As per my suggestion...!!
heres the promised mermaid au fic!!! I might not ever finish it because theres a lot of worldbuilding and writing stuff that i dont have time for😔i havent looked over this in a while and it isnt beta read either so ignore any mistakes!! All that aside now, pls enjoy!!
ch.1 ch.2 ch.3 ch.4 ch.5 ch.6 ch.7 ch.8
Pearl in an Oyster — Prologue.
Looking up, her expression hardly wavered at the luxurious and magnificent hotel she stood in front of.
Her glance shifted low to the dark blue dress she wore specifically for the famous I.V.C held at the hotel. Her pearl necklace reflected the huge amount of light from both the inside and outside and her silk, white gloves held onto a matching white clutch. She wasn't gonna look like anyone present at the party, but she was fine with that. The party wasn't what was on her mind anyway, it didn't matter if she stood out or not.
All she had to do was get to the penthouse.
Walking through crowds and crowds of people, her white heels clicked with every step she took on the recently cleaned floor. As she reached the room the I.V.C was held at, she was suddenly startled by someone talking behind her.
"Woah! I've never seen you around here. Is this your first time attending the I.V.C perhaps?"
She spun around to find two men looking at her, their eyes not leaving hers. She recognized one of the two almost instantly.
"Oh! Why yes, this is my first time here. I was looking for Mr. Ichinomiya? He was supposed to escort me to the party." She flashed a radiant smile, hoping to catch the two off-guard. As she stared at them, she realized the identity of the second man who strangely wore a fedora hat.
"Oh! We're his accomplices, and I haven't heard anything about you from Mr. Ichinomiya...would you give us your name?" The blonde smiled, crossing his arms and waiting for an answer. Her heart slowly began beating faster as she thought of a made-up name.
"Misaki. My name is Misaki." She extended her hand out for a handshake, which the brunette took and gave the back of it a gentle kiss. Her heartbeat slowly went back to normal and her smile slightly fell.
"A beautiful name for a beautiful lady. My name is Mitsunari Baba, but you can call me Micchy or Mitsu for short. And you probably already know who my friend is." Baba glanced back and forth between the blonde and the woman.
"Of course, Kisaki Ota. I'd be ashamed if I didn't know who you were." She bowed and internally cringed, her patience slowly running low. She wasn't here to chat up some men...but, if they managed to get her up to the penthouse, at least the lying would be worth it.
"You flatter me Miss Misaki! Now, what was that about Mr. Ichinomiya escorting you to the I.V.C?"
"Ah, right. We talked over the phone weeks prior to the I.V.C, but he must have forgotten. He's a busy man after all, and so am I." Lying in situations as such was her specialty, but for some reason she felt as if she was being read easily. Can they tell?
"Boss is a very busy man. If you'd like, we could escort you around the I.V.C ourselves?" Baba gave her a handsome smile that would swoon women in her place, but she was barely phased. It wasn't her job to begin flirting with a thief.
She tried to shake off the unusual feeling she felt when she realized Ota's smile had also fallen a bit as he stared at her. Not at her, but her necklace specifically. The only explanation that sat right with her was that he'd been looking at it from an artist's point of view. She didn't know if he realized the necklace was made out of real pearls, however.
"I would appreciate it very much, Mitsunari." She smiled again for the sake of being polite.
From nearly getting lost in the sea of people to stumbling upon a mysterious looking hallway and being sold at a black market auction held in the basement of the hotel, she was only a few steps away from her goal. It didn't matter who bought her, she would escape them either way. Her eyes were set on finding one man and that man only. Her surprise when she heard she was sold to seat #100 came as a shock even to her. She fell right into the hands of the man she had her eyes on.
The cage she sat in had been carried all the way up to the penthouse, her heart racing as she realized how close she was to her target. Even if they didn't speak and wore masks, she knew exactly who the two men that carried her up there were as well.
And when she was brought in, she found herself face to face with him. Eisuke Ichinomiya.
"Boss, this is the lady that we-"
"If you let me out of this cage, I will tell you exactly who I am and what I'm doing here."
She stared at the five men who stared back at her. Her smile from earlier was replaced with a fierce gaze at Eisuke, who was staring at her cautiously.
"And how do we know you don't have any ulterior motives?" A strong looking man stood up which she quickly identified as Soryu, Eisuke's childhood friend and a mobster.
"If your security is good at checking whether or not people have weapons on them, then you don't have to be afraid Mr. Oh." She held her chin high and smiled internally at his slightly bewildered face.
"...You know who we are?" Eisuke spoke, eyebrows narrowing as he stared at her through his eyelashes. She could sense he was conflicted and a little confused.
"I know you all. And we'd be able to talk like normal people if you let me out of this cage," She crossed her arms, gaze not faltering as she stared back at Eisuke, "But we probably already know the phrase "normal people" doesn't suit you at all, right Ichinomiya?"
She saw his eyebrow twitch. As she guessed earlier, Baba and Ota took their masks off, their gazes switching back and forth between the woman and Eisuke.
"Is your definition of a succesful individual 'abnormal'?" Eisuke crossed his arms and took a sip of his wine, placing it on the table in front of him afterwards.
"I think we both know what I mean here." Her gaze went to the wine glass in front of him. Lowering her open palm, she aimed it directly at the glass before knocking it over, the wine spilling on Eisuke's leg.
All the men's eyes widened and Eisuke swiftly stood up, panic evident on his features.
"Eisuke, go!" Soryu suddenly yelled at him. Realizing he had to move as fast as he could, he dashed towards the staircase with a curse, managing to make it up before anyone could see anything.
When they made sure he was out of sight, everyone shot a glare at the woman. Only Ota seemed to stand still, still comprehending what had just happened.
"What the hell was that?" Soryu approached the cage, gun in hand now. The woman only grinned as the realization that she'd indeed found the man she was looking for began setting in.
"I think you know exactly what it was." Her fingers tapped at the golden cage as the mobster stared her down. She felt confident knowing she wouldn't be killed in that moment after what she did. They needed answers and she was aware of that. There was also no way they'd let her go unless they heard the full story, unless they didn't let her go at all. She was bought by them after all.
"I...don't get it. How did you knock over that glass?" Baba stared, still a little stunned. She rolled her eyes and glanced at the thief who was looking at her for an answer.
"I'm pretty sure you know that as well." Before looking away, she caught a glimpse of Ota looking almost...solemn, as he stared off into the distance.
"Come on now, you can't all play dumb. I'm here for one reason and one reason only."
Soryu stared at her once more with a stern look on his face. Was he gonna let her out? She made it clear she'd explain everything if she was out of the cage...but how could he trust her like that? Especially when he didn't even know her name?
"Open the cage Mitsunari." A deep voice from the back spoke, the woman recognizing it as Mamoru's. At least he's not entirely stupid, as much as he is lazy.
Baba hesitantly reached into his pocket to take out a key, Soryu stepping away to make space. Opening the cage, the woman stepped out, arms crossed over one another. The men continued to stare at her for a moment before they heard footsteps coming from the staircase.
Her eyes immediately locked with Eisuke's as she looked up. He looked both furious and confused as he walked down each step.
"I'm gonna ask this one last time. Who are you and what are you doing here?" Making his way towards her, he stood in-between Baba and Soryu, eyes staring daggers into the woman. He only recieved a grin in return.
"I heard a siren call from miles away, and it lead me here in your hotel."
The CEO stared in pure confusion. He almost wanted to laugh at how ridiculous she sounded. A siren call. Is she for real?
Sure, it might not have sounded...that ridiculous, given the situation he was suddenly thrust into in less than twenty seconds. His eyes traveled to her neck adorned by the pearl necklace. He could feel his throat going dry even as he swallowed.
And, sure, seeing real pearls hung on a string as an accessory wasn't the most unusual thing Eisuke had seen. But the way this woman was dressed bewildered him.
He estimated the cost of both her dress and heels were most probably around 200 dollars. Her gloves were made of silk, therefore they had to have been a little expensive. The pearls were what threw him off. A single, real white pearl was already expensive, but her necklace consisted of at least thirty pearls that varied in colors and shapes. He even recognized one of the rarest blue pearls hung onto the string, and he could feel the nervousness bubbling to the surface the more he stared.
"You've...gotta be kidding right?" The thief asked, gaze shifting to Eisuke who tried so hard to keep his expression as neutral as possible. Both him and Soryu were begining to catch onto the situation.
"I'm very serious. I came here specifically to talk to Eisuke, on behalf of my people."
"Your...people?" Puzzled, Soryu raised an eyebrow at her, his eyes now also shifting to look at Eisuke.
"I know what you are Eisuke. And we need your help." The woman's tone slowly morphed into one of pleading, as did her expression. Eisuke stared for what seemed like hours before sighing and turning his back to her.
"You have five minutes to explain."
She stared at his back as he walked over to the couch and sat down, Soryu and Baba following. She was glad she got the opportunity to talk...but five minutes? Really?!
"Alright I...just, do you mind bringing a glass of water?" Her gaze went to the artist who seemed to think about her question a little longer than he had to before nervously answering.
"Sure..." He put on a smile and strode over to the kitchen in the penthouse. Taking a deep breath before exhaling, her gaze returned to Eisuke who now sat on the couch, waiting for his explanation.
"First of all, I'd like to apologize for barging in all of a sudden and spilling wine on you. You were probably all confused and angry, especially you, Ichinomiya." Her heels clicked as she walked over to the four men, Eisuke's eyebrows forming into a frown as he recalled what happened.
"Apologize another time, get to your story." He swiftly crossed his legs and rest his chin in his palm as he waited for her to begin, as if he were a teacher about to listen to a student's excuse for a missed assignment.
By the time she stopped staring Eisuke down, Ota had come back with a glass of water as she'd asked. Funny how she has barely been here for five minutes and is ordering people around as if she owns the penthouse.
Thanking the artist, she set the glass down on the coffee table and waited for Ota to grab a seat, only for him to stand next to the couch Baba, Soryu and Eisuke sat on.
"As I said...I know what you are, Eisuke. Even if you might not know exactly what you are, we desperately need your help." She began, voice brave despite her slowly plummetting spirit.
"Who is this "we" you've been throwing around?" Baba exclaimed before getting interrupted by the woman.
"I'll get there. Let me explain."
"You fell into a pool when you were young in London...right?" She raised an eyebrow and looked at Eisuke for his reaction. He definitely didn't disappoint. His eyes went wide and he was now listening to her more cautiously, the nervous feeling on the verge of overflowing.
"You became a mermaid. Or...a merman. Otherwise known as a siren." She explained like she was some lunatic, but Eisuke knew better than to assume that when she was right. Except he had no idea what she meant by the siren part of it.
"How do you know any of this. Only my manager and some acquaintances are aware of what happened. How did you manage to find out what happened a decade ago?"
"That's not important. What is important is that I'm a real mermaid born at sea, and my people have and I have been threatened by the human race for years," She looked down, remembering the last moments with her family before they were taken from her, "They sacrificed themselves so I would stay alive and get help."
"It took you this long to find me?" Eisuke interrupted, his thoughts now racing. Had she been stalking him? Did she somehow bribe someone to tell her about him? What kind of help did she need exactly?
"I've known about you ever since you fell into that pool. You see, I'm from Britain myself, and all of us have known about you ever since that day." She explained briefly, not leaving any room for questions as she continued quickly afterwards.
"You're the first merman to have ever fallen in the pool in that cave in nearly sixty years. It just so happened that you became a siren on the day the last merman transformed 43 years before you did." She briefly caught a glimpse at Ota looking down at the floor as if he was holding something back. Did he wanna ask a question?
She decided to ignore it, passing it as just him being lost in his thoughts.
"This is...too much information," Eisuke rubbed his temple, her words barely registering. He was finally used to being this weird form of a human after so long, and suddenly there's so much information shoved into him it's almost too overwhelming.
"You think? You gave me five minutes to explain, I'm using that time wisely." She may have been aware of the conflicted situation he was in at that moment as he slowly took in what she was saying. Still though, she figured she might as well drop the bomb as quickly as she could, even if it confused Eisuke at first.
"We've been looking for a siren for years now due to our problems with the human race. And that just so happened to be you..."
Her frightless demeanor began to wear off, quickly replaced by someone in genuine need of help. Eisuke stared at her, her words still registering. So he was a siren. Was it good that he finally knew his identity after so many years? He certainly didn't feel any better knowing, that's for sure. What if she was lying?
"Can you prove to me in any way that you're telling the truth?"
The woman stared at him. Of course, Eisuke Ichinomiya of all people would never believe some girl suddenly showing up at his penthouse, telling him he was a damn siren and that there were real mer-people living in the sea with no proof. The whole story seemed like a sick joke. Even if she knew things many others hadn't known, even if she held information that Eisuke had never revealed publicly...he had to know.
"If you'll allow me to," She raised her open palm once more and focused her energy on the glass of water in front of her. Soon enough, they saw what looked like a bubble rise out of the glass. Eisuke knew she wasn't lying the moment he saw the "bubble" rise higher and higher, but still wanted to see what she would do. As the water reached her head, her hand suddenly dropped to her side, as did the bubble. The CEO's eyes widened as it splashed over her head and he was already begining to count down the seconds it took for her to transform. No sooner than that did Baba get up and rushed over to her, holding her up by her arms as her legs disappeared and were replaced by a sparkling blue tail.
"Is that enough proof for you, Ichinomiya?"
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