"Somehow, I don't want to eat fish, I feel like I'm disrespecting the mermaid culture by doing that. I don't want to accused of mermanism" Bokuto spoke as he looked at what they had in the freezer.

"What the actual fuck is mermanism? Are you drunk? Since when are you a social justice warrior?" Oikawa asked, he was just trying to read his magazine, but Bokuto kept interfering.

"Guys, so I was thinking. Should we like explore some parts again? There's a small coral reef, Bokuto you could dive there. We still need to identify certain corals and such" Daichi suggested as he walked into the room.

Daichi had the most job out of them, he had to write reports and such. All this merman business is making him lie to the authorities, which kinda makes him feel guilty, but at the same time, he wants to protect.

"I'm up for it! How about Oikawa?" Bokuto asked as he finally closed the freezer after deciding which icecream to take.

"I'm staying here today. I have three different species to identify and such. Such a pain, but whatever." Oikawa sighed loudly. He closed his magazine and put it on the table. His mind kept going back to the navy blue seashell he left in his drawer.

Was he planning on using it? Of course. He just needed to find the right moment.

"Okay, then me and Daichi will head out. Good luck handling those fish. Don't hurt them or I'll call you a mermanist" Bokuto laughed and followed Daichi.

The boat was already ready, all that was left for Bokuto was to put on his diving gear and pick up the smalled underwater camera.

He wasn't going to pick corals with hands, they might be poisonous or something, you never know what's lurking underwater.

Since the discovery of mermen here, Bokuto kept thinking how many there are, where they reside, how the hell did the merman that he let speak underwater? He also couldn't get the idea that lochness monster is real out of his head.

This is what science does to you kids. Don't do science, do drugs. Wait, no, that's wrong. Don't do drugs and don't be a mermanist.

As always Bokuto took a short swim before climbing into the boat and getting to his location. Diving always made Bokuto excited. No matter where you dive, you'll always find something interesting.

A colorful coral reef reminded him of a painting, so many colors, so many fish swimming around it. The water was so clear and blue, it almost looked fake.

Even from here Bokuto could see the majestic xeniidae family corals.

"Okay, Bokuto, get into your position" Daichi commanded, his eyes were fixed on a little screen. "Take photos, don't swim too far away"

"Okay" Bokuto mumbled amd waited got the signal. As soon as Daichi raised up his hand, Bokuto dove into the water.

It was so beautiful, words cannot describe how magical it looked. This place... It seemed like it wasn't supposed to exist here on earth, it almost seemed like it was taken out of a fairytale.

A pretty big camera in Bokuto's hand made it a bit hard to swim, but he still managed to do so. He immediately started taking pictures of colorful corals, pictures of fish, that didn't seem to fear him at all.

He dove a little bit deeper and took pictures of creatures residing on the sandy bottom. In the corner of his eye he sae something big nove, but Bokuto didn't pay much attention to it.

That was until someone touched him.

Here he was. In front of his eyes he once again saw the beauty. His dark eyes stared at him, his lips formed a small smile.

Bokuto didn't dare to lift his camera up and snap a few pictures, he was afraid he would swim away.

The merman gestured Bokuto to follow him, without any seconf thought he did. He couldn't resist, he was so beautiful and mesmerizing. He almost made Bokuto loose his mind.

Now, in action, Bokuto could focus on the movements. The merman did not really use his hands, his tail did all the job. Speaking of the tail, he never saw such a large spectrum of different colors on one fish tail.

The waist where the tail and scales met the skin looked unreal. And his skin... So pale..

The merman suddenly stopped, it startled Bokuto a bit, but he didn't show it.

He quickly looked around. Another discovery. His eyes fell on old ruins. It wasn't just the remains of walls, there were statues, he could see something shinning on the bottom.

The merman pointed somewhere, he pointed at a stone. It wasn't big, but it was perfectly round, couldn't have been naturally formed, could it?

Bokuto swam closer to it. The merman followed him.

Before Bokuto knew it the merman took his hand. It was such a light and soft touch. A smile formed on the merman's face once again.

He then pointed at the stone, at the hieroglyphs that could be seen.

Bokuto could easily read it, for some reason. He didn't know the language, but because of the merman's touch, it felt like he gained new knowledge.

It said:

"Akaashi Keiji"

"That's my name....let's meet again" Akaashi's voice echoed through the ocean, before he swam away, leaving Bokuto in awe.

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Sorry it took so long, my easter break is coming yay.

-hatari.