12th Wave - A Thirsty Date [1]

‘Did you ever go there?’

Kojin Okihiro once asked Tomi-san that, as he gazed at one of Eirin’s paintings. The one she had called home. The woman only gave him a soft smile before answering with a vague ‘who is to say’, yet it still made him keep wondering.

What it would be like to see a place like that? Even if Eirin’s painting was a better depiction of the real thing, it still made Okihiro dream of visiting at least once.

For that reason, as the young man took the mermaid around the city, he couldn’t help but feel ashamed.

「What is that?」

He glanced at the food cart she glanced at. 

How can I explain what a fried dumpling is to a mermaid? Okihiro scratched his head.

「Food.」

Eirin’s eyes sparkled for a brief moment, her mouth salivating. For once, she had found a smell that didn’t revolt her stomach, making her curious instead. She could hardly believe it herself, yet the mermaid was actually interested in tasting human food.

Without a warning, Okihiro walked toward the cart. He stopped himself before ordering, a memory crossing his mind.

That’s right, she’s a vegetarian.

She was not.

Yet when a few moments later, once they were both holding a warm dumpling in their hands, Eirin didn’t seem to mind whatever the filling inside was. It still smelled delicious.

The man waved in front of her, pulling her attention away from the food.

  「Careful. Hot.」

Eirin nodded once, her stomach grumbling. Not being able to wait, the mermaid sank her teeth into the soft dumpling.

Immediately burning her tongue.

Okihiro saw as tears gathered around her eyes after the mermaid’s soundless cry. After despairing for a few seconds, not knowing what he could do, the man took them to a calmer place, always walking a few steps behind her to make sure she wouldn’t trip or fall.

Once they were in the alley beside the park, he could still see the pain shining in her eyes.

「Don’t move.」

With his free hand, Okihiro raised her chin to get a better look at her reddened lips.

It doesn’t look too bad…yet she is a mermaid, so doesn’t that mean she is weaker to burns?

Should we go back to Tomi-san already?

And as he stared at her parted lips, his heart began to race. As if it had realized something before Okihiro himself, its beating getting more erratic by the second. Then his gaze moved, slowly, until all he could see was Eirin’s crystal-like eyes. Staring at him with the same intensity, her face flushing, time slowing down.

In Princess Eirin’s view, she could see the scar crossing his left eye, the richness of the green in his gaze, the way her skin tingled where his hand held her face. The way their breaths were close. Almost too close.

…what…is this…?

Eirin couldn’t answer, could not even think. All she could feel was her racing heart and the heat on her face, making the pain on her tongue more than forgotten. As if they had both been caught in a spell, they leaned even closer, neither certain of what they wanted. Of how their faces were slowly but surely coming together.

Then a child tripped.

That alone wouldn’t have been a problem, yet the child tripped and fell right at one of the street’s vendor shops, taking the entire table and most of the merchandise along with them. And that alone wouldn’t cause any issues, even with all the commotion.

Yet the vendor himself got frustrated enough to shout quite the nasty curse—a shout that was almost like a screech, a sound that startled Eirin enough to make her flinch and jump. Which in turn made Okihiro return to his senses and blush so hard, his original skin tone could be forgotten.

W-what are you even thinking? Have you lost your mind?

Kojin Okihiro signed an apology, one that Eirin did not even process as she was still trying to understand why her heart would not quiet down. When they were both sitting on one of the park’s benches, Okihiro opened the bag and gave her one of the bottles Tomi-san had prepared earlier.

He held her dumpling as she drank, thinking she would take a few sips and be done with it. Yet the mermaid began to drink…and didn’t stop until the bottle was completely empty.

Ah, now I’m feeling refreshed!

The bottle had almost two and a half liters of tea.

Okihiro glanced at the other two bottles in the bag, taking the new empty bottle with a shocked gaze.

I-I guess we might need to return earlier than I thought, after all…?

As the dumpling cooled down, Princess Eirin was finally able to taste it properly. And she loved it.

She turned to Okihiro, a small crumb peacefully resting in the corner of her mouth.

“This is amazing! It’s soft, but it’s crunchy. A-and, there is this juicy thing inside that spreads in the mouth—it’s incredible!”

He could barely understand a few words, yet as he saw the sparkling joy in her eyes and her full smile, Okihiro could take a good guess of what she was saying.

His lips trembled as he tried to contain his smile.

「Do you like it, then?」

Yet when he saw her nodding so earnestly before taking another big bite, Okihiro could not suppress the joyful laughter that escaped his lips. A sound that made Eirin stop right in her tracks.

Ah…I guess…

I must really like his laughter.

For once again, its sound was so beautiful to her ears, it made her feel nothing but warmth inside.

As his laugh faded, he unconsciously grabbed the small crumb resting near her mouth with his thumb and, even more unconsciously, ate it.

It took less than three seconds for Kojin Okihiro to realize what he had done.

It took zero seconds for Eirin to realize anything, since she could not understand or see the implications of that gesture.

Yet as Okihiro himself flushed more and more, Eirin’s own face became hotter simply by seeing the man in front of her getting flustered, as if deep down she knew something that wasn’t supposed to happen, happened.

And on the other side of the park, sitting on a bench and eating dumplings, the ‘tripping child’ watched the scene from afar. Accompanied by another pair of eyes.

“…I believe I’m starting to see a pattern here, brother.”

“Quite a disturbing one, sister.”

“I’m unsure whether I enjoy watching our cousin’s tragic romantic endeavors. Though entertaining, it is still pitiful.”

“More than these pathetic attempts, I’m more worried about our cousin’s well-being, sister.”

“Agreed. Sister Kei did right in sending us here. It hasn’t even been a few hours, and I’ve calculated more than thirty-seven ways cousin Eirin could’ve exposed herself or sustained everlasting injuries.”

“Her obliviousness and lack of awareness are indeed terrifying. We are lucky most humans around here seem to be almost as oblivious.”

“Agreed. It seems our work here will be way more troublesome than we previously thought, brother.”

“Agreed.”

Both twins took a bite of their dumplings, their expressions passive.

“Humans manage to create quite the tasty treats, sister.”

“Agreed.”

Without ever getting even a tiny, single burn.