Archive of Our Own ^beta

Y/n had always been told to never expose herself to humans, that they were all evil, greedy creatures. She had been told plenty of horror stories, and at the ripe age of six, she had rightfully been terrified. But something else lingered, something more like curiosity. Were humans really all bad? It had been nagging at her for weeks since her sixth birthday.

In stupid, childish fashion, she decided to do something that was firmly against the rules. Y/n slipped out from the cave she shared with her parents when the sun was beating down on the water, creating beautiful sparkles on the sandy floor.

She swam to a nearby human infested beach, and she watched, just below the surface. Her eyes sparkled with childish wonder as she watched the creatures with legs ride waves with weird contraptions.

She wasn't so stupid as to try and speak with any of the humans, the lingering fear of what would come from that still on her mind.

She swam over to an outcropping of rocks where nobody seemed to venture near, and she poked her head out of the water, wet hair clinging to her pointed ears and sticking to her gills. She used her small hands and pushed the hair away from her neck. Y/n put her hands on one of the rocks and quietly observed the humans splashing about in the water.

Were they really all evil? She thought.

Her ear twitched when she heard a little yelp, and then a splash. Y/n whipped her head around, eyes widening when she saw a boy around her age struggling against the water, ultimately sinking beneath the surface. The mermaid gnawed on her bottom lip nervously. She knew enough about humans to know they couldn't breathe underwater, and worry gnawed at her when the seconds ticked by and the boy didn't surface.

She knew she shouldn't help, she knew it would run the risk of being discovered. Still, she couldn't just let this boy die, she wasn't like her pod, she didn't want to ignore humans and keep to the ocean. She wanted to explore, she wanted to learn.

Y/n dove under the water and swam quickly, her powerful tail propelling her forward. She found the boy struggling to swim to the surface, clearly unable to kick his feet and move his arms correctly. Not only that, but he was wearing weird things on his feet that seemed bulky and making it harder for him to swim.

Without a second thought, y/n wrapped her arms around the sinking boy and used her tail to propel them both towards the surface. As their head broke above the water, the boy gasped and coughed violently, water dropping back into the sea from his lips.

Y/n quickly swam to the edge of the rocks and pushed the boy onto them, watching as he slowly stopped gasping for air and his chest stopped heaving violently. She knew she should leave, she shouldn't be caught, but something inside her whispered to stay.

She got a better look at the boy, seeing his soaked hair was a deep black, his skin pale and smooth. His eyes were what caught y/n's attention. They looked deep blue like the sea, they reminded her of home. Nervously, y/n swam closer and put her hands on the rock, pulling a little bit of her upper body out of the water.

"Are you okay?" She asked, voice a little raspy from not used to being used.

Underwater, mers had their own language, mostly clicks and chirps, but above water they spoke as humans did. Y/n hadn't been to the surface in a while, so her vocal cords were a little rusty.

The boy stared with wide eyes, clothes clinging to his shivering frame.

~

Megumi had been dragged to the beach by his eager mother, and less eager father. His sister was immediately splashing in the water and demanding their father to play with her. Megumi, on the other hand, had never really liked the ocean. It was unsettling. Deep, dark water held unknown creatures. And seaweed. He shuddered at the thought.

He huffed to himself as he sat on the stupid sand, drawing his knees up to his chest under the safety of their beach umbrella. His parents tried to coax him into the water, but he stubbornly refused and kept his feet firmly planted on land.

However, of course, after an hour of that he was pretty bored. With a tiny huff, the annoyed six year old started to roam the beach.

"Don't go too far!" He'd heard his mom call out. "And steer clear of the rocks! They're slippery!"

He ignored her warning and ventured over to some rocks on the opposite side of the beach. It was quieter, and Megumi liked that. He slid down to a different rock and was watching the water lap at the edges of the rocks, sun casting softly over the surface as sparkles danced across.

He leaned closer to get a better view when he slipped.

With a frightened yelp, the boy slipped into the water. He remembered to hold his breath only seconds before he sunk beneath the surface. Fear shot through his veins, heart beating wildly in his chest as he tried to fight his way back to the surface. He wasn't a very good swimmer to begin with, but the adrenaline and fear filling his body made him worse.

He was scared, was he dying?

Suddenly, he felt cold, webbed hands on his sides. He let out a muffled scream, bubbles trailing upwards as he was suddenly thrust above the surface. He coughed and gasped, barely registering the fact he was being moved back towards dry land until his hands met warm rock. Megumi slowly calmed down and caught his breath.

"Are you okay?" He heard a quiet, raspy voice.

He snapped his head over to the sound, eyes widening when they met deep red. He quickly looked the girl over, seeing striped scales trail up her clawed and webbed hands, stopping at her shoulders. His wide eyes dragged over the humanoid creature, watching as her hair swished in the water behind her.

She was clearly anything but human.

Y/n swished her tail anxiously beneath the water, observing the wide eyed stare of the ocean eyed boy. When he opened his mouth, his voice was surprisingly steady for someone who had just been coughing up sea water.

"Do you... breathe water?" He shivered as he tried to stand, almost slipping again.

Y/n opened her mouth to answer, but panicked and caught his arm when he almost slipped into the water again. "Careful!"

His eyes caught sight of her tail as he pulled his arm free from the creatures hold.

Of all the stories he'd heard of the sea, mermaids were his favourite, but he was always told they weren't real, a fairytale. Yet, here one was, right in front of him.

Y/n sunk back into the water nervously, letting it up to her chin, gills opening and closing quickly as she took in the boys expression. He didn't look afraid, which helped the mermaid relax a little.

She knew she was breaking every single rule that had been drilled into her since she could remember, but she was overwhelmed with curiosity. Plus, this boy didn't seem evil, not at all.

Slowly, the boy kneeled back down on the rock, hands placed firmly in front of himself so he wouldn't slip.

"My name is Megumi Fushiguro." He introduced himself.

Y/n nodded slowly. "My name is Y/n."

The boy, Megumi, nodded.

Y/n relaxed further, letting him observe her. She slowly pushed herself further out of the water and placed her clawed, webbed hands on the rock near his. He looked down at her strange hands and studied them.

He slowly reached out a hand and touched the back of hers, feeling the cold, slightly slimy scales covering the back of her hand. He scrunched his nose up at the slimy feeling before looking up, deep blue eyes meeting ruby red ones.

Suddenly, y/n tensed up and whipped around. "I have to leave."

"Will you come back?"

The mermaid swung her head back to meet his eyes, looking contemplative for a moment before nodding. "Tomorrow."

And with that, she was gone, tail flicking behind her as she dove into the depths, leaving the curious boy on the rocks, alone.

Megumi watched the water for a minute before making his way back to his parents, who promptly freaked out seeing him soaked to the bone, frantically asking what had happened.

"I slipped." He huffed as his mom made him take off his shirt.

She gasped worriedly, knowing he wasn't a very good swimmer.

"A mermaid saved me." He said suddenly.

"Mermaid aren't real." His sister laughed a little.

"They are!" He glared at her.

His parents didn't acknowledge his insistence, too worried about their son in that moment.

~

The next day, Megumi willingly followed his parents to the beach, eager to see the mermaid again. Although, that was easier said than done. His parents weren't too keen on letting him go off on his own after the previous day.

Only after an hour did he manage to sneak off back towards the rocks. He was more careful this time, walking slowly and watching out for the slippery rocks. He sat down on a rock near the edge of the water and peered down, seeing nothing.

As the minutes ticked by, he started to think that the mermaid wouldn't be back. A splashing sound made Megumi pick his head up, and he caught sight of a tail-fin flicking out of the water.

He quickly lowered his legs from his chest and scooted closer to the water as y/n's head broke the surface.

"My mom called me back yesterday." Was the first thing she said, voice not as raspy as the day before.

"I didn't hear anything." He furrowed his brows.

Y/n leaned closer and let out a few clicks. "It sounds like that, but I have better hearing than humans."

"That's cool." The boy said as y/n rested her arms on the rock in front of him, near his legs.

She rested her chubby cheek on her hand. The boy was pretty quiet, but y/n didn't mind. She hummed to herself and saw Megumi lean a little closer, intrigued by the song he'd never heard before.

"Do you want to hear me sing?" She asked after noticing the way he was watching her.

She had never sung to a human before, obviously, but she didn't see the harm in it. She liked Megumi, he seemed nice, not evil at all. He had come back alone, and not with a hunting party like she had heard of in the stories her mother told her.

He nodded slowly, scooting closer to the edge of the rock. Soon after, Megumi was graced with the most beautiful sound he had ever heard in his six years of life. There weren't any words, but he was washed over with an inexplicable calm and warm feeling. A few minutes later, y/n closed her mouth and smiled up at the boy.

"That was pretty." He complimented.

They spent the next hour getting to know each other, and y/n found that she really enjoyed Megumi's company, and she wanted to be friends with him. Well, it was mostly y/n talking, finding it hard to string along certain words in proper sentences, and Megumi would throw in a few short sentences about his life on land, clearly not being much of a talker. Still, y/n was fascinated. Everything sounded so cool! The young mermaid wished she could experience it.

Y/n told Megumi about her life in the sea. He listened to every word she said, making subtle faces when she mentioned eating raw fish and as she spoke about the creatures around her home.

"Megumi! Where are you?!"

Y/n stopped mid sentence and fear flashed across her face.

"It's my mom." He groaned. "I have to go." He stood up and looked down at y/n. "Will you come back tomorrow?" He asked.

"Yes." She ducked under the water as the woman's voice grew closer.

Megumi carefully made his back to the beach, which was over the rocks. He was chastised heavily for sneaking away and scaring everyone, but he just huffed, crossing his arms as he followed them back to the hotel they were staying in.

~

"You can't swim?" Y/n asked as her and Megumi were talking by the rocks again.

"Not very well." He grumbled, crossing his arms.

"I can teach you!" She chirped excitedly, fins flaring slightly.

He eyed her for a minute, then decided a mermaid was probably the best person to teach him to swim in the open ocean. He was still uneasy, but with y/n he was sure he would be fine. She had saved him once already, after all.

"Okay." He said and slipped his shirt off, leaving it on some upper rocks where it wouldn't get wet.

He shucked his shoes and socks, placing them carefully next to his shirt. He looked back over to the mermaids excited face as she swam back a bit so Megumi could slip into the water.

He dipped his toes in first, hands braced back on the rocks as he slowly slipped into the cool water. Y/n swam closer and put her cold hands on his waist to keep the boy above water. She was strong for her age, so keeping him afloat wasn't an issue.

She coached him softly, helping him use his arms less choppily and how to use his legs. She wasn't exactly an expert on human swimming, but she had been watching them from afar for quite a while, so she knew the basics.

After an hour, Megumi was swimming and keeping himself above water all by himself.

She smiled at him and swam circles around him, tail brushing his legs.

Megumi was momentarily freaked out at the brush of something on his legs, but calmed when he registered it was just y/n's slightly slimy tail. They swam around for a bit more before Megumi got out and waited to dry.

"Will you come back tomorrow?" Y/n asked, hands on the rocks as she looked up at the boy.

He nodded and stretched his legs out.

Y/n eyed them and looked back up at Megumi slowly. "Can I touch them?"

"If you want." He shrugged.

Slowly, y/n's webbed hand splayed across his calf as she trailed her hand up to his knee. Megumi blushed a little but let the curious mermaid grab at his legs. Although her fingers were clawed, she was very gentle and careful not to press them too hard into his skin and cause injury.

Megumi leaned forward a bit. "Can I... touch your tail?"

Y/n looked up at his curious eyes and nodded with a smile. It was only fair. She hauled herself out of the water, for the first time, and sat down next to the boy.

This was the first time Megumi was seeing her tail without the water obscuring it, and he could finally see how pretty it was. The squiggly stripes were brighter out of the water, and her scales shimmered like the ocean did when the sun hit it just right.

Slowly, Megumi reached his hand out and ran it gently down the front of her tail, making a face at the slimy feeling. Other than that, it was quite soft. He could see each individual scale. His eyes trailed down to the fluke of her tail that was swishing slightly in the water. Her tail was a few feet long, so it dipped and disappeared into the water below.

"Slimy." He said and he wiped his hand on the rock.

Y/n giggled and flicked her tail a little, spraying water into the air. They talked for a little bit longer before y/n said her mother was calling her back, again. She slipped back into the water, barely making a splash.

Megumi waved to the mermaid and watched her disappear into the salty sea.

~

The next day, Megumi was quiet as ever, so y/n just watched him as he looked out at the water, little sun sparkles glittering on the surface.

"We're leaving tomorrow." He spoke suddenly.

"Leaving?" Y/n swam closer, pulling herself out of the water and onto a rock.

"Going home. This was just a vacation." He mumbled.

Y/n frowned, red eyes downturning. "When will you come back?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"This... this is for you." She held out her hand.

"For me?" He looked at the mermaids outstretched hand, seeing a bracelet dangling between her fingers.

"I made it." She slipped it over his hand and tightened it around his wrist.

Megumi lifted his hand and brought it closer to his face, inspecting it. The main part of the bracelet was clearly some braided old green netting with small shells woven in. It was adjustable, speaking to how often y/n probably made jewelry to be able to do it on her own.

"I like it." He looked over at his mermaid friend.

They spent their last few hours together on the rocks, y/n filling their time by telling Megumi about the types of fish that swam in her reef. When they heard Megumi's mother searching for him again, y/n knew this was goodbye.

Y/n slipped back into the water and Megumi leaned down on his stomach, face close to y/n's with determination and honesty swimming in his eyes.

"I'll come back." He spoke. "Here." He unclipped the bracelet his sister had made him and clipped back on y/n's wrist.

"I'll be here." Y/n leaned forward and planted a kiss on the boys pale cheek.

Megumi blushed and put his hand on his cheek as he watched the mermaid disappear into the water.

~

Megumi learned very quickly that people looked at you like you were crazy when you talked about mermaids like they were real. When he was young, he didn't understand it, but as he got older, he did. He sounded completely insane to anyone who hadn't seen one before.

His parents had almost put him in therapy when he was younger with how hard he pushed back at them and insisted mermaids were real. So, he firmly shut his mouth about mermaids, but he never stopped believing y/n was real. He knew.

The bracelet that adorned his wrist for years to come was proof she was real, that he wasn't crazy and did not make her up as some sort of imaginary friend Like his parents insisted. The sea used to scare him, but after that vacation to the beach, it intrigued him to no end.

He would read any book he could get his hands on that mentioned the sea. He read every article on mermaids he could find on the internet, even ordering the odd book online when he was old enough and had his own job. His room was progressively cluttered with ocean books and paraphernalia. A shell here, a fossil there, anything he could get his hands on. Sea creature posters adorned his walls next to the band ones, throwing the whole room into quiet chaos.

But that was how he liked it.

He decided when he turned ten and learned what a marine biologist was that he was going to become just that. It was perfect for him, and he never swayed from the idea over the years.

He was pretty introverted naturally, but after deep diving into everything ocean related, not many people interested him anymore. He was far more interested in ocean knowledge and learning about mermaids. That combination meant that Megumi had literally no friends during his high school years, nor any in college. College was full of cramming knowledge and working constantly, so he was alone, but he didn't mind it

After meeting y/n and hearing her talk so happily about the sea, he had fallen deeply in love with the murky depths. It was important to her, so it meant something to him.

That was how he found himself where he was now, refreshing his email every minute. Megumi ran his fingers over the shells of the bracelet on his wrist, having had that become a nervous habit of his. The bracelet had seen better days, but that was to be expected after wearing it everyday since he was six years old.

He clicked through his emails religiously, refreshing the page dozens of times. He was waiting for a rejection or an acceptance for a program that would transfer him to a different college, to one that was only twenty minutes from the beach he visited as a child, to y/n.

He had worked diligently over the years to be accepted into a good college that he knew did transfer programs for people in their second years. He did everything he could to get on the teachers good sides so they would recommend him for the program, and today was the day they were sending emails out.

He refreshed his email one more time, hands freezing for a moment when he saw a new one pop up. He hastily clicked on the new email and scanned it, heart jumping when he saw the words 'we are glad to inform...' Megumi let a small smile lift at the corners of his mouth as he relaxed into his desk chair, dropping his head back.

~

Over the years, y/n never once forgot about her human friend. She never dared mention him to anyone from her pod, knowing what she did was majorly against the rules. She missed Megumi a lot, going back to the beach where they met weekly since she was six. She never gave up hope that Megumi would keep his word and come back, but she did get sad with each visit coming up empty, no boy with deep sea eyes in sight.

She grew more defiant as she aged, ignoring her parents to learn more about the human world. That knowledge was long since forbidden, but y/n didn't care. She'd found banned texts etched into water softened rocks and hid them near the shore.

She took every chance she could get away and spent time near the beaches on the shore. She never revealed herself to another human again, knowing that what she had done when she was six was a pretty stupid idea, but still, she never regretted it.

She had perfected her human speech by her teens, learning a few funny phrases she learned were called cuss words. Those were her favourite.

Also during her teens, she had met a banished mermaid out near the shallows. It had surprised her at first, but she remembered the stories of a mermaid banished for revealing herself to humans and ignoring their rules. She had befriended the banisher mer easily, bonding over the rigidity of the pod and y/n's desire to know more about humans.

The other mer was a wellspring of human knowledge, and y/n ate up every morsel that she was fed.

Now, at twenty years old, she was rolling her eyes at another lecture she was receiving from her parents. They were mad at her lack of interest in courting any of the male mers from their pod. It wasn't for lack of trying on their part, but she rejected them all. She wasn't interested in any of them. Part of her thought it was because they were all annoying, but another part of her whispered it was because of a certain boy with eyes deeper than the ocean she resided in.

~

Megumi knocked on the door to his new shared dorm. He had a key, but he didn't want to just open the door in case his roommate was naked, or something.

The door was quickly ripped open to reveal a smiling male with pink hair. "Are you my new roommate?"

His roommate was wearing some basketball shorts and a sports hoodie.

"Uh, yeah." He shouldered his bag. "Megumi."

"I'm Yuji! Come in!" Yuji stepped aside to let the other in.

The door closed behind him with a click. The room was pretty clean, only a few pieces of clothing littering the floor. Yuji's side of the room was full of posters, little figurines, and mangas lined up on his desk shelf.

"So what are you here for?" Yuji asked, smile still wide as ever.

This guy is like sunshine personified, he thought.

He wasn't particularly excited to be roomed with such a loud guy, but he seemed friendly, so that was a plus.

"Marine biology." He answered, dropping his bags on the empty bed. "You?"

"Kinesiology." He drummed his fingers on his bed frame. "I want to be a physical therapist."

Megumi paused, looking back over to the male. That was... an unexpected response. "Cool."

"Yeah." Yuji leaned into his space.

Megumi tensed his shoulders a little bit and kept pulling stuff out of his bag.

"Need help with anything?" He asked kindly.

"No, thanks though." He answered back, moving to put his clothes away in the dresser.

"Cool, cool." Yuji nodded. "I'll just be working on an assignment then."

Megumi nodded once as Yuji made his way to his desk and plopped down heavily on the chair, opening his laptop. Megumi relaxed as the time ticked by, getting occasional questions from his roommate about himself. The black haired male learned a lot about Yuji, not like he asked for any of the information, though.

Yuji seemed determined to become best friends with Megumi only an hour into knowing each other. As much as it was a little bit annoying, it was kind of nice. Moat people got put off after twenty minutes of a one-sided conversation, but not Yuji. If anything, that seemed to spur him on.

By that night, he had Yuji's number saved in his phone and way too much information on the other boy.

~

The next few days, Megumi had to run around the college finding all of his classes and getting textbooks. There was absolutely no extra time in his schedule for the first week and a half for him to leave the premise, let alone get down to the beach.

So when the next weekend finally came, he was determined to set out to the beach. He packed a small bag of extra clothes and hauled it over his shoulder, heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Yuji piped up from the bed.

"Beach." He answered before swinging the door open and shut, walking down the hallway with a sense of urgency.

He caught a bus to the beach from campus, and fiddled with his bracelet. Would y/n still be there? He had told her he would be back, but it had also been fourteen years since then.

No, she'll be there.

As the bus slowed to a stop, Megumi clutched his bag closer before stalking down to the beach. It looked the same as he remembered, but was now sporting a larger lifeguard tower and a new sign. He squinted at the writing, seeing a warning not to venture over the rocks, citing the dangers.

Megumi rolled his eyes and made his way exactly over to those familiar rocks. He stepped on them carefully, getting back to his spot near the edge of the water. It was still hidden from the rest of the beach, still as beautiful as he remembered it being.

With a deep breath, he slowly shucked his shoes and socks, dipping his feet into the water as he sat on one of the rocks. He shivered the second the cool water enveloped his legs up to just below his knees. He called y/n's name once and then waited. He never doubted that y/n was very real, but he did feel a little silly waiting there.

As time passed, Megumi watched the water with longing eyes. The sun sparkled over the surface as Megumi kicked his legs gently in the water.

~

Y/n narrowly escaped her parents nagging, making her way to her and Megumi's spot. It was her designated day to go wait at the rocks. She lazily flicked her tail as she neared the rocky outcropping.

As she grew closer, she could see someone's legs dipped in the water. Her heart stuttered in her chest, fear and excitement curling in her chest. She flicked her tail quickly and curved left, knowing that it could be someone else waiting there and not Megumi. She had to check first, to be sure it was him.

She observed the male as she poked her eyes out of the water a good distance from the rocks and out of the males field of vision.

A smile curled at her lips as she looked him over, knowing it was definitely him. It was him! He was back!

Y/n couldn't help the happy click that left her lips under the water. "Megumi!"

~

Megumi whipped his head to the left, eyes widening as a girls head poked out of the water, lips parted in a full fanged smile.

Y/n... he watched in awe as the mermaid zoomed over to the rocks.

In seconds, y/n was hauling herself out of the water and throwing her slightly scaled arms around the other. Megumi stilled, arms pressed to his sides as y/n hugged him as tight as she could. He didn't much care about the water soaking through his shirt, just feeling a warm, calm feeling wash over his body.

He had always known she was real, but seeing her again was such a relief.

He wasn't crazy, he didn't make anything up, she was real.

"You came back!" Y/n was smiling against the males shoulder.

"I said I would." He murmured, feeling what could only be described as a purr rumbling through y/n's chest.

The two pulled apart and Megumi took in her appearance properly. Her tail had gotten longer and thicker, no doubt that the thing was all muscle mass. His eyes trailed up her fins and to where her scales met pale skin, a few homemade waist-beaded pieces of braided fishing nets hung across her lower stomach and hip area. He was relieved to see that she wasn't naked from the waist up, an interesting mix of braided net and shells covering her chest.

His eyes moved up further, tracing the gills on her neck. Up further, he saw how her features had become very defined. Her lips were pulled wide, showing that familiar fanged smile he'd seen when they were six. Her eyes were still that deep, ruby red, pupils slitted like an animals.

She was so pretty. No, pretty wasn't enough. She was stunning, enchanting.

Y/n was also observing Megumi, noticing how his muscles had become more defined, shoulders more broad, how he'd lost the baby fat in his face, features sharp and pretty. His lashes fluttered with each blink of those familiar, deep sea eyes.

"Why did it take you so long?" The mer pouted.

Megumi swallowed thickly, bringing his eyes to meet hers. "I had things to do."

Y/n laughed at that, leaning closer. "I guess so." Her eyes trailed down to his wrist, fins flaring slightly in happiness. "You kept the bracelet?"

She gently gripped his wrist, aware of her claws, bringing it up to eye level. Megumi felt his ears get hot as he let the mermaid hold his wrist.

"Of course I did." He mumbled, unable to look away from y/n.

She flicked her eyes up, smile softening. "Well, it's certainly seen better days. Did you ever take it off?"

"No." He cleared his throat and finally tore his eyes away from her face.

That cued y/n to wrap her arms around the male again and squish him slightly. "I'm so happy you came back."

He circled his arms around the mer and pressed his hands against her back, feeling smooth, cold skin and slimy scales.

"Me too." He said simply, his own voice sounding softer than he'd ever heard before.

He didn't think he was capable of being so soft and touchy.

"I kept the one you gave me too, but it broke." She sighed. "Wasn't made to be submerged in salt water." Y/n finally pulled away and stared at him. "Tell me about your life." She demanded.

Megumi nodded and went off about how his life had been since he left up and until that point. He told her about his school life, his family, some experiences that he thought would interest the mermaid, and about how he'd managed to find his way back to her to keep his promise.

Megumi never talked so much in his life, but he forced the words out of his mouth, knowing that y/n wanted to hear it all.

Y/n listened to all of it intently, eyes never leaving his face as he spoke. She was completely enamoured with the familiar human. He had grown up so much, and he had grown handsome. She felt something she had never felt before settle deep into her a chest. It was like instinct, and it was telling her that he was it, he was the one she wanted as her mate.

How she was going to go about courting him, she had a few ideas. She wanted to integrate the mer way of courting into the human way. From her years of observation, she had learned plenty about human courting.

"What about you?" Megumi asked as he finished telling her about his life over the years.

Y/n shot into a spiel about the things she'd collected, the places she'd been, and how life was with her family. Y/n could see that familiar childish wonder swimming in his eyes as she spoke about the sea. It excited her, knowing that she had basically changed the trajectory of his life and steered it towards her.

"Wow." He whispered, lips pulling up into the tiniest of smiles. The action felt foreign to him, but so right.

Y/n nodded excitedly as she smiled again.

"Your fangs got bigger." He observed, his usual curiosity towards anything sea related bubbling to the surface.

Being reminded of them, y/n ran her tongue out over the sharpened edges. Megumi's eyes tracked the movement with interest, noticing that her tongue was a dark blue at the tip and gradually faded to pink.

"Yeah, I got bigger." She flicked her tail up and sprayed some water at the male.

Megumi blocked his face with his forearms and huffed while y/n laughed.

"You did too." She observed.

"Uh, yeah." He cleared his throat, wiping his suddenly clammy palms on his swim trunks.

"Still know how to swim?" She teased lightly.

"Of course I do." He rolled his eyes, but couldn't deny the excitement he felt.

He was excited to be with y/n again, but he was also excited from a researchers perspective. He would never expose y/n, but he wanted to know more about her kind and how they worked. He wanted to learn everything he could from the mermaid. Of course, he also wanted to know her from a friend's perspective as well, but he was fascinated with her either way.

Y/n jumped back into the water, the calm surface rippling and bubbling from the sudden disturbance. Megumi pulled his shirt over his head as y/n's head popped up from the waters surface.

Y/n tongued the inside of her cheek as she watched Megumi remove his shirt and place it down on the rock. He was more lean, but there was clearly some muscle to him.

Slowly, Megumi carefully slid into the water, moving his arms and legs to keep above the surface.

"Much better than I remember." The mer teased playfully as she swam closer.

"I was six." He rolled his eyes as she approached.

Megumi wasn't the only one interested in learning. Y/n was chomping at the bit to touch another human, especially to touch her potential mate. She had always wanted to feel the difference in humans skin textures, their muscles. All of it fascinated her.

Y/n hummed softly as she swam closer, face soft as she ran the tips of her claws lightly over Megumi's moving arms. The song was one typically used for courting, but she tweaked it a little bit so it would be easier for the human to hear. She had learned from the banished mer that humans couldn't hear most notes in a mers song. When they were young, Megumi probably only heard half of what she had actually been singing.

Megumi felt that calm feeling wash over him again, but this time it was accompanied by something else. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, but it wasn't unpleasant. The touches of y/n's claws sent shivers down his spine, but it wasn't fear, not even close, actually. He tensed a little, the uncomfortable feeling of being touched so much was starting to rise, but he forced himself to relax. Y/n was touchy by nature, and curious, and for her, he decided the slight discomfort was worth it.

"Human skin is so warm, how do you not overheat?" Y/n asked curiously, palm pressing down against the males skin and dragging up to his shoulders.

Megumi pressed his lips together before explaining air conditioning and heating to the curious mermaid. It was a lengthy conversation, and y/n's hand's didn't leave his body once. She was groping his muscles curiously and rubbing her webbed hands over his torso. It was a little strange, nobody had touched him this much before, but he had to admit that coming from y/n it was okay.

"Wow!" Y/n said, eyes shining. "That's so cool! I wish I could visit land."

Megumi nodded, an unknown emotion bubbling up in his chest.

In the water, he could see y/n's tail shining as the sun's rays beat down on the open water. He could see her tail moving forward and back to keep her in place. He reached out slowly but stilled his hands a few inches away from the powerful appendage.

Y/n's eyes met his hands and she looked up at him with a smile. "You can touch my tail. It's still slimy though." She teased.

Megumi pinched her side, amusement swirling in his eyes as y/n yelped and pouted. He reached forward and gently laid his hands on her tail, feeling that it was, in fact, still slimy. He could feel the powerful muscles that spanned the length of the mers impressive tail. It was much longer than he'd originally thought, surpassing him by a few feet, he'd say.

He gently ran the tips of his fingers over her hip fins, feelings how soft they were. Eventually, Megumi pulled his hands away and looked back up at y/n, seeing a cute blush spread across her cheeks.

"How long can you hold your breath?" Y/n asked suddenly.

Megumi blinked a few times. "Uh, a minute, why?"

Y/n whined. "That's not long at all!" Her tail flicked.

"I am human." He said dryly, feeling y/n's hands leave his biceps.

That was short lived, however. Almost as soon as her hands were gone, her arms were wrapping around Megumi's neck. Megumi felt himself start to sink a little before y/n used her tail to keep both of them above water. He hadn't been hugged or touched this much in years, having mostly kept to himself and dodged his parent's affection.

Slowly, he wrapped his arms around the mermaids waist, feeling her cold skin under his palms. Again, he also felt that purr in her chest.

The moment was broken when y/n heard human voices approaching the rocks. She froze up for a second before yanking herself away and dipping herself back into the water up to her nose, eyes looking nervous and fearful.

Megumi craned his neck back to see people climbing the rocks.

"We should meet somewhere else, huh?" He asked as he looked back at y/n.

She nodded and flicked her eyes over his shoulder, bringing her face out of the water again. "Theres a cave if you continue down the beach that way." She pointed a clawed finger to the left of the rocks. "Nobody goes there."

Megumi nodded slightly as he listened to her explanation.

"Meet there tomorrow?" She asked, and he nodded.

She flinched when the other voices got closer. "I have to go." She hesitated for a second before pulling Megumi's face closer with her hands and planting a salty kiss on his left cheek.

Megumi blinked in surprise as y/n waved and dipped below the surface, disappearing into the dark sea. His ears flushed red as he turned and swam back to the rocks to dry off.

As y/n swam away, her cheeks felt warmer than normal and her lips tingled. She smiled happily to herself and veered right to dive into a deeper part of the ocean. The sun rays barely reached the sea floor, and y/n began combing through the sand, looking for pretty shells.

Megumi had seemed to like her song, so the next step was to start giving him gifts. She was happy to hear that her human liked collecting things from the sea, because it was easy for y/n to acquire such things.

She hummed softly to herself as she picked up shells and little fossils. With her hands full, she happily swam back home to her cave. She, thankfully, moved into her very own cave a year back and escaped her parent's constant pestering. Of course, they still pestered her, but it wasn't nearly as bad.

The mermaid had decided on an underwater cave that broke open into a moon pool and had breathable air. It was different from her kinds usual caves, but she liked it better. She dropped the shells and fossils on the edge of the pool before hauling herself out of the water. As she sat on the edge of the pool, she inspected each shell and fossil carefully, picking only the best ones to gift Megumi. She threw a few of the broken fossils back into the pool, watching as they sank to the bottom.

~

When Megumi left the beach, he felt slightly in a daze. Y/n was real, very real, as it turns out. Not only that, but she had been very eager to see him after fourteen years. He absentmindedly rubbed his cheek as he walked to the bus stop.

He popped his headphones in and pressed play on one of his playlists, not really caring to actually listen to it, his mind somewhere else completely. He tapped about on his phone, not really paying attention to much, too wrapped up in his own thoughts.

When he reached his dorm, he pushed the door open and slipped inside quietly, the room illuminated by a soft orange lamps glow and the light from Yuji's laptop. Said male looked up when the door opened, offering a smile. Beside him, there was a girl with orange eyes.

"Have fun at the beach?" He asked as Megumi dropped his bag onto his bed.

"Yeah." He grunted, waving to his guest, and finding some sweats and a shirt before heading to the bathroom to shower.

"Is that your roommate?" Nobara asked from beside Yuji, the two having been watching a movie on his laptop.

"Yeah, his names Megumi." Yuji nodded, turning his attention back to the screen. "He's pretty cool."

~

The next day, y/n swam to the cave she told Megumi about with a pretty fossil in her hands. She waited in the interior of the cave, sitting on the small slope of the sand where it met the water, flicking her tail slightly as she waited.

When Megumi arrived, y/n perked up and watched as he came closer. He set a bag down on the sand and took off his shoes, socks following closely behind.

"Megumi." She sat up and patted the spot next to her on the sand. He sat down next to y/n, stretching his legs out. "Hold out your hands."

Megumi raised a brow but did as he was told. He watched as y/n placed something in his palm and smiled up at him. He looked down at his hands and his eyes widened, bringing the fossil closer to his face.

"Where did you find this?" He knew that iridescent ammonite shells were pretty rare to find where they were.

"I know a spot." She smiled, fins flaring slightly as she watched him inspect the pretty fossil.

She barely suppressed a happy little wiggle of her hips when she saw him carefully put the fossil in his bag. He liked her gift!

"Can you come back tomorrow too?" Y/n asked, leaning closer.

"Yeah, but after that I can't come back until next weekend." He told her.

The mermaid frowned. "Why?"

"School." He pressed his lips together in a line. "But I'm free on most weekends."

"Well, can't you come after school?" She pouted.

"Probably not." He said after thinking for a moment.

He explained the assignments and actual work part of college to her, saying that it'd be difficult to come on the weekdays. He knew the workload in his second year would be heavy.

Y/n flicked her tail in annoyance but just leaned back on her elbows in the soft sand. "I wish I could just come see you on land."

Megumi nodded in agreement as he looked out towards the mouth of the cave, a little lost in thought.

Ever since he had been reunited with y/n, he had felt like a part of him had clicked into place. Sure, it was nice to confirm he was never crazy when he was younger, but this was something else. It wasn't just curiosity from a marine biologist standpoint, it was more like curiosity towards her. He had never wanted to know someone as badly as he did with y/n. There was something easy and comforting about her presence. Which was kind of ridiculous, because y/n could clearly kill him at any given point if she so chose.

Her claws were clearly made for killing sea creatures, those sharp teeth in her mouth made for tearing flesh. And though Megumi had only heard part of her song, he was sure she was similar to the sirens he had read about in ancient mythology, where their songs could lure humans into their depths, never to be seen again.

Despite all that, he found unbridled comfort in the mermaids presence. Her skin was cold, but she was warm.

A webbed hand waved in front of his face, and Megumi's eyes focused on the motion.

"You zoned out." Y/n leaned over, nuzzling her face against his shoulder. "What are you thinking about?"

Before his brain to mouth filter could start working again, he spoke. "You."

Y/n suddenly lifted her face and stared at him, eyes wide with curiosity. "Me? What about me?" She pressed, wiggling closer.

Megumi ignored the way his ears became warm and cleared his throat, looking back out towards the ocean. "Just that you've changed."

"A lot happens in fourteen years." Y/n pointed out, smiling when she saw his red ears.

"Yeah." He grumbled, drawing up one of his knees, throwing his forearm over his knee and resting his chin on it.

Y/n pressed against his side and rested her cheek on the side of his head. Megumi stilled, body freezing up. He had never been one for physical affection, but something about y/n made him relax slightly. Y/n had him doing a lot of things he normally wouldn't, it was weird. It was like she brought out a completely different side of him, a side he hadn't given much attention to since he was young.

The two sat in the mouth of the cave for a while, just leaning into one another as the sun slowly started to set, painting the sky in brilliant oranges and pinks.

"I have to go back now." He said as a few seagulls flew by the entrance of the cave.

"But you'll come tomorrow?" She asked nervously.

He nodded and y/n pulled away, slinking into the water. Megumi zipped his bag and picked it up, throwing it over his shoulder

He waved as he started to walk towards the exit of the cave.

Y/n swam alongside him in the water, watching him walk across the sand shelf to the exit. She observed the way his damp hair stuck up in multiple areas, smiling to herself. As he approached the entrance of the cave, y/n felt her fins flare slightly. The soft orange glow from the sun casted a beautiful sheen over his pale skin, making the mermaid swallow thickly. Megumi had really grown up handsome, and pretty. She knew that pretty wasn't typically used for men, but that was the only way she could describe him.

She reached over and grabbed his ankle, cold, webbed fingers wrapping around his warm skin. At the sudden contact, Megumi looked down, steps stilling, eyebrows furrowed.

Y/n looked up at him and bit her lip before letting go. "Never mind, I'll see you tomorrow." She waved and dipped below the water, disappearing from sight.

Megumi watched, brows pinched together in confusion as she slinked back into the depths. He shook his head slightly and left the cave, going back to the bus stop.

On the bus ride back to campus, he received an email. As he opened it and scanned the first few lines, the bus had stopped at a place on the route, letting a few people off.

The email was simple and to the point, letting him know that on Monday there would be a trip to the beach to study the tide pools and take samples. He made a mental note to tell y/n to steer clear that day.

~

In the water, y/n's tail thrashed around as she let out a low scream, hands pressed to her flaming cheeks. She had almost told Megumi that she thought he was pretty!

After taking a few minutes to calm down, the mermaid made her way back to her cave. She wanted to replace the bracelet she'd made for Megumi when they were children. The thing looked about ready to fall off, clearly being held together by a thread. Literally.

The mermaid picked through her things before laying out all the supplies. She carefully used the tips of her claws to create some shaky holes in some tiny shells, readying them for the dark blue, braided net that the main part of the bracelet would be made of. She spent a few hours putting the whole thing together, tongue sticking out between her lips in concentration.

~

Megumi immediately went for a shower the second he got back to his dorm, needing to wash the salt out of his hair. When he finished, he walked back into the room in his pyjamas, seeing Yuji jump onto his bed.

"Hey!" Yuji smiled. "You go to the beach again?"

"Yeah." Megumi answered shortly, towel drying his hair.

"You must really love the water." Yuji said, pulling his laptop close.

Megumi's mind flashed with memories of y/n's smiling face. "Yeah." He said quietly, climbing into bed.

~

"Megs!" Y/n popped up from the water, making Megumi jump a little in surprise.

He had been the first to arrive on Sunday, and he was sitting in front of the water in the cave, waiting for y/n before she popped up out of nowhere. She motioned for him to stretch out his hand, and he did.

"Here!" Y/n eagerly wiggled her way up onto the sand and dropped the newly made bracelet in his outstretched palm.

"Another one?" He asked, looking at it.

The new bracelet was constructed much better than the first, sturdier, prettier. He slipped it onto his wrist next to the old one.

"I noticed the one I gave you before was falling apart." She smiled, resting her chin on her hands, elbows resting on the sand.

She was on her belly next to him, tail swishing behind her in the water.

"Thanks." He said, looking down at her smiling face.

Pretty, he thought before looking away quickly.

"My class is coming to study the tide pools tomorrow." He said after clearing his throat.

Y/n's expression soured. "So you'll be here but I can't see you?"

"Yes." He looked back over at her.

Y/n whined and let her arms drop down, resting her head on the folded arms beneath her. "That fucking sucks."

His eyes widened a little. "Who taught you to swear?"

Y/n grinned a little. "A lot of the boats I followed spoke like that. That's how I learned there were way more words in the human language than I thought."

He shook his head lightly. "Of course." He muttered before looking out at her tail.

"I learned a lot about humans by following boats around and sticking close to the shore. My hearing is very good." She tapped her pointed ears.

"Doesn't your pod have rules about conversing with humans?" He finally asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

If mers were abundant in the ocean, why hadn't they been discovered before? Megumi could only draw to the conclusion that the mers had rules about not showing themselves to humans.

Y/n's tail stilled in the water. "Um, yeah." She scratched her head lightly. "We're told to drown any humans that see us so we aren't discovered."

"You didn't drown me, you saved me." He murmured, eyes sliding back up to her guilty looking face.

"Yeah." She sighed. "What I did- what I'm doing," she corrected herself. "Is super against the rules, actually, I'd be banished if they found out." She winced at the look Megumi gave her.

"Then why did you do it?" He asked, taking in the information.

She was doing all of this against her pods rules, she could even be banished for her actions, but she didn't seem to care all that much.

She shrugged, looking away with pink cheeks. "When I saw you fall in the water, I knew I was supposed to leave you to die." She started. "But I just couldn't. I couldn't let someone die." Megumi watched her as she spoke. "I was also curious about humans. We're told a lot of stories when we're young about how dangerous humans are. I knew humans were dangerous, but I also couldn't help the fact I wanted to know more. That's why I kept coming back after that day I saved you."

Megumi watched as y/n shuffled closer, tail flicking lightly in the water.

"But after we started to talk, I liked spending time with you." She covered her face as she spoke, a little embarrassed. "I liked you a lot, so when you left I was really sad for a long time. To fill the time, I spent my days learning more about the human world and language. We speak as humans do above water, but since we aren't actually above water very often, I didn't know all the slang and stuff." She parted her fingers a bit to peak up at Megumi. "I learned as much as I could to satisfy my curiosity while I waited for you. Gods, this is so fucking embarrassing to say out loud." She whined and dropped her face into the sand.

Megumi watched, eyes twinkling slightly in amusement as the tips of her ears turned pink and her tail thrashed about slightly. He slowly reached over and put his hand on the back of her head, watching as her tail settled down.

"I did the same." He forced the words out. He had never been good with talking about his feelings, or talking in general, but he needed to tell y/n that she wasn't alone in her way of thinking in the years they hadn't been together.

He told her about how he dove head first into anything ocean and mermaid related, how he'd refused to take the bracelet off for even a minute as he grew up. The one thing he left out was the plethora of sketches and drawings he'd made over the years of her. That was still too much for him to admit to.

Slowly, y/n picked her head up and looked at Megumi, noting the way his cheeks and ears had flushed pink. She could tell it was hard for him to admit these things out loud, but she was grateful to know she hadn't been the only one going stir crazy in the years they were separated.

She reached up to slowly bring his hand to her face and nuzzled into it, purring lowly.

Megumi felt his mouth go dry as he watched her nuzzle into his hand and purr. She was so cute and it was making him nervous. He wanted to yank his hand away, to run out of the cave, but he didn't. He swallowed those feelings down and kept his hand right where it was. He was going to do this right, he wasn't going to run away when he started feeling things he normally didn't feel. He wasn't going to ruin things with y/n just because he liked her a little.

Y/n probably didn't even like him that way, and he was just drastically overthinking everything. He would be damned if he went back to his boring, dull days just because he got scared of his own thoughts and feelings and pushed y/n away. All those years of being emotionally avoidant were really coming back to bite him in the ass, but he was determined to get over it.

Y/n nuzzled her face into his palm a little more before flicking her eyes up to his face. He looked a little dazed, shoulders drawn up and tense. Slowly, she sat up and moved her head, inching closer until their noses were brushing. Both of them turned red as y/n rubbed their cheeks together.

Megumi just let it happen, wondering if this was how mers showed affection to one another. He was still a little uncomfortable with the constant touching, but he was growing used to it. The sciencey side of his brain fired up as his lips parted.

"Is this a mer thing?" He asked quietly.

Y/n rubbed her cheek against his as she answered. "Yes."

He nodded shortly and let her continue for a few more seconds before she pulled away and smiled at him. They stared at each other until it became too much for Megumi, and then he averted his eyes.

"I wish I could take you to my cave." Y/n pouted. Megumi flicked his eyes over to the mer. "But it's too close to my pod."

The weird tension broke, and the two easily fell back into conversation. It was mostly y/n talking about pod dynamics, and Megumi was silent, listening intently and mentally taking note of everything she said. It was all fascinating to him. Of course he'd always wondered about mers and how they lived their lives, so being able to have things confirmed was really interesting. Some things mythology got right, and some things they got wrong, as is with most myths.

By the time the sun dipped low in the sky, Megumi realized he had been listening to y/n ramble for hours.

~

The bus was cold, and the early morning air carried that familiar salty smell as it neared the ocean. It was Monday, which meant his class was going for their tide pool studies.

He had explicitly warned y/n to stay far away. If some random person were to see her, that would be bad, but if someone from his class were to see her, that would be worse. Megumi knew a lot of people would rather capture and dissect a mermaid than to let them roam free, and that scared him. If anything happened to y/n, if it had been his fault, he would lose his damn mind.

The bus came to a stop, and Megumi slung his bag over his shoulder as everyone filed out. The walk to the tide pools was a little chilly, and Megumi felt a shiver run down his spine as he zipped up his sweater, rubber boots crunching in the sand.

The beach was beautiful, as always, and his class was instructed to take notes of things they observed, and to take a few samples. The professor droned on and on, making some of the more tired students yawn and keep their eyes pried open.

Finally, the students were allowed to explore. Megumi walked over to one of the pools and crouched down, notebook and pen in hand as he scribbled down some little sketches of creatures and notes alongside them. He tuned into a conversation one of the other groups to his left was having, hearing his classmates complain about getting dirty.

He rolled his eyes at that, thinking that it was ridiculous. Of course they would get dirty, they were explicitly warned that they should wear proper clothing and prepare to get muddy and wet.

~

Y/n gathered at the centre of the reef beside her parents, chewing on her bottom lip nervously. The elders had called a meeting in which everyone in the pod was to attend, but they didn't say what it was about. As the final mers trickled in, the lead elder swam forward.

The information that followed made y/n's blood freeze in her veins. There had been reports from other pods of banished mers grouping up to attack, wanting revenge for being outcasted. There was a warning issued to the whole pod to stay within the reef, to never go anywhere alone. On one hand, y/n was scared, but on the other, she was angry. The banished mers wanting revenge seemed like an obvious consequence. Of course if they felt wronged, they would do this.

Y/n knew most of the banished mers that the elders listed, most had been outcasted for, in her opinion, completely ridiculous reasons. Mers had a very strict code of rules to follow, and if anyone swam one fin out of line, there was no mercy granted to them. That was what made her angry, it was so clear that the elders had fucked up, and now everyone else was in danger because of it.

After the meeting, y/n tried to swim away, but was caught by her parents. Her lips pulled into a frown as they tried to convince her to come back to their cave, wanting to keep her safe, but y/n refused. With a little growl, y/n swam off back to her own cave, catching a few fish to eat on the way. She knew her parents meant well, but they also agreed with the pods rules, they thought the banished mers had it coming.

How was she supposed to sneak off to see Megumi now?

They had said there would be warriors patrolling the area all day and night in shifts, which would make it next to impossible to sneak out. She also knew that there really was a danger to herself now if she tried to leave on her own, she wasn't stupid enough to think the banished mers would listen if she talked.

With a huff, y/n bit into a fish and chewed, licking the blood off of her lips.

This is so annoying, she thought to herself.

~

Y/n heard panicked clicks and chirps from outside her cave, in the direction of the reef. Her whole body stilled and she dropped a shell she had been inspecting, watching as it sank carelessly into the sand below.

She only stayed frozen for a second before she sprang into action, snatching a spear from a shelf in her cave and swimming out. She used her tail to swim faster than she ever had before. It couldn't be happening yet, could it?

It was way too soon, it had only been a few days since the meeting.

Y/n stared in horror at the scene unfolding in front of her. The water was thick with the scent of blood, clouds of it pushing through the reef to blanket the coral. Many mers were fighting, and it looked like her pod was losing. Gripping her spear tighter, she propelled herself towards a rabid looking mer attacking one of her pod, driving the spear clean through her stomach.

She watched with wide, panicked eyes as the lifeless body began to sink into the ocean floor. She had never killed someone before, never. It felt horrible watching the light drain from her eyes, and it felt even worse that she recognized her. She had moved on instinct, running on fear and adrenaline.

She dropped the spear and stared down at her shaky hand with wide eyes. She didn't have much time to think about what she had done before a wail tore through the water, making her snap her head up to watch as two banished mers charged at her.

She twisted out of the way just enough for the mers knife to only knick her hip. Y/n let out a hiss of pain before she bared her teeth and claws at the intruders. She didn't want to fight, she hated fighting, but she couldn't let them kill her, she wanted to live.

Before her attackers knew what was happening, she spun and started to swim out towards the open ocean, to the cave that connected with the land. She couldn't go back home to her own cave, and she couldn't hide anywhere nearby, they would find her. Her blood was seeping into the water, making her an easy target.

That was made abundantly clear to her mermaid as she felt a sharp pain in her side. She let out a wail but kept swimming. It hurt, it hurt so bad. Y/n gritted her teeth and kept swimming, eventually loosing the mers chasing her when she neared the beach. Every mer knew better than to go near the beach, and y/n knew this, she knew they wouldn't dare follow her.

The mermaid cried as she pulled herself onto the sand in the cave, biting her bottom lip to keep the noises down. The last thing she needed was for some human to find her in such a state. She weakly dragged herself further until she wasn't in the water anymore. She watched the blood pool in the sand and trickle down towards the water lapping at her fins.

The injury was bad, a thick gash spread just underneath her ribs. She felt lightheaded, but faintly remembered it had been five days since she'd seen Megumi, and knew that he would return to the cave. She really hoped she was still alive by the time he got there, she would at least like to say goodbye.

With that, her eyes slipped shut and a weird tingling sensation flooded her body.

~

Megumi had to lie about where he was going that Friday, since Yuji had tried to invite himself along whenever he mentioned the beach. If it were any other circumstance, he would have considered it, since Yuji seemed determined to be best friends, but he couldn't bring him along to meet his magical mermaid friend.

When the bus came to a stop, Megumi picked up his bag and exited the vehicle, making his way down to the beach. The way to the cave was a little slipperier than usual, but he managed to make it without slipping and falling on his ass.

He walked along the sand shelf, and as he got closer, something just felt... off. He could hear what sounded like wheezing, the noise echoing off the cave walls as the water lapped at the sand. He felt increasingly uneasy as he saw a slight red tinge to the water. He could practically smell the blood in the air.

The wheezing got louder as he grew closer, and his eyes widened at the sight in front of him. He dropped his bag in shock, watching with wide eyes at the girl lying in the sand with a bleeding wound on her left side. The thing that was most shocking, however, was the fact that this human looking girl was very clearly y/n.

Megumi dropped to his knees and picked up the girls head, watching familiar coloured hair stick to her sweaty, pale face. The scales were gone, replaced by pale, smooth skin. Her ears were no longer pointed, but rounded out like a humans would be. The biggest thing, obviously, was the lack of a tail. The lack of a tail in place of legs. It was insane, it was completely insane.

But, Megumi didn't have time to freak or geek out over the fact that y/n had somehow turned into a human because she was literally bleeding out onto the sand. Judging by the amount of blood soaking the sand, she had been there for a while.

"Holy fuck." He whispered before gently lying her head back in the sand and moving down towards her ribs.

He silently wondered if her body had changed to survive.

He watched as the blood trickled down her torso and her body shivered. This was very, very bad. Jumping into action, Megumi quickly unzipped his sweater and balled it up, pressing it gently but firmly against the wound. He didn't hesitate, first aid knowledge that he'd learned for fieldwork kicking in. Y/n hissed and her eyes flew open as she threw her upper body towards the figure in front of her, hands out like she was about to attack.

"Y/n!" Megumi startled and fell off his knees back onto his ass in shock.

Y/n blinked her blurry eyes rapidly to clear them, the figure in front of her morphing into a familiar face. Her posture relaxed and she whimpered.

"Megumi." She reached out for him.

She stopped when her own hand popped into her field of view, staring in shock at the lack of scales, webbed fingers, and clawed fingertips.

"What the fuck." She whispered in horror before looking down, heavy eyes widening further as she took in her lack of a tail.

"Now is not the time to be thinking about this." Megumi said firmly, but he felt shaken.

He thought he was going into a regular day of talking and hangout out with y/n, only to be met with the sight of a very human y/n literally bleeding out onto the sand, it was insane.

Megumi pressed harder against the wound and watched as y/n's hands flew to his to weakly push at them. "Fuck! Why are you doing that?!"

"To help stop the bleeding." He grunted and pushed her hands away.

Y/n watched as Megumi inspected the wound before his whole body stilled.

"What?" Y/n asked nervously, feeling like she was going to pass out again from blood loss.

"You're naked." He cleared his throat before digging through his bag.

Y/n blinked blearily and looked down at her body, noticing that she was, in fact, very naked. She panicked a little before Megumi helped her into his spare shorts and shirt. He pushed the baggy shirt up to keep pressing his sweater against the wound.

On the outside he seemed calm, but internally, he was freaking out.

"We need to go to a hospital." He frowned, worrying his lips between his teeth.

"A hospital?" She asked, fear creeping into her voice. She vaguely knew what it was.

"Yes." He turned to rummage through his bag again.

Y/n looked down at the wound, which was still bleeding, and fell forward, passing out against Megumi's shoulder.

"Fuck, no- you can't," His voice cracked a little.

Megumi hauled y/n up into his arms. She was paler than earlier and her skin was clammy, worrying the boy to no end. He tried not to jostle her, but it was pretty hard to carry her steadily and try not to slip on the rocks.

He knew it was dangerous to bring her to a hospital, but there was no other choice. The wound was too big, and she had already lost too much blood.

He knew they would run blood tests and type her, but he could only hope that the test results wouldn't bring up anything that shouldn't be known. She looked completely human in this form, not a trace of mermaid DNA anywhere to be seen. He looked so fragile, so human.

~

The next time y/n woke, she blinked her eyes opened tiredly and came face-to-face with a bright, white ceiling. She heard faint beeping to her right and wrinkled her nose at the funny smell. Memories crashed into her, the fight, the escape, passing out, waking up human to Megumi prodding at her wound.

She sat up quicker than she should have, and hissed at the pain in her side. She moved to rip the blanket covering her lower half off but stopped when something pulled. She looked down and glared at the tube that connected to her hand and some weird contraption off to the right.

"Y/n?" Megumi asked as he walked inside the room.

"Megumi." She immediately relaxed seeing him.

He looked tired, the dark circles under his eyes showing that he clearly hadn't slept in days. He looked worried but also relieved at the same time.

Megumi walked over to her bedside and y/n was quick to wrap her arms around his waist, growling a little when the tube thing pulled again. Megumi put his hands on y/n's head and ran his fingers through her hair lightly.

"Is this a hospital?" She grumbled, pressing the side of her face against his stomach as her eyes darted around the room.

"Yes." He smoothed his hand down her head gently. "You've been asleep for three days, they just moved you to this room."

"Can I leave?" She asked immediately.

"Not yet." He murmured, making her huff. "That wound was dangerous, they had to do surgery to repair it."

"What's surgery?" He looked up at him.

Megumi pressed his lips together before sighing and explaining it as fast as he could.

"Wow, humans can do all that?" She blinked up at him.

"Yes." He rubbed his eyes. "You have to stay for at least two more days."

She opened her mouth to respond before the door slid open and a doctor walked in with two nurses in tow. Y/n tensed immediately and grabbed Megumi's hand, holding it tight. She fought the urge to hiss, reminding herself she was in human territory.

"Ah, I see you're finally awake." The doctor smiled, approaching the bed. "We need to run a few more tests just to make sure everything is working as it should."

Megumi stepped closer to y/n protectively.

She was growing scared, remembering all those stories her parents told her when she was a child. The stories about humans testing and dissecting any mer they could get their hands on. Megumi mostly talked with the doctor and y/n listened, not really understanding what was being said.

~

On the fifth day in the hospital, she was finally allowed to leave. Or be discharged, as Megumi had called it.

The one good thing about having legs and being in the hospital was Megumi introducing her to what real human food was like, and it was fucking delicious. When Megumi couldn't be with her, she was afraid and stayed curled up in the bed, ignoring anyone who entered. She knew he had to go away for school, but she hated it.

Now, though, she was finally being discharged and was going home with Megumi. She wasn't allowed to swim or submerge her wound for a few weeks, so she couldn't go back home even if she wanted to. She had to admit she was worried about her pod, her parents, but there was nothing she could do.

Her wound was healing nicely, and Megumi was teaching her how to use her legs. It was hard the first few times, but after a few hours, it was much easier.

Megumi held out a bag towards y/n after the nurse left the room. "Clothes."

"Thanks." She smiled and took the bag, carefully walking over to the bathroom and closing the door.

She was still a little wobbly on her legs, but was getting better. She dropped the bag down on the counter beside the sink and peered inside. She didn't like clothes very much, but knew she had to wear them.

Y/n pulled the first item out of the bag, which looked like black pants, but the material was stretchy and soft. She set them down and pulled out the next few items excitedly. She had been having a shitty time in the hospital, but had also been looking forward to when she would be discharged so she could finally see the human world.

She pulled on the clothes, fighting a little bit with the shirt before eventually getting it to settle on her body correctly. The leggings were a little bit loose, as Megumi had to just eye her and guess her size, but the shirt fit pretty well. She pulled on the socks and shoes, which Megumi had actually taken the time to measure her foot for, and threw the stupid hospital gown in a bin. She hurriedly exited the bathroom and ran over to Megumi, crashing into his side. She ignored the twinge of pain in her side.

Megumi grunted and wrapped his arm around the girls shoulders to steady her. "Ready?"

"So fucking ready." She looked up at him, smiling.

Megumi steered her out to fill in her discharge paperwork, which he ended up having to do on the account that she didn't know how to read nor write. Throughout the whole elevator ride and the walk towards the exit, y/n was taking everything in with big, shining eyes, asking a million questions about everything she saw and deemed interesting.

The best part, though, was when they stepped outside. Her eyes widened, lips parting in shock as she took everything in. It was so loud, and full of humans. They were everywhere, so many of them. The trees were pretty, and the things Megumi pointed out as flowers were her favourite. She didn't have any of her normal mer senses in her human form, but the flowers still smelled pretty.

Megumi had to catch and stop y/n from wandering off more than a few times, so he ended up having to hold her hand. It wasn't a huge deal, but it still made him blush, not that y/n knew any of that. She just squeezed his hand and tugged when she wanted to stop and look at something. She was so curious about everything, wanting to commit it all to memory in case she could never see it again.

Megumi lead y/n onto the bus and sat down, pulling on her hand to get her to sit. She plopped down next to him and leaned over his body to look out the window. She was startled when the bus started moving, but grew excited as she asked about it.

Megumi spent most of the bus ride explaining how it moved and telling her about things that she pointed at through the window. It was a little like having a curious child follow you around and ask 'what's that?' about every little thing that was within eyesight, but instead of finding it annoying like he would have if it was anyone else, he thought it was endearing.

At their stop, Megumi picked up y/n's hand again and pulled her off of the bus and onto his schools campus. He'd already texted Yuji that he would be having someone stay over for a bit, and Yuji had enthusiastically replied that they could stay however long they wanted. Megumi was very grateful for that little sunshine idiot being his roommate, knowing a lot of others probably would've said absolutely not to his text.

Y/n stuck close to Megumi as they walked through campus, just taking in all the cool buildings and interesting looking people.

"I have a roommate." He warned as they neared the dorm building.

"What's that?" She asked as she watched someone with blue hair strum a guitar under a large, pretty tree.

"We live in the same room." He explained. "He's annoyingly nice."

Y/n laughed a little, the noise sounding different than when she was in mermaid form. A lot of things were different, actually, and not just appearance wise. Her voice was softer, her laugh lower, her skin warm. It was a little weird to get used to at first after knowing her to be a certain way, but she was still y/n, and that was all that mattered.

Another thing that was new were the fierce protective instincts he had been dealing with ever since finding y/n unconscious in the sand.

"Okay! I trust you." She nuzzled her face against his bicep.

Megumi felt his heart clench in his chest. She trusted him. That was a lot considering he was a human and she was a mythological creature that science would love to get their hands on. It hit him a little harder than he thought to hear those words. He had always known that y/n had obviously trusted him if she'd revealed herself to him and kept coming back, but hearing it was different, it made it more real.

Something had shifted in Megumi when he saw y/n bleeding out in that cave, something that he didn't have a name for yet.

Megumi rattled the knob of his and Yuji's dorm, feeling that it was unlocked before pushing the door open. Yuji looked up from his bed and smiled wide. He hopped down and walked over to introduce himself. Yuji also took note of their linked hands and winked not so subtly Megumi, who narrowed his eyes a little.

"Hi! I'm Yuji."

"My name is y/n." She gave him a little smile.

Meeting new people and actually talking to them was still a little scary, but if Megumi said he was nice, then he had to be. Megumi didn't lie to her.

"Do you go to college here too? What's your major?" Yuji asked curiously as the two stepped into the room, letting the door fall closed behind them with a soft click.

"Um, no, I don't." She answered before Megumi ushered her further into the room.

"Oh, just here visiting Megumi then?" Yuji backed up so they had some space.

"Mhm." Y/n smiled before looking around the room curiously. "What's that?" She asked, pointing to a poster on Yuji's side of the room that was covered in colours and had some people on it.

Yuji gasped dramatically, hand over his heart. "You don't know that band?!"

Y/n shook her head but refrained from asking what a 'band' was as to not draw anymore attention to how not-human she actually was. Yuji launched into a spiel about the band while simultaneously pulling his laptop to the edge of the bed and typing on it to pull up a song by the band.

Y/n's eyes widened as sound and people singing filtered through the weird device. Yuji watched, grinning like it was Christmas because she was enjoying the band he was showing her.

Megumi watched with his arms crossed over his chest as Yuji showed her more songs from different bands. His lips were pressed in a thin line, brows furrowed as he watched them interact.

Isn't he too close? He thought.

"Megumi!" Y/n's call of his name broke him from his thoughts.

"Huh?" He asked dumbly.

"Come here." Y/n reached out.

Megumi swallowed thickly as his heart jumped again. He shuffled over to the two and y/n leaned against him while Yuji played another song. Y/n was overjoyed at the concept of music, which, yeah, that kind of tracks actually. Y/n found a song she really liked and had Yuji play it a few times before he pulled up the lyrics on screen. Y/n hadn't sung like this before, obviously, but she wanted to try.

It was different, a lot different.

She opened her mouth and let the words flow out as she read the lyrics on the screen, eyes trained on them.

Megumi felt his mouth go dry when he heard y/n start singing. He had heard her sing before, but it was drastically different. There were no words in the songs she had sung to him before, but the lure was still there. As human as she looked, she was obviously not one.

Yuji stared at y/n with wide eyes until the song was finished, and Megumi didn't want to admit the fact it annoyed him, because then he would have to admit to a whole multitude of other feelings and he was not ready to open that can of worms yet. He was working on it, but today was not that day.

"Wow, that was insane. You should be a singer." Yuji said, clearly amazed.

Y/n beamed and leaned into Megumi, who definitely didn't relish in the feeling of her choosing to be so close. Definitely not. "I love singing."

The three of them talked for a while, well, y/n and Yuji talked, Megumi just kind of stood there awkwardly. When seven rolled around, Yuji said he'd see them later, citing dinner with a friend for his absence. Megumi relaxed the second the door to their dorm closed, leaving him and y/n alone.

Y/n poked around at his stuff, finally able to explore without looking like a weirdo in front of Yuji.

Megumi bit his tongue to keep from telling her not to touch. He knew she was just curious, and he didn't really mind that she was touching it, but the snapping had become like second nature to him.

Y/n jumped onto his bed and stood on her knees, observing all the posters and shelves lined with items on the walls. Megumi hesitated before climbing onto the bed next to her.

"They really got us all wrong." Y/n said as she looked over a poster about mermaid and sirens. "Obviously we wouldn't look like that."

"Thats what most people think you would look like." He sat back against his headboard.

"Well, this one actually looks pretty close to a deep sea mer." She pointed to one of the creepy looking sirens. "Skins right, eyes too." She hummed.

Megumi's hand twitched with the need to touch her. He had never felt this way before, and he didn't know what to do with himself. He had never been one for affection in general, but suddenly whenever they were alone all he wanted to do was smooth his hands over her skin and pull her close. He wasn't dense enough to not notice that what he was feeling was obviously a crush, but that didn't mean he liked it. He and y/n were literally different species, and what if she couldn't turn into a human again after going back to the ocean?

The whole situation was so messy and complicated, but he found himself wanting to ignore all the blinking red lights and just dive in head first.

It was infuriating.

"Where will I sleep?" Y/n asked suddenly, jumping on the bed a little with her knees and smiling as she bounced.

Human beds were very comfortable.

Megumi froze up before clearing his throat. "Uh, in my bed. With me."

Y/n stilled her bouncing and stared. Megumi looked away, feeling the tips of his ears burn.

"Okay." She said simply, going back to looking over the posters.

She was acting cool and collected on the outside, but on the inside she was flipping out. Sharing a bed? Now that sounded very nice.

"I have classes tomorrow." He said after a moment.

Y/n stopped looking at the posters and crawled over to him, curling into his side. Megumi tensed and kept his hands in his lap, gripping his phone tightly.

"Do I have to stay here?" She groaned and nuzzled his shoulder.

"You could come to one of my classes, but other than that, yes, you'd have to stay here." He willed himself to relax.

"Alone?" She looked up at him.

He nodded slowly. "Unless Yuji is here, you'd be alone."

"He seems nice." Y/n murmured, relaxing further into his side.

Megumi swallowed and nodded. "Yeah, just... be careful with what you say."

"I know." She let her eyes slip shut.

"Are you tired?" He asked, slowly resting his cheek on top of her head.

"No." She curled one of her arms around his waist.

"You should shower." He pressed his hand against her lower back.

"Whats that?" She asked.

Megumi sighed and explained it to her, picking up the faint sterile scent coming from her.

"Oh." She pulled back. "I should." She lifted her arm to smell herself, making her nose wrinkle. "I don't like this smell, I'm used to smelling like salt."

Megumi smiled a little before leading her to the bathroom and giving her strict instructions on how to shower to avoid her wound. Y/n nodded along and sniffed the open bottles of stuff Megumi showed her. He handed her some clothes and left the room.

After he left, y/n locked the door, per his instructions, and stripped out of her clothes. The water was cold for a few seconds before warming up. She stood under the spray for a few minutes before getting to work. It was weird, but she liked the fact that when she washed the soap off, she smelled like Megumi. When she was done, she messily dried off and put on the clothes he'd handed to her. They were obviously his, but she didn't mind. She slipped on the shorts and tied them tight before pulling on the shirt.

She poked her head out. "I'm done."

Megumi looked up from his phone before tossing it aside and planting his feet on the floor. He walked over and looked down at her.

"I have to put the bandage back on your wound." He said, holding up a large gauze bandage.

"I hate that thing." She grumbled before lifting the shirt.

Just as he peeled the bandage open, the door to the dorm flung open. Y/n's head snapped up and she watched as Yuji and a pretty girl walked into the room. Megumi turned his body to shield her slightly as he carefully applied the bandage.

"Uh, why didn't you lock the door?!" Yuji squeaked and slapped his hands over his eyes, having caught a glimpse of y/n's raised shirt and Megumi's hands on her.

"Shut up." Megumi snapped, sticking the edges of the bandage down and pulling her shirt back in place. "I needed to change the bandage."

Yuji let his hands fall from his eyes. "What? Bandage?"

"I was injured." Y/n said vaguely before turning her attention to the girl, who was standing there with raised brows. "Hi, I'm y/n." She smiled.

"Nobara." The girl smiled back. "Haven't seen you before."

"She doesn't go here, she just came to visit." Megumi said, shifting to stand beside y/n instead of half in front of her.

"Hm." Nobara looked them over, picking up on the blush that was tipping Megumi's cheeks and the way y/n looked at him like he hung the stars. "Alright. I was just making sure this idiot got home safe, he drank a little."

"Guilty." Yuji rubbed the back of his neck and Megumi finally noticed the flush on his cheeks.

Nobara bickered back and forth with Yuji as she threw his pyjamas at his face and made him change before pushing him into the bed. Y/n watched the whole scene unfold with curious and amused eyes. It was clear they were very close friends.

"Are you hungry?" Megumi pried his eyes away from the scene, looking down at y/n.

"Yes." She leaned against his side.

"I'll go buy something." He said. "Wait here."

Y/n sighed but nodded, climbing into his bed to wait. Nobara finally yanked the blanket over Yuji, and he was snoring within seconds. Nobara huffed and whirled around, eyes focusing on y/n sitting on Megumi's bed. She stepped over and hopped up on the bed next to her.

Y/n looked over at the girl curiously.

"So," She started, a grin spreading across her face. "are you and the emo dating?"

Y/n deduced that the 'emo' was Megumi, and blushed. "Um, no, we aren't."

"But you like him." Nobara said like it was obvious.

Y/n's eyes widened and she slowly looked down, letting her hair cover her red face. "You could tell?"

Nobara laughed. "Yeah, it's kind of obvious. Why aren't you guys dating?" She prodded.

"Well, I don't know if he likes me like that." Y/n mumbled.

"You're kidding." Nobara's eyes widened. "He definitely likes you, that much was obvious and I only saw you guys for like, five minutes."

"You think so?" Y/n asked hopefully, raising her head.

"Definitely." She nodded, looking down at what y/n was wearing. "I mean, you're wearing his clothes."

"Well," She averted her eyes. "That's because I lost my bag on the way here." She lied smoothly.

"Damn." Nobara looked her over. "Well, if you want to go shopping for some new ones, let me know. Whats your number?"

Y/n shifted a bit on the bed, watching as Nobara pulled out the weird little device that was apparently a phone.

"Oh, lost my phone too." She said quickly. "It was in my bag."

"Wow, that seriously sucks." Nobara pocketed her phone. "Just ask Yuji to text me, then." She stood up and stretched. "I'm gonna go, but ask Yuji for my number when you get a new phone, I like you."

Y/n offered a smile and nodded, watching as the other girl left the room and closed the door behind her. Y/n relaxed and crawled up the bed to sit against the headboard, listening to Yuji's snores as she waited for Megumi to come back.

She tipped her head back and closed her eyes, frowning. She always fell asleep to the sounds of the sea, and now there was just... nothing. The background noise was weird and unfamiliar. She liked being on land, it was really interesting, but she didn't know as much as she thought she did. She felt like a little guppy always asking questions about everything.

Y/n opened her eyes when the door opened a bit later, the light from the hallway shining behind Megumi as he slid inside, bag in hand. She smiled as he closed the door behind himself and set the bag down on the bed, crawling into the spot next to her.

Y/n nuzzled his shoulder when he was settled down, watching as he pulled a few things out of the bag.

"Here." He pulled the lid off of a small plastic box and handed it to y/n, who accepted it curiously.

"It's fish and rice and some other shit all wrapped together." He pulled the lid off of his box and used his fingers to pick up a piece of sushi, entirely too lazy to use the chopsticks.

"Oh." Y/n lifted the box to eye level and sniffed. "Salmon." She observed before picking up a piece and popping it into her mouth.

"Good?" He asked after swallowing.

"Mhm." Y/n nodded as she chewed the roll and swallowed. "I like that." She lifted a different looking one and smelled it. "Tuna."

"Can you differentiate them all just by smell?" He raised a brow.

"Yes." She pointed at one of the rolls in his box. "Eel." She pointed to another one. "Scallop."

Megumi mentally noted that down. "But isn't your nose not as good as usual?" He asked, being careful with his words even though Yuji was clearly asleep.

"Yeah, it's definitely duller." She nodded. "But all I eat are things that come from the sea." She grinned before biting into another roll.

After that, they ate in silence. It wasn't awkward or uncomfortable, and Megumi really liked that. Usually, being silent and kind of awkward was a dealbreaker for most people, but not y/n. She just liked his company, whether he was talking or not.

After they finished eating and Megumi threw the boxes away, he grabbed his pjs and went to change in the bathroom. Y/n wiggled under the blanket and laid her head against his fluffy pillow, waiting for him to come back.

Megumi flicked the bathroom light off and padded back over to his bed, seeing y/n under the covers. His heart gave a little tug at the sight, and he climbed under the blankets with her. The bed was pretty small, so they were more or less pressed up against each other. Neither knew, but they were both panicking internally at the sudden closeness. Megumi was questioning how he hadn't thought of how small his bed was before that moment.

Y/n squirmed around a bit, wincing when she knocked her knee against Megumi. "Shit, my bad."

"It's fine." He closed his eyes and willed his body to relax.

Y/n lifted her head and stared at Megumi, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest, observing the way the faint moonlight shone down in streaks, casting a soft glow on his skin.

Megumi could feel her staring, but he didn't say anything about it.

Y/n slowly turned around to face the wall, blushing as she held her hand over her mouth. She couldn't help the staring, Megumi was just so pretty.

Eventually, y/n calmed down enough to be lulled into a dreamless sleep.

~

Megumi blinked his eyes open slowly as his alarm went off on his phone. He quickly reached over and turned it off, barely registering the position he was in. Megumi was lying on his back with y/n thrown over him and clinging like a koala. He huffed out a small breath, her hair tickling his chin.

He pressed his lips together as he ran his hand up and down her arm. The closeness was strange. Good, but strange. He usually avoided physical contact like the plague, but he found himself drawn to y/n, he wanted to be close to her.

After a few more minutes, Megumi gently woke up the sleeping mer, watching as she groaned and sat up, rubbing her eyes roughly.

"It's way too early." She whined.

"Do you want to come to class with me or not?" He deadpanned, sliding out of the bed to grab some clothes.

"Suddenly I'm wide awake." Y/n said, hopping down off the bed.

Yuji was already gone, so they didn't have to worry about making too much noise, or watching what they said.

Megumi rolled his eyes and looked over at y/n, eyeing the clothes she was wearing. He hadn't thought this far ahead. Y/n couldn't just walk around in his clothes the whole time she was staying there. He dug around in his drawers before throwing a hoodie at y/n.

"Wear that and the pants I gave you at the hospital." He instructed, watching the fabric hit her in the face and fall into her arms.

"Meanie." She snatched the leggings she'd abandoned by the bed and went to change.

While y/n changed, Megumi did the same, checking the time to make sure they wouldn't be late. Just as his shirt fell to his hips, y/n stepped out of the bathroom.

Megumi went inside next, brushing his teeth and fixing his messy hair. "Y/n."

"Yes." She poked her head inside the bathroom.

Megumi beckoned her over, watching as she slid up next to him. He handed her a new toothbrush and toothpaste, explaining what it was and how to use it.

"Oh we have something similar to this." She said, carefully putting the toothpaste on the wet toothbrush.

She brushed her teeth and rinsed out her mouth, making sure all traces of the weird toothpaste was gone. "Why the fuck is it spicy?"

Megumi snorted quietly. "It's mint flavoured."

"I do not like whatever mint is." She grunted.

Megumi held up a brush and handed it to her, watching silently as she tried to tame her bedhead. Eventually she gave up, and Megumi brushed her hair for her. He grabbed a hair tie he was sure was Nobara's off of the counter before tying y/n's hair up in a ponytail.

"It just stays like that?!" Y/n said, eyes wide as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

He nodded and steered her out of the bathroom to grab his bag and make sure everything was inside.

"When we're in my class, you have to be quiet." He warned, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

Y/n nodded and pulled the door open. "Yup, I'll be quiet, can we go?" She asked excitedly.

Megumi sighed and nodded once, following after her. He locked the door behind them and lead y/n out of the dorm building. Y/n's eyes darted around as they walked and she stuck close to Megumi. The last thing she needed was to get lost.

Megumi watched her out of the corner of his eye, noting that later they would need to go buy her some more clothes. He groaned internally and put his hand on y/n's lower back, pushing her forward gently when she paused in front of the door to the building.

By the time they got to class, most of the other students were there already. He sat them down in the very last row, silently thanking whatever god there was that this first class was large enough that the professor wouldn't notice y/n.

He pulled out a notebook and pencil, physically willing his muscles not to tense when y/n leaned over and pressed her cheek against his collarbone to see inside the notebook. He could tell she wanted to ask questions, but kept herself quiet like Megumi had told her.

He flipped the notebook open and scribbled the date at the top of a blank page before twirling the pencil in his fingers, waiting for the professor to begin.

Y/n watched in interest as Megumi spun the pencil between his fingers, silently wondering how he could do that. When a voice sounded from the front of the lecture hall, y/n flicked her eyes over. There was an older man with salt and pepper hair standing at the front of the hall, speaking about the biology of certain fish.

Megumi jotted down a few things and messily sketched some little fish in the column of his notebook. Y/n propped up her elbow and rested her hand in her palm as her eyes trained on the professor. It was interesting to hear humans speak of sea creatures, learning what they knew was fascinating to the mermaid.

~

"That was so interesting." Y/n smiled as her and Megumi walked down the hallway after the class was finished.

"You liked it?" He asked, putting his hand on y/n's bicep to pull her out of the way from an oncoming group of students.

"Yes!" She beamed up at him, allowing herself to be pulled aside.

He nodded and released her arm before beginning to walk again. "We need to go get you more clothes, you can't go back in the water for at least four weeks, so you need clothes."

"Is that shopping?" She asked, falling in step beside the male.

"Yes." He nodded.

"Nobara said if we went shopping, to text her." Y/n curled her arm around his.

Megumi clicked his tongue. "Did she?" He didn't like the thought of it, but knew that he had absolutely no idea what clothes to even buy her.

"Mhm." She looked off to the side, feeling eyes on her.

It was a group of men that were staring, but y/n just faced forward again and hummed to herself.

"I don't have her number." He muttered.

"She said to ask Yuji." She said as they exited the building.

"Okay." He let her keep hold of his arm.

He was beginning to grow accustomed to the touching, but sometimes it still caught him off guard.

"Are we going back to the dorm?" She asked.

"Yes, I have a lab next and you can't come." He said as they walked across the courtyard.

"Stupid." She grumbled, and Megumi had to acknowledge he thought her grumbling was pretty cute.

When Megumi dropped y/n back off at the dorms, he briefly showed her how to use his laptop so she wouldn't be bored. He had started to teach y/n to read back in the hospital, and she had picked it up fairly easily, stating that the texts she would read etched into rocks had a similar language used, but sometimes some of the letters were different.

"I don't know when Yuji will be back, but I'll be back in a few hours. Don't open the door unless it's me, Nobara, or Yuji." He was a little nervous to leave her there by herself, but he couldn't miss his labs and classes.

"Okay." She smiled and watched him leave, locking the door behind himself.

~

When Megumi was done with classes for the day, he opened the door to something he hadn't expected. Y/n was sitting on Yuji's bed with Nobara in front of her, meticulously applying eyeliner to the other girl while Yuji sat next to them.

"You're back!" Yuji smiled over to him.

"Yeah." He said slowly, walking in and dropping his bag on his desk.

"Megumi's back?" Y/n asked, eyes still closed.

"Just walked in." Yuji informed.

"Hi." She hummed.

"No moving." Nobara warned, smiling when y/n went completely still. "There, done."

Y/n opened her eyes and blinked a few times.

"Pretty." Nobara nodded to herself happily, picking up the mascara tube next.

Megumi walked over to the trio and lingered near the side of the bed where y/n was sitting.

"Nobara said she'd love to come shopping with us." Y/n said before Nobara drew her focus back to the task at hand.

"Okay." He said simply.

Nobara turned to eye him for a few seconds before going back to applying the mascara. "She said she'd never worn makeup before."

He nodded and crossed his arms, swallowing slowly when he saw how pretty y/n looked. She was always pretty, of course, but the makeup enhanced her features in a way Megumi wasn't prepared for.

Nobara finished her makeup not long after and put the products back in her purse. "Are we going now?"

"If you guys are ready." He answered, stepping back from the bed so they could stand up.

"Can I come too?" Yuji asked.

Megumi held in the sigh that threatened to break free before nodding. "Sure."

Yuji smiled and hopped off the bed to put on his shoes. Y/n put on her shoes next and turned to Megumi while Nobara did the same as the other two.

"Do I look nice?" She asked, blushing a little bit.

Megumi nodded once, averting his eyes as his ears turned red. "You do."

Y/n's face brightened as she shyly slipped her hand into his. Megumi cleared his throat and pulled her along to exit the dorm.

~

As the bus passed the beach, Megumi saw y/n eye the water longingly. He felt guilty that he was so happy to have y/n with him when she must be missing the ocean. The fact she couldn't return when she wanted was probably eating at her. A mermaid stuck on land, how sad that sounded.

Megumi tugged on her hand a little to bring her attention back to them, offering her a tiny smile, an action that felt foreign to the quiet male. Y/n smiled back at him, eyes still holding a sadness, but not as strong as before.

She squeezed his hand back.

~

"Nobara really likes shopping." Megumi observed as the girl dragged a happy y/n around the store, holding clothes out that she said y/n needed to try on.

"Yeah." Yuji nodded solemnly. "She usually makes me carry her bags.

Megumi snorted a little at that, shoving his hands in his pockets. He kept his eyes trained on y/n the entire time, not letting her slip out of sight. He was a little nervous when Nobara dragged her away, but the brunette seemed nice enough that he trusted her, just a little.

"So are you guys dating?" Yuji asked, biting into some weird candy thing he bought.

Megumi stiffened. "Uh, no."

"Really? I saw you guys cuddling." He said. "And you were holding hands earlier."

Megumi cleared his throat and tore his eyes away from a laughing y/n. "We aren't."

"You know, I'm pretty dense, but even I can see that you guys are like, in love with each other." The other male stated, throwing the candy wrapper away.

"Yeah?" Megumi asked, voice tight.

He had long since acknowledged he had feelings for y/n, unable to ignore the emotions after finding her injured. It had clicked into place when they were together in the hospital.

"Dude, yes." Yuji laughed a little. "Just ask her out."

Megumi fiddled with the shells on the bracelets y/n had made him.

"Maybe." He mumbled, looking over when y/n called out to him.

The two boys walked over and sat down on the couch near the fitting rooms, as instructed by Nobara. She pushed y/n into a fitting room and stood outside.

Y/n looked at the clothes hung up next to her and bit her lip before shedding Megumi's hoodie and pulling on a dark blue dress that clung to her chest and flared out lightly at the waist. She had winced a little when lifting her arms above her head, but the wound wasn't as painful as before. She pulled the little cardigan over top of it, as she was instructed by Nobara to do.

Y/n stepped out of the changing room slowly.

"Oh that's perfect." Nobara nodded, making y/n do a little spin.

Y/n laughed a little and indulged her. She really liked Nobara.

Megumi could only stare as y/n came out of the fitting room multiple times in different outfits. He had never done anything close to this before, but he really wanted to be with y/n. It was like a dull ache in his chest, a constant reminder. As y/n tried on different clothes, Megumi thought back to his childhood, to the first time he'd met y/n.

He hadn't been scared, more intrigued than anything. As he thought back for the reason he kept meeting y/n, he began to think he was always in love with her, even as a child. Hell, he had changed the entire trajectory of his life just to study the sea because thats where y/n was. He really was an idiot for not realizing it sooner.

"Megs." Y/n's head popped into his view.

Megumi shook his head lightly and looked up at the girl. "Yeah?" His voice came out a little raspier than he intended.

"We're done." She smiled, worry flashing across her face briefly.

"Alright." He stood up, Yuji doing the same and Nobara pulled him to the cash register to check out.

Megumi lead y/n over to the register and quickly paid for the clothes, a few outfits to wear out and some pyjamas. He carried the bags for her, letting y/n hug his bicep as they walked alongside Yuji and Nobara.

They stopped at the food court before heading back to the dorms, saying bye to Nobara as she walked back to hers.

Megumi took y/n to wash her new clothes at the student laundromat in the dorm building, eyes swimming with amusement at her amazement with the machines.

"It cleans them?" She asked excitedly.

He nodded, eyes softening into something fond as he stared at her excited smile. He bit his lip and pulled his phone out, taking a sneaky picture of her.

"Nobara is really nice." Y/n said, walking over to Megumi who was leaned against the wall.

"She is." He swiped off his photo app. "Did you have fun?"

"Yes." She leaned into his side, looking up at him. "Come down here."

"What?" He furrowed his brows.

"Your face." She clarified.

Megumi slowly lowered his head and dug his fingernails into his palm as y/n rubbed their cheeks together. He had asked about the action before, asking if it was a mermaid thing, to which y/n had simply replied 'yes'. His mouth opened before he knew what he was saying.

"Is this an affection thing?" He snapped his mouth shut after the words left his lips.

"Yeah." She whispered, lips close to his ear.

"I'm really bad at this." He blurted out suddenly, making y/n pull away to look in his eyes. "Um, do you want to go on a date?" He asked, mentally curing at himself, what if she didn't know what a date even was?

Y/n's eyes widened comically as a dark blush spread across her cheeks.

Okay, she clearly knows what a date is, he thought.

"Really?" She asked, voice an octave higher than normal.

"Yes." He managed to force out.

"Okay." She threw her arms around his neck, wincing a little.

Megumi gently, hesitantly, wrapped his arms around her hips. "Be careful, your wound."

"I keep forgetting." She mumbled into his shoulder. "But it doesn't hurt as bad anymore."

"It's only been a week." He slowly rested his chin on top of her head, heart rattling his ribcage.

Y/n nuzzled into his chest, hearing his rapid heartbeat.

"I heal pretty fast." She closed her eyes.

Megumi closed his eyes, trying to calm his heart. "How fast?"

"The people at the hospital," She started.

"Doctors." He interjected.

"Yes, doctors, they said it'd take six weeks, but I should be healed in four." She said, feeling Megumi freeze up. "What?"

"Four weeks?" He asked for confirmation.

"Yeah. Had a similar injury before." She removed one arm to tap the back of her thigh. "Mer- we heal fast." She corrected herself, remembering they were still in a place where people could walk in at any time.

"I have to change the dressing later, I'll look then." He relaxed again, curiosity taking hold.

Mers could really heal that fast? Was it something in their physiology? His mind quickly slipped into muttering about mermaid biology.

"The machine stopped." Y/n's voice pulled him from his thoughts.

Megumi untangled himself from y/n and switched the clothes into the dryer.

Later, when they were back in the dorm, Megumi peeled off the dressing and stared at her wound, eyes widening a little in shock. True to her word, the gash was healing abnormally quick. It fascinated him and kickstarted the questions he had about her quick healing.

Y/n was happy to answer his questions.

~

Three days later, on Saturday, they finally got to have their date. In those three days, y/n clung to Megumi like a barnacle, not that Megumi minded much, the fact homework was a bit more difficult with someone hanging onto your arm was something Megumi learned to deal with.

Speaking of Megumi, he was internally panicking. It was made clear to him that y/n would like anything they did together (thanks, Yuji) but he was still nervous, this was his first date. Ever. He loved y/n, and he didn't want to mess anything up. He was fiddling with his bracelet nervously as he waited for y/n outside of Nobara's dorm. He had taken to wearing the newest bracelet y/n had made him and putting the older one on a shelf next to the fossil she had also given him. He didn't want to keep wearing the older bracelet until it broke, so onto the shelf it went.

Y/n was a bundle of nerves as Nobara did her makeup. "You need to calm down, that emo loser loves you."

Y/n whined a little. "But I'm so nervous!"

"Listen," Nobara started as she brushed some blush over y/n's cheek. "I don't know Megumi that well, but he looks at you like you're one of those weird sea creatures he researches, full of wonder and amazement."

Oh, how close Nobara was.

"Really?" She asked as Nobara snapped the compact closed.

"Yes, really. Now, go get your man." Nobara shooed her off the bed.

Y/n looked at herself in the mirror one last time, tugging at the hem of her dress. The outfit itself was simple, but very cute. The dress was a deep, cool emerald colour that fell halfway down her thighs. The hem was black lace, matching the other pops of lace against the waist and breast area. The straps were thing and black, a nice contrast on her skin. Nobara had lent her the dress and helped her with her hair, pinning half of it up and pulling out face framing pieces. She had to admit that she looked beautiful, she'd never seen herself like that.

"I'll text you later?" Y/n smiled.

"Mhm, now go." Nobara waved her away.

Yuji had given her his old phone the day they went shopping after hearing she didn't have one. Y/n had thanked him profusely. Megumi had helped her set it all up, and y/n was especially fascinated with the camera feature. It didn't have a plan, though, so it only worked with wifi, but Y/n didn't mind.

Megumi straightened up when he heard the doorknob turning, breath catching when y/n emerged from the room. She was... well, Megumi couldn't come up with any words that would do her justice. He felt his heart stall in chest before it kickstarted into overdrive. His mouth was dry, his palms were sweaty, his mind swirling with gentle, overwhelming affection and unfamiliar happiness. He hadn't felt anything like this before, it was so weird.

He was tempted to run away and scream into his pillow, but he refused to run away from his feelings any longer. He wasn't going to let his emotional avoidance rule this aspect of his life. He wanted y/n, and that was all that mattered.

He wiped his clammy hands on his jeans and offered a small tilt of his lips.

Y/n smiled shyly and walked closer, clasping her hands together behind her back. Megumi looked so handsome. He was wearing some well fitting jeans and a nice long sleeve shirt, rings adorning his slender fingers. His hair was styled how it usually was, spiky, and y/n loved his hair like that. He reminded her of a little sea urchin.

He managed to find his voice and speak. "You look... pretty."

"Thanks." She said quietly, eyes dragging over his figure in a way that made him feel a little exposed. "You look very handsome."

"Thank you." His shoulders relaxed a little. "Ready?"

"Mhm." Y/n nodded, unclasping her hands to grab onto one of Megumi's.

Megumi stiffened out of habit, then forced himself to relax and let it happen as they walked off campus towards a cafe. Megumi didn't say much, just responding when y/n talked. He maneuvered them to make sure he was on the side of the street, his quiet, protective nature slipping through.

Megumi opened the door to the cafe for y/n, following in behind her. She grabbed his hand again once they were standing side by side, looking over to Megumi.

He ordered for them both, getting a regular coffee for himself, some sweet drink that he thought y/n would like, and two pastries. He pulled y/n off to the side to wait for their order.

"This place is cute." Y/n smiled as she looked around.

"I thought you'd like it." He murmured quietly.

Y/n looked up at him with stars in her eyes, heart warming at the fact he had picked it specifically for her. Human dates were very nice.

When they got their drinks and pastries, he passed y/n her drink and lead her back outside, sitting down on a nearby bench.

"Where are we going next?" Y/n sipped her drink. "Holt shit, what is this? It's delicious."

"You'll see." He glanced over at her, heart doing a little jump at the sight of her smile. Everything she did seemed to illicit some sort of reaction from him. "It's something fruity with no caffeine."

Y/n made a face. "Yeah, that nasty coffee you made me try was horrible."

"I didn't make you try it." He rolled his eyes.

"Whatever." Y/n took another sip of her drink. "Still gross."

"Yeah, yeah." He set his drink down and opened the pastry bag. "Here."

"Whats this?" She asked, setting her drink down as well to grab the pastry.

"Just try it." He pulled out the second one and took a bite.

Y/n bit into the pastry, the flavours exploding in her mouth. "Human food is unreal." She said after swallowing.

Megumi nodded and looked out at the street as they ate in a comfortable silence. When they finished their food and drinks, Megumi pulled y/n up and started to lead her down the sidewalk.

They stayed in that comfortable silence as they made their way towards wherever Megumi was taking her, the girls curiosity rising as they kept going up.

Eventually, they came to a path lit up by a warm orange glow.

"Pretty." Y/n whispered as they veered off the path.

You're prettier, he thought, ears heating slightly.

As they came to a stop, y/n looked around, body stilling as she took in the sight before her. They were on top of a tall hill that overlooked the city, the various lights shining bright. Y/n's lips parted as she watched the cars make their ways down the street, seeing tiny people walking on the sidewalk. For a mermaid, the sight was unbelievable, and so beautiful.

Megumi slowly sat down on the dry grass, y/n following him close after.

"The human world is so interesting." Y/n said, resting her head on Megumi's shoulder as they looked out at the city.

"Yeah?" He murmured, resting his cheek on top of her head, slowly curling his arm around her shoulders.

"Mhm." She watched a few cars stop at a red light. "I never would have thought I'd get to see it."

Megumi stayed quiet, thumb brushing the soft skin of her shoulder.

"Now I get to see it, with you." She smiled.

Megumi's heart tugged, and he chewed on his bottom lip. He didn't think he would ever get to show y/n the world above, and now that he could, he wanted to show her everything, give her new experiences.

As they stared out at the city below, y/n was happy, really happy. She sat up and turned to face Megumi, staring into his pretty eyes.

"You remind me of home." She murmured, leaning closer.

Megumi swallowed thickly. "Yeah?" His voice was quiet.

"Mhm." She placed her hands on the grass on either side of him. "It's your eyes."

Megumi stayed still, eyes briefly flicking down to her lips. He didn't say anything, and y/n pressed closer until their lips brushed. He snuck his hand forward to cover hers, feeling her soft, warm skin beneath his palm. He leaned forward a little and tilted his head, slotting their lips together a bit harder.

Y/n felt a shiver run down her spine as she followed his movements. They were both clearly inexperienced, but neither seemed to mind.

Y/n pulled away to breathe, cheeks flushed, tiny, panting breaths leaving her red lips.

Megumi panted slightly, eyes transfixed on the sight before him. Y/n all flushed, pupils blown, she looked so pretty.

Y/n fell forward, burying her face in his chest. Megumi blinked a few times and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, holding her close. Y/n let out a little noise that definitely didn't sound human, and her feet were squirming against the ground.

Megumi's eyes softened at the sight, fondness swimming in those dark irises.

So cute, he thought.

He leaned forward and nosed at her hair gently, not wanting to deny himself the warmth her body- her entire being was providing him. He loved her, but he still didn't think he could admit it out loud, just thinking it was tough enough.

Y/n pressed her face into his chest and flicked her gaze up to him, eyes crinkling at the edges, signalling she was smiling.

Megumi's lips quirked up. "Happy?"

"Mhm." She mumbled into his chest before lifting her face to press a soft kiss to his cheek. "Best date ever."

"Isn't it your first date ever?" He felt his ears heat up.

Y/n climbed onto his lap and nosed at his neck. "So?" She murmured, voice low, lips brushing his pulse point.

Megumi's shoulders tensed and his face felt like it was on fire. Y/n didn't notice the blush, too engrossed in scenting him lightly. Her nose wasn't as good as it used to be, but it was still better than a humans. She could smell a scent that was unique to him, a scent of cold rain and dark earth. Every human had their own scent, mers too, but human noses were too weak to pick them up.

"What are you doing?" Megumi asked, voice low, almost a whisper.

"Mermaid thing." She answered, pressing her nose against the column of his neck.

That sparked Megumi's interest. "What kind of mermaid thing?"

"Scenting." She pulled back and smiled at him.

Megumi quirked a brow at that. He knew animals did that sort of thing, it was pretty common among most, but he hadn't expected that to transfer over to mers. "Do I have a scent?"

"Yes." She hummed.

"What is it?" He asked curiously.

"It's like rain and wet dirt."

"Wet dirt?" He asked, a little surprised.

"And rain." She corrected.

"And rain." He mused. "What do you smell like?"

Y/n slid off of his lap to sit in front of him, mirroring his crossed legged position, knees touching his. "Mm, I only know what others have told me, I can't really smell myself." She slowly snuck her hand into his, cheeks reddening again. "Apparently it's like salt and something similar to the scent before a big storm."

Megumi suddenly wished he had the ability to smell her the way she could. He'd never wished for anything more than his human body, but in that moment, he did.

The sky rumbled above the pair, and y/n looked up. "Loud."

"We should go back to the dorm." Megumi spoke quietly.

Y/n smiled and nodded. Megumi stood up and brushed his pants off, offering his hand to y/n to help her up. Y/n took it and let herself be pulled up. She didn't let go of his hand when she was steady, but neither did he. They walked back to the dorm in a comfortable silence, fingers tangled together as the sky turned darker, the moon slowly being covered by dark grey clouds.

When they got back to the dorm, Yuji wasn't there, having texted Megumi earlier saying he was staying with a friend for a movie night.

Y/n took her pyjamas and went to change in the bathroom. Megumi locked the door and changed into his in the middle of the room, sweats and a loose dark t-shirt. Y/n shuffled out of the bathroom and beelined for the bed, jumping onto it belly-first.

Megumi walked over and his eyes dragged over her form, stopping on the jagged scar on the back of her thigh. His mind flicking back to their previous conversation about it, but this was his first time seeing it. She was wearing short, fuzzy pink shorts and one of Megumi's shirts.

Y/n looked over her shoulder. "Oh, you've never seen it before."

"Looks like it was painful." He murmured, sitting on the edge of the bed, hip touching hers.

"It was." She laid her head across her arms. "Propeller from a boat."

Megumi frowned and gently placed one of his hands on her lower back, letting it settle there protectively.

"Got too close." She shrugged. "My fault, it's not like they knew I was down there."

"Do injuries like that happen often?" He asked.

"Mm." She closed her eyes. "My scales are discoloured on my tail, surprised you never pointed it out."

"Well, you have stripes, it's not easy to see something like that." He argued, hand gently gliding up and down her spine.

"Whatever you say." She teased lightly. "That feels nice."

Megumi kept up the motions for a few minutes before she squirmed to the side, leaving the space next to her open. He slowly sat up against the headboard, watching as y/n laid her head in his lap. She reached up and pulled both of his hands to rest on her head.

He gently ran his fingers through her hair. He noted that she removed her makeup and took her hair down when she was in the bathroom. A purr rumbled through y/n's chest as she went lax against him, face buried in his lower stomach.

Megumi hummed a little. "You know, certain animals purr like that."

"Yeah?" She closed her eyes.

"Mhm." He let his thumb skim over her cheek.

~

In the two weeks that followed, y/n's wound continued to heal at an accelerated rate. In a few days, she would be able to remove her stitches and finally get back into the water.

Megumi had been taking her to the beach during the last week, noticing how she seemed sad to be away from the sea. He had to keep her from jumping into the water more than a few times, being very strict about waiting until her stitches were removed, regardless of her accelerated healing.

They had also been on two more dates in those two weeks, one to the beach, and the other to a cat cafe. Y/n had loved the second date. Meeting land creatures was exciting, and she liked meeting little creatures that were so similar to her. She had been so excited when she saw their claws and heard them purring.

Megumi was absolutely enamoured with y/n, his thoughts consumed by her even more than they had been in their years apart. He was already aware he was going to miss seeing her everyday, holding her as she fell asleep, and listening to her ramble in his ear while he tried to do his homework.

He had always been emotionally avoidant- emotionally stunted- but y/n managed to stir up feelings he had long since buried. She had a way of making him crave her touch, and if he didn't know any better, he would have assumed it was the fact she was a mermaid, that she was doing it on purpose. But he did know her, he knew she wasn't, that's just who she was, people were drawn to her.

Take Nobara and Yuji, for example. The two had quickly befriended y/n, also seeming to be drawn to her. The three were now close as could be, the only thing keeping them from being closer was y/n's closely guarded secret, the secret only one human knew.

Y/n's last two weeks had been amazing, even when Megumi left for his classes that she unfortunately couldn't join, she spent her time learning things online about humans and the world above the sea. She had learned to read and write exponentially fast, and had taken up drawing little sea creatures in the margins of Megumi's notebook. He had asked about each one, even saying that a few of them he didn't recognize. He was fascinated when he learned that there was nothing online about them, either.

Y/n gladly told him all about them, watching as he took notes down about them in a different notebook, one that was older and slightly frayed at the edges.

Now, y/n was waiting for Megumi to come back from a lab, scrolling through something on the internet about deep sea creatures. She snorted as she read some information about a certain creature.

"All wrong." She mumbled, scrolling further as the door to the dorm opened.

"Megumi in class?" Yuji asked, dropping his bag on his desk and stretching.

"In a lab." She hummed, flicking her eyes over to him.

"Wanna go do something?" He asked, running a hand through his hair.

Y/n perked up. "Like what?"

"How long is he supposed to be gone?" He asked, throwing his sweater on his bed.

"Two more hours." She shut the lid of the laptop.

"We could go see a movie, theres a theatre close by." He said after a moment of thinking.

"Movie?" She sat up excitedly.

Megumi and Yuji had introduced her to movies, and y/n was immediately obsessed. The concept of acting was a lot to grasp at first. She had been confused at how everything worked, but very intrigued.

"Yeah, theres a new one that just came out I wanted to see, it's actually playing soon." He smiled. "I was going to go by myself, but I'd love some company."

"What's it about?" She asked, slipping off the bed, feet planting on the floor.

Yuji beamed and went on a tangent about some worm movie that was actually a love story, and y/n thought it sounded amazing.

"Oh wait." She paused. "I don't have any money."

Yuji waved his hand. "I'll pay, I'm inviting you."

Y/n smiled. "Let me change then." She grabbed some clothes and skipped to the bathroom, closing the door behind herself.

She quickly changed into a short, flowy skirt and a maroon top. The weather was getting warmer and y/n didn't exactly hate it, but it made her skin dry and that was severely uncomfortable. She assumed it had something to do with her mermaid nature. Megumi had introduced her to the wonders of body lotion, and she almost cried in happiness.

Y/n exited the bathroom and texted Megumi to let him know she was going to the movies with Yuji, and if he needed to reach her to text him, as her phone only worked with internet.

"Ready." She said.

Yuji nodded and lead her out of the dorm, walking beside her with his hands in his pockets. The walk to the movie theatre was filled with Yuji explaining the lore of the first few movies and y/n listening intently.

~

The movie was, in y/n and Yuji's opinion, amazing. They gushed about it on the way home, stopping for a drink at a cafe.

As y/n sipped her drink, Yuji spoke up.

"Oh, I was wondering how you got the injury on your side." He said.

Y/n pressed her lips together. Her and Megumi had come up with a cover story for moments like that. "Ah, broken metal railing on my friends boat, fell and it clipped me."

"Damn, sounds like it hurt." He said, easily believing her.

"It did." She nodded.

"So," He drew out the 'o'. "you and Megumi dating yet?"

Y/n blushed a little. "Um, not yet."

"Man." He shook his head with a little laugh. "He better do it soon, some of the people in my class have seen you guys on campus and they've got their eyes on you."

"On me?" Her eyes widened.

"Yup." He nodded.

"Well, I like Megumi." She said firmly, getting another little laugh from Yuji.

"Yeah." He smiled. "He likes you too."

Humans were strange with their dating customs. When mers mate, they are together until death.

"Good." She smiled to herself as they arrived back on campus.

Yuji's phone buzzed in his pocket. "Speak of the devil." He mumbled. Yuji tapped on his phone a bit before sliding it back in his pocket. "He's coming."

Y/n looked around before her eyes landed on Megumi, who was approaching them with his bag over his shoulder. Y/n beamed and ran over to him, throwing her arms around his neck while Yuji jogged lightly to catch up with her.

"Hey." Megumi's ears tipped red as he circled his arms around her hips, suddenly very aware of the people around them.

"Sorry." She said sheepishly as she pulled away, Yuji appearing next to her.

"Hey bro." Yuji smiled.

"Hi." Megumi adjusted his bag strap. "You seriously took her to that worm movie?"

"It was amazing!" Y/n smiled wide.

Megumi groaned and glared at Yuji, who just beamed, clearly happy to have someone else that loved his weird worm movies.

The three walked back to the dorm building, y/n and Yuji talking about the movie, much to Megumi's dismay.

"We should all head to the beach this weekend." Yuji said as he unlocked the door and stepped inside the dorm.

Megumi gave y/n a look, silently asking if that would be okay, getting a little nod in return.

"Sure."

"Can Nobara come?" Y/n piped up, shuffling inside behind Megumi and Yuji.

"I'll ask." Yuji pulled out his phone, answering a few minutes later. "She said she'd love to come. Should we go on Saturday?" He asked.

Saturday was in a few days, and y/n was supposed to be able to get her stitches out on Friday, all thanks to supernatural healing.

"Mhm." Y/n nodded, stretching out on Megumi's bed.

Megumi nodded and opened his bag, pulling out his notebook and a few other things before setting them on his desk.

"Do you have homework to do?" She asked him.

"Yeah." He replied.

"Come do it here?" She gave him puppy dog eyes, and he couldn't resist.

"Fine." He relented, grabbing his things before climbing onto the bed.

Y/n immediately buried her face in his hip, throwing one arm across his lap. "Mm."

Yuji caught Megumi's attention and gave a wink, to which Megumi just rolled his eyes before turning back to the task at hand.

~

On Saturday, Megumi, Yuji, Nobara and y/n headed to the beach. It was pretty busy, given that the temperature had been rising and it was a weekend. Y/n had to borrow a bikini from Nobara, who was more than happy to oblige.

Y/n stuck to Megumi's side as they walked onto the sandy beach, eyeing the water. She wanted to sneak off with Megumi at some point and get back in the water since she had her stitches taken out the day before. She insisted Megumi do it, and he did, much to his own dismay. He hadn't wanted to, but had been persuaded when she mentioned that it would be suspicious to go back to the doctor when her wound wasn't supposed to heal that quickly.

They set up a cooler, towels, and an umbrella. Nobara shed her top and shorts, lying down on a towel to tan. Yuji shucked his shirt and shoes, making a beeline for the water.

Megumi took his shirt off after a few minutes of debating, deciding he did not want to sweat through the shirt before taking it off. Y/n eyed him a little. Broad shoulders, lean muscles, soft looking skin with a few scars littering the surface.

Y/n pulled her shirt off and set it down next to the cooler, the deep pink bikini she borrowed from Nobara catching Megumi's eye. He felt his mouth go dry as y/n shimmied out of her shorts, cheeks warming, and not from the heat.

Y/n plopped down next to Megumi and rubbed her cheek on his bare shoulder, subtly dragging her eyes over his toned stomach.

"You think we can sneak off in a few minutes to the cave?" She whispered in his ear, breath tickling his skin.

Megumi shivered slightly and looked at Nobara, then at Yuji. "Probably." He murmured.

Y/n smiled and felt excitement begin to build within her.

True to his word, a few minutes later they were able to sneak off. Nobara was basking in the sun, and Yuji had apparently befriended a group of people playing volleyball and joined their game.

Y/n and Megumi walked carefully along the rocks to the cave, shimmying across the tiny sand shelf inside the cave to reach the water. Y/n eyed the clear, salty water in the shallows.

Megumi bit his bottom lip. "Go on."

"What if... it doesn't come back?" She whispered.

Megumi looked down at the girl, seeing the worry blur in with the excitement on her face. "It will."

Y/n took a deep breath, slowly nodding as she inched towards the water. When her toes dipped into the water, she shivered at the cool feeling. Excitement building, she wadded into the water up to her shoulders, closing her eyes as she felt a tingling sensation take over her body. At first, it was painless, but as it went on, it started to hurt. Y/n clawed at her throat, feeling it burn and rip as her gills reemerged.

Megumi quickly followed her into the water, grabbing her wrists to stop her before she actually hurt herself.

Y/n clicked and cried out in pain as her legs fused together, claws growing from her fingertips, skin paling and eyes burning. The transformation was horrible, and y/n had fat tears rolling down her cheeks.

Megumi, completely helpless, could only watch as the one he loved went through what seemed to be a horrifically painful transformation. All he could do was hold her wrists so she didn't claw at her skin. The transformation was a sight to see. Her skin changed, tail grew, ears tipped, fingers webbed. It would have been fascinating if it wasn't so painful for her. It was hard to hold her wrists, y/n was shockingly strong.

When it was over, y/n had her forehead pressed into his shoulder, heaving loudly.

Megumi let go of her wrists and wrapped his arms around her, holding the mermaid close.

"It's alright." He murmured, soothing her gently as her tail flicked about.

"Fuck," She wheezed. "that hurt."

Megumi nodded silently and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. Y/n's breathing calmed down and she pulled back to look at Megumi, letting out a few testing chirps and clicks, a smile spreading across her flushed face.

"Good?" He cupped her cheeks, running his thumbs under her eyes.

"Mhm." She wrapped her arms around his neck.

Megumi shivered slightly, her skin having gone back to being cold and scaly. He'd missed it.

She stared at him before starting to sing lowly, her voice immediately relaxing his body. She leaned closer, still humming sweetly as the distance between them shrunk. Megumi kept his hands on her face, staring into those red, slitted eyes as their faces grew closer.

Slowly, y/n pressed her lips to his, song stalling as the purring started. The noise was louder and more animalistic than it had been when she was human. He felt the press of her fangs between their lips, and it was more appealing than it should have been.

As they pulled away, y/n gave him a full fanged smile.

"Are you... staying in the ocean now?" He forced out, throat feeling dry.

Y/n could sense his anxiety. "Not forever." Her smile softened.

Megumi relaxed slightly, sliding his hands down, running his fingers over her gills softly. Y/n shivered, tail curling slightly.

"I need to... find out what happened to my pod." She spoke softly.

He nodded and gave her forehead a little kiss. "Now?"

"Mhm." She let her arms slip from his neck. "I'll check quick and then come back. Can't disappear in the middle of a hangout."

"Yeah." He said quietly. "I'll wait here."

Y/n gave him one last kiss before sinking into the water, swimming home. As she grew closer, she let out a few questioning clicks, chewing her lip anxiously. As she drew near, she could smell something, something rotten, something foul. Her fears were confirmed when she arrived to an empty reef. Well, not empty, there were... bodies. Tears stung her eyes as she covered her mouth, sobs wracking her body. She sunk into the sand, crying her heart out. It was gut wrenching, seeing her pod murdered and left to rot on the pretty corals.

Guilt filled her body, rooting itself deep in her bones. She was the last one left, the only one who lived. The guilt ate at her. She had been having fun in the world above while her friend's bodies- her families bodies, had been rotting in the ocean without a proper funeral.

She rubbed her eyes furiously, collecting herself enough to drag the bodies to the drop off, watching them sink one by one into the deep as she sang a mournful song. She was sure her song reached far, a pitiful, sorrowful tune that carried the weight of her pods sudden extinction. The mers that had done it were clearly gone, they must have left after y/n hadn't returned, assuming she had died from her injuries.

When y/n finished the funeral, she swam to her cave and grabbed a bag she had woven from kelp and put the things she wanted to keep the most inside. Next, she swam to her parent's cave and collected a few things to remind her of them. It was horrible, all of it. What was she to do now? She had no pod, and she certainly couldn't stay at the reef anymore, too painful, too much of a reminder.

Y/n sang a mourning song to herself as she swam through the reef, trying to keep the tears at bay. The only thing she had left was the sea, and the only person she had left was Megumi. She swam back towards the shore, sorting through her emotions on the way. She would need to find a new cave, and then... she would be alone.

Y/n's head broke the surface, eyes locking onto Megumi who was sitting on the sand, feet in the water. He looked up and frowned, immediately sensing something was wrong. Y/n dragged herself out of the water, upper body collapsing against his chest as she squeezed her eyes shut.

Megumi put one hand on her hair and ran the other up and down her back soothingly. He assumed the news about her pod wasn't good, and his heart cracked at the sound of her quiet sobs.

He shushed her softly and cradled her head in his hand, fingers gently threading into her hair. He squeezed his eyes shut when he heard her sing the saddest thing he had ever heard, and he instinctively knew what it was. A wave of sadness washed over him, and he held her tighter.

"My pod... they... they're all dead." She choked out, a raw, garbled noise escaping her throat.

He kissed the side of her head gently and let her cry into his shoulder. He was never good with words, so he didn't speak.

~

After a few minutes, y/n's cries died off into sad little whimpers until she stopped making noise altogether. She pulled her head back to look at him, and the sight broke his heart. Her eyes were glassy, cheeks tearstained, lips wobbling slightly. The light in her eyes wasn't as bright, the usual fire ruby red now dull.

"I can't live there anymore." She whispered, voice raspy. "They just... left them there." Her voice cracked. "They were- they were rotting for weeks."

Megumi put his hands on her face, cradling it gently as he let her speak.

"I had to-" She squeezed her eyes shut. "I had to drag them all to the edge and send them over. By myself." Her lips wobbled. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Until you find somewhere, you can stay with me." He whispered, keeping his voice soft.

She nodded and a few tears slipped down her cheeks. Megumi wiped them away with his thumbs, pressing their foreheads together. Y/n took a few deep breaths, grounding herself in the feeling of Megumi's warm skin against her own.

"I want to leave." She whispered. "Can we leave?"

"Yeah." He pulled back. "Yeah, we can leave."

Y/n dragged herself fully out of the water and sat in the sand. She was quiet as she waited for her legs to return. She squirmed a little as the tingling sensation returned, it was uncomfortable, but not nearly as painful as transforming earlier. It stung as she watched her scales turn brown, then black, and then they melted off of her, revealing her legs. Megumi handed y/n her shorts and bottoms, having snuck back to the beach when she was gone to grab the shorts.

Y/n pulled on her bikini bottoms and then her shorts, standing up on shaky legs. Her bikini top had stayed with her, but the bottoms had fallen off in the transformation. Y/n wrapped her arms around herself and kicked some sand.

Megumi approached her and put his hands on her biceps. "Hey." He murmured. "Let's go?"

She nodded and slowly unwrapped her arms, grabbing one of Megumi's hands to hold tight, grounding her. He led her out of the cave and back to the beach. He got dressed quickly and told y/n to go wait near the watchtower, and she did, walking away with a quiet nod.

Megumi found Yuji and brought him over to Nobara, quickly explaining that he and y/n needed to leave.

"Why? What happened?" Nobara frowned, raising her sunglasses.

Megumi sighed. "She just found out a few of her family members died in an accident."

Nobara covered her mouth with her fingers. "Oh god, where is she?" She started to look around.

He held up his hand when Yuji moved to speak. "She doesn't want to see or talk to anyone right now, we're going to head back to the dorm."

They nodded with matching frowns. "Yuji can come to mine for a bit when we leave."

Megumi nodded and grabbed their stuff before heading to the tower to get y/n. She was sitting in the sand, knees drawn up to her chest as she looked solemnly out to the oceans surface. He crouched down and ran his knuckles across her cheek.

Y/n looked over and tilted her head to the side. "We can leave?"

"Mhm." He pulled his hand away as they both stood up.

~

When they entered the dorm, y/n grabbed some clothes and went to change in the bathroom. Megumi set their stuff down and rubbed a hand over his face, letting out a small sigh. He didn't know what to do, what can someone do when something so horrible happens to the person they love?

He shook his head before changing into some sweats and a t-shirt.

Y/n stared at herself in the mirror for a few minutes before changing into some shorts and one of Megumi's hoodies. She felt like a part of herself had rotted and fallen off. At least when she was healing on land, away from her pod, she could think they were alive, she could hope. But now, now there was confirmation, she knew the truth.

She shuffled out of the bathroom, eyes landing on Megumi, who was sitting on the bed with her kelp bag in front of him. She climbed up and into his lap, curling up slightly.

Megumi wrapped his arms around her protectively, like if he held her close enough he could mend all her broken pieces.

Y/n reached forward and curled her fingers around the handle of the drying kelp bag. She slowly reached into the bag and pulled out a shell, thumbing at the smooth underside. Her parents had given her the black and purple shell when she turned ten, it was a rare shell that had been passed through the daughters of their family.

Megumi rubbed her back and pressed his cheek to the top of her head, eyes trained on the shell.

"My parents gave this to me on my tenth birthday." She said quietly.

"It's pretty." He slid one hand up her arm and cupped her jaw, running his thumb along her cheek.

Y/n sagged into him, holding the shell close to her chest, over her heart. "Can I take a nap?" She whispered, closing her eyes.

"Of course." He reached forward and pulled a soft throw-blanket over them. "Get some sleep."

~

When y/n woke up, she was still pressed against Megumi, but the sky was dark. She rubbed her eyes and felt Megumi's legs shift under her.

"You awake?" He put his hand on the back of her head.

"Yeah." She cleared her throat.

"Hungry?" He asked.

She looked up at him, cheek on his chest. "Yeah."

He nodded and pressed a kiss to her forehead before pulling out his phone. He ordered some food from close by and told y/n he'd be back after picking it up.

Y/n thumbed at the shell in her hand and curled up under the blankets. The grief was immense. Even though she didn't always get along with her pod, with her family, she still loved them. To lose them all in such a horrific way was overwhelming. She didn't have a home anymore. It was suffocating, but having Megumi helped.

He was her person, he was everything to her.

~

Two weeks after the extinction of her pod, y/n was feeling better. She still wasn't okay, but she was getting there. Megumi had become her largest source of comfort, and she had become certain that he was the one she wanted as her mate.

During the first week, she barely left the bed. The only thing that kept her sane was Megumi, Yuji, and Nobara. The other two had stayed away for the first three days, but after that, they were a welcome constant. Yuji was sharing the dorm, so he had to come back regardless, but he made it his mission to comfort y/n the best he could. He showed y/n new movies, talked to her, and made sure she wasn't alone when Megumi couldn't be there.

Nobara comforted y/n in her own way, by being there but not coddling her. Y/n liked it, it made her feel like she would be okay, that she wasn't going to be broken forever. She forced y/n out into the world, taking her to the mall and small cafes that weren't overcrowded.

Also within those two weeks, she had not gone back to the sea, she hadn't transformed. She couldn't bring herself to do it, but today, she finally felt ready.

"You sure you're ready?" Megumi asked, standing close to y/n in their cave.

"Yeah." She nodded. "I need to find a new place to live and... I have something I need to do." She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before walking into the water.

"Meet back here in three days?" He asked.

She nodded and turned back towards the sea. Megumi chewed on his lip nervously as she disappeared into the water.

Y/n squeezed her eyes shut as the transformation began. It was painful, but not nearly as bad as the last time. When it was over, she started to swim around, looking for a suitable cave to make her new home.

The water soothed her soul, a reminder that the sea is where she belonged. It was comforting in a way that the land wasn't. However, she couldn't help but think of the comfort she received from Megumi, the warmth and softness in his touch, his protective nature.

She swam through a kelp forest and smiled as a dolphin circled her. She let out a few chirps, the dolphin responding in kind. The mermaid played with the young dolphin for a few minutes before it swam away.

She swam for hours until she found a cave that she liked. It was down further than her last, but it was needed. She had picked an underwater cave closer to the beach, thus, it needed to be deeper and more hidden so human divers wouldn't find it.

She spent the next few hours transporting glowing sea moss to the cave and using kelp to create a curtain at the mouth of the cave.

During the next few hours, she made the new cave into a comfortable home. She made pillows out of kelp and set them on her makeshift bed. She lined the walls with shells and other things she found on the sea floor.

On the second day, she gathered up her courage and returned to her old reef. She swam around slowly, taking in the familiar sights. It no longer smelled of decay, back to the comforting scent of salt and something familiar. Her fin slid along the sand, kicking some up in a tiny cloud. She ran her fingers over the coral and tilted her head.

It used to be home, but not anymore. It didn't bring her the same comfort it used to, it wasn't lively with her kind, their songs. It was just a reef now, just a memory.

She swam away from the reef with a newfound comfort, pieces of herself fusing back together as she left it behind. Now was the time for new beginnings, for a new life, one not only spent in the ocean.

On the last day, she scoured the ocean floor for items to make Megumi a necklace, the final step in mer courting rituals. It took her a few hours, but she found everything she needed, then took it back to her cave and got to work.

She braided together multiple pieces of black fishing wire, tightening it so it looked like a normal necklace cord. She used clear fishing wire to wrap the shells and shark tooth so she could attach them to the necklace. She handled each piece with care, humming a song to herself as she crafted the necklace. When it was done, y/n smiled proudly, holding it up to her face. It was perfect. She temporarily put the necklace on so she wouldn't lose it, and curled up in her sandy bed.

The soft lull of the ocean made her muscles relax, and she knew she could never choose between the ocean and land, she would need both. She was born a mermaid, but had the ability to transform into a human. When she was younger, she never would have thought it was possible, but after researching online in her spare time the past two months, she came to the conclusion she was similar to a creature known as a selkie, just without the jacket. That was the closest explanation she could find for her situation.

~

The three days away from y/n were... weird. His life had basically gone back to normal, but he couldn't enjoy his time away from the mermaid. He felt like a piece of him was missing, like half of him was gone. That feeling really set in stone how much he loved y/n.

He missed her more than he had in the years they were apart. He had grown accustomed to her warmth, to her laugh, to her weight next to him.

That's why, on the day they were supposed to meet, Megumi left as early as he could. He brought a change of clothes for her and waited in the cave, sitting on the grainy sand.

It felt like forever before the water shifted and y/n's head broke the surface. She offered him a fang filled smile that warmed Megumi's heart, filling in the pieces he'd been missing.

She dragged herself half way out of the water to sit next to him. She wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled his neck, find flaring.

"Missed you." She murmured.

"Missed you too." He admitted, wrapping his arms around her waist, thumbing at the scar under her ribs.

"I have something for you." She said as she pulled away.

Megumi watched as she pulled the necklace off and held it out to him. He reached forward, but she pulled it back and bit her lip, a nervous look crossing her face.

"Before I give it to you, I need to explain something." She rubbed her thumb over the cord of the necklace. "The song I sang, and the gifts I gave you were part of... courting, the mermaid way." She flushed a deep reddish purple. "I skipped a few steps, this is the last gift." She shook the necklace.

Megumi licked his lips as he listened to her explanation, cheeks reddening. He hadn't even thought about the gifts and song being a way of courting, he felt a little stupid for not picking up on it.

"But I need to tell you what it really means to accept this. We don't date like humans, we have a single mate that we choose, and we are mated until death do us part." She explained, holding the necklace a little tighter.

Megumi nodded slowly, watching her quietly.

"If you accept this, it means forever." She finished, tail curling nervously.

She was putting her heart on the line, and Megumi knew that. It was the equivalent to human marriage, but without the possibility of divorce. The thought would have scared him a few months prior, but now, he wanted it. He wanted it so bad. He wanted her. He wanted all the implications of forever, he felt like he needed it.

He knew forever wasn't some type of fairytale, he knew it would be hard, especially given the fact that y/n wasn't human, but he wanted it. He loved her even with the knowledge that forever wouldn't be gentle, but he chose her anyway.

The thought of that was still scary, but he had forever to work through his fears.

Slowly, he reached out and took the necklace from her, sliding it over his head and letting it rest against his chest. Y/n visibly relaxed, eyes swimming with emotion as he looked down at the necklace hanging from his neck.

Y/n threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and knocking them both back onto the sand. Megumi grunted at the sudden action, back hitting the ground as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

Her fins flared happily, tail wiggling behind her.

"Is this what you were doing the whole time?" He asked, talking about the necklace.

"Not the whole time." She rubbed their cheeks together. "I found a cave and decorated it, went back to my old reef, then I went searching for the things I needed to make the necklace."

Megumi kissed the side of her head.

"You really want to be with me forever?" She whispered in awe.

"Yeah." He said quietly, tone unbelievably fond. "I do." Then, he spoke again, tone more unsure. "You want to be with me forever?"

"More than anything." She pulled back a little, nose brushing his.

He reached up one hand to cup her cold cheek, and she leaned into it. "I think..." He started, voice catching in his throat. It was hard to push the words out, but he managed. "I think I've loved you since we were kids."

"Really?" She spoke softly, eyes filling with warmth.

He nodded slowly, bumping their foreheads together. "Went into marine biology because of you." He murmured, the truth feeling odd on his tongue. "Fell in love with the sea because of you."

Her eyes brimmed with tears and she hastily pressed their lips together. It wasn't soft, it wasn't gentle. Their teeth clacked together, teetering on the edge of painful. It was desperate, it was everything they couldn't put into words. Salty tears dripped onto Megumi's warm cheeks, but the kiss was perfect. It was everything they'd been feeling wrapped into one harsh press of their lips.

"I love you." She whispered, barely pulling away from his lips far enough to speak.

"I love you, too." He slid his fingers into her hair.

"Forever." She nudged her nose against his.

"Forever." He agreed.