Deep within the waters of the eastern seas, at the foot of an abyss, the sun shone through in rippled waves from many directions. Ombre colors of deep sea blue to cobalt to ocean to sea green to aquamarine to the brightest in yellow and white were the only things to see. On the sandy grounds of the underwater floor, a lone, young ningyo laid completely relaxed and serene within the surroundings, so comfortable that the sand felt as warm as a blanket. Who was this youthful creature who made the waters of the world their home?

"Where…where am I," Shuichi wondered as he woke up.

Slowly sitting up, Shuichi noticed the lower half of his body completely piscine once again with a sea-green finish. Upon closer inspection, scales were discovered along the tail, his tailfin had hints of pink and blue, and was a bit more flexible than a pair of legs. A more thorough analysis brought out webbed fingers, sea-greenish fins and scales on the arms, and what felt like gills along the neck just above the collarbone. The last thing to notice was the change in hair. Originally, Shuichi has hair long enough to reach the base of his neck and had a bit of an auburn tint to it especially when held to light. This time, it was red. All red and reaching the middle of his back.

"What am I?"

That question was set aside when a soft, feminine voice called out, "...Kurama…"

"Ah! Again?! Who said that?!"

"... Kurama…"

That made Shuichi jump from his spot, "Who's there?"

Within the abyss highlighted by the sun-created spotlight, Shuichi discovered a female ningyo waiting for him. She had a pearly white bottom fin with a rainbow shine, multiple strands of pearls around her neck in colors of white, pink, blue, and green, and cerulean blue hair. Unfortunately, her face was never shown.

"Wait," Shuichi realized, entering the gorge, "Who are you? What is your name? My name is Shuichi. Are you the one who calls me Kurama?"

This mysterious ningyo who was standing idle within the light began to back away as if she was leaving, "My son…"

"Your son? What do you mean? Please tell me who you are."

"My son…it is time…"

"Time? Time for what," Shuichi chased, "What do you mean? Please stay."

No sooner did she make her appearance she disappeared into the darkness whispering, "It is time…"

Just when Shuichi felt better for the time being, he ended up with more questions than answers. When the alarm clock on his phone went off, the first thought that came to Shuichi's mind was…

"I must borrow that book again."

The school bell rang, marking the beginning of a new day. As students filed into their respective classrooms, Kuronue spoke with a clearly disturbed Shuichi. The latter, on the other hand, was disturbed. Paler than normal, shaky, nervous, and concerned about something.

"Geez," Kuronue noticed, "You look worse than you did a few days ago. Having those dreams again?"

"I'd like to say so. I really hope Kiyoni received my message."

"You sent her a message? You managed to get her number?!"

"Well, we did have a pleasant conversation on the way home," Shuichi smiled, "Her mother even volunteered to make a dessert for me."

"Dude! And you're not gonna share?"

"If he did, not only would I kick his ass again but yours for getting any," Kiyoni announced.

Kuronue quickly backed down, "Hey, my nose is still messed up, you see…but I digress."

Shuichi inferred, "Good morning. Did you get my message?"

Kiyoni pulled out and presented her dream book, "You're lucky I did. Read it as I was brushing my teeth this morning. Here you go."

Shuichi immediately got to work, scanning the contents, "Thank you."

"Wait a minute," Kiyoni protested, shoving Kuronue out of his seat so she could occupy it.

"Hey," Kuronue chided as he was forced to get up, "Rude much?"

As a response, Kiyoni rolled her eyes and sucked on her teeth while giving Kuronue the middle finger. She absolutely had no time for him today.

"See," Kuronue continued, "That is exactly why people don't like black girls. Exactly what I mean, Minamino."

"And that's supposed to be my problem, why," Kiyoni asked. "Please tell me what I have done wrong."

"Why? Because you always act like a bully! The second any guy shows you attention, you get aggressive. That's why. Maybe if you get with the program and act a little more calm and respectful like the other girls in this school, then people would like you more. Hello? You do understand social collectivism, yes? Megan Thee Stallion may be able to get away with stuff like that but you are definitely not her."

And there it was, those triggering words. Being half-Japanese with a sun-kissed skin tone isn't always as cracked up to be. However, Kiyoni's mother has always taught her daughter to never back down from those words. The orisha of love, beauty, and abundance, Oshun, was kind enough to give Kiyoni the beauty she has according to Mother Ikeda. As far as composure is concerned, Kiyoni's father has always taught her that there was a time and a place for everything, even confrontations such as the one Kiyoni is in right now. For the average Japanese woman, respect, politeness, and grace are a few qualities that socially define femininity. With ideas like those on her mind, Kiyoni switched her seating position as if she was in an interview; crossed her legs by her ankles like a lady, brushed her braids behind her shoulder, placed her clasped hands on her lap, cleared her throat, and gave Kuronue the tongue lashing of a lifetime.

"Haha. You know I find it ironic how you managed to demean black girls and yet, in that same breath, subliminally give Megan some praise. Second, according to Ms. Thee Stallion, she's her in her way and I'm her in my way. Recognize that please and thank you.

"Third, it's boys like you, the world over, who have the audacity, the intelligence, and the annoyance level of a freaking gnat that makes the female population of said world question their safety. This coming from someone who got his nose fixed to resemble Arlong from One Piece after being absolutely disrespectful thinking that was going to be the way to win a date with me? While we may be living in the Reiwa era, we are also living in the TikTok era. So I think I understand when westerners on TikTok say, 'Be fucking for real.' That's western slang requesting you to check the reality of a situation before you speak absolute nonsense. See, even though I may understand the nature of social collectivism, I'm also understanding the complexities of social, racial, and cultural intersectionality considering that I'm a walking testimonial. In other words, I, nor others like me, are a monolith. Therefore, in a country that values but has an outdated and somewhat selective concept of respect, I need you to (respectfully) be fucking for real before you ever generalize me or anyone else like me ever again, Misaki."

Kuronue was stunned, borderline humiliated. A few students nearby heard Kiyoni's statement and either kept their mouths shut or applauded her stance, Shuichi doing the former. Who knew Kiyoni's verbal power had as much strength as her punching power?

After rightfully making her statement, Kiyoni managed to stop Shuichi's quest, slamming the book in front of him, "Whoa! Before you go ripping through my book like it's an illegally purchased hentai manga, let's break down your dream first."

It was something about Kiyoni's genuine interest that caused Shuichi to do a 180. Nervousness and concern turned into playful pubescent flirtation.

"Dream," he asked, "What dream? I didn't ask for this because of a dream. There was just something I wanted some insight on."

"That's bs and you know it."

"It's the truth. See? Look into my eyes. I tell you no lies."

Kiyoni took Shuichi up on his challenge, switching up her seat again to stare into Shuichi's eyes with her intuitive gaze. Shuichi displayed a confident smirk as he leaned forward for a better view. Since heavy makeup is prohibited in school unlike the west, Kiyoni had to improvise. Once again, YouTube and TikTok are to be praised for providing Asian style makeup tutorials for blasian or darker skin. Kiyoni does have pretty eyes. A doe-faced beauty with eyes the shade of roasted caramel when shown under the light of the morning sun emphasized by pinkish orange toning around the outer corner and lower lash line and white eyeliner emphasizing the inner corner. Brownish black eyeliner and mascara line the top eyelid and outer eyelash for that manga eye effect. Her lips looked pretty nice as well. Smoky peach lip stain and balm coated a pair of puckers that were a natural mix of coral and rouge pink in color. Soft pink blush mixed with orange undertone bronzer highlighted the cheeks but not enough for anyone to notice. Light contouring and highlighter framed her nose to make it look smaller and more delicate than it naturally is. Internally, Shuichi was caught between a rock and a hard place. He wanted to share his dream with Kiyoni since she opened that door to him. However, he wanted to do some independent research on his current mental state. For now, it all depended on Kiyoni's response to her intuition.

From Kiyoni's end, she had no idea why her face was warming up from the way Shuichi was staring at her…or her ignorance to the sun shining on her cheek. She also didn't want to admit that she had just as much of a crush on her classmate as any other girl in school. Why, though? Is it because there are other girls vying for even the chance for Shuichi to look their way or is it something more personal? Shuichi wasn't that much different from the other boys…except Kuronue. He's one of the brightest in class. His looks weren't that exceptional. He certainly wasn't Yamamoto Daichi, BTS members Jimin and Jungkook or (for damn sure) Stray Kids member Felix in terms of swag and vocal talent. Perhaps it's because he's an athlete, has respect for her spirituality, and was able to learn a lesson by taking a knee to the gut that's doing it for her.

If Kuronue had a magnifying glass, it wouldn't help him out in any shape, form, or fashion. As he observed the two, he came to three conclusions. One, watching Shuichi charm his way out of trouble with any girl should be an academic course on its own. Two, Kiyoni is a lot more softer than she lets on in certain circumstances. Three, should Shuichi make a move on Kiyoni, it's all over for Kuronue's chances. No need to dwell on things any further.

"Okay, fine," Kiyoni conceded, "You're telling the truth. Be sure to give it back whenever you're done."

"You got it," Shuichi replied, relieved to know that Kiyoni's claircognizance wasn't completely mastered.

During class break, Shuichi focused on himself and that dream book. Since the format is listed like an actual dictionary, terms were all one-worded and in alphabetical order. Topics such as "blue", "mermaid", "ocean", "pearl", "water", and "woman" were all studied to the best of Shuichi's ability. The plan was to take all of these meanings and find a way to make sense of it all as if it was one general idea. Unfortunately, there was too much to take in and too little time to sort through.

"So…" Kuronue questioned, "find anything?"

Shuichi sighed in frustration, "No. Everything is too general. I can't…it's too tough to put it all together."

"Well, if it's any consolation, you're not as pale as you were earlier."

"That's reassuring..."

"Look at it this way. You still have a few more days to sort things out before the next swim meet."

"Yes but that doesn't help with today. I have practice after classes."

"Oh, yeah. You do. Next topic. Is there something going on between you and Ikeda?"

"Hm?"

"Dude! You must've said or done something awesome for her mom to not cut off your head."

"Speaking of heads, I'm surprised yours is still attached after the rhetorical decapitation you received. Anyway, I was simply acting out of courtesy. Nothing more. As far as Kiyoni is concerned, again, nothing more."

"Yeah. That silver tongue of hers might as well be a guillotine blade. Hey, you think she…you know?"

"What?"

"Think she likes you?"

"Where is this coming from?"

"Oh, I don't know. How about that staredown the two of you had?"

Shuichi exhaled in relief, "Honestly, I thought she would catch my lie."

"Wait, you lied to her? Why would you do that?"

"Because I…I didn't want to worry her about my situation even though she's clearly interested. However, not everything I said was false."

"Like what?"

"Remember what I said about searching for insight? Mermaids come to mind," Shuichi confessed, "I keep seeing the same mermaid. The more I see her, the more of her I see. All I know of her is her hair, her appearance, her voice…"

"But no face?"

"Right. Not only that but like before, she calls me Kurama. I don't know who or what that is other than my name to her."

"That's weird. Did you find anything in the book about that?"

"No. Everything else but that."

"Maybe it's your second name."

"Second name?"

"Yeah. I read somewhere that people in other countries can have two, three, four…multiple first names along with their surname."

"There's only two explanations as to why that may be possible. I would have to a) be from another country or of a different culture and b) have my parents explain to me why I don't have at least two names attached to my family name. Not only that but the first point wouldn't make much sense because by most, if not, all standards, I'm Japanese and so is the name, Kurama. Remember Mount Kurama?"

Kuronue shrugged, "I don't have all the answers, man! Sheesh…"

"Hold on…" Shuichi went back to the book.

"What?"

"Thinking about that mermaid's hair only made me think of mine."

"Eh?"

"Underwater, my hair was completely red…and longer."

"Whoa, seriously?"

"Here it is. Passion towards your waking dreams and actions; Spontaneity, vitality; Time to make some drastic changes. Time…" this was becoming interesting for Shuichi as he searched, "Time. Losing track of life's current flow. Anxiety, fear. Current…"

Kuronue watched it all and kept his mouth shut. Whenever Shuichi is in study mode, he's unreachable.

"Current. To see an ocean or river current is to indicate the direction of your life's journey; A metaphor for current events in your life. She did move in a specific direction…"

Cautious, Kiyoni stepped up to Kuronue, "Eh, should I be concerned?"

"I would say…maybe?"

"Is he always like this?"

"Whenever he's studying, yes. This is…different? I don't know. Water on the brain again."

Swim practice flowed like normal. Feeling pumped after the first round of the tournament, the team wanted to relax. The coach wasn't having it. Cementing their spot towards a national championship only meant more pressure to make it to the top.

"Let's go, let's go," he clapped and cheered, "Move it, move it!"

In the pool, swimmers participate in all forms. Freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly, everyone has to do one lap of each just in case it's needed for the competition. In four separate lines for four separate lanes, each swimming style was performed. Shuichi stood in the butterfly line while Karasu was preparing for the breaststroke. Karasu noticed Shuichi adjusting his swim cap and goggles within his peripheral vision. He couldn't stand his team captain. Karasu developed a talent for swimming ever since he was a toddler and has big dreams of joining the Japanese Olympic swim team. It made no sense for someone who only has five years of experience to be the captain of a swim team. And now said captain has to lead the team to a championship. A championship where scouters may attend. Karasu couldn't stand it whatsoever.

"I see you got that bruise taken care of," he stated as he performed some dynamic stretching moves of his arms.

"I'm surprised about it too," Shuichi replied.

"Where did it come from?"

"Not sure and I no longer care. Neither should you."

"...You know, I heard some scouters may be at the tournament."

"I doubt they'll be there for the prefecture round."

"Even so. Doesn't hurt to prepare ahead. Who knows. Maybe they'll get to see those fins you talked about."

"Boys," the coach called with a whistle, "Enough chit chat. Focus!"

"Yes, coach."

"Sorry, coach," Shuichi followed.

During the swim, Shuichi tried his best with the butterfly stroke. He wasn't a fan of this style due to the concentration of his upper body but it had to be done. A quarter into his lap, Shuichi got comfortable in the water much like he did in his dreams, as if swimming was second nature. As he got closer to the 50m mark, that second nature feeling took over. Not only did he press pause on the butterfly stroke, he stopped using his arms completely, going deeper into the pool. With his eyes closed, his auditory surroundings tuned out, and his attention unknown, Shuichi bumped his head within the deep end of the pool before he knew it.

Ow! What the…? Wait…how did I…?

Upon looking around, Shuichi noticed he was considerably in a different place than his teammates. That was one thing. Another was his breathing and physical state starting with his feet. Not exactly human and not exactly fishy, the area from Shuichi's knees to his feet were indeed aquatic from scales to webbed toes.

What the…?

Before he could do anything else, a couple of members of his team jumped in the pool attempting to rescue him. Concern from the surface was the reason. Realizing the danger and possible exposure, Shuichi swam away from them and did so, so quickly, a noticeable trail of foam was formed from his powerful legs. He escaped from the other end of the pool and headed straight for the locker room much to his team's confusion. Karasu and the team's coach made the swift move to check on him.

"Minamino," the coach called.

"Oi, Minamino," Karasu followed, "Where are you?"

The question was answered by the sounds of a shower. Shuichi had used it in an attempt to throw anyone off.

"Minamino," the coach called again, "Everything alright?"

"Sorry, coach," Shuichi replied, "I, eh…bumped my head underwater. Just trying to get rid of the swelling."

"Oh…okay…good call. Carry on. C'mon, Ohta."

"Yes, coach," alone again, Shuichi conducted another self inspection and found himself back to normal. It's happening again. What is going on?

Surprisingly, Shuichi stepped out to find Kiyoni alone waiting for him leaning on the gateway entrance. She wasn't happy as apparent by the disappointed look on her face.

"Ikeda," he said, "What are you doing here? I thought you went home."

"Why did you lie to me?"

"Excuse me? Where did you hear that?"

"Doesn't matter. Why did you lie to me?"

"I did not and if I did, what was it about?"

"I told you. If you ever have those dreams again, let me know. I made the offer to you this morning and you, flat out, lied to my face about it. Don't bother to argue either. Misaki told me. He said you were bringing up some of the things you remembered before going off into space. You didn't think that was something I'd be interested in?"

Little did Shuichi know, Kuronue was hiding along the bushes of the school campus spying on the pair. He was really interested in how Shuichi would finesse his way out of trouble with a girl and how Kiyoni would react. That and since it's Kiyoni, it's kinda fun watching Shuichi get a tongue lashing of his own from her after the verbal ass-whooping Kuronue received earlier.

Hehe. If I'm going down, you're going down with me, Minamino, Kuronue declared.

"Kiyoni, I…" Shuichi realized, "I didn't want to trouble you about that stuff."

"Why," Kiyoni insisted, "And why the hell did you ask for my book if you didn't want to tell me?"

"Wait a second. Your conditions were to come to you if I was comfortable, correct? I abided by your rules."

"Oh so it's my fault that you chose to lie? And here I thought you were among the smartest in school. As a matter of fact, just…give me my book back."

"Ikeda…"

Kiyoni kept silent as she held her hand out. Sensing trouble, Shuichi obliged but couldn't help how adorable Kiyoni was with her angry face.

"Fine. If you insist–"

"Thank you," and with that, Kiyoni took off, book in hand.

"Ikeda, wait."

"No! You lied to me, Minamino. I have no reason to trust or talk to you now. Silly of me to think that in a country as homogeneous as this, you'd be different."

"Different," Shuichi repeated as he gave chase, "Wait. Wait, stop. Stop! What do you mean by different?"

"Different! Unlike the others; a rarity; unique; apart from the norm. Misaki is the worst but you… Well, you are his friend."

"That doesn't mean anything. Alright. You're right. I shouldn't have lied to you like that. For that, I sincerely apologize."

"Minamino…" Kiyoni sighed in annoyance, "Why didn't you tell me? I thought I made it clear I was into that stuff."

"Because like you said, I was simply uncomfortable. Because I wanted to understand some things on my own. …Fine. You want me to come clean…there's more to me going on than you think. It's not just…it's not just these dreams. It's more than that. I think it's physical now."

Stunned and skeptical, all Kiyoni could do was ask, "Physical? It's physical now? Like what? Growing gills or something?"

Shuichi was extremely nervous to answer but he did, saying, "...Apart from the norm, yes?"

"...What?"

"Walk with me."

The pair diverted off their normal course home and settled at a local burger joint instead where it was somewhat busy given the rush hour timing with many salarymen and women and high school and college students filing in and out. Finding a spot at a booth, Shuichi treated himself to a shrimp burger with fries and a coke while Kiyoni had a normal burger with fries topped with ketchup and mayonnaise and a chocolate shake. The mini-sized American flag on a toothpick standing in the middle of the sesame seed bun was a bit unnecessary. Fortunately the booth was in a corner of the dining area and away from prying eyes and ears. Shuichi's choice.

"So let me get this straight," Kiyoni recalled after snacking on a fry, "You're saying that…you think you're…part fish?"

"I understand how unusual it sounds but yes. It happened at practice today and the last practice before the tournament. I…don't know what to make of it."

"I'm not sure if I can either. Like…how?"

"I think it has something to do with the water temperature. I see the changes when I'm in the pool but as soon as I'm in the shower, it's gone."

Kiyoni peeked at Shuichi's untouched glass of water, "Prove it."

"Prove what?"

"That you can turn into a fish."

Shuichi whispered, "Eh…I'm not sure if I can do that right now considering I've only discovered this about a few–!"

While Shuichi tried to finesse his way out of the hot seat, Kiyoni dug a spoon in his drink to collect some water, flicking whatever she could get from it at Shuichi. Whether Shuichi was telling the truth or not, Kiyoni got a little vengeful satisfaction out of it.

"Why did you do that," he asked with a deadpan face.

"I was just seeing if you could turn into a fish."

"Yes, it looks like I can turn into a fish just not on demand at the moment. Please refrain from doing that again."

"Okay, fine, but…" Kiyoni concluded, "you did have me excited for a bit."

"I'm not lying to you this time. It really happened. I swear!"

"First, calm down. Second, I never said that I didn't believe you. Third, you are unbelievably pale," she joked.

"Seriously," Shuichi asked with a stern face, slouching backwards, "I wasn't exaggerating."

"I know. Maybe…it could come out when you're stressed?"

"Hm. That seems possible. However, I wasn't stressed. At least I don't think I was."

"Are you stressed now?"

"...No. No, I'm fine. I'm…" Shuichi said after he ate a fry, "fine."

"Okay. End of story."

"Ikeda, I'm sorry. I really am. I was…freaking out when I made that request and still felt that way by the time we saw each other. Embarrassed really. I was wrong to lie to you like that. Think you can forgive me?"

Kiyoni thought about it. At least Shuichi was mature enough to hold himself accountable and was sincere about it. However, words could only do so much.

"Well…I did give you the option to tell me whenever you're comfortable so…my bad for pushing you. I let my excitement get in the way. My parents always told me that actions could speak louder than words so…" Kiyoni informed after taking a sip of her shake, "My mother believes that saying is as true as pure gold. That's why there are so many elaborate praise dances made to the orishas. Anyway, bypassing all of that, I think all can be forgiven on one condition."

"Name it."

Kiyoni pulled out her book, "Since we're here…you can tell me about your latest dream and what words to look for in this. That is…if you're comfortable."

"Are you sure?"

"Allow me to make it plain. We can keep talking now or we could end the day here. I'm sure our parents may begin to worry at some point."

Shuichi awkwardly waved the proverbial white flag, "Then I guess…we can continue this conversation."

In a pleasant mood, Kiyoni gave her undivided attention, "I'm listening."

"Before we do, there's something I want to ask you."

"What is it?"

"When you looked at me, what did you see? Did your intuition really kick in?"

"No. Honestly, it comes and goes and it can happen to anyone. As far as what I saw…nothing. I saw nothing."

"Want to know what I saw?"

"What?"

Shuichi smirked as he demonstrated, "...The sparkles on your nose. That…eh…"

Urgently, Kiyoni rushed for her school bag which contained a compact mirror just to check on her makeup, "My highlighter? Am I wearing too much?"

"No, no. You're fine. I was referring to the shimmer. It looked like a rainbow."

"Stop it," Kiyoni blushed, "We're getting off topic."

"You're right. I'm sorry. Actually, I wanted to point that out because the shine reminded me of the mermaid I saw in my dream. It had the same rainbow-like effect."

"Really? Tell me more. I'll see if I can find it in this book."

"Sure. It all started with me lying on the ocean floor. I think it was the ocean floor."

And that's how the night ended. Another dream, another opportunity for Kiyoni to give advice and another opportunity for Shuichi to open up. It was pleasant and sweet. So sweet that time had lost its hold on the pair which meant a stern discussion from both sets of parents by the time the teens returned home. It didn't matter though. Both students went to bed content with the day and looked forward to tomorrow.