It was a beautiful day, and a good one for Seto Kousuke. His sister, Kido, had made a wonderful breakfast, work went great, and now he was strolling along the beach while the sun was setting, the smell of salt water rising into the air.

Oh yes, it was wonderful.

"I wish everyday was like this," he said out loud, walking on the wet sand. It was times like this- when the sky was painted in oranges and purples, and the beach was deserted- that made him happy. That's not to say that when he's with his siblings he isn't happy- his family makes him even happier!- but on days where a lot of his part time jobs take place, it's really nice to take a break from everything- specifically, Kano.

"Hnnng..."

Seto looked up, and about 20 feet away, he saw a young girl with a bunch of whitish blonde hair lying face down in the sand.

"Ah! Miss, are you alright?"

In no time at all the 17 year old was by her side, and the girl groaned again, not even moving. Worried, Seto gently pushed her onto her back to see if she was alright when a small gasp escaped his lips.

For a moment, he thought that the girl had no clothes on whatsoever, but after his eyes adjusted, he realized she was, at least, wearing a pale pink bikini top. His eyes traveled downwards, and yet another gasp escaped his lips.

For, where two human legs should have been, were a pair of pearly pink mermaid fins.

"W-what...?"

Rubbing his eyes, Seto blinked once, then twice, expecting them to turn into regular human legs. Summer illusions, he thought, but no matter what he did, they remained the same.

"Hnm..."

The girl stirred a bit, but remained unconscious, and Seto's mind raced.

This is impossible, he thought, but I can't just leave her here!

"M-miss, are you alright?"

The girl flinched, before slowly opening her eyes. "Wha...?"

Before Seto could say anything else, slowly, as if it was all just a summer illusion the whole time, a snapping noise could be heard while the scales on the girl's tail fell off, and it split into two, regular legs, and a bikini bottom the same color as her top appearing.

Upon hearing the noise, the girl slowly sat up, and looked at her now-finless legs, her mouth dropping into a round 'o'. By now, most of the scales were gone, save for a few that seemed stuck into the girl's skin. "My..."

The girl trailed off, obviously confused. Wiggling her toes, she didn't notice that there was a boy by her until he cleared his throat.

"U-uwah!"

She flung herself to the ground, hiding beneath her hair, and Seto sighed. He was confused as well, though he was sure that he was at least taking it well.

"A-are you alright?"

The girl peeked up at him, her bright pink eyes staring at him curiously. ". . . ."

They both were silent for a moment, and after Seto thought she wasn't going to speak, he decided to speak again.

"I'm Kousuke, but just call me Seto."

". . . ."

Sighing at the girl's silence, he stayed crouching down next to her. "We-"

"I'm Marry... Kozakura."

It was so quiet that he almost missed it, but luckily he stopped talking right when she started, so he caught it.

"Marry, huh?" The girl nodded hesitantly, before pushing herself back up in a sitting position. "Do you need help?"

He didn't really know what to say. What do you say to a stranger than strange girl that you found on the beach? 'Hello, do you need a place to stay?'

Even in his head that sounded stupid and creepy, especially since they had just met.

Luckily, he was saved the task of talking when she opened her mouth again. "What are these?"

He looked down to where she was pointing at her two legs, and he sighed again. He would try to help this girl to the best of his ability, but how could he when he himself didn't really understand what was going on?

"Those are legs..."

Marry was quiet a moment, looking at the two lower limbs as she wiggled her toes. After a moment, she scrunched up her face again. "Where... Are my fins?"

Seto couldn't answer her. He didn't know how to answer her without accidentally freaking the girl out, so instead, he asked her a question.

"Marry, what are you?"

"A mermaid!"

She didn't hesitate at all to say it as she beamed up at him, and he nodded, slowly understanding the situation. It was obvious now that Marry was, in fact, a real mermaid, and somehow, her fins had disappeared. As if to make things worse, he didn't know if she was going to get her fins back or where she could even go.

"A mermaid, huh..."

While he tossed thoughts around in his head, he didn't notice the small girl try to stand up. It was only until she had stood up all of the way and then started to wobble that he started paying attention. "Whoa, careful there!"

He caught the girl before she could fall, and she looked up at him, frowning. "I-I-I'm sorry!" she said, and he sighed.

By now it was night time, and he couldn't just leave the girl alone, so he shook his head and smiled at her. "No, it's alright," he told Marry, before looking at the dark ocean. "Marry, I'm unsure of what's going on, but do you want to stay at my house for the night? And we could get you home tomorrow morning?"

Marry's face turned from curious to gloomy at the mention of home, and she looked away from the ocean. "A-ah, yes... But... Can I stay a bit longer? I can't... exactly go home. Not now."

Instead of questioning it- and oh, did Seto have a lot of questions- he just nodded and ruffled her hair.

"Sure!"

He started to walk, holding her hand to make sure she wouldn't fall again, but in about thirty seconds it showed that she really did not know how to move her two legs without falling.

"I don't know how to move about in these 'legs'," she murmured, frowning.

Turning around, Seto crouched down a bit with his back to Marry. "I'll carry you."

Clumsily, Marry wrapped her arms around Seto's neck and just dangled there, unsure of what to do. Thankful that his jobs had given him the strength though, he easily lifted her on his back the rest of the way and stood up straight. "Alright, now let's go home!"

As he started to walk, he could feel her slowly relax on his back, and before he knew it, she was asleep and he was opening the door to the apartment house he shared with his two siblings.

Maybe, in the end, though, it was only a dream...

If only it was.