A Chance Encounter [MakoHaru]

Chapter 2

The merman slowly opened his eyes and blinked. He tensed up when he realized his surroundings were completely unfamiliar. His last memory was of him getting a huge gash on his stomach in the process of trying to free a school of fish that had been trapped in a fishing net. The fisherman had shrieked in terror upon looking at him and tried to capture him. He had shot a harpoon into the water and he had not been able to fully dodge in time. His eyes came into focus and he looked around. He was in some sort of room. Had he been captured? He looked down at his body. He was covered in some sort of human fabric. It was warm and soft to the touch. He lifted up the blanket and saw that his wound had been patched up. "..?"

"..Hmmm..?" a voice murmured. Movement could be heard and the merman turned to see a young man staring at him in a sleepy daze. They both stared at each other in silence for what seemed like forever. "A-Ah! You're finally awake! I have a lot of explaining to do, don't I.." Makoto nervously squeaked. This boy had the most piercing blue eyes. They seemed to pull Makoto into a trance. 'Im not even sure he can understand me..' The merman stared back at him with a perplexed look in his eyes. He seemed to be listening. "I-I found you on the shore of the beach.. you were hurt.. so I took you back to my home and patched you up. I-I hope you don't mind."

"...Thank you," he replied in a low voice.

Wow, so he could speak. "M-My name is Makoto Tachibana! And don't mention it! M-May I ask what happened to you..? I-If you don't mind.." he stuttered.

"I.. was attacked, trying to save some fish."

"By a person?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry.."

"..." The merman stared at Makoto, wondering why he hasn't done anything to confine him or expose his existence to the world.

"I know this must all be strange, but I promise you I am not a threat."

"Threat.."

"I-I'm taking a shot in the dark here, but I'd assume you don't want humans to find you, right?"

"Yes."

"I promise I will keep you a secret, alright?" Makoto assured him, holding out his hand. The merman stared at his hand and tilted his head in confusion. "O-Oh, um.. handshake.." Makoto mumbled and lowered his hand. "Do you.. have a name?"

"..Haruka. Haruka Nanase."

"What a nice name. Nice to meet you, Haruka," Makoto replied with a big smile. Something about this human perplexed Haruka. He was different from all the other humans he'd met. He was gentle.. kind.. courteous.. shy. Perhaps, he liked this human? Just maybe.

"A-Are you hungry or anything? I have tons of snacks and water and stuff.."

"Water..?"

"Yeah, here," he replied, handing Haruka a water bottle.

"Hm.." Haruka stared at it for quite a while before looking at Makoto. "I.. how do I get the water out of this..?"

Makoto smiled and opened the water bottle for him. "Like this."

"Thanks." In moments, the water was gone.

"Wow, that was fast.." Makoto thought out loud.

"Water is my friend. It is what I am," Haruka replied. Makoto chuckled. As odd as it was, that sounded like something a mythical merman would say.

They spent the rest of the night talking, though mostly it was a one sided conversation with Makoto doing most of the talking before inevitably they both fell asleep.

Makoto awoke with a big yawn and looked around. He saw Haruka sleeping peacefully in his bed and smiled. He had found out that they were both the same age and a bunch of other stuff too. Like that Haruka's favorite food was mackerel and his favorite animal was a dolphin. He never met another person of his own kind. He was so alone..

Makoto shook his head. "I wonder if he'll let me call him Haru.."

"..That's fine.." Haruka mumbled.

"Oh, Haruka! You're awake! Good morning!" Makoto exclaimed. Haru opened his eyes and yawned.

"Mmhm.. 'morning.." he replied in a sleepy voice. 'Gah.. cute...' Makoto thought.

"Haru.. we need to talk."

"Hm?"

"About what you want to do."

"What I want to.. do?"

"When would you like to return to the ocean? I can take you back today if you want, though I don't recommend it... I think your wound could use some more time to heal. And I.. Iwanttogettoknowyoualittlemore.." Makoto mumbled the last part. Haru remained silent. "Ah, I shouldn't be forcing these kinds of questions on you when you've just woken up. We can talk about it later. Are you hungry? I-I can make you something!" Haruka wasn't used to being mothered like this, so he blushed a little bit and looked away.

"..."

"Haru?" Makoto asked, tilting his head.

"..A-Anything is fine, thank you," he mumbled.

"Alright. I'll be back in a second. Oh, and Haru.. I'll try to keep my family members from not coming in my room until I can sneak you out and take you back to the ocean, but I have a little sister and brother. They can be quite a handful. Explaining to them why I have a boy with a fish tail in my bed might be a little difficult... eheh," he chuckled. "Anyways, I'll be right back. If anyone knocks on the door, hide under my blankets and pretend to be me. I'll give a special knock when I'm coming back. Three times, alright?"

"Alright."

Makoto nodded and left quietly, shutting the door behind him. Haruka sat up and looked around the room. A desk covered in papers and books sat against the left wall of the room. A few pictures of Makoto and what looked to be like friends and family hung on the wall. One in particular caught his eye. It was of Makoto as a younger child. For some reason, Haruka felt like he recognized his face. Three knocks sounded at the door. Then, Makoto entered the room and sat down on the empty side of his bed next to Haru. "I'm not sure what you like, or if you've had any human food, but I grabbed cereal."

"Cereal?"

"Yeah. It's good. Here," Makoto poured him a bowl of cereal and added milk to it, then passed the bowl to Haruka. He also handed him a spoon, then prepared his own cereal. Haru stared at the cereal and tilted his head. He had no idea what this stuff was. He looked up and watched Makoto use the spoon as some sort of tool to transport the food from it's holding container to his mouth. Haruka tried to mimic him, but it just didn't seem to work. "Haru? Need help?"

"..Yeah." he sighed embarrassingly.

"Here, like this." Makoto placed his hand on top of Haru's and showed him how to hold a spoon properly. "Now you just.." he moved the spoon down towards the bowl and scooped up some cereal and then brought it to Haruka's mouth. "Don't bite the spoon, though." Haruka delicately tried a small bite and looked rather surprised. "So, how is it?"

"Not bad."

"That's good. You got the hang of it now?" Makoto asked, offering the spoon to Haru.

"Yes.. but I think I'd prefer it if you do it."

"W-What?!" Makoto exclaimed, his face turning bright red.

"Is that a bad thing amongst humans? My muscles are tired.." Haru explained. In reality, he just liked it when Makoto fed him. He wasn't sure why, though. He enjoyed being around this human for whatever reason.

"No, it's okay, I understand. I'll do it," Makoto replied, heavily embarrassed.

Then, Makoto ended up feeding Haruka cereal, his face as red as a tomato the entire time.