< ။ >

"Is that Nene!?" You screamed, staring at the fish in the tank that Hanako was holding. You tapped the glass making the fish flinch.

"(Y/N)! I'm so sorry! I was so selfish!" Nene cried out, running her gills along the glass of the tank where your fingers were.

"You've been inflicted with the curse of the mermaid." Hanako leaned against a desk in the classroom you guys were in, "If you had someone else ingest the other scale, then the curse would have been split between you and you wouldn't be a complete fish."

The ghost played with the other mermaid scale, "We call it a matchmaker because the two people that eat the same mermaid scale are cursed together and therefore tied together with a strong bond."

"But, you didn't give the other scale to your senpai." He tossed the scale in the air and caught it. "Which means —"

All of a sudden, the desk you were sitting on was dragged backwards.

Hanako yanked you off the desk, pulling you behind him. The desk you were on sunk into the ground, in the middle of the classroom floor was a black vortex that was sucking in nearby desks.

Running to Nene who was currently helpless in her tank, you held the tank close in your arms.

A large wet slimy mass crawled out of the vortex, yours eyes bulged out of their eye sockets. "What is that!?" You cried out, clutching the fish tank close to you.

"A fish with a human's face!" Nene yelped.

Hanako stood protectively in front of the two of you, "That's a mermaid. It's come to collect its new servant."

The large mermaid approached us, demanding for her new servant. "Give me the fool, I'll be sure to take good care of her."

"Do you mind waiting til after I've granted her wish?" Hanako tried to compromise, the mermaid scoffed.

"You're in the way brat," The mermaid threw Hanako to the side, where he collided into a cluster of desks.

"Hanako!" You yelled, you looked ahead at the mermaid that stared down at you. You were the last factor in its way to get it's servant but you weren't going to give up Nene-chan anytime soon. "I'm not going to —"

"I've seen those eyes before." The mermaid stared keenly into your eyes, "Human, who are you?"

"What?" You were baffled, "I mean there are several people with (E/C) eyes nowadays but —"

"Do you take me for a fool?" She asked, you gulped and backed up a little to the classroom wall. "What is your name?"

"(Y/N)—" The mermaids chest was sliced by a knife, your eyes widened as you watch Hanako hold a knife to the mermaid.

"How could a mere ghost like you be this powerful?!"

The mermaid was sucked back into the violet vortex in the ground, the gap in the floor slowly closed up and eventually it was a just a normal classroom — aside from the desks that was randomly scattered.

"Looks like we bought some time until she returns." He stated while leaning forward in your direction to look at Nene who was in the tank in your arms.

Nene was teary eyed, "(Y/N)! Is that fish gonna take me with her!' She cried out, you pursed your lips.

Hanako started poking Nene in the head, smiling at her ominously. "You're not getting out of this by crying."

"Don't worry Nene! I won't let her kidnap you." You announced while grabbing Hanako's hand to stop him from poking her. Hanako flinched as your hand wrapped around his wrist, he shook his head and slowly pulled his hand away from the fish.

"Since your senpai didn't swallow this other scale, this means I can still grant you a wish." The male waved the mermaid scale in her face. "Do you wish to be a human again?"

"I'll grant that wish for you if you want to be a human again, for a price though." Hanako offered, you were silent as you watched Nene quietly stayed still.

"What would I have to pay?" The female asked, the male shrugged.

"Dunno, but at least you can live a somewhat normal life."

"..What if, " You started, wiping your sweat palms on your uniform. "What if I took the other mermaid scale?"

Silence filled the classroom, the room seemed to grow emptier by the second as not a word was spoken. You bit your nail as they looked at you, "I mean, Nene. You've done so much for me as a friend and I'd be more than glad to do this for you."

"No! (Y/N)! I've already put you through so much trouble!" Nene shouted as she swam around the tank, shouting things you couldn't understand.

In midst of her panic, you looked over to Hanako. "Well?" He stayed still and quiet, clearly deep in thought. Eventually he shrugged and tossed the coin to you.

Barely catching it, you nearly toppled over the chair behind you. "Suit yourself, be warned though. You won't exactly be a human anymore." He said as he watched you hold the scale to your mouth.

Ignoring Nene's protests, you dropped the scale on your tongue and swallowed it.

You watched as Nene slowly grew large, she crashed onto the classroom floor — splashing you with water when the tank made contact with the floor.

Liquid seeped into your footwear, making your socks rub against the soles of your shoes uncomfortably.

You were completely soaked from head to toe, you sat on the pavement outside of the school building. The street past the school gates were filled with loud noises of the large droplets hitting the ground.

Your eyes directed up to the sky, where a tall tree shielded you from the incoming impact of the harsh cold rain. You shut your eyes when a stick tore off the tree and hurled towards you, hands flying up to cover your face. When the collision never came, you opened an eye — squinting as your hands slowly moved away from your face.

The wet strands of your bangs that framed your face were brushed back gently by a warm hand, you stared at your friend who took a seat next to you — soaking his bottoms in a puddle. He looked in your direction and you looked away quickly.

"You're not scared of me are you?" He asked after a moment of silence, you turned to him and noticed he was already looking at you. Looking down at the pavement where a puddle formed in a dent in the concrete, you ran your fingertip across the surface of the water.

The rain was letting up now, its intense weight slowly weakening as the sun peeked past the dark misty clouds, the light pushing past the wet leaves and branches of the tree that gave you shade.

"Of course not," you replied while focusing your attention to a falling leaf, outstretching a hand towards a leaf that twirled in the air.

As the leaf neared, it drifted to the right. Fingers still reaching for the leaf, your hand brushed against a smooth surface. Your eyes widened as you made eye contact with your friend, his mouth opened slightly in surprise and you slowly flushed.

You pulled away slowly, but he grabbed your wrist to stop you from doing so. The tips of your ears turned red with embarrassment, "What are you doing?" You faltered as the male looked away awkwardly, he coughed and released your arm.

When you looked away, you heard shuffling noises from beside you. Turning your head to the right where your friend reached into his back pocket and pulled out a few items. You let out a quiet gasp as you recognized the intricate flower and star designs that outlined the card, perfectly dry despite the rain. The boy refused to meet your gaze when you looked at him — only holding the two items out to you.

"Well?" He met your eyes, "Are you.." He scratched the back of his neck nervously, "Aren't you gonna take it?" He mumbled, you jumped and you quickly took the gift from his hands.

Leaving the gift on the driest part of your lap, you pulled a dry card from your bag and shoved it in his direction. "This is for you, only you." He hesitantly grabbed the card from you and inspected the designs on the cover.

"It has stars on it." He said quietly, you nodded slowly. He carefully pinched the corner and opened the card. On the right side of the card, there was scribbled lettering in red ink. He stopped breathing as he read over the contents of the card.

'i like you a lot'

The male froze and was perfectly still for a few seconds, heat crept up your neck as he turned his head sideways. "You weren't joking back there?" He mumbled, staring at your flushed face. A light rosy hue was plastered on his cheeks as he patiently waited a response from you.

Pulling your knees to your chest with his card and chocolates encased in between, you hid your head in your legs. "Why would I?" You replied quietly, wrapping your arms around your legs.

There was silence for a long period of time until you finally decided to look up, he was still staring at that card. He looked at you when you stared at him, "Aren't you going to open the card I gave you..?"

Your eyes widened as you quickly pulled the card from your lap and opened it, careful to not ruin the flowers and stars that were on the cover. When you read over inside of the card — your heart skipped a beat.

"you're really pretty"

You let out a nervous laugh as you held onto the card tightly, "Of all things to write in a card." You softly smiled at him when he bashfully looked away, looking at his own card.

"I-I'm not good with these things." He muttered as he rubbed his thumb over the red ink, "Probably wasn't as nice as all those other cards you got."

"Maybe not," You started while scooting closer to him, "but I only wanted a card from you." He jumped at the contact of your skin against his, you leaned his head on his shoulder.

author's note 15/02/20

this would have been perfect if i finished this chapter on valentine's day yesterday, rabbits! thank you for reading!

1788 words