Chapter Text
A young siren swam into a warm sea current and relaxed, letting it carry his body effortlessly through the clear water.
Up there near the surface swimming was much easier than in the dark waters of the Depths, where he spent the majority of his life. The fishes were bright and colorful in many different patterns and shapes, in contrast to the plain, dark fishes he was accustomed to.
Getting used to the brightness and rich colors took him a while, it was hard to see without squinting his eyes at first.
Dazai Osamu always felt like an outcast in his home waters. His tail wasn't made of plain scales and boring colors — it was teal on the back and sides painted with black lines and spots, the front matched the pale skin of his belly.
He stuck out like a sore thumb in the Depths.
But near the surface? He felt like he fit in.
Almost.
What set him apart were the sharpness of his claws made for catching prey, pointy teeth to rip their flesh, scars littering the upper part of his body and a few more on his tail. Seeing them so clearly in the light of the sun beams shining through the water made him self-conscious.
He had no idea how they appeared on his arms. They were there from day one and have been with him since.
In the Depths, Dazai paid them no mind. It was so dark he could barely see ten feet in front of him even with his nocturnal vision — plus the sight in his right eye was bad enough — but up here he felt… bare.
Green algae brought him a little comfort and security while wrapped around his arms and the bad eye, he could live with just one eye anyway.
As he swam with the current he noticed a coral reef nearby and silhouettes of creatures he hadn't seen before, yet felt so familiar.
With a whip of his tail he got out of the current. He was curious.
Dazai moved slowly, close to the sandy bottom, hiding from plain sight between plants and under coral. He stalked carefully despite the excitement coursing through his cold veins.
When he was close enough, he peeked from behind a colorful rock, eye wide with childish curiosity.
The creatures were just like him! Well, he thought they were, at first.
The longer he looked at them the more odd details he found. Those almost-sirens had humanoid upper bodies the same as his own, but they lacked a belly button. The fins on their head didn't have the pointy edges, the same he noticed with the fins on their tail.
They looked softer, more approachable.
Most importantly, it was a whole colony of almost-sirens.
His expression turned to one of confusion as he swam a little closer, forgetting about his hiding spot. Why were they all together in one place, swimming next to each other, playing and communicating with so much ease?
That's just strange.
Dazai didn't know what to make of what he was seeing. A functioning colony of siren lookalikes near the surface?
Before he could find out more, some of the almost-sirens took notice of him, a new creature, just as strange to them as they were for him. They didn't share Dazai's curiosity, not even the bits of excitement.
Younger almost-sirens looked at him with wide, searching eyes like they were siding a new fish species, while the adults pulled them back to hide closer to the coral reef, whispering with each other and shooting Dazai wary glances. They took him in cautiously, their eyebrows furrowing and lips tightening into thin lines.
Dazai stopped in his tracks, a knot forming in his throat.
They were all looking at him, fries pointing fingers and elders glaring from their safe spots, he was the center of attention. The young siren hesitated, pulling back to hide behind a reef, his heart hammering against his ribcage..
Judgement. Uncertainty. Disapproval. Repulsion.
It was directed at him.
He doesn't like it here anymore.
Dazai dove into the thickly growing plants nearby and swam as fast as he could, away from that colony. To think he felt a small flicker of hope that maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't be alone anymore. That flicker died faster than fish out of water.
A few minutes later he found himself in the middle of nowhere again. He let the current carry him mindlessly without a destination in mind.
Dazai placed a webbed hand over his heart, it was still beating so fast, repeatedly hitting his palm with anxious energy.
Maybe he made for a solitary life, after all.
He didn't seem to fit anywhere.
The only constant thing that has been with him since he first opened his eyes, his first breath that tickled his gills and first ever flick of his tail, was Mother.
Mother of all living beings, small and big, land or sea — the ocean.
Dazai sighed softly and wrapped his thin arms around himself in a self-soothing hug.
All of a sudden, something hit his tail, throwing him off balance and sending into a state of panic. He looked down, some sort of net was wrapped around his tail and the more he struggled, the more it tightened, hurting his fins and sensitive scar tissue.
Dazai made an attempt to pull himself out of the current, but to no avail. He couldn't breathe, he doesn't know what to do, he's never been in a situation like this before—
Sharp pain shot from the back of his skull and the world went black.
A teenage boy with copper hair was pushing through wild bushes and vines hanging off the trees, walking deeper into the woods.
His name was Nakahara Chuuya, and despite his mother's constant warnings, he wandered into a forest alone, again.
When the bell had rang signaling the end of class, he shoved his stuff into his bag and ran out of the classroom without looking back. He hated sitting for eight hours straight, five days a week, listening to the teacher's lectures, all while he could be exploring and learning hands-on instead.
A waste of time if you asked him.
Their island was full of interesting plants and things to see, after all.
He wasn't in a hurry to go home either.
Their house was soaked in a sour mood ever since they learned his father's net disappeared last night from his fishing spot. The man was exceptionally upset, and for a good reason. Getting a replacement would be a lot of hustle. His brother, Haruki, tried to cheer him up, but even his gentle smile and reassuring words weren't enough.
The redhead needed a place to clear his head.
Chuuya continued to fight his way through the forest, following the sound of running water getting louder and clearer with every step. He reached a small clearing with a waterfall coming down from a high cliff, hitting the surface of water below with a loud splash and washed down with the river, deeper into the woods.
That was his favorite spot.
Well, not quite, but it was close.
The redhead walked towards the cliff, stopping when he got close enough and then looked around. Confirming he was alone, he slid into the narrow space between the waterfall and the cliff, carved out by years of erosion. He ignored the water soaking his white uniform — it'll come off after a wash, hopefully.
Behind the waterfall, where the carved space reached deep enough, was a passage connecting it to a sea cave inside the cliff. His secret spot. This was the only way to get there without having to swim a lengthy way around the island from the beach and diving to get through the underwater passage.
Chuuya took his shoes off, socks tucked inside them and held them under his arm. He stepped barefoot into the small stream on the bottom of the passage and ducked to crawl his way through.
Once inside he straightened up, shoes and bag left by the entrance, and stretched his arms high above his head. He took a deep breath, fresh air and the salty scent of the sea filling his lungs, then slowly exhaled.
It's like all his worries washed away with the waves of the sea, lifting a heavy weight of his chest.
From the corner of his eye he noticed something laying on the shore. He was too far to see clearly, but it looked kind of like a person partially submerged in the water.
Chuuya hesitated, but curiosity won over the caution and he climbed down the rocks to the bottom of the cave. His bare feet touched the familiar cold sand as he approached the stranger. A part of him felt annoyed that his sanctuary had been discovered, and yet, he was intrigued.
He stopped a few feet away from the unmoving figure.
It was indeed someone, not something, laying face down in the sand. Their messy brown locks were tangled and sticking out in different directions, a patch of it was matted with dried, brownish-red liquid and sand sticking to it. Chuuya's eyebrows knitted together as he looked closer. Was it blood? Were they hurt?
Then he noticed something poking out from the sides of the person's head in place of ears, it looked almost like… fins?
Confused even more, his eyes traced the way down the body, the almost sickly pale skin in rather rough shape, dehydrated most likely. Their arms were wrapped in algae. Following the curve of their spine he noticed fins with sharp ends… that led to a thick fish tail?!
Chuuya stumbled back in shock.
Was that a mermaid? He's never seen one in real life.
She didn't look like what they described in the stories or the books, though. Her tail looked strangely like a mackerel and her fins were sharp, hands dark at the fingertips finished off with claws. It wasn't the image of a soft, pretty mermaid he pictured while listening to the tales of the old drunks at the saloon.
Although… he couldn't say she wasn't pretty. She was. Just a little messy and strange.
Still, he was intrigued.
Chuuya kneeled next to the mermaid and took a closer look at her head. It wasn't bleeding anymore and the wound was rather shallow, nothing life threatening. She'll survive, but her head will hurt like a bitch for a while.
He looked at her tail again, the teal and black scales glimmered like gems in the clear water as gentle waves moved back and forth. Her caudal fin seemed to be trapped in some sort of net… huh?
Ah. That explained a few things.
Best guess? The mermaid swam into his father's net last night, couldn't get out, hit her head and her unconscious body drifted all the way over here.
He knew he should probably go back to the village and inform a ‘trusted adult’ about what happened, but a selfish part of him didn't want anyone finding out about his secret spot.
In the end, he decided to take matters into his own two hands.
“Uh.. hey,” Chuuya carefully nudged the mermaid’s shoulder. “Hello? Wake up. Are you still alive?”
No response.
Chuuya wasn't an expert, but the gills on her neck and ribs were closed up, yet her torso seemed to rise just barely, like she was still breathing despite that. Her skin was really dry, that couldn't mean anything good.
“I'll get you back in the water,” he decided out loud with a sudden burst of motivation.
Chuuya stepped into the water and walked up to the end of her tail, despite being barely a few feet away from the shore, the water was already up to his mid-thigh. He gently lifted the tail from the water and carefully untangled the knots in the net. The area was probably bruised where it was tight around the scales, he felt it twitch when he pulled too hard.
With a bit of work, he got the net off completely.
“There ya go… free as a bird,” he said under his nose.
He dragged the heavy net back on the shore and quickly returned to the mermaid's side. Chuuya gingerly turned her onto her back and brushed the sand off her face, his touch feather light. Half her face was wrapped in algae — just like her arms — covering her right eye. She looked to be around the same age as him, some baby fat left on her cheeks, cracked lips slightly parted allowing her to breathe and a few moles littering her face. When he noticed she wasn't wearing anything, his head snapped away, light pink dusting his cheeks in embarrassment.
Chuuya shook his head, reminding himself of the task at hand.
The redhead’s arm wrapped around her waist and placed a hand under her head for additional support. He guided her body back into the water, slowly taking steps back until only his head remained above the surface.
He released the mermaid’s waist to submerge fully, instead reaching out to hold her hands. Chuuya couldn't just let her drift away and get hurt again, he wouldn't be able to stop feeling guilty if he let her get hurt any more than she already was.
They were strangers and completely different species, but a part of him felt responsible for her.
The water turned slightly pink when the blood came off her hair, Chuuya just hoped the salt wouldn't irritate the wound too much. He couldn't help but wonder if injuries hurt merfolk the same way when humans rub salt into an open cut. Although he quickly abandoned the idea, not wanting to dwell on such a dark thing further.
Underwater her skin felt slick and slippery, he almost lost his grip on the mermaid’s hands in the gentle waves.
Chuuya attempted to reach out to grasp her wrist to avoid her drifting away, but before he could do that the sea creature twitched, startling him for a good second.
Confirming his suspicion, the webbed hands squeezed subconsciously his own as she stirred awake. Bubbles of air rose to the surface, followed by a splash as a mop of brown hair broke through the barrier of water.
They made eye contact.
The mermaid's wide, doe eye with slit pupil and dark iris fading into red met with Chuuya's own mismatched, brown and blue eyes. At the moment the world seemed to disappear around them.
“Uh.. hi?” Chuuya muttered out nervously.
He wasn't sure how to feel anymore; terrified, anxious, or excited? All at once, probably.
It was a late moment of realization. He was staring at a creature far more capable than he gave her credit for, a predator, if you will. In this isolated place, the mermaid (or was it? he knew no more) could pull him under and no one would realize that he was missing until it was too late.
All of a sudden, a splash hit his face, waking him up like a bucket of ice cold water. Chuuya stumbled back, coughing and sputtering, and almost lost his footing before he caught his balance at the last moment.
When he opened his eyes again the mermaid was gone.
Chuuya slicked his wet hair back out of his face and quickly looked around. He spotted the, now familiar, brown waves of hair hiding behind a partially submerged boulder, peeking out cautiously like she was studying him from afar.
Well, that was a valid reaction. If he woke up fuck knows where and the first thing he saw was a stranger’s face few inches away from his, holding his hands — he'd do that too. With his fist instead, not water.
Not wanting to cause any more distress, Chuuya slowly moved towards the shore where he sat down on the sand, small waves tickling his feet. He felt sand everywhere, but that was a problem for another time.
“Hey,” he tried again.
The area creature pulled back at the sound of his voice, her lips twisting into a small, distrustful scowl. Her eye held a spark of curiosity, though.
“I'm Chuuya. I found you here with a net tangled in your tail,” he gestured towards the net with his thumb. “And you are?”
Chuuya remembered his father saying that one of the best ways to build trust with another person was to share something about yourself, share a fact, or say something the other person can relate to.
He wanted to learn more about this mermaid-looking creature, maybe this was a good place to start.
She looked like she understood what he was saying, but didn't answer him yet. He saw her lips move apart and then close again a few times, like she was trying to find words or maybe attempting to speak, but was unable to.
Frustrated, she hid behind the boulder fully. It took a few long seconds before she emerged again, this time more relaxed, the curiosity taking over her expression, with a hint of wariness. She was ready to bolt at the first sign of danger.
Although he didn't get any response yet, Chuuya remained undeterred in his goal to communicate with her.
“I saw you were bleeding earlier. Is your head alright?” his voice dropped to a slightly worried tone.
The ‘mermaid’ blinked a few times like she didn't understand what he meant. Then she touched her head and carefully patted around looking for the said injury. She winced and pulled away, her fingertips stained with blood.
If Chuuya had to describe the face she made, he'd say it looked like she was offended. Not at him, though, but at whatever wounded her in the first place, maybe even annoyed at herself for letting it happen. He wasn't sure.
With a small pout on her lips, she nodded. She was fine.
“I see.. that's good,” Chuuya smiled, relieved.
They sat in silence for a moment, just looking at each other until she decided to actually look around. She took in the sea cave with interest, her eye flickering from the few openings in the walls letting in beams of sunlight, to the small stream coming from the place Chuuya used to get inside.
The redhead broke the silence first.
“So..” her attention turned back to Chuuya, “You're a mermaid? That's probably a silly question, I mean, you look like one, but.. something feels off.”
The ‘mermaid’ tilted her head in confusion, her eyebrows furrowing.
“You do know what a mermaid is, right?”
Chuuya asked in a quieter tone, suddenly unsure of his deduction.
Receiving one more confused blink of an eye, he sighed. Then an idea struck him.
“Wait here a sec,” Chuuya jumped up to his own two feet and jogged across the sandy shore where climbed the rocks to get to his bag. He rummaged through its content and pulled out a book, before returning to the water bank.
“Look.” He hastily opened the book on a page with text and pictures and held it up for her to see.
…
Chuuya rubbed his neck with a sheepish grin, “Ah, right. Come closer so you can see it. Or I can do that.. if that's alright?”
The ‘mermaid’ seemed to consider that, her eye narrowing momentarily as if assessing whether he was a threat or not. Gradually, she swam a little closer, bit by bit till she reached the shallow water where she had to prop herself up on her hands. Chuuya tried his best to stay still, not to scare her off.
“Here,” he slowly moved the textbook closer to her.
Her half-lidded eyes sized him up, daring him to try anything funny, but the tough facade dropped quickly to a glint of curiosity she couldn't quite hide as she finally looked at the pictures.
The ‘mermaid’s eye went wide with realization, like she recognized the creatures from the photos, subconsciously leaning closer for a better look.
"These are merfolk.” Chuuya explained excitedly, pointing at a photo of a sea creature family, “Mermaids are basically girls with fish-like tails instead of tails.”
“Are you a mermaid?” He asked again.
He smiled brightly, but tried to hold in his excitement. The redhead loved talking about his interests, learning about nature and its inhabitants was one of them. He didn't want to come off as nosy, though.
She frowned at him, which took him by surprise. Did he offend her with something he said, or what?
“Did I say something wrong?” he hesitated, raising a brow in confusion.
She nodded.
That didn't help him at all.
“What was it, then? I can't read minds.”
She tried to speak again, but all she managed was a high pitched trill and a click of her tongue. Her hands fisted in the sand in frustration and tail slapped the surface behind her, splashing water everywhere.
Then she pointed at him.
“Me?” Now Chuuya was baffled, “What do I have to do with mermaids-”
She shook her head and pointed at him again for emphasis.
A guessing game it is, huh.
“Clothes?”
No.
“Human?”
Also no.
“Uhh.. I don't know what else.” He scratched his head, “Is this a gender thing?
She nodded frantically, the furrow between her eyebrows relaxing slightly.
“I'm a boy-”
She nodded once again, this time repeatedly pointing at herself and Chuuya.
“...You're a boy?”
The creature's frown dissolved into a toothy, joyful grin. Huh. Chuuya was confused, he was certain that biologically the person in front of him matched a female, but… who was he to judge? He didn't particularly care either way.
“Alright, we're getting somewhere.” Chuuya hummed to himself, “So you're a merman.”
The brunet shook his head for ‘no’. The redhead's eye twitched.
“What are you?”
The book fell from his hand as he threw his arms up in exasperation and collapsed into his back. The ‘not merman’ flinched back at the sudden movement, but didn't swim away. His lips curved into an amused line.
Chuuya chewed his bottom lip in frustration, thinking ‘at least one of us is having fun’. He scoffed, amused with himself. He was completely and utterly lost, he had no idea what this merfolk-looking creature was at all.
A wet finger nudged his leg, attracting his attention.
The brunet let out a small chirp in the back of his throat, like he was communicating something to Chuuya. A clawed finger pointed at a spot in the sand, forcing the redhead to sit up again.
Chuuya would have to dunk in water again to get all the sand out, everything was sticking to his damp skin like glue.
“What is it?” He peered where the other boy was gesturing. Words carved into the sand, sloppy but readable.
’Siren’