It was far too early in the morning that Rin had woken, as he had been rushed out of bed by Haru's demanding phone call. He had the day off, and so he wasn't particularly worried about missing anything important, but something in Haru's tone had made him nervous.

"Come and meet me, now," Haru had said plainly. Not a question— a command.

"Uh, I'm free, but why the insistence?!" Rin had replied, bewildered. Haru had cut him off to scold him before abruptly hanging up.

A moment after that, while he was still reeling from his surprise and glancing at the clock to see just how early it was, he had gotten a text message.

Bring your swimsuit, it said. A moment later, another text, simply the word please in quotation marks. Rin had laughed incredulously.

He had gathered his things and snuck out of the apartment as quickly and quietly as possible. Sousuke had the day off as well, and he intended to spend it sleeping— he had accepted his promotion to detective and had been working nonstop on learning the ropes all week. Rin had no intention of waking him.

The moment he arrived at the cave, Haru demanded that he change into his swimsuit. Rin wondered aloud why he hadn't thought to put it on beforehand and wear it under his clothes, but it was too late for that. He dropped his things, grabbed his swimsuit, and reminded Haru to hide under the water.

Only a few moments passed before Haru grew impatient.

"Come on!"

Haru was loud and insistent, and he briefly popped his head above the water to splash it in Rin's direction.

"Don't look at me!" Rin shrieked, bending over to cover himself. Haru submerged himself again, and Rin finished tugging on his swimsuit. Haru waited a few moments before reappearing.

"What took you so long?!"

"I think all this extra exercise is getting to my legs. It's kind of a tight squeeze."

Haru folded his arms and pouted like a child.

"Well, I wouldn't know about your legs."

"Uh... You're right. Sorry. I just meant all the swimming. I can feel it in my shoulders, too. Maybe at this rate I'll end up looking like Sousuke?" He laughed, nervously at first. He relaxed when Haru urged him to get in the water.

Rin ran towards the water and leapt into a cannonball, and he barely caught a glimpse of Haru swimming away as fast as he could— which was, surprisingly, even faster than he had imagined. He landed with a loud crash and an explosion of water.

"You know you could've ruined my sketchbook and my phone, right?" Haru asked. Rin's head shot up, and he looked to the far wall, releasing a relieved breath when he confirmed that the items were unharmed.

"Should've been more careful—"

"Enough of your stalling, let's go!"

Haru dove, and Rin followed without asking any more questions.

As he followed Haru, Rin wondered about where they were headed and what Haru had planned. It was too early to come up with anything even remotely plausible. He noticed that the route they were swimming seemed familiar, but couldn't place how until he saw the small island on the horizon.

"We haven't been here since... Since you showed me all those stars," Rin said as he took a seat on the island's beach.

Haru noted Rin's odd pause and the soft smile on his face. Had he liked it that much? He hadn't realized. It was in Haru's nature to assume that people were exaggerating when they thanked him.

"I didn't have a reason to bring you back," Haru explained. He pulled himself onto the sand and flattened himself beside Rin.

"...The stars aren't out right now," Rin said, and Haru rolled his eyes.

"We're not here for those, obviously. I told you I had something new to show you. We're just waiting."

At that, Rin's eyes lit up, and he sat upright.

"Who are we waiting for? Is it another mermaid?"

Haru glared at him.

"For the last time, I am not a mermaid."

"Oh, sorry, sorry! You're a merman, right?"

"I wish you wouldn't keep forgetting that." Rin guessed that Haru wasn't all that angry about it, but with his characteristically deadpan expression and flat voice, it was difficult to tell.

They bickered (only playfully) for a while, and then the game of twenty questions began. Rin asked everything he could think of, and Haru was baffled at how simplistic his guesses were— Are we going to watch the sunset? Do big boats pass by here? Silly, everyday things, and yet he guessed them excitedly.

Haru began to wonder if it really mattered what he showed Rin. Maybe Rin liked spending time with him so much that he didn't much care what they did. He then wondered where that thought had come from, and he shook it out of his head.

It was at the peak of the day, when the sun hung directly above them in the sky, that Haru finally heard what he had been listening for. He immediately pulled himself towards the water again.

"Was that a dolphin...?" Rin asked. "I thought I heard one just now."

"You're imagining things. Come with me."

Rin raised his eyebrows, but did as he was told.

"We have some 'people' to meet, and I promise you everything will be okay," Haru added cryptically. Rin was too perplexed to ask for further comment.

Haru guided him out into the water again, further away from the island rather than back in the direction of the mainland, and soon they were a respectable distance from where they started. Rin could barely make out the sandy bank on the horizon.

"Why are we all the way out here?" He asked, trying to catch his breath.

"We needed lots of room."

"Room? For wha—"

Rin's entire body froze, and his words caught in his throat. He found that he was afraid to so much as blink.

From the water to his left, just within the range of his sight, a single jagged fin had risen. It wasn't a dolphin— that much he could tell at a glance. The shape of it was too angular to be that of a dolphin.

"What's wrong?" Haru asked. Rin wondered if he was insane, if the fin wasn't really there. He turned to his right.

Another fin.

Rin's eyes threatened to bulge out of his head, and still Haru fixed him with an unconcerned stare. Was he not afraid of them? He vaguely remembered Haru saying something about sharks being forbidden from attacking merfolk, that sharks knew their scents and would intentionally avoid them. Still, he was sure that that didn't necessarily apply to any humans in the vicinity.

"Don't you see them?!" He screeched, and Haru tilted his head. "The fins, there are two— no, now there are three of them!"

"I see them, I just don't see why you're so upset."

He knew it was the opposite of what one was supposed to do when faced with a shark attack, but Rin began thrashing around, trying to turn his body quickly enough to catch a glimpse of the closest fin drawing nearer to him and circling towards his back. He didn't want to lose sight of it.

"Haru... Haru!" Rin called desperately for help, his arms and legs flailing about as he continued to turn, only counting more and more of those sharp, ominous fins. There were seven of them.

Seven sharks. He was completely surrounded by sharks, out in the open ocean and with no help in sight. There was Haru, but he didn't seem to care.

Had this been his plan all along? Was this a ploy to get rid of him now that he knew too much? He didn't want to think such a thing.

"Don't you trust me, Rin? I wouldn't knowingly put you in harm's way." Haru had seemed to read his mind, and Rin lowered his head.

"C...Can you explain, please?! I'm getting kind of freaked out here—"

Before he could finish, one of the beasts showed itself, its enormous head bursting from the water just behind Haru. Rin screamed for him to look out, and Haru did not budge. He reached out his hand, and...

...Nothing happened. The shark came to Haru's side and waited, its beady black eyes fixated on Rin. Haru turned to it, and he spoke.

He was speaking that other language, that ancient merfolk tongue, that Rin had only heard in the form of songs. The only difference was that Haru seemed to be doing something with his throat. His voice sounded lower and raspier, almost garbled. He swore he saw the shark nod, and then it began to approach him. He started to back away.

"You don't have to do that. He's not going to hurt you."

Rin paused and fixed Haru with a glare.

"...You planned this. You scared me half to death, you son of a—"

"I told you not to worry."

And he was right. Rin sighed, resigning himself to it, and then it dawned on him.

Haru was literally introducing him to a shark. His face broke into a grin. The shark jerked its head— was it startled?

"I told him about your teeth. I think he likes them."

For a moment, Rin wanted to protest. His teeth were not that sharp. But he put the thought out of his mind— if it was something that would allow him to bond with a shark rather than be eaten by it, he would accept it. He bore his teeth as proudly as he could, and he saw the other sharks gather round. They seemed to share a collective nod.

"They like your teeth. You have been welcomed as a shark brother," Haru said, his tone almost mocking. The worst part of this was that Rin had no way of knowing if Haru was being serious or pulling his leg, and knowing Haru, he'd never get a definitive answer on that one.

One of the sharks swam to Haru and brushed him with a fin. They had a long conversation, and Rin took the pause as an opportunity to take it all in, looking at the creatures gathered around him. He couldn't help the warm laughter that spilled from deep within his belly.

Haru really did know how to blow him away. Up close, the Great White Sharks were equally terrifying and beautiful, a perfect mixture of magnificence and fatality. He'd always had an odd affection for them. Maybe it really was his teeth. He thought back to Bruce, his stuffed shark from his childhood, and wondered if his parents still kept him in a box or a drawer somewhere.

Some of the sharks swam circles around him, diving in and out of the water to show him their speed and the power with which they burst from the waves. He laughed, and clapped for their display. Haru seemed to finish his conversation with what he assumed was their leader.

"He has a challenge for you. I told him you're the fastest land-dweller I know, and he wanted to to test you out."

Rin blinked.

"Am I gonna race a shark? Does he want to race me?!" Rin knew that his voice, as high-pitched and loud as it was with excitement, must have been grating, but he didn't care. Haru looked mildly annoyed, but then, he often did, and it seemed like he couldn't hold the expression no matter how hard he tried.

"If you're up for it. You'd start where I'm floating and race to the rock near the island."

Long-distance had always been Rin's weakness, but he had to give it a try. He saw the largest of the sharks swim in circles until it positioned itself beside Haru, and it swam in smaller ones as it waited. Rin looked at him (he was only assuming it was a he) quizzically before remembering that sharks couldn't sit still, that they had to move constantly. All of the sharks had been swimming in small circles even when they seemed relatively still.

"Before we start, can you ask him if it's tiring to have to swim all the time?" Rin asked, and Haru waved it off.

"I already asked him that. He said it's not if you pace yourself properly." Rin nodded as he thought that one over, and decided it must have been second nature to them. Of course it wouldn't seem too difficult. Haru looked at the shark, and nodded a few times.

"He wants to know if it's true what they say about land-dwellers, that they like to watch movies and read books about what it would be like to be a mermaid."

"You can tell him that that's both true and untrue. There are lots like that, but the most famous mermaid story there is is about a mermaid who wants to be a person."

Haru seemed a bit miffed by that, but relayed it to the shark anyway.

"Oh! Tell him about Jaws, tell him about Jaws!" Rin suddenly exclaimed, and Haru stared blankly at him. Rin audibly gasped. He hadn't told Haruka about Jaws.

"...You'll have to tell me about it first," Haru said, and Rin lifted his hands up out of the water to aid in his story-telling. Haru translated everything for him as he spoke, and the sharks gathered round to hear him better.

"One of the most famous movies humans have is called Jaws, and it's about this terrifying killer shark that's bigger than any shark anybody's ever seen! It takes a whole crew of people and the whole movie to take him out, and even then, they don't manage it without several casualties. The movie was so scary that people were afraid to go in the ocean for years! They've made sequels and remakes, too, but nothing comes close to the original!" Rin couldn't help but get excited talking about Jaws in a normal conversation, but explaining it to a group of actual sharks was something else entirely.

Haru laughed as the sharks swam in furious circles and jumped around.

"They're very happy to hear that, actually. Though a couple of them think it would have been better if the shark won."

"Naturally."

"Of course, they do want to remind you that they don't eat humans on purpose unless they literally can't find anything else to eat."

"And I know that, of course. Most of us do."

"The guy who's getting ready to race you insists that he's the most dangerous of this bunch, and I think the others are afraid to disagree with him, so that says something."

Rin remembered that he was supposed to be getting ready to race then, and apologized as he swam to Haru's side. There wasn't anything for him to assume the proper starting position with, which would disadvantage him, but he was prepared to give it his all anyway.

Haru used his fingers to whistle loudly, and both Rin and the shark took off. Rin couldn't see his opponent very well, as he chose to stay under the water. Only the occasional peek of the tip of his fin alerted Rin to his location. He pushed forward through the water with all his might, and his destination arrived all too slowly— as he tapped his hand against it, he felt a burning in his lungs that he hadn't felt in years. Rin popped his head out of the water to search for Haru, and saw that Haru had a proud expression on his face.

"You lost, of course, but they were expecting that much," Haru said when Rin finally made his way back to his side. The shark, clearly used to this, didn't seem tired, but it did somehow seem happier. "He was thoroughly impressed despite your loss," Haru explained. Rin beamed.

Rin wished he'd had more time in advance to think of questions to ask. He ran out of conversational topics surprisingly quickly, and before long the group of sharks decided that it was time they be on their way. Rin had Haru relay to them his longtime admiration of their species before he waved and allowed them to go, watching as their jagged fins faded into the distance.

Just as Rin was about to turn and thank Haru, he noticed more fins approaching. These were a visibly different kind of fin, much rounder and shinier. Rin lit up once more.

He doubted there was a person alive that wasn't delighted at the sight of dolphins.

The dolphins, to his surprise, came in a slightly smaller group than the sharks had. Altogether, there were four of them. They chattered away in their odd laugh-like voices, freely hopping in and out of the waves as they did so. Rin noticed that Haru couldn't help but smile at the sight of them. Somehow, he wasn't surprised.

"I've always wanted to talk to dolphins. It's nice to finally be able to. Makoto taught me," Haru said. Rin raised his eyebrows— from what he'd heard about Makoto, he was surprised that Haru had managed to convince him to get involved with humans once more, even if it was in a very indirect way.

"Thank him for me," Rin said. He moved an arm to gesture at the dolphin that had stopped to look at him, and Haru seemed to read his mind.

"Don't pull on their fins, but feel free to touch them."

"I had heard that swimming with dolphins wasn't fun for them, though."

"That's because they're in captivity and surrounded by unfamiliar and inconsiderate people. Out here, like this, it's okay."

The dolphin chattered happily in response, and Rin gently rubbed the top of its head. It squealed in glee and did a few tricks, its friends gathering to receive similar treatment.

"If you're wondering why there are fewer of them, dolphins are free-spirited... Which is a nice way of saying that they're flaky and extremely non-committal," Haru said, his tone hinting at vague annoyance. Rin started at him incredulously before laughing at that, raising his free hand to rub the head of another dolphin.

When Haru spoke to the dolphins, he once more assumed his native language, and this time his voice took on the dolphins' high pitched, giggling tone. It seemed that communicating underwater only involved different dialects of one universal language, though Rin guessed that it differed by region.

Rin took a while to gather up his energy, and then raced the leader of the dolphin pack, this one very insistent on making sure that Rin knew she was female. Once again, Rin lost, and once again, the dolphins were impressed anyways. It made sense, he supposed— a human was never going to beat a sea creature, but they could still put up an impressive fight.

Dolphins, he learned, regularly played with and raced people, and Haru warned him in a hushed voice that they were also extremely flirtatious. Rin didn't ask for further clarification on the latter point.

As with the sharks, Rin also found that he felt a strange need to tell them about their standing among humans. He told them about Flipper, and they seemed very pleased with the information. The conversation took on a serious tone when they discussed how common dolphin captivity had become, and Rin promised he'd never visit SeaWorld or any other such place again until, at the very least, conditions improved.

When at last the dolphins took their leave, the sky had just begun to take on an orange hue. As he waved his goodbye, Rin mentally confirmed that the energetic creatures were just as lively and intelligent as he had always known they would be.

Silence fell over the waters once more, and Rin sighed a long and deep sigh of contentment as he relaxed his sore shoulders. It had felt good to race again, even if his lungs did still burn. He turned to Haru with a peaceful smile on his face.

"Thanks for this, Haru. This has been one of the best days ever."

Haru looked at him quizzically, then blankly. Finally, a slight smirk tugged at the corners of his lips.

"It's not finished just yet," he said in a sing-song sort of tone. Whatever he was hiding was apparently as exciting for him as it was going to be for Rin, and it was clear that he couldn't keep his anticipation contained. Rin snapped out of his peaceful demeanor in an instant, lunging towards Haru.

"Seriously? What else? What else could there possibly be?!"

Haru's smirk widened into a sneaky grin, an expression Rin had never before seen on his usually stoic face.

That was when Rin felt the water shift. It was subtle at first, and then it became an insistent stirring, like the movement of something enormous was disrupting all of water the around it.

Rin's eyes widened, and he froze in place, searching Haru's face for confirmation. Haru reddened slightly and turned away. Rin found himself so happy and eager that he couldn't form words, and so he instead slapped excitedly at the water.

The waves around him stirred, and from directly beneath him Rin felt a surge of movement. He looked down, and he finally saw it.

"No way... No way!" Rin exclaimed.

He felt his stomach hurting from his victorious laughter, and his eyes welled up with tears for reasons he couldn't explain. He threw his head back and cheered as the waters around him continued to churn. He heard it approaching.

The creature appeared from beneath Rin before he could get his emotions under control, and it lifted him out of the water. He hollered and threw his arms up in the air, and Haru shook his head at him in bewilderment. Or at least, he tried to. His faint smile gave him away.

"Her name is Athena," Haru said, and Rin thought that it was perfect for her. He looked around, still trying to accept that what he was seeing was reality.

Rin sat atop the back of an enormous whale.

Her massive body was so powerful that she'd produced her own current when she appeared, sending Haru away a bit. He saw Haru swim back to the two of them, settling near her face. Rin ran his hands along her smooth skin, marveling at the rubbery feel of it.

"Does she mind me sitting on her and touching her like this?!" Rin exclaimed suddenly, and Haru chuckled. Rin's face lit up with amazement when the whale hummed and bellowed its deafening response. "I could feel that," he nearly whispered.

"She says she's fine. Just don't grab onto her fins, that hurts her. You can hold onto her any other way you'd like. She's very happy to meet you, and wants you to know that she is a simply a very large humpback whale and not a blue whale. She hates when people confuse them," Haru explained. "She just said all that, by the way. Their language is very efficient."

Rin paid attention as best he could, but he was busy whipping his head around to study Athena. He playfully laid his head on her side and lovingly stroked her back.

"I think I'm in love with Athena," he said, and Haru rolled his eyes. Athena bellowed her response, and Haru smirked as he said something back to her.

They conversed for a short while, and Rin giggled at the vibrations he felt. When speaking to Athena, Haru's voice took on a low sing-song, and he elongated most of his syllables. Athena responded in her loud, moaning cries. Rin had a momentary flashback to Finding Nemo, but he shook the thought out of his head.

"She says she's sure you'll find a nice human. She doesn't think such a long-distance interspecies relationship would work out. But it's not you, it's her." Rin laughed so hard that he nearly fell off the whale's back. He would never have guessed that whales had a sense of humor, but then, maybe they didn't. Maybe Athena was an exception.

"Also, I told her that you're gay, and she wonders why she's apparently an exception. I'm curious about that as well."

Rin sat up in surprise at that.

"I never told you I was gay!"

"You didn't have to. I mean, really," Haru said vaguely.

Rin grumbled and returned his head to Athena's side. Haru wasn't the first to make such a comment, and he still hadn't been able to figure out what it was about him that gave him away. He didn't bother asking Haru, as he knew he'd never tell— he would probably delight in making him try to guess.

"...Does she know any gay whales?" Rin found himself asking. He face-palmed immediately afterwards, and warned Haru not to translate the question.

When Rin didn't say anything more, Haru shifted about uncomfortably, his face looking somewhat regretful.

"...I mean, I'm not trying to be mean. That would be hypocritical of me, don't you think? Not just because of me, but Makoto, too."

Rin finally lifted his head to peer curiously at Haru.

"You're gay?"

Haru nodded. Rin felt his heart skip a beat at that, and if he had been alone he would have slapped himself. It didn't matter whether or not he simply liked men— he and Haru were from different species, different worlds.

"...What's that like down there, anyway? It can be pretty rough up here, even if things have improved."

Haru looked up thoughtfully. When he redirected his gaze to Rin once more, his expression was one of concern.

"Regular merfolk are accepting. The elites are different. They see marriage and relationships as a means to an end, meant to result in noble offspring, and for that reason alone they oppose it." Haru phrased it tactfully, as if he'd given the explanation before or had thought on it at length. "...Are humans mean?"

Rin couldn't help but wince at the question. Haru noticed.

"...Like I said, it can be pretty rough. It varies, though, and public opinion has shifted in the last decade or so. For most people, anyway. Others are moving backwards."

Haru listened intently until a loud clicking interrupted the conversation. He laughed softly and smiled at Athena.

"She thinks I forgot about her. ...Athena wants to show you something, but you need to hold your breath. How long can you hold it?"

Rin put his hands proudly on his hips.

"I can hold it for over two minutes. I practiced all the time when I was little. You know, because I wanted to be a mermaid so bad." Haru blinked at him and didn't say anything. "Two minutes is a really long time for a human," Rin added, and Haru shook his head and shrugged.

"That's really sad. ...Anyway, Athena wants to take you for a swim under the water. When you need air, just tap twice on her back, and she'll surface for you. Until then, hold on tight."

With only that vague explanation as warning, Rin felt Athena move, and felt himself slowly sinking into the water. He inhaled as deeply as he could and held his breath, puffing out his cheeks, and screwed his eyes shut. Athena swam downwards, spiraling slightly, and Rin's entire body joined her underwater.

Once Athena had fully submerged herself, Rin opened his eyes to a sight he was sure Haru had to have planned.

Far below him, Rin could make out a vast and colorful forest of coral and seaweed. He could see its fish inhabitants darting in and out of their hiding places, some scurrying from Athena's shadow. He saw sea horses, and clownfish, and sea cucumbers, and he smiled at them.

He noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Haru swimming gracefully beside them, a smile on his face and his eyes directed ahead. When Rin looked to see what he was so happy about, he found himself mimicking the expression.

A school of sea turtles had appeared, and they approached in a single file line that separated into a scattered group that swam around the area in circles. They were soon joined by a few dolphins, stingrays, and eels. Schools of large and brightly-colored fish, surely the most beautiful in the area, joined the procession.  As Athena slowly moved her hulking body forward, the other creatures formed a swirling swarm around her, and Rin could hardly decide what to look at.

Rin's little human lungs betrayed him, and he tapped on Athena's back. She lifted him above the water long enough to inhale once more and then dove again, faster this time. They got close enough to the coral that Rin could see the fish better, could make out the small octopi and the seahorses and the starfish. He thought back to his favorite Pixar movie again and grinned.

"It took me a long time to convince everyone to show up," Haru said. Rin jumped so much at hearing his voice underwater that he almost lost his grip on Athena.

Apparently, Haru could speak just as loudly and clearly underwater, even if his voice sounded oddly warbled. Rin had no way of knowing if it was Haru's voice that was different, or if it was simply because his ears were submerged and he was hearing differently. He guessed it was the latter, as Haru was designed for the ocean.

Athena and Rin developed a rhythm. The whale would swim and twirl about for nearly two minutes, and would then return Rin's head to the open air long enough for him to inhale another breath before she dove again. Eventually Rin floated off of her back and kicked away to explore the coral on his own.

The sea creatures had apparently been told beforehand that Rin was not to be feared, and many came within touching distance of him, allowing him to observe them closely and feel them with his hands. He was delighted to find that octopi felt exactly as he had always imagined they would.

Rin went to the surface and took a deeper breath of air than he ever had before, and then dove in a spiral to the sea floor again. He heard Athena 'say' something as he did.

"She's impressed by your swimming, too," Haru said, drawing close to him.

Haru swam in casual spirals and circles around Rin, his graceful tail fluttering like a ribbon and his scales glittering in the filtered sunlight. Rin had to remind himself that he couldn't inhale a breath. He was struck by Haruka's beauty all over again, seeing him against this backdrop of marine life and in his natural element. Haru furrowed his brow at him, obviously suspicious.

When next Rin dove, full of a new breath of air, he felt Haru grab his hands without warning and drag him down. Since Haru was much faster, this meant Rin had more breath to spare, as he hadn't had to waste any of it returning to the sandy floor. He took a moment to steady himself and smiled at Haru, whose hands were surprisingly warm for how much time he spent underwater. Haru seemed embarrassed all of a sudden, and his grip loosened for a moment.

When the awkward moment had passed, Haru pulled Rin into what seemed like an underwater dance. They swam and twirled through the water, Rin trying his hardest not to laugh and accidentally drown himself. Haru did a backward spinning spiral and then re-seized Rin's hands. Rin could see that Haru was laughing softly, even if he kept his face turned down in a shallow effort to hide it.

Rin tried to do a trick of his own and failed miserably, and the laughter that came instinctively filled his nose and mouth with salty water. Haru, thankfully, reacted quickly enough to get him to the safety of air. Rin heard Athena, who had been circling the area, let out a series of loud clicks.

"She's laughing at you, you know," Haru said flatly.

Haru's face was completely blank, and Rin stared at him, and then looked down at Athena, and then looked at Haru again. He chuckled. Haru smirked. Before either of them knew it, they had erupted into separate fits of laughter.

It occurred only then to Rin that he had never really heard Haru laugh before. He decided that it was his new favorite sound.

------------

The day's activities didn't catch up with Rin until a few minutes after they had returned to the cave. He chattered on about the creatures he'd seen and motioned with his hands, and then his arms and legs suddenly felt like very heavy gelatin and he collapsed into a useless puddle.

Haru dragged himself onto the rocky ground and mimicked Rin, intentionally placing about half of his body weight on Rin's back and nearly wrapping his tail around his now useless legs. Rin groaned, but he didn't have the energy to shove him off. Haru's scales felt strange against his skin. He didn't hear Haru's chuckle— he felt his belly rumble. He couldn't help but laugh in response.

Haru rolled off, and Rin managed to roll over onto his back with Haru's weight removed. Neither of them said anything for a while. Rin focused on staying awake. When the burning in his muscles got to a point that he could handle, he sat up, and Haru repeated his movement.

Rin thanked Haru for what seemed like the hundredth time, and Haru scoffed and rolled his eyes. He reminded Rin that he had heard him the first time, and Rin reminded him that he knew that already.

"Make sure to keep tabs on Athena. She's really cool. Somehow I feel like we're all friends now," Rin said, still smiling. Haru looked out at the ocean.

"I'm way ahead of you on that one... We talk every time we happen to run into each other," Haru replied. Rin wondered how often Haru happened to run into whales, particularly ones as big as Athena.

There was another silence, and Haru didn't know if it was uncomfortable or not.

"Thanks again, Haruka. I mean it. Really." Rin repeated himself emphatically, locking Haru in insistent eye contact.

Haru felt his face redden and his pulse quicken, and he swallowed hard at the lump forming in his throat. Rin only used his full first name when he was being especially serious. He didn't know why, but he felt ill all of a sudden, like his stomach was turning over, but it wasn't necessarily painful or unpleasant.

He'd noticed that strange sensation on a few different occasions that day.

"...Don't mention it," Haru grumbled, looking away.

When he risked a glance back, he caught something strange in Rin's expression. Something that was searching and hopeful, as if he were expecting something. It faded when he noticed Haru looking at him, and he moved to put his things back in his bag.

Rin packed up his things hurriedly and shouted his goodbye, as well as one last thank you, over his shoulder as he darted out of the cave.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES

This chapter was shockingly difficult to write! The one with the stars was easy. Apparently serene and mushy words come naturally to me. Describing the power and beauty of marine animals and the exhilaration of so personally interacting with them in their natural environment was very difficult, somehow. Also trying to make it even relatively believable, of course.

I'm terrible at staying properly in one person's POV. I should work on that, but I feel like it works out alright in a long-ass fic like this.

The chapters are going to start getting much longer (like this one), I'm warning you... Particularly towards the end. I wanted a nice round number of chapters and not to make people wait too long between updates, so that's how it'll have to be.

Marine life note: not all sharks will drown if they stop swimming, but Great Whites are not one of those. Great Whites have to pump oxygen by moving constantly.