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Neighbors

He smiled the exact same way as before again. "Why don't we walk to school together then? I don't think I've ever seen you walk the same route as us."

You silently noted that he used "us" again. You slightly shrugged. You always swam in the ocean early in the morning. You always felt a big urge to swim while using your tail, especially if you hadn't let it out in a while. You didn't want to risk anything, so you swam when no one was awake yet.

Before you could answer the boy looked at his watch and gasped. "Crap! I gotta get Haruka or we're gonna be late!" He looked up to you and took a few steps back. "You got everything you need? We gotta go."

You checked your phone in your back pocket before following him. He shoved a piece of paper in your hands and jogged up to his house. "That's my phone number. Call if you need anything, alright?"

You followed a bit slower behind him. In a swift motion, he opened the front door and shoved you inside. "I'll see you later. Take care!"

With a soft thud, the door closed in your face. You sighed in slight irritation before whirling around and meeting with four brightly shining little eyes.

The girl with Beryl eyes jumped forward and grabbed your hand. "Are you our new babysitter?!" She asked, her voice squeaking with excitement.

You smiled slightly and nodded. "Hi, I'm (y/n). I'll be watching over you for a while." It sounded a bit too formal for a couple of kids, but you didn't know what else to say.

The children gasped of joy and pulled on your arms, dragging you to the living room.

***

Everything had been pretty chill for a while. You had learned that their older brother was named Makoto. Ran and Ren had silently been watching cartoons on the TV and you had grabbed a magazine from the shelf, reading it silently and sometimes looking over it to see if one of the two hadn't choked to death.

That was until Ren had shifted closer to you, looking up to you with big curious eyes.

"What's wrong?" You asked, putting down your magazine, not caring that you didn't remember what the page number was.

"I'm bored. Can you play a game with us?" He asked, catching Ran's attention as well, who looked just as eager as Ren.

You smiled and nodded. "Sure, what do you want to play?"

They seemed to think for a second before Ran jumped up. "Can we play Ocean?"

You raised an eyebrow. "Well, how do you play?"

"Well, you act as if you were a mermaid-" Ran was cut off by her twin brother.

"Or we'll play as if a human found a mermaid on the beach!" He said excitedly. Ran gasped and looked at you. "Yes! Can we do that? I wanna play the mermaid!"

Ren nodded. "I wanna play human! Who are you gonna be (y/n)?"

You shrugged. "I guess I'll play human too." You slightly snickered at the fact that they seemed so fascinated by mermaids, while they had no idea there was one sitting next to them.

The twins bounced with energy. Ran untied her hair and put the elastic band around her ankles, laying down sideways on the couch. Ren grabbed your hand and dragged you to the back of the couch. "Okay! Me and (y/n) are gonna come out after you start!"

Ran nodded before putting on a serious face. "Oh dear me. Being a mermaid is so lonely, I wish someone would find me so I wouldn't be so lonely anymore!"

You grinned at the toddler's acting. Ren also put on a serious face and stood up straight, pointing to Ran. "Look, comrade! My eye spots a mermaid laying on the rocks!"

You put on a serious face as well. "Well, we should go check it out, shouldn't we?"

The toddler nodded and moved closer to Ran, you followed closely behind. Ran looked up and her face lit up. "Oh, joy! My wish came true! Now I am not lonesome anymore!"

Ren's face turned to anger. "What are you doing here?! You should be in the ocean where you belong!"

You raised an eyebrow at Ren's mean behavior but figured it was probably just acting. You spoke up: "Why are you here all alone?"

Ran smiled and sat upright, ignoring Ren. "I was left behind by my mermaid friends."

Ren raised his voice and balled his fists. "Don't ignore me! Monsters like you don't belong on land!"

"Hey now." You started, feeling a bit offended. "Mermaids aren't monsters."

Ran nodded. "Mermaids are beautiful! I don't wanna be friends with you if you think I'm a monster. I wanna be friends with (y/n)!"

Ren shot up. "Big brother said they were! He says you should be afraid of them because they are really bad!"

Your breath got caught in your throat. A picture of the kind smiling Makoto went through your head. You would never guess he would hate mermaids so much. To be honest you kind of thought he would respect them at least...

"Well then I want to stay with (y/n) so I won't be alone anymore." She turned to you, smiling brightly. "Will you marry me (y/n)?"

You pushed your thoughts away and forced a smile. "Of course! I'd love to!"

Ran giggled and hugged your arm. Ren hugged your arm too. "I wanna marry (y/n)!" He yelled, looking at Ran jealously.

You giggled. "Don't fight, you two! I'll marry you both."

Their faces lit up and they cheered loudly in glee. Your grin disappeared as they continued bickering and you leaned back in the chair, thinking about all the things they had said about mermaids.

***

Both of the twins had fallen asleep. Ren had a bit of drool on the corners of his mouth while Ran was leaning on you, her head on your legs. It looked quite adorable and you couldn't help but smile.

You turned your head when you heard a door opening. Makoto walked in, a raven-haired boy following closely behind.

"Hey (y/n)! Did everything go well? No problems?" He asked, with the kind of worry only a big brother can have.

You nodded and pointed at the two toddlers. "They fell asleep a little while ago." You said, standing up but making sure not to wake one of the two.

Makoto giggled slightly and looked at them. "Yeah, I expected that. They have been bouncing up and down the whole day." He looked at you now. "Thanks a bunch! Is there anything we can do in return?"

You shook your head. "It's fine. I'm happy to help." You looked up to the other guy, who you didn't know yet. His eyes were a striking deep blue and he had a careless expression on his face.

Makoto jumped in. "You guys haven't met you, have you? Haru, this is (y/n), my neighbor. They go to the same school as us. (y/n), this is Haru, he lives here closeby."

His expression didn't change, he kept his monotone sneer. It was quite amusing. You smiled slightly and put out your hand for him to shake. "Nice to meet you."

He responded slower than needed, taking his time with shaking your hand. "Nice to meet you too."

It was silent for a few seconds. Looking into each other eyes you felt like your skin turned into clear glass, his stare being able to see right through you. Uncovering all of your various secrets and feelings. You did not like it, It intimidated you.

Makoto broke the silence. "Well, we'll go get the twins upstairs. Thanks again for all the help."

You ripped away from his intense eyes, noticing he kept them unashamedly at you. "It's no big deal. I'll see you guys at school." You said, walking to the front door.

"See you later!" Makoto responded, waving at you. Haru didn't say anything. You waved back at them.

As you were walking to your house you thought about Haru. There was something mysterious about that guy, you just couldn't quite place it.