CrystalTears

The Lovers
Original poster
LURKER MEMBER
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
Posting Speed
  1. Speed of Light
  2. Multiple posts per day
  3. 1-3 posts per day
  4. One post per day
  5. 1-3 posts per week
Writing Levels
  1. Intermediate
  2. Adept
  3. Advanced
  4. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
Genres
Romance - Action - Drama - Fantasy - YAOI .... I feel like I can put everything here so don't make me do it ^^;
Haeju Mizuchi

Haeju swam around the water, perhaps a bit too close to the coast. They weren't allowed to go there for numerous reasons that his parents had pounded into his head over and over again. None of them stuck, and despite what they said, the coast had the best and prettiest rocks! He didn't view himself as much of a hoarder, but if he didn't dare to venture this close to where the water met land, then he couldn't peer at the land dwellers either. From what the others had said, they couldn't breathe underwater and therefore had to be on land. They could be taught to swim, but they preferred "walking" around. "Walking" was their ways of "swimming" which they did with their split tails. Haeju could never get over how weird it looked, which was probably why he stared for a bit too long before ducking back into the water.

Thankfully, with his little sister being newly born, Haeju's parents didn't have the time to watch him like a hawk anymore. Perhaps it was a bad thing, as the young merman became daring enough to rest his arms on a rock that was barely hidden by some overgrown grass. The grass was the land's seaweed, this he knew, though some types of grass grew underneath the water too. His hand played with the ripples in the water while the tip of his blue tail peeked through the water, waving it back and forth as he tried to look for some small land rocks he could bring back home. His little sister would probably like something pretty, so he'd have to find her a perfect one!

@Greenie
 
Sarina Banikori

As per her usual habit, young Sarina was wandering not too far from her home, tail swishing this way and that as she purposefully dug her toes deep into the sand. The feeling made the ten year old giddy, and soon enough she was skipping and kicking at the sand, not at all worried about all the sand and dirt catching on to her pristine white clothes. She knew very well her mother would scold her, but with her two younger siblings making bigger messes at home, she wasn't too worried.

She liked collecting seashells of different kinds, and watching the scuttling crabs hide into holes when she raced after them. But most of all, she loved looking out at the sea, watching the waves wash over the sand, coming closer and closer until they barely touched her toes. Strangely enough, she didn't actually know how to swim- her parents had never taught her, even though water was literally their backyard.

The Banikori clan had a rather... testy relationship with the water dwellers after all. Not that Sarina had ever seen any of these interesting fish youkai, or 'filthy fish tailed creeps' as some of the villagers liked to call them.

Well, until now anyway.

The young cat demon had collected her share of seashells, clutching the sandy loot to her white top as she trotted back in the direction of her house when she saw it. At first she didn't quite understand what she saw, but then she paused in her steps, her sharp cat eyes looking past the grass to the water. There! That was a fish like tail, gently swaying back and forth. Unable to stop herself, she let go of the shells and quickly paced over on all four, despite being in human form. Her tail swished back and forth before she leaped! and landed right in front of a boy.

"Hi!" she greeted cheerfully, not at all concerned that she may have scared the poor thing.​
 
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Haeju Mizuchi

Haeju was just playing around in the dirt, searching for those land stones, before a sudden flash of white parts the grass he had been safely hiding behind and onto the rock he was resting on. He let out a small yelp before hastily retreating into the water. Haeju retreated a little bit away from his temporary resting place and peeked back over the water.

It was a girl, a young girl, with beautiful white hair and blue eyes. What caught his attention was the pointed ears on top of her head and thin tail swishing behind her. What did his parents call them again? Nekos? Cat people from what he understood. His parents would tell him horror stories of how they ate merfolk, and while it scared him, it didn't ward away his curiosity. Plus, he was safely away from land now, so it was probably safe to stay a bit longer. How often would he have the chance to talk to a land dweller?

"You scared me!" Was the first thing Haeju managed to say as he peeked his entire head out of the water. He could spot blue scales that were left on the rock from how fast he had retreated; she had literally scared the scales off him! "B- But. . . Um. . . Hi," the young merman replied and swam just a few inches closer to the cat on the shore.
 
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Sarina Banikori

Sarina blinked at the now mostly submerged boy in the water. It was only after the fact that she realized pouncing at someone new may not have been the best way to introduce herself. She was rather pleased when he decided to poke his head back and peer at her.

It was fair to say she had never seen anyone as beautiful as this boy. He reminded her of the pretty shiny shells on the shelves in her room- those ones were always kept safe and sound so that her pesky siblings would be able to get them. Her eyes trailed to where he had been, spotting the blue glimmering scales on the rock he'd been resting on. Curious, she crouched down and sniffed at the rock, memorizing the scent.

Her ears twitched and perked when the boy finally returned her 'hi'. A pleased grin found its way on her face as she looked away from the rock and bunny-hopped closer to the edge of the shore. "Hi, hi!" she replied, settling down on her haunches, her tail peacefully swaying behind her. "I'm Sarina, who are you? You're a mer person right? My ma and pa don't really like them, but you don't look so bad to me."

She looked at him expectantly, head tilted as she swayed back and forth in place, waiting for answers.​
 
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Haeju Mizuchi

Haeju wasn't the most outgoing of merfolk, though he felt much safer underneath the water's surface, he was definitely shy when dealing with any land dwellers. This was his first time getting to talk to one too, though her cheerful attitude and grin helped put him a bit at ease. Her bouncing around the rock did not, however, since Haeju was worried she would slip and fall into the water. Could cats swim? The merman had never seen them in the water, granted, their relationship wasn't a good one. It always struck him as odd how they were practically neighbors but also unfriendly, yes he knew the horror story well, but it wasn't as if it happened yesterday.

"Sarina" was a beautiful name, it was easy to remember too. Though her endless flow of questions made it a bit hard for Haeju to follow along, unused to the energetic conversation. Her demeanor got a smile from him, and he dared to swim close enough to rest back on the rock again. "I'm Haeju," he introduced himself with a smile as his tail peeked into the surface again to sway back and forth. "I am, we live in the water!" He smiled as if it wasn't evident before peeking at her split tail. "Mom says that you land dwellers are scary and eat us, but you won't eat me, right?" Haeju asked as he keeps his smile. There was no fear anymore, for some reason, Sarina made him feel comfortable.

"How do these work?" Haeju asked and gently poked her leg that was peeking out from her kimono. "Your split tail works differently than mine, but you can swim, and I can't "walk" it's weird," the merman asked with great curiosity now that he could finally ask something he had been wondering about for a while.
 
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Sarina Banikori

Sarina was confused, head tilted as she blinked at the boy named Haeju. "My split tail?" she repeated, face screwed in an expression of deep thought. She flicked her tail forward so that both she and the merboy could see it clealy. "It's not split! It's all just one long tail! I'm no nekomata after all." It would have been totally awesome if she was, but there were somethings you didn't get to choose. She never had a choice about her siblings, for example.

"Unless... wait!" She now remembered he used the word walk. Unable to keep herself from laughing, she quickly stood up and first kicked one and then the other leg, giggling as the grass tickled her toes. "These aren't my tail, silly! These are called legs! Like... um..." Her bottom lip jutted out in a thoughtful pout as she tried to think of an animal at sea that had legs like hers, but nothing came to her mind.

"Well, I don't know how to swim." She decided to answer his other comment instead. "Mama and Papa never taught me." She crouched down before him once more, arms wrapped around her legs as she rested her chin on her knees. "Is it really dark and scary down there? That's what I heard!"
 
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Haeju Mizuchi

Haeju's eyes glanced over to the white added limb that flicked forward into his view. Oh right, land dwellers didn't think of their tail in the same way that the merfolk did. Sarina got up and kicked her legs while laughing, causing Haeju to laugh as well at her silly antics. "Legs?" Haeju parroted when she named her "split tail" into something else. So they were called legs, huh? They were nice and allowed the land dwellers to be on land and in the water. He was a little bit jealous, though he knew that some merfolk could gain these "legs" to get up on land. Haeju was too young to know how to do it, or if he could, so for now, he was stuck in the water.

"It's not scary and dark at all!" Haeju replied with a smile. "It's very well lit down there, even though the sun rays don't get that far down! We light it up, and it's so pretty!" The merboy was genuinely excited to talk about his home because of the common misconception. There were plenty of land dwellers who thought it was so dark, but it was well lit up and colorful! If only he could take them down to show them. "There are so many colors! Way more than up here!" Haeju smiled and then decided that the next time they met, he'd bring her some gifts from his home.

"Then is this your tail?" Haeju asked as he reached over to gently touch her tail. The fur felt nice against his hand, it was smooth and tickled the webbing in between his fingers, but he couldn't keep himself from giving it a hesitant stroke with his hand. "It's so soft. . ." he said, almost mesmerized by it, as he gave it one more stroke. "I like it!" Haeju smiled brightly and pulled his hand back to not be too rude.
 
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Sarina Banikori

So under the sea wasn't as terrible as her parents and pretty much everyone made it out to be? She looked up to the sky and then around at the grass before returning her gaze to the water and Haeju. Reaching out, she poked a finger at the water, contemplating whether her parents actually knew how to swim. If they did, then it really wasn't fair that she hadn't learned!

Her thoughts however were interrupted. Sarina couldn't help but giggle when the merboy touched her tail. It wasn't weird, not really, but it did tickle a little, causing her tail to twitch this way and that. "Thank you," she replied, returning a grin in the direction of his smile. She then blinked, noticing his hands and the webbing between. "Woah, yours are so different than mine!" She splayed out both hands before him so that he could see what she was talking about.

Figuring it would be okay, since he had touched her tail first, Sarina scooted a little closer and reached out to gently poke at his hand, making sure her claw like nails don't scratch him, just like she did with her little siblings, even though they deserved a little scratch here and there in her opinion! "Wow, I bet this helps you swim, right?"
 
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Haeju Mizuchi

"Huh?" Haeju said before Sarina reached her hands out and spread out her fingers. Oh! She didn't have the webbing that he did! Fascinated by this fact, Haeju found himself looking at her claw-like nails as well. They certainly looked sharp, just like the horror stories would say, but not dangerous. It tickled when the tip of it brushed against the thin webbing as he even spread his fingers to allow Sarina to poke like Haeju had done with her tail earlier. The land dwellers probably didn't need the webbing, since it was for the sake of aiding them in swimming and sifting through the water with their hands, giving them some added speed.

"Yeah!" the merboy replied. "It helps a lot, makes us even faster swimmers!" Haeju added before giving her small claw a poke. "What do these do? They are sharp like a shark's tooth!" He said impressed by how they were on her fingers. The merboy noticed how Sarina kept inching closer to the water, and in fear of the kitty girl falling in and "drowning" Haeju decided to get up on the rock instead. He didn't quite understand the concept behind "drowning" but he knew it meant that it was used to describe when a land dweller died in the water.

"Hyup!" Haeju exclaimed as he hoisted his body up onto the rock to sit down on the cold surface. The tip of his tail stayed in the water, but the rest got some fresh air. It gave him a weird chill over his scales since he had never been daring to do this before, but with Sarina, it felt very safe. "Now you don't need to get closer to the water," Haeju said. "You shouldn't go in if you can't swim after all!"
 
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Sarina Banikori

Sarina pouted. She didn't know how to swim, it was true, but she wouldn't just fall! At least, she didn't think she would. However, she didn't pout for long once she saw Haeju and the rest of his strange fish like body. It was strange- how could someone that looked half human and half fish look so beautiful? Why, she would say he was better looking that most of her own people she knew.

Why had they lied and said that merpeople were ugly and dangerous?

"You're really pretty!" she told him bluntly. "For some reason I was told your kind aren't, but it looks to me as if they are very wrong."

She pursed her lips before stretching her hands out before herself, claws exposed. "These? They are very sharp!" She grinned and swept her hand at the spare grass that was closest to where she was sitting; the sliced blades of grass easily landed on the ground. "Like that! They're to hunt, although many of us fish too. What about you? If you have no fangs or claws, then how do you hunt?"​
 
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Haeju Mizuchi

It wasn't until now that Haeju noticed the big difference between his tail, Sarina's "legs" and her tail. Her tail was made out of fur and was like an added limb to her body, while Haeju's tail was like Sarina's legs, but glued together and scaled instead of skin. It looked so different now that he was much closer! The way they sat close enough together made it easy to compare, even their skin was different! Sarina's skin was clean and smooth, but Haeju's had small patches of light blue scales that peeked out. His parents reassured him that when he grew older, his skin would become smoother as well, but they had still had patches of scales visible in their faces!

Busy comparing the two of them, the compliment that Sarina boldly shot his way caught the merboy completely off-guard. The scales on his cheek, which were usually blue in color, turned red from how he blushed. Haeju was way too shy for this catgirl! Her words and actions were something he would probably never get used to.

"Ah-- Um. . . Thank you," Haeju bashfully replied in response. In fact, Sarina was right. His parents had said that the catpeople, Banikoris, were monsters that were to be feared as they ate merfolk. However, Sarina was far from any monster. Yes, she may have sharp claws and pounce on him, but she was sweet and super friendly! How could his parents say such a thing about the land dwellers? They were really cool!

His blue eyes shifted over to Sarina's claws as she cut through the grass with ease, impressed by her performance, and even gave her applause. "That is impressive!" Haeju complimented. "Um. . . We use these tools, but we can also use our hands! I'm really good at catching fish and foraging!" Haeju said as he motioned with his hands as if he catching fish in the air. "Then is your ears the same?" The merboy asked. "When I grow up, I'll get fins here," he said and used his hands to try and mimic them. "They're for picking up movement and vibrations underwater, they're really pretty too!"
 
Sarina Banikori

Sarina thought it over a moment before she grinned. "Oh, I know! It's like with humans, they down have claws either so they use other things like nets, but those bits between your fingers is like your own little catcher, they won't slip through your fingers!" She seemed rather convinced by her own theory, regardless of whether she was right or wrong.

At the mention of her ears, she tilted them to either side with a giggle. "My ears help me hear so, so much! Just like my nose is really good, and my eyes too. I think the only thing I'm really bad at is swimming." Her giggle turned into a pout, though only for an instance. "You'll have fins?" She blinked, head tilting this way and that as she tried to imagine them.

"Wow, how much older do you have to be?" she wondered. "I can't wait to see them, I bet they'll sparkle-"

Her words were interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching. Sarina's ears flattened as she heard her father's loud and stern voice calling out. "Sarina?! Where are you hiding? Come out now, you know you're not allowed to come here!"

Her blue eyes widened, and in and instance she had shifted into a small white kitten.

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"I have to go now!" Haeju would be able to hear a very soft whisper in his mind. I'll come back tomorrow!

And with those words, the little white kitten turned around and made a dash through the grass.​
 
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Haeju Mizuchi

Haeju looked at his hands when the net was mentioned. He wasn't quite sure what a "net" was, but he could at least understand the concept. Was that why they had webbing between their fingers? It was something he'd have to ask his parents when he came back home! It sounded very plausible, the merfolk hunters did say something about the webbing being very useful! Talking to Sarina was so educational, he was learning so much about the land dwellers and not to mention the nekos! All of the horror stories from his parents were just silly, they weren't merfolk eating monsters! Sarina hadn't tried to bite him once!

At the sound of a male voice interrupting Sarina's imagination, Haeju froze. The voice sounded so different, far from inviting, and the merboy felt fear at getting caught. Apparently, Sarina wasn't allowed to come this close to the water, which was the same for Haeju, but the merboy didn't risk getting caught since his parents would never swim this far up. Haeju turned to whisper to Sarina, but as he did, she was gone. In her stead was a white, pretty, fuzzy kitty. These were not under water, but he had heard they could change into these forms. Haeju had to keep himself from reaching over to pick her up or pet, she was just so cute. The voice in his head caused the boy to perk up, before crouching back down to allow the grass to hide him. He didn't speak, too scared of getting caught, but he nodded.

The saddened smile lit up the moment Sarina said they'd meet tomorrow, the shy nod turning into an enthusiastic one as he eased himself slowly into the water. It made a small splash sound as he dove down. Blue eyes scouting back up to the surface, but the ripples of the water made it too difficult to make anything out. He peeked back up just enough so he could see, but with no sign of Sarina nor the stranger around, he ducked back down. It was already late, and Haeju would undoubtedly worry his parents if he stayed any longer. He'd have to remember to come back tomorrow! And bring something! Sarina thought the water was scary, so maybe if he brought something pretty she'd know for sure it wasn't so!

"Oh no!" Haeju exclaimed to himself. "I forgot a gift. . ." the whole reason he got up there was to find some pretty rocks for his newborn sister! Oh well, there were plenty of seashells he could pick up on the way home! With that in mind, Haeju swam with great haste to not worry his parents any more than he already had.
 
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Sarina Banikori

The walk back home for Sarina was tedious for the young cat youkai. Her father wasn't pleased to see her so near the shore and had listed all the dangers he could possibly think of that would keep her away from there. Many of them were related to mer-people- now that Sarina had actually seen one, she really couldn't take her father seriously. They weren't ugly or vicious looking with long flesh tearing spikes growing out of their tails- at least Haeju wasn't. He was the most beautiful person she had ever seen and the ten year old was determined that by hook or by crook, she would meet him again.

"Are you even listening, Sarina?" Her father's stern words resounded as he picked her up by the scruff and held her before his face, frowning. In return, Sarina wiggled in his grasp before batting at his nose with both paws playfully.

"I'm listening!" she promised, purring softly. She was very good at turning her father's mood from grumpy to not, and it seemed to be working. He let out a small sigh before dropping her onto his shoulder.

"Little scamp," he muttered. "If you weren't my own kit I would think you a kitsune in disguise. Come on now. Mother has food made. But first, you need to clean up."

Sarina didn't reply, simply purring as she nuzzled her father. She felt a little guilty that she would have to disobey him the next time she returned to the seashore, but there was nothing that could curb her curiosity.​
 
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Haeju Mizuchi

In hindsight, Haeju had wished the swim back home was a slower one. His parents weren't as angry as they were worried. He had stayed out *way* too long, and he got to hear tenfolds of scoldings for it. Thankfully his newborn sister, Hana, had started to cry which cut the third speech in a row short.

"Here, I got her something!" Haeju smiled as he swam over to Hana's small crib where his parents had now gathered to try and shush her back to sleep.

The crib is mostly carved out of stone with colorful corals surrounding and decorating it. Hana, being a girl, obviously got mostly pink corals around her crib and Haeju remembered his being primarily blue. Still crying, the merboy pulls out from the pouch tied around his waist some more pink coral, only this one, glowed in the dark. The shiny plant caught her attention quickly, and the crying ceased as she found something much more interesting.

"You like it?" Haeju asked. "I'll bring more tomorrow!" The merboy promised with a bright smile.

"Be home earlier tomorrow!" His mother scolded again. "We feared you'd gotten caught or--"

"Now now," his father interrupted her. "Everything is well, put such thoughts away," he added and gave Haeju's hair a ruffle. "He's a smart boy, but try not to worry your mother so much."

"Yes!" Haeju replied quickly. "I'll be going to bed then, gotta wake up early tomorrow to bring Hana some more gifts!" He announced but the real plan was to find something to bring Sarina.

"Don't get too close to the surface!" His mother called after him. "Those Banikoris are dangerous and will eat you!"

Truth to be told, Haeju didn't believe in those horror stories anymore. He had, admittedly, been a bit scared at first but Sarina was so far from any tale he had heard that the fear got washed away. "Goodnight!" Haeju ended up saying instead, pretending he didn't hear his mother's worries. It was better than lying because he was swimming back up to the surface tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

After spending a couple of hours scavenging the ocean floor, Haeju's pouch had quite the collection of pretty seashells. He was sure that none of them were up on the surface! If he was going to gift Sarina, then he wanted to find something unique! Satisfied with his efforts, the eagers merboy swam up towards the surface. Granted, they hadn't planned a time nor a location, but Haeju had a feeling that going back to where they met was the safest option. Hopefully, Sarina hadn't gotten into too much trouble after her father came to pick her up yesterday.

Haeju slowed down as he got closer to the sun. It was always mesmerizing to watch the sun's beams bend as they hit the water's surface before they faded as not even their light was strong enough to shine into the darkest depths of the ocean. Carefully, the merboy peeked over the surface, blue eyes watching the shore and the stone where he had been hiding before Sarina scared his scales off.

"Rinrin?" He called out. "Rinrin" was a nickname Haeju had given her without thinking about it. It felt like a natural thing to call her, so it just slipped his mind he hadn't asked if it was okay. "Rinrin?" Haeju called out a bit louder. "Not here yet? Am I too early?" The concept of time under and above water didn't match as the sun wasn't an indicator so far underwater. Thankfully, the sun was up, so that was always a good sign. The merboy swam over to the rock and hid in between the grass, resting his arms on the cold surface with his tail peeking up from the water again.

Now, all he had to do was wait.
 
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Sarina Banikori


Sarina was late indeed. Her parents had delayed her first, and then it was her little siblings who insisted on trying to sneak out with her. It took much bribing of bringing back interesting looking rocks for them to finally leave her alone. Shifting to her cat form, she raced from her house and out into the long grass, quickly making her way through the fields that lead down to the rocky seashore. More than sight, she followed the sound of the waves and the scent of the sea. As she neared, however, she caught another scent, one that she had only learned of the day before.

It was very tempting to sneak up like a stalking predator and leaped out from between the grass, and for a little while she edged forward, belly pressing lightly against the flattened grass as she slowly crawled forward, each paw set down deliberately and quiet. However, she was thankfully reminded of how he had been scared the previous day, and she really didn't wish for him to lose any more scales.

When she was close enough, she straightened up and shifted back to her humanoid form, ears pointed and tail swaying to and fro, a grin on her face as she trotted over. "Haeju!" she greeted, waving at him before easily getting down on her haunches so that she would be on the same level as him. "You came!"

Teetering back and forth, she couldn't help but continue grinning. "Sorry I was late! Were you waiting long? I had a hard time sneaking out because my mother and father had so much to say! And my little sister was trying to follow." She let out a sigh before paying attention to the merboy once more. "How are you?"
 
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Haeju Mizuchi

Haeju was drawing circles in the dirt with his finger, trying to make something close to a fish and a cat, though before he had the chance, Sarina appeared from behind the grass. "Rinrin!" The merboy greeted her with a smile almost as bright as hers.

He shook his head when Sarina asked if he had been there for long, though Haeju didn't know how long he had waited, it didn't feel so bad now that his cat friend was here. "I didn't wait long! I'm glad you came," the merboy said before putting one of his hands back into the water so he could take out the little bag of assorted colorful corals and seashells he had picked from far underwater. It had to be things that Sarina had never seen! "I'm good because I got you these today Rinrin!" the excited Haeju exclaimed as he pulled the bag out of the water and gave it to Sarina.

"Ta-da!" Haeju proudly smiled and allowed her to open it up as if it was a birthday present. "They're pretty coral and seashells from under the water! I'll bring you some more next time!" The merboy promised as he excitedly waited for his new friend to take a peek. He was grinning from one ear over to the other before he suddenly realized that the nickname he had given Sarina had naturally slipped off his tongue. A little bit embarrassed by how he had been carried away by his enthusiasm, Haeju's cheek turned a bit pinker.

"Um. . . sorry if you don't like being called Rinrin," Haeju added a bit more reserved. "I thought of a nickname on my own and forgot to ask for permission, sorry. . ."
 
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Sarina Banikori

Sarina was a little surprised by the nickname, but the grin that spread on her face, along with her perky ears and swaying tail showed she very much approved of the name.​
"Of course I came!" she replied with a giggle, sitting down cross legged by the merboy, making sure her tail was settled on her lap so that she didn't accidentally sit on it. She took hold of the bag and opened it up, her blue eyes widening before they shone with glee, seeing what was inside. Even her tail wriggled happily, as if she was eating a very tasty treat.​
"Haeju, these are so beautiful!" she exclaimed, pulling out a coral piece and holding it up in the light so they could both revel in its beauty. "Thank you so much for bringing these for me!" She wished she had brought him something, though what could look as pretty as these? She would have to think very hard when she returned home.​
"And don't say sorry!" she added on with a grin, reaching out with a clawed finger and very gently poking his nose. "I like it, Rinrin is very cute! No one called me that before." She wiggled a little in place. "I want to call you something too, but I don't know what, I will have to think of it."​
She set the bag down very carefully before leaning forward, a mischievous grin on her face. "My papa wasn't very happy I was here, but he doesn't stay mad long. What about your parents? Do you get in trouble too?"​
 
Haeju Mizuchi

Haeju scrunched up his nose as Sarina's clawed finger poked it. He gave it a few wriggles, as it felt weird to be touched by someone so warm, though his own cheeks felt pretty hot as well. "Sor--" he stopped himself before he apologized again. Sarina had just told him to stop, and Haeju almost did it again. Good thing he caught on! "Okay! Rinrin it is then!" The merboy gleefully agreed and watched as his cat friend went through the bag of ocean's treasures that he had scurried off to find this morning. There were even prettier ones, but he had to go deeper for them. However, Sarina's smile and the gleam in her eyes brought so much joy to Haeju, that he figured he should show her the prettiest the ocean had to offer. Tomorrow, he would have to find her some more!

"Just don't call me fishboy!" Haeju said. "I heard some of the surface dwellers use that for us, and we're not fish! Not to be eaten!" The merboy said as he didn't mind any other nicknames that Sarina could muster up. The term "fish people" was pretty derogatory, and he had heard the people on the weird giant floating wood things use it. Those were dangerous, which was all Haeju knew, but curiosity had gotten him a bit too close a few times. He almost got caught in their strings once, so now he opted to stay away if he saw them.

The distance between their faces was closed a bit and Haeju found himself drawn to her eyes for just a moment before the grin caught his attention instead. "They got a little mad, I'm not meant to be up here. This is too close to the surface, but I always end up here anyway," Haeju smiled. "I got a newborn little sister, her name is Hana, so her cries got me out of it," the memory made him grin as it was nice to know her whining could at least save him a bit. "Though they keep saying that you will eat me, but I know Rinrin won't. I don't think I taste that good anyway!" The merboy said as he couldn't even imagine Sarina attempting to eat him. His parents were just making up some horror stories, but they wouldn't scare him away!
 
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Sarina Banikori

"I'll never call you fish boy!" Sarina declared, shaking her head adamantly. "If you were a fish boy, you wouldn't look like this!" She waved at him with her hand before giggling. "You'd look more like... a fishy head on a boy's body, walking around on two legs, and you'd be doing this!" She sucked in her cheeks and pushed her lips out, trying to make a fish face before stopping due to giggles.​

She did manage to compose herself as Haeju spoke of his family. She was glad they didn't get too mad at her new friend. "Well that's good of your sister," she replied with a little laugh, sighing a little. "My sister is too old to cry like that, and she likes to bother me instead." She shrugged her shoulder before sitting down on her bottom, being careful not to sit on her tail, bringing it forward to rest on her outstretched legs.​

"I don't think we eat your people," she added with a shake of her head. "And I don't think you eat ours." She sighed a little, shaking her her. "I wonder why they're all so grumpy? You and me are taking nicely to each other. I think they should forget about what happened a long time ago." She could only imagine how fun it would be if she had learned from a small age how to swim and be able to meet her new friend before yesterday!​

"But enough about them." She smiled and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and her chin in the palms of her hands in turn. "What do you do for fun? How do you spend your day?"​

 
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