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Being the team lead of a department meant countless phone calls, endless late nights, and constant stress. Kento liked to think he handled all those issues with as much grace and patience as could be expected of someone. Something had to give eventually, though, and it appeared that it would be Kento’s body.
Kento was rather embarrassed by how everything went down, truth be told. Fainting in front of his entire department was rather unfortunate timing. He hadn’t even felt light-headed. There had been a lingering headache, sure, but that symptom was so constant in his day-to-day life that Kento didn’t pay it any mind. Regardless, Kento hadn’t even known that he had fainted until he woke up in the hospital to Yu’s worried expression.
They’d started at the company on the same date six years ago. Yu had never given him the chance to say no to being friends with him. Yu had been shockingly persistent in inviting him out to lunch and to drinks after work. The other man had even gone as far as to stay late just for the two of them to walk home together. Yu’s persistence had paid off as he remained without a doubt Kento’s closest friend.
Kento’s parents lived nowhere near Tokyo, so it had made sense to put Yu down as his emergency contact at work. However, that decision now meant Kento had to acknowledge Yu’s worried expression. He sighed as he rubbed his head. Everything would have been easier if he had stayed unconscious until Yu went home.
“You fainted from stress. You do realize that isn’t normal nor healthy, right?” Yu insisted as he frowned at Kento.
“Our budget reports for the new fiscal year were due Friday. I must have over-exerted myself trying to complete those on top of my usual duties. I’m sorry for worrying you. Did the doctors tell you when I’m expected to be discharged? I’ve already left everyone in a lurch by leaving early today. I need to get back if I don’t want to create even more work for them.” Kento explained as he looked around for his clothing. He felt ridiculous wearing a hospital gown while Yu was still fully dressed.
“You’re not going back to work,” Yu spoke abruptly, and he was looking at Kento as if he had just said something incredibly dumb.
“Of course, I’m going back to work. I just told you that the budget reports for the new fiscal year are due Friday.” Kento argued as his expression dropped. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that Yu knew something that his friend wasn’t telling him.
“I’ve already talked to Director Yaga. I’m going to take over your managerial duties while you’re on leave.” Yu explained the situation very matter-of-factly, when in fact it was anything but that simple.
“You already have to supervise your own staff, I’m not going to ask you to supervise my staff on top of that. Besides, you won’t be able to help my supervisees with the budget reports.” Kento could already feel another headache forming, which was impressive considering he hadn’t even left his hospital bed yet.
“Director Yaga is going to help your staff complete their reports. Your leave has already been processed and approved. You’re not expected back at work till July 31st. I made sure that you would have your birthday off.” Yu wore a large grin as if this was a good thing and not the subject of Kento’s worst nightmare.
“You can’t seriously expect me to sit in my apartment all day for four months while my staff are forced to cover my contributions?” Kento had never outright glared at Yu before, but his eyes were significantly narrowing as his best friend continued to talk.
“Of course not. What kind of friend do you think I am? I booked you a bungalow on the beach for the first month of your vacation.” Yu’s grin was so wide as he spoke that Kento wouldn’t be shocked if the other man burst into laughter
“You did what? Why would you spend your money on that?” Kento’s expectations for this conversation were already low, but now he could safely say they were in hell at this point.
“Kento, we all know your dream is retiring to the beach. Your computer wallpaper has been the same beach for the last six years. Just think of this as a trial run to see if you really would like to live on the beach once you retire. Besides, it’s non-refundable. Do you really want me to lose all my money?” Yu’s eyes went wide in a way that Kento knew from experience was supposed to placate him enough to say yes.
Even his prior knowledge of the expression wasn’t enough to save Kento. He sighed and nodded silently as Yu cheered loudly. Kento reached out to place his hand over Yu’s mouth, considering they were still in a hospital, after all. Of course, Yu licked his hand because he was someone who had never advanced beyond middle school tactics.
Regardless of Kento’s lingering hesitation, he found himself being driven to Haneda Airport by Yu. His best friend wasn’t going to let him back out at the last possible second. Fortunately, it would be a quick three-hour flight from Tokyo to Okinawa. It wasn’t quite long enough for Kento to finish one of his books, but he knew that he would have plenty of time to finish any novel he started on the beach. Kento was excited at the prospect of completing some of his more time-consuming novels. He wound up hugging Yu goodbye, promising to bring back plenty of souvenirs, before heading through security.
The flight from Tokyo to Okinawa was otherwise uneventful, as Kento filled the time by reading one of the many books on his bookcase that he had had time to read before. He ended up taking a taxi from Naha Airport to the bungalow Haibara had rented for him. Kento was quite grateful that the taxi driver didn’t ask him any questions about himself for the duration of the ride. His taxi ride culminated in Kento being dropped off in front of a beach with the bluest waters that he had ever seen.
It was hard for Kento not to feel giddy as he took off his shoes to walk barefoot across the sand. Only the back of the bungalow that Haibara had picked out for him could be seen from the road. The primary appeal of the bungalow was that it was the only one located on this particular beach, which seemed impractical to Kento, but it was certainly benefiting him. Kento still found it hard to believe that Yu hadn’t spent a small fortune to rent this bungalow for him.
Kento found an envelope tucked into the front door with the key to the bungalow stuffed inside. The bungalow was small, not that Kento minded, since it was just him staying on the property. There was a small dining table meant for two, which Kento used to set his luggage down on. His eyes kept jumping back to the beach, which he could see through the kitchen windows. He knew his over-excitement was ridiculous since he was about to spend a month on this beach.
Still, Kento couldn’t stop himself as he rolled up his pant legs and grabbed the book he had been reading on the plane. Kento figured he could read until at least dinner, then he’d need to figure out what he was eating. Several hours passed in contentment as Kento read by the ocean. The sun was beginning to set by the time that Kento heard a car pulling down the road beside the beach. It hadn’t taken Kento very long to realize that very few people drive along this stretch of road. There had only been four or five drivers in the few hours Kento had been sitting out on the beach.
His curiosity was further piqued when he watched the car pull off the road and park on the outer ridges of the beach, where it became grassy. A woman got out of the car, holding what looked like a takeout bag and a six-pack of beer.
“Yo!” The stranger called out to him, and Kento was almost certain that he had never met her before.
“Good Evening. Can I help you with something?” Kento responded, deciding to be gregarious despite his confusion.
“Are you the only one staying in the bungalow right now?” The woman asked, and Kento wondered if he was about to end up one of those true-crime podcasts that Yu liked listening to on his commute home.
“Yes, I am the only one staying on the property right now.” Kento wound up responding honestly as he eyed the strange woman skeptically. The woman looked slight enough to pose no physical threat to him, but looks could be deceiving.
“Oh, good. I was really not looking forward to splitting this beer three ways.” The woman smiled as if there was some joke that Kento was not privy to. Kento found himself deeply unsettled by her presence.
“Sorry, who are you?” Kento asked as he followed the woman as she began walking towards the bungalow.
“My name is Shoko. You’re renting this bungalow from my family. My parents are older, so they ask me to check in on the renters.” Shoko wound up pulling a set of keys out of her pocket to unlock the front door.
“Oh, Ieiri, right? I believe my friend Yu spoke to your mother on the phone when he booked the rental. My name is Nanami Kento.” Kento visibly relaxed as he followed Shoko into the bungalow.
Shoko was clearly familiar with the space as she went ahead and grabbed cups and plates for the two of them from the cabinets after setting her bags down on the countertop. Kento made a mental note of where everything was as Shoko grabbed chopsticks for the two of them.
“Real chatty fellow, right? My mom was singing his praises for days afterwards. We honestly expected the two of you to be staying here this month. We don’t typically rent the bungalow to solo travelers.” A slight frown appeared on Shoko’s face as she spoke, though she quickly popped the tab on a beer can, and the expression vanished from her face in the span of time it took her to take a sip.
“Yu was simply booking me some time away from work. I’m sorry if we otherwise mislead you.” Kento had never heard of owners not wanting to rent to solo travelers before. Perhaps it was something unique to Okinawa or this area.
Shoko could tell her comment had unnerved him, so she quickly pivoted the conversation. “We’ve historically had some issues with solo travelers losing their lives. It’s mostly a safety precaution more than anything. Besides, you seem like the responsible sort.” She gestured towards his collared shirt as she spoke. There was mirth in her tone as she handed a can of beer to Kento.
Kento accepted the can of beer as he stared apprehensively at Shoko. “How do these travelers die? Strong currents or venomous sea life?” He wound up asking the question just to be certain of what he should avoid.
“Promise me that you won’t go out on the beach after dark, Kento, and I can promise you that nothing will happen to you during the course of your stay.” Shoko’s voice took on a serious tone as she stared intently at him.
“I can assure you that I have no interest in visiting the beach at night. I mostly plan to read by the beach, so it’d be counter-productive for me to do so at night.” Shoko appeared to be measuring his response as she continued gazing at him. After a moment, Shoko clapped, which made Kento jump.
“Alright, let’s eat and drink then!” Shoko popped the lid of the takeout box as she made her proclamation. Kento was delighted to see gōyā chanpurū in the takeout box, as it was a dish that he had only seen online previously.
Shoko turned out to be sarcastic and funny in a way Kento appreciated. He’d found out that Shoko had left the area to attend medical school, but she'd return to serve as the local doctor to the aging residents, like her parents. She let him know there was a market a fifteen-minute walk up the road into town. However, Shoko left him her number and said that he could call her for a ride to town anytime.
Kento was already planning to repay her kindness by buying her a meal in town. He was excited to try other types of Chanpurū while he was in the area. He’d also need to travel to the market sooner rather than later to pick up some food for the bungalow.
The rest of Kento’s evening passed uneventfully as he cleaned up the dishes that he and Shoko had used before getting ready for bed. It was only once Kento was alone again that he realized he could hear the ocean throughout the entire bungalow. Kento got dressed for sleep as he settled on the bed with his book from earlier. He’d been halfway through the novel, and Kento now found himself curious if he would like the ending or not. Kento never finished the novel as he was lulled to sleep by the sound of the ocean waves.
It was strange not to wake up exhausted. Kento felt as though he had limitless energy as he showered and got dressed for the day. It was even stranger for Kento to change into his normal loungewear to start his first full day on the beach. However, Kento had not been about to waste money by purchasing an entirely new wardrobe for a bungalow he’d only been living in for a month. He’d settled on packing his casual clothing as opposed to the outfits he might wear to the office.
Shoko had been amenable to driving him to the market when he had texted her last night. The doctor had told Kento last night that she had to attend two house calls in the morning, but that she would be free to drive him to the market then. Kento sat at the small kitchen table as he continued with the novel that he had started yesterday. He got about 2/3rds of the way through the novel when he heard honking from the road.
There were likely few traffic incidents on this unbusy road, so Kento figured that was Shoko signaling her arrival. His theory was proven correct when he stepped out of the bungalow and saw Shoko smoking outside her car. She’d pulled off the road and parked on the patchy grass, the same as yesterday. It seemed to Kento that Shoko didn’t like the beach much based on the way that the woman seemed to limit her time in the sand.
Kento might have normally joined Shoko for a cigarette, but he found that the lack of stress decreased his desire for a smoke break. He walked over to the passenger side door of the car as he waited for Shoko to finish her cigarette.
“Do you like living on the coast?” Kento normally wasn’t the sort of person to ask nosy questions, as he found them quite tedious himself. Still, Kento was curious about Shoko, and he had a little over a month until Shoko and this beach were just distant memories.
“Honestly? No. Folks here are often annoyingly invested in your life. I miss Tokyo at times. No one would bat an eye if you disappeared in that city.” Shoko’s replies were always surprisingly blunt and straight to the point. Kento enjoyed that about Shoko, as it made it easy to speak to her.
“So why did you come back then?” That’s why Kento didn’t mind asking her the follow-up question, as he knew that Shoko’s answer would be honest.
“My parents are old. They can’t mind their property and their businesses as they used to. Besides, tradition mandates it. Someone has to keep an eye on the beach; otherwise, things get complicated.” Shoko was staring out at the water as she spoke. Her expression was inscrutable as Kento couldn’t tell what Shoko was thinking at all.
“Surely your family could simply leave out some guidelines for guests in the bungalow? It’s normal in this day and age for occupants to never meet the renter.” That’s why Shoko’s appearance last night had been such an unexpected but pleasant surprise to Kento.
“Nah. It’s a little more involved than that. Let’s head out now, I figure you must be hungry after skipping breakfast.” Shoko used the bottom of her heel to put out her cigarette before opening the driver’s side door. Kento silently nodded as he opened the passenger side door. It was obvious that Shoko was skating around the subject, and Kento had never been the sort of person to push someone to talk about something.
Shoko had been predictably delighted by Kento’s offer to pay for lunch. She had taken him to the same restaurant she had gotten takeout from the night before, so that he might try māmina chanpurū. Lunch had been a relatively quiet affair as Shoko had forgone any beer this time. Shoko explained that she still had a few more appointments scheduled for later that afternoon at her clinic.
They wandered the market after Kento had paid for their meals. Shoko was undoubtedly a great source as she recommended various stalls. Kento did not doubt that these were likely the same stall owners that her family had been purchasing from since her youth. He made sure to stock up on plenty of meat & fish, vegetables, and fruit, as Kento knew he would prefer not to have to trouble Shoko for a ride only once a week.
It was only when they made their way back to the car that Kento noticed the two six-packs of beer that Shoko had seemingly purchased at some point. Shoko seemed to notice Kento looking at her, and she turned to wink at him.
“I have to make sure that you’re stocked up when I come to visit you next time,” Shoko explained as she smirked at him. Kento felt as though he would be seeing Shoko far more than once a week.
It was fortunate that Shoko seemed to enjoy his presence as much as Kento enjoyed hers. Shoko had dropped him off at the bungalow with the promise of stopping by to see him that weekend. As Shoko’s car drove around the curve, Kento was once again alone on his solitary beach. It was mid-afternoon at this point, and Kento had no further plans except for finishing his book by the ocean.
Kento kicked off his shoes and rolled up his pant legs once he re-entered the bungalow and fetched his novel from the kitchen. He was determined to finish the novel, as there were plenty of other books in his bag for him to read. His litmus test for the success of this trip was based on how many books he could finally finish. His available time for reading had dwindled over the years, and Kento was fortunate to have the chance to boost his numbers.
There must have only been a chapter or two left in the novel by the time Kento had fallen asleep. Kento was quickly discovering that the sound of the ocean relaxed him more than any other sound seemingly could. This was now the second time that Kento had been put to sleep by the ocean with this book in his hand. It must have been around eight or nine pm by then. There were still some pink and red clouds scattered across the horizon, but the sun had disappeared.
His screensaver had been accurate, after all. The sunset on the beach was beautiful. Kento was content to rest on his elbows as he watched the clouds swirl in the sky like watercolor on a canvas. Shoko’s warning popped up in his thoughts very briefly. However, Kento was assured by the fact that he wasn’t in the water and that the moon had not yet appeared on the horizon. There was a slight breeze that carried the scent of sea salt.
Kento’s pre-occupation with the sunset meant that it was practically dark by the time he noticed the sensation of being watched. It should have been an impossible feeling given the isolation of this particular beach. He even turned back to the road to see if he had missed any cars arriving due to his nap. However, the road was devoid of any cars parked or moving. He would have chalked the sensation up to his vivid imagination if it were not for the sight of two strange lights in the water.
At first, Kento wondered if they were perhaps jellyfish floating in the water. However, even in the absence of his glasses when the world was in a fuzzy state, Kento could tell that those two points of light were above the waterline. The inky blackness lay below the twin points of light. Kento ran his hands in the sand around him to find his glasses that had somehow slipped off during his nap. His hand triumphantly wrapped around his glasses that had become half-buried in the sand at this point.
It took him a moment to brush off the majority of the sand, but still some stubborn clung to the corners of his frames. Kento would need to devote more time to cleaning his glasses once indoors. However, simply slipping his glasses up his nose provided enough clarity for him to discern that the two lights were, in fact, irises. The stranger’s eyes were a shocking shade of blue that made Kento think of electricity arcing. Eye color alone was not the only unusual aspect of this stranger’s appearance, though.
The stranger’s hair was white, not in the natural way one might associate with aging gracefully, but it was as if his hair was undisturbed snowfall. His hair had blended in neatly with the white sands of the beach. The lack of fine lines or wrinkles on the stranger’s face was proof enough that he wasn’t nearly old enough for the color to be natural. However, Kento would be a hypocrite if he said as much. He’d grown used to bringing pictures of himself as a child in his wallet to prove that his own hair color was natural. Too many strangers over the years had thought it prudent to speculate about why he dyed his hair.
Kento had relaxed somewhat upon the realization that these must have been the eyes he felt on himself earlier. However, Kento stiffened upon experiencing two realizations simultaneously. One: How did this stranger make it to this remote beach with no cars in sight? The nearest village was about 20 minutes by car. This stranger would have been walking for at least an hour if he had come from that village. Two: Shoko’s warning regarding the beach at night rang in his ears. The moon was clearly visible at this point, and the stranger seemed to be in waist-deep water. Kento only knew this because the man was shirtless.
Despite his best judgment, Kento could not stand idly by if the beach proved to be as lethal as Shoko had suggested. Given the rather blunt way that Shoko usually spoke, Kento sincerely doubted that she had been exaggerating with her warning. It’s why Kento calls out to the figure who was still staring silently at him. The man resembled a mannequin, uncannily pale and still.
“Hello. Did you come from the village?” Kento called out to the stranger. The sound of the ocean waves was the only response that Kento received. Even though the stranger’s gaze had not left him, he did not respond. The stranger did not move towards, though, so Kento felt comfortable standing up.
“Are you looking for someone? Perhaps I could make a call for you?” Kento tentatively offered as he stood up, attempting to brush away the sand clinging to his pants. It was a lost cause as Kento would no doubt have to do laundry upon re-entering the bungalow for the evening.
In one heart-stopping moment, Kento watched as the stranger seemingly fell backwards into the ocean. Kento waited a moment or two, but the stranger’s head did not rise above the water again. He cursed under his breath and took off his shoes before making a mad dash for the waterline. Regardless of the lethality of this beach, the stranger would sooner die by running out of air.
Kento didn’t like to presume the mental states of strangers, but this man surely had to be unwell if he was prepared to drown himself in front of him. The water was shockingly warm. Kento had not yet actually gone into the water. His interest had always lain more with the beach and the sand than in the ocean necessarily. Fortunately, years of lessons from his grandfather made Kento a strong, confident swimmer.
However, it was much different swimming in a lake or a pool than swimming in the ocean. Kento found himself vigorously swimming against the tides that were otherwise pushing him back to shore. He held his breath as he dived deeper into the water to see if he could find the stranger. The water was dark, with the only light the moon, steadily rising higher on the horizon. Kento was able to pick out two familiar sources of light in the water, though.
The stranger was still staring at him. However, this man was no longer as still as a mannequin. No, the man headed towards Kento at a shocking speed. Kento was struck dumb for a moment as he watched the stranger swim towards him. Gliding was likely a better description. There were no awkward leg movements to signify that the man was truly drowning. The man’s movements were seamless, efficient, and effortless, as if the man had lived his entire life in the ocean before appearing in front of Nanami on the beach.
The white-haired man was in front of Kento before he could even think about swimming back towards the surface. Kento felt a hand at the back of his throat, and he wondered if the stranger was trying to drown him. It would be just his luck to go on vacation for his health, only to be drowned and killed by a crazed man on the beach. Shoko was going to laugh at him when they fished his body out of the ocean.
The stranger didn’t wrap his other hand around his throat. Instead, the white-haired man wrapped his other arm around his waist and leaned forward to kiss him. Kento wasn’t sure how to react. The man seemingly wasn’t trying to kill him, but Kento would die if he stayed down here any longer. However, the stranger’s arm tightened around his waist when Kento moved to swim away.
Kento came to two realizations almost immediately. One, Kento was somehow able to breathe while kissing this man, even though it should have been functionally impossible. Two, this man had no legs. It was only as Kento’s legs brushed against the man’s lower half that he realized that there were no protruding limbs. Kento dropped his hand to run it along the man’s waist, only to feel thin scales similar to a fish. He squinted his eyes as he strained to see through the dark water. His eyes went wide when he was able to discern what looked to be a pale fish tail.
His head was pounding familiarly. Kento struggled to think of the last time his head hurt this badly. It must have been right before he passed out at work. The last thing that Kento was aware of was the stranger’s piercing blue eyes staring right at him. Then everything went dark.
Kento woke up due to a combination of external stimuli. Waves were lapping at his thighs, and wet sand was clinging to his feet and legs. It was a struggle to open his eyes, but eventually Kento managed to do just that. The moon in the sky was the first thing that Kento saw. It was still nighttime, which Kento was grateful for since it meant that he hadn’t been unconscious for long.
It was only when Kento thought about the stranger with the fish tail that he immediately sat up. Kento breathed heavily for a moment as his head spun. Clearly, that much movement after an episode was not a good idea. He closed his eyes for a moment as he focused on his breathing. It was only when Kento no longer felt nauseous that he opened his eyes once more.
In a mocking facsimile of their earlier scene, the stranger stared at him in silence. He was once again waist-deep in the water, except Kento now knew what was truly beneath the water. The sensation of those soft scales under his hand was one that Kento would never truly be able to forget.
“Who are you?” Kento called out, more than a bit annoyed with himself and this stranger he had somehow been tricked into the ocean. Obviously, the stranger had never asked him to come after him, but Kento felt it was reasonable to jump into the water after he witnessed another person fall in.
The only way that Kento could describe the noises that the stranger uttered was that they were chirping, interspersed with whistles. Kento found himself hopelessly confused when the stranger said nothing further. “What does that mean?” Kento insisted as he shook his head. Perhaps he had been a fool for assuming that the seeming mermaid-like creature could communicate with him.
“My name means enlightenment in my kind’s language.” It was jarring when the stranger finally spoke to Kento. The stranger’s voice was raspy, and Kento wondered if he wasn’t used to speaking to humans. Still, this was further than Kento thought he would get, and he had plenty of questions.
“And your kind are?” That might be an obvious question, but Kento needed some proof that he wasn’t going mad.
“I suppose you never read any fairy tales as a child, huh? Humans have referred to my kind as Mermaids or Sirens. I don’t care which one you use to refer to me.” The stranger seemed almost bored by his question. Kento had no idea why, given that his casual statement went against everything he understood about human evolution.
“Is there a reason that you tried to drown me just now?” Kento figured that they couldn’t ignore the whaleshark in the room any longer. The only reason Kento wasn’t running at this point is that he figured that the stranger was unable to go any further up the sandbar due to his lack of legs.
“I wasn’t trying to drown you.” The stranger argued as he shook his head. “I’m not allowed to go onto the surface. There’s nothing in the rules saying that I can’t interact with you once you’re in the water. Besides, did you not notice that you could breathe once I kissed you? I don’t know why you passed out, but I brought you back up to the surface as soon as I noticed.” The mermaid was pouting now, which was frankly ridiculous.
Still, Kento had to concede that he had no evidence that the mermaid was intentionally trying to drown him. Kento had noticed that he was seemingly able to breathe so long as they were kissing. He figured that the stress of the encounter likely caused his prior stress condition to flare up.
“I came to this beach because I passed out at work due to the stress. When I jumped into the water to swim after you, I thought that you were drowning. I suspect the stress from that encounter caused my symptoms to flare up once more.” Normally, Kento wouldn’t dare to say all this to a stranger. Still, Kento was never going to see this mermaid again, and it wasn’t like this stranger knew anything about him. Nothing that could help the mermaid find him again anyway.
“Is there a name that I could call you? It feels silly to refer to you as the mermaid, considering I imagine that you’re not the last of your kind.” Kento almost immediately regretted asking the question, given the wide grin that appeared on the stranger’s face.
“You can call me Satoru. That’s what Shoko calls me anyway. She says that it’s a close equivalent to my name.” Satoru seemed to relax somewhat as he lay down on the sandbar.
“You are referring to Shoko Ieiri, correct?” Nanami was now skeptical regarding Shoko’s advice to stay out of the ocean.
“Yep. Shoko is my best friend. Well, technically, I have two best friends. You’ll likely never meet my other friend. The human equivalent of his name is Suguru.” Well, that meant there were at least two mermaids, though given that two men normally cannot reproduce, Kento thought that there likely had to be more mermaids than just them.
“So why are you not allowed to go onto the surface? How would that even be enforced, considering how many beaches are in Okinawa alone?” Kento was fairly certain that the number of islands in the area was over a hundred. It would be impossible for anyone to watch those beaches at all times.
“It’s more of an official regulation as opposed to a rule. Your kind has too much of a history of plucking my kind out of the water, for good. It’s better for us all if humans remain convinced that my people are a myth.” Satoru explained as Kento caught a flash of pale white scales, the tip of his tail poking out of the water.
“So why did you risk that to get my attention then?” Kento knew that he was hardly much of a threat to Satoru, considering he was one man, and he didn’t have a boat or a weapon. Still, Kento couldn’t understand why Satoru would risk the safety of his people just to talk to him.
“I was curious about you. I’ve seen all sorts of tourists stay on this beach over the years. I’ve never seen someone as quiet and introspective as you before. I thought you would look beautiful if you smiled, and Shoko proved me right.” Satoru spoke so nonchalantly even as Kento’s face burned with embarrassment.
“Did you kiss me so that I could breathe underwater?” Kento felt more and more convinced that Satoru had ulterior motives.
“Technically, my magic meant that you were able to breathe as soon as I stopped kissing you. However, I was enjoying myself, and it wasn’t like you tried to stop the kiss either.” Satoru’s grin was cheeky, and Kento was frustrated as he stood up. He was grateful that he had left his phone inside on the charger when he went out to read on the beach. It seemed like there were no scratches on his glasses either, and Kento was grateful that Satoru had seemingly ensured that he didn’t lose them. It would have been a nightmare for him to move around until he could replace his glasses.
“So is this beach actually dangerous, or was Shoko actually warning me away from you?” Kento figured he’d ask this one last question before heading inside to sleep. There was a headache forming behind his eye, and Kento figured that the best solution for it was to sleep in a bed, finally. Besides, Kento desperately needed a shower as sand was clinging to every bit of his wet clothes and hair.
“The most dangerous thing on this beach is Suguru. He has a different mentality from me when it comes to humans. If you see a guy with black hair and purple eyes, you should stay out of the water. I’ll try to keep him from coming around here, though.” Satoru’s tone was still light-hearted, but it was obvious in the other man’s eyes that he was serious. Kento wondered if those missing tourists were actually the work of the mermaid known as Suguru. He shuddered to think about how Suguru might have killed them.
“You’ll come back out here tomorrow, right? You can read your book aloud if you want.” Satoru’s voice took on a panicked tone, and Kento knew that the smart thing would be to book a return flight to Tokyo in the morning. He should forget that he had ever met Satoru and chalk up the experience to hallucinations from the stress that he had experienced over the last few years. Yu would eventually forgive him, especially if Kento paid him back.
There was something about Satoru that appealed to Kento. Perhaps it was because his grandparents had often read him The Little Mermaid as a child. It was arguably the most popular Danish fairytale, and Kento had always felt so sad for the mermaid at the end. Kento also couldn’t deny the fact that he had actually enjoyed their kiss. Still, Kento was only going to be here for one month, and he couldn’t help but wonder which one of them would dissolve into seafoam by the end of this.
“You’ll see me tomorrow.” Kento didn’t confirm a time, figuring he might sleep for several more hours at this rate. It was likely that he wouldn’t leave his bed until the afternoon sun was high in the sky. Satoru’s ensuing grin left Kento feeling light. He turned to make his way back into his bungalow.
“Oh! What should I call you then?” Satoru called out before Kento could leave the beach.
“You can call me Nanami. Good Night, Satoru.” Kento explained as he turned back to look at Satoru one more time.
“Good Night, Nanamin! See you tomorrow.” Satoru called out, and there was a loud splash as the mermaid dived under the water once more. Kento shook his head, waited a moment, and when Satoru didn’t appear above the surface again, he finally made his way back into his bungalow. His clothes were left in a pile in the entranceway to be dealt with when he was more awake. His shower was perfunctory as he scrubbed at the sand that was clinging uncomfortably to his skin. Kento practically melted into the sheets of the bed, and it took no long at all before he was asleep.
His dreams consisted of a white-haired mermaid with piercing blue eyes who seemed content to chase him through the water. Kento couldn’t remember the last time he slept so well.