Haruka Nanase is a mermaid who at a young age did something he knew he shouldn't have and got himself into trouble. When he meets a boy his age named Makoto will he once again be able to swim free?
The waves gently rocked his body back and forth, his hair swaying in front of his eyes. He watched as the water made his hair dance as fish swam around him. A group of mackerel swam past where he lay. Lifting his hand up from where it was playing in the sand drawing lazy patterns he reached towards the fish. They continued to swim in the path they were taking except for a single one. It swam over and ran its back under his hand. The scales a familiar feeling to him. The mackerel swam away as fast as it had come.
Blue eyes followed it as it swam as fast as it could to catch up to the others. Once again alone Haruka lowered his hand to where it was in the sand earlier. It was a peaceful day. No ships had passed overhead to disturb the currents and there was no storm for miles. The sea was the most peaceful it has been in a while. Rolling over on the rock he was laying on Haruka enjoyed the sun rays shinning through the surface layer of the water. Usually he wouldn't be able to get so close to the surface but since there were no ships nearby he thought he'd take the opportunity. He knew that it was dangerous and that on such a good day there was a high possibility of someone swimming by but there was no other place in the entire ocean that he could see as many fish as he did there.
His eyes followed them as they swam in every direction. To him there was no better way for passing the time. His body was so relaxed that he didn't realize when he fell asleep.
He awoke to a dark shadow looming over him. Assuming it was a whale or some other large sea creature he rolled over tried to fall back asleep. It was then he remembered that no large sea creature could get as close to the shore as he was. Sitting upright his eyes darted to the surface where he could see a shipping vessel slowly moving across and blocking out the sun. All the fish quickly swam past his head in the same direction that the ship was going in. That could only mean one thing. As quickly as he could Haruka darted off the rock he was sleeping on and swam as fast as he could. His tail swishing back and forth as the water, as if knowing his distress, parted and allowed his body to slip through it.
Feeling curiosity get the better of him he looked back over his shoulder as he continued to swim. Just like he thought he would he could see a large net coming up from behind him. All the fish that were swimming so peacefully earlier were in as much a hurry as he was to get away. Looking back forward Haruka realized that if he were to continue to swim the way he was he would swim himself onto shore. With one last glance behind him Haruka turned his body and darted to the side. He didn't get far until he realized that he couldn't head that way. The net was on a curve and was heading straight towards him. Turning once more to the other side he tried to swim away again only to see that on that side to the net was closing in. There was no escape, the net was surrounding him on all sides. The fish trapped with him also knew their fate. They were surrounded and being pushed together as the net closed in. The fish stuck in there with him were all pushed so close together that he couldn't move his tail or arms. He craned his neck and spine trying to break free but to no avail.
All of a sudden there was a lurch upward. The net started to move upward bringing the fish and him all up and above surface. He could feel as they broke the surface of the water. The sun shone through the fish and touched his skin directly. It was warm and he would have enjoyed it more if not for the circumstances. The net came to a halt in the air and then lurched to the side. The next time it stopped he and the fish fell from the sky and smashed against a hard wood surface. He hit his head pretty hard but he had no time to worry about it. Pushing himself up Haruka gazed around him. All around him fish flopped around as they tried to escape back to the sea only to be stopped by the walls of the pit they were dropped in. Looking up he stared back into the eyes of the seven fishermen on board the ship.
They stared back at him in shock. Some unable to take their eyes away from his, others eyes were glued to his tail as it swished back and forth across the deck. Slowly he pushed himself back and away from the eyes of the fishermen until his back hit against the largest side of the pit. His arms wrapping around himself in a weak attempt to shield himself from their prying eyes.
"Lock up the pit!" Yelled one of the fishermen with a strange hat that none others wore. All of a sudden all of the fishermen broke out in a rush and were moving and yelling all over the deck. A large tarp was being drawn over him and once more blocking out the sun. In a panic Haruka tried to follow the light but slipping over the other fish he fell and was forced to watch as the sun disappeared. He sat there alone in the dark. Forced to listen as the fish around him struggle to breathe as they slowly died.
He couldn't see his fingers in front of his own face and had no clue where the ship was going to bring him or what would happen when they got there. His only hope was that they would get there soon. He could last above water until his tail dried. After that he would meet the same fate as the rest of the fish around him. Then again that might be a better end then one of the many situations he was told about would happen to him if he was ever caught. All he could hope for was that one day he would once again be able to swim freely in the ocean though there wasn't high hope in him.
He could still hear the crew rushing about on the deck. There words were muffled but their excited yelling could only mean one thing. Their catch was good and he was part of it. He would catch words every now again like money, research and display. None of them sat well with him. The ride seemed to have gone on forever but he knew that they were close to shore so it couldn't have been more then ten minutes. When the ship stopped he could hear more voices and footsteps. The tarp was removed from the pit and the sun was once again visible. It burned his skin and he tried to bloke his eyes with his arm.
A rope was tossed down and wrapped around the arm that was held up. It scraped at his arm fins and yanked his arm away from his side. Another rope followed and wrapped around his other arm. Together they yanked him forward and he was thrown on his face amongst the fish. Shouts to be careful were heard before more ropes were thrown down along with a few people who jumped in. The slowly walked towards him holding onto the ends of the rope that were thrown in earlier. He thrashed and tried to pull away as they got closer and closer. They were hushing at him and telling him he was going to be okay and that he should stop thrashing but the closer they got the bigger the struggle he put on.
They jumped at him and while half of the men held him down the other half wrapped the ropes around his waist and tail. One man even shoved a piece of cloth in his mouth to keep him from biting his tongue. Once he was all tied up the men were pulled from the pit and together they all pulled him up and out. Holding him down once more they wrapped the ropes around him until he couldn't move. Then together they lifted him up and carried him over and off the side of the boat. His eyes darted frantically around him as he tried to figure out where he was.
There was no sign of other human life forms besides a large black vehicle with two men dressed all in black standing next to it. Once they saw the fisherman hauling him off the ship they walked over and stopped in front of them. One man held a large black suitcase and extended it towards the fisherman with the strange hat. He walked towards the two men and opened the suitcase. Smiling he nodded and took the suitcase after closing it up. The two men then proceeded towards him and the other fishermen who still held him captive.
"He's pretty strong, it took our whole crew to hold him down are you sure just the two of you can hold him?" Asked one of the fishermen.
"We've handled larger things then this thing we'll be fine." One of the men answered as he grabbed Haruka's fin. The other one took him under the arms and together they carried him into the back of their van. They were right. Both of them carried him easily even with all of his struggling. The back of the van doors swung open and he was pushed inside. Inside sat a woman with long blonde hair and glasses. She too wore a black suit and smiled at him as the other two men tied his arms to two hooks that were welted to the inside of the vehicle. His tail was then locked down to the floor. Once he was all locked down the two men closed the trunk doors and climbed into the front of the van and started to drive.
The woman smiled gently at him as she spoke. "You must be wondering what is going on and why this is happening to you." Haruka just continued to stare at her. His eyes narrowed as she continued to speak. "No need to glare we won't hurt you. Ah but then again you may just need water." As she said this she drew a spray bottle from her purse. Haruka eyed it suspiciously as the lady brought it down to his fin and sprayed him with it. The water was a great relief to his almost dried up gills and he relaxed at it against his will.
The lady smiled at this and continued. "As I was saying we aren't going to hurt you. It's very rare for us to be able to catch a mermaid. Even rarer for one to be as healthy and young as you. We will just be taking you to a tank in the city where we will take care of you and study you without using drugs or knifes. Sounds like a good deal right?" Haruka continued to glare at her and to show his disapproval yanked at his confinements.
The lady sighed at his behavior. "Well it's no use to disagree since we will continue to do as we please either way." With that the lady sprayed him once more and sat back in silence. Her creepy, gentle smile still present on her face. He had no clue how long the ride lasted but every now and again the lady would spray him with the water bottle to keep him hydrated. He felt drained from all that has happened but even more so he felt that it wasn't safe to pass out. For the entirety of the ride he forced himself to stay awake. His eyes never straying away from the lady who smiled the entire way up.
When the van finally came to a halt the spray bottle was half empty. The Vehicle doors were pulled open and the two men stood in front of him once more this time accompanied by one more as big as the other two. They allowed the lady to walk out and then grabbed at him so that they could undo the bodings tying him to the van. They lifted him up and then followed the lady into a large building. Inside there was a long hall with numerous doors. Each one labeled with something. They carried him down the hall and he read the labels. Shark tank, Whale tank, fish tank, Penguin tank, dolphin tank, octopus tank and more. They finally came to a stop at the furthest door.
The lady took out a large key chains with numerous keys, once she found the one she was looking for she unlocked the door and they entered. It lead to a descending staircase that seemed to go down a long way. After walking for a few minutes they came upon another door. The lady once more produced her set of keys and unlocked that door. It opened to a large room that had a large pool filled with water and sea plants. The pool had a shallow end for things to perch on and for those not in the pool to interact with whatever is in it without getting soaked past their feet. Around the pool were white tiles with a staircase near the door that led to a walk way over looking the pool.
The men dropped him on the ground and two held him down while the last one untied him. Once the ropes were gone they none too gently threw him in. Once in he was able to yank the fabric out of his mouth he spat it out and swam deep into the pool. He peered out from behind one of the large plants and glared at the four strangers.
"Oh don't worry sweetie, we're not going to hurt you. You'll grow to love this place." The lady smiled as she crouched down to get closer to the water. "We'll send someone down to check on you daily and feed you. I hope to get along in the future." With that said she stood up and left the room wit her goons following her.
Haruka swam to the shore and pulled himself up onto the tiled floor. Using all the strength he could he dragged his body to the door that he was brought in through. Reaching up he grabbed at the handle and pulled. The door was locked from the outside and refused to budge. Sad he pulled himself across the floor again and into the pool. Swimming down into it's depths he searched every corner of the pool for a vent or something he could swim through. There were no vents large enough for him to get through though. There was however one large gated door that rested at the bottom of the furthest wall from the door. He yanked at the bars and rammed his body against it. Anything to get it to budge. It was not his first let down today.
Giving up Haruka swam towards a slab of rock that rested in the middle of the pool and curled up on it. It looked like the rock he had laid on earlier that day but there was no sun streaming down through the water, no fish swimming by occasionally swimming up to him to say hello, and no freedom. He refused to cry though. Instead he just curled further into himself and struggled to get some sleep.
I hope you all enjoyed the story, this is the first part of it and i'm not sure when i'll be able to update it again but i know i will get around to it. The next part will be in Makoto's pov