As stated in the description, this story sprang forth from the lovely prompt created by Seusuke on tumblr. I'm posting the story here due to the fact that even though it's my first fanfiction in two years, I received a lot of support!

So I'd like to thank all who have read this story and those who are just reading it now! You've all been a real encouragement! In fact, your support has prompted me to make this a multichapter fic instead of a half finished one-shot. ^_^/

Sousuke's morning appeared to be anything but normal. In fact, it was straight up odd. Rather than waking up at the usual badgering of his alarm clock at 6:00am, his eyes cracked open at an unusual time of 4:00am. Willing himself back to sleep seemed useless as his legs seemed restless and itching for movement.

So, at the ungodly hour of 5:00, Sousuke found himself in his track suit and running shoes for the first time in 3 years.

Such a situation brought him back to his senior year of high school. The musty smell of a large indoor pool. The Samezuka swim team. Horsing around with Rin, Momo, Nitori.

He was so sure then that he'd become an Olympic swimmer, especially after being scouted. Things change, however, and life often pushes one down an unplanned, sometimes more ominous path.

Not that his path was ominous. He enjoyed his job as a police officer. He helped others and while the typical furrow of his brows and scornful gaze often overtook his face, he enjoyed such a job.

After closing the door of his house to find that his door wouldn't lock, the 25 year old clicked his tongue. More money out of his pocket to fix this godforsaken, poor, rundown excuse of a house he called home.

"Well, I doubt anyone would break into the house of a police officer," he mused aloud as a faint breeze rippled his dark locks.

And so, without much further thought, Sousuke busied himself with the sound of shoes against pavement and the crisp smell of the world after a rainfall.

On instinct, the young adult's legs carried him towards the sea as a small smile rose on his lips. The salty air stung his face. He often used to run here every morning along side Rin, both trying to push themselves harder and best one another.

"Times really haven't changed too much," he then thought. Rin had become an officer as well. Both were pleasantly surprised to meet up at the same police station after being separated during their college years. Now, the two patrolled together. An infamous duo amongst their colleagues. Rin-san, the good cop and Sousuke-san, the bad cop.

Even now they spurred each other to achieve as much as they could in their current job. The pair both aimed for police chief and they're still fighting their way there, pushing and teasing each other city, however, slept peacefully under their watchful gaze.

Before he knew it, Sousuke was puffing, cheeks flushed and lungs completely out of breath. Running along the beach proved rather harsh this morning. A large storm had taken place the previous night. Iwatobi had fallen under the harsh gloom of thunder and lightning. No one was harmed, but the storm was by no means minimal. Large debris washed up on the shore and proved quite difficult to jog around.

A sharp hiss and the faint scent of blood jerked Sousuke from his thoughts.

Narrowing his eyes, he took a stealthy step towards the area from which the sound had come; a jumble of rocks that were jagged and uninviting.

"Who's there?" the officer demanded, his hand unconsciously going for his gun, which was, of course, not there. Damn. He was unprepared for this situation.

Although that was the case, he wouldn't dare to turn tail and run away.

No answer greeted his ears so Sousuke crept closer to the rocks. "I said, who's there and what are you doing on the beach at this time of day?" he growled, his voice much more forceful.

A terrified gasp caught his ears.

Climbing with care on top of one of the larger rocks, Sousuke looked around for the source of that gasp and what he found left him speechless.

There, upon a pile of rocks was something only found in fairytales. A large man, with an upper body that appeared to match his own laid strewn upon the gravel. His wet hair stuck to his scalp, yet it appeared to be an odd brown, almost with a hue of green. Wide, terrified eyes that put emeralds to shame stared up at him.

Yet, as Sousuke let his gaze wander from those eyes, to the man's finely toned back, he came to the most startling feature of all. Instead of legs, there was a tail that looked as it belonged to the lower half of an orca.

A mermaid.

He found a fucking mermaid, or, to be precise, a merman.

Yet as he gazed at the glossy tail further, he found where the scent of blood had come from. A large, still bleeding gash ran from the man's tail fin up to about where his belly button would be.

Locking his gaze back to those green eyes, he saw such a fearful innocence. Briefly, he though of a kicked puppy and sighed.

Slowly climbing down from the rock, Souske padded toward the injured beast carefully. He knew not what such a creature was capable of. His feet came to a halt at the thrash of the bloody tail.

"S-stay back!" the brunet whispered anxiously as if he had no energy to raise his voice. The action caused fresh scabs along the gash to rip open once again.

Blood leaked steadily from the wound and rolled across the rocks, where it finally met the sea and dissipated into nothing.

Sousuke's gaze softened a small bit at such a pathetic sight. He held his hands up in a peaceful gesture. "Woa, there. I mean no harm. I would never dare hurt anyone injured."

Receiving no comment in reply, he crept closer. Gently, a reached out a calloused hand to touch the tail. It felt cool and slippery under his touch.

The action elicited a sharp flinch from the merman.

"Sorry," Sousuke replied and began to take off his track coat and then the white tee-shirt underneath it.

Makoto watched the man remove is clothes, gulping nervously. His eyes caught a brief glance of a well-toned chest. One so ripped a blush grew on his cheeks and he sharply looked away.

How had he ended up like this? He had been swimming with Haruka last night, hunting in the dark waters for any sort of meat to feed their pack. Fish had been scarce and he and Haru didn't even think twice about going out into the storm to provide for their family.

Things had turned out worse than he planned. He and Haru were violently separated. Even now, he could still feel the slip of Haru's hand as it was torn from his. After that, his tumble through the ocean was vague. He knew he was pushed along for a while and was eventually thrown against the rocks of this beach, where he was severely wounded and unable to swim back.

Even then, his predicament felt insignificant as a fierce protectiveness rose up inside his chest. Was Haru ok? Was he wounded as well? Could his blue haired friend find his way back to the pack?

Makoto wished he knew the answer to all those questions.

A sharp pain and a pressure on his tail snapped the merman back to reality. The man who found him had torn his tee-shirt to shreds and was now rapping the pieces around his tail.

Dumbstruck, Makoto stared at him in shock, his mouth agape. "What are you doing?" he managed to choke out moments later.

"What does it look like? I'm wrapping your wound and bringing you back with me. You'll die at this rate," Sousuke grumbled. Makoto fell silent.

Once the tail was wrapped, Sousuke heaved a sigh and gently picked up the merman, who was surprisingly lighter than he had thought. A small "eep!" came from the beast's mouth and he smirked as Makoto grabbed onto his track jacket as though his life depended on it.

Sousuke then began to walk back to his house as Makoto submerged himself into his thoughts once again.

He was honestly at a loss. When he saw that human he was sure he was going to die.

Humans were cruel, after all. They fished the waters until there was nothing left for predators like himself to eat. They feared things unknown to them and thus began experimenting with and killing his species whenever they were caught.

Makoto's thoughts then drifted to the kind old merman in his pack when he was just a child. The one who had taught him that fish were more than food. They could be kept and maintained as pets. He gave Makoto his first ever goldfish, a creature he would surely never forget.

Yet, this kind old man was captured by a human fishing boat and never seen again.

He knew this yet, as he gazed up into the human's blue eyes, sharper than Haru's, but certainly just as deep, he began to relax. This human was different.

He, a hunter who fought for and protected others felt safe and protected himself. It was a feeling he certainly wasn't used to.

Feeling the merman relax in his grip, Sousuke looked down at him and finally opened his mouth after a long 40 minute walk of silence. "What's your name, anyway?" Sousuke asked.

"Makoto. Tachibana Makoto," the merman responded shyly. "And you?"

"Yamazaki Sousuke" he replied gruffly as he kicked open the door to his home. Tachibana Makoto. It certainly had a nice ring to it.

Gently, he placed Makoto into the bathtub and turned on the water. "Wait here for a while. I have a friend who can take a look at that nasty cut."

After receiving a nod, Sousuke turned and walked out of the bathroom. Thank goodness he had woken up so early. No one saw them in the streets as citizens were only just beginning to wake up after a long night's rest.

Picking up his phone, he dialed a number he knew far too well.

"Ah, Senpai! What do you need so early in the morning?" came an airy voice across the receiver.

Sousuke sighed. When would Nitori stop calling him senpai? They had long since graduated. "Sorry to call you so early, but I have something that you need to look at asap."

After a small chat were Sousuke only hinted about what Nitori had to examine, the younger male promised to be at his house by eight. Now he had to call Rin to cover for him.

As he dialed the next number, Sousuke looked up at his ceiling. "What an odd morning indeed."