#like a fish w a wailing voice on the dock as it loses its breath. i really do think it's partially bc i'm sane now but somewhere inside me

[gentlethorns]

you know what? i'm gonna say it. i miss being seventeen. not for the "glory days," bc they weren't, by a country mile lol. if i had glory days i'd say they were in 2020. but i miss the electricity, the constant undercurrent of euphoria and deep plunging black. i miss the fight i had. i was literally known for being scrappy. i was self-destructive and coping poorly, but goddamn if i didn't burn bright and long. it took me until my twenties to finally start to fizzle out. does the candle with its wax melted down to the base of its glass cage miss when the wick was lit?

[kiebs]

Whale Tales 8

Fandom: Free!

Genre: Modern Fantasy

Pairing: Soumako; MakoxOC; SouxOC; SoumakoxOC

Characters: Matsuoka Rin; Original Character; Tachibana Makoto, Yamazaki Sousuke; Nanase Haruka

Summary:  It all began with a storm that totaled a boat. And overly friendly mermen.

It’s been forever and a day, but I hope you enjoy this most recent chapter of Whale Tales!

Also on AO3

Rin crossed his arms, eyes looking out over the marina. "So, you're sure this is okay to do?"

"Sousuke said it was okay," Tohru responded, twisting a hair tie between her fingers.

"Yeah, but…just because he says so—"

"Rin, you were there, too. Did he look uncertain to you?"

"I don't want our friends getting hurt because a big dumb fish thinks he can get over his trauma by forcing himself to hang out with humans."

For a moment, only the seagulls answered him.

"…everything will be okay," she murmured. "Makoto-san and Haru-san will be there."

"Great, more fish."

"They're not fish. They're cetaceans."

"Don't you get all technical on me—"

"Cetaceans are mammals. Fish aren't. There is no technic—"

"They both swim!"

"Now you're being childish."

Before their bickering could go any farther, and both of them knew they were bickering only because they were nervous and this was how they sometimes made the other feel better, a bright, cheery voice rang through the air. Both turned towards the sound, a sense of levity immediately fluttering over them.

"Rin-channn! Tohru-channn!" A ball of energy and blond hair dashed across the dock, almost knocking both of them over in his haste to hug them. "I missed you!"

"Oof! Hey, Nagisa," Rin greeted. He ruffled their friend's fluffy locks. "We missed you too."

"How was your European adventure?" Tohru asked warmly.

It was good to see her friend again. It had been about a month or so since she last saw him and, well, he didn't look much different. Nagisa still stood only a couple centimeters taller than she did and he was as tan as she was, but he had cut his hair and a shiny bicolored ring glittered on his finger. Otherwise, he was the same old Nagisa, bubbly and cheerful and bringing sunshine wherever he went.

He clasped his hands together with sparkling eyes. "It was amazing. I didn't realize just how close all the countries were, so we just took a super long road trip!"

"And what about your budget?" Rin asked, but his eyes had lifted from the blond man to his husband.

Rei pushed up his glasses with a mild twisting of his mouth. "Stretched, but nothing too overboard."

"Did you have fun, though?" Rin asked.

A smile curved up their bespectacled friend's lips. His face immediately softened, looking as boyish as he did when he was in high school. In moments like this, Tohru saw the reason why Nagisa so loved Rei.

"I did, very much so," he admitted. "Even with the language barrier, I had fun."

"Yeah, yeah! Thankfully, Rei-chan could get around a little with his English!" Nagisa added happily. He bounced on his heels away from her and Rin. "But we picked up a lot! And souvenirs! We got you some cool things!"

He immediately began rifling through his bag and produced two gift bags. Rin and Tohru eyed them cautiously, remembering previous gifts and souvenirs that had been less than what they expected. And by that, she meant that they had been some really weird and esoteric thing that they didn't even know where or how he got them. Nevertheless, they took the bags.

Inside the bag sat a simple cardboard box. Tohru lifted it out and cautiously turned it in her hands. It was light, but had some weight to it so that it didn't feel like it was full of fluff. That didn't exactly ease her, but she opened the box anyway. Wrapped in paper and sparkling once uncovered, she found a pretty metal and glass statue of a stingray. The glass was a mixture of milky blues and grays, though a few places were clear and bright cerulean. It was beautiful and extremely thoughtful.

Rin had a similar piece, but his was a shark and red. Tears beaded in his eyes the moment he unearthed it from its paper cushion. He sniffed loudly, gently placing the shark back into the box so that he could rub furiously at his eyes. Tohru smiled indulgently at his actions, putting her own statuette away.

Seeing Rin cry was actually a good sign, all things considered. With the curse and the mermen, she was afraid he was going to fall into depression again, but he actually crying meant that he hadn't. He became remarkably aloof when he was depressed.

"Aww, Rin-chan!" Nagisa cooed, throwing his arms around his waist.

"I-I'm not crying!" Rin hiccoughed gruffly.

"Rin, that's never worked," Tohru teased, gently bumping his shoulder with hers. "We know you're crying."

"S-Shut up."

"You're going to make Rei-chan cry, Rin-chan!"

"I am not going to start crying, Nagisa-kun!"

Nagisa laughed joyfully, smiling up at his husband.

It felt weird to think of Rei and Nagisa like that, to think that they were married now. It felt like they would be boyfriends forever, though they had also felt married before they had even been engaged. Then again, Tohru couldn't imagine a time when the two weren't together and it was weird to think that there actually had been. She much preferred them now.

Rin pushed Nagisa away, but he kept his hand on the smaller man's shoulder. Tears still reddened his eyes, but he was smiling as he gestured to the boat. He cast a conspiratorial look towards her before speaking.

"Let's head off, all right?" he remarked, placing his box back in the bag. "We're losing daylight."

"It's not even ten yet!" Nagisa whined, but hurried onto The Shark nonetheless.

"Like you're not excited to go out," Rin returned with a grin.

"We went on a cruise, too!" their friend huffed, turning up his nose.

Tohru lifted an eyebrow and looked curiously at Rei. "Did you?"

"Mm. In Sweden," the glasses-wearing man explained. He gestured for her to go first; she did. "It was rather beautiful."

His voice was almost wistful, which was a surprise. Back in high school, he had refused to go near, let alone in, any water, and even in college, they were hard-pressed to actually get him to join them in the pool. (Teaching him to swim had been a nightmare.) She supposed Nagisa's and her work had something to do with his recent fondness to bodies of water. He still got horribly seasick, though.

Once Rei was on the boat, Rin untied it and hopped in himself. As he passed her, he dipped his head.

"You wanna bring it up or should I?" he asked softly.

Tohru tilted her head up accordingly. "I can. I won't mention the curse."

His smile was relieved in return. He nodded.

Now…the question was how to bring up the mermen.

Technically, her real question was if she would even get a chance to speak as Nagisa dominated the conversation the moment they had all settled in the cabin. He regaled them on his and Rei's European adventure, telling them about the food, the people, the cities, and just about anything else that he could remember. Sure, intermittently when he ran out of breath, Rei would add a few things or tell them about the architecture or simple beauty of the towns in Europe before Nagisa would continue his tale. And he was a very good speaker, always had been, and created such pretty imagery with his words alone. They could have been there with the way he was describing everything.

But Tohru needed to tell them about the mermen. She felt extremely guilty about even needing to do so, because she had promised the mermen—she had promised Sousuke—that she or Rin wouldn't tell anyone else. Yet here she was.

Sousuke's voice echoed through her mind, interrupting the images of some kind of German pastry Nagisa was describing.

"I understand. You can tell them."

Guilt still tied up her throat, but she would rather forewarn her friends than blindside them. There was just the very likely happenstance that neither Rei nor Nagisa would believe her. Nagisa might be a dreamer, might love fantasy, but he also knew the boundaries of reality. Even he would question her sanity.

She sighed softly, smiling despite her inner turmoil. Despite how nervous she felt, she was happy that she could share this with her friends. Even more so, she was happy that Sousuke understood why she had to bring them out. She had been extremely reckless to go diving without a partner; she recognized that now. Thankfully, Sousuke understood that, too. He had actually lectured her after she had explained why she needed to bring Nagisa. It was flattering.

"…ru…"

Being lectured had never been so enjoyable before.

"T…ru…n…"

Even Makoto had gotten huffy when she explained her recklessness.

"Toh…n…"

It was…cute.

"Tohru-chan!"

Tohru jolted from her daze.

"W-What?" she gasped, looking quickly between Nagisa and Rei.

Rin coughed sharply.

Rei raised an eyebrow while Nagisa pouted.

Oh. She must have really daydreamed hard.

"Were you even paying attention, Tohru-chan?" Nagisa huffed, crossing his arms. His bottom lip wobbled.

"Until Vienna, sorry," she admitted with a wince.

"You missed our whole adventure in Padua!"

"To be fair, Nagisa, you have been talking for a while," Rei murmured, touching his husband's knee. "I'm sure Tohru-san and Rin-san have had adventures while we were away."

Nagisa's eyes widened. His lips wobbled before he lunged onto Tohru's lap.

"I'm sorry, Tohru-chan! I didn't even ask how you were doing!" he wailed, looking up at her. "Especially about that storm!"

Ah, that had been the only time they interrupted their friends' honeymoon. Well, Kou had interrupted their honeymoon because Nagisa and Rei were two of her best friends and she needed to vent. They had almost returned, actually, if Rin hadn't given them a lecture about the romance of a honeymoon.

"We're doing okay," she answered with a smile. "Well, I'm getting better, but, well, Rin and I…had another adventure…"

Nagisa sat up quickly. "What happened?"

Rin snorted loudly.

Tohru took a breath.

"Okay, so…it…it kind of connected to the storm we were in," she began nervously. "Um, so…we…we kind of had help getting out of it and, uh…look, it's going to sound really weird and-and impossible, but you have to believe me, okay?"

Her friend narrowed his eyes at her, but nodded. Rei also nodded, looking skeptical.

"Go on," Rei encouraged.

She blew out loudly. "Okay, so. We were saved by mermen. Aaaand they've kinda been helping me out with the stingray research? And they visit us all the time when we go out now."

Unsurprisingly, silence answered her.

Her mouth was dry, her tongue gummy, her throat tight. Rei and Nagisa just stared at her, both with confused looks, though Rei's grew more and more concerned as the boat sailed on. She rubbed her clammy palms against her knees as she waited for one of them to respond.

After many long, excruciating minutes, Rei cleared his throat. He adjusted his glasses and then fixed the collar of his shirt. He took a breath. The whole preparation made Tohru sink farther down in her seat.

"Are you sure you didn't hurt yourself in the storm?" he asked in such a concerned voice that it embarrassed her. "Mermen don't exist."

"Doctor said I was fine," she muttered petulantly.

"Maybe you hallucinated…?" he continued, rubbing his chin. "Or created something to help you cope."

"But wouldn't mermen be so much cooler?" Nagisa interrupted. "Real live mermen! Think about it, Rei-chan!"

The bespectacled man offered his husband an indulgent smile. "As exciting as that would be, it's improbable."

"We've only explored like five percent of the oceans, Rei-chan!"

"I feel like we would have found something that was human sized by now."

Tohru cut in then, "Rei, we know very little about the blue whale and they get about thirty meters long! It's not farfetched that we could miss something the size of a human."

"She's got a point," Nagisa added excitedly. His bright gaze turned to her. "Did you really see mermen?"

"They were probably dolphins!" Rei argued huffily. "Tohru-san, Nagisa-kun, please."

“I mean, yeah, but it would be so much cooler if they really were mermen!” Nagisa gushed.

This was exactly how she expected it would go, to be honest. Nagisa had been the one to force her to join that folklore class, after all. He would be willing to believe in mermen. Rei was just too logical and rational for anything magical like this.

Tohru blew her hair out of her face angrily. Despite knowing this would happen, she was still frustrated. It was teaching Rei how to swim all over again, except harder. At least he had believed that swimming existed. Yeah, he had given a lecture on how humans had evolved to live on land and swimming was counterintuitive because of that, but he had very much knew the swimming was a real thing. She would have to take drastic measures with making him believe in the mermen then.

"I'm anchoring!" Rin called out. He turned around with a wicked grin. "Let's get this merman show on the road."

He picked up his stereo and headed out.

"Not you too, Rin-san!" Rei cried, standing up to follow. Nagisa was on his heels as they exited the cabin. "There's no such thing as mermen!"

The door swinging closed muffled their voices as they headed to the deck.

Her head pounded. She hadn't even realized the boat had stopped until Rin had spoken. Rubbing her forehead, she even wondered how any of this was going to work out with how vehemently Rei was denying the existence of the mermen. At least he hadn't resorted to saying they were tripping balls as Rin had done, but, well, the day was young.

As she changed into her wetsuit, her heart fluttered excitedly. Frustration with Rei aside, she was going to do her own research. Research that she had decided on. That was exciting. Even more exciting was all the equipment she could use. Like underwater cameras and recording devices and tags. Her grant allowed for that and she didn't have to go through her stupid cousin this time. No more hand recording her findings or trying to remember what she had seen. As it were, of course, most of the equipment wouldn't arrive to her apartment until next week, but she at least had an underwater camera already.

Grinning happily, Tohru skipped outside just as a large wave of water splashed a lecturing Rei. She gaped. Her friend was frozen for a solid few seconds before, abruptly, he screeched in shock. Nagisa immediately began cackling at his husband's sodden appearance.

Their loud responses broke whatever spell had descended on her and she giggled in surprise. Still snickering, she trotted over to the end of the boat and leaned over the rail.

"Hello, Sousuke," she greeted the nonplussed merman warmly.

He frowned up at her, though it really looked like he was pouting, before a slow, amused smile slipped onto his face. He looked rather pleased with himself she would have to say. Honestly, she was rather pleased with him, too.

Makoto, on the other hand, did not share their amusement, apparently. He surfaced next to his mate looking adorably annoyed. He shoved the larger merman.

"Was that necessary?" he asked exasperatedly.

Sousuke huffed. "I thought so."

"Rin was the same way!" Makoto groaned, covering his face.

"No, Rin kept insisting he was tripping balls," Sousuke retorted, lifting an eyebrow. He looked up towards Tohru. "Not started lecturing on why we couldn't exist."

"Do you want to come say 'hello'?" she asked with a grin.

The whale shark merman wrinkled his nose, as if the thought irritated him. Instead of bumming her out, the sight made her grin even more. She liked that she was able to interact with them like this. Those scant few days where she couldn't had left her feeling melancholic and the whole curse deal had saddened her, as well. Yet now, with their silly and sassy interactions, she felt so much better.

Makoto finally lowered his hands, but his exasperated look stayed on his face. Even more so when he saw his mate's distasteful expression.

"Sousuke…" he chastised lowly.

"Mm. All right. I'll come to you then," she announced. Almost immediately, wet arms hooked under hers and pulled her back. "Whoa!"

She looked up in surprise to find a flustered Rei staring down at her. His cheeks were pale, water droplets gleaming on his skin. His hair stuck to his forehead too.

"W-W-What do you t-think you're doing?" he exclaimed. "W-W-Who were those voices!?"

Nagisa suddenly appeared at her side. His eyes sparkled. "Was that—!?"

Music began playing behind them and the boat swayed.

"Tohru!" Makoto gasped, leaning over the side of the boat frantically.

Sousuke was scowling next to him, also hanging onto the ledge. Loud splashes sounded from behind both of them, which probably meant that their tails were thrashing back and forth.

Rei's arms dropped. He made a breathless noise, almost like a whimper, while Nagisa squealed in excitement. Tohru wasn't sure who to deal with first, though she turned quickly to catch Rei before his trembling legs gave out. Rin, thankfully, hurried over to help her.

"Yo," he called over their friend's shoulder to the mermen. "Where's your third wheel?"

"There's another one?" Rei whispered in horror.

His face was almost gray in shock. She gently nudged him over to one of the deck boxes and, with the help of Rin, eased him down. He pulled off his glasses and rubbed his face, groaning lowly. He sounded like he was going to be sick.

Hands latched onto her arm, shocking her to look up into the glowing face of Nagisa. His grin cut across his face like a crescent moon. He bounced excitedly.

"They're mermen!" he hissed excitedly. "Mermen! Me-e-e-e-ermen!"

"Yes, yes, they're dudes with fish tails," Rin remarked, ruffling the younger man's hair. "Give your husband some space."

"Sousuke is the only one with a fish tail," Tohru muttered, rubbing Rei's back. He groaned again.

"Is he okay?" Makoto called out nervously.

"He's seasick," Rin responded with a shrug.

"Whale shit," Sousuke responded, receiving an elbow jab from his mate.

Rin lifted an eyebrow, but grinned. He took a few steps towards the mermen.

"You miiight have freaked him out?" he amended with a shrug and hand wiggle. "You're supposed to be, mmm, improbable, did he say?"

He looked over his shoulder, probably to get Tohru's affirmation on his choice of words when a blur of blond hair sped past him and almost pushed the mermen back into the water. Sousuke lurched back, his grip on the railing the only thing preventing him from falling backwards. He gritted his teeth, eyes snapping past Nagisa towards her.

Tohru winced and hurried over to them just as her friend began to launch into a rapid barrage of questions. Sighing heavily, she gripped his shoulders and pulled him backwards, hoping to give the mermen space. Belatedly, she wondered what would happen if Sousuke had fallen backwards into the water. Did tonic immobility affect him like it did sharks and stingrays?

"Nagisa, give them some space," she scolded softly. "Also…you're speaking really fast."

"But Tohru-chan!" he gasped, whipping towards her and cracking their foreheads together.

They both yelped, jumping apart and clutching their heads. She whined lowly, a high-pitched version echoing hers as she pressed her hands to her wounded body part. Her equilibrium felt off and she knew she was swaying from the pain, so she squatted down to cut down her chances of falling. Slowly, the pain dulled.

"Honestly," Rin remarked, placing a hand on her back. "What am I going to do with you two?"

"Give us ice?" Nagisa begged.

Tohru squinted at him. "Did you bring a cooler?"

"This time. Hold on," Rin sighed, standing.

His footsteps hurried down the boat.

"Tohruuu…" Makoto whined plaintively and she shuffled closer to him.

Her eyes were still mostly closed, but she was now gently rubbing her forehead, wishing the ache to ebb. Cool fingers joined hers, coaxing her head to tip slightly back. Her hands dropped to savor the wonderful chill that Makoto's hand held. She hummed softly.

A tingling sensation spread across her skin, like the feeling of your muscles going numb. It fizzled and danced under and over her forehead until any pain she felt was gone. The tingling sensation disappeared with it. She blinked her eyes open in surprise, reaching upwards to touch the hand that still rested on her forehead.

"Wha…" was her intelligent response, eyes widening with the realization of what just happened. She tried tilting her head to the side to look up at Makoto. "Did you…was that…?"

"Magic? Yes," he offered. He lowered his hand. "How are you feeling?"

"The pain is gone," she remarked, gently touching her forehead where he had. Her skin was wet. "And I feel more alert somehow."

She looked up to catch him looking thoughtful. A faint glow rested in his eyes, much more so than the sunlight could allow. She suddenly remembered the bright and feral eyes of Sousuke not two days ago.

"That's a side effect," the whale shark merman said lowly. "Healing head injuries tends to make the patient more alert than they were."

"It won't last long, though," Makoto added with an apologetic smile. "Give it a bit."

"Magic is coooool," Nagisa slurred. "Ahhh, so nice and cold."

Tohru turned to see her friend pressing a large bundle to his forehead. Rin stood behind him with his hands on his hips and an expression that was a cross between disbelieving and combatant. However, he sighed instead of saying anything and shook his head.

"We're in a god damned fairytale," he muttered loudly, rubbing his neck. "Mermen and magic and sea witches…"

"Sea witches!? Ow…" Nagisa exclaimed before pressing the bundled icepack to his forehead again.

"Witch. Singular," Sousuke corrected. He laid his head on his arms. "Not that you're ever gonna meet her 'cause then we'd lose our tails."

There was a beat of silence.

"…like…cut in half or…you'd get legs...?" Rin asked in confusion.

Tohru would admit that she was curious too.

Sousuke grimaced, but he looked just as confused as they felt.

"It's…It's a saying," the merman explained. "We wouldn't actually lose our tails…"

"Like 'whale shit'?" Now Rin had a grin.

She covered her face with a groan. He was actually five, wasn't he? Totally and completely five.

"Yes, like that."

She was going to shove Sousuke off the boat.

Nagisa snickered.

That was it.

Collecting her wits about her, Tohru stood. They were wasting daylight and as much as she would love to spend the day talking to the mermen, she should start her job. The nice, fantastic job as a marine biologist which she slaved through university for and finally, finally, had a grant to do research outside of the Churaumi Aquarium.

"I have a job to do," she announced, placing her hands on her hips. "Nagisa, when you can, please suit up. We have a survey to do."

She used her best administrator voice and everything. Nagisa gave her a thumbs up.

"Yes, ma'am!" he chirped, struggling to his feet. He made his way to the cabin and closed himself inside.

"…remember when he used to strip right out on the deck?" Rin remarked almost fondly.

She raised an eyebrow and pointed at Rei. "Rei's literally right here, Rin."

Her best friend sputtered fantastically.

"Excuse you!" he managed to snap. "Like hell, I'd find Nagisa attractive!"

"But he's cute," she said, tilting her head. "Don't you like cute?"

"Not that kind of cute," he grumbled. "Besides," and his voice changed into a bad mimic of hers, "your guppies are literally right here."

And in English. For added injury.

Her cheeks burned at the insinuation. She didn't have that kind of relationship with either Makoto or Sousuke. She barely had a relationship with them at all. Even if they did visit all the time and helped them out despite getting in trouble with the sea witch.

"Again with the guppies," Sousuke remarked with huff.

"I still don't know what a guppy is," Makoto added a little petulantly.

The heat in her cheeks doubled in force.

A new voice spoke up.

"Wait, they know English?" Rei gasped and she turned her attention to him.

He still sat on the deck box and he still looked like he might pass out at any moment, but he was peering at them curiously, eyes squinted from taking off his glasses. His hair was tousled, probably from him running his hands through it the more they had been talking to the mermen. Still, despite his disheveled appearance and his grayish complexion, his natural curiosity had him asking questions.

Even Rei wasn’t immune to the allure of knowledge. Especially knowledge about something completely and utterly unknown to the rest of the world.

"We have a natural proficiency with languages," Makoto explained, just like he had so many days ago.

Gosh.

Had it been days? Hell, it had only been a couple weeks, hadn't it? So many things had happened that it felt like so much longer. Like months had passed. It was an odd thought that not a lot of time had passed.

She barely knew the mermen if she really thought about it. Even with all that happened, she didn't know them very well at all. Her head hurt again. She leaned on the railing of the boat, so that she didn't fall over.

"Is there a limit?" Rei asked and that too was like two weeks ago

Immediately, surprisingly, Tohru remembered what Makoto had said.

"Non c'é un limite," she sounded out, frowning at the foreign words in her mouth.

She should work on her Italian.

"That was very good," Makoto said warmly.

She quickly looked up at him, cheeks heating up. He had a bright smile on his face and a fonder look in his eyes. She wondered if he realized that she had remembered what he said.

"No limit?" Rei spoke up and she turned to look at her friend. He squinted at her. "Since when did you know Italian?"

"Well, mom taught me a few phrases should I ever go to Italy," she explained, "but, um, that's how Makoto-san responded last time we asked about languages."

Rei put his glasses back on, pushing them up in an all too familiar way. Violet irises sparkled despite the pallor of their owner's skin. He leaned forward, rubbing his chin.

"So the musical ability to which legends refer extends to languages as well," he remarked. "Is it a voluntary choice to use a certain language? Or involuntary, such that they hear a language being used and respond to it?"

Well, Rei's curiosity had been piqued. She was rather surprised, actually, at the swiftness in which his tune changed. Then again, he did have a natural curiosity like Nagisa and, if someone close to him reacted calmly to something, he too was likely to have a favorable reaction.

Maybe this would be easier than teaching him how to swim.

"Voluntary."

Sousuke's voice surprised her, mostly because she hadn't expected him to be the one to respond. She turned to the mermen.

"So you choose what language to use?" she pressed.

"Well, I feel like it's both?" Makoto responded this time, looking thoughtfully upwards. "Like, we are more likely to respond in a language we hear, rather than choose a different language. But we don't have to respond in that language. If that makes sense."

"Yeah, it does," Rin remarked with a nod. He looked towards them. "Do you ever mix languages?"

Sousuke raised an eyebrow incredulously.

"Not particularly." Makoto shrugged. "Since we're usually talking to other merfolk, we don't have to use anything but mermish."

"Mermish?" Rei asked.

"Our language," Makoto said with a smile just as the cabin door burst open.

Nagisa sprinted from the small room, sliding the last few feet to the mermen on his knees. He had something in his hands, which he thrust out towards the two. Again, Sousuke reared back.

Tohru stood from her leaning position to ease Nagisa away from them. She was sure Sousuke was already overloaded with human interaction. She didn't want him feeling anymore uncomfortable than he probably already did.

"It's cool that you guys speak so many languages, but check this out!" he chirped happily. "This is a guppy!"

He held up his tablet, which she only knew was his due to the bright pink case it had. Tohru covered her face in disbelief, hiding her reddening cheeks.

Rin began to snicker.

"…I don't understand," Makoto finally said. "How does that…?"

"Our tails look nothing like that," Sousuke huffed.

"What do your tails look like?" Nagisa asked brightly and excitedly.

Tohru took that as her cue.

"Suit up and you can see them in their natural environment," she ordered, nudging one of their air tanks with her foot. She smiled at the two mermen. "You two might want to move back."

Sousuke immediately dropped into the water. His actions were a bit abrupt, but she understood why. No doubt Nagisa had overwhelmed him. Care for him or not, her friend did tend to have that effect on people, even with all his good intentions. Besides, Sousuke shouldn't be forcing himself out of his comfort zone too much in too short a time. Makoto smiled indulgently at the water before dropping down himself.

Once they were gone, Tohru clapped her hands. She felt much better without an audience.

"All right. Nagisa and I will be down for an hour," she began explaining to Rin and Rei. "My camera is set up to immediately send any photos I take to my laptop, which you know the password to, Rei. We're just going down to take pictures and grab samples from the vegetation and silt for the control group and to analyze. Save for the mermen, nothing should bother us. Everyone got that?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Nagisa saluted her while Rin and Rei agreed.

"All right. Let's go!"

With a quickness that came from years of experience and practice, both she and Nagisa were in the water in record time. Blue stretched around them as they dived down towards the seafloor. Silence reigned as they explored, but Tohru felt much better now that she had a diving buddy. If they had radios, she might feel even safer, but that diving equipment was going to arrive with the rest of the equipment she had ordered. Nevertheless, she enjoyed her friend's presence in the great expanse of the ocean.

As they swam closer to the rocks, a dark shadow passed above her and Makoto appeared in her peripheral vision. She waved at him, ignoring Nagisa's excited fist shaking and finger pointing at the sight of the orca merman's tail.

"Sousuke's taking a nap," he reported, swimming around them with ease. He came back to her left side.

Tohru tilted her head, wishing she could ask if he was okay. Makoto, thankfully, seemed to understand.

"He's all right," he said with a smile. "Too much human interaction. He'll probably stop by again, once he recovers. He gets lost easily, y'know."

A snort bubbled up her throat, forcing her to press a hand to her mouthpiece so she wouldn't spit it out from laughing. Of all things, a whale shark getting lost was not what she had expected. Her shoulders shook from her suppressed laughter, which eased when she caught sight of the way Makoto's eyes crinkled with his smile. Suddenly, the hand against her mouthpiece was to prevent a startled gasp from drowning her. In that moment, he was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

Cheeks warming, she quickly returned her gaze forward so that she could get to work, rather than ogle the merman. There would be other times for more covert staring, better times than when she was underwater. Right now, she had research to do. Of course, it would be a while until they got close enough to the bottom so it would be rude to ignore him the whole time, but she really should focus.

Nagisa seemed not to care, gesturing excitedly to Makoto. He was trying to say something or maybe it was ask, but she couldn't understand it. Neither did the merman, honestly, as he looked confused, but he swam over to her partner's side nonetheless. Nagisa resorted to pointing at random body parts to emphasize his questions. Both she and Makoto caught on at that.

Nagisa pointed first to the merman's tail.

"I have the tail of an orca, yes," Makoto explained. Nagisa's finger remained pointing at his tail. "Ah, um, I have a lot of qualities like an orca, too. Um, like, echolocation is one."

Nodding, Nagisa then pointed at his hands. The merman frowned, looking confused as he held up his hands for them. Pale gray webbing connected his fingers together, which admittedly was the only weird thing about his hands. That and the black flesh on the back of them when he flipped them around to prove that his hands were totally normal. He even put his palm against Nagisa's when her fellow scientist reached forward eagerly.

"They're just like yours," Makoto said in confusion. Nagisa's fingers barely passed the first joint of the merman's fingers. "Maybe a little bigger..."

Nagisa pointed at the webbing. Tohru inched a little closer to see it, fascinated by the opaque membrane. The more reasonable part of her brain told her that she should be swimming lower, as there was still almost ten meters left to dive until they reached the bottom. The excitable scientist in her, however, wanted to examine and learn more about the merman in front of her. Especially since he was so willing to teach her.

He glanced up at her, catching her off guard, and then offered his other hand to her. Tentatively, she took his hand, running her gloved fingers over his palm before gently spreading his fingers to touch the webbing. She couldn't really feel anything, though, too eager in her excitement to remove her gloves. Frustrated at the lack of sensation, she released his hand to tug off her right glove, which she shoved into her belt. She then held his hand again and ran her bare fingers over the membrane.

It felt odd, simultaneously like human skin and something much smoother. Considering the difference between his patterns and the more human skin, this made sense, but the sensation of touching it nevertheless confused her. She stroked both sides of the webbing and found that they felt the same before she indulged her curiosity.

Turning his hand, she pressed their palms together and, like Nagisa, her fingertips barely passed his first joint. She supposed that made sense since she and Nagisa were almost the same size; she, admittedly, was heavier than he was and much curvier. Nevertheless, the size difference made her blush because she had never really been anything but the big girl. She liked that her hand was so much smaller than his was.

Her cheeks felt a little warm and awareness came back to her with a jolt. Maybe a little too fast, she pulled her hand away. Her mask covered her expression so Makoto would thankfully not see her distress, but that still didn't stop her from dropping her eyes to her hands. Her fingers shook as she fumbled to put her right glove back on. As much as she wanted to look up, she stayed focused on her task, as she was still too flustered to face either her partner or the merman. Even when she did lift her head, she looked between them and brusquely pointed to sandy seafloor. Then she turned and returned to her descent as quickly as she healthily could.

She was acting weird. She knew she was. Since when did she get so flustered over someone being bigger than her? When did she ever get flustered over anyone, period? Well, there was that one time when her idol, Professor Nishiyama, came for a lecture at her university, but that was different. That was a celebrity. Most people became flustered around celebrities. That was expected. A merman, however, wasn't a celebrity. A merman—well, a merman wasn't supposed to exist. It was illogical to get flustered about a mythical creature.

And yet, here she was acting like a school girl, swimming away because she got excited over the simple fact that her hand was smaller. Her hand was smaller than a lot of people's. Like Rin. He had bigger hands than she did. So did Rei and Seijuurou. She took as deep a breath to calm down, more sensing than seeing that Nagisa had joined her. She wasn't sure if Makoto had followed her or not. No matter, she had a job to do.

***

Makoto kept his distance as Tohru and Nagisa did their work. He half-watched the humans, more focused on his hand to give them more than an occasional glance. He kept flipping it back and forth, fascinated by the skin and bones and tendons that he had seen all his life. His palm still tingled from where Tohru had pressed hers to his. Only Sousuke had ever caused such a reaction in him and he was so fascinated that a human could cause the same reaction.

Maybe...Maybe he should be worried that she could.

After all, Sousuke was his mate and, yes, they had known each for years now. Yes, they were familiar, but that didn't mean palms touching and bodies touching and his skin on his skin couldn't cause excited shivers and sparks dancing down his arms and bones. Familiarity meant that they knew what excited the other, even if they were young and a little inexperienced. But he had only just met Tohru and her fingers on his skin and her palm against his tickled his nerves with the same intensity that Sousuke did. That meant something; he was sure of it.

He flipped his hand again, glancing up at a shadow passing overhead. Sousuke swam above him, gazing out towards where the humans were carefully doing something by the rocks and corals, before he swerved downwards to lie next to him. His mate kissed his shoulder in greeting, the brush of his lips making his skin prickle from the attention. A shiver followed not a moment later. Makoto shifted closer to the other merman, seeking more contact. Their shoulders bumped together and even Sousuke's rough skin couldn't deter him in his hunt for the buzzing heat.

His skin felt just as it had when Tohru pressed their palms together.

"How is Tohru and her...friend doing?" Sousuke asked.

"All right," Makoto hummed. "Nagisa is very excited about us. He kept asking questions."

He belatedly realized how that sounded.

"...how?"

"Oh, he just would point rather vigorously at anything he wanted to know." Makoto grinned a little sheepishly. "I think Tohru got annoyed, though."

Sousuke propped his head up. "She did say she had a job to do. Which, technically, we do too."

Makoto huffed as he slid down the rock. His chin rested on an uncomfortable edge, but that didn't matter. He pouted, but now that Sousuke mentioned their job, he did feel guilty. He had just been more focused on helping Tohru and Rin than protecting his town. Which was bad, especially for a so-called guardian, but he was curious and he already thought of them as part of his pod. And they were in more danger than the town at the moment.

Sousuke brushed his fingers down his back, derailing his thoughts. Shivers erupted where their skin touched. The fingers did not stop, instead swirling around in patterns up and down his spine and over his lower back and shoulder blades. They left heat in their wake and the heat pooled in his cheeks.

Makoto whipped up from his lying position and twisted his head around to stare at his mate when the sensations grew too much. Sousuke looked placidly at him, his chin on his palm and the other hand hovering in the water. He slowly blinked as a smile grew on his face.

"Is now the time?" Makoto hissed.

Nevertheless, he wanted more.

His mate hummed. "I wasn't doing anything."

"Uh-huh..." he grumbled before settling much, much closer to him. “Don't make me flip you."

"Mm, is now the time?" Sousuke teased, raising his eyebrows and settling his arm around Makoto's waist. He grinned at Makoto's displeasure before nudging their foreheads together. "Seriously, though, it wasn't my intention to rile you up."

Makoto pouted, narrowing his eyes, before he sighed.

"Sorry. Maybe I riled myself up," he murmured.

"How so?"

He glanced down at his hands, idly moving his fingers. He flipped one to see his palm.

"...Tohru...pressed her palm to mine and..." he trailed off with a sigh of bubbles and a rush of heat to his cheeks.

"And?" Sousuke pressed.

"...and I don't know," Makoto confessed with a frown. "I don't know how to explain it. It was...It was like when you touch me...or-or something."

Fingers trailed up his shoulder.

"Like...when I touch you?" Sousuke echoed. "Does...it bother you...when I...?"

Makoto laughed softly. "No, no. If it does, only ever pleasantly. Which is why...why I'm so confused."

All was silent save for the faintest clicking noise, which he assumed was from the humans. The sunbeams dappled Sousuke's already spotted skin with more spots. Makoto walked his fingers between the shifting light.

"I didn't think you fell so easily," his mate remarked. His voice was guarded.

"Don't be ridiculous," he huffed, tapping Sousuke's nose. "I'm not in love with her. I love you. I'm just...I'm curious..."

Teal eyes regarded him intensely before fluttering closed. Bubbles spewed between them.

"I can't blame you," Sousuke grumbled. He glanced towards where the humans were. "I'm curious too. ...a mermaid would have been easier, though."

Makoto snorted before nudging his face against the other merman's neck. Sousuke jumped and sputtered something incoherent as his chuckles popped against his skin. His shoulders sagged until he was almost completely flat against his mate, almost pushing him onto his back. Sousuke's grip on the rock was the only thing preventing that.

They couldn't rightly form that kind of relationship with Tohru. After all, how would it work between a human and a merman? Tohru couldn't breathe underwater without help from some apparatus and, well, they had tails. Besides, human mating and courting rituals were a mystery to them. For all they knew, Tohru and Rin might already be together. They certainly never seemed to be apart these last few weeks. Maybe...Maybe he was getting ahead of himself...

Before Makoto could follow that any further, Sousuke stiffened against him. He needed nothing else to alert him of danger as he swiftly moved away from his mate and began surveying their surroundings. His gaze didn't go very far when it landed on a group of four medium-sized sharks meandering around and between Tohru and Nagisa. He bristled, despite the relative calm both sharks and humans exuded. He swallowed a click of distress.

One of the sharks bumped Tohru and he almost darted forward at that. The only thing that stopped him was the ease with which the human woman dropped her hand and patted the nose and back of the shark. It wiggled and spun around her, bumping into her waiting hand excitedly. Slowly, she brought up her other hand and let it hover under the shark's chin as she rubbed its nose. She had to move it, however, when one of the other sharks came up to her other side, bumping against her. That too received a nose rub to appease it. Nagisa was doing the same with the remaining two sharks, though the animals frequently switched between the two humans despite their new sluggish behavior.

Makoto stared in shock, sinking down as he watched the two humans pet the sharks. He didn't want to remove his eyes, in case something happened, but he blindly reached out and patted Sousuke's shoulder. His mate gave his hand a squeeze before his spotted tail headed towards the divers. Breathless and shell-shocked, he followed him.

The sharks were unperturbed at their arrival. Tohru did look up briefly at their shadows, her shoulders tensing for the briefest of moments until she realized the shadows belonged to them. Makoto smiled at her and her shoulders lowered a little before she returned her attention to the strangely affectionate sharks. Sousuke floated down to them, glancing over the humans, but paying the most attention to the animals, which gave little acknowledgment to them. His eyes began to glow before he tapped each shark between the eyes. They froze and he began swimming away.

The sharks sluggishly began following him, abandoning the humans with little mind. With a glance towards his mate, Sousuke sped off with his new entourage. It didn't take long for them to disappear after him.

After several moments, wherein Makoto swam protectively around the two humans, Sousuke finally reappeared. He looked significantly drained, but otherwise was no worse for wear. His eyes no longer glowed as he rejoined them.

"Are you all right?" he asked once he reached them.

Makoto turned to see Tohru nod and then point upwards. With little other warning, she and Nagisa began their ascent back towards their boat. They seemed unperturbed by the encounter, but that didn't stop Makoto from encouraging Sousuke to follow them with him in case more sharks showed up.

They surfaced just a few strokes away from the boat. Both the humans removed their eye coverings and mouthpieces. Nagisa's eyes were wide and they seemed to sparkle as he took in Makoto and Sousuke. For coming face to face with sharks just moments ago, he was remarkably unfazed. A big grin formed on his face despite Tohru urging him to return to the boat.

"You're a whale shark!" he was saying, as he tried to both climb the boat and look at Sousuke.

"Nagisa, you're gonna fall," Tohru scolded.

"Oh, don't worry!" he laughed, waving his hand. "How many times have we made this climb?"

She rolled her eyes, but she kept a watchful eye on him as he clambered over the railing of the boat. Makoto didn't blame her, considering all that had happened to her and Rin. He himself was swimming worriedly behind her as they watched her friend scramble over the side of the boat.

However, she didn't immediately follow. Instead, she shifted closer to him, eyeing the boat before she leaned her face close to his. Makoto stiffened at her nearness and his cheeks heated up. A serious and nervous look decorated her face when she looked into his eyes.

Bringing up her hand to the side of her mouth, she whispered, "Nagisa and Rei don't know about the curse. I…I would like to keep it that way for the moment."

He frowned.

"Are you sure?" he whispered back, inclining his head towards her.

"One big surprise at a time," she murmured and her smile was a little wry and a little sad.

"What about the sharks? Won't he wonder about that?" he pressed.

Her mouth twisted as she thought, glancing back at the boat. She hummed before looking back at him. Another wry smile sat on her mouth.

"Probably not," she answered. "He might just think of it as an exciting occurrence. We have swum with sharks before, so..."

"What do you mean you've swum with sharks before?" Sousuke cut in.

"It's no big deal," she insisted and she turned back to the boat. "We weren't by ourselves."

"That—you're a human."

Tohru began climbing the side of the boat. She tilted her head curiously before she slid over the rail. Pulling her goggles and black hood back, she leaned back over to flash them a puzzled look.

"What does that have to do with this?" she asked, leaning her elbows against the railing.

Sousuke leaned closer to the boat. "You live on land! You're prey!"

Her eyes flashed and she opened her mouth to retort before pausing. Again, her mouth twisted as she thought over what he said. A mildly irritated hum sounded from her throat.

"...you're not wrong," she grumbled before huffing, "but it's not like we swam with them when they were hunting or anything. We were careful."

Sousuke scowled.

"Even still, you could get hurt," Makoto said, hoping to disrupt the ire growing on his mate's face. "Promise us you won't anymore?"

Tohru winced.

"I...can't really make that promise," she confessed. She glanced behind her before sighing. "Y'see...I work at an aquarium and I work with sharks there. And I have to go into their tank to make sure that they're healthy."

He frowned, confused.

"An aquarium?" he echoed. The word sounded familiar, but he wasn't sure why. "What's that?"

She hesitated, looking conflicted. Again, she glanced behind her before she grimaced.

"It's, uh... It's a...a building and..." Her fingers rapped against the railing before she began tugging at them. "Well, we display fish and-and similar animals there. O-Of course, Churaumi—er, that is the aquarium I work at, has taken the turn to rehab center in recent years so m-most of our animals only stay until they recover, b-but we do have some permanent residents, l-like Jinta because he's half blind, but most are released once they've healed!"

For some reason, she looked distressed as she explained what an aquarium was. Though the rehab part didn't sound too bad, whatever that meant, he couldn't help focusing on one particular word.

"Display?" both he and Sousuke echoed.

"What do you mean by that?" Makoto pressed, feeling more and more concerned.

Her mouth twisted and her shoulders rose to her ears. She looked away from them, but before she could speak, Nagisa jumped up to her side.

"They're in tanks relative to their size so that people can admire them," he explained, looking remarkably serious. "We take great care in making sure our animals are comfortable and stress free and, besides, any animal that isn't in the rehab program was born in captivity and even then, it's only our really tiny fish."

Just like aquarium, the word tank sounded familiar and hearing that they kept fish in them made him shiver a little. What was the point of that? The fish had to be miserable, even if the tanks were big enough to fit them. Nothing could compare to the sea. Nothing could compare to seeing them in the sea.

A brief flash of Lady Miho's lecturing face filled his mind, a lecture from a while ago, back when they were children. Warnings about humans, warnings about humans called scientists with greed burning in their eyes and mysterious tanks to hold captured creatures and other horrors she hadn't said, but alluded to with meaningful glares and looks into the distance.

Tohru, however, had never looked upon them with greed. She had never tried or alluded to capturing them, had never wanted more than to just know. This had been the first time she even mentioned an aquarium or tanks and even then, even now, she looked worried...worried about their response.

Despite himself, a smile lifted his cheeks. He should feel more wary, especially now with this new knowledge, but he couldn't find it in him to be. Not with how distraught Tohru looked and the seriousness on Nagisa's face.

"I may not agree with it. Fish belong in the sea," he began, considering his words, "but you seem sincere about the good that your aquarium does, so...I guess...it's okay?"

The glance towards Sousuke was instinctual, checking to see how his mate would react. He didn't appear upset, a carefully blank look on his face, but he was still scrutinizing the humans. It would be good to give him the space to consider his own opinion.

Makoto returned his gaze upwards. Thankfully, Tohru looked less upset and even she had a small smile on her face. His heart lurched when she leaned against the railing and reached over, her hand dangling downwards. Without much thought, he slid his fingers around hers.

"I don't much like having the animals in tanks myself," she confessed. "I much prefer seeing them in their natural environments, but...well, humans are arrogant and us scientists are trying to fix the damage caused by other humans. Sadly, that often requires tanks and aquariums to protect them. Especially the animals that have been injured beyond recovery."

"Like the one you mentioned?" he asked and her smile grew.

"Yes, like Jinta," she agreed. She gently bobbed their hands. "He has cataracts on his eyes and, though we removed most of them, he still has some issues seeing. He's been with us a while, so he at least knows the parameters of his tank so he doesn't get hurt. He's a good boy."

"...she says about a ten meter shark," Rin remarked from behind the two scientists.

Makoto tilted his head at that. From the way he said, that must be big. He wondered how big, though.

"He's closer to twelve, actually," Nagisa corrected, twisting to look behind him before quickly looking back at Tohru. "It is twelve, right?"

She nodded. "Mmhm. Last physical we did had him at twelve point twelve, which we thought was amusing. Samemaru is a little smaller at ten point seventy-five and Bei-Bei is eleven exactly, so they're all fully grown. Or, at least, as fully grown as they'll get in an aquarium."

Murmuring in understanding, Nagisa nodded.

Makoto was still horribly confused. A quick glance to his mate proved that he wasn't the only one confused.

Sousuke leaned his head close to his and, softly in mermish, whispered, "They're saying words and I have no idea what they mean."

"Don't be rude," Makoto scolded back, also in mermish. "...they're talking about sharks, I think."

"What do the numbers mean?"

He frowned thoughtfully. "...size, maybe?"

"Tohru, don't forget to take your gear off," Rin spoke up again, drawing their attention upwards.

"Oh, I forgot," Tohru murmured and her hand slipped from Makoto's. She disappeared from view.

Nagisa, however, stayed in sight. His attention was on his fellow humans.

"How do you forget? Your tank alone is like thirteen kilos."

"When I'm not moving too much, I don't notice. Besides, it's more like eleven," she answered and a few clunking noises followed. "I've lifted heavier. You've lifted heavier."

"Yeah, but it's not me wearing it, is it?"

"Am I going to have to give you another lecture on sexism? Do not test me, Matsuoka."

"Tohru can judo throw you, Rin-chan," Nagisa added with a grin. "Hell, she can judo throw Sei-chan. Twenty kilos of scuba gear is cake."

"They're saying numbers and words again," Sousuke grumbled.

Makoto nudged him before asking loudly, "What are meters and kilos?"

"Oh!" Tohru's face immediately popped up over the railing. "Meters are a human measure for length and kilos are a measure of weight."

"Yeah, and thirteen kilos is heavy," Rin chimed in.

She rolled her eyes before her face brightened. Quickly, she twisted around and something made faint clinking noises. When she turned around again, a big grin sat on her face.

"Tell me if this is heavy," she said before hefting her air tank over the side of the boat. She was careful to ease it down between him and Sousuke. "It's actually lighter at the moment, since it's not full anymore, but it does have a heft to it since I have a steel tank."

The tank was long, but still shorter than his arm. It was thin, too, or at least, thin enough that Makoto could grab it relatively easily with one hand. He still brought up his other hand to hold it, but as he passed it between his hands, bringing it a little into the water, he would hardly call it 'hefty'. Bringing it up out of the water again, he held it out one-handedly to Sousuke with a shrug.

Sousuke took it with a faint wrinkle of his nose. Still, he rolled the tank just like Makoto had, looking more and more confused. At least Makoto wasn't alone in his confusion. The tank wasn't all that heavy, barely heavy at all. Balancing the tank on one hand on one of its narrow ends, Sousuke lifted the tank back up to Tohru.

Both she and Nagisa were gaping at them. It took them a moment to even move, let alone take the offered tank. Nagisa was even mouthing words as Tohru pulled the tank closer to her, finally pulling it over the railing. Oddly enough, her cheeks were red.

"It's not that heavy," Sousuke remarked.

Makoto nodded. "It's not like it's a tuna or grouper."

"T-Those are significantly heavier!" Tohru squeaked. Her cheeks darkened.

"Exactly," Sousuke said. From his tone, Makoto knew he was lifting an incredulous eyebrow. "You weren't that heavy either."

Tohru began sputtering, her whole face an unhealthy shade of red. The noises she made almost sounded like the shrill cries of seagulls. She covered her face with her hands and sunk down behind the railing.

Nagisa lurched over the railing with wide eyes and grin. He dangled there and fluttered his hands before he could even speak.

"When did you pick up Tohru-chan!?" he exclaimed.

Makoto slapped Sousuke's hip fin before he could speak.

"She fell overboard one day and we helped her back onto the boat," he explained with a smile. "The water had been a little choppy that day."

"Tohru-chan, how clumsy!" Nagisa cackled.

Makoto smiled a little. He felt a little bad having to lie to them, but explaining how Tohru had almost died that day would be a feat. Besides, a promise was a promise, even a nonverbal one, and he wasn't going to break it just minutes after she asked.

Sousuke shifted next to him before he disappeared in his peripheral. A quick glance told him that his mate was swimming below the surface. At least he was staying nearby. He would really rather not look for his mate once they said goodbye to the humans.

A shadow covered the water. Makoto looked up to find Rin leaning over the railing where Tohru had been. He looked very serious.

"You broke Tohru," he accused before Makoto could open his mouth.

Makoto sputtered, feeling his eyes widen. How did he break her? What did Rin even mean by that?

A grin split across Rin's face, which made him look decidedly wicked. Or shark-like, really.

"Such guppies," he teased.

That made Makoto's cheeks warm.

"I don't know what you even mean with that!" he cried. He frowned. "And what do you mean I broke Tohru?"

"Sou-chan said she wasn't that heavy," Nagisa pointed out with his own wicked grin.

"Well, she wasn't," Makoto insisted.

A shrill noise followed his words. The two human men looked positively gleeful at the sound.

Makoto didn't share their glee. He was much more worried about Tohru. If Rin wasn’t leaning so close to the railing and Nagisa wasn’t leaning on it, he would pull himself up to make sure she was okay.

"Let's just say that Tohru doesn't often get that, eh, statement in regards to her weight from human men," Rin explained with shrug.

"And, by human standards, you and Sou-chan are very, very handsome," Nagisa added. "So hearing that she barely weighs a thing to you guys… Well…"

Both human men wiggled their eyebrows. For some reason, that made Makoto’s cheeks burn.

"Please, can we not talk about this?" Tohru begged abruptly from her hiding place. "Can't you guys focus on something else?"

"But they're super strong, Tohru-chan!" Nagisa laughed. "That's really fascinating, right? As far as I know, there are no myths about mermaids being super strong!"

"What about the myths about drowning sailors?" Rin asked.

Makoto frowned and flicked his tail in agitation. That was one of the few things he knew about humans, about how they feared merfolk because of tales such as that. The sirens were the ones at fault for those…for the most part.

"Oh, I guess that could be an example of super strength…" Nagisa amended with a hum. "Seeing as a lot sailors tend to be on the burly side…"

"Merfolk don't drown humans," Makoto spoke up. He couldn't help the sour expression from coming out. "It's against our code."

Nagisa's eyes widened while Rin grimaced.

Finally, Tohru peeked over the railing. Her cheeks were still red, but from what he could see of her face, she looked more composed. Seeing her eased the angry ball in his stomach.

"That makes sense," she murmured. "Otherwise you and Sousuke wouldn't have saved me and Rin."

"Then why do we have so many myths about mermaids drowning sailors?" Nagisa whined, flailing his hands.

Makoto couldn't help sinking into the water until his chin rested on the surface. The same reason they had all those myths was also the reason that Rin and Tohru were cursed. The same reason he didn't venture far into the depths alone.

"Sirens," Sousuke answered for him as he surfaced.

Rin's face contorted again, but Nagisa's eyes only seemed to get bigger. The smaller human leaned farther over the railing and only Rin's hand on his shoulder kept him from falling into Makoto and Sousuke.

Comparatively, Tohru remained mostly hidden by the side of the boat. Only the top part of her head was visible. Her eyebrows furrowed over her eyes when their gazes met.

"Sirens…" she echoed softly, lifting herself until her chin rested on the railing. “…what differentiates them from merfolk?"

"Appetite, mostly," Sousuke said. Water sloshed as he shrugged. "They're more…magical than we are. They…ugh, what is it again? Desires? They make desires seem real."

She hummed and leaned away from the railing. Her fingers ran over her lips as she took in this information.

Makoto wanted to change the subject. Sirens had always bothered him, had always made him fear going out alone. They were vicious and coldhearted and cared little for who or what they seduced. And worst of all, it was because of a siren that Rin and Tohru were cursed. He swung his tail in agitation, slipping under the water to lap the boat a couple times. Bubbles spiraled around him and danced in the sunlight and the shadow of the boat.

Once he had calmed down, once he no longer felt like fear was going to choke him, a tug of guilt had him return to his mate's side. How rude of him to disappear like that. The humans wouldn’t understand, even if Tohru was very accommodating with their quirks.

When he resurfaced, Tohru was conversing softly with Sousuke and both of her friends were gone. That guilt shot through his chest. He hoped he hadn’t offended Rin or Nagisa. Sirens just…made him uncomfortable.

"How are you feeling? Are you okay?" she was asking, tentatively reaching out to him.

Sousuke brushed his fingers against hers, letting her stroke his knuckles. He tilted his head a little.

"…I'll be all right," he confessed and both she and Makoto huffed.

The noise drew her attention to Sousuke’s right. She jumped a little, but happiness decorated her face rather than surprise.

"Oh! Makoto-san!" A smile bloomed on her face before it was again replaced by worry. "Are you okay? We're not overwhelming both of you, are we?"

He managed a small smile.

"I'm fine," he said before assenting at her pout and Sousuke's nudge. "Sirens are…a bit of a phobia of mine. They…someone close to me…"

Tohru offered her other hand to him immediately.

"You don't have to explain," she said when he took her hand. "I'm sorry that we brought up bad memories. I'm sorry to both of you."

"Why?" he asked. He rocked their hands. "What could you be sorry about?"

Her smile reeked of regret. His heart ached at the sight.

"That you got involved with us," she admitted, albeit quietly.

"I'd probably do it again," he countered and felt his cheeks warm at her surprised face. "Uh, I, that is…"

Her next smile glowed. It took him a moment to remember how to speak or what to speak or who he was. His tail stilled for a moment and he went under, surging back up a second later. His cheeks felt like his skin was boiling.

Sousuke snorted.

Tohru's smile became giggles.

"Are you okay?" she asked again.

"I, uh, yeah, I'm all right," he stuttered.

He swatted his mate's hip when he didn't stop snickering. He would bet that he too had been stunned for a moment by her smile. He just had the more embarrassing reaction.

Tohru laid her head on her crossed arms.

"Okay. I'll believe you," she said and he didn't think she really believed him. "…and let me know whenever you're uncomfortable. I know…I know I get caught up in…in the science and discovery of you guys and…I've made you uncomfortable before. Nope, don't try to say you weren't. I literally just ran my hands over you the first time we met."

Makoto couldn't argue with that, but the memory of her hands running along his arms no longer made him feel uncomfortable. Instead, his skin tingled at the memory, wanting more of that attention.

"All right. We'll let you know," Sousuke spoke for him. "Likewise."

She smiled at that.

"I don't think you've made me uncomfortable," she admitted.

"Not even the fiery comment?"

She laughed.

"Not even that."

"Mm. You're still pretty fiery."

"I'm still amazed you know what fire is."

Makoto smiled at their interaction, enjoying the teasing tone that Sousuke had adopted. Out of all the humans, he was probably most comfortable with Tohru, if only because she was just so willing to listen and learn. It made his heart soar that his mate was so comfortable around maybe his favorite human.

Just like before, a shadow fell over them. Just past Tohru was Rin, who cleared his throat loudly.

"As much as I enjoy your obvious flirting," here he ignored Tohru's attempts to contradict him, "we need to head back to land."

"Eh? But—!" Tohru began, twisting to look up at her friend.

Rin gave her a look.

"We didn't pack lunch or anything kind of food," he reasoned. "The only thing in the cooler is bottles of water and Pocari."

"It's…It's only been…" she trailed off, looking down with a frown. “…I don't know how long it's been."

"It takes about an hour or so to get out here and then you go down for about an hour," he explained counting on his fingers. "And we left at nine this morning, rather than eight because Nagisa and Rei are still jetlagged. So it's almost noon now."

"An hour did not pass from us just talking!" she argued, but her cheeks reddened all the same.

Rin raised an eyebrow and held up some kind of rectangle. There were symbols on the screen and Makoto thought they might be numbers. He had seen something before in some of the shipwrecks he and Haru had explored in their youth, but written language was a mystery to him. Haru probably would know what they meant.

Whatever the symbols meant, they made Tohru gasp.

"Say goodbye to your guppies and go get changed," Rin instructed.

Tohru floundered for words. She didn’t move.

"I-I don't need to get changed!"

Her friend crossed his arms. He honestly looked a little like a father in that moment. For a long moment, neither moved.

She pouted and looked between him and Makoto. She looked torn.

"Okay, fine," she relented after a moment of silence. "But I'll say goodbye after I change."

She stood and stalked down the boat. A door slammed and the music stuttered. Her other friends made confused and worried comments at that.

Rin clicked his tongue. He watched her for a moment before turning back to them.

Makoto straightened at his sharp look. He immediately began planning out an apology and explanation for everything he had done since meeting the humans.

"Okay," the human man began, kneeling down next to the railing. "Just what are your intentions with Tohru?"

That…hadn’t been what he was expecting.

"Eh?"

"You guys flirt with her, but you two are obviously together," Rin explained, pointing between them. His eyes narrowed. "I don't know about merfolk, but humans tend to be monogamous. So what's your intention?"

Makoto shared a look with Sousuke. His mate raised his eyebrows before looking back towards Rin. He followed suit, feeling an odd mix of emotions.

"Is Tohru your mate?" Sousuke asked. "We don't mean to intrude if—”

He stopped abruptly.

Rin's face had become alarmingly red after his question. His mouth opened and closed for a minute or two, but no sound came out. Quickly, he shook his head.

"Agh, no way!" he hissed. "She's like my sister! I'm asking because of-of brotherly worry! Not because we're dating!"

A surprising amount of relief flooded Makoto's body. So Tohru wasn't in a relationship with Rin.

"We, uh, that is, merfolk are open to many forms of relationships," Makoto explained. His tail swished faster. "Many have multiple mates and some only have one. And. Uh. That is, I-I didn't mean, um, well, a-a-about us f-flirting."

He really didn't know where he was going with this. He hadn’t thought he had been flirting with Tohru. He hadn’t thought either he or Sousuke had been flirting with Tohru. All he knew was that he was disproportionately happy that Rin and Tohru were not mates. He covered his face to hide the incoming panicked whine.

Rin hummed incredulously.

Sousuke brushed his shoulder as he moved closer. His fingers ghosted over his side.

"It's way too early for us—.” Sousuke's mouth snapped closed with an audible click of teeth.

"Why does Makoto-san look so uncomfortable? And why is Sousuke so serious? Rin, what did you do?"

Makoto whipped his head up to see Tohru standing next to Rin. Her fists were on her hips and she was wearing those softer clothes again. Unlike her wetsuit, they covered up her curves and made her look almost a little formless, but she looked incredibly soft. Like a seal or a dugong. He wanted to hug her.

Rin grimaced before turning to look up at her. Her eyes narrowed at what no doubt was an attempt at a placating grin.

"Don't worry about," he said with a blasé flip of his hand. "Just something between us guys."

He shot a quick, threatening glare at them.

Tohru crossed her arms and frowned down at him.

"Uh-huh..." she said slowly. “Just you guys, huh?"

"Yeah, so, don't worry about it."

She hummed and it was a very similar sound to Rin's own incredulous hum. Her gaze switched from her friend to Makoto and Sousuke, the former of which jumped at the attention.

He could feel the heat of his blush increase at her staring and his traitorous heart skipped a beat or two. Sousuke cleared his throat nervously. They ended up holding hands because for some reason her quiet stare was both intimidating and attractive.

She sighed.

"All right. Fine," she admitted. She ruffled her hair. "Well, let me say goodbye so we can head back for lunch. But! Next time, we're bringing lunch!"

"You're the boss," Rin chirped. He flicked his fingers from his forehead outwards at Makoto. "See you guppies later!"

"We-We're not guppies!" Makoto cried, but the human man was already gone.

Tohru had wrinkled her nose at her friend before sighing again. Her smile was lopsided when she turned back to them. Again, she knelt by the railing and leaned over it towards them.

"I guess I'll see you later?" she said, but it sounded more like a question.

Her eyes darted between them.

"Of course," Makoto said.

He smiled despite his hot cheeks.

"Just...stay safe," Sousuke added. "We've...become a bit attached to you."

Tohru's smile grew. Her cheeks became rosy and she giggled.

"I'll do my best," she answered. "I'll keep an eye out for Rin too. And...I've become a bit attached to you guys, too."

Her words and her accompanying soft smile made Makoto's heart dance. His mouth felt a little dry, which was such an odd concept, and Sousuke's words from earlier flashed through his mind.

He didn't fall that easily...did he?