![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cyaneaOrenchi no Furo Jijou (The Circumstances in My Home's Bathtub) is a story about a young man who saves a man from dying by the river. He doesn’t realize that the man is a merman until he gets home. And so begins the story of how the merman Wakasa started living in the man Tatsumi’s bathtub.
Mikuni first appears when Takasu (an octopus) takes a cell phone photo of Tatsumi and Wakasa. When you’re not prepared for it, he looks just like a ghost creeping up on you. At first Tatsumi expects it to be a ghost, as there’s been rumours of one lately. Instead, it’s a pretty male jellyfish.
Being see-through, he’s usually ignored, so when Tatsumi notices him he grips his hands in a friendly introductions. Too bad he stings him in the process. When they ask if he’s the ghost, he can’t remember. Wakasa says it’s because he’s old, Takasu says that it’s because he’s an idiot.
While they talk, Tatsumi notices that Mikuni is looking smaller than when he arrived, ad finds out that if he’s not in the water, Mikuni will shrink. He’s made 99% out of water, and a worried Tatsumi puts him in the tub. It’s a little cramped with three of them in there though, Takasu can’t fit properly with all his tentacles. Eventually Mikuni grows to his normal size.
Once it’s dinner time, Mikuni tells him that water is enough, but when Tatsumi insists, he asks to get a specific kind of water in a bottle that he’s been wanting to try. He takes it back pretty soon though, thinking that he’s asking for too much. Tatsumi kind of likes him though, since he’s much cheaper and ecological than Wakasa and Takasu.
Mikuni is back pretty soon to celebrate Halloween. When Tatsumi first opens the door to the bath, Mikuni pretending to be a mummy creeps him out pretty badly, until he notices that it’s him. They’ve dressed up; Mikuni as a mummy, Takasu as a vampire and Wakasa as a witch. Tatsumi doesn’t want to play along, but they tickle him (luckily Mikuni doesn’t) until he gives in and gives them candy. Mikuni’s is of course water based. Takasu is more interested in the pumpkin though (if only for a while), cramming his head into it.
But when Tatsumi tells them that he’s not having any candy they stop him. He’s the youngest, and a child (teenager) at that, so he must have candy. He gives in after a while, and asks them trick or treat. Afterward, when all is done, he crushes the pumpkin so he can use it for dinner, making the water creatures yell about poor “Jack-san”.
After much chaos and the introduction of the hermit crab Maki and the shark Agari, Mikuni shows up again. Or, to use a better word, vacuumed up. There’s a tiny little Mikuni stuck on the vacuum, and Tatsumi hurries for the bath to put him in the tub. But on his way in there, he steps on something. It’s another little Mikuni, now upset about having been stepped on. When he rushes to the bath to show Wakasa, he’s met by a tub full of tiny little Mikunis together with Wakasa. Every little Mikuni with their own little personality. It’s all his personality traits split up into many little Mikunis. Now he has to collect them all so that they can, as Wakasa calls it, “combine”. It’s hard work, the way they move around (they can’t technically run, as they don’t have legs), and he nearly falls for the tearfilled eyes of one of them, but by pretending that he has the heart of an Oni he manages to catch them all. Mikuni combines into one gigantic jellyfish, at least four times his normal size. He envelopes Tatsumi in a hug, but the bigger he is the worse he stings, and Tatsumi ends up twitching on the floor while an apologetic Mikuni worries.
The next time Mikuni visits, they play karuta. It’s a card game where you read from a card and then have to grab the corresponding card before an opponent does. Takasu has to skip turns on several occasions as he tend to grab eight cards at the same time, which is not allowed. As none of the water creatures are used to the game it’s pretty chaotic and they make many mistakes, but somehow Wakasa is in the lead. The merman manages to make a huge mess out of the bath while getting the last card, and by the end of the game the water is anywhere but in the tub.
He doesn’t appear again until Takasu brings him and Maki to meet Tatsumi and Wakasa at the swimming pool at night. Takasu has picked the lock and they’ve snuck into it when no one else is there. They rush away from the pool when they see Agari though, as Takasu, Maki and Mikuni are a bit scared of him. They have a hard time communicating with him, as Agari doesn’t speak with words but with body language. It’s somewhat improved when he saves Maki from being stuck at the bottom of the pool though.
After the introduction of a starfish named Goroumaru, everyone gathers to help cleaning the bath during new years. With so many water creatures inhabiting it, it gets really dirty in a short amount of time. Tatsumi is preparing mandarin oranges and a kotatsu, Takasu being a general annoyance by trying to steal the oranges and asking Tatsumi if he thinks Mikuni has eaten a piece of orange or if Takasu’s holding it inside/behind him, making for a very wrong-looking picture and a very embarrassed Mikuni who begs Tatsumi not to look at him.
Though all of them probably know that it’s a dumb idea to get under the kotatsu they still get cozy under it. They get dry pretty quickly, and Tatsumi has to force them back into the tub. They drink together, as Takasu brought sake with him, and get drunk (aside from Tatsumi). The morning after they get otoshidama (a new years gift, typically money, given to children from relatives or visitors).
Not long after it’s time for setsubun, and Tatsumi plays the role of oni (demon). They all (except Mikuni) throw beans at him, and everyone cheers as Maki manages to throw one as far as to a bowl (not even close to where Tatsumi is). It’s a big feat considering Maki’s small size. But when it’s Mikuni’s turn, he makes them all stop though when he feels sorry for the oni who will be driven out, so they decide to let the oni stay, not just the luck. Afterward it’s time to eat Ehomaki, a sushi roll typically eaten during setsubun, and Tatsumi almost chokes on his when he sees Agari eat his.
One day when Tatsumi has gone out to buy soy sauce, Wakasa hears a sound. It’s the voice of a stranger, and when Tatsumi comes back he alerts him of the possible intruder. They find Mikuni, who scolds Tatsumi for not locking his front door. But he’s not the one who made the noise. Since Mikuni had been in the hallway the entire time, he had seen a man come inside the house, but had mistaken him for being Tatsumi’s friend. When Tatsumi leaves the bath to check out the house he runs into the man right outside the room. It’s a burglar, and Tatsumi beats him to the ground, and the man thinks that Mikuni is a ghost. Mikuni and Wakasa uses this to scare the crap out of the burglar, threatening to drown him if he doesn’t get out right now.
A little while later when Tatsumi is at his part time job, the water creatures ponder what his job might be. They start out with decent enough theories, until they start to wonder if he works with kidnapping children, or maybe as a fisherman (very horrible in the world of the water creatures), or a bartender or host. Turns out he’s working as a helper at a place that sells alcohol.
One day they try out differently coloured/scented baths. It starts out with just Wakasa, but in the middle of the milk bath they find an almost invisible Mikuni. They try coffee, tea, and then Maki drops by and they have a yuzu bath. Takasu brings a lot of alcohol with him, and they have baths in wine, beer and the like. In the end they settle for a pink coloured bath as Tatsumi can’t join them if they’re in an alcohol bath.
A while later, Tatsumi walks in on the creatures giving someone a treatment. Agari’s gestures make Mikuni flush and Takasu tell him that it’s too much (the shark most likely said something vulgar). They’re playing dress up and acting like they’re part of some kind of host club/salon mashup, and the one they’re treating is a teddybear.
After an incident where Wakasa is stuck in the tub due to a mad scientist that Tatsumi knows, as well as a debacle with the merman’s mind turning into that of a baby’s, everyone gathers for karaoke. Agari gives out points to everyone, as he can’t join in on the singing. His singing starts storms. Maki’s personality completely changes as he sings “you give love a bad name”, Mikuni’s singing gives a “see-through” feeling and Wakasa’s singing voice makes the women on the sidewalk fall over and get horny. Merfolk are sirens after all.
Because of something Takasu did, the bath blows up one day. For now, they’re all forced to evacuate while repairs are being made, and only Wakasa can stay, as he is the only one living there out of the water creatures. They still drop by, and invade the temporary outdoors bath that Tatsumi has prepared for Wakasa. As Takasu is being too annoying, Tatsumi threatens to turn him into dinner, much to the amusement of Wakasa, Goroumaru, Maki and Agari. Mikuni is just crying over it.
This is followed by a day when the power goes out and Wakasa and Tatsumi finds out that Wakasa’s butt can glow in the dark.
Mikuni first appears when Takasu (an octopus) takes a cell phone photo of Tatsumi and Wakasa. When you’re not prepared for it, he looks just like a ghost creeping up on you. At first Tatsumi expects it to be a ghost, as there’s been rumours of one lately. Instead, it’s a pretty male jellyfish.
Being see-through, he’s usually ignored, so when Tatsumi notices him he grips his hands in a friendly introductions. Too bad he stings him in the process. When they ask if he’s the ghost, he can’t remember. Wakasa says it’s because he’s old, Takasu says that it’s because he’s an idiot.
While they talk, Tatsumi notices that Mikuni is looking smaller than when he arrived, ad finds out that if he’s not in the water, Mikuni will shrink. He’s made 99% out of water, and a worried Tatsumi puts him in the tub. It’s a little cramped with three of them in there though, Takasu can’t fit properly with all his tentacles. Eventually Mikuni grows to his normal size.
Once it’s dinner time, Mikuni tells him that water is enough, but when Tatsumi insists, he asks to get a specific kind of water in a bottle that he’s been wanting to try. He takes it back pretty soon though, thinking that he’s asking for too much. Tatsumi kind of likes him though, since he’s much cheaper and ecological than Wakasa and Takasu.
Mikuni is back pretty soon to celebrate Halloween. When Tatsumi first opens the door to the bath, Mikuni pretending to be a mummy creeps him out pretty badly, until he notices that it’s him. They’ve dressed up; Mikuni as a mummy, Takasu as a vampire and Wakasa as a witch. Tatsumi doesn’t want to play along, but they tickle him (luckily Mikuni doesn’t) until he gives in and gives them candy. Mikuni’s is of course water based. Takasu is more interested in the pumpkin though (if only for a while), cramming his head into it.
But when Tatsumi tells them that he’s not having any candy they stop him. He’s the youngest, and a child (teenager) at that, so he must have candy. He gives in after a while, and asks them trick or treat. Afterward, when all is done, he crushes the pumpkin so he can use it for dinner, making the water creatures yell about poor “Jack-san”.
After much chaos and the introduction of the hermit crab Maki and the shark Agari, Mikuni shows up again. Or, to use a better word, vacuumed up. There’s a tiny little Mikuni stuck on the vacuum, and Tatsumi hurries for the bath to put him in the tub. But on his way in there, he steps on something. It’s another little Mikuni, now upset about having been stepped on. When he rushes to the bath to show Wakasa, he’s met by a tub full of tiny little Mikunis together with Wakasa. Every little Mikuni with their own little personality. It’s all his personality traits split up into many little Mikunis. Now he has to collect them all so that they can, as Wakasa calls it, “combine”. It’s hard work, the way they move around (they can’t technically run, as they don’t have legs), and he nearly falls for the tearfilled eyes of one of them, but by pretending that he has the heart of an Oni he manages to catch them all. Mikuni combines into one gigantic jellyfish, at least four times his normal size. He envelopes Tatsumi in a hug, but the bigger he is the worse he stings, and Tatsumi ends up twitching on the floor while an apologetic Mikuni worries.
The next time Mikuni visits, they play karuta. It’s a card game where you read from a card and then have to grab the corresponding card before an opponent does. Takasu has to skip turns on several occasions as he tend to grab eight cards at the same time, which is not allowed. As none of the water creatures are used to the game it’s pretty chaotic and they make many mistakes, but somehow Wakasa is in the lead. The merman manages to make a huge mess out of the bath while getting the last card, and by the end of the game the water is anywhere but in the tub.
He doesn’t appear again until Takasu brings him and Maki to meet Tatsumi and Wakasa at the swimming pool at night. Takasu has picked the lock and they’ve snuck into it when no one else is there. They rush away from the pool when they see Agari though, as Takasu, Maki and Mikuni are a bit scared of him. They have a hard time communicating with him, as Agari doesn’t speak with words but with body language. It’s somewhat improved when he saves Maki from being stuck at the bottom of the pool though.
After the introduction of a starfish named Goroumaru, everyone gathers to help cleaning the bath during new years. With so many water creatures inhabiting it, it gets really dirty in a short amount of time. Tatsumi is preparing mandarin oranges and a kotatsu, Takasu being a general annoyance by trying to steal the oranges and asking Tatsumi if he thinks Mikuni has eaten a piece of orange or if Takasu’s holding it inside/behind him, making for a very wrong-looking picture and a very embarrassed Mikuni who begs Tatsumi not to look at him.
Though all of them probably know that it’s a dumb idea to get under the kotatsu they still get cozy under it. They get dry pretty quickly, and Tatsumi has to force them back into the tub. They drink together, as Takasu brought sake with him, and get drunk (aside from Tatsumi). The morning after they get otoshidama (a new years gift, typically money, given to children from relatives or visitors).
Not long after it’s time for setsubun, and Tatsumi plays the role of oni (demon). They all (except Mikuni) throw beans at him, and everyone cheers as Maki manages to throw one as far as to a bowl (not even close to where Tatsumi is). It’s a big feat considering Maki’s small size. But when it’s Mikuni’s turn, he makes them all stop though when he feels sorry for the oni who will be driven out, so they decide to let the oni stay, not just the luck. Afterward it’s time to eat Ehomaki, a sushi roll typically eaten during setsubun, and Tatsumi almost chokes on his when he sees Agari eat his.
One day when Tatsumi has gone out to buy soy sauce, Wakasa hears a sound. It’s the voice of a stranger, and when Tatsumi comes back he alerts him of the possible intruder. They find Mikuni, who scolds Tatsumi for not locking his front door. But he’s not the one who made the noise. Since Mikuni had been in the hallway the entire time, he had seen a man come inside the house, but had mistaken him for being Tatsumi’s friend. When Tatsumi leaves the bath to check out the house he runs into the man right outside the room. It’s a burglar, and Tatsumi beats him to the ground, and the man thinks that Mikuni is a ghost. Mikuni and Wakasa uses this to scare the crap out of the burglar, threatening to drown him if he doesn’t get out right now.
A little while later when Tatsumi is at his part time job, the water creatures ponder what his job might be. They start out with decent enough theories, until they start to wonder if he works with kidnapping children, or maybe as a fisherman (very horrible in the world of the water creatures), or a bartender or host. Turns out he’s working as a helper at a place that sells alcohol.
One day they try out differently coloured/scented baths. It starts out with just Wakasa, but in the middle of the milk bath they find an almost invisible Mikuni. They try coffee, tea, and then Maki drops by and they have a yuzu bath. Takasu brings a lot of alcohol with him, and they have baths in wine, beer and the like. In the end they settle for a pink coloured bath as Tatsumi can’t join them if they’re in an alcohol bath.
A while later, Tatsumi walks in on the creatures giving someone a treatment. Agari’s gestures make Mikuni flush and Takasu tell him that it’s too much (the shark most likely said something vulgar). They’re playing dress up and acting like they’re part of some kind of host club/salon mashup, and the one they’re treating is a teddybear.
After an incident where Wakasa is stuck in the tub due to a mad scientist that Tatsumi knows, as well as a debacle with the merman’s mind turning into that of a baby’s, everyone gathers for karaoke. Agari gives out points to everyone, as he can’t join in on the singing. His singing starts storms. Maki’s personality completely changes as he sings “you give love a bad name”, Mikuni’s singing gives a “see-through” feeling and Wakasa’s singing voice makes the women on the sidewalk fall over and get horny. Merfolk are sirens after all.
Because of something Takasu did, the bath blows up one day. For now, they’re all forced to evacuate while repairs are being made, and only Wakasa can stay, as he is the only one living there out of the water creatures. They still drop by, and invade the temporary outdoors bath that Tatsumi has prepared for Wakasa. As Takasu is being too annoying, Tatsumi threatens to turn him into dinner, much to the amusement of Wakasa, Goroumaru, Maki and Agari. Mikuni is just crying over it.
This is followed by a day when the power goes out and Wakasa and Tatsumi finds out that Wakasa’s butt can glow in the dark.