With Lungs Like Gills (Merman!Brothers x Reader)

Chapter 11

I don't remember how long I cried, nor did I really care. Genki didn't budge from his kneeling position, despite how hard it might've been on his knees, and kept quiet as I let everything out -- my anger, confusion, sadness, and anxiety. All of it turned into tears that began to soak his left shoulder and upper sleeve.

I sluggishly opened my eyes to see the wall next to my bed, lightly groaning as I moved to sit up from underneath the heavy blankets.

I must've fallen asleep again...

I rubbed my eyes and yawned before looking towards the loveseat near the window, seeing Genki sitting there with a book propped open against his crossed legs. The sun had dipped down to peek into the window, signifying that it was close to the evening. Making sure to not repeat the same mistake as this morning, I wrapped the topmost blanket around my body before getting out of bed, moving towards the bathroom to freshen up.

Locking the door behind me, I pulled out a loose fitting shirt and flannel pajama pants out of the clean laundry basket before taking a look in the mirror, realizing that I should take a bath to freshen up first. Scrubbing myself and rinsing off as fast as I could, I didn't bother to soak for very long and instead opted to dry off immediately. Slipping on the appropriate undergarments and clean clothes, I stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my hair and glanced towards where Genki was seated.

"Are you feeling a little better?" Genki looked over to watch me move towards the kitchen, neatly putting down the book on the little coffee table next to the loveseat.

"Yeah..." I softly muttered before opening the fridge to grab the last small bottle of milk, popping off the seal and drinking it sip by sip. Ruffling my hair with the towel for the last time, I tossed the coarse fabric sheet into the bathroom before walking towards the loveseat and sitting on the little ottoman stool in front of it. I finished the small bottle of milk before shoving my right arm in front of Genki's face, letting him fully see the scars that were absent the day before.

"(L/n)...?" His voice was full of confusion before his eyes settled on the individual scars that formed a perfect semi-circle on either side of my forearm, the jagged edges of the skin crudely healed together.

"There are more, Genki. This is what Jyushimatsu did to me last night," I fought past the memories full of fear as the yellow merman toyed with me, biting and scratching me as I tried to breathe, "I could've...no, I would've died with the amount of blood that I lost."

"From just this?"

"No, from these," I pulled up the shirt to where he could see the scars on my left side. When I was sure that he had seen them, I let my shirt go and rolled up the loose left pant leg all the way to my hip, revealing the rough scars on my calf and hamstring, "And these."

Genki had moved his right hand to his mouth, completely covering it in what I could only call astonishment as his eyes continued to take in the scars. I let him look for a few more moments before I relaxed the fabric and sat back down on the ottoman, putting the milk bottle aside.

"That wasn't all that happened...Karamatsu," I looked towards the floor, unsure of how he'd react to me using his real name, "Your older brother told me that he could 'make all of my problems go away' as he was...cleaning...my wounds. I didn't give him an answer and instead told him that I'd think about it," I moved to look right at him, "I know I'm over my head already, but you're the only one who seems to be on my side. What should I do?"

His body shifted from leaning forward to relaxing against the back cushions of the loveseat, his hand falling away from his mouth. I watched as his eyes flicked back and forth, as if assessing all the possible answers before settling on one he'd vocalize.