Chapter Text
"Wow! Look at them swim!" A certain green-eyed merboy gazed up in amazement as the school of mackerel swam around, scales glittering in the rays of sunlight. Too bad they were on Haruka's dinner menu.
Makoto watched as his best friend chased the fish, darting between them, cutting off their paths, and catching them with ease. "Haru-chan is so fast!" He yelled out, cupping his hands around his mouth as if that made his voice louder. Staring in awe at his friend's swimming, he was impressed Haru could keep up with them.
Click. Click.
A cold nose gave Makoto a poke. Turning around to see what had wanted to get his attention, the merboy was faced with a small blue dolphin. "Oh, hello there." The dolphin responded with three clicks and nudged him playfully. "Hey, that tickles," Makoto chuckled. "Are you looking for someone to play with you?"
Looking back at his friend, it seemed like Haru had finished hunting and was now just chasing after the fish for fun. He did have a tendency to lose himself in his own little world during hunts. "I suppose I could keep you company until Haru-chan decides to call it a day." Once again, the dolphin responded with three happy clicks and signaled Makoto to follow.
After swimming for a short distance, the dolphin gave the brown-haired merboy another poke and backed away. "Hm? You want to play tag?" A happy spin and away the dolphin swam. Giggling at its gestures, Makoto chased after it. "I'm going to get you!"
Following the dolphin deeper into the ocean, Makoto had a bad feeling. "Hey, maybe we should go back up." But it continued swimming until he lost sight of it in the dark abyss. As much as Makoto wanted to return to more shallow waters, he couldn't just leave a baby dolphin to fend for itself. So, he took a deep breath and mustered up the courage to go after it.
"A-Are you down here?" The frightened merboy stuttered. "Please come out little dolphin. It's dangerous here!" Just as he was about to turn back, a shadow appeared in front of him, and he sighed in relief. "Oh, there you-"
It wasn't the dolphin.
Makoto's heart dropped. A huge whale-like creature was right in front of him. Looming over the terrified boy and ready to attack. Makoto found himself paralyzed, unable to move or do anything but close his eyes and hope that this was all a nightmare.
Slash.
The sound of teeth sinking into flesh. But Makoto felt no pain.
Clutching his hands against his chest, Makoto anxiously opened one eye. A blue tail. Raven black hair. Ocean blue eyes filled with rage. "H-Haru..?!"
Haruka had made it just in time to stop the beast from consuming his best friend. The whale had its sharp teeth sunk into Haru's left shoulder. "Don't you dare... hurt... Makoto," he said furiously, out of breath.
Swiftly, Haruka took out the sharp rock he had been hiding and wedged it deep into the beast's jaw, causing it to release him. Then, with another fast movement, he grabbed Makoto's arm and pushed towards the surface. "We need to get to shallow water."
However, it didn't take long for the monster to catch up to them. With one bite, its teeth latched onto Haruka's hip and tail, preventing him from turning around and stabbing it once more. "Makoto, go!" The trapped merboy yelled, letting go of Makoto's arm.
"H-Haru-"
"Go! I mean it- Ahh!" The beast sank its teeth deeper, but for some reason, it was not doing anything more than holding the merboy in place.
"No!" Though frightened, Makoto gathered up his strength and summoned a green energy ball in his hand. "Leave my friend alone!" And with that, the ball hit the monster right in the eye, and it let go. This time, Makoto took the initiative and pulled them both up the cliff back to the shallow zone.
After a few seconds of catching their breaths, Haruka was the first to speak up. "We need to warn the guards and this place." Makoto nodded, finally turning to get a good look at Haruka's injuries. His eyes widened with shock and started to fill with tears the moment he saw the state his best friend was in.
Haruka had bite marks along his shoulder, hip, and tail, and they were still bleeding out. A lot. But before Makoto could comment, Haru cut him off. "I'm okay," he first reassured and pointed to the seaweed beside Makoto, but the pain was evident in his eyes. "Can you hand me that seaweed? We can't attract any sharks and you need to get back to the palace."
Makoto did as he asked, helping the injured boy with the wound on his shoulder. "I'm taking you home with me." A look from Haruka, but Makoto stood his ground. "An abyss monster's bite can be deadly, Haruka. You need to be treated properly."
As much as Haruka knew his friend was right, he didn't want to be a burden on the king and queen. Though they have offered to take Haru in ever since his parents passed away, having been close to the merboy's parents, Haruka couldn't accept.
Letting out a sigh, Haruka shook his head. "I've dealt with attacks before. I'll be fi-"
Thump.
His heart felt like it had just been stabbed.
All of a sudden, it felt as if his whole body was on fire. His insides felt like they were being burned and torn apart. Bricks were pounding against his head and the roar of a thunderstorm was in his ears. Not being able to hide the pain, Haruka fell on his side and clutched his hand against his throbbing heart, curling himself into a ball in hopes of getting some sort of relief.
"Haru!" Makoto gathered him in his arms in an instant. "Haru, Haru! Can you hear me?" Haruka hummed in response, though it sounded more like a whimper of pain. Panicking, Makoto held his best friend against him and started swimming to the castle as fast as his tail could take him.
Haruka was running out of time. He seemed to get worse by the second. Shivering and trembling, it was almost as if he were seizing. Makoto hoped not. His face flushed red as if he had a fever, and he seemed to be struggling to even get a breath. "Hang in there Haru... We're almost home..." Looking down at the state Haruka was in, Makoto could only blame himself. Negative thoughts started to swirl in his mind. "Please hold on Haru..."
Once the palace was in view, the guards immediately noticed their prince and rushed over to him upon seeing the injured person in his arms. Haruka had stopped moving. The pain he was in caused him to pass out, and all that was there to prove he was still alive was the faint pulse on his neck.
"Get my mom. Please hurry." Tears threatened to fall as one of the guards rushed in to get the queen while the other assisted the prince to his room. Haruka remained motionless.
Please be okay... Haru-chan.