Sing For Me, Darling

Chapter 1 - Serenade

There had been rumors whispered behind closed doors all over town about the mysterious singing coming from the shoreline at every dawn. Some say that it was a random citizen, unable to find time for themselves until then. Some say that it was just a figment of the collective's imagination, claiming that 'they've never heard anything of the sort.' The most delusional, however, claimed that it was a siren, a creature from beyond the waves, that had come to eat all the men in town. Kakyoin was one of the only townsfolk that had no opinion. Whatever it was, he reasoned, it needed to stop interrupting his sleep. The mysterious voice was in a furious bout of song that morning, loud and obnoxious. Kakyoin felt drawn to it, but not out of curiosity. He was sleep deprived and his patience was wearing extremely thin. The source of the 'serenade' was a rocky pier that extended far into the ocean, with waves crashing onto its sides. Kakyoin marched to its edge and leaned until he could see his reflection in the pitch black depths.

"I don't know who, or what, you are," he shouted over the sound of the sea. "But could you please quiet down?! People are trying to sleep around here!"

To his surprise, the top half of a face appeared, just as irritated as Kakyoin was. Its owner had jet black, curly hair, and ocean blue eyes that were staring directly into his being. The person's fin-like ears wiggled in protest at Kakyoin's tone, and his brow was furrowed to match. It appeared he was trying to say something, but all his words turned bubbles that popped when they hit the surface.

"I can't understand you. If you're going to speak, come out of the water."

Kakyoin stepped back a bit as the figure hauled itself onto the pier. Shockingly, the bottom half of its body was a glittering fish tail, with scales that matched the hue of its eyes. It was a merperson, and by the looks of things, it was a male one at that. He stretched out onto the pier and propped himself up on his elbows, lazily flicking his tail up and down.

"You're so pretentious. You can't get mad at me for doing my job. I'm a siren. Singing is my thing." he said indignantly.

"You're clearly not very good at it." Kakyoin replied.

"I know that, asshole. No need to rub it in."

"Whatever. Why are you still here, if you can't even attract anybody?"

"I dunno. There's not many other places I can go, and singing is the one thing I can do, so I'm sticking to my guns."

"Well, can you not do it at 6AM? It's pretty annyoing, especially when I'm trying to sleep."

"I can't help that. I'm a night owl. It's in my nature."

Kakyoin sighed and looked out to the horizon. The sun was steadily rising, and the full weight of his lack of sleep had lain itself on his shoulders. He wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

"I'll strike you a deal." he cautiously started. "If you stop singing at ungodly hours... I'll..."

"You'll what?"

"...I'm not sure yet. But if you think of something, call me."

"What?"

"For something that's supposed to be almost human, you're not very bright. Sing, and I'll come. Though, it's not like I'll really have a choice."

Kakyoin stuck out a hand, and looked expectantly at him. The merman reluctantly took it in his own slightly scaly one. It wasn't slimy, as he expected, but rough and cold, like snakeskin. They firmly shook hands and let go as soon as the pact was sealed.

"What's your name? Kinda almost forgot to ask." the siren asked out of the blue.

"Noriaki Kakyoin. Call me Kakyoin, though. Everyone in the village does."

"That's odd. I've never of a person wanting to be called by their last name." he chuckled. "I'm Jotaro. Jotaro Kujo."

"Interesting name, for a fish."

"I'm not a fish. I'm a merperson."

Kakyoin rolled his eyes and turned on his heel, ready to go home. He felt a tug on his pants leg, and looked over to see the siren gripping onto him.

"If it's not too much trouble, could you roll me back into the water? The rocks here are really rough and I don't feel like looking like an idiot trying to slide back in."

"Is that what you want to waste your favor on?"

The siren glared at him angrily, but said nothing.

"I'm only joking. Hold still."

Kakyoin unceremoniously pushed the siren towards the end of the pier. With a splash, Jotaro made it back in, and rudely gestured in Kakyoin's general direction before swimming away.

"Goodbye to you too, Sir Fish." he said with a snort. He knew he was going to have fun with this arrangement.