The next morning started off a bit rainy. While heavy clouds hovered over the city, streets, homes, and businesses already received a wet greeting just before most woke up for the day. News reports decreed that the weather for today will see some rain continuing to fall off and on throughout the day only to remain cloudy during the evening hours with temperatures flirting within the autumn range.

From the Minamino home, Shuichi contemplated his actions last night over some warm morning tea and a rice bowl mixed with sesame seeds, egg, and soy sauce. How much was his dream, a dream? What was real exactly? Did he really come face-to-face with his birth mother? What was that stint with Kiyoni about? So many questions.

"You're going to be late for school, Shuichi," Shiori warned, throwing on a light jacket.

"Coming," Shuichi replied. A quick cleanup of his dishes and kitchen and Shuichi was out the door a few minutes after his parents' departure.

The weather wasn't too bad, temperature wise to Shuichi. However, the sights of a wet street were innocently triggering. Catching up with Kuronue on the bus en route to school provided relief.

"Hey, Ariel," he joked.

"I thought I told you about that name," Shuichi quietly warned as he sat down.

"Oof. You look awful. Couldn't sleep last night?"

"It's not that I couldn't. It's what happened while I was asleep."

"What happened? Wait. Did you ask for Ikeda's book again?"

"No. I'm afraid this dream can't be explained by some glorified glossary."

"Hm. Glorified glossary. Nice. So what happened?"

"I'll need to talk to you and Ikeda about it."

"Sure, man," Kuronue acknowledged, inserting his earbuds so as to not provoke Shuichi anymore.

Lunch period brought promise. Now that the hype surrounding that TikTok video has died down due to the defaming rumor concerning AI and multiple questions answered and debunked by Shuichi, all that was left for the student body to worry about was the upcoming volleyball game today and the next round of the national tournament a day later. What a relief.

"Now that we got that out of the way…" Kuronue directed as he opened his lunch which was a simple egg salad sandwich from a konbini, "let's talk about this dream you had."

"Ooh, another dream. Can't wait to hear about this one," Kiyoni prepared as her bento box was filled with leftover jollof rice topped with grilled salmon, a couple of portions of tamagoyaki stuffed with spinach, a serving of strawberries sliced to look like roses, and some chopped red and green cabbage, onion, and carrots cooked in sesame oil. A bottle of guava lemonade also from a konbini was her drink of choice.

"Certainly," Shuichi answered, opening his bento which had two onigiri stuffed with tuna and mayo and sprinkled in sesame seeds, raw but washed broccoli, and three servings of tamagoyaki in sweet sauce, "It started the same as before. I woke up in the ocean, this time on a coral reef and I think I saw or heard Nemo swimming around me."

"Nemo," Kuronue quizzically repeated.

"You know, the little clownfish from the movie?"

"Carry on."

"Anyway, next thing I knew, the same mermaid from before called out to me. And like before, she called me Kurama."

"Was there a face this time? Please say yes."

"Yes."

"Ooh! Was she hot? What did she look like?"

"Hm. Honestly…she looked a bit…youthful. Older than any of the girls here but…younger than my mother."

"Nn-nn. But is she hot?"

"Just keep talking," Kiyoni urged out of annoyance.

And Shuichi did, "Well, I can't say the meeting was enthusiastic but she did introduce herself to me. To summarize, her name is Botan, she's of noble blood, her husband is now a widower. I'm her son, which makes me a prince, and my birth name is really Kurama."

Kuronue didn't say a word, allowing his bottom jaw to hang low. Kiyoni didn't say anything either. She couldn't even take her bite of rice and salmon. Instead both students took a pause on their food in favor of their drinks with Kiyoni taking an extra moment to process everything.

"Pause, scroll back, play again," she decreed, "I need you to repeat…everything you just said. Like everything."

Kuronue concurred, "Yeah. You lost me at the part about being a prince."

"I'm lost at the 'I'm her son' part."

Shuichi huffed in embarrassment but was cool with it. Confusion among his friends validated his own discombobulated feelings.

"Those were her words, more or less," he confirmed, "Bottom line, the reason why I'm going through these changes is because I really am a ningyo."

"But…you're royalty?" Kuronue questioned.

"You really met your birth mom?" Kiyoni added.

"Yes to all," Shuichi replied, "Believe me, I couldn't believe it either. Even now, I still don't know what to make of it."

"But if you're a ningyo…" Kiyoni proclaimed, "why are you here with us? What happened down there for you to be here?"

"Yeah," Kuronue followed, "And what about your dad? That makes him a king, right? What's he like? If I was him, I'd tear the oceans apart just to find my son. Could he do that? Wait…! What if that earthquake from our preschool year was him looking for you?!"

"Oh, wow," Kiyoni recalled, "You really think that was him? I remember being scared shitless that day…until I found out where it was. Still I've never seen the bay area that active before."

"Mhmm. Me too. Was it, Minamino?"

"I wouldn't know," Shuichi disclosed, "I never asked. Lady Botan did note a few times on how little time we had to fully explain everything. As far as how I got here, I was brought here. Lady Botan tragically passed away in childbirth. Afterwards, I was kidnapped and brought here to live among…humans."

"Humans? You make it sound like we're aliens, man," Kuronue teased.

"She died…" Kiyoni trailed off. "I read somewhere that mermaids can be the spirits of those who tragically died underwater but…shouldn't she have been dead already when she gave birth to you?"

"That's a good point…" Kuronue said with a covered yet stuffed mouth, "but if what you say is true, then wouldn't that mean that our boy here is also dead?"

"Reincarnation? He did say he was brought here. A fresh body for a departed soul."

"Could be…" Shuichi hypothesized, "but that would also discredit Lady Botan's story. The deceased giving birth to the deceased? Illogical. Then there was you…"

For the second time today, Kiyoni was caught mid-bite, "Me?"

If Kuronue could look any more like a petty clown, it would be impossible. With widened, intrigued eyes, pursed lips that made his face look more triangular in shape, and ears at level ten in terms of attention, he sat and watched as his best friend made another attempt to casually flirt.

"Well…" Shuichi went on, "while we didn't say anything to each other (we as in you and I), you were there. You were asleep…underwater."

"I was asleep? Underwater? In your dream?"

"Th-there's more. You were…you were like me. A ningyo. You looked different, of course. I mean, you…you were…"

"I was…?"

Shuichi froze, reminiscing on the vision that rested before him in his dream. From her head to her fin, Kiyoni looked rather nice as a mermaid. If only she was able to see it, herself. There was also the mysterious melody that drew Shuichi to Kiyoni, the elusive "sa…"

Wait, "sa…"

"Hello," Kuronue requested, waving a hand in front of Shuichi's face, "Earth to Asian Ariel."

"Wakanda Forever," Shuichi loudly realized, silencing half the room.

As a result, both Kuronue and Kiyoni broke out into laughter, "What?"

"Sorry. The-the movie. That song from the movie. Anyway, what were we talking about?"

"Dude, you were talking about Kiyoni being a fish," Kuronue guffawed, "I told you that aquarium stop was a bad idea."

"Yeah, eh…" Shuichi professed, watching Kiyoni try her best to finish her food before the class bell, "Perhaps you're right."

Another day, another round of classes coming to an end. Kuronue had to stay behind for his extracurricular activity in classroom cleanup, leaving Shuichi to accompany Kiyoni to the school gym for her volleyball game. It was only convenient for the former since the pool was along the way.

"Best of luck to you and the team today," Shuichi wished.

"I don't think we'll need it but my team would disagree," Kiyoni assured, "We're not playing against Sarayashiki or anything. I'm more worried about you. I was in your dream and I can't think of a logical reason as to why. Other than–"

"Before you finish that sentence, please allow me to intervene–"

"I wasn't finished. Whatever the reason was doesn't matter. That's just one concern, the smallest. The biggest one of all is… Minamino! You just met your mom. Your birth mom."

"You don't find that strange? She's essentially a ghost."

"So what? Ghosts, spirits, wayward souls, all of them can have a connection with the living world if the desire is strong enough. I saw one walking down my neighborhood a couple of summers ago. Your mom put in fifteen years worth of work just to reach out to you. Fifteen years! And yet, you sat there like a deer in headlights thinking about why I showed up? If I were you, I'd dive myself, head first, into everything I would need to know about being what you are the same way you dive into my dream book. That was your original plan, right? You can worry about me later," and with that, Kiyoni left Shuichi standing in the middle of the hallway to meet up with Mei for their game.

"Ikeda?"

"Yeah?"

"...Try not to get yourself distracted this time," Shuichi somewhat jested, "I appreciate your concern for me but we can't have two defeated teams in one school and in one week."

With a sarcastic bow, and a stern middle finger towards her classmate, Kiyoni continued her departure, "Whatever you say, Kurama…-sama."

She was right. Kiyoni should be the least of Shuichi's concerns but like the average teenage boy, that image of Kiyoni the mermaid still lingered in Shuichi's mind.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go," the swim coach shouted, "Hustle, hustle, let's go!"

Since the next round of the tournament is tomorrow, everyone was in preparation mode, training in the pool for their respective races. Once again, Shuichi and Karasu got their rears in gear for their individual and team events. The makeshift lotion Shuichi made and sodium supplement worked like a charm all the while. It also helped that the water was at the perfect temperature given the outdoor weather. By the time practice was over, Shuichi was feeling confident and ready, managing to catch the final minutes of the volleyball game. Unfortunately, the team lost due to an ankle injury.

"That was a tough game," he texted.

"Yeah. Nishimoto got hurt pretty bad."

"Wait, you were there?"

"I caught the end."

"Where are you now? I just saw Misaki. Let's meet up."

"Not tonight."

"Need some time to think"

"Oh. Well I'm sorry if what I said to you was a bit rude. I gotta work on my delivery."

"No. You're fine. It needed to be said. I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"Okay."

"I'll bring my book with me tomorrow if needed."

"Thanks."

Determined to get some answers, Shuichi did all he could to get the best sleep of the night. A quick fifteen minute pilates workout, studying until his eyes became dry, consuming three cups of herbal tea for sleep all without sweetener, and soaking in a warm, salt-filled bath. Within ten minutes of taking that bath, Shuichi had yawned five times. In other words, he was going to pass out just as hard as a corporate slave. And he did, never giving thought to tucking himself in bed. The only goal for the rest of the night: reach out to Lady Botan.