Disclaimer: I own neither Inuyasha nor Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club and make no money from these writings. The original idea for this story belongs to Bishonen'sFoxyMiko.
Fish and Freedom
Chapter Two
Settling into their seats near the front of the the aquarium's show arena, Makoto glance over at Haru. Ran and Ren were seated between them and all three wore the same look of anticipation. Looking ever farther down the line, Makoto laughed when he saw that Nagisa appeared to be even more excited than Ran.
"Are you guys excited for the show?" Makoto asked his younger siblings.
"I want to see the dolphins!" Ren cheered as he craned his neck up to get a better look down in the water.
"Do you really think the mermaid will be here?" Ran asked with hopeful wide eyes.
Before he answered, Makoto caught sight of Haru glancing his way as he also listened for the answer. "That's what the brochure and her sign said, so I'm sure she'll be here," he confirmed with a soft smile. He checked his watch again before he announced, "The show should be starting any minute."
As if on cue, a young man wearing a wetsuit and a microphone headset stepped out from a door along the platform at the back of the stadium. The large screen above him lit up with a closer picture so that the entire audience could easily see him as he smiled and waved. "Good afternoon, everyone!" He greeted them. He waited for the answering cheer to die down a little before continued, "My name is Kazuki and I'll be your host today. Who's ready to start the show?" The audience cheered loudly, but he scrunched up his face, put one hand to his ear, and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Who's ready to start the show?" At the next, much louder, cheer, he smiled brightly again and gave a thumbs up for the camera. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"
Kazuki made his way towards a narrow set of stairs that ran along the outside of the tank below and ended on a platform on the opposite side of the tank he'd just been on. Now much closer to his audience, water lapped up from the tank and onto his platform as he spoke, "First I'm going to tell you fine folks a little bit about this tank behind me." He motioned to the screen behind him which displayed a video feed from a camera inside the tank. "Inside this tank is a replica of part of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. We have two Green Sea Turtles in this habitat. They can be a little shy, but if you go down into the tunnels after the show, you might just catch a glimpse of them!" The image on the screen switched to the feed from a different camera where a large turtle could be seen swimming in the background.
Continuing with his presentation, Kazuki's voice echoed through the arena, "We're also going to have a few other guests joining us today. I think one of our first friends should be arriving any time now." He walked over to the edge of his platform and leaned down to splash one hand against the top of the small waves. Responding to their cue, three large seals broke the surface of the water and slid up onto the platform. Children of the audience squealed while many of the adults laughed. "Meet Miho, Miki, and Miku," Kazuki introduced as everyone cheered for the animals.
The show continued following much the same formula even after the seals departed and a pair of dolphins showed up to play. Kazuki knew exactly how to work the crowd as he kept everyone entertained and laughing. But he educated at the same time. He gave lessons on the different species of the reef, played games with the animals, and explained the importance of conservation.
Makoto watched Ren's face light up when the dolphins were doing their flips, but he noticed that Ran and Haru were looking more and more sour as time passed without so much as a mention of the mermaid that they'd seen earlier.
"Before we wrap up," Kazuki continued speaking as he stood with his hands on his hips. "There's one more type of animal in this habitat that I want to talk about. She's a big softie, and all of us here are very fond of her. Can we bring up a video of her on the screen?" He asked the video operator. Kazuki knew exactly what had become one of the big draws to this show, and he always loved the collective breath that the audience would hold at this point of his presentation. When a video feed popped up displaying a large, round, gray creature the audience laughed at being caught off guard. "This is Emi, our dugong. Isn't she pretty, folks? Emi and her kind are herbivores. The dugong's conservation status is listed as "vulnerable." That means that we need to do everything we can to get their populations back up before it's too late! There aren't many like Emi in captivity, so we're very proud and honored to have her here with us."
The screen went back to displaying the close-up of Kazuki as he walked the length of the platform, his feet splashing in the water. "You know, seeing Emi reminded me of something," Kazuki mentioned as though it was an afterthought. "Did you guys know that a lot of people think that dugongs are one of the animals that started the myth of creatures like mermaids?"
Looking over to his left, Makoto had to stop himself from laughing as Ran and Haru immediately perked up.
"But everyone knows that mermaids aren't real, right?" Kazuki asked his audience.
Just then, a dark head of hair eased up out of the water behind and off to the side of the show's host. The screen at the back of the arena showed a close-up of the new face. A pretty woman with blue eyes and pink scales running down her cheekbones pushed wet bangs back out of her eyes as she smiled brightly and held a finger up to her lips for them to keep quiet. But of course many of the children began to laugh and point for Kazuki to turn around.
For his part, Kazuki put on a puzzled face only to turn around and see nothing. He smiled down where he knew Kagome was hiding in the water. The kids loved this part. "What?" He asked as he turned back to his audience. "I don't know what you guys were pointing at. There's nothing there!"
Once again, a dark head popped out of the water before the woman pressed a finger to her lips again and glance up at Kazuki with mischief written on her face. Kagome drew one arm back before quickly bringing it forward and sending a splash of water to hit Kazuki's back. Prank successfully played, she quickly sank back beneath the water's surface.
"What was that?" Kazuki shouted as he turned around with a mock start. "Did you guys see what happened?" He asked as he turned back around to look at the audience. Many excited shouts and squeals of "A mermaid! A mermaid!" rang out, but Kazuki firmly planted his hands on his hips and shook his head. "You guys must be seeing things," he told them. "I've worked here for years. If we had a mermaid, I think I'd know about it."
Just then, with a large splash of water, Kagome hefted herself out of the large tank to sit on the edge of Kazuki's platform. Turning to face his co-worker, Kazuki pretended to stumble back a few steps as he cried, "A mermaid?! You mean you guys weren't just joking around?!"
The audience cheered as Kagome smiled and waved and blew a few kisses. She turned her attention back to Kazuki as he took a few cautious steps towards her. Pushing her wet hair out of her face once more, Kagome batted her eyelashes at him as she reached up to play with a long lock of hair. It's what mermaids did on land, after all.
"You know," Kazuki began slowly as he narrowed his eyes at Kagome. "In a lot of the legends and myths, mermaids can be pretty dangerous. They sank ships and lured sailors to their deaths. I like to think I'm a pretty good looking guy. Do I have anything to be worried about with you?"
Kagome made a show of tilting her head, pursing her lips, and tapping a finger to her chin with a contemplative expression. But after a moment she seemed to perk up again as she smiled and shook her head.
"Well that's a relief!" Kazuki sighed as he visibly relaxed. "I bet, as a mermaid, you know where all the best buried pirate treasure is, don't you?"
Kagome eagerly nodded at the question as she pointed down into the tank.
"Wait," Kazuki said in a surprised tone. "Are you telling me that there's treasure here?!"
Another eager nod and Kazuki turned to speak to the audience once more. "What do you guys think? Should we trust her? Do you want to see some treasure?" A loud cheer, and Kazuki was turning back to the mermaid seated at his feet. "You heard the people. Think you could bring back some of that treasure for us?"
With a wink and a thumbs up, Kagome slid back into the water before diving down, the fin at the end of her tail flicking up before submerging as well.
"Let's see if we can find her on the cameras," Kazuki said as he turned to face the large screen behind him. The picture flipped over to show Kagome swimming underwater.
Makoto looked over to Haru and saw that his friend's attention was solely on the woman on the screen.
Haru watched entranced at the way Kagome moved through the water. Even without kicking her legs back and forth, she moved quickly and with the ease that could only come from lots of practice. Her arms mostly remained by her sides as she let her fin propel her forward. Only occasionally would she stretch her arms out to help pull her deeper down to the bottom of the tank. The movement was so fluid and she made it seem so effortless. For the first that he could remember, Haru found himself wanting to swim something other than his usual freestyle front crawl.
On screen, Kagome made a show of looking around the area. The video feed would flicker between different cameras that were placed in the enclosure so that she was always in view. Finally, Kagome smiled widely and shot forward to where a tied sack seemed to be tucked away. She quickly grabbed it up before making a straight shot for the water's surface.
Coming back up in the middle of the arena's water, Kagome held up her bounty and the audience cheered loudly. She ducked under water and swam over to the platform only to jump out of the water again and settle herself back in her previous spot along the edge. Kagome untied the sack and peeked inside. As her face lit up, she held out the bag so that Kazuki could look inside as well.
Kazuki whistled before saying, "That looks like some pretty good treasure to me. Do you think you might want to share some with us?"
Kagome immediately drew the bag back to her chest and shot Kazuki a hesitant look.
"Okay folks, what do we say when we want someone to share something with us?" Kazuki asked as he turned to face their audience once more. He smiled as a large cry of "Please!" came from the group of people. Looking back to Kagome, he smiled and asked again, "So what do you say now?"
Kagome seemed to think about it for a moment before she nodded. Scooting across the wet platform and fully out of the water, Kagome sat on her hip and propped herself up with one arm while the other hand reached into the open bag that she'd placed in front of her. With a bright smile, she tossed handfuls of plastic gold coins and plastic pearl necklaces into the audience.
Ran ended up grabbing a couple of the coins while Ren managed to snag a necklace. Looking at what the other had, the twins quickly and wordlessly switched their prizes before sitting back in their seats.
Once all of the treasure was gone, Kagome picked up the bag, turned it upside down, and shook it a few times to show that it was now empty and she'd given away all of her treasure find. "It looks like that's it, folks!" Kazuki announced as he turned to face the audience. "That's our show for today." He and Kagome took their bows as the audience clapped and cheered, thought it was more like a deep nod for Kagome since she couldn't stand up.
Continuing before the audience could start to disperse, Kazuki announced, "Anyone who wants to meet and have their picture taken with our lovely mermaid, Kagome, can come line up by the gate in the bottom right corner of the arena's seating."
Ran, Ren, and Nagisa were immediately in front of Makoto, begging for him to let them get in line. "Okay," Makoto said as he stood and stretched his back. "Let's go get in line before it gets too long." Nagisa quickly ran off with the twins while he, Haru, and Rei followed at a calmer pace.
Once they were in line, Makoto looked to Haru and asked, "Are you going to have your picture taken with her too, Haru?"
Haru shook his head. "I just want to talk to her."
"About what?" Rei asked curiously having missed Haru's earlier epiphany in the tunnel.
"About her job," Makoto answered for his friend.
While Rei still seemed a little perplexed as to why Haru would want to ask the woman about her job, Nagisa quickly caught on and looked up from where he'd been talking to Ran and Ren. "Do you want to be a mermaid too, Haru?"
"Merman," Haru frowned a little at the blond.
Nagisa's pink eyes sparkled as he instantly pictured it. "You would be a perfect mermaid!"
"Merman," Haru corrected again.
Heedless of Haru's corrections, Nagisa began to babble about what Haru's tail would look like and how he would spend his days chasing mackerel.
The line steadily moved forward until it was their group's turn. The boys stood off to the side as Ran and Ren darted forward. Kazuki instructed them to take off their shoes so that they wouldn't get wet on the platform, and the twins quickly obliged. Approaching the smiling mermaid, one child crouched on either side of her.
"And what are your names?" Kagome asked with a gentle smile.
"I'm Ran!" The green-eyed girl chirped.
"I'm Ren!" The brunette boy answered.
"Ran and Ren," Kagome repeated. "I like your names! I'm Kagome. I see you both got some of my treasure."
The duo nodded before Ran, suddenly a little shy, asked, "Can I touch your tail?"
"Sure," Kagome answered with a laugh.
Ran reached out a hand and ran her fingertips over the scales of Kagome's tail. Pulling her hand back with a squeal, she said, "It's slippery! Misaki got to have her picture taken with you, too, but she didn't touch your tail."
Using context clues and figuring that Misaki was one of Ran's friends, Kagome leaned in as though to whisper a secret to the little girl. "The truth is," she started, "I would let anyone touch my tail. But very few people are brave enough to actually ask."
Ran pulled back with a happy blush on her cheeks at the mermaids praise.
"Okay, everyone," the aquarium photographer called out from a few feet in front of them. "Get in close. I'm going to take two pictures, so hold your pose!"
Kagome and the twins smiled happily at the camera as the photographer snapped two shots and waved for them to relax. Kagome watched as a tall brunette man and a shorter black-haired man approached the photographer. As the photographer handed the brunette a piece of paper with their picture numbers on it to take to the souvenir desk, she noticed that the black-haired man continued to watch her. The first thing she noticed was how intense and focused his blue eyes seemed.
It wasn't uncommon for men visiting the aquarium to stare at her. She was well aware that her top half was nearly bare while the tail that fit like a second skin didn't leave much to the imagination. She'd gotten more than a few glares from wives and girlfriends. But the way this man looked at her was completely different. He didn't look at her with any hint of physical attraction. It was more like…fascination? Unaware of what else to do, she waved at him as he walked away with the brunette man and two children. She was quickly distracted though, when her next visitor came running up.
Haru watched as Nagisa ran over to the woman playing the mermaid. The blond excitedly kicked off his sandals before dropping to his knees beside her, uncaring that the hems of his shorts got wet. Haru saw Nagisa ask the mermaid something to which she smiled and nodded before the younger man threw his arms around her in a hug and they both laughed while the photographer took the pictures.
Makoto watched Haru watching Nagisa and the mermaid. He knew Haru well enough to know that he was trying to figure out some way to talk to her about her job. Approaching his friend, he placed a hand on the shorter man's shoulder to grab his attention. "According to the schedule, this was her last show for today. Maybe we could ask around and see if she gets off anytime soon so that you can talk to her."
Haru nodded once before turning back to watch Nagisa give the woman one more hug before grabbing his shoes and running towards the rest of the group with Rei trailing behind him.
"Let's go get our pictures!" Nagisa cheered as he dropped his shoes and slipped them back on.
There was a line at the souvenir desk where other people were buying copies of their pictures, but when they finally reached the counter and Makoto was buying a few prints, he asked the clerk, "So she's really popular?"
"Oh yeah," the young girl, likely still in high school, answered with a quick nod that caused her bob haircut to bounce lightly. "Everyone loves coming to see her. And it's no wonder, you know? She's really good at what she does."
"Is she the only one?" Makoto asked conversationally.
"Here?" The clerk asked as she waited for the pictures to print off. "Yeah, they just started this mermaid program not that long ago. I think they're looking for some others, but it's apparently really hard. I'd love to do it, but I'm not a strong enough swimmer," she confided.
"Do you know what time she gets off work?" Makoto finally asked and he could feel Haru tense a little beside him.
"Soon, I think," the clerk girl answered. "I think she's usually out of here after she gets her makeup off."
"Yui!" The clerk's older co-worker hissed.
The girl looked to the older woman questioningly before realization dawned on her and she turned back to the group of young men. "Look," she said in a surprisingly firm tone. "She gets plenty of attention from creeps, so just leave her alone, okay?"
Makoto blushed and stuttered a little as he tried to correct the girl's incorrect assumption, but Nagisa was tired of waiting for his pictures and edged Makoto away from the counter before the taller man could get out what he wanted to say.
When everyone had their pictures, the group quickly moved away from the store, Makoto still embarrassed at the thought of the clerk mistaking him for some sort of pervert. Looking over to his best friend, Makoto suggested, "We could try looking for her? If that last reaction was anything to go by, I don't know that anyone is going to tell us anything about her. If we don't find her soon, we'll come back another day. But I'll need to get Ren and Ran home before much longer."
Even though the twins gave matching sounds of disappointment, but Haru nodded in agreement.
The group wandered the aquarium a while longer, occasionally stopping other employees to see what they knew about the mermaid's schedule. As expected, they got much the same reaction as they got at the souvenir shop. An hour later, they finally decided to call it a day and just come back another day.
Ran and Ren were once again on Makoto's and Haru's backs for the walk to the train station. With all of the excitement, the children had quickly tired out. Makoto spoke to Haru as they watched their train pull into the station, "Don't worry, Haru. We'll find a way to get in touch with her to ask."
Haru simply answered softly, "Yeah."
They all boarded the train, Ren and Ran slipping down into their seats and leaning against each other for a nap. Even though there wasn't anyone else at the station, the train waited several minutes for any extra passengers. It was almost time for the train to depart when the boys heard the sound of hurried sandals slapping against the pavement outside.
A woman stumbled her way into the train car just as the doors slid shut behind her. The swimmers watched silently as she panted as she was bent over with her hands braced against her knees. It was only when the train pulled forward and the woman lost her balance slightly that she moved to sit down. Since they were the only ones in the car, she slung her large dufflebag up onto the row of seats facing the young men before she plopped down in a seat next to the bag.
She was still catching her breath as she let her head fall backwards to rest on the glass window and mumbled, "I really need a car."
Haru narrowed his eyes as he looked at the woman across from them. She was in shorts and a light t-shirt with sandals, but her legs and feet were much paler than her torso and face. She wore sunglasses and her damp black hair was pulled back messily, but he was almost positive that it was her. And apparently Makoto had the same thought.
"Um, excuse me, miss?" Makoto ventured.
Kagome's head leaned up from resting on the glass and she pulled off her sunglasses to finally get a good look at the men sharing her ride home. She blinked a couple of times before recognition finally took hold and she smiled. "Hey, it's you guys!" She said happily. "I'm usually alone on this ride. Imagine running into you again."
"We actually stayed at the aquarium for a little while trying to find you," Makoto admitted.
"Really?" Kagome asked a little uneasily. Red flags and alarms were going off in her head. She'd been approached by men from the aquarium before, but she didn't like the fact that it was happening with four men in a closed train car while she was alone. The only thing keeping her from really freaking out were the two sleeping children. Surely these guys wouldn't try anything with kids so close by.
"Mako isn't a perv or anything," Nagisa reassured with a smile. "We were trying to find you for Haru!"
"Haru?" Kagome asked still a little unsure.
"Haruka Nanase," Haru provided in a fairly flat tone. He just wanted to ask his questions. "I'm Haruka."
"Uhh…" Kagome began. This was all a little weird, even for her. "Okay?"
"I wanted to ask you about your job," Haru told her.
Shoulders instantly relaxing, Kagome laughed, "Is that all? Oh gosh, and I was getting all worried over nothing!" Taking a breath, she said, "What did you want to ask me?"
"What's your job like?" Haru asked bluntly.
"Well, if you're asking what I actually do at the aquarium, I actually have a few jobs," she began to explain. "I help feed and take care of the fish and other animals when I get there in the mornings and help clean the tanks after closing on weekends. I also work as a divemaster that takes guests on dives with some of the fish. Then there's the mermaid thing. That's the hardest, but it's the most fun," she said with a smile at the thought. "I move through some of the different tanks and exhibits. I'll swim along the glass and do tricks for the guests. There there are a few shows a day, like the one you saw."
"How hard is it?" Haru continued to question.
"The feeding and cleaning isn't hard, but it's pretty dirty work," Kagome explained as she settled more into her seat and crossed her legs. "The dives with guests can be a little stressful, because not everyone on those has a lot previous dive experience. But being a mermaid is harder than people might think. It takes a lot of work to get used to swimming with that tail, but it's a great workout. The other hard part is holding your breath for a long time and not looking uncomfortable. You have to make it look easy."
Curious, Rei asked, "How long can you hold your breath?"
"I think my longest time holding my breath underwater while I was being timed was five minutes and twenty-three seconds," Kagome answered. "But I think my average underwater is about four to four and a half minutes."
"Wow," Nagisa breathed in wonder. "Rei! Time me! I want to see how long I can hold my breath!" Taking a deep breath, the blond's cheeks puffed out as he tried to set his own record.
Kagome laughed. "It's not that easy," she warned. "And it's a lot different on land than under the water. For one, you know that you can take a breath whenever you need it. A lot of people get more nervous underwater, so their heart rate goes up. The key to holding your breath for longer is slowing your heart rate so you're not using up your oxygen as quickly."
Nagisa let out his breath with a deflated attitude, but he made a mental note to check his time next time he went swimming.
Kagome looked back across the aisle at Haru. "Is there anything else that you want to ask?"
Nodding with a small hum, he asked, "How can I do what you do?"
"What?" Kagome asked as she was taken slightly off guard. "Wait, you…do you want to join the mermaid program? You actually want to be a mermaid?"
"Merman," Haru corrected. Was it so hard for people to realize that he would be a merman?
Kagome blinked several times in surprise before finally saying, "Well, I am in charge of finding people to build a small team for shows and things. I just haven't found anyone that seemed like a good candidate yet. I guess the most important question is how strong of a swimmer are you?"
"Haru's the best!" Nagisa spoke up for his friend. He knew that Haru had been looking for something that called to him, and he wanted to help the man achieve this now that he'd found something.
"Define "the best,"" Kagome said skeptically. She'd interviewed several people who were supposedly good swimmers, but none of them could quite cut it.
"We've all actually swam competitively since we were kids," Makoto mentioned. "Haru is easily the fastest out of all of us, though. He's won lots of awards."
"Really?" Kagome perked up. Fast didn't necessarily mean that he would be cut out for the type of swimming she did, but it was a start. She looked him over. He seemed strong and fit enough. And he had an attractive face, which would probably go a long way in convincing her boss to make him part of the show. Maybe she could give him a test. "What stop are you guys getting off at?" She suddenly asked.
"We all live in Iwatobi," Makoto explained. "But Haru and I get off at the station near the coast. Rei and Nagisa live closer to downtown."
"I get off at the coast stop, too!" Kagome enthused. "Small world, huh? I just moved to Iwatobi a couple of years ago, and was able to find a little apartment not far from the beach." Remembering why she had asked about stops in the first place, she continued again, "Anyway, I asked because if you want an audition of sorts, I don't mind meeting up with you sometime with some training gear that I use for practice. If you do well enough with it, I'll get you into the program and start training you. We'd just need to find somewhere to do it. I'd rather not do it in the ocean."
"We can use the pool," Haru said instantly.
Confused, Kagome asked, "What pool?"
"Iwatobi Swim Club," Haru elaborated. "It's where I work. Goro would let us use it after closing."
"Well that was easy," Kagome smiled. "When would be a good time for you?"
"Tonight," Haru answered with barely any pause between the end of Kagome's sentence and the beginning of his.
Laughing lightly, Kagome asked, "Eager, huh? Well, that's fine with me. What time should I meet you there?"
"Seven," Haru told her. There was no hesitation in his voice. He wanted to do this. He was determined to do this. And the sooner he got started, the better.
The train began to slow and Kagome grabbed the strap of her large bag. "What's in there?" Nagisa asked as he looked the bag over.
Looking down at her bag, Kagome answered, "A change of clothes, the stuff for my show makeup, and my tail."
"Your tail?!" Nagisa cried as he was immediately on her side of the benches. "Can I see it?"
Shrugging, Kagome unzipped her bag to reveal her silicone tail neatly folded and tucked into the bag. The only part she ever had trouble getting in was the actual fin of the tail. Nagisa reached down to touch the pink scales now that they were dry. "I want one," he pouted.
"I can point you towards a tailor that makes them, but they aren't cheap," Kagome laughed as she zipped her bag back up and stood, adjusting the strap on her shoulder. She watched as Haru and the brunette whose name she hadn't caught picked up the two children who had remained asleep for the entirety of the train ride.
As everyone stepped off of the train and into the small station, Kagome turned to face Haru. "I don't think I ever gave you my name," she said. "I'm Kagome," she introduced with a small bow, careful not to let the weight of her bag teeter her over. With a smile, she took a step away and said, "I'll see you at seven, Haruka Nanase."
The four men watched as Kagome walked away before Makoto spoke up. "Nagisa, Rei, why did you guys get off at this station?"
With a sigh, Rei answered, "Nagisa pulled me off the train with him."
"We're going to watch Haru's audition," Nagisa said as though it should have been obvious. "What are we going to do between now and then though?" He asked as he laced his fingers behind his head.
"First we need to take Ran and Ren home," Makoto answered as he shifted his sister's weight in his arms. "Then I suppose we should go let Coach Sasabe know what's happening tonight."
Haru followed after his friends as they made their way towards Makoto's house. It was only a few more hours until he got to prove that he had what it took to do what she did. He was made for the water. It was a fact that he'd known his entire life, felt it down in his very core. It's where he was comfortable and at home and it had never steered him wrong. Haru was positive, not a doubt in his mind, that the water wouldn't reject his dream. Now he just had to prove it to that woman, Kagome.