"You made quite the story on the dollars site last night." Simon said.

"Eh? Did I?" Roppi looked at him as he grabbed two cup and a sake jug.

"Yes. One of the members posted a thread about how you were apparently dying while playing a game."

Roppi held back a laugh and turned his head away. "Oh, yes, it was a great game."

The mermaid put the jug and two cups on a tray and lifted it up. He went out from behind the counter and walked towards one of the tables. He made small talk with the customers for a bit before returning to the counter. He went into the back to do some dishes, in which he pulled out his phone and went to the dollars site—Simon said it was fine for him to play on his phone, so long as he had nothing else to do and it wasn't busy. He went down the threads a bit until he found the one Simon mentioned.

[False alarm due to a game, Hachimenroppi

Posted by: 100% Pure Water

Well last night was interesting. You guys know about Izayas new girlfriend, Hachimenroppi? Well last night Roppis kid Tsukishima took his phone and texted in the chat. Apparently Roppi was screaming that he was dying and it scared Tsukishima so he went to the chat for help. We showed up to do just that but it turns out Roppi and Izaya were just having really intense sex.]

There were over 100 comments. He wasn't going to read everything, but he would read a few.

[LMFAO REALLY?! What were they doing that made her say she's dying?!]

[Wow thats so fucking hot!]

[I wanna know the details!]

[Ew gross! Shut up you simps]

That comment sparked a long subthread of arguments that Roppi didn't want to read, so he didn't.

[I dont know if its a good thing or a bad thing if the sex was making Roppi scream she was dying]

[you think it was bdsm?]

[could be thats intense]

[I can only imagine what orihara-san said. He was probably so embarrassed]

[you think Izaya's embarrassed, imagine Roppi! She had to explain it to her kids!]

[Oh dear, how old are her kids again?]

[idk they look like their 6 or something]

[I think their 6]

[pretty sure theyre 6]

[those are some big 6 years old then.]

[yeah I saw them the other day. They look like their ten]

[theyre pretty tall especially the blond]

[yeah the blond kid is to roppi's chest.]

[the one that looks like Roppi isnt though. The black haired one. He shorter than the blond]

[theyre so cute though.]

[ah those poor cuties had to listen to their mom having sex. -vomit emoji-]

[ew]

[poor kids]

[probably not the first time]

X: [god I hate that. Thats so gross]

Roppi decided to respond. Hachimen: [hey fuck you guys. Sex isnt gross.]

The raven pocketed his phone and went to the dishes. He did that until they were all done, then dried his hands. He went back up front and picked up a tray to pick up some orders. Roppi spent the next two hours doing that.

Five o'clock rolled around soon enough, in which Roppi clocked off and waved good-bye to Simon and Dennis. It was his day to pick up the kids from daycare, so that's why he was getting off early. He went back to his phone and looked at the dollars thread. He had a few reply to his message. Well, more than a few. But there were more than that he was willing to read so he browsed over a few.

[Youre right! Sex isnt gross! Its a natural part of life and a beautiful thing! But society makes it out to be this huge no-no and go through the extra miles to censor everything sexual! Our society is so fucked!]

[Okay justice warrior calm down]

That comment had a subthread that Roppi decided not to get into. Instead he looked at the other messages, particularly, the person who originally said 'that's so gross'.

X: [your fucking gross you whore. Having sex within hearing distance of your kids is fucking disgusting]

[like your parents didnt do the same stfu]

X: [im calling CPS on you]

X: [hope your kids get taken away]

X: [stupid whore]

Roppi responded to those particular messages. Hachimen: [wow you think your dick is so big. Thats adorable XD I dont know what CPS is but if you really want to try and take my kids ill eat you. Come at me. Thisll be fun]

He crossed the street then looked at his phone to read the other responses.

[Your right sex isnt gross!]

[not like everyones parent havent fucked in the room next to their kids]

[whoever that guy is hes got a stick up his ass]

[yeah ignore him Hachimen. Hes not worth your time]

[I dought hed be able to call CPS anyway since your a mermaid]

[LOL yeah you can just go to the ocean cant you?]

[wait you guys actually believe that?]

[dumbasses]

[have you not seen the videos? He transformed into a mermaid and has shark teeth over his normal teeth]

[your all dumbasses. That was special effects and CGI obviously. Same for the shark teeth. I mean, have you seen that american show Supernatural? The vampires have fangs over the teeth too]

[where do you think they got it from?]

[not mermaids you child]

Roppi responded to that one. Hachimen: [whats special effects and CGI? What is special about an effect and what are you effecting?]

He continued reading more as he walked.

[yo give us some juicy details on what happened last night]

[I watched your sex video before it was taken down. You were so hot in that]

[you should make another video! Id pay to see you naked again!]

[make an onlyfan or something! You can make a lot of money selling nudes and video clips]

[you all are nasty simps]

[censorship laws guys. I dont know how he got by the censorship law the first time but he cant post anymore without getting in trouble]

Roppi responded to this one as well. [im not the one who posted that video. It was izayas little sisters. But whats the censorships laws? never heard of that before.]

With those messages sent, Roppi decided not to read anymore. Instead, he pocketed his phone and went walking towards the daycare. He arrived there in about 30 minutes. He went inside the small building and went to the closed door. It was locked, but there was a doorbell by it. Said bell would let the teachers know a parent was there to get their kid. He hit the bell, then sat down in a soft chair and pulled out his phone.

New messages showed up again.

On the first response:

X: [bullshit you dont know what CPS is! And what kind of threat is that?! Youre so retarded! Im going to enjoy getting your kids taken from you!]

[dude have you not been around the dollar threads at all? Youre telling a monster like the black rider that your going to take his kids]

23user: [adding to that, Hachimenroppi was in slavery for the last 12 years, being raped and having her kids stolen from her and sold off as well. So you are absolutely disgusting for saying you want separate her from her kids!]

[23user is right. You're gross for wanting to take the kids]

[what you just said is ten times worse than roppi having sex in the next room over]

[yeah like your parents havenbt done the same shit, you revolting hypocrite]

[no response? You were responding within minutes after Hachimen commented and now youre silent?]

[did you realize how vile you are for saying your going to take the kids away from a woman who had her children kidnapped over the last 12 years? Because you are vile]

[youre on your own with this argument. Everyones on roppi-chan's side since we actually know why hes with izaya]

[and on top of that, you think that for a second Izayas going to let you take Roppis kids away?]

[Roppi is dating Orihara Izaya. Try and fuck with Roppi and Izaya will destroy you dumbass XD]

[next time do your research before taking shit to someone]

[thinking before you leave a message is a really good idea]

Roppi smiled at all the people who came to his defense. He then went and read the next comment he posted, the one about special effect and CGI.

[google it]

Roppi responded. [if you cant explain it to me then dont accuse me of it. If you dont know what it is, then how the fuck should I know? XD Im literally centuries older than you lol]

Roppi scrolled once more and went down to the last comment about censorship laws. However, he didn't read it, as someone came out the front door. A woman with brown hair smiled at him.

"Oh, hello, Constantinu-san." The woman said.

"Hello, sensei." Roppi stood and gave her a curt bow.

"I'll go get the boys."

"Thank you."

She disappeared back behind the door. Roppi decided to stay standing, leaning back against the wall as he returned his attention to his phone.

[Basically, you cant show uncensored genitals and penetration. So you can show an anus up until you put a dick in it. But your not allowed to show dick or pussy. If you do, you can get arrested for up to 2 years and can get fined for no more than 25mil yen ($250,000)]

[whens the last time youve been out of the ocean? A lot of laws have come through Japan.]

Roppi cocked a brow. Hachimen: [Why? Whats the point of videotaping sex if you cant show the main point of it?]

He then responded to the other one.

[This is the first time in literal centuries ive been to Japan. I was born in Greece, traveled around the ocean for most of my life and came in to Japan for the first time in the 1600s. I think it was 1620 something. I didnt stay long since the 'new world' was colonized and I was curious. Came back in 1860, stuck around for a few years, then went back down.]

Roppi pocketed his phone as the door opened again. The caretaker returned with two ten-year-olds.

"Hi, Mom!" Hibiya called as he rushed up. "Where's Dad?"

"He'll be meeting up with us after he's done with his client." Roppi pushed off the wall and walked over. "He said he'd be done by six."

"Wh-where..." Tsukishima started, "Are we meeting up-up with him at?"

Roppi looked over at the blond boy. He noticed his son started to stutter, however he didn't know why. Over the last month, he'd developed the speech impediment and Izaya had talked about getting him speech therapy. Roppi wasn't sure about that. He loved his baby boy and if he had a stutter, he'd love him as he was. But maybe that was Roppi being stubborn, deciding there was nothing wrong with his child and just denying it. He came to the conclusion he'd thing about it.

Roppi smiled at his blond ten-year-old. He hugged Tsuki close, the top of his head reaching right under Roppi's chest, and ruffled his hair.

"We're meeting up with him at the park." Roppi stated.

"Great!" Hibiya beamed. "Let's go then."

"Actually," the caretaker interrupted, "Constantinu-san, I'd like to talk to you for a moment."

Roppi was confused as to why, but he didn't mention it as he nodded. Instead, he turned to the boys.

"You two wait outside." Roppi said. "I'll be right behind you."

They both nodded. And with that they went out the front door. Once alone, Roppi turned to the care provider.

"What's up?" Roppi asked.

"Okay, so, um...Alright, I'm part of the Dollars." She said.

Roppi cocked a brow. She certainly didn't seem like the type. However, he nodded.

"So I know about your...condition...thanks to those videos..." She blushed.

Roppi couldn't help but sneer. 'So, she saw the sex video too.'

"Anyway, I know you and your boys are different. But the other caretakers don't. And they've been questioning why two ten-year-olds are coming to daycare when they should be at school."

Roppi tilted his head. "Is it not normal for ten-year-olds to be in daycare?"

"No, it is. It's just that, when you drop them off at eleven o'clock in the afternoon, they're the only ten-year-old's here. The rest are at school until three in the afternoon."

"...Oh."

She nodded. "So, the other caretakers have been talking about them."

"...Hm, well, I could just say they're home-schooled."

"...Yes, you could. I've also been telling them that. However, they've also been talking about bringing it up to the authorities."

Roppi cocked a brow in annoyance. "The fuck do the police have to do with this?"

"Well, by law any child under the age of 15 is required to be in school. Once they graduate middle school* they can do as they will since high school is secondary education. But until then, they're legally required to go to school."

Roppi glowered as he crossed his arms. "...Well, that's going to be difficult. We don't age like humans do. By next month, Tsuki and Hibiya will look like they're 12 and act like it too—Ah! But then again..."

Roppi trailed off as realization hit him. He cast his glare to the floor.

"I've tried to convince the others not to worry about it too much." The caretaker said. "But I think my hands are going to be tied here soon."

Roppi nodded. "Thanks for sticking your neck out for us when you didn't have to. I honestly appreciate it."

She nodded as well. "I'm sure it must be...difficult for you to...well, live among us."

Roppi smiled. "You're surprisingly open-minded to the concept of monsters."

"...Well, I mean, the black rider is a avid member of the Dollars. Sure, he's scary, but he hasn't done anything evil. And well...you don't...look like a monster."

"Most monsters don't. And the ones who do stay in the underground out of man's sight. Great thing about being a mermaid, I rarely get persecuted for being a monster."

"...So, you admit you're a monster..."

"I'm not human. I'm not a descendant of Adam and Eve nor did I have God's blessing to exist." Roppi shrugged. "I know what I am and I accept that."

She didn't respond. It was quite obvious she was uncomfortable. Roppi smiled warmly.

"I'll think about what to do." Roppi said. "Thank you for everything you've done so far."

She held a crooked smile. "You're welcome."

Roppi nodded. He then pulled out his wallet and pulled out some money. He paid her for looking after the kids, telling her to keep the change for herself—which was an extra 20,000 yen ($200). She was grateful for that and nodded.

The raven said his goodbyes and went out the front door. Hibiya and Tsuki were waiting patiently for him. Tsukishima was drawing in the dirt with a stick while Hibiya was playing some kind of game on his phone. The boys smiled up at him. Hibiya pocketed his phone while Tsuki dropped his stick. They grabbed each of Roppi's hand. With that, the trio left the daycare behind and went towards the park.

"Need my phone," Roppi said.

He pulled his hand free from Hibiya's grip, in which the boy grabbed the edge of his coat. The parent pulled out his phone and went to Izaya's thread. He began to type.

[Hey we need to talk wen we meet up]


A young man in his mid-twenties smiled as he looked up at the door before him. He looked back down at the business card.

'Orihara Izaya. Private consultant. 080-XXX-XXXX'

He then flipped it over and read a handwritten note. It was an address, which just so happened to match where he was and the door number of the apartment. His smile only grew as he pocketed the card.

He clicked the button on the intercom, knowing it was the doorbell. There was silence before a female voice came through the intercom.

"Hello, Orihara Izaya's residence. Do you have an appointment?"

"Hello! No, I don't have an appointment, but I need to meet with Orihara Izaya today, if you don't mind."

"I do mind. He had a very busy schedule, so if you don't have an appointment, you need to make one."

"Oh, I'm sure you can make room for me in his schedule today."

"No, I can't. He's booked for the day."

"You can't make an exception for me?"

"No, I can't."

The man smiled from ear-to-ear before leaning in close to the intercom. "Yes, you can. You will make room for me today. In fact, you will let me into the apartment right now."

There was no response. Then the door opened. The man smiled as he looked at the dark-haired woman.

"Please come in." Namie said.


"So, what do you need to talk about?" Izaya asked.

He and Roppi sat on a bench in the park, watching Hibiya and Tsukishima play on the playground in front of them.

The mermaid didn't respond immediately. He hesitated, looking at the ground.

'He's nervous.' Izaya thought.

Roppi was silent for a moment longer before he finally spoke. "I think it's time I take Tsukishima and Hibiya back to the ocean."

Izaya's eyes widened. That was not what he was expecting to hear. However, the surprise didn't last as he quickly composed himself. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Roppi.

"Why?" Izaya asked.

"A few reasons." Roppi started. "First is the daycare. I didn't know that kids are required by law to go to school. Apparently the chicks there have been talking about calling the police since the boys will be at the daycare during the time when they should be in school."

"Well, I could have told you that."

"And you didn't, why?"

"Because you were adamant about your independence. I don't think anything I had said would have changed your mind."

"...I guess you're right."

"...So, another reason."

"A second reason is Tsuki and Hibiya's inevitable return. Eventually, they'll return to the ocean. They can't remain up here forever because they won't age while everyone else will. So the friends they made when they were 20 will surely notice they haven't aged 40 years later. It may be years in the future, but it doesn't change that it will happen. And when that time comes, they'll have to return to the ocean until all the people that did know how old they were are dead.

"Because of that," Roppi continued, "If they're adults trying to survive in the ocean, it's going to be so much harder. So, it'd be better to take them back now, as children, so they can have the survival instinct ingrained in them. So, it's second nature on what to do in the ocean."

Izaya glowered. "Okay..."

Roppi looked up at him. Then back at the ground. "The last thing is something I...At the end of it all, Izaya, I fully intend to take the kids to the ocean whether you agree with it or not. Before they hit puberty."

Izaya openly glared at him. "Then what's the point of telling me?"

"Because I'd like to be able to come back." Roppi looked up at him. "I'd like to be able to see you again."

"If you remember to come up before 100 years pass." Izaya didn't even looked at Roppi as he crossed his arms.

Roppi's brows furrowed.

"Whats the last reason?" Izaya growled. "What's the reason you're taking them back regardless of what I say?"

"...Well, this'll surely piss you off."

"I'm already annoyed. You might as well."

Roppi hesitated. Then he let out a heavy sigh. "There's a very, very high chance you'll become a pervert because of their pheromones."

Roppi was right. Izaya was certainly pissed off by that.

"You know that our pheromones fuck with testosterone. However, when the kids hit puberty, it's an even worse influx than when I gave birth. And this influx won't go away. All throughout their puberty years, they're going to be wafting pheromones even stronger than mine."

"I'm not a pedophile."

"I know you aren't. But you are just a man, and we have a supernatural control over your instinctual lust. I don't want to take the risk that you'll do what one of my late husbands did. This is a decision I've made with every spouse since."

"Explain."

"...Back when, my first husband. I had married a lot of women after Troy, but after Shizuma died, I decided...maybe I should be a woman. I don't even remember why, but I know I refused to have sex with men because of Achilles. Probably something about not wanting to be ruled by my trauma. Wouldn't doubt that was it but it was a long time ago. Either or way, I was denying the fact I was a woman for centuries."

"Anyway..."

Roppi glowered at the ground. "Right, anyway. So, yes, after Shizuma died, I decided to marry a man. Being a hermaphrodite didn't bother him too much and we were in love, you know. We were happily married. We had a daughter together. She was a beached mermaid. My husband never knew we weren't human. We had a normal family. Nothing untoward happened to our daughter. Nothing unnatural ever happened. He didn't molester her or anything gross when she was a child. He was a good man.

"Then," Roppi growled, "Then he changed. When our daughter started to develop as a woman, he started getting strange. He started talking about how much a woman she was becoming. How she'll make a lovely bride for a lucky man. That no man was good enough for her. And, I mean, that doens't sound like anything unnatural for a father to say about their daughter. At the time I thought it was just a father praising his daughter and didn't think much of it. Other men had mentioned the same thing. Men and women alike were saying that kinda stuff, so I thought nothing of it."

"I'm assuming your late husband became a pervert?"

"...Yeah. I went to the market for something. I don't remember what. But when I came back, he was trying to...do as a pervert would. As a beached mermaid, she didn't have any inhuman strength to defend herself. I pulled him off her before she could have her virginity stolen. He tried to say stupid shit. Like he didn't know what came over him. She seduced him. It was my fault for not having breasts. I didn't hesitate to kill him on the spot. I tore out his throat, which traumatized my poor daughter. She didn't know I was a monster; I never told her what we were."

Roppi let out a heavy sigh.

"Her and I managed to return to the ocean. I was able to get her to the water before puberty took over completely and she sprouted her first fin. She wasn't the happiest with the change in events. But it was all we could do. Not like we could hide that my husband died violently. But during our travels in the ocean, I met an old friend of mine. Another mermaid who I had met a few times. We ended up talking and I explained what happened with my husband. Hoping to talk shit about humans and get some backup with hating them. But instead, he explained the pheromone influx to me. After that, I went around and asked other mermaids if that was the case and they all told me the same thing. My parents should have told me that when I was old enough, but...we both know that didn't happen."

"So, you assume that because your late husband was weak to your pheromones I would follow the same example?"

"You're not immune to my pheromone's, Izaya. You've already proven you're not."

"You stated that if I liked you it was because I liked you, not because of the pheromones."

"I'm not talking about at that time. I'm talking about when you kissed me."

"Yes, and every time after that, haven't I resisted the urges? Like when you had first transformed back? We were at the 'secret base' of Aoba and Mikado."

"But are you willing to take the risk?" Roppi looked up at him.

The two made eye contact. They shared a glower for different reasons.

"I personally don't want to risk it." Roppi said. "I don't want to kill you because their pheromones fucked with you to the point you lost your reason."

"That won't happen."

"But I don't want to risk it!" Roppi glared. "Can't you understand that? If my pheromones effect you then you won't stand a chance against theirs!"

Izaya glared right back.

"Just humor me on the idea, alright? I've lived long enough to know what I'm talking about."

"Was it only one instance?"

"Yes. Because I'm not going to subject my kids to test out what I was already told was true."

"I don't know, I took a leap of faith with you."

"Izaya, are you really willing to take that leap?! Because if I'm right, you're going to be a kiddy-fiddler! Are you alright with that?!"

"Keep your voice down."

Roppi glared.

Izaya looked over at Hibiya and Tsukishima. His pride hurt at the notion that Roppi feared the safety of his children around him. His dignity was stabbed at being prophesied as a shotacon. However, his stomach also wrenched at the possibility that he may hurt the boys due to own weakness. As much as he argued it a moment ago, he had to admit he had fallen to Roppi's pheromones in the past. He couldn't deny that. If he had been swayed by Roppi's, what would happen if someone with even stronger pheromones stabbed at his testosterone levels?

Izaya glowered as he glanced to the side. He then let out a heavy sigh and leaned back. "So, what? Is this us breaking up then?"

Roppi's expression flooded with hurt. Izaya cast him a side-long glance, feeling a little satisfaction to that gaze.

"I don't want to, no." Roppi stated. "It's only, what, May?"

"June."

"...Shit. Well, then we can come back next year."

Izaya looked at him fully. "What do you mean?"

"If we go back to the ocean, I plan to stay until the boys are old enough that their puberty burst will be over and done with. So, basically until they're an adult. Or at least until they look 18 or so."

"Okay, that's another six months at most."

Roppi nodded. "However, if we try to transform in the frigid winter temperatures, it may be too much of a shock for our hearts. It's the shock of the transformation, mixed with the shock of the temperatures. Because when we go from human to mermaid, our internal temperature changes to be more human-like. See, our internal temperature is like a sharks, where we can regulate our temperature based on the temps around us. If its 50 degrees, then our internal temperature will be 75. However, the human average is 98. So, if the water is 36 degrees or lower, our internal temperature will be 50, and then we try to force a human transformation which will force our body temperature to jump to 90. So, you know. We might have a heart attack or go into shock."

"Heh," Izaya chuckled. "It seems like your transformations always lead to heart attacks."

"Of course they would. All monsters who transform to humans have that risk."

"Hm..." Izaya looked at the boys. "So, if you leave, you won't be able to come back until next spring."

"That's right."

Izaya was quiet for a moment. He didn't say anything for a long minute, leaving Roppi in suspense. The mermaid started to fidget. Izaya left him there on purpose. He wanted to make Roppi squirm a little. It was childish and immature, but Izaya felt it was dignified since Roppi hurt his pride.

Finally, he spoke. "Personally, I don't want you to go."

"Izaya—"

"You've stated before that you have no concept of time when you go to the ocean. It may be the plan for you to return in six months, but it could be six years. Or 60 years."

"...Well, there are no clocks in the ocean. Especially when you go to the depths where sunlight doesn't touch."

"Exactly. So, you say you'll only be gone for six months, but I might very well never see you again."

Roppi fell quiet. His brow was scrunched in obviously confliction.

'At least he's actually stressing about this.' Izaya thought. 'Despite saying he's going regardless, he obviously doesn't want to.'

Izaya waited for him to speak. Roppi was silent for another few minutes. He then let out a sigh.

"Well, what do you want to do?" The red raven asked. "I don't want to take the chance that their pheromones get the best of you. Regardless if I know it was the pheromones or not, I'm not going to let that kind of situation slide."

"I wouldn't expect you to. To ignore a child's suffering because 'it wasn't my fault' doesn't change the actions that happened. So, if I do get tempted by their pheromones, I would want you to kill me."

"Paha, what kind of stupid fucking nobility shit it that?"

"It's not even that. If I become a pedophile because of the pheromones, my dignity and pride are gone. I'd rather die than live knowing I couldn't control myself around a child."

Roppi was quiet for a moment. "That sounds more like you."

Izaya chuckled.

Roppi let out a soft sigh through his nose. "So, what do you want to do?"

"...We could quarantine them. Until they're puberty years pass. I won't have access to them."

"I think that'll fuck with Hibiya. Kids are the most influential during their teen years. And Hibiya loves you to death. So, if his 'dad' suddenly cuts him out of his life, he won't take that lying down at all."

"Nor would he take forcing him to go to the ocean and abandon me."

"...Fuck, that's true..."

"So, either or way, Hibiya won't be happy with whatever we do."

"Yeah...Alright, so I'll humor the quarantine thing. What if a random passerby catches their scents?"

"You're the one who said your pheromones weren't like a succubus's. That it'll take constant exposure for anyone to be effected."

"That's right. So, any male neighbors or regular food deliverer would be effected. What's more, any male that happens to have a profound amount of testosterone will be effected faster. So, a body builder will probably succumb in a week where as a...well, a man like you will probably take a month or so."

Izaya glowered. "I resent that statement."

"You know I don't mean that you're girly. You're just not oozing testosterone."

"Agree to disagree ."

Roppi blew raspberries. Izaya chuckled.

"But either or way, there's no way they'll be completely quarantined." Roppi continued. "Unless we move them to a cabin in the woods, there's no way. And if we do that, we'll have to teach them to hunt, and that's quite difficult when you live a pamper life."

"But not impossible. And even then, we can have groceries delivered."

"Wait, groceries? You can order groceries?"

"Yeah. Takeout from restaurants isn't the only thing. It hasn't been for a while."

"So, what? An employee in the grocery store goes through your list, grabs it for you, and then drives it to your house?"

"Yup."

"Huh. You humans have developed a lot in technology to make things convenient."

"We have indeed."

Roppi nodded. "I guess that could work, if the delivery person is female."

Izaya nodded as well. "This scenario would be preferable for both of us. That way you don't have to leave and the children won't get killed by a shark or any other monsters in the ocean."

"I won't let that happen."

"You can't stop a carnivore from hunting."

"No, but I can stop them from eating my kids. I won't let them drift away."

"It's still dangerous. I'd rather they be on land."

"Yes, where Yodojiri can get to them eventually."

Izaya glowered. "I'm not going to let that happen."

"If Yodojiri could stab you and walk away without you even seeing his face, you can't guarantee that won't happen."

Izaya glared.

"You know I'm right. I'm not really sold on the quarantine thing. I, personally, think it'd be better to just go to the ocean until the children are grown."

"I think it's better to keep them on land and just get them a private cabin."

"But why? They can't integrate into human society. They can't go to school to learn, or get a legal ID to get a job, so it's not like going to the ocean is going to hinder their education."

"But they don't need to go to the ocean when we can just get them a cabin in the woods."

"So, that they'll lack social interaction and manners?"

"As if they'll learn manners in the ocean."

"If I take them to Atlantis, then yes, they will. I'm always welcome, after all."

"You want to take them to a trench that has a megolodon in it? You may be welcome, but your children are not. They may attack Tsukishima and Hibiya."

"They won't if I'm with them."

"You don't know that."

"I do know that. I've taken my children to Atlantis before."

"It's still extremely dangerous. They're safer up here."

"In my opinion, this city is more dangerous than the ocean is."

"That's because you were born there."

"Same can be said to you. You think the city's safe before you know it's ins and outs. Yet you got stabbed and everyday you could get hit by a car and never get justice for it. Well, the ocean is my city. It's dangerous, but I know how it works."

Izaya glowered but didn't respond.

"I, personally, think that the children are better off growing up in the ocean rather than in a isolated cabin. At least that way, the only thing we have to worry about is survival of the fittest. Here, robberies, rape, murder, slavery are all on the table. Fates worse than death for my kids because their pheromones are on the fritz."

"And your pheromone's don't work on other mermaids? Don't they have testosterone as well?"

"Of course they do. But the charm only works on human pheromones. Most breeds are monsters are immune to out influx. Again, we're not succubus's or incubus's."

"Succubi and incubi."

Roppi glowered at him.

"That's the plural for those words."

"Okay, we're not Succu or Incu."

Izaya cocked a brow.

"That's what we monsters call them. There's many species after all, like different breeds of cats and dogs. Succu-Chy, Succu-Hii, Succu-Brumus, Incu-Lathus, Incu-Dei. The list goes on."

"...Huh, interesting."

"Anyway, our pheromones usually only work on humans. Some breeds of half-humans and I think some harpy breeds, but the harpies was just a rumor."

"...Hm."

"So, yes, Tsukishima and Hibiya will be safe. The only thing that they'll have to worry about is survival of the fittest, and I won't let them die."

"I don't think any animal mother plans to let their infant die. But things like males wanting to breed the females, so they get rid of the infants, happens all the time."

"Mermaids aren't like that. We do have some human rationality. A mother can look after multiple children from different fathers. Hell, mermaids can be inseminated by multiple males and birth a litter where every child has a different father."

Izaya paused, then looked at him. "Really?"

"Mm-hm. It needs to be in the same week as the initial insemination. So, if I had sex with you then had sex with another man, it's almost guaranteed I'll birth twins, one yours and one the other mans."

"That doesn't sound anatomically possible."

"Well, first off, I'm a monster. It shouldn't be anatomically possible for me to sprout humans legs. But might I point out, it is actually entirely possible. Breeds of cats have been known to have 1 litter to two fathers."

"...I guess that's true." Izaya glowered. "We got off topic though."

"Well, its not that off topic. Because a male doesn't have to kill my children in order to breed me."

"Didn't you say during our argument in the fountain that male mermaids have killed your children to breed you."

"...Ah, well, yeah, that happened once or twice."

"Then what's to stop that from happening this time?"

"My children are too old at this point. It wouldn't make sense to kill an adolescence since they'll be off me in six months or less. At that point, I could theoretically be impregnated and by the time the child's born, the children I have will be fully grown. No, it makes sense to kill infants or pre-adolescence. Right now, the notion that a male will kill them to breed me is a ten percent chance at best."

"That's still a chance."

"They have more of a chance of getting hit by a car or kidnapped by a pedophile than getting killed by another mermaid."

Izaya was quiet for a very long time. Then he let out a sigh.

"...Let me...think about this." The informant said. "Besides, I haven't found the other two children who are missing. Without you, they may not believe that I'm looking for them on your behalf."

"...I guess not." Roppi looked at the ground. "We've got two months to figure it out."

"Two month may not be enough time to find them."

"Probably not, but one month is when we have to decide, without question. The temperature will start dropping in August. If we don't go by then, we're not going at all. And by that time, Hibiya and Tsukishima's pheromones should start fluxing."

Izaya nodded. "Why don't we go house browsing for cabins, how about that? You might change your mind if you like one of the houses."

"And if I don't like any of them, we're going to the ocean."

"...Right." Izaya looked back at the children. "Let's go home then. I have an appointment in two hours."

Roppi pulled out his phone to check the time. "Alright."

The mermaid stood, then went over to the playground.

"Hibiya! Tsukishima!"

The two perked on top of the jungle gym.

"Time to go home!"

"Eh, do we have to?!" Hibiya groaned.

"Yeah, Izaya's got a client soon. We need to go."

Hibiya looked disappointed.

"Alright." He groaned.

The raven-haired child hopped from the top of the jungle gym while Tsukishima climbed down carefully. Hibiya came over first, walking past Roppi to Izaya. The informant stood from the bench and walked over to meet Hibiya halfway. Roppi waited for Tsukishima to climb down. The blond took his sweet time. Once he was on the ground, he walked over to Roppi. Roppi put his arm around Tsuki's shoulder and walked back over to Izaya.

The group of four started their journey to the train station.


Okay, so, I had this conversation with a chick back in high school and it still pisses me off. IN JAPAN, HIGH SCHOOL IS CONSIDERED SECONDARY EDUCATION! This bitch was trying to tell me that she went to school in China, so she doubted Japan's education was any different—bitch didn't realize how offensive that was and that's why it still pisses me off to this day 5 years later. But yes, in Japan, High School is a secondary education. You have to pay entrance fees and take entrance exams in order to find what high school you qualify for—just like SAT's in America for college. Thus, it is not mandatory by the government for students to continue education after Middle School. Expected, yes, because education is high priority in Japan, but it is not a requirement to attend high school. An individual can still attend college if they want. You can take a high school proficiency test—Kusama Nowaki from Junjou Romantica had to take one!—which is basically the equivalent to a GED.

KCK