Tobio had never really liked the sea. It was dark, heavy, and it smelt bad. The reason his parents had dragged him to this dinner cruise was beyond him. Granted, it was a work-related affair, but did that really mean dragging along their teenage son was necessary? After sitting through the formalities and speeches, Tobio escaped to the lower deck and stood at the railing near the side. It was raining pretty hard out so he couldn't go all the way to the bow, but at least the wind blew away the strong smell of alcohol and perfume.

He took a deep breath of the fresh air, fingers twitching. Damn, he really wanted to play. Normally he would be an hour into practice by now but instead, he was stuck on this damn boat. He pushed himself onto the railing until he was sitting comfortably with his back to the water. It probably wasn't the safest maneuver out there, but his feet hurt and there was no way in hell he was going back into the main cabin.

"Tobio!"

Crap.

He looked up to see his mother walking unsteadily through the small hallway, a large group of women behind her.

"There you are! We were just talking about you!"

They all crammed themselves under the tiny overhang of the lower deck and proceeded with their gossiping. In the midst of this, Tobio realized two things. One, they were all drunk to some degree. Two, he really needed to get down from the railing. If any of them lost their balance and accidentally hit him, there was a good chance of falling overboard.

Tobio was trying to squirm his way down, though not making much process, when the boat really started to rock. One of the women slipped and fell back towards him, effectively getting him off the railing, but sadly on the wrong side. He gave a shout of alarm as he fell, his mother's panicked scream cut off quickly by the water closing in over his head.

Strangely, Tobio's first reaction to being suddenly submerged in the ocean was not panic. It was more of a 'HOLY FUCK THAT'S COLD' kind of thing. Then the panic set in. It was dark, he couldn't tell which way was up, and the ocean had sharks. Big ones. With teeth.

He tried to open his eyes as he flailed his arms about, but the saltwater stung so much he had to keep them shut. He was running out of air. This was bad. He could feel himself getting tired, the lack of oxygen making his brain shut down. His body went limp.

He felt something brush by his leg. A fish? His mind screamed at him to move and conjured up terrifying images of what was there with him, but he just couldn't. Then something touched his shoulder. Strangely, it felt like… a hand? Two arms wrapped around his upper body, a hand held the base of his head. He felt something push open his lips and he desperately tried to take a breath, though he knew that there was only water around him. To his surprise, air flowed in through his lips. He took another breath, and another, his body relaxing now that he wasn't in any immediate danger of death.

The person holding onto him tightened their grip, then Tobio felt water moving past him. He was being taken somewhere? He felt his head break the surface and his mouth was freed. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes, vision blurry. He could make out a face, a little smaller than his own, with large eyes. The person in front of him reached forwards with one hand and brushed Tobio's sodden hair out of his eyes, then smiled and let go completely. Tobio panicked for a moment, then his feet hit the sandy bottom. He had been brought to a beach? His rescuer leaned closer.

"You really should go to a hospital. And swim during the day next time stupid!"

A boy's voice. Tobio could only stare as the boy turned around and dove back into the waves.

No way.

Impossible.

From the waist down, he had a tail?

It took a few minutes before Tobio realized he was still standing chest deep in the ocean. It was freezing. He dragged himself out of the water and collapsed on the sand. He was so tired. He had no idea how long he'd been underwater. The adrenaline in his system was gone, leaving only the exhaustion that comes with a near death experience.

After some time, he heard yelling and a few people came running up beside him.

"Oi! Are you okay?"

"Can you hear me?"

"Someone call an ambulance!"

"What's your name?"

He managed to tell them his name, then passed out. He was done.

Tobio woke up to a white ceiling and the smell of disinfectant. This was definitely not his room. He sat up slowly, taking a good look at his surroundings. When his eyes rested on the pitcher of water on the bedside table, everything came rushing back. He'd been at a party, a drunken lady had knocked him off the boat, and then a merman had saved him. He could barely believe it, but it was the truth. He must be in a hospital. Tobio sat there for a few minutes trying to figure out what to do. He would have gotten up to try and find someone, but a quick glance told him that he was wearing a hospital gown. Which meant that his butt would be completely uncovered. There goes that idea.

After further inspection, he saw a small device with a red button next to the pitcher. It would probably call a nurse. He reached over and pushed to button, a small 'beep' ringing out. It didn't take long for a nurse to come into the room.

"Ah, so your awake. How are you feeling dear?"

She smiled at him and propped her clipboard on her hip, pen at the ready.

"Tired. Where is this?"

"This is a hospital. You came in yesterday night. A group of college students found you on the beach. Do you remember anything?"

"Yeah. I was on a boat, but then someone accidentally knocked me off and I fell into the ocean. The next thing I knew there were people asking my name."

Tobio decided to leave out the merman bit. In this case, they'd probably think he had brain damage and send him in for a host of unnecessary tests. He didn't have time for that. He wanted to be back on the court.

"Okay, and I'll need you parents names and phone numbers so that we can contact them."
Tobio quickly relayed the information.

"Hmm… Okay. I'll go call them and let them know you're here. We've still got to run some more tests to make sure you're okay though, so you'll be staying the night. Don't go anywhere! If you need anything, just press the button."

And with that, she left, leaving Tobio with nothing to do other than stare into space and go back to sleep until the doctors came by.

Tobio had never understood why people used the term 'blubbering' to describe tears, but upon seeing his mother, he found that it fit perfectly. It took about an hour of 'I'm okay', 'it's not your fault' and 'excuse me, could I please have another tissue box' until the poor woman calmed down. Still, she wouldn't let go of his hand until the nurses came and forcefully kicked her out at the end of visiting hours. Then came the tests. They needed to make sure that his lungs were clear and his brain was still functioning after being in the water so long. Thankfully, the merman had been smart enough to drop him on a beach that was close to the boat, so no one suspected anything out of the ordinary.

When he was finally allowed back to bed, he was relieved. The tests had all turned out fine so he would be released the day after tomorrow. They told him to take it easy for a week, just to be certain, but Tobio knew that there was no way in hell he'd sit on his butt for seven days. He'd give it three. If nothing weird happened, then he'd go back to his normal routine.

He flopped back onto the bed, thankful his mother had brought him proper pyjamas so he didn't have to worry about his backside so much. Tobio stared at the ceiling as he tried to get to sleep.

A merman huh…

He wondered whether it had all been a dream, but decided that it must have happened. There was no other reason why his lungs were completely clear of water and he hadn't received any brain damage from lack of oxygen.

He tried to remember the merman's face, but the only thing he could properly recall was the boy's voice. Tobio was curious. He definitely wanted to meet this creature again.

But first, he had to get out of this hospital.