As I was watching the sun set in the distance, I kept on recalling the events of today. I tried to remember the name of my classmate. What was it again, Arlya ? Akira ? Akari ? Yes, that's right ! Akari ! I always figured that his name was strangely unique, yet very fitting for him. Nevertheless, the fact that I would stumble on such a huge secret of his made me feel like our encounter was most possibly fated to happen, and I can only thank the lords for giving me such an impressive discovery at hand !

I was losing myself into my own thoughts again and Regy quickly took notice of it.

"Is there something troubling you Owen ?" He asked me.

"Whaaat ? Of course not Regy ! What could possibly be troubling me ?"

I pulled out a fake laugh for him, trying to mask out my obvious concern. Of course, my housekeeper saw straight through me, judging the expression he was making on his face right now. But he eventually decided to brush it off because he must have thought to himself that it was obviously none of his concerns.

"Anyway, was the scuba diving activity interesting ? Did you discover anything intriguing ?"

"Of course ! It was amazing ! And you would never guess what I have found in the sea ! I..."

I suddenly stopped. I knew I could trust Regy with mostly anything. He is the long-time trusted butler of our family and I have basically known him for my entire life. But was it really a smart move to tell him what I had just discovered ? This was such a giant secret, so was it really okay to tell him ?

"Well, what did you find ? Come on, do not leave me on a cliff-hanger like this one Owen ! It sounded like you discovered something really amazing, and now you got me all curious !"

"I... Well... I discovered multi-coloured seashells on the sand ! Oh ! and even more impressive were those weird cranberry things growing on shrubs ! I didn't know fruits could grow underwater !"

Regy gasped, staying silent for a few seconds and then chuckled to the fact that I was being so excited on something he must be finding so trivial.

"Well Owen, I do not think that what you saw back then were actual cranberries, it might have been something else growing on the plants. Did you pick any of them ? maybe I can identify what they really are."

I sighed in relief when I realised that my plan had worked and that Regy didn't suspect me. Because we were on a straight and quiet road, Regy was able to glance at me longer than anyone should while driving, so I gave him a reassuring smile.

"No Regy, I didn't think of getting any."

"Well, maybe next time !" He exclaimed while turning his head back to the road and rubbing my hair with his large hands.

I really do enjoy being with Regy, I like him from the bottom of my heart. I know that many considered him to be just a butler, but in my eyes, he was more than that. He was a part of my family. I don't think I've ever gotten so close to someone in my entire life. Well, maybe my mother when I was younger, but that's not the case anymore...

I didn't really like the idea of lying to Regy, since I had always been truthful to him. But when I thought back to Akari, I knew that I was making the right choice. I went on and vowed to myself that I was going to keep all of this information for myself, since I didn't know much of the situation at hand. There must be a reason for mermaids to not be officially known to mankind. And frankly, I really didn't want any secret labs chasing my classmate around to cut him open or something. Just the thought of that made me squeamish.

After a couple of minutes, we finally arrived back home. As soon as the gates of the estate opened and that the Mercedes was parked up in the garage with all the other equally fancy cars, my face became instantly riddled with worry. My housekeeper turned off the engine, and I directly turned my head to face him.

"Regy ?" I asked in a worried tone. Once he glanced at the expression I was making, he knew exactly what I was thinking about.

"Do not worry Owen, your father is still working at the offices right now."

Once he said those words, I let out a long sigh of relief. The less I see of him the better my life will get. It wasn't always like that though, I didn't always try to escape my fathers sight like the plague. In all actuality, my father and I used to have a perfect relationship. But all of that is in the past, and now I knew that our relationship is something that we will never have again.

I stepped out of the garage and headed up the flight of stairs to the inside of my house. One could easily get lost in the gigantic estate because of how big it is. And I have to admit, sometimes I did get lost myself inside my own home. After all, it has only been a year and a half since we decided to move from France to this peaceful seaside town. So technically I was still getting used to everything around here.

As I was walking along the corridors, I saw the cleaning lady rearranging the cushions in our main living room. She was a tiny middle-aged woman and always wore the sweetest smile on her face.

"Hello miss !" I exclaimed to her. She quickly turned her head and saw me waving from the rooms entrance.

"Oh, you are so kind and polite Mr Leroy ! I told you already that you can call me Beatrice !"

"Not as long as you call me Mr Leroy !" I smirked at her.

She broke down into laughter and waved me away. I then continued my route and was quickly greeted by the cook.

"Hello sir Owen ! Did you have a nice day ?"

"Hello mister Calcifer ! Of course I had a nice day ! I hope that your day has been going on fine as well !"

"Of course sir ! How can my day be anything than great when I am working for such a sweet family like yours !"

The large man smiled and came up to pinch my cheeks. Mister Calcifer always emitted a very friendly and approachable vibe. It was why he acted so familiar with me. I laughed and pushed his hand off my cheek. He cleared his throat and resumed.

"Your meal shall be ready in about three quarters of an hour, so you can go and rest up for the time being."

"Thank you very much !" I answered in a cheerful tone.

Just after my interaction with the cook I went up to my bedroom. I opened the doors of the balcony and admired the view from outside. My house was situated highly enough off the ground that I could overlook the descending valley, populated by a few nice houses, that plummeted quaintly to the beach, then extending itself in a never-ending ocean.

As I stared at the waves, I tried to think back on everything that had happened as of today. As much as I tried hard to think about other stuff, I couldn't get the thought of my classmate out of my head. I mean who could be thinking about anything else after such a discovery ! You'd be insane if you found out something so important and just shrugged it off and walked along your way as if it was no big deal !

But now, a lot of Akari's behaviour actually made sense to me. I always saw that guy as someone that was very special, special in the way that he felt completely alienated from everything and everyone else, and that wasn't even judging him by his looks. Surely I do know that in every class there's always that one special kid who you feel like he would only belong on another planet. Trust me, there were tons of those kinds of people back where I lived in France.

But to discover such a huge of a secret, which belonged to none other than that special alienated kid I just explained made everything seem so surreal. Hell, maybe I was just acting crazy right now and everything that I had just witnessed was only a product of my imagination, who knows ?

But if those events were real, then I knew that I was meant to discover them for a reason. I would always see him pulling an expressionless face wherever I went, but deep inside I definitely saw the hurt that he was trying to desperately mask out all the time. And after everything that had happened to him today, I really did see it in his eyes even more during our staring match underwater.

ARGH ! Why am I even thinking about him so much ? Stop it, stupid brain !

On those words I quickly launched myself into my bed, facepalming into my cushion. I must have bounced at least three feets off the ground before landing back onto my sheets.

Akari, you were so beautiful back then in the sea, how did I never even notice it ? And because of you the only thing I have on my mind right now is seeing you again. I want to get to know more about Akari, now more than ever. I want to learn everything about him. I want to see him in his merman form again. I want to know why he is keeping all of it such a secret. I want to know what his face looks like when he is not hiding. I want to see him smiling, angered, crying, flustered... Heck ANYTHING ! I want to discover everything about him, more than I ever wanted to discover anyone in my entire lifetime ! Oh my god, I AM going crazy ! Relax you stupid Owen !

It took me a while, but I eventually started to calm down. I checked the time and started counting down the hours left before tomorrow's first period classes. I noticed that I still have a lot of time, and until then, I must find a way to talk to him.