Mermay 2021: 11

 Aizawa stung all over. His hands were crusted with blood and he was the hottest he'd been in his life.

But he appeared to be alive.

<i>I never hurt so much in a dream</i>, he thought wearily as he fought to regain consciousness. <i>Also, I doubt The Great Abyss is dry</i>.

Sweat trickled down off his neck and back as he gave a great effort and pushed up with his arms, shoving himself into a kneeling position.

Wait.

Wait...

<i>How am I upright</i>?

He squinted down at his waist and his vision swam crazily for a moment.

"This can't be happening."

When he was unconscious the diving teams had searched the waters near the aquarium and found nothing. It helped that the staff at the base were pragmatic folk, so no one believed the top officer. They swam around the perimeters and did due diligence, but since they "knew" this was a hoax they didn't take it as seriously as they would an underwater rescue or retrieval. Even Enji as Chief Mate thought his Master was a bit off. But he took Elly in hard because of the way she had scared him, making him look like a fool. No matter what happened, she should be frightened into compliance and learn to treat him with respect. A bonus of this ridiculous "merman" conspiracy would be the Master of the base getting demoted so they never had to put up with his theories again.

That was the plan, but the mers didn't know that. They called a hasty meeting at the reef once the humans had cleared out.

"We have to get him." Kayama looked out into the distance. "He's definitely gone by now - there's no way he didn't dry out in the sun that whole time. But we can't let anyone find him."

Hizashi wailed. "He was my best friend!"

"Maybe he's okay." Yagi tried to be hopeful.

"Wait." The shrimp merman's eyes widened all at once. His mustache antennae twitched.

"We can't wait, we have to -"

He snapped his claw angrily, firing off a bubble bullet that hushed them all. "No, quiet! I <i>hear</i> him!"

"What?!"

They followed the red and white blur as he zipped crazily through the water, exclaiming as fish and seaweed were whipped back into their faces. He led them to a lonely cove still on protected property near the aquarium.

"Well? Where is he?"

"Hizashi! I know you can hear me, damn it!"

Hizashi pointed up. "On the beach?"

They popped their heads out of the water, and, sure enough, there was their friend.

They stared at him.

He stared tiredly back.

Yagi coughed, slowly deflating from his massive form back to his normal one.

"Aizawa," Kayama began in a deadly quiet voice.

"Yeah."

"Where is your <i>tail</i>?!"

There was another uncomfortable silence, and then he sighed. "I don't know."

"Ew."

"Thank you, Hizashi," Aizawa told him with real irritation. "That's helping."

"All right, okay." Hizashi paced back and forth on the wet sand. The ten shrimp legs along his tail allowed him to walk unlike most mer, but he rarely risked staying out of the water for long. He circled his friend, looking him up and down, before returning to the safety of the surf. "I can't believe they're real, but they are."

"Helpful," he repeated sourly, kicking at a small crab scuttling by and almost losing his balance in return. "They're obviously real."

"Yeah, but I still think I'm dreaming." Kayama rubbed her eyes. "Damn. The walkers just have everything out in the open, don't they?"

"It looks ...untidy," Yagi murmured, covering his eyes.

Aizawa glared at them. "Next issue: I need clothes so I can go after Ches. Not just to keep everything tucked away," he stared at Kayama again, "but because of this." He turned, and they all cringed at the bright red color on his back.

"Ouch. Ya got cooked, buddy." Hizashi rubbed what he could reach of his own back as if to reassure himself.

"Yes. It's painful. Can any of you help?"

Kayama pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I think I can grab some for you."

"I'll come too," Hizashi offered.

They were back in a half an hour with bundles held over their heads to keep the fabric dry. After dumping the loads on the beach Aizawa immediately started digging through looking for anything suitable.

"Where did you find human clothing in such abundance?" Yagi watched as the newly-formed human struggled to put on pants.

"There's a strange beach a few over where all the walk - er, humans shed their clothes before swimming."

Hizashi shuddered. "It's gross, yo. I'm never going back there."

"I hate to point this out," Yagi murmured, "but, aside from Kayama's shell top, we're all technically nude."

"And I only wear this because it looks good." She posed briefly.

"Yeah, but our - stuff -- isn't dangling around like bait. How do they avoid getting bit?"

When he finished picking through the clothing Aizawa had a dark purple t-shirt with a local band logo and jeans that were ripped on one knee. The only problem were his feet. Aizawa found out of all the items he put on, he <i>hated</i> shoes. They bound him in some odd way that caused him to panic, but he recognized the need to protect his fragile human skin there most of all. In the end he reluctantly chose some worn tennis shoes.

"This will do."

"You're going after her, right?" Hizashi sounded worried.

"I'm not coming back without Ches."

"Be careful."

"Good luck."

Yagi squinted up the coast. "We'll follow along as far as we can," he promised. "From what we saw, she's at the maritime base up the road from the aquarium. If you follow it straight for several miles you'll get there." He scratched his pointed chin, deep in thought. "It looks very intimidating. There are a lot of fences, and I don't know how you're supposed to get in."

"I'll figure it out." Aizawa's jaw clenched so hard a muscle rippled in his neck. "I'll figure it out and get my mate back."