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The lamp smashed into a million glittering pieces onto the oak floor. The loud crash echoed through the silent chamber room, neither boy paying the sharp glass any attention. Rin stared at Haru.
“Why? Haru…why?” Why? Why?” He sank to the floor, repeating the same word over and over again. Rin curled into a ball and tucked his head in between his knees, his red hair spilling over his face like a thick curtain. Haru was glad he couldn’t see the hurt face that lay hidden underneath the red sea of locks he loved so much.
“Why?” Rin was crying. Tears splashed onto the thin glass covering the floor, making tiny pinpricks of light dance all over the dark room.
Haru stepped onto the glass. Dark, red blood spread and mixed with the salt and sparkling glass on the floor. He bent down slowly, gently reaching for Rin’s face. He cupped it in his palms and wiped the clear tears away.
“You know why.” He whispered softly. “You know why I have to leave.”
Rin’s expression turned hard. “Why did you take the deal? If you knew-“he glanced at the cuts lining Haru’s feet- “if you knew that this would be the price you’d have to pay?” The tears came down harder, adding to the bloody puddle beneath them.
“Eternal agony til my last dying breath.” Haru sighed. “Anything was worth it…if I could see you again.” Haru got up and walked to the balcony outside. Below the ship, the sea roiled and rumbled as thunder and lightning struck out at whatever dared cross their path.
“The sea is calling.” Haruka murmured. “It is time for me to return to it.” Rin watched Haru’s silhouette be illuminated by a flash of lightning as the tears dried into salty tracks on his face. He sat quietly, too stunned and sad to move. Haru turned back to look at the maroon eyes he had had the privilege of gazing into many a night. His raven hair blew wildly. His eyes were as calm and clear as the sea.
“Goodbye, Rin.”
And in a another flash of lightning, he was gone.
And all Rin was left with was blood and tears.
Many years after that, Rin remembered the blue-eyed merman who’d given up a tail just to be with him. Every second he walked on earth was agony, like knives sticking into his feet, but he endured. Rin never was able to find that kind of loyalty again.
Haru had left him alone.
Rin would never be able to look at the ocean again.