The Fine Thread

15

"And that's the story of the 3 mermaids and their lovers!" Tsukishima Kaiba says, the group of middle school students looking at their teacher unamused.

"That isn't true Kaiba-sensei! Mermaids don't exist." A girl says in protest, twirling her pencil around her fingers.

"But it is Soka. Those 3 mermen and their lovers used to live in this very town!" Kaiba says, closing the old leathery book and putting it back on her shelf.

"There's no way. That sea out there is too rough for anything to live out there. Not even fish." A boy named Deitoka says.

"Fine, don't believe me. However if you'd like to see the ghosts of the mermen and their lovers, we're going on a field trip to the mooned sea tomorrow, do join me on the shoreline to hear them." Kaiba says, sitting back at her desk to work on papers.

The next day, all 27 of the kids in Kaiba's class are running around the seashore, playing tag, splashing each other with water or building sandcastles. An hour before the children and herself have to leave, Kaiba claps her hands together, getting all the children to swarm around her.

"Alright kids, we're going to be leaving soon, but who would like to try and find those mermaids ghosts?" Ms. Kaiba asks, smiling to herself.

"We told you Kaiba-sensei! Mermaids don't exis-'' A boy named Yuro says, before getting cut off by singing. (Play the song Teir Abhaile Riu by Celtic Women.) Laughing can be heard along with the beautiful music and the group looks over to the noise, seeing 6 boys, one sitting behind a harp strumming the strings while the rest are dancing around. 2 other boys are holding objects, one a violin and playing along with the harp and the other, a pair of wooden spoons, clacking them along with the violin and harp. The boy playing the harp had beautiful orange hair, and his smile was brighter than the sun shining down on the kids. Another, much taller boy was dancing around him, laughing and ruffling his hair. This boy had pretty blond hair, his eyes framed by thick black glasses. The third boy, a tall, brown haired boy with a long braid behind him, was playing the violin, another boy was dancing around him, everytime the taller boy put down the violin, the shorter, black haired boy did a handstand on his shoulders. The last 2 boys were dancing together, a boy with grey hair clacking spoons together to play a tune, and a boy with short dark brown hair occasionally picking up the latter, making him laugh. All 6 of the boys are singing the words, sometimes singing together and other singing parts by themselves.  All of them are smiling, and every so often some of the boys plant kisses on their partners who are playing the instruments.

"Who's that?" Soka asks, looking at her teacher.

"Those are the mermaids and their lovers' ghosts." Kaiba says, smiling at the scene in front of her.

"No way! They don't have tails!" Some of the students protest.

"Look at the ones who are playing instruments, see their legs? They're covered in scales." Kaiba points out. The kids stare in awe, watching all the boys singing and dancing.

"No way.." A boy mumbles, watching as the orange haired boy playing the harp's legs fuse together, turning into a tail as he plays. All the kids watch as the bigger boys pick up their lovers, leaving the instruments seemingly forgotten behind before all jumping into the water, disappearing in a circle of mist along with their instruments. All of the students run over to where the ghosts were standing, looking where the instruments had disappeared.

"Kaiba-sensei! What's this?" A small boy calls. The boy's name is Azumane Mizu, and he was a quiet student who didn't talk very often. Kaiba walks over to the boy, looking at what he found.

"Oh my Mizu! What a find. That is one of the treasures that the mermen owned." Kaiba says, looking at the golden coin tied to a necklace the boy was holding.

"How do you know so much sensei?" Mizu asks, looking at the golden coin.

"Hmm.. Well you know the stories your parents tell you about your great great great grandfather?" Kaiba asks.

"You mean the one about him being a Sailor?" Mizu asks.

"That's right. My Papa would tell me stories about my great great grandpa and how he fell in love with a beautiful orange haired merman." Kaiba says, pulling a similar looking necklace from under her shirt.

"Well.. My Mama tells me stories like that.. But he fell in love with a merman with a blue tail." Mizu says, looking at the coin.

"Maybe they were friends." Kaiba says, patting the boy's head as she starts guiding the other students off to the bus. Mizu stands happily for a moment, looking down at the gold coin in his hand before quickly putting the necklace around his neck.

"What did you find Mizu-san?" Soka asks.

"I think it was my great great great grandpa's. Kaiba-sensei said so!" Mizu says, a happy smile tracing across his lips.

"It's so pretty!" Soka says, looking at the necklace. Mizu nods, and both children run back to the bus, just in time for the doors to close and the bus to take off driving.

This was the final chapter of The Fine Thread, I hope you enjoyed! I will hopefully be posting another story soon, keep reading my Monsters <3