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The moon is beautiful tonight.
A certain ship captain leaned over at a balcony while drinking a glass of whisk. Though his crew was out there partying at the bar of the inn they rented out, he preferred to watch the moon in silence tonight. The pale white moonlight that shone over the forest reminded him of Shun. Whenever he watched the moon while they were at the ocean, the full moon would shine over the water, making the waves reflect white light. The view always reminded him of the first time he met Shun–when the waves clustered together, forming a white-haired figure staring down at his stranded self.
I want to go to the ocean right now.
“Kai-kun?”
Turning around upon hearing a knock on the door, he saw his friend and roommate, Mamoru at the door.
“Oh Mamoru, I thought you’d be partying with the guys?”
“Most of us were already wiped out.” Mamoru chuckled. “A lot of them wanted to explore the town tonight, some went to bed already. Though Rikka-san and Tsubasa-kun remained there to party some more.”
“I see.”
“Watching the moon again?” Mamoru asked as he went near his friend. Kai nodded.
“It’s the full moon, and you know how sentimental I get when this time comes around.”
“I would know.” Mamoru smiled.
It wasn’t a secret to the crew about Kai’s encounter with Shun (with some of them knowing more than they would like to against their will), however, only a few knew how much the full moon meant for Kai. It was the night, of course, of his first encounters with the ones he had fallen in love with. A girl he had a short and bittersweet story with when he was a child, and the King of the Ocean that he would do anything to meet again.
“I’m sure you’ll meet him again.”
“I want to,” Kai laughed. “It’s not a matter of wish anymore, I plan to make it happen no matter what.”
“Though…” The captain sighed as he fiddled with the shell necklace around his neck. It was a gift from his first love, which was eventually blessed by his current love to protect him. “I do wish there’s a way for me to show him that I want to see him. Maybe he’ll try to show up to me that way.”
“Kai…” Mamoru patted him on the back. As his friend continued drinking, he thought of a way to cheer Kai up. He doesn’t know how exactly to make a legendary ocean monster appear in front of them, but there could at least be another way to–
Mamoru saw the empty bottle of whiskey by the table. An idea flashed in his mind and he quickly grabbed Kai by the shoulders, taking the brunette by surprise.
“Woah?! Mamoru?”
“I have an idea, Kai-kun! What if you tried sending a message through a bottle?!”
“Bottle? Littering isn’t something we do my friend.”
Mamoru shook his head. “Not that!”
“Then what?”
“Have you heard about sending messages through a bottle? Haru-kun happened to catch me while he was reading about it so he told me the story, but essentially, people in the past used to send messages by writing on a piece of paper and placing it inside a bottle then sending it off to the sea! Why don’t you try that?”
Kai stared at him, then he smiled and pulled Mamoru into a hug.
“You’re a genius Mamoru! I’m really glad I convinced you to join the crew!”
“Come on Kai-kun.” Mamoru chuckled as he returned the hug. “I’m just making medicines.”
“Hey, don’t put yourself down that much.” Kai patted his shoulder. “You’re our medic, your role is critical in keeping the crew healthy! Now, let’s go writing!”
Kai walked towards his desk and opened a drawer, getting a pen and a paper in the process. Mamoru sat on his bed as he observed Kai begin scribbling on the paper. As he watched him crumple paper after paper, Mamoru asked him.
“Kai-kun, what bottle are you using by the way?”
“Uh-huh? Uhhh…” Kai reached out for his bag and pulled out a bottle. “Here? Tsubasa handed this to me this morning. He said it looked nice but he didn’t know what to do with it so he just gave it to me.”
He handed the bottle to Mamoru as the medic observed the size of the hole.
“Kai-kun, while you’re writing, would you like to add a decoration inside the bottle?”
“Good idea!” Kai clapped. “How about flowers? I’d like a white rose and a blue rose, though the flower shop is already closed at this time.”
“Don’t worry about roses!” Mamoru beamed. He went over the box he brought inside the room earlier and opened it, getting two white roses. “Do you still have the coloring powders I made you hold earlier?”
“Yep. It’s in my bag, feel free to get it.”
Mamoru nodded and reached out to Kai’s bag. He opened it and saw the pouch he gave Kai earlier. He grabbed the pitcher from the room service and began pouring some water into an empty vase. Kai, who was writing, paused as he observed Mamoru, curious about what his friend was doing. Mamoru brought out a tiny bottle containing blue powder and poured a reasonable amount in the vase. After mixing the powder and the water, he cut the stem of the roses and put one of the white roses inside the vase.
“What does that do, Mamoru?”
“Oh! With this, we’ll have the blue rose that you wanted to put.”
“Really? How did you know?”
“I learned this by accident when I first started learning how to make medicine out of herbs.” Mamoru smiled. “Ichiru-kun and Issei-kun liked watching this happen, so I still do it even now. I haven’t done it since I joined your crew though.”
“Oh, sorry–”
“Ah! It’s not like that!” Mamoru laughed and waved his hand. “I didn’t have coloring powder since I didn’t know how to make it yet. I went to a workshop earlier so now I know how to do it. This way, you can send more messages!”
Kai smiled, he’s so glad Mamoru is his friend. “Thanks Mamoru!” He continued writing, making drafts and tearing it out whilst Mamoru went over his plant journal and music notebook to write down the discoveries he had today. Hours went by and he finished writing his entries, just in time for the rose to have his color. He looked over at Kai who seemed to be writing the final letter he’s about to use. Curious, he stood up and peeked over his friend’s shoulder to read the letter’s content.
He winced.
Regretfully, as much as he loved and treasured his friend, Kai is terrible at writing. Maybe he’s too strict as a songwriter, but he’s sure that if Rikka and Tsubasa ever got their hands over that letter, Kai will never hear the end of it.
But that criticism will remain in his thoughts. The important thing here is that Kai wrote this letter from his heart.
Even if he sucks at translating it into words.
“I’m done!”
Kai held the paper up in the air proudly. Mamoru clapped for him.
“That’s great Kai-kun! The roses are ready too!”
“Perfect! I’ll arrange it right now!” Kai said as he rolled the paper and tied it shut with a blue ribbon. Mamoru brought the roses and the bottle on his friend’s desk, watching as Kai decorated the bottle. By carefully cutting off the stems and using a blue foam to stick it in, then placing the paper inside, Kai finished his bottle. For a moment, Mamoru felt sorry that he couldn’t help Kai with the design as those were Tsubasa’s and Rikka’s expertise. Though Kai looked pleased at his work regardless.
“Alright! I can send a message to him now!”
“I’m happy for you, Kai-kun.” Mamoru smiled.
“Thanks Mamoru! Now, let’s go out and get a boat.”
Mamoru nodded at him, then blinked, then paused.
“... huh?”
“Let’s go out and get a boat.”
“Huhhhh?! Right now?!”
Kai smiled at him, “Of course. Why not?”
Because it was 3 AM in the morning.
Mamoru badly wanted to say.
However Kai dragged him out of the room and rented a boat too fast and too bold for him to say anything. Before he knew it, he was out on the sea, clutching the bottle protectively as Kai drove the boat to heaven knows where.
“K-kai-kun! H-How far are we supposed to go?!” He asked desperately.
“Just a bit more!” Kai squinted at a distance. “Hey! The current over there is the strongest! I’ll drop the bottle there!”
“Why couldn’t we have just done this at the seashore?!”
“Of course,” Kai looked at him with blank eyes while smiling. “The more dangerous the sea is, the higher chance he’ll be there to receive it.”
Mamoru could only stare at him.
He’ll blame the amount of alcohol he drank tonight for making him forget how, down, horrendously in love, his best friend is towards the King of the Ocean.
Once he’s satisfied at the location, Kai grabbed the bottle from Mamoru, lifting it under the moonlight proudly. He grinned then kissed the bottle, whispering his love to it as well. Then, he gently placed the bottle on the water, watching the waves drift the bottle away and hopefully to the intended receiver of it.
“G-good for you, Kai-kun!” Mamoru said, terrified at the dedication but proud of his bestfriend. But mostly terrified at the dangerous current of the waters. Kai stood up, destroying the balance Mamoru kept on the boat which terrified the medic as he held on the boat. Kai then raised his hands to his face then yelled.
“SHUN!!!! I LOOOOOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!”
“Kai-kun! I think he got the message now! Can we go back already please!!”
Bonus:
A giant crustacean holding an inflated puffer fish swam down on the bottom of the ocean, meeting a certain serpent duo chatting.
“Shun, Hajime. Hi.”
“Rui~”
“Rui, hello, what brings you here?” Hajime asked as he leaned on his tail. It was rare for Rui to be swimming about, moreover, the fish on his arms caught Hajime’s attention.
“Kakeru? Why are you inflated like that?”
The pufferfish spilled the inside of his stomach, spilling water and a huge bottle. Water spun around him, forming a small tornado, transforming his body into a similar form like Hajime and Shun’s. He held the bottle in his hands and showed it to Shun.
Shun looked at him in confusion.
“Delivery for you!” Kakeru grinned. “A certain human screaming ‘SHUN, I looooove you <3’ placed this on the ocean!”
Shun blushed at the thought and Hajime looked at the bottle, amused.
“Kakeru, did you think that someone was littering again that’s why you ate that?”
“Err, kinda… I was about to be disappointed with that human Kai when I heard that it’s like a message to Shun-san.” Kakeru answered.
“A message… ah, there's paper inside the bottle.” Rui commented as he shrank himself and sat on Shun’s head. Shun looked inside curiously. Though he had been avoiding Kai for the human’s safety, he was also curious (and touched!) at the gesture. He quickly opened the bottle… only for the bottle’s content to fly out and spread, to which Hajime reacted quickly and bubbled the roses to safety. The paper however, was unfortunate and was torn to pieces by the current.
Shun stared at the remains of the paper, frozen in shock. Hajime lazily grabbed the bottle from his hands and placed the roses inside and closed it. He glanced at Shun, who looked like he was about to cry.
“Shun.”
“Err, Shun-san.”
“Shun–”
They were too late and the current around them got stronger. Hajime sighed at Rui and Kakeru held onto him for safety.
This is going to take a while to settle down.