Part of Your World (Sano Manjiro x Mermaid!Reader)

Act 6 - His Savior

(A/N: If you have time, please listen to the song. It's so beautiful and I could see (Y/N) singing this but in Old Tongue.)

Darkness, an endless pitch black void. That was all what he saw. Where is he? He tried to move his body but it failed to answer his silent plea. It felt like heavy bricks were being pressed down on his body, making him ultimately immobile that not even a slight twitch of a finger was possible. So he just stayed there, stuck in the abyss with no telling when it would end.

How did he end up here again? He tried to recall all that happened before coming here.

First thing he remembered was Shinichiro's smiling face as he brought some surfboards that was enough for him and his friends. He said that he made a new friend in Grandma's neighborhood and he has a ton of boards sitting in his garage and collecting dusts. He got them all for free in exchange for fixing the neighbor's bikes.

Next was that they were at the beach, all of them trying out their new boards. He remembered how Pah and Kazutora would always crash on the water as they struggled to even stand up; Mitsuya was shaky but was still making progress; Baji and Draken kept on pushing each other off; Emma was chilling on her board with Shinichiro holding her; and Izana coming up to his face and challenged him to a surf off.

He remembered taking the challenge. He remembered venture further out the sea hoping to catch a better wave. He did, but it was bigger than he'd anticipated. He crashed, the pain on his head was carved in his mind.

Then...nothing...

"...~"

His memory ended there. He must have passed out. Did he even survive after that? What if he didn't and he was just a wandering soul stuck in limbo? If so, what about his friends, his siblings, his grandparents? Will they take the news of his passing well?

Knowing Emma, she would cry her eyes out, and Izana might blame himself because of this.

Shinichiro will put up a strong front for them but deep down, he will be heartbroken — he witnessed their parents passing, and now he had witnessed his brother died as well? He would also blame himself for that.

"...♫~"

His friends will also be on the same state as well, but he knew that they will continue to live on their dream of building a new era of delinquents, in honor of his name maybe.

Grandpa would stay tough like he'd always been, but deep down, he knew he would be devastated as well.

"...♫...♪~"

And Grandma? He knew that she will be the one who will be affected the most.

"♫...♭♩..♪♫~"

Huh? He could hear a sound...a melody softly playing in the background. He listened carefully, and ever slowly, he could hear words. Someone was singing, and it was beautiful.

"♩...♪♫...♩♫♭♩...♪~"

The voice sounded like a girl. Soft, innocent, and angelic. He had heard some songs sung by women thanks to Emma's addiction to Spice Girls, and other girl bands, but he had never heard a voice so melodic as this one. It was soothing and pleasant, like the warm honey tea that his grandmother usually makes when they caught a cold.

He could not understand the words she uttered, however he was sure that this was not a language of the present. He remembered his grandmother telling him tales of the old, where kings ruled over lands and pirates reigned over the seven seas. Creatures of different kinds had plagued fear into the hearts of many, and it was said that they spoke in Old Tongue, a long forgotten language that not even scholars of today could completely decipher. He knew it was from that language because his grandmother had spoken a few of them — she does not understand, she just knew how to say it — and he recognized some of it in her song.