It Started With A Kiss (A Kisame Story)

Chapter 13.

Umi couldn’t remember the exact time she had woken up, but it had been before the sun rose.

Since then she had gotten ready for the day, pacing back and forth across her room as she tried to figure things out.

Talking with Kisame by the lake had made her realise so much. She couldn’t just sit around hanging out with him and chatting like she’d been doing over the past few days; there was only a certain amount of time she had before she’d turn back into a mermaid, and she was no closer to finding out what it was that would allow her to remain human. Umi had told the truth back there; she wanted to become human more than anything; but without the ‘key’—of sorts—then that dream would be nothing anymore. She’d been so stupid, allowing herself to get caught up in the joy of finally being on shore for more than a day and finally understanding the world she had longed to be a part of—allowing herself to get caught up in feeling things she had never truly comprehended in the lake, but wanted more than ever now she had experienced them. What Umi knew for certain was that she couldn’t continue on the way she had; she had to start thinking of the future. Once she knew what the key was, then she’d be fully human, she could adapt fully to her abilities and could remain in the Akatsuki doing missions. When she thought about it like that, it seemed simple.

If she knew what the key was.

Only things weren’t like that. Umi hadn’t the slightest clue about anything to do with it. Sure, her visions had told her about the Akatsuki and Kisame...but even hanging around with him she hadn’t discovered the true purpose of those visions. They hadn’t exactly been solid clues. There were no scrolls or notes that revealed what it was; even her parents had left her nothing to help her out; she was expected to come up with the answer without any hints at all as to what it might be. But considering the infinite amount of possibilities, the probability of finding it was pretty low—let alone finding it in the amount of time she had left. The moment she thought it the same reaction happened; her heart felt like it was being squeezed and her throat closed up. How would things turn out if she didn’t find it? After all, she had to consider the possibility—she couldn’t avoid the idea completely. If she didn’t find it, she would become a mermaid once more; she’d never be a human again and her life would become as it once was...only she’d be craving the human world more than she had ever done while living there before.

Things would only get worse from there. The Akatsuki knew that Umi could only use her power while she was a human; it was why they had been searching for the Henka stone so fiercely. But once they figured out that the same thing couldn’t happen again—that this was a one-time opportunity—they’d start to break all connections. They had goals to pursue, after all; goals that required them to travel all over looking for things and accepting jobs from anyone and everyone. Umi knew deep down in her heart that they couldn’t wait for her forever. They couldn’t just stay close in order to visit and keep an eye on her. The reason the Akatsuki had come to this area was to find her and recruit her for her power. If she was a mermaid, Umi was without that power; and therefore at the end of all of this she would be of no use to them. She’d have to sit and watch in the lake as they packed up their stuff and left the village—as they left her behind. Even Kisame wouldn’t be able to do a thing; he hadn’t known her that long, when it came down to it, and his main priority was with the Akatsuki. A life of sitting by a lake and talking to a mermaid for the rest of his life, not being able to go anywhere or do anything he wanted wasn’t a life Umi wanted him to have, either. He deserved better—even if she did care about him.

Sighing, Umi stopped in her pacing, glancing up to see the sun rising and freezing once more at the idea that sooner or later Kisame would be coming to knock on her door and tell her what was happening; whether she wanted something to eat. They’d talk about what they were going to do today and then head out to carry it all out. But with all that was rushing through her head, things wouldn’t be the same. All she’d be thinking about was what could happen—what would most likely happen—and Umi couldn’t spend all that time with Kisame knowing he was just going to disappear from her life at the end of it. It was only going to crush her completely when it happened.

Then suddenly it occurred to her.

Umi had to do it first; she had to cut off the ties she was beginning to make now.

It would make things easier overall; if Umi continued getting close to Kisame like she was, and chatting with all the Akatsuki and getting integrated like she was, her feelings would only grow and grow. Then when the time came that she would return to the water and they would leave, she’d fall into a state of depression and never want to see the sun again, having lost all she cared about. She’d never truly known her parents, and was never around enough to get to know the villagers—the Akatsuki were the only people she’d been around enough to get to know. They were the only bonds she had ever formed with humans, and to witness them being destroyed would only do the same to her. But if she stopped things now; if she avoided getting any closer to them it would mean she wouldn’t care as much when the time came. Sure, she’d be sad, but Umi knew that there might be a chance those emotions wouldn’t overwhelm her entirely. It had to be done.

So the rest of her time alone Umi spent preparing for what was to come. There was nothing she could do about it now, so she resigned herself and planned what she was going to do to stop those bonds from forming. Everything was ready, and she tapped her feet nervously on the floor as she sat and waited for Kisame to finally arrive in her room. There might have been times where she didn’t feel ready to do this; that she couldn’t push him away like that. But she’d force herself to remember what would only happen if she didn’t go through with this, and the plan would come back to her. It still didn’t mean Umi was happy as a knock finally sounded on her door; she swallowed hard, biting her lip nervously as she got up and walked over. But taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly, clearing her face of emotion as she opened the door to be greeted warmly by Kisame,

“Morning, Umi! There was kind of an accident in the kitchen between Hidan and Kakuzu—which isn’t exactly surprising—but a load of stuff got broken and messed around, so breakfast might be a little slapdash. But then—”

“Don’t worry; I don’t mind. I’ll find something to eat, anyway,” Umi quickly shot back before Kisame could say anymore, giving a small smile before dodging past him and heading down the corridor to the kitchen. Kisame hesitated as she did so, instinctively feeling that something was wrong here and that Umi wasn’t quite her normal self, but tried to shake it off. There were a lot of things she had to think about, after all—maybe it was just that that was getting to her.

Kisame tried to constantly remind himself that as he followed her into the kitchen; watching as she merely nodded in greeting to those who were there and grabbed what food was left, sitting down at the table and eating it silently. It was nothing like she usually was; though she wasn’t hyper, Umi always got into conversation, enthusiastic about the day ahead and what would be going on, talking to the others to see what they would be doing, too. But today she focused merely on her food, barely even looking up as she did so, even when Kisame got his own food and sat down next to her. There came a point where Kisame felt like he had to ask what was wrong as he tried to talk and she brushed him off dismissively; but then he remembered how they had been talking last night; that it had been when they were alone together that they’d spoken about deeper things—and he decided to wait until later. Maybe when they were alone he’d be able to ask Umi if there was something wrong—it was probably just a bad dream or something.

“So, Umi; what do you wanna do today? We could—” Kisame eventually began casually, turning to Umi with a smile, only for him to be cut off once again as she shot back bluntly,

“Training. There’s still things I have to learn, after all, and I don’t know when those guys might show up...so yeah. Training.”

With that, she stood up and placed her stuff in the sink, cleaning herself off before turning back to Kisame, and without any trace of emotion on her face as she stood there, she stated simply,

“You’re still eating; I’ll go to the place where we always go and you can meet me there, alright?” Before she turned and left the room without a word of goodbye or even a smile in his direction, Kisame's food left untouched as he stared after her.

He was beginning to think this was a lot more serious than he’d thought...