Aito once believed he was an ordinary person, but that changes the first time he falls in love. When he develops feelings for a boy at school, a flood of memories from a past life comes rushing back—he was once the little mermaid who sacrificed everything for a prince, only to dissolve into sea foam. Along with these memories, a curse awakens within his modern body. Whenever Aito falls in love, he loses his ability to speak and experiences unbearable pain in his legs, mirroring the mermaid’s tragic fate. Terrified by this ordeal, he swears off love entirely and resolves to live a quiet, fulfilling life as a college student, finding comfort in his friendship with a supportive best friend named Mizuki and in his passion for singing.

His careful distance from romance is shattered when he meets Toru, a charming and persistent fellow college student who takes an active interest in him. Aito initially tries to ignore Toru, knowing the curse makes any relationship dangerous. However, Toru refuses to be dismissed, and his steady persistence slowly wears down Aito’s defenses. The story follows Aito as he struggles with the terrifying choice of whether to risk the curse’s agony for the chance at genuine love. The central conflict asks whether a curse passed down through lifetimes can be broken and whether the act of loving someone is worth the potential for pain.

Notable narrative arcs include Aito’s initial rejection of Toru’s advances as he attempts to protect himself from the curse. This gives way to a tentative connection as Aito begins to hope there might be a way to free himself from the mermaid’s doom. The reincarnation premise draws direct inspiration from Hans Christian Andersen’s original fairy tale, but the story updates it to a contemporary college setting and offers a significantly happier resolution than the classic version. A major theme throughout the manga is that love requires bravery—the courage to face the unknown and accept emotional risks despite overwhelming fear. The complete story is told in a single volume.