Chapter Text
"Mom, do we really have to go? It's so boring over there!" A five year old Amane complained, watching his mother pack their luggage. That summer, the family had planned to stay for a while with their grandparents at their place, a peaceful seaside village.
Amane though, being so young, never really understood what was so great about the place. There wasn't much to do besides swimming at the beach and taking a nap at the veranda. And there weren't a lot of kids to hang out with either, so it just left him and his twin brother Tsukasa to find any sort of entertainment themselves.
His mother looked at him, smiling. "Now, now, don't be like that. I'm sure you'll find a way to have fun over there. And your grandma and grandpa really look forward to seeing you again, you know."
He pouted. "I guess..." It wasn't like he disliked his grandparents, it was just he wasn't used to how slow things were at their place.
"Besides, Amane, I think this summer's going to be different for you this time around." His mother patted him on the head, and he blinked at her, not understanding what she meant.
"Huh? What do you mean, Mom?"
"It's just a feeling, but I guess what I'm trying to say is, I think you won't be as bored as you might think once we get there." She smiled again, and said nothing more, returning back to her task.
I don't get it. Was what the little boy thought, yet he dismissed it, and went off to play with his little brother.
When the day of the trip arrived, everyone except Amane all felt the excitement in the air. While Tsukasa happily droned on and on about how much fun things they were gonna do, he looked out of the window of the car absentmindedly, watching the sights outside come and go rapidly.
They arrived at a big, traditional looking house. The veranda faced a big garden with a gate just a little below the children's eye level, so they could see a glimpse of the sea beyond. Their grandparents welcomed them with open arms, clearly happy to be able to spend the summer with them.
As lunchtime came to an end, and naptime for the kids followed, the afternoon sun beaming in the veranda. Amane sat up from his futon, rubbing his eyes. He didn't really feel like falling asleep again, as he looked over to where Tsukasa was, sleeping without a care in the world, even when the sound of the waves could be clearly heard outside.
He saw his grandfather sitting close by, drinking tea facing the garden. He seemed to know the boy was awake, as he didn't even turn around to look at him when he spoke.
"Tell me what seems to be bothering you, my boy."
Amane sighed, lumbering over to the old man's side and plopping down, a frown forming on his face. "Grandpa, there must be something exciting around here, right?"
"What are you talking about? Isn't exploring the beach enough fun as it is?"
"No way! That's boring! That's all we ever do everytime we go here."
His grandfather chuckled, ruffling his hair. "Ah, you're craving for more adventure, huh? Well, I might know of something else to do..."
Now Amane's interest was peaked. "Really? What is it?"
"Don't tell your grandma or mom about this, but..." His grandfather leaned over, finger on his lips, signalling the kid to be quiet. "I saw a mermaid at the beach last week."
"A mermaid? You're lying, aren't ya Grandpa?"
"When have I ever lied, boy?" That made Amane think. Yeah, I guess Grandpa's right. He's never told a lie ever, anyway.
"I couldn't really see her clearly with these ailing eyes of mine, but I could tell she's a mermaid. Hair the color of seafoam, and a shimmering fish tail."
"Didja see where she was?" Amane leaned closer, eager to know more.
"At the time, she was at the far right of the beach, you know, the place where there's big rocks? I've told your grandma about it, but she didn't believe me, of course."
If what Grandpa's saying is true, then... "I wanna go catch her!" The boy declared. His grandfather raised an eyebrow.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Amane. Mermaids are supernatural beings, after all. They're capable of casting spells on you that you might regret later on. You shouldn't try to mess with them like that." He patted him on the head, while Amane groaned in disappointment.
"But... I don't want Grandma to think you're lyin..."
His grandfather laughed. "Don't worry about me, my boy. If you want to go looking for a mermaid, it's best if you just observe them from a distance. It's safer that way."
"Okay." Amane halfheartedly nodded.
Mermaids, huh.
The sunset of their first day soon arrived, and while his family busied themselves preparing for dinner, and Tsukasa still in the middle of his nap, Amane silently slipped out into the garden, opening the gate and running out towards the beach.
With only the setting sun accompanying him as his light, he went to where his grandpa mentioned seeing the mermaid was. The sea breeze blowing his hair around, he put a hand above his eyes, squinting at the rocks.
Nothing. Not even anything human or fish-looking appeared.
Was his grandpa really just pulling his leg?
The loud squawking of a bird startled him, he swiveled his head around, trying to look for where the noise came from. He stopped on his tracks when he realized it was coming from one, lone, giant rock that towered over the rest, firmly planted on the sand, with the sea water occasionally washing over it below.
Was it a seagull? They were mostly the only birds he saw at the beach. Slowly he tiptoed towards the rock, hiding behind it, and with a deep breath, he inched his head out to take a look.
And there she stood.
It was a girl who looked around to be his age. She wore a white summer dress, and white sandals, and she was sitting with her back turned to him. But what stood out to him was her short hair.
They were the color of seafoam.
Amane shook his head. She wasn't a mermaid, though. Mermaids had fish tails! She just had radishes for legs instead!
Anyway, she was busy trying to untangle a seagull from a discarded plastic packaging, and in the midst of it all, he watched as she would occasionally try to speak to it, as if it understood her.
It surely looked like it to him.
"Just calm down, will you? I'll get you out soon, so stop moving!"
The seagull continued to flap it's wings and wiggle around, squawking loudly. Amane saw her sigh, and then she finally managed to free the bird from it's plastic prison.
"There. Be thankful, okay? Now go home! Stop snooping into trash next time!" She called out, hands on her hips as the seagull flew off, but not before giving her a last chirp.
Just who was she?
Before he could say anything, she turned around all of a sudden, and their eyes met.
Shimmering red.
"Huh? Don't you know it's rude to stare?" She puffed her cheeks angrily at him. It was probably her bossy attitude that made him feel... a little intimidated?
"Oh! S-sorry!" He managed to stutter out, and she continued frowning at him for a while, before her shoulders began to shake. Then she proceeded to laugh.
"Ahaha, you should have seen your face!"
That irritated him. Who did this girl think she is? "That wasn't very nice."
"I was just teasing you, no need to be so mad." The girl smiled, putting her arms behind her back and walking up to him. He had to take a few steps back, feeling nervous at her sudden approach.
He wasn't able to say anything else to her when he heard his father's voice calling out to him. "Amane! Where are you?"
"M-my dad's calling! I gotta go! Bye!" He bolted off without even looking back at her, while she stood there, watching his form retreat back into the big house.
Amane received a scolding after that, and after dinner he was put to bed. Yet he couldn't really sleep. He remained staring up at the ceiling of the room, unable to stop thinking about what he had just seen just now.
He turned to Tsukasa, shaking him by the shoulder. "Tsukasa, hey, Tsukasa! Wake up!"
"Ugh... huh? What is it..?" His brother slurred, eyes still shut.
"Would you believe me if I told ya I saw a mermaid today?"
Tsukasa rolled back to his side. "Yeah, I guess. I'm going back to bed now."
"You've been sleeping the entire day."
"Mm-hm." It was at that point, he returned back to dreamland, not even listening to half of what he was saying.
Amane huffed, going back to his spot on the bed. He looked out of the window where he could see the ocean in full view. Their room was in the second storey of the house with a large, singular window where they could look out and see a lot of things altogether. He tried to see if he could still find that girl the best he can, but she wasn't.
She can't be a mermaid. Mermaids don't walk on land, and they don't have legs. Maybe she just has weird radish hair, cuz she has radish legs. Yeah, that's probably it...
He finally let himself succumb to slumber, the thoughts of that strange girl in his mind.
The first morning of their vacation, Amane immediately dashed out of the house after breakfast. He reminded Tsukasa of what he had seen last night, yet he didn't seem to believe him.
"It's probably just a weird dream. Silly Amane! Grandpa was probably just playing a prank on ya!"
No, that's not true. She's gotta be a mermaid. I gotta find proof somehow—
"Kya—!!" A scream. He had accidentally bumped into someone on his way to the rocks at the beach, making him fall backwards on the ground.
Wait. That voice.
He opened his eyes. It was that girl! She was too busy grimacing in pain to notice him, though.
Oops. He might have pushed her a little too hard.
"Watch where you're going!" She yelled, before stopping once she saw him in full detail. "Wait a minute! It's you!"
Eh? She recognized him?
"Sorry, are you okay?" Amane held out a hand, and after a moment's hesitation, she grabbed it, picking herself back up, but not before she flinched, her left leg trembling.
"Ah—my knee!" Oh dear. She had scraped her knee. He began to feel guilty about it. It had been kinda his fault in the first place.
He felt her hand in his shake, and when he turned to look at her, he almost jumped when he saw tears forming around her eyes. It was the complete opposite of how she was acting last night.
What was he going to do?! He had no idea how to comfort a girl!!
"My legs are already weird... now they hurt too..." She sobbed, and the two kids could do nothing but just stand there. One cried profusely, and the other awkwardly still holding her hand.
I got it! I comfort Tsukasa all the time when he cries, I can probably do the same for her!
"Um..." He raised a hand, and began patting her on the head comfortingly. That seemed to make her stop crying, rather, she was now looking back at him, cheeks blossoming red.
To be honest, he was probably also blushing as well.
"Don't worry. I got something to make it feel better." He let go of her hand to take something out of his pocket; a band-aid. It was one of those band-aids that had little cute cartoonish designs on, and his had tiny stars all over it.
He stuck the band-aid on her knee, and placed both his hands together in prayer, closing his eyes."...Okay! That should do it!"
"Wha... what was that?" She asked.
"I was praying for your knee to get better! Mom said that if I wish for it real hard, then it won't hurt anymore!"
"Oh..." Was all she said, still staring at him intently. It admittedly made him feel more nervous.
"Hey... don't you know it's rude to stare?" He leaned closer to her face with a mock frown. At once she snapped out of her trance, and she rapidly shook her head.
"I-I wasn't staring! Dummy!"
"At least this dummy helped ya!" Geez, this girl...!
"Hmph. Thanks, I guess..." The girl looked down on the ground instead of him directly.
Silence.
Amane took another breath. "Well... what's your name?"
"My name?"
"Yeah. My name's Yugi Amane. Now I wanna know your name, too."
She contemplated for a moment, but then looked at him again with a smile back on her face. "It's Yashiro! Yashiro Nene!"
"Yashiro, I wanna ask you something then." He crossed his arms, attempting to look authoritative, yet it only came across as cute.
"Are you a mermaid?"
Nene went still, but quickly she responded with a laugh. "Silly Amane-kun! Where'd you get that idea?"
He turned red out of embarrassment. "Eh—uh—n-nowhere! I was just c-curious, that's all!"
"Hmm~? Is that so?" She was starting to get closer and closer, and his heart was starting to beat faster.
"W-well—are ya really a mermaid?" Amane asked again. Nene giggled.
"Nope! But mermaids are usually pretty, right? Does that mean you think I'm pretty?"
Hah?! T-that wasn't what I meant at all!!
Even as a child, Nene was rather cute. That, he could agree on much.
"Geh... I... I guess you are... kinda pretty..." He mumbled.
Both of them were now blushing yet again.
He felt a hand grab his own, and he lifted his head up, finding himself looking back at her giving him a warm smile. Was this some kind of mermaid magic spell? Because it really felt like he was being cursed, or something.
(it wasn't)
"Let's go play, then!" Nene pulled him along with her, running off to who knows where.
"What? Where? You're probably gonna cast a mermaid curse on me!"
"Are you still going on with that? I'm already telling you, I'm not a mermaid, dummy!"
Yeah. Mermaids don't have radish legs, and they probably weren't as weird as her. They don't walk on land. Mermaids didn't change their moods in a split second.
Yet... for some reason, he felt like his heart raced significantly faster everytime he held her hand. This has never happened before in all his years alive.
The sea breeze felt cool on his warm cheeks, as he could merely just let her lead him to the beach, chasing after the seagulls that scattered across the ground.
What was this feeling...?
"Amane! There you are! You ran off so suddenly, I was worried... oh?" His mother then appeared, having gone after him when he ran off the house without warning. Seeing him with Nene, a knowing smile etched itself across her face.
"I see you've made a new friend. Tell me, what's your name?"
"My name's Nene! You're Amane-kun's mom, right?" The little girl replied energetically.
"That's right. I don't think I've seen you around this village before. Did you and your parents move in here recently, Nene-chan?"
Amane noticed Nene hesitating to answer, but she managed to give a response back just before he could interfere. "Yeah! They're busy with work though, so I wanted to come out here and play!"
His mother didn't think of this as out of the ordinary, for some reason. "Well, as long as you're careful, and you ask them permission. And I'm glad you're playing with Amane here. He tends to keep to himself and his brother, so the other kids here don't really want to play with him."
"M-mom! You didn't hafta say that stuff!" Amane protested, blushing out of embarrassment. Out of all things!! She'd probably think he's a loser!
But Nene remained smiling, even going as far as holding his hand yet again. "That's okay! Amane-kun's my first friend, too! We can be best friends!"
First friend?
"That's wonderful! Amane, you better get along with her now, alright?" His mother beamed at him, while he could merely nod at her, not really wanting to say anything that would upset her.
Was this another one of her mermaid curses, too?
"Now, Nene-chan, if your parents are okay with it, would you like to come with us and play with Amane and his brother? I'm sure you'd be good friends with the both of them!" He stared at his mother with shock at her suggestion.
But... but... Grandpa said not to mess with mermaids! She's gonna curse everyone!
"Amane? What's wrong? You look pale. Are you feeling okay?" His mother put a hand on his forehead.
"I'm fine!" If I tell her that, she's not gonna believe me. She'll just think I'm making it up!
Nene looked a little out of it for a second, until she shook her head. "I'll try asking my mom later, then." Her voice sounded a little sad, which was weird.
Nope, actually, a lot of things were strange about her.
Unfortunately, Amane was the only one to ever see through it. The adults remained oblivious to it all, merely seeing an ordinary little girl with a few quirks.
The first time she met Tsukasa, he had immediately compared her legs to radishes, the very thing he had been refraining himself from talking about. Needless to say that made Nene cry, and Amane had to spend some time scolding his brother about "it wasn't nice to say stuff like that—even if it was true" and how he should apologize.
It was a miracle they ended up getting along at all.
She always found a way to have something exciting to do during their stay there. Making up new games, or making up stories. Doing a little silly prank on the adults now and then, and gradually he found himself enjoying her company.
Another mermaid curse, perhaps?
And like that, it was finally nearing the end of their summer stay at the village.
While waiting for their parents to get the car ready and saying goodbyes to their grandparents, Amane restlessly looked around for any signs of Nene. They did promise to meet before he left yesterday. He wanted to say goodbye to her properly.
It's just the polite thing to do, that's all! I'm not gonna miss her!
"Amane-kun!" Finally, Nene came running up towards him, throwing herself into his arms for a hug. That caught him off guard, but he returned her embrace anyway.
"Hey, I actually was worried you wouldn't come!"
"What are you talking about? I'm gonna make it, of course! I can't say goodbye if I'm not there to say it!" She did her best frown, but it reminded him of a hamster more than anything.
"You will be back, right?" She then asked, looking at him pleadingly. Furiously trying to dismiss the fact the sight made him melt, he put on a cool, reassuring grin at her.
"Mm-hm! Maybe next year! I'll come see ya then when that time comes! So ya better not forget about me, okay? You gotta make a spell so you don't ever forget me!"
Nene glared at his last comment, although she quickly went back to smiling again. "I'm not a mermaid! But yeah, I won't forget about you, so don't forget about me too!"
Like I could ever forget you in the first place.
"Amane, it's time to go!" His father called, as Tsukasa waved at him from the window at the backseat of the car.
"Yeah, I'll be there! See you later, Yashiro!" He gave her one last wave before running towards the car, and even when getting into the vehicle, he was still looking out to see if she was still there.
She was. Waving at him as the car started to go further away, until she could no longer see it.
While Amane kept staring at the back window, his father then spoke up. "Well, son? Did you have lots of fun back there?"
"Hmm..."
He thought back to Nene, and all of the weird curses she had cast on him during that time.
He was missing her already.
"...I guess it wasn't that bad."