Work Text:
Shiro always loved that first step, barefoot, onto the beach: sand between his toes, the feel of the ground reshaping itself beneath his feet, the coolness of the sea breeze against his skin as it rolled off the waves. It was an idyllic spot to while away his afternoons, even though the setting brought with it both good and bad memories for him. It seemed that nothing was quite strong enough to sever the tie he had to the ocean. It could take his arm, but it could not take his love for it.
Two years had passed since his accident. Two years of recovery and retraining how to swim, but still, he had yet to even set foot in the ocean, let alone swim in it. Physically, he was capable of doing it; he had been for months now. But the ocean was very different from the safety of a pool. Every time he’d tried, his body had frozen up at the final moment. Fear tethered him steadfastly to the land. For all his want to get back out there, he just hadn’t been able to manage it yet.
He gazed longingly out over the beautiful water – sparkling in the light of the sun – and watched as wave after wave appeared in the distance and steadily made their way toward him. They were relentless. Never-ending. Never stopping. Shiro reached for the silver pendant around his neck and held it tightly in his hand. “It’s a beautiful day, Mom,” he whispered with a wistful smile on his face. “So calm and quiet. You would’ve liked it.”
The necklace had been a constant on his person since her passing – a reminder of all the support she’d given him. He strived to live by the words engraved on it – the words she had repeated to him every time he’d felt like giving up: Patience yields focus.
……
“Come on, Keith! Hurry up!” Romelle called from up ahead, her voice almost lost in the whoosh of her strong tail.
“Romelle! Wait! Are you sure we should be this close to the shore? It’s still daytime!”
“It’s fine,” she laughed. “I come to this beach all the time and I’ve never been seen by a human~ You worry too much! Besides, we’re nearly there. And you have to see this!”
Keith sighed audibly. It wasn’t the first time Romelle had dragged him somewhere to see some – usually worthless – human-made item. Her fascination with these things made her a bit of a kook in the eyes of the rest of their village, but it also made her one of the only merpeople to truly understand Keith. They both knew they would never fit in and had long since given up trying. It was for that reason that she was his best, and only, friend. He swam faster to catch up to her.
“Look! Here it is!” Romelle announced happily, gesturing to a large, oblong of bright red that had been wedged into a crack in the rocks a few feet beneath the surface. “Help me get it out!” She gripped it firmly with both hands and began to pull.
“What… what is it?” Keith asked as he watched her struggle.
“It’s one. Of those. Things. Humans lie on. When they’re. Swimming,” she explained, the strain evident in her voice. “Now, come on! Help me!”
Hesitantly, Keith reached out for it. He didn’t like the texture, or the loud cacophony of squeaks it made as they gradually worked it free from the rocks. But the faster they got it out, the faster they could get out of there and Keith could stop worrying about being seen. He pulled as hard as he could.
The board came loose and shot upwards in a flash of red. Keith reeled back in shock, but Romelle managed to grab it as it breached the water’s surface. But as she tried to pull it back down, it resisted her forcefully. The water began to churn with the intensity of her struggles.
“Let it go, Romelle!” Keith yelled at her. “Someone will hear the splashing if we don’t go now!”
“Please, Keith!” she begged. “I don’t have one yet. I need it!”
Desperately, she threw her body on top of it in an attempt to weigh it down, and eventually, Keith sighed and gave in. It was the only way he’d be able to make her leave with him.
……
The sound of nearby splashing grabbed Shiro’s attention. Something was moving in the water at the foot of the rocks. Keeping to the land, he ran towards it, paying little mind to the pebbles and shells underfoot. Maybe someone was in trouble. Maybe they needed help. He hurriedly clambered up the raised rocks that jutted out into the sea, running the length of them until he could look down into the thrashing water.
It was being thrown around unnaturally – as if something were struggling just beneath the surface. He strained to see clearer. It looked like there was something there…
The splashing stopped and the water began to settle. Shiro could see the thing again; it looked like black hair, long and fanned out. It was hard to be sure; his view was disrupted by each breaking wave. Suddenly, the hair-like thing disappeared, and for a moment, something red flashed into sight – long and scaly, like a fishtail – before vanishing again without a trace.
Shiro continued to stare into the water, even though whatever it was must have been long gone. “I guess you were right about mermaids, Mom,” he laughed disbelievingly. He’d never been a believer himself, and he still wasn’t now – it was probably just a big fish with some seaweed – but it reminded him of the many brief sightings his mother had told him about when he was a child, and it made him feel closer to her in a way. He reached for his necklace again.
But his hand closed around emptiness. There was nothing there. His necklace was gone.
He looked all around him and then back into the water, eyes darting frantically. But he couldn’t see a thing. Even if he had, he knew deep down that he wouldn’t have been able to go in after it. Just the thought of it made his muscles start to freeze up in terror.
“No,” he sobbed quietly to himself, balling his fist against the hard rock. How could he be so careless? It was the most precious thing he owned – the last thing he had from his mother – and now he’d lost it forever.
……
Shiro sighed defeatedly as he concluded his search of the umpteenth rockpool. He’d arrived that morning just as the tide started to go out and had been scouring the empty beach ever since – in the seemingly hopeless quest of finding his necklace washed ashore. He knew the chances of seeing it again were incredibly slim but what else could he do? He felt lost without it.
He approached the next rockpool filled with even less optimism than the last. Perhaps he should just give up, he thought. But as he drew nearer, he could have sworn he heard a faint splash from within the pool. He ran the final few steps and peered into it.
At first, he saw nothing but a mass of seaweed. But suddenly, a glint caught his eye. Something was shining from beneath the wet, green fronds. His heart leapt in his chest, and he knelt down to pull the seaweed aside. But just as quickly as it had leapt, his heart fell again. The shining object was not his necklace; it was a red scale that had caught the sun’s light.
Shiro leaned in closer. The unusually coloured scales extended beyond every edge of the hole he’d made in the long, matted seaweed. Whatever kind of fish was underneath must have been big – much too big for a pool this small.
He grabbed a fistful of the plant matter and tugged it away, letting out a yelp when he saw eyes staring at him. He recoiled instantly, dropping the seaweed at his feet. This creature was not a fish – or at least not all fish. The bottom half was a long fish-like tail covered with bright red scales and tipped with a huge caudal fin, but the top half was that of a human. And a very beautiful human at that.
Shiro couldn’t look away. Cold, steely eyes were staring at him from beneath long, black bangs. Its teeth were bared, and Shiro could see that it had small fangs in place of canines. The longer he looked, the less human it appeared. A spattering of scales decorated the tips of its shoulders, and there were gills on the sides of its neck, almost hidden by the locks of damp hair that hung down to its prominent collarbones.
“It’s rude to stare,” the creature said to him sharply, taking Shiro aback.
“I-I’m sorry,” he babbled back, averting his eyes. He realised then that its tail was curled in a way that no human legs ever could. It wasn’t some kind of elaborate costume. “What… what are you? What are you doing here?”
“None of your business,” it snapped. “Now, go away.”
“Are you stuck?”
Its sharp eyebrows lowered instantly. “NO, I’M NOT!” it screamed in indignation, face flushed with anger. The creature began to twist its body awkwardly in the small space, as if it were trying to get up and prove him wrong. And as it did, something shiny slipped into view amongst its dark strands of hair…
“Hey! That’s my necklace!” Shiro shouted, forgetting for a moment that this creature could be dangerous.
It hissed back at him, clawed hands hiding the pendant from his sight again. “No, it’s mine! I found it!”
“But it belongs to me! I dropped it yesterday!”
“Well, it’s mine now. Finders keepers; losers weepers,” it taunted. “Now, get lost, human .”
Shiro could feel the disdain in that word but chose to ignore it; he needed that necklace back. “Maybe if I helped y-”
“Hah!” it snorted, folding its arms across its lean chest. “Merfolk do not accept help from humans . Nor do we need it. Now, leave me alone.”
It began to struggle again and Shiro simply watched until it tired itself out. “You know~” he started, unable to keep the smirk from his face. “I’m very willing to help you out of there and back to the water… in exchange for my necklace~”
“For the last time, I’m not stuck! You just threw me off! Now, go away and stop distracting me!”
“Oh, okay…” Shiro sighed in mock defeat. “I’ve done all I can. I guess there’s nothing I can do to get it back, so I’ll just leave you here and be on my way.” With that, he slowly started to walk away, listening to the sounds behind him as the creature jostled and fumbled, becoming more and more desperate until, finally, it stopped with a distinct thud and a small splash of shallow water.
“WAIT!”
“Yes?” Shiro feigned innocence as he sauntered back to the small pool. The merman mumbled something in response. “Hm? What was that?”
“I said ‘fine, you can help me.’” He puffed out his chest. “I’m willing to make a deal. Clearly, this necklace means something to you, so if you take me back to the water, I’ll let you have it back.”
Shiro chuckled. It was amusing how the merman still spoke as if he had the upper hand, even though he was so clearly helpless and out of options. “So, you are stuck then?” he pressed.
The merman glared at him. “Do you want this stupid necklace back or not?”
“Sorry, sorry. I do,” Shiro apologised. He gestured towards the other’s body. “What do you… How do you want me to do this?”
“Just pick me up!”
Shiro recoiled at the snap, but then knelt at the edge of the rockpool and cautiously curled his arm around the merman’s slight frame – noting his skin was cool and smooth – and placed his hand on what would be the underside of thighs on a regular person. “Ok, put your arms around my neck and hang on, okay buddy?”
“I’m not your buddy,” he huffed.
“What would you like me to call you then? Do you have a name?”
“Of course, I have a name! It’s Keith.”
“Keith?” Shiro chuckled, not expecting such a common name. “Well, Keith, I’m Shiro. Now, let’s get you back home. Grab onto me.”
Keith finally did as instructed, but hesitantly. As much as he knew he needed this help, it wasn’t easy to trust a human. Not after all the harm they’d done to his kind. His stomach flipped as Shiro lifted him, and he wasn’t sure if it was from the suddenness of it, the act of being touched by a human, or the fact that this human was strong enough to lift him easily with just one arm. He couldn’t lie; it was impressive.
“How did you end up stuck there anyway?” Shiro asked casually as he started to walk in the direction of the water.
Keith turned his face away. He had to remind himself: that gentle smile and seemingly genuine care in the man’s expression didn’t mean he was trustworthy. He was still a human.
Although maybe Shiro was someone he could open up to. He was a human , so he had no connection to anyone Keith knew in the ocean. He decided to be honest. “I…I was chased up here… by these boys who always bullied me because I was an orphan.” He felt the arm around him tense but did not question it. “They were mocking me and prodding me with sticks… They tried to take my necklace – your necklace – and I came up here to get away from them… but then the tide went out and I got stranded…”
“Keith…” Shiro breathed softly. In that moment, he felt deeply for the merman in his arm. Suddenly, his prickliness and distrust made sense. Shiro understood what it was like to be alone, and to carry that pain of losing his parents. “I’m so sorry that happened to you, Keith.”
Keith didn’t know how to respond. That level of sincerity was unexpected from a human. “Why should you care? You don’t even know me?”
“You’re right; I don’t. But I know how you feel. I lost my mom when I was sixteen. That necklace you’re wearing – she gave that to me when I was training for regionals, and she passed not long after that.”
Keith felt a sinking feeling in his chest and his hands drifted to the necklace again, closing around it and squeezing it tightly. He never should have kept it for himself. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, nudging his head against Shiro’s shoulder in a way he hoped would be comforting. He traced a fingertip over the engraved words, giving them utterance: “Patience yields focus… does that mean something to you?”
“That was the mantra my mother always told me when I was having a tough time, to help me clear my head. It really helped me when I was struggling… Maybe that sounds silly...”
“No, it doesn’t. Not to me.”
Shiro looked down at Keith. He seemed softer now. Even the way in which he held the necklace seemed more tender and less defensive. That tough exterior he’d seen earlier seemed to be just that – an exterior. Underneath, he was sweet and sensitive. Shiro smiled.
“What was she like? Your mom?”
Shiro’s gaze drifted to the waves in the distance. “Loving. Kind. My biggest cheerleader. She took me swimming all the time when she found out I loved it – the pool, lakes, the ocean. Pretty much every chance I got, I was in the water. It was just the best feeling to me – that sense of freedom when you’re out there.”
Keith rested his head against Shiro’s shoulder, listening intently to the man’s story and the rhythmic thud of his heart. Somehow, he was beginning to feel very comfortable in the arm of this human.
“I’ve come to this beach almost every day since I moved back here last year…” Shiro continued. “My mom was the same. She probably spent more time here than in our house… Ah, I wish she could be here now so she could meet you.”
Keith shot him a quizzical look. “Why would she want to meet me?”
“Well, she used to talk about merpeople a lot when I was young. I remember she told me about this little girl she’d sometimes see at the beach – with blonde hair and a pink fishtail. Mom said she saw her playing with a sandal and a broken kite, having the time of her life even though it was just junk,” Shiro laughed. “After that, Mom used to leave odd things in case the girl came back: combs, cheap jewellery, sunglasses, stuff like that… I went sometimes too, but I never saw her… Now, I’m wondering if maybe she was real.”
“She was.”
“What?”
“My friend, Romelle. She comes to this beach a lot and she’s constantly collecting human junk. That’s why I was here with her yesterday – when I found your necklace. It just fell into the water beside me.”
“So, when I saw that black hair and red tail in the water yesterday, that was you?”
Keith felt his cheeks tint pink. “Yeah, it was.” He wasn’t sure why, but the thought of Shiro seeing him made him feel giddy and a little shy.
“Do all merfolk like collecting human things?”
“No. Just her. Everyone else is afraid to go near humans. Even I don’t come this close to the shore unless I’m forced to.” He looked away as he thought about how James and his friends had chased him up here. The arm around him tightened again, and Keith realised then that it was protectiveness. He hadn’t felt that in a long time.
He wanted to stay in this safe embrace forever. He knew he couldn’t, but his dream was shattered too soon as the man came to a sudden halt. “We’re here.”
The water was only a few dozen strides away now, and Keith’s heart sank. It was almost time to say goodbye. But it wasn’t just his heart that was sinking; he was too – Shiro was lowering him to the ground. “Hey! Why are you putting me down here!?” Keith demanded as his butt touched dry sand. “The water is over there!”
“Isn’t this close enough?”
Keith scowled, but it lacked the disdain it had held earlier. “No. I’ve been out of the water in this heat for hours . I haven’t the strength to drag myself that far.”
“But-”
“Shiro, we had a deal! If you want this necklace back, you have to take me to the water.”
Reluctantly, Shiro scooped the merman up again, carrying him much slower than before. His body began to tremble as he approached the water’s edge, and he hoped Keith wouldn’t notice. When he reached the meandering line where dry sand met wet sand, he stopped again. “W-Will this do?” He winced at the waver in his own voice.
“You have to take me out deep enough for me to swim.” Keith gestured wildly at the lapping waves that would barely cover even the thinnest part of his tail.
“I…I can’t…”
“Why not?” He was incredulous now. “Are you scared or something?”
Shiro screwed his eyes shut and looked away. “Yes.”
“What!? No. You can’t be scared of the sea. That’s a lie!” But Shiro showed no sign of it being so. “What about your mom taking you swimming!? What about coming here every day!?”
“I used to swim in the sea,” Shiro confessed, “but not since my accident two years ago.” He nodded towards his residual limb. “I relearned how to swim without that arm, but I just come here to look at the water. I don’t go in it…”
Keith could sense the sadness and the longing in his voice, and that pang in his chest returned. “Shiro… what happened to you?”
“Shark. I think. It all happened so fast I didn’t really get a good look. But every time I get too close to the water, I remember that feeling when it bit me. That moment of panic when I thought I was going to die. I miss swimming so much, but I’m still terrified.”
“It’s okay,” Keith muttered. “You don’t have to go any further; just put me down here. You’ve done plenty.”
“Are you sure?”
Keith nodded and Shiro smiled in gratitude as he gently placed the merman down onto the wet sand.
“But…” Keith didn’t know where he was going with this yet, but he knew he didn’t want it to end here. He didn’t want to say goodbye to Shiro forever, and something inside him was compelling him to help the man. He looked around himself before his gaze fell on the necklace again. He held it up, taking a deep breath before he spoke. “I don’t want to give this back to you yet… If you really want it, you should come back tomorrow and let me help you swim again.”
“Keith, I can’t-”
“You can . You clearly want to. I see it in your eyes: the longing.” Shiro looked away and Keith sighed. “Look, you learned how to swim again. You come to this beach every damn day, always wanting but never doing. I think you just need a push so I’m gonna push you.”
“Keith… I…I’m scared.”
“I know,” Keith responded, tone surprisingly soothing. “But it’s not gonna get less scary by waiting around. You’re gonna regret it if you don’t try, Shiro.” The man bit his lip. Keith could tell by his bunched eyebrows and the set of his jaw that he was considering it. He pressed on, “I know these waters like the back of my fins, Shiro. There’s nothing in here for you to be scared of. And we can take it as slow as you like. I’ll be here with you every step of the way.”
Shiro looked into that understanding but resolute gaze, suddenly struck by the thought that he didn’t want this to be the last time he looked into those big eyes that seemed so much warmer now than when he’d first seen them. Maybe Keith was right. He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life just wishing he were out there. “…Okay, I’ll try.”
……
Shiro felt different this time as he stood by the shore. The idea of being in the water again wasn’t so hypothetical; he would be in there today, however briefly. Fear tingled in his feet, but it eased a little as he remembered the beautiful merman who would be there to hold his hand.
His hand slipped into the pocket of his swim trunks and closed around the object inside – a small token of appreciation for what Keith was doing for him. He hoped the merman wouldn’t be long; he was impatient to give him this gift and hopefully see his adorable face light up in response.
He studied the waves carefully as he waited – not appreciating the beautiful shimmer of reflected sunlight for once – but searching for a head of glossy black hair that he was sure would breach the surface at any minute.
……
“No! Please! Let me go!” Keith cried, wrestling to get free from the flurry of arms that were grabbing him. The boys around him only laughed, crowding him tighter as they roughly pulled his wrists together behind his back.
“Tie him up!” he heard James’ voice command, and a moment later, he felt thick fronds of seaweed being wrapped around his immobilised wrists. He thrashed harder, finally managing to shake off a few of the hands and create a small opening in the wall of bodies around him. He darted through it.
But no sooner had he left the circle than his body became trapped in an old fishing net, his arms and fins completely entangled by the mess of algae-covered ropes and seaweed. He pulled and pulled but they just wouldn’t come free.
……
The sun had passed its highest point in the sky, and still, Keith had not appeared. Shiro had left the sand behind and had climbed the rocks to give himself a better view down over the water. He held fast to the belief that Keith would show. As selfish as the merman had seemed when they’d first met, that was not the same merman he had dropped off at the water’s edge. He was sweet and kind, and Shiro trusted that he would return with his necklace. He fiddled with the object in his pocket again, assuring himself he would get the chance to give it to Keith.
Just then, Shiro spotted commotion in the water. He’d never seen anything thrash that much before. The splashes were high and frenzied – the result of something huge and potentially dangerous. Shiro didn’t think anything that big lived on this coast and a pang of fear shot through him as he remembered his attack. What if this thing had Keith? Could that be why he was late?
The huge creature emerged from the waves, making Shiro gasp in fear until it separated, and he realised it was not one enormous thing, but several smaller ones. He could see now that it was a group of merfolk, and right in the middle, twisted up in an old fishing net was…
“KEITH!” he called out, but the merman couldn’t hear him.
The other mers were grabbing at him, and Shiro realised with horror that they were not trying to free him; they were tangling him up further. Several of their taunting laughs carried to Shiro on the wind, causing anger to flood his senses as he realised these must have been the bullies Keith had told him about.
What could he do? He needed to get in there and save Keith… but his hand and feet were starting to go numb with the fear of jumping in. His heart felt like it was in his throat. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears. But then a pained cry from Keith cut through the static, and before he knew it, his feet had left the rock.
The water was bracingly cold as he plunged into it. A shock to his system but he pushed through it. Keith needed him. His legs were still numb, but he kicked them anyway, sweeping his arm through the water as he fought his way to the thrashing merman.
The other mers spotted him as he approached, their eyes going wide in fear as they fell upon him. He didn’t know if it was the fact that he was human, or the murderous rage painting his face, but they scattered immediately and Shiro headed straight for the only one who mattered.
“Keith! Keith! Are you okay?” he pleaded, grabbing the merman by the shoulders and giving him a once-over.
Keith smiled up at him weakly. “I am now.”
Shiro smiled back, relief washing over him as he started to carefully untangle Keith’s limbs and fins.
“Shiro!” Keith cried suddenly in realisation. “You’re swimming! How!?”
Shiro looked into those wide, bright eyes that he was so glad to see again. “I needed to get to you.”
Keith felt his face flush at the way Shiro was looking at him. No one ever looked at him like that – like he mattered that much. He remembered then what Romelle had said to him when he’d told her about Shiro – or rather, what she’d teased him about. Maybe she’d been right. Maybe all this had been about more than just helping Shiro. Maybe he also… kind of… liked him…
The thought made him feel like he was burning all over, and he hid his face away from the man he may have been crushing on, busying himself with removing the ropes from his fins now that his hands had been freed. “Thank you, Shiro, for saving me… again.”
Shiro chuckled. “Any time… but for now, can we get back to the shore? I didn’t plan to come out this deep today and I’m starting to panic a bit now that the adrenaline’s worn off.”
Keith wrapped his arm around him immediately. “I’ve got you.”
……
Back on the sand, Keith couldn’t help but gaze at the kind, brave human who had rescued him, feeling so thankful to have met him. He clasped the pendant around his neck and pulled it over his head. “I think it’s high time I returned this to you. You’ve more than earned it back.”
Shiro smiled widely at him as he accepted it, running his thumb over its silvery surface to wipe the droplets of seawater from it. He knew he’d been right to trust Keith with it. “Oh! I almost forgot!” Shiro reached into his pocket, breathing a sigh of relief as he realised the object was still there. “I got this for you.”
Keith stared in disbelief as the man held up a necklace with a gold chain and lowered it into his hand. “Wow…” he breathed as he studied the pendant. It was just like Shiro’s, except for the colour of the metal. And just like Shiro’s, it read ‘Patience yields focus’ . Warmth spread through him, tears pooling at the corners of his eyes. He felt speechless.
“I figured gold was more your colour.”
Keith looked up at Shiro again. His expression was warm and soft – like there was nothing he’d rather be doing in that moment than looking at Keith. He was already so close, his stance so open and inviting. Keith gave in to the urge inside him and threw himself at the man, showing his gratitude in the only way that felt like enough. He kissed Shiro deeply, arms wrapped around his neck like he had when the man had carried him before. He felt Shiro start to kiss him back, and then that protective arm curled around him again and everything else just faded away. He decided then – getting stuck in that rockpool was the best thing that had ever happened to him.