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notsostraightarrowbabey · 2 years

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Fish and Pearls (part 10)

"Jesus fucking wept," was the response that Himiko got from Dabi. The cabin’s occupants had quieted down after her hastened announcement, but it was barely a second before Dabi offered up his exasperation.

She whipped her head around to face Dabi - and subsequently Tomura as well - with her hands on her hips.

"'Jesus wept?' What do you mean 'Jesus wept?' It's not like she's gonna hike out here with torches and pitchforks! She doesn't even know where we are."

"No," Tomura said, sitting up in the hammock and extracting himself from Dabi's arms. "She might not know where we are, but she knows what you are and that's more than enough."

"I don't see how you, of all people, are lecturing me on this. How are you any different when you did the exact same thing!"

Both Tomura and Dabi's faces darkened.

Before Tomura could say anything else in retaliation, Magne stood and walked over to join her fellow selkies. Her hand was warm against Himiko's shoulder - rough with callouses from years of ship work, but no less gentle and loving.

"We can air grievances later." Tomura may be the captain of the Death's Inferno, and they all respected him for it, but Magne had always been a peacemaker among their small family. "Himiko, do you trust- what was her name again, dear?"

"Ochako."

"Ochako. Do you trust Ochako?"

"I do trust her."

A resounding thump echoed through the cabin when Tomura smacked his hand on one of the numerous wooden pillars that lined the room.

"Trust can be easily misplaced." He said, red eyes glaring sharply.

"I know that Tomura. All of us know that. I've learned to trust my gut, and Ochako isn't setting off any warning signals. Why-"

"You're blinded by young love. It's not even love. You’re infatuated and obsessed with a stupid girl that feels nothing for you."

Himiko clenched and unclenched her fists angrily at her sides. She's stabbed people for saying less, and she was finding it hard to resist now.

She glanced over Tomura's shoulder to see Dabi, who was looking at the back of Tomura's head with surprise.

After taking a shuddering breath in through her nose she said, "Why won't you trust me on this?" Through gritted teeth.

Tomura lurched forward with his hand pointing towards his chest.

"I am trusting my own gut to keep my crew safe. Why aren't you trusting me?"

The two of them were so occupied with each other that they didn't notice that Spinner had gone over to Compress (with Mittens still on his shoulder) and was talking to him with a sense of urgency. They also didn't notice that Jin had floated over to them and was hovering directly over their heads.

"This back and forth is doing no one any good." He said, concern etched into the translucent lines of his face. This statement from him was followed with the remark of "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

Atsuhiro gently pushed his way into the group and proposed an idea with a flourishing hand.

"Might it be a good idea to venture out and see the young lass with our own eyes before we pass judgement? Our Himiko does seem enamored, and isn't it normal for a young person's family to meet their suitor before it gets too serious?"

"That's actually a very good idea, Compress," said Magne, looking relieved that someone else had stepped in to assist. "What do you say, captain?"

The moment between Tomura and Himiko had broken, but the air around them still felt tight. They hadn't broken eye contact, and so Himiko watched as his face twisted into an angry mask and his eye twitched.

That was how the crew ended up in a row boat cresting the ocean waves as the sun dangled barely above the horizon. Tomura and Magne swam alongside the boat, having transformed on the Loading Docks while the crew lowered down the row boat from the top deck. Himiko knew that Magne had dragged Tomura into the sea so that he had a chance to calm down, and she was grateful. Having the captain glaring at her from the other end of the boat would have grated on her nerves and worn them down very quickly.

She knew that Tomura was only trying to do what was best for all of them and keep them safe, but at the same time she was not dumb. She hadn't meant for Ochako to see her, but it had happened anyway. In her opinion, she handled the situation very well.

Because transforming was tiring and she had already done it twice in a short amount of time - not to mention she was the only one with directions - Himiko stayed in the boat in her human skin, with her seal pelt wrapped securely around her shoulders and flapping in the wind.

The crew rowed and rowed back along the path that Himiko had taken not even an hour earlier. The Death's Inferno got smaller and eventually disappeared.

Every so often, Magne or Tomura would pop their head above the surface to take a breath or to bark at the crew. Himiko could easily tell them apart not only because she's been crew mates - pack - with the two of them for years, but also because Tomura was significantly thinner than Magne. Himiko knew that the water must be frigid on his skin. It was cold for her, and she had much more blubber on her body than he did. She also knew that his skin would be so dry and chapped later, and they would all hear about it.

It was late morning by the time that they pushed the boat into the soft sand of the beach; the sun was not yet at its peak. The labored sounds of transformation - grunts, groans, the cracking and popping of joints - overlapped with the whooshing of the waves. Himiko silently handed Tomura and Magne their clothes and went about trying to figure out exactly where they were in relation to Ochako's home. It wasn't long after that that they were tromping through the underbrush of the surrounding woods.

Ochako’s home was small but cozy. Himiko thought that the stone walls and the wooden trimming were cute. The thatched roof hung out over the edges of the house, creating a shaded area around the perimeter. There were flower boxes in the widows, and a fence surrounding what Himiko thought must be a small kitchen garden. If Himiko had been more of a land lass, this would be the kind of house she would live in.

The crew - led by Tomura and Himiko - crept into the lovely little house as quietly as possible. The window shutters had been opened to let in the morning air, and thin curtains fluttered as the six of them (minus Jin, who had gone upstairs) walked past. The small parlor was humbly decorated and had a distinct sense of being very loved. The cushions on the love seat were patched, as was the thin blanket that lay folded over the back of it. The mantle held illustrations of what must be Ochako’s parents, a gas lantern, and three hand-carved wooden figurines. One man, a woman, and a tiny girl. The three figurines were dressed in tiny clothes that seemed to have been cut from a flour sack. Skirts, shirts, and pants. The dolls’ hair was made from little pieces of embroidery thread: blond for the man and brown for the mother and child. A minuscule pink bow - probably cut from scrap ribbon - was nestled in the tiny girl’s hair. Himiko’s heart clenched, and she took a moment to mourn the normal family she could have had. The moment was brief, and when it was over she reached up, took the little girl doll, and pocketed it.

Himiko turned her back to the mantle. The rest of the crew was busy doing their own investigation of the house, and only Tomura was left with her in the parlor. He was sitting on the love seat, legs sprawled and arm thrown over the back. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for him to sit like this, in fact it was very common. The only difference was that there was no energy in his body. He looked like a puppet whose strings had been cut loose. There was a sheen of sweat on his forehead, and his eyes were half-lidded.

“Tomura?” Himiko said, walking over to him and squatting down to eye level. From here, she could hear that his breathing was more of a wheeze.

“Don’t look at me like that, Toga. I just needed a moment. Transforming isn’t as easy for me as it is for the rest of you.”

Himiko hummed and straightened up. “Let me at least take your coat before you pass out on the couch,” she said, grabbing the lapels of his coat - his actual coat, not his seal pelt - from behind and guiding it off of his shoulders. Once Tomura’s arms were out of the sleeves, Himiko gently shoved him so that he was laying on his side. She draped the jacket over him (and his seal pelt, which was a tad ragged around the edges) as a sort of mock blanket so that he wouldn’t catch a chill.

“Listen, you may be a jackass,” Himiko said, giving him an exasperated look. “But you’re our jackass. Get some rest, captain, and we’ll be back when we find Ochako.”

“Whatever you say, Toga. Whatever you say.”

Tomura’s wheezy breathing evened out, and Himiko knew that he had fallen asleep. When Jin’s head appeared from the ceiling from the floor above, Himiko was quick to shush him so that Tomura could rest.

Everyone else had already gathered in the foyer when Himiko joined them.

“Where’s Tomura?” Dabi asked. His tricorn hat was held lazily in his fingers, as wearing it in this small house would have surely knocked something over.��

Himiko motioned over her shoulder to the parlor. “The transformation exhausted him. I told him to rest while we found Ochako.”

“I see,” was his only response, though his face looked tense with worry.

“She’s not in the house. Actually there’s no one in the house. It’s empty except for us.” Spinner said. He was leaning against the entry doorstop.

“Well then, let’s go find her.”

~*~

Seven - Eight - Nine - Ten - TBC

~*~

@fun-times-ahead13

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