Chapter Text
“Man, why does Sou-senpai always leave me at the ship,” Nozomu whined as he drew random circles in the sand on the beach, occasionally poking a small crab that crawled out of random holes with a stick.
After their last shopping trip, Soushi told Nozomu to stay at the ship this time while he went out on “patrol duty”. Nozomu didn’t really mind since it was fun playing around on a pirate ship. The only downside was without Soushi, Nozomu didn’t really have anyone to play with. Everyone else was too busy doing their own stuff, and eventually Nozomu got bored. Since they were so close to shore, Nozomu decided to sneak off the ship for a bit when no one was paying attention by climbing down one of the rope ladders to play on the beach.
“I wish Ken-chan was around to tell me stories again,” Nozomu talked to himself as he wandered further down the shore. He really missed hearing stories about Neverland from the first pirate Nozomu had ever met when he got rescued from the fishing net.
Nozomu picked up a random round stone on the beach and threw it a bit far into the ocean past some rocks.
“OUCH!”
Nozomu jumped when he heard the stone must have hit something that wasn’t a rock.
“S-Sorry! Are you okay?” Nozomu called out to the voice.
Behind the rocks, Nozomu spotted a boy who looked close to his age with reddish brown hair make eye contact with him.
“I’m okay! I was surprised when a rock suddenly hit my head!” the boy answered.
“My bad! I didn’t know anyone except us pirates were around here!” Nozomu said.
“What?! There are pirates around here?” The boy sounded panicked.
“Yeah! That huge ship over there is our pirate ship!” Nozomu pointed out the ship proudly. “Ah, I’m Nozomu by the way! What’s your name?”
The other boy seemed hesitant to answer, but eventually he spoke, “I-I’m Sora.”
“Sora-chan?” Nozomu wondered.
“What do you mean -chan? I’m not a girl!” Sora came further out from behind the rocks, revealing only his top half of his bare chest to prove he was a boy.
“Sora-senpai, then?” Nozomu corrected himself.
“S-Senpai?! No one has ever called me that before, I like the sound of that!” Sora looked happy.
“How come you’re all the way out here by yourself?” Nozomu asked.
“Uh-I like swimming out here by myself, but I should probably go-” Sora answered.
“Wait, don’t go yet!” Nozomu pleaded. “I’ve never seen another boy to play with! All the pirates on board are too busy to play with me!”
“A-Are you guys nice pirates?” Sora asked.
“I think so? Soushi-senpai says we don’t really do anything bad, but we are still pirates!” Nozomu was honest.
“O-Oh.” Sora wasn’t sure whether to be worried or not.
“Hey! Have you heard of Neverland before?” Nozomu suddenly asked.
“Neverland?”
“Yeah! I’ve always wanted to go there! Do you know how to get there, Sora-senpai?”
“Uh-I think I heard once that you have to fly there,” Sora answered.
“Fly? Like a bird?” Nozomu wondered.
“Uh, something like that, but Neverland is really far away from here,” Sora said. Rather, the truth was he only heard about Neverland from a story that Mamoru read to him.
“I wonder how long it would take to fly there? Do you think pirate ships could fly?” Nozomu was still confused. “I wonder if there’s treasure in Neverland like how I heard there’s treasure in the castle here that the pirates want to sneak into.”
“Huh? Castle?” Sora seemed interested.
“Yeah! The reason we docked here was because we heard that there’s gonna be a party at a castle here tomorrow night, and maybe there’s treasure there!” Nozomu blurted out.
“I see…”
“NOZOMU! WHERE THE HECK DID YOU RUN OFF TOO?!” A voice suddenly shouted.
“Yikes! That’s Soushi-senpai! I need to get back to the ship!” Nozomu started to run back. “Hey, Sora-senpai, do you want to-huh?”
Nozomu looked over to where the other boy was, but he saw the boy had disappeared and there were only rocks in the ocean.
“Where did Sora-senpai go?” Nozomu wondered.
“NOZOMU!”
“Ack! I’m coming back!”
Sora had quickly dove back underwater right after someone was shouting for Nozomu. Thanks to the intel from that honest pirate boy, Sora was suddenly worried about Mamoru running into pirates on land.
“Ryo-chan! Ryo-chan! We have a problem!” Sora shouted as he barged into Ryota’s sea cavern.
“Sora how many times do I have to tell you not to drag in kelp with your tail-“
Sora ignored the kelp stuck on his fin. “Ryo-chan! I need you to turn me human so I can go find Mamo-Chan!”
“I told you I can only turn someone human once every four blue moons. If you really want to know about the piano too just ask Mamoru after-“
“It’s not about the piano! I discovered a pirate ship near shore!!”
Ryota froze and felt a cold chill down his scales. “You’re lying.” Ryota more than hoped.
“I really saw it! They’re hidden in a cave by the cliff! Nozomu told me it’s a pirate ship!”
“Who’s Nozomu?” The name didn’t sound familiar to Ryota.
“One of the pirates on the ship. He looks the same age as Ren and-“
“You were spotted?!” Ryota raised his voice, waking up Sakura and Niwa from their nap with an electric spark.
“Only by Nozomu! And he seemed nice for a pirate! Plus I left right away and I doubt they can follow me underwater!” Sora explained.
“So what does all of this have to do with Mamoru?”
“Nozomu mentioned something about a party at a huge castle that they were planning to sneak into and-“
Ryota held his hand up to stop Sora there. “Castle…party…wait, didn’t you mention that humans usually have a piano inside a castle?” Ryota recalled.
“Yeah! The piano that Mamo-chan really wants to see might be there! What if he runs into the pirates?” Sora was worried.
Ryota quickly swam to his mirror that connects to his familiar.
“Mamoru! Mamoru!” Ryota tried calling Mamoru, but the other end looked a bit dark and Ryota saw the squid bubble appeared to be stuffed inside Mamoru’s bag. “No good, he must be with that Kensuke guy.”
“What should we do, Ryo-chan?”
“I’ll have to wait till Mamoru is alone to warn him about the pirates,” Ryota decided. “In the meantime, don’t you dare swim back up there near that pirate ship. I don’t want what happened back then to repeat itself the last time you got too close to humans, especially pirates.”
“M-Mm, you’re right.” Sora understood.
After Sora left to visit Prince Ren again, Ryota sighed as he curled up on his enormous clam shaped bed with soft sea sponges. Sakura and Niwa swam up to him, whining worried.
“I’m alright,” Ryota assured his loyal sea serpents. “The memories of what happened in the past resurfaced again.”
Ryota, Sora, and Mamoru had only encountered a pirate ship once before, and it was a dangerous encounter they could never forget. It was storming that night much like the storm last night.
(Several years ago…)
“Sora! Mamoru! Hurry up! We don’t want to get stuck in the crossfire!” Ryota shouted at the other two as they tried to swim through a strong current in the middle of a storm.
“But the current is too strong! And there’s explosions everywhere going PAKAN!” Sora cried.
“They must be firing cannons at that other ship that’s approaching. Just a bit further! If we can break through this current, we can get away from the storm and those pirates!” Ryota pointed ahead.
“Wait-Ryo-chan! Mamo-chan isn’t with us!”
“What?!” Ryota suddenly looked back and saw it was only him and Sora. “Mamoru!”
They quickly scanned the area and saw Mamoru had turned back around and was heading down towards something that was sinking in the water.
“Mamoru! What the hell are you doing?!” Ryota shouted.
“There's a boy that’s drowning! I have to get him back to the surface!” Mamoru was reaching out towards a young boy with dark hair.
“Are you crazy?! Forget about that human and get back here!” Ryota warned.
“I can’t! Humans can’t breathe like us underwater!” Mamoru was determined to save the boy.
Before Ryota could send Sakura and Niwa out to grab Mamoru, Mamoru managed to grab the boy and quickly swim up towards the surface.
“Mamo-chan! Hurry!” Sora urged.
Because of the cannon fires and explosions that spread underwater, Sora and Ryota couldn’t see anything until Mamoru finally caught back up with them safely.
“Mamo-chan!”
“You IDIOT!”
“I’m sorry, Ryo-kun, Sora-kun!! But I think the boy will be okay! He was breathing when we got to the surface. I managed to throw him onto a small raft attached to the boat that was fighting the pirates, so I think he’s in good hands now with nice humans!” Mamoru said.
“When we get back to my sea cavern, you both are in for a shocking lesson,” Ryota scolded as he grabbed Mamoru and Sora with Sakura and Niwa to make sure they didn’t swim off again.
Mamoru looked back only for a moment and hoped that the boy he saved from drowning would be okay.
“And the mermaid princess and prince lived happily ever after,” Issei concluded the story out loud to Mamoru.
Mamoru clapped his hands excitedly.
“Bleh, why does the prince and mermaid princess always have to kiss in the end?” Ichiru questioned.
“They fall in love in the story, so it’s probably to show their romantic love to each other,” Issei said. “Shu always gives Eichi a kiss on the lips in the morning.”
“Ahh, yeah, Eichi turns bright red like a tomato when Shu does it in front of us,” Ichiru remembered. “Hey, have you ever kissed anyone, Mamoru-san?”
Mamoru looked at the twins with confusion and tilted his head to the side.
“Ichiru, you shouldn’t ask Mamoru-san that kind of personal question,” Issei told his brother.
“I was only curious since he’s older than us! You look the same age as Shu,” Ichiru guessed. “Have you ever fallen in love before?”
Mamoru looked really troubled and didn’t understand how to answer, but thankfully he was saved by the sound of knocking on the door.
“Sorry to interrupt your story time, but I finished fixing up your boots, Mamoru-kun,” Eichi came in. “Kensuke is holding them downstairs for you when you’re ready to head out.”
“Aww, you’re going already?” The twins seemed disappointed.
Mamoru looked conflicted about what to do, but Eichi tells them, “We can always invite Mamoru-kun over again another time, but he and Kensuke had a pretty long night since they were stuck on the Kuberu during the storm.”
“Oh right, there was a bad storm last night!” Ichiru remembered. “Did you fall overboard, Mamoru-”
“Ichiru.” Eichi spoke up a bit more firmly, but still kind.
“Sorry!” Ichiru shut his mouth.
“Then I’ll lend you this picture book, Mamoru-san,” Issei offered.
Mamoru looked hesitant to borrow it since it has such a pretty cover, but Issei insisted. “You looked really happy listening to the story, so we want to share too.”
Mamoru looked at the twins and his face glowed with excitement as he carefully took the book and placed it in his bag.
When Mamoru came downstairs, he saw only Kensuke was waiting for him with his boots in one hand.
“Oh, there you are, Mamoru! Did you have fun hanging out with Issei and Ichiru?” Kensuke asked.
“Mm! Mm!” Mamoru tried to convey his enjoyment.
“We’d love to stay for lunch, but I’m sure they’ll be busy with the shop this afternoon, so we wouldn’t want to overstay,” Kensuke mentioned as he helped Mamoru put his boots back on. After making sure the laces were tied properly so that Mamoru wouldn’t trip, Kensuke stood up and held the door open for Mamoru. “Bye Eichi, Issei, Ichiru! We’ll come back and visit again! Thanks for having us over!” Kensuke said on the way out.
Mamoru bowed and waved goodbye as Eichi and the twins waved back.
As they walked outside towards the crossroads that led to Kensuke’s house, Kensuke paused for a moment.
“Mamoru, I know you must be pretty tired from everything that happened last night, but do you mind if we take a quick detour before heading home?” Kensuke asked.
Mamoru didn’t mind, but he wondered where Kensuke wanted to go. He simply nodded to show Kensuke that he agreed.
Kensuke smiled and took Mamoru’s hand.
“It’s not too far from here, and if you get tired let me know right away so we can take a break,” Kensuke told Mamoru seriously.
The two of them walked in a peaceful silence with only the sound of song birds and rustling leaves from a passing breeze around them. Mamoru noticed that Kensuke guided them off the path and into a forest.
“Don’t worry, we won’t get lost,” Kensuke reassured Mamoru as if he could sense that Mamoru seemed worried. “I’ve been through here many times before. I guess you could say it’s my own secret path since no one else comes this far off the path.”
With Kensuke holding his hand the whole time there was no way Mamoru could get lost or separated. Mamoru kept following along, occasionally being told to watch out for a twisted root from the trees or uneven rocks. After a bit of walking, Kensuke stopped in the middle of the forest where there was a bit of small clearing, and in the center of the clearing was a giant oak tree.
“....!” Mamoru’s eyes grew wide as he admired the enormous size of the oak tree in front of them.
“Pretty cool, isn’t it?” Kensuke looked at Mamoru to see his reaction. “This is the largest oak tree I’ve ever seen around here. Since no one else seems to come out here, I kind of think of this place like my own secret base!”
Mamoru’s eyes seemed to sparkle in the rays of sunlight that shone through the branches.
“Ahh! Ahh!” Mamoru sounded really excited.
“Want to get a better view?” Kensuke asked.
Mamoru looked confused but then he noticed that Kensuke started to climb up the tree.
“Here! I’ll pull you up!” Kensuke sat on one of the thick branches and reached out towards Mamoru.
Mamoru wasn’t sure if he could even climb trees since he had always lived in the sea, but somehow he had a feeling he could trust Kensuke. Without thinking too hard about it, Mamoru took Kensuke’s hand and let him pull Mamoru up on the branch. It was a bit of an awkward struggle since Mamoru seemed to weigh a bit heavy, but after a few tries Kensuke managed to help Mamoru sit next to him on the thick branch, keeping one arm wrapped securely around Mamoru’s waist.
“Maybe we should go running on the beach so you can lose some extra weight you probably got from eating bread all the time,” Kensuke teased.
Mamoru felt like Kensuke was teasing him and made a face with a pout on his lips.
“I’m not saying you’re too heavy! Don’t look at me like that, Mamoru!” Kensuke hoped Mamoru didn’t take offense.
Mamoru couldn’t help but make chuckling noises.
Kensuke giggled with him, but then he got a bit quiet. “So you still can’t talk?”
Mamoru blinked and stared at Kensuke with a sad face as he shook his head side to side. He wasn’t sad that he couldn’t talk, but it was more so about the secret that was sealed in his shell necklace with his voice.
“Ah, I’m sorry! I know I shouldn’t rush this kind of thing but–it’s been six days now since we met on the beach when I saved you from drowning?” Kensuke remembered. “I know Captain Shu-san said it would take about a week for the salt water to clear out of your throat, but I wonder if we should’ve had Eichi examine you since he is a doctor.”
Mamoru reached over and gripped the sleeve of Kensuke’s shirt as he shook his head again.
“Oh, are you afraid of doctors?” Kensuke asked. “Eichi is really nice during check ups! It won’t hurt at all if he looks at your throat. You might have to take a bit of medicine that will taste bitter, but it could help!”
Mamoru frowned and felt even more hesitant to try human medicine. Even if he was transformed into a human body, he wasn’t sure if medicine made for humans would work.
“Sorry, I know I shouldn’t force you to do anything like that,” Kensuke realized he was prying too much. “It’s just that…I can’t help but wonder what your voice sounds like.”
Mamoru looked down at his pendant. He felt really bad for keeping the secret behind his human form from Kensuke. Maybe, if Kensuke really wanted to hear his voice, Mamoru could-
“Mamoru? What are you doing-” Kensuke noticed Mamoru taking off his shell pendant. “Hey! Wait!”
“!!!” Mamoru was about to try to break his purple shell against the tree branch, but Kensuke quickly reached out and stopped Mamoru’s hand. Unfortunately due to the sudden movement, they both fell off the branch.
“Mamoru!” Kensuke quickly held Mamoru close to him and shielded Mamoru’s head as they both hit the ground. “OOF!”
The impact on the ground hurt, but thankfully they didn’t fall from too high up and the grass was soft enough for landing.
Mamoru quickly got up and was worried Kensuke got hurt, but Kensuke seemed more worried about Mamoru and his shell pendant.
“Are you okay, Mamoru? Why did you try to break your pendant? Isn’t that shell important to you?” Kensuke questioned.
Mamoru was surprised that Kensuke had noticed Mamoru cared a lot about his shell pendant. He looked down in his palm and saw the shell necklace was still perfectly intact. Ryota had mentioned to him at the start that it wouldn’t break so easily, likely due to the spell that Ryota casted on it, yet Mamoru couldn’t help but wonder why he tried to break it.
(“Have you ever fallen in love before?”)
Ichiru’s question suddenly echoed in Mamoru’s mind. He knew what love is of course even among merfolk, but Mamoru thought he had never felt in love before. Of course he loves his friends back home and creating music, but it all felt friendly or like family to him.
Mamoru never felt the kind of love that the mermaid princess had for the human in the story…until now.
(“I…love Kensuke.”)
“Mamoru? Are you okay? Please don’t tell me you hit your head when we fell! Maybe we should really go back and see Eichi-” Kensuke started to panic, but Mamoru quickly tried to reassure Kensuke that he was fine by waving his hands.
“Mm!” Mamoru did his best to put a smile on and think about the bigger problem later.
“Well, if you’re absolutely sure you’re not hurt anywhere, we should really head home,” Kensuke said as he helped Mamoru stand back up, brushing off the dirt and leaves from their clothes and Mamoru’s fluffy hair. “Man, we’ll probably need to take a bath as soon as we get home, haha!”
Mamoru understood now why he almost tried to unseal his own voice. He wanted to confess to Kensuke what he was feeling.
But now that made things even more complicated and Mamoru wasn’t sure what to do.