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Neighbors

Mermaids were real.

It took a while for humans to find it out. They didn't often interact with humans. Some sort of stupid professor and his crew found a couple and took some photos of them. The whole world was shaken, they finally had real proof.

After a long discussion, they decided to let the mermaids be, to respect their environment and leave them alone. But, among humans, they were extremely looked down on. People hated them for having something they didn't. Mermaids couldn't come on land, they would be beaten to death. Many corpses had been found on shore, but no one seemed to do something about it.

You had known they exist your whole life. In fact,

You were one.

Well, not exactly. You were half one. Your father was human and your mother was a mermaid. This meant you could change the way you looked at will.

When you were a toddler you barely realized it, you changed your legs or tail constantly. Your father had to keep a blanket on your legs cause otherwise, people would see you changing.

By the time you were eight, you had it somewhat under control. You had been taught how bad it was, and that you should never show anyone. Slowly you understood more and more about how different you were to other kids, and you didn't like how you had to keep this huge secret.

At thirteen, you and your father moved to Iwatobi. You hadn't seen your mother in forever and since the ocean was so nearby, you could visit from time to time.

Then, a lot happened at once. Your father passed away after a sickness that came and took over way too fast. There was nothing you or any doctors could do, but you always felt the childish guilt, thinking there was something you could have done to prevent it.

It was a lot for a teenager, you didn't have a lot of friends at the new school and you were in grief of your father's death. Living alone was a lot of work too.

You hadn't really met your neighbors. They came by when you first moved in and they had come over with flowers when they heard of your father death. You knew their last name was Tachibana, there was a boy who seemed about your age and two adorable little twins who were about seven or eight.

It wasn't until there was a knock on your door one day and the green-eyed boy asked you for a favor.

He smiled kindly and put his hand on his neck, instantly apologizing for what he was about to ask: "I'm really sorry (y/n), I know it's late but can you do something for us?"

You felt a small pang of guilt knowing you forgot his name, but he didn't forget yours. You nodded slowly, allowing him to continue.

His cheeks wrinkled up in a quilty smile: "We have no one to watch the twins, Ran and Ren. Our parents are at work and I have to go to swim training. I know it's a lot to ask, but can you watch them for an hour or so?"

Your eyes slightly lit up at the word swim training. You had been in a swim team for a while when you were a child, but your father made you quit because he was afraid of "accidents", that was probably one of your biggest regrets since you really liked swimming with a team.

You sighed softly and thought for a couple of seconds before nodding. "Fine. I'll watch them for a while."

His smile widened and he sighed, sounding relieved. "Thank god, I don't know who else we could have asked. I would have done it but we've been really busy with finding another member. You go to the same school as us right?"

You wondered why he used "us" but didn't put much thought in it. Maybe he meant someone else on his swim team.

Although the answer was pretty obvious, since you had seen each other walking in the building, you nodded nonetheless. "Yeah, I'm a class below you."