Chapter Text
A peaceful symphony. A sweet melody. That is what comes to mind when Airi thinks about the sounds of the ocean. Perched atop a low hanging tree hidden from view on the rocky shores, the young siren busied herself with untangling small knots in her bushy pink hair.
The person- no, the victim she’s waiting for isn’t here yet.
That’s right. It’s officially time that Airi Momoi, the middle child of a valued siren family, found, lured, and successfully killed a man. Or in this case, a woman. A gorgeous woman.
Airi never particularly thought herself to be a picky person; however, after nearly weeks of surveying the rocky expanse of the island, no human caught her eye. The local fisherman all seemed too easy. Plus, each looked like a bland carbon copy of all the others. According to ‘tradition,’ she would probably end up enjoying the victim for dinner, so Airi didn’t want to choose anybody too scrawny, which was unfortunately the majority of the travelers and townspeople inhabiting the island. Or too big. Definitely not the burly owner of the local tavern. Certainly not his wife either who looked more like a washed up whale then a puny human.
And yet, a new island arrival attracted Airi’s attention. A boat had sailed in safely which was rare for this area. Sirens and other creatures, both sea and landborne, surrounded the small island like fleas on a seal carcass. And yet, one warm day, Airi and her sisters had watched a family walk down onto the shores. A man and woman, both about the same age as Airi’s parents. A somewhat boyish looking girl with silver hair. And her.
An undeniably ethereal woman with flowing teal hair that gleamed like gentle ocean waves in the bright sun. Surprisingly pale skin for the sunny location and slim blue eyes glinting with something resembling unbridled positivity. And that certainly wasn’t the last Airi or any other sirens saw of her.
Every day, starting at sunrise, the woman would sing. Down on the island docks, in the small town, by the shores… Airi herself had yet to hear the actual music closely. She never risked getting too close to the humans as advised. And why would she? To get her head displayed on the town flagpole? To have her wings defeathered with each selling for handfuls of riches?
But today was different. The woman was apparently performing by the trees on the corner of the beachfront. The trees would be perfect to cover the sight of the beautiful half bird woman perched above. As the pink haired siren waited, she couldn’t help but be a bit excited. Rumor was that the teal haired performer always garnered at least a caseful of shimmering coins every day.
Airi sat up a bit straighter in her tree, keeping herself watchful and guarded as humans in small groups came and sat over on benches and some even on the sandy ground. Whatever this songstress sang must really be something. That, of course, is most of the reason Airi chose to consider the blue haired woman important enough to be her first kill. And okay, maybe the human wasn’t exactly an eyesore.
Finally, Airi’s eyes were drawn downwards as the familiar human appeared, walking confidently and professionally to the center of the disorganized crowd. When she stood still, Airi could almost swear she could spot a beauty mark below the human’s thin lips.
The singer opened her mouth and spoke briefly in an impossibly airy and light voice. Airi realized with a small smirk that it sounded quite a bit more pleasing to the ear than even some of her fellow sirens whose voices were meant to attract. She was faintly aware of the singer’s words but the siren picked up the woman’s name at least.
Shizuku. Shizuku Hinomori.
Airi finally snapped back to the scene below fully as the woman was announcing the song name.
“Please enjoy, ‘Color of Drops.’”
And sincerely, what Airi heard next made her brain pause and her breathing to stop. And all of the sudden, Airi understood what it must be like to be on the receiving end of a siren song.
It felt like the song was being painted into her mind with soothing strokes. Airi didn’t exactly stick around for the rest of the setlist, as she flurried off in a painfully loud crackle of branches. At least a flurry of arrows didn’t follow her.
Even the breeze of the air hitting her wings and skin didn’t cool the burning of her body. There was so obviously something about that human and her voice… she had to be a siren in disguise.
She just had to be. That would be the only explanation for the sudden attraction the siren had felt for that mere human.