[ Everything had happened so fast for Choromatsu. Coming back to the shore because he wanted to go home, just have the chance to see his dad again, waiting to turn back into a mer... and then his capture, Totoko explaining what he'd actually done, his dad...
His dad...
It'd all been his fault.
From there even now it was a blur. He'd managed to take Totoko's shell when she was preoccupied, take his voice back... he could tell that his partners had tried to chase after them, had done what they could to help... and then Osomatsu too even.
He remembers Totoko trying to sweet talk him. Maybe she realized what the knife Osomatsu had brought was capable of doing to her. He remembers being told he wasn't a little guppy anymore, who needs a dad like that anyway, let him suffer--
And then he remembers diving that knife deep into her heart.
Not once. Not even twice. He doesn't remember how many times. But it had been the final straw.
And now.
Well, now he was saying good bye.
He'd gone straight to the surface, made sure Dia and Takumi were okay, told them he loved them - finally what he had longed to say for three long days - and then just.
Sent them away.
"It'll be okay," he reassured. But there was no reason to believe he'd ever be able to see them again. They'd wait on the shore regardless, but he couldn't let them stay here on the open water.
He had to take care of something. And no matter how much he loved them... he also had to grow up a little.
He watched them once they'd begun to leave, dipping back under the water and waiting for the shadow of their boat to get farther and farther away. And then he looked at where his father now was, returned to his true form as if nothing had happened.
But he still knows what happened.
His heart aches with guilt. But it aches with something else too.
So finally he swims back to his father. He still keeps his distance, timid of what might happen now. He's still in the green yukata he put on this morning and it fees heavy in the water as it flows around him. ]
no subject
His dad...
It'd all been his fault.
From there even now it was a blur. He'd managed to take Totoko's shell when she was preoccupied, take his voice back... he could tell that his partners had tried to chase after them, had done what they could to help... and then Osomatsu too even.
He remembers Totoko trying to sweet talk him. Maybe she realized what the knife Osomatsu had brought was capable of doing to her. He remembers being told he wasn't a little guppy anymore, who needs a dad like that anyway, let him suffer--
And then he remembers diving that knife deep into her heart.
Not once. Not even twice. He doesn't remember how many times. But it had been the final straw.
And now.
Well, now he was saying good bye.
He'd gone straight to the surface, made sure Dia and Takumi were okay, told them he loved them - finally what he had longed to say for three long days - and then just.
Sent them away.
"It'll be okay," he reassured. But there was no reason to believe he'd ever be able to see them again. They'd wait on the shore regardless, but he couldn't let them stay here on the open water.
He had to take care of something. And no matter how much he loved them... he also had to grow up a little.
He watched them once they'd begun to leave, dipping back under the water and waiting for the shadow of their boat to get farther and farther away. And then he looked at where his father now was, returned to his true form as if nothing had happened.
But he still knows what happened.
His heart aches with guilt. But it aches with something else too.
So finally he swims back to his father. He still keeps his distance, timid of what might happen now. He's still in the green yukata he put on this morning and it fees heavy in the water as it flows around him. ]
...Dad.