Sitting on one of the weathered wooden planks near the coast, Remia swung her feet just above the surface of the water, watching the sun slowly dip below the horizon. The painted sky was beautiful, but her mind was entirely elsewhere, lost in the memory of a bizarre event she couldn't shake.
She still remembered that day with absolute clarity. It had begun with her usual, desperate longing for just a single moment of quiet solitude. From a young age, Remia had simply been a helpful soul, speaking kindly to everyone in her small coastal town community. She never imagined that such basic courtesy would lead to a suffocating nightmare. What started as three or four local boys hanging around to help her with chores quickly snowballed. Before she knew it, the crowd grew to six, then more, eventually forming a loud, organised 'fan club' that shadowed her every move.
At first, she hadn't thought much of it. She was grateful for the extra hands and even a bit flattered by the harmless attention. But the fragile peace shattered the moment one of them unexpectedly proposed to her. Surprised and uncomfortable, she turned him down immediately. Remia had never even considered dating, certainly not with anyone from this crowd. But if she had to find a partner, she wished for someone reliable and brave, like a prince from the stories one of the grannies used to read to the children.
Unfortunately, that first confession acted like a broken dam.
Instead of backing off, the other men viewed it as an invitation to compete. One after another, they began confessing almost daily. The attention shifted from awkward to utterly unbearable. Whenever she stepped outside her house, she was instantly surrounded. The men constantly tried to outdo one another to impress her, completely blind to her growing frustration.
Worse, this unwelcome sight began to poison her relationships with the rest of the townspeople. Other young women her age watched her with deep disdain and resentment, openly wondering what made Remia so special to deserve such a devoted entourage. She felt utterly isolated, trapped by a popularity she had never asked for.
She kept rejecting their advances, hoping they would eventually give up and find someone else. To some extent, this worked; half of them did indeed give up, but the other half continued to pursue her. This did create some space for her to move around.
That day too, seeking an escape from the suffocating pressure, Remia had retreated to the lonely coastline. She sighed deeply, looking up at the vast sky, wishing the persistent crowd would finally give up and look elsewhere.
That was when she noticed an anomaly in the clouds.
Squinting against the fading daylight, she tracked a dark shape plunging rapidly toward the sea. At first, she thought it was a large sea bird, but as it cleared the lower cloud layer, the truth became clear. It was a person, falling directly from the heavens.
Splash!
"Eeh!" Remia yelped, jumping backwards as a massive wall of water sprayed into the air, soaking the wooden planks.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she stared at the rippling waves. But before she could even take a step forward to investigate, the loud, familiar shouting of her name echoed from the path behind her.
They immediately surrounded her protectively, wondering if a sea monster had tried to attack her.
"Are you alright?"
"I-I am fine, but there is someone who fell in the water," Remia said, looking worriedly at the water.
"Someone fell in the water?"
"That's strange; why aren't they able to swim up?" the entourage murmured among themselves, uncertain about what to do. Their primary concern was Remia's safety rather than that of the one who had fallen, so no one made any move, thinking that someone else would act.
Seeing no one moving, Remia moved herself, breaking out of the circumference of the entourage and jumping in.
Her entourage panicked as they saw her jump in. The three fastest swimmers of the group followed her, trying to protectively bring her back. But she didn't stop; she went deeper, single-mindedly searching for whoever had fallen.
There, deep in the water, Remia saw that person not moving. That person must have been knocked out by the hard splash, she thought. She needed to hurry up.
But things didn't turn out as she expected. Suddenly, that person moved at frightening speed, faster than any merfolk she had ever seen move through water. Not just that, the wave that person created in his wake completely swept them away.
"Just what was that...?" she wondered.
"Sigh," Remia reminisced.
It was not like thinking of that person would make her situation any better.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Suddenly, she heard the emergency bell ring, a signal that was only meant to sound in situations of serious concern. The elders of the merfolk had established a system where the bell would ring one to four times, depending on the level of danger, with four rings indicating the highest level of threat.
"What was going on?"
…
"Am I getting a bit too possessive over Remia?" Rihito murmured, pondering and analysing his behaviour from a third-person perspective.
To him, his behaviour from a third-party point of view seemed overbearing, reaching obsession… maybe just a bit?
"..."
[Yeah naa… NO WAY IN HELL!!] Rihito shivered just thinking about it. He immediately kicked that thought out of his head. There was no demand for a male yandere, nor would he be one, because he could take a 'no' and accept it.
He started to sweat, wondering what if he actually was a…
In a panic, trying to prove it to himself, he thought of Shizuku and Shea rejecting him, which only caused him heartache.
"Ugh!" Just the mere thought of that situation caused his body to wobble midflight; his angle sharply dropped towards the sea, and right before the surface of the water, he managed to balance himself.
Rihito shook those thoughts away and decided to stop thinking down that rabbit hole.
Even then, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable thinking about his current situation.
Is it wrong to feel uncomfortable and slightly jealous when seeing the woman you spent time with and began to think of as your partner, even if she is a past version of that same person?
Well, it is more complicated than that, but still…
"What is the right choice? I can't just…" Rihito paused and didn't say more, realising he was just finding an excuse. He can't do it; there was Myu he had to think about. If his thoughtless actions caused her to disappear from time, he would never be able to forgive himself.
"GOD DAMN IT!!"
Is this why those protagonists kept cursing at time-travel tropes when it happened to them? If it is, he understands why now. Is this what they felt? He can't say for sure, but it should be close enough.
"Sigh, better focus on searching."
Flying right above the sea, Rihito's
Ehit must never find out about his existence or anything about time travel.
It is one of his absolute rules he must never break, or the whole timeline was bound to get fucked.
"Where is that blob of flesh hiding?" Rihito muttered as he dove into the water.
He headed deeper and deeper until everything surrounding him turned dark, a perfect place to hide, in his opinion. He swam through the water, sensing something serpentine heading towards him.
[Hmm…] That shouldn't be the leviathan. He was actively looking out for its presence; that and any other creature he should avoid.
[Well, it seems a punching bag has presented itself.]
From the darkness, lightning crackled, revealing a large eel that was nearly 15 meters tall.
I waited for it to get close, but suddenly I felt a small jolt on my skin.
Right that instant, the eel turned its head towards me and snarled in my direction.
[Huh? It detected me?] Upon closer inspection, I noticed electromagnetic waves; no, it's stronger, like sparks of electricity. It likely functions both as a sensor and emits a stun attack.
[So that's how it is. No wonder then.]
Immediately, that electric eel used lightning to shock Rihito, aiming to incapacitate him for an easy hunt.
The multiple strikes of lightning were aimed at Rihito, resembling an iconic move from Pokémon called Thunderbolt.
In an instant, he was electrocuted, a state worsened by the seawater. This deadly move was extremely effective against any fish or sea creature, but unfortunately, it had encountered him.
[Buddy, if you want to paralyse me, you need much greater power to do it. Now then, let me repay you in kind.] Rihito's smile stretched wide.
I easily brushed the electricity off as my arm crackled with lightning. I pointed my finger in a finger gun gesture and fired.
ZAAAP!!
A surge of electricity struck it down, immediately paralysing it, leaving the eel twitching, its skin charred or lightly cooked in some places.
[Huh. So it did have resistance against lightning.]
I looked at the eel twitching and decided to finish the job. I swung my arm in a chopping gesture, sliced through the eel's head, and stored the carcass in the
From there, I began moving again, continuing the search.
…
..
.
Soon, the evening came as the sun began to set.
"Sigh, another day and no progress in finding the blob. This sucks. Where the fuck is that shit hiding at?!!" I cursed before heading back.
…
Chapter end
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