Classroom Changes, Umako chapter 8

Note: All sexually explicit scenes in this story are intended to involve only characters 18 years of age or older

Aya opened her eyes to dappled sunlight shimmering on the water's surface above her. She shook her head to move the hair floating before her eyes. She inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with water. When she had been human, this action would have been fatal, but since the Event had changed her into a mermaid, it was invigorating, like a breath of clear mountain air would be to a human.

She moved her tail slowly from side to side, feeling the currents it created ripple across her body. As much as she wanted to stay like that all day, she knew it was a school day. Checking her watch (wasn’t it lucky that humans had invented waterproof watches long before the Event, she thought), she realized she would be late if she didn’t get moving.

Raising herself on her tail by pressing it against the bottom of the pool brought her torso out of the water. A few strong coughs cleared the water from her lungs. Changing her breathing from water to air was still a little disconcerting. Inhaling deeply of the morning air, she completed the switch and felt composed again.

She grasped the pool's top rail and, with a mighty push from her tail, vaulted out of the water and into her wheelchair. Settling into the chair, she reflected on how fortunate she was that her family had been able to provide the 6-meter-diameter above-ground swimming pool that was her new sleeping quarters. The pool was large enough to give her room to swim a little. Some newly formed mermaids had to sleep in a bathtub or a tub of water that was not much larger than themselves. 

The pool was not heated. Aya had learned on the day of the Event that warm water was not her friend, causing her to get both horny and disinhibited. The cold seemed not to bother her since the change, and in any case, it rarely got below freezing in Tokyo. There was a canopy that could be placed over the pool to keep the sun off on warm days and the snow off on those rare days that were an issue. The pool was not expensive, but the aerator and the ultraviolet saline filtration system raised the cost substantially; in essence, she slept in a large aquarium.

Aya threw on a nylon poncho that she stored in a pouch on the chair. When alone in the pool, she wore no clothing so she kept the cloak handy for the sake of modesty. She wheeled into the house, where her family was already sitting at the breakfast table. Aya was the only one in her family that the Event had changed. There didn’t seem to be any pattern as to who was affected. In some families, everyone changed; in others no one did. All the authorities had determined was that about 1 in 3 people had changed from a human to a mythical creature on that fateful day.

“Ohayo gozaimasu,” her mother greeted her cheerily as she entered the kitchen.

“Ohayo,” Aya muttered in return. She was not much of a morning person. She silently rolled up to her place at the table and began serving herself breakfast.

“Keep up that attitude, and you’ll be grounded this weekend,” her mother scolded.

“Sorry, mother,” Aya replied, forcing a smile. She did not want to risk being grounded.

“That’s better,” her mother replied. “Hurry, finish your breakfast, and get dressed, or you’ll be late for school.” Aya gobbled down the remainder of her meal, earning her mother's admonishment to ‘Eat like a lady’. Aya wanted to reply that she couldn’t eat both quickly and daintily, but held her tongue.

After breakfast, Aya headed to her room to don her school uniform. Although she now slept in the pool, she kept her old bedroom to store her things and as a private space. This caused some tension between Aya and her little sister, Mika. Mika argued that since Aya no longer needed a bed in her room, she should give up the larger bedroom. Aya’s mother had sided with Aya, saying that they needed to be considerate of Aya’s ‘special situation’. Mika retorted that Aya was lucky since she was now magical, whereas Mika was only a boring human.

Aya dressed and checked her hair. With a quick shake of her head, it fell into place—a perk of being a mermaid: perfect hair and skin. Another talent she had discovered was a little more disturbing: She had been daydreaming in her room shortly after the Event, singing to herself a wordless ditty that popped into her head. Suddenly, the door to her room opened, and her family walked in with blank stares, seemingly in a trance. They came to their senses when she stopped singing but could not remember how they got there. Aya was scared to explore this power further since the principal had warned all the students that abusing their new talents would get them expelled.

A quick tooth brushing completed her preparations. Aya’s mother had frowned at her wearing makeup before the Event; now, it was not an issue. Her skin had a perfect tone and texture, and tiny iridescent scales on her eyelids gave them a rainbow sheen, more alluring than any eyeliner.

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As Aya neared the school, she heard a distant voice call, “Aya, wait up!” accompanied by the clatter of hooves on the pavement. She spun her chair around to see Umako cantering up to her.

“Whew, I thought I was going to miss you,” Umako grinned as she caught up with Aya.

“S’up,” Aya asked.

“It’s Friday,” Umako retorted as if the answer was obvious. When Aya continued to give her a blank look, she continued, “You said Kaito is coming home from boarding school this weekend!”

“Yeah!” Aya said, a dreamy look on her face. Kaito was Aya’s boyfriend but had attended a boarding school in Osaka for two years. Although less than three hours away by train, he rarely came home on weekends. The school encouraged the students to stay over most weekends by arranging many extracurricular activities to help them bond with their classmates and promote a sense of independence from their parents. 

For Kaito, there was a further incentive not to travel: He had become half-human and half sea lion during the Event. His new form was awkward travelling on land but unsuitable for a wheelchair. He felt out of place travelling on public transit, self-conscious that he was making a spectacle of himself. However, tomorrow was the start of Golden Week, and there would be no classes all week. The school encouraged students to visit their families during this time.

“I was hoping we could set up some time for you and Kaito to get together with Hiroto and me.”

“Hmm, we might be pretty busy,” Aya grinned.

“Come on,” Umako retorted, “You can have non-stop sex all week!”

“Did you forget who you’re talking to?” Aya said with a wink.

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The school day dragged on for Aya, as it usually did. Unlike Umako, a top student who seemed to enjoy all her studies, Aya was, at best, an average student, not failing any classes but not excelling in any either. Since the Event, she had decided that her unique skills would carry her through life and that the stuff they were teaching her wasn’t relevant. She was sure there would be lots of work for people who could function underwater, at any depth, without specialized equipment or time limits on their air supply.

When the teacher was not looking, Aya kept checking her phone for messages from Kaito, wondering what time he would arrive. Shortly after lunch, the anticipated missive arrived; he would be at Shinagawa Station at 5:30 p.m. Knowing this made the afternoon classes seem even longer. Aya breathed a massive sigh of relief when the final class eventually ended.

Aya hurried from the school, wheeling her chair as fast as she could to the nearest metro station, about a kilometre away. Navigating the subway lines took Aya longer than most, as she often had to wait for elevators since she could not use the much quicker escalators. She needed to change lines to get to the train station, further slowing her journey. With these delays, it was almost  5:30 p.m. when she reached her destination.

The train arrived with legendary punctuality, pulling into the station within a few seconds of the scheduled time. A steady stream of humans and demi-humans emerged from the platform, but there was no sign of Kaito. Aya was beginning to worry he had missed the train when she noticed a ripple in the crowd as a group of humans moved aside to avoid something moving through them. As the front of the crowd parted, Aya saw Kaito hurrying toward her, walking somewhat awkwardly on all four of his flippers. Watching his large front flippers slap up and down, Aya could understand why people were making room; nobody wanted to risk getting whacked by a wayward appendage. He waddled up to Aya, lifted himself on his flippers, wrapped his arms around her and gave her a lengthy kiss.

“Babe!” he exclaimed, “It’s so good to see you!”

“Right back at you, Snuggums!” Aya replied, a big smile on her face. “How was the trip?”

“Oh, you know,” Kaito replied non-committally, “Stressful. I get tired when I walk too far on land, and I don’t fit in a seat on the train, so I had to spread out across a whole row. That got me dirty looks from some of the other passengers. But it’s all worth it to be here with you.”

“Aww, Babe…” Aya said sympathetically, “I kind of know how you feel, though it’s easier for me because humans are used to seeing someone in a wheelchair.”

The pair headed to the metro for the journey home. As the train rattled along, they exchanged stories about their recent experiences. Aya excitedly told Kaito about her recent visit to the Monster Girl Cafe and meeting Yoko, the cafe’s mermaid chef. Kaito related how much he now enjoyed the pool at his school, even though he had not been able to swim before the Event. They made plans for Saturday, agreeing to go to Yugawara and swim in Sagami Bay.

Aya’s station was two stops before Kaito’s. As the train slowed, they kissed again and bid goodbye, agreeing that Kaito would pick Aya up at her home the next day at 10 a.m.

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Aya slept fitfully that night, her anticipation for the next day’s outing keeping her up. Usually a late sleeper on weekends, she was up and dressed by 8 a.m. She anxiously checked her watch every few minutes, wondering how time could move so slowly. Kaito arrived just before the appointed time. He spent the required few minutes exchanging polite pleasantries with Aya’s parents before respectfully suggesting they should leave if they wanted to keep on schedule. Their trip required travelling on the metro with a line change and a train from Tokyo station. They arrived in Yugawara around 12:30 p.m. 

“I’m starving,” Aya remarked, having eaten breakfast five hours earlier.

“I could eat,” Kaito concurred. They wandered down the main shopping street until they found a cafe with seating available. They each ordered a bowl of ramen and a Coke. As they were enjoying their meal, a man smelling of alcohol staggered over to their table.

“Why do they have to let monshters in here…,” he slurred, giving them a belligerent stare.

Kaito’s face reddened in anger, and he moved to challenge the interloper.

Aya was sure the drunk was no danger to Kaito, but if there was violence, it would create a scene, and the police would probably be called. In altercations between humans and demi-humans, the police often assumed the demi-human was guilty until proven innocent. There would be questions; the police might put them on the train back to Tokyo, and Kaito might even be arrested. In the best scenario she could imagine, their day would still be ruined. 

Aya recalled how her song had affected the family. Would it work on this man? Would it make things worse? There was no time to think; she felt she had to try.

“Wait a minute,” Aya said uncertainly, touching Kaito’s hand. “I think I can handle this.”

Aya began to sing under her breath, barely audible beyond their table. In a few seconds, both Kaito and the drunk were staring blankly at her. 

“Okay,” Aya thought, “I've got him in a trance, now what? Can I make him leave us alone?” From the little she knew of mermaid lore, especially how sailors were attracted to them, she decided charm was the most likely approach. Something nagged at her, though. Mermaids weren’t supposed to be able to mesmerize humans, were they?

Smiling at the drunk, Aya spoke quietly, “You want to leave the restaurant without making a scene, don’t you, darling?”. The drunk slowly nodded in agreement.

“And you don’t want to be calling anyone a monster anymore, do you?” Aya cooed, batting her eyelashes at him. The drunk shook his head.

“Okay then,” Aya concluded, “Be a dear and scurry off and let us enjoy our lunch.” She blew him a kiss for good measure.

Without saying anything, the man turned and exited the restaurant with a happy smile.

Aya breathed a massive sigh of relief. In retrospect, she realized what a chance she had taken. What if her song had driven him into an uncontrollable lust? She could have made the situation a lot worse. She tried to drink her Coke, but her hand shook too hard. 

A moment later, Kaito came back to his senses. He looked around in surprise, wondering where their aggressor had gone.

“It’s okay,” Aya assured him. “It’s taken care of. Let’s finish up and get out of here. I’m anxious to go swimming.”

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It was a short roll/waddle from the cafe to Yoshihama Beach. There weren’t many people there so early in the year. They found a secluded spot under the viaduct where the road skirted the shore to leave their belongings, including all their clothing. Kaito lifted Aya into his arms and carried her to the water, releasing her when the water was waist-deep.

“Bet you can’t catch me,” Aya teased, slapping the water with her tail, creating a mighty splash that landed squarely on Kaito. She took off, laughing, as Kaito sputtered and shook his head.

Kaito knew there was no way he could keep up, but he followed as best he could. Thrusting powerfully with his flippers, he raced after Aya, but she was soon out of sight. He was stopped, trying to get his bearings, when he felt something tickling him between his front and rear flippers. When he stuck his head underwater, Aya was beneath him, smiling and waving. She pointed downward and took off into a dive. Kaito cleared the air from his lungs and followed her down.

Aya waited for Kaito to catch up and took his hand in hers. Together, they swam deeper, observing the sea life around them and pointing out notable sights to each other. There were corals in an endless variety of shapes, with tiny fish of multiple colours swimming among them and anemones growing on them. Other fish congregated in schools that split and re-merged like a single being when Aya and Kaito swam into them. They saw a giant octopus and even a lone sea turtle, an unusual sight at this time of year. Aya couldn’t resist the urge to snatch a small fish into her mouth and devour it. Following her lead, Kaito did the same. They grinned at each other like children who had gotten away with mischief.

After about fifteen minutes, they were at a depth of nearly 300 meters. Kaito began to look uncomfortable and signalled to Aya that he had to return to the surface. Aya pouted. She wanted to keep going but realized Kaito had reached his limit. The light at that depth was still bright to Aya’s mermaid eyes but very dim to Kaito. Aya nodded, and they headed toward the surface, still holding hands.

When their heads popped out of the water, they looked at each other and laughed with joy.

“I’m going to need a few minutes to re-oxygenate before I can dive again,” Keito said.

Aya said nothing as she slipped beneath the surface. Kaito wondered what she was up to. He soon found out.

Like any marine mammal, Kaito’s reproductive organs were held inside his body when not “in use”, but his were located where you would expect them on a human rather than near the tail. Aya was teasingly stroking that region of his body. When she had coaxed an erection out of his body, she began gently sucking on his penis, which looked more human than sea lion. Keito floated blissfully in the water, breathing deeply to store oxygen in his blood while revelling in Aya’s attention. Just as he was getting into the sensations, Aya’s head popped up.

“My turn,” she said, pushing Kaito’s head underwater.  Kaito responded by placing his palm over her vulva, gently rotating his hand and letting his fingers tickle her clitoris. He followed up by using his tongue there while using his hands to play with her nipples. When he could taste a fluid warmer than the surrounding seawater, he knew she was ready for the next phase.

Aya dropped below the surface and put her arms around Kaito’s neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist and his front flippers around her tail. Holding this embrace, they allowed themselves to sink into the water. Kaito’s rear flippers weren’t very useful for propulsion, but Aya readily moved them through the depths with her tail.

As they descended, Kaito slipped his penis into Aya’s eager orifice, triggering mutual moans of pleasure. Each movement of Aya’s tail generated a thrust on their coupling, giving her control of the speed and depth of the stroke. As her excitement grew, she moved her tail harder and faster. They zoomed through the water doing barrel rolls and loops; their velocity was proportional to Aya’s level of arousal.

When Aya felt she was about to climax, she swam at top speed toward the surface. They flew out of the water just as they reached mutual orgasm, hanging in their embrace in mid-air for a moment, enthralled in waves of pleasure, before plunging back beneath the waves. 

They held this embrace as the fading sensations ran through them, slowly drifting downward. Kaito eventually ran low on oxygen again and had to surface for air. They floated with their heads above the water, still holding together, gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. 

“Well, that was fun,” Aya declared, “I’d like to go for a swim now.”

“Haven’t we been swimming this whole time?” Kaito asked, confused.

“No, daarin,” Aya replied. “We’ve just been splashing around. I want to go for a swim that gives me a decent workout. I so rarely get a chance to.”

“Okay,” Kaito said uncertainly, “But you know I’d never be able to keep up with you.”

Aya laughed. “Of course, silly. But you could come along for the ride. Wrap your arms around my waist and hang on.”

As soon as Kaito embraced Aya, she took off, accelerating rapidly, swimming on the surface.

“Gonna dive,” Aya warned him, barely giving him time to prepare before descending into the sea. She plunged downward at an alarming rate. It was like riding an underwater roller-coaster. Kaito feared she would exceed his depth limit before she realized it. Just before reaching the danger zone, Aya executed a 180-degree turn and sped upward. She continued to pick up speed but levelled off as she approached the surface so that instead of a gigantic leap into the air, she came up parallel to the water and sped along the surface, bobbing in and out of the water in a porpoising motion.

Kaito couldn’t believe how quick Aya was. “How fast are we going,” he shouted between plunges into the water.

“I can do about 100 knots swimming on my own,” Aya shouted back. After the next plunge, she added, “But carrying you is slowing me down, so maybe 80 knots.”

Kaito was astounded. He knew he might reach 20 knots in short bursts, but he cruised around 10 knots. Aya was cruising at ten times his best speed. He'd known she was fast, but this was incredible. 

It took Aya under a half-hour to cross the 60 km wide bay, fetching up on an outcrop off Jogashima Park. They lay beside each other on the rock, basking in the afternoon sun. Kaito was content to relax and soak in the warming rays, but before long, Aya rubbed him “down there” and got him hard again.

“What? Here?” Kaito protested, “Someone might see us!”

“I know,” Aya grinned, “Doesn't that make it more exciting?”

Kaito found the idea more scary and potentially humiliating than exciting, but there was no deterring Aya when she set her mind. Aya was not very mobile on land, so it was up to Kaito to take the initiative this time. With Aya on her back, Kaito mounted her missionary style, controlling his upper body with his arms and his lower body with his front flippers. They took their time, making love slowly and gently in contrast to their earlier wild ride. When they were done, Kaito rolled over, taking Aya with him, so they lay on their sides, facing each other; Aya embraced in Kaito’s flippers. For the next hour, they kissed and made small talk as the sun moved across the sky.

“It’s getting late,” Kaito eventually said, “We should get back before it gets dark.”

“I suppose,” Aya sighed, “But I just want to lie here with you forever.”

They slipped back into the water, and Aya sped them across the bay. When they reached the shallows, Kaito carried Aya to her wheelchair. They dried off and dressed.

As they returned to the train station, Kaito remarked that Yugawara was famous for its hot springs and the onsens built around them.

Aya punched him playfully, saying, “You know what hot water does to me. Was I not wanton enough for you already?”

Kaito laughed.

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Kaito had to spend time with his family the next day, so Aya was hanging out with Umako at the Monster Girl Cafe.

Aya confided to Umako about the incident with the drunk at the restaurant and how she had mesmerized him by singing.

“That doesn’t make sense,” Umako protested, “Mermaids can’t do that!”

“Well, I’d never heard of it before either,” Aya replied, “But I did it, and it worked!”

“Humph, there’s a very simple explanation, Fish Tail,” Serass interjected, startling the girls since they didn’t realize she had been listening.

“Well, what is it?” Aya demanded, irritated at Serass’ habit of inserting herself into conversations without warning.

“What made you think you’re a mermaid?” Serass answered offhandedly, seeming already bored with the conversation. “You’re a Siren, the mermaid's evil twin.” Serass laughed at her “evil twin” nickname while the girls only looked stunned.

“A… Siren?” Aya repeated, not understanding.

“Oh yes,” Serass replied, “Sirens are much more powerful than mermaids. Much rarer, too. Think of them as a mermaid and a high-tier demon hybrid. They have a bit of the demon’s command power in the form of a singing ability. There are probably less than one hundred like you in this world, by the way.”

“You should be careful with that power, little girl. It could get you into a lot of trouble. You may unconsciously force people to do your will, especially loved ones.” Serass cautioned her, then walked away, giggling and shaking her head.

When Serass was out of sight, Aya shook her head and scoffed, “What the hell was that? Where does she get off calling me some kind of demon? She’s just screwing with me, right? She’s as new to this demi-human stuff as we are. How could she know about Sirens?”

“Well…,” Umako hesitated. It was not her place to reveal what she knew about Serass. “She was right about how warm water would affect you, so regardless of how she knows these things, I’d listen to her if I were you.”

“Woo, power of command, eh?” Aya grinned. “Give me your pastry,” she said in a spooky voice, waving her hands in the air. She broke down laughing.

“You have to sing first,” Umako said sternly, not amused by Aya’s little jest. “And please don’t joke about it. You don’t know what sort of power you might be messing with.”

“Okay, okay,” Aya said, chilled by Umako’s reaction, “I’ll be careful.”