Holy shit this was awesome! I've never heard this myth before, my knowledge of anything China is sorely lacking. So I was most definitely caught off guard by the SUDDENLY MERMEN AND UNDERWATER KINGDOM bit. But when you threw in the Haruki Murakami mention, I really should have known. So much of his work starts off in the mundane and slowly but surely the weird takes over. This was the same here, with the regular detective story becoming so much more as the pieces of the puzzle start to fit together.

I absolutely loved the characterization, the flow of your really lovely writing, and of course, why not, the sexy times. I love Nino as the outsider to this whole secret world and how they bring him in. I also love how they meet up with Aiba and everything ABOUT Aiba, the miracle boy slash Dragon King. And of course, my favorite is that awful tease of an ending, bless you for that. I love that stuff :)

This was so great, I loved it!