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"A mermaid! A real mermaid!"
Haruka blinked, realizing that he was above water. His face rested against wet sand. When he took that nap, did the tide wash him out here? He looked to be on some sand bar extending out from a small cove. He looked up into the source of the noise-- a boy, whose red eyes glimmered with excitement. This boy wore some human garment with a type of pink land flower on it, his front covered with grains of sand.
"I'm a half-fish-man," Haruka corrected, wiping his face clean with one quick movement his his hand. Though, he only really said it to be contrary.
The boy seemed to take no notice of this and bent down so they were almost eye-to-eye. "I heard about you in stories my grandma told me! Mom and Dad told me you weren’t real, but I knew you were!" He jumped and danced around the sand, red hair lashing about while caught in the ocean breeze. Haruka just stared at this weird boy, tempted to leave, when the boy stood back in front of him and dropped down into taking a seat in the sand.
A big, toothy smile spread across the kid’s face. "My name's Rin! What's yours?" he asked. Haruka didn't see any reason as to why not tell him.
"Haru," he answered with a shrug.
Just then, a high voice called out. "Big brother! There you are!"
“Ah-- Gou! Wait, I saw a mermaid! You’re gonna scare him!”
With Rin's back turned, Haruka scoffed and dipped back below the surface. Did this human think he’s dealing with some ordinary fish? He’s not scared, just annoyed.
“I said wait! See look, he’s right here!” Rin turned around to point at where Haruka was.
“Uh, you know what Mom told you about lying?”
“What? But I’m not! He was right here!” He moved forward to take a step into the water, but his sister grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away.
“Come on! Everyone’s been waiting and looking for you!”
“Yeah, but--”
“Besides, you know that mermaids are bad luck!”
Haruka had never heard that humans thought of them like that, but it hardly bothered him. There was no need for any more humans to know about merpeople. While it's by forbidden mer society to be seen by the humans, Haruka didn't care so much about this rule as much as he was concerned with not being bothered by them. He watched Rin frantically gesturing to the water as his sister tried to tug him away.
---
Haruka swam back home, down to to the Kingdom of Iwatobi. The bioluminescence of the castle shone bright as a beacon to all of the merpeople swimming outside of it to lead them back home. However, all merpeople instinctively knew where this haven stood. Merpeople were faster and more intelligent than most creatures of the ocean, but the ocean was still dangerous for them and they all tended to congregate like this to protect each other.
As he approached the front garden of the castle filled with bright coral and sponges, Haruka saw two bright and familiar tails. His friends, Makoto and Nagisa, quickly kicked their tails and swam across the garden over to him.
“Haru! Where’ve you been?!” Makoto cried out, clearly distressed. Haruka almost felt a bit bad, even if it’s mostly Makoto’s fault for just being such a worrywart.
“Just went for a swim.” As much as he cares for his friends and spends time with them, Haruka would seek out time for himself. And while he knew that it was dangerous outside of the castle city, he knew he could care for himself.
“You could at least warn someone first,” Makoto said with a sigh. He was always reprimanding Haruka about stuff like this, but Nagisa was always one to enable him.
“Did you see anything cool?” Nagisa asked, clinging to Haruka’s side. Haruka considered whether or not to answer that truthfully for a moment.
“Some human,” Haruka finally said, nonchalant.
“A human?” Makoto and Nagisa said it at the same time, but Makoto looked about ready to faint while Nagisa leaned in. Haruka merely shrugged in response. The tales they had been told about humans clearly exaggerated.
“Did he have long, sharp claws?”
“What if he tried to catch and eat you?”
“Or big, hairy arms?”
“Haru, that’s too dangerous!”
Haruka instantly regretted telling them, swimming on towards the castle without answering all their silly questions.
“If your parents knew, they…” Makoto started, before reconsidering. “Well, they’d probably not be as bothered as they should.” Though they might be the reigning monarchs of Iwatobi, Haruka’s parents were always following their whims.
Nagisa darted in front of Haruka, practically buzzing with energy. “I want to see this human too!”
“I’m not gonna see the human again. It was just a mistake.”
Makoto sighed in relief while Nagisa let out a disappointed ‘aww’. Haruka just headed towards the castle, towards his room. He wanted to rest his head, take a nap, and forget all about it. But even as he curled up on his bed, the image of the human boy and his big, stupid grin flashed in his mind.
---
The next day, Haruka swam to that beach again. He didn’t know exactly why he wanted to go through this trouble again. Wasn’t this just inviting more trouble upon himself? Rin sat there, feet dug into the wet sand. He looked utterly dejected. Really... what was he doing? Was he waiting for Haruka to return? What an annoying human. There was no way that Haruka was going to feel bad for staying away from all the trouble a human could bring, and especially not one as noisy as he.
Of course not.
And yet... Haruka kicked his fins until he came to the shallow part of the water and lifted his head above the surface. Instantly, the kid's eyes shined again like the first time he saw him.
"You're back!" Rin jumped to his feet and dashed into the water, kicking up spray. Before Haruka could think, the boy's thin arms wrapped around him. "I thought you would have gone and took off!"
"If you do stuff like that out of nowhere..."
Rin must have got the message, and let go so they stood face to face. Yet somehow, Haruka started to notice the sudden lack of warmth. It felt a lot different to huddle close to someone in the air instead of the deep ocean.
Still, Rin wasn’t done being obnoxious. “You wanted to see me again that badly?”
As much as Haruka wanted to tell him ‘it’s because you looked like you wanted to see me again’, that wouldn’t explain why he came up from the depths to this same place. Instead, he swam back a little - gaining a bit of distance as Rin started to scramble for words - and kicked with his fin, splashing water in Rin’s face.
Rin yelped in surprise and turned away, trying to block his face from the droplets, but quickly turned back with a grin. “Oh yeah?” He dipped his hands into the water like cups and pushed the water at Haruka. Despite being in the water all of the time, Haruka still flinched a bit at droplets of water coming at him. It didn’t stop him reflexively kicking his tail and splashing Rin again, sending him into a peal of laughter.
The sunlight on the ocean turned from the shining bright yellow to a deep orange, and the both of them laid where the waves lapped up against them on the wet sand.
Breaking the silence, Rin turned over onto his side to look at Haruka. "You're the only one I've ever seen. Are there others?"
"Yeah."
"But you come out here alone?"
Haruka looked away and shrugged. It just seemed like a good space to get away every now and again. "You're here by yourself too."
"Yeah, it gets boring in the castle! Mom and Dad are always trying to get me to go to all these lessons. I can handle some of them, like math! But stuff like etiquette is so boring… though it’s funny seeing Sousuke and Kisumi acting all polite!"
“Your friends?”
“Yeah! I’ve known them ever since I can remember. But this place here is for me to come to be by myself. I need some alone time,” Rin said, trying to look cool as he stares off into the sunset.
“Oh. Then excuse me--”
“Wait! I didn’t mean it like that!” Rin quickly came around to looking a bit sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck and averting his eyes. “At least, that’s what I felt when I first started coming here. I wanted some time away from the castle.” The look on his face softened as he looked at the sea. “I don’t wanna dodge my responsibilities. Just…” Rin trailed off, and Haruka felt a twinge in his chest. “But… I’m glad I got to meet you… and hang out here with you.”
Haruka blinked owlishly, quiet for a moment. The two of them had only just met. How is it that Rin can be so honest and open… and feel so strongly about him? “I wasn’t going to really swim away.”
And that was true. Despite the weirdness of this boy and just how much trouble he could get into just for being here, Haruka didn’t want to leave. Meeting Rin was something strange and new, two things that he never felt he cared for. He could always just swim about in the ocean and hunt mackerel, letting nothing bother him, and yet… Haruka didn’t understand. The confusing feeling he’s getting from all this almost makes him want to dive back into the ocean and try to clear his head again.
Before Haruka or Rin could do anything, a stronger wave rode in and splashed the both of them, making Rin shriek loudly as he scrambled back to his feet and dashed to drier ground. He laughed again, pushing back his now thoroughly soaked hair out of his face. Haruka wiped the wet sand off of himself.
"Ah, I gotta get going though, Haru." Rin stood up, dusting the sand from his pants. "Parents and... well, everyone... is probably worried about me. But I'll see you again tomorrow?"
“When are we going to meet up?”
Rin suddenly and dramatically pointed up up, directly above him. “When the sun is high in the sky!” He then waved his hand vigorously with his big silly grin, before taking off in a dash and kicking up sand. “Bye, Haru! See you then!”
That night, Haruka found it difficult to sleep.
---
Both of them met at the agreed on time, though Rin a little late. Haruka made sure to bring this up.
“Sorry! Lessons kept me a little longer!” Rin rubbed the back of his neck
Haruka only turned his head away, with a ‘hmph’.
“I’m being honest! The language teacher is really harsh! She always makes me memorize all these different languages at once,” Rin said with a sigh and a hand against his forehead. “From all the different nations that come to visit or we go over to. I can also talk to all the different civilians... hey, do they have different languages down in the ocean too?"
"Yeah."
"Ooh! Can you speak dolphin or something?"
"No."
"Aww! Oh well, I wanted to learn the languages you have there-- hey, how do you speak my language?"
"... we must’ve overheard your fishermen and other sailors a long time ago."
"Really? You guys are really fast, then!" Rin said, propping up his elbows on the sand. “We never see you even though you’re so shiny and pre-- interesting!”
“‘Interesting’?” Haruka tilted his head and slightly raised an eyebrow.
“Y-Yeah!” Rin covered cheeks with his hands, getting wet sand all over his face. What was up with that?
"Well, anyway,” Rin cleared his throat, apparently trying to change the subject. “Today we also learned this language that people use without making any sound at all! We move with our hands!"
Haruka tilted his head the other way as the boy moved his hands in a confusing and new way, unlike anything he had ever been taught.
"Like this!" Rin made a gesture with his fingers on the sides of his chin, then pulled his hand away from it, fingertips drawing together. "It a sign that means 'like', and you use it with what you like."
Rin pointed his finger at his chest, then pointed at Haruka, then repeated the motion of pulling away from his jaw, with a big, toothy grin on his face. “And that means… a-aha...” Instantly, Haruka felt the need to dunk his head under the surface of the water. Why was this kid so embarrassing? Are humans always his ridiculous?
The day went on and Rin rambled about life in the castle, moving to sit on the part of the beach where the small waves would splash. Haruka laid there on his front, listening and occasionally interjecting with commentary. Though he doesn't know why he's listening so much, really. Human life and society never interested him at all, not even when he heard stories about how bizarre they were from his grandmother. But when Rin talks about it...
---
The both of them returned to that spot almost every day, both sneaking out when they could. Haruka would make sure that no one would follow him on his way to their meeting spot, but one one of his journeys to the cove, he heard the sound of familiar tails kicking in the water. He quickly spun around.
“You two...!”
Makoto and Nagisa peeked out from behind a garden of seaweed. Despite looking a bit shameful, Makoto spoke up first. “We just wanted to--”
“-- see your human!” Nagisa interjected, not looking sorry at all for being caught.
“To make sure you were okay,” Makoto finished. “You’re always gone for so long, so I just… I was worried.”
As much as Haruka wanted to look annoyed, he could understand how they must feel about him going off to meet this mysterious human. So maybe he could set them at ease. After all, Rin hasn’t done anything to put them in danger.
“Wow! More of you guys!” Rin’s face was beaming uncontrollably. Nagisa and Makoto introduced themselves to him. Nagisa was far more openly friendly, while Makoto was still a little more wary even as he put on a smile. But even he started to look more at ease as the day went on. None of them ever knew that a human would be this relatable, from all the tales they had been told. Nagisa even told some of them to Rin, and while Makoto looked a bit nervous at first about possibly upsetting Rin, he only laughed about it.
But another voice rang out from over the hill. “Big brother!” Rin spun his head around.
“Ack! That’s my sister. You gotta hide now, or she’ll tell everyone!” Rin motioned to shoo them away and all the mermaids swam back into the ocean. Haruka almost wanted to comment about what Rin told her on the first time they met, but he patiently waited beneath the water as the siblings seemed to bicker about something. Though Haruka saw Gou kneel down to pick up something… what seemed to be a single scale left behind by one of them. As they walked away, Rin insisting he was trying to catch fish, Haruka figured it was a good time to head home.
---
And so, since then, they would meet again, sometimes with Makoto and Nagisa and some days just the two of them. Despite how often they met, there were times where Haruka wished he could walk down that path that Rin took back to his castle. Yet, Haruka could not help but feel some worry in the back of his mind that this could not last. Everything went too well.
“What’s that?” Haruka asked.
“It’s a map of the world!” Rin laid it out on the sand, but farther away from the water to make sure it wasn’t damaged. Pushing himself forward, Haruka slid to the edge of the wet sand so he could get a better look. What was it about this that suddenly got him so curious, anyway?
“These are all the landforms that we’ve found so far! There’s different kingdoms but also lots of wilderness out there.”
Rin scooted closer to Haruka and placed his finger on one part of the map. “See, this is where there’s a big forest, and people say it’s magic.” He moved his finger to another place on the map near it. “And I wanna go here, where they make the best meat pies! You ever have a meat pie before, Haru?”
“Pie?”
“Yeah, you bake-- oh, I don’t think merpeople have baking,” Rin looked a bit sheepish, before quickly turning back to the map. “And this is where history classes say there was this legendary hero...”
Haruka looked down at the map, and back up at Rin, who spoke with with passion in his eyes. As much as he wanted to say he was interested, Haruka wanted to ask-- didn’t Rin realize he kept talking about all these places on the land? Places where Haruka couldn’t go, too?
“My geography teacher gave me this map, because my dad - the king - is gonna go to this place! He set sail a few days ago.”
“Does he get to go to a lot of places?”
“Well,” Rin looked away. “Only the places that he has to. A king isn’t free to do whatever. Or a prince either, if they’re next in line for the throne.”
---
"Haruka, don't go close to the surface tonight," his grandmother warned him. "The waves will be strong."
Merpeople didn't need to worry about air like humans did, but the waves thrashing about could disorient merpeople and make it easier for bigger predators to catch them. So he stayed in the castle with Makoto and Nagisa, hoping that the surface would calm down for tomorrow. He found an old clam shell, and out of no particular reason, used a sharp rock and started to bore a hole on one end of it. If he could make a string out of something, he could give it as a small gift...
Haruka returned to the beach and waited until sunset. As time passed, he grew more and more confused and wary.
Was Rin going to come at all today? If he wasn't going to, he would have warned him if he knew. Instantly the dread came back in full force-- but he quickly dismissed it. Perhaps something just came up and Rin couldn’t get out of it. He came back the next day, as surely Rin wouldn’t miss another day.
---
Rin is the only human that he ever knew. He filled his mind with thoughts of the surface and what it would be like to see all of the land bathed in sunlight. Even the arid desert, with red sands against the blue skies. For that, Haruka resented Rin, in a way. Whatever Rin was doing, he was seeing more of all those sights. Haruka could have lived out his life in the ocean without knowing it all, but now that he knew...
Four summers came and went since Haruka last saw Rin, and he had long since stopped visiting the cove where they used to meet. Still, whenever Haruka’s mind would drift, it would always come back to that place. It was an undeniable call, a pull back to that place that felt something like fate.
Unable to resist anymore, he swam back to the surface again, back to that cove. In all this time, it had not changed. It took far longer for most things of the ocean to change in a way easy to see. But he felt a sharp pang in his heart as he remembered watching the boy with the bright smile walking back over the hill. What happened to him? What made him stop visiting? Why leave Haruka here with all these questions unanswered?
Two faint figures approached over the hill, and Haruka quickly dove back under the water to hide. The way they held each other close made them look like some romantic item, and something about that bothered him in a way he couldn’t describe. This place was Rin’s… and his own. If only he could get a shark to scare them away.
But he stayed under the surface of the water, catching their conversation. It didn’t sound all too romantic.
“I don’t know what the king is thinking. He’s completely lost his mind!” the woman said, sighing heavily. “We need to take a ship out of this country.”
Haruka strained his ears to hear as closely as possible-- are they talking about Rin’s father?
“Yes, I remember when he was just a young boy,” the man responded. “He was such a happy child. Now he’s always locked away and we never see the royal family...”
As the both of them laid down a blanket to set up for some picnic, Haruka’s mind spun. Was Rin trapped in the castle? And it sounded as though something strange was happening with the royal family. Whatever it was, it must have been something very wrong to keep Rin away from him for all these years…
---
“Could a merman ever walk on the land?”
A merman with a purple tail scoffed. Rei was a friend they had met as his parents came to work at the castle.
“Certainly not!” Rei said. “Magic like that is simply impossible. And why would one ever want to go up there? It’s far too dangerous.”
Makoto and Nagisa exchanged a look, before turning back to Rei. Makoto surely knew what Haruka wanted to do, and he looked clearly conflicted. But still he asked, “Do you know who would know, if it was even a little bit possible?”
Rei tapped his chin with a finger. “Well, if there was someone who would know, it would be in the Hall of Records.”
Merpeople kept records of their history through etchings on stone, but also employed certain people to keep a meticulous oral history. These people constantly memorized every detail and passed it on to the next generation. It was a role that Rei wanted to have, so he’d certainly know-- Haruka found the history of merpeople so boring that he always fell asleep.
While Rei went off to ask, Haruka chose to answer their questions before they could ask anything.
“Yes, I want to onto the land.”
“To find your human again?” Nagisa asked. The two of them had fond memories of the boy, too.
Haruka nodded.
He thought that they would be here trying to stop him-- he knew that Rei was more likely to, never having met Rin himself. But he had already made up his mind, no matter how unlikely or foolish the decision was.
---
As far as Rei had gathered, the only place that one could find anything close to what Haruka looked for was from a mermaid known as a sea witch, in the deeper levels of the ocean where few dared to swim. The water as he approached the sea witch’s lair felt colder than any that Haruka has ever felt before, as if to repel him. But he still swam into the depths, searching for that strange cavern described to him.
Though hidden in the dark, it was unmistakable. An eerie glow came from the cave, and it felt completely different from the light of the castle or the sun. Still, Haruka didn’t let that bother him as he swam through the entrance. In the cave was a strange mermaid figure, looking far closer to a fish than any other merperson Haruka had ever seen with scales almost entirely covering her and wide, unblinking eyes. The side of her that humans resembled had almost completely gone, aside from shoulder-length brown hair.
“Oh, a visitor! Haven’t had one of those in a while!” she quickly picked up some objects on the cavern floor, setting them on top of higher rocks in some attempt at organization. “Though that’s kinda the point, for why I live so far away from the city so people don’t mess with my magic all the time… I presume you want a spell, no?” she asked, turning to Haruka and rubbing her fin-like arms together.
Haruka nodded. “Something to turn me into human,” he responded. There wasn’t any use in wasting time here.
“Really?” she asked, incredulous. “You sure you don’t want to become more of a fish instead? Look at me!” Though with one look at Haruka’s face, she laughed awkwardly and continued on. “Well, if you’re so sure. Tell me about why you want to be a human.”
“... Do I really have to? You can’t just give me the spell?”
The sea witch tut-tutted. “Come on, it’s important for me to know about this situation. It’s not like I want to be nosy. I just want to help so you won’t come back crying that I didn’t give you the right thing!”
Haruka averted his eyes, already feeling a little embarrassed at having to say what he really feels. “There’s… this human I met--”
“Ah ha!” she interjected before he could finish. “I have just the thing!” Picking up a strange, sharp-toothed fish that looked like it was from deep in the ocean, she took quills from another fish and jabbed them into the side of the tail end. “Hmm, yes, this looks about right...”
Suddenly, Haruka found this strange fish pushed at him.
“Okay, so when you eat this, your tail will become a pair of human legs.” The witch couldn’t help but grimace a little at the thought. “But it’s only temporary, and it lasts three days. And you kinda need to give up your voice.”
“Huh? Why?”
“That’s just how it works! You have to give up something, and humans know merpeople because of their pretty voices.”
As Haruka contemplated this more, he remembered that there was a way to talk to others without using his voice. It was something that Rin had taught him long ago… but would he have enough time to find and help Rin? He didn’t know all of the language, after all.
“You can make it permanent, though, with a kiss of true love,” she said, making a heart shape with her transparent fingers.
Kiss of… “Are you messing with me?”
“It’s the only spell I have that suits your needs,” the sea witch replied. Haruka could only get the feeling that the reason for that was to make it more difficult on purpose, but he wouldn’t complain. If it’s the only way to find Rin again, he’d do it.
“When the sun sets on the third day, and you haven’t smooched him yet, you’ll turn back into a merman,” she went on. “So be sure that you’re in the water then, or it won’t be too fun for you.”
Well, Haruka figured that would sound easy enough. Perhaps this witch’s reputation was undue, and she was not a bad person at all. In fact, the rest of the merpeople could benefit from something like this. Haruka reached out to take the strange fish that she held out.
“Oh,” and you’ll forget all about him.”
Haruka’s hand drew away quickly. “W… What?”
“Yes, I’m sorry, but my spell only works because of your feelings for Rin.” For her part, she did look remorseful about it. “So, uh… better make those three days count!”
---
Makoto, Nagisa, and Rei joined Haruka to swim to the surface. All the way, Haruka looked over the strange fish given to him by the witch. Whatever he chose, he would have to give up something in return. Surely that’s why his friends looked so remorseful as they swam with him. They said nothing, and Haruka almost considered against it. He could just throw this fish out and forget all about this idea.
But as they approached the cove, Haruka knew he had made up his mind. And he knew that others… his parents… would understand. He opened his mouth and sank his teeth into the fish. The meat was tough and bitter, but he ate all of the flesh off of the bones, certain to get as much as he can from the spell as he can.
Just as the flesh from the fish started to settle in his stomach, Haruka waited. Then he felt a sharp pain in his tail, so intense that he cried out and his vision blurred. Before he lost consciousness, the last thing he could recognize was being held up his friends above the surface of the water.
---
When Haruka came to, his whole body ached and the first thing he could recognize was his face in the sand. The breeze was now enough to rattle him, something that he never felt before. Something this cold would never have bothered him before.
He thought he had already steeled his resolve before, but the realization of what he’s done hit him again along with the unbearable cold. What did he just agree to? The depths of the ocean, his castle-- he’ll either never see any of them again, or give up every bright memory he had of Rin. The life that he knew before was now completely closed off to him. He clutched his face in his hands as he looked back at the ocean that he once called home. He wanted to scream out. He didn’t know it would feel like this. More and more it felt like he’d made a horrible mistake.
“Haru!”
Through his frenzy, he heard Makoto call out to him. Nagisa had climbed onto the sand and threw his arms around Haruka in a hug.
“It’ll take some getting used to,” Makoto started, also joining them on the sand. “But we’ll always be here for you too.”
Rei pulled closer to also chime in. “Yes! You’ve already come this far. So there’s no point in turning back now. You have a human to save!”
And Rei was right. He’s already made the sacrifice. If he stopped here, he’d be wasting time and have given up his tail for nothing. Even reminding himself of that, it was far easier said than done to keep going, but he thought of Rin and what he could do to help. He thought of his friends, who were willing to help him in turn. All he had to do now was to push on forward through this.
So Haruka took a deep breath, then gently pulled away from Nagisa with a light pet to his head. He lifted one leg up, pushing up upon it to stand. At first, he wobbled but he found that holding his hands out to the side would help him balance as he positioned the other foot to keep himself up. Now… he was standing. Like a human. He moved one foot forward into the sand… lifting up the other foot to move ahead of him.
It must have looked so strange to his friends. But the more steps that he took, the more natural it started to feel. The sea witch felt enough generosity to give him legs like these, at least.
“Wait, first of all, I think you should get some of those things humans wear on them!” Makoto looked around the beach. Haruka didn’t see anything that resembled that, and just gave Makoto a confused look. Is something like that really important right now?
“Ooh! What about there?” Nagisa pointed up at a nearby hill, with a small human dwelling.
Haruka figured there would be something up there, and nodded before he started on his way.
“Wait, don’t forget this!” Makoto held out a mackerel to him. “In case you get hungry. Darned things are so hard to catch...”
Taking it, Haruka wished he could say his thanks, but he had to hurry now. With a wave to his friends, he walked up the hill towards the dwelling. This was the first time that he had been outside of the water for so long. The sensation felt strange and uncomfortable, but now he could take steps into the dry sand and walk past the shore. Now, he could see that castle that only looked like a blur now growing closer with every step he took. But first he had to go to the smaller dwelling, made of wood. There was a square-shaped opening in the side, which took a few tries to climb into, but inside he found some garments drying by what Rin described as a ‘fire’. Taking them, Haruka found they were looser on him than he figured should work best. But that didn’t matter.
Haruka kept up his journey towards the castle, finding it really annoying to move forward and back and to the sides, not being able to pass over others. But the sights of the city caught his eyes, and he couldn’t look away from all the strange new sights. The people had all different kinds of strange garments on, and the way the sunlight illuminated the town felt so different from the bioluminescent glowing of his own castle. He had to remind himself to not look around when he had no time to waste and needed to find Rin first. Then… maybe he’d show Haruka around this place.
Weaving through all of the people, Haruka finally arrived at the grand castle gates.
“Huh, I don’t think he can speak. Is he signing?”
The other guard shrugged. “Maybe… the king would know.”
“Is it okay to give him an audience with the king just like that? Remember how the last times went,” the guard looked uneasy. “There’s a reason that civilians don’t even try anymore.”
“Not our fault if it doesn’t go right. He probably won’t get mad at us because it’s just this once. And it’s a good-looking guy, so let’s just check him for weapons and notify the king.”
“Yes, wait here, and we’ll let you know when His Majesty will see you.
---
After being checked for weapons, the guards led Haruka through the hall to the throne room where the king would be. Only slivers of light shone through the windows into the massive room, making it far more ominous than even the sea witch’s lair, ornate designs of the castle interior barely visible in the dark.
But atop the throne was not what he expected was Rin’s father… instead, it was Rin himself, clad in elaborate royal garments.
It could be no other.
Before Haruka could even get a good look at the figure, he could sense who it was. Except that bright look in his eyes had darkened, and left a cold and sharp gaze instead. There was no warmth emanating from him. Haruka could tell that Rin recognized him too, could see it in his eyes. But Rin quickly hid that look again, back under a cold mask.
No-- Haruka didn’t want to believe it, because this didn’t feel like Rin at all. His eyes opened wide in shock, but he had to keep his composure. He hadn’t planned this far, and he didn’t expect this of all things.
“What… made you think that I was interested in seeing anyone?” Rin asked, words as pointed as his accusatory glare at one of the guards. Even when it wasn’t directed at him, Haruka still felt a pang in his heart. He couldn’t understand seeing Rin like this. This just wasn’t him. It couldn’t be.
“Your Majesty, he was very insistent, and we thought you’d understand him better than us.”
“And why does that concern me?”
Haruka opened his mouth to speak. Nothing but a quiet gasp escaped. Why did he act as though he didn’t know him?
The guard looked uneasy as he turned to Haruka, clearly regretting his choice to allow him in here. “Er, sir, can you sign to him and explain--”
“I’m not interested,” Rin cut in. “What makes you think I’m willing to just see anyone for any reason?”
Haruka tried to take another step towards Rin, but Rin only looked away as the guards took him by the arms.
No--
Wait--
“This man has nothing of use to me and clearly nothing to say. Just get him out of my sight.”
---
Outside the castle, Haruka felt numb, still in disbelief of what just happened. He couldn’t even reach Rin again. Now, Haruka had no way to communicate with others. There was nothing else he could even think of trying. That short meeting alone was enough to show how pointless that would be.
Haruka sank to the ground by the water, now back at the cove where this all began. Now his choice truly felt all like it was for nothing. Rin had become someone far different from the sweet boy in his memories, and Haruka had no idea what he could do. Even if he looked safe… the friend he knew was gone. He could wait for the three days to end and return home. Maybe it was for the best that he forgot about Rin and all of those grand, foolish ideas about the world.
It’d all work out. Everything would be back to how he remembered it, how it was supposed to be before he ever met that ridiculous human. All he ever did was give him all kinds of things he didn’t need, things that no merman needed. He’d be happy and want for nothing again under the ocean in his castle.
Then just why did the back of his eyes start to feel hot, and his vision started to blur with… water?
He wanted to dive back into the ocean if just to feel the water for a while again and forget the terrible decision that he had made. But before he could, he heard footsteps from behind him. He didn’t want to turn around, too tired of everything to care. Did it really matter who it was?
It was Gou-- she must have snuck out of the castle after witnessing what happened earlier.
“You’re the merman that my brother talked about, aren’t you?” She held up a blue scale, as if comparing the color of his eyes to it.
“I don’t understand how this happened, or how you’re here,” she said, crouching down by Haruka and holding her knees. “But if there’s anyone who can get through to him, I think it’s you.”
Haruka couldn’t see what she meant. He couldn’t even speak and clearly the sight of him alone didn’t do anything to help. What else could he even do?
“He doesn’t listen to me, or anyone else anymore. Not since he… had to get ready to be the king, so soon after Dad…” Gou dug her finger in the sand as she talked. “It changed him… he closed himself off to everyone.”
“But you, you’re special to him. You’re a dear friend to him, but he also talked about you like you were a sign of what amazing things were out there in the world. That’s probably why he was like that earlier when he saw you. My brother’s kinda weird like that.”
Haruka didn’t know if he could still understand it, fully. Was Gou trying to get him to hope that there was still the Rin he used to know underneath what he saw before? Already he had risked so much to come here and had his hope dashed. But… maybe, if there was still a chance, he would try once more. He turned to Gou, who looked tired, but still looked determined.
“If you want to try to talk to him again, I’ll lead you to where you can meet him in private.”
---
Gou snuck him into the castle through the garden, in a small hole in a hidden corner and the ground that Haruka could only barely squeeze through.
“Wait here. He always comes by around the evening.”
The flowers here were unlike anything he had in the ocean, more delicate than the sea sponges and coral. Stone sculptures of humans and creatures alike decorated the
In the center of the garden was a round pool of water, with neatly arranged stones at the bottom. Haruka decided that as he would wait, he’d do his waiting here and so he took off his clothes, tossing them to the side as he jumped into the water. The coolness of it relieved some of his tension, almost as if he felt a stronger appreciation of the water now that he’s a human. He had to kick his legs to move forward, but he’d surely get used to it…
Before he could soak for long, a sharp voice rang out.
“What are you doing here?”
Haruka turned around to see Rin at the edge of the pool. There was a familiarity in this moment, and he knew that Rin could feel that too.
“The hell are you thinking, breaking in like this?” Rin sounded a lot more like the boy he remembered when he didn’t have to act as the king. “Get out or I’ll have you thrown out! And that’s more nice than I should be.”
Pulling himself out of the pool, Haruka gathered up his clothing as Rin looked away. But as he put his clothing back on, Haruka didn’t move from where he stood.
“Okay, now get out already! What are you waiting around for?” Rin didn’t look as coldly composed as he did earlier, voice rising, trembling from… anger? Some other feeling? “Why are you even here? Are you here just to… haunt me or something? Just leave!”
No, Haruka couldn’t leave yet. He had to give at least one last message.
It had to be a message that could reach Rin, was the only thing he could tell him in any way-- and if he didn’t, he still wanted to let him know. Rin still looked down at him with that same icy contempt in his eyes, but Haruka met it with steadiness.
“Seriously… what are you doing here? Why don’t you even say anything?”
Haruka pointed his finger at himself-- Rin looked somewhere between confused and annoyed.
Then, Haruka pointed at Rin. This seemed to spark a little recognition in Rin, his eyes widening.
The last of the signs in this… Haruka placed his thumb and forefinger against the sides of his jaw, then drew his hand forward in front of him, bringing the tips of the fingers together.
Rin stared back at Haruka for a moment, lips parted with a gasp. His expression, an angry scowl not a minute ago, softened into a face of awestruck boy. He took a breath, slow and shuddering.
“You… you remember that, huh,” Rin’s voice, despite how much he tried, trembled as the water started to well up in his eyes. He looked down, pressing his lips together as he tried to suppress a whimper and sniffled a little. While it hurt to see Rin like this, it also felt like some emotional relief for the both of them. It had been years and time changed them so much. But to do this… he didn’t doubt that what he had done was worth it.
Haruka walked closer to Rin, a little uncertain about how to approach, but Rin reached out and threw his arms around Haruka to pull him closer. And just then, Haruka felt a warmth like the kind he remembered from those years ago.
“I’m sorry, I’m…. so sorry…” Rin’s shuddering breaths grew harder as he tried to speak through his sobs, pressing his face into the crook of Haruka’s neck.
“What’s wrong with me? I keep… I just don’t know what to do.”
Even if Haruka could speak, he wanted Rin to just say all that he needed to for now, so he just nuzzled against Rin’s neck in turn.
“But… I don’t know, maybe you being here-- I don’t know why you’re here now, but…” Rin swallowed hard again, and Haruka put his arms lightly around Rin. “When I saw you earlier, I just… remembered when things were easy. And it felt like a long time ago…”
Rin pulled back enough to press his forehead to Haruka’s. “But maybe, there’s a reason why we met again now.”
---
That night, Rin might not have understood why Haruka didn’t speak, but from the signing, Rin must have figured enough that he needed to learn the rest of the sign language. So through the next day, Rin taught Haruka the basic signs and what else he knew. He had the staff completely spoil Haruka to the point it was embarrassing, even for someone who grew up as a prince himself.
And they would swim in the pool together, like the times they swam in the ocean. But now they were so closed off in the castle, withe the walls hiding the endless horizon they both used to see together.
On the third day, Haruka looked out the window at the evening sun. If he didn’t do something now, he would become a merman again and go back to the ocean. Back to his usual life, without a trace of a memory of his time with Rin. It was his last chance, in case he felt any regret about his choice and upending his life.
‘Let’s go see the rest of the world,’ Haruka signed.
“I want to… I’d want to see the world with you, but what about the kingdom?”
‘Gou could rule.’
“Well, of course I’d ask her how she feels about it first,” Rin answered, looking contemplative over it before turning back to Haruka with a grin. “But it’s an offer to keep in mind when it’s coming from you.”
It would be something for the both of them. Something they both they’ve always wanted to do, unbound and free. To see all of the sights that the world has for them. And so, in that case, there was one last pressing question to have Rin answer.
‘Do you love me?’
Rin stared at Haruka’s hands, trying to understand if he had interpreted that correctly. Then his face promptly turned red when he realized he wasn't mistaken.
“What are you doing, asking that question out of nowhere?!”
‘Yes or no?’
Rubbing the back of his neck and looking away, Rin mumbled something. But he looked at Haruka, though through the corner of his eye.
“... Y-Yes…”
So Haruka reached forward and grabbed Rin by the sides of his face and leaned in to kiss him. No need to worry about the spell anymore.
---
The two princes had abdicated their thrones, off to see the rest of the world together. When by the ocean and travelling by sea, the both of them would spend time with Makoto, Nagisa and Rei. They had everything in front of them to explore, hand in hand. When they grew full of their travels, the both of them would return home to the castle town by the ocean.