67
Boundaries
At long last, the ship and its crew hit mainland. Captain Oga, no, simply, Oga now, gave his captains hat to one of his most loyal, shrewd, and outstanding shipmates then set off to buy a house with the last of his share. Oga was told he was lucky to buy that house. It stood by the ocean overlooking a small set of cliffs, and when Oga stood outside, the air was fresh with salt. The spray of the sea stinging his eyes.
Furuichi would find him one day, when the siren was ready to search for Oga again. Oga sat at the edge of the cliffs. He'd better prepare then, Oga could build a small pier, and if he got to work on it now, Oga would be just in time to see the silverfish again. With a pep in his step, civilian Oga went straight to work.
…
True to the feeling in his heart, Furuichi splashed his way to the newly finished pier a few months later. It was dark outside, sometime before the moon officially held its zenith within the sky. A candlestick flickered in the nearest window. Furuichi propped up his arms on the pier and gazed at the little flame steadily burning. The siren fought between being happy for Oga in settling down, and sad to know that the Captain wouldn't be needing him anymore.
"Why do you look so forlorn, my silverfish?"
Furuichi's tail twitched, but he remained propped on the pier,"I'm a siren. It's how we're made to look."
Oga slipped his feet into the cold sea water, shivered, and used caressing fingers to move silver hair away from doe brown eyes. Those eyes stared deeply into Oga's. "You look absolutely breathtaking in moonlight."
Furuichi made a scoffing noise at the back of his throat. "Why do you have to spoil everything?"
Oga moved to plead on his knees before the siren so quickly Furuichi fell into the water from surprise. "How come you can't accept my feelings for you? I know you're of the sea and I'm from land-"
"Oga it's not as simple as that-"
"No! You listen to me, Furuichi!"
Furuichi swallowed his tongue. Never had Oga raised his voice at him before. "I have loved you for so long. And I know that you love me. So, why do you keep running away from my feelings for you? It doesn't matter to me that we're different. It doesn't matter to me that we can't have a family of our own. I just want to grow old with you by the sea. To touch you, to caress you, to kiss you freely without worrying about you running away. Why can't you accept this?"
Furuichi's heart swelled as it sank in his chest. The siren wanted nothing more than to live with the human this way, for as long as forever lasted, but Furuichi couldn't accept Oga's feelings because they were nothing but cruel lies. It was high time Furuichi paid penance for his crimes.
"...Because Oga...your feelings aren't genuine." Furuichi held up his hand when Oga tried to counter argue. "Please lend me your ear, Captain."
Oga sat cross-legged on the pier when Furuichi swam closer to the pier. "I...That time when I let you kiss me. That...was the worst mistake of our lives. This mark on my hip is proof of the curse I placed upon you. The only reason you're so infatuated with me is because of this curse. I've spoken to the oldest siren of the seas, and they all said the same thing. That if I continue to entertain your notions of love for me, you will go mad and...and…."
"And what Furuichi?" Oga's tone growled in Furuichi's ears. Oga was angry and rightfully so. "And throw yourself into the sea to die."
Oga sat quietly, looking at the stars that had begun to shine through the inky blackness of the sky. "To hear such a tale, to hear that my feelings for you are not genuine," Oga's eyes flickered like the small flame above him. "That you would stoop so low to cultivate such a story to say that you have no feelings for me."
"Oga I'm not making up anything-"
"QUIET, FISH!"
Furuichi dropped into the water once more, but the siren felt that more than ever he shouldn't run away. "I'm tired of these games, Furuichi. I can see that my time has been wasted on these pursuits."
"Wait Oga ple-"
"I have waited! For sixteen years I waited! Now I wait for you no more. If what you say is true, then I'd rather fall off the cliffs than keep hoping that someday you'd return."
"But Oga I am telling the truth!"
"You have no idea how strong my feelings are-" Oga gave Furuichi one last look before turning his back on the siren, "were for you."
