One-Shot Collection (Karma Akabane x OC)

Themed One Shot: The Mermaid (AU)

Mermaid /n/
: A fabled marine creature with the head and upper body of a woman and the tail of a fish.

As I promised, I'm back to writing fanfiction again! I spent an awful lot of time thinking about this one. I don't have any ideas for the normal one-shots, so here's another themed one. Enjoy!
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A tranquil peacefulness cradled the lovely port-town of Kamishima in its gentle sea breezes and the gentle glow of paper lanterns lit at the doors of its houses. There was not a single living being out, save for a sleek grey cat stealing through the night, searching for something to eat. Its little paws made barely a sound as it made its way towards a small jetty where the children of the town would gather after house chores were done for a swim. The jetty, rowdy it may have been in the daytime, was ghost-quiet in the middle of the night. The cat trotted lightly on the planks, which made only the tiniest creaks under its weight. The slender feline peered over the jetty, hoping to spot some fish to catch for dinner. It was as if time had stopped for this very moment, of the cat staring intently at the water, its luminescent eyes watching for even the slightest disturbance of the water that would indicate that a fish was darting through the water, just within reach of its paws.

Suddenly, there was a ripple on the surface. The cat's ears twitched, watching for the fish. Sure enough, the glint of scales caught the eyes of the cat, but it seemed the fish was... Incredibly big. Desperate as the cat was for something to eat, it didn't think it could catch a fish this size. The cat looked closer. Something didn't seem completely right. There was a part of the fish that didn't have scales. The cat backed away from the jetty, hackles raised at this mysterious creature that resembled, but at the same, looked completely different from a fish. Then the creature lifted its head above the water. Long dark hair clung wetly to a pale face and an equally pale body, dark eyes directed at the cat above it. The cat hissed, unsettled, and bolted, giving up on the jetty as a place to get dinner that night.
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Karma cursed as once again, his net yielded no fish. It had been like this for three days in a row now. It didn't help that the sun seemed to blazing much more that it usually did against his back today. A sheen of sweat had already formed on his brow, despite his large straw hat blocking out the sun. He had been out all morning at sea, casting his net again and again, and yet gaining no fish. At this point, he swore that he was probably the most unlucky fisherman in the town, and Kamishima Bay was known for having plenty of fish in its waters. The other fishermen had also brought back plentiful catches. Sighing in frustration, he decided to cast his net one last time before giving up completely today.

When he pulled up the net, he got a huge shock. The net was almost bursting with fish. Karma couldn't believe it. Three days of empty nets and then suddenly his net was full of fish? Perhaps his luck wasn't as bad as he'd thought, after all. As he pulled up the net, something glimmered in the sunlight. He peered closer, and saw something lodged in one of the fish's mouths. A pearl. And it wasn't just any old pearl, but a black one. Karma knew for a fact that those were some of the rarest ones to come around, and here he was, finding one in the mouth of a fish in his net. Good fortune was really raining on him today. Letting out a huge crow of laughter, he took up his oars and rowed towards shore.

He went back home in a good mood, walking with a spring in his step. Many of the other townspeople were baffled, as it was incredibly rare to see him so delighted. You see, Karma used to the noble son of a daimyo in Edo, but was exiled as he tried to usurp his father's position. Even after he had adjusted to life as a light-hearted fisherman with a bold sense of humour, he still held some resentment towards the rest of his family, and was very often seen with an expression of cunning as he schemed his return and vengeance on Edo. As he walked on the narrow path that separated two sets of small houses, he happened to bump into his good friend Nagisa, a priest in the Kamishima Temple of Benten.