[JE] [FAIRY] Fish Out of Water 1/2
Title: Fish Out of Water 1/2
Fandom: KAT-TUN
Pairing: Kame/Jin
Word count: 19,500
Rating: PG
Genre: Twisted fairy tale, AU, fluff
Disclaimer: Not mine, damnit.
Summary: Akame take on the classic fairytale, 'The Little Mermaid', but with an ending closer to the Disney version than the angsty original. When Jin visits a mermage to help him achieve his goal of being with Kame on the surface, he soon learns that there's more to being human than walking on two legs, especially when his laidback surfer friend turns out to be a workaholic idol with a passion for fashion.
Fish Out of Water 1/2
"It's not healthy," Nakamaru warned when Jin came back with yet another souvenir from the surface, this one a ragged shirt with colourful stars and stripes in red, white and blue.
Koki went one step further. "It's sick," he said, "that's what it is. You're just tormenting yourself with scraps of a life you can't have. Why don't you settle down and find yourself a nice mermaid to marry? There's tons of girls who'd love a piece of a prince's tail."
Jin flipped the aforementioned tail, pushing himself up from his reclining position on the seabed. "You sound like Uncle Johnny," he complained, naming the ruler of the oceans. "He keeps telling me to be more responsible."
"I'm surprised he hasn't forbidden you to visit the surface altogether, the way you keep risking yourself for junk from the land."
"Who's to say he hasn't?" Jin winked at Nakamaru, grabbed his latest souvenir and swam back to the palace before he had to listen to another one of Koki's lectures on why land was for losers.
-----
As it happened, Uncle Johnny hadn't banned Jin from visiting the surface - yet - but only because he had no idea just how much time his young nephew spent far above his home, gazing enviously at sandy shores, ducking beneath the waves when the sun's fierce warmth became too much for him. Jin had no plans to enlighten him.
The souvenir collection might have given it away, of course, if Jin had been so foolish as to leave it out on display...but he had a secret. He squeezed through a gap in the rock, scraping a few dark red scales from his tail in the process, holding his breath and willing himself smaller till he emerged in a cave behind the palace's residential wing where his most treasured possessions were hidden from prying eyes. The only other entrance was a coral-covered hole high in the ceiling; not even a minnow could slip through.
He folded the torn shirt, careful not to ruin it further; merpeople had no need for clothing, of course, since it did their skin no harm to be in constant contact with the surrounding water, but he knew how fragile humans living on land were, how they required protection from blazing sun, from falling rain, from biting wind and the bitter cold that Jin had never experienced for himself till the first time he'd broken the surface and watched his breath hang in the air. He'd seen men - and women too - garbed in fabric in all patterns and colours, brighter than any fish in the ocean.
Jin had a whole collection of them, these clothes - even the garments humans wore round their legs, though his tail prevented him from trying them on. (Well, he'd wriggled into a couple of them, but a few more trips to the surface had taught him that they were of the kind generally worn by women.) He had jewellery too - rings and necklaces and bracelets and things he couldn't even identify but thought would look good if he ever ended up on dry land. He could deck himself out in all sorts of trinkets, the way Koki did with shell necklaces.
At least the jewellery, he could wear underwater. His favourite accessory was completely pointless unless he broke the surface.
Jin rummaged around in the corner of the cave until he found a battered black fedora; battered, only because he continually hugged it to his chest, smiling to himself, remembering the night he'd acquired it.
Maybe its owner would be out again today? There was always the possibility, wasn't there? Would anyone notice if Jin sneaked up to the surface and visited the beach, careful to keep his lower body out of sight in the water?
No, he decided. No one would notice. Not if he was careful. Nakamaru was supposed to be keeping an eye on him to make sure he didn't do anything too reckless - after the time Jin had gotten in a fight with a shark, his uncle had hinted that it might be in the best interests of Jin's friends if they watched out for him a little better - but Koki was with him now and that meant the pair of them would probably be out on the reef somewhere.
Besides, it was worth the risk to see him again. Light of heart and fast of fin, Jin backed out from his treasure trove and swam towards the light.
It was late afternoon, he thought. The sun was low in the sky; warm on his face, not strong enough to make him duck back under. It made him feel lazy, ready to curl up on a rock and bask until his skin darkened to the light brown of the humans who frequented the beach, so unlike his own pale flesh. Merpeople didn't exactly get many opportunities to tan, what with the risk of being spotted by humans and all.
Jin couldn't afford to get caught; his uncle had warned him many times what would happen if he did. He'd be carried away by men in white coats, never to be seen again. Jin's seabird friends had told him how humans treated anything with a tail: as a pet, as an exhibit...or as lunch.
There were few humans around now, though. Perhaps they were all in their wide, sprawling cities, walking around on their legs, talking and laughing with ease. Those still at the beach were lounging on towels much further along the shore. Jin always emerged in a cluster of rocks where his tail was well-hidden from view; by and large, the surfers and swimmers avoided it, especially during the day.
It was easy enough for Jin to work his way round to the shallows. He couldn't go right up onto the sand, of course - not when there was anyone who might see. Besides, if he did, he'd have to drag himself around on his hands, which always made him feel clumsy and graceless. No matter how much he longed to be able to visit the land, he knew he'd never be able to feel at home there as long as he had a tail.
"Hey!"
Jin turned round, eyes lighting up at the familiar voice. A young human man was racing towards him, kicking up clouds of sand with his bare feet. For a moment, Jin thought he was going to run right into the water; he stopped at the edge, letting the tide lap gently at his toes.
"I have to go to work in a few minutes," the newcomer explained. "I don't have time to come in; we're filming the new PV tonight and I can't be late."
Whenever Kame started talking about PVs and variety shows, or recording studios and radio programmes, Jin made a point of smiling and nodding like he understood every word. The only part he did understand was that his friend Kame, who loved surfing so much he lived only five minutes away from the beach, was Kamenashi Kazuya: singer, actor, athlete and all-round idol. At least, he said he was, albeit with great embarrassment; Jin had heard him sing once, but never seen him act, and he didn't think he was likely to.
He had seen him surf, though, and from the way women and men alike clustered round him, eager for a moment of his attention, it was obvious he was very popular.
Jin didn't care. Whoever and whatever Kame was the rest of the time, when he was at the beach, he was Jin's friend.
"It's okay, you're not dressed for it anyway," Jin said. Kame's denim shorts would take forever to dry, he knew, and in any case, it was easier for Jin to hide his tail if Kame remained on land. "I can talk to you from here."
"You still won't come out?"
Jin shook his head.
Kame grinned. "You're a real water baby, aren't you?"
"You have *no* idea..."
"Hmm?"
"Never mind."
Jin had found himself saying that a lot when he first visited the surface. Though the same language was spoken both below and above the water, it was difficult to adapt to speaking in air rather than through liquid; consequently, Jin's speech had been halting, hesitant, quietly copied from sunbathers as they lay within earshot.
There had been a marked improvement by the time he met Kame. No more mumbling, no more stuttering. Except when he got nervous, which happened sometimes when Kame got too close to discovering Jin's identity.
"Have you been here all day?" Jin asked.
"If only." Kame waded out another few steps. "I've spent most of it in interviews. I think the only reason they let me go now is because the PV shoot is supposed to be at sunset, and I had to have a break first.
"So I grabbed a bite to eat and came out to see if you were around. You don't have any afternoon lectures today, right?"
"Actually, Koki did try to tell me...uh, no, no lectures. That's right."
In lieu of a background for Jin, Kame had conveniently come up with his own, assuming that his new friend was a student at the nearby university. Jin hadn't known what a university was - he'd asked Koki, who'd responded with, "It's a school, moron." Jin supposed that a school of humans was quite different from a school of fish; from Kame's comments and those of the genuine students who hung out at the beach, he gathered that university was about more than synchronised swimming.
Kame sighed. "Sometimes I wish I'd stayed in school. But I'm not sure how well I'd do being cooped up indoors all day, not when I can live like this." He spread his arms wide to indicate the sun, sand and surf. "Still, you certainly manage to find enough time to hit the beach!"
"My schedule's practically empty," Jin said, which was true enough. He was by no means the only member of the royal family in line for the throne - with another six princes and princesses before him, it was rarely he was called upon to perform any official duties. "I can spend as much time here as I want."
"Then your suncream must be industrial strength. Or..." Kame reached down to flick the spray at Jin's bare chest. "Maybe you live underwater, and that's why you're so pale."
If Jin was already white, now he turned near-transparent. "I-I don't-"
"Wouldn't it be interesting if you did, though?" Kame's smile turned mischievous. "Can you imagine what it would be like, living in such a cold, dark place, side by side by plants and creatures you'd never see outside captivity? You could wake up in the morning surrounded by dolphins or something."
"If you want to wake up with dolphins, I do know a guy," Jin teased. He did have the best connections in the ocean, after all. "But I think it would be much nicer to live on the surface and see the sun whenever you wanted."
"Mmm...so do I, but I still want to come play in the sea - especially since it's the only place I seem to be able to find you. How long have we known each other, Jin? Maybe half a year? And I've never even seen you leave the water."
"It's not like I'm always here-"
"Then how about this?" Kame interrupted. "I'm working tomorrow night too, but I'm free all day Saturday. We could get together, maybe go for a meal. Or I could cook?"
"I'd love to," and that was real regret in Jin's voice, "but I've got practice. All day."
Jin had heard that excuse used to great effect by others - he left it up to Kame's imagination to provide the nature of said practice.
"Oh yeah, I've heard the swim team's got a competition coming up soon."
"Soon," Jin agreed. "And I need all the practice I can get."
"You must have more than anyone else on the team by now." Kame didn't sound too heartbroken that Jin had turned him down, though. "Another time, all right?"
"Definitely."
It wasn't the first time Kame had asked him to leave the water. Sometimes he'd suggest that they go to get an ice cream, or something cold to drink. Once, when they'd been messing round with an inflatable ball, Kame had thrown it all the way back to the beach; since Jin had been closest, Kame had left it for him to fetch. Jin had had to feign cramp to avoid any awkward questions.
"You at least have to come to the launch party for my new single," Kame insisted. "I'm not turning up without a date, and you're just the guy to help me convince my ex-boyfriend it's over. He's such an octopus."
Jin suppressed his first reaction, which was to say, "Your ex is an octopus? Mine too!", and settled for incoherent but suitably sympathetic noises.
"He was so clingy," Kame continued, "and his hands were always everywhere."
Oh. Not an actual octopus, then, just some lovestruck human who couldn't keep his hands off Kame. Not that Jin could blame him. Kame's habit of going shirtless meant that Jin had a wonderfully unobstructed view of smooth tan over firm muscle, topped with sun-streaked brown hair and a playful grin.
Jin's own hair, darker brown, was always flat and slicked back when he broke the surface but natural curls appeared as it dried in the sun. He'd noticed it once, when he'd been exploring in a pool still enough to reflect his image. He'd tried to brush it out, to smooth the tangles away with his fingers. Kame's hair didn't look like it got tangled at all. Sometimes, Jin wanted to run his fingers through it and see for himself if it was as soft as it looked.
"Sounds like a real catch," Jin muttered.
"Funny you should say that - I met him at a celebrity fishing contest. I'm pretty sure he only wrangled himself onto my hook because I'd just gone double platinum with my second single, though."
Jin's mind went temporarily blank as he tried to figure out the significance of this.
His expression evidently amused Kame, who burst out in such violent laughter he almost overbalanced - if he hadn't been clapping his hands together, they'd have ended up in the water.
"This is what I like most about you, Jin," Kame said. "You have absolutely no idea what that means, do you?"
"I...don't know much about entertainment terms," Jin admitted with a shrug.
"I know you said your family were strict, but that they wouldn't even let you listen to the radio..." Six months of talking to Kame and Jin still didn't know what a 'radio' was. "I guess if you don't grow up listening to music, you don't really think about it even when you're out on your own."
"I listen to music!" Jin protested. "Almost everyone I know sings. When my family gets together to celebrate the New Year, we hold a concert in the gardens."
The underwater gardens at the palace, but naturally, Jin couldn't tell Kame this.
"I want to hear you sing."
Kame had sung one of his songs for Jin before, wanting the opinion of someone who had no reason to flatter him before he went public with it, but Jin had never returned the favour. He wasn't sure what Kame would think of the kind of songs he sung with his friends and family - songs that talked about settling down in a nice patch of kelp, or how you could tell if she was the girl for you because the scales of her tail would turn a rosy red when your eyes met.
Maybe he'd write something new. Something about how his life had changed the night he'd seen Kame for the first time and known then that somehow, he was going to find a way to walk on the land.
Jin swallowed hard; it felt like he had a starfish stuck in his throat. "You will," he said. "Not today, though."
"You do sound a little rough," Kame said. "Maybe you're getting a cold? You should go home and wrap up warm."
There was no way Jin could explain to Kame why that just wasn't possible.
"At the very least, go dry off. The water's getting cold now." Kame shivered for effect. "I have to leave for work - my manager's probably going crazy."
"You haven't already driven him crazy?"
"I'm working on it." Kame began walking backwards up the beach, waving with both hands. "Hope practice goes well!"
Jin struggled to remember exactly what Kame had said he was going to be working on. "Um...have fun shooting the PV!" Whatever a PV might be. He hoped it wasn't as painful as it sounded.
Kame turned round after he nearly tripped over a rock but he kept waving till then. Jin waved back, waited till he could no longer see Kame, then dived for home. He had a song to write.
-----
Jin wasn't expecting a welcome committee. He'd been hoping to sneak back home unnoticed, not return to his room to find Nakamaru and Koki waiting for him, sombre and subdued. The warm, slightly giddy feeling he always had when he was around Kame dissipated in a trice.
"What?" he snapped. "Did someone complain about your rapping again?"
"Jin, we don't like having to tell you this, but...uh..." Nakamaru flipped his tail nervously. "Your uncle."
"He knows," Koki said. "About your little jaunts to the surface. He found your stash of souvenirs."
Cracks began to appear in Jin's world. "And?"
"I'm sorry." Nakamaru reached for Jin's shoulder, then thought better of it. "He destroyed it - brought the whole cave down. There's nothing there but rubble now."
Koki sighed heavily. "It gets worse. We have to stick with you day *and* night to make sure you don't go gallivanting up top again. Your uncle thinks it's too much of a risk, that you're endangering us all by spending so much time on the surface."
"He's worried for you too," Nakamaru added. "In case you get captured by humans and spend the rest of your life chained up in some exhibit somewhere."
"Like I'm not chained up now," Jin muttered.
Oh, maybe he wasn't chained physically - nobody was keeping him pinned down in his room and they'd have had a fight on their hands if they'd tried - but he was trapped, restricted, as much as if he'd been shackled to the seabed.
"I'm sure he'll relent eventually," Nakamaru said.
"Till then, we're stuck with you," Koki said gloomily. "Do you know what this is going to do to my social life?"
Jin wished he had a pair of legs simply so he could stamp his feet in anger; it just wasn't the same with a tail. There was grace, underwater, but no impact, no satisfying crack of flesh against rock. Everything was slower - too slow for Jin.
"I don't care about your social life," Jin snarled. "If he thinks I'm going to let myself be cosseted like some little kid who trips over his own tail..." The threat was implied rather than vocalised, but no less potent for all that.
As with many things, this made Nakamaru nervous. "What are you thinking?"
Jin was surprised the water around him wasn't boiling, because his blood certainly was. "I'm leaving, of course. If I have to stay down here for the rest of my life I'll go completely mad."
"Don't be an idiot." Koki's tone was part-scorn, part-sympathy. "Your uncle's got people everywhere. Even if you swim round to the other side of the world, he'll find you and have you brought back."
Defiance and sheer stubborness overruled any common sense Jin possessed. "Then I'll go where he has no power. Even Uncle Johnny can't reach me on the surface."
"I wouldn't bet on that," Koki said.
"No one's asking you to. Just look the other way for five minutes and tell my uncle I never came back."
"And what are you going to do about this?" Nakamaru asked, pointing to Jin's tail. "How far do you think you're going to get on dry land?"
Jin was in no mood to puzzle out the technicalities. "A lot further than you could!"
Koki shook his head. "I don't get it. Why are you so obsessed with going to the surface? It's hot, dry, dull...full of humans who eat our neighbours. They probably eat each other too; it wouldn't surprise me."
"I have my reasons."
The first time Jin had swum up to the surface, he'd been curious, following the sunlight to its source and marvelling that he couldn't even come close. The second time, he'd risen near the beach, where families of humans were playing in the water. Jin hadn't realised, until he'd heard their rapid speech and noticed the lack of tails, that they weren't like him.
After that, he'd become entranced, surfacing whenever and wherever he could to watch the humans and other land-dwellers; sometimes on the shore, sometimes at sea. He'd collect the things they left behind, treasuring them for the hints they gave about a life he could never have.
And once he met Kame, Jin wanted more than ever to experience this other world. Merpeople were a fair race and Jin more so than most; he'd never had any shortage of company but over the last half a year, his interest had faded, his desire to spend time with his new friend increasing.
He'd never told anyone about Kame, though.
"You've always got your reasons," Koki said, "but they never make any sense to the rest of us."
Nakamaru chided him for that. "I think he's serious, Koki. Just look at him."
Koki looked at Jin; Jin looked away. He didn't care if they saw how unhappy he was, but he didn't much like being embarrassed in public and he knew what he was going to say next would prove extremely embarrassing.
"There's someone I want to meet," he said quietly. "Up there. I...I want to see him again."
"Oh no." Koki put his hands up and started backing away. "I'm not getting involved in your love life again. Not after the last time. I've still got the scars."
"Jin, this person - he wants to see you too?" Nakamaru's voice was unexpectedly kind.
Jin knew Kame wanted to see him - wanted to take him to a party, even, and to hear him sing - but how much Kame really liked him, he had no way of knowing. Still, he wanted to find out.
"Yes. We've been meeting up top for months. I can't just turn my back on him now."
Nakamaru nodded. "All right. Hang on for a few days, okay? I know someone who might be able to help you, but he's not easy to get hold of."
"You mean...?" Koki gulped and made the sign of the trident over his chest.
"Yeah, that guy," Nakamaru confirmed. "Jin, I hope the person you like is worth the price you're going to have to pay."
-----
Five days later, Jin was following Koki and Nakamaru down into the darkest, most foreboding trench he'd ever had the misfortune to swim in. It didn't help that they were completely alone. Even the most foolhardy fish gave it a wide berth.
Jin had been doing the same with his uncle. After Nakamaru had rushed off to put his plan into action, Jin had reluctantly let Koki talk him into putting in an appearance at dinner. Uncle Johnny had delivered a lecture that left Jin's ears ringing; since he didn't feel inclined to put himself through more of the same, he'd spent most of his time holed up in his room, ostensibly sulking but actually puzzling over what Nakamaru's acquaintance might be able to do to help.
Koki hadn't been able to enlighten him, only offered a warning that whatever happened, Jin was bound to wind up in some kind of trouble. Based on their surroundings, Jin thought trouble might be coming along in the form of some legendary, never-before-seen deep sea monster, lying in wait to ambush them and swallow them whole.
Luckily, the long, slippery coil that wrapped itself round Jin's neck turned out not to be the tentacle of some fantastical creature but merely a friendly, excessively cheerful eel, introduced by Nakamaru as 'Junno'.
"Junno works for the man you're going to meet," he explained. "He's come to take you to Ueda."
"Just me?" Jin cast a fearful glance into the darkness beyond. "Shouldn't you come too?"
"He'd rather deal with you one-on-one," Junno said. "Don't worry, Ueda doesn't bite. Often, anyway!"
"We'll be waiting right here," Koki said. "So try make it quick." He didn't sound like he relished the prospect any more than Jin did.
"I'm pretty sure he won't kill you," Nakamaru said, as if that was supposed to help. "Just tell him the truth."
There was nothing to be done but go for it, following Junno to his master. The trench angled down on a slant; Junno took all manner of odd twists and turns before the scenery brightened, light pouring from the mouth of a wide cave. It was neither the pale gleam of phosphorous nor the dazzling brilliance of sunshine. Jin puzzled over it until the source of illumination became clear: a large, green-tinged ball suspended in the centre of the cave.
"You shouldn't touch that."
Jin snatched back his fingertips as a green bolt of light escaped from the surface of the ball, narrowly missing his skin. He looked around for the owner of the voice.
Junno wriggled past, swam a couple of dizzying spirals, and disappeared into the shadows where, Jin finally noticed, a pair of bright eyes were watching.
"You'll burn your fingers," the voice continued. "I use it to keep intruders away."
"I-I'm...not an intruder," Jin stuttered. "Are you Ueda?"
There was a rush of water strong enough to knock Jin back to the cave mouth, and Ueda emerged into the light. Not that Jin could see much of him - he wore a hooded cloak that covered his face, and it was only the tail that peeked out from underneath that told Jin Ueda was a merman like himself. His voice wasn't the deep, threatening rumble Jin had been expecting, either...but neither was it particularly warm.
"I've heard your story," Ueda said, "but I'd like to hear it from you. Please."
Telling a total stranger about his desire to go to the surface and meet up with humans wasn't nearly as difficult as telling his friends had been. Ueda didn't laugh at him, or tell him he was being ridiculous. From time to time, he asked for more details, wanting to know about Kame and what Jin saw in him.
Eventually, Jin ran out of words. There was nothing further he could say to convince Ueda to help him. Had it been enough? Jin rested on a broken chest, watching Junno swim loops round the light ball and waiting for Ueda's decision.
After a good ten minutes of silence, Ueda said, "What are you prepared to give up to be with your Kame?"
"You can arrange that?"
Ueda snorted. "I'm the only mermage left in these parts - if I can't do it, you'll have to travel a long way to find someone who can.
"Yes, I can do it. I can give you what you need - legs - but I can't give you what you want. The human heart is beyond my control. I can't make this man love you...but I can give you the opportunity to help yourself. I'll give you legs for three days. If, in that time, you can make him kiss you - and no, it doesn't count if you instigate it or pretend to drown so he'll resuscitate you - you get to keep the legs. Whether or not you get to keep him is up to you."
"All I have to do is get him to kiss me?"
"Yes, but...there's a catch."
Jin's hopes, which had been rising steadily as Ueda spoke, came crashing down. "What kind of catch? What do I have to do?"
"The spell requires a trade - a bargain for your legs. I already asked you: what are you prepared to give up, in order to walk on the land?"
There were certain vices Jin figured he could probably do without. "Alcohol?"
"I was thinking of something a little more...personal." Jin didn't like the way Ueda's voice turned playful. "You wouldn't have seen me, but I was at your last New Year's concert. Your singing voice really is quite beautiful. As payment, then, I require...your voice."
Jin's hands flew automatically to cover his mouth. "You can't do that!"
Movement of the cape suggested Ueda was shrugging. "I can do anything I like. Besides, you should be grateful you're not dealing with my predecessor. She'd have had your tongue cut out."
"As payment?"
"No, just for fun." Ueda pulled a clam shell out of nowhere, flipping it open. "I'll use this to capture your voice. Don't worry, it won't hurt. You'll have your legs and I'll have a new music-box to keep me entertained."
"But how am I supposed to talk to Kame?"
Ueda pushed back the hood of his cape, sending the whole thing drifting back; illuminated in full by the magic light ball, he appeared surprisingly normal - a young, lithe but muscular merman of around Jin's own age, with shaggy red hair and a pale green tail. His wide, gleeful smile outshone even his own magic; Jin wasn't sure if it made him look friendly or demented. The suggestive series of hip rolls he performed certainly made him look amorous, though.
"Body language," Ueda said. "Don't underestimate it."
"I did once," Junno whispered as he slithered past Jin's ear, "and look what happened to me. I wasn't always an eel, you know."
So much for telling Kame everything and explaining that he had to kiss Jin to make the change permanent. "What happens if Kame doesn't kiss me in three days?"
"Well, I could do with another minion...or I could send you back to your uncle, with a tail but minus a voice. I'm sure he'd be very interested to learn why."
Neither option sounded particularly pleasant. Either way, Jin was ending up back in the sea if he couldn't find a means to communicate with Kame.
"Still want to do it?" Ueda asked. "It's not too late to change your mind."
Jin had never been any good at backing down from anything, even when it scared him. Not when he wanted it so badly. And really, would it be so difficult to make Kame understand? He'd never had a problem reading Jin's facial expressions before - who was to say they even needed words?
"I'll do it." Jin shuddered as a sadistic gleam entered Ueda's eyes. "I'll trade you my voice."
"Then..." Ueda pulled a bottle from the shelf behind him, wrapped his hand round the neck, murmuring an incantation. Purple bubbles formed and popped inside the glass. He handed the bottle to Jin. "Here. Drink this only when you reach the surface because the effects will be immediate."
Jin accepted it with shaking hands, thanking Ueda more out of force of habit than because he felt genuinely grateful. When he tried to say more, the mermage shook his head and held the clam shell in front of Jin's lips.
"I won't ask if you have any last words. Hold still, please."
Magic or fear burned Jin's throat - he wasn't sure which. A thin, ribbon-like stream forced its way through his lips, into the clam shell, which Ueda snapped shut the instant the stream disappeared. The bottle's contents glowed with the addition of the trade element, completing the spell. Jin opened his mouth to ask if that was it, if he could go now, and gasped soundlessly when nothing came out.
"It's finished," Ueda said, answering his unspoken question. "Go to the surface. Junno will take you back to your friends and explain to them in your place." He waved a dismissal at the eel then turned his back on them both, cracking open the clam shell once more. Jin was horrified to hear his own voice emerge, singing a ribald ditty about plankton.
Junno led him back to Koki and Nakamaru, delivered a very fast explanation then swam off before anyone could query him. Koki was fuming, Nakamaru was morose but resigned.
"We'll go with you to the surface," he volunteered.
"We will?" Koki said.
"Jin's going to need somebody with him when he drinks that stuff. What if something goes wrong? He could drown!"
"I don't see how much good we'll be in that case," Koki grumbled, but he played escort anyway, slipping Jin the occasional sympathetic glance when he thought no one was looking.
Koki always had to be the tough guy, balancing out Nakamaru's easygoing nature, meeting caution with fierce energy. Though Jin hated that his uncle had subborned his friends into babysitting him, he welcomed their support, especially now.
They rose by Jin's favourite stretch of beach, where the first hints of daylight were streaking the grey skies. Jin clung tightly to the precious bottle. He could pull himself out of the water, crawl along the sand till he was out of reach of the tide, then swallow the spell and wait. Wait for legs...wait for Kame.
"You're sure you want to do this?" Nakamaru asked when they were bobbing in the shallows. "It's not too late to go back and tell Ueda you've changed your mind."
Jin couldn't answer, but that didn't stop him from opening his mouth. Not even a squeak. He'd have screamed in frustration if he could have. He settled for wrapping his arms round Nakamaru's neck, saying all his thanks, all his apologies and all his goodbyes in one desperate embrace. Koki nudged his way in and then there were three of them, clinging to each other as though they'd fall apart the instant they let go.
"Your uncle's going to kill us," Koki said when they finally separated. "We'll be sharkbait."
"We'll watch for you," Nakamaru promised. "You can always come home, Jin. It doesn't matter where you go or what you do - you can always come home."
The early morning breeze scraped Jin's eyes; he rubbed away the moisture, bit down on his lip and turned before he could change his mind. It was undignified, the way he had to drag himself up the sand, holding the bottle carefully between his teeth, but there were no observers save Nakamaru, Koki, and a handful of seagulls who cared nothing for the spectacle of a merman leaving his natural habitat. When he judged that he'd covered enough ground, he sat down, pulled the cork from the bottle and gave his friends a brave smile before downing the spell.
It was easily the most revolting thing he'd ever tasted, even counting that dreadful concoction his uncle used to make him drink when he was sick. If Jin had been able to move, he'd have rolled over and vomited. As it was, the spell knocked him flat on his back; all he could do was scream in silent agony as fire encircled his hips. It felt as though he were being sliced in two, torn apart across the middle where the pale skin of his stomach segued into the dark red scales of his tail.
Had Ueda lied to him? Was he going to die, a helpless half-creature, abandoned on the beach with his body in pieces and features twisted by pain?
Jin closed his eyes, clenched his fists and gritted his teeth against the torment. Endure, he told himself. Endure. You haven't come this far to give up now.
His heart endured, but when the scales began to flake away from the fresh, raw skin of his newly-formed thighs, his body couldn't keep up. Every grain of sand burned, every sharp-edged shell scored a line of pain along delicate flesh.
Jin stopped fighting.
-----
Waking up wasn't nearly as traumatic as losing consciousness had been. Jin felt fingers pressing gently against his neck, warm on his chilled skin. He was colder than he'd ever been in his life, which was only to be expected since he was...
Naked.
Humans weren't supposed to wander around naked. If Jin's collection hadn't been destroyed, he could've brought clothes up with him so he'd at least have had cover, but he had nothing. Although the sand beneath his back was warm, it didn't help much when the air was early-morning cool and Jin's legs were enjoying their first exposure to the atmosphere.
Legs...
Jin forced his eyes open, keen to inspect his new lower body, and came face to face with Kame.
Kame pulled his fingers away, sighing with relief. "You had me worried," he said. "I've seen the aftermath of some dumb student pranks before but this has to be the worst, leaving you passed out naked on the beach like that. You could've drowned, or been attacked, or-"
He fell silent as Jin struggled to sit up. Since this proved impossible, he slipped a hand under Jin's back to support his movements. Forgetting Ueda's price, Jin opened his mouth to thank Kame.
"You really have lost your voice now," Kame said, dismayed. "I told you to wrap up. I guess being out here hasn't helped your cold any. Can you sit up by yourself?"
Jin nodded, not really paying attention. He was too absorbed in looking at his legs. How long they seemed! How pale! How strange! Could he stand? Could he walk like the humans now? Could he...be human?
"Okay. I'm going to lend you this," Kame quickly stripped off his long, plaid shirt, holding out the sleeves for Jin to insert his arms; Jin was grateful for the warmth, "and I'll take you back to my house. It's only five minutes from here. I can drive you home later."
Not unless Kame had a vehicle that could travel underwater, he couldn't. Jin knew such things existed - he'd never seen one himself, though a friend of his had almost been hit by one. But home was no longer with Uncle Johnny and the rest of his family and friends. Jin had no home now, which he hadn't stopped to consider before embarking on his desperate quest. He hoped Kame wouldn't try to take him to the university, wherever it was.
"Can you stand up?" Kame asked.
Jin wasn't entirely sure how to go about getting himself vertical, now that movement was more complicated than pushing just the right way in the water. He didn't have a tail to flip anymore. Presumably, humans stood up all the time, so there had to be some way to manage it. Perhaps if he pushed down on the sand with his hands, he could propel the rest of him upwards.
He tried this, pressing his hands flat by his sides, lifting himself bodily off the sand. He didn't get very far.
Kame laughed nervously. "I'll take that as a 'no', then. Hold still a sec."
It wasn't quite that quick, but Kame moved as he spoke and soon enough, Jin was further off the ground than he'd ever been, aloft in Kame's arms. He hoped it was safe. With his legs curled up to his chest like that, Jin had a much better view of his knees. They weren't, he thought, very nice to look at. He turned his attention to the scenery instead, watching with interest as sand gave way to steps, then to flat, grey stone.
This was where the buildings began. Dwellings underwater were mostly of natural formation, though the palace had been crafted by artisans; clearly, there was nothing natural about human residences. Nature was not so straight, so orderly. Kame paused in front of a white building with short, green plants growing in a patch along the ground. Jin looked up at him expectantly.
"I can't unlock the front door while I'm holding you," Kame said, sounding embarrassed. "Can you reach my keys? They're in the right-hand pocket of my shorts."
Jin knew about keys. Humans tended to lose them a lot. He reached down to approximately where he thought he remembered seeing Kame's pocket, felt around for a moment and received a nasty shock when Kame suddenly squawked and almost dropped him.
"Little further to the right," Kame said. His voice was tight, like he was holding something back. Jin hid a smile when he realised why.
It took a few minutes of fumbling to get the door open - Jin might have known what keys were, but that didn't mean he'd ever used one, and his shivers were so intense that his hands had trouble aiming for the lock. He had enough presence of mind to push the door closed behind them, however, and when Kame carried him across to a table and told him to drop the keys on it, he obeyed.
Human houses were a mystery to Jin. This one seemed nice enough - light, airy, neat - though Kame didn't bother with a guided tour, rushing him through to a small room with a tub set against the wall. Jin recognised taps - there was one on a pump by the beachfront - so he assumed that the tub was to hold water. Could it be that Kame knew Jin's true form and brought him here to set him at ease?
"You're freezing," Kame said when Jin gave him a quizzical look. He set Jin down on a mat and turned on the taps over the tub. "And you've got sand all over. I'm going to run you a nice, hot bath, bundle you up and call a doctor."
Jin knew what doctors were too...and that he didn't want to deal with one. Trying to deal with Kame was exhausting enough - the last thing he wanted was some nosy human poking and prodding at him, asking him questions he couldn't have answered even if he'd had something to say.
He shook his head vigorously.
"You don't want me to call a doctor?"
Jin nodded.
"But you need to get checked out!"
Jin folded his arms across his chest and shook his head again.
"Fine. No doctor. I should call the police instead," Kame muttered, but Jin could tell by the faraway look in his eyes that he didn't really mean it...whoever the police were.
Kame tested the water temperature from time to time; when the tub was suitably full, he turned the taps again. "Tell me if this is too hot."
Jin shrugged out of the shirt and reached over to dangle his hand in the water. It was much hotter than he'd expected, forcing him to retreat with a silent hiss through clenched teeth. It probably wasn't all that hot, he reasoned, only that he was used to the cold, so in comparison it seemed scalding.
"Need me to run more cold in?"
If Kame kept asking questions, conversation was going to dry up very quickly. Jin tried the water again. This time, he resisted the urge to snatch his hand away, holding it still until the burning eased to a mild discomfort he thought he could live with.
Taking the hint, Kame placed Jin carefully in the tub, lowering him slow enough that Jin had time to adjust.
Water.
Now Jin felt comfortable. Kame laughed at the splashes he made, at the way he scrunched down to get as much of himself as possible underwater. If Jin closed his eyes he could imagine he was back at the beach, tail out of sight, playing catch with Kame and his giant inflatable beachball.
"Definitely a water baby," Kame teased. "You're finally getting some colour back in your cheeks. I'll leave you to enjoy your bath in peace." He straightened up to go, then hesitated. "I should help you get the sand out of your hair first. Hope you don't mind strawberry-scented shampoo."
Another new experience, this one extremely pleasant. Jin squeezed his eyes shut against the spray, relaxed under the gentle motions of Kame's fingers as they massaged his scalp, working a thick, delicious-smelling liquid into his tangled hair. After rinsing out the resulting foam, Kame left him to his own devices for a bit. Jin attempted to make friends with the sponge in the corner - he'd had one as a childhood pet - but it quickly became apparent that it was in no mood to play.
He had fun messing around with the soap too, working up a nice lather and generally enjoying himself more than he had in days until Kame returned, towelling robe in hand. The bathroom was a mess. Foam on the tiles, steam clouding the mirror, water dripping everywhere.
"You seem to have revived a bit," Kame said, surveying the damage with a smile. "For a while there, I thought I was going to have to take you to hospital." He held out the robe, clearly intending Jin to step into it, which meant Jin had to try standing again.
Fortunately, the bathtub had metal rails along both sides. Jin grasped them as firmly as he could, planted his feet flat on the floor of the tub and propelled himself up, straightening his legs as he went till he was standing upright and no longer had need of the rails. He was quite proud of himself, right up until he tried to step out of the tub, failed to lift his leg high enough and tripped.
If Kame minded having a soaking wet Jin landing on him, he was polite enough not to show it. He bundled Jin up in the robe, wrapped a supportive arm round his waist, and helped him take his first ever footsteps into what was quite obviously a bedroom. Walking wasn't that hard, once you got used to it and remembered that both legs had to move in order to get anywhere.
It embarrassed Jin how much he simply didn't know. He couldn't have named the layer of soft strands under his toes, though it felt good to his bare feet. He recognised windows, yet not the hangings that adorned them, nor the covers that furnished the bed. He felt like a small child again, learning that it was a bad idea to go near any fish bigger than himself, and on no account should he risk annoying anything with pincers.
Kame guided him over to a chair; Jin's first walk came to an abrupt end as he crashed into it. He watched Kame root around in a cupboard for what he called a "hairdryer", which he proceeded to use on Jin. With the hairdryer in one hand and a comb in the other, Kame set to work. Jin shut his eyes and tried to block out the noise. The blasts of hot air felt nice, though.
"You can look now," Kame said at last. He held up a mirror; Jin was amazed by how soft and fluffy his hair appeared, even more so by the unusual depth of colour in his skin. He was starting to look more human already. The notion brought a smile to his face. Perhaps Kame would like him better if they were the same species.
"I feel like I'm looking after my niece," Kame said. "She loves it when I do her hair too. You're not *quite* as cute as she is, of course..."
Jin scowled. If Kame thought he was like a little girl, it was hardly going to lead to them kissing - and if it did, Jin wasn't sure Kame was the sort of person he wanted to be with.
Kame remained oblivious to Jin's displeasure. "I don't think you'll have too much trouble squeezing into some of my clothes, even if the legs might be a bit short for you. Do you want to take a look through and pick out something to wear?"
The shirt Jin had borrowed earlier was still in the bathroom - clearly, Kame didn't intend for him to wear it again. He liked the idea of raiding Kame's collection...but where was it? He stood up slowly, holding onto the arms of the chair for balance in the hopes that Kame would lead the way.
He did, throwing open a pair of doors that led to a small room containing more clothes than Jin had ever seen in his life, in colours and styles so varied that he didn't even know where to begin. There were shorts, and trousers, and shirts, and sweaters, and jackets and scarves and a million pairs of shoes. There were garments more hole than fabric, and a wealth of items that Jin had no name for.
"Anything's fine," Kame said. "I'm afraid you'll be going without underwear, though - you can borrow some if you really want, but..."
Jin had a vague idea what Kame was referring to but thought he could probably manage well enough without. He waved a hand dismissively, pleased when he was able to accomplish this without toppling over. Kame nodded, pulled on a fresh shirt of his own and sat back to watch with amusement as Jin lost himself amongst the clothing.
Ten minutes later, Jin's enthusiasm had dimmed with the onset of tiredness. Remaining upright in water was second-nature. Not so on dry land. He emerged with a pair of long, comfortable pants of the kind he'd seen Kame wear for a run along the shore, a sparkly black T-shirt and a soft, zipped grey jacket. Kame took the shirt from him, trading it for one less likely to get glitter over everything, and passed him a can of what Jin hoped was deodorant (because if it wasn't, he'd just used cooling spray or something under his arms).
There didn't seem to be a good way to get both legs through the pants at the same time - not while standing. Jin avoided tripping himself up with the material only because he figured out that you had to do it one leg at a time. Daily life was full of small traps when you were a human, he thought.
Once Jin was decently attired, Kame made him lie down on the bed and produced a small glass stick, the end of which he stuck under Jin's tongue. Jin had been optimistic when Kame told him to open his mouth, but the thermometer, for that was what Kame named it, was not quite what he'd been hoping for. The metal end was cold, for one thing, and it felt weird under his tongue. Jin was relieved when Kame took it away again.
Kame obviously wasn't, judging by the way he was frowning at it. "Your temperature's up," he said. "You'd better stay in the bed."
Jin didn't have any objections to that; he was comfortable, especially when Kame pulled the covers out and draped them over him. The bed was more than large enough for two so he had no qualms about taking up space.
"I bet you've got a waterbed at home, haven't you?" Kame commented.
He rummaged around in a drawer next to the bed, pulling out pen and paper. Jin knew what they were for - one of his acquaintances from the beach was very fond of doing something she called 'Sudoku'. But if Kame was expecting Jin to help him with puzzles, he was out of luck. He'd seen plenty of examples of writing before, all of it meaningless squiggles. He didn't know anyone who could read; there was no call for it underwater, and for obvious reasons, none for writing either.
"I'll make you some hot soup in a minute, but I need to make some phone calls. Can you write down your full name for me? Plus your address, and details of someone I can contact - friend, family member, whatever - to look after you?"
He held out the pen for Jin to take, looking puzzled when it was rejected with a sorrowful shake of the head.
"Dyslexic? I'm pretty good at figuring things out."
Jin shook his head again, taking the pen in one hand and shrugging his shoulders. He wasn't even sure how to hold it properly. It was embarrassing, not being able to do these simple things that Kame clearly took for granted.
"I know you're feeling ill, but...are you sure you're a university student?"
The pen was a dead weight in Jin's hand. He set it down on the bed and gave Kame his best pity-me eyes, the ones that always worked on Nakamaru.
"I don't suppose you know how to read a map?" Kame said.
Jin hid under the covers.
-----
Since Kame couldn't arrange for anyone else to take care of Jin, he was stuck doing it himself. He didn't seem to mind, fortunately. He left the bedroom door open while he fixed the soup, so Jin overheard him calling his manager to explain that he wouldn't be in today, on the pretext of nursing a sick friend.
Well, it was hardly a pretext, but Jin did feel better after a mug of hot soup. For obvious reasons, Jin's exposure to hot food had been extremely limited and this made a nice change. Kame willingly refilled his mug when he held it out.
"When I offered to cook for you, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind," Kame said, "but I'm pleased to see you appreciate it."
Jin beamed at him to indicate that yes, Kame's cooking met with his approval and he was looking forward to trying some more of it later. Kame seemed encouraged by this, because he smiled back and ruffled Jin's hair. Jin hoped it was a good sign.
"Unless you want something else, I think it would be a good idea for you to get some rest now." Kame left with the empty mug, returning a moment later with a glass of water which he set down next to the bed. "I've still got to work - I've been talked into giving a couple of interviews over the phone - but I shouldn't be loud enough to disturb you. I won't leave the house, though; if you need me, I'll be easy to find. I don't have..." Kame sighed helplessly. "I don't have a bell or anything you could use to attract my attention, I'm sorry. I'll just have to come back and check on you."
Despite Kame's insistence that he had to work he seemed in no hurry to leave, fluffing Jin's pillows, tucking the covers more firmly about him, smoothing his bangs back from his brow. Jin decided that this would be a good time to play up his charm points and tried to look as winsome as possible. Kame wouldn't want to kiss someone who looked as though he was going to expire at any minute, would he? No, Jin would be bravely fighting off his illness with the constant application of Kame's tender loving care.
"And here's a basin in case you need to throw up," Kame finished, placing one next to the bed. "Try not to get any on the carpet."
Jin groaned silently and settled down to sleep.
Fandom: KAT-TUN
Pairing: Kame/Jin
Word count: 19,500
Rating: PG
Genre: Twisted fairy tale, AU, fluff
Disclaimer: Not mine, damnit.
Summary: Akame take on the classic fairytale, 'The Little Mermaid', but with an ending closer to the Disney version than the angsty original. When Jin visits a mermage to help him achieve his goal of being with Kame on the surface, he soon learns that there's more to being human than walking on two legs, especially when his laidback surfer friend turns out to be a workaholic idol with a passion for fashion.
Fish Out of Water 1/2
"It's not healthy," Nakamaru warned when Jin came back with yet another souvenir from the surface, this one a ragged shirt with colourful stars and stripes in red, white and blue.
Koki went one step further. "It's sick," he said, "that's what it is. You're just tormenting yourself with scraps of a life you can't have. Why don't you settle down and find yourself a nice mermaid to marry? There's tons of girls who'd love a piece of a prince's tail."
Jin flipped the aforementioned tail, pushing himself up from his reclining position on the seabed. "You sound like Uncle Johnny," he complained, naming the ruler of the oceans. "He keeps telling me to be more responsible."
"I'm surprised he hasn't forbidden you to visit the surface altogether, the way you keep risking yourself for junk from the land."
"Who's to say he hasn't?" Jin winked at Nakamaru, grabbed his latest souvenir and swam back to the palace before he had to listen to another one of Koki's lectures on why land was for losers.
-----
As it happened, Uncle Johnny hadn't banned Jin from visiting the surface - yet - but only because he had no idea just how much time his young nephew spent far above his home, gazing enviously at sandy shores, ducking beneath the waves when the sun's fierce warmth became too much for him. Jin had no plans to enlighten him.
The souvenir collection might have given it away, of course, if Jin had been so foolish as to leave it out on display...but he had a secret. He squeezed through a gap in the rock, scraping a few dark red scales from his tail in the process, holding his breath and willing himself smaller till he emerged in a cave behind the palace's residential wing where his most treasured possessions were hidden from prying eyes. The only other entrance was a coral-covered hole high in the ceiling; not even a minnow could slip through.
He folded the torn shirt, careful not to ruin it further; merpeople had no need for clothing, of course, since it did their skin no harm to be in constant contact with the surrounding water, but he knew how fragile humans living on land were, how they required protection from blazing sun, from falling rain, from biting wind and the bitter cold that Jin had never experienced for himself till the first time he'd broken the surface and watched his breath hang in the air. He'd seen men - and women too - garbed in fabric in all patterns and colours, brighter than any fish in the ocean.
Jin had a whole collection of them, these clothes - even the garments humans wore round their legs, though his tail prevented him from trying them on. (Well, he'd wriggled into a couple of them, but a few more trips to the surface had taught him that they were of the kind generally worn by women.) He had jewellery too - rings and necklaces and bracelets and things he couldn't even identify but thought would look good if he ever ended up on dry land. He could deck himself out in all sorts of trinkets, the way Koki did with shell necklaces.
At least the jewellery, he could wear underwater. His favourite accessory was completely pointless unless he broke the surface.
Jin rummaged around in the corner of the cave until he found a battered black fedora; battered, only because he continually hugged it to his chest, smiling to himself, remembering the night he'd acquired it.
Maybe its owner would be out again today? There was always the possibility, wasn't there? Would anyone notice if Jin sneaked up to the surface and visited the beach, careful to keep his lower body out of sight in the water?
No, he decided. No one would notice. Not if he was careful. Nakamaru was supposed to be keeping an eye on him to make sure he didn't do anything too reckless - after the time Jin had gotten in a fight with a shark, his uncle had hinted that it might be in the best interests of Jin's friends if they watched out for him a little better - but Koki was with him now and that meant the pair of them would probably be out on the reef somewhere.
Besides, it was worth the risk to see him again. Light of heart and fast of fin, Jin backed out from his treasure trove and swam towards the light.
It was late afternoon, he thought. The sun was low in the sky; warm on his face, not strong enough to make him duck back under. It made him feel lazy, ready to curl up on a rock and bask until his skin darkened to the light brown of the humans who frequented the beach, so unlike his own pale flesh. Merpeople didn't exactly get many opportunities to tan, what with the risk of being spotted by humans and all.
Jin couldn't afford to get caught; his uncle had warned him many times what would happen if he did. He'd be carried away by men in white coats, never to be seen again. Jin's seabird friends had told him how humans treated anything with a tail: as a pet, as an exhibit...or as lunch.
There were few humans around now, though. Perhaps they were all in their wide, sprawling cities, walking around on their legs, talking and laughing with ease. Those still at the beach were lounging on towels much further along the shore. Jin always emerged in a cluster of rocks where his tail was well-hidden from view; by and large, the surfers and swimmers avoided it, especially during the day.
It was easy enough for Jin to work his way round to the shallows. He couldn't go right up onto the sand, of course - not when there was anyone who might see. Besides, if he did, he'd have to drag himself around on his hands, which always made him feel clumsy and graceless. No matter how much he longed to be able to visit the land, he knew he'd never be able to feel at home there as long as he had a tail.
"Hey!"
Jin turned round, eyes lighting up at the familiar voice. A young human man was racing towards him, kicking up clouds of sand with his bare feet. For a moment, Jin thought he was going to run right into the water; he stopped at the edge, letting the tide lap gently at his toes.
"I have to go to work in a few minutes," the newcomer explained. "I don't have time to come in; we're filming the new PV tonight and I can't be late."
Whenever Kame started talking about PVs and variety shows, or recording studios and radio programmes, Jin made a point of smiling and nodding like he understood every word. The only part he did understand was that his friend Kame, who loved surfing so much he lived only five minutes away from the beach, was Kamenashi Kazuya: singer, actor, athlete and all-round idol. At least, he said he was, albeit with great embarrassment; Jin had heard him sing once, but never seen him act, and he didn't think he was likely to.
He had seen him surf, though, and from the way women and men alike clustered round him, eager for a moment of his attention, it was obvious he was very popular.
Jin didn't care. Whoever and whatever Kame was the rest of the time, when he was at the beach, he was Jin's friend.
"It's okay, you're not dressed for it anyway," Jin said. Kame's denim shorts would take forever to dry, he knew, and in any case, it was easier for Jin to hide his tail if Kame remained on land. "I can talk to you from here."
"You still won't come out?"
Jin shook his head.
Kame grinned. "You're a real water baby, aren't you?"
"You have *no* idea..."
"Hmm?"
"Never mind."
Jin had found himself saying that a lot when he first visited the surface. Though the same language was spoken both below and above the water, it was difficult to adapt to speaking in air rather than through liquid; consequently, Jin's speech had been halting, hesitant, quietly copied from sunbathers as they lay within earshot.
There had been a marked improvement by the time he met Kame. No more mumbling, no more stuttering. Except when he got nervous, which happened sometimes when Kame got too close to discovering Jin's identity.
"Have you been here all day?" Jin asked.
"If only." Kame waded out another few steps. "I've spent most of it in interviews. I think the only reason they let me go now is because the PV shoot is supposed to be at sunset, and I had to have a break first.
"So I grabbed a bite to eat and came out to see if you were around. You don't have any afternoon lectures today, right?"
"Actually, Koki did try to tell me...uh, no, no lectures. That's right."
In lieu of a background for Jin, Kame had conveniently come up with his own, assuming that his new friend was a student at the nearby university. Jin hadn't known what a university was - he'd asked Koki, who'd responded with, "It's a school, moron." Jin supposed that a school of humans was quite different from a school of fish; from Kame's comments and those of the genuine students who hung out at the beach, he gathered that university was about more than synchronised swimming.
Kame sighed. "Sometimes I wish I'd stayed in school. But I'm not sure how well I'd do being cooped up indoors all day, not when I can live like this." He spread his arms wide to indicate the sun, sand and surf. "Still, you certainly manage to find enough time to hit the beach!"
"My schedule's practically empty," Jin said, which was true enough. He was by no means the only member of the royal family in line for the throne - with another six princes and princesses before him, it was rarely he was called upon to perform any official duties. "I can spend as much time here as I want."
"Then your suncream must be industrial strength. Or..." Kame reached down to flick the spray at Jin's bare chest. "Maybe you live underwater, and that's why you're so pale."
If Jin was already white, now he turned near-transparent. "I-I don't-"
"Wouldn't it be interesting if you did, though?" Kame's smile turned mischievous. "Can you imagine what it would be like, living in such a cold, dark place, side by side by plants and creatures you'd never see outside captivity? You could wake up in the morning surrounded by dolphins or something."
"If you want to wake up with dolphins, I do know a guy," Jin teased. He did have the best connections in the ocean, after all. "But I think it would be much nicer to live on the surface and see the sun whenever you wanted."
"Mmm...so do I, but I still want to come play in the sea - especially since it's the only place I seem to be able to find you. How long have we known each other, Jin? Maybe half a year? And I've never even seen you leave the water."
"It's not like I'm always here-"
"Then how about this?" Kame interrupted. "I'm working tomorrow night too, but I'm free all day Saturday. We could get together, maybe go for a meal. Or I could cook?"
"I'd love to," and that was real regret in Jin's voice, "but I've got practice. All day."
Jin had heard that excuse used to great effect by others - he left it up to Kame's imagination to provide the nature of said practice.
"Oh yeah, I've heard the swim team's got a competition coming up soon."
"Soon," Jin agreed. "And I need all the practice I can get."
"You must have more than anyone else on the team by now." Kame didn't sound too heartbroken that Jin had turned him down, though. "Another time, all right?"
"Definitely."
It wasn't the first time Kame had asked him to leave the water. Sometimes he'd suggest that they go to get an ice cream, or something cold to drink. Once, when they'd been messing round with an inflatable ball, Kame had thrown it all the way back to the beach; since Jin had been closest, Kame had left it for him to fetch. Jin had had to feign cramp to avoid any awkward questions.
"You at least have to come to the launch party for my new single," Kame insisted. "I'm not turning up without a date, and you're just the guy to help me convince my ex-boyfriend it's over. He's such an octopus."
Jin suppressed his first reaction, which was to say, "Your ex is an octopus? Mine too!", and settled for incoherent but suitably sympathetic noises.
"He was so clingy," Kame continued, "and his hands were always everywhere."
Oh. Not an actual octopus, then, just some lovestruck human who couldn't keep his hands off Kame. Not that Jin could blame him. Kame's habit of going shirtless meant that Jin had a wonderfully unobstructed view of smooth tan over firm muscle, topped with sun-streaked brown hair and a playful grin.
Jin's own hair, darker brown, was always flat and slicked back when he broke the surface but natural curls appeared as it dried in the sun. He'd noticed it once, when he'd been exploring in a pool still enough to reflect his image. He'd tried to brush it out, to smooth the tangles away with his fingers. Kame's hair didn't look like it got tangled at all. Sometimes, Jin wanted to run his fingers through it and see for himself if it was as soft as it looked.
"Sounds like a real catch," Jin muttered.
"Funny you should say that - I met him at a celebrity fishing contest. I'm pretty sure he only wrangled himself onto my hook because I'd just gone double platinum with my second single, though."
Jin's mind went temporarily blank as he tried to figure out the significance of this.
His expression evidently amused Kame, who burst out in such violent laughter he almost overbalanced - if he hadn't been clapping his hands together, they'd have ended up in the water.
"This is what I like most about you, Jin," Kame said. "You have absolutely no idea what that means, do you?"
"I...don't know much about entertainment terms," Jin admitted with a shrug.
"I know you said your family were strict, but that they wouldn't even let you listen to the radio..." Six months of talking to Kame and Jin still didn't know what a 'radio' was. "I guess if you don't grow up listening to music, you don't really think about it even when you're out on your own."
"I listen to music!" Jin protested. "Almost everyone I know sings. When my family gets together to celebrate the New Year, we hold a concert in the gardens."
The underwater gardens at the palace, but naturally, Jin couldn't tell Kame this.
"I want to hear you sing."
Kame had sung one of his songs for Jin before, wanting the opinion of someone who had no reason to flatter him before he went public with it, but Jin had never returned the favour. He wasn't sure what Kame would think of the kind of songs he sung with his friends and family - songs that talked about settling down in a nice patch of kelp, or how you could tell if she was the girl for you because the scales of her tail would turn a rosy red when your eyes met.
Maybe he'd write something new. Something about how his life had changed the night he'd seen Kame for the first time and known then that somehow, he was going to find a way to walk on the land.
Jin swallowed hard; it felt like he had a starfish stuck in his throat. "You will," he said. "Not today, though."
"You do sound a little rough," Kame said. "Maybe you're getting a cold? You should go home and wrap up warm."
There was no way Jin could explain to Kame why that just wasn't possible.
"At the very least, go dry off. The water's getting cold now." Kame shivered for effect. "I have to leave for work - my manager's probably going crazy."
"You haven't already driven him crazy?"
"I'm working on it." Kame began walking backwards up the beach, waving with both hands. "Hope practice goes well!"
Jin struggled to remember exactly what Kame had said he was going to be working on. "Um...have fun shooting the PV!" Whatever a PV might be. He hoped it wasn't as painful as it sounded.
Kame turned round after he nearly tripped over a rock but he kept waving till then. Jin waved back, waited till he could no longer see Kame, then dived for home. He had a song to write.
-----
Jin wasn't expecting a welcome committee. He'd been hoping to sneak back home unnoticed, not return to his room to find Nakamaru and Koki waiting for him, sombre and subdued. The warm, slightly giddy feeling he always had when he was around Kame dissipated in a trice.
"What?" he snapped. "Did someone complain about your rapping again?"
"Jin, we don't like having to tell you this, but...uh..." Nakamaru flipped his tail nervously. "Your uncle."
"He knows," Koki said. "About your little jaunts to the surface. He found your stash of souvenirs."
Cracks began to appear in Jin's world. "And?"
"I'm sorry." Nakamaru reached for Jin's shoulder, then thought better of it. "He destroyed it - brought the whole cave down. There's nothing there but rubble now."
Koki sighed heavily. "It gets worse. We have to stick with you day *and* night to make sure you don't go gallivanting up top again. Your uncle thinks it's too much of a risk, that you're endangering us all by spending so much time on the surface."
"He's worried for you too," Nakamaru added. "In case you get captured by humans and spend the rest of your life chained up in some exhibit somewhere."
"Like I'm not chained up now," Jin muttered.
Oh, maybe he wasn't chained physically - nobody was keeping him pinned down in his room and they'd have had a fight on their hands if they'd tried - but he was trapped, restricted, as much as if he'd been shackled to the seabed.
"I'm sure he'll relent eventually," Nakamaru said.
"Till then, we're stuck with you," Koki said gloomily. "Do you know what this is going to do to my social life?"
Jin wished he had a pair of legs simply so he could stamp his feet in anger; it just wasn't the same with a tail. There was grace, underwater, but no impact, no satisfying crack of flesh against rock. Everything was slower - too slow for Jin.
"I don't care about your social life," Jin snarled. "If he thinks I'm going to let myself be cosseted like some little kid who trips over his own tail..." The threat was implied rather than vocalised, but no less potent for all that.
As with many things, this made Nakamaru nervous. "What are you thinking?"
Jin was surprised the water around him wasn't boiling, because his blood certainly was. "I'm leaving, of course. If I have to stay down here for the rest of my life I'll go completely mad."
"Don't be an idiot." Koki's tone was part-scorn, part-sympathy. "Your uncle's got people everywhere. Even if you swim round to the other side of the world, he'll find you and have you brought back."
Defiance and sheer stubborness overruled any common sense Jin possessed. "Then I'll go where he has no power. Even Uncle Johnny can't reach me on the surface."
"I wouldn't bet on that," Koki said.
"No one's asking you to. Just look the other way for five minutes and tell my uncle I never came back."
"And what are you going to do about this?" Nakamaru asked, pointing to Jin's tail. "How far do you think you're going to get on dry land?"
Jin was in no mood to puzzle out the technicalities. "A lot further than you could!"
Koki shook his head. "I don't get it. Why are you so obsessed with going to the surface? It's hot, dry, dull...full of humans who eat our neighbours. They probably eat each other too; it wouldn't surprise me."
"I have my reasons."
The first time Jin had swum up to the surface, he'd been curious, following the sunlight to its source and marvelling that he couldn't even come close. The second time, he'd risen near the beach, where families of humans were playing in the water. Jin hadn't realised, until he'd heard their rapid speech and noticed the lack of tails, that they weren't like him.
After that, he'd become entranced, surfacing whenever and wherever he could to watch the humans and other land-dwellers; sometimes on the shore, sometimes at sea. He'd collect the things they left behind, treasuring them for the hints they gave about a life he could never have.
And once he met Kame, Jin wanted more than ever to experience this other world. Merpeople were a fair race and Jin more so than most; he'd never had any shortage of company but over the last half a year, his interest had faded, his desire to spend time with his new friend increasing.
He'd never told anyone about Kame, though.
"You've always got your reasons," Koki said, "but they never make any sense to the rest of us."
Nakamaru chided him for that. "I think he's serious, Koki. Just look at him."
Koki looked at Jin; Jin looked away. He didn't care if they saw how unhappy he was, but he didn't much like being embarrassed in public and he knew what he was going to say next would prove extremely embarrassing.
"There's someone I want to meet," he said quietly. "Up there. I...I want to see him again."
"Oh no." Koki put his hands up and started backing away. "I'm not getting involved in your love life again. Not after the last time. I've still got the scars."
"Jin, this person - he wants to see you too?" Nakamaru's voice was unexpectedly kind.
Jin knew Kame wanted to see him - wanted to take him to a party, even, and to hear him sing - but how much Kame really liked him, he had no way of knowing. Still, he wanted to find out.
"Yes. We've been meeting up top for months. I can't just turn my back on him now."
Nakamaru nodded. "All right. Hang on for a few days, okay? I know someone who might be able to help you, but he's not easy to get hold of."
"You mean...?" Koki gulped and made the sign of the trident over his chest.
"Yeah, that guy," Nakamaru confirmed. "Jin, I hope the person you like is worth the price you're going to have to pay."
-----
Five days later, Jin was following Koki and Nakamaru down into the darkest, most foreboding trench he'd ever had the misfortune to swim in. It didn't help that they were completely alone. Even the most foolhardy fish gave it a wide berth.
Jin had been doing the same with his uncle. After Nakamaru had rushed off to put his plan into action, Jin had reluctantly let Koki talk him into putting in an appearance at dinner. Uncle Johnny had delivered a lecture that left Jin's ears ringing; since he didn't feel inclined to put himself through more of the same, he'd spent most of his time holed up in his room, ostensibly sulking but actually puzzling over what Nakamaru's acquaintance might be able to do to help.
Koki hadn't been able to enlighten him, only offered a warning that whatever happened, Jin was bound to wind up in some kind of trouble. Based on their surroundings, Jin thought trouble might be coming along in the form of some legendary, never-before-seen deep sea monster, lying in wait to ambush them and swallow them whole.
Luckily, the long, slippery coil that wrapped itself round Jin's neck turned out not to be the tentacle of some fantastical creature but merely a friendly, excessively cheerful eel, introduced by Nakamaru as 'Junno'.
"Junno works for the man you're going to meet," he explained. "He's come to take you to Ueda."
"Just me?" Jin cast a fearful glance into the darkness beyond. "Shouldn't you come too?"
"He'd rather deal with you one-on-one," Junno said. "Don't worry, Ueda doesn't bite. Often, anyway!"
"We'll be waiting right here," Koki said. "So try make it quick." He didn't sound like he relished the prospect any more than Jin did.
"I'm pretty sure he won't kill you," Nakamaru said, as if that was supposed to help. "Just tell him the truth."
There was nothing to be done but go for it, following Junno to his master. The trench angled down on a slant; Junno took all manner of odd twists and turns before the scenery brightened, light pouring from the mouth of a wide cave. It was neither the pale gleam of phosphorous nor the dazzling brilliance of sunshine. Jin puzzled over it until the source of illumination became clear: a large, green-tinged ball suspended in the centre of the cave.
"You shouldn't touch that."
Jin snatched back his fingertips as a green bolt of light escaped from the surface of the ball, narrowly missing his skin. He looked around for the owner of the voice.
Junno wriggled past, swam a couple of dizzying spirals, and disappeared into the shadows where, Jin finally noticed, a pair of bright eyes were watching.
"You'll burn your fingers," the voice continued. "I use it to keep intruders away."
"I-I'm...not an intruder," Jin stuttered. "Are you Ueda?"
There was a rush of water strong enough to knock Jin back to the cave mouth, and Ueda emerged into the light. Not that Jin could see much of him - he wore a hooded cloak that covered his face, and it was only the tail that peeked out from underneath that told Jin Ueda was a merman like himself. His voice wasn't the deep, threatening rumble Jin had been expecting, either...but neither was it particularly warm.
"I've heard your story," Ueda said, "but I'd like to hear it from you. Please."
Telling a total stranger about his desire to go to the surface and meet up with humans wasn't nearly as difficult as telling his friends had been. Ueda didn't laugh at him, or tell him he was being ridiculous. From time to time, he asked for more details, wanting to know about Kame and what Jin saw in him.
Eventually, Jin ran out of words. There was nothing further he could say to convince Ueda to help him. Had it been enough? Jin rested on a broken chest, watching Junno swim loops round the light ball and waiting for Ueda's decision.
After a good ten minutes of silence, Ueda said, "What are you prepared to give up to be with your Kame?"
"You can arrange that?"
Ueda snorted. "I'm the only mermage left in these parts - if I can't do it, you'll have to travel a long way to find someone who can.
"Yes, I can do it. I can give you what you need - legs - but I can't give you what you want. The human heart is beyond my control. I can't make this man love you...but I can give you the opportunity to help yourself. I'll give you legs for three days. If, in that time, you can make him kiss you - and no, it doesn't count if you instigate it or pretend to drown so he'll resuscitate you - you get to keep the legs. Whether or not you get to keep him is up to you."
"All I have to do is get him to kiss me?"
"Yes, but...there's a catch."
Jin's hopes, which had been rising steadily as Ueda spoke, came crashing down. "What kind of catch? What do I have to do?"
"The spell requires a trade - a bargain for your legs. I already asked you: what are you prepared to give up, in order to walk on the land?"
There were certain vices Jin figured he could probably do without. "Alcohol?"
"I was thinking of something a little more...personal." Jin didn't like the way Ueda's voice turned playful. "You wouldn't have seen me, but I was at your last New Year's concert. Your singing voice really is quite beautiful. As payment, then, I require...your voice."
Jin's hands flew automatically to cover his mouth. "You can't do that!"
Movement of the cape suggested Ueda was shrugging. "I can do anything I like. Besides, you should be grateful you're not dealing with my predecessor. She'd have had your tongue cut out."
"As payment?"
"No, just for fun." Ueda pulled a clam shell out of nowhere, flipping it open. "I'll use this to capture your voice. Don't worry, it won't hurt. You'll have your legs and I'll have a new music-box to keep me entertained."
"But how am I supposed to talk to Kame?"
Ueda pushed back the hood of his cape, sending the whole thing drifting back; illuminated in full by the magic light ball, he appeared surprisingly normal - a young, lithe but muscular merman of around Jin's own age, with shaggy red hair and a pale green tail. His wide, gleeful smile outshone even his own magic; Jin wasn't sure if it made him look friendly or demented. The suggestive series of hip rolls he performed certainly made him look amorous, though.
"Body language," Ueda said. "Don't underestimate it."
"I did once," Junno whispered as he slithered past Jin's ear, "and look what happened to me. I wasn't always an eel, you know."
So much for telling Kame everything and explaining that he had to kiss Jin to make the change permanent. "What happens if Kame doesn't kiss me in three days?"
"Well, I could do with another minion...or I could send you back to your uncle, with a tail but minus a voice. I'm sure he'd be very interested to learn why."
Neither option sounded particularly pleasant. Either way, Jin was ending up back in the sea if he couldn't find a means to communicate with Kame.
"Still want to do it?" Ueda asked. "It's not too late to change your mind."
Jin had never been any good at backing down from anything, even when it scared him. Not when he wanted it so badly. And really, would it be so difficult to make Kame understand? He'd never had a problem reading Jin's facial expressions before - who was to say they even needed words?
"I'll do it." Jin shuddered as a sadistic gleam entered Ueda's eyes. "I'll trade you my voice."
"Then..." Ueda pulled a bottle from the shelf behind him, wrapped his hand round the neck, murmuring an incantation. Purple bubbles formed and popped inside the glass. He handed the bottle to Jin. "Here. Drink this only when you reach the surface because the effects will be immediate."
Jin accepted it with shaking hands, thanking Ueda more out of force of habit than because he felt genuinely grateful. When he tried to say more, the mermage shook his head and held the clam shell in front of Jin's lips.
"I won't ask if you have any last words. Hold still, please."
Magic or fear burned Jin's throat - he wasn't sure which. A thin, ribbon-like stream forced its way through his lips, into the clam shell, which Ueda snapped shut the instant the stream disappeared. The bottle's contents glowed with the addition of the trade element, completing the spell. Jin opened his mouth to ask if that was it, if he could go now, and gasped soundlessly when nothing came out.
"It's finished," Ueda said, answering his unspoken question. "Go to the surface. Junno will take you back to your friends and explain to them in your place." He waved a dismissal at the eel then turned his back on them both, cracking open the clam shell once more. Jin was horrified to hear his own voice emerge, singing a ribald ditty about plankton.
Junno led him back to Koki and Nakamaru, delivered a very fast explanation then swam off before anyone could query him. Koki was fuming, Nakamaru was morose but resigned.
"We'll go with you to the surface," he volunteered.
"We will?" Koki said.
"Jin's going to need somebody with him when he drinks that stuff. What if something goes wrong? He could drown!"
"I don't see how much good we'll be in that case," Koki grumbled, but he played escort anyway, slipping Jin the occasional sympathetic glance when he thought no one was looking.
Koki always had to be the tough guy, balancing out Nakamaru's easygoing nature, meeting caution with fierce energy. Though Jin hated that his uncle had subborned his friends into babysitting him, he welcomed their support, especially now.
They rose by Jin's favourite stretch of beach, where the first hints of daylight were streaking the grey skies. Jin clung tightly to the precious bottle. He could pull himself out of the water, crawl along the sand till he was out of reach of the tide, then swallow the spell and wait. Wait for legs...wait for Kame.
"You're sure you want to do this?" Nakamaru asked when they were bobbing in the shallows. "It's not too late to go back and tell Ueda you've changed your mind."
Jin couldn't answer, but that didn't stop him from opening his mouth. Not even a squeak. He'd have screamed in frustration if he could have. He settled for wrapping his arms round Nakamaru's neck, saying all his thanks, all his apologies and all his goodbyes in one desperate embrace. Koki nudged his way in and then there were three of them, clinging to each other as though they'd fall apart the instant they let go.
"Your uncle's going to kill us," Koki said when they finally separated. "We'll be sharkbait."
"We'll watch for you," Nakamaru promised. "You can always come home, Jin. It doesn't matter where you go or what you do - you can always come home."
The early morning breeze scraped Jin's eyes; he rubbed away the moisture, bit down on his lip and turned before he could change his mind. It was undignified, the way he had to drag himself up the sand, holding the bottle carefully between his teeth, but there were no observers save Nakamaru, Koki, and a handful of seagulls who cared nothing for the spectacle of a merman leaving his natural habitat. When he judged that he'd covered enough ground, he sat down, pulled the cork from the bottle and gave his friends a brave smile before downing the spell.
It was easily the most revolting thing he'd ever tasted, even counting that dreadful concoction his uncle used to make him drink when he was sick. If Jin had been able to move, he'd have rolled over and vomited. As it was, the spell knocked him flat on his back; all he could do was scream in silent agony as fire encircled his hips. It felt as though he were being sliced in two, torn apart across the middle where the pale skin of his stomach segued into the dark red scales of his tail.
Had Ueda lied to him? Was he going to die, a helpless half-creature, abandoned on the beach with his body in pieces and features twisted by pain?
Jin closed his eyes, clenched his fists and gritted his teeth against the torment. Endure, he told himself. Endure. You haven't come this far to give up now.
His heart endured, but when the scales began to flake away from the fresh, raw skin of his newly-formed thighs, his body couldn't keep up. Every grain of sand burned, every sharp-edged shell scored a line of pain along delicate flesh.
Jin stopped fighting.
-----
Waking up wasn't nearly as traumatic as losing consciousness had been. Jin felt fingers pressing gently against his neck, warm on his chilled skin. He was colder than he'd ever been in his life, which was only to be expected since he was...
Naked.
Humans weren't supposed to wander around naked. If Jin's collection hadn't been destroyed, he could've brought clothes up with him so he'd at least have had cover, but he had nothing. Although the sand beneath his back was warm, it didn't help much when the air was early-morning cool and Jin's legs were enjoying their first exposure to the atmosphere.
Legs...
Jin forced his eyes open, keen to inspect his new lower body, and came face to face with Kame.
Kame pulled his fingers away, sighing with relief. "You had me worried," he said. "I've seen the aftermath of some dumb student pranks before but this has to be the worst, leaving you passed out naked on the beach like that. You could've drowned, or been attacked, or-"
He fell silent as Jin struggled to sit up. Since this proved impossible, he slipped a hand under Jin's back to support his movements. Forgetting Ueda's price, Jin opened his mouth to thank Kame.
"You really have lost your voice now," Kame said, dismayed. "I told you to wrap up. I guess being out here hasn't helped your cold any. Can you sit up by yourself?"
Jin nodded, not really paying attention. He was too absorbed in looking at his legs. How long they seemed! How pale! How strange! Could he stand? Could he walk like the humans now? Could he...be human?
"Okay. I'm going to lend you this," Kame quickly stripped off his long, plaid shirt, holding out the sleeves for Jin to insert his arms; Jin was grateful for the warmth, "and I'll take you back to my house. It's only five minutes from here. I can drive you home later."
Not unless Kame had a vehicle that could travel underwater, he couldn't. Jin knew such things existed - he'd never seen one himself, though a friend of his had almost been hit by one. But home was no longer with Uncle Johnny and the rest of his family and friends. Jin had no home now, which he hadn't stopped to consider before embarking on his desperate quest. He hoped Kame wouldn't try to take him to the university, wherever it was.
"Can you stand up?" Kame asked.
Jin wasn't entirely sure how to go about getting himself vertical, now that movement was more complicated than pushing just the right way in the water. He didn't have a tail to flip anymore. Presumably, humans stood up all the time, so there had to be some way to manage it. Perhaps if he pushed down on the sand with his hands, he could propel the rest of him upwards.
He tried this, pressing his hands flat by his sides, lifting himself bodily off the sand. He didn't get very far.
Kame laughed nervously. "I'll take that as a 'no', then. Hold still a sec."
It wasn't quite that quick, but Kame moved as he spoke and soon enough, Jin was further off the ground than he'd ever been, aloft in Kame's arms. He hoped it was safe. With his legs curled up to his chest like that, Jin had a much better view of his knees. They weren't, he thought, very nice to look at. He turned his attention to the scenery instead, watching with interest as sand gave way to steps, then to flat, grey stone.
This was where the buildings began. Dwellings underwater were mostly of natural formation, though the palace had been crafted by artisans; clearly, there was nothing natural about human residences. Nature was not so straight, so orderly. Kame paused in front of a white building with short, green plants growing in a patch along the ground. Jin looked up at him expectantly.
"I can't unlock the front door while I'm holding you," Kame said, sounding embarrassed. "Can you reach my keys? They're in the right-hand pocket of my shorts."
Jin knew about keys. Humans tended to lose them a lot. He reached down to approximately where he thought he remembered seeing Kame's pocket, felt around for a moment and received a nasty shock when Kame suddenly squawked and almost dropped him.
"Little further to the right," Kame said. His voice was tight, like he was holding something back. Jin hid a smile when he realised why.
It took a few minutes of fumbling to get the door open - Jin might have known what keys were, but that didn't mean he'd ever used one, and his shivers were so intense that his hands had trouble aiming for the lock. He had enough presence of mind to push the door closed behind them, however, and when Kame carried him across to a table and told him to drop the keys on it, he obeyed.
Human houses were a mystery to Jin. This one seemed nice enough - light, airy, neat - though Kame didn't bother with a guided tour, rushing him through to a small room with a tub set against the wall. Jin recognised taps - there was one on a pump by the beachfront - so he assumed that the tub was to hold water. Could it be that Kame knew Jin's true form and brought him here to set him at ease?
"You're freezing," Kame said when Jin gave him a quizzical look. He set Jin down on a mat and turned on the taps over the tub. "And you've got sand all over. I'm going to run you a nice, hot bath, bundle you up and call a doctor."
Jin knew what doctors were too...and that he didn't want to deal with one. Trying to deal with Kame was exhausting enough - the last thing he wanted was some nosy human poking and prodding at him, asking him questions he couldn't have answered even if he'd had something to say.
He shook his head vigorously.
"You don't want me to call a doctor?"
Jin nodded.
"But you need to get checked out!"
Jin folded his arms across his chest and shook his head again.
"Fine. No doctor. I should call the police instead," Kame muttered, but Jin could tell by the faraway look in his eyes that he didn't really mean it...whoever the police were.
Kame tested the water temperature from time to time; when the tub was suitably full, he turned the taps again. "Tell me if this is too hot."
Jin shrugged out of the shirt and reached over to dangle his hand in the water. It was much hotter than he'd expected, forcing him to retreat with a silent hiss through clenched teeth. It probably wasn't all that hot, he reasoned, only that he was used to the cold, so in comparison it seemed scalding.
"Need me to run more cold in?"
If Kame kept asking questions, conversation was going to dry up very quickly. Jin tried the water again. This time, he resisted the urge to snatch his hand away, holding it still until the burning eased to a mild discomfort he thought he could live with.
Taking the hint, Kame placed Jin carefully in the tub, lowering him slow enough that Jin had time to adjust.
Water.
Now Jin felt comfortable. Kame laughed at the splashes he made, at the way he scrunched down to get as much of himself as possible underwater. If Jin closed his eyes he could imagine he was back at the beach, tail out of sight, playing catch with Kame and his giant inflatable beachball.
"Definitely a water baby," Kame teased. "You're finally getting some colour back in your cheeks. I'll leave you to enjoy your bath in peace." He straightened up to go, then hesitated. "I should help you get the sand out of your hair first. Hope you don't mind strawberry-scented shampoo."
Another new experience, this one extremely pleasant. Jin squeezed his eyes shut against the spray, relaxed under the gentle motions of Kame's fingers as they massaged his scalp, working a thick, delicious-smelling liquid into his tangled hair. After rinsing out the resulting foam, Kame left him to his own devices for a bit. Jin attempted to make friends with the sponge in the corner - he'd had one as a childhood pet - but it quickly became apparent that it was in no mood to play.
He had fun messing around with the soap too, working up a nice lather and generally enjoying himself more than he had in days until Kame returned, towelling robe in hand. The bathroom was a mess. Foam on the tiles, steam clouding the mirror, water dripping everywhere.
"You seem to have revived a bit," Kame said, surveying the damage with a smile. "For a while there, I thought I was going to have to take you to hospital." He held out the robe, clearly intending Jin to step into it, which meant Jin had to try standing again.
Fortunately, the bathtub had metal rails along both sides. Jin grasped them as firmly as he could, planted his feet flat on the floor of the tub and propelled himself up, straightening his legs as he went till he was standing upright and no longer had need of the rails. He was quite proud of himself, right up until he tried to step out of the tub, failed to lift his leg high enough and tripped.
If Kame minded having a soaking wet Jin landing on him, he was polite enough not to show it. He bundled Jin up in the robe, wrapped a supportive arm round his waist, and helped him take his first ever footsteps into what was quite obviously a bedroom. Walking wasn't that hard, once you got used to it and remembered that both legs had to move in order to get anywhere.
It embarrassed Jin how much he simply didn't know. He couldn't have named the layer of soft strands under his toes, though it felt good to his bare feet. He recognised windows, yet not the hangings that adorned them, nor the covers that furnished the bed. He felt like a small child again, learning that it was a bad idea to go near any fish bigger than himself, and on no account should he risk annoying anything with pincers.
Kame guided him over to a chair; Jin's first walk came to an abrupt end as he crashed into it. He watched Kame root around in a cupboard for what he called a "hairdryer", which he proceeded to use on Jin. With the hairdryer in one hand and a comb in the other, Kame set to work. Jin shut his eyes and tried to block out the noise. The blasts of hot air felt nice, though.
"You can look now," Kame said at last. He held up a mirror; Jin was amazed by how soft and fluffy his hair appeared, even more so by the unusual depth of colour in his skin. He was starting to look more human already. The notion brought a smile to his face. Perhaps Kame would like him better if they were the same species.
"I feel like I'm looking after my niece," Kame said. "She loves it when I do her hair too. You're not *quite* as cute as she is, of course..."
Jin scowled. If Kame thought he was like a little girl, it was hardly going to lead to them kissing - and if it did, Jin wasn't sure Kame was the sort of person he wanted to be with.
Kame remained oblivious to Jin's displeasure. "I don't think you'll have too much trouble squeezing into some of my clothes, even if the legs might be a bit short for you. Do you want to take a look through and pick out something to wear?"
The shirt Jin had borrowed earlier was still in the bathroom - clearly, Kame didn't intend for him to wear it again. He liked the idea of raiding Kame's collection...but where was it? He stood up slowly, holding onto the arms of the chair for balance in the hopes that Kame would lead the way.
He did, throwing open a pair of doors that led to a small room containing more clothes than Jin had ever seen in his life, in colours and styles so varied that he didn't even know where to begin. There were shorts, and trousers, and shirts, and sweaters, and jackets and scarves and a million pairs of shoes. There were garments more hole than fabric, and a wealth of items that Jin had no name for.
"Anything's fine," Kame said. "I'm afraid you'll be going without underwear, though - you can borrow some if you really want, but..."
Jin had a vague idea what Kame was referring to but thought he could probably manage well enough without. He waved a hand dismissively, pleased when he was able to accomplish this without toppling over. Kame nodded, pulled on a fresh shirt of his own and sat back to watch with amusement as Jin lost himself amongst the clothing.
Ten minutes later, Jin's enthusiasm had dimmed with the onset of tiredness. Remaining upright in water was second-nature. Not so on dry land. He emerged with a pair of long, comfortable pants of the kind he'd seen Kame wear for a run along the shore, a sparkly black T-shirt and a soft, zipped grey jacket. Kame took the shirt from him, trading it for one less likely to get glitter over everything, and passed him a can of what Jin hoped was deodorant (because if it wasn't, he'd just used cooling spray or something under his arms).
There didn't seem to be a good way to get both legs through the pants at the same time - not while standing. Jin avoided tripping himself up with the material only because he figured out that you had to do it one leg at a time. Daily life was full of small traps when you were a human, he thought.
Once Jin was decently attired, Kame made him lie down on the bed and produced a small glass stick, the end of which he stuck under Jin's tongue. Jin had been optimistic when Kame told him to open his mouth, but the thermometer, for that was what Kame named it, was not quite what he'd been hoping for. The metal end was cold, for one thing, and it felt weird under his tongue. Jin was relieved when Kame took it away again.
Kame obviously wasn't, judging by the way he was frowning at it. "Your temperature's up," he said. "You'd better stay in the bed."
Jin didn't have any objections to that; he was comfortable, especially when Kame pulled the covers out and draped them over him. The bed was more than large enough for two so he had no qualms about taking up space.
"I bet you've got a waterbed at home, haven't you?" Kame commented.
He rummaged around in a drawer next to the bed, pulling out pen and paper. Jin knew what they were for - one of his acquaintances from the beach was very fond of doing something she called 'Sudoku'. But if Kame was expecting Jin to help him with puzzles, he was out of luck. He'd seen plenty of examples of writing before, all of it meaningless squiggles. He didn't know anyone who could read; there was no call for it underwater, and for obvious reasons, none for writing either.
"I'll make you some hot soup in a minute, but I need to make some phone calls. Can you write down your full name for me? Plus your address, and details of someone I can contact - friend, family member, whatever - to look after you?"
He held out the pen for Jin to take, looking puzzled when it was rejected with a sorrowful shake of the head.
"Dyslexic? I'm pretty good at figuring things out."
Jin shook his head again, taking the pen in one hand and shrugging his shoulders. He wasn't even sure how to hold it properly. It was embarrassing, not being able to do these simple things that Kame clearly took for granted.
"I know you're feeling ill, but...are you sure you're a university student?"
The pen was a dead weight in Jin's hand. He set it down on the bed and gave Kame his best pity-me eyes, the ones that always worked on Nakamaru.
"I don't suppose you know how to read a map?" Kame said.
Jin hid under the covers.
-----
Since Kame couldn't arrange for anyone else to take care of Jin, he was stuck doing it himself. He didn't seem to mind, fortunately. He left the bedroom door open while he fixed the soup, so Jin overheard him calling his manager to explain that he wouldn't be in today, on the pretext of nursing a sick friend.
Well, it was hardly a pretext, but Jin did feel better after a mug of hot soup. For obvious reasons, Jin's exposure to hot food had been extremely limited and this made a nice change. Kame willingly refilled his mug when he held it out.
"When I offered to cook for you, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind," Kame said, "but I'm pleased to see you appreciate it."
Jin beamed at him to indicate that yes, Kame's cooking met with his approval and he was looking forward to trying some more of it later. Kame seemed encouraged by this, because he smiled back and ruffled Jin's hair. Jin hoped it was a good sign.
"Unless you want something else, I think it would be a good idea for you to get some rest now." Kame left with the empty mug, returning a moment later with a glass of water which he set down next to the bed. "I've still got to work - I've been talked into giving a couple of interviews over the phone - but I shouldn't be loud enough to disturb you. I won't leave the house, though; if you need me, I'll be easy to find. I don't have..." Kame sighed helplessly. "I don't have a bell or anything you could use to attract my attention, I'm sorry. I'll just have to come back and check on you."
Despite Kame's insistence that he had to work he seemed in no hurry to leave, fluffing Jin's pillows, tucking the covers more firmly about him, smoothing his bangs back from his brow. Jin decided that this would be a good time to play up his charm points and tried to look as winsome as possible. Kame wouldn't want to kiss someone who looked as though he was going to expire at any minute, would he? No, Jin would be bravely fighting off his illness with the constant application of Kame's tender loving care.
"And here's a basin in case you need to throw up," Kame finished, placing one next to the bed. "Try not to get any on the carpet."
Jin groaned silently and settled down to sleep.