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The warmth of the summer sun was coupled with the cooling spray of the ocean. A slight breeze would tickle the skin for anyone that was out on the water that day. Shunsui laid back in his small wooden boat, straw hat shielding his eyes from the harsh rays beaming down on him. It was quiet on the water, save for the occasional cry of a gull passing overhead. His net was cast in the water as he drifted along with the waves, lulling him comfortably toward sleep. The afternoon was perfect for a nap, like he had done so many times before while away from shore. A cane pole was positioned carefully at his side so that he could feel the tugging of a fish without having to hold it, and the oars were left abandoned in the hull of the boat.
A rumbling from his stomach stirred him from his dozing. One of his younger sisters had packed him onigiri to eat while at sea, and he reached over to grab the small leather satchel they were tucked inside of. As he shifted his weight in the boat, his sleeve caught on a bottle of saké, knocking the liquor overboard. Shunsui lurched to the side of the boat to catch the bottle, but it quickly sank deep out of sight in the briny depths of the ocean. Well damn. Now what am I going to drink with my lunch?
Shunsui shrugged at his misfortune. He would have to make do without. He picked up the satchel and pulled out the onigiri wrapped in cloth. It wasn’t the same without a good bottle of saké to drink. There was a small plop sound from the water – a fish breaking the surface, no doubt – and then a thunk as something hard hit him in the back of the head. Shunsui dropped the onigiri back into the bag and shot his hand up to his head, gripping the spot that was now in pain. What the hell? His dark eyes drifted downward to see the green bottle of saké now rolling around the bottom of the boat.
“How?” he asked himself, looking out to sea. Ocean madness was something that only happened to sailors that spent weeks or months at sea, not mere hours a day. However, Shunsui was beginning to feel as if he lost his mind. He glanced around the water’s surface to see a pair of eyes watching from a distance. Shunsui blinked and rubbed his eyes. He must have been hallucinating. It looked like the top of a head was peeking out of the water. Shunsui blinked again. It was still there. There were no other boats around, and it was far too deep for someone to be out on a casual swim.
“Hello out there!” He called. “Do you need help?” If someone had gone overboard, they would have been calling for help as soon as they saw his boat.
The head rose higher out of the water, white hair cascading down as it clung to the man’s shoulders. Dark eyes were fixed on Shunsui, and the man in the water glowered. “Keep your trash in your boat, lousy human.”
Shunsui’s jaw fell slack as he tried to process what he was seeing. He reeled in his pole and grabbed the oars from the bottom of the boat, quickly paddling closer to the man in the sea. As he approached the man treading water, Shunsui noticed two things: the fair skinned man with the dark eyes was surprisingly enchanting, and there was a tail in place of where his legs should’ve been. “You’re a –”
“—Mer,” the merman interjected. “Keep your trash out of my water,” he repeated, looking stern. The merman combed white bangs out of his face with webbed fingers and waded his way over to the boat.
Shunsui picked up his jaw and tipped his straw hat, blocking the sun’s rays from blinding his view. “It was an accident,” he confessed. “I bumped the bottle and it fell into the water. So, thanks for retrieving it for me.”
The merman turned up his nose at Shunsui’s gratitude. “Just don’t let me catch you doing it again.”
Shunsui eyed him curiously. There were rumors of merfolk, but he’d never seen one in person. The white-haired merman showed no signs of apprehension towards him. The species was a rarity. The fact that this man was so willing to approach him, and scold him, piqued Shunsui’s interest. “Should you really be revealing yourself to me? I could catch and sell you for a lot of money.” Merfolk were worth a small fortune. If Shunsui handed him off to a merchant, he and his sisters would be set for the rest of their lives.
The merman rolled his dark, stormy eyes. “Where would you put me in that puny boat of yours?”
He had a point. Even if Shunsui wanted to catch him, which he didn’t, there wasn’t room for a full-sized mer in his boat – there was barely room for himself, accompanied by his tackle. “In that case, would you like a drink of this fine saké you retrieved for me?” He picked up the bottle and shook it. “The name’s Shunsui by the way, Kyōraku Shunsui.”
The merman clicked his tongue in a very inhuman way. “I’ve seen you around, human. You’re always sleeping in this area. Do you even manage to catch fish?”
Shunsui shrugged. “Some days I do, some I don’t. If I make enough to feed my family, that’s all that I care about.” How long had the merman been watching him fish?
“That’s a rather lackadaisical attitude you have; it can be dangerous to be that carefree,” warned the merman.
“Mm, yes,” Shunsui mused. “My sisters say something similar to me quite regularly.”
He watched as the merman sniffed the air, then glanced up at the sky, before turning back to him. “You should head back to shore, human. The weather’s about to turn, and you don’t want to be stuck out here when it does.”
As if on cue, the clouds began to gray, and the sky darkened. Shunsui wasn’t one to ignore a warning when it came to the weather. He pulled up the net at the side of his boat, only about a half-dozen fish were ensnared within. Shunsui dumped them into a bucket and tipped his hat to the merman in a parting farewell. “See you again?”
“Maybe,” replied the mer coolly. “Now go.” The merman turned his back to Shunsui and began to dive under the water when he stopped and glanced back over his shoulder. “It’s Jushiro.”
“Pardon?”
The merman rolled his eyes once more. “My name, human, is Jushiro.” With that, his torso dove underwater, and an opalescent tail broke the surface, smacking against the water, before disappearing into the sea.
Shunsui watched the merman, Jushiro, leave before quickly finishing packing up and grabbing the oars to paddle his way home.
Shunsui had taken an interest in Jushiro. The merman had revealed that he’d been watching Shunsui fish, so he figured it was a safe bet that Jushiro resided near that spot at sea. After their first encounter, he had tried calling out to him from the surface several times. His summons always went unanswered, washed away by the crashing waves and crying gulls. When he realized calling out to the mer was pointless, he tried to think of another way to attract the man’s attention.
Knocking trash overboard seemed to draw his attention before. Shunsui was hesitant to purposely throw trash into the sea, but he did want to see if it would work a second time. He glanced around his small boat for something he could toss in the water. It needed to be heavy enough to sink but he didn’t want to waste anything he needed in case Jushiro didn’t reveal himself a second time. He pursed his lips in thought before settling on a small box he’d used for lunch.
Shunsui tossed it into the water and waited. He leaned back on the bench of his boat, straw hat tipped low to shield his eyes from the sun and whistled softly. A moment later, a head of white hair surfaced, looking annoyed. The box was thrown back into the boat and Shunsui had to dodge to not be hit in the head a second time. He smiled down at Jushiro, who was treading water near the boat. “Afternoon.”
“What did I tell you about throwing trash in the water? This area’s polluted enough the way it is,” chided the merman.
Shunsui chuckled and leaned over the edge, getting closer to Jushiro. “It’s just to get your attention. It seemed to work well enough.”
Jushiro rolled his eyes. “Do it again and I’ll drown you.”
“How else am I supposed to call on you?” asked Shunsui, curiously.
“I can see your crummy boat from where I reside. I don’t need you throwing things in the water.” The merman folded his arms across his chest and leaned back, half-floating on his back from his spot in the water. The long white hair fanned out around him, and his pale tail shimmered in the sun’s light.
Incredible.
And that’s how the weird friendship between the fisherman and the merman began. Shunsui would go to his usual spot on the water every day to fish and Jushiro would surface to chat with him while he did so. Though, having the merman there drastically cut down how many fish he actually caught. Apparently, the fish wouldn’t come near him; however, that didn’t really bother Shunsui.
He would tell stories to Jushiro about his family and his time in the military – the wars he fought and the two younger sisters (Lisa and Nanao) that depended on him. Jushiro would describe life under the water. It was magical. Shunsui would listen intently and wished he could see it for himself. Life as a merman sounded carefree and heavenly. The only downside was the lack of alcohol. One day, he offered Jushiro a taste of his saké. Watching the merman swim around drunk after a couple of glasses was the highlight of his week. Jushiro swore to never drink the poison-water again after that.
His mundane life had grown a bit more entertaining after meeting the merman. They bickered about trivial matters constantly, but it was always in genuine fun. It had been years since Shunsui last found life as enjoyable as he did when he was with Jushiro.
So, he was rather taken aback when he went out to sea one afternoon to find the merman nowhere in sight. His calls went unanswered and his litter unnoticed. He sat there for hours, waiting. They’d been visiting each other daily for weeks. It wasn’t like Jushiro to ignore his presence in such a manner. Something didn’t feel right. His suspicions were confirmed when finally, after several hours, a raven-haired mermaid with coral and small shells in her hair surfaced, looking anxious.
Shunsui studied her carefully. Her dark eyes shifted around, looking for signs of trouble. It was rare enough to meet one mer, let alone two. “Can I help you?” he asked encouragingly. She was fidgeting, her smooth black tail slapping nervously against the crystal blue water. The mermaid had an air about her that was reminiscent of his sisters.
“Human,” she starts, hesitantly.
“Shunsui,” he introduced himself.
The mermaid nodded. “Shunsui, are you the human that has been conversing with our leader every day?”
Shunsui tipped his hat, getting a better view of the girl. “You mean Jushiro?”
She nodded. “Yes, master Jushiro’s one of our leaders.”
“Where is he?” asked Shunshui, surprised to be greeted by another mer.
The mermaid worried at her lip, eyes darting around the sea once more. “Master Jushiro has gone missing. No one has seen him since his visit with you yesterday. There was word of a large ship passing over us. I fear something terrible has befallen him.”
Shunsui could see the concern laying heavy in the girl’s eyes. If a ship did pass by, it’s possible Jushiro was taken ashore. He nodded at her. “You keep searching the waters. I will look for him on land.”
She pressed her lips together, brows narrowed, before nodding once. “You best find him. It’s your fault for always bothering him.”
“I will see to it that he’s returned safely.” Shunsui gathered the oars and began to quickly row his way back to shore, leaving the girl in his wake.
The boat was abandoned at the docks. If Jushiro had been picked up by fishermen out to make a profit, he could already be out of town. Shunsui stopped at home first, grabbing his pair of military-issued katanas – one long, one short. He made his way into the village, asking around to see if anyone heard anything strange.
“There were a few men talking about some big score and looking to sell it for a fortune in the capital,” one of the shopkeepers mentioned. It was just as Shunsui feared. He headed to the stables, tossing the stable hand a few coins in exchange for a horse. Shunsui needed to cover lost ground. At this point, his only advantage was that the men that had taken Jushiro would be moving slowly in a caravan to transport the merman.
He took to the road out of town headed towards the capital and kicked his heels in the horse to speed up. The faster the horse ran, the quicker he could catch up. It seemed that the caravan hadn’t gotten too far. It only took a couple of hours of riding to encounter the armed men with the covered wagon. Jushiro had to be kept within.
Shunsui jumped off his horse, calling out to the men, antagonizing them. “I believe you have something you shouldn’t.” He lunged at the men, swords drawn and ready for a fight. Startled, the men in the caravan were a little slow, but they drew their swords and bows, aimed for Shunsui.
“You’re going to regret this, drunkard!”
His reputation was infamous it seemed. Shunsui dodged an arrow whistling past his head, and parried a blade aimed for his throat. It had been a long while since he last stretched his muscles in a fight. Swords clanged against one another, and he couldn’t help but smile a bit. It was rejuvenating, though Shunsui was still worried for Jushiro.
He made quick work of the mercenaries defending the fishermen’s cargo and stormed his way to the cart. The men lay on the ground unconscious, but alive. Shunsui ripped back the cover of the wagon and climbed inside. There, sitting tied up in a trough of saltwater, sat Jushiro. His opalescent tail stuck out the side, fin flailing. Jushiro’s pale skin was bruised from the bindings around his wrists and chest, arms tucked tightly behind him. He shouted something unintelligible behind the cloth covering his mouth.
Shunsui stepped over crates that had been jostled loose and came to a stop next to the merman. His charcoal eyes were narrowed and the expression on his face screamed ‘what took you so long?’ He smiled down at Jushiro, undoing the gag around the merman’s mouth first. “Well, aren’t you a fish out of water?” he teased.
Jushiro hissed at him. “These Neanderthals thought they could make a buck or two off of me.”
“As I’ve heard.” Shunsui undid the bindings on Jushiro’s wrists and arms, brushing his thumb lightly over the skin that was peppered black and blue. “We should get you back before you’re spotted.”
“That would be ideal.”
Shunsui looked around, but with all the men outside soon to wake, there was no way he would be able to take the wagon for himself. Plus, he needed to return the horse to the stable as well. “I’m not sure how we’ll get you back undetected.”
Jushiro wrapped his fingers around the edge of the trough, lifting himself up higher out of the water. “It will be easier if I dry out.”
“Excuse me?”
“My tail,” Jushiro nodded his head in the direction of his shimmering lower half, “if my tail dries out, I’ll be able to walk. Though, I haven’t used legs in some time.”
Shunsui’s eyes widened in wonder. “The stories are true.” He pursed his lips. “In that case, you can ride the horse back with me, but we’ll need to cover you up.” He dipped his arms into the trough, scooping Jushiro out of the water. “Here,” he slid out of his pink, floral print haori and wrapped it around Jushiro. “You can wear this until we get back.”
They used rags found in the wagon to help expedite the drying process. When the tail began to transform into a pair of pale legs, Shunsui watched with delight. He helped Jushiro onto the back of the horse and told him to hang on to him tightly.
When they reached the dock, the horse was tied off and Shunsui escorted Jushiro to the boat. “I can just swim back from here,” the merman assured him.
“I would rather send you back closer to your home, so that dark-haired mermaid doesn’t sink my boat.”
“Ah, you must mean Rukia. She can be quite ruthless at times.” Jushiro laughed to himself and took a seat opposite Shunsui in the small wooden boat. They rowed in silence for a while, not speaking again until they reached Shunsui’s usual fishing spot. Jushiro disrobed and began to slowly climb out of the boat, his legs turning back to a tail as he did. “Thank you, friend.”
Shunsui smirked, tipping his hat in reply. “See you tomorrow, then?”
“So long as you don’t drown before then.”
“Only in alcohol,” Shunsui replied with a chuckle and a wave of his hand, before picking up the oars once more to row himself home.