The young and handsome man sat down, coughing water. He was on a big flat rock near the beach, the sea around him. It took him a while to be able to breathe properly.
He had dark purple hair, touching his shoulders and bright pink eyes. His clothes, made of expensive cloth, were tore.
Putting his hand on his forehead, he remembered he drank too much on a party of his castle and going for a swim with his clothes on.
"Damn. That was careless." Looking around, he wasn't too far from home, so he could walk from the beach. But, he was surprised with the unknown young woman looking at him, curiously, from a few meters, just her face out of the water. He stood up, surprised. "Who are you?!"
His voice startled her and she dived. The young human jumped on the water after her and his eyes were wide in shock. She stopped inside the blue ocean and looked at him. She was a mermaid. Her tail was filled with scales of different tones of red and with a red transparent fin. The upper part of her body was completely naked, the long red hair floating around and the scarlet eyes glistered on his direction. She was absolutely stunning.
He returned to the surface and looked around for her.
"Hey, please, come back! I did not mean to scare you, I am sorry!" he swam back to the rock he was before and stood there, looking down, trying to see her again. "You were the one who saved me, right?!"
Nothing. He looked around but there was no sign of her.
"I have to go back home, but, I will be back tomorrow and I will wait for you!" he shouted, before jumping into the sea again and swimming towards the beach.
It took a while for the mermaid to return to the surface and she observed when he reached the sand and started to walk towards the castle in the mountain above.
She smiled, relieved that the human was safe.
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"Muramasa-sama!" the guards ran to him, when the young lord appeared dripping wet on the castle's door. "You are alive!"
"Of course I am." He scoffed while they were walking inside the castle. "Hey, you, draw me a warm bath and bring me some clothes." He said to a servant walking close that bowed nervously.
"Where were you?!" the tall guard asked, concerned.
"I slept on the beach." He lied. "You can go now; I am going to take a bath and rest."
"You are back!" The beautiful young woman looked at him surprised, when he crossed the hallways, going to his room and rushed after him. She had the same eye and hair color of his, but her hair was very long, reaching the middle of her back. The woman was wearing an expensive and colorful furisode.
"Were you already celebrating my death, Kaori?" he smiled sarcastically at her.
"What are you saying, Ren?!" she grabbed his sleeve and made him turn around to look at her. "Where were you?! Why are you all wet? The last time I saw you, you were completely drunk!"
"I went to take a swim." He smiled.
"You are the state's lord now. How many times do I have to remind you of your responsibilities?" she was very upset. "At least act like it. Do you have any idea of how worried I was?"
"I will pretend to believe you were not happy when I was gone." He said, before walking away.
Kaori looked at her younger twin with a deep frown on her forehead and her fists were closed tight, in anger.
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Muramasa was a small but powerful state near the sea. Its economy was based on fishing and commerce on its port area. The last Muramasa lord had died of sickness six months before. 23 years ago his wife had died on a spring night, after hard labor to bring their twin children to the world.
Kaori was the oldest for a few minutes, but, the law demanded the male heir to have the control of the state. Ren had always being spoiled and irresponsible and those traits did not improve as he got older. He would ditch their private lessons to play or create problems at the city with other boys. When he became a teenager he started spending his family's money with women, drinking and gambling on the brothel houses.
Kaori was clearly her father's favorite, being respectful and mature since her younger days. She accompanied the last lord on his appointments and visits around the city, watching her father taking care of his people and land. Before he passed away, he held his daughter's hand and cried, saying that he wished she was a man, on his last whispering words.
She tried her best to make the state running properly, doing her brother's job out of concern for her people. But, he would always remind her he was the rightful Muramasa's ruler.
After their father died, he started to have frequent parties and orgies on the private beach outside the castle. Different women would walk around naked on their home and empty bottles filled the floor of his room.
Kaori would work on his absence and she was well respect and liked by Muramasa's people, they also didn't approve the young master's behavior.
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Ren took a deep, satisfied breath when entering the warm water of the ofuro. He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the tired muscles start to relax.
Leaning on the tub's edge, he looked up to the ceiling. The mermaid's face came to his mind. Her gorgeous face and perfect breasts. He remembered reading about those mythical creatures on old books. His father once told him he had seen a group of merpeople in one of his boat trips when he was younger. Ren always thought it was a story for little kids, but now he had a wide grin on his face, knowing they were real.
He just couldn't tell anyone. He knew people called him names behind his back. Drunk, shameless, spoiled brat. They would easily call him a liar too. He needed to bring her to the castle and show her to people, like the exquisite prize she was.
"That is going to be an interesting catch." He smiled to himself.
The young master was impatient. He was sitting on the same stone the mermaid had taken him for a long time already. He had a small basket of sweets near him. He had called the mermaid many times; he had tapped on the water and moved his feet too. Nothing. The sea was very calm on that afternoon, just some small waves on the surface.
"I will try again tomorrow." He stood up and turned around, about to retrieved the basket when he saw the feminine hand taking the sweets.
"Hey!" he stuck his head on the water and looked at her, a few maters always, already with a small sweet on her mouth and holding the basket tight. Ren sat down on the rock and laughed. That was a tricky fish. But, he was a stubborn man. And he knew it would be worthy it.
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"Calm down!" Ryoma begged, trying to get close to make the young woman still, while she showed him her fangs. It was morning already and he wanted to take care of her wound while she was still sleeping. But, as soon as he applied the ointment, it stung and she growled, enraged. "I need to clean your leg!"
His words didn't work. She was able to bite his hand and it took a while for her to release him.
"Do you want your leg to fall off?!" he asked, upset, holding his injured hand. Luckily, she wasn't serious and she didn't draw any blood.
She tried to use her leg to stand up, but it hurt and she complained, touching her thigh. The wound didn't seem infected, but it was very deep.
"I know it hurts, there is exactly why I need to put this on." He showed her the small bottle. "If I don't take care of it, it would be infected and it's going to be worse."
She continued to look at him with narrowed eyes and a low growl, but, suddenly, her stomach started to complain. Ryoma showed her a small smile. He stood up and picked up some dry fish near, offering to her in a small plate.
"Let's make a deal, you let me finish and I will give you this."
She came close, sniffing the food, but still looking at him with a distrustful expression. Ryoma tossed a small fish close to her and she ate it quickly.
She tried to pick up another one but he pulled them away.
"No. Only if you let me touch you. Can you understand me?"
He noticed that her teeth were not menacing as before and he got close, still a little careful. He tried to be as quick as possible while she ate, even noticing the discomfort on her features when he cleaned her wound, applied the medicine and put new and clean bandages.
"There you go. It was not so bad, right?"
He looked at her ankles. There were still marks on them, but they had started to fade.
He touched one of them and looked at her, worried.
"Does this hurt? On your wrists too."
She pulled her legs away from him, placing them near her body, hiding her face inside her arms.
Ryoma noticed the deep sadness on her face when she averted her eyes.
"I don't know what happened, but, you are safe here. No one will hurt you, okay? Can you understand this at least?"
"I will not hurt you." Ren's voice echoed on her mind and his sweet, fake smile.
A small tear ran down her face and she felt stupid.
The sound of the sea crashing near was her only comfort at that moment.