It was a bright sunny day. A young boy no older than 5 was playing on the beach. His parents were nearby. He was playing close by. But, he saw something in the water and went to investigate.

He saw... people? Except, they had tails. He wasn't familiar with their name. He watched in awe as some of them played together. He wished he was brave enough to do that.

One of the mermaids noticed him. She had purple hair. She swam over to her curiously. The boy approached. He sat in the shallow water and reached out to touch the girl.

She giggled as he pet her fin. The girl happily played with him for a while. He felt at ease with her. But, she was called away.

The girl pouted. She dove under the water and picked up some shells. She came back up and strung them into a necklace. The necklace glowed and changed. It turned violet. The girl stared at in puzzled, before giving it to the boy.

The boy smiled and put it on. The necklace changed to fit him perfectly. The mermaid waved goodbye and then swam out to the others. The boy waved back and then went back to his parents. He pretended to have found the necklace himself. He felt he shouldn't tell anyone about the girl.

DIVIDER--

Years had passed since then. That boy was now a girl. She had come out two years later. Her family was supportive and she was allowed to transition. She chose a new name for herself. Rinko.

Rinko ended up moving away from the sea. She wished to return. She always wore the necklace the mermaid had been given. She treasured it dearly. It was a secret of hers that no one would ever know. Not that many would believe her if she told them.

Rinko was given an opportunity to return to the beach she had once called her second home. It was with Roselia. They were on a trip for a concert they had been invited to.

"Wow! The hotel is amazing!" Lisa immediately threw herself onto the bed once they entered their designated room.

"It is pretty nice, isn't it?" Yukina nodded.

"Yeah. Had a nice view of the ocean." Sayo added.

Rinko just nodded. She was too shy to say anything. They unpacked their bags and then lounged around. Rinko felt a calling to the ocean. She desperately wanted to return to it. Maybe... just maybe she could find that girl again.

"U-um... could we go to t-the beach?" Rinko nervously asked, "It's better than just sitting here, right?"

"That sounds like a good idea, Rinko!" Lisa agreed, "We have the day to ourselves, so why not?"

"Very well. We can go to the beach for a bit." Yukina agreed.

They changed into their bathing suits and headed over. Lisa managed to drag Yukina into a sandball fight. As Lisa put it, it was a snowball fight, but with wet sand.

Sayo and Rinko were sitting on some towels and watching them. Sayo was relaxing and reading a book, occasionally glancing at the pair. Rinko was scanning the ocean.

"I'm going to take a walk. I'll be back later." Rinko said as she stood up.

"Alright." Sayo replied.

Rinko set off to the area she very clearly remembered as the meeting place. It was a desolate area. No one was around. Rinko stood in the ocean and stared out. It was hard to believe how big it was. It was big enough to hold and entire species of mermaids, so it had to be pretty huge.

Rinko stared out at the waves. It was calming. She sat down in the ocean. She had no clue if there was any way to call the mermaid to her. Rinko just hoped she would see her somehow. She really did want to meet her again.

Rinko felt something grab her ankles. It drug her into the ocean. She cried out in panic as she fought against it. It was no use. Before long, she was submerged under the water.

Rinko had no clue what the thing she was being attacked by was. All she knew was that she was going to die if she couldn't get free. Rinko was weakening. She was getting pulled farther under the water.

Her breath slowly gave out. As darkness came over her, she saw a flash of red swim her way. Then, it was all black.

DIVIDER--

Rinko woke up gasping for air. She coughed up water.

"Ah! You're awake!" An unfamiliar voice called in relief, "I thought you'd drowned."

"W-what... was that..." Rinko gasped as she looked her savior over.

"No one really knows. We haven't quite figured that out yet." The girl, well mermaid, shrugged.

"Thank you for saving me." Rinko said.

"I only did it because of the necklace." The girl stated.

"Huh? Why?" Rinko held her necklace.

"It shows you're a friend of our kind." The girl said, "Oh, I should probably introduce myself. I'm Tomoe."

"R-Rinko..."

"Who gave you the necklace?" Tomow asked.

"Um... a girl with purple hair." Rinko said.

"Ah. I think I know who you're talking about. So, you're the crazy one."

"Huh?"

"Well, weren't you a boy when you met her?" Tomoe asked.

"O-oh... right." Rinko nodded.

"The necklace has different colors for your gender. Yours was expected to turn green, but you got violet. Ako was extremely confused when she told me. I guess that explains it, though." Tomoe explained.

"This necklace knew I was a girl before I did?" Rinko was in awe.

"Yeah. Pretty awesome, right?" Tomoe smiled.

"U-um... can I see... her?" Rinko nervously requested.

"Sure. I'll be right back." Tomoe nodded and vanished into the ocean.

A few minutes later, she came back with Ako. Ako stared at Rinko for a while. It was hard to believe she was meeting her again.

"H-hi?"

"Hi! I'm Ako!" Ako smiled, "I'm so happy I get to see you again!"

"Y-yeah..." Rinko smiled, "I'm glad too."

"Onee-chan said a weird monster attacked you. Are you hurt?" Ako asked in worry.

"No. I'm okay now. Just a little startled." Rinko reassured her.

"That's good. So, what's your name?"

"Rinko."

"I like it!" Ako said.

"T-thank you..."

"Oh, right. You chose it yourself, right?" Ako asked.

Rinko nodded, "Y-yeah..."

"You two can talk. I'm heading back." Tomoe stated.

"Okay. See you later, sis." Ako replied.

"Thank you again for saving me." Rinko said.

Tomoe disappeared under the water after that. Ako swam closer to Rinko. She crawled onto the beach and sat next to her. Rinko couldn't help but stare at her fin.

"Still awed by it?" Ako teased.

"It's really pretty." Rinko complimented.

"O-oh... thank you." Now Ako was blushing.

"I'm glad I got to see you again." Rinko smiled.

"Yeah. I'm glad I gave you that necklace." Ako replied.

"I'd be dead if you hadn't, right?"

"Yeah. Our rules say we can't trust humans without a shell necklace. So, we can't save them if they aren't wearing one." Ako explained.

"I see."

"Shiro- what!?"

Both of them turned around. Sayo had been sent to find Rinko as they were planning to leave soon. She was gaping in shock at Ako. Ako gulped as she cowered into Rinko.

"U-um... Sayo-san... this is a friend of mine." Rinko stammered.

"You're a mermaid... they actually exist?" Sayo was still in shock.

Ako whimpered. She didn't exactly trust Sayo. She wasn't a naive child like she was when she met Rinko. She refused to immediately trust humans anymore.

"It's okay, Ako. She won't hurt you." Rinko tried to calm her.

"Oh... I apologize if I startled you. I was just... shocked. I mean no harm." Sayo quickly said.

"I... I should go." Ako mumbled.

"Go ahead." Rinko nodded.

Ako quickly slipped back into the ocean. She glanced at them one last time before she disappeared below the water.

"What the hell was all that?" Sayo asked, not completely believing she had seen that right.

"Um... you can't tell anyone about her." Rinko stated, "It needs to be kept secret."

"I won't tell." Sayo promised, "But, may I have an explanation?"

"We met years ago and she gave me this necklace. I wanted to see her again so that's why I asked if we could come to the beach." Rinko explained as she stood up and walked over to Sayo.

"Did you go swimming? You're all wet." Sayo looked her over.

"A-ah... um... I was attacked by a sea monster..."

"So, not only do mermaids exist, but sea monsters too?" Sayo stared with wide eyes.

Rinko nodded, "Yeah... it drug my under the water, but Ako's sister saved me. Thanks to the necklace. If I hadn't had it on... I would be dead..."

Sayo wrapped an arm around Rinko, "That must've been terrifying. Well, we were going to find a place to eat. Shall we head back?"

"Yeah..."

"Hey! Come back!"

Ako had come back to them. Both of them walked over to her. Ako held out a necklace.

"Here. So you'll be trusted if you run into mermaids again." Ako handed it to Sayo.

"Thank you. I'll take good care of it." Sayo nodded.

"See you whenever! Promise you'll visit me again, Rinko?" Ako gave her a puppy eye look.

"I'll try." Rinko promised.

"Yay!" Ako smiled, "Have fun!"

She went back under. Sayo put the necklace on. It had a similar violet color as Rinko's, but it was slightly darker. Sayo held out her hand the Rinko.

"Ready?" Sayo asked.

Rinko nodded and took her hand. They started walking back to the other two.

"You should come with me to see her again." Rinko said.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to." Sayo replied.

"Jeez! You guys took forever! I'm hungry." Lisa saw them and immediately started whining.

"You're acting like a child, Imai-san. Behave yourself." Sayo scolded.

"Ooh, you have a necklace like Rinko's. Where'd you get it?"

"That's a secret between us." Sayo sent her a warning glare.

Lisa pouted, "Fine. Let's get changed and get some food!"

Rinko glanced back at the ocean. She smiled, before she walked after everyone. She swore to herself that she'd visit Ako again before they left.