mizuxfem!oc
The Ningyo (人魚, "human fish") is a creature with both human and fish-like features.
Many fishermen who find these creatures caught in their nets throw them back into the ocean.
For if a ningyo is caught, she will bring misfortune and cal...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: MEN ARE TALKING _______
"I've been looking for you. Hozumi Ichiro."
He lifted his eyes from his drink, his interest piqued to hear authentic Japanese for the first time in so long. Since moving to Formosa, he only spoke Mandarin or Dutch, so to hear the tongue of his homeland was more than enough to tear him away from the women on either side of him.
The person in question was quite an interesting sight. He was a tall and lean man, but with power in his stance that men as thin as him didn't usually have. He had raven hair, pulled back in a bun, and circular, yellow lenses, usually reserved for the blind.
But this man looked right at him with purpose. As if there would be an issue.
Ichiro smiled at this. He responded in Japanese, making the women envious they couldn't understand. "Ah, it's nice to cross paths with fellow Japanese."
Mizu didn't match his air of hollow pleasantries. Her lips were fixed in an unimpressed frown, and her eyes looked down at him in dislike.
It made him smile wider. "Who do I owe the pleasure?"
"My name is Mizu."
"Mizu! The name of water!" he presented his arm to the seat in front of him. "Sit."
She didn't sit down. Instead, she looked at the two women wrapping their arms around his from either side. "Alone."
Ichiro's brow twitched. The intrigue of it all was getting old now, and he found this Mizu rude. He forced an unaffected smirk and reverted to Mandarin to kick the women out. "Men are talking."
Now, she sat across from him, pulling the chair out. They stared at each other for a moment in silence. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about this Mizu was threatening. He smiled.
"So, what can I help you with?"
"I have the bodies of eight Ryujin pirates and seek to be compensated."
He choked. "How did you manage to get eight?"
"Easy," her voice was low and deep, more than his. "I killed them."
The tension in his brows released, and he looked at this samurai with new eyes. She was incredibly hard to read, but no part of her delivery signaled she was insincere.
"...Killed them, ey? Hah... Japan always sends their best," he crossed his leg, resting his hands on his knees. "But you're not fully Japanese, are you?"
He wanted to obtain leverage through psychological power play, and those eyes made her a freak of nature.
"You know," Ichiro suggested, wearing his Dutch uniform proudly. "You could be an official here, too. Being a halfu as yourself, the Dutch wouldn't think twice to trust you. Maybe more than they trust me, haha."
