Natsuki was fishing under the bridge. It was a good spot, and he'd missed fishing here. He'd missed the calm silence of the tiny island he called home. The calm was interrupted by the frantic sound of crocs slapping against cement: it was Yuki running towards him, looking panicked. He was followed by Urara.
"Natsuki! Have you seen Haru?" Yuki asked, panting.
"No. Why? What happened?"
Yuki glanced at Urara who was nervously chewing on a strand of his own hair, and lowered his voice. "Urara and Haru had some kind of fight, and then Haru ran off."
"About what?"
"I don't know. Urara won't tell me. I think it's an alien thing." He sighed sadly. There were some things his alien friends never talked about, and it was always jarring to remember that they were two different species.
Natsuki put a reassuring hand on Yuki's shoulder. "Don't worry. He probably didn't go very far. We'll find him."
"Hey! Looking for something?" Like a hero in an action movie, Akira appeared on the horizon - and yes, Haru was with him.
Yuki sighed with relief and ran over to Haru's side, checking him over like a mother hen. "Haru, don't run off like that! I was so worried!"
"Sorry, Yuki," Said Haru, looking down at his feet. Akira rolled his eyes. Don't baby the alien, he's an adult!
But Yuki kept on doing it. "You're still in your pyjamas! We should go home so you can change."
"Oookay!" Haru nodded enthusiastically.
Yuki glanced at Urara. "What were you guys fighting about? Are you still friends?" He didn't have the strength to deal with a rift in his group of friends so early in his life.
Haru smiled softly. "Me and Urara are always gonna be friends."
Yuki smiled, relieved. "Okay! Let's go."
They set off towards Yuki's house, and Haru lagged behind to talk to Akira. "I need you to help me!" he whispered, or at least tried to whisper. Haru's voice was naturally pretty loud. "I have to watch Urara and keep him away from the ocean!"
"Very well, we'll perform a stake-out."
"But I don't want steak right now. I'm not hungry..."
Akira shuddered. His only life-line was that the pun was unintentional. "Goddamn it, Haru-"
"Eh?"
Akira tried to explain what a stake-out was, gave up, and finally changed the subject to something he was naturally good at: advice. "Don't be friends with Urara," he told Haru. Haru's earlier 'we're always gonna be friends' had rubbed him the wrong way. "If he crossed you... in any way, just hate him. Forever."
Haru didn't reply. In fact, Akira got the feeling Haru was ignoring him, but he kept on talking anyway. "Let the rage build up inside you so when he crosses you again you can use it like a weapon."
He contemplated his own words for a while. At some point during that sentence Haru had started skipping. "That's how I live my life," Akira added lamely, pretty sure no one was listening.
"Sounds fun!" chirped Haru.
Planning their stake-out was easy, mostly because no one ever really paid attention to Haru. At the end of the day he handed Haru a walkie talkie.
"Use this to communicate with me, I'll be nearby. If anyone asks, say it's a toy."
"It is a toy!" laughed Haru, looking down at the walkie talkie. I was made out of colorful plastic and had an image a humanoid duck in a sailor suit on it.
"No, it's just cleverly disguised." Akira lied. "Look, just hold down the button to talk and let go to hear a reply." He explained, putting a hand on top of Haru's to press the button.
- Whoa. Haru's hands were really…
Clammy! Akira quickly withdrew his hand and wiped it on his shirt. "Understood?" he asked. Haru nodded.
"Good, now run along."
Haru skipped back inside while Akira hid in some nearby bushes with Tapioca. It quickly became clear that Haru sucked at the art of subterfuge. First thing he did upon entering the house was show everyone his new toy. He insisted that Yuki use his smart phone to call him, which was impossible. Then he threw himself on the living room couch and babbled mindlessly into the walkie talkie for hours. He never let go of the button even once, so Akira couldn't even beg for mercy.
When it was time to sleep Haru went to his room, laid on his bed and held the walkie talkie to his ear, finally letting go of the button. He could hear grumbling and a faint quacking on the other side. "Akira?" he spoke into the device.
"What? Who..? Haru?" Akira seemed out of it.
"Akira, this won't work... Urara knows if I'm asleep."
"Whatis he, Santa Claus?"
"Who's that?"
Akira rolled his eyes at the alien's ignorance. "He's this bearded old man who breaks into people's houses and gives them presents if they've been good or roasts them over hot coals if they've been bad."
"Scary!" exclaimed Haru.
"Yes. Anyway, it's not a problem. Just go to sleep. I'll wake you if I see any suspicious movements."
"I can't go to sleep!" Haru moaned. "Santa Claus will eat me!"
"Don't be ridiculous! He only comes out in midwinter!"
Haru whimpered. "I can't sleep... tell me a story."
"Never." And then he said nothing, because sleep needed cold, neglectful silence.
A few hours later, an urgent quack from Tapioca woke him up.
It was JFX. Tapioca spotted him leaving the house. He walked calmly, not a care in the world, not at all worried that someone might spot him. Fool. He had no idea about Akira's surveillance skills.
Akira tried to get up, but sleeping in a bush had not been a good decision. His whole body ached. This was the moment where he suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be on some sort of relaxing vacation. Dang.
Slowly, painfully, he snuck out of the bush and followed the alien. Yes, Haru was right; JFX was headed towards the ocean. "Haru," Akira hissed into the walkie talkie to wake him up. "Haru! He's awake!"
"Blub?" Haru mumbled lazily.
"No! This is Akira! Wake up you lazy good for nothing! Urara's nearly at the ocean!"
"Huh? Uwah?" There was a clattering noise. "Oh no! I have to stop him!"
Akira shoved the toy into his pocket. It was time to confront this jerk. He didn't have his gun but Urara was thin and waif-like, and Akira was pretty sure he could easily take him in a fight.
He ran out to intercept the Alien's path, striking a pose. "DUCK!" he shouted.
Urara stared at him, confused. "No, you are a human being," he told Akira helpfully.
"I cannot allow you to go near the ocean!" Akira replied firmly, doing a good job of hiding his embarrassment.
"I'm sorry..." said Urara, attempting to make his way around the secret agent. Akira blocked him, shoving him back. He was right: Urara was pretty light for his height, and a shove nearly threw him backwards. JFX gave him a hurt puppy look, but unfortunately for him Akira was impervious to kawaii.
"You fish aren't so high and mighty without your water guns, are you?" he said smugly.
Urara's hurt look washed away and was replaced by a small, soft smile. "I don't need one."
Haru hurried towards the shore, spotting Urara standing there by the water. Akira was there too, his face looking familiarly blank.
Heart pounding, Haru ran to stand between the two of them. Humans made a bad habit of dying and Urara made an even worse habit of being powerful and ignorant. "Urara!" he snapped. "What are you doing? You have to stay away from the ocean or you still won't fit in when we go back to our planet!"
"I don't want to go back," Urara huffed. "I like this planet. It's big and colorful." He reached a hand out towards Haru and gripped him by the arm. "We can be the most powerful beings on this planet. No one will ignore us. Everyone will be our friends! Just come with me."
Haru thought about it. He didn't need to make anyone like him at the moment, he had a clutch of friends he really loved. He knew this whole set-up was temporary, though. It would be nice to be as powerful as Urara, to simply not be smothered by his presence anymore. Urara was eventually going to be the only friend he had left on this planet, considering how short-lived humans were. It would be nice to fix their communication problem before the next millennium.
No. He didn't want his brain to buzz all the time, or to not be able to go back to his planet and chat with Coco. He didn't want to end up chewing his own fins ragged like Urara. He shook his head, pulling his arm away.
"Very well then," said Urara. "Don't stand in my way."
Haru was about to do just that when someone grabbed him from behind. It was Akira, still under Urara's control.
"I'm sorry," Urara continued. He dipped a toe into the water, like he was testing it, and the water seemed to rise up to meet him. It wasn't the water, but hundreds of tiny little fish clamoring just to touch him.
"Sorry's not a word!" Haru huffed, garbling a life lesson he'd heard some time ago.
Urara blinked a couple of times, trying to make sense of this. "No. I think it is," he concluded. "I just want to help you, Haru! You've been tainted by humans."
He walked up to Haru and put his arms around his neck, embracing him and ignoring the mind-controlled Akira still holding Haru back. "When I am powerful enough, you will never have to feel scared or conflicted again. I will make you happy all the time."
Haru couldn't protest. He had realized what Urara was planning, and it horrified him too much to speak. Urara pressed his cheek against the smaller alien. "I love you," he whispered, and it stung more than the little fish could bear.
And then he left.
Akira came to. Urara was gone, and… he was holding on to Haru's wrists a little too tightly. He quickly let go.
"What happened? Haru?" But Haru looked preoccupied. Lost, actually.
"Are you okay?" Akira asked. "Did JFX do something to you? Did I do something to you?!" He added, and it was a terrifying thought.
Haru shook his head. "I'm in trouble," he whimpered. "Urara's going to get powerful and erase me!"
"Erase you? What does that mean? He's going to kill you?" he hadn't known Urara was so gangster.
"No, he wants to go inside my head and change stuff. I won't be the same."
"He can do that?"
"If he gets powerful enough… "
This was an urgent matter that required immediate action. Akira knew this, but that seemed to be all that he knew. He still felt groggy from the mind control, and he was full of questions and Haru hadn't answered any of them. "You can't stay here if you're in danger," he told the alien.
"I have to be there when Yuki wakes up, or he'll worry. I hate making him worry." Then he smiled up at Akira. "But tomorrow, I'm going to stay at your place!"
He didn't even ask. He just stated it like it was a fact of life.
"And when am I going to enjoy this vacation?"
"You're on vacation?"