He Lies Within the Sea (eremika)

Chapter Three

"Hey Mikasaaa," Sasha hummed. "Why is that transfer student sitting at our table?" Mikasa was sitting at the lunch table with a couple of her friends, Sasha and Christa, but there was an uninvited guest also sitting there... directly across from Mikasa...watching her carefully.

"I...can't say," Mikasa sighed. "I really don't know." She was getting irritated with the transfer student; yes, she discovered his secret, but he was literally watching her to make sure she didn't blabber about it to a single person, but he was causing unwanted attention as well.

"Th-there's a reason," Eren responded awkwardly. "It's nothing to concern yourselves with."

"Love?" Sasha blurted before taking a huge bite of her sandwich.

"Wh-wh-what?!" Eren blurted, leaning away from Sasha who was sitting beside him. He looked at her with wide, uncomfortable eyes, and she could only furrow her eyebrows in confusion.

"What kind of reaction was that?" she muttered. "It's a joke, new boy. You're quite popular, but you're kind of dorky."

"S-sorry to disappoint..?" he uttered, squinting his eyes in confusion.

"Let's just... eat," Mikasa sighed. She wasn't fond of so much unwanted attention, especially the girls surrounding the table directly behind her that were glaring daggers into her and her friends while staring lovingly at Eren. Among the table were the two girls who had been rejected by him some days ago.

Mikasa watched as Eren slowly lifted a sandwich from the tray and began to take a bite, but she was startled when the familiar smell of tuna wafted by her nose. "Eren, you eat t-tuna?!" she stammered, trying to fathom that a mermaid who was part fish was eating fish itself.

"Yeah," Eren replied casually before finally taking the bite. Mikasa watched in horror as she witnessed what she thought was cannibalism, but quickly she started to think about it. Well, then again, sharks and whales eat other sea creatures, she thought. I suppose... it's like that. Yeah, that makes sense.

The remainder of school was absolutely irritating for Mikasa and usual business for Eren. He was followed around by the usual people and socialized with them normally, but he did all of that while following Mikasa through the halls in between classes. The girls, as usual, stared at her with horrifyingly jealous auras; they already caught on that their "beloved" had his eyes on some random girl whose name they did not even know.

And at the end of the day, the people finally let Eren have his freedom as he was going to "walk home" which, in reality, was him merely jumping into the sea once again and swimming to the depths. Eren was part of a unique, unusual mermaid village that had not given up hope on the humans, even if many of their own had been hunted ruthlessly. They were well aware that  not all  humans were like that.

Mikasa walked along the same secluded path that she did to get to and from school every single day. The house she was returning to was still empty and silent, and there wasn't even wind to keep her company as she strolled through. I kind of wish that strange boy would be walking with me right now instead of at school, she thought. He's sort of funny.

She realized there was a warm smile upon her face whenever she thought of Eren but quickly dismissed it as merely fascination with the beautiful creature he was. She didn't like him or anything. After all, she just met him, so how is that possible? Mikasa sighed and continued walking. Somehow, she felt like it was going to a long day, and she was not entirely wrong.

As she neared the lighthouse, Mikasa could hear the sound of someone crunching the leaves in the woods, causing her to turn her head in the direction of the sounds. Shortly after, she noticed Eren emerging from the woods with an innocent yet serious look on his face. She sighed in relief after realizing it was merely him, yet she felt a bit happy.