Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

♬♩♪♩MERMAID MELODY PICHI PICHI PITCH: LACRIMAE DULCIS AQUAE ♩♪♩♬

｡ : ○ °･ﾟ CAST OF CHARACTERS ｡ : ○ °･ﾟ

Rukia Nanami-Dōmoto (七海堂本るきあ):
Rukia Nanami-Dōmoto is the daughter of Lucia Nanami and Kaito Dōmoto.

Hayashi Hōshō (宝生速):
Hayashi Hōshō is the son of Hanon and Nagisa Hōshō.

Minato Tōin (洞院港):
Minato Tōin is the son of Rina and Masahiro Tōin.

Luca Nanami-Dōmoto (七海堂本ルカ):
Luca Nanami-Dōmoto is the twin of Rukia Nanami-Dōmoto and the son of Lucia Nanami and Kaito Dōmoto.

Ryūsei Kurosuna (黒砂流星):
Ryūsei Kurosuna is Rukia Nanami-Dōmoto’s classmate and the “Black Prince” of his class.

Ryō Shirahama (白浜遼):
Ryō Shirahama is Rukia Nanami-Dōmoto’s classmate and the "White Prince" of his class.

Sango Miura (三浦さんご):
Sango Miura is Rukia Nanami-Dōmoto’s classmate and best friend. They are an intersex merperson with an iridescent silvery tail.

Carina Carraford-Hashimoto (キャラフォード-橋本カリナ):
Carina Carraford-Hashimoto is the daughter of Caren Romero and Subaru Carraford-Hashimoto.

Ha-Joon Nam (ナムハジュン | 남하준):
Ha-Joon Nam is one of Rukia Nanami-Dōmoto’s political suitors. He is a North Pacific merman with a distinct red tail.

Laurent (ローラ):
Laurent is a mysterious, yet dangerous merman who has set his sights upon the Mermaid Princesses and the remnants of the Panthalassa Kingdom.

Sora Amagi (天城空):
Sora Amagi is the unborn daughter of Seira Amagi.

Chapter Text

The summer scene before her was breathtakingly beautiful, as if blessed by a mother goddess. Bright sunlight filtered down from clear skies, reflecting against the sparkling surface of the sea. Dark cerulean depths faded into pale aquamarine shallows, weakening waves caressing a coast of soft white sand.

The waves crashed into each other, their rhythmic movements in tandem with the ebb and flow of the tide. Caught in a constant cycle of push and pull, back and forth, rising and receding and rinsing and repeating. The disharmonies of their collisions cancelled out and reduced themselves to the dull thrum of white noise.

Squawking seagulls circled the skies above palm fronds rustling with the wind. The hustle and bustle of the beachgoers was accompanied by the blasting of a boombox.

The sounds of the sea were like a lullaby, a soothing song awash with nostalgia. Mesmerizing the teenage girl who listened from her hotel window and began to hum along.

♬~♬~♩.~   ♬~♬~♬~♩.~

The girl took after her mother in appearance, but there were hints of her father in her dimples, sun kissed skin, and strong athletic build. Her strawberry blonde twintails swayed in the gentle sea breeze. Her honey brown eyes shone and sparkled with wonder.

The curtains fluttered like fish fins, framing the girl who pressed her weight against the window sill. From the second floor of the hotel building, she faced the eastern coast, finding herself at home where the land met the sea.

♬~♩~   ♩~♬~   ♬~♬~♩~♩.~

When she walked on dry land, she went by the name Rukia Dōmoto. Human society tended to be patriarchal in nature, and the nation of Japan was no exception. In accordance with Japanese family laws, in order to be part of the Dōmoto family register, her birth certificate bore the name Rukia Dōmoto.

When she swam in the seven seas, she went by the name Rukia Nanami. The Mermaid Queendoms were a matriarchal society, and according to tradition, the royal status of a Mermaid Princess must not be overshadowed by her consort. If her father was a human instead of a Panthalassan Prince, the North Pacific nobles would have put up even more of a fuss, insisting that she and her father bear the Nanami surname at all times.

It did not bother her. No matter where she was or who she interacted with, Rukia was still Rukia. And that was all that mattered to her.

♬~♬~♩.~   ♬~♬~♬~♩.~

The sea called out to her when she spent too much time out of the water; just as dry land called out to her when she spent too much time underwater. She was part of both worlds, and to be deprived of either one drove her to the brink of insanity.

Rukia, who had spent the past few days cramped in a car with everything that couldn’t be transported in the move-in van, was eager to head straight to the beach.

But before she did, she should probably unpack her things.

♬~♩~   ♩~♬~   ♬~♬~♩~♪~♩.~

The last few notes of the melody lingered in the air.

Rukia sighed wistfully, easing herself off of the window sill. She gave the idyllic outdoors one final glance before she turned to the backpack and the pair of suitcases by her bedside.

She dragged them to the center of the room, opened them up, and got to work. She didn’t have a lot to unpack, nothing more than base necessities and a few sentimental items. Her surfboard was still strapped to the roof of her father’s car, and she would recover it once her father was free. The rest of her belongings would arrive later in the week along with the move-in van.

Rukia was almost done unpacking when someone rapped their knuckles against her door. 

“Ah, the door is unlocked! Please come in!” Rukia called out as she turned around.

With a click, the door opened and revealed her father standing in the doorway. He was tall and broad shouldered with spiky ginger brown hair and sun kissed skin. Even in his mid-thirties, his features were undeniably handsome, and his every action appeared effortlessly self-assured. He grinned playfully back at his daughter.

“Papa? I thought the conference was starting soon?” Rukia tilted her head to the side.

Her father laughed good-naturedly. “No need to worry about your old man. I just wanted to see how you were settling in before I headed back downstairs. Oh, and while I was on my way…” He jabbed his thumb backwards in the air, where two familiar faces peeked out from behind his shoulders. “Your childhood friends asked me to show them to your room.”

Rukia’s honey brown eyes widened in instant recognition.

“Hayashi! Minato!”

“Rukia!”

One of the boys let out a whoop at the sight of Rukia, wriggling past her father and catching her in a bone-crushing hug. When he pulled away, Rukia was able to get a good look at him.

Hayashi Hōshō had curly teal hair and slate gray eyes and was pretty short for his age. He was dressed in a blue Hawaiian shirt, a white undershirt, rolled up capri pants, and well maintained mid-top sneakers. Tiny yet tastefully arranged silver accessories glinted in the sunlight. Only someone with his knowledge of the latest trends would be able to coordinate such a stylish outfit.

“I thought your flight was delayed?” Rukia asked Hayashi, who scoffed in response.

“Oh, it was.” Hayashi shrugged dismissively. “But my mom managed to reschedule another flight under the same airline. It was only a thirty minute delay. Once we got through customs, we met up with Minato’s family and left the airport together. Also. Speaking of Minato.” Hayashi looked back with a sidelong glance. “Just how long is he going to stand in the doorway? Is this any way to greet our precious childhood friends?”

“…Tch.”

The taller of the two boys entered the room, careful not to bump his head against the low hanging doorframe.

Minato Tōin was a hulking figure even next to adult men as tall as their fathers, with long, straight dark green hair and celadon green eyes. He wore a muscle tee, cargo pants, black military boots, and fingerless gloves paired with fishnet arm warmers. Both ears sported multiple black piercings. A nonconformist rather than a rebel, he broke the rules of social convention when he saw fit to do so.

Hayashi held out his arms.

Minato pointedly averted his eyes.

“Que cabeça dura!” Hayashi complained, “Stop trying to look cool and come hug us already, you big block of muscles-for-brains!”

Minato flinched upon being called out, a slight blush dusting his rugged features. But he recovered quickly, raising his hands in mock surrender as he shuffled himself closer.

”Okay… Fine… Have it your way.” Minato sighed. The corners of his lips twitched as he did his best to hide his smile.

With gleeful faces and wiggling fingers, Rukia and Hayashi tackled Minato from both sides.

Chapter Text

From a distance, Kaito Dōmoto watched the three childhood friends reunite. His eyes reflected a certain fondness as he shook his head with a knowing smile. Some things never changed.

It warmed Kaito’s heart to see that no matter the time, no matter the distance, Rukia could rely on her childhood friends. She would need them. The transition from one life to another was a heavy hurdle to overcome. To undertake those hurdles alone would be too cruel a fate.

Rukia was a sweet child. Not wanting to make her parents worry about her, she had put on a brave face and obediently accepted their plans to move back to their hometown without any complaints.

Kaito, his wife Lucia, and his daughter Rukia were constantly traveling, moving every few years, coast to coast across the expanse of the North Pacific Ocean. It was an inevitable aspect of their lifestyle. Something his daughter was all too used to and yet…

Whenever her smile failed to reach her eyes, Kaito couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.

…

“…Hit the waves.”

…

Wait. What.

Kaito blinked. He had spaced out without realizing it. Without any idea how much time had passed all the while. The conversation had progressed to a point that he could no longer follow what was being said. It was fine. He wasn’t a participant, he was mostly just there to check on his daughter. However, for some reason, the three teenagers were now watching him expectantly.

“Sorry, kiddo, I didn’t quite catch that. Did you say something?” Kaito sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

“Silly Papa,” Rukia giggled, “I was just asking if you could help me get my surfboard down from the car. I want to go surfing after I finish unpacking.”

Oh. So that’s what this was all about.

“Anything for my little princess,” Kaito shamelessly declared. He loved to dote on his daughter. But at the same time, he couldn’t help but fret over her safety. “Just remember, you must never enter the ocean alone. No matter what. There are many dangerous individuals out there, and they'd do anything to get their hands on our family.”

Rukia nodded empathetically. She must be sick of this same old lecture, but to her credit, she never complained.

”I’ll be careful,” She promised, “I’ll be alright as long as I’m with Hayashi and Minato.”

Kaito sucked in a breath. There was more to it than that, something he had to tell his daughter no matter how much it would disappoint her. Something he and his wife had already discussed behind closed doors. He could put it off, but doing so would only delay the inevitable… and his daughter would be left vulnerable to danger.

…

“No. You won’t.”

Rukia’s eyelashes fluttered, confusion flickering in her honey brown eyes. “N-No…? What do you mean, Papa…? Is something wrong?”

From where they flanked Rukia on both sides, Hayashi and Minato mirrored her expression of confusion.

Kaito slowly exhaled his remaining breath. He hesitated for a moment before he spoke once more. “…To tell the truth, there was another reason I wanted to catch all three of you at the same time. Hayashi, Minato, this concerns you as well, so you should listen carefully.”

“Us?” Hayashi pointed a finger to his face. “What, are we grounded or something? I haven’t done anything wrong! Not this time!”

“It’s mermaids,” Minato groaned, “It’s always something to do with mermaids.”

Kaito let out a weak laugh. He had to commend their intuition, at the very least. “Good guesses. You’re a little bit off, but overall, I wouldn’t say you missed the mark.”

“Whaaa…? What else could it be, then?” Hayashi wrinkled his nose, and Kaito could almost see the cogs turning underneath his mop of teal blue curls. “Did aliens crash land in the ocean? Did a crew of cursed pirates come back to life? No wait… Don’t tell me…! Did you finally confirm the existence of the reverse mermaid?!?”

Minato shook his head, scoffing, “You wanna see a reverse mermaid? Hop into the water, you just might sprout a fishface from those babbling lips of yours.”

“Oi!” Hayashi protested. He turned to beat Minato with balled up, yet harmless, fists. “That was below the belt!”

“Heh. Just like you.”

“Why you…! I’ll have you know, I’ll hit my growth spurt any day now!”

Normally, Rukia would break up the bickering boys before they went too far - which was usually when they started hurling colorful insults in their native languages. But Rukia remained uncharacteristically quiet. She simply met her father’s eyes, silently asking him to explain himself.

Kaito coughed loudly. “Ahem, if you’ll please listen to what I have to say…”

Rukia gave Hayashi and Minato a meaningful look. For a moment, the teenage boys hesitated, weighing the pros and cons of whether or not they should listen to her. Did they want to see an upset Rukia? No, no they did not. Should they listen to her? Yes, yes they should, if they didn’t want to see her upset. The correct choice was obvious. The two boys begrudgingly ceased their bickering.

“…For twenty years, the seven seas have been at peace. When the three of you came of age, you gained the freedom to explore the world without parental supervision. As long as you follow common sense and understand the consequences of your actions, you’ll be safe from danger. This is what it means to live during a time of peace.”

“But we know all of this already,” Hayashi interrupted, “Socanwegettotheinteresting - Mmph!?!”

Minato slapped his hand over Hayashi’s mouth. With his other hand, he dug a case out of his pocket, took out a pair of wireless earbuds, and placed the earbuds in his ears. “Don’t mind us, Mr. Dōmoto,” Minato spoke coherently, but his celadon green eyes were already glazing over. “Please, continue… Whatever it was you were saying.”

Both father and daughter sweat-dropped. One boy couldn’t keep his mouth shut, and the other boy wasn’t even pretending to pay attention.

So much for listening carefully…

Kaito cleared his throat. “You might be interested in the fact, that in recent months, our scouts have detected demonic activity within the seven seas.”

The response was immediate.

Rukia gasped out loud, covering her open mouth with both hands.

Hayashi, who’d been struggling to escape the hand covering his own mouth, suddenly froze.

Even Minato raised his eyebrows.

“Demons,” Kaito repeated, now that all three of them had quieted down enough to listen to him, “These dangerous beings draw their power from the master they serve. We don’t know why they’ve resurfaced after so many years. However, if history repeats itself, they won’t hesitate to attack the loved ones of the Mermaid Princesses.”

“The loved ones of the Mermaid Princesses.” Rukia repeated her father’s words. Her voice grew hushed when she realized what he meant. “You mean us.”

“Yes. You should be safe on dry land, but the seven seas are a completely different story.”

“So then… You mean I must avoid the ocean completely?” Something cracked within the stained glass of Rukia’s eyes. She tried her best to keep her voice steady, but she wasn’t fooling her father. “I can’t go swimming, surfing, diving, or do anything within the seven seas…?”

Minato frowned, loosening his grip and letting Hayashi push his hand to the side. 

“Rukia…” Hayashi murmured sympathetically.

Out of the three childhood friends, Rukia was, undeniably, the one with the deepest connection to the seven seas. All the activities she had mentioned, and more, they came as naturally as breathing to her.

Perhaps this trait was inherited by all descendants of the fallen Panthalassa Kingdom. It had been the same for Kaito. Despite having lost his parents to its waters on that tragic, traumatic night, Kaito could still feel the sea calling out to him. He had answered its call by picking up surfing as a hobby, a hobby he ended up pursuing as a profession.

So how was Kaito supposed to answer his daughter? He wanted to tell her that their current situation would only last a couple of weeks, but for all he knew, it could last months, or even years. To be confined to dry land for so long would be the most suffocating experience for both him and his daughter.

The only way Kaito could reply was with an uncomfortable dose of reality.

“I’m saying that if a demon attacks you, Hayashi and Minato won’t be able to protect you.”

Rukia looked down at the floor. Swallowing down what was surely disappointment, she seemed so small and vulnerable. “Oh. I… I understand. Since it’s for the sake of my safety. I can’t really complain.”

Kaito’s gaze softened. He placed a warm hand on Rukia’s shoulder, causing her to look up. He smiled reassuringly back at his daughter.

“…That’s why I’ll protect you instead. Wait for the conference to end. We’ll go surfing together this afternoon.”

A glimmer of hope reignited in her eyes. “A-Are you sure? You won’t be too busy?”

“Like I said, I’ll do anything for my little princess. I’ll make the time.” Kaito winked, holding out his pinkie finger. “I can promise you this much.”

Slowly, but surely, Rukia brightened. There was a soft smile on her lips as she hooked her pinkie with his. “Then it’s a promise!”

Hayashi patted Rukia on the back. He had bounced back quickly, all cheerful and ready to lighten the mood with his extroverted personality. “And we’re the witnesses! Whew, you had us worried there for a moment!”

Yet Minato was still frowning, his expression contemplative. “When demons show up, don’t they show up on dry land as well as the seven seas? Isn’t it their goal to destroy the entire world?”

“It depends on their master,” Kaito replied, “But that’s something for us adults to worry about. The three of you should just stay on dry land - unless you’re with me or your mothers - and enjoy the springtime of your youth. Hippocampus will be your chaperone. On the offhand chance you do encounter a demon, just pretend to be regular humans. Hippo will find a way to draw the demons away from you.”

“Hippo? Is he going to show up to school in his penguin form?”

“He might actually draw more attention as a human…”

Hayashi stared suspiciously back at Kaito. It was like the youngest of the three childhood friends had a sixth sense for when there was information being withheld from him. His curiosity bubbling to the surface as he asked, “Hey, are there any other bombshells you wanna drop on us?”

“Well…” Kaito thought about it for a moment. “You’ll have to ask your mother. I’d love to answer all of your questions, but if you’ll excuse me…” He raised his arm and tapped the silver watch on his wrist, its crystalline face flashing with the glare of reflected sunlight. “I’ve gotta get moving. I’m scheduled for a very, very important conference that starts in fifteen minutes. You know the one.” It wasn’t some convenient excuse he’d come up with on the fly. Kaito really did have to attend a conference in fifteen minutes.

“Oh!” Rukia recognized exactly which conference her father was referring to. She cheered him on, “Good luck at the Seven Seas Conference, Papa!”

Ah, what did Kaito do to deserve such a sweet daughter? He winked back at her, waggling his fingers in a bye bye wave as he caught the door and slipped out of the room.

“Then I’m off!”

Chapter Text

The salty scent of the sea breeze carried with it a sense of nostalgia.

Several years had passed since Rukia last visited Pearl Piari with her family, but the outdoor café still looked the same with its cheap plastic chairs, patio tables, striped umbrellas, and reclining beach chairs.

It tugged at her heartstrings, stirring up the summertime memories of her heart. Rukia’s small, prepubescent body running through the hedges, waging war against Hayashi and Minato with water guns and water balloons and the forbidden gardening hose. Smacking pool noodles around in foamy sword fights. Building forts out of the outdoor furniture knowing full well they would get chewed out by Aunt Nikora afterwards. Whenever the sprinklers sputtered on, all bets were off, and it was every child for themselves.

Now, back to the present moment.

Beneath the shade of a striped umbrella, Rukia curled up on one of the chairs. She pulled her knees up and hugged them close to her chest. The weather was perfect, and the view from the café was just as beautiful as the view from her hotel room. Sighing in complete and utter bliss, the teenage girl snuggled up against the beach towel she had wrapped around her body like a blanket. She would’ve been content to simply sit there while relaxing, but someone else had other plans.

“Ughhhhhhh… Rukiaaaaa…” Hayashi whined from where he lounged nearby on a reclining beach chair. He was wearing a pair of star-rimmed sunglasses (produced seemingly out of thin air), kicking his feet restlessly as he pestered his childhood friend. “I’m soooooo bored… We haven’t done anything wrong, so how come we ended up grounded anyways?”

“Sometimes, life just happens like that,” Rukia replied with the patience and endurance that came with being the eldest child. “At least we can still go wherever we want on dry land.”

It’s not that bad, Hayashi. You like to be where the people are, so you’ll be fine as long as you stay in a public space.

Rukia didn’t mean for her thoughts to sound so sullen. She was genuinely relieved that Hayashi wouldn’t be too affected by the rules their parents created in response to sea demon activity. But… it would’ve been nice if Rukia could be like Hayashi and Minato. Someone who could get along with any crowd, or no crowd at all, without feeling like something was missing from her life. 

Hayashi scrunched up his face. “I guess... But whenever I’m told I’m not supposed to do something, I just want to do it even more.”

Rukia sweat dropped. “Please don’t.”

Hayashi hummed innocently, as if to say, ‘No promises.’

Rukia was considering smacking Hayashi with one of the pool noodles lying nearby (it wouldn’t do any actual damage) when the patio door swung open.

Minato strode outside carrying three glasses of lemonade on a silver platter. As always, he had to bend over to avoid bumping his head against the doorframe, propping the door open with one of his boots until he was in the clear. “Here,” Minato grunted as he approached Rukia and Hayashi, “Your drinks.” He handed one glass of lemonade to Rukia and slid another across the table for Hayashi to pick up. He kept the third glass for himself.

Hayashi’s eyes grew shiny and wobbly. “Minato… You really do care about us!”

“I only brought you drinks because I was already getting something for myself.” Minato huffed, “Why do you look like you’re about to do something stupid?”

“Who, me?” Hayashi batted his eyelashes. He was the picture of cherubic innocence, with wide, sparkling slate gray eyes, upwards sloping eyebrows, and a slightly jutted out lower lip.

“Yeah. You.” Minato shut him down. “Quit your face, it’s not gonna work on me.”

Hayashi stuck his tongue out at him. “I bet it’ll work on the sea demons.”

“You wanna tangle with sea demons?”

“Of course not! I’m impulsive, not stupid! But if they do show up, and they try to kidnap us or something…”

“…Just stay behind me and let me take care of them.” Minato finished his sentence for him. “At least I can defend myself.” Having inherited the monstrous strength of his mother and the brawny build of his father, Minato was a threat even without the years he’d spent training his body. He held a black belt in mixed martial arts, and he’d even been in a few street fights. So Minato did have a point. As violent as it may be.

Rukia, however, did not approve. “Minato, you can’t do that! Violence is…”

“…Perfectly acceptable when other means of negotiation have fallen through.”

“No!!!”

Minato simply sipped at his lemonade while Hayashi wheezed, almost spewing out his own mouthful of the sweetened citrus drink. He thumped at his chest, coughing and clearing out his airway before he could trust himself to speak. “Kah! Kaha-hack-ha! You're hilarious, Minato!”

“I wasn’t joking.”

“You might wanna pretend you are.” Hayashi lowered his shades, peering over their titanium blue rim. “It’ll help keep snitches out of your business.”

Rukia pressed her forehead against her knees. “What a merry band of rule abiding citizens we are...” she lamented.

“Ah ah ah. It’s not against the rules if you don’t get caught.” Hayashi waggled his finger back at Rukia. “Lemme show you a prime example.” He clambered out of his reclining beach chair and grabbed two of the plastic chairs next to the strawberry blonde, sitting down in one of them. He beckoned both Rukia and Minato to lean in close as he placed his smartphone flat upon the tabletop. After swiping out of his social media tabs, he pressed a suspicious looking app in the corner of his home screen.

The app took a few seconds to load. The screen turned completely black, without any audio or loading screen animations. Until a three by three grid of Pearl Piari’s CCTV footage fizzled into existence against a static gray background.

Rukia’s jaw dropped when she realized how exactly Hayashi managed to obtain this footage.

“You didn’t.”

“I totally did.”

“Hayashi Hōshō!" Rukia crossed her arms. "Don’t you remember what happened the last time you pulled a stunt like this?”

Hayashi made a sour face as if he'd been forced to eat an entire lemon, instead of sipping sweet lemonade. "How could I forget? I was grounded for an entire month! No internet! No phone! No electronics! It was torture!”

“I thought you would’ve grown out of this by now… every six months, you'd try to listen in on the Seven Seas Conference, and every six months, you’d get caught.” Rukia lectured, hoping that recounting Hayashi’s history of failed espionage attempts would help him see reason. “What did you expect would happen? You even went so far as to plant listening devices on our clothes and personal belongings!”

“Not cool, dude,” Minato commented as he stirred the ice cubes in his glass.

“Look, in my defense…” Hayashi attempted to defend himself, but then he thought better of it. He ran his hand over his teal colored curls. “Okay, you’ve got me there. But you’ve gotta admit, I got pretty far for an elementary schooler. How was I supposed to know that Madame Taki was hiding a metal detector underneath those musty old granny clothes?!?”

Minato closed his eyes as if channeling the wisdom of a spiritual guru. Which wasn’t too far out there, considering his family had ties to one of the local shrines. “One does not simply underestimate Madame Taki.”

Rukia glanced at the CCTV camera nestled in the eaves of the outdoor café. She could see the footage it recorded - a tiny version of herself in third person perspective - on Hayashi’s smartphone. If she waved at the camera, the tiny version of herself would wave back. Yeah. Madame Taki was surprisingly tech savvy for an elderly pearl oyster fairy.

“Her and her scam of a crystal ball…” Hayashi was already beginning to grumble. After years of having his childhood mischief foiled, Hayashi had developed a one-sided-rivalry with the pearl oyster fairy, despite the multi-generational age gap. “Well, I’ve learned from my mistakes! This time, I’m using Madame Taki’s own system against her!”

He tapped the feed of one specific camera. It expanded to fill his phone’s entire screen, displaying a room with dark wallpaper, red velvet curtains, and antique furniture carved out of coral and rosewood. It was the private parlor room located on the first floor of Pearl Piari. Locked behind a pair of double doors, the parlor room was off limits to most Pearl Piari guests.

However, the people Madame Taki had invited to join her for afternoon tea were no ordinary guests. Their familiar faces could be recognized from the live camera feed.

The tea party was just a pretext for the actual event: a highly confidential conference between the Mermaid Princesses and their closest allies, held every six months as the summer and winter solstices approached. Rukia had spent many of her summer vacations (and some of her winter breaks) at Pearl Piari while her parents participated in the Seven Seas Conference. However, Rukia herself was never a participant or even a spectator. She’d be lying if she said she wasn't curious to see what went on behind those locked double doors.

“It’s soooo obvious that our parents are hiding something from us,” Hayashi pressed further, “Don’t you wanna know what it is?”

Of course I do. Rukia held back her traitorous thoughts. But I shouldn't.

She should say ‘no.’ She should shut down this terrible temptation before she fell down the rabbit hole and learned something she couldn’t unlearn. But she found herself hesitating, her eyes drifting toward the live camera feed... 

Rukia glanced at Minato, hoping that he would notice her discomfort and tell Hayashi off.

“I’m not interested. I’ll stay on dry land either way,” Minato replied. In that moment, Rukia wished she could just adopt a fraction of Minato's apathy… until she heard what Minato said next. "Rukia though. She’s different. She deserves to know.”

Betrayal.

Now Rukia had to confront her dilemma without relying on someone else to dismiss it for her. She didn’t want to admit it, but even knowing how much she would disappoint her parents, she was tempted to take advantage of their trust and break their rules. And of all the rules to break… she wasn’t even sure if watching hacked camera footage was exactly legal.

Rukia wasn’t perfect. She had her moments of teenage rebellion, but there were lines she’d never cross. Twisting at the hem of her blouse, she bunched up the finely sewn, cotton fabric. Its texture helped to ease the simmering anxiety that had bubbled up from the bottom of her abdomen. It helped to clear her mind, and she exhaled slowly, weighing her options. She had two options, but were they the only options?

No, she could meet them in between.

“You’re going to spy on them anyways, aren’t you?” Rukia asked, if only to confirm what she already knew.

“Absolutely!” Hayashi beamed back at her.

“Then I think…” Rukia chose her words carefully, “I’ll listen in… just a little bit, and only if they mention our names. I don’t want to spy on anyone. But if it directly affects us, then…”

“Won’t know until we find out.” Hayashi took her words to mean ‘yes’. And in a way, he was right. He was about to turn on his phone’s volume when another hand grabbed it from across the table.

Holding Hayashi’s phone just out of reach, Minato looked at the phone and then back to his friends. “There’s too much glare out here. And your screen is too tiny.”

“We’re in the shade, we’ll manage.”

Minato shook his head. For somebody who claimed to have no interest in mermaid politics, he was acting awfully fussy. Like he wanted to watch along… or maybe he was just annoyed at how Hayashi was going about things. “Let’s hook this up to the television inside,” he insisted.

"Aw, but we just got here…" Hayashi complained, but he would never say ‘no’ to a bigger screen and better lighting.

༶•┈┈༶•༺ ୨♡୧ ༻•༶┈┈•༶

“Won’t Madame Taki notice what we’re doing?” Rukia whispered so that the CCTV camera wouldn’t pick up what she was saying.

“Nah. Nobody checks old footage, not unless there’s something specific they’re searching for,” Hayashi confidently replied. He spun the television remote on his knuckles, caught it in his palm, and pressed the power button. “Don’t worry, I’ve replaced the live feed in this room with looped footage.”

Minato stepped out from behind the television. It was a plasma television, an outdated, discontinued device of the past, yet it had taken Minato only a few seconds to figure out which cables plugged into which outlets. He had successfully synced the television’s larger screen to the smaller screen of Hayashi’s phone.

”Done.”

The tall, dark green haired boy sat down next to Rukia, confirming her sneaking suspicion that he did, in fact, want to watch the hacked footage. If he didn’t, he would’ve put on his earbuds and tuned out everything that failed to meet his interest.

Hayashi took the chair on her other side, making himself comfortable. He turned on the volume and raised it a few bars higher. Then he pressed ‘live play’.

༶•┈┈༶•༺ ୨♡୧ ༻•༶┈┈•༶

The conference attendees fraternized with each other, making small talk as they enjoyed tea and refreshments served upon fine porcelain.

Madame Taki was reading tea leaves for Rihito Amagi and a very unimpressed looking Nikora Nanami. The pearl oyster fairy sprinkled something yellow into the teacup, and on the other side of the room, a shiver ran down Hippo's back. The hippocampus was in his human form, appearing to be in his late teens with yellow hair, green eyes, and delicate bishōnen features. Having hardly aged over the years, Hippo was much older than he appeared.

Princess Seira sat elegantly in an armchair as she sampled the sweets she had piled onto her plate. Behind her, Princess Caren stood with her back pressed against the wall, gazing out of the window with her arms crossed.

Princess Coco and Princess Noel shared a love seat, chattering away as they fed each other and drank from each other's mixed up cups.

Across the tea table from them, Princess Hanon and Princess Rina shared a chaise with Crown Princess Lucia. The consort of the crown, and a royal in his own right, Prince Kaito of the Panthalassa, walked up to the chaise backboard and greeted his wife with a hug from behind. Without intending to, the four of them mirrored the dynamics of their children.

Nagisa Hōshō was studying to renew his medical license.

Masahiro Tōin was managing the multiple branches of AWM Corp.

Mikaru Amagi was away at college.

There were a few more individuals who could be trusted with the secrets of the seven seas, but they could not make the trip to Pearl Piari, for one reason or another. With Prince Kaito’s arrival, twelve out of the twelve guests who could attend could be counted in the parlor room.

It was time to begin.

Crown Princess Lucia rose from the chaise. Her honey blonde hair was tied in a half-up, half-down ponytail, and her honey brown eyes were the same color as her daughter's. Despite wearing a modest dress, minimalistic jewelry, and fluffy house slippers, she commanded an undeniable presence. She tapped a sugar spoon against her teacup, and the sound of silver against porcelain clearly resounded through the room. Immediately, the chit chat quieted down. All of the conference attendees turned their attention to her.

“Everyone, thank you for taking the time and effort to attend this summer's Seven Seas Conference.” Lucia smiled warmly before adopting a more serious expression. “As we have received highly concerning reports of sea demon activity, I will not waste your time. There’s so much that we have to discuss, so, without further ado…”

Chapter Text

An ancient map lay unfurled upon the tea table. Crafted by merfolk, it was covered in merrow runes and waterproofed with a transparent, rubbery substance made from fish scales. The map was still accurate, thanks to an enchantment that redrew the map as weathering and erosion reshaped the world. However, as it could only track physical changes, the runes and borders that defined the seven seas had to be deliberately redrawn.

Next to the map, Lucia set down a jewelry box full of colorful beads. Each bead was smooth and round, yet flat enough to rest on a horizontal surface without rolling around. Normally, when Lucia brought out beads like these, she planned to make jewelry out of them. When dealing in political affairs, however, she'd found another use for them - in the form of map markers.

All eyes were on her. Lucia Nanami, who looked deceptively domestic in her knee length dress, frilly apron, and fluffy house slippers.

They saw her for who she truly was. A housewife, a mother, a mortal yet fully awakened divine avatar… the reincarnation of the goddess that they worshipped. This sweet looking woman had the power to perform even the most impossible of miracles. Her judgement determined the difference between salvation and apocalyptic destruction.

In the end, it was the strength of her character, not just her power and authority, that led her to adopt a position of leadership among the Mermaid Princesses.

Which was why everyone, looking at her so expectantly, was waiting for her to make an opening statement.

Lucia cleared her throat.

"Let’s review the reports we’ve received so far.” Lucia cut straight to the chase, addressing the idiomatic manatee in the room. “Yes, we’ve talked through video call, but this is the first time in half a year that all of us have been able to meet in the same place. So, for every report that you suspect is the result of demonic activity, please place a bead down upon the map. If we can determine a pattern in these sea demon sightings...”

The rest of the conference attendees nodded in agreement.

Kaito grabbed a handful of beads. Since his wife was representing all seven seas, Kaito would represent the North Pacific Ocean in her stead. However, instead of placing the beads on the map, he let them fall through his fingers back into the jewelry box.

“So far, there haven’t been any demon sightings in the North Pacific Ocean. Which makes sense," Kaito explained with a hint of pride, mixed with a hint of derision toward the cowardice of demons, “Since it’s the home turf of Rihito, myself, and my wife, the current reincarnation of Aqua Regina.”

“I wish I could say the same about my home,” Rina sighed, placing green colored beads down on the North Atlantic Ocean. She had been the first to notice signs of demonic activity, and correlatively, she had received the most reports over the past six months. “I suspect that the master of these demons must be based in the North Atlantic Ocean… but where, exactly, I cannot determine.” The beads she’d placed down were everywhere, marking kelp forests, ship graveyards, and the entrances to deep sea trenches.

“This reminds me of old times, and not in a good way,” Hanon added, grabbing a smaller handful of turquoise colored beads, “I just hope this isn’t a sign that history is going to repeat itself.”

The other Mermaid Princesses followed suit, placing down beads of their respective colors. Soon enough, the map was covered in beads, concentrated in some areas, and scattered in others.

The South Atlantic Ocean had fewer reports, as did the South Pacific Ocean. However, twenty-something reports were still twenty-something too many.

Seira only placed a small handful of orange beads down on the Indian Ocean. "Unfortunately... I don't know if my reports can serve as a reliable representation of what's happening in the Indian Ocean. Even taking into consideration the mermaids who have immigrated to the Indian Ocean, our population is still too small. There are too many blind spots that a demon can exploit."

Fewer than ten beads had been placed down on the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans.

"Hmph,” Caren harrumphed, “Looks like these demons don’t like the cold.”

Noel readjusted her reading glasses, a white light flashing across their lenses. “There’s no temporal-spatial sense to these reports. Although there’s more activity in some areas and less activity in others, when we organize the reports by the date received, it’s impossible to predict where a demon will appear next.”

“They must have teleportation abilities,” Coco drawled, “They always do. Gakuto’s Dark Lovers could teleport, and so could the Winged Servants of Michel.”

“That's very likely, but it could also be that different demons like to lurk in different areas."

“That would explain all the different symptoms found in the local mermaids.”

“That matches up with my subjects’ reports…”

“Once they heard the music…”

“Pain.”

“Paralysis.”

“Fainting."

“Hypnosis.”

As the Mermaid Princesses and their allies discussed among themselves, they began to paint a clearer image of the bigger picture.

There were multiple demons, that much was clear. At least three or four of them, each of them with their own musical style, and each of them inflicting different effects upon they subjected to their music. They seemed to originate from the North Atlantic Ocean, before spreading to the rest of the seven seas, sans the North Pacific Ocean, via teleportation magic. There were no sea demon sightings within the queendoms themselves, but instead, regions that were rarely visited by the local mermaids.

But that was where the trail went cold.

Kaito narrowed his eyes. “Demons don’t just spawn out of nowhere. Only someone as powerful as a full blooded Panthalassan can create demons. We need to track these demons back to their source - their master.”

And just like that, all eyes shifted toward the two Panthalassans in the room.

Kaito sighed into his teacup. “Before anyone asks, no, I haven't been creating demons behind my wife's back.”

”Just had to make sure,” Rina quipped with a wry, sarcastic smile. It was an inside joke between the North Atlantic Princess and the Panthalassan Prince - their close friendship had begun over a similar misunderstanding.

“Okay, but could there be others out there?” Hanon asked curiously, “Panthalassans that survived the war by fleeing to dry land, like the Amagi family?”

Seira, who already knew the answer, pursed her lips.

Rihito shook his head. “Their blood would be too weak and diluted to create demons. Even my full blooded ancestors, as obsessed as they were with maintaining the ‘purity’ of their bloodline, were unable to survive past my mother’s generation.” Rihito’s expression didn’t change, but his knuckles whitened against the rosewood. It was a sore topic for Rihito - the letter his father left in the music box, the secrets he burned to ashes, so many years ago. 

For a moment, it was quiet in the room. 

Lucia closed her eyes, surrounding her body with a faint pink aura that turned rainbow in color. Even in human form, she could access some of her goddess powers.

“Through the powers that I inherited from the previous Aqua Regina... I can confirm that there are no living Panthalassa, and no living Ancients remaining within the seven seas. They have long since departed from this world. I can sense demonic energies… however, when I try to sense their location...” Lucia winced, a drop of sweat falling down her face.

The rainbow aura dissipated.

“Something is blocking my scrying attempts,” Lucia huffed in frustration, “To get past it, I would have to tap into the Reservoir of Aqua Regina.”

She closed her eyes again, but before her aura could reappear, her husband reached out to hold her hand.

Lucia opened her eyes.

Kaito locked eyes with her, his expression pained. “Don’t do it, Lucia. Please. Every time you use the Reservoir, it’s your life force that’s being drained. I don’t care what responsibilities fall upon the Aqua Regina title - I won’t let my wife die young."

Lucia shook her head in protest. "But if I don't do something, these demons could destroy the Mermaid Queendoms that we've worked so hard to rebuild! Just think of all the lives that would be put in danger, Kaito...!"

"Lucia. Please. I've already lost my parents... my brother... my son..." Kaito's voice choked up. "I can't lose you too.”

Nikora placed a hand on Lucia's shoulder. “Listen to your husband, Lucia. Miracles should only be made as a last resort. We will use another method to track down these sea demons”

"Indeed..." Madame Taki hummed, "Perhaps the answer lies within my crystal ball.”

“Hah?” Nikora made a bewildered noise. “Madame Taki, if the literal goddess of the seven seas can’t scry our enemy’s location, I don’t see how you could - ”

“Shu-shush!” Madame Taki waved Nikora away. With a flourish, the elderly pearl oyster fairy produced a crystal ball upon the tea table.

“Wait Madame Taki, that crystal ball is - ”

༶•┈┈༶•༺ ୨♡୧ ༻•༶┈┈•༶

“Hey.” Minato raised an eyebrow. “Hayashi. You’re sure you looped the footage, right?”

“Duh. Of course I did,” Hayashi replied, “Why do you ask?”

The image that appeared within Madame Tami’s crystal ball was not one of sea demons, but a set of scenes arranged in a three by three grid. CCTV footage. The exact same CCTV footage that Hayashi had hacked into.

Through the live camera feed, the recorded voices of Madame Taki and Nikora could be heard.

“Hmm, that’s strange. My crystal ball has revealed… oh my, what's this? A vision of Pearl Piari? Several visions, all at the same time?”

"Madame Taki, that's our security system!”

“Oh ho, so it is. I wonder how that got in here. Well, no matter, no matter. I’ll just reboot the system. Then the crystal ball shall be bright and clear, and it shall guide me to the answers that we seek…”

Understanding dawned upon Hayashi. “Oh no.”

Madame Taki flipped her crystal ball upside down and opened a tiny hatch hidden on its underside. She flipped a hidden switch, and -

The TV Screen to cut to static. The connection had been lost, leaving the three teens staring at a static gray screen.

”Whoops… ehe…” Hayashi scratched his head, sticking out his tongue in a cutesy pose. “Sorry. I didn’t expect her to completely reboot the security system. But hey, at least we didn’t get caught, right?”

”Huh…? Oh, oh right. Yeah.” Rukia nodded, but she was distracted by the revelation she had just learned about her family. It was easily missed, but her father had said something that didn't match the information that she knew about her family.

My son.

Her father... had a son? Which meant Rukia had a brother. Not a half brother, for her parents had married young, and they were too deeply in love to ever cheat on each other. A brother that Rukia had never heard her parents mention before now.

Except.

A childhood memory flashed through Rukia’s mind.

Seven year old Rukia, while her parents were busy cleaning up the house in preparation for the new year. She’d ended up stumbling across a chest of baby’s toys in the attic. One of them had been a stuffed shark plushie with the name ‘Luca’ emblazoned on its side.

“Mama?” Rukia had called out, and her mother had hurried to find her, “What’s this? This sharkie looks like Princess Dolphina. But Princess Dolphina has my name on her, so why does this sharkie have a different name?”

Her mother had peered down, smiling gently as she turned the shark plushie over in her hands.

“Why… your parents were going to give you this sharkie you had been a boy. If you were a girl, we were going to name you Rukia. But if you were a boy, we were going to name you Luca. That’s why Prince Sharkie over here has a different name.”

Had her mother lied to her? If she had… then Rukia couldn’t blame her, for she had lost her precious son, and any reminded of him would refresh the painful memories. But Rukia stil felt conflicted, to uncover a secret underneath a lie she had believed for her entire life.

Going from the way that her father listed him alongside Rukia's deceased grandparents and uncle...

Rukia had a brother. However, he had died before Rukia ever had the chance to meet him.

༶•┈┈༶•༺ ୨♡୧ ༻•༶┈┈•༶

Rukia’s phone let out a sudden ping, vibrating from within her pocket. When she took it out, she saw she had received a few texts from her father.

Meeting's gone overtime. Will try to get things wrapped up in forty-five minutes. 
- Sent 12:20 p.m. 
(from Papa)

How's my little princess doing?
- Sent 12:20 p.m.
(from Papa)

Rukia smiled at the message bubbles that have popped up on her lock screen. Her background was a photo of an underwater coral reef populated with coral of many different shapes and sizes, teeming with tropical fish completely unafraid of the photographer who had captured their images. To this day, Rukia still felt awfully proud of how well the photo turned out. She had snapped it while on a family trip to the Marianas Islands.

With several swipes of her pointer finger, Rukia unlocked her phone. She opened the chatlog she shared with her father, tapping away at the hiragana keyboard to write out her reply.

Shouldn’t u be paying attention?
- Sent 12:21 p.m.

“Hey, whatcha looking at?” A youthful voice queried from where Hayashi suddenly snuck up from behind Rukia. He scanned the contents of her screen without asking for permission, the artificial blue light reflecting off of his slate gray eyes. “Wow, that long, huh? Just how long are they gonna stay in there?”

Rukia shooed the nosy teenager away, banishing him to the other side of the bar counter. After finishing off their lemonade, the three childhood friends were loathe to go outdoors during the hottest hours of the afternoon. For now, they were just relaxing in Pearl Piari’s restaurant AKA indoor café, where Minato had connected Hayashi’s smartphone to the plasma television.

Even though Rukia trusted Hayashi with her deepest and darkest secrets - not that a girl like her had any deep and dark secrets - she still wanted to maintain some degree of privacy. And Hayashi, in his own way, was respecting her privacy, because he wasn’t asking any questions about her mysterious dead brother.

When Rukia returned her attention to her smartphone, she saw that two new message bubbles had popped up.

What your mama doesn’t know won’t hurt her ;)
- Sent 12:24 p.m.
(from Papa)

It’s already lunchtime. Grab some grub if you’re hungry. Don’t worry about us - your mama and papa have an afternoon date.
- Sent 12:25 p.m.
(from Papa)

Rukia looked up from her smartphone. “Hayashi? Minato? Are you hungry? If so, then what do you want to do for lunch?”

“Let’s order takeout!” Hayashi cheered.

“Takeout is too expensive and it takes too long.” Minato pointed out, “Not to mention it’s the middle of tourist season.”

Hayashi wilted. “Ugh, you’re right… we’d be lucky to get our food within two hours.”

“We could just grab something from the convenience store,” Rukia suggested, “It’s only a ten minute walk away.”

“Yeah, might as well,” Hayashi sighed, “Aunt Nikora’s too busy to cook, and I don’t trust Rukia in the kitchen.”

“Hey! I can cook!” Rukia protested.

“Yeah. But we can’t stomach the things that you cook,” Minato reminded Rukia, causing her cheeks to burn with embarrassment. Okay, so… maybe Rukia wasn’t the best cook… but hey, we can’t all be perfect. “Just grab something from the convenience store. I’m not picky.”

“Aren’t you coming with - ”Rukia began to ask, but when she turned around to look at Minato, he'd already put on his wireless earbuds. At this point, getting him to come with her was already a lost cause.

“Ooooh, you’re making a trip to the convenience store? Grab something light and fluffy for me and something with pickled vegetables for Minato!” Hayashi chirped, pouncing on the opportunity to pawn off all the responsibility onto Rukia. The teal haired boy waggled his fingers in a toodle-loo gesture before zooming upstairs to his hotel room.

“You lazy bums!” Rukia cried out, puffing out her cheeks and stomping her feet on the floor.

Chapter Text

The chime of a bell sounded, glass doors slid open, and Rukia stepped out of the convenience store carrying her purchases in reusable shopping bags.

No child of the sea would be caught dead shopping with disposable plastic bags - not when they experienced first hand just how much damage plastic pollution caused to ocean ecosystems. Over the course of her life, Rukia had rescued countless sea creatures from plastic bags, six-pack rings, nets, fishing wire, and other forms of disposable plastic drifting in the seven seas. The state she found those sea creatures in never failed to break her heart.

Rukia glanced down at her purchases.

In the end, she had managed to scrape together enough store-bought items to substitute three simple meals. Fruit sandwiches, melon buns, and cold barley tea for Hayashi. Pickled plum rice-balls, simmered kombu, and instant sencha tea for Minato. Instant udon noodles, shrimp flavored crisps, and an electrolyte replenishing sports drink for herself.

If Hayashi and Minato weren’t satisfied with what Rukia had bought them… Well, too bad for them! If they wanted to eat something else for lunch, then they should’ve come to the convenience store themselves!

Satisfied with her shopping haul, Rukia prepared to head back to Pearl Piari… only to receive an obnoxious buzzing notification from her smartphone. When she checked her notifications, she saw that a typhoon warning had been issued for her area.

Rukia frowned. She should head back to Pearl Piari before the weather gets worse.

Already, a light rain had begun to fall, freshly formed raindrops spattering the - thankfully waterproof - screen of her smartphone. Rukia wiped them off with her blouse, then put her smartphone away. She hadn’t brought an umbrella, but it didn’t seem to matter. The wind was blowing the rain in every conceivable direction. Rukia had no choice but to head back and hope that she reached Pearl Piari before her clothes were completely soaked.

Rukia jogged back to the hotel, carefully avoiding the dips in the pavement where puddles were forming out of the lightly falling rain. She stayed alongside the sea wall. In the distance, she could see a cloud cover forming overhead, swallowing up the afternoon sunlight. The sky darkened to a dull gray, and the sea darkened to a pitch black color. Raging winds caused the palm trees to sway to and fro, caught in the throes of an inescapable dance.

Thankfully, the beach appeared to be completely deserted. Not even a single beach towel or umbrella had been left behind by the beachgoers. The way that it should be.

Rukia, who had received her lifeguard certification several months ago, knew the emergency procedures for a typhoon inside and out. A team of responsible lifeguards would have taken action well before a typhoon alert was issued. The moment they saw the first sign of a storm, they would have evacuated the beachgoers and then closed the beach.

Surely nobody would go to the beach in this weather...

...is what Rukia would have said if she didn't catch sight of someone doing exactly just that.

Making his way across the beach was an undeniably handsome teenager, tall and lanky with dark hair and dark eyes. Dark enough to blend into the pitch black sea. He trudged across the stark desaturated sand, carrying a swallowtail-shaped surfboard with three prong-like fins - a fish surfboard - heading straight toward the incoming tide.

"What is this idiot thinking?!?" Rukia gasped out loud, dropping her shopping bags in disbelief.

“Stop! Get out! Get out of the water!” Rukia shouted at the dark haired boy as she broke into a run, her lifeguard training automatically kicking in. She ran as fast as her legs can carry her, trying her best to intercept the boy even though she knew she’ll never reach him in time. He was too far away, and the wind buffeting against her body carried her voice in the opposite direction.

Rukia could only watch helplessly as the boy stepped into the shallows, set himself up on his surfboard, and somehow managed to paddle past the weaker waves. His movements were those of an amateur as he shakily stood up on a sputtering, unstable surfboard. He seemed to be doing fairly well at first, but there was no way he could last in the middle of a typhoon. When the wave he rode inevitably curled into itself, his surfboard ricochetted forward too fast for him to maintain his balance. The dark haired boy fell, his body immediately swallowed up by the waves.

Rukia’s pupils dilated as the sight sent a shock of adrenaline through her system.

She dashed down the stone steps of the sea wall. It was taking too long - so she didn’t even bother with the lower steps, jumping off of the sea wall once she descended far enough to do so without sustaining heavy injuries. She dropped into a roll as she hit the sand, breaking her fall in the process, and came up running toward the tide.

The same ferocious, unforgiving waves that had swallowed up the dark haired boy now towered above her, threatening to crash down and claim another victim.

Rukia dived in without a second thought.

She didn’t wait for the cluster of bubbles obscuring her vision to float back up to the surface. Immediately, she swam out into the open sea. When her eyes adjusted to the change in lighting, she could see much more clearly than a regular human ever could underwater. She didn’t bother to hold her breath. After flushing all the air out of her body, she took several deep breaths of seawater.

Rukia should be safe from the typhoon as long as she stayed deep underwater, but she can’t say the same for a regular human who could drown within minutes. Even a couple seconds could make the difference between life and death.

So where was he? Where was the idiot who decided to go surfing in the middle of a typhoon?!?

Rukia frantically scanned her surroundings, but she was all alone in the deep blue seawater. Below her, the sea floor was a barren landscape, nothing more than some barnacles, shells, and bottom feeding sea creatures burrowing beneath the sand. Above her, the surface carried nothing except for an abandoned surfboard silhouetted against the stormy sky.

Where was the dark haired boy? Even if he had already drowned, he would have left a body behind. Was he carried away by some sort of underwater current?

Rukia could think of no other plausible explanation. With no other options available to her, she stretched her limbs and reached outward, feeling around for the slightest movement, the slightest resistance, in the water surrounding her - searching for an underwater current that could have carried the dark haired boy away.

Something tugged against her pinkie finger. Encouraged, she reached further, plunging her entire hand in. Followed by her forearm, and then her torso, and then... she found herself plunging all the way in.

The underwater current wasn’t that strong, but it was the only lead she had. Rukia swam together with the current, letting it guide her to her destination while boosting her swimming speed. Surprisingly, the current circled around back to the shore. As it began to curve inland, the sea floor began to rise in elevation. However, instead of the soft and rippled sand of a beach, the barren sea floor gave way to boulders and walls of stone. An underwater cave. The opening was about twice her arm span in diameter.

Rukia entered the cave. Stone walls surrounded her on all sides, yet the current continued onward. It must lead to somewhere - and Rukia must follow it to its end, or else she had no hope of rescuing the dark haired boy.

Thankfully, it wasn’t long before the current led her to a glassy distortion where the air met the water. Rukia broke the surface with a splash. Her limp strawberry blonde hair clung to her face as droplets of seawater dribbled down her upper body.

She spared herself a moment to take in her surroundings. If it wasn’t for her deep sea bloodline, she would be blind in the darkness. She was in some sort of grotto, some sort of central chamber rising out of an underwater cave system. The pocket of air was wide and spacious, despite how close its ceiling came to the surface of the water. Limestone stalactites hung low overhead, greeting the stalagmites rising out of their rippling reflections. The shallow sea floor gave rise to rimstone dams building upon each other as Rukia swam further and further, until she was no longer swimming but wading through waist-deep waters. There must be multiple entrances to the underwater cave system. She could feel it in the multiple currents swirling around, pushing, and pulling past her legs.

The low ceiling opened up in the center, exposing a hole at the very top of the chamber. The overcast sky peeked through, weak rays of light filtering down and forming a circle of dimness down below. It was too high to reach from all the way down, but it was still a good sign. If a human did wash up here, they wouldn’t have to worry about depleting the oxygen in the air.

Rukia couldn’t remember if her parents had ever told her about a place like this before. Many mythical and mysterious landmarks lay scattered across the town where her parents had first met - Awamisaki - a town touched time and time again by the merfolk. Could this cave system be one of them? It was the first time she’s ever been to this place, but the atmosphere here felt awfully nostalgic, for some reason.

Whatever you do, don’t go into the ocean unsupervised. No matter what.

Rukia winced, recalling her father's words. The one rule she was supposed to follow, above all else, and she broke it - without any hesitation whatsoever. The last thing she wanted to do is make her parents worry.

But this wasn’t about her. There was someone that she had to rescue.

Chapter Text

Seawater sloshed around her waist as Rukia made her way deeper into the cavern. Up ahead, she could see some shelves jutted out of the water. They were covered in moss, their surfaces wet, almost slimy to the touch. If Rukia wasn’t careful, she’d slip and land herself into even more trouble. Taking a calculated risk, she used them to take a shortcut, hauling herself onto the shelves, then slipping back into waist-deep seawater.

Unbeknownst to Rukia, the person she was searching for was only a few meters away.

The dark haired boy peeked out, his dark, glittering eyes watching her warily. When Rukia caught sight of him, he scowled and darted back behind the cover of the rocks.

“Hey!” Rukia exclaimed.

The dark haired boy didn’t answer her.

“It’s okay!” Rukia called out as her eyes fell upon something dark and shiny smeared on the rocks. She couldn't make out its color, but the smell of iron was unmistakable. Blood. "I’m a certified lifeguard! I saw you fall while trying to surf in a typhoon and dove in to rescue you!”

Rukia’s voice echoed across the cavern, amplified by the cavern’s natural acoustics. Even the most waterlogged ears should be able to hear her loud and clear. However, the dark haired boy still didn’t answer her. Instead, Rukia heard splashing sounds from his general direction… that grew fainter and fainter as the source of the splashes swam further and further away.

Why this little…!

“Why are you swimming away from me?!” Rukia cried in frustration. She kicked off and half-waded, half-swam her way to catch up to her fleeing target.

Although her dark vision was better than a human’s, the weak rays of sunlight that filtered into the cave were just barely enough for her to make out different shades of gray. Her movements stirred up the seawater around her, causing shallow waves to froth and foam and distort everything that lurked under the surface.

She listened carefully to pinpoint the source of splashes, isolating the original sounds from the echoes that bounced off the cavern walls. Over there, where they were the loudest - a dark, murky, teenage boy-sized shape swam away in retreat.

The ‘shape’ was faster than she expected. Even Rukia, who was a strong swimmer, struggled to overtake it.

Once she gauged she was within range, she shot her hand out and grabbed ahold of the first thing she could reach. She crashed into a solid body that curled protectively around her, shielding her from the rocks around her. 

Both teenagers came up for air at the same time.

Rukia held up her hand. As it turned out, she’d grabbed ahold of the other teenager’s wrist. She could feel the warmth of his body heat slowly overtaking the coolness of the seawater.

Rukia looked up.

The dark haired boy looked down at Rukia with an expression that reminded her of a grumpy dwarfgoby. He sighed, as if her very presence was an inconvenience to him. “You don’t look like a lifeguard.” His voice was low and surprisingly soft. Refined, that the word it brought to mind.

“Ah, that's... that's because I'm off duty right now.”

“I’ve never seen a female lifeguard on the beach before. Do you work at an indoor pool?”

“Oh.” Rukia was grateful for the dim lighting, which hid her blushing, embarrassed face. “No, I’m a beach lifeguard. I got my certification in Hawaii."

“Hawaii?” The dark haired boy raised an incredulous eyebrow. “Are you a foreigner? This better not be some weird excuse that you use to stalk the locals.”

“Eh?!” Rukia’s bashfulness evaporated in an instant, converted directly into boiling hot indignation. Her blush grew hotter, and if she was in a place with better lighting, surely, her face would be as red as a boiled crustacean. “Who would want to stalk you?! You’re a stranger with a terrible personality!”

Why do I even bother? Oh, right - because I’m a decent person who was trying to prevent a drowning! Which, thankfully, never came to pass - but still! You don’t have to act so rude!

Oh, and that reminded her! Even though this idiot managed not to drown, he still got himself injured!

Rukia’s gaze trailed downwards.

His face was clear and unblemished, as was his well defined chest. And there was nothing wrong with his arms, as far as she could tell. The waves lapped against his waist, where -

“My eyes are up here.”

“I’m checking you for injuries!” Rukia retorted, a little louder than was necessary, “You're bleeding, aren’t you? You need to get treated immediately.”

The dark haired boy turned his face away, and she thought she saw him frown. “It’s just a little scrape. It’ll heal on its own.”

“And get infected in the process, I’m sure…” Rukia sighed. If nothing else, she was used to dealing with stubborn people. “Look, there’s no reception down here, and nobody will come to help us in the middle of a typhoon. Let me treat your injuries. Please.”

“Are you saying that you have antiseptic on hand?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” With her free hand, Rukia unzipped her fanny pack. She preferred the practicality of fanny packs to purses, but boy, had it been difficult to find one that was both waterproof and fashionable. She dug past her phone, her makeup compact, and some cash, until she found what she was looking for. Triumphantly, she took out a mini first aid kit. “Ta-dah!”

The dark haired boy stared blankly back at her. “Am I supposed to be looking at something…?”

Oh. Right. Humans couldn’t see in this lighting.

“It’s a first aid kit,” Rukia explained, “Now, can I let go of you so that I can treat your injuries, or will you try to ditch me the moment I let go?”

“Honestly? I’d ditch you.” The dark haired boy confessed without a hint of shame or remorse. “However, since a certain someone would chase me and get herself hurt in the process, I’ve got no choice but to do as she says.”

“At least you’re honest about it,” Rukia decided, and released his wrist. “Where are you injured?”

The dark haired boy was quiet for a moment, as if debating whether or not he should answer her question. But in the end, he relented. “My back.”

Rukia paused. The dark haired boy was already bleeding when she caught him, and yet his first instinct had been to shield her body from impact. Had Rukia, unintentionally, caused him to gash his already bleeding back on the rocks?

“I'm sorry,” Rukia apologized empathetically, “That place is hard to reach on your own. If you turn around, I’ll disinfect your back and bandage it for you.” She brought out her smartphone and swiped the flashlight on. The flashlight beamed a circle of light onto a random wall of rock, an illusory moon broken up by the shadows of overhanging stalactites.

The dark haired boy suddenly jerked away from her. “Turn that off!”

Instinctively, Rukia did as he demanded, almost dropping her phone in the process. Did turning on a phone flashlight really warrant such a reaction? “Why? It’ll help us see better.”

“Just… because.”

“Did you lose your swimsuit or something?”

“…”

Rukia regretted the question the moment it left her lips. The silence it left in its wake only made it worse. So she coughed, trying to change the subject. “Um. How about I let you borrow my phone, and you can treat your own injuries? Do you think you can reach them on their own?”

“I told you, it’s just a little scrape,” The dark haired boy reminded her, “Here, hold out your hands.”

“Why?” Rukia asked, but she held out her hands anyways.

“I’ll show you.”

A pair of long and slender hands enveloped her own. They guided her to make direct contact with the side of other teenager’s body. His bare skin was warm, wet and smooth from the seawater, and Rukia could feel the outline of his ribs underneath his muscles.

”Wh-What are you doing?” Rukia stammered.

The dark haired boy guided her hands towards his back, turning to the side to give her easier access. “Just a little further is where I scraped myself. You can disinfect it, and then bandage it, or whatever you lifeguards are supposed to do.”

Rukia gulped. “Okay.”

Come on, Rukia. You’ve been on the swim team since elementary school. You’re a certified lifeguard. And it’s not like you’ve never hugged or kissed a boy before. What’s a little skin-on-skin contact? 

Rukia handed him her first aid kit. It wasn’t much, just a bottle of antiseptic, some cotton balls, bandages, and gauze, but it should be enough. “Hold this while I get to work. Can I use one of the extra big bandages, or do I need to wrap your wound in gauze?”

“Gauze. A bandage won’t be long enough.”

“That sounds like more than just a ‘little’ scrape!”

Rukia disinfected her hands, then poured some antiseptic onto a cotton ball. The dark haired boy, to his credit, didn’t so much as hiss when she applied the antiseptic soaked cotton to his wound. Then, she applied the gauze pads, holding them in place as she wrapped the gauze around and around his torso. She could feel the roughness where the skin had been scraped off, and with her limited dark division, she could make out a streak of darkness running across his back.

She worked quietly and methodically, interrupted only by the sound of mineral water dripping down stalactites. Within this sanctuary of a cave, the howling winds were nothing more than muffled white noise in the distance.

While she dabbed away the remaining blood and disinfectant, she could feel the weight of the other teenager watching her.

“You aren't from around here, are you? Otherwise, you'd know the local legend about this cave."

"What local legend?"

“Normally, this cave system is flooded by all the sea currents that lead into it. However once a year, on the summer solstice, the tide is low enough for people to enter without swimming underwater. According to the legend, a mermaid once saved a human’s life by leading his boat into this very cave.”

“And then that human went on to become the founder of Awamisaki...” Rukia’s eyes widened in recognition. “This must be Awami Cave. There’s a shrine on the cliff above this cave, isn’t there? Awami Shrine?”

”Yes, but how did you know?”

“I’ve been here before. And I have a friend whose family members are the caretakers of that shrine.”

“Huh. I guess you aren't a foreigner, then.”

“I never said I was."

It made sense. Today, June 8th, was three days before Rukia’s birthday on the 11th, and thirteen days before the summer solstice on the 21st. Today, the water was waist deep, but if she came back in two weeks, she’d be walking on dry sand and pebbles and seashells.

The last time Rukia visited Awami Cave was when she was still a small child, together with her family and childhood friends. It had been so long ago, and Awami Cave looked completely different during the summer solstice. If Mr. Typhoon Hotshot over here hadn’t reminded her of that old mermaid legend, Rukia doubted she would’ve recognized the cave.

Rukia smoothed out the last of the gauze. She’d used up all of it, and she made a mental note that she’d have to replace it later.

How much time had passed? When Rukia strained her ears, she could no longer hear the howling winds.

“It sounds like the typhoon is dying down.”

“Does that mean you can go away now?”

“And leave an injured person alone in a cave that could flood at any moment? I don’t think so.”

༶•┈┈༶•༺ ୨♡୧ ༻•༶┈┈•༶

"Hello, hello, hello....?"

"Is there someone down there, there, there...?"

A voice echoed from somewhere deeper within the cave. It sounded human enough, but that was no guarantee that the source of the voice was human. Could it be a sea demon… Or was Rukia just too spooked by her father’s words from earlier?

"Do you hear that?" Rukia asked.

"Loud and clear,” replied the dark haired boy, who for some reason, didn’t seem too keen on leaving the cave anytime soon. Although Rukia was hesitant to leave him alone, she let him have his space, to allow him some privacy. “Are you going to go rescue them as well?"

"Ha ha, very funny." Rukia wrinkled her nose. "If someone's in trouble, I can't just ignore them." She carefully waded, climbed, and swam her way toward the source of the voice. The voice came from high above, where the cave ceiling opened up into a dome shape, where there was a small, circular opening in the cave ceiling that connected the cave to the outside world.

She looked up, into the weak rays of light that managed to filter in past the stormy gray cloud cover.

A group of men and women dressed in traditional kimono peered down from high above. One of them was a tall, handsome adult man with moss green hair and round glasses. Rukia recognized him. This man was Masahiro Touin, or as Rukia better knew him as, the father of Minato Touin.

“Is that you, Rukia?” Now that Rukia could match the voice to a face, yes, she recognized that this was definitely a human voice.

”Mr. Touin?” Rukia called out, cupping her hands around her mouth, “What are you doing here?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?” Mr. Touin replied, laughing good-naturedly, “You’re in my backyard. I was working from home, so that I could oversee the move-in process, when I received a typhoon warning. Not long afterwards, your parents called the landline. They asked me to search for you once the storm died down.”

“My parents? I hope I didn’t make them worry too much…” Rukia groaned. ”How did they know I was here?”

“Some form of divination, I believe. But how did you end up in Awami Cave, Rukia? Aren’t you supposed to be at Pearl Piari with Hayashi and Minato?”

“Well, I was trying to rescue someone who was in danger…”

Yet when Rukia turned around to glance behind her, there was nobody to be found. In the spot the dark haired boy had been, she could only make out rocks jutting out of the water. He was gone. Without so much as a single splash. And honestly, Rukia should’ve expected this outcome.

Rukia let out a long, heavy sigh. ”But now that the danger’s over, he’s decided to ditch me..."

༶•┈┈༶•༺ ୨♡୧ ༻•༶┈┈•༶

The storm was over. As it turned out, it had been a storm, a tropical storm, and not a typhoon, for only a storm that reached a certain magnitude could be considered a typhoon. Contrary to what meteorologists predicted would happen, this storm that died in less than two hours never had the change to evolve into a typhoon.

High above the skyline, the stormy gray cloud cover was starting to disappear. And thankfully, it wasn’t raining anymore.

Nestled between the resorts on the beach and the towering skyscrapers of downtown Awamisaki was an especially wealthy and affluent neighborhood. And in this neighborhood was an apartment complex that Ryuusei Kurosuna now found himself entering.

Ryuusei took an elevator to the highest floor, where the penthouse suite was located.

His fingerprint unlocked the security system.

When he stepped into the penthouse, the door fell shut and automatically locked itself behind him. When he looked down, he saw that someone had left a pair of brand new, pristine white sneakers in the hallway without bothering to put them in the shoe cubby. Ryuusei clicked his tongue. What a mess.

“I’m home,” Ryuusei called out, as he switched his sandals out for a pair of house slippers, placing his sandals on top of the shoe cubby.

He walked into the living room, where another teenage boy was playing a chess game against the computer CPU. This teenager was Ryou Shirahama, Ryuusei’s half-brother, who lived together with him in this luxurious yet lonely penthouse. Ryou was about the same height and body type as Ryuusei, but that was where the similarities ended. Ryou’s hair was white blonde, and his eyes were the color of glittering glaucous.

Ryou looked Ryuusei up and down, taking in the latter’s damp hair, bandaged torso, and swim trunks.

“Were you out surfing again?” Ryou’s tone was light and chastising, and a little condescending. ”You know the doctor won’t be happy when he finds out.”

“Who’s going to tell him?”Ryuusei’s tone carried a sharp, warning edge.

His half brother snickered. “Not me. I find it hilarious, what you’re doing. A merman trying to teach himself how to surf… You’re an inspiration, really. You’re the little merman who couldn’t.”

“Shut up.”

“That’s no way to speak to your older brother.” Ryou held his hand over his heart, as if personally offended. “And here I went ahead and drew your bath for you. What an ungrateful child you are, Ryuusei.”

“First of all, you’re only one month older than me. Second, you drew a bath for yourself - you just didn’t drain the tub afterwards.”

“Even so, I still did you a favor.”

Ryuusei rolled his eyes. “I don’t have time for your teasing, Ryou.” Without another word, he brushed past his half-brother and walked purposefully through the penthouse until he entered the spa room. A beautiful marble bathtub was built into the floor of the spa room, large enough to fit multiple people, and deep enough to swim around in.

Ryuusei threw his beach clothes into the laundry hamper. He grabbed a shower nozzle, rinsed himself off, and slipped into the bathtub as he began to transform.

His dark brown hair turned jet black, and his eyes, the color of smoky quartz, turned jet black with gold speckled irises. His legs merged into a jet black tail, sleek and shiny with black, brown, and gold scales protecting the smaller, more delicate parts. The mammalian fluke of his tail fanned into fish-like, fluttering, gold speckled fins.

Dangling from a cord around his neck was a black pendant, small and flat and circular like the shape of a compass.

Ryuusei placed his hand on the gauze bandage wrapped around his torso. Despite himself, his wandering thoughts kept drifting back to the person who applied the bandage. His lips parted, and softly, he began to sing.

Echoes of distant prayers are unknown to me
They seem to be as thin and clear as a waking dream…

His voice trailed off, leaving the last note hanging in the air.

A typhoon warning was the perfect opportunity for a merman to sneak onto the beach without any humans around. There was no such thing as an empty beach during the daytime - at least, not where the waves were surfable - and even midnight escapades risked the chance of encountering a drunk skinny dipper. Only something like a typhoon warning would guarantee him a completely empty beach.

That’s how it has been until now. Until a human girl appeared and proved that, yes, there were people out there with no sense of self preservation. Ryuusei had tried to shoo her away, for fear of her stumbling upon his secret, but every attempt only made her even more concerned about his safety. He had even been forced to sacrifice his own dignity, just to throw her off his trail.

“She should worry about herself before worrying about others,” Ryuusei grumbled, flicking his tail restlessly to hide his embarrassment, “Swimming after someone in the middle of a tropical storm… There’s something strange about that girl…”

But for now, Ryuusei was content to push these thoughts to the back of his mind. He’d gotten away with his secret intact, and as far as he knew, he’d never have to see her again.