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Drop.
“Oi Isagi! Pass the ball!”
Drop.
“Igaguri, you dummy! What are you doing!”
Drop.
“Bachira, stop! You're making me lose concentration!”
“You're still good, Chigirin! You have the nerves of a thief! Got it? Because you have nerves of steel!”
“What kind of wordplay is that?”
Drop.
“Nagi stop daydreaming and move your ass!”
Drop.
So loud.
With the years, the cacophony around her had transformed into something tolerable, something that Rin had to endure everyday and, for that matter, had learned how to tune out. The voices, the noises, the faces, she had learned how to ignore everything around her, to the point where sometimes she felt as if she was walking through an entirely different dimension. A dimension where she was all alone and that loneliness, instead of suffocating her like always, felt almost relieving.
Drop. Drop.
Rin thought she could go on living like that for the rest of her life.
Drop.
But she was wrong.
Drop. Drop. Drop. Drop.
D̴͉͙̟͔̭͕̉̊r̸̮̩̘͕̳̦̈́̎̀͊̏̍͊̈́́̐õ̸̡̙̤͙̞̦̭̤̗̌͒̎̇̓̄͜͝p̵̘̣̲͔̮̪̤̥͕̭̱̘̓̌̀̽̂̒̈̅̄̌ͅ.̵̝́͗̾͘ ̷̢̢̡̧̛̬̗͈̩̱̬̳̹̩̺̮̓̍
From the moment Rin woke up, she knew something was wrong.
Her hair felt drier. She felt unnaturally tired even though the only physical effort she made on the daily was the walk from the school to her house. She felt uncomfortable on her own skin, something inside of her prickling and making her uneasy.
When her mother noticed her unusual behavior that day at breakfast, though, she told her that it was without a doubt a consequence of the climate changing as the summer approached. Rin disagreed but decided not to say anything and just nodded, leaving her house and taking her usual route to her high school, a building that resembled more a haunted house than any other thing but that was the only existent school in kilometers, which resulted in the same kids from the same villages knowing each other since they were children.
The uneasy feeling that something wrong was happening just grew more and more inside of Rin on her way to class, making her stomach start to curl, anxious to vomit the things it had consumed that morning.
Her legs felt unsteady and she started to feel the sweat running down her temple. Rin was trying to convince herself that it was just the rising temperature colliding with her growing spur what was causing her limbs to constantly hurt and her body to feel wrong, almost like unknown and strange parts that weren't a part of her coming out of nowhere, fucking with her sense of being, but the truth was that it felt like another thing was going on. Rin felt like something big was coming, something foreign for which she could not give an explanation, something so different that would change everything she had ever known.
Rin had tried to explain the sensation to her mother a few weeks ago, when the clamminess on her hands had began and the shakiness of her body had gotten notorious, but her mother had told her that she was being dramatic and that she should stop watching so many movies, alleging that they were bad for her. Rin didn't think so, but fighting with her mother had began to feel tiring and sad, so she had resorted to remain quiet and just nod at everything she said. Rin didn't even like to talk that much to even begin with.
They almost felt like a dream, those days when she was used to run her mouth as if there were no tomorrow and voiced everything that crossed her mind. Her father had stopped listening to her when she was a child, too uninterested in what a brainless kid had to say, and her mother had been content with tuning out her voice, at least until she had been left alone after Sae's departure.
Itoshi Sae had always been the picture-perfect daughter. She wasn't that social and sometimes had been told off by teachers for her behavior towards them, but she had good grades, good looks and had showed interest in sciences since she was little. A genius was what some people had called her.
Rin hadn't understood at the time. Sae was just her older sister after all. The only person in the world who listened to her incessant rambles. The only person in the world who understood — or tried to — how she felt. The only person in the world who was there for her, unconditionally.
That had stopped when Rin turned eleven.
Sae left in order to follow her dreams, and Rin wasn't involved in them.
Whatever, I'll just keep on living without her. Who needs Sae's presence either way? those had been Rin's thoughts at the time.
Now, though, she missed those days. Days in which she felt alive. Days in which she could be herself without feeling like an inhuman being who took up space in the world which wasn't meant to be hers.
Rin dragged her feet through the hallways and entered her classroom, being immediately welcomed by the screeching of her classmates. She tried to ignore the noise on her way to her desk, but for some reason she found tuning out the noise more difficult than ever.
Why? Why couldn't her mind block out the noise today? Why were her classmates so loud? Why was the environment so loud? Why was everything so loud? Why couldn't everyone just disappear?
Rin let herself fall on her chair as if she were a sack of potatoes and leaned against her desk, covering her ears with her hands and closing her eyes. Maybe that way, she could delude herself into thinking her sister was still holding her hand while they ate ice cream, ignoring her parents fights and people's judgment.
The bell rang across the building, immediately sucking her out of her memories, or were they fantasies? Had there been really a time like that? Peaceful? Happy? Joyful? It was hard to discern.
The uneasiness grew stronger as the day passed by and, by the time the classes finished, the discomfort was of such magnitude that Rin decided to walk straight to her house without deviating to buy ice cream nor walk along the shore. Her hands were clammy and she could swear she felt knots forming on her hair due to the amount of times she had run her hands through it throughout the day in an attempt to calm her anxiousness. It hadn't helped though, and now the feeling had worsened.
She felt eyes on her.
Rin was used to people looking at her with judgemental and mocking eyes, after all she was the little sister of Itoshi Sae, the prodigy of the village, and she was just a messy kid who still didn't understand how the world worked.
She was used to every single part of it, and had been for years. This gaze, however, wasn't the one she usually felt on herself. This one put her on edge and made every single alarm on her head rang. She looked around frenetically but there was nobody near her.
She managed to get home safe and sound after running the whole way back, but the tenseness on her body didn't fade away.
Whoever was watching her, they were closely monitoring every move she made. For what? Rin didn't know, but she decided not to go anywhere that wasn't her house or her school until the case was resolved.
The next day, the feeling that something was waiting for her at every turn to strike her down had gotten worse.
This time she had decided to tie her hair up in a high ponytail, though the shorter bangs at the front which couldn't be tied fell down around her face, sticking to her forehead and getting into her mouth. This way, she could feel even more the way the hair on the back of her neck rose at every glance she felt.
She couldn't go anywhere without feeling it in her bones, the way that gaze didn't waver and kept on scanning her, searching moments of weaknesses to take advantage of so they could tear her apart.
Rin thought the whole ordeal would make her feel worse than the previous day, more paranoic and more akin to get home as fast as she could. But for some reason, she didn't want to run from it. Moreover, as the sun kept on moving through the sky, Rin's nerves were calming more and more until a wave of relaxation took control of her body.
Suddenly, a thought appeared on her mind.
I want to go to the sea.
She shouldn't. She had made a promise to herself not even a day ago not to take detours, but she ignored it. She ignored that nagging feeling that something wrong was happening, that it made no sense for her to feel so relaxed after having been on edge for weeks.
She ignored it all on favour of going to the tiny port near her village. She walked at a brisk pace to her usual spot, the one she had shared with her sister so many years ago, when she still occupied a special place on her life. She walked right past a group of sailors, who were talking about how one of their colleagues hadn't showed up that morning and they couldn't find him anywhere. "He must have fallen down on the water while drinking, that stupid drunkard. You reap what you saw or so I've heard!" were the type of things Rin overheard. She paid no attention to the mysterious disappearance and went straight to the dock.
The place, as always, caused unpleasant memories to flood Rin's mind. Memories of Sae buying her ice cream that would end up melting in her hand, before reaching her mouth. Memories of Sae and her jumping down to the water from the dock and being warned by the passersby that they could get hurt. They never listened to what others had to say, Sae always knew how to muffle others' voices and how to create a space for Rin to be herself. She had never felt tied to society's expectations when Sae was near. She had felt seen and understood.
Rin sat on the dock and crossed her legs, without bothering to adjust her long skirt properly, as there was nobody around her, and looked at the wavy and clear sea before her.
At the end of the day, it had all been a lie. Sae did not understand her. She did not see her. She was just a nuisance little sister who stood on her way of being the best, who blocked the path towards her future, and so she was tossed aside without even receiving a goodbye. At the end of the day, Sae had grown tired of dealing with her complicated self and she had abandoned her, left her to fend for herself.
Rin didn't like to think about her sister, but how could she avoid it when everything around her reminded her of the past? Her mother had told her to make friends, her father had laughed at the thought of Rin ever forming a friendship with a real person.
Maybe Sae had left because she was tired of everything, too.
Rin found herself unable to hate her for doing so. Rin was sure that, if given the opportunity, she would also leave in a heartbeat.
Rin was so distracted thinking and playing with the folds of her skirt that she almost didn't notice the change on the calm waves. The swell wasn't usually that fierce there in the dock, but the water in front of her started moving suspiciously, almost as if there was something swimming to her direction.
Rin recoiled and directed her gaze to the front, not even daring to breath properly, as a shadow got closer and closer to the point of the cement she was glued to.
She had to run. Whatever being was in the water, it was approaching her at a rapid speed, probably aware that its dinner was awaiting for it to arrive at the dock and devour her alive. She should have already stood up from her position and begun to run to a place far away from the sea the moment she noticed the shadow on the water.
But she felt as if a weight had fallen on her shoulders, weighing her down to the ground and making it impossible for her to escape. She couldn't move, her attention too overshadowed by the being in the water. At last, said being jumped out of the water with incredibly force and landed on the dock, startling Rin and causing her to fall backwards as the creature crawled its way to Rin's body.
Rin was immediately blinded by that figure. It was a mess of sharp fins and glowing scales, algae that probably got stuck in its way were falling from its body like waterfalls. The creature was really long, its form looking almost like that of a fish or a shark, but being too human-like on a closer look for that to be the case. Its body was covered in light blue scales and pointed fins but in the superior part of it, two long and strong limbs that resembled arms and that ended in edged claws stretched out, moving the big body across the cement.
Rin had never seen anything like it before.
The sight was breathtaking.
The creature was looking at her. It was staring firmly at Rin with sharp and cold eyes, scanning her body and looking for any sign of weakness or suspicious movement. It looked prepared to jump on top of her and tear her flesh apart until she became as empty as she felt.
When the creature started to move towards her body again, Rin closed her eyes tightly, already feeling the pain travel through her nerves.
The pain never quite arrived. Instead, there was a sudden movement in front of her and a strong sound of something heavy falling in the water.
When Rin opened her eyes, the creature was nowhere to be seen.
Rin wanted to convince herself that everything had been a dream.
There was no way a creature like that had appeared right in front of her and, on top of that, had let her live.
But Rin knew that what she had seen that day had been real. It had felt too real not to be.
Rin wasn't stranger to gossip, she lived in a town and, if there was something common to all towns it was that everyone knew each other. And because towns were usually full of old people who just couldn't ignore things that were not their business, word traveled fast.
She heard it two days after her mysterious encounter. People had seen a big human-like creature in the sea near the port. The people in the town, without even having seen said creature nor knowing if it really existed, started to spread word that that creature was the one who was causing the disappearances of certain sailors the past couple of days, Rin recalled having seen something about the matter on the local newspaper her father always read while eating.
A siren. That's what the people had named the creature, for lack of a better term.
In only a few hours, the town had already found a way to raise awareness about this siren who dragged people's bodies to the sea to eat them and to relish in their suffering. Kids were forbidden to venture near the shore and sailors were taking procedures against the creature's attacks, despite the creatures, according to the records, not having attacked any ship nor boat yet.
"Beware of the Siren, if you do not listen and you approach the water, she will eat your flesh and consume your soul."
That was what adults had begun to tell the children for them to behave and stay on the interior of the town.
But the creature hadn't done anything to Rin.
The creature had had Rin at its mercy and it hadn't done anything. Rin didn't move and didn't protect herself, too sure she was going to die right there. But the creature hadn't done anything. It had left, leaving Rin alone and completely unharmed, which told Rin that the creature — the Siren, as the town folk called it— didn't kill because it wanted or enjoyed seeing people suffer like a yokai might, but because it felt threatened or it was hungry, just like any other animal.
It was because of this that Rin decided to ignore the advices — and commands— of the adults and went to the dock again.
This time around, she noticed right away the shadow approaching her.
She had left her legs dangle from her place and stayed still when the creature let its head come out of the water. Rin tried to keep her mouth shut, not letting her teeth show, and kept her head down, trying not to look menacing.
The water below moved again and the creature started to come out of the water, holding the aluminum dock stairs' bars on its webbed hands with incredibly strength. Rin, feeling the creature's body moving closer to her, tried to recoil her legs in case the creature found them dangerous and tried to cut them off. It wasn't necessary though, because a large clawed hand placed itself in the space between knees and a long head hovered over hers on an instant, making water drip on Rin.
She didn't move a muscle.
She thought she would feel a breath coming from above that would ruffle her hair, just like it happened in some movies, but the only thing she noticed was the creature's gills placed on her neck move, just like that fish her sister had won in a festival when they were kids.
After a few minutes that felt like hours for Rin had passed, she lifted her head up slowly, taking a closer look at its face, a thing she hadn't done the last time because of the fear that had been instilled in her body.
The creature's eyes were once again pinned on her, taking on of every move she made. They were as blue as its scales were, which was a fascinating discovery taking into account that sea animals had dark eyes. Blue eyes were fragile and impractical, so why did this being have blue eyes?
In spite of that, the creature seemed to see flawlessly. It had a light on its eyes that made it impossible for Rin to look away, that glowing blue trapping her inside of the creature's chains.
Its face was covered in scales, just like the rest of its body, and its ears — or the tiny holes on both sides of its head that Rin assumed were its ears — were protected by a thin fin that Rin had never seen on another animal. A heavy and wet mass of what looked like hair fell down its back and covered some of its head, causing some strands — if they could be called that — to touch Rin's arms and legs. They felt weird on her skin but tried not to let her curiosity win and didn't touch them back.
The creature had its mouth shut, but Rin was sure the inside was filled with pointed teeth that made it ease for it to hunt on its prey, as every part of its body screamed predator.
Rin had lost track of how long she had been staring at the creature's big icy blue eyes, but at some point the creature had begun to open her mouth without her noticing. A foreign sound startled Rin out of her daze and made her gaze waver to its mouth. As she thought, it was filled with rows of cutting teeth.
Another sound, this time one that came across closer to a human sound, resonated through the air.
The creature was still looking at her, but the icy hint they had before had been replaced with one of curiosity and urgency.
It occurred to Rin then that the creature was imitating human sounds in order to communicate with her.
"Are you trying to talk with me?" Rin whispered gently. The creature seemed to have bad hearing, but it definitely understood Rin's words. The creature looked at her with a firm look, probably trying to convey that it was indeed trying to talk. Rin decided to test her luck. "Do you want me to help you?"
The creature's gaze scanned her again, then looked around them and lastly looked at her again. The hand that was not between Rin's knees was awkwardly placed on her arm and, even though Rin was aware of its strength, the secure grip still surprised her.
It felt like a yes for her.
"I can help you speak, but I won't if you don't want to. Shake your head i you don't want me to help you and nod with your head if you want me to help you, okay?"
The creature nodded fervently with its head and Rin couldn't help but think that if the creature was a human, that sheer amount of enthusiastic nodding would have broken its neck.
"Okay. I'll help you then."
A few months had passed since that day.
"Don't be nervous, Rin."
A lot of things happened in the meantime. Things that nobody in the town were aware of, because if they were Rin and Hiori would probably be in trouble.
"I'm not nervous! You were the one who started acting weird and saying that there was someone watching us."
"Hehhhh you're not nervous? But i put on a performance to make you anxious on purpose."
The sound of a slap resonated inside the cave and a shriek cut through the air.
"You're a fucking jerk."
"Me?! You're the one who hit me! I could report you for that!"
"No you can't, you can't walk to the Police Station," the sound of the water moving and the echo of their voices were the only noises that filled the cave.
"No but I can use a phone, and I can do it better than you."
She was right. Hiori had only learned how to use one a couple of months ago and she was already better at it than Rin, which was wild because she didn't even have practical hands for it.
After that day at the dock when Rin pledged to teach the creature how to communicate with humans, they fell into a comfortable rhythm in which Rin would go every day after class to the dock and the creature would meet her there, and they would talk and talk until the sun set behind the horizon.
Rin taught her everything she knew. She talked about her favorite foods, her favorite musicians, her favorite videogames, her favorite artists. She explained concepts that Hiori had never heard of, like education, economy, and politics. She talked about her own life, her family, her classmates, her sister. She even talked about society norms and how absurd they were, that had developed on a talk about gender and how between Hiori's kind they didn't have that kind of thing, but she wouldn't care if Rin referred to her with the same pronouns Rin used for herself. In just a few months, Rin had opened her heart to Hiori and had let her inside her world without stopping to think about.
She had even given her a name.
It happened a few weeks after their first meeting. Hiori learned at a fast speed and, after being taught that for humans names were incredibly meaningful, she had begged for Rin to give her a name. So Rin, after giving it a thought, decided on Hiori. She would never forget how those blue eyes had frozen her to her core the first time she had looked at her. So now, the creature responded to the name of Hiori.
Sometimes Rin talked so much she feared Hiori would get tired of her like Sae had done and would abandon her too, but Hiori had met her in the middle once she learned enough and had told her about her world.
Hiori's kind didn't have an official name as they were undiscovered creatures, but Hiori had explained that they lived in pods and they usually lived in profound waters. Rin had been curious about why, if they lived in pods, was Hiori so war away from her own pod. She told her that she was searching for something and, while Hiori chose not to say anything more, a part of Rin had eventually understood that what Hiori was in search of, was a sentiment too abstract to explain it with words.
Hiori had talked about the instincts her kind had, the way their pods were organized, the animals they ate, how they hunted. She had even tried to teach Rin how to talk like them, though it was to no avail as Rin didn't have the necessary cords to produce the sounds they emitted underwater.
Not only had they had shared a lot of things, but they also experienced new together.
Since Hiori was noticeable big and couldn't live the water for a long time, they couldn't live the shore, but Rin figured ways to expand her world so that Hiori could fit in it. She took her books and her Switch with her and taught Hiori how to read and game. On a few occasions she had even sneaked her laptop inside her bag and had taught Hiori how amazing movies were. They had watched all her favourite horror movies together and Hiori had loved it. She had comments for every small thing Rin brought with her and with every day her vocabulary expanded more and more.
Hiori also took Rin on adventures through the waters. They had found a practical and funny way for them to swim together without Rin getting injured and they took advantage of it. Hiori taught her to hunt fish in the water and, even though Rin herself couldn't do it, she enjoyed watching how Hiori did it.
On one of their adventures, they had found a cave inside a small cliff on the skirts and they proclaimed it as their own den. Rin decorated it with cheap stuff she had been accumulating in her room throughout the years and had sneaked in chairs, towels and other things for them to crash there anytime they wanted.
They had been headed to that same cave right before Hiori decided that it would be extremely funny to make jokes about how a man wearing a white sweater was stalking them the whole way.
"I already said I'm sorry!"
Rin came out of the water and sat on one of the beach chairs with a towel on her hand. Hiori stayed on the water but dropped the superior part of her body on top of the rock besides Rin so she could be by her side.
Hiori tried to stretch her neck to place herself on Rin's visual field but Rin just looked the other way and ignored Hiori's attempt to apologize.
"Are you pouting?" at Hiori's words, Rin pouted harder. Hiori softly laughed at her while poking her cheek with her finger.
"Stop doing that," Rin pushed Hiori's hand away from her face and gave her a tired look.
"Okay… I'll stop," Hiori let her body fall flat on the rock and closed her eyes, occasionally splashing the water with the inferior part of her body.
Hiori spoke surprisingly well for being a whole other creature, but there was still a hint of an accent in her voice that made Rin melt on the spot and feel warm inside. Her voice was beautiful, and Rin wholeheartedly thought that she could spend a whole lifetime listening to her speak, no matter how ridiculous the topic was.
Rin turned her head towards the other and couldn't help but grin stupidly, because for the first time in years, maybe in her life, she remembered how it felt to be loved by someone.