Merfolk usually had a hard time grasping the concept of “violence”.
As sea creatures, they were used to seeing fish preying and feasting on each other. “Death” was but one of the most natural things, an important part in the cycle of life. Merfolk themselves hunted other creatures for nourishment, especially crustaceans and smaller fish.
Yet the vile and unjustified act of causing harm to a living being just for the sick pleasure of it—a cruelty forced upon someone from their kin as a means of punishment…
They could not comprehend it. They could not see its purpose and reason to “exist”.
Princess Eirin had never witnessed true violence. There was none in the sea.
So when she saw the tall man slap Kojin Okihiro across the face, the blood froze in her veins. Her heart stopped. For she knew she was about to witness and realize something she didn’t want to.
“What’s wrong with you now, Kojin? You give me that glare, then get surprised when you get punished for forgetting your place? Didn’t that old woman teach you actions have consequences?”
Though the sudden impact did surprise him, seeing his aggressor’s lips mentioning her made his intestines writhe.
Someone like you…
Someone like you doesn’t deserve to speak of her.
Yet losing his composure with that kind was even more pathetic. Especially when all Okihiro had to do was lower his head and let them take out their petty frustrations on him.
But I can’t involve Eirin…
Okihiro took a deep breath, his lips trembling for a second.
“…let her go.”
He hated it.
He hated having to speak in front of them. Yet he knew all too well how none of them would let him write, how they would sooner rip his notebook into pieces before letting him get a single word across.
So he forced himself to swallow that bitterness, the painful humiliation going down his throat like acid.
“Just let her go.”
They all stopped, looking at him with bemused eyes.
“What…this is…”
“What the heck, scrub, you…”
“Did you forget how to speak, Kojin? You sound freaking weird, you know that?”
Then they started laughing again, that nauseating sound that made Eirin’s skin crawl. She tried taking a step forward, not even knowing what she wanted to do with them. All the princess was certain of was how she needed to silence them.
To make sure they never produced such unsightly sounds like those ever again.
Okihiro blocked her way, not allowing Eirin to get closer to the man in front of him. The sailor’s body was like a solid rock; unmoving, mighty.
He ignored their words, their insults. Of course Okihiro knew his speech was odd. He hated speaking when he couldn’t hear what he was saying, and as the years passed, he was bound to forget. Even though he did train and speak to himself sometimes, in the solitude of his room.
Yet nothing of those things mattered.
“Do whatever you want to me, but let her go. She has nothing to do with this.”
The tall man squinted his eyes. The orphan barely reached his chin, yet that defiance in his voice…that glow in his eyes. It infuriated him. As if that lowlife thought he was better than him.
And there was just no way he could have that.
His colleagues knew what he wanted them to do without him having to ask. All they had to do was exchange glances.
“Fine. We will let her go.”
Two of them grabbed Eirin from behind at the same time the tall man threw a punch on Okihiro’s face.
Before the orphan could dare to fight back, the man sank his fist into Kojin’s stomach, watching him bend over like a pathetic fool. Then he grabbed the orphan by his hair, pulling it until they locked eyes.
“As soon as she is done watching us, you are both free to go.”
The Princess of Pearls did not resist. She could barely feel the men's grip on her as she watched Kojin Okihiro getting beaten, again and again, blow after blow, strike after strike. In the face, in the head, in the stomach.
When the tall man wiped some of the orphan’s blood that dirtied his face, he watched with delight as Kojin Okihiro fell on the ground. With blood and drool dripping from the orphan's face, the tall man grinned as he once again forced the orphan to meet his eyes.
“Are you tired already, Kojin? Don’t you want another one of these to make a pair?”
Eirin could not understand the violence. She couldn’t understand what she was seeing. She could not understand what the tall man was saying.
Yet she saw the tall man’s gesture. How he made an invisible slash across his left eye, in the exact spot the sailor had his. And Princess Eirin could be oblivious and naive. She could lack common sense and reason, and not understand human customs.
「An accident.」
That’s what he said. He said it was an accident. Yet what is an accident for a human?
Yet she was not ignorant.
Is this all an accident, too?
She was not stupid.
Wind began blowing stronger, faster, circling them as if it had its own agenda. More and more she felt that pull, the pain intensifying, a lost song urging to be sung.
When she tried to move, the two men holding her strengthened their grip.
“No can do, flower.”
“Just watch and enjoy the show.”
Eirin turned to one of them. Her eyes were glowing faintly, her gaze so sharp and ominous it made the man flinch and step back.
Was it them?
The princess turned to the tall man, who was raising his arm—ready to give another blow.
Was it him?
The Princess of Pearls did not feel it. Her body heating up. Her skin burning. All she felt was the pull, as even the sharp pain was being lost within her senses as something darker brewed in her heart and mind.
The men let her go with a sharp cry, their hands hurting from the burn. She watched the man hitting Okihiro in the face two times before she grabbed his hand.
They both stared at her.
Kojin Okihiro widened his eyes, dread washing over him.
What is she doing…?
The tall man showed his teeth in a malicious grin, looking at Okihiro sideways.
"You are so pathetic, Kojin, your girl had to step up twice to save you. Aren’t you ashamed?”
Eirin didn’t know what the man said. She only knew she didn’t like it.
“Was it you?”
His grin slowly faded, a new confusion fogging his gaze.
The heck is she saying?
“Was it you? The cause of the accident.”
Okihiro was trying to read her lips, to see what she was saying. Yet blood kept falling into his eyes, his mind hazy, his conscience drifting.
He moved his hands, the signs weak. Exhausted.
「Leave.」
Eirin met Okihiro’s gaze. She saw his pain. She heard his plea.
And the moment something inside her broke, a shell cracked. One that was resting right on the ocean’s floor.
The tall man narrowed his eyes. Frowned.
Is she…glowing?
The pull was unbearable. The pain maddening. Yet Eirin didn’t care.
She just needed to make that human disappear.
As she parted her lips, something beginning to crawl out of her mouth—a sound crawling its way out of her throat—something hit her head.
Very hard.
The tall man grabbed her almost by reflex, as the girl started falling on top of him. However, he was a bit lost.
“O-oi, what happened?”
He asked the others, without turning in their direction. However, when only silence followed, he raised his head and saw the men staring at the same spot.
Toward two red-haired children.
“I believe I won our bet, sister.”
“Disagreed. It is still too soon to tell, brother.”
The girl was holding a heavy rock. The boy, a big bottle filled with water.
“The heck you two are looking at? You kids better scram if you know what’s good for you.”
Okihiro tried his best to make sense of what unfolded. But everything happened so fast in front of his eyes, and his head was throbbing so much, it was difficult to keep his eyes open. To follow the events as they progressed.
So as the world got darker, as he lost all his strength, all he recalled was catching Eirin in his arms as she dropped.
Followed by the strong scent of the ocean.
𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆝⋆.˚ 𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆝⋆.˚ 𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆝⋆.˚ 𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆝⋆.˚ 𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆝⋆.˚ 𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆝⋆.˚ 𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆝⋆.˚ 𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆝⋆.˚ 𓇼
Side Note:
It was quite difficult to write this particular encounter, since I knew quite well it would be quite a tense and dramatic moment. And though I did try my best to lessen the tension in the previous chapter, there was no way I could treat the events happening here with a lighter tone (Ｔ▽Ｔ) Do forgive me
THAT BEING SAID!
This is the last chapter that will have this much 'menacing menacing' energy to it. As this is more of a lighthearted comedy, I want to avoid such dark scenes as much as possible. So for this first season, this will be the last of it (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡
Thank you for reading SING!! this far m(_ _)m
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