Izaya didn't get much sleep that night. He spent the majority of the evening on his phone. He had a lot to try and cover up, as well as find Yodojiri. He borrowed Shinra's laptop to hack into traffic cams, shop camera's, and the sort. Roppi, Hibiya, Tsukishima, and Izaya slept in the same room. Hibiya and Tsuki shared a futon while Izaya and Roppi shared one. Sakuraya and Shitsuo were still in the back room. The mermaids had no problem sleeping, surprisingly. Roppi even fell asleep with his arm around Izaya's waist.

The informant wasn't able to find where Yodojiri disappeared to. He was able to find the car they had gotten away in, however, it was abandoned on the freeway in the black spot between two cameras. Izaya wasn't able to see which car they transferred into. After a long night of searching, he came up near emptyhanded. He ended up getting to sleep at five in the morning.

All of them slept in till noon. Izaya was the first to wake. He doesn't know how nor why. He noticed a long time ago that Roppi always slept in late. He usually didn't wake up till noon on a good day. Although Izaya was very surprised the kids didn't need to get up in the middle of the night for the bathroom.

Izaya decided not to wake any of them up. Instead, he got up, pulling Roppi's arm off his waist. He grabbed his phone and went out into the living room. Shinra was in the kitchen. They made eye contact before the doctor smiled.

"Good afternoon, Izaya." The doctor sneered. "Want some coffee."

"Hi." Izaya rubbed his eye. "Coffee would be nice."

The doctor chuckled before he grabbed the half empty pot of coffee. He poured Izaya a cup and handed it to him. Izaya liked his coffee black and Shinra knew that so the doctor didn't bother to give him any creamer. Izaya took a generous gulp.

He then clicked the screen of his phone. Izaya had missed a call. He smiled when he recognized it. He would call that number once he finished his coffee.


"Come on, come on." Izaya beckoned happily, walking up to his warehouse. "I'm telling you, you guys will love this."

"Is it the t—" Roppi started, but Izaya interrupted him with a:

"Sssh! Don't ruin the surprise!"

The group of six walked up to a warehouse, the very warehouse Roppi and Izaya's relationship had started in. Izaya looked particularly excited as he reached the door first. He unlocked and opened it, holding the door for the mermaids. Hibiya went in first, tugging Tsuki along behind him. Roppi followed close behind them. Sakuraya and Shitsuo, who were attached at the hip, took up the rear. Izaya went in last and closed the door behind them.

"WOW!" Hibiya yelled.

Sakuraya and Shitsuo were quiet but stared wide-eyed at the massive tank in front of them. Before them all was a tank nearly the entire perimeter of the warehouse. It was not as tall as the building, but tall enough to reach the windows of the eagle's nest. There was a metal catwalk leading up to a control panel next to the tank. Underneath that catwalk, welded to the steps was a metal chest with a number coded lock. Up on the ceiling was a metal crane along a track that had six off-shoots. On top of the tank were weighted pool covers. None of them could see inside the tank, as it was pitch black for some reason.

"...Wow..." Roppi voiced. "You got this done in three months?"

"Yeah. I had a day crew and a night crew to work on this," Izaya said, "so it would be done as soon as possible."

"This is for us?" Sakuraya looked at Izaya wide-eyed.

"Yes, indeed. Here, look!"

Izaya rushed over to the catwalk and climbed up it. He went to the control panel, in which he pulled out a key from his pocket, put it in the panel then clicked a button. The tank lit up with florescent lights, displaying a sandy floor and a huge, obviously man-made sea cave with seaweed in front of it to act as a door. There were also fishes swimming around in the tank—algae-eater sucker fish of different sizes and shades of black and tan.

"I figured you guys would probably prefer sand over pebbles." Izaya said, "Less it feel like a fish bowl. Besides, pebbles collect algae and I don't think we'd want to have a tank cleaning session as often as we would need. The sucker fish will hopefully keep the glass and the grotto clean for you guys."

Izaya leaned against the catwalk railing to look down at the family of mermaids.

"The glass is reflective. So long as the light is off, no one will be able to see inside the enclosure—so no one will know you're here if they stumble across this place. Although that does mean that you won't be able to see out of the tank unless the lights are off. There's a waterproof remote here," Izaya lifted the device, "So you guys can turn the light on and off whenever you want. Inside the grotto are some waterproof mattresses for you to sleep on, and in this trunk," he pointed down, "are bottles for you to empty your flotation bladders into so you can sleep."

Izaya went down the steps to the trunk. Roppi and the others walked over to look over his shoulder.

"The code right now is 1380, but you can change it to a number you'll remember."

The informant put in the code and the trunk popped open. He pushed it the rest of the way until it thunked against the metal steps, which mad it so it was only 3/4ths of the way open. Inside were towels, clothes, and two boxes—one a lock box and the other a simple wooden chest. He grabbed the chest, and in the box was a bundle of glass bottles with mouth grips attached to the top.

"So, what you do," Izaya lifted one of the bottles to show them, "is you bite down on this and breath in. The bottles have a suction lock, so in order to open them, you have to bite on this. That way, air won't get out and water won't get in."

Roppi took the bottle. "That's actually really cool."

"I know, right?" Izaya smiled. "It'll be way easier for you guys to refill your flotation bladders like this, rather than pushing yourself to the surface."

"Technology's come a long way." Roppi looked at Izaya. "I had a bottle like this, but it was magic imbued to keep the air in and water out."

"Wait, you already have one?"

"Had one. It's probably still in my grotto, back before I got caught by the Puerto Rican. SeiSei gave it to me years ago."

"Oh." Izaya nodded. "Well, I hope this will be good enough."

Roppi chuckled. "It will, without question."

Izaya smiled. "Oh, so, you also won't have to worry about anyone trying to kidnap you while you're in the tank. Those plates," He pointed up at the floating pool covers. "Weigh about 200 pounds each. No one's going to be able to lift them without the crane, and the crane can only be operated if they have this key."

He lifted the item.

"There's a copy in that lockbox for you to use."

He pointed to a small box in the trunk.

"There's also Morphine and Aspirin in there, so if you wish to transform back, you'll be able to. Up in the eagles nest are a few beds, a TV, and a land-line phone. There's also a phone book so you can order takeout whenever you want. Although, that means you'll have to take aspirin daily in order to eat, which means you'll have to purge if you want to go bac—"

"No, we won't." Roppi interrupted. "Aspirin can be nullified with saltwater."

Izaya looked at him in confusion.

"Did I never explain that? Not all pills need a purging in order to transform back. Hydrocodone, you need to purge, but Aspirin you can get your fin back by drinking saltwater. I don't know about other pills, but I can only assume not all of them require a purge."

Izaya just stared for a moment. "Oh. No, you never explained that."

"Sorry."

The informant chuckled. "Well, then that works out. You can order food and just turn back after you're done eating. I was going to say I can hire a private chef to cook for you so you won't have to transform back."

"Nah, that's more effort than it's worth. Trying to find a chef that won't freak out over mermaids is going to be annoyingly hard."

Izaya nodded. "Alright. If that's your choice." He then turned to Sakuraya and Shitsuo. "As before, you'll have free range to whatever you want. You still have the credit card I gave you, right?"

Shitsuo nodded. "Yes, we do."

Izaya nodded again. "That's yours to keep, no matter what. Roppi, I'll give you one to use, so you don't have to use mine anymore."

Roppi shook his head. "I won't need it. I'll be working with Simon from now on, so I'll be making my own money."

Izaya didn't let his smile fall despite the obvious shift of tension in the room. "I thought you were only going to take the job to spite me?"

"No, I just told you that to piss you off. But I'm really going to take the job. I'm really not a fan of having a sugar daddy taking care of me."

"I'm not a sugar daddy. Sugar daddies get laid."

"We've fucked plenty of times so far."

"Roppi, there are children present."

The mermaid rolled his eyes.

"I'm not funding you with those intent and you know it. You don't need to worry about money."

"Yeah, I know. But it still bugs me to have to ask someone else for money. I can take care of myself."

Izaya glowered slightly. "Lets talk about this later, in private."

Roppi was silent. He then nodded. "Yeah, okay."

"Mommy, I want to go swimming!" Hibiya tugged Roppi's shirt. "I wanna go!"

Roppi looked down at him. "Alright, let's go."

Hibiya bounced with happiness. He then turned and rushed to the stairs, pulling Tsuki along with him. Roppi separated the two by picking Tsuki up.

Izaya turned to Shitsuo and Sakuraya. "Do you want to go in as well?"

The two looked to each other. Sakuraya then nodded. He looked back to Izaya. "Yeah, sure."

Izaya nodded. "There's some bathing suits in the trunk."

"We won't need it." Shitsuo said. "We just need saltwater, so we'll be okay."

Izaya nodded. He then went up the metal stairs. At the top, Roppi stepped out of the way to let Izaya mess with the control panel. The informant put the key back in, turned on the panel and grabbed the joystick. He moved it, in which the crane moved along the track. He brought it above the floating cover that was right in front of them, then pressed a green button next to the join stick. The crane started to lower. The crane came over the plate, in which Izaya turned a dial. The crane began to close around the straps attached to the floating square. He then pressed the red button that had been next to the green one. The crane lifted, taking the plate with it.

The informant stopped the crane in order to talk.

"So," Izaya said, "if you want, the track does go all the way down so you can put the buoy covers on the floor."

The informant pointed and all turned to look. The track did extend past the pool by a significant distance.

"Do you want that?" Izaya looked at Roppi. "Or you just want an opening to jump into."

"I wan' jump in now!" Hibiya yelled. "I don' wan' wait!"

Roppi rolled his eyes. "Hibiya, stop being demanding."

The child pouted, but didn't say anything more.

Izaya chuckled. "Alright."

Izaya pressed the button again, lifting the crane and the plate higher. Once at a proper height, he moved the joystick. The crane traveled down the line and into the closest off-shoot to hover over the floating plate next to it. He lowered the crane down to put the plate on top of another one. He then turned the dial to have the crane released. He pressed the red button again, bringing the crane up to the ceiling so it was out of the way.

The informant turned the machine off with a turn of the key and stepped out of the way.

"YAY!" Hibiya yelled and immediately started taking off his clothes.

Roppi chuckled before kneeling down and helping the child strip. The brunette was soon completely bare. Roppi turned to Tsuki next and helped the blond strip. Soon enough, Tsuki was also naked. The mother mermaid folded their clothes and put them underneath the control panel.

Roppi then stripped as well. However, he kept his underwear on for a reason Izaya didn't know why. Roppi had never been a stranger to nudity, nor did he care about swimming naked, so—to Izaya—it was quite strange to see him develop modesty. Izaya didn't mention it, however, as the mother grabbed Hibiya.

There was a gap between the control panel and either railings of the platform. Roppi squeezed into that space and had Hibiya step on the railing.

"You ready?" Roppi looked at his little boy.

"Are you gon' to t'row me?"

"Yup."

Hibiya beamed. "Yay!"

Roppi chuckled. "Alright. One. Two. Three!"

The mother tossed the babe. Hibiya laughed heartily as he flew through the air for a few seconds before landing in the water with a mighty splash. Izaya peered over the railing to see the toddler's legs turn into an orange fin. He broke the surface of the water with a happy smile on his face.

"Waah, it great!" The child yelled.

"Move out of the way, Hibiya." Roppi said. "We're going to jump in too!"

"Okay!"

"Move under one of the plates, alright?"

"Okay!"

The child did as told and dove under. He swam out of the opening to disappear under the black cover.

Roppi turned and picked up Tsuki.

"I don' wan' be tossed." Tsukishima said, shaking his head. "I don' wan'!"

"Okay, okay." Roppi kissed Tsuki's head.

With that stated, Roppi climbed over the railing. With one arm, he climbed down the railing until his feet touched the rim of the fish tank. Izaya leaned over the railing to watch him go. He kept his hand on the bottom of the metal platform to keep his balance.

"Ready?" Roppi kissed Tsuki's head.

The little blond nodded. Without further ado, Roppi hopped off and into the water. Within Roppi's very arms, Tsukishima transformed. His blood red tail sprouted to tap against his mother's belly.

Izaya looked over his shoulder at Sakuraya and Shitsuo. The two held half-smiles as they looked up at him. The informant stepped to the side to give them room. The two looked uncomfortable. Izaya was confused and it took him far too long to realize their reaction was because they didn't want to strip in front of him. The informant was so out of touch with normal behavior due to Roppi that he forgot the adult siblings were raised to be human. Izaya chuckled at the thought.

"I need to make a call." Izaya said, looking down at Roppi. "I'll be stepping out for a moment."

"Okay!" Roppi called.

Izaya smiled before turning to Sakuraya and Shitsuo. "Excuse me."

The two stepped out of the way. Izaya walked past them and descended the steps. He then went to the front door, in which he walked out and closed the door behind him. He pulled out his phone to check the time. 3:41.

'They'll be here soon.'

Izaya saw he had a message. He put in his passcode, swiped down so he could see the dropbar of who texted him and what they said. It was who he was hoping to see, stating they were en-route. That message had been sent at 3:20. Izaya nodded as a smile crossed his face. He then went online to check out the Dollars chatroom to pass the time.

Within another 10 minutes, a black car rolled up to the warehouse. It came to a stop and turned off. Immediately, the back door opened and an 8-year-old brunette in pink-and-white clothes jumped out.

"Hello, Psy-cha—"

"Is she here?!" The child interrupted. "My mother?!"

"Psyche, wait." Shiki hissed.

The executive climbed out of the car after his son. He slammed the door shut and rushed over to his child. The two now stood before Izaya.

"Yes, she is." Izaya said. "Shes' inside."

Psyche smiled, but his eyes reflected a nervousness that didn't match.

"She doesn't know you're here." Izaya said. "And she had a very stressful day yesterday. So, I ask you to be a little bit delicate, okay?"

Psyche didn't respond. Instead he nodded.

"Alright, let's go."

Izaya opened the door and the three stepped inside.

Sakuraya and Shitsuo were now in the tank, transformed and swimming around. Izaya was not surprised to see that Sakuraya had a pink fin and Shitsuo had a black fin. Although he had the videos from Minigawa's place, the camera's had been in grayscale, so Izaya didn't know what theirs fins actually looked like. However, those colors matched their personalities the best. It was truly no surprise.

The two adults were swimming around the grotto, observing their new home. Tsukishima, Hibiya, and Roppi remained close to the open water, although the three were under the surface. Roppi was playing in the sand with Tsukishima while Hibiya was doing summersaults above them.

Immediately, all of the mermaids perked and looked over at them. All eyes bore down on Psyche. The eight-year-old's eyes stretched wide as he reflexively pushed against his father.

'That was creepy.' Izaya acknowledged. 'At least now Shiki-san has proof that I'm not being played.'

Roppi immediately swam to the surface. He broke the waters edge with a gasp. With little pause, he swam over to the rim of the tank. He pulled himself up, climbed over, and dropped down. His feet smacked harder against the concrete thanks to the water.

Psyche didn't hesitate. As soon as Roppi touched ground, he rushed over to his estranged mother.

"Psyche!" Shiki hissed.

The raven ignored him. With tears streaking his cheeks, he wrapped his arms around Roppi's waists in a tight embrace. Roppi put his hands on the Psyche's back, tears spilling from his red eyes, although it was hard to tell because of the water.

"You shouldn't..." Roppi started, "You're going to get your clothes wet."

Roppi grabbed Psyche's shoulders and pushed the boy away. He then knelt down so he could be eye level with him. A soft sob escaped Roppi's lips as he smiled at Psyche. His hands reached up to hold the boys face, rubbing his thumbs over his cheeks to get rid of the tears. His wet hands only spread them further but neither seemed to care.

Izaya walked over to the chest and pulled out a towel. He handed it to Roppi, who took it graciously. He then wiped his hands and face with it. Once done, he wiped Psyche's face too. He sat the towel on his lap and looked at his son.

"Hi..." Roppi smiled.

"Hi." Psyche smiled right back.

"I'm Hachimenroppi."

"I'm um, I'm Haruya Psyche. Al-although, I mean, that might not be the name you gave me, heh."

Roppi shook his head. "That bastard took you from me before I could even name you."

Psyche's eyes widened to the statement.

Roppi smiled all the same. "It's nice to see you again, Psyche."

Psyche nodded as his eyes misted over with fresh tears. He then wrapped his arms around Roppi's neck. The mother chuckled as he patted Psyche on the back.

"We have a lot we need to talk about." Roppi looked up at Shiki. "You and your father."

"Y-yeah." Psyche nodded. "Yeah..."

Izaya watched the interaction from the catwalk, arms crossed and silent. He was more than content just watching quietly.

'Now that only leaves two more to find.'


Alright, halfway point (halfway in plot, not in chapters.)