Yoshino's Mermaid

[Updates are currently irregular]

After entering high school, Junpei Yoshino's life grows even more lifeless.

But when he sees how hard his mother works to raise him alone, he can't bring himself to say he wants to drop out.

Just as he thinks his life will never change, Junpei Yoshino finds an injured mermaid on the rocky shore near his family home.

A silver-gray male mermaid, mysterious and beautiful as something out of a legend.

But even more striking are its savage eyes and sharp claws and fangs.

Junpei Yoshino's heart races. Both frightened and yearning, he reins in his excitement and edges closer, little by little.

First, he feeds it. Then he tries stroking its hair and tail, and calls it by a human name.

He can't get enough of it, hurrying to their secret rendezvous each day with eager anticipation.

At last, one day, after putting his hand into the mermaid's mouth to inspect its teeth, Junpei Yoshino thinks excitedly that he has successfully tamed this legendary creature.

Then, on the eve of a storm, the unwary Junpei Yoshino is dragged beneath the sea by his mermaid...

Reader's guide:

1. This is set in Jujutsu Kaisen, but mostly just borrows the setting, so you can read it as an original story.

2. Written on the spur of the moment to get back into the swing of things. It's probably a gloomy, damp, but pure-love romance between a nonhuman and a human.

3. The top takes on a human form later in the story.

Theme: Step out of your current predicament, and you'll see that life is actually an ocean.