Love live Mermaid AU

Pairing: Nozoeli

Her name was Nozomi.

It was supposed to mean hope yet why is her being filled with helplessness?

It's almost like hope was trapped in the endless abyss of despair.


The adults warned them to never go near the shore.

After all, who in the aquatic empire had never heard of the foolish little mermaid?

They said that humans were terrifying.

They said that humans were heartless creatures.

They said that humans and mermaids were never meant to be.


Nozomi was a child that never listens.

She dismissed the legend, after all there was no such thing as the witch who grants wishes in exchange for voices.

There was something undeniably attractive about the tale though.

Was it because it was a forbidden love? Or was it because she yearn to experience something like that?

She wanted to take a peek at the world she was never allowed in.

She had never meant to taunt fate.


There were splashing sounds and ripples radiating from the worn bridge.

She could see two limbs kicking upon the surface of the river.

The sunlight was bright and warm, nothing like she ever felt underwater.

The air was cooling, smelling nothing like the sea.

She was about to leave, having seen her fill of the new world, eager to tell her sisters about it when those kicks suddenly turned the surrounding water into frantic splashes, akin to a fish out of water.

She couldn't help but swim towards it in panic, after all a princess could never leave her people in a lurch.

Her arms caught the flailing creature, surprised to note the lack of tail.

Yellow tresses splayed across the blue canvas, and the orbs of azure were staring at her in shock.

It was no mermaid, it was a human.

The adults were right.

Humans were terrifyingly beautiful.


"Hey… Thanks for saving me! I never thought I'd slip…" The human said as she climbed ashore.

The shock of seeing someone with no tail had left her speechless.

"I-I'm Ayase Eli! And I'm here for environmental studies. That's some nice sea shells…" Red seemed to paint the human's face.

"A-AH!"

She dove under water for cover as she felt the human's gaze upon her chest.

"H-hey! Umm… Do you want to come ashore?"


They sat by the bridge for a long time, for Eli that is.

Nozomi wasn't quite sure why she stayed.

Maybe it had got something to do with the delighted smile on the human's face everytime she made a noise of acknowledgment.

Maybe it had to do with her dying curiosity about another race.

Maybe it was her frantically beating heart that stopped her from swimming away.

"You're a really good swimmer." At this she smiled, she was after all one of the best swimmers in the empire, with only Umi besting her record.

"Will you be here tomorrow?"

There was no harm in meeting her again right?


One meeting turned into numerous others.

When Eli had turned up in some weird clothes one meeting, and had fell (willingly) into the water again, Nozomi couldn't help but felt a sense of déjà vu, swimming towards her in panic.

She had caught the human in her arms again, but this time the azure eyes shone with mirth.

"Pfft Nozomi! I wasn't drowning. I was trying to learn how to swim."

"Don't do that again! That's not how you swim!"

"Then will you teach me?"

Eli's hands reached out and touched her bare back, sliding down till it reached her tail.

Those eyes were looking at her earnestly.

"You knew?"

"It was rather hard not to notice that tail… And I actually took a peek underwater a few times."

There was a cute blush on Eli's cheeks again.

"Y-You wouldn't turn me into sushi will you?"

Nozomi had recalled the first time the human told her about that particular dish, she had recoiled in shock.

The adults had been right.

"I would eat you-" The blonde had slapped her hand over the mouth at Nozomi's frightened expression.

"No no no! I mean I would never eat a friend!"

Amidst all the fear, Nozomi couldn't help but tear up at that.

As the eldest daughter of the mermaid king, friends were a luxury. All she had was her two sisters, Umi and Rin.

Maybe that was the reason why she had been so attracted to the blonde in the first place.

When she's with Eli, there was no courtesy or etiquette to care about.

When she's with Eli, she was free.


Eli never really mastered swimming, instead relied on the mermaid to bring her around the seas.

"Elichi! Are you listening?"

The blonde had taken to drawing lazily on the mermaid's back with one hand, while the other hugged Nozomi's waist as they swam down shore.

"Yeah? Detect the flow of the current and try to go with the flow? But Nozomi I can't feel that."

"Yes you CAN. Elichi pay attention!"

In a moment of anger, Nozomi had sped up and swam towards the sea.

The blonde's grip on Nozomi's waist tightened as they reach the end of the river.

"N-Nozomi? L-Let's go back to the river…"

"I'm going to dump you here if you don't learn how to swim properly."

"I-I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Nozomi! I'm trying!"

They ended up taking a break near the end of the tributary, with the mermaid sprouting a pout.

It was an ethereal view, seeing the mermaid perched upon a stone, sweeping her tail back and forth, as if she was kicking her legs.

The water on the purple hair only seem to enhance her beauty, reflecting light, making it seem like she was wearing diamonds.

When Eli closed in, capturing those pouting lips, all thoughts of swimming were forgotten.


Nozomi never listens.

Eli had learned that the hard way.

"Nozomi, there's going to be deforesting done in the next few days, don't come here alright?"

When the mermaid had turned up all grimly and dirty, coughing muddy water, a panicking and concerned Eli had torn through all her camping supplies for her bottle of water and towel, Nozomi stood by her reasons.

Seeing a cute and flustered Eli was enough reason.

When the river had become too shallow to swim in, yet the mermaid tried anyway, Eli had learned that Nozomi was a stubborn one.

Pain filled her eyes as she washed away the twigs and fallen leaves that had coated her love, exposing the numerous cuts caused by the bed of rocks.

"Nozomi…"

"I'm fine. Because I get to see you today Elichi."

Eli had learned to prepare a large canister of water every time the mermaid visits.


Sometimes Nozomi were afraid to be too happy.

She was afraid that she would lose this happiness one day.

Wasn't this love supposed to be forbidden?

Will she incur the wrath of the sea gods?

Rin had tried to dissuade her from her frequent visits, but Nozomi never listened.

She never did.


"Eli?"

"Hmm?"

The mermaid had turned her back upon her lover, as hesitant words spilled out.

"Were you only interested in me because I'm a mermaid?"

"What?" It was one of the rare days that Nozomi had shown such vulnerability.

She was backfacing Eli, who was sitting on the worn bridge.

In one quick movement, the blonde circled her arms around the neck, breathing words of assurances in her ear.

"You seem more like a goddess to me but I would love you anyway no matter what race or species. You're Nozomi and it's all that it matters."

"What about in the future?"

"There will only be us in the future."


Months passed by but it was never meant to be.

It was just like how she had feared.

"Nozomi, I need to leave."

"Eli?"

Her heart froze, the surrounding air seemed even more chilling than the water prisons at the Arctic seas.

"I tried to delay the studying here but I need to go."

"Will you be back?"

"I will." There was a firm look, one that would normally calm her down, but she couldn't help but feel something was off.

"How long will you be gone?"

"Just a month."


Nozomi never listens.

When the adults said that humans were heartless creatures, she had refused to believe. Yet she couldn't help but feel that the adults were right.

Elichi was heartless.

It had been a month of emptiness without her daily dose of Eli.

Another three days had passed yet Eli was never back.

The little dam that Eli had built to house Nozomi had broken; The season of high tide was coming.


It had been said that mermaids would die if they were apart from their soulmates for an extended period of time.

Much like how the salmons would travel thousands of miles just to go back to the same river to lay their eggs, once a mermaid had settled down with a partner there was no return.

It's not that she forgot to tell Eli about it, it just that she never believed.

She never listened to what the adults say anyway.

Maybe the adults were right. Humans and mermaids were never meant to be.

She should've listened.


What is a maiden without a heart, or a mermaid without her tail?

Umi seemed to understand her pain, very often sending her looks of pain herself.

When she finally broke, her little sister had hugged her tightly, bringing her to the water prisons beneath the castle grounds.

"I love you Nozomi, seeing you in pain everyday…" Umi trailed off.

"You have someone you love too don't you?" She shot Umi an understanding look.

"I will not do it. Father would break."

"Tell Rin-chan, I love her. Tell her to beat your swimming record. She'll grow up to be a fine swimmer."

"Tell that to her yourself! You will come back to visit us won't you! Nozomi?"

"I'll try, now don't cry. And thank you Umi-chan."

Umi could only hope that the witch could save her sister.

With that she stepped into the cell, where a shrouded face awaited in the dark.


"I…"

"Speak no more, Princess, for I know what you will wish for."

"You do?"

"You wish to be by your love's side forever and always, am I correct?"

"Yes. Are you able to grant that?"

"Do you really believe that the tale of the little mermaid was nothing but a rumor?"

There was an empty laughter, as the hooded figure removed the shroud.

"Grandmother?"

Amidst all the emptiness, Nozomi couldn't help but feel a new wave of tears crashing upon her.

Her dam broke.

It was a face that she only remembered in her dreams.

"Nozomi…"

"That couldn't be! Why would Father imprison his own mother within the cell?"

"I did took his beloved away from him after all."

"You mean, the little mermaid?!"

"She never wanted to be his wife and I felt truly sorry for her."

"Is that why Father never allowed-"

It all made sense now, the King's hatred for the humans, and his constant overprotectiveness.

"Nozomi… Let me see your face."

The weathered hands gently touched the princess' cheeks.

"Oh how it breaks my heart to be sending my granddaughter away."

"Grandmother… I'm living a life worse than death now."

There was a kiss on her forehead, much like how her old granny used to kiss her to sleep.


The dagger within her hands trembled slightly as she swam up to the river where their memories lie.

She looked at the broken dam forlornly.

Was this the only way?

Her name was Nozomi.

It was supposed to mean hope yet why is her being filled with helplessness?

It's almost like hope was trapped in the endless abyss of despair.

As the sun rose, bathing her with warmth, she thought of how lonely her sisters must feel, being apart from her.

She might never fulfil her promise to Umi.

Yet part of her was excited to see Eli again.

As the sun continued its trajectory, there was no mermaid to be seen.

The dense bubbles floated along with the flow of the current, down the river and into the sea, where a whirlpool awaited, along with the body of her love.

"I learned how to swim Nozomi."

"I know, I found you."