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It had now been around 3 days since Chuuya set out once again from the yokohoma shores, quick to disappear after ransacking a farm and stealing nearly everything they had in the dead of night.
and yet, even days after, the varying guilt of stealing a month's worth of food from some random people is aching in his heart. Even though dulling throughout the years as a captain, one with a strong reputation no less, his empathy clearly hasn't gotten the hint yet..
which is how Chuuya caught himself leaving his quarters and going up to the deck, to have a moment of peace gazing upon the softest waters of the year.
his most trusted crewmate, Akutagawa, was supposed to be holding watch - but he got ill yesterday and that left someone to volunteer, which ended up being Tachihara.. and with how calm the waves slowly splashing below have come, the idiot is fast asleep on the floor right next to the wheel. not a problem for Chuuya though.
Tachihara is nosy, he'd be all up in Chuuya's business as to why he's out so late at night when he's usually sound asleep in his bed.
Chuuya shudders slightly at the thought, having to explain to Tachihara why he's out so late is unbelievably humiliating sounding.
“I feel guilty about stealing from that place despite being a pirate for the majority of my teenage and now adult life” sounds bad to admit even to himself, and with how nothing of the night seems especially dangerous nor attention requiring, he feels just fine with pretending he didn't see a thing.
his footsteps lay soft as possible on the hard wood, as to not wake any of his crew, as he makes it towards the edge of his ship. the wooden railings lay high, so he leans against them.
Chuuya leisurely pulls out a cigar out of his left pocket, lighting it swiftly with a match and breathing in the air. he remembers how his mother used to tell him to never smoke these, “Chuuya, now don't you ever even think about picking one of these up.” he'd always say he wouldn't, determined, he finds it funny now. hopefully his mother isn't too disappointed beyond the grave..
he signs deeply to himself, mind drifting back to the family and not his own.
hopefully, those kids don't end up beyond the grave early - at least they have an entire farm he supposes, surely they won't starve. they have animals galore as well, if Chuuya didn't know better he'd assume they were rich.
Chickens and cows and pigs, as well as the ocean so near with all the fish selection.. he looks back up to Tachihara’s sleeping form, assuring himself they'll be fine.
it's ridiculous honestly, he's a feared pirate captian and he feels bad for taking from a plentiful farm?
he never has this feeling drowning his head so horribly..
it's likely just the recent uneasement is what his brain supplies him, the way he's been feeling called to the waters in a way so deeply it's made him act ‘weird’ according to his crew.
the way he's felt eyes on him from the glass windows in his chambers when he knows nothing is accompanying him like that.
fish and sharks and the occasional sealife differing from said collection are always there, always relatively close to the ship and sometimes even hunting in sharks cases, but never the distinct feeling of human eyes from the deep abyss of ocean surrounding the ship at all times.
frankly, its uncanny and its making him imagine things that couldn't possibly be there.
there's only two things he can think of, and neither thought provides much comfort.
it's been proven for a long time Mermaids and Sirens are real.. from sightings to real bones.
and its been proved that both species will follow anything they find interesting to any capacity.
Mermaids will usually have innocent intentions, will even interact and let themselves be studied and communed with if they feel like it, but its still creepy to be followed by one..
Sirens however? well, there's a reason most captains will pay to ward em off.
just the thought alone of a siren finding his ship intriguing is bone chilling..
unpredictable, typically hostile, more intelligent then most if not all humans and commonly found to enjoy playing with their meals.
Chuuya would possibly rather die than encounter one.
a Mermaid is creepy, but he can deal with a mermaid..
he hopes he's just hallucinating it honestly, there doesn't seem a worse fate then it..
looking about the sea, he takes a calming breathe and the final puff of his cigar before putting it out on the floor.
the waters below create soft sounds of washing waves against the ship and all the quietest moments of animals of the night, fish for the most part.
one especially large one catches his eye, only the tip of the tail showing in the lightest pale blue. Tuna maybe, large bastards..
It leaves a decently sized ripple in the water in its wake, and a shadow he can't properly make out of a.. proportional looking thing goes deeper into the darkest blues of the night sky reflected on the surface.
Definitely Tuna, or a shark? maybe a small shark..
whatever, it's gone now anyway.
turning his head around to survey the ship, something once more catches his eye. From the other side of the ship…
Without a singular doubt about it, a tanned human face with long hair and the biggest doe eyes filled with coffee colored irises, hiding behind a rock on the shore Chuuya hadn’t even realized they had approached yet..
It ducks behind the rock just as quickly, causing Chuuya to catch the most unsettling grin he’s ever seen in his damn life. The ends up to his eyes, not in a real smile type of way, in the way where his cheeks crush up genuinely against the very bottom of each eye, revealing more of his mouth then realistically the skeleton of a human could ever have without being mangled-
Sharp teeth slotting non perfectly against each other, sharp enough that without a doubt it would easily break human skin, possibly bone? Not enough time to really get a good look..
He’s hallucinating, right?
It’s too late out to truly see that..
Maybe it was just a weird looking fish? It was a distance,
Fish have weird patterns, he only saw it for a moment right?
No…
No.
His heart rate spikes as he sees the edge of a tail just underneath the water, far to close for any comfort.
Light blue, but it isn’t one of the bigger natural fish - he knows that for a fucking fact.
Wide and long, with that pattern you always see in art but never really in real life with scales on the sides, and the god forbidden extra fins on the very top ends.
Without a doubt in the world, that’s a siren.
Mermaid’s don’t have those extra fins.
He sees it disappear under the ship, and looks over the edge of the railings. Catching one more glimpse of the long, long tail.. Before it disappears fast into the deep blue of night.
His hand had unintentionally reached for the closest thing to his hand, unfortunately not anything useful, so now its just tangled up in a net..
He can’t look back at his hand though. His eyes stuck on the sea where the creature disappeared
just thinking back to the last time he saw one -
Seven years ago, Chuuya age fifteen before the ship became his, bored out of his mind. The ship had docked hours ago, and his captain was gone doing something. The entire crew, counting Chuuya, was just stuck counting sheep and playing some card game Hirotsu learnt when he was younger.
He had noticed another person had slipped away onto the large, consistent ongoing beach. He realized a minute later, when he saw the woman following a man around a corner. The beach their ship was docked on was surrounded by mountains, small and big, and most of the people lived in houses actually in the mountains, it’s not a huge surprise to him that someone came out to see what the ship was doing on the shores.
Chuuya soon purposefully lost the game as soon as possible, and politely budded out of the group after telling Hirostu he’d just appreciate a small break before continuing ,
“Just tired, be back soon I promise.”
“Alright. Though remember, this area isn’t familiar. Keep an eye out.”
Chuuya had just hummed in response, not in the mood for a real lot of talking.
He made sure everyone was mostly distracted in the, weirdly competitive game of cards, before he slipped away to the beach below.
The beach itself was nice enough, warm sand underneath his feet with only small portions of gravel easily avoidable, the mountain he had seen slowly getting closer and closer. Before disappearing behind the area, he made sure that everyone on the ship was still pre-occupied.
He’d get scolded so awfully if he was caught out of sight.. He’s a child still or whatever his father says.
Turning the corner, now out of sight of anyone he knows, he sees the man. His crewmate not in sight, but that’s the least of his worries as he can’t move his eyes from the sight in front of him.
And god if it ain’t a sight to see..
Sitting on a rock, one hand and legs hidden, is the most gorgeous man Chuuya ever laid his eyes on.
His hair is a dark brunette, softly curled in a way that adds volume yet not mess, nearly shoulder length, and with two thick strands on either side longer than the rest of the hair. With lighter, caramel highlights in some parts.
Tanned, milk chocolate cacao skin, littered with gorgeous white lines and moles on the face. Seemingly with.. Tattoos, small lines on the neck and arms and torso that only add to the appearance of the man.
Eyes the color of dark hazelnut, each eye having a rind and inner ring around the pupil of rust mixed with dark wood. And the eyes themselves, wide doe eyes with long yet nimble eyelashes and a clear undereye, with more of those pretty line tattoos on each cheek.
and, covered in layers and layers of jewelry. on the arms and waist but especially covered in at least like 8 different necklaces, each layer a bigger, shinier and nicer necklace. the bottom has an oyster shell with a pearl still inside..
The boy, Chuuya’s age seemingly.. Turned to look at him fully.
It caught Chuuya’s attention immediately when those large, abyssal pupil suddenly got as small as a freckle, but he couldn’t place it in his head what could possibly be the cause of it
It’s only when the creepiest damn hand he’s ever seen, fading from that gorgeous milk chocolate color to a lightless black in four.., spindly ass looking long fingers, creep to the side of Chuuya’s view, he realizes what he’s truly looking at.
a Siren, far too gone in hunger to care for messing around with its prey.
It’s eyes are NOT in fact looking at his face, but are rather zeroed straight into his torso. His chest specifically, with all of his organs…
He get’s ready to run, he doesn’t dare take his eyes off the creature even when he notices a vomit inducing color of deep scarlet red with fucking clumps of something he doesn't want to think about seeping from behind the rock.
Chuuya was lucky to get out with minor scratches.
the thought of if makes his spine chill once again. … dark brown eyes.
he wishes to never see them again, and for his damn mind to just shut up about sirens already.
He knows full well that’ll never happen though.
If it’s the same Siren, he’s been found for a second time. Which likely means it knows full well who he is, and is out to get him because it’s found some morbid curiosity within itself towards him..
Chuuya’s eyes are locked on the ocean, and a cold chill that makes him actually shiver runs down his back for the first time in ages.
He’s been found a second time by a siren that knows him from a state of uncontrollable hunger.
Hah…
Chuuya wakes Tachihara, and doesn’t sleep that night. Opting to watch for it.
It doesn’t come back.
By morning, he hasn’t managed to convince himself it was just a fish. he knows full fucking well what he saw.
when his entire crew was awake, and when he had realized it was going to be a day on the calmer side, he appointed Tachihara in charge again, and went to his chambers. he didn't lock the door behind himself for a change. it didn't feel like right to.
he sat down at the desk next to his bed, staring at the maps and the layouts and the document esque papers of everything he ought to do soon.
he grabs the one with all the details for the latest.. ransack for food, and crosses them off before putting them in his drawer with all the other finished voyages.
He stares at his desk for a long while.
he sighs, his body drained of energy he can't regain at the moment. both because it's daytime and the Siren looming over everything he does.
It's never good to get caught off gaurd by a siren, Chuuya of all people knows damn well.
sleeping in chambers where just anything could peek at him from the water is anxious enough.
but while being stalked? hard fucking pass!
his eyes dart up to the one window not covered by a curtain, he doesn't see a thing. in the distance he sees some fish, deeper down he sees rocks covered in sand,
no pair of eyes in the distance, no end of a tail swiftly leaving sight..
and yet he isn't allowing himself to relax. his brain feels fried with a deep rooted terror for the creatures, just the prospect of one watching him from afar doesn't let him get rest.
his eyes return to the desk.
he's in no state to leave the room at all, so god knows he won't be doing anything that doesn't involve something he could do easily.
he tries to think, he really does, but it takes a moment for the idea to hit him.
he could write all of it down, the date and then what happened. he could establish something to track it, and that would determine for good if he's hallucinating this entire thing or not. -he knows he's not-
grabbing the makeshift ink pen he made ages ago and gently dipping it in the ink he keeps safely with a lid on the corner of his desk, he begins to write.
`` March 8th. —
he wonders how to write it. he should just be clear likely, write it down in a way even an idiot could read.
could do good for a few poeple on this damn ship..
— Siren spotted on left side, then right, then left one more time before disappearing.
possibly stalking ship.
long brown hair, large brown eyes, unsettling anatomically incorrect grin.
Blue tail.
/Chuuya Nakahara. ``
he doesn't feel much better, but what's he to do about that?
he swiftly sketches down the face he knows he recognizes on the bottom corner, and then the end of the tail he saw.
he supposes he'll just keep doing this till it leaves.
one way or another it'll loose interest if he prays enough..
over the next days, five to be exact, Chuuya is absolutely certain their being stalked.
he's seen it every. single. day.
it's now March thirteenth, and Chuuya is sitting at his desk looking back at all his reports.
it's dark out, so a candle lantern is all he has to read under, but the words are clear as day to him.
`` March 9th.
Siren spotted staring from dock on further yokohoma. complete head, watching me and only me. it got closer three separate times.
it moved swiftly between large rocks every time I wasn't looking.
but this time, it had the strangest look on its face. complete curiosity, as if it cares beyond getting a meal.
/Chuuya Nakahara``
the next one in the pile is worse, all of them have been getting worse every day..
`` March 10th.
Siren spotted twice today. peeking from behind a large rock underwater and observing the ship.
three separate times today. shallow enough water to see and get seen, but not enough to get caught or get any real consequences for the strange behaviour.
Follows the ship from around 10 feet back and 20 to the side, not far in the slightest. it's acting like it wants to be seen.
/Chuuya Nakahara.``
he skips past the eleventh date, the note only showcases how the siren is getting more cocky and if he needs anything it isn't to see those.
(`` March 11th.
Siren spotted full body back floating along nearly 40 feet from ship every few hours. it caught my crews attention.
it knows what it's doing. it's trying to get close and personal to our ship, but it's playing smart and going little by little.
I'm not letting it get too close without a fight.
/Chuuya Nakahara`` and directly below on the remaining paper is a sketch of the being, peacefully back floating.)
What he needs is to not face his grave, grave reality right now..
not that twelve is any better than eleven though..
he fishes it out from the back of his desk where he had placed it yesterday in a prayer no one else would snoop and find it.
he knows his crew knows when and when not to pry. he just needed to be sure.
he places the note down in front of him, and reads the words over once more.
`` March 12th.
Siren was once again floating near the ship. closer than yesterday, most of the crew noticed it. they know what sirens are, their not dense.
it was humming a tune to itself. not a siren song, not elegant nor nice enough to even truly compare the two - it sounded like a joke bard song that would've been made many years ago.
it's becoming comfortable with my ship.
it's a problem that's growing every day now.
I need to get rid of it, but the species is too smart to fall for any traps. and if it's so happy flaunting, it'd be able to catch even the most subtle of actions that could lead to death or capture.
/Chuuya Nakahara``
Chuuya doesn't do much but stare at the papers splattered around on his desk at the moment.
reading between all the notes, knowing there's very few solutions to this that don't involve feeding or worshipping it..
Having an appreciation for the species tends to amuse, being willing to do things could even save your ass in a dire situation.. it's something that was ingrained in him after that first interaction.
he'd rather be food than a fool.
at least he'd go out without ruining his reputation, his legacy and affecting his crew more than just dying would.
Chuuya feels that dreadful feeling forming in the back of his head.
the Siren wouldn't be confident enough to dare watch him through his window, right?
it gets worse.
headache inducing nearly, before he just looks up.
.
.
.
.
.
.
He feels, very much not for the first time this week or even today- his blood chill in his veins.
the Siren apparently has gotten comfortable enough with his ship to not only observe from his window, but stand right against it.
well, not stand technically..
it's floating there, one hand gripping the side of his boat and one hand in view. it has an amused, smug even look on its face that makes Chuuya want to punch it.
If Chuuya had any doubt it was the same Siren now, all of it is long gone.
the same Tanned skin covered in scars, the “tattoos” that were really gills in the exact same place, with the same moles.
Dark brunette hair with caramel streaks, curled in that pretty way.
eyes the color of the darkest oak wood with two rings of soft rust, still abyssal irises.
the face gets a smile, less high and threatening then the last but that doesnt make it better dammit!
Chuuya panics- he gets up in basically a millisecond and thinks back to his father teaching him to beeline in the other direction if he ever spotted a siren again
Chuuya runs as fast as he can to his door, and he ignores how the thing's eyes track him and how it's long blackened fingertips tap against the glass.
he runs upstairs and to the actual deck, but being able to see does no help to soothe him.
he looks over the edge -like an idiot, how was his instinct not to grab a weapon or even hide?- and instantly sees it surface.
it only holds onto the ship enough to not drift away.
its silence. pure silence halt for the waves and birds above.
unhelpfully, Chuuya's brain spots a million more necklaces on the creature - at least 22 layers by now, his structure fuller with pearls and shells and ornaments made with rope and plastic that are surprisingly prettier then they seem..
chunks of gems and crystals adorn the bigger lines as well.
it's still silence.
it's an overwhelming silence, like it's muted Chuuya, for minutes. the only thing he could possibly pay attention to being the large doe eyes staring right back at him.
and then, it has the nerve to open its mouth and speak words in English.
fluent, not choppy. a rarity of its own..
“mm.. y'know captain, you flatter me so with all your notes and drawings~” it's voice is verbal honey, deep and soothing and calm inducing in a way only a siren could manage.
soft purrs is how it sounds beyond that, like a happy cat.
However, it does nothing to soothe Chuuya. not in the slightest.
“What the fuck are you doing here.” if it speaks english it'll understand him fine.
he doesn't know why he's even entertaining the stupid fucking fish, maybe it's part of the Siren's charm..
“Awwhhh, how rude.. I've just come to see you of course!” it's grin gets wider on its face, but Chuuya can't tell its real emotions for shit.
“I didn't get a good enough look at you all that time ago..”
the voice annoys Chuuya. not by itself, but the words and the smug tone seeping into it with every word. like its won some game by making him come up here tonight.
“...No. why are you really here! your not just here to observe - not a single siren on earth doesn't stalk for a meal” Chuuya's voice becomes an aggressive hiss, rivaling that of a big dogs growl on grounds of actual induced fear.
“Hey!” the Siren fake gasps, “I do no such thing thank you very much! I've simply.. found you intriguing, is that a huge crime?” the Siren doesn't have all the words it needs to properly convey the sentence on the level its intended to be spoken.. but Chuuya can tell none the less.
“Yeah actually. Stalking a person is a pretty big fucking crime!”
“It's not stalking.. it's mere observation”
“Same thing!”
“No, doesn't stalking imply malicious intent? I harbor none of that for you. or your.. crew, for that matter.”
“Your lying straight to my face right now.”
“You think so little of me..”
“Obviously!”
“Right.. I have the opposite of malice for you, Nakahara. I don't bite..”
yeah. like Chuuya would believe that bullshit!
a good siren? without a harmful intention or the want for a nice meal about right now?
it takes him for an idiot!
“I know what your about to say.”
“Oh, do you now.” Chuuya's voice grows more and more irritated, but it doesn't show his growing fear.
“You think I'm some evil being just here for all that meat on your bones, and you don't buy my shit and think I think your stupid.”
Chuuya groans. why is it always HIM?! Can't Some other poor soul get inconvenienced with this?!
fuck, at least it isn't starved like last time..
it's grin stays put, and it's eyes shine as bright as the sun for guessing correctly.
“I'm not here to hurt you, Captain..”
Chuuya scoffs, crosses his arms.
“Right.”
“No, seriously-”
Chuuya catches an emotion he's never heard before in its voice.
it's sickening and soft.
.. he can't place a finger on it, but the siren is suddenly very serious about proving something.
“I was starved for weeks the first time we met.. I'm more civilized than that most of the time, my Captain.”
My?
MY captain?
MY CAPTAIN?
oh Chuuya doesn't like where he's going with this.
“you can't just tell me your calm now after attempting murder! seven years ago maybe but it doesn't change shit!”
the sirens grin falls, it looks between itself and Chuuya before making a decision.
Chuuya watches as its long, spindly fingers he could've sworn looked way more creepy five minutes ago creep up the side of the ship,
“Hey! stop that -”
until the siren pushes itself up to be leaning over the side of the railings.
they are now eye level.
carefully, with only one hand, the siren grabs the third to largest necklace and undoes the clasp from behind its neck.
Chuuya only watches in horror, only can watch in horror and some mislead state of ease as it does this. It does mean hes not going to get killed he supposes..
As it carefully undoes the back,
it takes the necklace gently, and offers the likeness to Chuuya.
its a long, trustable string covered in all perfect white pearls, chunks of light jewels and polished looking pale birch wood he's never seen before just as the base. on the bottom, where it shows most clearly, are small white shells leading up to bigger ones. two pieces of the lightest red quartz, shined, on either side of an oyster shell with a pearl still inside.
very pretty honestly.. unfortunately it would match around every article of clothing he owns one way or another.
but he doesn't want to take it.
it's not some sort of apology, a piece so large and extravagant is basically a love confession in Siren terms - if he takes it, he's accepting the Siren.
Its expression is akin to that of some.. Love sick puppy, finally getting a chance to get a close up look at the center of their feeling for the first time.
More of a center of an obsession with these damn creatures..
They have emotions on point with humans, of course it’s possible for them to feel just as strongly..
But Chuuya would never buy that a siren harbors any form of affection for a human.
Intrigue? Sure. confusion? Obviously, but it doesn’t feel right to him, deep in his being, for a siren to hold affection.
He’s staring at the necklace. He knows damn well can never get rid of the damn thing if he even holds it in his hand for a moment, looks at it too strongly or with a certain expression even it’ll get its hopes up.
It’ll bother him till the day it dies, and it’ll haunt him after too…
but if he refuses, shoves the siren back off the side of the boat he's equally fucked. in an arguably worse way, the Siren won't see a point in securing his safety. absolute opposite actually, it'll likely have him as its next meal.
There’s an old maids tale, isn’t there of a Siren giving a gift and getting refused. Left, stalked more intently for days - and then, when the family of the woman wasn’t around, it killed and ate her.
Left her hands so that the family would know what happened.
… actually, thinking about it the decisions pretty fucking obvious.
it'll ensure his safety, likely the safety of his crew, and not danger anyone else with a heartbroken siren swimming around.
The siren is staring. Deeply, intensely at Chuuya. Unlike the first time they met, its eyes are confined to Chuuya’s face.
hesitantly, he reaches his hands out and takes the necklace with the careful consideration for it of someone who cares for their life.
he slips it around his neck, and closes the clasp to let it hang.
he hadn't noticed how glum the Siren had begun to look until it suddenly went away, the features morphing into an eerie wide smile with overjoyed bright eyes.
It pisses Chuuya off that it isn't ugly. even more so that it's actively pretty - Can sirens stop being so unreasonably attractive for no damn reason already..
the Siren purrs, genuinely lets out a sound of contentment so clear Chuuya nearly doubts its even real, before speaking once again.
it's eyes are locked on Chuuya in a much less threatening way now. “it's so pretty on you..” it hums,
Chuuya can only find it in himself to mumble a small thanks, but the Siren doesn't take the displeasure to heart.
“I ought to go now.. I'm rather hungry after days just trailing your ship..” it's voice is still heavy with the purr, “remember not to kill me next time you see me!”
The long, weirdly shaped hands of a siren move in a way that would let it slip back down the side of the ship without rubbing its scales weird.
Before it can get down however, Chuuya remembers -
“Wait!”
“Hmmmmmm?”
The voice is starting to piss him off..
“Tell me your name before you just leave like that.” the Siren isn’t really internalizing his unease, or the way he clearly doesn’t really want anything to do with him, so he doesn’t hide it. Asking for a name at all is enough of a surrender to the creature..
“Ahhh, my bad..” it hums thoughtfully, as if it would change its answer or something. “My names Osamu Dazai.”
… it’s a name. It certainly fits the creature,
Before Chuuya can even get one more word out, it finishes the interaction.
“Truly I must go now. I’ll see you soonn..”
it snickers before pushing off the railing and back into the water, looking back only once more at Chuuya.
it's more than confident now it won't have to keep the closest eye on him.
he took the gift, to a Siren that's a guarantee.
of what? Chuuya doesn't want to think about it.
he's left in the dead of night to think about what he just did.