1595/There's a mermaid IN the bathtub!

There's a mermaid IN the bathtub!
Date of Scene:	27 May 2024
Location:	Pikarigaoka Ward
Synopsis:	Hotaru meets the little mermaid, Coco, in this mini-episode that's fun for the whole family! Together, they explore many topics such as fork-giving, the history of mermaids, royal lineage and what kind of board games to play. Also, Hotaru hugs an otter... and requests a fin-o-graph.
Cast of Characters:	Coco Kiumi, Hotaru Tomoe
Tinyplot:	Sunset of Sora

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Coco Kiumi has posed:
It is the third day of Coco's stay at the Casa del Outers, and to her relief the wounds have been making decently good process. She has gone back to being a bit more carefree in her movements as a results, now simulating swimming motions to at least try and trick her mind that she is doing something besides lay in the bathtub immobile.

She has set the water temperature to a decently cool one, and having finished watching a movie earlier in the day, she is enjoying the embrace of the fresh water. Despite the thoughts of certain questions that have been hanging around in the back of her mind, she is in a good mood, owing it all to Setsuna's excellent care and the ways she has gone above and beyond in providing her meals. Hospitals certainly don't have food this sumptuous.

She is also grateful that Setsuna has granted her permission to sing to her heart's content, and she is currently taking advantage of that, the melody of "Love Beat" and its words Coco's current song. Her head is laying back against the edge of the bathtub, eye closed, a content expression on her face.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Guys? There's a mermaid IN the bathtub. Did you know? I'm gonna say hi.

That text was sent via the household group chat not that long ago, followed by a response from Haruka and Setsuna not long after.

'Careful, she's recovering.' from Haruka. 'Be nice, she's recovering from some burns, and give her space and let her rest if she gets tired. That said, she could probably use the company,' from Setsuna.

A real, actual mermaid. A real. Actual. Mermaid.

And then she was singing, which frankly had brought her attention the first time.

But, finally, a small, nervous face poked around the door frame. "H-hi? Are... are you okay to have visitors?" Hotaru asked sheepishly, before nervously sliding forward...

And then a few moments later, once she was okayed, she was by the tub. "I-I brought you a gift!" ... It was a fork. She held out a fork. She had, in fact, seen the Little Mermaid. And had brought her a fork. "I hear that they are very valued by your people. Are... are you living here now? Are you just visiting? Are you really from the ocean? Your singing is beautiful, is it magic? Can you talk with fish? Do you have a crab who's your friend? How fast can you swim? What fish is nicest? Is atlantis real? Have you touched the ocean floor? How do you survive the water pressure that deep? Do you like being on land? What's your favorite part about land? What's your favorite part of the ocean? Do you eat seafood?"

Yes, she had texted Setsuna that she would reimburse her for the fork.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco's singing fades when she hears that somebody else is there, and she opens her eyes, turning her head towards the timid girl standing by the door and greeting her with a smile to reassure her. That must be the girl that Obsidian had filled with dark energy, right? Coco's heart skips a beat when she sees just how timid she is. Just one more thing that demonstrates their cruelty.

"Hotaru, right?", Coco guesses, her voice still carrying small traces of the song she just stopped. "Please, come in. I am Coco, I was wondering if we would meet." She does get a bit puzzled when she is offered a fork, before recalling the movie Hotaru is likely thinking of, having watched it a few months back on one of those summer evenings after her arrival when, surprisingly enough, Tokyo had proven to be peaceful.

"Ah, yes, they are a very useful utensil. Thank you, Hotaru", Coco falters and says with an awkward smile, not quite sure how to proceed in this occasion, but between telling her the truth and just answering as she did, the former was the worst option. And then there is a veritable deluge of questions, a surprise from someone who appeared to be so quiet.

"Ok, I see you don't lack in curiosity, I will do my best to answer them all!", the yellow mermaid exclaims, her golden eyes reflecting Hotaru's excitement. "I am living here for now, but only until I get better. I am from the South Pacific Ocean, the kingdom of the yellow mermaids. It is n-not magic, but only until my powers are returned to me. I can talk with all kinds of sea animals, in fact the sea otter currently resting behind the red basket is my friend. I haven't made friends with crabs yet, though. Fish come in all kinds, but I have met a very nice betta once. The sea does have kingdoms of mermaids, even if I have not heard of one named Atlantis. The deepest I have ever gone is 3500 meters, and it's just how I am built, I think. I can swim really really fast. I like the land very much, everyone here is so friendly. My favourite part currently is the botanical garden you have here in Tokyo, it is so colourful. My favourite part of the ocean is any cave with corals, gems and seashells in it. It's a great wonder to explore. Yes, I do eat seafood, as does Cora, but not all fish can talk", she finishes replying just taking a breath once along the way."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe let out a happy little squeak when her gift was accepted by the mermaid. Yesssss. They were officially friends now! Did that mean that she could talk to the animals of the sea now?!

... No. It didn't. And she didn't know why she had that thought. But she had a mermaid friend now. One more thing off the bucket list!

"Yeah, daddy always said I was his curious little girl. And my senpai would tell me all kinds of things. I learned a lot from him. You're from the south pacific? There's a whole KINGDOM of yellow mermaids? Oh my gosh that's so cool! Is there a princess? A king? Do you have witches? Do mermaids come here often? Are there a lot of mermaids? Wait, otter?"

And her entire brain process was just thrown off the tracks, did a full spin, then landed on different tracks. She looked to the red basket and gasped.

"Is... is she friendly?" Hotaru whispered. "Can I pick her up when she wakes up? So you like humans? Do you like board games? What's your favorite food? Do you have games underwater? Do mermaids have mermaid board games? What's your favorite game? Do you have a like... land visa? So you can come onto land? Or are mermaids just allowed to come to the land whenever you want? Do you have magic to get around, or do you need to go in a wheelchair or something whenever you want to travel?"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Your senpai must be very nice", Coco remarks, imagining he is the kind of person that would pull up all sorts of different trivia just to see Hotaru's face beam up with happiness. It is a wonder of its own. And then of course Hotaru asks the obvious question when it comes to hearing about a kingdom.

"I am the princess of the South Pacific, we don't really have a king. I am the one guiding it instead. We do have Aqua Regina, but she is mostly just overseeing us and gently nudging us if she thinks we could do things differently, but that doesn't happen very much. And yes, there are many mermaids."

Coco can take a small breath when Hotaru's attention switches to Cora. She is still keeping up at least. "Cora is very friendly", she smiles at the black-haired girl. "She will likely let you play with her later. I do like humans, I have made quite a few friends here, and board games are fun too. My favourite food is mango. And we have lots of different games underwater. For example Hanon, the princess of the South Atlantic is fond of our own variant of Tarots. Some of them are board games too. My favourite game is sort of a cross of the goose game and dare, where you have to proceed across the board and if you get a game's surprise card, you have to do a challenge like swim 10 meters in 9 seconds."

"I don't think mermaids come here often, but we aren't forbidden to and we don't have a land visa. I am just the first in a while for my kingdom. And, well, until three days ago, I had the power to look like a human, among other things, but they have all been stolen. I hope I will be able to get them back soon, and go back to school. We are supposed to be known only to a select few trusted people. Like everyone here. I also want to help my friends fight. Just I don't want to let them get into danger alone."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe gave a quick nod. "He really is. He's... kind of dumb sometimes, though. And does a lot of... dumb things. And his ideas are sometimes wrong. But, in the grand scheme of things? I think he's right. He's a lot nicer than most people realize, since well... I think a lot of people only see the bad he does, but not the good."

Her eyes went wide when she found out Coco was a PRINCESS! "You're a PRINCESS?! Wait, if there's no king, wouldn't that make you the queen? Or... is it more like an honorary title thing? Is the highest ruler there called the princess?" she asked, eyes practically shimmering with delight. "Is Aqua Regina like, the empress then? Of all the mermaid kingdoms?"

Hotaru was positively beaming and gave an excited squeal when she heard she could play with the otter later. Yessssss. And everything else? Oh, she was beaming. "M-maybe we could get a copy of it? And we could play it sometime. B-but I couldn't do any of the swimming challenges. I'm not able to swim due to, um, health reasons. But I could try the others!" Oh, she was so excited!

Then she blinked a few times when she heard about what happened to Coco. The fact she was trapped like this. She looked down to the fins, before sighing and giving a nod. "Yeah. I... I know how that feels. I... can help now, a bit. But I have to be very careful. If I go too hard, then I could get really hurt and... bad things could happen. But... watching everyone else fight, and do all of that, and not being able to help? It feels terrible. So... so I hope you'll be better soon and... and able to help them again. You seem really nice. I can't believe you're a princess... do... do you have underwater ball dances? Are there mermaid princes? Do you have pictures of your underwater kingdom I could see? Ohhhhhh. Are you friends with sharks?"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco becomes pensive when Hotaru talks more about her senpai. Someone who did bad and good at the same time. Someone from Obsidian? Is he why Hotaru is being hidden here? But at the same time Hotaru hasn't been led to think that this senpai of hers was only doing good thing. Just... overall right. Coco is not sure that is much better. How much is he responsible for those horrible things Setsuna has mentioned?

All these questions she just can't vocalise leads the yellow mermaid to look at Hotaru with a mix of worry and warmth. Hotaru is making really easy to care about her, with all her enthusiasm, and those thoughts... Not really sure what to say, she lets herself be led along by Hotaru's quickly resurfacing enthusiasm. "I think we just do things differently", she replies. "A princess is the main ruler, besides Aqua Regina. She is our goddess and what we princesses have closest to a mother."

"I will be sure to procure you a copy when I am back to full health." She is pretty sure she can do that, regardless of how this matter ends. "And don't worry about the swimming challenges. We can replace them with something else.

And when Hotaru gazes sadly at her tail, Coco freezes for a second, afraid she is touching up on bad memories. "But you know, this is nothing, things are going to change again soon! And even if not, this is my natural state, I feel at my best when I am a mermaid! I typically transform back once a day or else I start feeling weird. And anyway, I will probably just be brought back to the sea once my burns are better, and then we will just hang out there!" she frantically tries to cheer her up.

Before she can reply to the other questions, Cora yawns and blinks, getting up from behind the basket. Apparently the commotion has been enough to wake her up. "Who is that, Princess?", the otter asks in those typical otter sounds. "A new friend, her name is Hotaru. She was very interested over meeting you." Cora then approaches the black-haired girl, sniffing at her.

"You can pet her", Coco encourages Hotaru. "Anyway, yes, we do have princes and dances that use these tails" - she slap the bathtub slightly for emphasis - "I don't have pictures on me right now, but I will send them to you if you give me your number. Mine is XXXXXXXXXX. And I have made shark friends. I will show them too."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Poor Coco would likely learn just how twisted it all was, one day. If she ever learned the truth of who Hotaru's mentor really was.

Hotaru's eyes lit up when she learned more about how Coco operated. "Wow. You're like, the ruler of your people? Are they upset that you're here? Wait, this isn't going to lead like.... to a mermaid and human war, is it? Because you got hurt? You're not being kept trapped here, like free willy, are you? No. Wait, no. Setsuna-senpai wouldn't ever do that. So your mom is the full ruler of all the oceans then? Is she like Poseidon?"

Hotaru then shook her head. "Oh, no. I meant if we had it now, we could play it now. I know whenever I'm in a lot of pain, when I'm not sleeping, I like to play games. My senpai played a lot of them with me. Daddy... tried, when he could. But he's usually busy, especially... now. Since, ummmm... he doesn't... know where I am. I... trust Setsuna-senpai told you about my situation. Daddy doesn't really talk to mermaids, though, so I'm sure it's fine."

And then otter! There was an otter! "Ohhhh!" And everything after that was lost as Hotaru laid on her tummy and looked the otter in the eyes and let it sniff her. She smelled... she actually... didn't... smell right. She smelled like girl, sure. But... something else. Metal, blood, other things... she would smell very, very wrong.

"Eeeeee..." Of course, her face lit up like she had just been told christmas was coming early this year as she reached out and pet the otter.

"Huh? My number? O-oh! I can't give it out. Send them to Setsuna-senpai, though, and she'll share them with me." At least she saw Setsuna as a senpai too, even if she wasn't her main 'senpai'.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco shakes her head slightly. The smiles she reserves to Hotaru is free of any worry. "I have been here a while, so they don't think my absence is strange. When the balance of land and sea gets shaken, we princesses are allowed to reach the lands and help contain it. Those are typically the only times we can stay here. I have been living here since August of last year. I go by Coco Kiumi at the school, and by Yellow Pearl Voice for my magical identity."

"Don't worry, Hotaru. There is not going to be a war. We want to defend the lands, not bring it to ruin. Aqua Regina is more than content to let things be. She is actually really kind, and her way to do things is that even when a person has done evil things, if they intend to be better and actively work at being better, then that person isn't pushed away. She would rather help everyone get over their grief, rage and greed. I don't know about Poseidon, but while she controls the waters, her main power is light."

"She told me a few things. You are actually very strong, Hotaru, you know?", Coco looks gently at the girl with spirit of iron she is talking with.

Cora predictively shudders at smelling all of that, and her instinct would have told her to run away from the smell of danger, but Coco has promised her being pet, and she can't deny that the girl shows nothing but innocence and kindness. At least she finds being pet nice, because she starts happily squealing at it.

"Oh, I see!", Coco exclaims. "I will give them to Nurse Meiou then. I am sure she will be happy to turn them over to you. And I can also ask we meet again once this whole thing is over, no?", she smiles at Hotaru.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe blinked a few times and then, slowly, her smile only grew. "Aqua Regina sounds... she sounds really nice. And we've met a few times. Back when I was... not, ummm, like this. But ummmm... so... if someone is trying to do good... but... they have to do bad sometimes... do you think they can be forgiven, so long as what they did is more good in the end?"

Her cheeks went red and she focused on the otter. "I'm not really that strong. I'm just... lucky. Not long ago I had accepted that things just... couldn't be changed. But my senpai taught me that the future can be changed. Even if it's only delayed. And I know a lot of people think he's all bad. But... he has good intentions in the end. It's just hard to see sometimes because he's also very arrogant. But he's like daddy, I think. Trying to do the best he can, out of a bad situation..."

She nodded rapidly to the meeting again, though. And... "Can... can I pick Cora up?" she asked softly. And definitely would if permitted. "I'd love to meet you again! And a lot while you're here. I can't believe mermaids are real! You know, in Obsidian, there was a whole wolfman who was always running around. And there's this really cool witch lady, she made like, magic apples and stuff. I got a kitkat from her once, but it ended up swapping my age and stuff with Setsuna-senpai, and then there was a giant oni, he was all 'rawr, smash!' and he was so funny! And then there was Hoshiwa-sensei, she was super classy and refined and loved sweets, I think you'd have liked her." This girl was... definitely somewhat twisted. "Oh, and I should bring Yochu next time! She's a haunted doll, like from a horror movie. But like... good and not murdery at all!"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco blinks and doesn't reply initially to Hotaru's question. That's a rather heavy one. What is the person trying to achieve? What are the bad things they are doing? Is that really the only path forward? Those bad things a last resort? What kind of person are they? "I think that's actually something I can't just simplify and mash it all together. But keeping that in mind, it's a yes by me."

"The senpai that has been showing you lots of things?" Coco tries to guess, though really, who else could it be? The way she spoke about it, her father was already accounted for and the mysterious senpai is the only other significant figure she'd mentioned. "Nobody can do anything by themselves, Hotaru. You are strong even if you can't change a situation by yourself. This applies to your senpai too, if he is the one. Let's have him share the load instead of trying to be the one fixing things forever."

She has a lot of questions, especially about the age swap - Coco tries to imagine Setsuna looking like a mix of her and Hotaru, but she just fails - but overall, she puts most of it to the side for now and just says. "Sure, pick Cora up. That was a colourful world you lived in. I'd love to meet Yochu, I think I saw a doll like the one you mention, a long while back. If she is the same, I get what you mean", she nods cheerfully.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe gave a small nods. "Yeah. He's... learning, slowly, to accept that. He just needs time. I think he's got the groundwork, at least. One day I think he'll come around and realize he has other people he can depend on. In the meantime? I think he'll just keep trying his best and making so many mistakes. But... we all make mistakes, so I trust him."

She happily picked up Cora and gave a happy little squeak, petting the little otter. Best. Guest. EVER! Then her eyes lit up. "Oh, oh, can I have your autograph? OH! Actually, can I have your fin-o-graph?! Eeeeeee! Like, an imprint of your tail? Oh my gosh, I got just the thing, I'll be right back!" she said with excitement, putting Cora back down before running off!

... There was a crash a moment later.

"I'm okay!" Hotaru yelled back to the room.

Oh, Coco was going to have a long visit ahead of her, it seemed...