My Bride Is A Mermaid: Wedding Bells
Chapter 04: Let Bygones Be
~ Inside Nagasumi's House | A Few Seconds Later... ~
Nagasumi soon returned inside his home with Sun and the others as they now faced a big problem, trying to explain everything to Officer Mawari and a boiling mad Akeno. Fearing his secret was finally out, with Sun's silent nod, Nagasumi began to share with Mawari what happened to him that summer before he came back to school. The more Mawari listened, the more unbelievable everything sounded to her.
"I KNEW something was up with you Sun! No wonder Nagasumi was shielding you all that time!" Mawari exclaimed, recalling the day she first had her suspicions. Meanwhile, Akeno was glaring angrily towards Masa and Gozaburo, both of them slightly trembling.
"So...Gozaburo Seto. YOU'RE the reason my brother has been gone for all this time. How...VEXING." she grumbled, slowly drawing forth her sword. Gozaburo started sweating bullets as Masa rose from his seat.
"Now, calm down Akeno. No reason to take this out on the poor guy. It was an accident and he's been taking good care of me since then." he explained. Akeno growled.
"Excuse me? To me, this all sounds like plain kidnapping! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't slice Seto to ribbons!" she groaned. Masa stuttered as Ren stood and faced Akeno.
"How about the idea that Sun is your friend and it would be rather "cruel" of you to go and kill her father for a mistake he made years ago? My husband may have done what he did, but like Masa said, he's felt nothing but regret this time and even took him in when he had no one else to go." she explained. Akeno groaned as Ren then turned to Mawari.
"And as for you, officer, last I recall, you were Sun's friend too. So what if she's a mermaid in disguise? You two bonded quite strongly throughout your years in school together. Sun's told me about how much fun she's had with her good friend from school." she continued. Mawari glanced at her.
"Even so, she's neglected to tell me that her family is a mafia that had practically overtaken everyone in the entire school! She at LEAST needs to be questioned for all of this!" Mawari shouted. As Ren and Mawari's eyes glared directly towards one another, Sun sighed and stood up, catching their attention plus Nagasumi.
"Sun..." he muttered. Mawari glared over at the saddened look in Sun's eyes.
"Mom...Mawari's right. I've kept such a massive secret from her all these years. It...It wouldn't be right of me to continue hiding it from my good friend." she said. Mawari suddenly looked in suprise as Sun extended her hands, still cuffed together from earlier.
"It's okay Mawari. I'm not going to resist. I'll go quietly." she said. Ren glared on at Mawari who was still in shock by Sun's easy surrender.
"Do you see that? Sun doesn't want to keep this charade up anymore. She's considered you and everyone else she met during her years in middle school among her dearest friends. So...how will you react? I hope...it's not as "rule enforcer Officer" Mawari, but as "Sun's best friend" Mawari." Ren said. Mawari quietly looked on at Sun, the memories of their days together flashing through her mind. Over time, she had easily forgotten her suspicions and slowly became a good friend of Sun. All of their good memories raced through her mind until, with a hefty sigh, she reached into her pants pocket and took out the keys to her cuffs and unlocked them.
"Officer Mawari?" Sun asked. Mawari shook her head.
"No. I'm not "officer" Mawari right now. I'm...Mawari, your middle school friend." she said "Besides, I was relatively "off duty" when I caught wind of all this. So...consider yourselves pardoned." Sun's eyes slowly lit up as she and Mawari quickly engaged in a hug.
"Thanks...Mawari." Sun sniffled. Mawari smiled, glancing over her shoulder and at Nagasumi, eyeing the two of them.
"You'd better take good care of my friend Nagasumi. After all, isn't she expecting a child some time soon?" Mawari asked. Nagasumi nodded.
"Yeah. Don't worry. I promise I'll take good care of her." he muttered back. However, as all this happiness was taking place between the girls, all eyes seemed to forget Akeno and Gozaburo. To "settle" the matter of her missing brother, Akeno had taken a simple thrashing of Gozaburo as "retribution" for accidentally giving Masa amnesia. Just then, all eyes turned to the door as Lunar came in, stopping when she saw everyone.
"Uhhh...did I miss something important or something?" Lunar asked.
~ MY BRIDE IS A MERMAID ~
~ Saitama Streets | 6 Months Later... ~
Six months passed since Sun's life was exposed to Mawari and things had begun to iron out again between the two friends as Mawari didn't expose but rather kept the secret of Sun's family alongside Nagasumi. Akeno had also gotten time again with her brother and things seemed to be improving between them as well. All in all, things were quite back to normal for Nagasumi and others. We join Nagasumi and Sun in window shopping as it was almost time for their baby to be born and Sun wanted to start preparing.
"How about this Nagasumi?" Sun asked, showing Nagasumi a baby carriage on sale. As the two were busy checking out baby carriages, Sun's parents were busy seeking out baby clothes at the other side of the shop. Ren lightly sighed as she held a child size pair of pajamas.
"Doesn't this bring back sweet memories dear? I remember when we came to the human world around the time we had Sun. We picked out her baby clothes, her favorite toys and everything else in a place like this." Ren asked. Gozaburo smirked.
"Yeah. I know what you mean Ren. Feels like it not too long ago that our little Sun was still little. But now look at her...grown up and having a little infant of her own." he muttered. Ren looked to his calm expression and smiled.
"I take it that means you've finally forgiven Nagasumi for that little "affair" of theirs?" she asked.
"Not a chance." Gozaburo sighed peacefully. Ren seemed a bit disturbed as she glared back to Gozaburo.
"Honestly dear. When are you gonna let that GO?" she asked. Just then, Nagasumi and Sun were greeted by Lunar coming over to their side with something tucked away behind her back.
"Hmm? What is it Lunar?" Sun asked.
"Well, I know your little brat's not due for another few days or so, but even so...I couldn't wait to give you this." Lunar said, extending a small greeting card to her. It was a "congratulations" card meant for a couple about to give birth. When Sun read the inside, she lightly smiled and blushed.
"Aww...Lunar. Thank you." she said. Lunar lightly smiled.
"Yeah. Well...what's a friend for? Right?" she asked. Sun chuckled, agreeing with her. Just then, Sun could hear the sounds of her cell phone ringing in her pocket. As she drew it out, she saw it was from Nagasumi's household.
"Oh. Nagasumi? Its your parents. Do you mind if I take this outside?" she asked. Nagasumi shook his head.
"Nah. Go ahead. You know my parents. They haven't stopped worrying about you since your pregnancy is right around the corner. I'll keep checking out baby carriages here." he said. Sun smiled and thanked Nagasumi with a kiss before heading outside. Lunar stepped out alongside her, leaning up against the wall outside the store while Sun answered her phone.
"Hello? Oh. Hello mother. Yes. I'm fine. This is the tenth time you've asked me today." she chuckled. As Sun's phone call continued, we catch glance of a man dressed in a brown jacket with a black undershirt, a pair of dark brown trousers, a red scarf around his neck and a large slightly torn fedora hat on his head. On his face was a large scar, going diagonally from his lower left chin to his upper right eye. He also was sporting a black eye patch over one eye as he glared towards Sun and Lunar. Fishing around in his pocket, the mystery man took out a photo he had of an infant Sun Seto, in her mermaid form, relaxing on the beach with her family.
"Yep. That's her all right. Sun Seto." he muttered "Heh. You've really lost your touch Gozaburo...if its THIS easy to abduct your "precious treasure"." Just then, he slipped away the picture before approaching Sun and Lunar. His shadow was easily seen by the girls, who looked towards him with a shocked look.
"W-Whoa! Hey! What you looking at ya creep-o?" Lunar asked. The mysterious man gave a crooked grin before he suddenly grabbed a hold of Sun's wrist, causing her to drop her cell.
"W-What the?!" Sun gasped.
"You're coming with me...MERMAID." he muttered. Sun and Lunar gasped.
"W-What? What are you talking about? S-She's not a mermaid." Lunar stuttered, trying to shield Sun. But the man glared at her.
"Don't try to fool me. I know all too well that BOTH you girls are mermaids. Or should I PROVE it?" he asked. Reaching under his coat, he took out a water canteen and violently splashed the water inside on Sun. Because she was not quite mastering her leg change yet, Sun's legs suddenly turned back into a mermaid tail.
"S-Sun!" Lunar gasped. She angrily turned towards him and prepared a supersonic blast. But before she could, the man suddenly slapped his tight grip over her mouth and lift Lunar up high, his other hand still on Sun.
"No! Lunar!" she exclaimed. Lunar's voice was muffled as she kicked about, trying to get free. But suddenly, the man threw Lunar towards the nearby window of the shop, shattering the glass and causing Lunar to land by Nagasumi's feet.
"W-What the?! Lunar?!" Nagasumi gasped. All eyes turned to Nagasumi and joined him in rushing outside. But when they came outside, they saw no sign of the mysterious man or Sun. Lunar was soon emerging in a daze from the store, leaning against the side.
"Lunar! What happened? Where's Sun?!" Ren asked. Lunar groaned, clutching her arm.
"I...I don't know. F-From out of nowhere, this...HUGE guy...with an eye patch and a scar on his face...c-came out of nowhere and attacked us." she said. Gozaburo gasped, his eyes widening in shock, as he could picture the man's face in his mind.
"No. Not HIM. Not NOW of all times!" Gozaburo thought. Eyes suddenly turned to Gozaburo as he was sweating bullets.
"Honey? W-What's wrong?" Ren asked. Gozaburo turned to her.
"Ren...our worst fear has come back. It's...HIM again." he said. Hearing the way he spoke, Ren's eyes slowly opened with a fearful look.
"N-No. You can't be talking about...HIM!" she asked. Gozaburo nodded as everyone turned to him.
"Yep. Gather the boys Ren...because "Tiger Shark" Tony's back in town!" he proclaimed.
TO BE CONTINUED...