Dawn of the 1st Day of the Festival of Fools
The sea gently surged. Its waves broke against the shore. Sailing to Port Royale have been smooth for many. There were no storms for the past days. Many ships docked and unloaded for the upcoming day. Instead of the usual quiet morning when all the drunks were passed out, there was a bustling of activity. . All hands on deck and everyone at work to set up for the day ahead of them. Money to be made and money to be spent. All was going well above the waves…and there was a flutter of activity beneath the waves also.
"Kouki, Kouki you're so lucky!" gushed excited voices. Water swirled about as many younger girls swam around a petite mermaid.
Kouki blushed and became flustered. She was hardly ever the center of attention. She was just an ordinary mermaid with plain brown hair. Most mermaids have beautiful color-of-the-rainbow hair but Kouki's hair was just plain light brown hair. She just wasn't very noticeable. In fact, the merman whom she had a crush on her didn't know she existed. It was a quiet and lonely existence for her. But now, being surrounded by other and being the center of attention, it was frightening and overwhelming.
"Uh-ummm yeah… I g-guess Kouki stuttered.
"Ahhh Kouki! Don't you know what time of the year it is?" A short brunette chimed. "It's the human's Festival of Fools!"
"Bring us something back okay!" voices fluttered.
"You're so lucky to get to go on your birthday! Mines always falls on a normal day but you get to go to a festival this year! Another random mermaid voiced.
"Y-yeah…I-I g-gg-guess it'll b-bb-be f-f-fun. Kouki started nervously to comb through her hair. As she was combing, some of fin scales started to fall off and the tail began to split in two.
"Ah! Your fin is starting to turn to legs, quickly get to the surface!" The school of mermaids grabbed the birthday girl and pulled to a secluded cave filled with things prepared for this special day.
Every year, on the day of their birth starting at 5 years of age, the tails of mermaids and merman turn to legs. As the dawn approaches their special day, the scales fall off and their tails begin to split in two. Then the legs will form followed by the feet. Forming legs does not turn them humans and so they can breathe perfectly fine in water. However, most mermaids don't know how to swim with legs (as they've had tails and fins most of their life). All over the world, there are special caves on land which the merpeople have hidden various items in order to help disguise them among the humans. There's always clothing, blankets, towels, pillows, bags, and other random articles. After the full non-painful formation of the legs, which usually takes about an hour, the special one would dress up and walk amongst the humans.
Kouki made it to the cavern. Taking a dry torch from a crate, she lit it. Kouki continued up the stream that led toward the back of the cave. The light from the mouth could not reach back this far. It was spooky but she pushed on. It was starting to get more difficult to swim as her legs already split halfway. Kouki was getting scared.
"Why did they put the stuff so far back!" She whimpered to no one in particular.
"Why~~~~~" echoed back the cave.
"Eep!" the petite girl squeaked and hurriedly made her way to the back of the cave.
Kouki reached the end of the stream which led up to 3 slant waterfalls. She sighed. Kouki should've tried to get away from the crowd earlier. Then she could've just pushed up against the waterfall. Now, she'd have to wait until her legs fully formed before taking up the stairs that led to the top. At the top was a beautiful pool of water. Mermaids and merman often came here to play. She went with her close friends often when they were younger. Jumping upstream thrice and then slide down the waterfalls; it was a lot of fun. Usually, though Kouki just liked to float around in the big pool.
Kouki pulled herself up and sat at the edge of the stream, dangling her half-fins half-legs. It was a weird thing to look at. The scales on her forming legs had fallen off to show off smooth skin. As for the rest of her tail, it continued to split down the middle. Her cells were instantly regenerating epidermal tissue. It was mostly done, maybe 15 minutes left? Kouki put down the torch. She didn't need it anymore. There was a hole above the cave which now left faint light rays in. It'll be enough light.
Mermaid scales are like fish scales, but bigger, stronger, and shinier. Kouki picked up some of hers and began stacking them to pass the time. She took one and raised it to the filtering light. It was slightly translucent with a sea green tint. Yes, it was beautiful, but there were mermaids who had prettier colors. Hers dull in comparison. The brunette sighed. She moved both legs back and forth as if she had her full tail…then it split in two. Now, the last part of her tail will form her feet and the rest of her scales will fall off.
Again, a weird feeling. Instead of one appendage to move, she had two. 5 more minutes passed by and the transformation completed.
"Now for the hard part," Kouki said with a sigh. Scooting off the edge and into the stream, Kouki tried to get up on her feet. Except, she didn't have a firm ground to stand on and the stream had slippery rocks so she fell.
*thud*
"Ahh… that hurt…" Kouki winced has she got herself up. The water was only slightly above knee deep. Wading would be too hard for her, better to just climb out and walk. Stumbling to the edge, she pulled herself up and threw one leg over the edge. Putting weight on that leg, she then propped the rest of herself up.
"Whew…" Kouki breathe heavily. Walking on legs was always was always difficult to walk on two legs when all year she swam in one tail.
Trudging her way up the stairs (there were only 12 long steps), she reached the chests of items and the pool.
The pool was truly a sight to behold. It's depth was an abyss, but at the bottom of the abyss, were generations of the merfolk scales. It's translucent rainbow of colors reflected against the pools surface. The water was sparkled so much that it was difficult to see that the water was a clear teal. The pool was fed by a colossal waterfall that seemed to climb to the cave's ceiling. It was a beautiful place to be, although most merpeople preferred to come in the afternoon, Kouki liked it best at dawn.
Kouki neared the edge of the massive pool and cupped a handful of water. She brought it up and let it drop back with a splash. How she wished she could stay and play in this quiet cave.
In truth, Kouki always dreaded this day. Besides having to walk without constantly stumbling, she dreaded humans. Humans were cruel creatures. There were always stories from others when they came back from their birthday. They talked about the cruel treatment of animals. One girl saw a man beat a horse dead and continued to beat it after it died. Others talked about how useless old dogs were thrown in the river with a brick around its leg to drown. Just horrid tales of cruelty. And the worst tales were about humans owning other humans. There was apparently such a thing called a slave auction. It was place where the humans would bid for merchandise, but the merchandise were other humans. Despite her many birthdays, she actually hasn't had direct contact with humans.
Usually, when her time on land came around, she spent most of her hours in the forests or alongside the caves. Sure, there were scary animals at times, but if you left them alone, they'll leave you alone. From all the stories she heard, humans were definitely the scariest of them all. Yes, she did hear how other merpeople have met interesting people at their time, but eventually, these she never heard from again. Some of these merfolk wasted away yearning for the land and some just never come back. Did they die for being away from the ocean for so long? Or perhaps worse? They may have been captured and sold as a slave.
Kouki has heard of this tale too. It was a rare story, but a true story. One time, about 5 years ago, a mermaid was seen and captured. No one knows what became of her until one day, someone heard from gossip that she died in captivity. This fate was unbearable to Kouki. Kouki feared that she too would be captured and so never ventured into the city. But not today, she'll be going for the first time in her life.
The whole village will want stories and descriptions. It would be a stressful ordeal but she'll have to bear with it. Just like how she enjoyed listening to the stories of others, they surely want to hear her stories. They also asked her to bring back exotic trinkets for them. All these high expectations because of the festivities of humans.
Kouki searched through the crates and chests. There were many frilly clothing for girls. Some dresses were old while many others new since someone always visited the city nearly every week. Kouki sighed as she sifted through layers and layers of frilly dress…until she found an older plain frock.
"This will do nicely!" Kouki smiled as she slipped on the frock. It was stiff with newness but it seemed to be bought a long time ago. Made of delicate cotton and the dress dyed a gentle brown. It had gold threaded designs rimming the edges. A simple dress made perfectly for a simple girl. It fitted the petite girl as if it was made just for her.
Suddenly, she could feel someone's presence… "Riko-Senpai!" It was a dear friend of hers. Like her, Riko had plain brown hair, but she was pretty special in her own right. Very headstrong and independent, she made her own way, which was rumored to snare the hearts of two mermen in the village. But of course, these are but rumors.
"Furihata-chan!" Riko called. Despite being close friends with Kouki, she still kept the surname for old time's sake. "You're not ready yet?"
"I'm getting there," Kouki replied nervously.
"Here, I'll help you…" Riko said as she reached the pool and sat up on its side. Kouki grabbed some hair pins and a small hat and sat close to the edge with her legs folded beneath. "Sorry, I'm not so great, Hyuuga-kun usually does my hair," Riko said as she was putting up Kouki's hair. "Just a few…more… Alright! There you go!" Riko clapped her hands together at her masterpiece.
Kouki bent her head down and faced the pool. Although it wasn't a really good hair job, Riko did her best. Kouki's hair was neatly pinned and arranged under the small flowered hat. It looked good. Kouki like it best this way since anything too close to perfection made her nervous. With this, she'll blend well within the crowd.
"Are you ready to go?" Riko asked as she slipped back into the pool and crossed her arms on edge of the waterside.
"Y-yeah, I'm ready..." Kouki stammered as she grabbed a purse with money and a embroidered mermaid handkerchief. As ready as I'll ever be...
Let's go already!" A dark-skinned man snarled
"I'm coming I'm coming!" the response called back. "Aominicchi, wait up!"
"It takes you longer than Satsuki to get ready, and she's a girl!"
"I didn't think Akashicchi was going to come along!" replied a blonde as he walked outside into the hallway.
"Yes, it is a curious thing for Akashi to come to the festival with us." A green-haired pirate holding a roll of red velvet ribbon.
"What are you holding Midorimacchi?" The blonde asked as he was putting his feet inside his boots and strapping up the lace.
"Kise, don't be an idiot, it's my lucky item of the day," Midorima said, pushing up his glasses. "As said by the daily column in the morning paper by Oha-Asa. Oh, and it seems that Gemini ranks second to last, next to Scorpio. I suggests you take your lucky item…an iron!"
Kise shrugged… "I think I'll be okay, an iron is pretty weird to carry around…"
They bickered and bantered. The blonde with his rather incesstant whines, followed by stoic annoyed response from the lucky-item obsessed man.
"Man, I'm starving…" groaned the dark man with blue hair, breaking the conversation.
"Everyone! Come to the kitchen! I made breakfast…" called a girly voice from downstairs. As if answering their prayers...(or nightmares)
"Never mind, I'll think I'll just buy breakfast at the market…" Aomine immediately concluded.
Everyone agreed, but they headed down to the kitchen regardless.
As the group stepped towards the kitchen… a vile stench greeted their noses. It was most foul and odious, as if something was dead and reanimated, only to die again and put in a soup.
"I made breakfast everyone!" A pink haired girl called as she was ladling a pot of a strange black concoction… "Set the bowls Daiki!"
"What the hell are you cooking Satsuki!" Aomine "Daiki" yelled
"Yes, Momoi, what are you cooking, it smells utterly disgusting." Midorima pinched his nose.
Momoi pouted, "It's fish and bacon and vegetable. I didn't put anything toxic in there." She continued to stir. Disturbed, the dark mass let out another cloud of foul vapors.
"Hello everyone," a disembodied voice said. No one jumped back,they were used to this. In fact, they jumped forward if anything.
"Kyahh! Tetsu-Kun!" Momoi tossed the ladle and pounced on the young man.
"Kurokocchi!" Kise widely smiled (and would've wagged his tail like a happy puppy if he had a tail).
"Yo Tetsu!" Aomine called, distracted from the stench of what was supposedly breakfast.
"Please stop doing that Momoi-san." Tetsuya "Kuroko" said as she still continued to hug him. Then he noticed the weird bubbling mass in the pot. "Are we having that for breakfast?" Miraculously, he didn't make a face and kept a blank objective stare.
"Yes! Fish, bacon, and vegetable...uh soup I think!" Momoi replied happily. "Here, let me go get you a bowl!" Letting go of Tetsuya, she was about to take a scoop out of that goop before she was interrupted.
"Perhaps we should go to the market and buy breakfast. It is not often we go out together..."
Momoi agreed immediately. The rest of the group was relieved that they didn't have to eat Momoi's cooking (can you even call it that?). Momoi, Kuroko, and Midorima went ahead to the town's square where the festival was going to be held. Kise and Aomine stayed behind and set fire to the bubbling black mass that was supposed to breakfast. Had they left it on the stove when they came back, Momoi would've definitely try to feed it to them again.
Kuroko took a horse with Momoi while Midorima rode alone. They were trotting at a slow pace side by side. The sun was still had a gentle orange glow and the dew that was evaporating created a wispy mist above the grassy weeds.
"Kuroko, where is Akashi?" Midorima asked, shifting up his glasses, "I thought he would be joining us this morning."
Momoi seemed to be in a sort of dreamy expression. Perhaps she was dreaming that Kuroko was her knight and she was a princess. She was too far gone to say anything, stuck in a dazed stupor. She wrapped her arms around his waist. Yes, she's definitely out until they reached their destination.
"Akashi left before us." Kuroko calmly replied. "We were taking too long to get ready, he went immediately after his morning jog."
Midorima was annoyed. "Hmph, he could've told us." Again, as a sign of displeasure, he adjusted his glasses.
They rode in silence as they had nothing further to talk about.
Kouki finally made it to the town square. After all the stumbling and bumbling and tripping and slipping, she finally reached the town's square. Amazingly enough, her hairdo was still intact and she only suffered minor scratches. She looked around. They were starting to set up for the day.
How exciting!
The window shutters were pushed out. Ladies were watering their colorful windowsill flowers. Some people in their dressing gowns, who just woke up, came out and stood on the balcony to greet their neighbors and the new morning. Shop doors open and an open sign hung out to welcome customers in. Boys in their caps rushed to their posts and yelled out headlines, hoping some passerby would buy their newspaper. Groups of girls pushed their carts of homemade crafts and handpicked flowers hoping the someone would kindly buy them. The fishermen were coming back with nets full of fish and setting out to sell. Kouki continued to walk and she saw a line of vendors selling fresh fruits and vegetables. Peddlers pulled their carts with their wares as they shouted out their services, haircuts, shavers, pocketwatch fixers... There was so much noise going around.
Kouki walked slowly, taking in the sight of everything. The seagulls cawing above and swooping down, trying to snag unsuspecting fishermen's fish. Women carrying baskets in their arms as they try to haggle with produce vendors. She could hear the sea waves crashing against the docks and the arrival of new ships. There were crowds lined up to buy breakfast. The smell of warm food was strangely enticing...
Suddenly some kids bumped into her, knocking her to the ground. Kouki reflexively folded her legs under her dress as if it was her tail. The sooty kids then scrambled up.
Kouki was confused... and then she remembered the stories about pickpockets and purse snatchers. Immediately, she looked to see if her purse was with her, and sure enough, it wasn't. Kouki panicked. Oh no! The purse and money... but most of all, the handkerchief, she really loved that one! The brunette was still on the ground. She would've gotten up but that would require a lot of concentration, which she didn't have right now. Looking up to see if the kids were still in sight, but it seems they had gotten away in the crowd.
Kouki looked left and right when she noticed someone was walking directly to her. He had a cap on with red hair peeking out underneath. He was well-dressed in a white shirt and black pants. His boots seemed like they just came from the shoe cobbler. In one hand he had her purse and in the other, he was holding a sooty boy by the collared scruff of his neck.
He walked up to her.
Kouki stared blankly. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to say.
The man looked down at the kid with an indescribable menacing glare.
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I won't do it again, good sir, please, I won't do again." The kid turned to face Kouki, slightly startling her, "I'm so sorry lady, really sorry miss, please let me go, really I won't ever do again." He begged as he let out a stream of apologies.
Kouki had a discomfort look on her face and she put her hands to her lips. The man looked at her, noticing her distress, he let the boy go. The boy dashed away from the couple as if the devil were on his heels.
Kouki turned her eyes up and looked at the man's. He had a golden eye and a scarlet one. It was unsettling. She felt frightened.
He stepped closer to her.
He held out his hand for her.
"I believe I have something that belongs to you."