The Twisted Tale of The Little Merman

_-*Chapter 29*-_

Tendou POV

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Hinata, Lev, and I had successfully snuck back out of the castle, and now—donned in typical peasant attire—we swam through the bustling streets of the capital city. The streets may have been crowded, but you could see sadness everywhere you looked.

It seems the kingdom was still grieving over the loss of my brother.

"Over here," Hinata called out, leading us to the giant gates that surround the city, "Our hideout has changed."

I looked at him curiously, "why?"

"Because the king found your cave," Hinata looked at me apologetically, "he destroyed it and we barely got out alive."

"Oh," I said, a slight feeling of sadness creeping over me at the thought of my safe place being destroyed.

"I'm sorry, Tendou," Lev said to me suddenly, "it's obvious that cave meant a lot to you."

"No, it's fine," I shrugged, putting a false smile on, "Good things don't last forever."

"Well-" Lev started but Hinata interrupted him.

"Shh," He motioned for quiet, "we have to be quiet if we want to get past the gates."

The two of us nodded and followed my younger brother yet again.

He led us to an abandoned building close to the wall. He pulled us into the alley between the building and the bakery next to it.

There seemed to be nothing there, aside from a few trash cans and patches of dead coral.

Hinata swam deeper into the alley and suddenly disappeared into the wall of the building.

Lev and I glanced at each other, confused. We swam closer and with the dim light of Lev's luminescence, I could make out a slightly large hole in the wall.

I cautiously swam closer and suddenly Hinata's head popped out, scaring the life out of me.

"GAH!" I backed away quickly and he laughed.

"Sorry, but hurry up, we can still get caught here."

I nodded and swam into the hole, Lev following after me quickly. Underneath the building—where the hole led us—there was another hole, but this one was dug under the ground. A perfect escape route.

"C'mon," Hinata motioned and we followed silently.

♡♛♕♛♡

After around ten minutes of swimming through the tunnel, I finally started to notice it began to rise back toward the surface.

Soon, we reached the end of the tunnel and came out in an oddly familiar kelp forest.

"Wait a minute," I muttered, turning in circles to take in the features of the forest, "Hinata, is this where I think it is?"

He smiled bashfully, "it is, but we are nowhere near the shark nursery," He said quickly, as if that made it better.

"Whatever," I mumbled, "just get us out of here."

He nodded and swam quickly, weaving through the kelp. I had to swim quickly to keep up the energetic mer. Lev seemed totally indifferent to the speed we were traveling.

Eventually, we left the thick leaves that made up the forest and into a flat plain of sand.

"Ok, we're nearly there," Hinata said, turning to us, "follow me carefully, and don't talk or anything."

When we both nodded, Hinata led us forward again. Crossing the empty plain made me feel anxious. There was nowhere to hide if we were caught.

Much to my relief, however, we soon reached the end of the plain and entered a colorful and busy coral reef. I've heard of this place, it's always a busy district. Since it was located just far enough away from the capital for the king not to care, it was notorious for its nightlife and markets filled with rare—usually illegal—imports.

I looked around in wonder at the striking colors and all kinds of mer and other species swimming around.

"In here," Hinata motioned and we followed.

He led us into a tunnel in the reef and that led to a club. A nightclub, to be exact.

Hinata conversed with the bouncer and the mer bouncer suddenly let us into the club. Being as it was daytime—I found that out when we left the castle—the vast club room was deserted, save for a few employees.

I stayed close to Lev and Hinata, feeling shy at the gazes of the few people in the room.

Hinata led us behind the bar and spoke with the bartender briefly.

The bartender then nodded and pulled a lever—disguised as a piston lever for a drink machine—and that opened a secret door underneath the bar.

"Vivat rex verus," he whispered as we swam past. Long live the true king. I furrowed my brows in confusion but that expression soon left my face when I saw who occupied the vast room beneath the bar.

"Tendou!" Atsumu squealed, rushing to hug me. I pulled him in close.

"Atsumu," I choked out, "I was so scared of what happened to you."

"You were scared?!" He pulled back, exasperated, "You left in the middle of the night SEVEN DAYS AGO and we had no idea where you went!"

"Sorry," I apologized sheepishly.

"Atsumu, lay off" Iwaizumi approached with someone at his side who made my jaw drop.

"Oikawa?!"

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Which emotion is the most useful?