Chapter Text
For the most part, he remembered being alone.
The moment he could hunt for himself, his parents departed, claiming to be far too busy to swim him through life. He needed to either toughen up, or the unforgiving ocean would swallow him whole.
That was a sentiment that followed him throughout his life. If he couldn't take care of himself, he would be eaten alive. Sure, Shuichi was an odd mer– his eyes glowed oddly, the bioluminescent patterns along his back made it hard for him to hide; shark mers weren't meant to glow. Shark mers weren't meant to be so docile, or cry when a bit of gross yucky seaweed grazed his fins, or… do anything he did, honestly. But that never stopped him from surviving.
He wished it were a little easier sometimes, though. He wished he didn’t have to care for himself whenever he was sick or hurt. Shuichi didn't know if it was selfish or not to wish for such a thing, or to be jealous on the off chance he saw a mer or even a fish close to his age still with their parents– or even a pod or group, really– but he couldn't help it. He wanted that too.
Which might be how he found himself following a pod close to his age.
Don't ask him why he didn't decide to say hi, or why his instinctive reaction was to hide whenever one of them glanced in his direction. In his defense, most encounters with mers like himself ended usually with him either getting bit, almost eaten, or mauled to death. And when he wasn't dealing with other shark mers, they usually screamed and ran away. Or, on one particular occasion, a brave, small fish mer slammed him over the head with a rock.
So forgive him if he was a little wary. He wasn't looking to get concussed again.
The pod consisted of a total of six mers, all varying in species, which was especially rare to find. In his experience, other mer species didn't get along– fish were hostile to sharks, dolphins and whales were at each other's throats, cnidarians didn't tend to like fish… that was what Shuichi thought his parents meant by the ocean was unforgiving. Everyone hated everyone, and like all things in life, it was survival of the fittest. Kindness was unheard of in a kill-or-be-killed environment like this.
That's why he thought the pod was so peculiar. Off the top of his head, he thought he recognized a whale, an octopus, a dolphin and a sea lion. Maybe… two dolphins? One was black and white, unlike anything Shuichi had ever seen before. The final one was a complete mystery, he really had no idea what they could be. But that didn't stop them all from working together to hunt, to find shelter, to protect and care for each other without fail.
It was weird. Shuichi liked it.
The black and white dolphin(?) was the leader, as he had come to find out from his observations. He wore a checkered bandana around his neck, marking him as the one in charge. Shuichi thought it was weird– usually the biggest mers held the most power, but he was the smallest one there. Despite this, the other mers listened to him unyieldingly, the only one to ever argue with him being the dolphin. She argued with everyone though… unless it was praise. She was very easily distracted with praise.
On the third week of following this group around, he started to consider approaching them to say hello. Maybe he could bring a peace offering? He doubted they’d let him join them, but maybe they wouldn't mind… giving him some survival tips, or something. They started staying in this one area recently, something that Shuichi thought was a new development, considering how they had always been travelling before. Maybe they were settling down.
The only one missing from the group when he looked at them again was the octopus. He made sure he was carefully hidden behind some jagged rocks, ones that tended to make a good hiding spot. He had never seen them attack anyone unprovoked, but he could never be sure. After all, the one time he had seen any of them interact with a shark– a normal shark, not a mer– was when the sea lion punched it in the nose. Not very reassuring imagery.
But what point is there to trying to talk to them? came the recurring doubt he had been experiencing. The chances of him getting attacked rose if he revealed himself, and he had been following them for a few weeks now. They might think he was hunting them.
What would he even get out of approaching them, anyway? Was it just that the loneliness was getting the better of him? Maybe he should back out now, before they caught him and drove him off themselves. He did not want to know what kind of damage that whale could do, and he knew how mean sea lions could get. Or the–
–sscrhk
Pain shot up from his tail, and he let out an agonized shriek.
There was one thing he hadn’t failed to notice about the octopus mer. Blue rings decorating her tail and skin. The kind of bright blue rings that usually indicated something venomous.
Shuichi twisted himself around, his heart dropping like a stone in his chest.
Holding up the end of his tail with two tentacles, her arms folded across her chest with blood smeared across her lips, was that very octopus. Her green eyes were narrowed dangerously, a dark look shadowing her expression.
Yep, he thought. He was dead.
“Apologies for biting you,” said the octopus, her voice no-nonsense. “But you’ve been following us for days, and our leader is very cautious about potential threats. Please understand.”
Shuichi only then found the sense to thrash, frantically trying to free his tail. He could already feel the spot where he was bitten becoming numb, spreading rapidly through his body as his heart beat faster and faster in fear.
The octopus kept a firm, painful grasp on his tail, making his flailing seem and feel particularly pathetic.
“Did you get ‘em?” A new voice asked, the voice he recognized as the leader. His head appeared over the rocks, his eyes widening. “What the– did you bite them!?”
“Was I not supposed to?” asked the octopus. “You commanded me to apprehend them.”
“That doesn't mean biting them!” The leader mer sighed. “Man… now they're gonna die before I can interrogate them… boooorrriiiing.”
Shuichi heaved. I'm gonna die… I'm gonna die…!
“I’m sure Miu will administer the antivenom if you want her to,” the octopus pointed out. “Shall I ask?”
“Yeah, yeah,” the leader waved a dismissive hand. “Bring everyone over here.”
With a nod, the octopus released his tail and swam off.
Shuichi would have made a run for it if he could move. He curled up slightly, his entire body trembling. Whatever her venom did, it worked fast, because nausea built in his closing throat, making it impossible to breathe.
“You know, you’re lucky.” The leader mer poked him in his forehead, making him flinch. “We might be the only fish down here who know the cure to a blue-ringed octopus bite. Not that it looks like you’re taking it well…”
How could he be talking so casually when Shuichi was dying!? He knew it was a mistake to follow them around, he knew he’d be attacked, but–
–moon above, he was going to throw up–
“Kokichi!” cried another voice. There was a blur of gray and blue, and Shuichi felt himself be gently propped up against somebody’s chest. “Are they okay!? Who is this?”
“The stalker who’s been following us,” the leader mer replied simply. “Kirumi bit them.”
“What the fuck is it supposed to be?” snarked the dolphin. “Is that meant to be a jellyfish? It’s glowing!”
“Don't be rude!” snapped the mer holding him. “We need to get them emergency care as fast as possible!”
“Hold it,” said the sea lion, lifting a single finger. “That sounds like you’re suggesting we bring them back to camp. Is that a good idea?”
“We don’t know why they were following us,” the octopus added with a small nod of agreement. “However, whatever you all decide to do, I will follow along without complaint.”
Shuichi couldn't hold back a pained moan, feeling his body slump back into the mer holding him.
“Doesn't matter what stranger’s intentions are!” the whale declared. “Kirumi’s bites hurt bad… and very dangerous! Stranger needs help immediately!”
“At least blindfold them,” the sea lion stated. “We’ll make sure they don't die, then kick them out. Sound good to you, Kokichi?”
“Sounds like everyone’s making the decisions except me,” the leader mer huffed, who he assumed was named Kokichi.
“Shut the fuck up! You weren’t saying anything, anyway!” the dolphin shouted, ever argumentative. “I say we leave it out here! I don't want it near my fucking cave! All my babies are in there!”
Babies? Shuichi thought in bewilderment.
“Gonta will keep eye on them,” the whale promised. “Stranger don’t get near any of Miu’s inventions!”
And, ah. Inventions. That made more sense.
…
Shuichi keeled forwards, only barely held up by the mer holding him. His stomach rolled, his gills flaring irritably.
“Make your decision now, Kokichi,” hissed the mer holding him.
Kokichi was quiet for an agonizingly long few moments, to the point Shuichi began to believe he was considering leaving him there to die. He wouldn't even necessarily blame him, either– Shuichi had been trespassing and following them. Of course they'd be wary. It was only understandable that they’d defend themselves.
“Blindfold them,” Kokichi finally ordered. “Kirumi, you’re in charge of them, since you bit them.”
“Understood.”
“Gonta, you carry them. Kiibo will probably drop them on the rocks or something.”
“I would not–!”
“Okay! Gonta will!”
All of their voices were starting to blur together. Shuichi blinked blearily, alarmed when he opened his eyes again to something dark around his eyes. He automatically went to reach up to rub his eyes clear, but moving sent shockwaves of pain through his muscles, making him freeze in place. All he could do was pathetically whimper as breathing became harder, his gills and throat feeling sore as they tried and failed to function.
He could feel the water moving around him, but between his lack of sight and the nausea making the world spin, he hadn’t the faintest clue where he was.
And eventually, the noise stopped, too.
Shuichi knew he was awake because his entire body felt sore.
When he opened his eyes, he found that the world around him was still dark. His instinctive reaction was to reach up to try and clear his vision, but he found that lifting one hand pulled his other upwards as well. His wrists were bound.
That was what helped him come to the terrifying realization that he was being held prisoner. By the very pod he had been following.
Tied up, in pain, and blinded. His eyes didn't hurt, and although his memories of when he was bitten were a hazy blur, he thought he recalled something about a blindfold. That must be why everything was dark, like there was a pressure against his skull that wasn't just the headache.
His movement must have stirred the water, because he felt a very big presence move extremely close to him. He froze just before he felt his hands be nudged back down, his blood running cold as he tried and failed to identify the mer in the… area… with him.
“Sorry… Gonta can't let stranger do that,” apologized the mer. The… whale, right? This was the whale? “Kokichi told Gonta that no matter what, blindfold stays on. Kokichi’s really nervous about bad things happening to us… hope stranger understand.”
“Please let me go,” Shuichi pleaded as soon as he found that his voice worked. It was weak, a trembling, pathetic plea, but it was all he could work with. “I-I’ll leave. Just please let me go…”
“Umm…” Gonta sounded hesitant. “Gonta don't think he can do that either. Sorry.”
Gonta sounded perfectly pleasant, but this situation was getting worse and worse. This was the opposite of survival of the fittest.
“A-Are you going to eat me?” Shuichi choked out. He had no idea what shark meat tasted like– or mer meat at all, to be honest– but he really hoped it didn't taste good enough to be a meal.
“Huh?” Gonta gasped. “No! O-Of course not! Mers never eat other mers! Gonta promise, none of us gonna hurt you.” He hesitated, before adding unreassuringly, “unless stranger try to hurt us. Then we hurt back.”
Shuichi felt his breathing pick up. He clawed at the floor beneath him, feeling his nails dig into solid rock.
“B-But we try to settle things peacefully!” Gonta yelped hurriedly. “Try not to work self up… stranger still needs rest, after all.”
This Gonta character talked very oddly, Shuichi was coming to find out. It wasn't like any whale he’d ever met before… although they had usually been intent on pummeling him. He was glad Gonta wasn't doing that.
Although it was hard, Shuichi tried to get his muscles to relax. That was significantly difficult to do when he was tied up and blindfolded, but it sounded like so long as he was compliant and didn't bare his teeth, he wouldn't be killed.
Instead, Shuichi tried to focus on what was around him. He didn't want to move around too much and alert Gonta to what he was doing, so he subtly felt around with his fingers and tail. He could feel a soft bed of something beneath him– maybe sea grass, kelp; something of the sort– and beyond that was solid rock. He could dig his claws into it a little, but not by much. The current also felt very still here, and the water seemed more compact… was he in a cave? That seemed plausible.
It certainly didn't make him feel any better, but it was the best guess he had.
“What's stranger’s name?” Gonta asked him, drawing him out of his thoughts. “Gonta’s name is Gonta!”
He… figured that out. “Um… Sh-Shuichi. I’m Shuichi.”
“Shuichi…” Gonta echoed thoughtfully. “Sorry if this is intrusive question, but… what is Shuichi? Whole pod has been trying to guess, and Gonta trying very hard to stop Miu from invading personal space to find out ..”
Um.
Moving past that, Shuichi shrugged slightly. “I-I’m a shark… mer.”
“Really?” Gonta sounded earnestly surprised, but not disgusted. “Gonta was guessing jellyfish… Gonta never met shark mer who glows before! Or… any shark that glows…”
“S-Sorry…” Shuichi winced. He found that it wasn't quite comfortable, talking semi-casually to his captor. “I don't know how to turn it off…”
“Oh, Gonta don't mean it as bad thing!” Gonta rushed to correct himself. “Gonta thinks it's very cool! Makes Shuichi unique mer!”
If being unique meant he got rocks thrown at his head and others ran away from him screaming, he wasn't sure he wanted to be unique. He didn't know why he glowed– both of his parents were shark mers. And he did have shark-like traits– his teeth were sharp, his tail was shaped like one… he had many features of a large shark, just like his mom.
Thinking about his parents was too bitter of a memory to deal with right now. He buried his face into the ground, hiding miserably under his hands.
“...Kokichi said he wants to talk to Shuichi when he woke up,” Gonta said after a few silent moments. “Is Shuichi okay to talk to Kokichi? Gonta understand if Shuichi need more rest…”
“Rest,” Shuichi replied automatically. Kokichi was the leader of the pod, wasn't he? Given his stature, Shuichi was not looking forward to finding out what kind of cruelty he possessed to maintain that power. “Rest. Lots of rest.”
“Okay…” Gonta sounded sympathetic, which Shuichi wasn't quite sure how to take. “Gonta keep guard then. If Shuichi feels sick, Gonta will go get Kirumi and Rantaro. Both mers very good at healing!”
Shuichi nodded slightly, if only to acknowledge him. He just wanted out of here.
He stayed lying on his side, unmoving. He hated being stuck in his own head, unable to move like this– he knew regular sharks got sick or something if they were stationary for too long, but part of being a mer was that he was far more durable to conditions his non-sentient counterparts weren’t. Mers were highly intelligent, a sister species borrowing the traits of almost any creature in the sea.
That wasn't even mentioning a species close to them, sirens. They tended to get a little more involved with those land-walkers… humans, were they called? Supposedly, sirens lured humans in to eat them. Or romance them, apparently? Shuichi had no idea. He had been too scared to ever seek one out, and they usually resided a bit closer to shores. After all, there weren't many humans floating around the deep ocean like this.
Shuichi knew time passed when the water inside the cave moved, meaning someone had swam back down. He had managed to figure out that the cave he was in sloped downwards, and that Gonta was stationed near the top. He heard the whale talking to some of his podmates here and there, but Shuichi couldn't make out what they were saying.
“Wow,” commented somebody new. Shuichi stiffened, feeling his nose twitch at the alluring scent of fish blood. “He looks depressed.”
“He wants out,” Gonta told the other mer.
“If he is a shark, staying still like this probably doesn't feel the best,” the mer agreed. “Hey… Shuichi, was it? I’m Rantaro. Sorry we’re keeping you locked up like this. We have to make sure you’re not going to slaughter us all.”
Rantaro. The… sea lion? Right? Another trait of mers was that they, as a species, all possessed gills. Mammalian sea dwellers didn't have to surface for air, meaning everyone could live deep within the safety of the sea.
Shuichi kept quiet. His nose twitched again.
“I figured you’re hungry,” Rantaro said, swimming closer. “Do you like salmon?”
Any fish sounded good to him. He lifted his head slightly, hoping that if he was good and quiet, they wouldn't withdraw the offer of food. For all he knew, this show of kindness could be bait; a trap laid to try to draw out his true nature. There was no way he was going to risk it.
Patience, he reminded himself, steeling his expression the best he could as Rantaro placed the salmon on his hands.
He stared down at where he could smell it, feeling his hands shaking. He wanted it. He hadn’t eaten in two days, and he was very hungry. He glanced up at where he thought the two mers swam idly, debating on if he should ask if he was allowed to eat it.
Rantaro beat him to it. “Go ahead. It's for you.”
That was all he needed. Shuichi tried to hide his teeth the best he could as he bit down into the salmon's scales, his teeth easily breaking into the meat beneath it. He hastily remembered his manners as he finished, licking any spilled blood from his fingers and trying not to accidentally poke himself with his claws, given his lack of sight.
“...thank you,” Shuichi thanked the mer. Politeness helped him out sometimes, if he was ever in an uncertain encounter– a submissive bow of his head and a sincere apology had granted him free escape from an angry mer’s territory more than once.
(Or, the cold disapproval of his mother. He hunted wrong, he swam incorrectly, he smacked into a rock trying to follow a current, he glowed too brightly… anything could set her off. Anything could make her annoyed with him, disappointed in his inability to just be a shark.)
“Do you want more?” Rantaro unexpectedly asked him. “You seem hungry.”
“Shuichi very small, too…” Gonta agreed in a concerned murmur. “How many meals a day does Shuichi have?”
…Shuichi didn't think he could answer that in a way that’d be satisfactory.
“N-No thank you…” Shuichi replied to Rantaro, ducking his head again.
“You sure?" Rantaro tried. “I'm not an expert on sharks, but I don't think I'm supposed to be able to see your ribs.”
Shuichi shyly curled in on himself. “It's okay.”
There was no way that offer wasn't a trap, anyway. Why would they waste precious food on him? They injected him with lethal venom, how was he supposed to trust anything they gave him? What if that salmon had venom in it!?
His fear rekindled and thoroughly intimidated, Shuichi turned onto his side, away from them, and hid his face under his hands. He just wanted out. Being alone wasn't much better, but at least he could defend himself if he had to. Right now, he was utterly helpless.
“Okay, okay, I understand… you’re scared. I won't push it,” Rantaro spoke. “Gonta, a word?”
“Huh? Um… sure!”
Shuichi listened as the two of them departed from the cave. A few more moments of listening and feeling told him that the cave should be empty now, so he slowly unwound himself. Being tense for too long hurt his muscles, which hadn’t seemed to have taken kindly to that venom.
When he was bitten, the octopus said that he had been “following them for days”. How long had they known he was trailing them? What gave him away?
Probably my glowing spots, he thought unhappily. If something went wrong, it was almost always because he glowed. Just like all of his hunting attempts, and just like his desperate attempts to make his mother like him.
…he really should stop thinking about that stuff. It wouldn't do him any good.
Another mer came down to try to talk to him. They introduced themself as Kiibo, and given the more masculine-alignment of their voice, he assumed they were that mer he didn't know the type of. The oddly stone gray one, with speckles of a peculiar icy blue across their entire body. They tried to get information out of him, like where he came from and why he was following their pod, but by now Shuichi had completely shut down.
He stayed still, with his back to Kiibo, the entire time they tried to question him. Eventually, seeing that he wasn't going to answer, they gave up, swimming back out to leave him alone once again.
He had thought being quiet and inoffensive would get him out without trouble, but that plan backfired on him when the pod decided to extend his stay. From his eavesdropping, apparently they thought he was getting sick since he kept refusing extra food and wasn’t moving. Which, for the record, was not the case! He was just really scared!
The only positive development was that they took off the blindfold. Apparently he was too pathetic to be an actual threat, which he… supposed was a good thing? It worked in his favor, although he wasn't sure how he felt about being seen as so worthless. A weak mer was a dead mer, so the ocean had taught him.
At least the blindfold was off. He worried the constant darkness had been putting him on track to losing his mind. His hands may still be tied, but he was fine with that. It wouldn't be too hard to tear through the kelp bindings with his teeth.
This morning was just like yesterday, his third day spent in this small little cave. Shuichi lifted his head slightly as Rantaro swam down, a dead salmon in hand. So far, every time Rantaro brought him food, it was always some kind of salmon. He seemed to assume that since Shuichi ate it once, he’d continue to eat it, oblivious to the fact that he could serve Shuichi a solid rock and he’d still gnaw on it and say thank you.
“Morning,” Rantaro greeted him casually, offering him the salmon. “You feeling any better today?”
Shuichi took the salmon, avoiding eye contact with the sea lion as he rested it on his hands.
“Kind of,” Shuichi replied semi-truthfully. “I just want out…”
Rantaro shrugged. “That's Kokichi’s decision. He's still worried you’re gonna call a bunch of your shark buddies to attack us if we let you go.”
Shuichi wasn't sure how to convince any of them that he really didn't have any friends. Other shark mers thought he acted un-sharkly, and were usually too hostile over their own prey and territories to let some glowing kid into their life.
As he went to bite into the salmon, an odd scent made him pause. He knew the scent of fish blood as good as any mer, but something about this seemed… off. There was salmon blood, yes, nothing was wrong with it. But with that, he thought there was also the faintest, tiniest hint of something else.
He hesitated, painfully aware of Rantaro watching him. He poked his nose at the salmon’s scales, torn between confusion and alarm.
…ah. He understood the problem.
This salmon had an infestation.
He wrenched his nose back, alarmed, and doing his best to keep the disgust off of his face. There was something foreign living inside of this salmon, feeding off of it from the inside out. If Shuichi perpetuated the cycle, his body would become infested, too.
Slowly, he looked up at Rantaro. He didn't look like he was plotting anything malicious, or like he just handed Shuichi a guaranteed death trap. But…
His heart seized.
Is this how they’re getting rid of me…? By shutting me up for good?
Shuichi’s hands trembled. Moon above, he knew they were going to kill him, but like this…? Were they going to feed it to him and send him on his way, to let him drop dead somewhere else?
“Is something wrong?” Rantaro asked him, zeroing him back into reality.
“...um… ah…” Shuichi shrunk back, trying to figure out how he could get through this conversation without being killed. Could he make a run for it if he really tried? “...I can't… eat this.”
Rantaro’s whiskers twitched. He didn't seem angry at his refusal. Just confused. “Why not? It’s just salmon. You ate this exact kind a few days ago.”
Shuichi glanced up at him, trying his best to gauge the sea lion’s feelings. Was he trying to kill Shuichi? He genuinely couldn't tell.
Might as well be straight to the point. “I’ll… die? I-It’s, um… infested.”
“Infested?” Rantaro echoed. “With parasites, you mean?”
Slowly, he nodded.
Rantaro swam closer, making Shuichi press himself back against the wall. He took the salmon, inspecting it from all sides with a puzzled yet faintly alarmed look.
“How can you tell?” Rantaro asked him. “It seems fine to me.”
“There’s blood inside of it,” Shuichi explained softly.
Rantaro stared at him.
Ah… “I mean… different blood. It’s faint, but there’s something inside of it that shouldn't be there…” He shrunk back under Rantaro’s intense gaze. “S-So, If I eat it…”
Though he trailed off, Rantaro seemed to understand what he meant. He turned his stare down towards the infected salmon, his brows furrowed.
Shuichi wasn't sure what clicked in his head, but he must have come to a realization, because he froze and whirled around, darting out of the cave whilst shouting for the others. That… probably wasn't a good sign.
He pressed himself into the floor and waited, his ears pricked for any sign of somebody returning. He could faintly pick up the pod talking from beyond his prison cave, but he could hardly make out what any of them were saying and nobody made any moves for the cave.
The rest of the morning was completely silent. He thought he saw somebody at the mouth of the cave, and although he figured it was just Gonta, he didn't dare try peeking out to get a better look. It was unfortunate though– after a few days of a routine, not getting breakfast all of the sudden was a bit of an unfortunate change. His stomach grumbled unhappily at the lack of food.
By the late afternoon, Shuichi had begun to wonder if they had forgotten about him. That is, until someone swam into the cave, appearing so suddenly it nearly scared his heart out of his chest.
He recognized who it was the minute he turned his head. Black and white scales, purple undertones to his hair and underbelly. His eyes a peculiar shade of violet, his pupils rimmed with a striking gold color that pinned Shuichi to the floor. He was the pod leader, a small orca mer. A kind of dolphin. A killer whale.
Shuichi suddenly found himself glad he hadn’t eaten. He could have thrown up just from how nervous he was. His parents never told him what to do in situations like this– they probably assumed that if he were captured at all, he’d be killed before he made it to a situation in which he had to face the leader of a pod or a group or somesuch. He didn’t know if he could grovel his way through this one.
“I thought you might be hungry,” the orca mer, Kokichi, said. He revealed his hands, a fish in each. “Which one do you want?”
Shuichi instinctively lifted his nose slightly. Both fish were salmon– which, admittedly, he was a little tired of seeing– and there weren’t any noticeable differences between either of them, aside from the fact both of their undersides had been slit.
Ah. They were checking all of the fish for infestation… Shuichi realized. That’d explain Rantaro’s abrupt departure– he wanted to make sure none of his podmates poisoned themselves with parasites.
…speaking of parasites.
“I-I don’t think… that one,” he tilted his head towards the salmon in his left hand, “is safe for, ah, either of us to eat.”
Kokichi grinned. “Why do you assume that? Don't you know orcas like me eat parasites for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Our stomachs are made of cardboard! Sweet, yummy cardboard!”
Shuichi wasn’t sure what “cardboard” was. “...I… don’t think… that's true.”
“Huh?” Kokichi sounded shocked. “You’re doubting my word? What do you know about whales anyway, hmm?”
“Aren’t– Didn’t Gonta say orcas are a kind of dolphin? H-He said… you and that spinner dolphin…” Shuichi trailed off, not sure how to finish that sentence. “I mean… killer whale, but… that's not necessarily a species name…”
Shuichi wanted to thwack himself. Shut up! Shut up! Don't argue with the pod leader, you idiot! Are you suicidal!?
“Hmm.” Kokichi cocked his head to the side, his expression blank. “Well, your nose wasn't a lie… yep! This is the infested one!” He lifted his right hand, showing off the salmon like a prized trophy. “I heard you missed out on breakfast, so here.”
…the salmon he offered Shuichi was the wrong one. The infested one. Shuichi scented the water again, just to be sure. He could definitely smell the foreign presence of blood within the salmon Kokichi was holding out to him, where one of the other’s claws had nicked a parasite within the fish’s body.
“That's… the infected one,” Shuichi spoke past the lump in his throat.
“Oh! Silly me.” Kokichi tossed the other one over his shoulder, much to Shuichi’s alarm. “Here you go! Fresh, tasty salmon! Hand-picked right out of the morning’s current juuust for you!”
Was he… testing me? Shuichi realized as he hesitantly accepted the clean salmon from Kokichi. He was testing to see how good my nose was…
Why? For what purpose? Is he measuring my worth before he decides whether he wants to kill me or not…?
Kokichi seemed friendly so far… relatively. Every other few words that left his mouth was some sort of lie, and he spoke with such a lighthearted yet sure tone that it was putting Shuichi off guard. Being the leader of a pod was no easy task– ensuring loyalty, teamwork, worrying about podmates' health and shelter and what they were all going to eat that night… that took a special kind of strength, one few truly possessed. Some were natural-born leaders, while others worked their tails off to securely land themselves in the position.
Shuichi wondered when Kokichi’s strange pod was formed. He wondered why Kokichi, as an orca, took in so many kinds of mers. He wondered how Kokichi was able to hold them all together so surely.
“Welllll?” Kokichi prompted him expectantly. “Are you gonna eat it, or sadly stare at it for the rest of the day?”
“Ah– sorry!” Shuichi hurriedly sank his teeth into the salmon’s scales, taking extra care to try and hide his mouth as he ate.
Kokichi silently watched him the whole time, adding an unnecessary overlying feeling of discomfort to his meal. Still, he ate it all, relieved to satiate at least some of the craving in his stomach.
“Thank you,” Shuichi said to him when he was done.
“Most mers say thank you before they devour their meal,” Kokichi replied. Before Shuichi could stammer out a mortified apology, he leaned forwards, his eyes glinting with interest. “Where are you from?”
“...I don't… know?” Shuichi tried. “I don't remember, I just– o-once I was old enough to leave my parent’s side, I… swam around a lot…”
“Until you found my pod,” Kokichi deduced, smiling with all of his teeth. “And followed us around for three weeks.”
Oh, moon swallow me whole.
“Yeah…” Kokichi nodded slowly along with his realization. “You’re not very good at hi~ding~, Shuichi. Especially from an orca.”
“Sorry…” Shuichi whispered. “I just… I didn’t know what to say, I…” He bowed his head as low as it could go. “I’m usually attacked on sight.”
“Because you creepily stalk pods without saying anything?” Kokichi guessed.
“‘cause I’m a shark,” Shuichi corrected him bitterly. “Other mers… don’t like it when a lone, weird shark who glows swims into their territory. Fish think I’m gonna eat them and other sharks think I’m pathetic. Or try to eat me.”
Kokichi snorted. Shuichi couldn't tell whether he was amused or annoyed.
“What’d you do to make them mad?” Kokichi asked him, grinning widely. “It’s hard to imagine anybody attacking you unprompted.”
Isn't that what you did? he almost asked, before catching himself. He supposed he’d be unsettled if he noticed an unknown mer following him for three weeks without making a move. He didn't understand why he was poisoned if he was just going to be healed after, but he supposed he was just relieved to be alive.
“Unless…” Kokichi tilted his head, tapping his chin. Shuichi could see his mind working, putting pieces together at incredible speed. “Ohh, I get it! That's why you look so sad! You were sheltered as a pup, weren’t you?”
Shuichi opened his mouth, before closing it, unable to stop himself from frowning. “I don’t look sad. Why would you say that?”
“You have a sad look in your eyes,” Kokichi replied, entirely unnecessarily. “Hnm… that might just be the glow…”
Shuichi pressed his face into the ground, biting back an embarrassed whine.
“How long have you been alone?” Kokichi continued to press him.
“I dunno,” Shuichi mumbled into his hands. “I-I’m sorry for following you… please let me go. I won’t tell anyone about you or your pod…”
“Huuuh? Shuichi’s so desperate to leave!” Kokichi exclaimed, for some reason sounding surprised. “After all our generous hospitality… it's like you don't even like us…”
Shuichi wasn't sure how to respond to that. He kept his mouth firmly shut.
Kokichi was quiet for a few moments, too. Shuichi could feel his eyes pinned on him, a thoughtful silence filling the cave.
“You’ve been cooped up in here for a while,” Kokichi finally spoke. “Let's go for a swim.”
Shuichi’s head snapped up so fast he was surprised he didn't give himself whiplash.
“...what?” Shuichi whispered. He couldn't stop himself from perking up, pushing himself slightly off of the ground. “Really?”
“Yep!” Kokichi chirped. “Just the two of us! A nice swim around the kelp forest… all alone…”
Does he have to say it so ominously? “Y-Yes! Yes, please.”
His enthusiasm made Kokichi smirk, and he placed his hands together, trilling affirmatively. “Okie-dokie! Then rip those things off with your teeth and follow me!”
“Those things” must be referring to his wrist bindings. His arms had been getting terribly sore after not moving much for the past few days, and being promised the freedom to move around was making his tail ache to be stretched.
Despite the excitement he must not be concealing well, Shuichi couldn’t help but hesitate. “My… teeth?”
“Yeah! Your rows and rows of shark teeth!” Kokichi affirmed. “I know how good those things are at shredding things! Fish, steel, mers… you can handle a teensy bit of kelp, can't you? Unless you got the jellyfish genes for your teeth, but since you’re trying so hard to hide your mouth from me, something tells me that's not the case.”
It might have been that exact moment that Shuichi realized how truly observant Kokichi was. He seemed to notice everything.
…jellyfish genes? Shuichi bristled, feeling his ruffs flatten backwards. “I'm a shark. Both of my parents are sharks.”
Kokichi blew out a few bubbles. “Don't worry. I'm a bastard child, too. I'm actually part lamprey! Cool, right?”
Shuichi hated lampreys. Their mouths freaked him out. He remembered, once, his father got bit by a sea lamprey, and the wound stubbornly resisted closing naturally.
“You don't look like one,” Shuichi pointed out, looking Kokichi up and down. He’d never seen a regular orca, he didn't think, but he certainly didn't see any lamprey features about the mer.
“As far as you know,” Kokichi said simply. “I'm actually part siren, too. We shapeshift sometimes to hide the uglier parts of our bodies.” Before Shuichi could even conceptualize a reply, Kokichi flicked him in the nose. “Now do you want to swim, or are you gonna keep moping around in here?”
Observant, Shuichi thought, and a little mean.
Despite his misgivings, Shuichi turned away from Kokichi as much as he could. His heart was pounding– Kokichi told him to rip them off, he wouldn't get in trouble for this– and yet he couldn't help but be nervous.
Kokichi was right, though. A single bite and rip tore the kelp in two, and he freed his wrists. He let himself rise from the ground, stretching out his arms in front of him so far he felt his spine arch slightly as he did so. It felt very nice, getting his body moving like this– having to stay still for so long felt awful.
While he stretched, Kokichi waited patiently by the entrance. He stopped stretching quickly, ducking his head submissively. Kokichi was the leader of a pod, and Shuichi was wasting his time like this.
That's how, for the first time in three days, Shuichi left the cave.
The place Kokichi’s pod had settled down in was both obscure and beautiful. If he was swimming overhead, he never would have thought twice about the little clearing. A large stone jutted upwards into the water, kelp dancing around the water and filtering the far-off sunlight into beautiful green and golden rays. He could see another cave at the base of the rock, hidden from above under where it stretched outwards.
However, at the moment, he didn't think threats were this pod’s greatest worry. He could see Rantaro lounging casually on a lower, flatter rock, talking to Gonta nearby, who was gently holding a startled sea slug in both hands. Kirumi was untangling nearby kelp and sweeping away sea urchins out of the clearing, making the place more homey. Although he couldn't see Kiibo or Miu anywhere, he was sure they were nearby.
Everyone seemed relaxed. Shuichi had never seen anything like it. A relaxed mer? With a stranger in their midst? If he had a pod and he knew they had a prisoner, he would spend every waking moment worrying about it and upping his guard. An unprepared mer was a dead mer, and his mother and father had wanted him to be able to survive on his own.
Good job I did of that, he distantly thought. Getting captured by the weirdest pod in the sea… I’m lucky they haven't killed me yet.
“Entranced?” Kokichi asked teasingly. “We figured we’d settle down someplace, and the edge of a kelp forest is the perfect area.” He let out a long whistle, one that felt as if it reverberated through Shuichi’s skull. “Rich with all kinds of yummy food, too! ♪”
“It’s really pretty,” Shuichi commented softly. “Ah… w-wait… why are you showing me this? Are– Are you going to kill me?”
“Get those nonsensical ideas out of your head.” Kokichi bumped his side, the contact sending an instinctual shiver of anxiety down his spine. “None of us are gonna kill you. All those days of stalking us and you still dunno we’re not barbaric monsters?”
Shuichi decided not to point out how his first encounter with this pod had been their octopus injecting him with highly lethal venom.
“Let's go for a swim around the kelp forest. Podmate to loner!” Kokichi encouraged him, grabbing his hand and tugging him forwards.
“Ah… what? Wait–”
And somehow, Shuichi found himself taking a leisurely swim near the sea floor with the leader of the pod.
For one, the kelp forest was huge. Although it could seem that way simply because Kokichi was swimming extremely slowly. Shuichi couldn't believe how relaxed he looked, watching the kelp idly sway and the sea life flourish. Every time something moved out of the corner of his eye, he jumped, his claws constantly flexed in preparation for an unexpected attack, overall highly alert for everything around him.
Shuichi felt a bit crazy, being so on edge next to the most relaxed mer he’d ever seen, but either Kokichi was being too laid back or he was being unreasonable. This kelp forest was the perfect place for a predator to hide– he didn't understand how Kokichi was so calm.
Something dark suddenly darted downwards nearby, making him reel back in alarm. Kokichi paused momentarily, watching the shape paddle itself back up to the surface with its prize, before turning an amused look towards Shuichi.
“You’ve really never relaxed a day in your life, huh?” Kokichi commented.
“When could I have?” Shuichi argued. He pointed at where the shape had just plunged downwards, and where it had vanished among the kelp crowding the surface. “What was that?”
“The otter?” Kokichi said. “It's a keystone. We don't eat those, since they keep this place in check.” He batted his hand at a nearby kelp, swishing a few of its green tendrils around in the water.
“Keystone…?” Shuichi echoed. That was a vaguely familiar term– his father scolded him on the importance of them after he asked about catching a certain type of salmon. He couldn't remember what they were specifically called, but they were big and red and had scary looking faces.
“Were you so sheltered you don't even know what a keystone is?” Kokichi gasped.
Shuichi shook his head, continuing their stroll. “N-No, I know what it is. Why do you keep saying I was sheltered?”
“You look like a mer who was neglected by their parents,” Kokichi remarked.
“Excuse me?”
“I'm guessing you grew up in the warm waters northwest,” Kokichi continued, as if he hadn’t just said something wildly insulting. “The ones with the rocks where all the pissed off mers go when their pups stop talking to them. Have you ever even met a mer from outside that place?”
Shuichi wasn't even aware it was considered a “place”. “No, I haven’t.”
“I know mer culture is different all around the ocean,” Kokichi mused. “Rantaro can probably tell you all about it. He went everywhere before joining up with us. Some mers live in communities in the deepest parts of the waters, some mers live on their own… it depends on the area, really.” He rolled his eyes. “I think the only thing we all have one hundred percent in common is that humans are a no-go, and there's probably still some outliers there. I’d bet at least a few mers have seduced a human.”
Shuichi listened carefully, taking everything in. The “warm waters northwest” must have been where he grew up… where everything was rocky, gravelly, and only half of the terrain was sandy. There were certainly no kelp forests, and if there were, it was inhabited by some lonely and territorial mer. He did know of some pods that lived there, but mostly, the mers he encountered were all alone.
Admittedly, Shuichi didn't think he ever wandered into unfamiliar waters. He never knew what was out there, and as unfriendly as his homeplace could be, it was where he grew up. He knew how to survive there.
“I know how to take care of myself now,” Shuichi eventually told him. “I'm good at solving problems by myself. I’ve never needed help before.”
“You’ve lived independently,” Kokichi rephrased understandingly. “I did too, for a long time. Look at us, finding things to bond over! We’re going to be the bestest of buddies, Shuichi~♡”
Shuichi stopped. “Um… we are?”
It could just be another instance of Kokichi being Kokichi. In the short time he’d known this mer, he already figured out that Kokichi had a playful personality to go along with his leadership. It could just be him poking fun at Shuichi again; trying to keep the mood lighthearted. There's no way he’d actually allow Shuichi to stick around his pod.
(Who would want him around, anyway?)
Kokichi stopped as well, doing an elegant 360 in the water to face him. He placed his hands behind his back, lips curved into a wide smile and his heterochromic eyes glinting with knowledge. Something cunning. Something deceptive, and yet something so trustworthy all the same.
What a fascinating contradiction of a mer.
“We could be,” said Kokichi. “It's totally up to you, but I’ve decided that I like you. You’re the least boring mer I’ve met in a while!”
…Shuichi had no idea whether he should be flattered or not.
“Not just that, but you’re useful,” Kokichi continued thoughtfully. “And I guess you saved my pod’s life by sniffing out the parasites in the fish, so I guess I owe you a tiny bit.” Something more… he wouldn't say genuine, but something more serious, fell over Kokichi’s expression. “I’ve kept my eye on you all this time. And I’ll continue to keep my eye on you. But, Shuichi…”
Kokichi smiled, leaning forwards.
“Would you like to join my pod?”