Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The dining hall buzzed with conversation and laughter, the seated merfolk of high status pretending they cared about each other’s lives, asking questions like, Oh, and how did that deal go?, trying to figure out the secret to such an investment. Or maybe statements like, Your daughter is so gorgeous, I think she’d get along just well with my son, in attempts to make good connections through their kids, who both looked like they were just this close to killing each other with the fine silverware.

Haruka could agree with that sentiment. It was his eighteenth birthday banquet, and instead of getting what he would have liked, which was a peaceful day without all the attention, he was forced to indulge in all these snobby pleasantries. It's not like he fought it much anyway. His parents always got what they wanted in the end.

The merpeople seated around him asked about his life—his studies, his training, his love life. All of which were given vague responses: Good, good, fine. And when they attempted to pry him for answers, he didn’t provide any. He’s not gonna play their weird game of false niceties. 

This would have been less of a chore if he had been allowed to sit with his friends, who were put further down the long table. Makoto, the son of the Commander of the Iwatobi naval, and Nagisa, one of the most popular performers in the kingdom. They were also seated away from each other, and all three of the boys had resorted to communicating through facial expressions and gestures—Nagisa, wide-eyed and moving his hands animatedly, Makoto, smiling politely, and Haru, shrugging, nodding, or shaking his head.

In the middle of the meal, the Queen rose from her spot beside Haru (which was, unfortunately, at the head, front and centre with the King on his right). 

The room quieted without prompting, and everyone turned to look at Haru’s mother. She smiled at them all. “Thank you all for attending. I appreciate that so many of you came to celebrate Haruka turning eighteen, and I am sure that he, too, is happy to see you all.” She pinched his cheek, and he grimaced. “Even if he doesn’t show it.” There was a chuckle that ran through the rest of the table. Makoto gave Haru a sympathetic look; Nagisa laughed louder than the rest.

“Now that Haruka is an adult, he’ll be taking on more responsibilities in preparation for when he becomes king. Rest assured, we will take care in preparing him for the future. He will listen when there is unrest, and he will keep us safe from the southern threat, just as my husband does now.” Southern threat caused Haru’s heart rate to speed up the slightest bit. “You are all in good hands.” She put a hand on Haru’s shoulder. “To Haruka.”

“To Haruka,” Everyone else echoed back, and the Queen sat back down, satisfied.

Everyone continued their meal and conversations, while the Queen spoke to Haru, “You understand your responsibilities, right?”

Haru nodded.

She cut into the salmon before her and said, “Do you also understand that you must look for a wife soon?”

Haru stilled.

It’s standard within the royal family that those who are preparing to take over the throne must have a spouse chosen, solely to keep up appearances. It would reflect better on them if they were certain that they could continue the royal bloodline.

None of the mermaids in Iwatobi had Haru’s interest, but he could find one. Eventually. He’ll meet a mermaid who fits his parents' standards and his own. Whatever his standards were. He wasn’t sure of them himself, but he had to have some if he was still single.

“Good,” His mother said, and didn’t say anything else to him for the rest of the meal.

⬺

“I bet you’re super excited to be king, Haru! Everyone just adores you!” 

The meal was over, but the celebrations continued, with merfolk milling about in the courtyard, chatting it up with people they hadn’t had a chance to before when everyone was seated. Haru, Makoto, and Nagisa were among them.

The three were floating off to the side, away from everyone else. However, this did not stop others from interrupting their conversation to wish Haru a happy birthday and talk him up a little.

If you want someone to take your asskissing, then go find my parents.

Haru fixed Nagisa with a bored look. “Do I look excited?”

Nagisa waved him off. “I’m sure it’s something you’ll grow into.”

“Nagisa, don’t be insensitive,” Makoto chided. He then gave Haru a reassuring look. “It’s still a ways off. Nothing to stress about just yet.”

“Hey, speaking of stress, guess what kind of play we’re working on now!”

Nagisa’s production team always worked hard on their plays, but it paid off, garnering enough attention that even the King and Queen thought highly of them. Nagisa was by far the most talented actor among the crew, and definitely in Iwatobi. And while Haru was being targeted for attention tonight, some merfolk had also stopped by to compliment Nagisa.

Haru wouldn’t outright say it, but he was also quite impressed with Nagisa’s skills. “What kind?”

Nagisa gave them a dark grin. “It’s a horror about a pair of young mermaids sneaking into Samezuka!”

Makoto paled slightly. “Ah.” 

Haru raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

Nagisa nodded fervently. “Mhm! And once in Samezuka, they’re immediately captured!”

Makoto pales further. “I don’t suppose there’s a happy ending then?”

“Nope.” Nagisa shakes his head. “I can’t spoil it, but just know that the mersharks do exactly what you’d think they’ll do! And according to my boss, it’s based on a true story!”

“Then I hope you’re not expecting me to show up…” Makoto looked queasy, without even knowing what the performance would bring.

“But Mako!” 

Mersharks… The southern threat.

Haru knew full well that when he became king, he was expected to be prepared in the event of an invasion; there hadn’t been contact with them in almost four centuries, but, with them living so close, it was hard to ignore the possibility. Haru’s parents painted it as less of an ‘if’ and more of a ‘when’. It will happen, according to them, and even though there wasn’t a timeframe for it, they have to be prepared.

While Haru was scared of the mersharks, like everyone else, he also couldn’t help being a little bit curious about them. The people of Iwatobi were told from childhood that mersharks were scary looking; tough, grey skin all over, with slightly elongated heads. Huge, sharp teeth, the size of a hand. Mersharks themselves were twice the size of a full-grown mermaid, and were said to be able to eat one in just two bites.

Obviously, that was a terrifying image. But Haru kind of wanted to see one in person. Like some would with a killer whale; it may be deadly, but if seen from a safe distance, or maybe from the outside of an enclosure, it would be an incredible sight.

Or maybe it would give him nightmares, like Makoto was currently worried about.

“Aww.” Nagisa pouted. “But what about you, Haru? You’ll be there, right?” 

Haru shrugged. If anything, it’ll give him an excuse to leave the castle for a little while. Plus, he was a bit interested in this ‘true story’. “Yeah, sure.”

Nagisa cheered before resuming his mission of convincing (pestering) Makoto to see the show too. 

Haru will see a real mershark one day. For now, he’ll have to settle for one designed for entertainment.

⬺

As it turned out, Haru’s preparation to be King was entirely composed of long lectures, much like his scholarly ones. He’d had these ‘Lessons in Royalty’ before he turned eighteen, but they were much more general. Now, he was learning in depth about politeness (do I really have to know all these social cues?) and etiquette (how many forks are there?).

When his mom had said he’d begin taking more responsibilities, he expected more practical work and less theoretical. Not that he wanted that. He really didn’t like doing things, but this was getting to be so boring…

“Haruka!” His instructor's gruff voice startled him out of the drowsiness that threatened to take him. “Am I that boring, kid?”

Haru sighed from where he was sitting on a cushioned chair and pulled his tail up to his chest, bending it at the middle. “No, Mr. Sasabe.”

Mr. Sasabe tilted his head. “Then did you get enough sleep last night?” He asked. “I’m pretty sure your curfew isn’t that late.”

“Ah.” Haru didn’t know how to explain to Mr. Sasabe that he wasn’t boring, just the lesson. Haru rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. Couldn’t sleep.”

Mr. Sasabe seemed to be contemplating for a moment before saying, “Alright then, I think that’s enough for today anyway. I’ll let you go a bit early.” He smiled.

“Oh. Okay. Thank you.” Haru rose and stretched his limbs while Mr. Sasabe cleaned up the scrolls he’d been using for the lesson, tying them back up with stretched bubble coral before placing them with the many others on the overflowing shelves.

“Go get some rest, kid.” Mr. Sasabe turned back to Haru, a glint in his eye and a mouth stretched into a grin. “You’ll need it for tomorrow.”

Haru raised an eyebrow, but didn’t feel like questioning it. Maybe Mr.  Sasabe had a pop quiz planned for him tomorrow. Or perhaps another overdramatic skit in which Haru had to pretend he was already King and had to respond to a very pressing issue (“King Haruka! The hunters would like to know if it would be beneficial to hunt each other for food!” “What?”). He nodded and swam out of the classroom.

⬺

Apparently, all of the castle staff knew what tomorrow would bring, which raised Haru’s suspicions. It was one thing if a few of them knew and mentioned it to Haru (Mr. Sasabe liked to talk), but it was another thing if all his servants were rushing him through his nightly routine, especially when they had never bothered before and left him to his own devices.

Usually, Haru would lie in the garden, letting the warm water settle over him before getting ready for bed. At least an hour was spent out there, surrounded by the fox coral grown in the very centre. But this time, the servants barely let him go for twenty minutes, insisting that he had no time for such a thing tonight. 

“Seriously?” Haru asked as he was shoved back into the castle.

“ Yes, seriously,” she huffed. “You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow.”

Haru scowled as she dragged him through the castle corridors. “Is anyone gonna tell me what’s happening?” He was starting to get worried. What if he has to do something tomorrow? But I hate doing things …

She looked back at him and smiled, which did not help Haru’s sinking feeling. “Sorry, Prince Haruka. It’s a surprise.”

His scowl deepened, and he fought the urge to drag his tail like a child.

⬺

Whatever it was, it started with his father waking him up way earlier than Haru was accustomed to. 

“Haruka, my boy, it’s time to wake up!”

Haru’s only response was a confused grunt. His eyes opened the slightest bit to squint at his father, and his tail curled further into his chest from where he lay in his nest of sand-filled pillows.

His father floated in the opening to his room, hands on his hips. “Don’t give me that. Today’s gonna be fun!”

Haru lifted his head up the slightest bit. “And why is that?”

His father grinned. “I’m taking you beyond the south border today.”

Haru sat up. 

Should they ever attack, the south border was in place as a defence against the Samezuka mersharks. Beyond the border was a large expanse of coral reef, and beyond that was a large mountain that held the entrance to a vast cave system, most of it underground. There was only one path through the caves that would lead out to the bottom of the cliff where Iwatobi was situated on. That was the entrance to Samezuka.

Haru was venturing out there today…

His father chuckled at the look on his face and held up a hand. “Now, now, son. We won't be going near the caves today. We’ll only focus on the reef.”

Reef only today, but that did mean they would go into the caves sometime in the near future, right? 

Haru didn’t know if he should feel excited or apprehensive.

His father was leaving Haru’s room as he said, “Just get ready! I’ll tell you more when we get out there.”

⬺

Instead of getting dressed in his usual wear, gold adornments that covered a majority of his torso, he was instead given a chestplate, the same type that members of the naval wear. This did nothing to settle Haru’s nerves, but he put it on anyway. He was still given his crown and gold armbands.

His father had already left and was waiting by the south border, so Haru was escorted there by one of the palace guards, who was, unfortunately, very chatty. Like an older Nagisa, but less endearing.

Meeting his father by the gates, he looked around. He’d never been to this side of Iwatobi before. It looked… Empty. There were plenty of buildings, but they seemed worse for wear. The stone was cracked, and some buildings even had large openings in the walls, parts of it in heaps on the ground, or even missing. There was no one in sight. This place was, evidently, abandoned.

His father must have caught his questioning gaze. “Yeah, nobody wants to be the first down when the mersharks attack. The buildings that are still standing may be cheap, but,” he shrugged, “it just isn’t worth it.”

No one was coming to fix these buildings. Everyone was so sure that the mersharks would attack that they left part of the kingdom to be forgotten entirely. 

Sometimes, in some rare moments, Haru can’t help but wonder if everyone is just super paranoid. If the mersharks were as ruthless and mindless as they say, then wouldn’t they have come to attack already? 

His father had said ‘when’, just like everyone says. And soon, Haru will have to be ready for that ‘when’, right?

He didn’t feel ready. He didn’t even feel like it was something he should be prepared for. He just didn’t feel the urgency that consumed everyone else. 

And sometimes, late at night, when his eyelids were heavy, and he could feel sleep creeping up on him like a predator, he had the briefest thought that maybe, maybe, everyone was wrong about the mersharks.

Though he never remembered these thoughts the next morning.

His father’s hand on his shoulder jolted him out of his reverie. “Ready to see the sea south of Iwatobi?”

Haru slowly nodded and then followed his father through the gates.

⬺

He’d imagined the coral forest a few times before, when he was younger. In his mind’s eye, the coral was a million different colours, just one big rainbow. He dreamed about swimming through bright reds and blues and lying under greens and oranges. He had imagined the forest to be full of life, with beta fish and sea slugs that blended in with the coral. He thought about chasing the different fish, and maybe even seeing a sea turtle.

Now that Haru was more mature, he tried to rein in his expectations a little, but he still wound up disappointed.

The forest was very dull. There were blues and reds, sure, but they looked so unsaturated. The coral itself was huge and packed together, and Haru doubted it would be easy to swim freely through it. Didn’t look like there were any animals either.

Six-year-old Haru would have pouted and swum back into Iwatobi. But eighteen-year-old Haru only let his shoulders drop before following his father through the forest.

“Why are we out here?” He asked.

“Well,” his father started, running a hand through his beard. “As King, once a week, I must join the guards patrolling the forest to ensure they are doing what they should be.” He put a hand on a giant orange staghorn coral as he swam past it. “Once, I caught two male guards behaving… inappropriately… with each other. “ He looked back at Haru. “You can trust that they’ve been dealt with .”

“Hm.” Same-sex relationships were illegal in Iwatobi. Haru didn’t really care what people did in their downtime, but if those two guards had decided to fool around when they should have been protecting the kingdom, then Haru supposed that the punishment was justified. “So, I have to do this when I’m king?”

“Indeed.”

Great.

“And while we’re out here, we shall also do a bit of patrolling ourselves.”

Haru sighed, careful not to let his father notice.

Patrolling meant carefully checking the coral to make sure that it hadn’t been tampered with by the mersharks, or hiding one. In the back of Haru’s mind, he wondered how a mershark could hide in such tiny crevices if they were twice the size of a merperson, but he just figured that it’s better to be safe than sorry. 

When they needed to check on the guards, Haru thought that he and his dad would just swim around them, maybe chat a little (which Haru dreaded), but instead, they hid behind some coral whenever they got within earshot. 

Haru shot his dad a questioning look after they left the first one, and his dad replied, “I need to know that they are performing their duties whenever I’m not around. For that, I must eavesdrop.”

After a few hours of alternating between checking the coral and spying on the guards, Haru’s dad brought him back to the entrance, but didn’t let him go back into Iwatobi just yet. They floated in the little clearing there for a moment while a couple of guards entered the clearing as well. 

“Now, son, it hasn’t happened in almost four hundred years, but in case contact with the mersharks happens, you must be prepared.” His father put both hands on his trident and tilted it forward. “Do you know the weak points of a mershark?”

Haru shook his head.

His father gestured to one of the guards to float in front of him. Haru moved so that he could see both of them.

“Pretend that Hasunaro here is a mershark,” his father said, and then to Hasunaro, “Please face the prince.”

Hasunaro did so.

His father pointed with his trident, keeping enough distance between it and Hasunaro. “Since the mersharks always have their teeth bared in order to attack as quickly as possible, it is easy to strike them there. And considering their lack of lips, the gums are very vulnerable, and that is where you aim your spear.” He drew his trident to his side and put a hand on his hip. “Their teeth are their pride, and if they lose even one, their will starts to go too.”

Teeth… Alright.

“Their other point of weakness—” He gestured to Hasunaro’s back and rear. “is their dorsal fins. One large one up here—” He pointed at Hasunaro’s back. “And a smaller one down here.” The end of the trident pointed to a point below where the tail bends, but a bit above the caudal fin. He pulled his trident back once more and then faced Haru. “The first dorsal fin is a bigger target, so it is easier to aim for.”

He nodded to Hasunaro, who then moved away. The other guard that was with them swam to Hasunaro, and the both of them went back into the coral forest, presumably to continue their patrol.

“Remember, survival is the most important thing when facing mersharks. And though it may be frowned upon, remember that their tails work similarly to ours; if you need to, do not hesitate to impale it.” 

He put his hand on Haru’s shoulder, who was trying not to imagine the feeling of his tail being speared. Could he really bring himself to do that to someone else, regardless of their species?

Do not hesitate.

Haru was unsure if he could do that.

⬺

A week had passed since Haru’s father took him out to the coral forest, and he was now out there once again, but instead of watching the patrols or checking the coral, they swam past and through it all, heading for the tall mountain that Haru often gazed at from his bedroom window in the palace.

“Today,” His father had said, “we go into the caves.”

The swim there took about an hour, not counting the breaks. Haru thought that the only reason it took that long was because the coral was so densely packed together, but it wasn’t like they could swim above it; the water was too thick for air to filter through their gills, and the fish got bigger and scarier the higher one went. The coral was that tall, but wasn’t nearly as tall as the mountain. The top of it wasn’t visible from anywhere in Iwatobi.

As Haru, his father, and a handful of guards floated at the base of it, in front of the large entrance to the caves, he decided not to crane his neck back and try to take the whole thing in. 

“You ready, son?”

Haru nodded, and they all swam in.

Immediately, it branched off into several directions, most of them going downwards. Haru and his father went on one path while the guards split up and took the rest.

“Just stay close, son. I’m only showing you what the caves look like. You’ll be given a map when you do this on your own, but for now, I don’t need you getting lost.”

The caves were dark, and his father probably couldn’t see him nod, so he said out loud, “Okay.”

His father had his left hand on the cave wall as he swam, and Haru mimicked him. 

The first ten to fifteen minutes, Haru’s father kept looking back at him to make sure he was still following, and Haru was tempted to snark, “I’m not a kid. I’m not gonna get lost,” but eventually his father stopped, so he kept it in.

They swam through the caves, descending, twisting, and turning, and Haru internally lamented about how far into these caves his father was planning to show him.

Around the half-hour mark, his muscles were starting to get tired, so he slowed, careful to keep his father in sight.

Well, he wasn’t careful enough, because after another bend, it branched off once more, and he didn’t see which way his father went.

Left or right? He pursed his lips. Shit.

He swam back where he came from and tried to decipher which path was the way out, but they all looked the same.

He’s lost. He’s lost in the caves that hold the entrance to Samezuka. He’s practically in mershark territory now.

Chapter Text

Haru’s only solution was to swim upwards; the mersharks lived below, so taking the paths that went up seemed logical.

How deep down was he…?

Doesn’t matter, he thought. Just swim up.

So he took a path, and it seemed to be going well, until it hooked downwards.

He backtracked, but every path he took seemed to take him lower, and panic started to set in. The further down he went, the closer he was to Samezuka. What if they also had patrols in these caves, and they found Haru? Then his story would be the next one that Nagisa’s production crew would dramatize. The idiot prince who got himself lost in the caves. The name Haruka would become synonymous with stupidity.

Fleetingly, amidst his panic, Haru thought, I better not be played by Nagisa.

His swimming got faster, and at every turn, he came close to slamming into the cave walls.

Shit, shit, shit.

Just as his muscles started to cramp after another bend, he saw it, up ahead.

A turn to the right had light spilling out of it. A way out.

Maybe he had been higher than he’d thought. Or maybe his panic made him forget taking the right path upwards. Or maybe this was a straight shot up and out of the caves. Whichever one, Haru swam for it.

Bracing a hand on the cave wall, he sucked in a breath of relief as he turned the corner—

It wasn’t a path out. It was a large alcove, like a room. Very much enclosed, other than the entrance that Haru floated at.

Then where is the light coming from—?

It was then that he noticed the presence within the room, lying on their side with their back to Haru.

His eyes widened, and he quickly moved to press himself against the cave wall, out of sight from whoever it was, if they were to turn around.

Who…?

He peeked through the entrance to get another look.

Burgundy hair spilled over a pale, folded arm that lay on top of a soft-looking object— A pillow, Haru assumed, but none like he’d ever seen before.

His eyes travelled down the expanse of the stranger’s toned back and down to the tail. The very scaleless tail. With a large dorsal fin just above the rear and a smaller one above the caudal fin.

Before he could react, the stranger suddenly stretched their arms above their head and turned around. To face Haru.

His eyes widened (Haru could see it now that it was a guy, what, with the stranger’s complete lack of modesty), and he immediately rose.

“Ah—sorry. I didn’t know that rogues ventured into these caves. You startled me,” He spoke, and Haru found himself swimming closer to him to see if what he saw was really there.

He stopped a few feet away and took in the details: the sharp teeth that showed when he spoke, the golden armaments that covered only parts of his neck and muscled arms, leaving his chest and torso exposed for anyone to gaze upon, the gills on his neck that weren’t obscured by the jewellery but were rather framed by it, and that tail that Haru knew would feel scratchy and rough if he ran a hand over it. It wasn’t grey at all, but a maroon that complemented his hair nicely. He was only slightly taller than Haru, which made him really wonder if this was what he thought it was.

But there was no denying it, even if it didn’t match the descriptions he grew up hearing.

A mershark. An actual mershark.

Haru didn’t understand. If mersharks were supposed to be gross and hideous, then why did this one look so… enticing?

He caught himself. Enticing? What—

“Hello? Hey, are you listening to me?” The mershark said, leaning into Haru’s space, his startlingly red eyes piercing Haru’s. He leaned back and ran a hand through his hair. “Damn, are all rogues this spacey?” He mumbled.

What does that mean? “Rogue?”

“Huh? Yeah, the—” He paused and his eyes widened. “Are you… not part of the rogue colony?” He asks slowly, his voice quieter as he backs up the slightest bit.

“What rogue colony?”

The mershark has backed up even further, the distance making Haru frown. It’s harder to take in the details from here. 

“Then where are you from?” Less a question and more of a demand. Like he might already know, but wants it confirmed. Or maybe not. His voice is low and laced with apprehension. Maybe he was hoping for Haru to deny it, dispel his fear.

Fear? Why would a mershark be afraid of someone from Iwatobi? It’s the other way around. Haru should be the one who’s scared. He should have turned tail and swum off the moment he realized what the other man was. He should be breathless from fear, but the only lost breath was from incredulity. The mer before him was vastly different from what mermaids were told about mersharks, and if that was wrong, then maybe everything else was too. 

Maybe there was nothing to be afraid of. Maybe mersharks weren’t evil. Maybe there could be peace, and maybe it started with Haru and this guy.

He took a breath and said, “Iwatobi.”

“ SHIT !” The mershark cursed and immediately swam past Haru and out of the room at a speed that Haru would have been thoroughly impressed by if he wasn’t so startled by the sudden reaction.

Haru’s shock only lasted for a few seconds, but when he snapped out of it and swam out of the room, the mershark was long gone, and Haru couldn’t decipher where he could have possibly went. Too many twists and turns, and Haru was sick of wandering in these caves.

“Haruka?!” His father called from a little ways away, but definitely nearby. Haru felt relieved and almost followed the sound of his voice before he paused.

Ah—wait. I need to—

He swam back into the cave room and grabbed something that the mershark left behind, before swimming in the direction he heard his father from.

⬺

‘Iwatobi.’

Rin barreled through the caves, spinning and ducking expertly to avoid slamming into the cave walls.

Shit, shit, shit!

An Iwatobi mermaid… He should have known when he saw that guy’s fancy jewellery, especially that fucking crown, but he was too stunned by the appearance. Like, what was he even doing that deep in the caves? 

He saw me lounging around. My back was turned to the entrance for fucks sake! He hissed out a frustrated breath. I could have been killed by my slacking off.

The second he swam into Samezuka, he felt the barrier wash over him, felt the millions of pinpricks on his skin, and he knew he was safe. 

He slowed his pace but kept swimming, through the pathways lined with buildings and gardens, through gathering spaces where mersharks were meeting up. 

After almost bumping into several mersharks, Rin had to slow down to a leisurely pace. It was too dark to be sprinting around, even if the glowing jellyfish and lights were plentiful.

My light— Rin realized too late that he had left his light back in the cave. Damnit. And my pillow, too.

Stupid Iwatobi merman. If it wasn’t enough that Rin had left important items back in the caves, he had also just realized that he was the first mershark in nearly four centuries to make contact with an Iwatobian. 

He wanted to tell someone, at least his best friend, but he worried about starting a panic. It wasn’t like the Iwatobi mers could get into Samezuka, but the idea of them crowding the entrance and the barrier made Rin shiver. 

Usually, the place Rin would go to escape his stresses and such would be the cave room, but that was obviously out of the question. And maybe being around other mersharks would help him calm down, so he swam to the castle.

“Ah— Prince Rin!” A little grey-haired guard saluted. 

The orange-haired one who floated by the other side of the gate copied him. “Welcome back!” 

Rin tried for an easy but regal smile. “Ai, Momo, nice to see you two again,” he said and swam through, into the castle.

Dinner wasn’t for another couple of hours, so no point in making his way to the dining hall. And his sister and mother would see right through him and question him relentlessly until he spilled everything, so he can’t go pay them a little visit either.

He sighed. Might as well be on time to class for once.

⬺

“Nope. I’m calling turtleshit.”

It’s been two weeks since Rin had seen that Iwatobi merman, and also two weeks since he had snuck out to the cave. 

It wasn’t out of fear, of course not. He’s just… being cautious. Yeah. The future king of Samezuka shouldn’t be so reckless.

That’s along the lines of what he’s told Sousuke, who’s the only one who knew of Rin’s tendencies to sneak out (aside from those two guards), but he didn’t seem to be buying it.

“What?” 

“You expect me to believe that you, Rin Matsuoka, have decided to turn over a new kelp?” He raised an eyebrow. “No more sneaking out? Are you kidding me?”

Rin scowled. “What's so hard to believe about that?”

“Dunno. Everything? ” 

Rin gritted his teeth as he used a carving knife on one of the stone walls of the palace throne room. His mother wanted a portrait of him on the Wall of Monarchs, but instead of getting a professional to do it, she insisted that Rin did it.

“It’s tradition,” she had said. “Either the next in line has to do it, or their lover.”

Rin had no lover, so he had to make a mess of the cherished walls himself. 

Sousuke was only there to ridicule his skills.

“You suck at that, by the way,” He called up from where he floated near the ground.

Rin hissed, “I swear to Poseidon, go fuck yourself.” He struck the knife into the wall with too much force and groaned before yanking it back out. Again, he used too much force, sending himself flying to the ground.

Sousuke didn’t bother hiding his snicker. “Not very princely.” He swam over to where Rin lay and looked down at him. “Guess change takes time.”

Rin sighed and sat up. “I give up. I’ll do this later.” He looked at his handiwork, if you could call it that. A few lines were slashed into the stone, barely shaped into a head. His gaze then moved to the left of it, where his father’s portrait was. 

Rin must have inherited his father’s talent because the portrait was done by his mother, and it was gorgeous. Clear, precise cuts of varying depths mapped out Toraichi, the genuine love and care in his eyes, the toothy grin, and even if Rin couldn’t remember very well what he looked like in person, he knew that this carving was entirely accurate. I guess love will do that.

“Ooh, I wish someone loved me enough to make me a pretty portrait,” Sousuke mocked with his hands clasped together by his head. He grinned at Rin and crossed his arms. “Right?”

“I hate you.” Rin rose and brushed himself off. Sousuke may have been right, in his own asshole way, but Rin wasn’t about to admit it to him. 

“I still don’t believe you, just so you know.” Sousuke narrowed his eyes and pointed an accusatory finger at Rin. “Whatever is up with you, I’m gonna figure it out.”

Rin rolled his eyes. “What, just ‘cause I’m no longer sneaking out?” He moved to set the carving knife on the little shelf below the portraits.

“It’s not just that,” Sousuke said from behind him. “You’ve been jumpy lately, and I can tell you haven’t been getting enough sleep either.”

The redhead turned around but didn’t look Sousuke in the eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” So maybe the things Sousuke said were true. Maybe whenever someone tapped on Rin’s shoulder, he was more startled than he should have been. And perhaps he was getting less sleep at night, too (although Rin’s excuse to himself was that he didn’t have his pillow).

“Rin…” Sousuke sighed. “You know I’m just worried, right?”

Both were quiet for a moment before Sousuke spoke again. “Look, if you don’t wanna tell me, then fine. Just…just know that I’m here if you do.” 

This was rare. Sousuke and Rin never really had heart-to-hearts very often. Rin must seem really out of it then.

He smiled at Sousuke. “Hey, thanks, man, but I’m seriously fine.” He brought a hand up to rub the back of his neck. “I guess the realities have set in. I don’t wanna be completely unprepared when I take over the throne, y’know?”

Sousuke looked unconvinced, but he sighed again and replied, “If you say so.” He pursed his lips. “I’m pretty sure we’re late for lunch by now ‘cause of your shit carving skills.”

Rin elbowed him in the ribs as he swam past. “Asshole. Let’s go then.”

As they swam to the dining hall, Rin thought over Sousuke’s concern for him, feeling the guilt settle in more and more.

I should try to get some more sleep at least, he thought. But for that, I need my pillow.

He deliberated on this for a moment before scowling to himself. I’m not afraid of some Iwatobi merman.

He decided to retrieve his things from the cave at night. No chance of that Iwatobian showing up. What kind of idiot would go skulking around the caves at night? Not that Rin’s afraid of him. I should bring a hunting knife with me. Just as a precaution.

Again, he’s not scared.

That’s right, he thought as he and Sousuke entered the dining hall. I’m not afraid of some Iwatobi fucker. And I’m not gonna be scared away from my favourite place by him .

⬺

It had been two weeks since Haru’s father had taken him to the caves, and he hadn’t been taken beyond the border since. He’s basically been under house arrest ever since his father had led him back to the castle the second he found Haru. The whole way there, he had ranted about how worried he was for Haru’s safety.

“I thought the mersharks had gotten you, son,” he had said. “Don’t scare me like that again.”

After that, his father had started listing off all the things he’d do to the mersharks if they had even looked at Haru.

So Haru figured that he shouldn’t mention that he saw one. And talked to him. And wanted to know more about him and the mersharks. But even if he did say something, would he have been believed? Everyone in Iwatobi believed that the mersharks were ruthless, hideous killers. Would Haru’s word make any difference, even if he were the crown prince?

Now, he lay on his back in his bed, his right hand raised above him, holding the odd object he borrowed (stole) from the mershark.

It was small enough to be mostly concealed by his hand if he closed it, a spherical thing, and so smooth that it slipped out from where it was sat between Haru’s index finger and thumb. He winced out of reflex as it hit his face, but the object wasn’t heavy at all. It made a small tink sound and rolled off onto his pillow.

Instead of picking it back up, he turned his head to look at it, eyes squinted.

The weirdest part about this thing was that when it was in contact with Haru’s skin, it was white, but when he let go of it, when he let it float in the water or sit on his bed, it emitted such a sudden bright light that Haru had yelped when he first saw it in action.

He grasped it in his hand again and tried to blink away the spots left in his eyes after the light was gone. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to look directly at the light, especially with it so close to his face, but he couldn’t help himself. It was too fascinating. 

How does this thing work? He wondered. That mershark would know, but I can’t ask him.

The mershark haunted Haru’s thoughts. He was still in disbelief that mersharks were so… Normal. That they were so similar to mermaids in appearance and behaviour. They spoke the same language. Haru had been taught that mersharks talked in some weird guttural speak mixed with hissing and spitting. That mershark had spoken so eloquently with a deep and clear voice.

Haru was loath to find that he was forgetting how, exactly, the mershark’s voice sounded. 

He wondered what was actually true about them, because mersharks, apparently, had no concern for modesty, and that was a fact that mermaids had learned.

What’s true and what’s not?

He sat up with sudden conviction. “I don’t care if they wanna keep me in this castle,” he muttered to himself. “I’m going to the archives.”

⬺

Escaping the castle wasn’t as much of a struggle as Haru had thought. When he asked his father, there was a long, drawn-out silence before the king sighed deeply and said, “I suppose keeping you here is unwise. Go on, son.”

Haru tried not to rush out of there as fast as possible.

The archives were a very tall building, built with shelves that stretched the entire height to hold as much information as was available in Iwatobi. Attached to the archives on its right was the laboratory. Iwatobi had a small handful of scientists who were funded by the crown. They mainly studied wildlife and medicine, although some studies occasionally occurred on oddities like weird rusted metal objects found buried in the sand. 

Nothing ever comes of those studies except bizarre theories of an ancient world of metal monsters and air where water should be. 

Haru swam through the entranceway to the labs, eyeing the open arch to the archives, but floated in the large research room, looking for the top scientist, Mr. Matsumoto. 

He frowned when he noticed that the room was empty of mers, except for…

“Can I help you?” asked a blue-haired mer with a purple tail who was holding a crate of what Haru assumed to be tools.

“Where’s Mr. Matsumoto? Or any of the other scientists?”

The merman sighed and shifted the crate in his arms. “As it turns out, everyone has fallen a little under the weather due to a small outbreak that had happened when dissecting a dastardly specimen recently. Luckily, I managed to evade the illness as I was gathering supplies at that moment.”

“And… You are?”

The merman narrowed his eyes, probably at Haru’s lack of manners. He set the crate down on a nearby surface and turned back to Haru. “I am an intern. My name is Rei Ryuugazaki,” he said, and pushed up the red frames that sat on his face.

An intern… He’s just a glorified assistant. 

Rei crossed his arms at Haru’s annoyed look. “If you are here on behalf of the production team of A Cautionary Tail, then I’m sorry to be of no help. I was under the impression that the producer had already gathered all of the necessary information from Mr. Matsumoto.”

A Cautionary Tail is Nagisa’s play. But why did this assistant think that Haru was on the production team?

“And if you could please tell the little blond to refrain from visits during working hours, then that would be much appreciated.”

“Nagisa?” 

“Is that his name?” He asked. His eye twitched so briefly that Haru thought he imagined it, and Rei then shook his head. “Never mind. He is a distraction, and he should be at work with the rest of you—”

Haru interrupted. “I’m not part of the production team.” Why does he think the prince of Iwatobi is involved with the play in the slightest?

Rei paused. “Ah, I apologize. What is it that you are here for, then?”

Haru hesitated. Would an assistant know anything about the object Haru shows him? But then again, was he patient enough to wait until he could ask a professional? Who knew when they’d recover from that mysterious illness?

He looked around to see if there were any observers.  When he saw none, he brought his closed fist up between himself and Rei. “I wanted to ask about this,” He said and opened his hand.

Rei raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure wha—”

Haru squinted his eyes preemptively and pushed the sphere up into the open water. Rei, blindsided by this, brought his arm up to shield against the bright light. 

The sphere floated a few meters above them and stayed there, shining brilliantly.

Rei lowered his arm and looked up in awe. “Incredible…” He swam up to its level, keeping some distance. He muttered some stuff about ‘physical properties’ and ‘efficiency’ and, after poking it a couple times, ‘ability to detect heat signatures’. He slowly grabbed it and let it sit on his palm before whispering, “And so smooth, too.”

Haru swam up. “So, do you know what it is?”

Rei shook his head. “If I knew of an object such as this, I wouldn’t be just an intern, even at my young age,” he murmured. He moved his gaze up to Haru. “If we had more of these, we could improve the state of Iwatobi! We’d no longer need buildings comprised of mostly windows, and we could even roam around the kingdom at night.” He clutched the sphere and leaned into Haru with a sparkle in his eye. “It’s absolutely beautiful! You must tell me where you found it!”

Haru probably should have expected this. He can’t exactly say ‘I got it off a mershark’.

“I can’t say.”

Rei looked taken aback. “You-you can’t ?” He asked. “Or won't ?” Haru’s silence and lack of eye contact were probably all the answer he needed. Rei leaned back. “Alright then, can I show it to the team so we can run a series of experiments on it?”

Haru unintentionally made a displeased noise in the back of his throat. ‘Experimenting’ could only mean ‘taking it apart’, couldn’t it? And now he was realizing that maybe it wasn’t smart to let more people find out about it, especially mers in such high power, regardless of how eccentric they were.

Rei sighed. “I see.” He held out the sphere, and Haru practically snatched it back. “I’m unable to help you identify it if I can neither know of its origin, nor its physical components.”

Haru suppressed a scowl that was more at himself than at Rei. Of course the scientists could be of no help if Haru was unwilling to cooperate. “Then, can I go look around the archives?”

Rei turned back to his crate and started sorting through the contents. “I don’t know why you’re asking me. I don’t own this establishment.”

Haru swam off with a huff.

As he darted inbetween the columns of stone-carved shelves, he moved to adjust his crown, but when his hand hit his hair instead, he realized that he had forgotten to put it on before leaving the castle. So that’s why that assistant was so rude, he thought before pursing his lips. Why did no one remind me?  

He turned a corner to where he thought he could find the info on mersharks, and he thought to himself that maybe he should forget the crown more often. His head felt lighter, and the crown slowed down his swimming anyway.

And, as jarring as it had been to be spoken to without the respect he was usually given, he didn’t hate having a normal conversation with another mer, one without all the praise and sweet talk.

He swam halfway up the length of the shelf to his left and ran his empty hand along all the crates storing the tightly bound scrolls in the M section, looking for ones labelled Mersharks.

Mermanism, Mermons, Mernopoly…

He found the stash of mershark scrolls right before Merxism and pulled a scroll out, deciding to just go through them all, one by one. 

He fumbled while trying to remove the bubble coral tie from the scroll one-handed, and the scroll sank down onto the shelf. He eyed the sphere in his left hand, contemplating what to do with it; he didn’t want to run the risk of some passerby seeing it shining and coming up to question it.

Okay, it may not be very sanitary, but Haru decided to hold the sphere in his mouth, lips wrapped around it, and tongue braced behind it to keep it from slipping down his throat and choking him. It, surprisingly, didn’t taste like anything.

I hope it’s not poisonous…

Later on, he’ll wonder why he didn’t just hold it under his armpit or something, but now, with both hands free, he opened the scroll and skimmed through the contents. After reading the words ‘vicious’ and ‘horrifying’ more times than necessary, he rerolled and retied the scroll before reaching for another one. 

The next one had the same problem. And the next one, too. Oh, the fourth one had pictures to go along with it.

Why are they all— 

Oh. Haru wanted to hit himself. He was in a public archive. If there was any info on the truth of mersharks, it would have been brought to everyone’s attention by now. He removed the sphere from his mouth with a grimace and wiped the saliva off.

Letting his forehead fall onto the shelf, he grumbled in a very not childlike manner, trying to piece together his next plan of action, if there even was one to be had.

The last moment of contact between the Iwatobians and the Samezukans was about four centuries ago. The only solution that Haru could come up with was that the mersharks had evolved since then to look and behave less like beasts, because why would the higher-ups lie about them? 

When would a lie like that have even come about? He thought as he pressed his forehead into the cool stone. He then lifted his head and massaged the spot where an indent had formed. Maybe I need to find an older scroll. Those are at the back, I think.

He pushed away from the shelf and swam out of the aisle, towards the very back of the building. The oldest stuff is… in the bottom left, right?

He swam down to it and tugged at the crate, cringing when it scratched against the stone shelf in a way that disagreed with Haru’s nervous system. He rifled through the scrolls, hoping to find the oldest dated one on mersharks.

Right at the bottom, he spotted it. ‘Mersharks, 6317’ . About three hundred and seventy-two years ago. Bingo.

He fished it out and almost gagged at the sight of the bubble coral holding it together, grey and stringy and long dead. Do I wanna know that badly?

“Mmgh… Fine .”

Steeling his resolve, he picked at it, annoyed when it wouldn’t just slide right off in one piece. He gathered all the bits and balled them up before shoving them into the shelf. 

Reading the scroll made him more tired than it should have, but who can blame him with all the pompous language and sentences that refused to end?

At the time that this is being written, we, the mers of Iwatobi, a proud kingdom of beauty and prosperity, have finally regained some of what was lost in the arduous war against the despicable and bloodthirsty mersharks of the nation that they have dubbed as ‘Samezuka’. 

Alas, upon first meeting with these scoundrels, we attempted peaceful relations. But that only lasted for so long. They grew greedy and wanted more and more from us. Our gracious Queen Nanase tried to appease them, but when they weren’t satisfied, they killed her and ate her corpse.

After that, chaos ensued. The war was long and struggling. The mersharks only conceded when we showed them that we would not bend to their whims, but not before destroying almost everything in Iwatobi. They vowed to return one day and ravage our great kingdom once and for all. 

To avoid future suffering, destroy any mer with a physical appearance of—

Haru crumpled the scroll when it went on to describe what he’s been told a million times over.

He wanted to deny it, but he knew that the excuse of evolution wouldn’t hold up; it doesn’t work that fast. And there was no other way to spin what he’s been told about mersharks and what he’s seen with his own eyes into a tale that paints the high powers of Iwatobi as innocent.

I’m being lied to. He felt like something hot was boiling in his chest, and he clenched his fists. We’re all being lied to.

But why?

Chapter Text

Rin considered the barrier a very fortunate thing. The very fact that it kept the mersharks safe from the Iwatobians under any circumstances meant that there was a severe lack of guards by the entrance to the caves. Rin had no trouble sneaking out when the lights around the kingdom went out and the jellyfish glowed brighter, signifying nightfall. 

Though now, he was kind of wishing that there were guards stationed there, just so he could have an excuse to not leave.

“Tch… Shut up, Rin,” he muttered as he willed up the courage to swim into the cave entrance. “I do want to leave.”

He went.

Albeit a lot slower than he usually does, with his right hand itching to hold his hunting knife instead of leaving it strapped against his waist. His left hand held a light wrapped in cloth, the side facing away from him exposed to illuminate the way.

The light wasn’t really necessary; he had the route mostly memorized. Every bend and turn, every spot in the walls that looked like it had suspicious teeth marks, which paths led to dead ends, which ones led lower to underwater vents. Sometimes, Rin would forgo the light when he swam in these caves. But tonight he found it comforting.

As he approached the cave room, heart thumping loudly, almost painfully, he tried not to entertain ideas of the Iwatobian sitting there in wait, with a spear in hand, or maybe even with more Iwatobians. 

Rin slowed at the last turn before the room, considering turning back. This was dangerous, and all for a light, a pillow, and his dignity.

He shook his head. I’m the fastest in Samezuka, he reminded himself. And I know these caves like the back of my hand. Those fuckers won't catch me.

His hand trembled around the light as he closed the cloth around it, snuffing it out. Darkness enveloped him, and he scrunched his face, waiting for his eyes to adjust.

Shit. There’s no…

There’s no light coming from the room. Could someone be holding it in there?

Turn back, turn back, turn back—

Rin gritted his teeth, tired of the anxious voice in the back of his head. A future king can’t be a coward. He has to face danger and challenge it. He unstrapped his hunting knife and clutched his fingers tightly around the hilt, shifting it a bit to find a comfortable position. He drew in a few breaths in a feeble attempt to keep his heart from beating out of his chest.

I am not afraid.

In a sudden burst of determination, he shot forward, teeth bared, knife ready, and faced the entrance to the room. “ HEY—! ”

He stopped short, the shout dying on his tongue.

Even though Rin’s eyes hadn’t adjusted to the darkness quite yet, he could see that the room was clearly empty, but he uncovered his light just to make extra sure. 

No one.

He heaved a large sigh of relief and closed his eyes, starting to feel a bit silly about yelling harshly in an empty cave. At least no one had witnessed it.

Swimming inside, he felt grateful at the sight of his pillow, but his mood quickly shifted to irked when he didn’t see the light he left behind.

“Did he steal it?” He muttered with a frown. “Bastard.”

Well, nothing he could really do about it, unless he was willing to swim up to Iwatobi, find that prince, and demand he return it, which was basically asking to be locked up and killed. Best to just let it go.

But…

Rin sat on the cave floor and pulled his pillow into his arms, burying his face in it.

Sure, he had another light on him right that moment, and sure, they weren’t that hard to produce, but…that light was the first one he had made…with his dad’s help. And now that stupid Iwatobi merman had it. 

His pillow muffled his sharp groan. “Fuckk…”

I’m sorry, Dad…

⬺

Usually, Haru’s nightly lie in the garden was peaceful. Calming. A moment when he could let the water settle over him, in his skin, in his bones. Sometimes, his mind would wander to those odd scientists and their theories about the world from ages ago. Haru thought that if he had lived in such a world, he’d still crave the comfort of water. 

It was usually restful . But tonight, Haru couldn’t sit still. He had too many questions, which was unusual for him since he felt that he was more of a ‘go-with-the-flow’ sort of guy. He needed answers, but they weren’t available. At least in Iwatobi. But what were the chances he’d ever see that mershark—or any, for that matter—ever again? There was no way he could sneak out without getting caught. 

Haru shifted to lie on his back for the seventh time in twenty minutes. 

Maybe he just had to wait until his dad took him out to the caves again. Whenever that was.

He sat up with a grunt. He just couldn’t get comfortable. But he didn’t want to go back into the castle and turn in early tonight.

Rising, he stretched out his arms. Perhaps a swim through the garden would get his restlessness out.

Nearer to the castle was where all the nicer coral was; the fox coral, the carnation coral, the sun coral. But further back was the coral that had long since been cared for, what had been deemed the ‘unsightly’ coral, like brain coral and fire coral. Those were dead from neglect, but had been left in the garden for whatever reason. Haru guessed that since the nicer coral was bigger, it distracted from the decay in the back, and there was no point in getting rid of it. 

This was where Haru wandered to, the stolen light still held in his hand. He didn’t want to leave it in his room, fearing that one of the servants might find it if they went in to clean. So, even if he grew tired of shifting it to the other hand when the one holding it started cramping, he kept it on him.

Like right then, his left hand started to feel stiff, so Haru tossed the light into the water, toward his right hand. His right hand reached for it, but his fingers closed around it too swiftly, and the sphere got propelled towards the ground, little bubbles trailing in its wake as light erupted in the coral garden.

Haru sighed and swam down to it. How many times am I gonna drop this thing?

His reaching hand paused when he noticed the sphere had wedged itself between some brain coral and the ocean floor. But, instead of illuminating the underside of the coral and the ground underneath it, it seemed like…

Is… there a hole under this brain coral?

He got on his stomach in front of it and shoved the coral upwards. Seeing that it wasn’t attached to the ground, he moved it a couple of inches back and peered into the hole. Inky darkness plummeted far past the light’s reach. Haru grabbed it and thrusted it lower into the pit before letting go and allowing it to float where Haru left it. Darkness continued to persist below it.

Haru pulled back and sat up, wiping the sand off of his stomach, and looked around. No one would know if he just… went in for a little look, would they? His curfew wasn’t for another hour, and the castle staff had long since stopped bothering to check on him while he was in the garden.

He nodded to himself. No harm in looking.

He swam in headfirst before turning around to reposition the brain coral over the top of the pit. Then he grabbed the light, blinking multiple times, deciding to let his eyes adjust to the darkness before swimming around. It would be more efficient than throwing the light around blindly and following after it. And what were the odds of him throwing it too hard and shattering it (if it could shatter)?

Once he was able to make out the jagged rock surface around him, he swam further downwards. He could see the bottom, just a ways off. It didn’t take long for him to swim down to it, but it was a lot deeper underground. When he reached, he righted himself and looked around. The pit seemed to curve… south. Towards Samezuka.

There’s a tunnel towards Samezuka right underneath Iwatobi. Why is this here?

Haru shook his head. Maybe there’s a dead end somewhere up ahead. Or maybe the tunnel makes a turn and leads elsewhere. That had to be farther down, though, because from where Haru floated, it looked like a straight shot south.

Only one way to find out.

Haru was the fastest swimmer in Iwatobi. In the races that were held every year, if Haru was allowed to participate, he took gold every time. If he swam at full speed in this tunnel, there was no doubt he could confirm where the tunnel ended (if there was one) and be back before his curfew. 

He stretched out his limbs, braced himself against the wall opposite the tunnel, tensed, and pushed off with all his might.

He powered through the tunnel, his tail slicing through the water behind him. The cool water rushed over him, blurring his eyesight, but he refused to close his eyes and risk hurling himself into a wall.

Haru had always loved swimming his fastest. The yearly races were often an excuse for him to see just how fast he could go, and it felt good to swim fast without needing a destination. Even presently, he felt strangely euphoric speeding down the tunnel that seemed to never end… but at the same time, something was… lacking. He couldn’t place what it was, and while it wasn’t too bothersome, it was certainly noticeable. 

While Haru was a fast swimmer, his endurance wasn’t so great, and after about three minutes, he grew tired and had to slow down, much to his dismay. He was a considerable distance from where he started, but the end of the tunnel was yet to be in sight. He stopped to catch his breath. 

If he had to guess where he was under, it would probably be somewhere near the southern border, before or after it. Iwatobi was a decently sized kingdom, and the castle was all the way on the north side, but Haru was fairly confident in his ability to swim that he wagered he could swim the length of the kingdom (if there were no obstacles) pretty swiftly. 

He took a few more deep breaths before he straightened up and gazed into the seemingly endless path ahead of him.

Let’s keep going, then.

⬺

Rin was already there, so he might as well stay, right? Why bother swimming back to Samezuka so soon? 

He placed his pillow back on the ground and lay himself on his side, facing the entrance. He still held his hunting knife, but he was no longer white-knuckling it, letting it half lie on the ground.

He chewed his lip while keeping an eye on the entrance. What are the odds that he shows up? If he were trying to catch me, he would’ve given up by now. I haven’t been here in weeks.

Rin felt himself relax, and he closed his eyes. “Heh,” he muttered, “nice try, Mr. Iwatobi Merman, but I guess I won’t be seeing you anytime soon.”

“Who are you talking to?”

Rin jerked upright, knife fumbling out of his hands, as he stared, wide-eyed, at the newcomer. As luck would have it, it was the Iwatobi merman. Speak of the Loch Ness and he shall appear, or whatever.

Rin swiped his hunting knife and rose to press himself into the wall furthest from the merman. His dorsal fin didn’t make it easy, and he remarked mentally, not for the first time, of its inconvenience as he held his knife up in front of himself.

Fuck! I’m such an idiot. Of course, he’d show up. He gritted his teeth and silently begged his arm to stop shaking. Iwatobians hate us. They want to get rid of us. They wouldn’t give up so easily.  

The merman was blocking the exit. Rin was trapped.

He frantically scanned the merman for his weapon but paused when he saw one hand empty and the other holding… 

My light! 

His fear wavered, and then he felt his blood boil.

He snarled. “Give—”

“You fight with weapons?” The merman stared at Rin’s hunting knife with interest, which was the opposite of what Rin wanted him to feel at the sight of it. 

“Wha—” Rin faltered. Is he mocking me? “What else would I fight with?” He’s seriously going to make fun of me before he kills me?  He scowled. But with what weapon? I can’t see any! 

The merman blinked. “Your teeth?”

Rin almost dropped his knife again. “I’m not a barbarian!” Rin’s emotions were all over the place, but now he was just confused. Why didn’t the merman have any weapons? And why did he look genuinely shocked at the idea of Rin using a weapon and not his teeth?

Actually, if he thought back to their first meeting, the merman had looked surprised then, too, when he saw Rin. Maybe a little in awe. 

But if… He lowered his knife a bit and pursed his lips. If they want us dead, then what would it matter to them if we’re not up to their expectations? And what expectations would they even have?

Rin’s heartbeat had almost gone back to normal. Maybe he and the merman needed to talk things out and get things sorted. Rin could do that, now that he’d calmed down a bit. A bit wary, but definitely calmer.

“Where are your claws?”

Not calm anymore.

“ Claws?! ”

The merman nodded, unfazed by Rin’s visible irritation.

Rin made a kshh sound through his teeth. “Normal sharks don’t have claws! Why the fuck would we !?

The merman seemed to consider this. “That’s a good point.”

Rin groaned and rolled his eyes. “Where’d that even come from? Why would you think that?”

The merman looked away for a moment—maybe he finally had some shame—and said, “Things in Iwatobi are…different.”

Rin raised an eyebrow. “Different?” He snorted. “What, do they depict us as mindless killers over there or something?” The merman stayed silent, and Rin narrowed his eyes at him. “Oi, that was a joke.” He swam forward and closed the distance a little. The merman avoided eye contact. “Hey, tell me they don’t do that.”

“Well, I can’t.”

They both quieted for a long moment, and Rin thought over this new information. Iwatobians think of Samezukans so poorly, and that’s why they want them dead? That’s dumb. But then again…

We sort of think the same of them, don’t we?

He mentally shook his head. We don’t want Iwatobians dead. 

At least…I don’t . He cleared his throat. “Hey.” The merman looked at him. “What’s your name?”

“...Haru.”

“I’m Rin,” he said. The corner of the merman—Haru’s—mouth quirked up a tiny bit, and Rin glared. “Don’t even! I get enough shit from my friends,” he exclaimed, which only caused Haru’s grin to widen. “Gah! Whatever. Just– come in here and sit down so we can talk or something.”

Rin almost moved to sit, but when Haru remained where he was, he shot him a quizzical look.

“How do I know that you won’t swim out?” Haru asked skeptically.

“ Because ,” Rin stated, “I wanna know what the fuck you people say about us over there.” He gestured at Haru with his knife and added, “And I really don’t see you as a threat now that I look at you. You don’t even have a weapon.” Rin perhaps felt a little embarrassed now about how he fled like a child after his last encounter with Haru. Was I seriously scared of him ?

“And what about your weapon?”

Rin hesitated. He didn’t really wanna lose the knife, but he did want to figure things out with Haru. “Tch, fine.” He tossed the knife to the left of him, out of arm's reach, and sat down. “Happy now?”

“Delighted,” Haru snarked, but swam in anyway and sat to the left of Rin’s caudal fin with his own placed next to Rin, making their tails parallel.

“But first—” Rin held his hand out. “I want my light back.”

Haru eyed the light in his hand, and then the one on the ground near both of them. He pointed at it and said, “But you have one.”

“I’ll switch it with you,” Rin insisted, shaking his outstretched hand to emphasize, “just give me that one back.”

Haru squinted before shrugging and placing the light in Rin’s palm, which immediately closed around it. Haru reached for the light on the ground, which Rin responded with, “Do you wanna sit in darkness? Just leave that there until you go.”

“Alright,” he said. “Hey, what are they even—”

“Nope,” Rin interrupted. “I’m asking questions first.” He crossed his arms.

“But—”

“No. Tell me everything that is said about mersharks in Iwatobi,” he demanded.

Haru sighed noisily, which Rin suppressed a chuckle at. Not to paraphrase Sousuke, but ‘very unprincelike’. Rin noted that Haru wasn’t wearing a crown like last time, and he took in the sight of the merman’s plain black hair, which looked… kind of soft, actually. Rin wondered if it felt as silky as it looked, or if there were hidden tangles somewhere . There had to be. Nobody’s hair looks that perfect… that smooth… that… inviting…

What!?

Rin snapped out of it when Haru spoke. “We’re taught from childhood that mersharks are evil. They want to kill us and all that.”

Rin shook his head to remove his previous, strange thoughts, and focused back on the matter at hand. “Yeah, okay, but why did you assume we had claws? Were you told shit about our appearance?”

Haru nodded. “Mhm.” He described the mersharks that his kingdom spoke of, each detail making Rin feel sicker and sicker. 

“What the fuck,” he fumed. “ That’s why you mers want to kill us?”

Haru shook his head. “Most of us are scared of mersharks. The only ones with intent to kill are the guards and… the king,” he said. “But that’s only for defensive purposes. If mersharks were to… show… up.”

“The king… your dad?” Rin asked.

Haru raised his eyebrows. “How’d you know?”

“You had a crown on the last time I saw you?” He chuckled. He’s kind of dumb. It’s cute. His eyes widened. No, it’s not! Fuck! He bit the inside of his mouth, hoping to keep any blush off his face. He’s not even that handsome. Not at all.

Yeah, Haru totally didn’t have gorgeous blue eyes, or that constant look of I’m bored but a special someone might be able to hold my attention . His muscles weren’t even that great. Especially his triceps… totally not something his sister and her girlfriend would gush about, and totally not something Rin would silently agree with.

Stop thinking, Rin!

“Oh, right.” 

Glad that Haru hadn’t noticed Rin’s internal panic, he said, “So, um, what about you?”

He shrugged. “They’re training me, but I don’t plan on doing anything with it,” he said. “No point.”

He’s being trained . Rin had no such training, only basic hunting skills and self-defence. Nothing specific to mermaids. 

“From my perspective, you guys still suck,” he stated plainly, and at Haru’s baffled look, he said, “I mean, we don’t lie to our young about your appearance. And no one is being trained to one day kill mermaids like it’s such a vital skill. And mersharks aren’t scared in our everyday lives by the thought of a nonexistent threat.”

“But you’re scared of us.”

“Yeah, outside of Samezuka .”

“What does that mean?”

Rin huffed, “It means —” He pointed at Haru. “—that you guys can’t get in. No matter what.”

Rin watched the thought process through Haru’s head; his scrunched eyebrows, his gaze turned to his lap, his totally not adorable little pout. 

Oh, for fucks sake.

“How’s that possible?”

Rin grinned at him. “You’re not getting our secrets out of me that easily.” 

Haru gave him a deadpanned look. “Fine,” he said before he grabbed the light on the ground.

Rin cursed as everything went dark. “Ah– wait! What are you doing?”

“Leaving,” Haru’s voice said from above him. He must’ve risen after he picked up the light. Rin hastily rose as well. Is he that pissed off about not knowing? “I have to get back before they check on me.”

“Oh. Alright.” Feeling disappointed, but not entirely surprised, he searched frantically for something to say before Haru beat him to it.

“I’ll come back tomorrow night, maybe an hour later.”

“Ah! Okay, yeah.” Relieved, Rin nodded, even though Haru probably couldn’t see him. “Uhm, here.” He put his light up into the water and reached down for the cloth he had used on his swim there. Holding it out to Haru, he explained, “If you put this around your light, you’ll be able to navigate a lot easier.”

Haru reluctantly took it from Rin. “What about you?”

“I have the route memorized. I’ll be fine.”

“Alright.”

Haru swam to the entrance and almost left before Rin gave in to the temptation to call out to him. “Hey, Haru?”

Haru paused and looked at Rin over his shoulder. “Hm?”

“It…” Rin felt the heat rise to his face, and he ran a hand through his hair in hopes of covering it up. “It was nice meeting you.”

Haru stared at Rin for a long moment, the silence making Rin almost squirm, before Haru nodded. “Yeah,” he said, and then swam off, leaving Rin with an odd feeling in his stomach.

Fucking fuck.

⬺

The entire swim back to the castle—out of the cave room, finding the lip in stone walls a few turns down, squeezing through the narrow opening, and reentering the tunnel that had brought him straight to the caves—Haru thought about how his whole ocean had shifted. 

Mersharks feared mermaids, almost similarly to how it was the other way around in Iwatobi. But what caused both kingdoms to fear each other?

Haru had hoped that meeting the mershark again would clear everything up, but since he hadn’t been allowed to ask any questions, he remained confused. 

Tomorrow, though, he’ll ask. He’ll ask about the rogues that were mentioned last time, he’ll ask about how the lights work, and he’ll ask his new questions about why Iwatobians can’t get into Samezuka.

The whole swim (to or from) took around ten minutes. The only lost time was when Haru had wandered the caves in search of Rin. He was back at his castle just in time to finish his nightly routine and make it to bed before one of the servants checked on him.

Tomorrow night, he’ll leave after he’s been checked on, and he’ll spend more time with Rin. He’ll get to the bottom of this whole thing.

Chapter Text

There's art for this fic now!

Rei Ryuugazaki was a creature of habit. He wakes up the moment the ocean gets bright and a new day has started, and after some yoga, he eats a light but filling breakfast before heading to the labs. There, he sets out the equipment that is needed for each work station to maximize efficiency. The scientists were chatty merfolk. If they wasted time getting everything set up, there would be a lot less time in the day, and a lot less research and experimentation done.

During working hours, Rei would be busy making a written record of the research and experiments performed. He would swim around the lab with a piece of scroll paper and a wooden board in one hand, and a pen in the other, jotting down things that he thought would be useful in future investigations. Or just things he found truly beautiful.

 At the end of each working day, when the scientists have finished up and left, Rei carefully cleans the equipment and stores it away. Then, he makes sure that the lab itself is spotless.

Really, his internship requirements only stated that he must be of use when called upon, but Rei didn’t like feeling…like a waste. The idea of sitting around when he could be doing something more made him feel wrong. Besides, the scientists appreciated Rei and his efforts, so why should it matter if he was doing more than enough?

This is where a certain disturbance came in a few weeks ago.

When Iwatobi’s famous playwright came to the labs, Rei found it a distraction. Mr. Matsumoto was off task, and the other scientists were looking like they wanted to get in on the discussion about mersharks, too. But that wasn’t the biggest problem. Once the playwright was gone, everyone went back to their work. The playwright didn’t return.

No, the real problem was what had followed the playwright and decided to come back almost every single day. A little blond merman with pink eyes, a yellow tail, and a frilly, expensive-looking, pink top, who seemed intent on disrupting Rei and Rei only.

“Whatcha writing?” Rei heard from over his shoulder, which caused him to startle and flip around to face whoever was invading his privacy.

He blew out a harsh breath. “Who are you, and what are you doing here?” He demanded, which garnered a collective gasp from everyone in the lab, including the little blonde.

He suddenly felt a pair of hands grasp his shoulders and shake him vigorously. “Rei. You don’t know who he is?”

“Are you insane?” Another voice asked. “How is that possible?”

The unknown merman was staring at Rei with wide eyes.

“Rei,” a third voice chimed in. “He is the—”

“Fellas!” The boy interrupted. He smiled at everyone when their attention turned to him. “Fellas. How about we play a little game?”

“A game?” One asked.

“A game,” Rei deadpanned. As if everyone weren’t distracted enough.

“Mhm! Well, I guess it’s more of a bet than a game.” The scientists remained intrigued. Rei only furrowed his brow further. “Rei, here—” the blond gestured with his hand, upturned, “—doesn’t know who I am. Only that I am involved in the play in some way.”

“I’m guessing that you are a performer, correct?” Given the way that his superiors were reacting to the blond merman’s presence, it wasn’t hard to infer that he was, at the very least, someone quite popular. And also, he had the face for it; very symmetrical features, a captivating and interesting eye colour, and a bright smile that held the attention of everyone around him (which is what made him such a bother in the lab).

Mr. Whatshisname beamed, and Rei fought the urge to look away. With a face like that, he would be popular even if he were a no-name.

“You’re right!” the blonde said. “But you don’t know my name.”

“That, I don’t.”

“So, how about this? The play is in a few weeks. If you can find out my name before then, without being told by your coworkers, then I’ll give you a free VIP ticket.”

Rei rolled his eyes and smirked. “Well, unfortunately for you, I am uninterested in your identity and your play.” Maybe this will make him go away.

The joke was on Rei, though, it seemed, when the blond returned the smirk with a sinister glint in his eye. “Then how about I switch it up a little bit?”

Rei said apprehensively, “...Go on.” In the back of his mind, he was well aware that he probably shouldn’t be goading him if he wanted him to leave, but curiosity got the better of Rei, much to his dismay.

The blond leaned on the table behind himself and tilted his head to the side. “You seem like the type of guy who likes things to be in order. Me being here probably ruins that, huh?”

Rei raised an eyebrow. “Indeed, it does.” At least he’s aware of it.

“Well, I don’t wanna brag, but I’m a pretty popular guy. And my popularity goes up quite a bit around the time of these plays. Lots of merfolk are talking about me, and my name is on the advertisement fliers around the kingdom.”

With those points now presented to him, he understood why everyone was so shocked at the idea that Rei didn’t know who this performer was.

I don’t have time for silly plays. There are more important things to be done than sit and watch something with the sole purpose of being entertained. Rei gets enough entertainment from the beauty of theory and calculation. He didn’t need to witness a spectacle about mersharks, especially if it was just fictional.

“It’s pretty hard not to know who I am with all that going on, but somehow you don’t,” The blonde continued. “But how long will that last?”

“...Ah.” Rei had only gotten away with it for so long because he had no interest in such things. He didn’t give the fliers any attention, and his mind blocked out famous names unless they were those of the royal family. But now that the blond had made himself known to Rei and gotten under his skin so easily, would Rei be able to remain ignorant of his identity?

“So, Rei, if you can go the entire time until the day of my play without knowing my name, then I’ll stop visiting the labs and distracting everyone. But if you do find out my name before then, you have to attend my play.” He looked at the scientists around them and added, “And you guys are not allowed to tell him.”

Rei pushed up his glasses with a grin. “A small price to pay to get everyone back on track. But,” he added as an afterthought, “How will you know if I’m lying? If I find out your name, I could just pretend that I haven’t.”

The blond dragged his eyes up and down the length of Rei, head to tail, making Rei suddenly feel a whole lot warmer. “I think a scientist like you has some moral code against lying.”

Rei held back a frown at being read so easily. And, ignoring Rei’s moral code, he just found lying to be very unbeautiful. 

He sighed. “Alright, then.” He held his hand out. “We have a deal.”

The blond took Rei’s hand with a smile and shook it. The warmth stayed when he retracted it.

The more time that went on since then, the more positive Rei felt about winning that silly bet. The blond continued to visit the lab and be a bother, but Rei was able to power through it, knowing that things would go back to normal soon. The little blond would soon cease his visits, and Rei would no longer have to endure his endless chatter, or his…adorable pink eyes… or his pretty smile…

This was why he was such a distraction. His looks and personality were enough to get even the strictest of mers and the hardest of workers to surrender their focus to him, and Rei, unfortunately, was not immune to it. This was why Rei needed him gone from the labs immediately. 

When the play was just a few days away, that was when Rei’s hopes of being rid of the blond menace came crashing down. All because of some stingy stranger with an incredible discovery.

If only Rei hadn’t mistaken him as part of the play’s production crew. If only he hadn’t mentioned the nuisance to him.

“Nagisa?”

“Is that his name?” He kept his cool in the moment, but internally, he wanted to scream. He had tried so hard to keep his eyes averted from the fliers, and he had tried doubly hard to steer any sort of conversation with anyone outside of the labs away from the play, all for Rei to find out like this. 

He shook his head, as if it could erase it from memory, but no such luck. “Never mind. He is a distraction, and he should be at work with the rest of you—”

When the blond—Nagisa, he now unfortunately knew—came by a few hours later, Rei eyed him, feeling defeated.

“Hello,” he sighed, “Nagisa.”

Nagisa’s eyes lit up, and it almost made Rei feel better about losing the bet. Almost. “You found out!”

“Yes. An odd fellow came by earlier to ask about something.” He couldn’t help twisting his face into a brief scowl at how rude that individual was. Not to mention how unwilling he was to share his strange, yet wondrous find. He schooled his features back into a neutral look when Nagisa raised an eyebrow. “I mistook him as part of your production team and requested that he keep you from visiting.”

Nagisa pouted for a moment before his expression turned curious. “An odd guy? What was he like?"

"Very impolite. Acted as if he were better than everyone else. Didn't say much unless he thought it would give him answers. He had this incredible object that he wanted to know more about, but wasn't willing to let us run experiments on it!"

Nagisa giggled. "He kinda sounds like a friend of mine."

"Oh? Does this friend have blue eyes and very plain, black hair?"

Nagisa's eyes widened with recognition. "You're talking about Haruka!"

Rei's mouth made an o shape. "…Haruka?" Oh no. "As in the prince of Iwatobi, Haruka!?" Oh dear. Oh no.

"Yeah, that's him! You didn't recognize him?"

"…He wasn't wearing a crown…" Rei lamented.

"Really? Wait, but shouldn't you still know what the prince looks like?"

Rei hung his head in shame. "You're right. How foolish of me." The prince of Iwatobi came to the labs to ask about something, and Rei had the nerve to be ill-mannered towards him.

"I don't see what the big deal is. Were you mean to him or something?"

"…I was, decidedly, very discourteous," Rei mumbled.

Nagisa chuckled. "Well, he hates when people are overly nice to him, so I don't think he took it too personally."

"I still shouldn't be talking to royalty like that."

Nagisa swam up to him and clutched his arm. "Hey, at least it ended with you knowing my name! Now you have to come to my play!"

Rei pursed his lips and tilted his head upwards to gaze at the ceiling, as if Poseidon could intervene and save him from this terrible fate.

No such luck.

"And I'm still giving you a VIP ticket, so don't worry—"

"'Don't worry'?" Rei interrupted, turning to glare down at Nagisa. "How am I to not worry? Now that you've won this silly bet, you won't be allowing any of the scientists to stay focused ever again!"

Nagisa's grip on Rei's arm slackened. "Yeah, but I'm not distracting them on purpose…"

"I find that hard to believe, given that you are present almost every single day and feel the urge to be in people's space, chatting them up, hoping that they'll spare you some of their attention." He closed his eyes and took in a breath of frustration. "Especially me. Why do you hang around me the most? Can't you tell that I find it bothersome?"

Nagisa's hands slipped from Rei's arm entirely. "You're saying that you find me…annoying?" He almost whispered.

"Well, that's not the word that I'd use, but—"

"No, no! It's fine." Rei opened his eyes to see Nagisa a few feet away, waving his hands reassuredly in front of him. "I guess I was being annoying, huh?" He swam to the exit of the lab and waved goodbye to Rei half-heartedly, avoiding eye contact. "I'm sorry. I won't bother you guys again. And you don't have to come to my silly play if you don't want to." He lowered his hand and said, so quietly that Rei almost missed it, "Sorry again."

He left, and Rei should have felt relieved. Everything can go back to the way it was before. Rei could go back to his routine without worrying about interruptions.

So why did he feel like throwing up?

⬺

Haru should be used to surprises by now, or at least desensitized to them, where the mersharks are concerned. But when he swam into the cave room the next night, he couldn't help but pause at the entrance at the sight of the pointed gold object pressed against Rin's forehead, an oval gem in the center, the same colour as his eyes.

"You just gonna float there, Haru?" Rin asked, breaking Haru out of his stupor.

Haru swam in and sat next to Rin, in the same position as yesterday, not taking his eyes off Rin's forehead. It was a lot different from his own, but Haru could tell that it was a crown all the same.

"You're a prince?"

"You're that surprised by it?"

"Well..."

Rin rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I don't act very princely, and all that. I get enough of that from Sousuke."

"Sousuke?"

Rin shifted to lean on one hand. "My best friend. Y'know, he saw me put my crown on before I left, and now he's convinced that I'm on a date." He shook his head. "He's such an ass, I swear," he complained, but the fond smile on his face gave Haru the impression that they were quite close.

He already didn't like this 'Sousuke' guy.

Deciding that he wanted the subject changed, he said, "Do I get to ask questions this time?"

Rin sighed. "If you insist."

His three most pressing questions fought in his mind. Which one did he want to know the answer to first? "The lights," Haru decided. "How do they work?"

Rin scrunched his eyebrows together. "That's what you wanna ask about?"

Haru nodded slowly, unsure as to why it was such a strange question.

Rin shrugged, his expression screamed 'that's obvious'. "Magic, dude."

Haru narrowed his eyes at Rin. If he didn't want to tell him, then why couldn't he just say so? "Why can't you tell me?"

"Huh? But I just did!"

"Do you think I'm dumb?"

"What?! No!"

"Then why are you saying it's magic?"

"Because it is?" Rin paused. "Why don't you believe me?"

What is this guy on about? "Magic's not real!"

Rin's eyes widened. "Do you guys not have magic?" He asked, and suddenly he leaned forward, all up in Haru's space, staring right into Haru's eyes, into his soul, and Haru resisted the urge to squirm. "You guys don't have magic, do you?"

Dumbfounded, Haru shook his head.

Rin leaned back and said to himself, "But if the rogues have magic, how come you guys don't?"

The rogues. One of the other things Haru wanted to know. He subconsciously leaned forward.

Rin must have noticed his curious look, because he chewed on his lip for a moment before answering, "The rogues are a small mermaid colony just west of Samezuka. They're the same species as you guys, but… I don't know how they have magic and you guys don't if you descended from the same mers."

A whole colony of mermaids… And they have magic? And the mersharks do too?

The same species… But one isolated group has magic and the other doesn't…

"Actually, thinking about it now," Rin said with sudden realization, "that might be the reason why they can cross the barrier but you guys can't."

"You mean you didn't know until now?"

"Ergh… no."

Well, that's all of Haru's questions answered. At least, the ones he thought Rin had an answer for. He racked his brain for anything else he wanted to know, anything to keep the conversation going, any excuse to stay with Rin for longer, but he was still stuck on the whole 'magic' thing. He could still barely believe it, but it wasn't like Rin had any reason to lie to him, unless he got off on making a fool out of Haru.

Magic…

"Show me," Haru requested. "Show me magic."

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I guess you need some sort of proof, huh?"

Haru nodded.

Rin closed his eyes and held his hands up in front of him, palms facing each other, and Haru watched intently. A second passed by, and then two, three, and Haru almost started to believe that he was being toyed with, when a few small bubbles appeared in the space between Rin's hands. And then more bubbles, and then—

The water between Rin's hands turned red. It swirled around itself, and Haru expected it to get out of control, but it remained in a perfect sphere where Rin held it, rushing and churning, and almost glowing, it seemed, reflecting onto Rin's features and highlighting his concentrated brow.

Haru was just as transfixed at the sight of Rin right then as he was at magic.

He couldn't help himself when he lifted a hand to it, wanting to know what it felt like, if it would twirl around his hand like strands of red hair, but pulled back with a sharp hiss, finding that it was hot. Burning.

He'd heard stories of something called fire. Something so hot it caused skin to peel and melt. Did Rin have fire in his hands? But his hand looked fine and only stung a little.

Rin opened his eyes wide and made a quick sideways motion with his hands, causing the magic to look as if it was tossed against the cave wall and dissipate into the water. The wild red was gone, and Haru couldn't help but be disappointed at that. "Don't touch it! It's boiling water, you idiot!"

"It's magic…" Haru couldn't help but whisper.

"Well, yeah—"

"Actual magic…"

Iwatobians are in no way superior to this, Haru thought, as Rin grabbed his hand swiftly but gently and looked over it, assessing if there was any damage.

Rin alone is above us all.