Konnichi wa! How is everybody? Well I'm just fine, really. Even though it's just about the soggiest, coldest, most depressing kind of day one can imagine down here! But here is my weekly update. (It's been about seven days, right? Let me know if it hasn't)
Ah, and a resounding THANK YOU to all my lovely readers, especially you guys who reviewed! Nine reviews! Can you believe it! You all are wonderful!
And since you were patient enough to review my story, surely I would be very mean if I didn't reply, ne? So here are my responses:
The demoness- You make me feel loved! And since you like it, yes, I will continue the story, have no fear.
Kaoru's sister- Domo arigatou! And I find your name to be very interesting. Are you a Kaoru fan?
gabyhyatt- If the mermaid is Kaoru? We'll see! But here's a hint: if you're like me, you really wouldn't want our sweet little rurouni falling in love with anyone else!
Peacemaker- Thank you, my friend. You sound like a professional reviewer. If I get a flame from you I'll really have a reason to feel bad!
Anarana221- Whew, you don't know how relieved that makes me. I was a little worried that my fictional character would upset people. You know, because there are so many characters in Rurouni Kenshin to choose from. But even though she's Kenshin's sister, she won't be making excessive appearances in this story.
anonymous- Oooh...(shivers) Greetings, my mysterious friend. I'm glad you like my story! Thanks for your time!
Emerald genie- Thanks! And you know what? You sound really cool! Your idea about the silhouette is excellent, but of course, trust a dummy like me NOT to come up with a great idea like that! And I'm glad you don't take offence because I portrayed casinos in a bad way.
Yes, emeralds are beautiful, but here's the truth: I only started liking anything green when I saw Spirited Away for the first time. You know, Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi emerald eyes, river green hair...
Anyway, thank you for reviewing!
royal blueKitsune- Hey there! I read your profile. You come from Romania? that is so dread! I know Romanians best because of their unbeatable gymnasts. I love to watch gymnastics competitions. Thanks for making me feel like the story is actually worth something. I know what a great writer you are! Don't think I won't check out your mermaid fic one of these days! And don't worry, you grammar is quite good.
silver0150- Yeah, you did have me thinking I had a flame! (Is it just me or do you have a somewhat twisted sense of humour?) Well, I like it! I hope you'll love this chapter, too.
He turned to leave the crab's hiding place when the flashlight's beam shone on something he hadn't noticed before. A surge of fear paralyzed him.
It was—a woman's face!
Kenshin didn't want to, but something made him move the beam along the rest of her. She lay on her stomach, her head facing the shore, cradled in her arms. But wait—where were her legs?
Now I know I'm crazy. Of course I am. No one is covered in scales from the hips down and DEFINITELY no one has a...fishtail...?
Kenshin lowered his head and, closing his eyes, he massaged his temples with his fingers while racking his brilliant brain for some logical explanation as to why this...woman was on his beach, sleeping as if she didn't know she was on the beach (she couldn't have been dead, she wasn't pale at all) while the tide washed over her, and wearing this ridiculous costume...
Kenshin smiled and opened his violet eyes. Of course, it was so obvious. She had to be wearing a costume. Because mermaids did not exist. Having established that she was simply some lost woman still wearing her outfit from a play or something, he walked up to her and knelt on the white sand.
"Hello?" he said, caressing her cheek just as gently as he did to his sister.
The mysterious woman whimpered faintly, but did not move.
She must be really tired.
He scooped her off the sand and held her in his arms as he walked back to his house.
As soon as Kenshin entered his house the light caught on the strange woman's scales and he had to look away.
Wow, he thought, laying her on a soft leather couch.
It was then that he saw her properly. Her face was angelic and beautiful, even as she slept. She had incredibly long and soft raven hair (Kenshin had touched it more than once, he knew how soft it was) and hanging from her earlobes were the most unusual sapphire earrings, the precious jewels forming the shape of what seemed like seahorses. The shimmering cloth around her swelling chest, a chain around her neck and the gleaming scales that went from her hips down were all sapphire as well. Her skin slightly bronzed and from an angle it looked as if someone had taken a few tiny pieces of gold dust and sprinkled them onto her.
Kenshin almost jumped out of his skin when she suddenly began to mumble something.
"Help me, I'll die...I-I still need the water..."
He frowned. There was no way he was going to take her back to the beach and throw her, unconscious, into the deep, dark sea!
Maybe my swimming pool would work—no, it's not saltwater.
Then he remembered his pond that was in his backyard. It couldn't be called a pond, really—there were no fish, no living things in it. It was just a large, fairly deep pool with huge rocks surrounding the back and sides, and tiled with black marble. But the water in it came directly from the sea, because he had been planning to put some small fish in there.
His mind made up, Kenshin picked her up once more and ran to the pond outside, He knelt at the edge of the pond.
"Please, don't drown. I don't know who you are, but please, don't die," he whispered. Taking a deep, nervous breath, he waded into the water and lowered the woman slowly. As her head was submerged she showed no sign of discomfort and her chest continued to rise and fall just as smoothly as when she was breathing air.
Kenshin shivered at the strange coincidence. "There are no such things as mermaids," he whispered to himself.
Well she can't be human. She's breathing in water, for crying out loud!
He looked on tensely as her lithe form slowly drifted further away from the surface and rested at the bottom of the pond. But Kenshin relaxed when he saw that she continued to breathe, her lovely face holding the most serene of expressions. He lay on his side on the tiled edge of the pond and kept watch over, never taking his drowsy lavender eyes off her until the moment he fell asleep.
Rays of the radiant morning sun filtered into the clear pond water through the surface. The beautiful young woman stirred and opened her eyes.
I'm alive?
She glided easily to the surface but her eager smile melted away when she saw her surroundings.
Where is the ocean? How did I get here?
Unbeknownst to her, Kenshin still lay behind her, fast asleep.
The raven-haired girl grew more confused and saddened by the moment that her home had suddenly disappeared and tears as clear as crystals fell from her eyes into the water until each teardrop became a wave. Before long, the water in the pond was just about as turbulent as the ocean on a stormy night. And the more she cried, the more violently the waves crashed against the rocks in the water.
It was the noise that awoke Kenshin and he sat up, staring at the unbelievable scene before him.
What is she doing? And how—
At that moment she turned around and Kenshin was suddenly gazing into large, innocent-looking sapphire depths. Immediately the little tempest in the pond ended and the girl found herself lost in his surprised amethyst eyes, before she scanned the rest of his physique, particularly his feet.
She had heard of his kind, the land-dwellers that walked on two legs, and travelled in large sea vessels with noisy engines that spewed pungent fumes into the air and spilled a thick black substance into the sea. She had heard that they dumped their rubbish into the oceans and even kidnapped fish and crustaceans with woven nets. And she had heard too, that they could not survive if they breathed in water. But she had never, ever seen one, so well had her parents protected her from the evil creatures.
I know how wicked these land dwellers can be, but no one ever told me... no one ever told me how beautiful they were...
Kenshin, himself, was temporarily speechless with awe as he took in everything about her glowing skin, her stunning cerulean eyes and dark, shining hair, and her sapphire jewellery and scales that glittered in the sunlight.
She's absolutely...gorgeous. She's even more beautiful awake than asleep...
Wait a minute, quit staring and say something!
Kenshin quickly zoned out of dreamland and struggled to say something coherent.
"Um, good morning. I er, found you—"
"Are you a human?" the girl interrupted.
Kenshin would have smiled if she didn't seem so serious about her question. Of course he was, what else could he possibly look like?
"Yes, I'm a—"
"Do all humans look like you do?" Her eyes shone as she spoke.
She's acting as if she's never seen a human before. Maybe she IS a—NO! There are no such things as mermaids. No such things... But I'll humour her, anyway.
"No. People come in all shapes, sizes and colours."
"Oh." She looked disappointed.
"Look, I found you lying on my beach last night. If you like, you can tell me your address and I'll take you home. How does that sound?...Or," he added quickly, seeing the look on her face, "I guess I can call a taxi for you. You have every right not to trust me, I mean, you don't even know me."
The girl shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about. And," she said, narrowing her eyes, "the beach does not belong to you. It is there for all living thing to use."
Kenshin slid himself forward a bit and let his legs hang over into the water. "Really?" he said curiously. "But I bought it, so why isn't it mine?"
"You-you humans are all the same, aren't you? All that matters to you is money!
Kenshin sighed in exasperation. "Okay, let's not stray off the topic here. Do you want me to take you home, or not?"
The pretty girl's anger faded as abruptly as it came. "I-I can't go back. I have to stay here."
Kenshin blinked. "What?"
"You're a human. So I'll have to stay here until I can stand on my own two feet." She grimaced slightly at the saying.
Literally.
"But, wait, you can't just stay here!"
The girl looked at him square in the eye. "Why didn't you leave me where you found me? Why did you bring me here?"
"Because you were out cold and I was worried about you. Besides, if I had left you my conscience would have plagued me and I wouldn't have had a wink of sleep last night."
"Exactly. You started something, so finish it. Please," she said plaintively. "You're the only human I know. Maybe you can teach me about this world. Let me stay in your pool of water, just for a few hours."
Kenshin's violet eyes softened. "Okay, I'll help you. Just tell me something: what exactly are you?"
Ha, you'll see. She's not a mermaid. After all, there's no such thing as—"
"I'm a mermaid," she responded casually.
His jaw dropped and he jumped down into the waist-deep water.
"You're a what?"
The surprised mermaid shrieked. "Stay back, human! Get out of here!" She splashed as much water at Kenshin as her cupped palms could hold.
"But—"
"I MEAN it!"
Kenshin begrudgingly climbed out of the pond, not bothering to wipe his face. Instead the image of a particular bubbly lavender-eyed relative haunted him for the time being.
"That's what I get after I try to be nice to her," he muttered.
"You aren't being nice," the mermaid retorted.
"Hey, I'm letting you stay in my pond!"
She glanced at him through those innocent-looking sapphire eyes of hers. "I had thought it was just the right thing to do in your situation. Do all land-dwellers think of basic courtesy as something special?"
"Hmph!"
3 hours later
"Um...mermaid?" said Kenshin, watching the sulking girl.
Silence.
"Why won't you at least say something?"
"..."
"You don't like me very much, do you?"
Silence.
"...Fine. Be that way."
And 2 hours after that
The ebony-haired beauty looked over at the crimson-haired human who lay beside the pond, seemingly asleep.
"Don't you have anything better to do than stay here all day?" she asked.
Kenshin's violet orbs flickered open. "No... Aren't you hungry? Do mermaids even eat?"
She tossed her head and folded her arms. "I'm not hungry."
He looked at her suspiciously. "Yeah, I bet. What do you want to eat?"
"Do you have any seaweed?"
The young mermaid shivered a bit as cold gusts of wind began to blow. The sun was setting, orange and pink streaks painted the sky, but her human friend had not returned as yet.
Maybe it was foolish of me to ask him for seaweed. How will he get any when the really good ones grow on the seabed?
Just then, she heard footsteps and looked up to see Kenshin approaching with a plate of—was that seaweed?
"I'm sorry I took so long," he said apologetically. "But seaweed isn't the easiest thing in the world to get." He knelt beside the pond and put the plate down at the edge where the eager mermaid leaned over, peering at the dish, then him.
"How did you get it?" she asked.
"I called a concierge, who hired a scuba diver to go and get some for me."
"Oh," she said, though she didn't know what a 'concierge' or a 'scuba diver' was. But she was too hungry to care, anyway, so she snatched one of the plants off the plate and bit into it with relish.
Kenshin was captivated by the adorable scene the ravenous girl unknowingly created. The tiled surface around the edge of the pond was her table and she rested both elbows on top while she ate. He watched as her lengthy tresses blew with the evening breeze and felt an oncoming irresistible urge to just touch them. Just for a second; he felt almost desperate because he had forgotten how those silky strands felt between his fingers. He extended his hand, hesitantly at first, but when the mermaid showed no sign of disapproval he gently began to stroke her hair.
She looked up quizzically from her green feast for a second, but then ignored him and continued eating. She was glad to have got the seaweed. If he just wanted to play around with her hair, so what?
"I...never asked what your name was," Kenshin whispered suddenly.
A tremor ran through the girl's spine and she dropped the soggy leaf she held, but didn't look at him.
"W-what?"
"What is your name?" he asked softly.
She looked at him, her widened eyes full of apprehension. "Why are you asking me this? Why must you know?"
Kenshin was, undoubtedly, very confused. "I just want to know. Besides, I thought you would prefer it if I called you by your real name, instead of 'mermaid.'"
The apparently startled girl shook her head. "N-no, that's fine. I can't tell you my name..." She backed away, the plate of seaweed forgotten. "I'll see you later. It was very kind of you to get me some food."
Kenshin watched her dive gracefully into the water and her gleaming tail was the last hint of her before she disappeared beneath the surface.
That's that for chapter two! Thanks again to all reviewers and readers.
See that little purple button next to the pull-down menu? Click on it! C'mon, it's really easy. Please, people, don't just read and walk away! You don't have to spend 30 seconds on your review, just express your opinion in one word if you want!
eg. LAME! Or, COOL!
OKAY? MAKE YOUR HARDWORKIN' EMERALD GIRL HAPPY! I DON'T CARE IF IT'S THE WORST PUTDOWN IN HUMAN HISTORY, JUST SEND IN THE REVIEWS SO I'LL KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS ARE THINKIN'! ONLY 9 PPL OUT OF THE 190 WHO VISITED CHP ONE ACTUALLY REVIEWED! YOU GUYS DON'T WANT TO SEE ME CYBER-CRY, IT AIN'T PRETTY!
THANK YOU!
SparklingEmeralds :) heh heh! See you in a week!
