Luuka: mermaids are a popular Free! AU-I kinda want to get in on it, too, but mermaids are too soft for me so I had to do sirens.

This is a fantasy/adventure/romance/mystery/supernatural, T rating for graphic kissing, non-graphic sexual content, swears, unimportant deaths and T violence.

Here we go!

Sunlight glimmered on the surface of the ocean as Rin Matsuoka looked up, squinting at the sun. Seagulls circled him overhead and the air felt crisp-tasting slightly of salt-waves gentle as they rolled over one another, out and into the endless blue.

'Hmn, not bad, kiddo!'

An aged sailor stood underneath Rin, watching him as he adjusted the sails.

'I'm used to fixing boats,' Rin replied. 'So I know what I'm doing- I used to do this all the time at Iwatobi.'

'Yeah, but this is your first trip, ain't it?' The old man snorted. 'You best be in for a shock. Life out here on the sea be nothing like it is on the harbour, pretty boy.'

Rin opened his mouth to retort when captain Mikoshiba stepped up beside the older man and laughed.

'Don't mind him... Matsuoka, you're doing pretty well for a new recruit! So you can do sailor knots, eh?'

'My dad taught me a thing or two when I was a kid,' Rin shrugged, sliding down from the mast and landing on the deck of the ship with a thump. His dad was gone now, of course-lost at sea, during a violent crash where his ship had turned into splinters after it hit an iceberg. Rin had specialised in ship repairs since about the age of nine and after a position had appeared on a local fishing ship, he'd ended up applying... getting him to where he was now. A particularly high wave rose over the side of the ship, splashing them all with salt spray.

'I'm disappointed, though,' Rin admitted. 'Captain, I was told there would be dolphins in this area-'

'The smart ones'll have migrated,' Mikoshiba said, crossing his arms over his chest. 'The cove near here is cultivated by sirens and they'll eat dolphins-tear 'em apart whole! They're vicious creatures... they eat men, as well.'

'Seriously?! Are we-'

'We're alright-sirens only attack in their grounds. They all have their own colonies with a certain amount of charted water and we go around it, so they shouldn't come close to us.'

Shouldn't... Rin mentally rolled his eyes. Well, he thought, I'm reassured.

'And what happens if they do attack... what are we supposed to do then?'

'Then we die.' Mikoshiba said simply. 'Nary a boat that makes it out of the sea with most of its crew alive when sirens attack! That's why we're not stupid enough to go into their water: Matsuoka, we go around them instead. It takes a lot longer, sure, but at least that way we come back with all our crew.'

'Captain!' A young, grey haired man bounced up to them both, giving Mikoshiba a salute. 'We've got a telegram from Iwatobi saying that fishing prices have just risen by seventeen per cent, 'cause they'll be storms for a few weeks and... ahh... are you the new crew member?'

The last part was addressed to Rin; Rin thought his crew uniform kind of made the answer obvious, but recognised this as an attempt to be friendly and nodded.

'Yeah. I'm Rin-this is my first trip.'

'O-oh, my names Aiichiro! Uh-uhm, you're in with me... I'll show you our quarters!'

Rin followed Aiichiro down some steps to the bottom of the ship into a small, cramped room.

'This is where you'll sleep,' Aiichiro explained. 'It's a little grimy.'

Clearly, Rin thought, but he'd come to a fishing boat: it wasn't like he'd expected room service, or anything. There was a bunk with four beds stacked on top of each other and a barrel containing several changes of uniform-this was all the furniture that the 'room' contained.

'I think it's nice,' Aiichiro smiled. 'At least we get a ceiling.'

'Do your rooms not usually have ceilings?'

'R-Rin, we're lucky that we even get a room now,' Aiichiro said, solemnly to him. 'T-the captain before Mikoshiba made us sleep on the deck-he only put beds in the supply rooms because one of the crew members got stuck by lightening.'

'Uhh...' suddenly, Rin wanted to go home.

Rin climbed into the bottom bunk and lay down on it. At first, he thought it was cosy... and then realised he'd been experiencing optimistic disillusionment, and the word he was actually looking for was 'suffocating.' The bunk contained four beds, so Aiichiro's bed was mere inches from his face and the blankets were damp-the same temperature as the room. The mattress was lumpy and uncomfortable, barley thicker than a slice of bread...

Bread... Rin's stomach growled. That was a thing of the past, now; here, he'd eat rations.

'T-this ship has a crew of nine members and there's another room like this next door. Yamazaki used to sleep in your place,' Aiichiro informed Rin. 'But things got pretty good for him and he went on to get his own ship. And when I say: 'things got pretty good for him,' I mean his Dad died and he got the ship.'

'Oh...' Rin replied. 'Nice.'

'That's why we needed a new member,' Aiichiro continued. 'R-Rin, is everything okay? You look a little lost in thought...'

'I'm just concerned about the sirens,' Rin replied, sitting up. 'Um... Ai... is it just me, or does driving our boat around a nest of malicious sea creatures not seem like the best idea in the world to you?'

Aiichiro's brow furrowed.

'W-well, we go around them instead of through them, and I've never known them to attack outside their grounds. Rin, I do this every day... you don't have to be afraid!'

'I'm not afraid,' Rin replied, narrowing his eyes. 'I just don't want to die before I have to. I hear that with sirens it doesn't matter how strong you are because their song is irresistible to anyone...'

'Well, t-that's true-they're temptresses, a-after all, and a strong body is nothing compared to a weak mind. But look on the bright side! Rin, fishing prices have gone up on the market... it will be so good for us when we get back to Iwatobi! If we make it, I hope we catch a lot!'

'If we make it...' Rin echoed. 'Right.'

The approach of the storm was marked by ominous grey clouds and the night's sky above Rin had turned a deep blue that faded into black. The eerie creaking of the fishing ship made Rin wonder if it was close to falling apart-the lamps all rocked and flickered, the sails Rin had tied up fluttered and flapped.

'They'll be a lot more nights like this,' Aiichiro told Rin, over the rain. 'The sea is always violent, but the worst is yet to come!'

'Fantastic.'

'MATSUOKA!' Mikoshiba screamed. 'Get around the back and check the pullies-Nitori, I want you on the sails! The rest of you on the decks and pull in the nets-NOW!'

Darkness was falling rapidly and the lamps on the ship hardly provided any light; Rin was changing the ropes on an axel when he heard a sound carried over the waves. Singing: a lady was singing in the distance, her tone beautifully melancholic. Her voice echoed over the wind, reaching across the water toward him, beckoning Rin to come closer, to jump into the water. For a moment, Rin felt lightheaded...

'They're here!' Rin heard a crew member squeak, sounding completely terrified. The singing was growing steadily louder as Rin picked up not one, but several female voices.

'IT'S FINE!' Mikoshiba yelled, over the crashing of the waves. 'They're too far away-it's not loud enough to get to you! Everyone grab some rope and tie yourselves to the ship! They want to make you to jump overboard, but as long as you stay on the deck then they can't... NO-'

The captains cry was too late- the old man who had called Rin a 'pretty boy' screamed and threw himself over the side of the ship. Frantically, Rin tied both of his arms to the anchor, fastening the bow with his teeth, trying to block out the sound of the singing. It was all too much... too much... he felt so scared...

And then, Rin looked up and his eyes accidentally made contact with a siren that had poked it's head out of the water. The second that their stares locked, the rest of the world just melted away: everything else completely ceased to exist.

It was a male-definitely a male, and Rin was captivated by how gorgeous it was. The siren watched Rin patiently before it came closer, pulling its arms up to rest over the side of the ship a few inches away from Rin, watching.

'I... you...'

Rin's resistance shut down and the rush of the storm subdued: everything went quiet as he stared back into the eyes of the siren, lost in its gaze.

Moonlight and silhouettes played across its bare chest, each little curve of its muscles slender and sculpted-yes, no matter which way Rin looked at it, it was definitely a male. It had short, dark hair- a little longer behind the ears-that shimmered with drops of water, it's bright, blue eyes framed by short, dark lashes threaded with beads of water. It was just a few seconds that Rin spent staring into its eyes, but it felt like an eternity to Rin-a beautiful eternity... he was completely in love.

'Water,' the siren said to Rin, the sea lapping at its back and pooling around its waist. Rin stared back at it helplessly.

'I-I'll drown-'

The siren shook his head.

'With me.'

The siren stretched out a hand in front of Rin. It was a beautiful, soft palm with long fingers, pale against the ocean... and all Rin had to do was take it. Rin tugged his arms desperately, but it wasn't any use: his wrists were tied to the anchor.

'I-I can't,' Rin told it-completely transfixed. 'The... the ropes...'

'Undo them.'

'How am I supposed to undo them if my hands are tied up?' Rin demanded, throat tightening with the seconds-heat rising in his body.

Snap out of it, snap out of it... Rin tried to control his thoughts. He'll eat you!

But he looks so gentle...

The siren leaned in toward Rin and held Rin's palm, its movements gentle and light. Its skin felt smooth, wet and slippery... Rin moaned as one of its thumbs went underneath the rope and begun to unfasten it, the siren pulling its upper body up over the edge of the ship... leaning in close toward Rin's lips, until Rin could feel it's breath on his cheek...

Closer...

Rin closed his eyes, heart randomly skipping beats, pounding audibly in his ears as he felt soft lips brush against the side of his face... and then, shots were fired and the siren dove back with a splash, disappearing into the inky blackness of the ocean.

'Rin!' Aiichiro rushed up to him. 'It almost had you! Are you okay?'

'I... yeah.' Rin blinked, completely drenched from the rain, trying to distinguish the other sailors in the darkness. '...what just happened?'

'A siren came up to you... it was trying to drag you under! We-we lost one of the crew members when he threw himself overboard, a-and you were about to go the same way...'

'Harlot bitches!' Mikoshiba snarled, tossing his shotgun across the deck. 'They shouldn't be on this route! Their territory is over by the caves-why are they out of their radius?'

'I-I'm sure there's a good reason,' Aiichiro assured him. Mikoshiba kicked the gun.

'That just lost us one of our crew members... shit. I just had to replace Yamazaki and now I've got to replace this one... why are they coming up to the boats?'

'You mean they don't usually do that?'

Aiichiro set a hand down on Rin's shoulder.

'I've never seen it happen out of their territory,' he told Rin, softly. 'And I've been on this boat for about a year. Captain, maybe the one that came up to Rin was a rogue-'

'She's a bitch is what she is!' Mikoshiba ran his fingers through his hair. 'If she thinks she can come up to the boat and snatch whoever she wants... I promise that if she tries it again, then my bullets won't miss her-'

Her...

Rin shivered as Aiichiro crouched down, loosening the ropes around his wrists.

'Sirens are all women...' Rin asked. 'Right?'

'Matsuoka, you know that.' Mikoshiba frowned. 'Why?'

'Because, the one that came up to me... captain, I'm sure that it was a male.'