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There was a body in Levi’s net.
Although, maybe calling it a body wasn’t entirely correct – the upper part resembled a human, while the lower part, well, the lower part looked like a fish.
The creature’s tail was long and yellow, the brightness of its scales seemed even more vivid under the bright morning sun.
Levi stared at it, not knowing what to do.
A second later, though, the creature began violently thrashing, swaying Levi’s boat from side to side.
The creature got stuck in his net, and each move got it even more tangled.
Levi rushed to the rescue, taking his knife out and starting to cut the rope. The creature became even more agitated, as it started hissing and waving its hands around, trying to hit Levi.
“Calm down!” Levi shouted. He didn’t know if the creature understood his language, but it seemed to quieten down. “I’m just trying to help you.” He added, softening his voice.
“Are you taking me for a fool?”
Levi was shocked to hear the creature speak. Its spoke in English, and as Levi realized a second later, after the creature had turned around to glare at him – he understood that its voice resembled that of a woman.
His mind was suddenly filled with tales of drunken sailors – stories about sirens and mermaids. According to those mindless fools, they were half-women, half-fish. They hunted men, luring them with pretty looks and beautiful songs.
But it was hard to call a woman in front of him pretty. And her voice was far from being beautiful and melodic.
Levi shook his head, now was not the time to think about such nonsense. He had to somehow free that woman from his net. If she continues to move so fiercely in his boat, Levi was sure she would flip it over.
“Just stay still for a moment,” Levi gritted through his teeth. “I’ll get you out.”
And, strangely, the woman complied, although she continued to look at Levi with narrowed, suspicious eyes.
“There,” Levi said after he was finished. “Now you are free.”
The woman didn’t waste another second and immediately jumped back to the ocean, her long tail disappearing under the water.
Levi stared after her, thinking it was the last time he had seen the strange creature.
A moment later, though, the woman reappeared. She laid her hands on the side of Levi’s ship, cocking her head to the side and studying Levi intently.
“Are you not going to chase after me?” she asked, still cautious.
“What for?” Levi was perplexed. “I didn’t mean to catch you.”
He had no idea creatures like her even existed.
“You didn’t?” it seemed like the woman was just as surprised as Levi. “So you didn’t come here to hunt me down? You didn’t come here to kill me?”
“Eh, no? I came here to get some fish.”
“Oh, it’s my first time seeing a human, who doesn’t want to kill me.”
“Well, it’s my first time seeing a human, who looks like you.” Levi retorted.
The woman smiled enigmatically. “I’m not a human.”
“Then what are you?”
“You really don’t know, huh?” she chuckled. “I’m a mermaid. Surely you have heard of us?”
Levi scratched the back of his head, feeling suddenly embarrassed. He looked away from the woman’s curious and prying eyes. “I thought it was all some shitty fairy-tale.”
“Well, I am quite real, as you can evidently see.”
“So what? Are you going to devour me now? Drown me in the ocean? Or was that part of the stories not true?”
The woman scrunched her nose in disgust. “There are some of my kind, who do that, but not me. I don’t kill humans.”
“Good,” Levi nodded. “Because I don’t kill mermaids.”
“Excellent!” a brilliant smile appeared on her lips. “I’ve wanted to study humans since my childhood, but I could never get close to one, since they immediately start to hunt me down. But you won’t do that, right? That means I can study you, yes?”
Levi didn’t know what to say, the woman spoke so quickly and her eyes were burning with so much excitement. It left him completely speechless.
“I won’t bother you too much, I promise!” the woman continued, taking Levi’s silence as rejection. “I’ll just swim up to you whenever you’ll be fishing and ask you a few questions. And I’ll show you the parts of the ocean, where there is a lot of fish. Please just say yes!” she put her hands in a pleading gesture, staring at Levi with big eyes.
“Alright,” Levi sighed, taking mercy at the strange woman.
She looked so miserable that even Levi felt sorry for her. Besides, if she would actually help him with fishing, then it was a good enough deal. He would just have to answer a few of her questions, right?
“Great!” the woman clasped her hands, grinning at Levi happily. “My name is Hange, by the way.”
“Levi…” he answered, still a little perplexed by his new acquaintance.
Suddenly, there was a splash of the water next to Levi’s boat. A second later, a man’s head appeared above the water.
He paid no mind to Levi, focusing the entirety of his attention on Hange.
“Neptune have mercy, you scared me so much!” the man lamented. “I saw how you got stuck inside that net, and then you disappeared! I couldn’t find you and you were absent for so long! I thought you were done for, Hange! What were you doing all this time?”
“I met a new friend!” Hange gestured to Levi with a grin. “Moblit, this is Levi, and, Levi, this is my dear friend Moblit. Forgive him, he always worries too much about me.” Hange snickered.
Moblit’s eyes widened, as he looked at Levi. He pushed Hange aside, hiding her behind his back.
“Hange, he is definitely a hunter!”
“No, no, no,” Hange laid a hand on Moblit’s shoulder, calming him down. “He is not, I promise you. Levi is a little strange, but apparently he doesn’t want to kill me. I got caught in his net, and he helped me get out of it! He won’t hurt me.”
“You will not?” Moblit asked, glaring at Levi.
“I will not.” Levi agreed.
“See? He is a good guy. Besides,” Hange grinned, baring her sharp, definitely unhuman-like teeth. Levi involuntarily shuddered. How he did not notice her teeth before? “He agreed to let me study him!”
“Oh?” Moblit’s gaze became less suspicious. There were even some signs of amusement on his face, as he looked at Levi again.
A sound of motorboat suddenly appeared. Hange and Moblit simultaneously turned their heads towards it.
“We should go now,” Moblit whispered, tugging on Hange’s hand.
“You are right,” Hange agreed. “Sorry, Levi, but we have to go. Not every human is as kind as you, so we should be careful. But I’ll see you soon, right?”
Hange stared up at him, waiting for his reply.
“I’ll come back tomorrow.” Levi mumbled.
“Great!” Hange gave him another brilliant smile. Levi was already getting used to it. “I’ll be waiting for you then!”
Wearing the same wide smile, Hange jumped into the water, Moblit following after her.
Levi looked at the water for a long time, as though expecting to see Hange’s bright tail underneath it.
But of course he saw nothing, as the ocean was deep and dark.
Huffing in annoyance and running a hand through his hair, Levi started the engine of his boat and headed towards the shore.
And just as he promised, Levi came back to the ocean the following day. As soon as he stopped his engine, a mop of brown hair emerged from the water.
“You came!” Hange’s voice was full of wonder and happiness.
Her obvious excitement upon seeing him tugged at something, which Levi thought was long buried and forgotten.
“Of course, I came,” Levi crossed his hands on his chest, looking away from Hange’s smile. He felt that if he stared at it for too long, he was in serious danger of being blinded by its intensity. “I promised I would.”
“And you still don’t want to kill me?” Hange’s eyes looked at him mischievously.
Levi sighed. “If you continue to be so annoying, I’m not promising anything.”
Hange’s delighted laugh carried through the ocean.
“Alright, follow me, I’ll show you a good place, where there is a lot of fish.”
And then Hange dived into the water. She moved so quickly, Levi would have lost her, if it weren’t for her bright yellow tail.
“And we’re here!” Hange announced, once again appearing on the surface. She leaned her hands against the side of Levi’s ship, just as she did the day before.
“Fine, what do you want to know from me?” Levi asked, as he began to untangle his new net. He had to buy another one, since his old one was all sliced up after he tried to free Hange.
“Okay, okay,” Hange’s face looked both thoughtful and panicked. “I haven’t thought which question to ask first, but alright. Let’s start with something simple. Is it true that humans can’t breathe underwater?”
“We can’t,” Levi confirmed, throwing his net into the ocean on the other side from Hange. He didn’t want to repeat yesterday’s fiasco. “But using aqualung, we are able to breathe for a limited amount of time.”
“Aqualung?” Hange’s mouth formed a surprised ‘o’. “What is it? How does it look? How does it work? How long can you stay underwater, using it?”
“Jesus, calm down,” Levi rolled his eyes at Hange’s agitation. “It looks like a mask that covers our eyes and there is also a tube that goes inside a mouth. That tube connects to a reservoir with oxygen, and that’s how a human can breathe underwater. The bigger the reservoir, the longer you can use it.”
“Fascinating… You humans are really something else, I wish I can see this aqualung of yours.”
“I can show you some time,” Levi blurted, before he could stop himself. “A friend of mine has it, and I can ask him to borrow it.”
“Really? Oh, Levi, that would be amazing! Thank you so much, you’re the best!”
Levi looked away from her radiant smile. The grateful and excited expression on Hange’s face was making him uncomfortable. And not in the way other people usually made him feel, Hange did not irritate him, and, surprisingly, Levi didn’t want for her to go away, to shut up or leave him alone.
On the contrary, he liked Hange’s presence. Her constant smiles and even her annoyingly screeching voice didn’t annoy him. He started to like Hange, and Levi… Levi didn’t how he should feel about this.
“Alright, alright, another question!” Hange broke him out of his confusing thoughts. “Can you swim?”
“Yes.”
“Do you swim as fast as me?”
“No.”
“And that thing,” Hange gestured to Levi’s boat. “Can it swim as fast as me?”
“Barely,” Levi replied, remembering how he had to try really hard to keep up with Hange’s pace. “And that thing is called a boat.”
“A boat…” Hange slowly repeated. Her hands inspected the sturdy surface of the boat, her eyes alight with curiosity. “And how does it work?”
Levi sighed, getting a little tired of Hange’s seemingly endless questions, but, well, they did have a deal, right? And for some reason, Levi just couldn’t say no to those big brown eyes.
“There is engine, which keeps it running. Here,” Levi walked to the rear of the boat and gestured at the black box. “This is called an engine.”
“Amazing!” Hange swam up to Levi. “Can I open it? I want to see what’s inside!”
Hange’s hands immediately reached forward, but Levi grabbed them in his, before she could do any damage.
“Don’t touch this!” Levi barked.
Hange backed up, staring at Levi with worry in her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Levi awkwardly rolled his shoulders, avoiding Hange’s eyes. “But if you do this, the boat can break, and—”
“Oh, I see,” Hange face fell. Levi felt like an asshole.
“You can look at it some other time,” he added after a few moments of awkward silence. “When we’ll be closer to the shore.”
And just like that, Hange’s expression was back to showing that childhood wonder. Levi’s curved into a small smile of his own.
“Alright, one last thing, and I’ll let you go for today. Can you show them?”
“Them?” Levi asked, perplexed.
“Them,” Hange eagerly nodded. “Your legs.”
“My legs? You want to see my legs?”
“Yes! Please, Levi, I’ve never seen them up close! Just a little peak!”
“Jesus, fine,” still shocked at her request, Levi took off his shoe, rolled up his pants to the knee and pulled his leg from the boat.
In the next moment, he felt how Hange’s wet but warm hands came into contact with the skin of his leg.
At first, she touched him tentatively, turning his leg this and that way and carefully inspecting it.
“Huh, it’s very similar to my arm, but your leg is more… solid. There are more muscles there, and bones seem to be much sturdier.” Hange mumbled quietly to herself, seemingly forgetting about Levi’s presence.
Her arm traced his leg from knee to ankle. She raised it higher, studying Levi’s heel. Her long fingers touched the delicate skin there, and Levi’s breath hitched in his throat.
Hange’s immediately removed her hands. “I’m sorry! Did it hurt?”
She inspected Levi’s face as carefully, as she studied his leg moments ago.
“No,” Levi shook his head, feeling his ears burn in embarrassment. “It’s just… very ticklish.”
“Oh!” Hange giggled. “So I didn’t cause you any harm?”
Levi shook his head again.
Hange smirked almost devilishly at him. And then her hand returned to his heel, stroking it quickly. Levi couldn’t stop a small, hoarse laugh that escaped from his lips.
His hands flew to his mouth, covering it. But it was too late. Hange had already heard it.
A wide smile bloomed on her face, as her eyes gazed at him softly.
And looking at her, Levi couldn’t remember, when was the last time he had laughed. He couldn’t remember a time, when he felt so… relaxed next to someone.
“You should do it more often,” Hange noted with the same gentle look on her face. “Laughing, I mean. And smiling, too. I feel like you don’t do this enough.”
“And how would you know?” Levi asked, getting defensive. He hated being vulnerable, and that’s how we felt next to Hange: vulnerable… exposed. “Can mermaids read minds?”
“We don’t have to,” Hange shrugged. “It’s easy to understand humans, especially men.”
“Am I easy to understand?” Levi raised his eyebrow.
“Easier, than you think.” Hange winked at him.
Then she turned to look at the horizon.
“The sun is almost setting. I should head back, before Moblit gets too worried. You should hurry back to shore, as well. An ocean at night is a dangerous place.”
“Alright, I’ll come back tomorrow. If you still have any questions left.”
“Oh, believe me,” Hange grinned crookedly. “This was only the beginning.”
And then she dived in, her tail splashing the droplets of water. Some of it hit Levi, and he huffed in annoyance, wiping his wet face with the back of his hand.
What in the world made him agree to another meeting with her?
Levi came to meet Hange again, and again, and again, and then suddenly and unexpectedly it became a sort of routine for him.
Every day, when he wasn’t busy with his work and when the weather was suited for going out into the ocean, Levi would take his boat and go to see Hange.
She still asked him a million of questions about humans and their way of living, and it seemed like her curiosity would never be sated.
But she also told Levi about her life, about the giant underwater city, and her numerous brothers and sisters that lived there. She told him about their beliefs, rules and traditions. And even though, Levi could never call himself a curious man, he liked listening to Hange’s stories.
He would never tell her, of course, but he actually liked Hange’s voice. He always complained about it to her face, telling her it was too loud and too high-pitched, but… it also had a soothing, relaxing effect on him. Levi could probably listen to it for the rest of his life, and not get bored or tired of it.
With Hange, Levi didn’t feel like he was too weird, or that his face looked too scary with his constant frowning and cold eyes. Somehow, Hange saw him for who he actually was, and she understood him like no one ever had.
And even though, they were from two completely different worlds, even though Hange was a crazy mermaid with an unhealthy obsession with humans, she was his closest and only friend in this world.
Levi didn’t know for how long he had been staring into the horizon, waiting to see a bright yellow tail or hear a loud and happy greeting.
It felt like he was sitting there for hours, but still, there was no sign of Hange.
Maybe, she was busy with something else, Levi tried to reason with himself. It was Hange, after all, maybe something else had grabbed her attention, and she had forgotten about their meeting. Maybe, she was meeting with her brothers and sisters in the underwater city, or maybe she just didn’t feel like seeing Levi tonight.
Surely, she was perfectly fine, and there was no reason for Levi to be worried.
Still, his insides churned unpleasantly, as he looked at the ocean, his eyes burning from the bright sun.
Where the fuck was she?
As he continued to look out for Hange, Levi noticed something weird.
A ship, bigger than Levi’s boat, was moving rapidly, seemingly going in circles. Curious, Levi decided to take a closer look, and so he started the engine, heading to the strange ship.
Levi was getting closer and closer, but the shipowner didn’t seem to notice him, as he continued to move in weird, almost chaotic manner.
Levi was beginning to think that he just happened upon a drunkard, but then he saw it. For less than a second, but Levi could recognize that bright yellow color everywhere.
He speeded up his own boat, desperate to get closer.
The man on the ship noticed Levi only when he caught up with him. The ship immediately stopped, and the man came out from the cabin. He tried to put on an easy smile, but even from a distance Levi could see how angry his eyes were.
“Do you need help?” Levi asked, making a huge effort to make his voice sound casual and calm. Inside, he was burning with rage, and his mind was practically screaming with desire to punch, kick, hurt this man.
His attention was ripped away from the man, as Levi felt something touch the side of his boat. He slightly turned his head, and his fury intensified tenfold as he met Hange’s panicked eyes.
Trying to keep his calm, Levi nodded to Hange discreetly, reassuring her that she was safe now.
“Saw you swimming in circles,” Levi continued, focusing on the man on the ship. He couldn’t let him know that Hange was still nearby. “Is everything alright?”
“Of course!” the man gave Levi a radiant and obviously fake smile. “I was just practicing turns on my new ship.”
“In the middle of the ocean?” Levi raised his brow skeptically.
The man shrugged carelessly. His eyes were frantically looking around, searching for his lost prey.
“Well, if everything is alright, then I’ll leave you to your practicing.” Levi’s voice was practically dripping with venom. He turned away from the man and glanced at Hange, giving her a silent signal.
She seemed to understand it perfectly, as she immediately disappeared under water. Levi hoped she dived deep enough, so her tail wouldn’t be seen on the surface.
Giving the man on a ship one last vicious glare, Levi started his engine and swam away.
When the man and his ship turned into nothing more than a blurry black dot far away on the horizon, Levi stopped.
Hange’s head appeared on the surface a second later.
“That was close!” Hange giggled, all signs of worry gone. “If it wer—”
She didn’t get to finish, as Levi leaned from the side of the boat, grabbing Hange’s hands into his.
“Are you alright?” he asked, his voice hoarse and feverish. His eyes were searching for the signs of injuries on Hange’s body. Hange seemed to be unharmed, but Levi wished he could see her tail as well. What if there were some wounds? “Did he hurt you?”
“Levi, I’m fine,” Hange smiled at him. “Don’t worry, you came just in time.”
“Thank the goodness,” Levi ran a shaky hand through his hair. “You should be more careful, Hange. What if someone catches you one day?”
“I’ll be fine,” Hange rolled her eyes. “Besides, I have you to protect me.”
“I may not be here, when you need me.”
“Nonsense,” Hange waved her hand carelessly. “You’re always here. Right when I need you.”
She gave Levi another soft and gentle smile, and even if he wanted, he couldn’t stay angry with her anymore.
“C’mon,” Hange urged him, turning around and starting to swim. “I’ve found a new cave yesterday!”
“Hange, I’ll be fine,” Levi sighed, getting tired of this argument.
Hange wanted to show him a peculiar coral reef today, but it was situated too far from the shore. As a result, the sun was already setting and Levi was still in the ocean. Soon the darkness would fall over the earth, painting the blue water in black.
And so Hange was worried, unwilling to let Levi swim back to shore alone.
“Levi, it’s too dangerous for you to go alone!” she cried out.
Levi rolled his eyes. In the past half an hour, Hange had repeated these same words to him a dozen of times.
“And it’s too dangerous for you to go near the shore at night. What if someone sees you in the light from a lighthouse? Tomorrow the whole ocean will be full of sailors, and all of them will be trying to catch you.” Levi still shuddered at the memory of that time, when Hange was chased. He couldn’t let that happen again. “So calm the fuck down and go back to that Moblit of yours. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“You promise?” Hange’s deep brown eyes were staring intently in his.
“I swear,” Levi replied seriously.
This seemed to somewhat placate Hange, as she nodded, finally agreeing with Levi. Her eyes, however, remained worried.
“Please be careful, Levi.” she said at last, before jumping into the water.
As soon as Hange disappeared from his view, Levi started the engine and began heading home. A long road was ahead of him.
More than an hour later, and Levi was still far away from the familiar shore. The ocean was dark, the water around him almost pitch black. The only thing illuminating Levi’s path was pale moonlight and an occasional ray of light, coming from the lighthouse.
As he made his way through, Levi saw a silhouette in the water, which was following after his boat. He turned off the engine, feeling annoyance stir up inside him. He told her he would be fine!
“Why the fuck you never listen to m-”
Levi’s words died in his throat, as he saw the face that emerged from the water.
It wasn’t Hange.
Instead another mermaid was staring up at him. Her hair was long and blonde, it shone brightly in the moonlight. Her eyes were blue and so very beautiful. They seemed to sparkle even in the dark. Her lips were full and cherry-colored. A pretty smile curved the mermaid’s lips.
She stared at Levi for a long moment. Her gaze was strange, it seemed both innocent and wicked.
Levi didn’t know what to say, all thoughts left his head. He felt as though he was in some kind of a daze, the mermaid’s eyes seemed to hypnotize him. If he’d believed in that kind of things, he’d say that she put some kind of a spell on him.
The mermaid opened her mouth and began to sing. She sang in a strange, unfamiliar to Levi language, but her voice was melodic and almost silvery. Levi would have said that it was the most beautiful voice he had ever heard. He would have said that this mermaid was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
But… suddenly someone else appeared in his mind.
He remembered a loud and shrill voice, which annoyed the hell out of him and made his head hurt. He remembered a messy mop of brown hair, which made his hands itch with desire to comb through that tangled locks and try to bring that nest into some kind of an order. He remembered brown eyes, which always shone with amusement or mischief. He remembered thin and chapped lips, and the crazy grin that was almost always plastered on that mouth.
He remembered Hange, and that seemed to break off the spell. Levi was able to snap out of his daze.
The mermaid seemed to notice this too, as she stopped her singing and cocked her head to the side, studying Levi’s face.
“Did you not like my singing?” she asked in that same soft and pleasant voice.
“It’s very beautiful,” Levi replied.
“Of course, it is. But did you like it?”
“I did not.”
His reply seemed to confuse the mermaid. “Did you not like my appearances?”
“You are very beautiful.” Levi repeated.
“But did you like it?”
“I did not.” Levi sighed.
“Ah, I see,” disappointment painted the mermaid’s features, but it was gone as fast as it appeared. “I cannot steal your heart, if it already belongs to someone else.”
Surprisingly, her words didn’t come as a shock to Levi. Of course, he hadn’t known the extent of his feelings to Hange until this very moment, but… somehow it felt natural. As though, this was how it was supposed to happen.
“Is she as beautiful as me?” the mermaid asked.
“She is not.” Levi replied.
“Is her voice as bewitching and enchanting as mine?”
“It is not.”
“And yet you still love her?”
“More than anything.”
“Nothing I can do about it then. You’re a very handsome, but very weird sailor. I must say goodbye. Good luck with your beloved.”
And then she flipped her beautiful hair and disappeared back into the ocean.
Levi continued his way home, feeling strangely unshaken by the whole encounter.
“I met another mermaid yesterday,” Levi said, as he and Hange were lying side by side on a deserted beach.
As soon as those words left Levi’s mouth, Hange shot up and grabbed Levi by his shoulders, turning him to face her. Her eyes were filled with worry and panic, and she studied Levi’s features intently.
“Did she do something to you? Did she put a spell on you?”
“She tried,” Levi shrugged. “Apparently, it didn’t work.”
Hange’s eyes widened. “The mermaid’s spell doesn’t work only if the subject’s heart…”
“Is already taken,” Levi finished for her.
“Oh,” Hange seemed to be taken aback by his words. She let go of him, and turned away, staring into a horizon. “Didn’t know you loved somebody.”
“I do. Do you wish to know about her?”
“Of course!” Hange smiled. It didn’t quite reach her eyes.
Levi turned to stare at the blue water of the ocean, which sparkled in the sunlight.
“She is absolutely insufferable. She is terrible and annoying, and sometimes I feel like throttling her. But she is also the kindest, most caring person in this world, and she understands me like no one else. I know that I can tell anything to her, and I know that she will listen. She is incredible, amazing in everything she does, but the most surprising thing about her, the thing that baffles me to this day is the fact that she seems to care about me. I’m a scoundrel, an asshole and a fucking mess of a person. I am rude, I am distant and I don’t know how to express my emotions properly. I wish to tell her what she means to me, how much I cherish her, how much I love her. But I don’t think I will ever find the right words.”
“You seem pretty eloquent to me right now,” Hange chuckled softly. She sat closer to Levi, her hand was hovering above his. “I do have one question about this mysterious beloved of yours.” Hange paused, laying her head on Levi’s shoulders and gazing up at him. “Does she have legs?”
Levi smirked. “She does not.”
“Oh,” Hange’s lips curved into a grin. “So are my assumptions correct?”
Levi huffed, rolling his eyes. “Asshole,” he flicked her forehead. “Your assumptions are always correct.”
Hange said nothing, just finally took Levi’s hand into hers.
They sat side by side, holding hands and watching the calm ocean around them. The waves slowly moved back and forth, the sun shone brightly and the sky was clear and blue.
“I feel the same way,” Hange told him after some time. “About you, I mean. I love you too, Levi.”
Levi’s lips curved into a rare, soft smile. Enjoying the warm sun and gentle breeze, holding Hange’s hand in his and looking at her beautuiful smile, Levi felt calm and relaxed. He found the person he belonged with, and that was enough.
More than enough.