With Lungs Like Gills (Merman!Brothers x Reader)

Chapter 6

Genki knocked lightly on the door before a kind voice called out for him to enter, and he pulled open the sliding door before inviting me in first.

"Totoko, I have a visitor with me!" He cheerfully called out as I stepped through the threshold of the doorway. I took off my shoes and lay them neatly in the corner of the entrance, hearing the shuffling of feet coming from down the hallway on the right.

An elderly lady poked her head out from the room doorway and gave me a studious look, as if she was analyzing my very soul. Her hair was pinned up in a loose bun near the crown of her head, with some stray strands trailing down behind her ears. She wore a deep blue yukata that seemed to resemble a flowing river with various shades of koi jumping out of it, but the exterior beauty faded as a scowl settled onto her face, her eyes narrowed at me.

"You brought an uggo here?" The elderly woman huffed before ducking back into the room. I blinked a few times to try and process the question as Genki stuttered and tried to catch up to the woman, apologizing to me as he passed by.

"Totoko, it's not like that! She's just a coworker and she's had a few stressful days--" I couldn't hear what he said next as his voice trailed off deeper into the house. Their voices echoed through the hall, but I couldn't make out any words.

I took a deep breath and smelled the familiar scent of sea salt in the air, following it until I approached an open set of sliding doors that separated the exterior porch from whatever room I was in, possibly the sitting room. There was a stairway that led from the porch to the waterfront a few feet below, the white sand turning orange with the light from the sunset. Sitting on the shoreline was a humanoid figure, facing the open water and unmoving, but I guessed from the way the hair was cut that it was another brother of Genki's.

He did say that they were sextuplets, so there are six in total...

I gently took off my socks before stepping down the stairway, studying the unknown brother before he could notice me.

This one also had fins where the ears would be, but there wasn't any spiny coral like Ichimatsu's or Osomatu's headpiece. Instead, there were smaller brain corals acting as hairpins that kept his hair out of his face. The skin that met the tail scales was raised, as if it was agitated by the water and sand rubbing against it, and the fin layout was not as extravagant as Osomatsu's lionfish tail. Two pectoral fins lay limply in the water, but I couldn't see what other fins he had due to his sitting position, with his 'knees' close to his chest as he kept looking out towards the horizon. The sunset threw off what color his scales were, but they seemed to have a deep green hue.

"Uh...hello there," I coughed softly so as not to surprise him. It didn't seem to work as he spun around his head instantly, looking as if to dive towards the deeper water, "Wa...wait! I came here with Gen...Matsuno Karamatsu."

"Karamatsu's here?" His voice seemed a little bit higher than Genki's, but his body language noticeably relaxed when I mentioned Genki's old name.

I guess he wasn't lying about who he is.

"Yeah...he's up with Mrs. Yowai still, but she didn't seem to like me being here," I made my way towards the water's edge, letting the waves tickle my toes but leaving enough space between this brother to feel like I wasn't going to attack him -- or give him a chance to attack me. I had no idea how the other brothers were like, but having one mad at me was more than enough.

"Sounds like Totoko," He laughed a little before looking back out to the horizon, "You must be (l/n) (y/n) if you came with Karamatsu. Is he still his painful self around the office?"

Painful?

"No, he's fine. He seems to work hard, and says that he loves the job," I recalled the conversation on the bus and fought down the flush I felt on my face.

"Really? I guess he's learned to mellow out over the years," The brother gazed back towards me, "My name is Choromatsu. Sorry about the late introduction...has he...uh...t-told you already?" The longer he tried to look at me, the more nervous he seemed to get.

"About the merman thing? Yeah..."

"Oh, good. I don't know what he told you, but let's just say that not everyone actually believes what we really are," He seemed to be a little relieved, "Oh, and to avoid confusion, you can call me by my first name."

"So...Choromatsu."

"Y-yes?" His voice jumped up an octave and his stutter came back twofold.

"Are you okay?" I was worried that he was bitten by something, but it could also be that they may have never really talked to a younger person than Yowai.

"Yeah...just ner--trying to relax, is all," He moved a little bit closer and leaned in as if inspecting something on my legs, "Oh...sorry about that."

I looked down to see the bruise around my left ankle, "How did you know?"

"It's...one of Ichimatsu's...preferences," He seemed to know more, but I let it be for now.

"It's not a huge deal. I mean, I'm still alive, so it's okay...kinda," I tried to smile, but the emotion didn't quite feel right, "You seem okay to be around, Choromatsu. You haven't tried to drag me out into the water, so far."

"(L/n)!" Genki's shout came from within the house, and I heard footsteps before I saw him appear on the porch.

"Genki, I'm here with Choromatsu," I waved to him before motioning towards Choromatsu. I could see a look of slight relief pass over Genki's face before he made his way towards the private beach, kneeling next to Choromatsu in the water. I noticed that he had changed from his work attire to a t-shirt and beach shorts.

"Choro, I'm happy to see you, my brother!" He reached out for a hug that seemed to be unwanted from Choromatsu.

"Yeah, yeah...good to see you, too, Karamatsu," Choromatsu smiled a little, but didn't reciprocate the hug fully. I took a few steps back towards the staircase and brushed off the sand from my feet, leaving the two men to be alone after what was implied was a long time.

----

"Choromatsu, how has everything been since that trawler went down in the deeper waters of Japan?" Karamatsu ran his left hand through his tousled hair as he sat next to his younger brother.

"That happened a while ago -- almost twenty years, actually," Choromatsu scoffed, "You really haven't been able to pay attention, have you?"

"No, not really," Karamatsu partially turned towards the house to see (y/n) walk inside and close the porch sliding door behind her, "I've been busy trying to secure a life for me here."

"You know...if you asked Osomatsu, he could probably give you back your fins. He's gotten stupid powerful lately, but his tantrums have seemed to grow worse along with his abilities. I'm doing all I can, even if it is just keeping Totoko from experiencing his wrath," Choromatsu relaxed his tail and fully lay out in the sand, letting the water surround him with each wave.

"What happened to Todomatsu? I thought that this was his job," Karamatsu raised an eyebrow.

"...He went rogue a few years ago, just after Jyushimatsu."

"Then Ichimatsu...?"

"He's probably the next to fall past the point of no return. With how angry he becomes, it wouldn't surprise me if he turns full rogue in the next year or so," A wave completely covered Choromatsu's face, but his voice still carried as if he had only paused for breath, "I heard that there was a scuffle between you two just north of here, and (l/n) was involved."

"It wasn't really like that. I just had a feeling that he'd be hunting around that area, and it turned out to be right...like always," Karamatsu stood up fully before a second wave crashed into the shore, "We've always had this sixth sense when another brother is around."

Choromatsu fell quiet as the wave receded from the shore, just listening to the sounds the water made as it hit against many of the nearby rocks.

"Just don't get caught again."