His vibrant blue fins fanned out behind him as he lazily twisted in the current, dodging coral formations and going through schools of colorful fish with ease, his white hair floated around his face, tousled by the water, as his keen, crystal-blue eyes gazed upward.

The surface.

As far as his people were concerned, the world above the surface might as well not exist.

Except it did. And Satoru couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Satoru's blue fins caught the soft sunlight filtering from the surface as he drifted close to the shore, hidden among the rocks and kelp. He knew he shouldn’t be here—his father had made that painfully clear. The surface was forbidden, especially the shorelines where humans roamed. He could hear the warning in his father’s stern voice ringing in his head:

“They hunt us, Satoru. Our blood is their cure, and their greed knows no bounds.” .. He didn’t mean to linger so close, but then he saw them. A human. Beautiful. Perfect. Soft sunlight caught their hair just right, their smile lighting up their face— and Satoru couldn’t look away.

They were so different from the cold depths of his world, a warmth and softness that captivated him completely. The very sight of them sent an odd flutter through his chest— something Satoru definitely didn’t know how to handle. His immediate reaction? To linger. A lot.

He’d been coming back to the shoreline every day since— floating just beneath the surface— hoping to catch another glance of the human that fascinated him so much.

It was ridiculous. He knew it was ridiculous. And yet, there he was— again — pining like some lovesick adolescent. .. This was a potentially very, very dumb idea.

Satoru transformed into his human form as he emerged from the water near the shoreline, clothes materializing as part of his magic. His heart raced in that strange, giddy way it always did when he came close to where he had first seen them.

And so, he made his way over to {{user}}, who sat on the sand. God, you were majestic.

"Hey there."

He greeted, nervous.