A/N: It's been forever since I wrote, well, anything. Life with depression and new jobs and other things got in the way, but I've decided to push past all my struggles and to go back to my writing. So, here's my newest fic, for the show I fell in love with, and hopefully I'll be able to get to updating my unfinished fic also. I hope you guys enjoy the story!
Prolouge
It was a normal day at the seaside town of Otonozaki, the sky shined brightly and the streets were bustling with its townspeople. As the fishermen used the warm day as a perfect opportunity for catching the best fish and repairing boats, the main streets were lined with shops and merchants selling their goods.
Among the citizens walking around doing their daily tasks, was a little girl weaving through their legs, searching every nook and corner. A few of the adults walking around looked at the girl and softly chuckled, not at all disturbed or annoyed by the girl.
The girl with long sandy hair reached the area of the town where small booths were lined up, for those not wealthy enough to purchase and own their own shop, or would rather not have one for any reason. She peaked behind the booths, searching each one with determination.
Finally, as she looked behind a booth, she glanced and the booths ahead of her and smiled as she spotted what she had been searching for. With a bounce in her step, the young girl walked behind multiple booths until she reached the one she wanted.
There, at the corner of the booth, partly hidden by the piece of cloth hanging down the table, was another young girl. Her dark blue hair was a stark contrast from the white cloth she was under, and the other girl had to stifle her laughter. The merchant who was at the table was showing her product to a customer, not even paying attention to either of the two small girls next to her. The light haired girl slowly crept up on the other girl, getting one last look at the other girl's poor hiding skills before jumping up.
"Found you!" She announced loudly, and the blue haired girl shrieked as she jumped. She looked behind her at the girl, who had her hands behind her back and was smiling brightly. The blue haired girl clenched her shirt as she tried to calm her heart.
"Kotori, you're surprisingly good at this."
"Thanks, Umi-chan." Kotori giggled and Umi smiled at her. The two girls had been friends for a long time, they had met when they were only seven years old, and now at eleven years old, they had only gotten closer.
"All we have left is to find Honoka then." Umi said, and Kotori nodded. The two girls couldn't help but smile at the thought of their other friend, the one who had allowed the two to even meet each other. Kotori and Honoka had met when they were in school, and Honoka was determined to be her friend. It wasn't that hard, Kotori was never one that was difficult to get along with and Honoka seemed to have a natural ability to draw others to her.
Even for people like Umi, who was too timid and shy to gather the courage to talk to others. She was the quiet one in class, and the first time Honoka had come up to her she had nearly scared the poor girl to death. It seemed jumping up out of nowhere was not the most ideal way to introduce herself to Umi, and the blue haired girl had ran away at first.
Still, Honoka was determined. Umi remembered how Honoka had come up again and again and invited her to any game Honoka was playing with the other kids. Over time, Umi wasn't so nervous to be around so many people, and the feeling of Honoka taking her hand and leading her was a comforting one.
"You girls are always so energetic." The woman behind the stall had said lightly, and they both looked up at the girl smiling down at them.
"Thank you for letting me hide here." Umi thanked as she bowed.
"So polite," The woman muttered to herself. "Good luck finding Honoka-chan." She said and both Umi and Kotori nodded before saying their goodbye and running off together. The woman watched them leave as they mixed into the crowd, shaking her head as she laughed to herself at their antics. "They're such good kids."
Honoka ran in between people, trying to find the best hiding place. All three of them had played hide and seek often, and usually they hid around the same spots. However, this time, Honoka wanted to give Umi and Kotori a challenge.
As she tried to find the best spot, she ran closer to the docks, and looked out at the fishermen working. Because it was such a nice day out, the docks were busier than usual, as everyone wanted to get the most out of chance to work under such nice conditions.
As she surveyed the docks, her eyes came to a stop at a large ship. Her eyes lit up at its large mass, she had been on many ships and boats with the fishermen, but never one that big before. Though they were down, Honoka could tell that the flags weren't the newest and the ship itself looked like it had seen better days.
Luckily, the fishermen were busy enough for Honoka to slip by unnoticed. She walked down the docks with her head hung low, trying to avoid eye contact and be as invisible as possible. Once she reached the ship, she stopped and stared at it in awe at its size.
She looked behind her once more, at the adults working around her before taking a timid step onto its ramp. As it creaked she paused, not quite sure of what she was doing. She knew she shouldn't just enter a stranger's home, or ship, and she thought about stepping off and turning around and letting Umi and Kotori find her in one of the usual places.
But something inside her told her to continue up the ramp. And so after that step she ran up the ramp, a spring in her step. Once she reached the top she jumped down, and duck under the railing. The drop was bigger than she thought it would be, but at least that meant no one could see her. She turned around and looked at the large space before her.
It was much bigger than any boat or ship she had ever been on, and Honoka couldn't keep the excitement in her. She smiled and ran to another ledge away the one facing the docks, and pulled herself up. She looked at the vast sea, her eyes shining as much as the ocean.
She forced herself to look away and hop down before anyone saw her. She continued to look around with a wide smile on her face, taking in everything she saw.
The deck was certainly spacious, if dirty. There were crates everywhere, some large and some small, as well as empty bottles of alcohol thrown about. As she looked at everything, the only sound she had been hearing were the creaks of the floorboard below her, and she knew there was no one else.
Or at least, that was what she thought, until she heard a sound and froze in her tracks. She felt her heart drop and fear settled in.
Maybe she shouldn't have gone on board.
Honoka listened for the sound again, hoping it was just another noise from the rickety ship. For a moment all she heard were the waves hitting the ship, the birds calling in the sky, nothing out of the ordinary. Until she heard it again, and Honoka had to strain her ears to make sense of what it was. It took time, and a couple more noises of the same sound when Honoka realized it was a muffled… sniffle?
Is someone… crying? Honoka tilted her head questioningly as she listened, unsure. Timidly, she stepped towards the noise, unconsciously scrunching the bottom of her shirt into her fists. She got closer and knelt down behind a crate. She leaned closer to it, and when she heard it again, she knew it was just on the other side. She tried to look between the crates, but from what little spaces there were, there wasn't enough for her to properly see anything.
She looked around the floor around her and her eyes rested upon another empty bottle. She quickly grabbed it and held it upside down with both hands. She slowly knelt up a bit higher on shaky legs as she made her way to the edge of the crate. She paused, took a deep breath, and jumped out to the other side, the bottle up in the air in one hand ready to swing down.
Out of the things she had expected to see, what was in front of her was not one of them. Never in her imagination did Honoka think she would see what she was looking at in the moment. In front of her, trapped by a net on the floor, was a girl her age.
As the girl looked up, Honoka saw her purple eyes widened, red and with dried tears running down her cheeks. Her hair was the brightest red Honoka had ever seen, and Honoka's eyes trailed her down the girl's body.
She felt her face redden when she realized the girl wasn't wearing a shirt and she looked away. As she did so, she noticed the girl's legs. Or rather, where the legs would have been. Instead, there was a large fin just the right length to carry the girl through the water, sparkling against the sun and redirecting the light bounced off.
The bottle in Honoka's hand slowly fell out as her grip of it loosened, and it fell with an audible crashing sound, though Honoka didn't even move. She was entranced by the girl in front of her, something that was told in fairytales, at night when she was younger and couldn't sleep. When her parents would read her stories, and then she heard the stories again when they were read to her little sister.
She had even read her sister some stories herself.
So Honoka knew what was in front of her.
A mermaid.
An honest to god real life mermaid.
Honoka took a step forward, and the girl let out a cry as she squeezed her eyes shut. She tried to move away, but the net and not having physical legs hampered her movement, and she weakly dragged herself back by her arms.
Honoka took another step, slowly, watching the girl curl into herself and make herself as little as possible. After some time, Honoka reached the girl and knelt down. The girl hadn't opened her eyes yet, and Honoka could physically see her trembling.
"Um…" Honoka didn't realize how dry her throat was, and cleared her throat as softly as she could. Honoka looked at the girl's skin, pale and smooth and it seemed a little bruised. There was a noticeable cut on her arm and Honoka reached out a hand. When her fingers touched the area around it, the girl flinched and hissed in pain.
"I'm sorry!" Honoka apologized as she retracted her hand. The girl slowly opened her eyes and looked at Honoka with wide eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise." The girl simply looked away, but her body seemed to loosen up a bit, and she turned a little bit more towards Honoka. "I'm Kousaka Honoka," Honoka greeted with a smile. "What's your name?" The girl didn't say anything, making Honoka frown. She stood up quickly, the abrupt movement making the girl flinch again.
"I'm gonna get you out of there." Honoka promised and turned around. She paused to look around, trying to find something sharp enough to cut the net the girl was trapped in. She glanced at the now broken bottle, but thought better of it. It may be sharp enough to cut skin, but threads of rope were something else. Her eyes continued past the bottle trying to find something, anything, to cut the rope. It was then that she noticed a door under the deck of the highest point of the ship, where the wheel was.
Her face lit up and she ran to it. She twisted the doorknob and pulled it open with some difficulty, surprised by the weight of it. Once there was a large enough gap, she squeezed through the opening and ran into the room.
Unlike the rest of the boat, the room was nearly neat and spotless, with everything tucked away with care. Honoka saw a large table at the center of the room, which was the littered with pieces of paper and other objects spread out over the papers. There was a section of the table which didn't have papers on it, and instead there were dishes cluttered together and out of the way.
Honoka ran to it, using one of the chairs for support, she pulled herself up and stood on it. She saw a map partially hidden by objects and she shoved them to the side, looking down at the map. She didn't recognaize most of the places other than her hometown and the neighboring villages and towns. The thought of suddenly paying attention at school crossed her mind, and she instinctively tensed at the memories of Umi berating her to concentrate on her homework.
She shoved the map aside, hoping to find something underneath. When she didn't, she quickly moved on and checked the desk sitting in the room.
Like the table, it was also messy with various things, and it had four drawers on the right side going down the length of desk. When she found nothing on its surface she moved on to the drawers. She pulled each one, looking through and moving everything around, leaving nothing unturned. Then she did the same for the next one, then the next, one, and had reached the last drawer.
Nothing. All she found was junk, frustrated, she began pulling them out completely trying to find anything she missed. One by one they fell onto the floor, and it wasn't until one fell and the bottom of it shifted was when she stopped.
She knelt down and looked inside. She reached inside to the bottom of the drawer and nudged it, her eyes widening when she realized it shifted just a tiny bit. She tilted her head as she reached for the edge of the drawer, and was able to grab the bottom flooring of the drawer. She pulled it off, revealing a hidden compartment. Inside was a knife and Honoka looked at it with wide eyes.
It was large and shiny, obviously someone kept up polishing and sharpening it. Despite that, it had a rather simple design, with a plain handle and nothing intricate carved in. She grabbed it, and just as she was about to lift it, she paused, surprised by the weight. She readjusted her grip on it and stood to her full height.
It was heavy and cold, and she could feel the weight of it in her small hand. She looked down at her hand, and seeing herself holding a deadly weapon was something she had never thought she would ever see, or do. She quickly shoved her thoughts aside and ran back to the door, pushed it open, and ran back to other girl.
The red haired girl looked up at the sound of footsteps, and watched as Honoka knelt down in front of her. When Honoka pulled out a knife, the mermaid flinched and began leaning back, whimpering.
"Don't worry, you're going to be okay!" Honoka said, quickly going to work to cut the threads. It certainly a difficult task, the rope was heavy and strong. As Honoka cut the rope, moving it back and forth as fast as she could, she could feel the sun on her back, and could feel herself starting to sweat.
Honoka wasn't sure how long she was cutting the rope, but once she cut just enough space for the small girl, she dropped the knife and leaned forward on her hands. She had forced herself to work nonstop, and now she was breathing heavily, hanging her head as she closed her eyes.
"See," Honoka said between breaths. "Told ya I would get you out." Honoka felt something cold touch her forehead, wiping the sweat away. Her eyes shot open and she looked up to see the mermaid with her hand out. The mermaid pulled her hand back when Honoka looked at her, though Honoka could see a small smile on her face.
Honoka felt her cheeks warm up more than they already were, and she broke out in a toothy smile, and the other girl giggled at the sight. It was small, and she covered her mouth with the back of her hand, but Honoka found it nice and comforting and warm.
She could only imagine what the girl sounded like when she talked.
The moment was short lived though, as the sound of loud, boisterous voices were heard, followed by heavy footsteps. They both froze and Honoka saw the fear on the other girls face.
"I'm going to get you out of here." Honoka said firmly, causing the other girl to snap her attention back to her. Honoka stood up and began pulling the net off the other girl. She brought a hand around the girl and awkwardly finished pulling the net off the girl's fin. Luckily, the other girl helped by moving her fin as well, and Honoka paused to watch her fin in wonder.
When she still didn't move she felt a painful pinch on her cheek, and she yelped as she pulled her head away. She looked at the girl as she rubbed her cheeks, seeing annoyance clearly painted on her face. With the sounds of footsteps again, Honoka quickly pulled the last of the net off the girl and with one arm under the girl's arms and the other under the fin, she pulled the mermaid up in her arms.
A startled sound escaped the girl's lips as she threw her arms around Honoka's neck. Honoka stood and wasted no time and ran to the rear of the ship, facing the ocean. Once she reached on of the ledges, she gently sent the girl down. Just as she did so, she could hear yelling and knew they found the empty net.
"C'mon," Honoka said. "Get out of here before they find you." The girl looked unsure, and Honoka smiled encouragingly at her.
"Hey!" They both jumped at the sound of the loud voice and without looking back, Honoka pushed the mermaid off the ledge and safety into the water.
All she was able to do from then was hope she didn't hurt the poor girl as she felt herself be forcibly shoved backwards by the back of her shirt.
"C'mere you brat!" She made a choking noise in surprise and looked up a man looking down at her with a disgusted, furious look. She felt her heart drop and she began trying to pry the man's hand off her. Despite her struggling, she was dragged back towards the middle of the ship, where three men stood. She let out a huff as she was shoved onto the ground, falling in front of their feet.
She briefly saw two men in the background, one yelling at the other, who looked like he had just woken up from a nap and was looking away sheepishly. She didn't see much else when a boot slammed into her stomach and she closed her in pain. She felt something heavily painfully press into her head and when she opened her eyes she realized she was lock in place by someone's foot.
"So you're the one that let go of our merchandise." A rough, angry voice called out. Honoka didn't say anything, and watched what she could see of men running back and forth, pulling the ropes and moving the machinery on the boat into place. She suddenly felt the ship jerk forward, and a wave of panic set in.
Just as she felt the pressure on her head be released, she pushed herself upward and jolted forward, running under the man's legs. She heard him silently stuttered in surprise before he shouted at the other crewmembers. Honoka didn't look back, all that matters was getting off the ship.
She didn't get very far though, and felt a pair of hands grab both her arms. She winced as they were jerked backward, and in a last attempt she took a deep breath, and yelled out for help in a booming voice.
"Shut that brat up!" Next thing she knew, she felt a sharp, stinging pain in her head and fell to the floor. For a few seconds everything was blurry as she watched the crew around her. A pair of boots entered her vision, and then the owner of them knelt down in front of her. He wore a lopsided grin that showed yellowing and missing teeth.
"Hope you enjoy the ride, kid."
His laughter was louder than anything else, and her head was throbbing and felt like it was buzzing. Finally, she couldn't keep her eyes opened any longer, and she closed them, feeling the pain in her head stop as she fell unconscious.