Shouta fumbles for his phone, fingers slapping down against his mattress until he stretches and he starts to hit his bedside table. He vaguely remembers placing his phone down there before he face- planted on his bed, finally goddamn able to get some sleep.
So much for that.
It's still dark, and he squints at his phone-screen that's lighting up the room. He doesn't bother to check the caller I.D, because his eyes hurt too much already, and he just clumsily swipes across the screen to answer before he rests it on his cheek.
Only very few people have this number, and all of them know not to call Shouta right now.
"What," he grunts out, half-muffled by the pillow that he's still sunken into.
"Sorry to wake you, Aizawa," Naomasa says to him, though he hardly sounds apologetic at all. They both know that there's no other option if Naomasa is taking the risk to call him when he's clearly stated he's knocking the fuck out for the week.
Shouta sighs heavily. If only he ever bothered to consider actually putting his phone on silent. They both know Shouta will never do that, though.
Shouta mourns the loss of his sleep, but it's a familiar gravestone he weeps at. He forces himself to sit up, fingers pressing into his eyelids to try and ease some of the irritation that feels like it's drying out his eyes.
"Why're you waking me?" Shouta asks, after Naomasa doesn't bother to offer the information himself. It's not unkind — though he's annoyed at losing his sleep, he knows Naomasa wouldn't call him over something trivial. Whatever Naomasa needs, it's important.
"The operation that Shirakumo was part of had kids involved," Naomasa replies tiredly, sounding all too weary. They're all tired of finding children tangled up in this dark and twisted side of the world.
"Of course it did," Shouta sighs.
He mentally goes over the information he knows, snippets trailed down to him by Oboro and Hizashi as they've worked for days on end to see this mission through. Investigating the underground black market trade, trying to find traces of illegal mythical creature and human trade. He didn't know that they'd be raiding tonight, but he doesn't know nearly as much as he should.
He's been busy too, but he's not nearly as involved as he used to be out on the field. And Oboro and Hizashi are hardly ever around anymore, so their chances to catch up and discuss their missions have become very limited.
"We've been able to relocate most of the kids to safe places tonight, but we've got one that we don't have sufficient resources to deal with," Naomasa explains, and Shouta starts to piece together why Naomasa has turned to him now.
"And it's urgent?" Shouta prompts — he's not disbelieving of the importance of this call, but he can't imagine why Naomasa's force doesn't have the proper equipment to deal with whatever
situation has arisen with one of the children.
Naomasa understands Shouta's prompt, as he explains after a brief moment of pause. "One of them is a mermaid. His structure got damaged during the raid, and we don't really have the capacity for a proper environment for him right now. We can't even transport him, at the moment."
Shouta blinks in surprise. It's the combination of the late hour and the unexpected nature of the call — he finds it hard to find anything surprising in his line of work, especially as he now has Hitoshi and Eri living with him.
But Shouta also thinks there might have been no chance of ever preparing to hear that they've managed to find a mermaid. They're creatures that are thought to long be extinct, and there's only ever been whispered rumours of their appearance in the black market.
But only ever rumours. No one has ever been able to confirm a sighting of them, and they've never found them in any of their many, many raids.
"Jesus," Shouta breathes out, his head already starting to hurt with an oncoming headache. "Entirely mermaid?"
"Yeah, we think so," Naomasa laughs mirthlessly. He's likely seen the mermaid with his own two eyes, but still, Naomasa sounds like he can't quite believe it either.
"How long until the structure can't hold out anymore?" Shouta asks, already standing up from his bed and shuffling around the room, phone pressed between his shoulder and his ear. He'd put it on speaker if he wasn't nervous about accidentally waking Eri, who's been plagued by night terrors lately.
It's a cold night, and he reaches for the jacket he's thrown over his chair. On the other end of the line, Naomasa sighs heavily.
"We tried to stop the water from draining, but it's too damaged. An hour, max, before there's problems with oxygen intake. The water seems like some type of specialised mixture, and we don't have the time to figure out what components have gone into it," Naomasa replies.
"Alright," Shouta says lowly, taking a moment to once again press his fingers into his eyelids before he drags his hand down his face, trying to forcefully awaken a little more. He's exhausted, already pushing his limits, but there's no other choice. "I'll head there now, what's the address?"
Naomasa lists it off, and then they end the call. Shouta slips out of his bedroom as quietly as he can, but unfortunately has to make his way to Hitoshi's room anyway to lean down and gently try to stir him from his sleep.
He's glad that it's a Sunday, at least, and Hitoshi will be able to sleep in to make up for the disruption.
Hitoshi blinks at him sleepily, Shouta catching the movement thanks to the moonlight coming through the window.
"Aizawa?" Hitoshi grumbles out, eyes squinting. His eyebrows furrow, and he sits up, already concerned.
"I've been called in to help with a kid," Shouta explains, and Hitoshi blinks slowly as he lets the words sink in.
Hitoshi knows how this goes — only a couple of years ago, he'd been one of the kids in a raid. Shouta was actually part of it, not called in specifically to deal with Hitoshi, but Hitoshi knows what the situation means.
"Okay," Hitoshi says sleepily around a yawn, already moving to stand up. "I'll keep an eye on Eri."
"Thanks," Shouta replies with relief, stepping back to let Hitoshi make his way to Eri's room. Hitoshi doesn't need to do it, but it seems like the two of them have taken to sharing a bed when Shouta is out for more hours of the night than he's home for.
"Yeah," Hitoshi says, rubbing the back of his neck. "Good luck."
Shouta grunts in appreciation, and they quietly part ways in the hallway. Shouta puts on his shoes and treads quietly out of his apartment, heading down the building. He checks his phone for the time before he gets into his car, mouth twisting as he sees the 04:17 flashing right back at him.
He's tempted to call Oboro or Hizashi, just in case they have any more information, but he figures they're both tied up with things right now if they haven't already reached out to him. They're likely dealing with relocating the other kids, making sure they're settled in and safe for the night as they run through the medical checks and safety procedures.
They've all done it enough times, but it hardly gets any easier to deal with young, traumatised kids. With a heavy, sinking heart, he wonders how young they are this time.
But pity and sorrow won't do anything to help in this situation, and so Shouta takes a deep breath and tells himself to approach this rationally. Emotions are not rational — not right now, not until he can understand if they're something the child might need.
He pulls up to the address, and Naomasa is already standing outside the building waiting for him with his arms folded. He approaches with a nod in greeting.
The building is a large warehouse, nondescript amongst the other buildings with similar structures. The front door is guarded by two people, meaning this is a small team involved so far.
"He's very quiet right now. We're not sure if he understands us at all," Naomasa explains once Shouta steps out of his car and locks it.
"You haven't gotten in someone who can communicate?" Shouta questions, and Naomasa shakes his head as he starts to walk.
"No one in the circle can translate what we thought was a dead language, and this is too delicate to start bringing in people outside of that," Naomasa replies. "He's not responding to anything we're trying, but he did try and attack Tamakawa before he realised we were trying to get the chains off him."
Shouta's heart drops a little when he hears about the chains, but he takes a steadying breath. It's been a while, maybe, but he knows what to expect with these kinds of cases. He knows all too well what these kids look like, what kind of situations and scenarios they've been subjected to.
"After that, he's just been unreceptive to any communication," Naomasa continues, leading Shouta through the doors. It leads into an open space, and Shouta's stomach clenches as he sees the all- too-small rows of cages, now empty but certainly were not previously, but Naomasa leads him to the side and opens up a door that leads into a staircase.
Naomasa leads him down, their footsteps echoing in the eerie, quiet hum of the building.
"This might not work on a full mermaid," Shouta says, now that they're essentially alone. Naomasa sighs knowingly.
Shouta can cancel out the abilities of those with abilities from their heritage. He can cancel out Hitoshi's ability with his voice, the serenading and hypnotising ability of a siren that's been passed through one of his grandparents. But, mostly, Hitoshi is human. Most of the time, the kids that they save are all too human, just with a mixture of abilities passed through old, rare heritages.
Sometimes, they get kids that are something a little more. Closer to half. But Shouta's abilities can still work on them — disengaging their other side, and making them something close to entirely human as he nullifies their abilities.
Shouta knows that if this works, somehow, then he will be wrapped up in this case for a while. If Shouta leaves the close proximity of a person, a measly one hundred metres away from them, for over an hour, then their abilities will return.
If Shouta's ability works, and he can shift the mermaid, then he will need to make sure the mermaid remains shifted, until they can figure out a viable solution for him as a mermaid.
If this works, then Shouta might very possibly be tied to this mermaid for a while.
"You're our best option, right now. Our information on mermaids is lacking at best, and none of it is helping us right now." Naomasa replies. "If your ability can give him human aspects, like lungs that can take in oxygen, then that's a win for us."
"I can't change someone's biology, Tsukauchi," Shouta reminds him.
"I know," Naomasa says, finally coming to the bottom of the stairs. "But it's an old folks-tale that mermaids can shift, and I'm hoping your ability can help us along with that."
Folks-tales all start from somewhere, and this is the only starting point they have right now to go with. Shouta pushes his hair back from his eyes tiredly, and follows along as Naomasa opens up the door.
It opens to a small room, the lights clinically bright and making Shouta's eyes sting. There's two other people in the room, and Shouta has to squint a little as he places one of the figures as Sansa. The other is someone he's seen around, but he's pretty sure they came out onto the field just after Shouta stepped back from it.
Sansa's eyes flicker to the door in front of them, and Naomasa walks to stand in front of it. He pauses, like he's bracing himself, or giving Shouta a moment to collect himself.
Shouta doesn't need it — he's seen a lot of things, too many things, in the field. He remembers them every night, and he's not the only one in their house that can't stop dreaming about the horrors he's seen.
And he's only ever seen them. Hitoshi and Eri have lived them.
But he appreciates it, because it gives Shouta a considerate warning that the sight on the other side
of the door will not be an easy one to stomach.
Naomasa opens up the door, and a light immediately turns on and floods the room in brightness. There, in the middle of this terribly bright white room, is a tank. No less of a cage, however.
It's only the same to the ones on the floor above them in size. It's too small to contain the living
being inside of it.
But it's different to those metal bars and cages. This is built with thick, reinforced glass. One side of it has been dented in, and the glass is cracked and damaged. There's been an attempt to seal it, but there's water still dribbling through the cracks, and there's already a large pool of water on the ground beneath.
Also on the ground are dark, ugly chains. They're thrown to the side, discarded for now. Shouta's eyes go back to the tank, and he spots the small circular anchor at the bottom of the tank that the chains are meant to attach to.
The water has a strange shimmer to it, like there's a tint of gold intertwined with it. It is not regular water, that much is clear to see from here.
And there, inside of it, is the mermaid.
He looks like a young teenager, but Shouta isn't too sure if the ageing is any different for mermaids. His tail is a bright shock of green, long and curled up against the tank that is clearly too small for him. There's marks along the tail, the red scratches a contrast to the green they're scraped into. He's tucked down, keeping his entire body below the slowly falling water line as much as he can.
His eyes are on Shouta, narrowed as he assesses the new presence in the room. When Shouta meets his eyes, they stare at each other, the mermaid refusing to look away.
Naomasa moves, and that's what finally breaks their eye contact. The mermaid's eyes flicker over to Naomasa, carefully watching, but still unmoving.
"This is Aizawa," Naomasa introduces, and Shouta watches the mermaid's expression carefully to see if there's any flicker of understanding. But the mermaid's face remains wary, no sign of changing expression. "He can cancel out most abilities from heritages. We're hoping he'll be able to help the situation."
The mermaid's eyes flicker again to Shouta, but only for a split-second. Still, there is no sign of recognition or reaction to Naomasa's words.
Naomasa turns to Shouta. "Good to go?"
Shouta gives him a small shrug. "Sure. But there's no promise this will work."
Naomasa nods.
Just for a moment, the scene in front of Shouta feels like more of a picture. Everyone is still, unmoving, as they size each other up and just wait for the next move.
Shouta looks over the mermaid, and he turns his attention into the usual feeling that's locked inside of his own core. He focuses on engaging it, staring down the mermaid, and he feels a promising waver of a string float through the centre of himself.
He tugs hard on that string, like he usually does when he wants to nullify an ability. Suddenly, the stillness in the room is overthrown.
The water in the tank starts to swirl almost violently. The bright green of the mermaid's tail is lost amongst all the movement, like there's a small tornado inside of the remaining water in the tank,
and there's only a blur of green and sudden, bright shocks of pink rushing through the water.
It lasts for maybe half a minute. The mermaid is panicking, moving and thrashing like he's trying to escape the tornado, but there's little they can do now to try and calm him. The mermaid keeps himself below water, but all the movement has only made the water pour out of the tank at a higher intensity, and Shouta can only hope that this works.
The tornado slows, the swirling water slowly untangling itself until it's almost calm once again. The mermaid is still thrashing, but his movements cease once the water is no longer swirling around his tail.
The only green remaining in the tank are from the mermaid's hair and eyes. Where there was once a bright, long tail, there are now very human legs. For a moment, it is a picture once more.
All of them stare at the two human legs in the tank. The mermaid is staring at them in shock, and the only movement is made by him as his fingers hesitantly and slowly move towards the skin there.
When his fingertips make contact, he gasps.
The problem is, he is still underwater.
He is no longer in the form of a mermaid. When he inhales, he can no longer breathe underwater.
"Shit," Shouta curses, already rushing forward and stepping up the small step-ladder that is by the side of the tank. The mermaid is panicking, floundering around, hands wrapped around his throat in panic.
The tank is just slightly too large, and Shouta can't reach the mermaid even if he tries to. He doesn't take another second to think about it — he wraps his fingers around the edge of the tank, and he hauls himself inside, careful not to land on top of the mermaid as he splashes down. The water is low enough that when Shouta stands, it only comes a little bit above his hips.
The mermaid is staring at him with panic and anger, and Shouta barely has a second to react before the mermaid is rushing towards him, hands extended out like he's going to try and tackle Shouta down and drown him.
But the mermaid does not know how to move without a tail, and his feet slip as he touches the bottom of the tank. Shouta takes the chance to thread his arms underneath the mermaid's armpits and haul him up, getting his head finally above water.
The mermaid does not breathe. He thrashes, eyes narrowed with distrust and betrayal as he tries to escape Shouta's hold.
Shouta's heart aches, because he can't even explain why he's doing this. He knows this must be unbearably confusing and Shouta hates that he has to act without sparing the time to be considerate to the mermaid's feelings.
"Hey, hey, come on," Shouta says, hoping that his tone will somehow be able to convey that he's just trying to help. "You gotta breathe, come on."
The mermaid, as expected, still does not understand him. Shouta has to tighten his hold, making
sure the mermaid doesn't slip back down and into the water. The mermaid tries to claw at him, eyes narrowing viciously, and he's getting used to his legs with alarming speed, attempting to kick off the bottom of the tank and kick at Shouta. Shouta has to lift him just a little, not giving him the leverage to do so.
Still, the mermaid refuses to breathe in.
When it becomes clear that Shouta isn't going to let go, the mermaid's eyes start to lose some of their vicious edge. Now, likely getting dizzy from loss of oxygen, he just looks so incredibly lost and confused.
Why? Why are you doing this to me? The mermaid seems to be asking with his eyes, his jaw clenched tightly like he's trying to not say a thing aloud.
"Breathe, come on," Shouta says, a little quieter now, purposely trying to use some of the softness in his tone that he knows will send Eri to sleep when she asks him to read a bedtime story. "Kid, you gotta breathe."
Shouta makes a show of taking in a big, deep breath, and then exhaling it. The mermaid doesn't seem to care about the motion, still too panicked, and Shouta would be concerned about an oncoming panic attack if it wasn't likely that the mermaid would forcefully make himself unconscious before it has the time to hit.
Shouta makes the movement again, and then again.
The mermaid's eyes stare at Shouta's chest, and then his throat. And then he looks down, looking at his legs.
Shouta's still concerned he's about to fall unconscious — but at least if he does, then his body will subconsciously take in a breath. At least he'll be breathing.
Just before it seems like it'll get to that point, the mermaid takes in a small, sharp breath.
He holds it, and his eyes are starting to lose some of that wild panic now that he's realising the air isn't choking him.
Shouta purposely demonstrates an exhale, because the mermaid is still reluctant to actually breathe properly.
Hesitantly, the mermaid copies him. His legs have stopped kicking and splashing up the water, which now comes up to Shouta's mid-thigh at best.
"There you go," Shouta soothes, realising his own heart has been beating frantically. He takes in some more measured breaths, but now that the mermaid has realised he can actually breathe above the water, he's doing so at a frantic pace like he's trying to make up for all the oxygen he deprived himself of in his panic.
The mermaid sags, his weight dropping. Shouta readjusts his grip, making sure the mermaid doesn't slip down into the water again. The water would be unlikely to cover his head even if he does sit down, but Shouta doesn't want to risk anything.
Once the mermaid's breathing starts to calm down, he seems to start processing what's actually going on. He looks down, watching as his legs swish in the water — both, at the same time. He frowns, eyebrows furrowing in concentration, and then manages to just kick one of them at a time.
Now that he's not overwhelmed with panic, now that he's actually focusing on making the movement, it's not nearly as messy or as desperate. His legs move slowly with intention, like he's fascinated.
The mermaid looks up, and makes a noise at Shouta. It sounds like a high trill, tongue clicking in noises that Shouta would have very little hope of ever replicating.
Shouta gives a small, slow shake of his head, demonstrating that he doesn't understand the language being spoken. The mermaid huffs, his legs still slowly swishing in the water.
He wriggles in Shouta's grip, clearly intent on doing something. Shouta's pretty sure he's not going to be attacked again, and even if he was, he's pretty sure he can take a mermaid that doesn't quite know how to use his two legs separately.
Gently, he lowers the mermaid so that he'll be able to stand. He keeps his hands hovering, just in case there's another slip. The mermaid's knees bend awkwardly, almost folding completely as he tests putting his weight entirely down on his feet, but he fortunately manages to remain standing.
He looks up again at Shouta with wide eyes, and the clicking noises he's making sound almost like a laugh of disbelief.
"I'll be back in a moment," Naomasa says to the room, and both of their heads turn to watch him walk out of the room. The mermaid's head tilts inquisitively, and then he looks back at Shouta suspiciously.
Shouta puts up his hand in a placating surrender gesture. He's truly at a loss for how to communicate the entire situation and their intentions with him — because it's a lot. And considering the current predicament that they're in, Shouta's certain the mermaid has every single reason to distrust him.
"It's alright," Shouta still says anyway, once again hoping his tone can get across now that they're not in the midst of the throes of panic. "We're here to help."
The mermaid chitters shortly back at him, and Shouta desperately wishes they had some type of way to communicate. As they wait for Naomasa to return, Shouta watches as the mermaid bends his knees, and then watches as he almost topples over as he tries to lift one of his legs. The scratches that were etched into his tail have transferred over, wounds and scars decorating his legs.
He's almost worried some of the newer wounds will reopen, and that's what gets him to move and focus on helping him.
"Woah, woah, okay, slow and steady there," Shouta says, more for his own benefit. The mermaid glances up at him, but seems to be determined to try and get the hang of picking up one leg at a time.
Shouta holds out his arms when it seems like he's going to topple over again, and the mermaid's face flashes in irritation. But he takes hold of Shouta's arms to balance, and Shouta watches as that irritation quickly fades into determination.
He manages to stand on one leg at a time, and then he lets go of Shouta as he tries to do so on his own. He manages to do so, and his lips split into a satisfied grin.
The moment is interrupted by Naomasa opening up the door again, and the mermaid startles, almost tripping over as he tries to hide. Shouta steadies him just enough to make sure he doesn't fall, but otherwise drops his hold quickly enough to try and make sure it doesn't seem like he's
trying to restrain him.
Behind Naomasa trails in Sansa. Naomasa holds two towels, while Sansa carries in a blanket and a jacket.
It's a bit of a process trying to get the mermaid out of the tank. Shouta hauls his way out first, but it's soon discovered they can't really pull the mermaid out by grabbing onto his arms. Shouta has to get back into the tank, and then lift up the mermaid so that Naomasa and Sansa can help pull him up and bring him up and over the tank.
It's a very long process. Shouta tries to explain what he's going to do to the mermaid before he does it, but their understanding of each other's communication is still non-existent. Still, the mermaid doesn't struggle as he's lifted up, so Shouta supposes something must have translated.
The mermaid is definitely not familiar with feeling dry, as he almost starts to work himself up to a panic attack again because of it. It takes a while for him to calm down, and understand that he's okay if he's dry.
Eventually, he hesitantly copies the movements Shouta made to dry himself off, but it's awkward and stiff as he replicates trying to dry his hair. His hair is still dripping, starting to curl now, and eventually he just gives up and lets the towel hang around his shoulders in the same way that Shouta has.
"We should get him checked out," Naomasa says, looking over to Shouta as he does so. "Just to make sure he's definitely okay after shifting."
"Yeah," Shouta agrees.
The mermaid's head is whipping back and forth between them, like he's trying to discern their words, but it's clear that he still can't.
Walking is definitely not on the cards — not tonight. With the mermaid's health on the line, they don't try and wait to teach him how to walk, and especially not with the obstacle of stairs immediately outside the room.
They communicate by what feels like charades, but eventually they're able to wrap the towel around the mermaid's hips and put his arms through the jacket. Shouta is the one to pick him up, piggy-back style just to make it easier while going up the stairs.
It's really not easy, because Shouta is exhausted and the mermaid is not all that light. He thinks it's going to be worse, though, but the mermaid seems to understand to hold on tight and keeps his weight forward as Shouta starts to climb the stairs.
Naomasa checks in with him, ready to swap out if needed, but Shouta makes it to the top of the stairs. Naomasa explains that most of the medical team they've brought in have left, but there's still a couple that are trusted to stay around and help out with the mermaid.
Chiyo is one of them, and she tuts as she spots the figure on Shouta's back. She already has a small little set-up established, the usual kits she has for moving jobs, and Shouta lowers him onto the temporary chair that's acting as a medical cot. The mermaid remains docile, letting himself be moved, but he's watching all of them warily and his fingers are clenched like he's prepared to claw at them if he needs to defend himself.
"He doesn't understand human languages," Shouta informs her, and she gives a small nod. They've seen plenty of children before with communication issues; non-verbal, deaf, or those that speak
different human languages.
"Any problems?" She asks Shouta.
"Inhaled some water," Shouta says, and she nods with a small frown.
"Poor deary," she sighs, and makes sure she gets the mermaid's attention as she talks to him, making sure her hands stay in view. She runs over some checks with him, making sure that his breathing is okay and that the water hasn't affected him.
The mermaid gets a little hesitant as she pulls out some devices to check blood pressure. She demonstrates it on herself first, wrapping the band around her arm, and he gives her a small nod once she takes it off and gestures to him.
He makes a cut-off noise of surprise when the band starts to constrict, but Chiyo calmly speaks to him. Her tone must help, as he's cautious, but he doesn't try to fight against her and any more of the checks that she goes through.
"His blood pressure is a little high, but that's likely from the stress of the situation," she relays to them. "I believe the shift doesn't have any adverse effects on him. Like all the others, he's dehydrated and hungry, but there doesn't seem to be any internal issues."
Her eyes linger on some of the marks on his legs. Smoothly, she heals some of the worst of them, and Shouta watches as the boy blinks down in fascination, actually moving for the first time since he's been placed down. He sits up, looking over his legs and poking at the parts where the wounds have healed over.
He makes an inquisitive noise, head tilting as he looks at Chiyo. She smiles at him — and there's no pity in her gaze, just a tired kind of resignation. They've seen terrible things in these cases, and as far as the whole night has gone, this is hardly one of the worst of them.
All the children are alive and physically okay, and sometimes that's simply what they'd call a good outcome.
As Chiyo continues to do a final check, Naomasa pulls him aside. It's not like the mermaid seems to understand them, but Naomasa is just being careful.
"We're obviously going to try and replicate the formula with the water, and make sure we can safely take him back home, but until then, we're going to need you," Naomasa says.
Shouta nods, already having expected it. Once he activates his ability, he can hold it for as long as he wants to, just as long as he's still close enough to them. He'd already known from the moment Naomasa had called him that this would be a long task.
"I'm sorry, as I know you have Shinsou and Eri to deal with," Naomasa continues, looking genuinely apologetic. "But we're... well, out of our depth here, right now."
"I can take him," Shouta assures, and Naomasa gives him a tired smile and pats him on the shoulder.
"Thanks, Aizawa," he says, and they head back over to Chiyo and the mermaid.
Chiyo clears him, and with that settled, Shouta is left to figure out how to deal with the fact he's going to be housing a mermaid in his already busy home. They'll work it out — they have to, really, but Shouta's head hurts just a little as he tries not to let it feel overwhelming.
Naomasa carries him back to Shouta's car, bundling him into the front seat. The mermaid is quiet and lets them do so, eyes wide and inquisitive as he looks around at the world and inside the car.
Naomasa goes to buckle up his seatbelt, but the second it goes over his chest, the mermaid starts to panic. Naomasa immediately retreats and holds up his hands, eyes glancing over to Shouta to help.
Shouta gets his attention, clearly demonstrating as he clicks his own seatbelt over himself. And then he unclicks it, showing how to do so, reaching across to the mermaid's and pressing his in as well. Eventually, the mermaid lets them click it in, even though he's tugging at it to stop it pressing so tightly on his chest.
"We'll be in touch. Thanks again, Aizawa," Naomasa says, closing the door as gently as he can.
Shouta turns down the volume of his radio, because he saw the way the mermaid jumped in surprise as the engine started up. He doesn't want to overwhelm him — and anyway, Shouta's own head is pounding, and he doesn't need the extra stimulation either.
The mermaid is almost restless, twisting and turning in his seat as he looks out at the world passing by the window. It's still dark at this hour, deep into the winter, and Shouta turns up the heating.
He runs through a mental checklist as he drives. He'll need to get supplies, extra clothes, and — god, they're going to have to teach the mermaid a hell of a lot about the world and how to function as a human. Like walking, now that he has legs he can use.
Some kind of way to communicate is the priority, but Shouta's not entirely sure how to go about it right now.
He'll have to tell Eri and Hitoshi what the deal is, and he'll have to make sure none of them overwhelm each other. He'll probably have to have someone with the mermaid just to guard him for the moment, even though it feels a little too close to feeling like the mermaid is a prisoner in his home.
But until they can communicate that they're here to help, Shouta can't be certain that the mermaid won't try and take off, and then it'll just be a whole lot more dangerous for him if he does so.
It's going to be a lot of work. Fuck, Shouta is so tired. One night at a time. One hour at a time.
He can do this.
He pulls up to his apartment building and switches the car off. The mermaid watches him warily again, no longer distracted by his fascinations of the car or the scenery going by. Shouta unclips his seatbelt, and watches as the mermaid copies his movements.
Shouta gets out of the car and walks around to the other side, opening up the passenger door. He feels bad about doing this, but it's just too late into the morning and Shouta does not have the patience right now to try and teach him how to walk on his own. Especially not on the paved roads, where there's the risk of getting scratched up, and he's only covered in a blanket and a jacket.
"Alright, come on," Shouta says, projecting his movements as he slides his arm underneath the mermaid's knees and around his back, hoisting him up in a bridal carry to lift him out of the car. He shuts the car door and locks it, then heads into the building.
It's difficult putting in the building code and getting into the elevator, but Shouta manages to do it
out of stubborn determination. If he puts down the mermaid now, he's also not entirely sure he'll have the strength to pick him back up. He puts in his apartment keycode, opens up the door and winces as he accidentally knocks his elbows on the doorframe.
He's really hoping that it doesn't wake up Eri or Hitoshi, but he knows how lightly they sleep. He puts the mermaid down once they're both inside, letting him lean up against the wall while Shouta slides off his shoes.
The mermaid scuffs his feet against the floor, looking around both earnestly and critically. His eye is on the door, and Shouta sighs inwardly. He'll definitely have to stay up to keep an eye on him.
Eri's bedroom door cracks open, and both Shouta and the mermaid whip their heads around to look at the noise. Hitoshi peeks his head through the door, squinting blearily.
"Dad?" Hitoshi asks tiredly, and Shouta feels his shoulders almost melt with both relief and fondness.
"Hey," he whispers.
"That's the kid?" Hitoshi questions, sliding out of the bedroom and shutting the door behind him, meaning Eri has thankfully managed to stay asleep.
"Yeah, um," Shouta swallows down something like a laugh. "Yeah. He can't walk, or understand us, so."
Hitoshi whistles low and impressed. "Jeez."
When Hitoshi walks up to them, Shouta watches as he engages in some kind of stare-down with the mermaid. The mermaid has straightened up, head tilting as he sizes up Hitoshi.
Then, the mermaid makes a clicking noise again. It's not as sharp or as frantic as when he was panicking — this is a little softer, something closer to his clearly curious nature.
"Oh," Hitoshi stops, eyes wide. "Oh shit. You shifted a mermaid?"
Shouta meets Hitoshi's eyes. "How'd you know?"
It's not a question made out of suspicion. It's genuine curiousity, and also a whole lot of confusion.
"It's... ugh," Hitoshi groans, running a hand over his face. "Um, it sounds kind of familiar to like, siren? But not quite. And I can kind of just... feel it. He probably can too."
Hitoshi's hand rubs over his chest, the spot where Shouta usually feels that tug and pull inside of him when his own ability can reach out to someone else's.
The mermaid makes another noise, but seems to deflate once he realises that Hitoshi still can't understand him. Still, some of the tense energy that's been wound tight around him seems to melt, his gaze no longer lingering on the doorway or any other escape routes.
Hitoshi's presence is, hopefully, working as some kind of reassurance. Shouta's hoping that's what he's taking from this, anyway.
"I'm going to set him up in the guest room and keep an eye on him," Shouta explains, hand gesturing to one of the closed doors down the hallway. "I don't know if he'll sleep, but..."
Hitoshi nods, hovering close as Shouta once again puts the mermaid on his back and carries him
over to the spare room. Hitoshi stands in the doorway, watching the scene, and then once the mermaid has been laid down on the bed, steps close to Shouta.
The mermaid seems fascinated by the bed at least rather than suspicious of it, fingers twisting in the bedsheets and curiously bouncing on the mattress. It'd be amusing to watch, if Shouta's heart still wasn't thinking about that too-small tank and the chains on the ground.
"You need to sleep," Hitoshi mutters. "It's fine, I'm up now, I won't be able to sleep again anyway. I'll keep watch out in the main room."
Shouta immediately shakes his head in refusal. "No, you should head back to sleep. I'll catch up later."
"No you won't," Hitoshi refutes, and then bodily starts to shove Shouta out the room. "Seriously, I got it. You needed sleep like two days ago. Eri's getting concerned about 'healing the bruises under your eyes'."
"Can't believe you would use Eri against me like that," Shouta huffs, and Hitoshi snorts.
"Not my fault your weak spot is the size of her," Hitoshi replies, managing to push him out the door. "Seriously, go to sleep. I'll wake you up if I need you."
There's no convincing Hitoshi otherwise. He's still worried, but he trusts Hitoshi enough that he'll be able to manage the situation while Shouta shuts his eyes for a couple of hours.
He falls down on his bed, setting an alarm for a few hours away. His dream of catching up on sleep by a twenty-hour coma is out the window, but a few hours is better than none. He manages to drift off, dreaming of tornadoes and swirls of green.
Shouta's alarm goes off, and he groans as he slaps it down. He lies in bed for a few moments, letting his memories come back to him.
Now that the adrenaline of the situation has worn off, he's going to really have to deal with the situation he's got a newly-shifted mermaid in his house. He groans again.
Hitoshi appears in his doorway, and Shouta sits up immediately.
Hitoshi raises his arms. "Hey, no, it's fine. He's finally asleep, Eri just got up though. I heard your alarm, and was going to let you know you could probably cash in a couple more hours."
Shouta rubs at his eyes. His brain is already too awake, running over a mental checklist of what he'll need to sort out. He's still tired, but it's nowhere near as debilitating as it was a few hours ago. "It's alright, I'm up. I'll have to talk to Eri about this anyway."
"Yeah," Hitoshi agrees mildly, then steps further into the room and takes a seat at the end of Shouta's bed.
"How was he with you?" Shouta asks, and Hitoshi gives a small shrug.
"Super restless. I did, um, have to show him how to go to the bathroom though. And put some pants on him. But uh, other than that, not too bad," Hitoshi replies, his cheeks redder than Shouta
has ever seen them before. He pauses, looking down at his lap, his flustering overturned by something more solemn. "I understand what he's feeling, but... I can't imagine not being able to communicate. Honestly, I think he's doing really well. I wasn't expecting him to sleep at all."
"Me either," Shouta admits. "But I doubt he got much sleep at all when he was in the... ah." "It's alright," Hitoshi assures, looking up. "How many were there?"
"I think ten," Shouta sighs heavily. "He wasn't with the rest, and they were relocated before I got there."
Hitoshi nods, biting down on his lip. It's likely that the mermaid's presence has brought forth unpleasant memories for Hitoshi, as it likely will for Eri, and Shouta knows he's going to have a lot to deal with in the next few days.
Hitoshi takes in a breath and squares back his shoulders, already piecing himself back together. Shouta bites down on a fond, sad smile. His kids are all too strong, unbeatable and unbreakable despite the world's attempts to prove otherwise.
"I'll make breakfast," Hitoshi says, standing up from the bed. "Do you think he'll eat it? Oh god, what do mermaids even eat?"
Shouta picks up the hair-tie from his bedside table and ties back half his hair, keeping it out of his face. "Well, let's try and find out."
Hitoshi leads the way out, and Eri gives Shouta a tired wave from her place on the couch. He goes over to her, not entirely certain of what he's seeking, but she throws her arms out and gives him a hug, and he suddenly feels a whole lot more settled and calm.
"We have a guest?" She asks, and Shouta sits back on his heels as he looks towards the guest room door. It's ajar just enough to let them see in, and for the mermaid to look out if he wants to do so. He seems to be asleep though, tucked under the blankets which are rising and falling steadily.
"Yeah kiddo," he says gently, turning over his thoughts as he considers what to say.
"Not Uncle Oboro? Or Uncle 'Zashi?" Eri questions, impatiently waiting for Shouta to reveal who it is that they have in their house.
"No," he confirms, and looks back at her. "He's from one of Oboro's missions. One of the kids there."
She immediately frowns, eyes going wide with empathy and sadness. "So... like... like 'Toshi and me?"
"Yeah," he replies with a hum. "Kind of."
"Like... like 'Toshi, or like me?" she asks, and it makes him pause.
A human with heritage, or an experiment?
"Neither of you," he replies, and she blinks in surprise. "He's entirely a mermaid."
He's not too sure about Eri's knowledge on the topic of mermaids. Some topics she knows all too much about, and in some rather basic topics her knowledge lacks. It's a gamble, with how many years she grew up in a laboratory — they've taught her some things, but also not the typical things
children her age should know.
Still, she gasps in surprise, which shows that she must know something about the rarity of mermaids. "Really?"
"Yeah," he nods.
"Wow," she breathes out, clapping her hands together once in wonder. "They're really rare, right? They were always trying to find one..."
Her voice trails off, her eyes clouding over in the typical way that happens when she's thinking about her past. He puts a hand around her arm, grounding her.
"He doesn't understand us, so we have to be careful about how we speak and act, okay?" She nods with fervour. "Okay!"
He brushes back a strand that's fallen out of her braid. "Alrighty kiddo. He's asleep right now, so let's be quiet."
Her eyebrows furrow together in confusion. "He's not."
Damn, Shouta thinks, and immediately turns to look through the guest doorway again. There, the mermaid is sitting up, staring right back at Shouta.
And then, when Shouta blinks, the mermaid just breathes out and flops back down on the bed and tugs the blanket up higher. Shouta's almost bemused by the action.
"Quiet time," Eri whispers determinedly, nodding again.
"Seems so," he replies in the same volume, and then stands up and heads over to the kitchen to check on Hitoshi.
He's cooking something simple, and he plates up something straight into a container and lets it cool down on the bench.
"He can have it when he wakes," Hitoshi says, head gesturing to the container. Just as he plates up the rest, he puts the container away in the fridge.
"Good idea, thanks," Shouta says, and Hitoshi gives him a grunt of acknowledgement and then pushes his bowl across to him. They all sit around on the couch as Eri quietly turns on the television, all watching together as they eat.
Shouta needs to go out and buy some clothes and other necessities for the mermaid now in his home, but he's hesitant to leave now that he might wake up at any time. He doubts he'll let himself be restrained to just the bed this time, either.
He ends up going online, putting together a cart of items that Hitoshi and Eri help him pick out. They keep the materials on the lighter side, clothes that aren't too restraining but also ensuring that he'll be warm enough in the winter apartment. Shouta's apartment usually runs on the warmer side anyway with the heaters he keeps on, just because Eri isn't a fan of the cold.
They pick out some unscented soaps and other toiletries, as Shouta has seen children become overwhelmed easily with all the different scents that are usually in the world. Unscented items are always a go-to when it comes to children still adjusting.
His items will arrive tomorrow, so the timing isn't too awful or inconvenient. They'll be able to make do for today. Just as the order is confirmed, he gets an incoming call from Oboro.
"Yo," Oboro opens with once he answers, bright and cheery.
Shouta grunts at him, because he doesn't quite understand where Oboro gets the energy from. He imagines Oboro is running on the same amount of sleep as him, as they likely just missed each other on last night's scene, and Oboro's likely been wrapped up in dealing with all the rest of the children.
"Thanks for coming in," Oboro says, and Shouta huffs.
"I don't need the thanks," Shouta replies, because he's kind of getting tired of hearing it. This is something he does — it's something anyone in his position should do. There shouldn't be thanks in the bare minimum.
Oboro laughs. "Yeah, yeah, play it cool. I know you probably crashed out before you were called in. How's the kid going?"
"Asleep right now," Shouta replies, and Oboro whistles in the same way that shows he's given the habit to Hitoshi.
"Impressive," Oboro says. Then his voice drops, lower, like he doesn't want to be overheard: "How'd he go with shifting?"
"He's... getting used to it. Panicked at first though," Shouta answers, and Oboro hums.
"Well, that's to be expected. I'd guess that Tsukauchi is looking into any translators, but... I don't like the chances," Oboro says.
"Neither do I," Shouta replies. "It's fine, we'll work it out. How're the rest of the kids?"
"They're doing as well as we can expect. They're all with Nedzu at one of his safe-houses, and we're working on getting them all back home if we can," Oboro replies.
It's going to be a long journey. Most of the time, they find, home is no longer safe for them. Sometimes, those that should have been their 'home' were the ones to hand them in. Considering the tightness wrung in Oboro's throat, he's going to guess that's likely the case for some of them.
"How long were they being held?" Shouta asks, and Oboro clicks his tongue.
"It's a mix. This group has been working for a while to build up... let's say a 'highly rare collection'. A couple were a few days. Some a few months, as far as we can trace," Oboro replies.
"Jesus," Shouta breathes out. He knew that Oboro was working on a big job, but he's been keeping it incredibly down-low.
"Mhm," Oboro replies. "Looks like I'm going to be in town for a while."
"You're staying?" Shouta questions, genuinely surprised. Over the past couple of years, Oboro's really only stayed in the country for a few weeks. He's always tracing down leads around the world, and it means he's travelling more often than not.
"Yep," Oboro replies, popping the word. "This was our biggest case in a while, and there's a lot of threads to tie up around here. Anyway, I assume your guest room is taken up, and you have a lot on
your plate already. But if you need any help, just let me know. I'll probably be stuck on paperwork anyway, so I have time."
"Right," Shouta says, eyes flickering over to the guest bedroom door. "Thanks."
"Hey," Oboro says, his voice even quieter than before. "Would you mind, ah, putting Eri on?"
Last night's case was a lot, and Shouta has only seen one of the children involved in it. Without a further word, he walks over to Eri and passes the phone over to her.
"Uncle Oboro," he says, and her face lights up as she takes the phone with both hands and speaks excitedly.
Eri talks to Oboro for a while, excitedly detailing mundane things that he knows is putting a fond, relieved smile on Oboro's face. She passes the phone over to Hitoshi at one point, and though Hitoshi appears disgruntled about it, he's on the phone for the same amount of time as Eri.
Just as the phone call is wrapping up, Shouta passes by the hallway and sees movement in the guest bedroom. The mermaid is starting to stir, and Shouta heads into the kitchen and takes the container from the fridge. He puts it in the microwave for just enough time to warm up the food, but not long enough to risk it being too hot, and then fills up a cup of water.
Hitoshi passes the phone back to him, and then digs out a plastic spoon and fork and rests them on top of the food.
Shouta raises an eyebrow, interested in Hitoshi's choice, and Hitoshi gives a small shrug.
"If I was him, I'd be looking for a weapon," Hitoshi replies honestly, and Shouta nods. It's why he's chosen a plastic cup for the water over a glass one. "And also, I honestly doubt he knows how to use chopsticks."
Shouta nods again. God, they have a lot of things to try and teach, if the mermaid is wanting to learn.
They wait until the mermaid sits up in bed, and though he watches them unblinkingly as they walk up to the door, Shouta still knocks on the doorframe. Eri is trailing behind them, though she stays in the hallway at Hitoshi's direction as they push the door open further.
Shouta tilts the container in the direction to demonstrate the reason for their visit, and the mermaid's eyes study the food with both interest and suspicion. Shouta puts them down on the bedside table and gestures to them, and the mermaid pulls himself up on the bed to get a better look.
He flexes his fingers out, and then wraps them around the cup of water. He peers into it, and then sniffs it, mouth twisting a little.
And then he holds it up to Shouta and tilts it towards him, eyes narrowing with a question.
Shouta's stomach twists, because he knows why he's being so cautious. He's likely had his meals or drinks tampered with during his time in captivity, and Shouta takes it out of his hands without a fight. He takes a small sip from the cup, and then demonstrates the fact he's swallowed it down. He holds it back out to the mermaid, who cautiously takes it back.
The mermaid's eyes look between Hitoshi and Shouta quickly, and then he uses both hands to tip the cup back and take a drink. Shouta almost feels his shoulders slump forward in relief.
Shouta goes to leave, wanting to give the mermaid some privacy to eat, but there's a small chittering noise that gets his attention. The mermaid picks up the container, and then holds it out to Shouta with the same questioning look.
Right, of course, Shouta scolds himself, annoyed he didn't think to do it earlier. He takes it easily, using the spoon to scoop out some of the food and takes a small mouthful. The mermaid is watching him closer this time — not so much in suspicion, but now in curiousity.
Shouta tilts it back towards him, and watches as the mermaid regards the cutlery for a moment before his fingers grip it with uncertainty. He's trying to mirror the grip that Shouta had, and though the movement is clearly not familiar to him, he's able to get enough food on his spoon to take a mouthful.
Just as Shouta goes to turn again, the mermaid lets out another little noise. Shouta's just quick enough to catch the way his eyebrows are raised, staring down with impressed wide-eyes as he looks at the food.
His eyes snap up to Shouta the second he realises he's made a noise, and Shouta thinks a small, amused tilt manages to uplift the corner of his lips. He walks out of the room, and Hitoshi follows right behind him. Eri is still in the doorway, peering in curiously.
"He likes it?" She whispers, though her voice is likely loud enough for the mermaid to hear. It seems he does, because his eyes are watching them carefully as he pushes the food around with the spoon.
"I think so," Shouta replies back at the same level, and gently ushers her away from the door. "Come on, let's leave him to eat in peace."
It'll be difficult figuring out the boundaries here. After being rescued, Eri liked to stay as close to Shouta as possible, while it took Hitoshi a long while to actually like anyone in his space. He thinks the mermaid is closer to the position of Hitoshi, as he's still rightfully distrusting of their intentions, so he's hoping his intuition is right when it's encouraging him to give some personal space.
He gives it half an hour, and then he heads back into the room. The container has been finished and placed back on the bedside table, and the water has only a mouthful left. Shouta makes the decision to leave it by the bedside, because he has a feeling he knows what the mermaid is testing.
Shouta's mouth opens, reflectively going to say something, but then he closes it when he remembers that anything he says is probably just going to mean a whole lot of nothing. Even if he uses hand-gestures, there's no guarantee their intention will communicate properly.
Humans, at least, have a universal language. Thumbs going up or down, and head shakes or nods, usually mean the same thing for everyone, but there's no way for Shouta to know if that extends to mermaids.
He picks up the container and then takes it into the kitchen, and then fills up another cup of water to bring back with him. He places it beside the previous, and the mermaid watches him closely, but he seems to relax slightly.
Now that he understands that Shouta isn't going to limit his water supply, he takes the first cup and finishes it, and then surprisingly hands it straight to Shouta.
"Um, thanks," he says in reflex, though the words are lost in translation. The mermaid's tongue
swipes across his lips, and he makes strange shapes with his lips.
His tongue clicks, and his brows turn down in frustration. And then he makes more of a hum, rather than a click, and Shouta stills.
"Um," the mermaid mimics, sounding a whole lot more human.
His voice is pitched low, scratchy and slightly strange, likely trying to copy Shouta's own tone. Still, the effort is impressive, and takes Shouta entirely by surprise. He can't help but smile a little, and then realises that the mermaid is copying that, too.
No — no, not quite. He's not copying Shouta when he's smiling. It's not the same kind of surprised lift to his lips. It's more self-satisfied, and Shouta now knows that at least humans and mermaids share the same natural affiliation and intention in regards to smiling.
And then, the mermaid turns in the bed, and swings his legs over the side of the bed. He's giving Shouta a challenging look, daring him to try and stop him.
Another test, Shouta figures.
"Oh, woah, okay, hang on," Shouta says as the mermaid goes to push himself up, hurrying to put the empty cup down so that he has both hands free. He stills with Shouta's words, but he doesn't lose the challenging edge in his gaze.
Shouta stands in front of him — not close enough to be threatening, he hopes, but close enough that he'll be able to reach in case he goes down. The mermaid sits and waits, and Shouta makes a gesture to try and encourage him to try again.
Slowly, he does, getting to his wobbly feet. He almost falls forward, putting too much weight there as he pushes himself up, but he manages to right himself before Shouta has to steady him. Finally, he straightens up, his entire weight on his two feet.
He makes a low chittering noise, though it seems like he's talking more to himself than to Shouta. He looks up at Shouta like he's waiting for something, though, and seems to be annoyed that Shouta isn't able to figure it out from the look alone.
The mermaid huffs, and then lifts up a leg and moves it forward. He goes too far, and Shouta has to step forward and put his hands under his armpits, getting him to shuffle back so that he's standing upright again with his feet both under him.
It feels a little ridiculous, but Shouta steps back and shows him very slowly how to lift and then place down a foot to walk forward. He walks slowly, back and forth, in front of the mermaid, trying not to feel too ridiculous about the whole situation.
The mermaid is watching him carefully, eyes following every movement. Shouta eventually comes to a stop, and only thinks for a moment before he holds out his hands with his palms facing up. It takes a bit of fumbling, but eventually he manages to convince the mermaid to hold onto him for balance.
The next step goes a little better. His knees are wobbly, new muscles he's not used to using or putting weight on, but Shouta takes most of his weight to try and help. The mermaid rocks back and forth, but manages to lift his back leg. It only comes far enough to stand with his front one, getting both his feet under him again.
Shouta takes a step back, and the mermaid takes in a deep breath before he tries again. This time,
he manages to get his back leg to follow through.
They manage to increase the amount of consecutive steps the mermaid takes. They just walk around the room, until eventually the mermaid comes to a standstill and his grip loosens up from Shouta's own.
He bites down on his lips in determination, arms balanced by his side as he takes his first actual step on his own. He manages to get three before he stumbles, and Shouta steps in just to make sure he doesn't go down entirely. The mermaid chitters, but Shouta isn't sure if it's in frustration or excitement, so he's careful to keep his face blank as he helps him stand properly.
Regardless, the mermaid is determined to get the hang of it, and he tries again. This attempt goes a little better, and he catches himself on the chest of drawers the next time he stumbles. Shouta isn't too sure how long they're in here, but eventually Eri knocks on the doorframe before peeking her head in.
The mermaid stops, looking over Eri. He's already seen her, but this is the first time they've properly interacted with each other.
Eri remains in the doorway, not moving even though she's visibly bursting with excitement and curiousity.
Slowly, the mermaid begins to smile, and Eri gasps and grins right back. She still doesn't move forward, even though she's basically rocking back and forth on her heels eagerly.
The mermaid's knees suddenly buckle, and he's able to keep himself up with the drawers, but his eyes flicker to the bed. He pushes up, and then walks over to the bed and basically folds down onto it.
He's closer to Eri now, and he's got all of his attention on her. He smiles again at her, and she gives him a small wave. He raises his hand and copies the motion, and Eri laughs with delight.
Hitoshi appears behind Eri, and the mermaid's eyes go between Hitoshi, Eri and Shouta as he seems to think something over.
Eri walks into the room, and though Shouta stays in his spot, he makes sure that he'll be able to step between them and make sure that he'll be able to defend Eri. She stops just out of reach of the mermaid, looking up at him with bright eyes.
She points to herself, and introduces herself: "Eri."
She then points to Hitoshi and Shouta, saying their names aloud. The mermaid is listening, head tilting as he thinks it over. She points back to herself, and says her name clearly again.
And then she points at the mermaid.
He blinks at her, and then he points back in confusion.
Hitoshi covers an amused snort.
She points to herself, and says her name again, and then points to Hitoshi and Shouta and does the same, and then she points back at the mermaid.
Fuck, Shouta thinks, what if they don't have names as mermaids? What the hell does this conversation look like to the mermaid, in that case?
The mermaid's hand has lowered, but then he points it up again at Eri. His tongue runs across his teeth, and then he opens his mouth.
"Eh..." He manages, and then swallows it down and clears his throat. "E-ri?" She claps her hands together in excitement, nodding. "Eri!"
"Eri," the mermaid repeats, this time a lot closer. He's copying her voice now, higher than his attempt with Shouta, inflicting the type of childish excitement that Eri's speech has intertwined in it.
Hitoshi's amusement has been entirely wiped, staring with surprise at the mermaid.
Eri then points to the mermaid, her expression clearly asking him a question. He points back to himself, and he says a word quickly. He slows it down, guttural noises and clicking accompanying it.
Eri hums, then tries to copy it. The mermaid smiles, and then repeats the word again, slower. Eri tries it again, pulling faces as she tries to get her tongue to click in a way that she doesn't quite know how to do.
Honestly, Shouta would hardly be any better with his own attempt. He doesn't want to startle the atmosphere though, so he remains quiet and lets Eri and the mermaid try and communicate their names.
The mermaid shifts his pitch a little, and Eri hums.
"Ku..." She says, humming as she tries to repeat the rest of the word. Eventually, she settles on something close to "Deku", and the mermaid repeats it as well like he's trying it out.
Eventually he nods, satisfied that it's close enough to his usual language. He points to himself, and says: "Deku."
Shouta gives him a cursory nod in acceptance. This isn't enough for Deku, though, as he points at Shouta.
He figures his given name will probably be easier to pronounce, and Eri had already been pronouncing that one when pointing at him, so he sticks with it. "Shouta."
"Sch..." It sounds garbled, like the word is being dragged over gravel. Deku points to him again to pronounce it, and after listening to it again, manages to say something that's much closer to 'Shouta'.
Deku then points to Hitoshi, who winces in sympathy. His name is definitely the most difficult out of all of theirs, and he says it slowly. Deku tries, but it sounds something more like 'H-chk-shi'.
Hitoshi breaks it down, saying each syllable slowly and waiting until Deku manages to say each part before he puts them together. These are clearly not sounds that Deku is used to, and his tongue still clicks at times when it should be softer, but it's a considerable effort. Shouta doubts he'd be half as good at trying to speak the mermaid's language as Deku is at speaking Japanese.
Now that they have a foothold for conversation, it turns out Deku is, in fact, incredibly curious. He points to the cup of water beside him, and waits for one of them to explain.
Eri comes over, naturally wanting to take over and be as friendly as possible to their new guest.
She points at the cup and states the word, getting Deku to copy, before she points inside and says
water.
"Water," Deku says, turning the word around in his mouth. He hums it over, and then pronounces it in his own language, and smiles encouragingly as Eri tries to copy. Shouta's not entirely convinced that anyone will be able to speak the language of the mermaids, and his hopes for a translator go from low to almost nil.
Still, it's a promising sign that Deku is clearly fascinated and interested in the language, and Shouta is going to have to look into how, exactly, he'll go about teaching a mermaid how to speak Japanese. He has some children's materials for Eri, but he'll probably have to start right from the beginning, and he gets on his phone and looks through some options for books and guides.
He's got some of his focus on the phone, but most of it on the room, carefully listening and watching as they all interact.
Eri and Hitoshi have taken to answering Deku's pointed gestures, getting him to repeat the words. His speech is getting clearer, getting used to the human language with almost frightening speed. Shouta is naturally wary as Eri seems to gravitate closer to Deku, but Deku hardly seems to notice himself.
Deku is clever, though, and while Shouta does hate that he's gone through such things, he's also all too aware that Deku is very far from home, and he has been hurt. Shouta has to watch for any leverage he might take, because, honestly, Shouta probably would do exactly that if he was in Deku's position.
But Deku just gives Eri warm smiles and is the most relaxed Shouta has seen him, and though he's still on guard, he'd also be honestly surprised if Deku did try and take Eri hostage for leverage.
Shouta orders some food for them, because he doesn't exactly want to head into the kitchen just in case Eri will slip right back here and try to talk to Deku. She understands well what Deku has gone through, and she's understanding when it comes to Hitoshi, but Shouta does worry that she won't consider Deku might just try and use her as leverage in his situation.
He sticks to a vegetarian meal for Deku, because it saves him from having to try and figure out the diet of mermaids. He has absolutely no idea what they eat, and maybe it's fish, but also maybe it's not at all. Shouta doesn't really want to upset him by accidentally serving him some of his dead friends.
It's an early dinner — closer to a mix between lunch and dinner, but Shouta's bodyclock is already screwed to hell anyway. And he hears Deku's stomach grumble at one point, though he doesn't seem to notice it himself.
It takes a while for the food, and in that time Deku pretty much gets through as many items in the room as possible. He finishes his cup of water, and Eri points to it and asks: "Water?"
"Water," he confirms, and she takes the cup from his hand and goes to the kitchen to fill it up herself.
Deku is swinging his legs back and forth on the side of the bed, staring down at them in wonder. He doesn't seem too interested in pressing for any more words right now, so they wait in relative quiet before Eri walks back in and hands him the cup.
Deku hesitates as he takes it, and Shouta is prepared to take the cup from him and take a sip just to
reassure him there's nothing laced in it. But Deku just looks up at Eri with a small smile, and he tilts back the cup and takes a sip.
He makes a chittering noise as he places down the cup, but none of them can quite figure out what he's trying to communicate or trying to translate. He realises it too, because he just pulls a face, but otherwise doesn't try and explain it.
The food arrives, and Hitoshi goes to the door to get it. Eri encourages Deku to stand up, and gets him out of the room. Hitoshi seems surprised, already having planned to head back into the room, but stops and waits as Eri leads Deku to the living room.
Eri pulls out a seat for him at the dining table, and Deku looks in confusion between Shouta and Eri. Shouta takes the precedent and pulls out his own chair, and demonstrates sitting down on the chair. Deku's knees wobble slightly as he tries to copy, but Eri helps him get down and take a seat.
Hitoshi places the food on the table, pulling out his own chair. Shouta goes through it and places all the containers around, putting the vegetarian option right in front of Deku.
Deku's sniffing the food with curiousity, head dipping down a little too close to the table to be respectable. But he's a mermaid, and Shouta isn't really going to give a shit about proper dining etiquette being misused anyway.
Besides, as Hizashi likes to tell him, he's never in a place to talk about proper meal etiquette. He's only taken to it for Eri's sake, but most of the time, he's in his sleeping bag with cup noodles and jelly pouches.
Shouta gets up to get some bowls and a spoon — metal, this time, because they only have the one plastic set, and he knows that in terms of weapons, Hitoshi and Shouta both outnumber Deku when it comes to using the ones on the table. He sits down, distributing the bowls, and then slides the spoon over to Deku, while the rest of them split their wooden chopsticks that came with the delivery.
Deku watches them, not touching his own spoon. Eri and Hitoshi seem to realise not to touch the vegetarian, but it makes Deku more suspicious about it.
So Shouta takes some, and puts it down in his bowl. He gestures for Deku to do the same, eyes looking down at the bowl. Maybe that's a few too many steps, especially for someone that is still learning how to use a spoon, but he supposes he'll switch up his approach depending on how Deku reacts.
And Deku seems to take it as a challenge, as he scoops out some of the rice and puts it down on his bowl. He watches the rest of them, and Shouta purposely eats some of the vegetarian dish, which seems to be enough to get Deku to do the same. He takes only a small mouthful, making a small noise again as he tastes the flavours.
Quickly, he's distracted by the taste of the food rather than being suspicious of it. He finishes his bowl quickly, but hesitates as he goes to scoop up some more from the container. His eyes flicker to the other containers, clearly intrigued.
Oh, god. Shouta should've thought more about this.
Shouta pulls out his phone and types in fish, and then shows Deku the image, pointing at one of the containers he's eyeing off. Deku's fingers reach for the phone, eyes wide with fascination at the screen, but Shouta pulls it back out of habit.
Deku shrinks a little in his chair, and Shouta feels guilty for it. He moves the screen a little closer, showing Deku the image again and pointing to it.
Deku seems to realise the purpose of the image, as he looks between the container and the phone before he picks up his spoon and takes some from that container.
Well. At least that answers that.
"Mermaids eat fish?" Eri asks, and Hitoshi smothers his laugh behind a bite of food.
"Seems so," Shouta replies, because it's not exactly like he can deny it. Fuck, he hopes all those mermaid movies she likes don't depict them as friends.
"Makes sense," she says seriously with a nod. Well, alright then. He'll take it.
Usually, there's a bit more conversation when they're all sharing a meal, but they're all overly aware of the fact Deku likely won't be able to follow along. So they eat quietly, and Eri and Hitoshi help him clean up the containers and dishes while Deku is still seated at the table.
He seems lost now that there's no meal in front of them, unsure of what to do. Eri goes into the guest room at one point, and Deku watches carefully. She comes back out with the empty cup, and then gestures for Deku to follow her from the table.
He looks to Shouta for a moment, but he doesn't wait for permission. He gets to his feet after some effort, and then follows as Eri leads him into the kitchen. There, she shows him how to get water out of the tap, and passes the cup back to him.
His head tilts, and he leans down over the counter to inspect the sink. He flicks the tap on, making sounds as he plays the water levels, completely fascinated. Shouta lets it continue for a minute, and then says Eri's name. She gets the hint, gently getting him to turn off the tap so that no more water is simply washing down the drain.
And god, shit. Shouta's going to have to show Deku how to wash up.
That, he decides, is a problem for tomorrow, when he actually has the unscented soaps on hand. Right now, he needs to make sure Eri goes to bed at a reasonable time as she has school tomorrow. It's still earlier in the night, but he's sure that she'll be up for a little while in an attempt to keep conversing with Deku.
He's right. She shows him the television, skipping between channels, and shows him how to do so as well. He settles on some foreign movie, watching with wide-eyes as there's overdramatic fights and explosions playing out on the screen in front of him.
Hitoshi sits down as well, and Shouta supposes he can let Eri stay up for the rest of the movie. It won't be as much of a problem as he thought — food has done the trick to make them drowsy, and even though Deku slept for a while today, his eyelids are looking suspiciously heavy as well. His body is likely just starting to crash, trying to take the moments that it can to properly rest and refuel after so long in that cage.
Naomasa texts him, and Shouta relays the day's events and all the milestones they've accomplished.
Naomasa seems highly amused as soon as he finds out that Deku has taken to walking and trying to talk, and says 'well, looks like you'll have your hands full.'
Promising to keep Shouta in the loop about any developments in the whole case, or specifically about mermaids, the conversation comes to an end. The movie does too, and Shouta has to go over to the couch and let Eri know it's time to get ready for bed.
She's the most resistant Shouta has ever seen from her — and it's not because she's scared of having nightmares or anything, like it sometimes is, but it's literally just that she doesn't want to leave Deku.
Hitoshi eventually has to usher her into the bathroom to wash up, promising he'll head to sleep with her even though it's earlier than his usual schedule. Though, considering he had been up so early, Shouta supposes it's not too strange.
Deku seems nervous now that he's the only one on the couch, and Shouta gestures to the guest room as an offer — purposely not as an order, because he doesn't want Deku to feel like it's a command, but rather just a suggestion.
Deku nods and gets up from the couch. His legs are a little wobbly, all the time sitting down clearly getting to him, but he's steady soon enough. He picks up his cup of water, and walks into the kitchen and refills it from the tap. He holds it closely, like he's guarding it, and heads into the guest room.
Shouta follows him, because he realises that the room is dark. He makes his presence clear, footsteps loud enough to be heard, and can see Deku looking at him from the hallway light. He reaches over and flicks on the room light, then flicks it off again in demonstration.
Deku stares at it, and then heads over to the light. He flicks it himself, staring perhaps a little too intensely straight into the light, before flicking it again to turn it off.
He stares at Shouta inquisitively, and then points at it in question.
"Light," Shouta replies, and Deku clears his throat and attempts to repeat it. He's getting quicker on catching onto words and sounds, because he gets it quickly with a decisive nod.
"Light," he says, and then flicks it on. Looks at Shouta.
Shouta isn't too sure about the intention, so he waits for Deku to try and elaborate.
Deku flicks the light off again, and says "Light...?"
"Off," Shouta answers, hoping it's the right one for whatever question Deku is asking of him. Deku hums and repeats it, and then flicks it on.
"Light..."
"On," Shouta confirms, and Deku nods.
He flicks it again, muttering 'off' to himself, and then steps away from the light switch. He looks over to the bed, but he doesn't head there. Instead, he turns on his heels, and he heads to the bathroom, keeping himself balanced with a hand on the wall.
Hitoshi is just coming out of the bathroom, and he makes a questioning noise, but Deku just makes some gestures that seem to mean I can do it, so Hitoshi leaves and shuts the door behind him.
Shouta finds himself hovering. Maybe he's expecting the sound of Deku crashing into something and falling over, but it never seems to come. Hitoshi is standing with him, but Eri comes up beside
him and tugs him to come into her room to sleep.
"You all packed for school tomorrow, kiddo?" Shouta asks, crouching down to get on her level. She gives him a nod. "Yep! All ready."
He reaches out to ruffle her hair. "Good job."
"Can I say goodnight to Deku?" Eri asks, just as Shouta is about to send her off to bed.
"Okay," he agrees easily, because he thinks it'll probably be good for both of them. They all wait for Deku to come out of the bathroom — and his memory must be good, as he even remembers how to flush and apparently wash his hands, though Shouta can hear him play with the tap again for a bit.
Eventually he steps out, and Eri walks up to him with a wave.
"Goodnight, Deku!" She says, and his eyes flicker uncertainly between Eri, Shouta and Hitoshi.
"G...Goodnight?" He copies, questioning, and she nods. She claps her palms together and then rests them on one side of her cheek, acting out the motion of sleep accompanied by fake-snoring.
"Sleep!" She explains, opening her eyes.
"Sleep," he responds, copying the motion to make sure he's certain. She nods again, confirming it.
"Goodnight!" She says again, and he licks his lips. It seems he doesn't quite understand the intention of goodnight, but he's clearly trying to connect it in his brain.
He gives her a wave, and says "goodnight" as well, and she grins at him before she turns around and tugs Hitoshi off to her room.
Deku is repeating the two new words under his breath as he walks back to the guest room. He stops at the door, clearly intending for Shouta's attention.
Standing in the hallway still, he closes the guest room door.
"Door?" Deku asks, making sure he's got the right word. Realising he's got Shouta's attention, he continues. "Door off?"
Shouta's look of mild confusion must be obvious, as he opens up the door. "Door on?"
"Ah, no," Shouta shakes his head. Deku hums.
"Ah, no?"
Shouta shakes his head, hoping to restart but it's hard to even stateno, restart, when Deku doesn't even know yet what 'no' means. They definitely need to get to that.
Shouta reaches out for the door, and Deku steps back and lets him. "Door," he says, then closes it. "Close."
"Close," Deku repeats.
Fuck, this is overwhelming for Shouta, he can't imagine how much information Deku is trying to store and remember in his brain right now.
Shouta opens the door, and says: "Open."
Deku nods, and then repeats the actions and the words to make sure they align.
Shouta nods, and thankfully this must be something that still transcends species, as Deku makes an expression that means he understands.
Deku copies the movement and points to himself questioningly. Shouta copies it, and says, nodding his head: "yes."
"Yes," Deku repeats, nodding his head now like he understands. When he shakes his head, Shouta explains that it means "no". "No," Deku says strongly with a smile.
Well. It's certainly progress. Shouta suspects Deku would keep him around for more questions, but he yawns, and Shouta hides an amused smile.
"Sleep," Shouta says, gesturing to the bed.
"Bed," Deku argues, clearly remembering the word, and Shouta snorts in amusement.
"Yes. Go to sleep," Shouta says, which loses Deku as he figures out the words in-between. But he seems to get it, because he nods, and then heads over to the bed. He sinks down easily into it, clearly tired and ready to crash out.
Shouta stands at the door, and waits until Deku's attention is on him before he makes a purposeful gesture towards it in question.
"Open," Deku says with a nod, which Shouta isn't sure if he's surprised to hear or not, but he nods and leaves it so. He walks out, leaving Deku alone in the guest room, and heads out into the main room.
He does the dishes, and then sits down on the couch and reads through some reports. Even if he fell asleep in his room, he knows he'd wake up if Deku tried to move out of the apartment and especially if the front door were to open, but he finds that he'd rather stay out on the couch for the night.
Eri and Hitoshi's safety are his priority, though he doesn't think it's suspicion that leads him to stay out on the couch. It's just that he's closer to reaching any of them if he's on the couch and they need him.
And if he truly thinks about it, then he knows that it includes Deku as well.