Chapter Text
The waves of the vast ocean danced peacefully with the moonlight. The full moon was shining brightly, the stars twinkling happily. It was a peaceful night with a soft warm breeze in the air.
And yet Shu hadn’t even noticed the spectacular view right above him. Clinging to the rock with all his strength, he made sure not to make any noises, even though his whole body was on high alert. Finally. Finally he had seen him!
“Here you are”, Kuro’s stupid little red head popped out from the water, “You know you are running late.”
Shu grunted. His shining silver-pink tail fin pushed the small crab right under the water again.
“Hey!”
Kuro didn’t hesitate to punch his fin out of rage.
Shu bit his lips as to not scream out in pain and draw any attention to his secret hideout. This little shithead… he desperately shook his fin underwater to shake off his tiny friend. Heaven better helped Kuro if that punch had left a scar on his beautiful tail fin!
“You are late”, Kuro repeated when he re-appeared on the surface, “Everyone is waiting for you.”
“I don’t care.”
“You better, it’s your performance”, Kuro insisted, “Everyone came to hear you sing.”
“Those peasants just want to be entertained, they don’t even care about true art or who sings. They already go crazy when I just give 20%. They wouldn’t be able to notice true art if someone smacked it into their stupid faces”, Shu swore, “Besides, I have more important things now. I have finally seen him. Him!”
“Hu?”
Shu turned to the beach again.
There he was, standing at the beach and looking at the big bright full moon, not even paying attention to anything else.
Shu always knew there was a human around, living in this big castle, which sat on the massive mountain ledge, but until now he had never seen him.
However, he had heard his singing, nearly every night. A lonely voice that came from the big dark castle. Oh how much Shu loved the voice! Such a brilliant voice, carried by the night time through the air. He spent hours lying on the rock, listening to that voice. And how he had longed to see the singer, just once! Until today Shu had absolutely no idea whom the voice belonged to – until now.
“Oi, you know it’s forbidden to get closer to humans”, Kuro reminded him, “They are monsters.”
“How could they be monsters”, Shu whispered, “Just look at his posture and how the wind plays with his hair. All the art they created, lost in the ocean, and saved by me – if you don’t betray me and report it to the officials so that they confiscate it. And his singing voice! This wonderful voice! How can they be monsters?”
“They eat me!” Kuro protested.
“But not me”, Shu pointed out, “I have to get closer to him.”
“You can’t”, Kuro sighed, “Not only that they might be dangerous, but again, Icchan. You are running late for your own performance.”
“Don’t ever call me that name again, I am not a hatchling anymore”, Shu protested as he let himself sink into the dark water again, trying to make as little noise as possible.
He just needed a better look at the human! Just once! He had to know if they resembled the long forgotten statues under water. He needed to have a picture in mind when he listened to this wonderful voice at night.
“Itsuki!” Kuro swam after him, “You’ll really get into trouble if you don’t come with me right now. And on top of it – I – will get into trouble, because I am supposed to watch over you.”
“Just a minute”, Shu protested, “Those stupid cretins won’t even notice if I am too late.”
He had to be careful. If the human saw him, he would most likely flee.
Looking around under water, Shu searched for a hideout which would give him a better view at the human, but also not attract any attention.
The small wooden boat landing!
Ignoring Kuro as usual, Shu swam over to the boat landing as smoothly as he could as to not cause any more waves, which might alert the human at the beach. Though the small fish around him made enough noise to hide him.
Carefully he let his head break through the surface of the water, hiding behind one of the wooden poles. Excellent! He couldn’t be seen from the beach that way, and yet he was closer to the human.
Even though he had protested, Kuro had followed him anyway.
“If he catches me and eats me, my ghost will forever haunt you”, Kuro muttered. Shu rolled his eyes.
He had to lean a bit forward, but then he saw him close – finally! Shu gasped, not even ready for such beauty. The human’s golden hair reflected in the moonlight, shining brighter than all the stars. The soft wind was playing with the golden strand, letting it dance in the air. The human was looking at the sea, his red eyes reflecting a weird sadness in it – which made him even more beautiful! His body was fragile, from what Shu could tell. He was dressed in loose white clothes, that emphasized his angel-like appearance even more.
His beauty was simply outstanding.
“Your Royal Highness?” Another dark voice rang through the silence.
The human turned around, “Hmm?”
“I’m afraid, but it’s time. We have to get back. I am sorry.”
The blond human shook his head, “No, I am sorry. I forgot the time.” He came closer, and Shu just had enough time to hide beneath the boat landing.
Shu tried desperately to see what was going on, but he couldn’t see anything between the planks. If only he could… right! The solution was right at hand.
“Tell me what’s happening.” He grabbed Kuro and before the little crab could protest, he already shoved him through the little gap between the planks. Kuro groaned.
“There are two humans now”, he said, not even fighting back, “There is a tall one with dark hair. And the smaller one with the blond hair. The taller one bows.”
“Your Royal Highness seems sad?”
The blond human sighed, “I just thought it’s so lonely here. It’s supposed to be a kingdom, but of what even. Darkness. Loneliness. Just look at the sea, the sky. It’s beautiful, but also so lonely. How sad is it to live a life here, just day after day. A life wasted. And there is nothing I can do. Absolutely nothing.”
“I am very sorry, Your Royal Highness.”
Kuro tried to lie as flat on the boat landing as possible, so that the two wouldn’t notice him – he had heard the most frightening details of some occult habit that humans did called cooking – the most gruesome tales that were passed on in crab families. He certainly did not want to find out of they were true or not. And yet he knew the best thing now was to just do whatever Shu wanted. He wouldn't give in anyway. “The tall one is waiting for the smaller one. They are both looking at the ocean in silence. And now they are walking back to the castle.”
Shu dared to leave the boat landing and have one last look at them.
Just in that moment the blond human turned around one more time. “I just wished there was someone out there. Anyone. To fill that loneliness.”
Shu immediately ducked under the boat landing again.
“Did… did he see me?”
Kuro let himself fall through the gap back into the water, “I surely hope not. I don’t want to end up on a plate, and neither do you.”
Shu and Kuro dove deeper into the water. Going back to the ocean seemed the wisest decision now, even though every single cell in his body longed for staying with the human. He finally saw him close up! Thrilled by his luck, Shu swam in circles, excitedly, forcing his little crab friend to dance with him.
“Oh Kiryu, how lucky we were tonight! We finally saw him; after all these long nights of longing to see the owner of this voice, luck is finally on my side”, Shu whispered.
“Wait, you think he’s the one one who sings at night?” Kuro asked surprised, “We just know that the singing comes from the direction of the castle, but it could be anyone. Most likely not even a human, they are monsters, why should they be able to sing. Also, I thought the singing voice was a bit deeper than the voice that belonged to the human right now.”
“That’s just because you hate humans. And you have no idea about singing”, Shu pointed out.
“Which leads us again to the important point of you being very late for your own performance”, Kuro sighed.
“Tss! This was even more important!”
“Excuse me, what was even more important than your own performance, Shu-kun?”
Shu quickly turned around, he hadn’t noticed anyone approaching.
“Not that it’s any of your business, Aoba”, Shu snorted, swimming past him, “If you excuse me now, I have to hurry to the palace.”
“You are terribly late, and I am afraid, but your performance has already been cancelled.”
Shu couldn’t even pretend to be sorry.
“Shu-kun”, Tsumugi looked at him with a very serious expression, “You know the beach is off-limits, right? We are not allowed to...”
“Bore someone else with your indoctrinations”, Shu snorted as he swam on.
“Shu-kun!”
Kuro sighed even louder, “You know that I will get into trouble if you don’t show up to your performances. Even if you hate it that much, you could at least behave for the sake of our friendship.”
“You can blame me if they come after you, I don’t mind”, Shu said, “I never wanted to be a singer like this. My parents had decided that for me.”
“Because you have the most beautiful voice of the ocean”, Kuro pointed out.
Shu turned around to face the crab – he was lacking the power of the strong fins that the merpeople possessed, so of course he was slower when it came to swimming. Shu stretched out his hand, a silent offer to carry him instead.
“Yet I am more than just a beautiful voice”, Shu pointed out, “I have ideas, visions. But nothing is allowed here.”
He had tried to sew costumes with algae, with pearls, he had set up big performances with the help of fish, crabs and seashells. He had used artefacts he had found in the ocean, dropped by humans or found in sunken ships.
The king forbid every single idea he had tried out. He was just to swim in the centre of the stage and sing. The same boring songs every single day. This wasn’t art, this was the opposite of it. It was a cage.
Yes, he had a beautiful voice, but there was so much more about him, yet no one wanted to see that. He wasn’t just a voice; but he was treated as nothing more.
Shu sighed when he approached the underwater city again. Hidden in the depths of the oceans, among the biggest water plants, the soft colourful lights of the jellyfishes that swam among the little houses they had built out of stone. How he hated it here. Only stupid peasants here – well, with a few exceptions. One of them was currently swimming a bit further ahead.
“Natsume!”
The little merman turned around, surprised – and for a split second Shu could see something like fear in his eyes. He had been acting rather weird lately.
“Shu-niisAN”, Natsume’s face light up when he recognized him, “I just heard your performance was cancellED. I was worriED, you knOW.”
Shu clicked his tongue, “There is no reason to worry about me, I just had more important business to do. But why are you not at the assembly hall. You do like to watch the performances daily, don’t you?”
Natsume shrugged.
Worried Shu swam closer, “Did something happen? Did someone insult you again? Or attack you?”
“No, it’s juST”, Natsume avoided his gaze, “I overheard some mermaids earliER. One said that it’s probably my fault that you are not theRE, because we are so cloSE. And that I might have turned you into a frOG. And the other one muttered that the rumours are definitely trUE, and that I should be thrown to the sharKS; namely RinNE.”
Rinne was a wild red shark, that lived in this area of the ocean. No one was safe from his annoying teeth. Sometimes he would play with his prey and let them leave alive (with some lovebites of course), sometimes he would eat them. No one could ever tell what he was up for; he was very annoying and it was best to avoid him at all costs. He had left his dental impressions on more than just one fin already.
“What… who was that? Who dared to say that?!” Shu’s grip got even harder as his emotions grew angrier, so Kuro fought free. Though the anger was not directed at him, Shu had never been good at controlling his emotions.
Natsume sighed, “I don’t knOW, and it’s not importaNT. Everyone believes the rumour anywAY.”
“That doesn’t mean that it’s fine for them to talk about you like this”, Shu said with rage in his voice, “If I ever find out who has started the rumour in the first place...”
Natsume sighed, “Shu-niisAN, it’s fiNE.”
“It’s not”, Shu protested, “I won’t let anyone hurt you. Neither with words nor with actions. You are one of the only intelligent people in this city, and you are under my personal protection.”
Natsume smiled at him, “Thank yOU. But why are you so sure that the rumour isn’t trUE?” Shu frowned at the sudden question.
Natsume swam around him, “What if I can use magIC?”
Shu shrugged, “Then nothing would change. I don’t care if it’s true or not, I told you I will protect you, and that stands. I don’t care that magic is forbidden here, I only care whether someone is a cretin or not. You are not, so the magic rumour is nonrelevant.”
“Itsuki!” An upset Keito swam towards them, “Where were you?! How dare you just disappear like this without giving us a proper warning! You know your schedules! You can’t just come and go as you please!”
“Here we go again”, Kuro groaned, “That lecture will go on forever now.” Shu groaned in unison. But whatever, he had seen the human. That was worth it. As he was dragged away by a nagging Keito, Natsume giggled. “I think I will have to protect you agaIN, Shu-niisAN.”