~Author's Note~

Here's something sweet, possibly the first true romance I've ever written. Since I'm young, inexperienced and not a lesbian, it won't be perfect, so please do give me constructive criticism.

~Eye of, You Guessed it, the Beholder~

Kagerou lay flat on her stomach, her arms pressing into the cold, damp sand, and stared ruefully at her choppy reflection. No matter how many times she changed her shape, sooner or later her jawbones would form a rugged square and her nose would grow unreasonably large.

Women from the Human Village who were into prettiness were always talking about 'contouring'. Kagerou would gladly have tried it if she could afford make-up, but she couldn't, so she settled for having low self-esteem.

Kagerou had been told many times that she should love her body, but how could she? When she saw her face, all she could think of was how much better she'd look if she was dainty. The fur was even worse. During the full moon, she sometimes wished she could rip off her skin and live as a walking skeleton.

If she did that, though, she wouldn't be able to hug Wakasagihime any more. Kagerou sighed deeply. Why couldn't she just have been born with good looks? Her life would have been so much better. Beautiful people never felt sad or doubted themselves, did they?

As she lay there moping, Kagerou failed to notice a blue shape moving towards her beneath the waves. Her reflection wavered, then broke into the very real head and torso of a blue-haired mermaid.

Wakasagihime hit Kagerou face-first and gave her an, energetic kiss. They rolled up the bank and fell in a heap on the grass, dripping wet.

Kagerou groaned loudly. "Did you have to do that?"

"Of course!" giggled Wakasagihime. "I can't help myself when you're so pounceable."

"Pounceable…?" said Kagerou faintly.

Wakasagihime nodded, a blissful smile on her pouty turquoise lips. Her soft, round cheeks were dusted pink, her deep blue eyes were sparkling with cheer and her nose was small and upturned and oh, so cute and Kagerou loved her so much it hurt.

Thus, Kagerou leaned over and gave her a gentle, tender kiss. Wakasagihime put her arm around Kagerou's shoulder pulled her closer. Their tongues brushed together. Kagerou delved eagerly into Wakasagihime's mouth, exulting in the warm, damp, slimy taste of love until she was out of breath.

The sweethearts pulled apart and breathed for a few seconds. Kagerou caught Wakasagihime's eye and smiled. "I love you, you beautiful little fish."

"I love you too, you big cutie."

Kagerou's eyes widened. "Cutie?! C-come on, I'm not… I'm hardly… I mean, you're cuter, right? I-I'm just…"

"Oh, Kagerou, of course you're cute! You have such a nice nose! And you're so big and strong! And I love your hair and your little fluffy ears."

"You… you do?"

"Of course I do." Wakasagihime cupped Kagerou's chin in her slender hand. "I've never met anybody who could make me feel the way you do. You're, um, immensely cute! Yes, that's right, immensely cute."

Kagerou opened her mouth to say that she was, in fact, not cute at all, but Wakasagihime got there first. She smooched Kagerou lovingly and held her tight. After a while, they went to the Road of Liminality to buy some crepes.