The Fine Thread

5

"Oi?! Why are you idiots swimming around down there?!" Daichi's father demands, yelling over the other Siren hunters.

"We found a harp dad! We wanted to check it out and see if we could take it back!." Daichi responds, pointing down at the harp.

"Well why didn't you bring it up?" Tsukishima's dad yells. The 3 boys get back into their boat, soaking wet.

"It's too heavy Pa! Can't get it up more than a few inches!" Tsukishima shouts back.

"What were you even gonna do with it? None of you can play the harp." Noya's dad yells.

"Well we were gonna try and find its original owner!" Noya shouts back with a grin.

"Typical. You 3 are the strangest Siren hunters we've met." A random man says.

"And where are you all off to?" Daichi shouts.

"We are gonna search for those Sirens. Bring em down a few pegs on the food chain." Tsukishima's dad responds.

"Good luck with that." Noya shouts, grabbing his shirt to put back on.

"Ehh whatever boy. We'll see you guys soon." Noya's dad shouts as the ship starts drifting farther into the large sea. Soon, the ship is gone and the lake is covered back with a thick sheet of mist, not to clear for a long time once more.

"Do you think we can dive in?" Daichi asks.

"I dunno. Nobody ever went into the water when the mist was there." Tsukishima responds.

"Should we try it? I mean it seems like it's just mist." Noya says. The boys sit there for a while, contemplating whether or not to dive back down. While they look down into the mist, the 3 mermen poke their heads from the mist, soft smiles on their faces.

"Thank you guys. We appreciate it so much." Suga says.

"It's nothing. We want to make up for all we did." Daichi says, looking over the edge of the boat. Noya and Tsukishima join Daichi in leaning over the side of the boat, looking at the 3 mermen.

"Still, Suga almost fainted from fear and Hinata was shaking so much I thought he would also faint. So thank you so much." Asahi says.

"Well you're welcome then." Tsukishima says.

"Can we come hang out with you? I don't think any of us want to go back home yet." Noya says. The other boys agree with Noya, but the mermen shake their heads.

"We have to get to sleep or we won't be able to do anything tomorrow. But you can come back tomorrow!" Hinata says. The boys nod, seeming somewhat upset about not being able to spend more time with their new friends. Suga whispers something in Hinata's ear and Hinata nods, whispering to Asahi.

"We want to give you guy's something before you leave." Suga says. The boys look strangely at the mermen, curious about what they were going to give them. Hinata gestures for them to lean down and they do. Suddenly, all 3 of the mermen wrap something around the boy's neck, one of their own necklaces with a small golden coin that the mermen had from their old homes, hung around a string. After they all wrap the necklaces around the boys necks, each gives the humans a small peck on the cheek.

"Any gift from a mermaid is a sign for good fortune in the future." Asahi says.

"And a kiss will grant you luck in the years to come." Hinata says with a smile. The 3 human boys blush bright red, feeling the kiss on their cheek and the necklace.

"Well, we will see you tomorrow, yes?" Suga asks, chuckling a bit at the flustered boys. Seconds later, the human boys are back to normal, or as normal as they can be and say goodbye, waving off the mermen, the other boys wave back smiles spreading across their faces before diving down.

"They are very kind." Hinata says, pulling out a hairbrush from a small divot in the rocks.

"I agree, they were just misinformed at first." Asahi says, stretching his arms. This was the ritual all the boys did before sleep, Hinata would brush his and Suga's hair, Asahi would stretch and Suga would clack a tune on wooden spoons. Suga begins his nightly process, clacking the spoons together to make a sort of lullabye.

"I hope they can talk to their fathers, I don't want to live fearing that they will hurt us." Suga says, feeling the hairbrush go through his silver tufts.

"I hope so too, you almost always faint when you see a ship." Asahi says, breathing deeply.

"Yea.. Boats are different. It's like we can scare people off when they're in boats." Hinata says.

"Exactly. Ships are far too big for that." Suga says.

The next day, Asahi and Suga are swimming around the calm waters, while Hinata is off collecting seaweed and other small fish for lunch. Hinata would often be the one catching fish, as his claws were very quick at killing them, the 3 rotated who would collect seaweed and who would cook, and for Hinata, today was his day. Hinata didn't like being the one to collect seaweed, it took a long time and smelled horrible, not to mention it was in the dark parts of the calm waters. Hinata was slowly making his way through the dark area, plugging his nose every time he found a good bunch.

"Hinata!" Suga calls, swimming over to Hinata.

"Oh Suga! What's up?" Hinata responds, armfuls of seaweed and fish.

"Daichi Tsukishima and Noya are back to hang out!" Suga says, taking some of the seaweed away from Hinata.

"Yay! Let's get back!" Hinata cheers, a big smile across his face. Both swim back quickly, carrying the seaweed and fish in their arms while laughing, doing tricks in the water. Once in view, Suga calls out to Asahi, who's showing the boys around their home.

"Asahi! I'm back with Hinata!" Suga shouts. All of the boys look over at the ginger and the silver haired boy, big smiles on their faces.

"Hi guys!" Noya shouts, waving at the 2.

"Do you guys need some help?" Daichi asks, swimming over to Suga.

"Yea help would be great." Suga says, splitting the seaweed halfway between himself and Daichi. The 3 carry the seaweed back, Daichi following as Hinata and Suga go to put away the food.

"Tsukishima! Nishinoya!" Asahi shouts. Suga, Daichi and Hinata look over, only to see Tsukishima getting into an argument with Noya. Suga and Hinata swim over quickly while Daichi facepalms, slowly swimming over. Hinata wraps his arms around Tsukishima's waist, pulling him back from attacking Noya, Asahi doing the same for Noya.

"What are you 2 arguing about?!" Suga exclaims, getting between the arguing Tsukishima and Noya.

"Stingyshima here thinks that he can breathe underwater forever now because Hinata kissed his cheek." Noya says.

"That's not even what I said! I said that if Hinata kissed everyone of us we'd all be able to breathe underwater and you said that I just wanted the stupid ginger to kiss me!" Tsukishima argues.

"What kind of dumbass argument?" Hinata asks, flingging Tsukishima away from Noya and onto the sand. "Noya's correct, just cause I kissed your cheek doesn't mean you can breathe underwater, and if I kissed all of you, you could breathe underwater forever. And I'm not a dumb ginger glasses." Hinata says with a pout.

"Don't even try with him, he's always like that." Daichi says, finally getting over to the other boys.

"Wow. How do you even deal with him?" Suga asks. Asahi finally lets go of Noya, Noya sinks into the soft sand, laying back in it.

"I have no idea." Daichi chuckles. Suga swims around the calm waters, watching the different sparkling bits float around.