Thanks to the kind reviews you have given me in regards to the first
chapter of this story. I'd like to address a few issues first, before I get
on with the story. First, I intended to have this out sooner, but the disk
I was storing this on died on me, so I've had to rewrite it, the good part
about this is that I feel that it is better then the original version I
wrote previously.
Naphtali made a good point in her review, well two good points actually but I'll just address them one at a time. First, she mentioned that Muteo only knew a few words in English (or rather Japanese depending on which side of the globe you prefer ^_^). What I had forgotten to explain was that almost a year has gone by in between the two points, and that in this time Muteo was able to ease drop on humans from her vantage point in the water and develop her English (Japanese?) that way.
Also, the house is built on the beach near a spot where the shoreline draws in, so the deck stands over deeper water. That's where the first chapter takes place around.
Domo Arigato, Bojack (or would it be Bo-ja-ku ^_^)
If You'd Just Say You Love Me
Chapter Two: Beautiful Muteo
Hayami opened his eyes slowly to see the new day's sun rising up out of the ocean. A blanket was covering him up and he was leaning against the wall of his house on the deck. He then remembered the reason why he was outside and wondered if was just some wonderful dream, but his fears were banished when became keenly aware of the warm presence at his side, nuzzled gently against him and breathing softly.
Hayami looked over at Muteo and watched as her form rose slightly as she breathed. He reached out his hand and brushed a stray strand of her pale hair and leaned forward and kissed her gently on the forehead.
The fish girl stirred and looked up at him and smiled sweetly. She nuzzled his arm and sighed contently.
"Did you sleep well?" Hayami asked her softly, caressing her cheek with his bare hand. Muteo smile and nodded in response to his question.
"Good." He began. "I did too, thanks to having a beautiful sea nymph next to me." He responded with a remark.
Muteo wasn't sure what he meant by that, but decide that since he had said it so nicely that it must have been a compliment. Though, she still blushed at being called "beautiful".
It was then that Muteo realized that her skin felt rather dry and a little itchy. "Yuck." She said simply.
Hayami watched as she tried to stand up in front of him, but then to only quickly loose her balance.
Nimbly, Hayami caught her in his arms and looked into her eyes. "Why'd you do that, you could've gotten hurt?" He asked, the concern in his voice more than obvious.
Muteo hesitated and her face took on a crimson shade to it as she blushed. "Muteo want to walk like Hayami." She said to him simply.
This melted his heart and he smiled at her. He then leaned forward and kissed her on the nose, which made her giggle slightly.
She then pointed towards the railing, gesturing beyond it. Hayami got the message and nodded. "You want to go back into the water, don't you?" He asked her softly. She nodded and smiled at him, touching his cheek with her slender fingertips.
Hayami could keenly the delicate webbing between her fingers as it touched against his skin. "Here." He began as he turned her around to face the railing, his hands positioned under her shoulders at the soft junction where her arm and sided met. "I'll hold you up, you just try and make the motions with your feet, we'll take this one step at a time." He said.
At first, she was hesitant, but quickly found the presence of Hayami's hands reassuring. She then took the first step forward. Soon, with her courage up, she made it all the way over to the railing and looked out into the water below them.
Hayami watched as she slid over the railing and down into the waters below them in one fluid motion like a stone that was dropped into a lake. She even created perfect circular ripples as she cut through the water surface like a bullet through glass.
Hayami stepped back and watched her swim expertly through the water like a dolphin.
Contented with the situation, Hayami decided to give her a little while to properly hydrate herself in the waters she knew so well. He decided to slip back into his house to go take a shower and change his clothes.
***
Muteo slipped out into the deeper waters and swam for a while. After the cool, wet feeling returned to her skin, she made her way back towards the beach ad slid onto the sand and sat down. She then leaned back onto the soft sand to enjoy the gentle rays of the morning sun on her face.
Muteo gave a sigh of contentment as she closed her eyes and folded her arms underneath her head for support.
***
Elsewhere, on the shoreline, another familiar figure made her way down the beach.
Kino walked along under the gentle sunlight. She was wearing a pair of patched up jeans and a black T-shirt. He red hair had now grown down to her shoulders, giving her a more feminine appearance.
She had decided to go pay Hayami a visit, seeing as how she was in the area anyway. She had been helping out with the reconstruction of Tokyo Harbor and she needed a break.
She could see his house of in the distance, but she could also make out the figure of someone sitting on the beach near the house. She couldn't make out who the figure was from her current point, but as she drew closer, the figure slowly became more families.
Its yellow and white skin and the black hands and feet, along with its pale hair, gave it a familiarly exotic look that she quickly recognized.
It was that fish-girl that Hayami had rescued when she first met him, she then remembered the two's interactions at the Blue Dome and then how the thing saved Hayami from that mutant shark creature, Verge. "Was that his name?" She though to herself.
Suddenly, a deep dark anger began to force its way into her thoughts.
***
Muteo's keen animal senses heard the approaching footsteps. She propped herself up on one elbow and looked at the approaching figure, her pointed ears catching the squishing sound of the stranger's shoes on the wet sand.
It seemed to be a small human female, she had short red hair. Muteo wondered if it was that girl that Hayami had been with when she last saw him at the North Pole around the time that her "Papa"* had died.
The girl was getting closer now, and she seemed somewhat upset, though Muteo didn't know why.
Both of the girls looked up as they saw the figure of Hayami stepping out onto the front step of his door, he made his way down the wooden steppes and onto the sand. He was drying his dark brown hair with a towel and his face was covered up.
He then turned to see Muteo sitting there in the sand, she seemed to be confused. "Is something wrong?" He asked her, concern showing in his voice.
She simply pointed to her left, back towards the land, and looked over in the same direction.
Hayami turned his head and saw the familiar figure before him. He smiled and sighed with relief. "It's just Kino, I thought something was wrong." He thought to himself. "Hi, Kino, you look different, your hair is longer now, right?" He asked, trying to make conversation with her.
But, then Hayami noticed that she was scowling at him. "Is something wrong?" He asked her.
He then watched as she walked over to where he was standing and looked up at him. Her eyes were narrow now. Hayami looked down at her, for she was little shorter then Muteo was.
"What is that 'thing' doing here?" She asked, pointing towards Muteo, who just blinked in confusion.
"She's not a thing, and she has a name, Muteo!" He snapped back at her.
Kino flustered in irritation at his reply. "That still doesn't answer why a Zorndyke creation is sunning itself on the beach near your house like there's nothing unusual!" She said.
"She's not just some toy built by Zorndyke, she's a living creature." He responded to her statement.
Kino crossed her arms. "Alright then, but why is she here?" Kino demanded.
Hayami didn't know what to say to her. He knew why she was here, he loved Muteo, but he was afraid of what Kino would say. He decided that all he could do was to tell he the truth. "Kino, I lo--"
"Stop, I know what you're going to say, that you 'love' her. Why can't you be like this with people, why not with me!" She yelled. "You were so cold and cool; but then you act so gentle with the fish girl, you saved her life, you flirted with her, and now here she is at your house. Why couldn't you be this kind of person for me?!" She yelled.
"I'm sorry, Kino, I just..." He began to say, but she started to back away from him. "Kino...?" He almost whispered.
Kino was starting to back away when she felt something wet grab hold of the cuff on her jacket sleeve. She looked down at the wet spot and saw that Muteo has taken hold of her hand and wouldn't let go of her.
"What are you doing?!" She shouted at Muteo.
"I'm sorry." Muteo said simply to her.
"What?!" Kino said with surprise.
"I'm sorry, Muteo's brothers and sisters did bad things," She hesitated. "And Muteo had done bad things." Muteo said solemnly to her, pressing their interlocked hands against her cheek.
Kino's lip trembled and she didn't know what to say. The fish girl before her, called Muteo, had just apologized for all of the things the Zorndyke creations had done to the humans. It should have seemed insignificant, but it seemed so powerful. All these years of hiding her emotions and pretending to be cool with everything now seemed an unbearable task to her.
Kino was about to cry from the overload of emotions, she didn't know weather to be upset or consoled by this.
Hayami hesitantly put his arms around her to comfort her as she cried. Without letting go of her, he looked over to Muteo and mouthed a silent thank you to her.
Muteo nodded and relaxed again, sinking gently into the sand.
The three of them were very quiet for a while and just stood there while Hayami tried to comfort Kino.
Eventually Kino looked up at him and wiped the tears out of her eyes. She stepped back from him and then looked at Muteo. She sat down before the fish girl and looked at her. "I'm sorry for judging you…Muteo…" She said hesitantly.
Kino was surprised when Muteo took her hand and embraced her. Kino sighed and smiled slightly, despite the wet feeling against her.
Hayami slumped down into the sand and rubbed his forehead. He was surprised when Muteo managed to tackle him. He fell back into the sand and then she leaned down and kissed him on the lips. Then, the fish girl sat back up.
"What was that for?" Hayami asked.
Muteo smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder. "For… Hayami's nice words." She said simply.
Kino chuckled slightly at this.
~End~
So, what do you guys think? I really enjoyed writing this chapter so far. I promise to have some big surprises ready in the near future.
*This may be a an unnecessary bit of info, but the various creatures that Zorndyke created referred to him as "Papa" as evident in the last episode with the shark creature Verg.
Good-bye, Bojack
Naphtali made a good point in her review, well two good points actually but I'll just address them one at a time. First, she mentioned that Muteo only knew a few words in English (or rather Japanese depending on which side of the globe you prefer ^_^). What I had forgotten to explain was that almost a year has gone by in between the two points, and that in this time Muteo was able to ease drop on humans from her vantage point in the water and develop her English (Japanese?) that way.
Also, the house is built on the beach near a spot where the shoreline draws in, so the deck stands over deeper water. That's where the first chapter takes place around.
Domo Arigato, Bojack (or would it be Bo-ja-ku ^_^)
If You'd Just Say You Love Me
Chapter Two: Beautiful Muteo
Hayami opened his eyes slowly to see the new day's sun rising up out of the ocean. A blanket was covering him up and he was leaning against the wall of his house on the deck. He then remembered the reason why he was outside and wondered if was just some wonderful dream, but his fears were banished when became keenly aware of the warm presence at his side, nuzzled gently against him and breathing softly.
Hayami looked over at Muteo and watched as her form rose slightly as she breathed. He reached out his hand and brushed a stray strand of her pale hair and leaned forward and kissed her gently on the forehead.
The fish girl stirred and looked up at him and smiled sweetly. She nuzzled his arm and sighed contently.
"Did you sleep well?" Hayami asked her softly, caressing her cheek with his bare hand. Muteo smile and nodded in response to his question.
"Good." He began. "I did too, thanks to having a beautiful sea nymph next to me." He responded with a remark.
Muteo wasn't sure what he meant by that, but decide that since he had said it so nicely that it must have been a compliment. Though, she still blushed at being called "beautiful".
It was then that Muteo realized that her skin felt rather dry and a little itchy. "Yuck." She said simply.
Hayami watched as she tried to stand up in front of him, but then to only quickly loose her balance.
Nimbly, Hayami caught her in his arms and looked into her eyes. "Why'd you do that, you could've gotten hurt?" He asked, the concern in his voice more than obvious.
Muteo hesitated and her face took on a crimson shade to it as she blushed. "Muteo want to walk like Hayami." She said to him simply.
This melted his heart and he smiled at her. He then leaned forward and kissed her on the nose, which made her giggle slightly.
She then pointed towards the railing, gesturing beyond it. Hayami got the message and nodded. "You want to go back into the water, don't you?" He asked her softly. She nodded and smiled at him, touching his cheek with her slender fingertips.
Hayami could keenly the delicate webbing between her fingers as it touched against his skin. "Here." He began as he turned her around to face the railing, his hands positioned under her shoulders at the soft junction where her arm and sided met. "I'll hold you up, you just try and make the motions with your feet, we'll take this one step at a time." He said.
At first, she was hesitant, but quickly found the presence of Hayami's hands reassuring. She then took the first step forward. Soon, with her courage up, she made it all the way over to the railing and looked out into the water below them.
Hayami watched as she slid over the railing and down into the waters below them in one fluid motion like a stone that was dropped into a lake. She even created perfect circular ripples as she cut through the water surface like a bullet through glass.
Hayami stepped back and watched her swim expertly through the water like a dolphin.
Contented with the situation, Hayami decided to give her a little while to properly hydrate herself in the waters she knew so well. He decided to slip back into his house to go take a shower and change his clothes.
***
Muteo slipped out into the deeper waters and swam for a while. After the cool, wet feeling returned to her skin, she made her way back towards the beach ad slid onto the sand and sat down. She then leaned back onto the soft sand to enjoy the gentle rays of the morning sun on her face.
Muteo gave a sigh of contentment as she closed her eyes and folded her arms underneath her head for support.
***
Elsewhere, on the shoreline, another familiar figure made her way down the beach.
Kino walked along under the gentle sunlight. She was wearing a pair of patched up jeans and a black T-shirt. He red hair had now grown down to her shoulders, giving her a more feminine appearance.
She had decided to go pay Hayami a visit, seeing as how she was in the area anyway. She had been helping out with the reconstruction of Tokyo Harbor and she needed a break.
She could see his house of in the distance, but she could also make out the figure of someone sitting on the beach near the house. She couldn't make out who the figure was from her current point, but as she drew closer, the figure slowly became more families.
Its yellow and white skin and the black hands and feet, along with its pale hair, gave it a familiarly exotic look that she quickly recognized.
It was that fish-girl that Hayami had rescued when she first met him, she then remembered the two's interactions at the Blue Dome and then how the thing saved Hayami from that mutant shark creature, Verge. "Was that his name?" She though to herself.
Suddenly, a deep dark anger began to force its way into her thoughts.
***
Muteo's keen animal senses heard the approaching footsteps. She propped herself up on one elbow and looked at the approaching figure, her pointed ears catching the squishing sound of the stranger's shoes on the wet sand.
It seemed to be a small human female, she had short red hair. Muteo wondered if it was that girl that Hayami had been with when she last saw him at the North Pole around the time that her "Papa"* had died.
The girl was getting closer now, and she seemed somewhat upset, though Muteo didn't know why.
Both of the girls looked up as they saw the figure of Hayami stepping out onto the front step of his door, he made his way down the wooden steppes and onto the sand. He was drying his dark brown hair with a towel and his face was covered up.
He then turned to see Muteo sitting there in the sand, she seemed to be confused. "Is something wrong?" He asked her, concern showing in his voice.
She simply pointed to her left, back towards the land, and looked over in the same direction.
Hayami turned his head and saw the familiar figure before him. He smiled and sighed with relief. "It's just Kino, I thought something was wrong." He thought to himself. "Hi, Kino, you look different, your hair is longer now, right?" He asked, trying to make conversation with her.
But, then Hayami noticed that she was scowling at him. "Is something wrong?" He asked her.
He then watched as she walked over to where he was standing and looked up at him. Her eyes were narrow now. Hayami looked down at her, for she was little shorter then Muteo was.
"What is that 'thing' doing here?" She asked, pointing towards Muteo, who just blinked in confusion.
"She's not a thing, and she has a name, Muteo!" He snapped back at her.
Kino flustered in irritation at his reply. "That still doesn't answer why a Zorndyke creation is sunning itself on the beach near your house like there's nothing unusual!" She said.
"She's not just some toy built by Zorndyke, she's a living creature." He responded to her statement.
Kino crossed her arms. "Alright then, but why is she here?" Kino demanded.
Hayami didn't know what to say to her. He knew why she was here, he loved Muteo, but he was afraid of what Kino would say. He decided that all he could do was to tell he the truth. "Kino, I lo--"
"Stop, I know what you're going to say, that you 'love' her. Why can't you be like this with people, why not with me!" She yelled. "You were so cold and cool; but then you act so gentle with the fish girl, you saved her life, you flirted with her, and now here she is at your house. Why couldn't you be this kind of person for me?!" She yelled.
"I'm sorry, Kino, I just..." He began to say, but she started to back away from him. "Kino...?" He almost whispered.
Kino was starting to back away when she felt something wet grab hold of the cuff on her jacket sleeve. She looked down at the wet spot and saw that Muteo has taken hold of her hand and wouldn't let go of her.
"What are you doing?!" She shouted at Muteo.
"I'm sorry." Muteo said simply to her.
"What?!" Kino said with surprise.
"I'm sorry, Muteo's brothers and sisters did bad things," She hesitated. "And Muteo had done bad things." Muteo said solemnly to her, pressing their interlocked hands against her cheek.
Kino's lip trembled and she didn't know what to say. The fish girl before her, called Muteo, had just apologized for all of the things the Zorndyke creations had done to the humans. It should have seemed insignificant, but it seemed so powerful. All these years of hiding her emotions and pretending to be cool with everything now seemed an unbearable task to her.
Kino was about to cry from the overload of emotions, she didn't know weather to be upset or consoled by this.
Hayami hesitantly put his arms around her to comfort her as she cried. Without letting go of her, he looked over to Muteo and mouthed a silent thank you to her.
Muteo nodded and relaxed again, sinking gently into the sand.
The three of them were very quiet for a while and just stood there while Hayami tried to comfort Kino.
Eventually Kino looked up at him and wiped the tears out of her eyes. She stepped back from him and then looked at Muteo. She sat down before the fish girl and looked at her. "I'm sorry for judging you…Muteo…" She said hesitantly.
Kino was surprised when Muteo took her hand and embraced her. Kino sighed and smiled slightly, despite the wet feeling against her.
Hayami slumped down into the sand and rubbed his forehead. He was surprised when Muteo managed to tackle him. He fell back into the sand and then she leaned down and kissed him on the lips. Then, the fish girl sat back up.
"What was that for?" Hayami asked.
Muteo smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder. "For… Hayami's nice words." She said simply.
Kino chuckled slightly at this.
~End~
So, what do you guys think? I really enjoyed writing this chapter so far. I promise to have some big surprises ready in the near future.
*This may be a an unnecessary bit of info, but the various creatures that Zorndyke created referred to him as "Papa" as evident in the last episode with the shark creature Verg.
Good-bye, Bojack