With Lungs Like Gills (Merman!Brothers x Reader)

Chapter 24 - Ichimatsu's Ending

A name made itself known in my head, reminding me of the one I chose.

"With that in mind, I choose Ichimatsu," I finished and called out to the purple merman that was starting to sink beneath the surface again, as if he thought he wasn't going to be called. Ichimatsu stopped moving and looked back at me, his eyes wide as if I had offended him.

"You're choosing your attempted murderer?" Osomatsu snickered, "This is a joke, right?"

"He may have tried to kill me, but he never tried to deceive me," I looked towards Osomatsu, "'Yamano'."

"Oh, come on!" He raised himself up on his hands, locking eyes with me as a frown crept over his lips, "I would've told you the truth eventually."

"I doubt it," I rolled my eyes as I put a hand on my hip.

"Whatever. Just give me my coral back, and I'll leave," He held out a hand expectantly. Fishing for the coral in my shorts pocket, I gently tossed it to him and watched as he grabbed it before leaving in a flourish of lionfish fins, his red form disappearing into the deeper waters beyond the beachfront. With one of the more worrisome brothers gone, I released a breath I was holding, thankful that he hadn't unleashed a terrifying storm like last time.

I turned to Ichimatsu, noticing that Jyushimatsu had slipped away while I was talking to the eldest, leaving Todomatsu alone by the breakwater, a quiet fury in his glowing eyes.

"What?" I returned his dark scowl with a frown, not moving from the safety of the beach.

"Tch..." was his only reply before furiously turning in the water, his tail sending a small wave crashing against the shore as he disappeared underneath the water. I expected him to throw some sort of tantrum, with the talk that we had last night only happening because I enticed him with what he wanted: my death.

After ensuring that the larger threats were not in the area, I moved into the water towards Ichimatsu, who had remained where he was when I called out his name. His tail was positioned similar to an anchor on the sand, the end of his fin starting where the water reached my knees. I didn't move any further towards him in hopes of keeping my clothes dry, gently poking the edge of his fin with my big toe. It felt like there was a thin membrane on the surface of the fin, some kind of mucus-like film to keep the water from creating drag as he swam, and possibly doubling as an exterior 'coat' to keep him warm in the deep waters.

"...what..." Ichimatsu didn't pose the word as a question, most of his body motionless underwater. I realized that he didn't flinch away when I touched him with my toe, thinking back to when he chased away physical contact with me.

"I'm not sure," I was honest in my response, "No one really raised a fuss, and I was kinda expecting a backlash after a few events happened."

"Because they think that by choosing me, you sealed your death."

"I don't think so," I shook my head as I looked into his narrowed eyes, seeing his regular dark hues look right back, "If you really wanted me dead, you would've done it when I touched you just now. Unless...you want to kill me somewhere else in private."

I heard Choromatsu scoff behind me.

"..." Ichimatsu sank beneath the surface, his tail pulling away from my foot as he vanished into the ocean, his purple scales blending into the deep blue coloration. I could only stand there as he swam away from me, my heart hurting as the merman that I wanted to be with...appeared to reject me.

"(Y/n)..." Karamatsu's voice was soft in the silence of the morning, "Give him some time to himself. I think he'll come back around eventually."

I hummed in response, not really agreeing or complaining about what he said. I did 'kidnap' Ichimatsu when I found him injured a few nights ago, bringing him to my apartment without asking. Someone could construe that as preventing him from returning home on his own terms, even if he was suffering from Osomatsu's stings.