The other side of a glass tank - Octavinelle (& Twisted Wonderland) X Reader

Chapter 13 - A new memento

High school is almost over for you, and like every other student, you've been doing internships before graduation.

You've already taken courses on marine biology and for aquatic veterinarians. On the side, you had studied mers' biology as well. Thanks to that, you've been getting extra credits from multiple internships. But the one you've been dying to try had finally started only about a week ago:

"I always said it wouldn't be a surprise if you were to work here. But I didn't expect it to be so soon." Your guardian jokes in a half dramatic tone while you flipped through some documents.

"I always amaze, don't I?" You responded with a joke of your own.
You then signed a paper regarding your participation on today's job.

"Ahah, you sure do. Today's the same as always?" The adult laughed and asked, leaning a bit over your shoulder to look at the paper in your hands.

"No actually. Since I have a novice degree from my marine veterinarian course, I'll be doing some annual check ups for the mer-kids." You explained with a bright smile.

"I bet you're happy." Your guardian grinned with a raised brow.

"Of course I am. I don't see them as often anymore, since starting high school. And I'm sure that once they will as well, we'll see each other even less." You shrugged and readied your things in your bag. Picking up a list on the desk, you looked over the names of the children. Some familiar, some not so much.

"Oh, I'll be seeing Pasha and Kaito. And some of the new kids, too." You swung your bag over your shoulder and smiled at your guardian.

"I'll be going, then. Good job, today." You waved slightly as you turned to exit the room. Before you could, you felt a hand roughly tussling your hair, stopping you in your track.

"Wh- hey! I'm not a kid anymore, you know-?" You immediately protested and swatted away their hand. Patting down your head to smooth out the now disheveled strands.

As you did so, they playfully pushed you outside their office. "Yeah, I know, champ. Now, off you go. You don't want to be late for your schedule, do you?" You gave a fake disapproving look and turned to the door with a small smile.

Your guardian watched as you closed the door behind you, a fond look on their face. After a moment, they let out a soft sight and shook their head. Quietly going back to work, silence filled the, by now, familiar office.

~~~~~//$\\~~~~~

"And... you're good to go!" You exclaimed while writing the last bit of information in your clipboard.

"I'm glad to see you again. Lively and healthy, most importantly." You said while smiling at the two mer-children. Well, not children. Pasha and Kaito had grown quite much and were already in middle school, just like the trio.

The purple haired mermaid hugged you mirthfully from her spot in the indoors pool, where you had been checking on all the kids. "We're so happy to have you working here! We don't see each other as often anymore." She said and you patted her head, before turning to her older brother.

"Well, high school is pretty draining. The supervisor is too busy to come by like they used to." The blue haired merboy smiled calmly. Ever since you started working here for your internship, they had started calling 'supervisor', as you weren't their 'teacher's assistant' anymore.

You told them there wasn't any need for formalities, since you had all known each other from childhood. But almost all the kids from the class had decided that addressing you like that was a way to support your future work life. In the end, you agreed to only accept the name, and nothing else.