A/N:So I was going to write something purely fluffy, but then this happened. Sorry for the (fake) angst, I promise it's worth it at the end. Also, I was hesitant to make up a name for Misaki's sister since she doesn't have an official name(?). Kind of devolves as it goes on, how do I even write things?
Written based off of @carmoofle's art here: [twitter] /carmoofle/status/1024344184621215744
(cause it won't let me post the whole url fo whatever reason)
~~~[Bandori]~~~
Misaki sat on the small dock looking out towards the ocean, feet dangling over the edge just barely above water. The evening breeze out near the ocean was stronger than she was accustomed to during this time of summer, but her cap kept her hair from getting into her face. In her hands was a small felt doll vaguely resembling a pink bear, one she had made much like the ones she's made before. Staring down at the doll, Misaki bit the inside of her lip, holding her breath as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to hold back her tears.
Misaki never asked for any of this, but some force in the universe just enjoyed toying with her life. It wasn't that she despised her family, or though perhaps now she did, but she certainly would never wish for the untimely death of her younger sister - Pneumonia, and nobody suspected it until it was too late. Misaki wanted to blame someone, anyone, so that she could at least channel her lingering frustrations towards something. But she couldn't bring herself to pass the blame on when nobody was really at fault.
Over the past year, Misaki tried to deal with the loss of her sister, the two of them were extremely close. However, the more she tried to keep her emotions in control, the more distant and closed off she became. Not that she was ever very social to begin with. Her relationship with her parents had been shaky at best, but tensions rose tremendously following her sister's death. Arguments between her and her parents would break out over the pettiest issues, resulting in someone storming out of the house to calm down.
This time around, it was Misaki who stormed out of the Okusawa's summer cottage. She couldn't fathom how having three emotionally-unstable people packed together into one small house for a week was ever a good idea. She especially felt confined whenever they came here, as she was forced to be in such close proximity with her family almost constantly. It was an annual ordeal and the only reason she stayed sane years prior was because of the company of her sister.
She sat there for a while, clearing her mind and hoping that by the time she decided to go back, her parents would be asleep. Luckily, tonight was nice out on the beach. The tide was calm and the soft crashes of waves breaking surf lulled Misaki's overloaded conscious. The full moon illuminated the night, allowing her to see as clear as day but without having to deal with the heat and brightness of the sun. Despite the winds, only a few clouds lingered in the star-filled sky. Perhaps a storm was coming, and they would have an excuse to go back a few days early. Misaki chuckled to herself. As if the universe would be that nice to her. It did, however, was nice enough to allow Misaki to enjoy this picturesque moment on the coastline.
As Misaki stared at the rippling reflection of the moon on the water, she noticed something strange in her peripheral vision. It looked as if something was glowing in the water, because the last time she checked, Earth only had one moon. She rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing some sort of mirage. When she checked again, the glow had disappeared.
'I must be tired,' Misaki reasoned with herself. The moon was almost at its peak, meaning that it was pretty late into the night. The winds were also stronger now than when she first came out to the dock. Misaki decided that this was a good time to head back.
Walking back, a powerful gust of wind blew past Misaki, knocking off her cap. Instinctively, she turned and tried to chase after it- that cap was her favorite afterall. However, she was forced to stop at the end of the dock, lest she wanted to fall straight into the water trying to grab at it. Misaki helplessly watched her cap fly up into the air, now out of reach to her. The universe certainly was not kind.
Dejected, Misaki stared into the water at her own reflection. The fleeting moment of tranquility was lost to her now, once again filled with sorrow. Realizing that there was no use in mourning a lost cap, Misaki again took her leave and turned her back to the ocean.
However, this time on her way back, she heard splashing in the water.
'Probably just a dolphin or something surfacing,' Misaki told herself. There was no reason for her to turn back again. Except another splash came, much louder and closer than the previous one. More curious than concerned, Misaki took the chance of turning her shoulder to the water once more.
Just beyond the edge of the dock, Misaki saw a girl peeking her head out of her water. A very beautiful girl with flowing blue hair that seemed to glow in the moonlight, even the water around her seemed to glow. Misaki froze like a deer in headlights, swallowing nervously. She wasn't expecting anyone else to be out this late.
The girl also seemed startled at Misaki noticing her, as she almost immediately hid her head below the water. Misaki was left stunned for a moment before her brain rebooted.
"Wait!" Misaki called out without thinking, running back onto the dock. When she reached the end, she found the water there glowing slightly, much like when she saw the girl (who had not yet resurfaced) but was not as prominent as before. Misaki became concerned, looking around if she could somehow find where that girl had swum off to.
Below her, Misaki heard something resurface again. It was the same girl, but everything below her eyes remained submerged. Both stared back at the other, equally as nervous until Misaki slowly got on her knees.
"I…ugh…" Misaki choked on her words. Her brain stopped working properly as she became entranced by the girl's amethyst gaze. The girl's eyes widened realizing she was staring and suddenly looked away. The water glowing surrounding her turned closer to a tint of purple.
Misaki became painfully aware that she was practically gawking and awkwardly cleared her throat as she too looked anywhere other than at the girl.
'I'm going crazy. Yea.' Misaki reassured herself internally, 'Cute girls don't just randomly come up from the ocean, Misaki. The water isn't glowing, get a hold of yourself.'
When Misaki finally willed herself to glance back, she saw the girl extending her arm out of the water. In her hand was Misaki's lost cap. It was soaking wet, but it was unmistakably her cap.
"You… got my hat." Misaki stated the obvious as she accepted the cap back. It was in no condition to be worn, so she set it down on the dock beside her, turning her attention back to the mysterious girl. She found it excruciatingly hard to tear her gaze away, as if she was trapped under some sort of spell.
The girl, slowly overcoming her timidness, propped herself up on the dock, coming quite literally face-to-face with Misaki. They both held a stare for a while before Misaki again became painfully aware of how close they were and stumbled backwards. Now on her back, Misaki put her hands to her faced and groaned loudly in annoyance at the unexplainable flutter in her chest. She heard the girl giggle and Misaki was about to say something when she caught sight of the girl's body.
She was hardly a girl at all. Patches of scales painted her skin, glistening a rich blue rivaled only by her hair. The lower half of her body was completely covered in scales, and she had no feet but rather a tail.
Misaki's reasonable side would have told her that she was going crazy because mermaids didn't exist. However, she was too mesmerized to listen to reason. She sat back up and the mermaid stopped her giggling.
Another awkward silence passed between them.
"Ugh… so, how do you make the water glow?" Misaki blurted out, trying to break the silence as she stared into the water.
The mermaid pointed into the water. Misaki wasn't sure what she meant but squinted as she looked closer. Tiny jellyfish swam under the water's surface, illuminating their bodies at the mermaid's command. Misaki was certainly impressed.
"I should probably… you know, probably head back…or something," Misaki began, unsure what to say but not entirely wanting to believe her own words. She got on her feet and looked back at the mermaid, who looked crestfallen. It wasn't a look that really fit her. Then it hit Misaki that she hadn't thanked the mermaid for getting her hat back.
"Thank you. You know, for my hat."
The mermaid smiled sweetly at Misaki, though Misaki could tell in her eyes that she was slightly disappointed. Misaki gave an apologetic smile, but it seemed that the mermaid also understood that their parting was inevitable. With a final wave, she slipped back into the water. Misaki rubbed the back of her head, suddenly feeling guilty for taking such an abrupt leave. She looked at her hat and had half the mind to throw it back into the water in annoyance towards herself.
However, the mermaid surfaced again, surprising and confusing Misaki. She made a gesture beckoning Misaki to come with her.
"I can't," Misaki remarked, lowering herself onto her knees again. "Besides, it's not like I can breathe underwater."
The mermaid pouted. Misaki thought it was really cute, but then caught her thoughts once more.
Even if Misaki wanted to run away (or rather swim away) with a beautiful mermaid, it'd be impossible to do so. But then again, existence of mermaids was also impossible, yet look at where she was now. The mermaid extended her hand to Misaki, a certain sort of pleading in her eyes that Misaki somehow understood as 'trust me.'
Misaki swallowed, unsure. She looked back towards the cottage momentarily. There wasn't really anything keeping Misaki there anymore. A part of wanted to leave everything behind. But would she risk trusting a mermaid she just met? What if she just ended up drowning? Misaki looked back to the mermaid, patiently allowing her to think over this choice.
Maybe the universe took pity on her, throwing a mermaid as some sort of twisted apology. Everything that's happened tonight was already crazy as is, so she might as well see it through to the end. Misaki took a deep breath.
"Okay, I trust you."
The mermaid's eyes practically lit up in excitement and before Misaki could think about how cute that reaction was, the mermaid practically launched herself out of the water and took Misaki by the front of her shirt. It wasn't enough force to pull Misaki into the water but was certainly enough force to pull her into a kiss.
Misaki felt her heart skip a beat or two. Everything happened so fast she almost didn't process how she ended up like this, not that she was really complaining.
"Okay, yeah I totally trust you." Misaki said dumbfoundedly after their lips parted.
The mermaid laughed, her joy so infectious that Misaki couldn't help but crack a small smile herself. She made a gesture for Misaki to take a deep breath, and Misaki complied before getting pulled much more forcefully into the water.
Out of her element, Misaki tried not to immediately panic. The salt burned her eyes and she knew she couldn't hold her breath for very long. In her very limited field of vision she saw the mermaid's smiling at her. Misaki was confused, but suddenly remembered another myth similar to mermaids. Sirens.
Fear burned in Misaki's eyes before she was pulled into a forceful kiss. Her lungs were running on empty and she couldn't remember blacking out.
'Yup. I'm definitely dead.' Misaki heard her conscious mind, still berating her even after death. She felt weightless,as if she was floating in space. Was this the afterlife? Being a bodiless conscious forever trapped in a dark void of isolated existence?
Misaki sighed, she knew that was way too philosophical of her.
She sighed.
As in exhaling.
As in breathing.
Misaki shot her eyes open. She saw the ripples above her, a sure sign that she was still underwater. But she was breathing normally. Misaki tried to position herself upright but had more difficulty swimming than usual. Did her legs not work properly?
Nope, because she didn't have legs anymore. In its place was a tail clad in grey scales. A mermaid's tail. Misaki panicked and began flailing around underwater. As she did so, her scales would sometimes glisten pink as it reflected the moonlight.
"What the hell?" Misaki said out loud, becoming increasingly frustrated at her incompetence. Immediately she stopped and quickly covered her mouth as she realized she could also speak clearly. If she wasn't dead, she had certainly gone full on crazy.
A familiar laugh could be heard. Misaki tried to navigate her new form to find the source of the sound.
"You're awake," the blue-haired mermaid said, relieved. Her voice was soft-spoken, but it seemed to fit her perfectly, even if it was laced with concern.
"I… you…" Misaki jumbled up sentences in her brain. "You can talk?! I can talk. And I'm a mermaid."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" the other mermaid began, trying to avoid contact. As if the regret on her face wasn't clear enough, the jellyfish surrounding them dimmed to a faint glow. "I kind of got excited… and-"
"Don't worry about it," Misaki intervened, saving the other mermaid from an embarrassing apology that wasn't even needed. She rubbed the back of her neck cheaply, "…and I wouldn't mind it happening again. Ugh, the kissing part. Not the almost drowning and passing out part."
The blue-haired mermaid laughed sweetly and though Misaki cursed herself for her horrible attempts at flirting, she was glad she was able to get her to laugh and awkwardly chuckled herself.
"Um… so do you have a name?" Misaki asked.
"Kanon," the mermaid murmured, blushing when she realized she never even introduced herself.
"Misaki."
"Misaki…" Kanon repeated softly.
Kanon looked off in thought, trying to figure out what to do next. Misaki tried to stay patient, but she didn't quite understand how balance worked with mermaids and slowly began rolling over. Kanon noticed Misaki struggle and laughed again. She gracefully swam over to Misaki to help orient herself.
"Come on, I promise I'll explain everything on the way," Kanon said, offering her hand.
"Where are we going?"
Kanon looked at Misaki for a moment before answering, "Do you trust me?"
The way Kanon smiled at her filled Misaki's heart with a certain kind of warmth that she hadn't felt in a long time. Misaki took Kanon's hand.
"Yeah, I trust you."
~~~[Bandori]~~~
A/N: I got too lazy to explain how Misaki turned into a mermaid, so let's just go with the idea that Kanon's got some magic mermaid powers. That's also why the jellyfish can respond to Kanon's emotions. I know Kanon was a bit OOC for this, but I hope it was still decent.