Work Text:
“Tamaki, you must not go towards the light, alright?” His mother’s finger pointed towards a small ray of light on the ground. This was not the first time he had heard this sentence from his mother; rather, he had heard this sentence from basically every adult he had met.
Tamaki carefully observed the light, despite his curiosity about what it may be or what harm this little thing could do to him, Tamaki had known from his childhood not to question anything, or else he would face annoyed gazes or frowns.
“Yes, mother.” He nodded, while playing with his bright purple Moon Jelly pet, “Tsuki” absentmindedly. Despite lacking the ability to speak, Tsuki floated up and down excitedly as if being petted by Tamaki was the best thing in the world, or at least Tamaki would like to believe so.
“Good.” His mother’s eyes trailed along the ray of light on the ground, which led to the path no deep-sea beast had ever dared to cross, or rather, some had enough courage to explore the ‘brighter’ side. Oh, and what did they get?
Screams and disgusted expressions from other sea creatures when they laid their eyes upon them. “Monsters!” they said. “Please don’t eat us!” they pleaded. Before they knew it, the deep-sea beasts were featured in many urban legends among other sea creatures, not as heroes, but as fearsome villains.
If the bright blue sea did not welcome them, then perhaps the veil of darkness under the ocean was where they belonged. Every deep-sea beast knew this fact by heart, including Tamaki.
Though hard to admit, Tamaki felt sad about the fact that he could not, no, not allowed to explore what the world of light was like out there. Tamaki dropped his gaze to the ground, fixating on the speck of light that stayed bright against all the dark surroundings. He reached his hand out to touch it before his mother’s hand caught his wrist and gently took him away from the light.
“There is nothing to see here, Tamaki. Let’s just go back to our home.” Her mouth moved softly while looking back at Tamaki for his response.
Tamaki knew the answer. After all, there was only one correct answer.
“Yes, mother.” His head nodded accordingly. Although for a moment, his eyes travelled back to where they had left: the speck of light.
──✩₊⁺⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧──
“Okay, we’re going to play tag next! I’ll be it first, ok?” Tamaki smiled while playfully swimming away from his small Moon Jelly pet, giving it room to float away. Tsuki’s light shone bright and enthusiastic, bobbing up and down before swimming away from Tamaki at incredible speed.
Despite its size, Tsuki was considered the fastest among the deep-sea Moon Jelly species. That was also a blessing and a curse. The blessing, the fact that Tsuki was very fast, made this game very fun and challenging for Tamaki. The curse, Tsuki couldn't care less where they will end up as long as it got to win. Hell, Tsuki almost got eaten by an anglerfish one time. Were Tamaki not there, Tsuki would definitely have been fish dinner that day.
Today was no less different. Tsuki dodged Tamaki’s grasp swiftly with ease, teasing its owner and only friend to no end, without realizing that strong waves were coming their way. Tamaki was able to guard such waves; unfortunately, Tsuki’s small and light body could not. In the blink of an eye, Tsuki was carried by the waves towards the opposite side of their home.
“Tsuki! No!” Tamaki tried to reach his hand to Tsuki, only to grasp empty bubbles. Tamaki raised his arm and swam towards Tsuki with all his might. He reached his hand again and again, in hope of catching his dear Moon Jelly. After several empty water in his hands, he finally caught Tsuki. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he hugged Tsuki tightly.
“Please… don’t ever do that again.” He closed his eyes, his mouth trembling as he said those words. Tsuki, Tamaki’s only friend, could only touch its head to Tamaki’s cheek as a way to say ‘sorry’. After a moment, Tamaki’s eyes felt weird, as if something was poking at his eyeballs. He slowly opened his eyes to see where they were now.
Then, a blast of light burned his eyes in the worst way possible. All he could see were white dots, lights, and nothing else. Tamaki blinked repeatedly in the hopes of getting rid of the pain in his eyeballs. Is this what a light does to a deep-sea beast? Is this some kind of torture device? No wonder his mother forbade him from going to the ‘brighter’ side of the sea; it was hell there!
However, Tamaki quickly changed his mind after his eyesight was finally clear. What he saw in front of him was a display of bright colors. Red corals swaying along the waves, yellow starfish lying on a pale brown sand, and vibrant orange and white clownfish hiding inside green coral reefs. All of these bright colors made Tamaki’s heart flutter with horror and amazement at the same time. They were all so intensely bright that he felt like everything could blind him, but at the same time, his eyes could keep looking at this scene forever.
Aside from his eyes, his long ears twitched upon hearing something far away. Instinctively, Tamaki hid himself and Tsuki behind a large rock just in case there was a large predator around here. He prayed to himself that the noise he heard would go away soon, so he and Tsuki could go home safely. Sadly, no matter how many times he prayed, the noise seemed to get closer and closer to them.
Upon hearing closer, however, that noise seemed more like a gentle singing of someone. It was a bit off-tune, but it was clear the mysterious singer was trying their best to correct it.
Despite being a bit clumsy in singing, their voice was full of warmth and love that even Tamaki’s heart drummed along with the mysterious singer’s tune, forgetting everything about the time and place he was currently in.
“No, no. This isn’t right either…” The mysterious singer sighed and collapsed on a rock, just right beside the large rock Tamaki was hiding behind. Now Tamaki’s heart was thumping furiously for a different reason, and it was not a pleasant one. Tamaki could feel the stranger move a bit, causing a rock to move.
He heard another sigh as the stranger mumbled to themselves, “No, no. I can’t give up. There must be a way I can sing better. There must be!” The stranger suddenly got up and looked at the surface of the water above, unknowingly moved a rock so close to Tamaki that only an inch further, and the rock would crush his fingers to dust.
Seeing this horrifying scene that will soon happen to him, despite trying to be quiet all these times, “Eep!---” Tamaki let out a pathetic yelp. He’s dead. Dead for real. Forget getting back to his home; this sand is his grave now.
Then Tamaki could feel the rock move a bit again. After what felt like an eternity, all the movements stopped altogether. Tamaki peeked behind a rock to see if there was someone or anything on the rock. What he found was nothing. A puff of relief escaped from his lungs after holding his breath for such a long time. He grabbed Tsuki in his arms and turned his head back, ready to go back to the realm of shadow he belonged to—
“HELLO!”
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Tamaki was so scared that he swam backwards, forgetting that there were only rocks behind his back. He closed his eyes and hugged Tsuki in his arms; his courage melted away as he thought he would never see his mother or his kind ever again. “P-P-Please! Don’t eat me!” his voice trembled as he begged for mercy with the stranger; his eyes squeezed shut, not daring enough to see the potential ‘predator’ in front of him.
The stranger laughed heartily. Oh, he was so screwed. The stranger laughed, and he was going to be the breakfast of someone whom he didn’t even know or see. How pathetic is that?
“Eat you? No! Why would I do that?” The stranger continued to chuckle while reaching their hand to Tamaki. “Sorry, I should have warned you first. I’m Toogata Mirio, by the way.”
Tamaki opened his eyes after the stranger introduced themselves. Still terrified to death, Tamaki kept his hands to himself, stroking Tsuki for closure as he slowly opened his eyes. The sight in front of him, however, was even brighter than the entire ocean scenario he saw earlier.
His golden hair swayed softly, mixing colors with white and blue from the light above the water's surface. Each strand glowed brightly as if his hair were the source of brightness itself. Tamaki then looked into his eyes. Just a moment before, he thought those vibrant colors overwhelmed him because there were so many of them. But once he gazed into those blue orbs, he learnt that the color blue alone could make his heart beat a little faster as well. Tamaki could feel his cheeks grow warmer the longer he stared and tried to hide it by focusing on the corals below instead.
He then noticed that the boy in front of him had a fish tail, a sparkling fish tail to be exact. The tip of his tail was crimson red, beautifully gradient into soft yellow up until his waist.
Tamaki had heard about this specific creature from his parents before. Their charming voices fill this entire ocean with love and cheer. Each day was filled with happiness and fulfillment, dancing away without a care in the world while being loved by every sea animal that happened to come across them; merfolk. That’s the keyword: being loved.
Tamaki then took a glance at himself. His tentacles swayed weakly with the movement of the ocean, floating awkwardly when compared to a merfolk’s dazzling tail. He bet that the radiant tail would look so graceful when swimming, unlike his weird tentacles.
“Whoa! Are those your tails? Why are there so many of them?” Tamaki’s thoughts were suddenly cut off by the boy’s question. While his left hand was holding Tsuki in its place, preventing it from pricking the merboy in front of him, one of his tentacles wrapped around his right-hand finger, not knowing how to react to that kind of question.
“Uh… I mean, I was just born this way?” That was kind of a stupid answer, he knew. But he couldn’t think of anything better at this moment. The boy’s expression was perplexed, yet still contained that innocent curiosity at the same time. The boy, or as he called himself, ‘Toogata Mirio’, noticed that the other boy looked a bit uncomfortable with the question he asked, so he backed away.
“I’m sorry if my question made you feel bad. It’s just that… I have seen many sea animals before, but I have never seen someone like you.” Mirio began to explain while waving his hands excitedly. “It must have been so cool to have that many tails. You could eat many seaweeds at the same time, or you could play with so many fish, or you could pick up so many shells at once!”
Tamaki's dark purple eyes lit up a bit. He had never seen his tails (or tentacles) that way before. Actually, none of his kind did. One more tentacle wrapped around his other finger as he asked Mirio hesitantly, “Aren’t you afraid of me? I mean…” Tamaki looked down at himself as he whispered,
“I look like this.”
Mirio’s expression was full-on confused now. His bright blue eyes observed Tamaki from his head down to the tip of his tentacles. Mirio kept staring at Tamaki for several minutes before his lips spread into a wide grin. “If you really ARE that dangerous, you would have made me your snack already.” He explained before looking directly into Tamaki’s eyes. “Plus, I know the eyes of a monster… and you are not one of them.”
Tamaki’s inky eyes widened as he heard those words. Throughout his life, he was used to the heavy burden in his chest. He was a deep-sea beast after all; if he could not take a mere pressure in his chest, how could he survive in the deep sea where the water pressure could crush normal sea creatures into nothing but pink mist? But today his chest felt a lot lighter, the water around him felt so much easier to breathe, and for the first time in his life, he didn’t feel like his mere existence was a threat to someone.
Tamaki’s lips formed a small smile at that thought, slowly easing the tension between the two.
“Besides…” Mirio pointed to himself and scratched his head apologetically, “It seems like I’M more of a monster since I scared you so bad earlier. Also, sorry about that!”
Tamaki only shook his head. “No, that’s ok. I have never met someone like you either, that’s why I freaked out.”
Then, not knowing what to say next, Tamaki became quiet for several minutes before Mirio decided to break the comforting (but long) silence between them.
Gently, Mirio asked, “So… what are you doing here? Where are you from? I can show you the area if you want. My dad said I’m an expert!” Mirio’s right hand ball into a fist and proudly tapped on his chest, waiting for the other boy to answer.
Tamaki flinched from the sudden realization; that’s right. He had to go home! He had been gone for quite some time now, and his mother would have been worried sick. Just before Tamaki’s mouth opened, the other voice in his head kicked in; what kind of face would Mirio make if he knew the deep sea was Tamaki’s home?
Would his eyes stay as cheerful and friendly just like right now?
Tamaki gulped.
He did not want to think of that possibility right now. Perhaps it’s better not to reveal too much. Tamaki thought. For now, at least.
“Well, I was playing chase with my Moon Jelly, then suddenly a strong wave strayed us from our usual path.” Tamaki slowly explained. Then, paused for a minute to think of the next appropriate answer, “My home is next to the deep part of the sea… NOT EXACTLY in the deep part of the ocean, though! And now I’m lost, and my mom must be worried sick about me!”
Tamaki then (forcefully) chuckled to hide the very obvious awkward answer he had just given to the other boy. Had this been anybody else, the person would have been able to tell immediately he was lying.
But Mirio is not anybody else. He is, well, Mirio. He didn’t catch any suspicion on the nervous boy in front of him at all and just gave him a casual smile.
“Oh, so you’re from that area? I don’t usually go there, but I used to swim past that area to find pearls and seaweeds before.” Mirio scratched his chin thoughtfully, trying to map the route in his head. “I think I can take you there. Follow me!”
Mirio gracefully moved his fins and swam ahead of Tamaki. The dark-haired boy followed suit while hugging Tsuki in his arms. Turns out, Tamaki’s home is not very far from the spot where he met Mirio. It was a bit complicated, of course, having to remember the specific placement of some coral and stone along the way. But, with the guidance and tips from Mirio, “the expert”, remembering the route from his home to ‘the bright part of the ocean’ might not have been so difficult.
Tamaki then looked deeply into the dark cave, the entrance to his home. Tamaki glanced at the merboy behind him, who was tilting his head curiously with a smile still stuck on his face, wondering what the boy in front of him could have wanted to say.
As cute as that face was, Tamaki could not let the merboy see him enter the cave. So, Tamaki turned to fully face Mirio and gave him a nervous smile. He muttered softly, “Thank you for bringing me here. I can go by myself now…” and turned himself around to swim back into the place he was familiar with—
Before being stopped by a loud “Wait!” from the merboy behind him.
His head snapped right back at Mirio. The merboy grinned sheepishly and asked, “What’s your name, by the way?”
Tamaki was silent for a moment. No one had ever been calm enough to ask the deep-sea beast’s name. “Amajiki. Amajiki Tamaki.”
“Amajiki…” Mirio repeated the name softly. Despite how soft that voice is, Tamaki’s heart was somehow beating loudly in his chest once he heard the merboy call his name. So much so that Tamaki wondered if merfolk could also fasten someone’s heartbeat just by their voices. Tamaki’s train of thought was then cut off by another one of the merboy’s questions.
“Amajiki, do you want to come and play with me sometimes? Most of my friends don’t like to play anywhere outside of the merfolk kingdom.” His usually bright blue orbs dimmed a bit with a hint of loneliness.
It was a sight Tamaki couldn’t believe he would see. It only lasted for a second before he went back to his cheerful self. “Plus, I think you’re really cool! I want to be your friend, Amajiki.”
Tamaki’s face was quickly flushed with redness. This wonderful, cheerful, confident merboy who could have made a thousand friends (who maybe a thousand times cooler than him) was asking him to be his friend? His friend? Even thinking of that word seemed alien to him. However, deep down, he knew he wanted a friend too.
At his home, aside from Tsuki, there were barely any kids around his age. Even if there were, when they saw how timid and awkward Tamaki was, they would not make an effort to make friends with him to begin with.
So, what Amajiki could do is… nodding. He nodded. No words could fly out of his mouth right now. Even if he did, he was sure only screams would come out. Despite the lack of words, Mirio’s grin widened so much his cheeks started to hurt. He wagged his fins side to side, showing his happiness upon gaining a new friend.
“Then, whenever you want to play, come to see me at the first place we met, ok? I’m always there anyway, so you can come whenever you’d like.” Mirio looked into Tamaki’s eyes, shining so bright that Tamaki had to look away, or else he would definitely be blind. Tamaki slowly nodded.
“Mmm.”
“OK! Then see you later, Amajiki! I’m looking forward to it!” Mirio flashed him one last beaming smile and swam back to the path they came from.
Tamaki was left motionless, processing what had just happened. Only a minute ago, he just made a new friend who just so happened to be a merfolk. A friend was already a miracle enough, but a merfolk friend sounded even more like a lie, considering he was a deep-sea beast whom everyone was supposed to fear. However, for a moment, Tamaki was glad he finally had a friend. A friend who was not scared of him and genuinely wanted to know him.
For the first time in his life, his thoughts warmed him. He looked at the bright red silhouette from afar and slowly made his way back home. Of course, the very first thing he got after getting back was being scolded by his mother. His mind, however, was certainly not focusing on his mother’s usual lecture.
On the contrary, his mind wandered to the bright blue sea scenario with the merboy’s blue eyes that were as bright, if not more, than the entire ocean.
Just for those eyes alone, Tamaki was willing to be sneaky if it meant he could see them again.
He was definitely looking forward to seeing him.