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'I'm not a mermaid,' Haru says. 'I'm Haru.'
Sousuke stares at him. 'What about that tail of yours?'
'It's decoration,' Haru says. It most definitely isn't. The tail glitters in the light of the sunset, and Sousuke can see tiny scales starting around Haru's waist flaring out into large scalloped ones, down to his blue fins.
Sousuke sighs, and holsters his gun. 'So you're the reason why Rin is being so sneaky. He's been coming down to the beach every day around this time for his so-called routine inspection. But he's really down here to talk to you, isn't he?'
'Makoto left him in charge,' Haru says. 'While he's out of town.' Sousuke dimly recalls Rin smiling wistfully at his phone a lot more often during lunchtime, and realises why.
He gives Haru a slight tap on the shoulder. 'Well, it's really none of my business what those two get up to in their spare time near the ocean.'
'That is how I met them. They were getting up to things in their spare time in the ocean.' Haru's tone, while flat, assures Sousuke that he knows exactly what Makoto and Rin get up to in their spare time in the ocean.
'Oh,' Sousuke says quietly, and they sit there in silence until Haru flicks his tail impatiently.
'Where is Rin today?'
Sousuke laughs. 'I created a diversion so he'd be held back and I could come and see for myself what he was so preoccupied with. You're like his little pet project. Kinda cute.'
Haru stares at him, eyes wide.
'You think I'm cute?'
Sousuke's mind reviews his words. 'What? No! I didn't mean that you're cute, I mean this whole thing...' He fumbles for the right way to explain what he thinks. Sousuke certainly doesn't find Haru cute. Not the way he tilts his head when puzzled, or the way his eyes shine when talking about Rin and Makoto. Not cute at all.
'So why do they keep visiting you?'
Haru scratches at a loose scale on his arm. 'You want to know why?'
'Well, I'm asking for a reason. There are only so many times you can visit a merman until the novelty wears off.'
Haru scowls at him, but looks off into the distance. 'I wasn't always like this.'
'Like… This?' Sousuke gestures to Haru's tail.
'Yes. I was a human child. In fact, Makoto was my childhood best friend. My grandmother raised me. My mother's mother. She used to tell me that my mother had been seduced away by a young man from the sea, and she had told her daughter never to come back if she was to live with this man. So my mother never did.'
'You're kidding.'
'No. I'm not. So a year later I appear on her doorstep, with a note that says my mother will come for me when I'm old enough.'
Sousuke tries to look for any hint at all that Haru is lying, but he can't see any.
'My grandmother raised me. She passed away when I was nine and they buried her on the hill while I slipped away to the sea. That day, I learned what it felt like to truly be free.'
Haru's eyes are distant, and Sousuke can see the very first stars appearing in the darkening sky.
'... And now it's time to return to land. Most legends point to a true love's kiss to regain legs.'
The mood dissipates.
'What?' Sousuke says. 'Are Rin and Makoto running a dating agency for you to test out the lips of every girl in town? Wait, have you kissed Gou? If you have, I have to let you know that as her honorary older brother that you now have to marry her.'
Haru gives Sousuke a look.
'I didn't kiss her. We're just discussing it at present. How do you know if the love is true? What is true love? Is it the potential for love or is there a predestined true love out there? It is very philosophical. Rei enjoys discussing the questions, as does Nagisa.'
'I knew I didn't trust that scientist and that hyper little astronaut for a reason.'
Haru tilts his head. 'Nagisa says he has never been to space.'
Sousuke gestures. 'Well, you know, he's in charge of the local observatory. Dresses up like an astronaut for the kids and to make astronomy interesting. It's a great hit.'
'Ah,' Haru says thoughtfully. 'I see.' Even in the cool summer evening air his lips are pink. And kissable. Whoa, where did that come from?
Sousuke leans back in the sand, playing it cool. 'So you figure you should go around kissing everyone until you find your true love?'
'That does seem to be the best bet.' Haru's eyes are clear. 'Makoto is not in favour of it, though.'
Sousuke wants to plead temporary insanity, even as he finds himself drawing closer to Haru.
'Do you want to kiss me?' He asks. 'No pressure. Just trying it out, remember? In the spirit of helping you out and all that.'
Haru moves in, eyes half-lidded. 'Do you go around kissing strange mer-creatures a lot?'
They stop nose to nose.
'It's just you,' Sousuke says, and kisses Haru gently. There is nothing especially magical about the kiss, aside from Haru’s lips being curiously warm, but when Sousuke pulls back and opens his eyes the first thing he sees is the faint flush on Haru's cheeks.
The second thing he sees are Haru's scales melting away, moulting off into the water to reveal a pair of legs.
'What the-- Sousuke!' Rin's voice seems to come from a great distance, and Sousuke can't tear his eyes away as Haru pulls himself up onto the outcropping of rock, folding his legs neatly and dropping a hand in his lap to preserve his modesty.
'Sousuke!' He turns around to face Rin.
'Yes?'
Rin runs up to where they're seated, looking at the both of them. Sousuke's best guess at his expression would be bewildered but happy, and Rin opens his mouth before shutting it in awed silence. 'True love, huh?'
Sousuke can feel himself turning red. 'Maybe. It's all about the potential for true love. We should repeat it just to be sure.'
Haru is looking at him, and under the first stars of the night, Sousuke kisses him again.