The Sugar Drought

A shining grin radiated out from under the crouched marine's cap as he held out the handful of candies to the mob of children.  One of the most satisfying aspects of his job was the happy smiles and content laughter from the civilian children on the islands the Navy protected.  While the majority of adults still cowered in fear and confusion whenever the fishman marine was around, many children were not yet old enough to carry on the unfair biases of their parents and society.  He had to treasure it as long as he could and work hard to plant a good impression of his race on all the young people he interacted with while on or off duty. 

"Easy now, kids, one at a time.  I definitely have plenty to go around!"

Mizuchi hummed happily under his breath, rolling a lollipop of his own around his tongue as the children thinned out until he was handing one of the last pieces of candy to a young girl.  The kid gave him a big smile and a wave before skipping off to join the rest of her friends.  Just as the fishman stood up from his crouch, someone snagged his arm and pulled down on it.  He turned to see a young woman, who was revealed to be incredibly hungry after a loud gurgle filled the air. 

"Oh, uhh...shoot, let me see here..."

He dug around in his pocket for a moment before sighing.

"Sorry, those kids really cleaned me out."

He tilted his head and noticed the ravenous glint in this girl's eyes, her sugar lust noticeable even to someone who had never met her before.  He pulled out the bright red stick candy and held it out awkwardly. 

"Um...I only had it for a minute if you're really after it.  If you're going to be around another day or two, I could get some more stuff from the warship I'm stationed on." 

MIzuchi couldn't suppress a laugh in response to the girl's desperate tone when mentioning the candy cache.  Most kids were satisfied with a couple pieces in a day and would run along immediately.  Then again, most of the kids who solicited candy were much younger than this human.

"Well a marine warship has all sorts of supplies for any situation.  Candy is good as en emergency energy source, and it helps with morale for many marines.  So of course we have a supply of it.  I always bring a pouch full out to the town in the mornings, though..."

He looked down at a crude watch-like device on his right wrist. 

"Seems we're scheduled to set out in a couple days.  Won't be able to pay many more visits to this port.  That's the life of a marine though.  The entire world needs us, and there's not enough of us to be everywhere at once."

He grinned down at the shorter girl.

"Miu, right?  I'll make sure to bring a little extra sugar for you before we go.  It's always nice when someone appreciates my work."

Especially since anyone older than 8 years old tended to cower away from him, no matter how kind his deeds were. 

Mizuchi laughed louder than he intended to.  Best friend?  What a strange girl getting so ecstatic over some penny candy.  She was acting as if he had invented the stuff or something.

"Personal space?  That concept isn't important down on Fishman Island as it is up here to you humans.  I'm more surprised that you were the one to initiate that kind of contact.  Most of your people don't, uh...prefer getting so close to me."

That came out less smoothly than he would have preferred.  He shook his head and tightened his cap on his head with one hand.  Now she was offering to buy cake?  A very strange one indeed.  Yet he couldn't complain about spontaneous kindness, no matter how unexpected and unusual. 

"You don't need to apologize anything, and I can't a kid buy me anything.  I'm a self-respecting marine ensign with a paycheck you know!  I do have a couple hours off, however, and I'd be happy to come along for some sweets."

The young fishman didn't get many opportunities to interact with civilians who didn't cower in his wake very often.  May as well enjoy a little bit of time while we could. 

Mizuchi cautiously took a seat across from his impromptu companion and glanced around at the prying eyes all around their table. Probably wasn’t too common for any marine to visit this sort of shop, especially not of the non-human variety.

“You’re right, it does smell amazing in here. I’m a fan of chocolate myself.”

His piercing eyes quickly scanned the menu for a minute before an excessively loud entrance through the front doors caused him to turn his head and check. Ah shit, really? A pair of men from his platoon had just entered the building and had quickly spotted him.

“We might have a slight interruption in a second…just stay quiet and let me talk to them. It’s hard to deal with my ‘allies’ sometimes…”

The burly duo spotted Mizuchi immediately and approached the table with impish smirks.

“What’s this? The fish got a human girl to sit in the same room with him? And a kid at that. We’re not gonna have to report to the captain that you’re prowling on underage villagers, are we?”

Mizuchi closed his eyes to take a breath.

“Don’t cause a scene here, guys. I’ve spent my share of time in the brig, and punching out a couple more unruly marines isn’t going to ruin my career any further than I already have.”

Mizuchi stood up, his young fishman stature towering over the two human marines.  Unfortunately, his display of physical intimidation didn't mean much when his entire ship knew that his career was essentially over if he ever laid a hand on an ally. 

"We're supposed to be protecting justice and order, right?  Well you're making it very uncomfortable in here for this young woman, the waiting staff here, and probably most of the other guests.  Why don't you go order a box of cakes for the squad and leave me be for now?"

He got his answer very quickly in the form of a quick jab to his right cheek.  It took a lot of force to even slightly injure Mizuchi's naturally sturdy frame, but the blow was fueled by an intense hatred that rattled even a fishman's bones.  He pressed one hand against his mouth, feeling the subtle warmth of blood ooze softly from his mouth.  Must have bit his cheek a bit.

"How about you shut the hell up and stop pretending like you know what justice means?  Lot of murders you are, every last of you fish freaks in the sea. You're lucky the captain has been keeping tabs on our actions recently, or you'd suffer what you did on the last island we were stationed at."

Without another word, the marines left MIzuchi to his single wound and stormed out of the building, not taking a single sweet with them.  The fishman shook his head and sat down, quickly smiling amidst the still tense atmosphere in the shop.

"Well that wasn't so bad.  We can all get back to enjoying cake now, right?"

He spoke loudly enough to rekindle conversation amongst the other patrons and instantly transformed the general mood inside the shop back to its original merriment.