So, this is it...

I had just been discovered by a human, and I couldn't do anything in that situation except run away like a coward.

Battling the tides, I finally managed to get onshore where I have left my clothes and school bag, out of sight of any prying eyes. As I was transforming back into a regular human, I was shaking out of fear and angst. I really started to believe that this day couldn't get any worse, but life just had to point a middle finger at my face and prove me wrong.

Now the worst situation that could ever happen to my species has finally occurred, and I was the main culprit of all of it.

As soon as I finished turning and got my legs back, I put on my clothes, grabbed my bag and rushed up the hill back to where my house was.

It would usually take a while until I get from the sea to my house at the top of the valley, but the adrenaline of thoughts rushing to my head picked up my pace and eventually I got back home in no time.

Just when I swung the front door open, I could see my mother and step-father who were staring at me from the dining table, their eyes full of concern. And I knew exactly the reason why they were looking at me like that.

"Son, where have you been? We thought you would have been back home after what happened in school..."

It took me a few seconds to catch my breath and answer back to my worried father.

"So, you got word of the events ? That was fast..."

"Honey, we got a call from the school, and- "

"Please just leave me alone ! I have to get my thoughts straight right now !"

I rushed past my concerned parents straight to my room. I entered my bedroom and slammed the door so loudly that I could hear my sister gasp from the room right beside me. I jumped into my bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

This day was very certainly the worst day of my life. First my mom kicks me out, then Maximus had to assault me today just to make sure I felt even more like crap, and now everyone is going to know about my family being a mermaid ! Urgh, Akari, you are the worst person there is to exist.

Tomorrow was going to be a super complicated day, I know of it. Should I just skip school and stay at home ? I would love to do that, but after consideration it was maybe a bad idea. Everyone would get even more suspicious if I didn't go to school tomorrow, and that would just confirm all their hypothesis that they'd have of me being an actual merman.

Well, I guess that even if word of my true nature doesn't spread, tomorrow was still going to be a terrible day. I would have to face everyone at school staring at me and talking about stupid rumours because of the assault. Sure, it's not like they don't already spread rumours about me, but now they have even more of a specific reason to do so. And not to mention Maximus and his gang... Will they continue to assault me ? As much as I want to think they will not because of the trouble they are going to get, I can't be 100% sure of what would happen to me if ever I ended up alone with them.

But all of that doesn't even compare to the fact that I was actually discovered. A mermaid being discovered by a human is one of the worst-case scenarios to ever happen. I slapped my face and tried to get my thoughts straight.

How fast will this person spread the rumours ? Will everyone even believe him in the first place ? I tried to recall everything that had happened just moments ago, and I distinctly remember that he was the only one who saw me. So judging by this fact alone, I can assume that there is a glimpse of a chance that no one would believe him, and that the public will just sweep his story under the carpet.

But really, it wasn't the general public that worried me the most in this situation... I do remember now why it is so important for us to hide our secret the first place.

I grasped my heart and thought out, if ever those kind of people know about the fact that I was a merman, my life- no, my entire family's life could be in extreme danger.

As my thoughts came rushing to my head, my emotions couldn't handle the situation anymore. Tears came streaming down my cheeks and my body turned completely cold. I couldn't tell anyone about this, there was no way. If the council ever got wind of my wrongdoings, I would have to face dire consequences, I knew of that. Heck, it could be even possible that my family will be forced to move away, putting into jeopardy my mother's dream. She worked so hard to live in a place like this, I didn't want to destroy all of that just because I wasn't being careful. As much as I want to console myself to another person, there isn't anybody that I can really trust entirely to handle this situation with me.

Wait a second.. Or is there ?

An orange stream of light suddenly came flashing onto my face. I faced the window and watched the sun set behind the large stones that circled our garden and home. As I watched the sun disappear, a new idea surfaced into my head. In this lonely world of mine, there is one person that I know I can trust full-heartedly, especially in a situation like this one.

I quickly rushed to fetch my phone who had fallen at the bottom of my backpack. Soon enough I started dialing up a number that I could only know by heart. A few rings later and the person on the other end picked up.

"Hello Akari. Listen, I tried to help out as much as I could before, but now I'm not in a mood to- "

"THIS IS NOT THE PROBLEM ANYMORE MIRA ! I... I made an enormous mistake..."

"Well duh, it's not like your clumsy butt isn't capable of living out a single day without making fifteen mistakes at the very least. Tell me, what is it this time ?"

"I GOT DISCOVERED MIRA !"

"Discovered, discovered what ? Wait... don't tell me..."

A long silence followed up from the other side of the phone. I was so stunned that I didn't know what to say. At that point I could only think of one simple sentence to tell her.

"I'm sorry Mira..." I sobbed out after trying to fight desperately my tears. It was no use hiding my emotions in front of my best friend, she already knew how I felt without even being beside me. Mira waited a while for me to calm down before sighing and asking me worrily.

"Akari, how did it happen ?"

After I explained the situation to her, Mira paused again, gathering her thoughts together. Suddenly, she sighed again and resumed the conversation.

"Ok, let me get this straight. What we know for a fact is that although the scuba diver might have been hanging out with his friends or something, he was the only one who saw you. Therefore, that guy would have a hard time convincing everyone what has happened, especially if no one else saw you. There are a lot of people around here that would talk about mermaid sightings everyday and no one ever actually believes them, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. But... Akari.. you better bet your sorry butt that he doesn't say anything to anyone, if not..."

"If not, the hunters will be chasing us down..." I mumbled while I lost my breath with all of the fear that was culminating in me. I took a little while to breathe again before talking back.

"I don't want that to happen... Mira, if I have to move out, I'll never be able to see you again."

My voice cracked as I was trying my best to suppress my tears once again. Although we were miles away and only connected by the voice emerging from the other side of our phones, I knew that my friend would know the very exact expression that I was making on my face right now anyway.

"I will never leave your side Akari, you can be rest assured of that. I'll try and do everything that I possibly can to help you out in the best way that I could in this situation. I need to know though, did you tell anyone else about this ? Your family, do they know anything ?

"No, you're the only one who knows right now."

"Good. You know that grown up mermaids must go and see the council of mermaids every so often, so any kind of adults in our situation is out of our league, they cannot be trusted. I know that your parents are very trustworthy people, but the council members are persistent. If they notice anything suspicious in your parent's behaviour, they will know, trust me. So, keep all of this between you and me."

"I was counting on it already Mira, but what should I do now ? I do not want to risk our lives ! there must be something we can do, right ?"

"Well... I hate to say this, but there is not much I can think of right now. Those events have happened only a few hours ago, and for now I can't find any news about mermaid discovery. For now at least it hasn't spread anywhere. If we actually knew that the scuba diver ratted us out to anyone, then we could be able to do something about it, but for now we just have to hope that we will luck out on this situation."

"Luck out ?"

"Yeah, who knows ? Maybe the scuba diver you met is actually thoughtful of this situation and keeping the secret to himself. Maybe he will attempt to find you directly to get answers. It all depends on who that person might be. We'll talk about this tomorrow in further detail ok ? But for now, I suggest that you rest up. You've had a really long and exhausting day today, and you'll be able to think more clearly when you're more relaxed, okay shortie ?"

"Ok rainbow-girl, I guess that you are right. Thank you for helping me out."

Mira chuckled at the other end of the line. "Well, we all need one person to help us out in a dilemma like this one, so it's okay shortie."

I smiled at her words. She was always so selfless when it came to me.

"And.. Mira..." I mumbled.

"Yes Akari ?"

"I... I am sorry to trouble you so much about everything. Not only that, but also from before when we talked in the ocean."

As I said that I could hear laughter coming from Mira.

"It's okay shortie, that's what friends are for, I would really hate myself if I had to leave you facing all of your troubles alone. Especially you Akari..."

"Thank you Mira, you're the best."

"Now get some rest you doof ! Stop thinking about all the troubles of the world for now, it's not worth it ! I got to go, I'll see you tomorrow !"

And on that note, our conversation ended there.

I laid back in my bed, much more relaxed than before. I was happy to have talked to Mira about this, now I can finally smile. At least now I was rest assured that I will not face this situation alone.

As the night sky started to form, my thoughts went back to what Mira had told me. As little as I knew about him, I have to trust the scuba diver, whoever that person might be. Damn it, I wish that I would have known who was behind the mask, maybe this situation will turn out to be a lot less complicated than this if I had some insight on who I was dealing with.

I tossed and turned in my bed thinking to myself who that mysterious scuba diver might be.