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Nene wouldn’t call herself obsessive. Though she was quite particular in how she arranged her collected belongings from humans, or how she’d peek her head out and watch the shore for any visitors, or maybe how she practiced imitating that strange language those humans spoke, forming words and syllables on her lips… Surely that wasn’t obsessive, right?
Okay. Maybe just a little. But humans were such fascinating creatures! They were unlike any specimens she’d seen before—she knew of the smallest things from shrimps to the largest of sharks, to the more unique starfish and plankton. But these humans lived above . In a wholly unexplored land she could only watch from the comfort of the sea. And though she had all she needed from shelter to food, some unexplainable part of her wished to jump out of the water and join the humans she so adored.
The problem? The last time she attempted that, she found herself gasping for breath and flopping around until a fellow mermaid found her and brought her back in. So, her dreams were quite physically impossible. All she could do was dream and yearn. She could hardly see the sky from under the water, but she noticed how cloudy it was becoming.
In her chest, she felt a dip. There was something wrong with the sky.
‧₊˚♪ 𝄞₊˚⊹
Thunder roared throughout the area. Clouds grew murky and veiled the sky, ready to start pouring down any second now. Great , Tsukasa thought. At least it reflects how I feel right now.
He’d never been so disappointed in himself before. Though he’s faced countless rejections, it was this he put all his hope in. It was a new troupe at a local public theater, and though he made the cut for auditions—and after acting his damn hardest to the point beads of sweat were pasted on his forehead—they had the gall to tell him he lacked star factor . Him? Lacking star factor?!
He nearly got on his knees on stage and begged for a reevaluation. But stars were above such desperation. He tried to keep his head up, but the moment he walked out of that theater, he felt a deep sense of dread curling at his stomach like a weight.
Now, he stood in front of the sea, just some meters away from the scene of the crime. Not as though he felt suicidal in any way, but he did want to get lost and be forgotten by the world. Not die. Those were two completely different feelings.
And as if things couldn’t get any worse, a large flash of white blinded him, descending from the skies and landing directly onto the water. The blond yelped and fell backwards as the rain started to drench his perfectly swept hair and freshly ironed clothes. A large crack of thunder and a scream followed—wait, a scream? Did thunder usually make that noise?
When he came to his senses, Tsukasa saw someone sprawled on the shore. It was a girl with mint-green hair and a soft white dress, whimpering and clutching herself in a fetal position. Without hesitation, he ran. Questions ran through his mind as the sand crunched under his shoes. Was she struck by lightning? Or, maybe she was close enough at least to be disoriented… Electrocuted, maybe? Whatever it was, he needed to take her to a hospital. Stat.
When he reached her, Tsukasa noticed her feet were bare. He wanted to do the courtesy of finding her shoes and bringing them with him to save her some trouble, but all he saw was sand. Never mind that! He scooped up the shivering girl in his arms and ran off in search of a hospital. As he made it back on the street, he heard a few small muttered words coming from her. Though his heart was beating so hard and fast, he could only make out one: water .
…Was she thirsty?
Her eyes shot open. For a good second, the two stared as if the world had stopped. Tsukasa admired her amethyst eyes. Then, she began to gasp for breath, flipping around in his hold as if a fish out of water. “C-Calm down!” He urged. Did she think he was kidnapping her?! “I-I was trying to bring you to a hospital!”
“Water!” The girl screamed. W-What was she on about?! “I need water!”
Tsukasa gaped, head swinging around in search of something. Anything. He was terribly confused. “I don’t have any?! We could buy some, or—”
“No! Take me back to the water!”
Was she trying to drown herself?!
After a few more panicked moments of her flopping around, and of Tsukasa petrified and unsure of what was happening, she stilled, her rapid breaths subsiding into a more controlled, calm pace. She glanced at him, then back to the sea. “Am I here?”
…what?
“You’re here, yes…” Tsukasa replied. “W-Were you electrocuted? Or… or… H-Hospital, do you need to go to a hospital?” His words stammered over each other.
She blinked and gaped, narrowing her gaze as if he were the insane one here.
“I don’t… understand. H-Hospital? Elec… through… Huh?”
Ah, so that’s what it was. She was a foreigner, surely!
“Do you need help?” He asked.
She seemed to recognize that and shook her head. “Put me down… Please?”
“Oh, right.” After placing her on her feet, the girl struggled to stand, but found her footing. “Are you sure you don’t need to rest? You seem, um, dizzy? I can walk you home.”
Home? Home was the water… She thought, then pointed to the sea. “That is my home.”
Tsukasa raised both brows. “Are you homeless?”
“No, I have one. It’s there. I live there.”
“You can’t really… um…” In his mind, there was a typhoon of conflicting emotions. He tried to be as nice as he could, but this was starting to test him a bit.
She pondered visibly, her eyes staring deep into his soul. “Can you take me to yours?”
H-Huh?
This is not what he expected, not in a million years. But this girl was seemingly homeless. Was she looking for shelter, or was this some human trafficking tactic? Well, he might as well try to pry some information out of her.
“Do you need a home…?” He asked.
She shook her head.
“Do you have your I.D.?”
Another shake.
“Okay… Can I get your name at least?”
“Nene.”
…He wasn’t sure what to do next.
Oh well. She didn’t look harmful.
‧₊˚♪ 𝄞₊˚⊹
Nene glanced around the apartment as if a kid in a candy store, staring at all the shiny trinkets and objects around. As she wandered around in adoration while Tsukasa closed the door behind them. He watched as she took a pawn from a chessboard he forgot to put away and stared in both awe and confusion. Nene felt it around in her palm, then dropped it for the next interesting thing. At least this seemed less and less like an assassination attempt.
“Don’t you want shoes? Slippers? I can’t imagine it’s too comfortable walking around bare feet,” he said, yet received no response. She was too preoccupied with ransacking his apartment like some child to a visiting relative who doesn’t know how to keep to themselves.
“Alright… I’ll go cook lunch then. Do you have any allergies?”
She paused. Allergies? “No fish food.”
“No… uh, seafood. Right. Got it.”
He excuses himself to the kitchen, allowing Nene free roam of the area.
So this is what a human’s house looks like? How fascinating…
She was amazed at every corner. She sat on a big, plush seat that had a little spring when she applied some pressure to it. And in front of it was a glass box with buttons. After fiddling with it, it sparkled into life, flashing lights and images, and noises. She stared in a hypnotic daze.
When Tsukasa returned with a plate of spaghetti, he found Nene standing before the TV. “Nene?” He called. Nothing.
Hesitantly, he approached her and tapped her shoulder. She yelled and stumbled. Before she could slip, he caught her with one hand, the other clutching onto the plate. He blushed as he helped her back up, biting on his lip. “Sorry for startling you… Here. I hope you like it. Don’t mind the mess.”
He set the spaghetti on the coffee table, where splayed flyers sat. Nene looked at it as if it were any other object in this room.
“Y-You can sit and eat. I don’t mind,” He said, scratching the back of his neck.
She nodded in some understanding, taking a seat on the couch, and eating the spaghetti with her bare hands. Tsukasa gawked. He’s seen people eating with their hands before, yes, but that was usually for rice meals and finger foods… not noodles. But who was he to judge?
He gazed pointedly elsewhere—anywhere, really. The awkwardness was killing him. When she was finished, he took the plate to the sink and returned with a paper towel. “Here. To wipe your fingers.”
She grabbed and fiddled with it before cleaning herself up, leaving behind a little stain of sauce on the corner of her lip. Tsukasa noticed and grew redder. He coughed into his palm, catching her attention. “There’s something on…” He pointed to the area on his face.
“Oh!” She stood and wiped his face with the used paper towel, getting sauce on his cheek. “Is it gone?”
His jaw dropped. “I… I meant your face.”
Now, it was her turn to blush. She messed up. Bad. “Ah! Sorry.” She wiped the area on her face.
The two went quiet. The silence was enough to choke him like carbon emissions. Outside, the sun had begun to set, setting the room alight in an orange hue.
Tsukasa coughed again. “I should excuse myself.”
Nene said nothing in return. Eager to leave, Tsukasa turned on his heel and locked himself in the bathroom. He stared at the red sauce on his face and the red blush on his cheeks. Either that girl was horrible at social cues, or she was from some incredibly different culture. He didn’t want to judge or alienate her, but… could she not even be human? He reconsidered how he found her—he swore the shore was empty before the lightning strike. Then suddenly, she appeared. And it’s not like she washed up on shore. She wasn’t coughing out water, nor was she struck by lightning. It was almost like she spawned out of thin air.
Then, there was the way she pointed to the water and referred to it as home . How she had trouble breathing and walking. How she roamed his apartment as if she were in some fantasy world.
Was… was she perhaps a mermaid ?!
He’s heard of sightings around the specific area of people in the water. He believed it to be some urban legend. Some person reporting fake news just for attention. But, if his suspicions were right… Then how did she become human? Where was her tail? Her scales?
Unless that lightning… Could it be a miracle?
After washing his face, he barged back into the living room and confronted her. “I know exactly what you are.”
“Hm?” She tilted her head. “What am I?”
“A mermaid…?”
“Is that what you call us…? Huh.” She hummed as if this was some lint on her clothing. Tsukasa expected… Well, more than this, at least.
He sighed and sat next to her. “You could’ve said something.”
“I thought you knew.”
“And how was I supposed to know?!”
She shrugged. He slapped his forehead and groaned.
“There are a lot of these papers,” She noted, picking up one of the strewn flyers across the table, this one about a play on a group of teenagers in the afterlife. “What do these mean?”
His eyes widened. “Oh, uh, they’re advertisements about shows… I assume you don’t understand what I’m talking about.”
“No, sorry.”
“It’s fine, I’ll explain.” He continued how he’s been struggling to find work, how even though he’s graduated, it seems like he’s lost himself. He went on about what the art of theater was, how much meaning it had on him since taking his younger sister to one. How he couldn’t afford to leave the country in case his sister fell ill. All the while, Nene listened attentively, albeit asking more questions than necessary; she was one of the first people who cared to hear what he had to say.
And Tsukasa knew he couldn’t dare tell any of this to Saki. Spare her any more bad news.
It was nice. Having someone to talk to, some sounding board for his issues, even though she wasn’t entirely aware of what he was going on about.
“So, that’s where I am today. I found you after yet another rejection, sprawled on the sand.”
“I see…” She nodded, the infodump practically causing her head to spin. “Is that why you seem so sad?”
He half-shrugged. “I wouldn’t really say I am. I don’t have time to focus on my emotions like that. I need to keep looking.”
“But, can’t you slow down? You are putting a lot of pressure on yourself.”
“Like I said, I can’t waste time looking back. I must… strive…” He trailed off. She… She kind of had a point. What was he doing? Pushing himself to the limits again? Until what? He broke down and shattered, exhausted? “I… Maybe you are right.”
She pouted. “Were you just torturing yourself? You humans are so weird.”
“Indeed, we are.” He couldn’t help but laugh. “Maybe it’s high time I took a break to reflect.”
She glanced back at the TV, where the channel was on a sitcom. It was one of the later episodes, where the show began taking itself seriously. On screen, a couple was settled on a couch, sharing a blanket, watching the sunset. Cheesy, yes. But this one was Tsukasa’s favorite.
“Is this what normal people are like?” Nene asked, turning back to Tsukasa.
The blond grinned and chuckled. “There’s no such thing as normal people. You, for instance, are definitely not normal in any dictionary description. But, I feel any of us are too multi-faceted to be.”
She looked back at the TV, and the pair went into silence, watching.
“What is a multi-face thing?”
“Shush. It’s getting to the best part.”