Chapter 2
The identity of that boy haunted Hiroto almost constantly. He had printed the pictures he’d taken and he kept the one of the boy under his pillow, staring at it sometimes at night. It was really tempting him to go out, searching for this one again. That beautiful slim body and expressive eyes. He sighed to himself, rolling onto his side. Neither Nao or Tora could understand. He tried to tell Saga too, but his friend had laughed it off and made some comment about Hiroto being perverted for taking a picture of a naked guy.
The time flashed on his clock. 2:34 AM.
He wasn’t going to get any sleep if he didn’t go out and see him again.
Hiroto quietly and carefully pulled himself out of bed and slipped a pair of shoes on before he headed out in his spiderman t-shirt and boxers. It was tricky sneaking past the guards roaming the halls to catch any of the school kids wandering out of their dormitory, but he managed to get out to the docking station. He took his favorite dolphin submarine and headed out, going to the same section that he had gone before.
It was crazy. It wasn’t likely that his stranger would be out this time of night, but he just had a feeling. Hiroto docked the submarine by some underwater caves and suited up before he left the sub again to swim around in the water. He had nearly used up all his air again when he finally found something. He saw a small flash of blonde and quickly swam towards it, soon seeing the mysterious boy’s body floating around near the sea floor, eyes closed. He panicked for a moment, thinking that the other boy had died. He swam down closer, placing a hand on the taller one’s shoulder. Suddenly, the other’s eyes snapped open and the stranger struggled, pushing Hiroto away and swimming a safe distance away. Once he realized it was only Hiroto, the boy swam back and stared at Hiroto curiously. Hiroto smiled, motioning for the blonde to follow him. It seemed to work because as Hiroto swam back to the sub, the boy followed him.
Hiroto had made it all the way to the ladder before the other stopped, obviously nervous to go anywhere near the strange contraption. Hiroto motioned for him to follow again though and hesitantly, the boy followed again, boarding the submarine with Hiroto.
It was so exciting to Hiroto, he could hardly believe it. He quickly unsuited and nearly pulled his boxers off in the process. The stranger stood there, staring with his wide eyes, looking like he was trying to get adjusted to breathing. “I had to meet you again.” Hiroto said, stepping towards the other. “My name is Hiroto.”
Hiroto was met with another stare before the boy opened his mouth and replied with his own name. “Shou...”
Hiroto grinned and moved, getting a towel and bringing it over to Shou, wrapping it around his shoulders. “Here, dry off with this.”
Shou stood there cluelessly before he slowly hugged the towel around himself. It now struck Hiroto how odd Shou acted around normal things. He got his curiosity going and he just had to ask questions. “What were you doing out here at night anyway?” Hiroto asked, even though he knew he had gone out and swam around in the middle of the night too.
“Live....here...” Shou mumbled softly, beginning to walk around the submarine and stare in wonder at all the different buttons and controls. Hiroto smiled to himself, following Shou around.
“That’s impossible. There’s no colony around here.” Hiroto pointed out. Shou turned around to face Hiroto, frowning.
“I...live in water.” Shou said, trying to make his meaning clear. It had been so long since he had talked with another human. To help prove his point, he reached up, moving his hair to the side to show something on his neck. Hiroto’s eyes widened in shock and he stepped closer, reaching up to touch the formation of gills on Shou’s neck.
“That’s unreal.” Hiroto muttered, running his fingers over the edges. Shou smiled, placing his hand over Hiroto’s. Hiroto blushed a little before coughing and taking Shou’s towel to hook it around the other’s waist. “There, now you’re decently covered.” And after settling Shou down in one of the seats, Hiroto headed back to the dorms, wanting to show Shou where he lived and perhaps learn more about this unusual person.
Maneuvering a naked, fish boy through the halls and avoiding detection was a very difficult thing. Especially when Shou was really curious and liked touching things, much to Hiroto’s distress. But Shou was so adorable when he was excited about things that Hiroto couldn’t get mad. He just had to hold Shou’s hands in his own to know what he was touching, which he liked to do anyway.
Once back at his dorm room, Hiroto pulled Shou to his bed and laid him down, getting him comfortable and warm under the blankets before he slipped under the covers himself, cuddling up against Shou’s side. Shou smiled warmly, nuzzling Hiroto as he hugged the smaller boy close. He enjoyed being in the presence of humans again, especially one as cute and warm as Hiroto. Hiroto yawned and fell asleep quickly, almost immediately. He had been so tired and now was the time when he could get a few hours of sleep before getting up and explaining why Shou had suddenly appeared in their room. Shou ran his fingers through Hiroto’s hair as he watched him sleep, eventually following him into a peaceful rest.
Morning came much too quickly and Hiroto was reluctant to move or wake up at all. He slept past the time he was supposed to wake up and didn’t even stir as his roommates started to get up and move around.
Nao sat up, rubbing his eyes as he blinked blearily around the room. Once his eyes became focused, he spotted an extra bump in Hiroto’s bed. He looked over to Tora’s. Nope, Tora hadn’t mistaken Hiroto’s bed for his own. Who could be in Hiroto’s bed then? He frowned and rolled off his own bed, heading over to get a closer look.
Laying upon Hiroto’s bed was their little roommate, curled up against the chest of a stranger. The blankets were low enough on the stranger’s hips for Nao to notice that he was wearing nothing underneath. Nao paled and moved over to Tora, shaking the other’s shoulder roughly. “Tora!” He whispered in a panicked voice. “There’s a naked pervert that snuck into Pon’s bed!” A small groan was heard from Tora before he rolled over, looking up at Nao in confusion. Nao sighed and pointed to Hiroto’s bed. Tora slowly pushed himself up and he looked over, staring at the scene for a full minute before laying back down.
“He doesn’t look traumatized to me.” Tora muttered into the pillow. Nao sighed, giving up and deciding to get some Starbucks. It would be Tora’s fault if Pon got molested.
After a while, Tora got up and moved around, getting ready for the day when Saga burst in to greet his friends.
"Hey guys-" Saga stopped and stared wide eyed at Hiroto's bed. "Did little baby Pon get laid?"
"Doubt it." Tora muttered, slipping a shirt on over his head.
"Who is that?" Saga asked, pointing over to the boy beside Hiroto. Tora shrugged.
"Hell if I know." He replied, throwing his old pajama pants at Saga. "You might want to knock next time too."
"I was hoping you hadn't put pants on yet." Saga stated, looking disappointed at the clearly clothed Tora.
"Pervert." Tora mumbled, running a hand through his hair.
With all this noise, Shou began to stir, shifting in his spot and hugging Hiroto’s small body closer to him. Hiroto made a small noise of content, nuzzling Shou’s chest. It was a moment later when Hiroto opened his eyes that he remembered he was in bed with Shou. He smiled softly to himself, running his fingers through Shou’s hair and kissing the other’s forehead.
“Hiroppon!” Saga called as he sat behind Hiroto. Hiroto jumped a little, glancing behind him.
“Saga? When did you get here?”
“Just a minute ago.” Saga replied, shrugging. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a boyfriend?” He demanded, crossing his arms. Hiroto blushed, pulling the blanket over his head. He glanced over at Shou, seeing that the blonde had opened his pretty brown eyes and was staring at Hiroto curiously. Saga ripped the covers off then and Hiroto squeaked.
“Not bad.” Saga commented, eyeing Shou. Hiroto glared at the comment, taking a pillow and placing it over Shou’s privates to keep them...well, private. He didn’t need Saga ogling them.
“I can explain.” Hiroto said, glancing behind him at Shou and seeing the gills faintly under a layer of blonde hair. He could trust his friends. “Last night I snuck out...”
After explaining the situation to Saga, Tora and then Nao, when they found him in the cafeteria, Hiroto decided that he needed to come up with a story for Shou if the boy stayed there with them. Shou had been dressed in Tora’s clothes, which he didn’t seem to like wearing very much. He kept on shifting and pulling at the clothes. Saga promised to take him shopping with him to get him some clothes in his size soon.
“Where are we keeping him? He can’t stay in our room. It’s crowded enough already.” Tora commented, seated beside Saga, who was not-so-subtly trying to grope him under the table. Nao sipped his white chocolate mocha on the other side of Saga, watching his friends with interest.
“There’s room in my room.” Saga said, smirking slightly. Hiroto put a slightly possessive arm around Shou. Saga observed this with a little laugh. “Well, you could trade him with Tora.” Tora shook his head, scooting his chair a little bit away from Saga.
“No, it’s ok...” Hiroto muttered, watching as Shou was licking his cup which had once contained a soy latte. Shou....had a very nice tongue. It was long and pink, darting between those plush lips to swipe around the cup, searching for the last traces of foam.
Tora coughed. Hiroto jumped, blushing brightly as he realized he had totally zoned out.
“I have an idea.” Nao spoke up, attracting the attention of the other boys. “How about we say that Shou is Saga’s cousin, just visiting temporarily until we come up with a better arrangement?”
Hiroto was silent for a moment before nodding in agreement. That could work actually. Just keeping it low key until they figured things out. He looked to Shou, laughing as he spotted Shou with a little foam mustache. He wiped it off with his thumb, sticking it in his mouth afterwards.
Saga nudged Nao, pointing at the pair with a little grin. Nao smiled, finding them to be adorable.
“Well, I think Shou should dress like he’s a relative of mine.” Saga interrupted, standing up from his spot. “Let me take him out shopping.”
“I’m coming too.” Hiroto said, holding onto Shou’s hand. Shou didn’t know what the contact was, but he really liked it, squeezing his own hand around Hiroto’s.
“Ok, see you guys later.” Nao said, smiling at the group. Saga hugged Nao before heading out of the cafeteria with Hiroto and Shou trailing behind him.
It didn’t even occur to Hiroto to be embarrassed about holding Shou’s hand as they walked down the halls to the shopping area. They received some looks, but it was something that felt so natural between the two. When they reached the first store, Saga started digging through the racks, getting the size he estimated Shou to be. After a sizable stack was piled in each Hiroto and Shou’s arms (Saga needed his arms free for browsing the racks), Saga allowed Shou to head to the dressing room to try things on. Hiroto wondered faintly who would be paying for this. Those thoughts didn’t last long though, because he had to join Shou in the dressing room to help him put his arms through the right holes and so on.
One thing Hiroto hadn’t planned on was that undressing Shou was a lot more intimate than helping the other get dressed. He had already seen Shou naked, but this just seemed different. He shyly pulled Tora’s shirt off Shou’s form first, looking up into the other’s eyes. He could feel Shou’s hands move to rest on his waist and the smaller boy’s heart sped up as he reached down between them to unzip Shou’s pants. Hiroto licked his lips, still keeping his eyes locked on Shou’s as he lowered himself, pulling Shou’s pants down as he went. He swallowed as he rose to his full height again and reached around Shou to get the first pair of pants. They had little room in the small dressing room and were close together, almost claustrophobically so. Hiroto sucked in a breath as Shou looked down at him, his head bent a little. Their lips were temptingly close in this position.
He hadn’t realized he’d closed his eyes until he felt Shou’s breath ghost over his face, sending chills down his spine. Hiroto opened his eyes then and took a step back to get control of himself. He needed to stop thinking that way around Shou. What they needed to do right now was focus on getting clothes and teaching Shou how to dress himself.
It was quite a while before they’d worked their way through the mountain of clothes, but they managed it. Shou had picked out several things that he liked, some of which Hiroto thought looked a little too good on him. Not that anything didn’t look good on Shou...
“Finally!” Saga exclaimed when he saw the two exit the dressing rooms. Saga had acquired another pile in his arms, this one for himself.
“It took a while for me to get him to figure out how buttons and zippers work.” Hiroto said, sliding his arm around Shou’s waist. Shou was smiling, pleased with his clothes as he showed off the ones he picked to Saga proudly.
“He’s got good taste, Pon. You choose them well.” Saga commented, earning a little blush from Hiroto.
“Pon...” Shou said, testing out saying this nick name that Hiroto had.
“He’s too cute.” Saga commented, resisting the urge to hug Shou. Hiroto smiled fondly, finding that he liked the nick name a lot more from Shou than anyone else. “Well, it’s your turn to pay for his stuff.” Saga said, interrupting their moment. Hiroto frowned and pulled out his wallet to see if he could possibly pay for it. Saga decided to pitch a bit of his money in too to help out. Shou really needed to get a job.
After they went shopping a few more places, mostly carrying things for Saga, they decided to head over to Saga’s dorm room to get Shou settled in. Shou seemed nervous to know that he wouldn’t be by Hiroto’s side. He clutched Hiroto’s sleeve, giving him a pleading look.
“Oh Shou, don’t do that.” Hiroto moaned, trying to turn his head away, but he couldn’t resist looking at that face. He sighed, sliding his arms around Shou. “Ok, I’ll stay here for the first night.”
“Thank you...” Shou whispered in Hiroto’s ear, hugging back tightly.
“You spoil him.” Saga commented, crossing his arms. “Does that mean I get to stay in your bed?” Hiroto slowly pulled away from Shou and nodded.
“If you don’t mind...”
“Not at all...” Saga grinned and waved to the two as he left the room, warning them not to get the sheets dirty. Hiroto’s face promptly turned a light shade of pink.
Now that they were alone, Hiroto felt the need to distract himself. “Let’s go somewhere.” He suggested. It was still early and Shou hadn’t been shown around much.
“Where?” Shou questioned, seeming to be more used to speaking again.
“Um...” Hiroto looked to the side as he thought. “Maybe the park?”
“What’s a park?” Shou asked, looking curious. Hiroto’s eyes widened as he turned to stare at Shou.
“You don’t know what a park is?” A shake of the head was the answer he needed. Now he definitely had to show it to Shou.
The park inside this particular unit was big and spacious and instead of a simulated sky like most of them had, this one had a large view of the ocean life as it swam by. Shou stared up around him as he took in the scenery. On the ground though, was a nice green carpet of grass. Shou moved to sit down on it, running his fingers over it in wonder. “It’s been so long....since I’ve seen grass.” He spoke softly, almost soft enough not to be heard. But Hiroto heard him. He walked over, sitting next to Shou in the grass.
“You remember seeing grass?” Hiroto asked, leaning against the taller boy. Shou nodded, moving to slide one of his arms around the other’s waist.
“When I was little...I lived on the land. We would play in the grass until it got dark.” Shou paused then, looking sad. “Then it got too hot, the grass burned up and it wasn’t safe to go outside anymore. We tried to escape the heat by going in the water. Only, the water wasn’t cold enough to really refresh us until we swam down really far.” Hiroto stared at Shou as he talked, shocked that the ability had suddenly come back to Shou.
“I don’t think I ever lived on the surface.” Hiroto commented. Shou laughed bitterly.
“No, only the poor who couldn’t afford to be moved into the underwater colonies had to suffer being on the surface.” Hiroto bit his lip as he looked at Shou, touching his arm. Shou looked over and smiled slightly, hugging Hiroto to him. “That's not all,” He said, resuming his story.
“One day when we went out on a swim, we got too far down and my sister drowned. That’s when I knew I was different.”
“What happened to the rest of your family?” Hiroto asked, though he had a feeling the result was the same.
“All dead.” Shou whispered, closing his eyes for a moment. “From heat and starvation. I could’ve gotten us food, but most of the things on land had died and dried up. The only option was the sea and they didn’t want me going in there, because of my sister’s death. I did anyway.”
“Shou...” Hiroto whispered, grasping Shou’s hand tightly in his own. Shou turned to him, pressing his face into the smaller one’s shoulder.
“I’m so glad you found me, Hiroto.” Shou said, voice muffled by Hiroto’s shirt. Hiroto smiled at Shou’s words, vowing in his heart to do everything he could to keep Shou safe and happy from now on.
“I’m glad I found you too.” Hiroto agreed, lifting Shou’s head a little so he could look into his eyes. “Welcome home.” Shou smile was wide as he tackled Hiroto in a big hug, rolling them around on soft grass as the fish swam above them. Hiroto laughed at the action, clinging onto Shou. This was what it felt like to be truly happy.