Summary: Struggling with sleepless nights and fear in the dark, you find comfort in a gentle protector. Jinbe, who guides you through dreams, strengthens your confidence, and ensures you’re never alone in the depths again.
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After school, you went straight to work and managed to find a job at the local aquarium, which was one of the biggest and nicest in the country. You loved it here as a kid and you love it here now.
But now you started working there, not as a tour guide or in the gift shop or as a caregiver and similar day jobs, no. You got a job as a night guard.
It was something completely new for you because you had to adjust your sleeping pattern to it. You never minded staying up late, but never until the very early hours of the morning, and that too regularly every day in a row. Plus, you had trouble sleeping during the day, but you had no choice.
You didn't sleep well and even when you tried sleeping pills, you had to give them up because they didn't suit you and only made you feel worse. They left you groggy and unable to work properly and you nearly fell asleep at work.
You had regular rounds where you didn't just sit in the office behind the cameras, but you made regular rounds of all the entrances. Some sections were magical in the dark, but others were terrifying.
One was a section that contained some rather creepy fish and creatures, along with one creature that had a nickname as a local monster that no one had ever seen properly, but which appeared as a ghost and disappeared again to god knows where.
Your sleep problem was still there, but you were somehow able to function with circles under your eyes and a very poor sleeping pattern. At work, you sometimes worry about giving yourself a heart attack from drinking one coffee after another, alternating it with an energy drink.
You were getting ready for your next night shift when you saw the kindergartner finishing their field trip at the aquarium. Among the kids, you saw your little niece, who immediately started waving at you when she noticed you. You walked over to her and she immediately ran over to you so she could hug you.
"Look what we got." She smiled at you and showed you a teddy bear that was sort of a combination of a teddy bear and a whale shark.
"He's very cute," you complimented her.
"You think so? It's for you! He's so cute, I'm sure he'll make you sleep better and protect you. He'll be there to help you and keep you company so you won't be scared to be alone," she said, stuffing the bear into your arms.
You wanted to give it back to her, but her teacher had already started leading them on. So you ruffled her hair, thanked her for the teddy bear, said goodbye, and sent her to the others so they wouldn't run away.
You took the teddy bear and walked it over to the security office where you relieved the day shift.
"Nice teddy bear," smiled an elderly colleague who vacated your chair and was about to go home.
"Thanks, he's another addition to the night watch," you laughed lightly.
You sat down at your desk, checking the cameras before looking at the teddy bear. You picked him up and stroked his short blue fur. The teddy bear had clear signs of a whale shark, with white spots on its back. He was wearing an orange robe and had black fur on his head. In addition, large bottom fangs peeked out of his mouth and he had a red sun mark on his chest.
You had no idea what exactly the stuffed animal was supposed to represent, and you even thought it was the dreaded sea monster aquarium, but that didn't seem likely. Plus, it was quite cute and, as your niece said, the teddy bear was soft and nice to touch. In the end, you decided to keep the bear.
You hugged it and put your head on it and you thought the teddy smelled like the sea itself, but in a nice way.
Your night shift went by pretty quickly that day, and you didn't even have to pour that much caffeine into yourself. After changing with the next patrol, you went straight home with the teddy bear in your bag.
You changed, took a quick shower, and fell into bed. After a long time, you fell asleep almost immediately with the teddy bear in your hand.
In your dream, you were in a dark building that felt like a giant maze in which nightmares haunted you. After a while, the walls turned to glass, with dark water on the other side, in which you saw scary, almost grotesque fish that sent shivers down your spine.
You came to a crossroads where you saw a giant shark with a mouth full of sharp teeth swimming towards you in the transparent wall. It looked like it was swimming through the glass wall and heading towards you.
Automatically, you reached for the gun you kept on your belt while you worked, but there was nothing there. Plus, you felt like your feet were frozen to the ground and you couldn't get away. You wanted to duck so the shark would miss you when someone else appeared.
He jumped in front of you and hit the shark with such force that it shattered like a sheet of glass into shards that shattered on the ground. The surrounding labyrinth dissolved in the same way, and now you were on the beach of an exotic island where the sun was shining, warming your soul.
Your rescuer was much larger than you, had blue skin and looked like a combination of man and fish, or rather a whale shark. When you looked at him, you realized he looked like a teddy bear.
Fish-man made sure you were okay and wanted to make sure you weren't hurt in any way. You were sure he introduced himself to you afterwards, but all you remembered was that he was your protector.
He took you on adventures in your dreams and you even had relaxing moments with him. You visited all sorts of islands and he even took you underwater when you were in a giant bubble and he swam around and showed you everything.
It was strange to wake up full of energy and strength. You felt surprisingly good and still had plenty of time to yourself before it was time to go to work.
From that day on you slept much better and you also clearly cut down on caffeine consumption and felt better. You even stopped being afraid of the sea monster at work and the shadows the exposures cast. You were calmer and more focused. Plus, you started to look forward to work more and more. And now you weren't alone. You always brought a stuffed animal with you.
From that day on, your fish guardian began to teach you karate in your dreams, which you envied. You admired his talent and always watched him practice or show you some kind of moves.
In addition, he thought that karate would be useful in your new profession when you couldn't rely on your weapon and that you would be able to defend yourself better.
It was almost surprising to you that even though he taught you in your dreams, you knew the moves in the real, waking world when you tried to imitate them. Sometimes you found yourself repeating the moves when you were alone at work away from the cameras.
One night on your watch, you had your first incident. Some troublemakers got in through one of the side doors and were walking the halls with bottles of alcohol.
They were making a terrible racket and it wasn't difficult to figure out what part of the aquarium they were in. Plus, they were leaving a trail of garbage behind them.
You reported it and went to chase them away, they had no business being there. At first, you warned them to leave quietly, but they didn't listen to you but rather made fun of you. One of them was so drunk he had the nerve to attack you.
At that moment, you finally used karate and easily pacified the rioters. You handcuffed them and then handed them over to the police.
For this act you earned praise and as a gift from the aquarium management you were given a seaside holiday in a five-star hotel with all the luxuries available there.
You enjoyed your holiday to the full and for the first time in a long time, you could sleep at night, which was a strange feeling at first. But you soon got used to it. You even had your stuffed animal with you for good luck.
You decided to use one day to go snorkelling at the coral, which was right on the beach next to the hotel. You swam and looked at the life underwater, completely forgetting how far you had gotten from shore.
Something flashed in front of you, you thought it was a cuttlefish, but when you lifted your head to watch it, you were startled as a shark swam right in front of you. You panicked and had no idea what to do. You were frozen in place.
You feared that was the end of you as someone pulled you aside with a great force and like a torpedo, you were led to the shore. The speed almost took your breath away and water rushed into your glasses. Someone pulled you out onto the sand. You ripped your glasses off your face and splashed the water you accidentally drank.
"Are you okay?" A familiar voice echoed, and someone put a large hand on your back, their touch soothing.
"Jinbe?" You asked, your voice hoarse with surprise from the way you were still coughing. You squinted at the fish-man as salt burned your eyes before you hugged him. You felt like it was a very vivid dream. When you closed your eyes, you could still see the shark's teeth in front of you. "I was so scared..." you said.
"You don't have to be scared. I won't let anything happen to you. I'm your protector," he said, stroking your back.
"Thank you," you whispered, kissing his cheek before burying your face into his shoulder.
