15th Wave - A Peal in the Doldrums [1]

Kojin Okihiro never asked about his parents. Not a single time.

Most children would ask about their real parents, though the questions differed. ‘When will they come back?’ and ‘Why did they leave me?’ were the ones he would hear the most. Yet the older they got, the less they would ask.

Okihiro always noticed the Headmistress’ eyes whenever she was asked those questions. And how much sadder they got when she saw children stopped asking—because the woman always knew why they stopped.

The boy hated to see that look on the Headmistress’ gaze, which was why he never once asked those questions. He also knew that no matter how many times he asked, nothing would change, so he would rather stay with the Headmistress.

“Can I stay with you forever?”

Okihiro knew no one could stay after they got too old. Which was why he would pray every night, for him not to grow up. For him to be able to stay at that orphanage for as long as he lived. Because Okihiro didn’t mind not having parents.

“Of course you can. No matter where you are, or where I am, I will always be close to you.”

The orphanage’s owner and main matron, Nagomo Shue, had the kindest smile. He recalled watching the golden locket pendant hanging from her neck, reflecting the moonlight as if it was a golden star. And at some point, he thought it could grant him his most precious wish.

“Do you promise? That we will always be together?”

“I swear.”

Yet some wishes are bound to fail from the very moment they are conceived. And this was a lesson Okihiro learned in the worst of ways.

There was a vibration coming from the wooden box, and when the man finally raised his head, he met a familiar pair of eyes.

“You doing all right, Okirin? You’ve been spacing out a lot today.”

Ketsuya spoke after finally getting the boy’s attention, some worry lines appearing on his forehead.

When he first saw his coworker that day, it took Okihiro a few minutes to explain what had happened. And though Ketsuya understood why the boy wanted to dismiss the entire incident, the older man still felt he needed to give those families some hard-learned life lessons.

Yet going after those people would only cause more problems for the young man, so Ketsuya decided to drop the matter. However, he couldn’t do the same for the boy’s wandering, lost gaze.

Okihiro nodded just once in reply, continuing to load the ship. Yet before he could turn away to bring the next box, he felt the older man’s touch on his shoulder.

“Are you sure?” Ketsuya blinked, surprised by his own gesture.

He laughed it off, removing his hand from the boy’s shoulder and using it to scratch his head instead.

“I mean, no need to share anything you don’t want to, you feel me? But you youngsters love to leave everything bottled up inside, and that’s not good either, you know? A heart can only carry so much before breaking.”

Ketsuya walked with him, helping Okihiro by carrying the heaviest box. And though the man’s friendly gaze never faded, the sailor caught a glimpse of something else. Something he had once been very familiar with, yet at some point forgotten.

Affection.

“One of our responsibilities as your seniors is to help you whenever you are overwhelmed, because we want to see you grow. So if things are too heavy for your heart to carry alone, you can share some of it with me.”

Kojin Okihiro held his breath, unsure how much he could trust those words. How much he could believe in them.

‘Thank you. But everything is fine.’

‘Sorry for worrying you.’

Ketsuya scoffed as he read his coworker’s writing, patting Okihiro on the head before messing with his hair.

“You underestimate the capabilities of the greatest Ketsuya. But if you say things are fine, I believe you.”

In his eyes, Okihiro was telling the truth. Everything was fine. The memories he kept recalling were unchangeable things from the past, and the things he wished to change were unattainable in his present. So things were fine.

After he brought Eirin back to Tomi-san’s, the woman insisted on cleaning his injuries and helping with the bandages. Okihiro also explained what had happened with Eirin, unsure if Tomi-san would know more about it than him. And somehow, parting with Eirin that day was harder than before.

And whenever he gazed at the ocean, he couldn’t help but feel it. Sense it. Something tugging at his heart.

As if he should be afraid of what the next tides would bring.

                                                                    𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆉 𓆝 𓆡⋆.˚ 𓇼

“I’m not a seahorse, you know.”

“Obviously not. You are a squid.”

Risei sighed. A very long and tired sigh.

“Since you are aware…you can get information by yourselves, no?”

“Of course, not. We are busy.”

“Hah, you little…”

The twins were sitting on a few rocks, at the same spot Okihiro and Eirin had gone two days before. After explaining to them what had happened, the Princess and Prince of Corals sent the squid to speak with the Sea Witch about the nautilus shell, and then come back with her full analysis.

Risei was not only frustrated for being used like a courier service, he was also annoyed that he couldn’t even argue with the children without them making him feel like an idiot.

“Fine.” He exited the nautilus shell and gave it to the twins.

Neither Tsun nor Hin had to hear his explanation to know the direction his words would take. For the squid’s gaze was enough.

“Normally, even when a merfolk’s song is powerful, it should not be able to break free of a vessel through mere sheer will. Which means…”

At that moment, all three of them concluded the same thing.

 Eirin’s song is too powerful to be contained

And as soon as all they did, they all came to a single, silent agreement. One done by being fully aware of the Princess of Pearls’ personality and insufferable habits—especially the gloating.

Eirin can never know this

Risei cleared his throat.

“Well, with that said, there was no damage to Eirin or her song. At least, for now. Yet if what happened before repeats itself…it could result in some serious, permanent impairment.”

Brother and sister exchanged glances, their expressions somber.

Based on what we observed, sister, this was mainly caused by emotional distress.

From cousin Eirin’s past behavior, she cannot be trusted to contain or control her emotions.

Agreed. To solve this issue, we must either eliminate the cause of distress or nullify the chance of its occurrence.

Agreed.

When the children turned to Risei again, he also shared the same dark shadows within his eyes.

“You need to talk with Eirin. And, perhaps, you may have to convince her to come back earlier than planned.”

Though they could understand the squid’s reasoning, the twins had already reached a conclusion. For they knew their old cousin far too well, even with all the shifts in her behavior.

They knew the Princess of Pearls would defy all logic and reason if those went against her wishes. They knew she would rather lament her wrongdoings than think beforehand.

Which was why they knew the key to solving their cousin’s additional problem was not Eirin herself.

But the human she was courting.