had threatened to happen. In the way his eyes looked at you, you witnessed the way the agitated hue of his orbs seemed to grow still after being rippled, like a water surface would do, after coming in contact with another element. If the movements of the water would grow still after the breaking of said item on its surface, then Kakyoin’s own pools of violet were growing still, after being graced by the worry your alleged fall had ignited in him.

“By the way, thank you for saving me from the fall! I’m so sorry for being so clumsy…”

You couldn’t help but joke back, as a ultimate sign of the fact that both you and your ankle were fine and unharmed by the menace of the fall. This seemed to lighten the mood and made Kakyoin a little more comfortable, as he loosened his grip a little, giving you more room to move but keeping his eyes on you, still. For any other outsider, Kakyoins’ own behavior could seem quite overprotective but you, knowing Noriaki since forever, knew that this was his way of showing that he cared about you. For other he would reserve quite his impudent and snarky side but with you he could be very much more attentive and understanding, just almost like a parental figure. You kept reiterating the same thought but Kakyoin really behaved like a snarky mother sometimes, which meant he wasn’t going to let you off the hook and berate you from being not careful enough while walking in the rocks.

“You had me worried sick, (Y/N)! Please, be careful, you have to watch your steps while we are inside the cave”

And on he went, addressing the fact that too many times he had prevented your famous falls and that you needed to be  a little more careful. As he progressed in his little berating, Noriaki found a way to vent his own worrisome since he had felt quite preoccupied by the whole predicament. The rocks you both walked on could be quite devilish and for this reason he always walked in front, for you to be aware of them and avoid them. He truly cared about you and he didn’t want to see you injured, for this reason he kept lamenting more to himself than you. Yet, he finished his berating with a last sigh, before asking you how you were, perhaps for the thousand time that night.

“Are you sure you are feeling alright or Polnareff’s stupidity has rubbed off on you to the point that you don’t understand what is going on anymore?”

Aaaand he was back to sass you out, which had you rolling your eye and shacking your head in front of his snappiness. His worried tone had changed to a much more lighter tune in witnessing that you were fine and with no scratch to taint you and having voiced his own worry, he felt quite compelled to be a little more snarkier with you, which meant he was back to his previous tranquil state of mind, even if he had been talking quite loudly all the time.

So much for trying to stay silent and not try to scare off the mysterious creature! Where they still there, anyway? You truly hoped all the previous ruckus hadn’t pushed them to retreat, it would be quite the disastrous situation. Yet, you had to make sure than anything you were carrying wasn’t missing after the menace of the fall.  While  inspecting yourself to see if there was anything missing, you passed an hand on the pocket of the jacket you were wearing and paled when the item that you were looking for seemed to be missing. You pushed your hand in the pocket, roaming its insides but nothing: the said item was gone.

“I think I lost the necklace…”

You piped out in that moment, while Kakyoin’s own stare was quick to change from amused to inquisitive in front of the problem that you had manifested.

“The one that your grandma gave you?”

He inquired, which had you nodding your head. You searched for it, moving your head here and there and Kakyoin followed your movements, too, while trying to discover the position of the necklace but it seemed to have been swallowed whole by the rocks and by the nearby waters.

Now, you may wonder, what necklace is the author of this story referring to? And well, to your curiosity, the consecutive answer shall be given: the necklace that your grandma had given you, as Kakyoin had added, was a necklace that you constantly took with you when you went sightseeing, a special token that your grandma had left to you before departing the world of the alive. Since the first moment you had spent with her, a thing was clear: she loved the ocean and she, too, had the same passion for the unknown, unresolved mysteries and legends but, overall, her main focus was one: proving that merfolk were real. From her you had acquired the same passion, tenacity and passion for the research. You were the heir of her passion for the mermaids and of her scientific mind, which was a detail that always been part of her character from her youth. She, too, passed so much time at the beach and ventured in hidden caves with the hope of discovering a mermaid. She used to say that if there is a mystery, in this world, then it is worthy for it to be discovered, because humans must understand the immense power that resides in the unknown, but not to coerce it in a weapon, but to live much more effectively in the eternal equilibrium stabilized by Mother Nature. She, then, would add that it was mankind’s duty to discover more about what he still didn’t know and to protect it, because the beauty of life is conserved in the cooperation, peace and preservation of beauty and nature, not in the exploit of it all.

For this reason, she wanted to discover if merfolk were real, because if they truly were, there was so much they teach humans and so much more to share in the mutual respect of the bond that could be built between such different world. Water and Earth, so different in their structure and providence of habitats, yet so kind in housing so many different species on their grounds. Two complete different value for a sole variable: life. It was the task of humans to protect life, even from themselves if necessary. And this is was what your grandma had tried to do: discover to understand, discover to protect, discover to respect. Yet, as her body had grown old, her enthusiasm had remained the same and she had passed it on you, in hope that you would be able to conquer what she had always tried to achieve for the world.

When she had passed away she had told you to never give up o your shared dream of discovering the mermaids because, sometimes, things are not random, but they are chosen to happen, bound by the fate of their nature to find a evidence in reality. And just as you had promised her, never had you given up on the quest of the truth, not only because the determination boiling in your veins prevented you from even thinking about this causality, but because you had learned that friendship can straighten dreams and make them more approachable if they are pursued in the same loving atmosphere you, Kakyoin and Polnareff had built in the years.

If once had been your grandma to give you the right fuel, now having Kakyoi and Polnareff with you, cheering you on and supporting you, was always the right boost for your hope to not falter, even if you truly wanted for your hope to be repaid, eventually. Even though the fight would be hard, you would always be ready to take over it.

The necklace was a fond memory of your grandma and she had been the one to request for you to take it with you when you went sightseeing, almost as a form of a lucky charm. In a way, it was  a symbol of her being there present with you. Although she could be not there physically, you always felt her spirit giving you courage and enclosing your hand in the gem of the necklace, sometimes, could serve a great encouragement if your determination was to subdue a little. But with the necklace slipping, almost surely, away from your pocket and directly in the water you wouldn’t feel its little encouragement anymore, even if the memory of your grandma was always being kept conserved in your heart anyway.

“Yes , I think it slipped away from my pocket when I tumbled over that rock. It probably fell into the water”

You pondered, while casting a longing glance towards the point that had been the stage of your earlier almost-fall. You looked utterly defeated in establishing that, maybe, the necklace was lost, in the very green deep waters your grandma used to love so much.

The necklace would have been transported away by the strong marine currents by now, sadly. You calculated that it could have been at least more than twenty feet deep in the waters since you were close to the “border” of the cave where the two areas of it met, even if your current position wasn’t fatally close to the point where the currents met. Yet, it could be logical to think that, given the force of the tripping, it could have landed literally everywhere and met any type of current down there.The jewel had, probably, flown over to the deep part of the internal dark part of the cave, which hosted some impressively shallow points. Venturing underwater to go retrieve the necklace seemed to be quite the a hazard since it was very dangerous. Not only that, but it was night, after all, which meant that the faint light provided by the Moon would have been not enough to assist you, even if you decided to go along with such a bold act.

Yes, the light had provided you with the means to see the shadow but in the area you would swim to, light met and darkness and being already night, it was quite better to not dive there. And not only you hadn’t even a diving mask to try to dive in, but the sea currents where quite strong in that particular point where two bodies of waters met. It was something similar to what happened in Cape Agulhas, you remembered reading, which established the point where the Atlantic Ocean met the Pacific one: it was the meeting of two vast masses of waters with different and strong sea currents, in what could be defined as a spectacle of nature since the two bodies of waters met but didn’t mix the one with the other. Similar to this situation, the two areas of the caves didn’t merge the one with the other and the meeting point was the home of some violent sea current, even if in a much smaller scale in confront to the oceans’ own meeting point.

It seemed that the necklace was bound to reside there, where the heart of tour grandma had always longed to stay: in the cold waters of the bay. As you sighed in front of this realization, you couldn’t help but cast a last defeated look towards the point there necklace had sunken off, a look which was mirrored by Kakyoin also, given that he felt quite bitter over the fact that you had lost such an important item. He could read defeat in your eyes, even if you were trying to push aside the feeling and lightening up the mood in the best way you could.

“In a way, there is no better place for the necklace to stay at since it was grandma’s biggest passion, after all…” You trailed off, while the corner of your lips lifted up in a small, yet bitterly sweet smile, while you shrugged and faced Kakyoin, which reciprocated the glance.

“…and maybe, one day, somebody could even find it again! Even a mermaid, maybe…”

It was such a random thought, but it seemed to bring a temporary boost your overall mood and situation.

“Could you imagine how amazing that would be? Grandma would be so glad to know the necklace could bring joy to one of the creatures she longed to meet the most…”

While Kakyoin could read a sense of sadness in your voice since you had lost an item you dearly cherished, the part of your mind that kept being reminded of the presence of the shadow, kept brushing against the idea of a mermaid finding the necklace, laid in the ocean floor and ready to be found. A human could not fight against the sea currents, but a mermaid? How beautiful would it be for one of the them to find the jewel? It was quite a bizarre idea to indulge on, but oddly enough, it seemed to be a concept that enraptured your mind, because something like that had the same percentage of chance to happen as the same percentage of chance you had in finding a mermaid.

Yes, could you imagine how amazing would it be? But what if it wasn’t a mermaid to find your necklace…?

What if it was…

A shark merman?

Yes, you read it right. Because while so many events had happened since you had stepped inside the internal part of the cave, somebody had been observing you and Kakyoin from the shallowest part of the border, there where he was sure human wouldn’t be stupid enough to swim.

Who was the mysterious merman? Well, he was the elusive shadow that both you and Kakyoin had seemed to catch a glimpse off while you were scanning the area he was stalling in, he was the alleged “shark” some fishermen had denounced to see while staying in the cave for a fugitive drink. He was a merman, the very proof you needed to testify the presence and realistic existence of his own kind. He was Jotaro, the very inhabitant of the cave that some of your kind came to visit in the morning, quite never in the night. This was the reason why Jotaro had been quite peeved by your sudden arrival in his home, since he didn’t expect any humans to venture out at that time. Night hours were the hours where mermen like him had the chance to come out and sample the taste of freedom from indiscrete eyes. it had happened that, sometimes, human had came to his home in the night time, but only a few would venture there so late. Most of them had been couples, not frightened by the tale of the alleged shark, that looked for a romantic spot to spend some minutes together, since there in the cave reigned such a beautiful and peaceful atmosphere. And to say that the poor merman had to listen to some… questionable noises was quite the understatement. This reason would explain why the merman felt so compelled to resent the idea of love and humans paired together, since he deeply felt annoyed by the repetitive kissing sounds his ears had to endure while he tried to live his pacific merman life in the depths of the sea cave.

Not only did he felt disturbed by humans couples, but he felt disturbed by humans in general. All his life he had learned to look at humans as greedy and violent human beings, with no any other talent that then one committed to morph beauty’s nature in a profitable source of income. His mother had always been much more optimistic than him but he did, truly, believe that most of the human kind couldn’t be trusted. He did overhear the things some of the humans that visited the cave would say: their discourses were always mundane, concentrated on their work or in their money. It could happen for them to speak about feelings and love too, even if Jotaro really repelled the thought of it all, but nothing really sparked his interest. He was quite a quiet merman, his expressionless visage could be mistaken for his intention to be stoic, but he really thought that his face displayed his emotions in such a clear and direct way that he didn't need to reiterate with words what was already out in the open and directly observable. Truth to be told he never had been born with the intent to come off as a cold person, he just didn’t think that showing his feelings with words would be such a crucial step for him to be sociable with others of his kind. Yet he found himself to behave in such a cantankerous way: he didn’t speak much and he totally despised people freaking out, totally hated it.

He did try to find an answer to his lashing outs when somebody of his kind, namely females, freaked out near him and the only justification that he had found was that, maybe, it was just the fact that such strong manifestations of emotions didn’t sit with him well since he was used to never let his emotions out in the open. It could explain why he hated such public displays of emotions and longed for a much calmer atmosphere, like the one he had found in the cave. And well, honestly, he was just trying to live his life quietly and he had no power over the people that came to bug his staying in the cave, like those corny couples that came to romance in his home! Hell, nobody would like if some random strangers barged in their living room while displaying such intimate gestures and frankly, Jotaro didn’t like it too. But  it wasn’t as if he could pop out from the water and tell the couples to get lost and never return to the cave, because if he did, he would put his whole existence in danger. It was a prime task for merfolk to not be discovered which meant there was nothing he could do, if not keeping his existence a secret from the rest of the world. Even if there had been years in his life where he was quite the sweet merman, as his mother sweetly liked to recall, where he had thought that friendship with humans was possible, his heart seemed to have hardened after coming in contact so directly with the humans even if they hadn’t known about him all along.

Therefore, when he had spotted you and Kakyoin entering the cave, his usual “Yare yare daze” had been fast in spilling out of his lips, while he kept glaring towards you both. He thought that you two were, probably, a couple that had came to exchange some lovey-dovey gestures or maybe talk about your relationship, which was something he didn’t wish to indulge on. He really couldn’t care about humans matters, at all. Yet, as he kept observing you in the moments that came after your arrival, it became quite clear to him that your intention wasn’t the one to spend some intimate time together. He had spent some moments in studying the little satchel Kakyoin had and the bigger bad that hanged on one of your hips. And not only that, the way you advanced, almost as if you were in the midst of looking for something made a question blossom in his mind: what or who were you looking for this late at night? Something about your overall mannerism had his mind spiraling in so many questions and his eyes set in so many glares, since you didn’t looked like the standard prototype of a couple. The way you had both observed your surroundings had his mind thinking about what you were trying to do or discover, which was a direct admission of the fact that he needed to keep an eye out for you both, since you seemed to be very suspicious. And, the way your stares had seemed to be locked towards the area he was at didn’t put him at ease, not even once.

He had calibrated his movements and tried to stay still the most, while keeping his appearance concealed by the dark of the cave. The part he inhabited consisted of dark cold water: something that a sensitive creature like an human would despise, he deemed to be his safe heaven. From down there, he had the security that the darkness casted upon his huge form would keep him protected and guarded from your stares. It had felt, truly, as if he was a lion, spying on their oblivious prey from their position in the high curtain of grass. He had felt secured and he was totally certain that your noisy presence wouldn’t bug him too much.

But well… he had been wrong.

The moment your eyes had seemed to connect with the shadow projected by his sharp tail on the clear part of the cave, he had been quick to catch on the way your eyes had shifted, detecting interest in them. His remained still, quite taken aback by the fact that he had recognized a sense of stupor in your face. Damn, you had seen something! He had truly felt as if he had been caught red handed in that moment as he had been quick to retrieve his tail and recoil away,  hidden even further from the position he had been staying at. Something like this wouldn’t agitate him in the slightest but he to risk you discovering something about him hadn’t been something he wanted for you to do.

“That annoying human…How the hell was she able to see me?”

He had asked himself as his thoughts raced in a storm of questions, waiting for your next move. He had remained composed, his stoic face never fading but even if he denied himself the chance to express it, it had been clear as a day that he had  felt upset by the prospect of you discovering his presence since you weren’t supposed to come in contact with, even, the idea of him. He truly hoped you hadn’t been able to distinguish the resemblance of his larger fin tail and he looked to be a little more relieved when you hadn’t seemed to have captured the essence of his tail, as he had heard you murmuring about a “shadow” to your companion. In that moment, he had received the confirmation he needed in order for his doubts to become reality: you had come there with the intention of discover something, maybe even him and for this reason, he had to stay highly aware of your whereabouts. Your eyes had seemed to be trained and accustomed to the art of studying the movements of waves, which had meant that you had been doing this activity often and that you two weren’t like any other onlookers of his cave. No, to him, his suspiciousness resided on the fact that you had seemed quite acquainted with the activity of reading and studying the underwater movements, which had meant you weren’t simple bystanders. Were you scientists ,perhaps? Researches? Simple people that were passionate about the sea? Or maybe, somebody that was looking for any evidence of his existence?

He was accustomed to people searching for the alleged presence of the shark, too, and frankly, nobody of them had ever been able to discern the reality both because he had been staying hidden and because they weren’t used to scan the ocean floor. Amongst the curious people, sometimes, it had happened for a old lady with a beautiful necklace to came to his cave, but the most odd thing was that she never talked about a “shark” but… a merman, which meant she was looking for somebody like him. The way she used to stare at the waters of the cave gave up, almost instantly, the fact that she used to study the ocean. It had passed quite some time since the lady had manifested and since then, Jotaro had been always alert of people searching for merfolk. Yet, since the lady didn’t come anymore, that thought had mellowed a little, bargained with the feeling of annoyance for those romancing couple. Yet, the determination that both you and Kakyoin had concentrated in your stares reminded him of the old lady’s own determination too, a fact that had told him that you were there with the same intent as hers. You had come to see if a merman lived there, not a shark. It had felt it deeply in his bones as his eyes had connected from the watery surface to yours, while you had concentrated your gaze on the point he was spying you from.

The tension of the situation seemed to have shifted, almost, to a silent challenge to see if you could have been able to detect his presence: for this reason, you had almost felt challenged by the shadow, because, in a way, Jotaro’s own need to stay covered yet curiosity to see if your trained eyes could catch up to him were challenging you to discover him. The initial upsetting feeling Jotaro had felt had shifted in a much heated glare, which was a result of his own challenging spirit towards you. Was it reckless on his part to wait and see if you were going to spot his presence? Probably. Did the thrill of something so dangerous and highly forbidden enthrall his interest? Yes, immensely.

In the silent match that had been built between the human party consisting of you and Noriaki and the merfolk party represented by him, he had the advantage to been hidden away from you, because he kept stealing glance at you from down below the dark waters, there where your eyes couldn’t be attentive enough to decipher the sign of his presence. He could be considered the winning party given the fact that he had the darkness on his side to keep him eluded but part of him, oddly enough, hoped you two would push your limits and try to decipher more, maybe even trying to understand what that shadow was. It had been such an irrational thought of his part, it truly had been. And even him, the merman himself, hadn’t found any good explanation to motivate his own hopes because, supposedly, he shouldn’t have felt this away about the whole danger of the risk. And yet…. he felt so compelled in trying to see if your determination would keep pushing harder your resolves or if you, truly, weren’t anything more than just a couple of bystanders.

He felt, almost, as if both you and Kakyoin were different from the rest of the humans that had came, time to time, to his cave. Something about you both had piqued his interest from the first moment you had entered the cave, something that kept his mind grounded on the fact that you had come there with the sole intent of discovering the truth about his own kind and most importantly, about him. He wasn’t still sure about it, but he could feel it.

But yes, he felt as if you had come there for him only and not the alleged “him”, or “the ferocious shark” as the people that lived in your city called him but him as a merman. Only the lady had came to his cave with the intention of investigate about a mermaid and frankly, he had always enjoyed her presence because it didn’t happen every day to meet such a curious human. The lady in question displayed such a strong sense of determination and believed in the mermaids, something that most people didn’t do because they felt as if it was something destined only for myths and legends, yet, the lady had the courage to run after her own aspirations and beliefs, not minding the common belief over his kind. This courage he found admirable, the courage to be genuine to yourself and the lady truly was. If the situation had been different, then, he wouldn’t have minded to come up to meet her or even exchange some words with her since she seemed to be a very pacific person, nothing alike the lousy people that, sometimes, stormed the cave as if they owned the place.

Jotaro was very keen in reading people’s actions and in the lady one’s he had read the need to know and discover more merged with the intent of bringing peace among your kinds. And it had been so refreshing for you to be there, because you had displayed the same will of the old lady. To indulge in something so remotely far from what he had to hope was such an irrational manifestation of his curiosity and even if he hadn’t the audacity to admit it to himself, he truly felt interested to discover more about you both. Were there any other humans that studied the merfolk like you? If yes, had they found any other good trace of his kind?

Another thing that could be regarded as amazing was the fact that you hadn’t interacted with the merman, if not indirectly, yet he had most of your motives already figured out with only a glance. This was Jotaro, a fugitive of feelings yet quite attentive on detecting them with just a glance. When he was a little merman he had heard of  detective Columbo from a fan of the series. The fan had been talking about some cases that the detective had resolved and the way the man had been able to figure out and find a solution, really had made Jotaro quite interested. Unfortunately he hadn’t  television to follow the series of the detective, but this fact didn’t stop him from cultivating an admiration for the detective, which brought him to be equipped with the same love for decoding a situation or a person’s feelings., which meant that with only a single glance Jotaro could translate both you and Kakyoin’s inner words, a characteristic both fascinating and terrifying to have.

Yes, he felt as if you were, indeed, a peculiar duo to walk upon the rocky pavement of the cave he inhabited and your whole essence had his mind busied with the need to discover more. In some sense, it was a natural response on his part, since he passed most of the time alone, trying to get away from the incessant attention of the females of his specie. Coming from two of the most strong merfolk genealogies, meant having the looks and the build that even an ancient Greek god would kill to have. His mother, Holly, was born from the Joestar shark genealogy while his father, Sadao, was native of the koi genealogy, a Japanese one. 

Whether his face would be locked in a frown or in a tranquil expression, it was clear that Jotaro seemed to have been carved out of a block of marble from the most skilled hands on the whole Universe. His features were sharp, displaying the same strong lines of the males of the Joestar family, yet his eyes conserved the same alluring beauty and warmth of his mother’s own eyes. They were teal green, almost aquamarine, the same color of the water he spent so many years swimming in. It was safe to say that Jotaro had the eyes of the sea and in a way, it was true, because such a rich color could be compared only to the color of the ocean’s clearest waters. His built was quite the eye-catcher because he was enormous and not only was his torso firm and extremely bulky, displaying all his glory and power, but his tail was strong and powerful too. It was thanks to its wideness and power that he could swim easily between the violent sea currents of the cave since his fin could push him forwards with him not feeling the strain at all. It was quite the luck that he could be concealed entirely from the darkness of the part of the cave that he lived in or else he would have been discovered in no time with how mighty and bold his physique was. To say that he oozed power and authority from every pore in his body could give just a slight idea of how he truly appeared to be, since he could truly be frightening. And given the fact that he was aseptic with words, his eyes where the mean he used to communicate and well, the way he would glare, really could make feel even the bravest of men as if they were nothing in front of his stern eyes.

So much power yet so much beauty were mixed in the looks of Jotaro. The most alluring thing about his whole powerful nature were, certainly his eyes: deep emerald pools focused directly on the target. Aside his eyes, his hair did struck quite the stupor. In fact, Jotaro had very long  and shiny hair that flowed with him like a curtain of corvine threads everywhere he whipped his head at. He had truly enchanting hair, that helped in making his appearance even more stoic and elegant. His blue and aquamarine tail was long and neat with sharp edges, liked the one of a shark, yet it glimmered with such a soft hue when impacted by the rays of the sun. Normally, the tail of the shark genealogy had a more faint look yet thanks to his father genes, his own tail was by far the prettiest and translucent tail a shark merman had ever had. If anything, it matched the same glimmer his deep and profound eyes sported.

With such a beautiful yet powerful build, Jotaro had to be very attentive in hiding well, which was something that had been difficult since Kakyoin, too, had started to search his location, too. Part of him basked in the inebriating yet dangerous risk of being found, nevertheless he knew he couldn’t oblige his interest for the human duo and that he had to keep his mind clear of any other threat , even if it came from interesting humans such as you two. The fact that Kakyoin, too, had caught upon his presence, seemed both to kick such a surge of adrenaline in his loins yet keeping him aware of the fact that you weren’t the only one to be skilled in the sightseeing field.  Kakyoin, too, had witnessed his tail moving even if he had been still since the moment you had intercepted him first. This mean that your companion’s eyes were very much trained, even more than yours, since he had seemed to notice such a micro movement of his tail, which had gained his utter interest. Again, he couldn’t help but wonder just how many hours you two had spent in observing the sea if Kakyoin had been able to witness such a minimal movement.

Damn, he had to give credit to your attentiveness: you truly were something akin to researchers since you seemed to have such a clear sight of his movements, even the smallest one. And while he had thought, at first, that you  were just a lousy couple but as the seconds had passed and he had spent more time in trying to crack your codes, he had started to understand that you two were more than met the eyes. Still, he seemed to be quite unsettled about you in particular since you were a female and… he didn’t really like when girls freaked out. He had witnessed such a long list of women of your kind, annoying him with their loud voice or loud screeches if they were to drop an item in the waters he lived in and he, truly, hoped you wouldn’t start to scream too. For this reason, Kakyoin had seemed to catch his interest a little bit more, since he had had the keen eye to detect his presence even when he had been totally unmoving if not for a twitch of his tail.

In order for him to succeed and keep his existence hidden from you, he truly had to cease every movement, even the most minimal one since even a twitch of his tail could mean his defeat. In those moment, the adrenaline he felt in watching you and Kakyoin scanning the sea was something he truly enjoyed feeling. His heartbeat palpitated languidly against his chest while he set his mind on the task at hand: not being spotted. He was relishing in the tense seconds of the challenge and while a part of him knew that he shouldn’t have endorsed  this silent match between your two parts and should have gone along with his hate for your kind, the other part of him told him that you weren’t quite the usual humans. No, you seemed to hold much more interest than any other random couple of humans he had ever encountered. Your presence was bothersome, true, but the hidden reason behind Jotaro’s interest in both of you resided on the fact that you seemed to both have a positive aura.

Yes, he hated humans and he hated their futile matters that he couldn’t be bothered to listen to neither indulge on, but your arrival seemed to have inflicted such a turmoil on the poor merman. He knew his own curiosity dictated by the need to speculate about your identities and motives wouldn’t hinder him from hiding, yet there was almost a subtle amusement to the silent pace of your match. He felt almost sure you two were there to look for him, he could feel it all at once in the way you two had reacted in registering his fast movements. You two were gifted with a sharp pair of eyes and the fact that you had detected him when he had been sure his hiding spot was perfect, meant only one thing: you two were valuable competitors in his eyes, even if your challenge hadn’t been declared directly. It was risky, yet, but he knew how to play with the right precautions: he wouldn’t put himself in jeopardy for you two but this didn’t mean that he didn’t like to see you both try, almost as it was a pastime for him. He wanted to see if, truly, there could be a human that was worth his whole attention and your duo seemed to have attired his attention, at least in that crucial moment.

The gills on his neck stayed still and every muscle of his bulky body stiffened while ceasing every movement, not even a twitch was persecuted by the merman, as he kept his eyes, loaded with a zealous thrill, on your forms. What would happen next? Would you discover him?

Discovered or not discovered?

Hidden or not hidden?

Merman or shadow?

The wait was truly consuming his nerves, so tremendously slow, so painstakingly placid. His face remained painted stoic as it always was, his goal clear in his mind as he waited for you to act. The most important thing was for him to remain lucid, which was something he knew how to do tremendously well with the steel nerves he had. Every other merman would flee frozen in terror at the prospect of humans set on discovering their presence, yet this wasn’t the case for Jotaro. He welcomed the risk and could function with the most lucid mind without feeling the weight of the tension.

Yet, his eyes seemed to frown as he heard Kakyoin screaming at you out of the blue, causing a commotion. He couldn’t move an inch and even if he was curious, he chose to remain still. Yet, his eyes seemed to have been attracted by little glimmering item descending rapidly from the surface in the distance, only to be pushed from the sea current near his location. Without breaking his stillness, his eyes travelled on the item that had nested itself softly in the sand with a little “puff”. While he studied the item, a necklace, his eyes widened a little as he recognized the jewel to be the one the old lady that visited the cave would tie around her neck. Why did you two have that necklace? Were you acquainted with the lady? And what had happened to her?

As more doubts clouded the merman’s mind about the origin of you having the pendant, he lifted his eyes towards you, while his ears synced with the words that could be heard from you. He recognized a note of bitterness and grief in your voice, almost as if you were truly attached to the necklace, as you reminisced about your grandma.

“In a way, there is no better place for the necklace to stay at since it was grandma’s biggest passion, after all…”

As he heard you utter those words, his mind was quick to put two and two together: the grandma you had been referring to was the old lady who came to the cave, long ago and that looked for the presence of a mermaid. So, you were her granddaughter!

“and maybe, one day, somebody could even find it again! Even a mermaid, maybe…”

Mermaid…? He had been right along, then. Not many people believed in merfolk and you stating it so openly, meant that you believed in the existence of his kind, just like your grandma had. His instinct had been accurate in interpret the determination inlaid in your eyes. There it was, the confirmation he needed in order to fully be certain of your whereabouts: you believed in merfolk and you were there, surely, to try to pry the mystery open and discover his presence. Yes, there was no further doubt in his mind.

“Could you imagine how amazing that would be? Grandma would be so glad to know the necklace could bring joy to one of the creatures she longed to meet the most…”

Quite funny for you to say it, almost fateful, since the necklace had already been found by him, a merman nonetheless, that remained abided to the ocean floor while you kept giving him confirmation after confirmation about your nature. Yet, the way you talked fondly about the grandma, seemed to placate the doubt about your alignment, since he had questioned himself why you would want to discover him in the first place. Was it because you longed to discover more of the world and protect it, as he had heard your grandma say once, or was it because you wanted to hurt his kind? Now, he had felt that your overall aura was good and rarely his instinct lied on the alleged nature of  beings he came in contact with. He couldn’t be fully secure about what he felt since it was, only, a gut feeling, but the way you and Kakyoin talked and interacted the one with the other had seemed to convince of the fact that you had came to his home with no intention to harm nor carrying any abhorrent desire whatsoever. Granted that he wouldn’t trust a human not even in a million years because he knew how sly and untrustworthy humans could be, the whole interest of him with you both had been originated from this feeling you two had raised on him. He had been around for quite some time and he had been accustomed with the human world, even if he hadn’t never interacted with it openly, which meant that if he was to grow intrigued by something or somebody, it was something truly worthy of recognition.

His years spent laying on the deep green and blue waters of the cave had taught him about how perceive humans’ true temperaments and to say that he seemed to have found somebody that seemed to be virtuous had been difficult even for him to come to realize and declare to himself. He couldn’t disclose his world with yours because it was a sacred non-spoken law of the underwater world, but just a he had thought about your grandma’s kind nature, in another occasion, he wouldn’t have minded to converse a little bit with you both, since you seemed to be good people. He had the questioning spirit of a detective, after all and, as he would to say, if something bothered him he couldn’t sleep at night, which was something that underlined his immense commitment to discover the truth and the various facets of reality. He could deny it all he wanted, but the dry land had always been something that he longed to discover more of. Humans didn’t meet his linking, that much was true, but the beautiful home they inhabited, their culture, their story? It could be quite interesting to know more of those subjects and if only humans gave up on their blind lust for power and money, then, there could have been, even, a friendly bond between your worlds. But something like this seemed to be an utopia, still, and for this motivation you two and him weren’t supposed to meet, not even in dreams.

However, the way you had referred to the necklace had brought him to think that your grandma wasn’t alive anymore, which was such a unfair loss, since she seemed to be such a positive presence that your human world needed to have. He recalled the days, while still being  a young merman, when your grandma came to the cave and started to speak about her wish to discover about the mermaids. What had surprised him was the fact that she talked to him without having the certainty of him even existing. Yet, she had came different times and she had always been both kind and determinate in her quest to discover the truth. Those discourses she had outlined always ended up with her highlighting the fact that humans need to understand deeply and protect the beauty of the World, something she had also told you many times and something that he, too, agreed with. His instincts had whispered to him that your grandma had been earnest in talking so openheartedly about her own beliefs and something in the passionate way she had spoken, had really convinced him about the fact that she was telling the truth.

Knowing that you came from her family and you seemed to sport the same determinate eyes had provided him with a little more trivia about you and the fact that you seemed to have inherited her spirit put him a little bit more at ease. In any case, he wasn’t to trust you nor your friend, never ever.

Another thing he couldn’t quite comprehend was why you weren’t freaking out. You had lost such an important item, an object that appeared to be a memoir of somebody you cared deeply for. Then, why, weren’t you crying? Or screaming loudly cursing your bad luck? Or, generally, venting your emotions like any other human would do?

This sudden question came from the fact that, sometimes, it could happen for humans to drop their belongings in the cave and the way they had reacted had always been quite vocal while panicking or crying over the object they had lost, almost reaching an overreaction sometimes. The way they would whine, namely women, would put Jotaro in such a sour mood because he truly hated when people freaked out around him. The merman was bound to listen to every lament, sigh and wail of the absentminded humans and this fact really rubbed him the wrong way. He despised such colorful reactions, he truly did. Somebody could even call him cranky for his ill-temper, but, sometimes, he had even smirked in witnessing one of those noisy couples dropping an item in the water and not being able to retrieve it. Of course, if they had been mermaids like him they could collect it in a heartbeat but they weren’t and they were fated to regret their inattentiveness after all the disturbance they had caused to him. And yet, you stayed attached to your meek tone, trying, even, to lighten up the mood.

Just… why? Why would you try to instill joy in others when you had lost yours?

Why?

Why weren’t you unleashing your emotions like any other human would do? He was sure you felt sad about the whole ordeal, however you didn’t show it in the slightest. Not only were you being even-tempered but you didn’t freak out like any other girl he had seen. Just… why were you behaving in this way? He couldn’t seem to pinpoint the exact reason behind your actions. Were you always like that?

If yes, then, did this mean that you were the first girl that he had encountered and that had dropped an item in the ocean and that didn’t scream to her heart’s contents? Probably yes, you were. And the need to capture the motivation of your actions was truly gnawing at him. Gosh. Why was he even thinking about your motives in the first place?! It was wrong for him to feel this need but he couldn’t stop his mind from wondering. The fact that you were the granddaughter of the old lady had really struck him… and not only that, but your reaction had too. Your friend, the one with the most skilled eyes, which was Kakyoin, seemed to be acquainted with the way you had reacted, which told him that you were always like that.

Now, he had felt quite curious about Kakyoin. More Kakyoin than you, if he had to be truly earnest. The fact that he had been quick in picking up his movements even when he was completely still had his mind quite enraptured by how skilled Kakyoin could be. When first looking at you, he had thought that you were just a pesky girl like so many he had encountered before and he truly wished for you to not scream or freak out. But, as your visit had progressed, Jotaro had cultivated quite the interest for you too, now, and the fact that you seemed to react in such a peaceful way had his mind barreling between questions and doubts. Just how much were you different from the rest? It dawned on him that he, truly, wasn’t supposed to question you or your presence there, nor Kakyoin’s. But he was. He should have continued to dwell in his disdain for your kind, because nobody, if not the old lady which was your grandma, had been revealed themselves to be interesting or good willed humans.

Yes, he shouldn’t have cared. At all.

And maybe he didn’t…completely, at least.

It was just  so odd and strange for him finding other humans that came to his cave to investigate with true passion. He, most of the times, didn’t care about the humans that came to his cave because they weren’t there for him as a merman in the first place. Yet you were and with the purest of intents, too. It was quite strange how such polar opposites, humans and merman, didn’t know anything about each other yet felt so compelled to know more of their respective worlds. It was strange yet incredibly astonishing how in a infinite sequence of infinite values, your variable of reality had found Jotaro as a value and how you had been his own value in the infinite gamma of humans he could meet in his life. Of every human to walk upon the very rocks you and Kakyoin had walked upon, you were fated to faze the mind of the merman. Almost, as if Fate hadn’t been acting randomly, but had chosen you three to meet there, that night. What tricks fates was playing at, you didn’t know, yet could be safely said that you three had been fated to encounter.

And yes, he would smirk if any annoying girl dropped her sunglasses on his home but you, dropping your necklace on the waters he lived on? It didn’t put any amusement to his senses. You and Kakyoin had came to his cave, true, but you hadn’t perturbed him like many more humans had done. If anything, you had provided him with a fun challenge that he knew he was going to win from the start. You weren’t evil or bothersome… you seemed genuinely good and interesting for him to investigate on. But what could he do about your situation? Emerge from the waters with your necklace and giving it to you, totally exposing himself? No. He couldn’t, not even in a million years.

He did feel commiserate about the passing of your grandma and you losing her pendant, but, heck, he couldn’t jeopardize himself and his whole existence after years of hiding just to help you. He shouldn’t have cared at all, in the first place! Why was he even considering the option to give you assistance and return the pendant to you? Why? Why was he meddling in something he wasn’t supposed to care about, let alone, partake in?

“…damn it, why is this happening to me?”

He did think. Yes, why? Why would a merman like him even stopping g by and think about the eventuality of him retrieving the necklace?

Was it because he felt moved by the grief in the undertone of your voice?

Was it because he felt a strange sense of interest for the granddaughter of one of the kindest humans he had ever met?

Was it because he wished for you to not be separated by something you seemed so fond of?

Was it because he had been impressed by your genuine reaction?

Was it because you had struck a chord within him and stirred his interest in indulging in something highly forbidden for him to embark on?

Or was it because of all the above options? He surely didn’t know. For somebody, so attentive and mindful in every action and thought as he was, to be totally perturbed by this dilemma was such an incredible thing, yet it was happening. If you told any of his family that he was actually wondering about helping a human of all the creatures he had met till that day, then they would have called you crazy, because there was no way in hell him, Jotaro Kujo, was going to do it…

…right?