This Girl Caught a Merman: MakotoXReader (1/2)

The young girl had been trying to call her parents over and over again, but all she kept getting was a voicemail telling her that the number she’d dialed is not in service.

'Grandpa died. Neither of my parents came to the funeral.'

(y/n) (l/n) was a normal, high school girl who had lived with her grandfather after her parents had divorced. She lived her middle school years happily with him, he always made life full and exciting. But during her second semester in high school, he had fallen ill and died. She was given his home, so she was able to continue living in the home she had come to love so very much.

His body was cremated when it was clear no one else would come to see him one last time. She took his ashes and went down by the sea at a certain spot she knew very well. It was a place she’s always come since she was a child when she wanted to be alone and think. She stared up into the night sky, thinking about how her life will be like now that the one person who ever really cared about her was gone. Then her mind wandered on to when her grandfather was still alive.

Like the time he lead her to his house:“Starting today, this is your house! (y/n)-chan!”

Or when he prepared the first dish for her: “(y/n)-chan, look, fish!”

And when she passed the entrance exams and got into highschool: “Congrats on makin’ it to highschool, (y/n)-chan.”

The memories only made her already tear filled eyes cry harder. Then suddenly, in her moment of weakness, the beautiful container holding her grandfather’s ashes slipped from her hands, as it splash into the ocean, it floated there before her.

“Grandpa!!” she screamed, jumping in after it. She wanted to swim towards it to save it, but it was in her panic that she’d forgotten that she doesn’t know how to swim.

“Grandpa!!!” she yelled out, trying to stay afloat, “grand-” then she began sink deep into the ocean. Before blacking out, she could’ve sworn she felt two large hands grab her shoulders.

~0~

“Hey, can you hear me?” a faint voice asked, “You ok? C’mon.”

(y/n)’s eyes slowly began to flutter open. When her full consciousness returned, she turned her head, coughing out sea water.

“You ok? You scared me, diving in like that.”

Now that her vision was a bit clearer, (y/n) saw the owner of the voice. Towering over her was a young man about her age. His short, wet, tussled hair was a dark green that matched his eyes, he was shirtless so (y/n) was able to see his strong, muscular build.

“Is this yours?” he then asked, holding something up with one hand.

It was grandfather’s urn. She took it and hugged it close to her, tears returning in her eyes.

“Grandpa . . . .” she whispered out.

“What’s wrong?” the boy asked with concern in his voice.

“I’m lonely,” (y/n) answered through her crying.

“Oh . . . . Well . . . . Want me to stay with you?”

The offer was kinda out of the blue, but (y/n) figured this might be a dream and just agreed.

“Y-yes.”

The boy held out his hand to help (y/n) sit up.

“Well, good luck taking me back with you,” he said with a small, sheepish smile. Now
that she was sitting up, (y/n) was able to see the rest of his body. Instead of legs, the boy had what looked like to be an orca tail.

“You’re a mer . . . . . man?”

'I thought for sure it was a dream.'

~0~

Needless to say, (y/n) had a heck of a time dragging the merman back to her house. At the very least it was a mere mile away from the shoreline, so it really wasn’t much of a walk. After setting him down on the couch for a while, she quickly went out and pulled in the kiddie pool her grandfather got her when she was just a kid. As she was filling it, she decided to get some more info on her house guest.

“So, what’s your name?” she asked.

“Don’t have one,” he said, albeit a little too cheerfully.

“Ok then, Mr. Merman.”

He pouted, “I don’t like that form of address!”

“Uhhhh, well . . . . then I’ll give you one!”

She quickly looked around her house for ideas. That’s when her eyes laid on the kitchen counter, on it was her shopping list and one of the items was fish, specifically from the brand called “Makoto.”

“Makoto . . . .”

“Makoto?”

“Uhhh, but it’s a feminine name!”

“Makoto huh? Heh heh, I like it! From now on, I’m Makoto!”

“Uhhhh, if you say so.”

“So then, what’s yours?”

“(y/n) (l/n).”

“Nice to meet you, I hope we’ll be good friends.”

~0~

Three days later . . . .

It was a normal weekend, well, as normal as it can get in the (l/n) household. (y/n) was cooking dinner and Makoto was watching tv in the living from his kiddie pool. While she waited for the fish she was cooking to saúte, she looked up at Makoto.

'I still can’t believe my house has a merman in it . . .'

She was so deep in her thoughts, she didn’t hear Makoto turn off the tv and call out to her.

“(y/n)?” no answer, “(y/n)!” still no response, “(y/n)-chan!” that got her attention.

“Please don’t call me that,” she said, assembling the cooked food.

“Huh? Why? We’ve been together for three days now, so maybe we should start using nicknames!” he said, already thinking about what kind of nicknames would suite (y/n).

“Food’s ready,” (y/n) said, no amused by him.

“You’re so cruel!!”

He’s a strange merman.

After dragging the kiddie pool to one side of the table, (y/n) sat across from Makoto. Saying their thanks for the food, they began to eat. Well . . . (y/n) ate and Makoto attempted to eat. Even though he’s been here for three days, he still has yet to master using chop sticks. (y/n) was almost done with her meal when Makoto was finally able to stab his fish with a chopstick and took a bite. His eyes almost sparkled from the taste.

“It’s delicious!” he exclaimed happily, “(y/n), what kind of fish is this?”

“Makoto brand.”

“Makoto? . . . . . . It’s cannibalism!!!” he shrieked while covering his eyes and sobbing dramatically.

“Um . . .” (y/n) wanted to try and explain that it was the brand’s name and not the actual fish’s name, which was an isaki fish. Makoto then thought of a rather strange conclusion out of thin air.

“If the lunchtime snack is Makoto, then the nighttime snack is me!!?” he threw his hands into the air, “Eating merman flesh is wrong and immoral!!” he practically screamed. (y/n) sweat dropped, “Just go back to the ocean,” she said, gathering up her dishes.

“(y/n), you’re cruel!” Makoto whined.

'He’s a very strange merman.'

~0~

After that little drama act and when all the dishes were cleaned, (y/n) joined Makoto in the living room to relax with some tv. She sat on the couch behind him, watching him more then what was actually on the tv. To think that just the other day her grandpa was lying there watching tv, now, the image has been replaced with a merman in her kiddie pool. As the commercials went by, (y/n) looked over at Makoto.

“Hey Makoto-kun, don’t you have parents?”

“Hm? he looked up at her, “no I don’t. I’ve been alone ever since I was born.”

(y/n) couldn’t help but to feel pity for him, even though he seemed pretty fine with the idea of living on his own ever since day one.

“And you?” Makoto asked.

“My parents divorced when I was little, so I lived with my grandfather.”

“I see.”

“You know,” (y/n) added, “my grandfather bought that kiddie pool just for me.”

“Oh! Is that so?” Makoto then proceeded to hug the side of the pool with a goofy smile on his face, “Being able to watch tv with you, to eat meals with you. It’s all thanks to this!”

(y/n) had to lightly chuckle at Makoto’s actions. Then her mind suddenly went to all the good times she had in the pool with her grandfather. The memories brought tears to her eyes that went noticed by Makoto.

“Oh? (y/n)?”

She knew he was gonna ask about her tears, so she quickly turned away from him, bringing her knees up to her chest and covering her face with her hands.

“Hey (y/n)!”

“I-I’m sorry, it’s nothing,” (y/n) said, trying her best to keep her voice from cracking. As she sat there, attempting to stop her tears, she then felt a pat on her back. Makoto was leaning against the couch, stroking her back.

“(y/n), you’ve always struck this pose when you’re crying.”

Since she had managed to slow the flow from her eyes, (y/n) looked back at Makoto, “Huh?”

“I’m not here to make you cry, not at all.”

“N-no! I’m fine!” she chocked out.

“Really?”

“Yeah really.”

Makoto knew that was the farthest thing from the truth, but like he said, he wasn’t there to be the cause of (y/n)’s tears, so he didn’t push it. It was getting late and (y/n) decided to get ready for bed. She got off the couch and was about to head to the bathroom for a shower, when she reflected on what Makoto said.

“‘Always’?”

When she was younger, there was only one place she would ever allow herself to cry, it was the same place she had fallen a few days ago before she met Makoto. The sea was always calming to her like a mother’s embrace to her child, so it somewhat helped (y/n) whenever she was feeling especially down.

'I’ve never cried anywhere but there,' she thought.

“Ummm, hey, how long have you watched me like that?” she asked, wondering if maybe Makoto had seen her in previous years without her knowing.

“Oh? How long? Hmmmm,” Makoto thought about it, “since you were little!”

'Creepy.'

“Well the mermaid princess gets to help the prince because she always watches him.”

“Uhhhh . . . . that’s completely different from this.”

'He’s a very strange merman. But, a small part of me was glad Makoto was here.'

~Next day~

After waking up early, having breakfast with Makoto, and dressing in her uniform, (y/n) was walking out the front door to go to school.

“Okay, I’ll be back!” she called out.

“Hey (y/n)!” Makoto called back, “I wanna go too!”

“What are you saying? I’ll be back.”

Without letting Makoto retort in any way, (y/n) left the house.

“. . . . I wonder what I should do?”

~Ten minutes later~

“Uwaaahhh! So bored!” Makoto exclaimed. There was nothing good on tv at the moment, so he just lied in the kiddie pool like a fish out of water. That when he noticed the pictures hanging on the wall. A framed one on a dresser caught his eye. It looked like a slightly younger (y/n) with an old man. He giggled to himself, “Look at her all blushing, heh.”

The his eyes caught on something hanging on the door of a closet. A beautiful, aqua colored yukata.

“Ah! I found something good!” he proclaimed to himself. Crawling to it, he pulled it down and tried it on. Joy overtook him when he saw that it hid his tail very well, that’s when a plan formed into his brain. A plan to make sure (y/n) was doing ok.

~After school~

(y/n) just sat at her desk even after the bell rang in her last class: English class. She looked up at the board, notes from the teacher written all over it about the book they were studying: “The Little Mermaid.” She had to chuckle to herself.

“How ironic.”

“(y/n)!!” a cheery voice called out to her. (y/n) looked away from the window to see her friend (f/n).

“Oh, (f/n).”

“Hey! Listen, if you’re free after school, wanna come to karaoke with me?”

“Sorry, the culture festival’s action committee is meeting, I really don’t think I can.”

“Awww bummer. Y’know, you and I haven’t done karaoke together once,” she then leaned on (y/n)’s desk, getting closer to her face, “Hey, you haven’t been looking very chipper lately, you ok?”

(y/n)’s frowm almost deepened, but she held it back and forced on a smile, “I’m perfectly fine, don’t worry about it. Things have just been hard, that’s all.”

“Hmmmm,” her friend didn’t seem completely convinced, but she just let it go, “Ok then, I’ll ask someone else then, later!” with that, she left.

(y/n) stared blankly ahead of her, ignoring the girls that were crowding at the window gazing at something, or someone. That was until that someone called out her name.

“(yyyyy/nnnn)!!”

In her state of daydreaming, she would’ve confused it with her friend calling out to her, but (f/n) had already done that. Her head swished to the window and there she saw-

'Makoto!!?'

She instantly stood up form her seat and sped off before her friend even made it out of the classroom.

“Eh? (y/n)?”

Hearing the girls say her name, she joined them at the window, watching (y/n) run over to a brown haired boy wearing a blue yukata.

“Huh? Is that guy a friend of (y/n)’s?” one of the girls asked.

“Maybe her boyfriend?” her friend said.

“Awww, so lucky.”

“Well . . . . she’s chipper now,” (f/n) said with a laugh.

(y/n) panted when she reached the gate on which Makoto was leaning on to keep himself upright.

“What are you doing here!?” she demanded.

“Well, I wondered if I was able to go out and meet you here. I sure gave it my all and so, here I am!”

“Eh!? What if someone found you out!!?” that’s when (y/n) realized she had yet to ask the most important question, “Wait, how’d you get here?” and then she noticed the yukata, “Gah! And that’s my grandpa’s yukata!!”

“I’m not human, but it suites me in the gist I guess,” Makoto said, ignoring all of (y/n)’s questions, “This universal design is great by the way.”

“Are you trying to sound like an intellectual!?”

Makoto only giggled. (y/n) decided that asking anything else was just gonna go through one ear and out the other, so she stopped to catch her breath. Makoto smiled softly at (y/n).

“I’m glad,” he suddenly said, he reached out and patted her head, “You’re not crying today, are you?”

(y/n) scoffed and softly slapped Makoto’s hand from her head, “I don’t know what you mean,” she mumbled, “Now come on.” With some effort, she got Makoto on her back and began walking back home. That’s when she remembered just last night, she had woken up crying. Her cries turned into sobs that she thought she had muffled with her pillow, but maybe Makoto had heard them, which might explain why he had commented that she wanted crying today.

'Could it be? Did he come because he was worried?'

~0~

That evening, (y/n) was in just high spirits from Makoto’s deed, that she prepared quite a spread for dinner that consisted of daikon salad, orange-stewed apples, tomato pasta,  and isaki acqua pazza (Makoto brand of course).

“Whoa! What an awesome spread!” Makoto exclaimed, his eyes sparkling from the feast before him, “So, you’re being nice today huh!?

“Don’t make me out to be two-faced. Say that again and I’ll take it away from you,” (y/n) said, rolling her eyes.

“Ok ok. Thanks for the food!!”

The two ate, (y/n) with chopsticks, and Makoto with a  fork, since he had no hope of mastering the chopsticks.

“This is super delish!” he said, eating the fish dish, “I’m so glad you caught me!”

“I didn’t catch you,” (y/n) said, sounding like she was in a daze.

“Huh?”

“If anything,” she smiled a gentle smile, “I’m the one who was caught. Today I was . . . quite happy,” she ended with her smile now beaming. Makoto didn’t think she could look more beautiful, but that smile certainly hit a homerun for him. He suddenly leaned over the table, getting closer to (y/n)’s face to get a even better look. It wasn’t until they were touching noses that the two snapped out of it and let out a startled yell. Makoto retreated back to his pool while (y/n) went behind the kitchen counter.

'What  shock! What a shock! What a shock!!' they both thought.

'Why am I blushing so hard?' (y/n) wondered, covering her face with her hands.

'Oh, just what am I doing?' Makoto wondered.

(y/n) took in a few deep breaths to calm down her racing heart.

“Oh, that’s right. How’d you get to my school anyway?” she asked, realizing she had yet to get to the bottom of that.

“Oh! I took a taxi!” Makoto replied.

“A taxi? But didn’t you need money for-” she stopped herself and ran to the fridge where she kept an envelope on the door by a magnet that held her weekly expense money. Dumping it’s remaining contents onto her hand, she saw that there was only twenty five cents left. A dangerous aura filled the house.

“Makoto-kun,” (y/n) said in an erie voice. He slowly turned his head and became pale when he saw her advancing towards him with a chef knife in her hands.

“They say that eating merman flesh makes you young and immortal. Maybe I should try it out.”

“Th-th-th-that’s a superstition (y/n)!! Eating me wont do anything like that for you!!”

“Oh? Even so, I’m sure you’ll fetch a good price somewhere.”

“STOP IT (Y/N)!! UUUWWWAAAHHHHHH!!”

Afterwards, Makoto promised up and down to (y/n( that he’d never touch her money again, and all was forgiven, although she did ignore him for the rest of the day.

"(y/n)'s a big meanie," Makoto mumbled to himself.

'But I wouldn't change her for the world.'