Chapter Text
The sun burns high from a picture perfect blue sky. Reflects on the turquoise ocean waves that rock gently against the shore. It may be Akira's first summer that could be considered somewhat normal.
He has friends now, a place to stay at where he's actually welcome and not treated like a criminal, and he has a little sister too. A family, when he's always felt he's all alone in the world.
He never really had a real summer vacation before, and when Futaba proposed to spend their first free day at the beach, he hesitated. Going out isn't really his favorite activity, but she was so excited, he couldn't say no. Futaba surprisingly connected with a bunch of girls her age playing beach volleyball over at the volleyball court next to the beach, and he's glad he agreed to come along.
Now he's sitting at a pier a bit further away from the packed main beach, letting his eyes trail over the scene. The breeze is fresh against his skin and he leans back, closing his eyes. The echo of screams and laughter swings with the waves, but over here, shielded by a rock formation, he feels separated enough from the main tumult to relax.
He's not sure how long he's sitting there, dozing off into daydreams until he hears Futaba call for him. The sun still burns relentlessly, and oh, he really should have bought a bottle of water when he had the chance.
He gets up too fast and his vision promptly turns black. His foot doesn't touch ground when he tries to stabilize himself, and with rising panic he realizes he's falling - hits the water surface with a loud thud, and his glasses fly off his nose.
It takes a second for him to realize what has happened in his hazy state, probably a heatstroke or so, and he imagines the scolding he'd be getting for not applying sunscreen and forgetting to hydrate.
Well, if he wasn't drowning - Akira can't swim.
He can't see on top of that, his vision completely blurred, only able to see blue and faint shadows of fish. He desperately tries to calm himself, remembering that struggling will only make him sink faster, but... wasn't that for quicksand?
Nobody knows where he is, and help is unlikely to arrive soon enough, so he tries to paddle. But he's already lost his sense of surrounding, doesn't even know where the surface is, and a sinking feeling of accepting coldness spreads over him.
He's already down too deep. Nobody is going to see him down here. So that's how it ends? He really didn't plan to die today. A very temporary joy of a new life.
Something moves through the water, something rather big. A shark maybe? He's not sure. His consciousness is already fading, bubbles of air escape his lungs as he desperately tries to resist the urge to inhale.
The creature swims past him again, and Akira gets hit by a tail. The sudden touch causes him to gasp, and water rushes into his mouth. His eyes burn and he grasps at nothing, the water biting down his throat, threatening to flood his lungs.
It's pointless. He read somewhere that drowning is a painfully slow death and he's going to feel every bit of it. If anything, he'd like the shark to make quick work of him so he doesn't have to feel it.
The shadow crosses his fuzzy vision again and stops in front of him. He squints, but his brain is already too dizzy to make out any coherent shape. There's a faint touch against his face, something like hands cupping his cheeks, but the nails are distinctively sharp. They poke his skin even without any pressure.
Next thing he knows, something warm presses against his lips and air enters his burning lungs. His body jolts under the sudden supply of oxygen, and a new wave of panic hits him as he clings to whatever just saved him. His fingers touch something smooth and scaly, before he finds something that could be an arm and clings to it.
The shadow moves, and Akira feels himself move too before his head breaks through the water's surface. He takes a deep, shuddering breath, but next thing he knows, a strong force pushes him back up to the pier, where he just stays laying like a stranded fish, coughing hard. The water exits his lungs, and it takes a while before he feels like he's still alive.
Blinking, he sits up and runs a hand through his hair. He still can't see and he's too scared to get up like that with the risk of losing his way and falling back into the water. A moment passes where his racing heart finally calms down, only for him to hear a splash and a knocking noise of something falling down next to him. He starts patting the pier and finds a thin object.
His glasses.
He grabs on and shakes the water off before putting them on. Water drips from his hair, but the sun is doing a fairly quick job drying him off.
He adjusts his glasses. Still not a clear vision, but better than nothing. The water still lays there in picturesque turquoise, licking the edge of the pier.
Who saved him? There's nobody here. He's alone and there's no sign of anyone in the water either.
He hears Futaba call again. It could have only been a few moments from her first call. Still dazed, he slowly gets up and carefully makes his way back to the beach, deciding to keep his accident to himself.
Wide awake at night, Akira's thoughts keep swirling. No matter how rational he tries to look at the situation, there's no way it was a shark or something of the likes. But if it was another person, where did they disappear to? Their touch didn't feel human.
He falls into an uneasy sleep, filled with blurry images of a shadow below the surface.
He tries to forget about it, but eventually his curiosity gets the better of him. So three days later, he leaves for the beach towards evening, when it's mostly empty. He doesn't really know what to expect, but there's the dragging feeling inside his chest that there's more to uncover, and he just has to give it a try.
He carefully makes his way across the pier and sits down at the edge. The water is calm, purrs against the wood, the sun already hanging low, drowning orange rays within the waves.
But nothing happens. He spends around an hour motionless, and finally thinks maybe he's hit his head when he fell and someone did pull him out. Just as he is about to get up, he catches movement out of the corner of his eye.
A silhouette appears below the pier, and with a splash, a head breaks through the shimmering waves.
At first Akira thinks it's just a guy. But at second look - it's no human at all. The facial features look human enough, though. A boy roughly his age, with short blue hair and big curious grey eyes. The pupils are slit, expand like a cat's. His ears are pointed, triple forked and blue, and his skin has a scaly shimmer.
He slowly reaches his hand above the surface in an awkward attempt to wave. Blue scales cover his elbows and hands, and there's webbed skin stretched between his fingers. It makes a clicking sound, and Akira tilts his head. His heart is pounding, but he can't take his eyes off the animal.
"Ah, so it appears you've returned. Did I pull you into my allure?", the creature speaks and flashes a grin. Sharp teeth peek from his parted lips, before he winces, "Ow..."
His face turns pained. Akira catches his bearings and leans a bit forward, perplexed by the view. There's a fin on his back, triangular shaped, and beyond the surface hovers a deep blue tail.
"You saved me", Akira says. It comes out raspy from the lack of use. He doesn't speak much, usually doesn't find the words, but the creature has a calming aura to him.
"I have", he responds, "But you see, my noble act comes at a price."
He grabs onto the pier and pulls himself out of the water in one swift motion. His body is long and smooth, his scales shimmer in the dying sunrays. His tailtip is huge and flat, like a betta fish. Torn at some parts.
But that's not the issue. His lower body is wrapped into a fishing net, tangled around his lower body down to his fin. It already cut into skin, knots around his back fin and seems to strain. The mer frowns.
"Oh..." Akira slowly reaches out his hand and touches his hip.
He hisses, nails dig into the wood, but he doesn't flee. "My pack abandoned me because I cannot keep up like this", he whispers, "Please, help me."
There are numerous scars running all over his body. Akira grabs the net and the creature winces. It's wrapped up real tight.
"I'm going to need a knife to cut you out", he says. His words sound strained and he swallows from the strange sensation in his throat. The creature sighs and bows his head in defeat.
"I will return. Tomorrow. Promise", Akira quickly adds as he spits the defeat in his eyes.
The creature's eyes spark and he leans up, clapping his hands together. "You will?"
Akira sits back and smiles. "I don't break my promises."
It's insane. Akira has heard the tales about the mermaids, but would have never believed there's truth to it. He watches the mer turn, dropping elegantly back into the water, before he breaks through the surface again. His hair looks dry in an instant, the water repels from his skin.
Akira gets to his feet, his knees feeling weak from excitement. "Do you have a name?"
There's a pause, and the mer makes a sound Akira can't quite put.
"Right, you wouldn't understand that", he sighs, "Ah... You may call me Yusuke."
"Then I will see you tomorrow, Yusuke."
He gives a short wave, and Yusuke returns it, before he falls back first against the water, parting with a flip of his tail. Akira watches his shadow disappear below the waves.
It takes all the way home for the realization to sink in that he talked to a real living merman. For a moment he thinks he might have hallucinated, but it all felt too real. And he'd return tomorrow to help him out of his predicament.
Come the next evening, Akira returns with a pocket knife and sterilizer to clean possible wounds. Some parts of the rope look like they've cut deep into flesh already, and he doesn't want him to get an infection.
He sits down at the end of the pier and whistles. Seconds later, a now familiar face breaches through the surface and Yusuke hops out of the water.
"You've returned", he notes. He sounds genuinely surprised.
"Of course I have", Akira responds quietly, starting to cut the net.
"Because we are bound by debt."
He looks up. Yusuke is eying him. His ears are perked up, head slightly tilted. His chest rises and falls quite fast. Is he nervous?
"What do you mean?"
Akira focuses back on his task at hand. The rope has indeed cut deep into Yusuke's tail, when he pulls, there's raw flesh underneath and the mer hisses.
"Humans are selfish creatures", he says, "I've been told since birth they do nothing without a reason. I saved your life, so you're ought to repay me."
Akira carefully pulls again and part of the net comes loose. "It's not entirely wrong", he admits, "But I would have helped you either way."
Yusuke's tail flaps and he props himself up, curiously inching closer so his face is impossibly close to Akira's ear. He can feel his damp breath against his skin and shivers.
"So it was not needed for me to rescue you? Such a shame."
Akira laughs. "Well, you wouldn't have been able to ask me for help if I was dead."
"Fair point."
Akira hasn't talked this much to anyone in years. Having eyes on him usually causes him to freeze up, forgetting every single word he's ever learned. But company with Yusuke comes easy, much easier than many human relationships to him.
It takes a while to fully cut Yusuke free, but eventually the net finally comes off.
"I am going to desinfect your wounds so they don't fester. I can't put a bandage on you, so... It might burn."
Yusuke huffs and shrugs. He acts tough, but his body tenses up and he hisses through gritted teeth, his sharp nails digging into the wooden boards. Akira tried to keep the procedure short.
"I'm done."
Akira closes the bottle up and tosses it back into his pocket. Yusuke experimentally lifts his tail, testing out his movement.
"Wonderful", he whispers, "You have my thanks. Ah... May I inquire your name too?"
Right, he didn't introduce himself. Akira smiles.
"Name's Akira. Will you return to your family now?"
Yusuke's gaze droops. "I'm afraid not. There's no possibility for me to catch up all by myself. Though, this does not concern you."
He crawls towards the edge and drops back into the water with a huge splash that drenches Akira's pants. He doesn't mind and laughs. Yusuke reappears and splashes water at his face, and Akira can't help but continue to chuckle.
"You're a strange one", Yusuke hums, "Come find me again, if you please. I think I may enjoy your shared company."
Before Akira can respond, he drops back first into the waves, his fin flipping above the water, before his silhouette disappears.
Akira stares at the spot before he gets up. Did Yusuke invite him to hang out again?
His heart beats faster at the idea.