Kojin Okihiro loved the sea, and he had many reasons for it.

He really enjoyed the feeling of the wind as he sailed, carrying the calming scent of the sea.

He also loved to watch the waves and the way they made the boat move.

But the main reason Okihiro loved the sea so much was because it was quiet.

Quieter than the city.

The few times Okihiro tried explaining that for the even fewer people who asked, they would all react the same.

“Aren’t you deaf?”

He was. And many would think otherwise whenever they confused him knowing how to read lips to him actually hearing what they were saying.

But whenever Okihiro said the sea was quieter than the city, he was not talking about the same sounds others usually referred to. After all, there were many ways for noise to manifest. And he concluded that, even when he couldn’t hear a single sound, there was nothing noisier than being next to other people. So he often took refuge in the sea.

For a few reasons, Okihiro stayed longer that day. He didn’t want to leave the ocean's quietude only to return to the city’s chaos. So even though he had caught his fill for the day, he didn’t sail away. Not until the sun had almost crossed the horizon line.

He started putting things away, checking on Okirin a few times. Then he turned his back to hoist the sails.

It was, truly, all about the timing.

Right before Eirin broke the surface, Okihiro was looking the other way. Whenever he glanced at Okirin, the dog was gazing at the sea with the same serious expression he always had. And when the dog fell asleep, Okihiro was too busy with the sails.

After all, though it was something he did with delight, it was not easy to take care of a boat all by himself. Especially when he didn’t want to delay too much, since it could be quite dangerous to be in the open sea after dark.

So when he was suddenly assaulted from behind and pinned on the floor, his heart almost shot out his mouth.

Usually, whenever someone approached him, he always paid attention to what they were saying. Most people put little to no effort into communicating with him, after all. They usually expected Okihiro himself to understand everything they were saying, either through words or by pointing. And whenever things went wrong because of some miscommunication, he was the one to blame.

Yet at that moment, Okihiro was so shocked by the strange woman who appeared out of thin air and grabbed his collar that he did not pay attention to what she was saying. In reality, although he was not aware, even if Kojin Okihiro could hear Princess Eirin or even read her lips, he would still be unable to understand her.

They didn’t speak the same language, after all.

Princess Eirin could hear her own heartbeat. The heat of her face. The trembling of her hands.

He…he can’t hear me.

This man can’t hear me, can he?

As seconds passed, Okihiro found himself paying more and more attention to his other senses. The weight of her body, the cold and salty water that kept dripping from her hair, the flush on her face, the bright glow of her gaze.

The way her eyes were locked on his.

The way her body continued to press against his.

Okihiro widened his eyes, pushing what he still believed to be a crazy woman away from him. Eirin rolled to the side, her pearl-white tail making a loud thud on the hard wooden floor. Yet Eirin barely noticed the pain.

For there was a very serious battle happening in her mind, between herself…and herself.

My song doesn’t work on him…I can’t believe this. This can’t be.

But the issue is not on my side—it’s him! He’s the one who can’t hear.

Yet does it even matter? It doesn’t work. There’s someone I can’t charm with my voice.

If the problem is because he can’t hear, no merfolk could ever charm him. Or any other human who’s deaf!

But I’m not every other merfolk. I’m me. And it’s my song.

But he’s deaf.

Before Princess Eirin could lose herself in a wasteful battle with her own thoughts, her eyes caught a shine again. The metal pendant which still hung from the man’s neck.

A gold locket pendant.

Something that was, to all Eirin’s needs, a very shiny human trinket.

Of course, she could take advantage of the human’s disorientation and just grab it. Jump back to the ocean and place her new trophy among the others. Yet it would not be the same, would it? That treasure would not have been a gift, it would be a stolen item. Something she robbed with her own two hands. All because its owner couldn’t hear her song.

Princess Eirin could not accept that. She refused to let her entire collection be spoiled by one loss. No matter how humiliating it was. No. That wasn’t part of the game. It was not about collecting human junk—it was about conquering. Collecting trophies. And the princess of the Palace of Pearls, Eirin, would never accept her defeat.

…and while all of this was going through Princess Eirin’s head, Kojin Okihiro was quite distressed himself.

Right after he freed himself, he backed away until he hit his back against the boat. As one of his hands touched something soft and warm, Okihiro turned his head and saw Okirin kicking the air in his sleep.

What…is going on?

He turned back to Eirin, who was staring absentmindedly at the floor. Which was when he noticed she had no legs, but a very long and delicate tail.

Not only a tail but also fins across her arms, and her ears were not at all human either. And while Okihiro could be quite oblivious to many things in the world, before he began dedicating himself to sailing and fishing, he did a lot of research about the dangers he could meet at sea.

A…mermaid…

People hardly saw merfolk those days. They were known for causing misdeeds and trouble for sailors and fishermen every now and then, yet as the years passed they became less and less engaged in human activities. So why there was one right in front of him?

And why had she pinned him down to the floor?

Okihiro searched his small boat, spotting the metal bucket filled with fish. Was the mermaid there…

In a rescue mission?

Was that it?

He pushed the bucket toward her, cautious. Hesitant. Scared. As Princess Eirin continued to lose herself in her inner struggles, her expression got darker—something others could, perhaps, mistake as lunacy.

Okihiro’s face turned pale, cold sweat running down his face.

Was she that mad about the fish? Didn’t merfolk eat sea creatures as well? Yet what if she was a vegetarian and only ate algae? She wouldn’t turn the boat over, would she?

She wasn’t…going to kill him, right?

Before both of them could be taken away by their overactive imagination and overthinking, she got startled by a loud snore while Okihiro got kicked in his ribs. Both deeds done by the furry beast called Okirin.

Their gazes fell on the dog before their eyes met again. Motionless. As if time itself had stopped.

Then Eirin’s face flushed once again, all the shame and ridicule she had been holding in pouring out of her without control.

The mermaid raised her arm and began pointing at him with a shaken hand, her words holding not even an ounce of assertiveness in them as she backed away toward the boat’s edge.

“Y-you just wait! I will find you again, and get my trophy—I mean, you will give it to me! S-so wait and see, I will charm you without my voice. This, I swear on my name and fins!”

And before she could pass out from dehydration from all the sweat and nervousness, Princess Eirin pulled herself up and into the ocean she went, swimming as fast as she could.

That time Okihiro tried to read her lips, yet either her words were spoken so fast he could barely keep it up, or he hadn’t the slightest clue of what they meant.

The young man remained there, on the floor, trying to process everything. The only evidence that strange encounter had occurred was his wet and wrinkled clothes, and even then he kept doubting himself whether it had been real.

Only when Okirin woke up and started licking his face did Okihiro look around in a daze, and then back at the sea—to where she had disappeared.

…what the heck was that?