Abiding

He came to live by the sea with his grandfather at the age of nine, and he had loved and respected the vast body of water for many reasons, one of which was because of his interest in the people living in it. Maybe it was because his grandfather wasn't originally from Land. Maybe it was because his younger days had been spent with four children from Shioshishio. Maybe it was because he's had a life-threatening experience back in his school days when he had fallen out of a boat and nearly drowned during their attempt at an Ofunehiki.

Or maybe it was because they had taken in a girl from the sea and had ended up having to live with her alone in one big house when his grandfather was taken into the hospital.

And maybe it was because of these circumstances did Kihara Tsumugu feel like fate was being utterly unfair to him, because said girl they had taken in was still in love with a childhood friend who, in the five years that had passed, did not look like he had aged a day older than fourteen.

Hiradaira Chisaki was cruel to him. And to herself. And there had been times when Tsumugu had wondered why she thought that moving on and giving in to change was such an unacceptable thing. She had grown. So much so that even he was surprised at how five years could make someone look so utterly beautiful to him without even trying. Chisaki was never vain. She had kept her face untouched by makeup, and Tsumugu believed that it was because she didn't need any of those to enhance her beauty; she was just naturally so. Of course, back when they were young, he had always thought her pretty. Tall for her age, which Tsumugu knew she secretly detested, almost every boy in their class had eyes for her, though none were brave enough to say it out loud to the girl who had lovely, glistening ena wrapped around her like a second skin.

At that time, Tsumugu couldn't say that he had 'like' liked her. Circumstances just happened and he had always found himself alone with her. Sometimes it was her and him and Mukaido. Sometimes it was all five of them altogether. Tsumugu was never one to hang out with classmates before, but he had discovered he enjoyed their company.

And he… well… hadn't he been a good sea slug to her back then?

He hadn't really realized it, but perhaps it was because of the circumstances again. Opportunities like passing by just when she had forgotten to wet her ena and nearly fainted during the preparations for the Ofunehiki. Or opportunities like sitting on the rocky shore, watching her soak in sea water that same day while they argued about change, and growing up, and giving up, and moving on. And opportunities at finding out that someone else was in love with her, and that person happened to be his friend, but that friend knew her for the longest time, but he couldn't really care any less because he had realized that maybe he did 'like' like her.

She was turning twenty this year. And somewhere along the way, she had stopped telling him what she was thinking. For the five years that the sea had shut her out, while everyone else slept inside their underwater town, she had changed. And she had hated herself for it.

Change. He had wondered many times why she always had an issue with it. He wished he knew. But during those five years, she had stopped treating him like a red-bellied sea slug. And figuring her out had been far from easy for him, especially when he had moved out for University, and she was a couple of hours away by train and stuck five years in the past.

But that did not stop him from loving her.

It was his grandfather that had decided to take her in. Again with the circumstances. She had cried every night for a couple of days, and he had listened patiently outside her door, many times wondering if it had been the better option to let her cry in peace.

As the days went by, she had started to finally smile again, doing household chores and cooking for him and his grandfather. High school had come and gone in a blur of saltflake snow. He could remember clearly how she had broken down when his grandfather was rushed to the hospital. She had cried, demanding to some higher power maybe, that they not take his grandfather away from her. He had taken her into his arms, and she cried on his chest.

And then College came. She had decided to become a nurse. Perhaps it was because of his grandfather having to be admitted into the local city hospital that had made her want to pursue that career. Nevertheless, Tsumugu thought it suited her; she was just so naturally nurturing, sometimes to the point of overbearing. She would insist on preparing everything for him, like the things he had to bring to College. Tsumugu couldn't help but think it was because of her fear of losing anyone all over again that was making her over-protective.

And despite this – or maybe because of it – Tsumugu had just woken up one night in his dorm room with his heart aching at the thought of her alone in that big house, taking care of an old man who wasn't even related to her. And he found out that he loved her more and more because of that.

Shioshishio was the nearest undersea village to the laboratory that took him in, and because of this did he thank his lucky stars that he had a valid enough reason (excuse?) to come home to her. His professor, Mihashi Satoru, had teased him about her many times during their stay, telling him that there had to be something going on between a girl and a boy living together under the same roof.

And it had been the night of Tomoebi did he finally put into words the thing that he had been dreading all this time.

"She's been in love with someone else for some time now."

And it had been that same night did the person that she had been in love with for some time now appeared from that frozen body of water, naked, lifeless and very much how he had last seen him five years ago. Sakishima Hikari had woken up from his hibernation, and Chisaki was thrown into a loop once again.

He did not know how to take her shocked reaction when he had reported to her about Hikari's return. She had made some excuse or another, just to put off her visits, claiming she had some a very important test to take. And she had been weird ever since, starting conversations with him, like when he had walked in on her while she was changing and she had just taken off her top.

She had asked him, pretty boldly in fact, about what he thought of her body. It was a question he'd had a hard time answering, because… well… just because. And then she started talking about change again, about how she wanted Hikari to stay exactly how he was. And then she had started crying again, because she had changed. And he told her what he thought of her really. That he thought she had changed, and that she had become much, much prettier than before.

But that was just not enough for her.

He didn't really fully understand what she was feeling, but he knew her pain. He had been there, after all, for the first year after the Ofunehiki when she had been adamant about going back into the sea to look for her friends. And he had been there, waiting for her to resurface from that hole in the ice, only to hear about how a current or something had kept her at bay every single time. He had been there when she cried in frustration that she was being kept away from her home, or from her family, or from finding her friends. And they would go home together, his jacket around her shoulders and his hands in his pockets and his thoughts scattered everywhere. And she would be sobbing silently as she walked a few steps behind him, sometimes ahead of him, but never beside him.

And that was why it had bothered Tsumugu when Chisaki just wouldn't go and see Hikari, although deep down inside, he was a bit frightened about what would happen if she did. In the end, he had approached Hikari about why he and Chisaki had been avoiding each other. That had earned him an outburst from a Hikari who was in denial about the whole thing. And that was when he understood that there were things in this world you wouldn't be able to understand, even if you wanted to. Like the world Chisaki and Hikari shared. Or the feelings Chisaki had for Hikari. Or the feelings Hikari didn't have for Chisaki, but for someone else who was still asleep under that ice.

And then one night she had come home with eyes all teary, standing outside their front door. And that was when Tsumugu knew she had met with Hikari. Had that been a good thing? A bad thing? He was never good at dealing with insecurity, because he had never been insecure in his life. Until now.

The insecurity was one thing, but things started getting even more complicated. And that was when Isaki Kaname woke up.

He and Chisaki had set off for the Fishery the moment they heard news of Kaname coming back to the surface. He had greeted the (younger) boy with a smile, genuinely relieved that he was okay. But he did not miss the look in Kaname's eyes as he shifted his gaze from Tsumugu to Chisaki. But Kaname was different from Hikari, and just like Kaname always handled things, he smiled and brushed everything aside, greeting them in return with a happy, "Good morning, Chisaki. Tsumugu."

Of course, Tsumugu couldn't miss the biting remarks that came from Kaname, especially when he found out that Tsumugu and Chisaki were living together. But Tsumugu had been more worried about Chisaki's wellbeing, and he had thought that things were being a bit too overwhelming for her. She had said she was fine, but Tsumugu knew better. He had, after all, been watching her for five whole years.

And she did not look fine at all. Chisaki plundering his grandfather's secret plum wine stash in the middle of the night was proof of that.

And that had been the same night Kaname had pushed him into a corner, making him say what he really felt for Chisaki. But he had been glad – relieved, even – that he got to tell someone about it, though he had a feeling people around them were already talking.

He was in love with her. And he'd be damned if he let a couple of fourteen-year-olds steal her away from him.

But who was he kidding? He knew that things weren't as easy as that. Things were changing. And Chisaki had always been afraid of change.

And then they found Mukaido. And Tsumugu didn't know if things got worse or better for Chisaki then.

"You've been reading that same page for the past thirty minutes."

Tsumugu looked up to see Chisaki watching him, her hands paused in mid-fold. They were in the living room, books, papers and other documents scattered around him, shirts, pants and skirts surrounding her. The hearth crackled happily, fire licking at the timber he had stacked in it not a few hours ago.

Tsumugu closed the book he was holding, rubbed his eyes tiredly. He was getting nowhere with his research. Thoughts about Chisaki and Kaname and Hikari and everything else that's happened for the past week spinning around in his head like the whirlpool that had sucked him during the Ofunehiki.

Only worse.

Much, much worse.

"I spaced out," he said, gathering his materials into one neat pile.

Chisaki resumed her folding, smiling ruefully. "It's getting late. The bath's ready."

Tsumugu watched her in the corner of his eye as she went on with her task. He wondered what she was thinking. "You look tired. Are you okay?"

Chisaki paused, looked up once again. "Really? That's funny. I don't feel tired at all."

She was always very good at keeping her feelings in, especially after she had fired him as her personal red-bellied sea slug. But Tsumugu was not one to push, and he knew good things never came when pushing Chisaki. He rolled his shoulders back, stretched his arms over his head. "Hey."

"Hm?"

Things were happening. Bigger things. Bigger than the both of them. He had his research, and he had his priorities. He was a busy man, and so he wondered where he found the time to daydream about this girl sitting across him, right now in the middle of folding his boxer shorts.

Hikari, Kaname and Mukaido had come back to them. And finally, it was like the time that had stopped five years ago had finally started to move, if slowly. And Chisaki was finally seeing through adult eyes. And Tsumugu was just seeing her, period.

One of these days, he'll have to tell her. Her feelings for Hikari were not changing, he knew. Kaname's feelings for her were not changing as well.

And his feelings… well…

His feelings might change.

But that was because he could only love her more.

"It's a bit warm. Do you want some plum wine tonight?" he asked.

Chisaki's eyes widened, blinked in pleasure. "Oh, so you feel like sharing your grandfather's wine tonight when you were so selfishly guarding it before?" she teased.

Tsumugu could only shrug at her as he pushed himself up. "I'll go get us some cups."

She laughed. "That sounds wonderful." She abandoned her folding and followed behind him. "Let me get us some ice."

Yes, time had started moving again. And he needed to start moving as well. Forward. Always forward, he knew. With Chisaki, he couldn't help but.

A/N: I have a soft spot for underrated anime and manga. But lately, I've been experiencing too many feels for this couple. I ship them so bad it hurts. Tsumugu's adorable. Before the five-year time skip, I was rooting for Kaname and Chisaki. I hadn't expected the twist in the plot, but when I re-watched the older episodes, the chemistry between Chisaki and Tsumugu was definitely there, it was so obvious I didn't know why I missed it in the first place. I hope things work out for them.

Anyway, this one shot might make no sense. Just a few ramblings from Tsumugu's point of view, because he seldom expresses himself in the anime. I'm crossing my fingers for closure in next three to four episodes.

Anyway, thanks for reading and drop me a review because I love reviews. XD