I wish I was a coy fish

Six years ago

As soon as Kazuki woke up he realised he wasn't in bed anymore, where he should have been. For one thing, he was standing up. He looked around, dazed. He saw metal bars in front of him and, reaching out around him, realised he was in a cage next to the pond in Daichi's garden. Kazuki rattled the bars.

"Hey! What's going on?!" he shouted. "Daichi-sensei! What's happening!?"

The old man walked out from behind one of the trees, twirling a silver key around his finger.

"Sensei!" cried Kazuki. "What am I doing in here?"

"Hopefully preparing to transform." He answered coldly. "You're going to need to…"

"W…Why?" Kazuki stuttered.

Daichi glanced at the coy pond. "That pond is a lot deeper than it looks, you know…"

Kazuki realised what he was planning. "WHAT?!" He screamed. "You're insane!"

Daichi glared at him. "Possibly, Kazuki-kun," he muttered, "But I can see the power, and the potential inside of you. I know you can transform, but it looks like I need to unlock that power."

"But what if I can't?!" protested Kazuki.

Daichi smiled, moving behind the cage. "Then you're of no use to me."

With one kick, he sent the cage, and Kazuki, into the coy pond.


He was right; it was a lot deeper than it looked. As soon as it went in, the water was already up to Kazuki's shoulders.

"It might be an idea to transform into something that can breathe water!" Called Daichi.

"I CAN'T!!!" screamed Kazuki, knowing it was true.

Daichi laughed. "Then drown!"

The water quickly rose to Kazuki's neck.

"If you want to shout the words," Daichi told him, leaning close to Kazuki's panicked face, "You'll have to do it before you go under…"

A few seconds later, Kazuki was completely submerged. Air bubbles rose to the surface as water seeped into his lungs. Holding his breath, he tried to kick the cage door, but this only tired him out. In desperation, he tried to transform into a fish, but without being able to speak and the panic of being trapped underwater preventing him from remembering the hand signs, it was hopeless. Daichi's coy circled the cage. Kazuki started to run out of air. He thought about how disappointing it was to die at the age of twelve and cursed Daichi to a horrible death. He started to think about his life. He couldn't even remember his parents. He had spent most of his life wandering the country, living on his own. And now the first human he ever actually trusted was about to kill him. He frowned, thinking about the silver haired girl he had met on the way here.

"I wonder where she is now?" He thought, as water began entering his mouth. "I bet she's not in this much trouble."

As he started to become light headed, he thoughts turned to how pretty the coy were. One of them was floating just outside the cage, staring at him. A stupid grin on his drowning face, he waved at it. Suddenly the coy swam through the bars of the cage. Kazuki watched it swim around his head and swim out of the cage again.

"Cool!" He thought. "I wish I was a coy fish…" His eyes widened as he felt himself begin to die. "Wait! I need to be a coy fish!"

That was what did it for him. As he began to fade away, Kazuki closed his eyes and concentrated.

"Animal transformation jutsu! Coy fish!"


The sensation was strange. It was like being stretched and folded like a bed sheet. It wasn't exactly painful, but it would have been very uncomfortable if Kazuki wasn't already drowning in a fish pond. He took a desperate breath, and instead of the expected rush of water, he got air. He tried to move his arms and legs, but he no longer had any. Kazuki's world brightened.

"I'm a fish!" He shouted in joy, even though any one else would have heard nothing. "I'm a coy fish!"

He could have sworn he heard one of the other coy call him a weirdo. However, Kazuki didn't care, he was now living a fish's life. It was probably one of the simplest lives in the animal kingdom. All Kazuki desired was to swim around that little pond for the rest of his life, occasionally going to the surface when bring fed. Kazuki was perfectly happy to remain as a fish, but then he saw Daichi's beaming face on the surface of the water. Giving a fishy grin, Kazuki the coy fish leapt out of the water at Daichi. In mid-air, I transformed back into a dripping, shivering human, coming to land just in front of him. Kazuki had expected a number of responses, all except the one Daichi did. He hugged Kazuki tightly, and began to cry.

"I'm sorry, Kazuki…" he sobbed into Kazuki's soaking shoulder. "I'm so sorry…"