Author's Note: -sweats- So… this isn't a one-shot… it's actually gonna be three or four chapters, depending. I have three-fourths of it written… but I figured I could start sharing now… but multi-chaps make me super nervous and anxious because I always worry about making you guys wait too long for updates ;.; Um, I'll try my very best, but I go to a very academically rigorous university (that prides itself in that, too), so please don't get upset if I take a long time! I never abandon anything, but sometimes I need a little extra push to finish things ;.;
Um, anyway, you guys might recall tumblr user yuuba's Sharkboy Gray & Mermaid Juvia AU way back in the summer (if not, I'll link it to my profile), but as always, I'm 2000 years late to things. Anyway, some parts are based/inspired off that, but also goes off in another direction of my own creation, and… yeah.
I haven't done a multichap in… um, a really long time (does a 3-4 shot even count really heh), so I'm super nervous askdslkdfas. I really hope you like it! Please let me know what you think ;.;
Oltremare
Summary: [AU] He only meant to make her cry, not fall in love with her. [Gruvia]
i – nuvole bianche
Her mermaid tail thrashed in the water current swishing around her. Fingers curled in the net containing her, the wire digging into her hands and slicing her skin. It ensnared all around her, tightened mercilessly around her body and constricted her, but all she could do was search the blue sea for an escape before the darkness clouding her vision overwhelmed her.
The wire was caught around her throat, and it was getting so much harder to breathe…
But she still screamed, still fought back with all her being. The boat's engines roared and the propeller spun, pulling her back and pressing the net into her throat. She gasped for air, feeling a sharp, searing pain mark into her neck.
Before her body fell limp, she caught a glimpse of a shark tail, and then her eyes drew closed.
She awoke to the clear blue sky staring down at her. Blinking slowly, dazed in an obscure haze, the girl steadily regained her consciousness before a rush of remembrances suddenly crashed in her mind.
Choked, trapped in a net, the pain of the wires cutting into her skin—the memory sent her launching forward, hyperventilating with a hand over her hammering heart.
"Oi," she heard a voice call, and the mermaid flinched at the sound.
Slowly turning towards her side, Juvia blinked upon finding none other than a… boy?
"Finally awake, huh?"
His words were slightly muffled, his mouth full as he gnawed his teeth on something. Lowering her gaze, she instantly recognized the chewed object—the net, the very same net that had ensnared her. Torn to shreds, he chomped on one end of the wire before spitting it out and tossing the tattered rest aside.
When his gaze returned to hers, her eyes widened. The gills on his neck, the claws on his hands… the sharp rows of teeth lining his mouth, and a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his lips—
He—he was a—
"Hm?" he hummed, raising a brow when she slipped off the rock and plunged into the water. She peeked around the corner of the boulder, fear evident in her eyes, and he chuckled at the sight, flashing his sharp teeth at her. "What, you scared?"
Her eyes were trained on his mouth, and he knew exactly what she was staring at. Raising his hand, he smeared the blood over his lower lip, grinning wickedly before licking it clean.
"Don't worry," he told her. "S'not yours. The humans tried to reel you in, but they lost their grip. Not easy to hang onto something when you're missing a couple fingers."
He smirked at her, baring one of his sharp fangs out of the corner of his mouth. The girl only ducked further behind the rock and peered shyly at him, studying him.
He was… handsome. Intimidating, a little frightening, but he saved her life. Even with the blood smeared across his lips, there was something intriguing about him, and the way he smirked at her—it sent her heart racing, but it wasn't out of fear.
She ducked her head in the water when he swam towards her, leaving only her eyes peeking above the surface. He circled her, her gaze following as he did, carefully watching his movements while he eyed her with an indiscernible expression.
"You still scared?" he taunted mockingly, raising a sardonic brow. "Relax. I'm not going to eat you… yet."
She frowned, timidly studying him from the safety of the water. Her tail swished from one side to the other, ready to kick away as she poked her head above the surface.
"You… won't?" she asked, her voice a soft peep. "Why not?"
He tilted his head lazily, glancing her over. Her voice was thin and delicate, just like the yellow flower adorning her hair. How fitting for such a strange fish girl.
"Because," he began, and he almost grinned at the fear building in her eyes when he moved closer towards her. "You're boring right now. Playing with my food's half the fun, but you're too shocked to be any entertainment."
"But…" she murmured, moving behind the rock once more and peering over the corner, "you rescued Juvia."
"Don't put that in your head," he scoffed. "I didn't do it for you. I was just putting the humans back in their place—this is my territory, not theirs." His dark eyes narrowed dangerously. "What the hell were you doing anyway? Who's stupid enough to get themselves caught, don't you know better than to get too close to them?"
The girl shrunk under his reproaching tone, ducking her head and lowering her gaze. "Juvia… just wanted to see the sky…"
He furrowed his brow as she tilted her face up, the blue atmosphere and soft white clouds reflecting in her azure eyes.
Che. Definitely a strange fish girl.
"Um," she began, and he blinked at her shy blush and modest gaze flickering to and away from his, "th… thank you—"
"Don't," he snapped. "I told you, don't get the wrong idea. We're not friends; you're food, nothing else." He turned his back to her, splashing his tail in the water. "Now get out of here, and stay out of my sight. The next time I see you, I will eat you, got that?"
The girl remained silent, watching him carefully. He seemed adamant to keep his back to her and dismiss her just like that, not even bothering to learn her name, nor give her his own.
Tugging her lips in a pensive frown, she turned her back towards him before promptly diving back into the water.
The next day, Gray knew he was being followed.
It was like there was a shadow he couldn't shake, no matter which path he went. But whenever he turned around, he met nothing but clear waters. This happened over and over, and the repeating pattern irritated him—he knew someone was tailing him, so where were they hiding?
Swimming a little further ahead, he passed a large boulder, gliding idly along the current before suddenly whipping around. He immediately trained his gaze on the area behind him—only to find an empty space once again.
Growling to himself, he peered over the side of the stone and glanced around, oblivious to the presence of the blue-haired mermaid holding a hand over her thumping heart as she carefully hid herself from his prying gaze.
He grazed his claws against the rock before moving away, and she exhaled a quiet breath, waiting patiently to hear him swimming through the waters once more. Upon hearing his tail kick, she swam out of from the boulder's shadow, moving carefully to follow—
"Gotcha!"
"Aah!"
She flinched, tilting away from his smirking face leaning towards her.
"I knew there was someone following me," he muttered, his pupils narrowing to slits. "I thought I told you to stay away, fish girl. You know what happens now?"
The girl visibly trembled, tears brimming the corner of her eyes while she blushed at their close proximity. "I—I…"
"I'm gonna eat you," he growled, flashing his sharp teeth in a crooked grin. "Starting with the best part." He grabbed her waist, pulling her roughly towards him. She squeaked at the movement, her palms pressing against his chest while he smirked wickedly at her. "Your tail."
She moved her hands to her mouth, peeking up at him with a rosy blush coloring her cheeks. She peered at him through her thick lashes, her blue hair flowing in the water around her with the petals of her flower ornament swaying in the ocean current.
He twitched at the sight, feeling his own cheeks grow warm. "Oi, stop looking like that… I… I'm gonna eat you…"
She whimpered softly, the cute little sound escaping from behind her hands.
He cursed under his breath, roughly shaking his head and focusing his wandering thoughts.
"Okay, listen up!" he barked, gripping her upper arms as her hands fell from her face. Her arms were thin in his grasp, as if any sudden movement would break her, but he shoved the thought to the back of his mind, concentrating on the task at hand. Her blushing face and glistening eyes weren't going to be a distraction, dammit. "This is a simple rule: eat or be eaten. No offense, but your fate is to end up in my stomach, so stop looking like this. Close your eyes, and I promise I'll do it short and sweet."
She stared up at him, her large blue eyes bright and further accentuated by the shade of her hair. They were almost pretty, he noticed, until she covered her eyes behind her hands and peeped a timid, "Okay."
He blinked at her acquiescence, leading another damn blush spread across his cheeks. How was she so obedient? So willing to lay down her life, just like that? Where was the fun of the fear in her eyes, the thrill of seeing her squirm?
Clicking his tongue, he looked away, grumbling under his breath. Her hands gradually lowered from her eyes, resting over her cheeks as she peered up at him.
"Forget it," he muttered, begrudgingly returning his gaze to her. "You spoiled my appetite… next time there won't be any mercy, got that?"
She blinked, lowering her gaze to his mouth, and then she leaned forward, pressing her lips against his. His eyes instantly widened, but the sensation only lasted for a brief moment before she quickly pulled away.
Jerking back, Gray swiped his mouth with the back of his hand, staring at her in bewilderment. "What—What the hell was that?!"
The girl looked away and placed her fingers over her mouth, giggling to herself with a deep blush painting her cheeks. "Just like the humans."
His eyes narrowed dangerously, "What?"
When her gaze rose to his, her face flushed pink under the intensity of his piercing stare. "U-Um, Juvia just wanted to try what the humans do. It means 'thank you', she thinks." Swimming away while covering her mouth, she softly peeped, "Did Juvia do it wrong?"
Gray muttered under his breath, looking away. "You really are naïve, aren't you, fish girl?"
"Juvia," she said.
"What?"
"My name… is Juvia," the girl repeated quietly. Leaning towards him, she tilted her head, her cheeks flushing as she added, "I want to be your friend."
Gray stared blatantly at her, studying her face. She wanted to be his friend. Even though he ate her kind for a living. Was she serious?
He furrowed his brow, squinting at her. "I don't make friends with food."
"Juvia isn't food," she pouted.
"Yeah?" he replied, raising a challenging brow. "Then what are ya?"
She met his eyes, her gaze stubborn yet insistent. "Your friend."
Gray's amusement fell from his face, a heavy frown setting in his features. "You don't even know my name."
"What is it?" she asked.
"Not important," he replied. "You won't live long enough to remember it anyway."
Fear flashed in her eyes, but interestingly enough, she didn't shrink away. She still held her ground, floating in front of him, despite the fact that her body began to tremble.
Her distress was so entertaining.
"But," he added, tilting his head and looking in her eyes, "say we are friends. What would we do then?"
Juvia grew quiet, idly glancing around while wrapping her arms around herself. "J… Juvia doesn't know."
Gray arched a brow, looking at her suspiciously. "What do ya mean you don't know? You don't got any friends?"
She looked back at him, silent. Gray blinked before clearing his throat, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.
"Er, right. Well, what do you do for fun?"
"Fun? Um… oh!" Her face instantly brightened, and the fearful trembling in her body was suddenly replaced with quivering excitement. "Juvia goes collecting!"
"Collecting?" Gray echoed, raising an inquisitive brow.
"Yes!" the girl replied excitedly. "Do you want to see?!"
"What?" he said. "I, um—"
"Follow Juvia!" she chirped, dashing through the sea with her tail kicking behind her. Gray furrowed his brow as he watched her go.
He could just let her leave, and that would be the end of it. If she knew what was good for her, he'd probably never see her again. But… he had never let a prey escape him alive, and she did look so delicious…
Setting his jaw, he swam forward, reluctantly trailing after her.
She was a fast swimmer, he noticed. Not fast enough for him, but he certainly wasn't drifting along to keep up with her.
The way she darted through the water was impressive. She was clearly familiar with the area, zipping through the currents and moving with the flow to accentuate her speed. Her blue mermaid tail would jolt, her yellow fin gliding swiftly, and her body spun through the ocean while Gray followed behind.
Before long, he found himself in an underwater cove with columns of rows surrounding him, Juvia happily darting around each layer and picking up a new treasure to share with him.
"This one Juvia found in an abandoned ship," she announced, showing him a shattered glass of a ship in a bottle. "This boat is tiny compared to the one Juvia found it in. That one was huge!" She stretched her arms out on either side of her, "So big, much, much bigger than Juvia!" Picking up a broken music box, Juvia held it before his face. "This one Juvia found on the shore of a beach. The mother placed it there and whispered a prayer that a mermaid take it to the bottom of the ocean, so… Juvia took it there." She placed it down tenderly, gently tracing the intricate pattern on the box with her finger. "This box belonged to her daughter. Juvia remembers seeing the two of them together, and Juvia let the girl see her once… she was very happy." Snapping out of her melancholy, she swam up a couple rows, lifting a cigar pipe. "This treasure was thrown away deep into the sea—"
As she trailed off, Gray glanced around the cove. The sun's rays streamed in the ceiling, highlighting the diverse collection she'd gathered. It must had taken her a while, given the amount of objects filling every row of this cove alone.
Something silver glinted in his peripheral vision, catching his attention. Turning his head, he arched a brow at the item, taking it in his hand. It was a sharp silver dagger, the edge particularly jagged with the handle laced in glittering jewels.
"Hey," he called, interrupting her speech as he held the blade in his opposite palm and turned the dagger over, "what's this one?"
Juvia paused, glancing down to the item in her hand before taking it from his grasp. "Juvia will get to it, shark-san, but she must finish this row first."
Shark-san? he echoed in his head, fighting the amused smirk twitching on his lips. Her weird speaking habit, coupled with her strange courteousness—yeah, she definitely came from different waters.
She continued rambling on, and he half-listened, leaning his side against a wall with his arms crossed over his chest. When she took a pause to catch her breath, he placed down whatever object he'd been idly inspecting, giving her a side-glance. "You have a lot of human things."
"Almost everything is," Juvia replied matter-of-factly, and Gray arched a brow. It was almost as if she was… proud of it.
"You like the humans," he concluded, his mouth setting in a thin line.
Holding a small handmade doll—a teru teru bozu, she called it—Juvia idly stroked the cloth. "They… fascinate Juvia, but her view of them is… complicated."
He stared hard at her, his jaw clenching as her gaze grew distant.
"Juvia… was very young when her parents died. They were killed—"
"—by the humans," Gray growled.
"No…" Her lashes lowered, her fingers delicately gliding down the outline of the doll. "They were killed by sharks."
His eyes narrowed. "If they were killed by sharks, why would you want to be around one?"
"Just because one shark hurt Juvia doesn't mean all will," she retorted, shifting her gaze to his. "Juvia doesn't believe that."
"You're naïve," Gray scowled.
"Juvia knows the humans can kill too," she replied. "But… not all of them do. One rescued Juvia, soon after she lost her parents. Juvia's fin became caught in a rock, and there was a boat coming towards her. She could see the propellers spinning towards her, and she thought—" She tensed up, staring vacantly before slowly regaining her voice. "Juvia thought… she was going to die, but then, a human came. He was wearing a mask, something like…" She glanced around herself before picking up a scuba diving mask, "something like this. He moved the rock and let the Juvia escape. He didn't try to follow Juvia, or take pictures of her… he just saved her."
Swimming towards the ceiling of the cove, she looked up to the sky, fixing her gaze on the drifting clouds.
"Their customs are different, and they look different, but the sky connects us, the land and the sea. But on land, they have such freedom, and so many wonderful sights… does shark-san know what a tree is?"
"A tree," Gray repeated flatly, his head tilted back to look up at her.
Juvia nodded gently, a dreamy smile curving her lips. "There are many different kinds on land. When they are gathered together, the humans call it a forest. Juvia wants to see one… she wants to see all the sights humans have."
Gray clicked his tongue, swimming up to her side. "You know," he said, circling her, "there's a legend that mermaids devour human souls, so even if you got near 'em, you'd probably just kill 'em."
Juvia pouted at him, and Gray almost laughed at her sour expression. "That's not true," she mumbled. "Just because you hear something doesn't make it true."
"That right?" he mocked.
"Everyone says shark people are scary," she retorted, "but Juvia doesn't think shark-san is scary."
"You don't find me scary?" He swam towards her, amused as she instinctively shrank away from him, soon finding her back against a wall. He raised his hand and flicked out one black claw, dragging it across her cheek before roughly grasping her jaw. "You sure about that?"
Her eyes widened as her body grew incredibly still, and he thrived off the terror in her gaze. Chuckling, he suddenly released her face, passing his hand through his hair.
"Don't delude yourself," he said. "You can get your fin wet over the humans all you want, but I ain't like you. You're still my food, just like they're still killers."
"S-Shark-san—"
"And the name's Gray," he added. "Stop calling me this 'shark-san' shit. Sounds weird."
She stared at him, eyes wide at the sudden revelation. "Gray…" she repeated hesitantly. "Like… your tail."
The appendage flicked upon mention, curling behind him while he snickered. "Yeah. Sure."
She took his hand, making him blink as she shook it in her own. "Juvia is pleased to officially meet you," she said, tilting her head with a warm smile on her features.
He blinked at her, feeling an unfamiliar feeling stir in his chest. Snapping his gaze away, he looked down at her hand holding his, furrowing his brow in confusion. "What are you doing?"
She looked at him, only to follow his pointed gaze and erupt in a blush. "Ah—um—Juvia always see the humans do this when they meet someone, so…"
"Tch," he sneered, ripping his hand out of her grasp. "Don't associate me with them."
"Sorry," she said quickly, scooting away from him.
He arched a brow, then scoffed. "Whatever. S'not that big a deal."
"…Gray," she murmured, but when he looked at her, she was looking at the ground, saying his name slowly as if to memorize it. "Gray… Gray… Gray…sama."
He squinted at her. Gray-sama? It sounded so… foreign, definitely something he'd never heard before.
She shrunk under his gaze, ducking her head and clasping her hands to her chest as though she were about to get scolded. "Sorry," she peeped again. "Did—Did Juvia do something wrong?"
He simply stared at her, noting the timid uncertainty in her gaze. She seemed to cower further away from him the longer he held his silence, so he cleared his throat, brushing off her worries with a casual shrug.
"Do whatever you want."
"Gray-sama," she said once more, experimentally, and his eyebrows furrowed at the sound. It would definitely take some getting used to. "Um…"
He glanced at her, finding the luminescent rays from the surface casting into the underwater cove and passing over her features. She was fidgeting slightly, shyly pressing the tips of her fingers together as her gaze averted to a corner.
"Juvia… just wanted… to thank you."
He lifted a brow at this, idly ruffling his hair. "For what?"
She twirled a lock of hair around her finger. "For, um… listening to Juvia talk about her treasures. She's never had anyone to share them with before."
He blinked. "Oh. Uh—" Clearing his throat, he rubbed the back of his neck, directing his gaze to the view above him before he heard her voice peep once more.
"Does Gray-sama have any treasures?" she asked. He looked at her, finding her eyes trained on the pendant on his neck. "Like… Gray-sama's necklace, maybe?"
"Huh?" he said, glancing down and taking the shark tooth necklace in his hand. "This thing?"
"The tooth looks like Gray-sama's," Juvia remarked. "It must be very special."
He fell eerily quiet, lost in the memories assaulting his mind. A cage with thick metal bars, sparks lighting up the dark ocean depths, thick, permeating clouds of blood—
He felt a hand over his, snapping him out of his thoughts. He hadn't realized he'd clenched his jaw, or that his hand was curled so tight it was shaking in unrestrained fury. Her hand was soft against his, gentle in stilling his trembling, and her face was creased with concern, worry evident in her ocean blue eyes.
"It's nothing," he muttered, but she frowned when his hand resumed shaking and his teeth ground together. "Just a reminder that I got a vengeance to pay."
In the shadow of an underwater cave, Gray glanced to the pendant on his neck, clenching his teeth.
He and the fish girl parted ways not too long after. She had finished showing him her treasure collection, and he was no longer interested in making any more small talk. Before he left, she had taken his hand, asking when she would be able to see him again.
Her persistence puzzled him. He clearly frightened her, and she was very aware of his threat, yet she still insisted on staying in his company.
Normally he wouldn't even entertain the idea. He would just bite her, taste her sweet mermaid tail and devour her like any another delicious meal. But with the burdening reminder on his neck weighing him down, he realized something.
This strange little fish girl was more than just a tasty dinner. She had something he needed.
Everyone knew the legend—drink a mermaid's tear and gain their life span of 300 years. Sharks barely had a quarter of that life expectancy. At most, they lived to 30 years—they were lucky if they made it to 25.
At 20, Gray knew his time was getting limited.
Maybe it was fate, then, that he found her tangled in the human net. She reminded him of the vengeance he swore to take, and provided a means to get it done. All he had to do was make her cry, and given her insistence on seeing him, it would hardly take long. Once she shed her tear, she'd be nothing more than a tasty meal.
Simple as that.
