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acacia-may · 1 year ago

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See What It's Like To Be Loved (Kelbrey Fanfiction)

Description: Sunny's plans to propose to Cris prompt Aubrey and Kel to discuss the future of their own relationship.

Relationships: Established Relationship Kelbrey (Romantic Kel x Aubrey)-Centric, but Established Relationship Sunfish (Romantic Sunny/Cris) is also mentioned.

Characters: Aubrey (POV Character), Kel, and Sunny. (Cris, Hero, & Basil are mentioned).

Genre: Slice of Life, Romance, Established Relationship, Aged-Up Characters, Pre-Proposal, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Good Ending, Aubrey Has Family Issues and Abandonment Issues, Some Fluff, Declarations of Love, Some Angst But With A Happy Ending,

Word Count: 4,071

Rating: G

Warnings: Some Spoilers for OMORI! Implied/Referenced Canonical Character Death, and Implied/Referenced family issues & abandonment issues. Kissing.

Link to original post on AO3. Please do not repost to another website. All other interaction (likes, reblogs ect.) appreciated!

A/N: The title is a reference to a line in the song "Strawberry Sunscreen" (YouTube) by Lostboycrow (which is on my Kelbrey playlist 😉).

Story below the cut. Thank you so much for reading! 💕

“It’s beautiful, Sunny,” sighed Aubrey with a kind smile as she stared down at the ring glistening in the small velvet box Sunny had set on the table in front of her and Kel. She blinked at it in shock and surprise that she tried her best to hide. When Sunny had asked if he could get their opinion on something before he headed out for the evening, she had not been expecting him to pull an engagement ring out of his pocket. After all, Sunny and Cris had started dating almost a year after she and Kel had, and they certainly weren’t engaged yet. She supposed every couple took things at their own pace, but since Sunny was usually so shy about his relationship, she had, albeit wrongfully, assumed he and Cris were taking things very slow.

Kel, it seemed, had not made this assumption, however, as he enthusiastically exclaimed, “Congratulations! This is great!” and quickly pulled Sunny into a tight hug and gave him a congratulatory pat on the back with not even a hint of shock or surprise.

With a curious tilt of her head, Aubrey wondered if Sunny had given Kel more of a heads up about his plans to propose. It was difficult to imagine since Sunny didn’t talk much to begin with and, as far as Aubrey knew, was usually very shy about his relationship, and even if he wasn’t, Kel had assured Aubrey multiple times that they never really discussed their love lives with each other. She wouldn’t have minded if they did, as long as Kel didn’t share anything too personal or private about her. Seeing as they were all mutual friends, it would be awkward both for them and for Sunny if he was privy to a lot of intimate details about their relationship, and to be fair, she didn’t feel it was her or Kel’s place to know a lot of intimate details about Sunny relationship either, even if, at least according to Sunny, Kel had, supposedly, set him up with Cris in the first place. The details were all a little fuzzy since Kel swore he hadn’t been setting them up on purpose and didn’t even know that’s what he had been doing, but Sunny was very insistent and very grateful that Kel had played a formative role in their relationship. Aubrey shrugged. Maybe he had involved Kel in proposal plans, if only for that reason. Still...Aubrey had to admit it was surprising that he was showing off the ring to them.

Sunny’s mouth twitched in the corners as the lightest tint of pink flushed in his pale cheeks, but he managed a nod at both her and Kel in turn and a quiet, “Thank you.”

“Cris is going to love it!” added Kel practically beaming at them.

Thoughtfully, Sunny pursed his lips together, but it seemed he couldn’t hold back his smile. Aubrey’s expression softened. It was nice to see him so happy.

“I hope so…” he said.

“Of course she is,” reassured Kel, draping an arm around Sunny’s shoulders. “I mean it looks like a seashell—it’s perfect!”

Aubrey’s jaw fell a bit slack as she tilted her head at the ring again. She hadn’t realized it before, but now that Kel had mentioned it, she could see that the jewels were cut and arranged in such a way that actually did look like a seashell—a gold and diamond seashell with a beautiful pearl in the center. Wow, thought Aubrey. It must have cost Sunny a small fortune, and where would he even find a ring like that? Did he have it custom made?

“I went to that place you told me about,” said Sunny turning to Kel who just smiled. Aubrey blinked at them. Wait…what?

“Ah, cool! I’m glad it worked out.”

“Hold on,” Aubrey interrupted. “You told Sunny about a jewelry store?”

Kel shrugged with a laugh. “Hey, don’t look so surprised. You don’t know what I do in my free time,” he teased shooting her a wide, toothy grin, but Sunny’s eyebrows twitched and the blush in his face deepened. Aubrey’s brow furrowed, and she swallowed hard. Oh no. No. There was no way…

Aubrey took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down. If this really was what she thought, that would mean Kel had ordered his ring before Sunny, and there was no way that Kel would have been able to keep that a secret for so long. He would have told her or at least given some indication that he was planning to propose to her…right?

“You okay?” asked Kel with a concerned tilt of his head. “You’re looking kind of pale. You need to sit down or something? I can get you some water…”

“Uh, no,” she stumbled over her words, rubbing her hand across her forehead. “No. It’s fine.”

“Are you sure? You don’t look fine.”

“Kel—” she began but stopped abruptly. She knew the answer to the question she wanted to ask as soon as she met his eyes. Her heart raced, but her insides coiled and twisted. She didn’t know how she felt—shocked, happy, worried, excited, terrified, overwhelmed…angry? No, that wasn’t right. That last one was unexpected, especially given how much she loved him. She was mostly just…scared. Her hands began to tremble, but she rose to her full height on shaking legs.

“Do you…have a ring?” The question just slipped out before she could stop it.

“Huh?” Kel’s eyes widened, and he blinked at her dumbfounded, before a sheepish smile tugged at his mouth and he rubbed his hand across the nape of his neck. “Oh…uh…well…”

“I’m sorry,” mumbled a particularly red Sunny who Aubrey was sorry to say she had completely forgotten about.

“No, it’s fine, Sunny,” Kel awkwardly reassured him before turning to her in confusion. “Aubrey, uh…” He stopped. “Do you really want to talk about this now?”

She took a shaky breath, and her face grew hot. “Right…Sorry, Sunny.”

“It’s okay,” he replied, but he wouldn’t look at her. He added hurriedly, “I’m actually supposed to meet Cris.”

“Are you gonna propose tonight?” asked Kel, completely ignoring the tense atmosphere.

Sunny shrugged. “I dunno.” He stumbled around, awkwardly gathering his things, and Aubrey could have sworn she saw him glance over at her before he added, “I think I’ll ask if I can first.”

Aubrey cursed under her breath, then started to trip over her words. “Sunny…Cris loves you. If you want to propose you—” She stopped. “That’s not what…”

As her voice trailed off, Sunny just blinked at her then mumbled. “Okay.” He paused, and his expression was frustratingly unreadable. “Thanks. Bye.”

“Sunny…” Aubrey called after him, but within moments he had darted out of the front door. With a heavy sigh, Aubrey buried her face in her hands and wondered if she had ever seen him run out of the house so quickly. She cursed under her breath again.

“It’s okay,” Kel reassured her gently running his hand across her back. “Sunny just hates conflict—almost as much as Hero,” he added with a chuckle. “We’ll just apologize to him later. It’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

“I feel terrible,” she mumbled, mentally kicking herself at her outburst.

“You want that water?”

“That’s not what I meant…” Aubrey sighed, but Kel disappeared into the kitchen anyway. While she waited for him to return, she glanced over at the clock. Hero would probably be walking through the door any minute, and she had no idea where Basil was but he could be home soon too. Aubrey sighed again. They needed to save them from also being unwitting witnesses to this…personal discussion—an unfortunate side-effect of them being roommates with Kel, she supposed.

“Do you think we could talk outside?” she suggested, gesturing at the sliding doors to the deck Kel had built on the back of the house.

“Okay,” said Kel with a nod as he handed her a glass of water. “Do you want me to get it?”

Confusedly, Aubrey tilted her head. “Get what?”

“The ring.”

Her chest tightened, but she opened the sliding door and stepped out onto the deck. “You have it here?”

“Yeah, uh…Hero said I could keep it in his safety deposit box at the bank, but I dunno, I just didn’t feel right about that. I’ve been keeping it in my sock drawer,” he chuckled. “With my clean socks, of course.”

“How long have you had it?”

Kel shrugged then closed the sliding door behind him and took a seat next to her on the outdoor sofa. “A couple of months. I had to special order it, so it took a while to come in.”

“Were you going to tell me about it?”

“Eventually…” Kel teased, but his smile faded, replaced by a certain helplessness in his eyes that made her heart ache. “Are you unhappy?”

Aubrey sighed, then evaded the question. “I just thought we talked about this—decided it was too soon and we weren’t ready.”

“No,” he gently corrected. “You decided it was too soon and you weren’t ready, and I said that was okay and I can wait until you are…which is exactly what I said the time before that and the time before that and the time before that.” Kel stopped and let out a heavy sigh, before he tilted his head towards her and gently teased, “You can’t be surprised I want to marry you. I keep bringing it up.”

A smile twitched in the corners of Aubrey’s mouth, and she stifled a chuckle in spite of herself but sighed. “I just…I didn’t expect you to have a ring already. I thought we’d…talk about that before you actually bought one.”

“I’m sorry,” he sighed. “I just wanted to surprise you, and the last time we talked about it you said that you knew you wanted to marry me someday, so I guess I was just hoping it was someday soon. I wasn’t going to ask you until you told me you were ready… I just didn’t see the harm in having it for whenever that was.”

Aubrey supposed he had a point. It was very practical, but… “That’s just such a big step, Kel. I just don’t want to rush it.”

“Aubrey, we’ve been together for years now, and we’ve known each other most of our lives. I don’t know how we could possibly take things any slower,” he chuckled lightly, but his expression softened. “I think at this point you know me better than anybody else on this planet—maybe even better than I know myself. If after all of that, you still don’t know if you want to marry me, then what are we even doing?”

“Kel, I…” Her voice cracked. That wasn’t fair. “You know that I want to marry you eventually. I just…want make sure that we’re ready.”

“Yes, you keep saying that, but what do you mean by ‘ready’?” he asked with a long exhale and an almost helpless shrug of his shoulders. “I’m not sure anybody can be completely ready because it’s always going to be a little scary but mostly exciting. If you’re waiting to feel 100% sure, I’m just not sure that’s ever going to happen.”

“Kel, I don’t think you’re thinking this all the way through. It’s a big decision. It means forever.” Swallowing hard, Aubrey curled her trembling hands into fists. “I just want you to be sure about this—sure that you aren’t going to change your mind.”

“I’m not going to change my mind. I already spent three months’ salary on that ring.”

Aubrey gasped. “Wait…you spent how much?”

“I read about it online,” shrugged Kel with far more nonchalance than Aubrey felt the situation warranted. “It’s a tradition.”

“Kel, you didn’t have to…” she began, but he cut her off.

“It’s really pretty. It doesn’t look like a seashell or anything, but I got it in rose gold so it’s pink—your favorite color, like your hair used to be.” He playfully ruffled his hand through her hair with a warm, affectionate smile. “You sure you don’t want to see it?”

“No, I…” Aubrey turned away from him, staring intently at her hands. “I wasn’t talking about the ring, Kel. I meant the marriage—our marriage. What if you wake up one day and realize you’ve made a huge mistake? And decide you don’t want to be married to me anymore?”

“Aubrey…” He pressed his palm to her cheek, tilting her head until she was looking up at him again. “I love you. I’m not going to change my mind about that.”

Her heart raced, but she clinched her hands into fists. She wanted to believe him. She wished she could, but… “Talk is cheap, Kel.”

He tilted his head at her in confusion, and before she could even think to stop them, the words began to race out of her mouth, “Sure it’s easy to say that now when things are good and you want to get married, but what about when things get hard? Have you even thought about that? It’s not always going to be like this—life is hard, Kel, and things will eventually get difficult. And when that happens, actually sticking around will be really hard, and it’ll just be easier to pack up your stuff and leave.” As her eyes burned, tears began to prickle behind them. “And those words—those ‘I love you’s—they can’t change that. They can’t stop someone from leaving. Believe me, if they could, my—” Her voice hitched, and she stopped abruptly. She had already said much more than she had meant to.

“Aubrey”—he said her name with such an aching sadness, a helplessness that made her chest pang—“Aubrey, please don’t cry.”

With a gasp, she held her hand up to her face, catching the tears which had somehow struggled free from her eyes. She hadn’t even realized she was crying. Sniffling, she resisted the urge to bury her face in her hands. It was by no means the first time she had cried in front of Kel, and she knew it wouldn’t be the last.

As Kel wrapped his arms around her, she pressed her chin to his shoulder and began to tremble, tightly closing her eyes, trying to will herself not to cry anymore. “I’m sorry,” he said, running a comforting hand through her hair. “I’m really sorry about your parents, but I’m not your dad. I’m not going anywhere.”

“He wasn’t the only one who left.”

Aubrey hadn’t realized she had said those words aloud until she felt Kel’s shoulders stiffen as his arms turned rigid, his hands recoiling from her. The pain that crossed over his stormy eyes as he pulled away from her made her insides twist—a lump forming in her throat. She wished she could shove her thoughtless words back into her mouth.

“Is that what this is about?” he asked, the hitch in his voice betraying that he was far more sad than angry. “You know how much I regret that—how sorry I am that I wasn’t there when you needed me. I was a stupid kid, Aubrey, trying to deal with things way too complicated for a kid to have to deal with. I never wanted to hurt you. I just felt so useless.”

His voice cracked, and he paused, catching his shaking breath before he said apologetically, “I know that’s not an excuse, and if I could do it all over again, I would do everything differently—not just with you but with Hero and Sunny and Basil too. But we don’t get that option, and I don’t think it’s fair for you to hold me to that one mistake, even if it was a big one.”

“Kel, I’m sorry. I’m not…” she began, but she didn’t even know what she was trying to say. She took a long deep breath then admitted, “That hurt me, but I’m not still angry about it. I mean, that time after Mari’s death was…” Something panged and twisted in her chest, even after all this time. She couldn’t find the words to describe it. There were some things in life that were too painful to name. “A really bad time for all of us. It definitely brought out the worst in me, and then after my dad left, I just…I started taking all that out on everybody else, including you, and I’m sorry about that too.”

“It’s okay. I have no hard feelings,” he reassured her, running his hand across her back again. “Things are different now. I’m different and so are you. That was all I was trying to say. We’re not going to make the same mistakes again—at least I know I’m not.”

“I don’t know, Kel…” sighed Aubrey, sniffling with burning eyes. “Sometimes I feel like that angry girl with a nail bat is still in me—still hating the world, pushing everybody away, and trying to protect herself before…” Her voice trailed, but the look in Kel’s eyes told her that she didn’t need to finish that sentence. She fidgeted in her seat, feeling suddenly exposed, vulnerable. Swallowing hard, she changed directions. “I just…I feel like if you knew that, if you really knew that, you wouldn’t want to marry me.”

“That’s not true,” Kel insisted, but Aubrey sighed, tilting her head at him questioningly.

“You’re sure you want to marry a nail-bat girl?” she teased, but her voice hitched and wavered.

“You know I always kind of thought that nail bat thing was badass—even if you did hit me with it a couple of times.” He gave her a reassuring smile before he bantered with a teasing grin. “Wouldn’t it be funny if we got married in that church where we had that fight? Like you’re walking down the aisle, and it’s the same aisle where you—”

“Kel,” she interrupted with a pointed glare, but he merely shrugged as he watched the smile twitching in the corners of Aubrey’s mouth. He always did this—tried to make her laugh with they fought. She twisted her mouth to one side with a somewhat begrudging concession. It usually worked.

“Made you smile though,” he said before his expression softened, and he tilted his head towards her. “I think you’re looking at this the wrong way, Aubrey. Yeah, I mean, I know all about your nail-bat delinquent phase—I was there, so don’t you think that if I really wanted out, that would’ve been it? I mean, if I didn’t really love you, I’d just be like ‘yeah, this girl fought me in a church with a nail bat, so she’s probably not the one…’” he teased with a laugh, and Aubrey stifled a chuckle of her own in spite of herself.

“Would it kill you to take this seriously?” she bantered dryly.

“I am being serious,” he insisted with an expression that was so affectionate and so sincere, it brought a blush to her face. “I love you, Aubrey, and I’m not going anywhere and I’m not changing my mind. I’ve wanted to marry you since like our 5th date.” He laughed, but her brow furrowed. She couldn’t be entirely sure if he was joking or not.

“Our 5th date?” she repeated, quirking an eyebrow at him. “I don’t even think I remember our 5th date.”

Kel chuckled, but his face seemed to light up. “We went to the movies—I don’t remember which one, but afterwards we went for a quick walk in the park. You still had some of your soda left so you were finishing that off on our walk, and I made you laugh so hard that soda came out of your nose.”

Aubrey pressed her palm to her forehead and shook her head as her cheeks burned. “Oh, I remember that. It was so embarrassing.”

“No, it was adorable,” Kel insisted with a bright smile. “And I just remember thinking: ‘I want to make you laugh like that forever.’”

He paused—something ardent and wistful in his eyes. “It was just the first time I really thought about that—us being together forever. I didn’t dwell on it too much, but as time went on, I thought about it again and again, until finally I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.” Reaching out to her, he gently stroked his hand across her damp cheek, catching one of the lingering tears with his thumb. “And I do, Aubrey. I want to spend forever with you—want to settle down and have family, grow old together and someday when we’re both gray and wrinkly, I want to make you laugh so hard that prune juice comes out of your nose…”—he chuckled—“or whatever it is that old people drink. I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

Aubrey laughed, and the words slipped out without her even needing to think about them. “I love you.”

His warm eyes lit up—beaming at her as he gently pushed a piece of hair out of her face, “I love you too, and I will love you forever. That’s why I want to get married. I want to promise you that, promise you that I’m not going anywhere, so we can start the rest of our life together. I know forever is a long time, but I’m not scared of it. Honestly, it really can’t come fast enough.”

“Kel…” She pressed her palm to his cheek, the tips of her fingers tangling in his hair.

“I don’t know what else I can say or do to convince you that I love you and that that isn’t ever going to change. I’m always going to be here—you’re probably going to get sick of me,” he joked with a bright grin before his face softened, something so ardent, so sincere in his eyes as they met hers. Aubrey’s breath caught in her throat. The way he looked at her… She didn’t know what it was that he saw. “At a certain point, you’re just going to have to trust me.”

He let out a breathy chuckle as Aubrey’s hand tangled in the hair on the back of his head. She pulled him towards her, watched as his eyes fluttered closed and he gently cupped her face in his hands. He leaned forward and kissed her, slow and gentle but longing. As her eyes closed, she sighed against his mouth—finally letting go of a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

When they broke apart from each other, Aubrey lingered mere inches from his face. “I do trust you, and I love you, Kel.”

She could feel the warmth of his breath as he laughed. “Enough to marry me?” he teased, and though she could feel the blush in her face, she pressed her palm to his cheek.

“Yes.”

He pulled away sharply, and his eyes widened. “Woah, seriously?” Aubrey’s blush deepened, but she shrugged her shoulders. “You want me to get that ring, now?”

“You really want to propose in your backyard?” she bantered.

Kel’s brow furrowed. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Usually it’s somewhere more…” She paused trying to think of that right word. “special.”

“Okay, princess,” he teased, rolling his eyes though there was something playful and affectionate in them. “What did you have in mind?”

“I don’t know…it would be nice if somebody could get a picture of it.”

“Basil, maybe?” hummed Kel. “But then we’d probably have to invite Sunny and Hero too so they wouldn’t feel left out, so we’d have to find some place that was big enough for them all to hide.”

Her brow furrowed. “Why would they have to hide?”

“Because I want to surprise you.”

Aubrey laughed. “Good luck with that. I already know it’s coming.”

“Yeah, but you don’t know when. Now that you’ve given me the greenlight, I can propose whenever I want,” he bantered, but he beamed at her. “I won’t wait too long though, don’t worry.” He ruffled her hair before she laughed, and he wrapped his arm around her. She leaned her head on his shoulder watching the sun disappear below the trees at the edge of the yard.

“I’m not worried,” she said. And she wasn’t. Not anymore.

#kelbrey #omori baseball #omori baseball bat #omori sunfish #sunfish omori #my writing #i wrote this instead of sleeping #thank you for reading!

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acacia-may · 1 year ago

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How To Catch A Mermaid [Sunfish Fic for OMORI Rare Pairs Week]

When Sunny is sure he has spotted a mermaid during a walk by the ocean, he is determined to befriend her. The only problem is she thinks they are just playing a game. Soon Sunny is left with a faraway song, a whole collection of seashell jewelry, and a very important question: how do you catch a mermaid anyway?

A Sunfish Mermaid Meet-Cute AU created with @randomsprinkles for OMORI Rare Pairs Week 2023 Day 5: AU Prompt hosted @omorirarepairweek. Thank you for reading!

Full fic text below the cut. Illustration linked here. 💖

As Sunny shuffled his feet across the shoreline, sand began to fill his shoes again. He sighed. His royal advisors likely meant well in insisting he start getting out of the palace to get some fresh air, but he would much rather stay indoors and have a nap. His royal bed was a 10/10 after all, especially since those new silk sheets had arrived as a gift from a kingdom across the ocean. No bed he could possibly make for himself in the outdoors would be a 10/10, but perhaps if he looked hard enough, he could find a relatively nice place for a nap on the beach—maybe even a 4/10 if he was lucky.

With another weary sigh, Sunny pulled his shoes off of his feet, dumping the sand out onto the shoreline. He carefully placed his shoes on the ground next to the picnic basket his sister Mari had helped to pack for his outing and started walking at the edge of the water—feeling the last remnants of gentle waves lapping up against his bare feet. Sunny supposed he liked the water when it was shallow and safe like this, but, despite being the prince of seaside kingdom, he had always struggled with a fear of the deep water. If he had to guess it likely stemmed from the time he had fallen off of his family’s boat and nearly drowned as a child. He wasn’t entirely sure how he had managed to survive that. Mari swore she had glimpsed the tails of some kindly mermaids swimming away after he had miraculously washed up on the shore, but Sunny had been out cold and couldn’t remember. It could’ve been mermaids who saved him, but he supposed there was no real way of knowing, unless someone was somehow able to catch one and ask.

Sunny knew Mari had always hoped to catch a mermaid herself—just to have a conversation and become friends, she always insisted, and to thank them for saving her little brother. She often told Sunny fantastical stories about them—how beautiful they were, how talented they were at singing and playing musical instruments, and how they were kind, curious, and helpful—always wanting to befriend humans rather than cause them harm. Of course, there was no real way of knowing this without actually meeting a mermaid, so it was only a theory for now.

Sunny’s brow furrowed—gazing out at the sea and the horizon for anything resembling a mermaid. He supposed he wouldn’t see much of anything all the way from the shoreline, but he wasn’t about to go swimming, especially when his sister was busy practicing her piano indoors and therefore wouldn’t be able to jump in to save him if he got swept out to sea by an ocean current. No, he’d be better off staying on dry land, and, hopefully, finding a safe and cozy place for a nap.

He could hear Mari’s piano now—the light tinkling of the keys echoing across the wind. She had been practicing this song for months, preparing to perform it for some visiting dignitaries when they came to negotiate new trade agreements next month. If Sunny was being honest, he was a little relieved he didn’t have to perform this time. Practicing his violin was beginning to feel more like a chore than a hobby, and he was beginning to suspect that he would never catch up to his sister who was quite the musical prodigy—beloved throughout the kingdom and all the neighboring ones. He much preferred listening to her play, especially this song, one of her favorites and so beautiful. As Sunny shuffled along the shore, he began to hum along with it quietly to himself, but as strange as it was, the humming got louder—eventually turning to singing.

Sunny stopped in his tracks. That wasn’t his voice anymore. Someone else was singing—someone else with the most beautiful voice Sunny had ever heard.

As his brow furrowed, Sunny looked around the beach for who that beautiful voice could belong to, but there was no one there. He was all alone. Rubbing his hand across his forehead, he gazed out at the horizon line again, scanning the nearby clusters of rocks and the nets and buoys littering the water. He even searched around the legs of the dock to see if anyone was hiding there.

With a sigh of defeat at finding no one, Sunny took a seat on the edge of the dock, dangling his feet in the water. Perhaps he had only been imagining things.

Imaginary or not, the voice grew louder, and Sunny turned his attention to a large rock several meters away. The water splashed and rippled, and Sunny’s eyes widened. Was that…a tail? Had he almost seen a mermaid?

Sunny rubbed his eyes in disbelief, but when they came into focus again, he found he could only blink at the flip of the end of a pink tail and a wave of long blue hair as the mermaid dove back into the water.

Without a second thought, Sunny raced back to the palace to find Mari, practically dragging her back to the beach, but when they arrived all signs of the mermaid were gone.

“It’s okay, Sunny,” Mari kindly reassured him. “I’m sure the mermaid will come back.”

Sunny shook his head with a sigh. He wasn’t sure about that, but maybe there was a way he could lure the mermaid back to his beach.

Over the next several days, Sunny occupied himself on his mandated daily walks by the shore by setting out treats he thought might entice the mermaid to come back. On the first day he left his favorite grape soda on the edge of the dock, but nothing happened. Then he tried some pancakes, fresh fruit, and even a sandwich before realizing that he had no idea what mermaids ate so food might not be the best option.

In many of Mari’s mermaid stories, mermaids were fascinated by humans so Sunny tried to leave small trinkets out on the dock—a broken teacup, a watch, and a fork even a stapler, but the mermaid didn’t seem interested, so he switched to more beautiful items, things that Mari liked, such as a bouquet of flowers or an embroidered handkerchief. But still there was no sign of the mermaid.

Sunny was about to give up when he had the idea of playing music. The next day he took his violin down to the beach with him and played on the edge of the dock for hours. Just as he was about to turn in for the evening, he heard the voice again—singing along with his violin. He was so excited he nearly dropped his instrument before he ran inside to fetch his sister, but once again, as soon as they returned despite Sunny playing the same song on the violin, the mermaid was nowhere to be found.

Sunny would not give up. Every day he took his violin down to the dock, and every day he scanned the horizon line for the mermaid whose voice he heard singing along with him. It was easy to become discouraged, and he began to worry that the closest he would ever get to a mermaid was hearing her faraway voice echoing on the wind. That is until one day during his seventh violin concerto of the afternoon, Sunny noticed something shiny tangled in some nearby seaweed. With a curious tilt of his head, Sunny sunk to his knees and leaned over the side of the dock to fish it out. His eyes narrowed. A seashell?

It was probably the shiniest seashell Sunny had ever seen, a beautiful gradient of color from purple to pink. As Sunny turned the seashell over in his hands, he found that perplexingly there seemed to be some sort of clasp on the back. He wasn’t sure what that was all about but thought that perhaps Mari would know. Sitting the seashell carefully down on the edge of dock, Sunny rose to his feet then began to pack his violin back into its case. Suddenly, he heard a rustling sound followed by a splash. When he whipped around, he found the seashell was gone and the water near the edge of the dock rippling with waves as if someone had dived into the ocean.

Sunny tilted his head. Did mermaids like seashells?

Within days of this near-mermaid encounter, Sunny realized that regardless of whether all mermaids liked seashells, this particular mermaid definitely did. Everyday, Sunny collected the most beautiful seashells he could find and left them on the edge of the dock with a little sign that read “For Mermaids.” Then he sat down beside them and waited. He supposed the mermaid must think she was particularly clever because the water would be still and quiet with absolutely no sign of her for as long as Sunny was watching it, but the minute he turned his back, looked away, or otherwise got distracted the rustling and splashing noises would return, and the seashells would be gone. When he tried to explain this to his sister, Mari suggested that the mermaid probably was just being playful and thought they were playing some sort of game. If that was the case, Sunny wished someone would explain the rules to him so he could actually play too, rather than standing perplexed over the dock and the disappearing pile of seashells.

Sunny supposed Mari was right about the game as soon as the mermaid began leaving jewelry for him in the place of the seashells: mostly bracelets but a couple of pairs of earrings which he gave to Mari. Sunny began to wonder if that’s what the mermaid was using all the seashells for: to make jewelry. He wished he could find her and ask.

With a certain determination, Sunny decided to return to playing his violin as well in the hopes of finally managing to catch her. As soon as he set out the seashells, Sunny would pick up the instrument and play until he heard the distant but ethereal voice of the mermaid. Unfortunately, listening to her beautiful song often made Sunny feel drowsy, and despite his best efforts to stay awake, he found his eyes drooping shut as he fell asleep by the water. Every time he awoke, the seashells were gone with jewelry made from the previous day’s seashells in its place.

This lasted for several weeks until one day just as Sunny was beginning to nod off he heard a rustling sound near the basket of seashells. He carefully opened his eyes just enough to see the rough outline of a hand reaching for the shells; then, quite without thinking, reached out and gently clasped the hand, trying to stop the mermaid before she got away at long last. A young lady’s voice gasped in surprise, and as Sunny’s eyes finally fluttered open, he saw her long, tangled blue hair and the pink fins of her tail. Sunny met her eyes—warm and kind but wide with surprise, but she smiled at him. Sunny’s face flushed. She was very beautiful when she smiled.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” she said with a light chuckle. Sunny nodded. “I’m Cris.”

“Sunny,” he mumbled. She shifted, swimming a few inches until she was right in front of him. Sunny swallowed hard as his blush deepened. She hadn’t let go of his hand.

“Thank you for finding my hairpin.” As she motioned to the shell in her hair with her free hand, Sunny recognized it as the one he had found tangled in the seaweed a couple of weeks ago. He nodded again. He was glad it had found its way home. “And for the other shells too. I hope you like the jewelry I made with them.”

Sunny’s mouth twitched in the corners, and he nodded several times in succession. Cris’s smile widened, but she tilted her head curiously towards Sunny’s violin.

“You play such beautiful music,” she said with a wistful sigh. “But I’ve never seen that instrument before—what’s it called?”

“A violin.”

Cris giggled and flipped her tail in what Sunny liked to think was delight. “And the one your sister plays…?”

“A piano,” Sunny answered, but he stopped. His brow furrowed, and he tilted his head slightly. How did she know Mari also played an instrument?

As if Cris could somehow read his mind, she explained, “My friends and I used to come here all the time to listen to her play. We’re not supposed to get so close to humans, but her music was so beautiful, even if it was really far away.” Cris tilted her head again. “Why doesn’t she come to play on the beach like you?”

“The piano is too big to move.”

Cris chuckled. “My friends, Hero and Kel, will be happy to hear that. We’ve always wondered.”

A tint of rose filled Sunny’s cheeks. Always? “How…long…?” he began to quietly ask before stopping himself, wondering if that was a rude question.

Cris hummed—her brow furrowing thoughtfully. “I’m not sure. We didn’t used to come as much, but ever since you almost drowned, we were worried so we tried to stop by to keep an eye on you and make sure you were okay.”

“You really saved me?” asked Sunny with wide eyes. Mari had been right after all. When Cris nodded, Sunny stared down thoughtfully at his hands and added, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Please try to be more careful out there. Deep water can be dangerous—that’s why I made you this.” As she handed him a seashell necklace, Sunny’s face softened. He recognized these seashells as ones he had been leaving for her for the last several weeks. She must have been working on it for a very long time. Something warm panged in his chest. It was so sweet of her to make this for him. “It’s magic. If you’re ever in trouble at sea again, it’ll protect you.”

As Sunny hung the necklace around his neck, Cris’s entire face seemed to light up. “It looks good on you,” she said brightly. Sunny turned away from her, blushing, but he nodded, reaching out to gently squeeze her hand again. Cris blinked at him in surprise, but she laughed, “I’m so glad you like it.”

Just then the clock tower chimed six times, and Sunny realized that the horizon was turning golden orange with the sunset. He was late for dinner.

“Oh…” he began to say, but Cris gently interrupted.

“I should go. Everyone will be wondering where I am.” She bit her lip and scratched the back of her neck somewhat sheepishly. “I…kind of abandoned Hero and Kel again. I’ve been coming down here without telling them, but I’ll bring them next time. And maybe we can meet your sister too.”

Sunny smiled. Mari would be so excited to get to meet real mermaids. “Can you…come back tomorrow?” he asked somewhat shyly.

Cris giggled. “At the same time?” she asked. As Sunny nodded enthusiastically, Cris beamed at him. “I’ll see you then.”

She gave his hand one final squeeze then turned to swim away, but before she disappeared over the horizon, she turned around one last time to wave at him. Sunny’s face grew warm as she smiled at him and met his eyes.

“And Sunny?” she said giggling with a playful wink. “Thank you for catching me.”

#sunfish #omori sunfish #sunny x cris #cris x sunny #omori rarepair week 2023

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