14th Wave - Buried in Past Waters [2]

“Why am I always alone?”

There was a low hum singing a lullaby. It kept echoing in his mind, again and again, reprising the same notes. Following the same melody.

“Would you say you are alone right now?”

“…no.”

“Hm, and why is that?”

Even when the woman spoke, the humming would continue. Something, he knew, would be impossible.

“Because you are with me.”

“Indeed, I am. Do you know what that means?”

Only then did the melody stop, leaving only her voice to be heard in his mind. Only her response to be remembered.

“This means you will never be truly alone, as long as I’m here.”

As he sank deeper into the darkness, he never heard that lullaby again. Yet the memory of that voice, the sound he so desperately wanted his mind to hold on to, that memory escaped from his grasp.

Leaving him all by himself, in that cold and vast unknown.

                                                                      ⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖

Kojin Okihiro opened his eyes as if they had never been closed in the first place, his mind almost failing to process the difference.

The first thing he noticed was the fading sunlight, followed by a soreness in his body. Little by little, like broken pieces being put together, the past events came back to him. And when he finally recalled what had happened, he sat up in a flash—a sharp pain coursing through his ribs.

It took him only a few seconds to realize Eirin was lying down right beside him. His body only relaxed when he confirmed there were no apparent signs of injuries on her, yet his relief was short-lived.

Wrapped around her arms and legs were cloths drenched in sea water, yet what pulled his gaze was something else. There was pain written across her face, sweat drenching her dress.

His heart throbbed, warmth leaving his body. Yet before he could despair further, Okihiro sensed something.

A presence.

As he glanced to the side, he suddenly met the gaze of a child.

Two of them, to be precise.

“She will be fine.”

Their lips moved at the same pace, saying the exact same words. And though at first Okihiro got startled by how close the two children were to him, his shock soon became confusion as his mind tried to piece things together.

“Who…are you?”

Okihiro thought about getting his notebook to write, yet what if the children didn’t know how to read? Even if he was not fond of it, even if his speech was odd, he needed to get information.

The children exchanged glances.

“We are Eirin’s cousins.”

At that moment, Okihiro got confused by a lot of things.

The fact both boy and girl had bright and rich red hair.

The fact he could understand the words they were speaking.

The fact they could understand the question he asked.

Yet while Okihiro began to wonder if it was possible for a human and a merfolk to be cousins, or related to any degree, the twins started retelling the past events.

They had been watching over the oblivious couple from the very beginning, and unlike the duo, the Princess and Prince of Corals noticed the strange group following them both.

“Judging by their body language, these humans must have some connection with cousin Eirin’s sailor.”

“Agreed. And were they friendly acquaintances, they would’ve either approached the sailor or left them alone.”

“Agreed. This means complications, brother.”

“Likely very troublesome ones, sister.”

The twins were not surprised to see their calculations had been correct. They were surprised by Eirin’s reaction. When Hin and Tsun exchanged glances, both had concern flooding their gazes.

The Witch told us she sealed cousin Eirin’s song…

For her to be having this kind of resonance and magical reaction…

Sister.

Brother.

Princess Hin had always been the strongest of them since birth, and Prince Tsun had never made a wrong calculation in his life. He gave Hin the exact coordinates and force needed to take down their cousin, and then Tsun used his song to make the other humans carry the unconscious couple into the empty building.

Child’s play, really.

Okihiro blinked, uncertain he had understood them right.

They had been following Eirin...us...to make sure she would stay out of trouble…

Then when they saw their cousin about to attack the others, they knocked her out with a rock…

…and made those guys bring us in?

Brother and sister exchanged glances once again, their eyes bored and disappointed.

This human must be doubting our capabilities due to our small size, sister.

Considering his only reference for comparison is cousin Eirin, we cannot blame him much.

Agreed. Yet his disbelief is disgracing all the same.

Agreed.

But then the twins, fully expecting the sailor to vocalize his doubts regarding themselves, were surprised by the man’s question.

“What is wrong with her?”

Once again, brother and sister glanced at each other.

“She will wake up soon. You have no need to worry.”

Okihiro read their lips, straining himself as their speech pattern was odd and quite different from what he was used to. Still, he understood.

The man gave a small nod, pulling his legs together as he positioned himself against the wall. Then—

He waited.

As he did, Kojin Okihiro regretted many things. How he had not been careful enough to make sure they were not being followed. How he had not been strong enough to protect Eirin from getting involved in his personal problems. How the only comfort he had at that moment was watching the princess’ chest going up and down.

Still, he waited. And like her cousins had promised, soon enough, the Princess of Pearls opened her eyes.

Eirin woke up to a terrible pain in her chest, her head throbbing, her mouth dry.

“You are too slow, cousin.”

It took her a few seconds more to process these voices, even more to link them to the place she was.

“What are doing here—ack!”

As she stood up too fast, the pain in both her chest and head flared up, making her flinch and the words die in her throat. Within a heartbeat, she felt a touch on her shoulder, and as she turned around, she met a pair of green eyes.

However, what made her face flush and her heart else was something else.

“Eirin.”

A voice.

One that carried so much warmth and affection, it troubled her. It created a turmoil within her, one she had no idea how to deal with.

「How you feel?」

His question was accompanied by a worried gaze, the signs made with nervous and shaken fingers.

Yet before she could reply, her eyes locked on Okihiro himself. The state of the man’s face. And as memories surfaced in her mind, the princess felt once again a gelid, impetuous rage brewing within her.

Those humans, I will find them.

I will find them and make them pay.

Seeing the sailor that hurt was painful. More painful than the ache in her chest. She reached out to his face, her finger trembling as it brushed against his split lip. Even though he flinched due to the pain, the man did not pull away. Rather, he appreciated the warmth her touch brought him.

Then—

“Excuse us.”

Princess Eirin turned, her eyes locking with the twins.

“We need to explain some things to you, cousin, but we are only seven,” Princess Hin spoke in a flat voice.

“So if you need space, inform us beforehand,” Prince Tsun complemented, crossing his arms.

“We have no interest in seeing your courtship, cousin.” As the twins finished their sentence together, Eirin felt her face burn by the [not at all] absurd words her cousins had spoken.

“Th-this is not—!”

“It isn’t?”

“Ob-obviously not! I’m only here because—you see, the shiny cord…”

“Ah, his trinket, is it?”

“Ye-yes, so…!” The more Eirin met and avoided the twins’ cold gazes, eyes that shared not even a small glimpse of belief toward her words, the princess found only one solution to putting an end to that.

Changing the subject.

“Wh-what are you both doing here?”

“Kei told us to come.”

Eirin bit her lip. Of course she did…

“Then did you also go to the Sea Witch for—”

Princess Hin raised her hand, cutting her cousin off.

“Do you feel anything else besides chest pain, migraine, and minor dehydration?”

The Princess of Pearls blinked a few times, taken by surprise.

“No…”

Suddenly, Tsun turned to Kojin Okihiro, speaking words Eirin could not understand at all. Beside her, the sailor’s body relaxed as he let out a small sigh.

She frowned.

“Ho-how did you were able to…”

As her question trailed off, both children rolled their eyes.

“We would appreciate it if you stopped assuming everyone is slow like you, cousin. It’s demeaning.”

Princess Eirin was far too shocked to process their insult.

“Then…did you really know human speech?”

They let out a weak chuckle, shaking their head at her.

“Of course. Such a primitive idiom, it took us no time at all.”

In fact, it had been years since the twins had dominated the human language to some intermediate degree after they realized parts of the culture could be worth of study.

…I forgot how infuriating these two can be…

“Sure! Fine. So, Kei asked you to follow me, then you went to the Sea Witch to get the same potion as me, followed me here, and…”

There were many things the twins hated.

Among them, was when people delayed incorrect facts based on their own wrongful assumptions.

“That’s wrong.”

Princess Eirin stopped.

“What is wrong?”

Princess Hin spoke while her brother took a few more sips of the bottled sea water.. “Tsun took the same potion as you. I took a different one.”

Their cousin froze, a new trepidation sinking into her skin, making the dread echo in her words.

“What do you mean…? What did you take?”

When he finished, Tsun pointed at his sister. “Hin is human right now.”

Kojin Okihiro had no idea what they were saying. Yet even without understanding a single thing, he knew right away.

“…you…what?”

Whatever they had said to their cousin—

Was not merry news at all.