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Chapter 2

A sudden splash woke Xí up. He hadn't even realized he'd fallen asleep. He surfaced from beneath the water, his head accidentally catching a lily pad. A boy had fallen in the water, and was floating facedown. Xí didn't know much about humans, but he did know they couldn't breathe underwater. He quickly swam to the boy, and pulled him back to shore.

Xí laid him on his back, then leaned in to check for breathing. After listening for a couple seconds, he determined it was there, but it was extremely faint. Xí, not knowing what to do, moved away from the boy and attempted to let him recover on his own.

A few moments after that, however, he realized this might finally be his chance to get a good look at a human.

He leaned in close to his face, then compared it to his own reflection. They looked more similar than he thought. He'd never understood why humans had two tails instead of one, or why they had no fins, but insisted on swimming anyway.

Just as he was inspecting his knee, the boy groaned and rolled over, jumpscaring Xí, which made him shoot backward violently with a screech. The screech seemed to wake the boy up a bit more, as he opened his eyes.

"Where... where am I?"
The boy then proceeded to look over to the pond, and saw Xí sitting next to him.
"Who are you?" he asked, bewildered.

Xí was slightly surprised. The human didn't know who he was?
"I'm Xí. Are you alright?"
"I think so. Why am I here?"
The boy attempted to sit up, then fell into a coughing fit.

Xí, having no experience in any kind of social interaction, did nothing.
"What is your name?" he asked once the boy had recovered.
"Li Yan."

The boy took a closer look at Xí and apparently hadn't yet noticed his tail, because when he did see it, he reacted with surprise.
"Are you... are you the wish giving koi fish?"

Xí sighed.
"I don't know. One more time, are you sure you're okay?"
Li Yan nodded.

"Alright then," Xí said. "I'll be going now, then. Best of luck." He then slunk back into the water.