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“Hey… listen if we’re ever - no, this isn’t another true crime fact, I just - listen! If we’re ever separated, I want you to promise me that you’ll meet me back at this exact location and time in six years. Can you do that?”
As the ocean waves pull into shore and the sand crunches so softly under Shuichi Saihara’s feet, his mouth twitches into a small smile that he desperately tries to push down.
No… not now.
He has to be patient.
He remembered the time was at nightfall, so he supposes he could just wait here until then.
Finding a nice and comfortable rock (or whatever he could gaslight his mind into thinking was comfortable), Shuichi sits down, finally laying his back against the cool surface.
Ahhh… the sun looks so golden and bright in this context! Little sprinkles of sand shining in its wake and the water reflecting it’s hues - it honestly reminds Shuichi of a nice chicken broth, but he was told to always be terrible at descriptions.
And while looking at the sunset, it struck him .
It really looks like… that day.
-
It started when he was 15, maybe bordering 16. His voice was strung with thousands of voice cracks and his confidence was abnormally high, except for when it came to his piss colored eyes.
In all honesty, he was a mess.
Shuichi lined up against the net on the beach, holding the volleyball in front of his chest with pride. This was it! Volleyball tryouts were tomorrow and he was so tired of being non-varsity. This year, he was gonna make varsity for sure!
Of course, he wouldn’t be incredibly disappointed if he didn’t. After all, volleyball was more of his sister, Maki’s, thing. He just kinda tailed behind, so she wouldn’t feel lonely driving to tournaments. This was all for her, so he can’t disappoint anyone!
He breathed in… and out… and in-!
Without exhaling, he jumped for a serve but slipped on the sand at the last second, falling straight on his ass.
The ball that was still in the air landed on his face a second later, leaving a bright red mark.
Oh. Great.
Well at least he hoped no one saw him-
“Booooo! You suck!”
Shuichi jumped up, ball in hand, but threatening to fall out. Now his face was red for a different reason.
Who… WHO WAS THAT?!
He did a quick 360, swerving his head left and right, wondering where the hell that seemingly disembodied voice came from.
I… I didn’t hit my head that hard, right?
Maybe he really was going crazy. Maybe Maki was right when she told Shuichi to start taking those vitamin gummies when they were 5. Maybe there were extreme side effects. Would she even believe him? What if it was all in his head? This isn’t what he meant when he said he had self-deprecating thou-
A nearby splash distracted Shuichi from his mini-breakdown.
…What?
Wandering closer and closer to the edge, Shuichi tip-toed his way there, holding his volleyball like he would a long machete. There’s no way someone could be hiding behind the ominously shaped rock cliff leading to the ocean shore, right? They’d have to be insane. Absolutely bonkers. Completely-
“Hey~”
Shuichi screamed.
Remember that bit about the voice cracks? Apparently they’re still as raging as ever. Don’t blame him, though! Blame the random kid who just appeared out of absolutely nowhere! AND was half naked (assuming he was even wearing pants , Shuichi couldn’t quite make out his legs)!
“It’s rude to stare, y’know? It makes me feel so… afraid…” the kid sniffed, wiping his arm against his eyes like he was crying. Or maybe he was, Shuichi couldn’t tell seeing as he was completely drenched in ocean water. “Just kidding! I love being the center of attention. Silly mortal, admire me more!”
Was this… kid… flirting…?
“Wow, you can at least say something. Don't tell me, you get no bitches, huh?” he said, finishing with a ‘ sheesh! ’. Shuichi supposed the line from hate and love also correlates with the line between flirting and roasting.
Now that Shuichi looked closer, the kid seemed around his age, and despite the weird fact that his hair still maintained a full shade of purple after being submerged in salt water, he seemed pretty normal.
“Hellooooo! Earth. To. Human!! Damn, maybe you guys speak Spanish instead. Bonjour! ”
“What do you mean human?” Shuichi asked, snapping to action, his eyes a shade of genuine curiosity.
“Obviously because I am a flesh-eating alien, y’know,” he yawned. “Are you gonna keep throwing that round thing around or am I gonna have to hate on you more?”
“Well…”
“Because honestly! Puh-tooey! That was the most pathetic thing I’ve ever seen and I don’t even know what you were doing!” Now that his skin was drying, Shuichi could see it looked surprisingly… pale.
“You don’t know what I’m doing?” Shuichi cocked his head to the right, confused.
His eyes beamed open, a sight of surprise. “No, of course I do! You’re fighting space aliens descending from Patoolu!”
“No-” Shuichi sighed.
“Oh, wait! Don’t tell me! You’re practicing to be the next pufferfish hunting champion!” He mimicked catching a pufferfish as if they weren’t poisonous. “I’ll have to warn you, though. I’m the three year champion, so you can’t steal my title that easily.”
“That’s not it-” Shuichi ruffled his own hair. This was going to be exhausting.
“Don’t tell me you’re just playing with balls for the hell of it,” he sneered playfully. “‘Cause that’d be pretty ga-”
“No!” Shuichi shouted out of reflex, ignoring the fact his pants were definitely cuffed. “I mean- I just- who even- ?!” Stepping closer and closer to the edge the boy hung from, Shuichi charged forward to try and grab this puny asshole up before-
Before… before he had a tail.
“You,” Shuichi breathed out, inhaling and exhaling a lot more this time. “You’re a-”
“Aw, shit,” he cursed under his breath, suddenly looking a lot more panicked. “Well, it was nice talking with you ball-enjoyer! See ya!”
He turned to swim away with his legs- fins- tails? It didn’t matter. At that moment, Shuichi could have said anything. A mermaid. He was a mermaid and Shuichi could’ve said anything he wanted to. Questions, mythology, history.
Instead, he ran to the edge and cupped his hands to his mouth. “WAIT! ARE MERMAIDS GOOD AT VOLLEYBALL?”
-
It ended almost a year later. Right after heading home, he threw his backpack on the ground, and ran to grab his volleyball on the right shelf. His sister, Maki, watched him in amusement.
“Heading to the beach again?” she asked.
“Yeah! There’s a new serve I want to practice,” Shuichi replied, already dusting off his bag.
Maki sighed, playing with her hair. “You know I could always drive you to the gym, right? I don’t understand why you always use the desolate beach.”
Shuichi shrugged. “I like the taste of salt water.” and said nothing else, leaving a bewildered Maki in place processing what he had just said.
“That’s not a fucking answer!” she screamed at Shuichi again before he slammed the door closed.
He and the mermaid (who’s name, Shuichi later found out, was Kokichi) had gone through a whole lot in the past year. It turns out mermaids are good at volleyball and Kokichi had a great time showing Shuichi all his signature moves.
The Swinging Scorpion, the Bitchy Bull, the Asshole Alligator - and the list went on. Shuichi remembered he asked Kokichi where his creative naming scheme came from and he half-assed an answer something along the lines of “that whore Miu”.
With his help, Shuichi was on the bench for the varsity team and even played his first game two months later!
Eventually, Shuichi was spending all his time at the beach, even during the summer in scorching hot temperatures, which got him quite the sunburn for a few days.
Shuichi still remembered when Kokichi found out it was only a sunburn that caused Shuichi to go missing for a few days and not the Italian mafia. He’d never heard someone scream so loud with both full-ass chuckling, but also eyes of fear.
It was the first time Shuichi had realized that 1) mermaids do have feelings (he wasn’t entirely sure with Kokichi always lying on-and-off) and 2) Kokichi cared for him specifically as well.
Now, halfway through one of the hottest summers ever, Shuichi was sure heatstroke wasn’t the only reason his face was red.
Sitting there at the bank of the beach, Shuichi dipped his toes into the water, right next to the small collection of seafoam, and waited.
And he didn’t stop waiting until he woke up again to the night sky above him and water no longer under his feet. Sand was wedged in the crevices of his feet and the air seemed to swallow him whole with how cold it was.
There was no Kokichi.
No splashing of water, no ‘ hey beloved!’ , no nothing. It was too quiet for Shuichi’s ears and the continued cycles of the waves taunted him.
Okay, so Kokichi was busy with his mermaid family. Or maybe he got caught up in a kelp problem. Or maybe that Miu friend of his finally decided to play dress-up with him.
He’ll come back tomorrow! There was nothing to worry about.
.
There was so much to worry about.
Kokichi wasn’t there again and Shuichi couldn’t help but think the worse. What happened to his friend? Could it have anything to do with the boats he saw around lately? Most importantly, did Kokichi even want to see him again?
He wasn’t there the next day again.
And the day after that.
Or after that.
After a whole week, Shuichi decides it’s about time he gave up. Maybe something happened beyond his control, but for now, Shuichi planted a seashell in the sand and marked it with a sandcastle.
The castle got washed away with a wave the second Shuichi walked away.
-
Shuichi wakes up again to the night sky and shudders. It’s cold. The stars twinkle brightly above him and he thinks that the ocean could just swallow him whole without a care in the world. The sun just barely peeks from beyond the horizon and Shuichi suddenly knows it’s time.
The air changes with the wind blowing around him so violently that Shuichi would think he was in a category 3 hurricane.
It finally settles around him with a small blow as Shuichi looks at the seas for an answer.
“Kokichi?” he calls out and is suddenly faced with the realization that he doesn’t know if he’ll get an answer or not. “... Anyone?”
There’s no one.
“Fuck!” Shuichi curses out loud, not caring if there’s any children nearby. He kicks the sand into the ever-rising ocean and drops to his knees in a squat. The ocean behind him rolls violently, waves threatening to spill into the surface.
It splashes ferociously and is absolutely disgusted to know Shuichi isn’t paying attention. It thrashes more and more until the only thing separating them is something that knocks lightly against Shuichi’s feet.
“ What?” he groans with a tired look on his face that is quickly replaced with terror as a single glass bottle repeatedly rams itself into his feet. There’s a piece of paper inside and nothing but the initial K on the outside.
Tears threaten to mix with the seafoam that is still lingering.
“I promise.”