Chapter Text
Are mermaids real? This question has been asked for centuries. Maybe not around the world, but in the small town of Otaru, it’s a question asked daily. Plenty of people have claimed that they’ve seen a mermaid. But they were all alone and at night, so their stories are hardly believable.
Amane and his pirate crew have been docked at Otaru for 67 days. He could tell the crew was itching to get back out on the ocean, but he needed a reason to go back. Let it be a bounty, some buried treasure, whatever, he just wanted a reason. In the meantime, he kept himself busy by working odd jobs at restaurants and bars, despite being underaged.
Amane had ordered half of his crew to work jobs, while the other half scrambles to buy supplies and seek out bounties or treasure maps.
Finding something like that wouldn’t normally be too hard, sailing the seas were quite common these days. But truth be told, Amane and his crew were quite illegal. Reason number 1, he was underage therefore deemed ‘unfit’ to be the captain of a ship. Reason number 2, plenty of his crew were also underage. Oh, and reason number 3. Amane stabbed a boy and ran away from his crimes.
Though it doesn’t get discussed, the rest of his crew also have a reason for running.
Amane sighed, wiping down bar counters. He volunteered for the closing shift tonight, after Mei Shijima told him she had some news. It could be anything, knowing her. She got new pencils, her drawings came to life, she found a job, she pet a cat today… Mei was always random, but that’s what Amane liked about her.
Sure enough, as Amane was putting chairs up, Mei walked in with the whole crew behind her. He noticed right away that she had some sort of rolled up poster in her hand. “Mei! Glad to see you.” Amane looked around at everyone else. “You all, too.”
“Mei, I hope this is good! I have a shift tonight and if I miss it I could get fired!” Yako groaned.
“Calm down, if Captain Amane likes it, then you won’t need your job anymore!” Mei unrolled the paper and slammed it on a table.
Amane sighed, and looked around at the rest of his crew. No.6 looked expressionless as always. No.6 was a strange being to him. No.6 came to him one day out of the blue, and asked to join his crew. With no reason to refuse, Amane smiled at him and welcomed aboard. Amane doesn’t even know his real name. He just started calling him ‘No.6’ because he was the 6th crew member, and everyone else started calling him that too.
Tsuchigomori was already lighting a cigar. Amane always thought the smell of cigarettes and cigars were utterly vile, but who is he to stop Tsuchigomori from smoking?
Mitsuba was hiding behind Tsuchigomori. Despite his timid and pinkish cute looks, Mistuba was a brat. Or maybe Amane just didn’t know him well enough, but he doubted it. Mitsuba had actually helped him escape from the law and make a pirate crew, and Amane is forever grateful to him. Amane guessed that he saw Tsuchigomori as some sort of father figure. He couldn’t blame him, almost half of the crew did, including himself.
Yako was also sort of a brat, but she means well. Mostly. She reminded him of a fox a lot, but he’d never tell her that, because he’d get beat up.
And then there was Akane. Akane always had a bored expression on his face, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. It made Amane wonder if Akane’s ever been happy in life. “Akane~” He smiled. Akane looked over at him.
Amane used his two pointer fingers and made his mouth go up. “Don’t forget to smile!”
Akane flipped him off.
Mei sighed loudly and tapped the paper. “Can we please focus on this? This is important, I swear!”
“Fine, fine. Everyone gather round!”
Everyone stopped what they were doing and awkwardly shuffled around. Except for No.6, he stood where he was and towered over everyone ominously. “Well, get on with it.”
“Captain, it’s a bounty! Look!” Mei exclaimed with sparkles in her eyes.
Amane was surprised that she was even able to find a job for them. His eyes trailed down to the poster. ¥ 9,000,000… for a mermaid scale?! “Mei… where did you get this? Mermaids aren’t real.”
“But what if they were real?!” She pouted. “And Akane helped me find it, so blame him.”
“Stop pointing fingers, asshole!” Akane complained.
Tsuchigomori tapped his finger on the money part. “But come on guys, ¥9,000,000? That’s so much money.”
“Y’all are missing the point. Mermaids aren’t real.” No.6’s southern accent boomed through the bar.
“We could always make a fake one if needed. With Mei’s artistic abilities, we could definitely make a convincing fake one.” Yako pointed out. She sighed and adjusted some bells in her hair.
“So then why go out to sea in the first place?” Mitsuba crossed his arms.
Amane smiled. “I think because everyone here is getting bored of being on land. Plus, the police are bound to catch up to us eventually.”
Murmurs of “Yes..” and “Well that’s true.” echoed around the table.
“Then it’s settled!” Amane grabbed the paper, rolled it back up, then handed it back to Mei. “Tell em’ we’ll take it. We leave tomorrow afternoon.”
“Alright. I’m outta here! I need to get to work.” Yako huffed and sped-walk out of the bar.
Amane turned to Tsuchigomori. “I want a financial report within 3 hours. Mitsuba, help him.” They both looked like they wanted to say something, but he motioned to them to just shut up and do as told.
“Mei, go run back and tell the guy who you got it from that we’ll take it. Akane, go with her since you allegedly helped Mei to get it.” Amane smiled softly to himself. He liked when he got to tell people what to do, and they couldn’t complain. At least, not to his face.
As Mei and Akane were leaving, Amane turned to No.6. “Can you make sure everyone stays on task?”
No.6 gave a small nod. “Of course, captain. I’ll meet you back at the ship in the afternoon. And I’ll make sure everyone else does as well.” He walked out, and quickly disappeared from Amane’s line of sight.
No.6 did anything that Amane asked. Anything . Depending on how you look at it, it can be kind of scary. Amane found it strangely reassuring. He sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair, before putting up all the chairs and locking the entrance doors to the bar.
Soon, the reality of the job set in. A mermaid's scale? Mermaids don’t even exist. Amane didn’t mind fairytales and fantasy stories, but for someone to outright request a somewhat magical item? Amane thinks a lot of people in this town need a reality check. He slowly walked to where his ship was waiting, bobbing up and down with the waves. He smiled as went on board, and began to polish up a bit. After 67 days, things got a bit dirty.
As he was sweeping a little bit, a hand grabbed his shoulder. Immediately Amane grabbed the wrist of the hand, took his butcher’s knife out, turned around, and held the knife up to the person’s neck.
“Holy shit Amane! Put that knife down! Are you trying to kill me?!” Mitsuba’s voice squeaked, his other arm in the air. “And why do you still use that thing? Didn’t I tell you to get rid of it?!”
Amane stood there for a second just blinking. He turned his head and saw Tsuchigomori sighing. “Let go of me, you pervert!” Mitsuba shouted.
Amane smiled slightly and let go of his wrist, drawing back his knife. “Sorry.”
“Well, at least you got good reflexes.” Tsuchigomori shrugged and rubbed the back of his head. “You cleaning up here?”
“Yep! Do you guys want to help?!”
“…No. We got the expense report, though.”
“You mean I got the expense report.” Mitsuba smirked.
“ You just followed me like a lost puppy and then hid behind me muttering insults when the guy was calculating everything.” Tsuchigomori sighed and patted Mitsuba on the head.
“Can I see it then?” Amane tilted his head.
“Of course.” Tsuchigomori handed him a sheet of paper.
They had ¥762,861 to spend. Perfect. “Looks like I need to go on a shopping spree. Ugh.” Amane groaned. “While I’m doing that, you two can finish cleaning her for me.” He grinned and slapped the side of the ship.
They both started complaining as Amane stuffed his hands in his pockets, and walked off to some stores, and stopped at an entrance when something occurred to him. “No.6?” He called out.
And sure enough, No.6 emerged from the shadows.
“Thought so.” Amane smirked. “I’m gonna need some help to carry supplies back to the ship.” No.6 nodded and walked in with Amane.
Amane sighed and looked around at the aisles. “This might take a while.”
They wandered around a little bit, the cashier eyeing them suspiciously. Amane couldn’t blame them though. It was nearly 4:00 A.M., and Amane was carrying around a large butchers knife. No.6 just looked scary enough on his own.
“What are we lookin’ for exactly?” No.6 questioned.
“Mmmmm…” Amane put his hands behind his back. “Anything, really. Canned goods, fresh fruits and vegetables, the list goes on.”
No.6 nodded. He went off and grabbed a large box at the front of the store. He took cans off shelves and shoved them in Amane’s face, waiting to get his approval to put it in the box.
And pretty soon the box filled up.
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By the time No.6 and Amane carried all of the supplies back to the ship, Amane was exhausted. No.6 looked just fine, however. The sun was peeking up over the horizon, indicating that it was morning. Amane sighed. Another all-nighter.
“Hey No.6?”
“Yes captain?”
“Go gather Yako, Akane, and Mei. We might as well leave now, since we have everything ready. Plus I’ve been making Mitsuba and Tsuchigomori clean for maybe about an hour now.” Amane started fiddling with his fingers, and looked up. He could still faintly see the stars, and lifted a finger to trace Orion’s Belt.
“Of course, right away.” No.6 ran off to go find them somewhere.
Aman sighed and took a seat on the edge of the boat. Tsuchigomori and Mitsuba have really been doing a good job cleaning it. He could faintly hear them bickering down below. He could easily go down there and tell them to get back to work, but they’ve done enough already.
“Captain.”
Amane jumped and drew his knife. He turned around only to see No.6 holding Mei and Akane by their shirt collars, leaving them dangling in the air. “If you say anything captain, I’ll throw you overboard.” Akane narrowed his eyes at Amane.
Amane grinned, and put away his knife. “Great job No.6. You can drop them if you’d like.” Instantly, No.6 let go and they both fell to the ground.
“Did you have to drop us like that?” Mei groaned.
No.6 just shrugged.
“How did it go?” Amane questioned them, and shooed No.6 away.
Akane brushed off some dirt on his pants. “Fine. The guy was happy we accepted.”
“Yeah! Then we just wandered around for a bit. Akane got us some yakisoba.” Mei exclaimed.
“There was a yakisoba vendor open that late?” Amane raised an eyebrow.
“Yep! Pretty awesome, don’t you think?” Mei’s smile faltered a little. “Though, I would’ve preferred pancakes…”
“Be grateful, asshole!” Akane scoffed.
Mei giggled, then ran off to see what Mitsuba was doing.
“Akane, do you mind getting us out the port? I need some sleep.” Amane yawned.
“Why do I always have to steer the ship? Why can’t Tsuchigomori or No.6 do it?” Akane groaned.
“Is that anyway to speak to your captain?” Amane tilted his head.
Akane didn’t say anything else, then spun around to prepare the ship for takeoff, muttering under his breath.
Amane smiled. He went downstairs where the rooms were, but stopped at the kitchen to get some water first. He groaned when he saw that the food supplies weren’t put away yet. While unboxing everything, Amane couldn’t help but think about the bounty. Yes, ¥9,000,000 was a lot but was it worth it? Mermaids are nothing but fantasy.
The more he thinks about it, he’s surprised that Mei was the one who proposed the bounty. She dislikes fiction and prefers to stick to reality, yet she wants to go mermaid hunting. How strange. After unpacking all the food, Amane opens the fridge to begin organizing everything. Maybe he overstocked on food just a little bit, but that’s not his problem even though it is.
Suddenly, Amane’s stomach did a flip-flop and he felt like throwing up. Yet he grinned, because it meant Akane got the ship moving. After taking some deep breaths, Amane went back to organizing the fridge. It was somewhat therapeutic.
“Captain?” No.6 stood in the doorway.
“No.6. What can I do for you?” Amane shoved some water bottles in the fridge, then closed it.
“Do you need any help?”
“Sure. You can finish organizing the food on the counter. I’m going to go take a nap.” He stood up and stretched. “Have fun~!”
No.6 nodded, and walked in after he left.
Amane walked down a hallway to get to his room. Screaming, Mitsuba sprinted past him, followed by Mei chasing him with a palette knife. He smiled, glad to know that everyone was getting along.
He opened the door to his room. It looked exactly like he left it. Despite Amane being almost 16, he still had childish decorations like stars on his ceiling that glow in the dark. They remind him that he will never be an astronaut. For as long as he can remember, he’s always been fascinated by space and wanted to go to the moon. But since committing a crime, that dream died with his victim. Still he liked to at least look at the stars. When he was 14 he bought himself a telescope, and became obsessed with taking it out on deck at night. It was beautiful, miles away from any land and light pollution.
With thinking of the stars, Amane slowly drifted off to sleep.
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When Amane awoke, it was broad daylight. He groggily forced himself out of his room, and onto the deck. Akane noticed him instantly. “Good, you’re awake. You can steer now. I’m going to sleep.” He offered no more explanation, and walked off to his room.
Amane didn’t stop him, he must be tired. He looked around for Mei, knowing she must have the map somewhere. She was up on the mast, sketching something. “Mei!” He yelled. She didn’t hear him. She just kept her eyes down on her paper.
He sighed, and went over to climb up the mast. Wind blew past him as he climbed up. Mei must’ve heard him coming, because by the time he was up there she was turned around and facing him. “Captain! What can I do for you?”
“Do you have the map to where we’re going?”
She shook her head. “No, it’s down by the steering wheel somewhere. But I guarantee you we are going in the right direction, so you can relax for a bit.” Mei smiled.
Amane frowned. He climbed up here for nothing. “Oh.” He paused. “Do you mind if I sit with you?”
“Not at all!”
Amane hoisted himself onto the small ledge and took a seat, his legs dangling over the edge. The view was beautiful, an ocean of blue with diamonds in it. He looked down at Mei’s sketchbook. “Whatcha drawing?”
“The ocean. And maybe a mermaid.” She gave him a toothy grin.
“Do you think they’re actually real?”
“No. But I really hope they are! I’ve been wanting to meet one since I was little.” Mei adjusted her glasses.
Ah, so that was the reason. A childhood dream. They sat in silence, enjoying the view. Amane was content just sitting there doing nothing. It’s what he’d rather be doing every day. “The wind is amazing today. We’re making good progress.” Mei commented.
“By the way, where exactly are we going?”
“Some lagoon. Apparently that’s where mermaid sightings happen the most there.” Mei erased a line and retraced it, dumping her pencil shavings on him.
Amane made a face, but didn’t comment on it. “How cliché. Well, I’ll leave you alone.” He stood up and hesitated going down for a second, enjoying the view and wind on his face. Eventually, he climbed down. No.6 was waiting for him.
“Captain, I finished organizing everything.”
“Excellent. You can just relax now. Maybe take a nap or something.”
No.6 nodded, and went back down to probably take a nap.
Amane always liked sunny days, they put him in a good mood. Whether mermaids were real or not, he had a feeling that this job was going to be a fun one.