Ironic Change - Kaishin/Shinkai

9. Shiku

1010 Words excluding (A/N)~ Berry does not own DC/MK~

I hope you enjoy zee chappy~

This was originally supposed to be a short fic XD.... Berry has messed up and now it's going to be a very long fic...

Welp... at least it saves Berry from actually putting new stories out...So many plots but Berry cares too much about them that she's afraid she'd mess them up XD

Written August 11 2019
Posted August 22 2019

Shinichi followed Kaito towards the far side of the aquarium, somewhat surprised to see a black haired adult male with golden eyes leaning casually against the glass. He looked to be in his early twenties.

'So he's the one who currently maintains this aquarium? He can't be the first one, he's too young. Who was Kaito's first caretaker?'

"Black peoples! Gives yummies!" Kaito chirped happily as he swam up to the man to accept food.

Shinichi stayed off to the side a bit to observe the interactions, the male seemed quite friendly if the way he petted Kaito on the head was of any indication. Gold eyes met azure for a second and the male smiled, moving away from Kaito to hold up a dry erase board. Kaito let out an annoyed trill at the lack of attention directed towards him.

"Akako-Chan told me about you Kudo-Kun, nod if you can read. I know that you're physically incapable of understanding human speech right now" Shinichi grinned once he'd finished reading the board and nodded, sticking his upper body above the water in an attempt to reach the board.

'This guy could probably answer a few of my questions'

He ignored Kaito who had latched onto him by wrapping his arms around his neck. Instead he kept his head underwater but his arms above water to write his response. "What is your name? And who was Kaito's original caretaker?" Shinichi was quite curious to know the answers.

The male smiled and wrote his reply "My name is Hakuba Shiku. Kaito's original caretakers were Hakuba Saguru his friendly rival, and Nakamori Aoko who was Kaito's childhood friend. Saguru and Aoko were my grandparents. I'll answer this as well, Akako-Chan was also a dear classmate of Kaito, Saguru, and Aoko" Shiku raised a brow when Kaito began nuzzling Shinichi's neck while letting out a soft trilling noise.

Shinichi notes the unspoken question and chuckled "Kaito's really affectionate, he's been deprived of the affection that he'd craved. Now that I'm here, he won't stop trying to snuggle with me" After handing back the whiteboard he gave Kaito a few pats on the head.

Shiku closed his eyes, his shoulders dropping before reopening his eyes to write his response. "We feared that was the case... But we couldn't really give him what he needed, he needed someone who could understand him and not drown in the process..." He stopped writing for a few moments from indecision before continuing. "Akako-Chan was supposed to kill Kaito after both of my grandparents had passed since we never knew for sure if all of their decedents would protect Kaito and not give him to some lab"

Shinichi felt his insides go cold at the admission, he wrapped his arms around Kaito's waist protectively at the thought.

'It makes sense to have him die happy after a long life than to keep him lonely and potentially at the mercy of those with ill intentions... But still...'

"What doing?" Kaito inquired, motioning towards the board before giving him another nuzzle to the cheek.

The azure mer smiled "I'm talking with that human, his name is Shiku"

Indigos widened "Kaito learn to talk to the Shiku?"

"Yes, I will teach you later" Kaito let out an excited trill at the answer as he released the other and began swimming in circles.

'It's good that he's still got his curiosity from when he was a human, it should help me in teaching him'

"What was that all about?" Shinichi smirked, realizing how off Kaito's actions would seem to those without any context.

"Kaito wanted to know what I was doing, he got excited when I promised to teach him how to talk to you with writing" Shiku nodded at the response, he and his family had tried countless times to teach Kaito a way to communicate with humans. Maybe Shinichi would do better since he could already speak with Kaito.

"That would be nice, I only wish he could have learned sooner when my grandparents were alive... They often looked so sad when visiting Kaito, often causing Kaito to do a lot of crazy things in an attempt to cheer them up" Shiku wrote.

Shinichi suddenly felt pity for Kaito's human friends. He knew that he'd be heartbroken if one of his friends were always close by but neither remembered him nor even understood him. It already hurt him to see Kaito like this, and he'd only known Kaito as Kid. He couldn't even imagine the pain his transformation would have caused to those who actually knew Kaito outside of his moonlight identity.

'He was probably somewhat neglected because they had cared too much and seeing him had been too painful... It's a little ironic... Their care caused Kaito to be lonely'

*

'Kaito gonna learn! Gonna learn! Kaito speak to the peoples! Wait, black peoples actually be the Shiku'

The indigo mer was so excited, he'd often wanted to talk to the peoples and the Shiku but had never been able to.

'Kaito will learn how to demand cuddles from peoples and the Shiku!'

He felt an extra burst of energy fill him at the thought and bolted through the seaweed patches to expel some of it. Kaito couldn't contain his happiness, his days of being lonely seemed like they were at an end. He had the Shinichi to play with, and eventually the Shiku to hopefully exchange words with.

'No more Kaito talking to Kaito! But what if the Shinichi taken away?'

Kaito slowed down a bit and crossed his arms in thought as he remembered how every other creature he'd been given was eventually taken away from him.

'The Shinichi can't leave! No take away!'

He bolted back towards where he'd left the Azure mer, fearful that the Shinichi had already been taken from him.

"Shinichi!" He called joyfully when he rounded a rock, using an extra burst of speed to ram into the other, ignoring the startled yelp as he captured him into a tight hug.

Me: This was fun~ and Shiku is just a random name I made up~ don't look into any potential hidden meaning behind it because there are none XD

Anyways~ Poor Kaito~ He's so attached to the only person who could understand him after all the decades~