Ultimate Underwater Life (Kyoko Mermaid TF) Draft (Patreon)

“...This doesn’t make sense.” Kyoko Kirigiri, renowned in the world as the Ultimate Detective, frowned, softly speaking to herself as she slowly walked circles in the lobby of the hotel. 

She was here on vacation together with the rest of her ultimate friends and partners, coming back to the Jabberwock Islands to take some time off and, as their teachers put it: “Train their ultimate abilities.”

Yeah, so far practically no one had done any training in anything but “Relaxation” so far, but what did they expect? It was a vacation, and Ultimate students were still students at the end of the day. So everyone was just enjoying their time here.

Everything had been going quite well at first. They had been here for twelve days and so far nothing that could be called an incident had happened. No super important workcalls, no world ending calamities or weird monochrome bears that want to ruin people’s days. 

All in all, it was just a regular, relaxing vacation for all of them. Except…

“Hi there, Kyoko.” Mahiru, the Ultimate Photographer greeted her, as more and more people gathered in the lobby for the morning gathering. But while the others kept going to the restaurant on the second floor, Mahiru stayed behind, and looked at Kyoko with a worried look on her face. 

“What's the matter? Need something?” Kyoko asked. It might sound a bit cold and she knew that, but Kyoko just wasn’t that good at having casual conversation with people. She really preferred the business side of things.

“Uhm… Have you seen Akane? I’ve been searching for her all morning.” Mahiru asked, to which Kyoko's eyes immediately went wide.

“Don’t tell me she vanished too!” Kyoko gasped.

“I-I don’t know yet! I don’t want to assume the worst-case scenario, you know?” Mahiru took a step back, which is when Kyoko realized that she had stepped quite close to Mahiru in her shock. So she backed away a little bit as she regathered her nerves again. This situation really had her on edge. 

Mahiru didn’t look much better, but she still continued to say: “We… We promised to grab breakfast early today. So that we could leave early for the beach after the gathering. Akane wanted me to record her cliff jump gymnastics to get a better feeling for how she can improve on them. So-So I guess at least someone tried to improve on their talent, right? Hahaha…”

“I assume she didn’t show up today?” Kyoko asked immediately, to which Mahiru sighed.

“No, she hasn’t. I even went to her room and checked. I didn’t see her last night at dinner either.” Mahiru replied, then looked at Kyoko with worry in her eyes. “So I wanted to ask you, since I thought you were keeping tabs on everyone. But you don’t know either, do you?”

“I can confirm that Akane went to the beach yesterday.” Kyoko said matter of factly, getting into a thinking pose. “And I also saw her jumping from a cliff into the waters multiple times. So there is no denying that she really was there. But I agree, after dinner time, I haven’t seen her either.”

“D-Does that mean she is missing too…? L-Like…” Mahiru stuttered.

“Yes. Like Makoto, Byakuya and the others. With Akane, eight people in total.” Kyoko grit her teeth, frustrated with herself. “I can’t believe that happened right beneath my nose once again.”

“What do we do…?” Mahiru asked carefully, to which Kyoko immediately responded. “You go to the meeting, I have to check out something!”

Nodding to herself, Kyoko moved towards the exit, only for Mahiru to grab her shoulder. “Wait, where are you going?”

“The beach, obviously. I doubt Akane went anywhere else. I believe I finally have a lead on where they all disappear to. Tell the others where I went.” 

“W-Wait, you can’t…” But it was already too late. When Kyoko set her mind to something, it was impossible to stop her. Especially when it comes to a mystery, trouble that Makoto got himself into or possible leads in a mystery. And even more so if all three of those things were true at the same time.

She ran alone along the path, passing a few other students and excusing herself from each of them. The morning meetup was important, but going after a lead after such a long time of coming up empty was more important. She could feel it with her detective instincts. 

Though when she arrived at the beach, it really all looked like it always did. A few palm trees, the gentle ocean breeze, a weird little machine hanging from one of the trees… there really was nothing off about the beach at all. 

But there being no apparent clues had never stopped Kyoko in the past, so in a matter of moments she started digging around the beach, like a true detective would. No stone was left unturned, no place was left unchecked. And with her being so diligent and thorough, time sure flew by in an instant. 

After hours of snooping around, Kyoko finally sat down on the sand, looking towards the Ocean waves as she went over every piece of evidence she had found. And to her own surprise, it was quite a lot. 

First off, Akane’s bag was still on top of the cliff, but her regular clothes were not. Just her swimsuit. This seemed to point towards her having stopped practicing cliff diving before vanishing to wherever she went. 

Also half buried in the wet sand were Makoto's shoes, both of them, however found at completely different places. This suggested that they actually were washed to the beach from further out into the sea, which might suggest that he went far into the sea… somehow. Maybe with a boat? 

Hard to imagine Makoto going swimming with his shoes on and taking them off at sea afterwards though. 

There was another matter as well: a single locker in the beach house, and inside there were… about five different handheld gaming consoles and about ten guidebooks for games. Even without having ever seen them before, Kyoko knew that they all belonged to Chiaki, who had been the first to go missing.

Had this been here the whole time? And why was it here in the first place? It looked like stuff she would usually carry in her backpack, but… there was no backpack. Only the consoles and books. 

Kyoko sighed. For the first time in a long while, she had found clues to a riddle that made no sense to her at all. Makoto's shoes point towards him having been at sea, Akane’s clothes point towards her vanishing on her way back from the sea and Chiaki's… stuff, pointed towards her vanishing in the beachhouse. 

“What does it all mean…?”

Splash!

“Pth! What the…?!?”

Salty water splashed into Kyoko’s face with such force that she almost fell on her back. Caught off guard, she scrambled to her feet and glared at the ocean, only to see something peculiar sticking out of the shallow water.

“...is that a fish?” It really did look like the tailfin of a fish, but positioned in a way Kyoko had never seen before. It was sticking out of the water almost vertically and bending downwards for a reverse U-shape. “...is that fish doing a handstand?”

Splash!

Once again, with unprecedented force it splashed water into her face, soaking all of her clothes completely and almost toppling her once again. And while she did take a step back, she didn't really feel anger or frustration. Because she thought she had just seen something absolutely impossible. 

“Was that… a mermaid!?” Kyoko was stunned. She had heard and seen many impossible things, but all of them were scientifically explainable. But this? Even though she had only really seen its shadow, there was no denying that attached to the fishtail that had splashed her was a human’s upper body. And the way she moved proved the tail was no prop. The sheer agility and maneuverability the mermaid had with just a single stroke of her tail was completely inhuman. 

Kyoko couldn't stop watching her. Her moves were graceful and swift, almost hypnotic. It was only when Kyoko felt her feet getting wet that she snapped out of it and noticed what was happening.

“When did I…?” Kyoko was knee deep in the ocean. She hadn’t even realized that she had moved, but it made sense. The mermaid swam away and Kyoko wanted to see more of her. So of course she would follow her into the ocean…

“Wait! No, I don’t!” This behavior didn’t make any logical sense, and Kyoko was a very logical person at heart. So she stopped herself from going further, closed her eyes and started to think out loud. 

“Let’s assume that you are a real mermaid.” she said, casually addressing the mermaid in front of her as she opened her eyes again. “I’ve heard tales about mermaids before. Their goal is always to get sailors into the waters to drown them, or take them to magical and secret places. You don’t seem too harmful… not yet at least.”

The mermaid didn’t answer, instead just waving her tail out of the water to taunt her, just out of reach. To which Kyoko felt like she wanted to take another step towards the mystery yet again. 

And the thought of the mystery made her pause, as she could feel the fire of motivation light up from within her once again. This mermaid had to be connected to the missing students. All signs pointed towards this beach and now she shows up? That couldn’t be a coincidence.

So Kyoko took one last deep breath, and started running towards the mermaid as fast as she could through the knee deep water. Every step she took towards her answers, the water got deeper and the mermaid further away, but she couldn’t let that stop her. So when the water simply got too deep to run, Kyoko took one last big breath… and dived underwater.

There was no denying that the currents underwater were a whole lot stronger than Kyoko initially imagined. Though it only really felt like she was being pushed forwards, rather than having to fight the current. And yet still, she couldn’t quite catch up to the mermaid in front of her. She was so close and…

Splash!

“...!” 

That defied all laws of physics! How was Kyoko just splashed with water… underwater? It made no sense in her head, yet she could feel her body recoiling and shivering as if some sort of liquid was running down her body. It especially made her legs feel weird, but she couldn’t let that slow her down…

Splash!

“Blub...!” 

Just as she looked forwards again, she got another serving of that impossible splash. Having lost some air, Kyoko frantically looked around for the surface, yet there was nothing around her, but a jetstream and the mermaid in front of her.  

At the same time, she could feel like something really weird was happening with her legs. One of her boots fell off and the second one was getting more loose by the second. Not to mention that everything down there felt unnaturally numb, like a thin layer was covering it. 

But just as Kyoko was about to touch her legs…

Splash!

“Gah...! Stop that!”

The tingle in her legs was getting unbearable. Kyoko had just lost her second boot too, though it mattered little when her legs were being plunged into jelly. She could barely move them apart, like a rubber band was holding them together. Not to mention how she couldn’t even feel her toes anymore, among other things…

“Scales…?” Kyoko gasped, briefly looking down as she felt over her thighs with her hands. And despite having a hard time believing it, there undeniably were small, purple scales spreading all across her legs, almost as if…

Splash!

“Ghn...! Not again! Wait…” 

That's when it dawned on her. Since when could Kyoko talk underwater? Also since when could she breath underwater? She still felt like she was losing energy by the second but going to the surface just suddenly seemed so… unimportant to her.

Splash!

Kyoko felt her eyelids flutter, she was getting so exhausted. Swimming was hard and the mermaid was still just out of reach. She could barely move her legs anymore, feeling like they were totally stuck together by that liquid inside the water. It made no sense, it made no sense…

Splash!

Kyoko could barely move. Her entire body was really only propelled by the jetstream anymore. Moving her arms was hard, moving her legs impossible and keeping her eyes open became more difficult with every second that passed. Kyoko couldn’t even feel both of her legs anymore. They just felt like a single, combined, tired muscle. 

But she couldn’t give up. Not now. Not when she was so close to the mystery of where Makoto went. She had to give it her all one last time.

Splash!
She wouldn’t give up…!

Splash!

…wouldn’t… give up…

Splash!

…for…

Splash!

…Makoto…

Splash!

…

—

“...hey…”

“...hey! Kyoko!”

“Kyoko! Are you awake? Answer me!”

“Ugh… my head…” When Kyoko opened her eyes, she was greeted by a sight wholly unfamiliar to her. Her entire surroundings held this bluish hue as if she was underwater, there were a few rocks and sand underneath her, along with corals and other underwater grasses all around her. But most importantly…

“Ah! You finally opened your eyes!” There was now a busty brunette floating in the water in front of her wearing a dark hoodie, though that did very little to hide the orbs on her chest, or her tapered waist. There even seemed to be a small denim skirt around her waist to keep her decent. Yet what caught Kyoko’s attention the most was the long reddish brown fish-like tail she used to gracefully move around in the water.

That's when a realization slowly dawned on the ultimate detective. She sat underwater, yet breathed normally. Was in the depth of the ocean, yet saw and heard normally. And most important, where once was her legs now as only a beautiful and strong looking massive purple fishtail, like the one of the runaway mermaid or the mermaid in front of her.

Kyoko had a hard time admitting it, but it seemed like she had turned into a mermaid herself.

“Kyoko? Hello? Are you here?” That's when she realized that the brown-haired mermaid in front of her tried to get her attention quite extravagantly. Even zipping from left to right again and again, causing the scales of her tail to almost hypnotically shine, even though the darkness of the depths.

“How do you know my name?” Kyoko asked sternly, finally ready to give the mermaid in front of her some attention. That's when the brown haired mermaid stopped in her tracks with a soft “ah”, and scratched her cheek in a very familiar nervous manner.

“It’s me, Makoto. I guess you haven’t seen me like this yet, huh?” The mermaid replied, almost blushing.

“...What?”

“I guess mermaid life hit me even harder than it hit you, didn’t it?” Makoto joked and now that Kyoko had a moment to realize her, she had to admit that a lot of signs were there.

Makoto’s brown hair color, his clothes, his casual style and mannerisms… This mermaid had everything. 

Only difference was that she wore a skirt and was a girl… and a mermaid.

“Incredible. I didn’t even recognize you at first.” Kyoko replied, suddenly feeling like tons upon tons of weights were just lifted off her shoulders. 

Makoto just nodded knowingly. “Yeah, I get that a lot lately.” 

“You have no idea how relieved I am to see you here alive and well.” Kyoko added, to which Makoto smiled back warmly. “I’m glad to see you Kyoko. I missed you.”

After a warm and welcoming hug between the two mermaids, Kyoko finally got her emotions back under control. So she went back to her analytical self. “I am assuming the other missing students are here and mermaids too.”

“You got that right.” Makoto answered immediately, then flashed her a knowing smile. “Do you want to see them? I promise you’ll be impressed.”

“Impressed? How so?” Kyoko was puzzled, yet Makoto just winked. 

“Follow me~” She practically sang, pushing herself off the seafloor and starting to swim with inhuman levels of grace.

And despite Kyoko having never swam with her new tail before, she had barely any trouble keeping up with Makoto at all. Instead of swimming, it felt like she was flying through the seas, going wherever she wanted with exceptional ease, almost as if she had done it her whole life. Part of her couldn't help but feel liberated. 

Eventually they stumbled across another section of the reef with a sight that was almost surreal. Some of the buildings looked as if they had been carved from the coral, others were made of stone, but all of them had this otherworldly underwatery style to them. 

Others were of a more traditionally human appearance. it was as if they had taken bits of wood and constructed them into normal housing. They even had glass filling the windows of the place. 

Yet what stood out the most were the shifting lights coming from it all. It was like she was seeing an aurora going on in front of her. Music could be heard in the distance, despite the fact they were underwater. 

It made Kyoko pause. The sight of it was awe-inspiring. Almost as if she was looking at a mosaic painting being brought to life. 

“Yeah, I know. It surprised me the first time I saw it too.”

”It’s beautiful.”

Makoto laughed. C’mon, let me show you around.”

Lanterns were strawn about all of the place. Something was inside of them, but she could not make out what they were. Ropes were hanging between them along with vines to keep more hand made decoration afloat. Smells of cooked fish, eel, and more filled the water, along with other bits of fruit.

“It smells delicious.” Kyoko spoke with a soft smile.

“Food here is usually really good. Never had anything to complain about. Today’s special though, so I bet it’s even better than usual.”

Kyoko grabbed one of the fish skewers and shoved it into her mouth. An explosion of flavor graced her tongue, far more than she was used to. She had never been one to enjoy food excessively before, so this level of pleasure was unprecedented. Did this also have to do with how much her body changed?

“C’mon there’s still quite a bit to see. Lots for you to see and all before we’re done. The rest is probably taking their time.” Makoto looked around, but ultimately shrugged her shoulders and smiled at Kyoko. The music in the background was progressively getting louder the further the two of them swam.

“Is today a festival?” Kyoko asked, to which Makoto giggled.

“Did the foodstands and music finally give it away?”

The music changed and it was getting louder. Closer they went to the front stage to see who it was. Familiarity gnawed on Kyoko’s mind the closer they got to it. The tenor of the voice. How it rolled off the words and said them. Even the lyrics of them were familiar. 

“This song. That voice.”

Kyoko went ahead to the stage. Bright colorful shells and gemstones of all sorts lined it. Several other mermaids danced on it as is. But there was one figure which caught her attention more. On top of the stage was another familiar figure, their long dark blue hair swaying behind them in the darkness of the water. 

“Sayaka!” 

Just like Makoto and herself, her lower body had changed. A bright shimmering blue mermaid tail now made up her lower body. There was a sway to her hips, and how the lower half of her tale moved as if she was kicking out of her legs. All of the other mermaids moved around her in a circle, just as gracefully. Sayaka shot through the center of it all with a flourish and a bright smile.

Kyoko thought. ‘With how she moves and dances, you would never think that Sayaka was once human.’ 

“Yeah, seeing her here was another shock for me. She was actually the one who helped me adapt to my new body when I first got here.”

”I see...” If Makoto and Sayaka were here, then maybe the others who had vanished also came to the festival…?

Kyoko scanned the crowd and recognised more and more familiar faces among the mermaids. There was Hina, her bright and bubbly personality shining through even underwater as she twirled gracefully.

Next to her was… Byakuya? Everything from his formal attire, attitude and body language pointed towards it being him, but he too was no longer a man. And she was now a mermaid like all the others.

Also, sure enough, Akane was there as well, having a brownish mermaid tail just like everyone else around. She was cheering, eating and shouting, all at the same time to an excessive degree. On her plates alone were more than five different servings of food from all over the place, which made it really clear that this Akane was the real deal.

But what truly caught Kyoko's attention was the longing look in the eyes of the mermaids around her. They seemed captivated by Sayaka's performance, their gazes filled with admiration and adoration. Kyoko couldn't help but feel a tug in her own heart as she watched Sayaka dance with such passion and skill.

It was then that Kyoko felt a stirring within her, a feeling she had never felt before. The desire to join in, dance with them, to be a part of the mesmerizing spectacle unfolding before her. Kyoko wasn’t even sure if she had ever danced before, but everything within her wanted to do it. 

She looked to Makoto with a worried expression, though she apparently already knew what Kyoko was going to ask and already nodded encouragingly. What hesitation Kyoko had quickly melted away between Makoto's supporting smile and Sayaka's incredible performance.

So Kyoko began to swim towards the stage. 

Kyoko's movements were smooth and graceful, each stroke of her tail perfectly in sync with the rhythm of the music. The water seemed to embrace her, helping her to float as if eager to carry her to the heart of the performance. It was like she had waited for forever for this moment.

Sayaka danced with just as much effortless elegance, her movements a hypnotic blend of power and grace which had Kyoko even more excited. She joined Sayaka on stage, moving in perfect harmony with her newfound partner. Sayaka's smile widened as Kyoko approached, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Together, they danced as if they had been partners for years, their movements seamlessly intertwining as they wove a tapestry of motion beneath the waves. Kyoko felt a surge of exhilaration coursing through her veins, her worries and doubts melting away as she surrendered herself to the music.

The crowd kept growing with each passing moment, drawn in by the amazing show. Mermaids of all shapes and sizes gathered around the stage, their voices blending in a cheer of applause.

Kyoko got lost in the music and the rhythm, her body moving with a fluidity and precision she'd never known before. She spun and twirled alongside Sayaka, their movements like poetry in motion as they told a story of joy and freedom beneath the waves.

As the song reached its crescendo, Kyoko and Sayaka found themselves back to back, their eyes twinkling mischievously as they winked at the crowd. The mermaids erupted into cheers and applause, their voices echoing through the underwater village like a symphony of celebration.

As the music faded away, Kyoko felt a sense of exhilaration she'd never experienced before. She looked at Sayaka, her heart filled with gratitude for the opportunity to dance alongside such a talented performer.

"That was amazing," Kyoko said, her voice filled with awe.

Sayaka smiled warmly, her eyes shining with pride. "You were incredible too, Kyoko. I knew you had it in you." 

“I didn’t.” Kyoko looked at her hands shocked. “At least, I shouldn't have had it in me. But, it just felt so right. I couldn’t stop myself.”

“Each of us here has a calling.” Sayaka giggled, taking the hands of Kyoko with a wide honest smile. “And ours just happened to be Idols for today~ It was such a blast performing with you just now~ Are you ready for the Encore?”

“You mean I can stay?” Kyoko asked with shining eyes.

“As a fellow idol for today, there is no way I can send you away now! Get ready, because this show will be a show that will be heard even to the surface world! Let’s go!”

At Sayaka's words the next song started playing through the massive underwater speakers. And again, almost as if on instinct, Kyoko knew what she had to do. How she had to dance. The entire choreography just came to her at the first note of a song she had never heard before. 

Completely in sync Kyoko and Sayaka swam high above the stage, waving and posing for the crowd, who was cheering even harder than before. Looking around even more people had arrived to watch and cheer for their performance. Among them even a lot more faces that Kyoko knew.

Peko, the ultimate sword fighter, was smiling towards the stage, which was saying a lot since she usually wasn’t one to smile a lot. And she was beside a blonde haired girl in a mobster suit… was that Fuyuhiko? The two really looked like they came to the show together. And they looked great, Peko with her white tail and Fuyuhiko with his…-her black tail. 

A little bit further back was Chiaki, the resident gamer of the group. As usual, she had a gaming console in her hand and was happily pressing buttons, although anyone who knew her also knew that she was here to enjoy the show in her own little way. And right next to her was…

“Mahiru?” For a single moment, Kyoko lost her focus, as the sight of a friend who she knew was human just a few hours ago. But right away, she went back to her Idol mode. Right now, the show was more important than everything else. 

Sayaka covered for Kyoko's little slip-up absolutely perfectly, so it's doubtful anyone even noticed. The Ultimate Idol gave Kyoko a look as if to covertly ask “are you okay?”, to which Kyoko responded by putting even more energy into her graceful movements, swimming and dancing with the best of them.

Though when her eyes fell on Makoto in the crowd again, something just clicked within her again. Her worries suddenly seemed so trivial, the weirdness all around her seemed so fun and Makoto, most of all, seemed so… special. So as the song came to an end, she posed alongside Sakaya, yet this one was different. This one was just for Makoto. 

…and Kyoko knew she knew it. Was it her beauty or her moves, the dance or the atmosphere? It didn't matter, because all that mattered was that Makoto was having just as much of a blast as she was. That much was certain from the cute little blush on her adorable face.

The night was still young and there were many more songs to go. So one after another, Kyoko and Sayaka performed into the night, being the centerpiece of the festival that everyone was celebrating. And even though Kyoko had never done anything like that before, little had she done before this moment brought her more joy than singing and dancing on stage for her friend as a mermaid right then…

—

As the festival came to a close, all of the mermaid students met up once again at the stage in the middle of the plaza. Sayaka’s last performance had been an hour ago and ever since then, the stage had been filled with quiet tranquility, instead of celebratory happiness. 

Though that’s not why they were here.

Makoto and Kyoko asked everyone to assemble together, which did have everyone on edge a little bit. When those two wanted to say something in front of everyone, it usually meant that something big had happened. And considering half of them had switched gender and all of them had swapped races, they had a feeling of what they wanted to talk about.

“...but isn't all of this just mysterious mermaid magic?” Akane asked the question that was on practically everyone's mind. “I mean, how else could you explain all of this?”

“You are halfway right, Akane.” Makoto spoke, appearing with Kyoko out of nowhere as everyone turned to look at them. “Mermaid magic? Definitely. But far from mysterious.”

“There is a method to this magic and we believe that there is a culprit behind it.” Kyoko spoke, to which everyone's eyes went wide. Gasps came out from all directions, though Kyoko took this time to look around and then sighed too. “I think everyone that came with us on this trip is now present. Hey Mahiru, what happened above land that you all are here now?”

“Well…” The redhead stammered, nervously shifting back and forth with her shining red tail. “You kinda vanished and I told the others where you went. And then we all came to the beach together. And I kinda zoned out after that.”

“Did you happen to see a mermaid when you came into the waters?” Makoto asked, to which everyone looked around at each other. 

“I’m not sure…” Mahiru scratched her cheek nervously. “I think I heard singing and next I knew I was cheering on Sayaka.”

“There is no doubt! I definitely saw a mermaid out there! She was the one who baited Fuyuhiko into the water and made me dive after.” Peko sternly spoke, to which Fuyuhiko closed her eyes for a moment, before adding. “...I’ll admit it was a blunder on my part. But yes, we did see a mermaid. What's your point?”

“There was no blunder, that mermaid managed to draw in every single one of us. Truly a formidable foe.” Kyoko said, a smile slowly creeping onto her face. “Yet, since her method is always the same, we can conclude that there is only one way she can pull someone in.”

“We know that she pulls them in personally, we have all seen it happen to each of us.” Makoto took over, to which Kyoko nodded. “We also know that once she has you in her spell, there is practically no way to break out of it. Kyoko couldn’t do it, I couldn’t do it, Fuyuhiko and Peko and everyone else couldn’t do it. And because no one did it, we believe it's impossible to actually break out of the spell.”

“I mean… yeah. Would explain why I jumped in with my clothes on.” Akane added, stuffing her face with another eel skewer again. “But if we all did that, doesn't that mean that evil mermaid is none of us?”

“No, there was a single person where that didn’t happen. A person who apparently had quite a bit of time before turning into a mermaid herself.” Kyoko spoke.

“A person who had time too and wanted to save all of her belongings that were at risk of getting destroyed in the water. And who could blame her? Most of the things precious to her that she always carries around were electronics.” Makoto added as he made a grand gesture.

“Remember, after you fall under the spell, there is no escape. So the only way for someone to save their belongings is for that person to know what she was getting into. Add to that the fact that you only appeared to the festival after Mahiru and the others joined us, and we have all evidence pointing towards one person!” Makoto declared, with her and Kyoko raising their arms and collectively pointing towards a single person.

“It couldn’t have been anyone but you, Chiaki Nanami, the Ultimate Gamer! Or should we say, the Ultimate Mermaid!!!” Both of them shouted in unison, stunning the crowd into a perplexed silence.

…

…

…

“You got me.” Chiaki simply spoke, to which the entire crowd of people gasped in shock again. Though Chiaki smiled weakly at the two and added with a small giggle. “You two are simply too good. And I even made sure to separate you two a bit during the festival by making you an Idol for a day, Kyoko.”

“Speaking of which… How did you do that?” Makoto asked.

“I am assuming that device in your hand is the key, since you had to have known that it works perfectly here underwater.” Kyoko added to which Chiaki eagerly leaned forwards.

“This game is called Real Life Mermaid Village Simulator. It's all about building up a mermaid village and making the residents within them as happy as possible. You can build buildings, stalls, stages, and even unrealistic electronics like speakers underwater to make the Mermaid life as awesome as possible.” Chiaki explained with incredible enthusiasm. “Do well enough, and NPCs will come to your village on their own. But recruiting friends will take physical dexterity on the players part, which is the only questionable part about it. But nothing that would deter me from playing.”

“..wait. So this is a game?” Makoto asked, quite confused herself.

“No, no. This is quite real. I figured that out already.” Chiaki corrected her, then pointed her finger upwards. “This is a real fantasy game. Meaning there are some fantasy and some real aspects to the game. And it mashes them together perfectly. So everything you do see here is real, including your mermaid bodies and the fun you had at the festival. What do you think? Did you like the festival?”

“Before I answer that, can you tell me how you made me an Idol for a day?” Kyoko asked before anyone could answer. “Is that just an option in your game?”

“Yap. That is just an option in the game. I can give roles to people and make them have fun in places they have never experienced before.” Chiaki flatly stated, looking proud of herself. “I tried it on myself already and it's awesome. Wouldn’t you agree that this whole thing is just awesome?!?”

“I mean… it was pretty fun…”

“I liked the festival a lot…”

“Being a mermaid is pretty cool…”

There was a bit of mumbling among the students, a little bit of chaos, but the consensus seemed to be mostly aligned. No one really seemed to mind being a mermaid among all the ones present.

“Hey hey! Here is an offer!” Chiaki shouted, cutting through everyone and making them stop and look at her. “For as long as you like, stay mermaids and have fun down here. Whenever you want, come to me and I'll turn you back into a human. Sounds good?”

There was a uniform agreement between the students, much to Chiaki's visible delight, though no one wanted to get turned back at the very moment. Everyone wanted to enjoy their mermaid life just a little longer, so slowly but surely, all of them scattered, until only Chiaki, Makoto and Kyoko were left behind.

That's when Chiaki spoke up again, this time in her quieter voice, like she usually does. “Hey Kyoko, there is one thing you had wrong in your deduction.”

“Hmm?”

“This festival, yours and Sayaka’s performance did more than just make all the mermaids happy. You were the ones who drew in all the rest of the students on the beach with your wonderful singing voices. You underestimate how wonderfully magical you all have become… hehehe~”

“...You are saying I turned Mahiru and the others?” Kyoko asked, somewhat shocked.

“No, the main reason they turned was because of the festival, which amplified the recruitment power by orders of magnitude. And since I organized it, I still take the blame. But yeah, the festival's true purpose was to draw in more mermaids and make them enjoy their underwater lifes. And I think it did that quite well~”

“That it did.”

“...not to mention how many mermaid points I got because of it~ Oohhh~ I can't wait to go on a village spending spree tomorrow~”

“Of course you do…”

Should Kyoko have scolded Chiaki a bit more? Maybe, but for all the weird and gaming related things Chiaki said, there was a single thing that rang true more than Kyoko ever thought possible.

Life as a mermaid is fun.

There are no two ways around it. So perhaps now, after all the mysteries are solved and the culprit exposed, Kyoko should do what everyone else was doing: 

Enjoy her time with a new twist, 

the Ultimate Underwater Vacation.

—

When the mermaid life calls, then it's time to uncover all the mystical secrets from below. Even if you have to swim with the fishes for that.

Commissioned by Chimeraguard

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F41lnv12rpi2b1.jpg