Aiiro Ningyo

For as long as she can recall, Maho has known no home other than a sacred shrine dedicated to a mermaid goddess. Raised as the adopted daughter of the resident miko, she has spent her life immersed in the quiet rhythms and spiritual duties of the sanctuary. Although she harbors a natural curiosity about the world beyond its grounds, Maho willingly accepts the strict rules and numerous restrictions imposed by her adoptive mother, finding comfort in the familiar boundaries of her sheltered existence. Her predictable routine is forever altered when she wanders down to the shoreline and encounters a mysterious woman named Rena. Unlike anyone Maho has ever met, Rena possesses an impossible trait: she never ages. Drawn together by chance at the water's edge, the two form an unexpected connection that challenges everything Maho understands about her secluded life. However, this meeting comes with a heavy burden. Rena implores Maho to keep her existence entirely hidden from the rest of the world. Bound by this solemn request, Maho finds herself caught between her loyalty to the shrine and her adoptive mother, and the weight of a profound secret shared only with the ageless stranger by the sea.