15th Wave - A Peal in the Doldrums [2]

While Kojin Okihiro unloaded ships and carried heavy boxes, and the Princess and Prince of Corals spoke with a frustrated squid…

Tomi-san helped Eirin wash her hair.

With sea water, of course.

“Let me know if the water is too hot for you, dear.”

“Hm…I will…”

Eirin soon concluded she was quite fond of these “baths” humans did. At least, she was certain she enjoyed the way Tomi Seina messaged her scalp.

“So, did you do a lot of sightseeing?” the older woman asked, pouring some water into the princess’ head.

“Hm, yes...no, wait, what do you mean?”

“You said so yourself, no? That you came here to do some sightseeing.”

Eirin’s eyes opened wide, the shock of hearing the woman’s words almost making her choke.

“Ah, ye-yes, of course! This is proving to be a very worthy investment, I must say.”

Had the princess’ suddenly high-pitched voice given her away, the reddening of her ears and neck would. Tomi Seina only smiled.

“That is great to hear, dear.”

After a few moments of silence, Eirin [finally] acquired enough awareness of her current situation, prompting her to fight the shyness in her voice and speak out loud.

“I…am grateful for all your help. As the eldest Princess of Pearls, I give me my word I will reward you for your services accordingly.”

The older woman scoffed, her tired and annoyed voice echoing through the foggy room.

“You think there is anything I want from a child like you? I swear, both of you are so alike at times. You can’t let this old woman do what she wants without offering her something.”

While Eirin wondered who “both of them” Seina was referring to, the woman spoke again. Yet this time her voice was softer. Warmer.

“This old woman is the one who is grateful, you know…” she started passing her fingers across the princess’ long silver hair, undoing its tangles with care. “It’s been a very long time since this house has been this lively. So long, someone old like me even forgot how much I enjoyed it. So you better forget about giving me useless things I won’t need. I have too much of those already.”

Was it for the subtle longing that echoed in her voice, or the way she spoke, Eirin sensed something familiar. An old ache she had never experienced, but that she had seen across others’ gazes.

“…did you used to live with someone else?”

It took Seina a few moments to reply.

“Indeed, I did.”

Without realizing it, Eirin grabbed the pendant around her neck. Asking a question she already knew the answer to.

“Who did you live with?”

“My husband. He was always stumbling and dropping things—this house was a complete mess when he was here, I’m telling you. You couldn’t have a single moment of peace.” There was no anger or frustration in her voice. Only fondness.

“…do you miss him?”

“Every day, dear…every day.”

Only love.

The pure feeling Eirin saw reflected in her parents’ gaze every day. The glow that disappeared from her mother’s eyes one day. The shackle that linked people together only until it became the only thing imprisoning them.

Making them ache and suffer, with no more freedom.

“Don’t you regret it, then? Because you are no longer together, you are suffering now, aren’t you?”

Tomi Seina was first taken aback by the question. By its icy tone and the heaviness that carried it. Yet then she saw how tightly the princess’ hand was wrapped around her pendant, how fragile the fingers holding it looked as they shook, even if faintly.

The woman started rinsing the princess’ hair.

“We may not be together now, but we were for many years. And during these years, we created many memories together. Some that were sad, some that were bad, yet most that were joyful and precious. These memories make me miss him, yes, yet they are also my most precious treasures—my greatest pride.”

Eirin lost her breath.

“They help me be thankful for every time the sun rises and every time it sets. Because they are proof I loved someone with all my heart, and was loved in return. The proof I lived my life well, and that it was filled with happiness. ”

Tears formed in the princess’ eyes.

She neither realized nor understood why.

“All done here, dear!” Seina suddenly stood up, letting out a long sigh while she cracked her back. “Aah, I need to make longer morning walks. I’m leaving your clothes by the door, dear, so take your time drying yourself so you won’t catch a cold.”

As the door closed, leaving Eirin alone, the princess couldn’t understand why her body was shaking so much. Why she felt the need to hug her human legs, why tears kept falling from her eyes, why her heart was so shaken.

And why, amidst that confusion, holding the warm pendant in her hand was the sole thing that brought her comfort.

While also being the thing that made her heart ache even more.

                                                                 𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆉 𓆝 𓆡⋆.˚ 𓇼

Fair to say, Kojin Okihiro’s life had taken many unexpected turns in the past months. From being [almost] assaulted by a mermaid, to teaching her how to eat dumplings and walk in a straight line.

Yet even with all the odd things he had experienced and witnessed, he was not expecting
Eirin’s cousins pick him up at the port.

“Show us around the city.”

At first, he was certain he had read their lips wrong. They did have an odd speech, after all, and getting used to different patterns could take him a while, sometimes. Yet before he could ask them to repeat themselves, each one grabbed one of his hands and began dragging him away.

…are all merfolk this brazen, or is this because they are cousins?

Neither.

He only had the misfortune of meeting the oddest ones.

However, the strangest thing to Okihiro was not how the twins suddenly got hold of him and demanded he show them the city, much less how they seemed fascinated by his dog’s fur.

It was how he wasn’t needed at all.

Different from their cousin, whose reactions were almost too random, everything the red children spotted and discovered would be met with their passive gazes and silent conversations.

“Humans have found very interesting ways to make their buildings, sister.”

“They managed to really exploit their options with needlework as well, brother.”

“We must bring some samples for further examination.”

“Agreed.”

And the few times they would actually speak, they would do so in merfolk speech, and fast. 

Which made it nearly impossible for Okihiro to understand even a single word.

Also, whenever they asked him to take them somewhere specific…

“Take us to the central square.”

“Take us to a shop that sells colored glass.”

“Take us to a fruit market.”

…they navigated themselves even better than him, who had lived in that city since the day he 

was born. Okihiro had made a wrong turn twice, needing the twins to show him the right way.

Are they using some kind of navigation magic? Is this a merfolk’s thing?

Wrong.

They had simply memorized the city’s map after they visited the public library.

And as Okihiro guided [followed] the twins through the streets, taking them to every location they wanted, he found himself wondering more and more about their life back in the ocean.

About Eirin’s life.

How much it differed from his—from the things she ate, the kind of spots she visited, the activities she did, to the interactions she had.

That’s right…she is also a princess.

This means she will rule a kingdom one day.

She is someone important. Someone who matters.

Yet who was he, to someone like her? A mermaid who had been born and raised among royalty, surrounded by others who listened to her and fulfilled all her wishes.

What could he ever give her that she didn’t already possess, in some extent?

Who could he ever become to her?

…no…before that…

…who do I even want to be for her?

Okihiro felt a pull in his shirt, and suddenly he was staring at two pairs of coral eyes.

“We want to go to the beach.”

When they arrived, the sun was almost setting. He watched as the twins went straight to the water, the boy filling his bottles while the girl played with Okirin.

Kojin Okihiro knew, better than he knew his own name, how close he was to answering Tomi Seina’s question. And the more certain he got of his answer, the more afraid he was of his 

future.

Of all the unattainable wishes his heart would make.

“We need to talk to you about cousin Eirin.”

Those were the words the twin spoke when they approached him again. And Okihiro couldn’t hear their tone, true. Yet he could see the small things. A tension in a muscle. A tightening of a grip. A strain in a gaze.

“She needs to go back.”

And as Okihiro heard everything Eirin’s cousins had to say, he kept trying to ignore. That feeling, tugging at his heart. Trying to make him desperate. Trying to force him to be hopeful—to motivate him to try to change things.

Yet if there was one thing he was truly terrified of, was hope.

For he had let it enter his heart only once.

And once had been enough for Kojin Okihiro to never hope for anything, ever again.