A Merfolk's Tale

Chapter Sixteen

Quiet little sobs echoed his cavern as he tried to reduce the sound of his cries. However, his mother had heard it the moment she approached his room and new something happened again.

Mitsuki peeped her head through the archway that led to her son's room and saw the eight-year-old green-haired merman lying on his bed-- his head resting down on his bent arms as his shoulder shook at every sob.

"Izuku...?" Mitsuki called gently, but it startled the greenhead as if she had screamed and she saw how puffy and red Izuku's eyes were.

"What's wrong?" Mitsuki asked as she swam over to him and sat gently on his bed.

"N-nothing... Mama," Izuku said, sniffing a bit and averting his eyes as he pulled his tail near his chest and embraced it with his arms.

"Are they bullying you again?" Mitsuki asked and Izuku's lack of response confirmed it. She clenched her fist and swore she'd hit Katsuki in the head as soon as he arrives home.

"They said... mom left me because I could understand the human language..." Izuku said, "That mom was afraid I was cursed..."

Mitsuki looked at Izuku sadly. She knew that Katsuki was bullying him but she also knew that her other son wouldn't go that far as he knew the situation Izuku was in, and secretly cared for the greenhead as well. 

"It wasn't Katsuki that bullied you today, was it?" Mitsuki said and Izuku shook his head.

"Am I cursed, Mistuki-san?" Izuku asked, his big green orbs looking up at Mitsuki that had always reminded her of Inko. "Was that why mama left me?"

"No," Mitsuki answered as she pulled Izuku close and embraced him. "Inko loved you very much..."

"Then why did she leave me?" Izuku asked and Mitsuki's heart broke for the kid.

"But she never left, you see," Mitsuki said, breaking the hug and made a small space between him and the boy before she pointed at Izuku's left chest. "As long as she's there, she'll always be by your side,"

Izuku looked down at the chest. "She's... she's always here... and so are you and Kacchan," he answered and Mitsuki smiled. "That's right, and you'll always be in mine and in Katsuki's. But more importantly, you've been in Inko's heart this whole time just as she was in yours,"

Mitsuki could remember how small and fragile Izuku had looked as soon as Inko gave birth to him. She remembered how the bundle first opened his eyes and smiled at his mother and cooing at Mitsuki who held a sleeping Katsuki that time. She remembered how Izuku had reached for her when Izuku handed him over to take care of him. She remembered how many times she caught Izuku crying in his room, how many times he tried to hide the bruises he got from his bullies, how many times he heard the silent prayers he whispered at night for his mother to visit him in his dreams and she badly wanted to protect him every time she remembers those times-- the one thing she had regretted all these years of taking care of the green-haired boy.

With a soft smile, she stroke Izuku's hair as his head rested on her lap and the latter gave a sleepy groan before shifting his position and nuzzled on her. She would have been in peace at that very moment if it weren't for the fact that they were both trapped in a cramped tank inside a ship that a pirate owned after capturing the both of them.

The slamming of the door startled Mitsuki and woke Izuku up as the pirates entered the room where they were. The humans started talking-- words that Mitsuki did not understand but by the looks of Izuku's expression, it was something bad.

"Never..." Izuku said angrily, "I will never do it!"

"What's wrong Izuku?" Mitsuki asked and the greenhead looked at her, eyes full of regret and sadness-- an expression one makes when he's torn to making a tough decision.