12th Wave - A Thirsty Date [2]

Merfolk were quite odd.

Or at least, the mermaid princess was.

As he showed her around the city, avoiding the bleak and dirty streets as much as he could, the mermaid would look around with a bored look on her face.

Such unsightly buildings…do humans actually live inside those things?, it was what she would think.

So Okihiro decided to focus on the parks and main squares.

Eirin would show absolutely no interest in grass or flowers…

Huh…guess the dry land has its own algae too…

…yet she spent five minutes smelling and touching a tree.

She passed by the most varied merchants, shops selling from cheap jewelry to intrinsic tapestries, however all Okihiro saw was the light leaving her eyes as if that sight was terrible enough for her to wish for death.

If only I had my song…I could ask these humans to give these things to me. Haa…will I ever get another chance at increasing my collection like this?

But when they crossed paths with a small group of street performers, the mermaid stopped. And the man saw her cheeks flush and her eyes sparkle, as if she had just discovered some kind of treasure.

Eager to test his new knowledge, he rushed to write in his notebook.

‘You like it?’

Though some symbols were a bit off, the mermaid understood the sailor’s writing.

The music once again pulled her attention, humans playing instruments that were so strange to her, producing sounds so distinct and unique on their own right, Princess Eirin could do little but gaze at the group in awe.

“Yes, I like it… It’s beautiful.”

Okihiro didn’t pay attention to Eirin’s last word, his own eyes stuck on their own admiration. His heart would not calm down, as if the man needed a constant reminder of all the emotions he lacked awareness of, and all the thoughts he was trying to avoid.

‘Music. You like it?’

Eirin froze for a second. “Music…”

He watched as the mermaid touched her chest, a sorrowful shadow crossing her eyes for a brief second before a soft smile crossed her face.

“It fills my entire heart.”

Kojin Okihiro didn’t understand Eirin’s response because he read her lips. Most of the words she used, apart from ‘heart’, were unknown to him. No.

Kojin Okihiro understood her because he saw through her eyes. The way her hand gripped the fabric in her chest tighter for a second, and how her body became lighter. Because in her gaze, there was so much warmth and depth, there was no way he couldn’t see—couldn’t feel himself.

Music…it must be really important to her.

…I wonder what else is important to her. What else she loves.

When Okihiro showed her their famous fountain, thinking the sight could impress the princess, Eirin barely spared it a sneer and a chuckle. And when she finished the last tea bottle, the man knew they either had to go back soon or go to a spot near the sea.

「Want to rest for a bit?」

And he already knew where he wanted to take her.

                                                                   𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆉 𓆝 𓆡⋆.˚ 𓇼

The beach was not too far from the port. And though the sun was still far from crossing the horizon, there were hardly any people on the spot. He guided her to a more reserved spot, one that would allow them to sit on the rocks and dip their toes in the ocean. A place that was neither too windy nor too hot, yet one that gave them the best view.

After he helped her take a seat, the sailor said nothing else. His eyes were driven by the sea, contemplating the ocean’s silent waters with a still, faraway gaze.

There’s still so much I don’t know about him…

Somehow, the thought brought an ache to her chest. A feeling that, though its frequency was steadily increasing, remained vague to her. Something she could not understand.

Eirin tapped his shoulder, her fingers almost too nervous to make the contact, pulling his attention.

“Why do you like it? The ocean.”

She also gestured with some of their signs, yet Okihiro was able to read her words well.

At first, there was no reply from him. Yet as the seconds passed, he wrote the single glyph on his notebook. Eirin leaned a bit closer, watching as his fingers drew a word that was at the same time familiar and strange to her.

‘Quiet.’

She widened her eyes, shocked at first. However, as the seconds passed, deep down, the princess understood. She felt the depth of that single word, how heavy it fell on that single piece of paper. All she didn’t know yet the why. The reason.

As their bodies were close to each other, even though the water was almost reaching her knees, its temperature cool and refreshing, she could feel her body getting warmer. Eirin could sense his body heat, his scent being carried by the wind mixed with the comforting smell of the sea.

And with her heart beating faster and stronger, she dared herself to ask.

Okihiro watched her lips move, while also paying attention to her hands. The way they moved, uncertain and reluctant, somehow contradicting the way her eyes met his, unwavering. Although they had never created signs for what she was asking, and though he didn’t know most of the words she was saying, the man understood.

What Princess Eirin was trying to ask.

‘How did it happen?’

‘Why are you deaf?’

‘Were you born like this?'

He had seen those questions multiple times, spoken by many people, on different occasions.

The ones that were not interested enough to ask Okihiro himself would ask others or ignore him altogether. More often than not, the questions annoyed him. They would usually be a nicer way of people asking him, ‘Why aren’t you normal?’.

He hated that.

However, occasionally, he would be asked that same question and not be followed by its bitterness. For he could see, through the person’s eyes and gestures, the true intent they had with that question. And as he met Eirin’s eyes, he saw that her question was not another way of asking ‘why are you defected?’.

But an affirmation of ‘tell me more about yourself’.

「An accident.」

Princess Eirin was, little by little, getting impressed. For she had never once thought about how much one could communicate without using their voice. The very thing that made her herself. Yet even when there were no spoken words exchanged between them, the mermaid could see. She could feel.

By the way his fingers were slightly dropped, to the way the light reflected the emotion behind his eyes, Eirin was able to tell.

This…

This ‘accident’ pains him.

She considered her next question with care, taking a few seconds for her to sign.

「Does it hurt?」

Okihiro thought he saw something crossing the princess' eyes, something that almost moved him. A genuine concern, a pure worry of whether he still felt pain due to his past injury or not. Yet he was certain he had seen wrong.

In fact, he wasn’t.

「It doesn’t hurt.」

Eirin hesitated for a brief second before asking again.

「So…you are fine, now?」

Okihiro chuckled, the sound making the mermaid blush.

「Yes, it’s all right, now.」

It was only when he saw the relief spreading across her face that the man considered the possibility that, perhaps, he hadn’t been wrong before. That Eirin had shown concern for him. But before he could think any more about it, the mermaid suddenly leaned closer.

A lot closer.

“What about this? Was it also an accident?”

Eirin forgot to sign her question, as she touched the scar that had been intriguing her since the very moment she met him. And even if she had used their signs, the man wouldn’t have seen them. Because her touch on his face, even if faint, was enough to send all his thoughts to oblivion.

The only thing he could sense and hear, loud and clear, was his own heartbeat. Something so loud, so chaotic and desperate, his first instinct was to move away. To get more space so he could breathe again—hear his own thoughts again.

All Eirin saw, however, was the sailor going further away from the rock.

And as she thought he was falling, she tried to grab him.

Knowing full well he would not be able to take any more of her touch in such a short time frame, he moved even further.

Which resulted in both falling into the sea, fully dressed. When both surfaced, it took only a few seconds before she burst out in laughter, making him follow her in the following moment.

And whether Kojin Okihiro admitted that was a date or not, in the end, he was certain of one thing.

That day was the most fun he had had in years.