The mermaid could hear the loud sound of music outside. Ren was throwing one of his private parties on his chambers. She was extremely tired and sore, not being allowed inside the tank for two weeks now. She only ate when Kaori managed to sneak in and give her some food away from the guards' eyes.
She raised her head when noticed the door opening and closing slowly.
The young Muramasa's lady got close and kneeled next to her. Kaori's gently removed her hair from her face and showed her a short white yukata.
"Here. Put this on." At first the mermaid was surprised, but she allowed Kaori to help her to get dress. "I put something on Ren's sake tonight and in some of the guards' dinner as well. It is going to be safe for you to leave."
She had a small key on her hands and opened the shackles of the heavy chains around her wrists and ankles. She had managed to get a copy from her brother's drawer when he was out. The mermaid's scarlet eyes were filled with tears when she was finally free from that terrible weight.
"Let's go!" Kaori held her hand and pulled her to the dark hallways. She had put off the lanterns before. They crossed the castle until reaching the inside garden's door. Kaori touched the mermaid's face and looked at her with a smile. "Shuichirou is waiting for you to open the gates. Run like never before. Please, be well."
The mermaid looked a little confused, but soon they heard some of the awaken guards screaming, when realizing she was not there anymore. The mermaid jumped on the snowy ground and started to run desperately. The blizzard blew Kaori's hair and she prayed she would be safe.
She was about to reach the gates when three guards appeared before her. She growled loudly at them. They tried to attacked her, but the mermaid jumped in one of the guard's shoulders and twisted his neck, making him fall dead on the ground.
When other two guards arrived, there was a pool of blood and scattered limbs. She had taken the head of one man and the other one had his intestines pulled out of his body.
The big drums of the Muramasa's castle started to echoed trough the blizzard and the remaining guards ran to the stables, to pick up the horses.
Shuichirou saw her coming from the tower above. The guards responsible for the observation tower were also sleeping. He was about to pull the ropes to open the gates when the mermaid jumped over the stone wall and landed on the other side. It was more than 15 meters high and she did it completely effortless.
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"Kaori!" Ren enraged scream echoed on the hallways. His steps were heavy and difficult and he leaned on the walls, looking for balance. One of the guards had told him what happened and he was sure his sister had something to do with it. "Kaori, show me your face, right now!" he banged on her chambers angrily, until he was able to push the door and he stopped, surprised for a moment.
His sister was naked on bed, on top of Shuichirou. She turned around, startled with his presence and pulled the loose sheets to her body, trying to hide herself and her lover.
"Ren! What is the meaning of this?!" it took him a while to be able to talk again.
"The mermaid is gone! Someone opened her chains and let her free! She killed three of my men!"
"A mermaid?" Shuichirou pretended to be surprised. "What is he talking about?"
Kaori wrapped herself on the furisode near the futon and stood up, going to her brother in hard steps. She had a very deep frown on her beautiful face.
"You are completely drunk, Ren. If the mermaid is gone, go scream with your guards, not with me. I had nothing to do with that." She didn't know when exactly she became so good at lying with such straight face. "As you can see, I am very busy. You are not the only one with needs, dear brother. So, please, leave me alone to enjoy my night. Unlike you, I have to wake up early tomorrow and work for Muramasa's sake."
She slammed the door on Ren's face and her heart was almost jumping outside her chest when hearing her brother distancing himself from her bedroom. She put her hands in front of her mouth to avoid screaming in pure happiness. Her plan had worked! The mermaid was finally free!
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Sakuno woke up with a loud noise coming from outside. She looked around and Ryoma was not there. The mermaid stood up and opened the door.
"Good morning." Ryoma showed her a small smile. He was cutting some logs to the fireplace. "I am sorry, did I wake you?"
"What are you doing?" she came close, curiously.
"Preparing some firewood. Ours is almost finishing."
"Firewood?" she touched the axe's handle. "What is this?"
"It's an axe. We use it to cut thick stuff." Every day he explained something new to her.
Sakuno went to a piece of wood and cracked opened with her bare fingers, like breaking a small stick apart.
"This way is easier, Ryoma." She grinned and his jaw dropped.
"How… how did you do that?!"
"With my hands." She shrugged.
"Don't do such a thing! You can hurt yourself!" he was really worried. Dropping the axe, he came close and checked her hands for cuts or splinters.
"It doesn't hurt." She smiled.
"Anyway, don't do it. Okay?"
"Okay! Can I go to the sea?"
"Yes. I will be here for a while. I will watch you from here."
She removed her clothes in front of him and he turned his face away, deeply embarrassed.
"Stop being naked around me so easily!"
Sakuno giggled before starting to run towards the sea.
A week had passed since Ryoma found out she was a mermaid and every day, for a couple of hours, she would go to the ocean.
Ryoma would stay there on the beach, watching her, until she returned.
He would wrap her wet and naked form on a towel and held her close until they reach home. He was glad her scarlet hair was so long, reaching almost her knees. That way, when wet, it could help to hide her naked body and preserve her modesty a little.
When the wind was not so cold, sometimes he would sit very close to the waves and he could see her mermaid form when she jumped outside the water, just like a dolphin.
Sakuno would turn on her back, looking at the sky or closed her eyes while the waves gently rocked her body and Ryoma wondered about her thoughts.
Those quiet and unextraordinary days were filled with happiness and Ryoma wished they could remain like that forever.
It was already lunch time when Sakuno returned. Ryoma was able to cut a whole pile of firewood and she helped him carry it inside the house after putting her clothes back. Ryoma was stunned with her strength.
He was able to hold back a lot of questions about her mermaid particularities for those days, but he was on the edge of his curiosity. Sakuno noticed the intense way the golden eyes looked at her while they were having lunch on the porch and she stopped eating, smiling at him.
"Ryoma, is everything all right?"
"Ah!" he felt like a child being caught doing something naughty and averted his eyes. "Nothing… I was just…"
Sakuno moved a little close to him and battered her long eyelashes.
"Yes?"
"Well, I have a lot of questions about you and…" he was shy.
"You can ask."
"Does it hurt? When you change to human legs?"
"It only hurt once." He noticed a little sadness on her eyes. "When I was forced outside the water."
"By that person who hurt you?"
"Yes." She touched his hand. "But, it doesn't hurt anymore. Since I am with you."
"That is good."
"Do you want to touch them?" she placed both of her legs on his lap. "You can."
Ryoma blushed completely, but his curiosity was bigger than his embarrassment. He was still a doctor after all and he had seen her legs before, after so many days treating her injury.
He pushed away the yukata's cloth and his hands gently touched her. Her skin was so smooth.
"You have always been warm and your blood is warm too, even though you are a mermaid and can handle cold." He carefully touched the scar on her thigh. "Does it bother you?"
She moved her head negatively and he was at ease. He could feel all the regular human bones on her legs and knees. He touched her round calf and examined the muscles there too.
"It really is amazing. And they all come together to make your tail somehow. There is no logical explanation to it. Just magic, indeed."
"Do you want to touch me when I am in the water?" she was enjoying his touches very much. Ryoma's hands had some calluses on them because of the manual work he had to do to maintain the house, the fishing and the hunt, but they were still very gentle.
"Can I?!"
"Yes." He grinned.
"When winter finishes I will swim with you. Otherwise I would freeze to death."
"What happens after winter, Ryoma?"
"We have spring. The temperature gets warmer and there are flowers everywhere. It is beautiful."
"Flowers?"
"Ah, they are little plants with different colors. I cannot explain correctly, but I will take you to see them when the times come."
"Okay."
His hands moved to her delicate feet. Her nails were like little white pearls. He checked her ankle, the bones on her feet and her toes. When he touched her sole, Sakuno giggled.
"Are you ticklish here?" he touched it more and she started to laugh.
"Stop it!"
She placed one foot on his cheek and pushed him away.
"Okay, okay." He said, stopping to tease her.
Sakuno smiled at him and sat on his lap, her body leaning on his chest. Ryoma took a deep breath and held her, his chin on the top of her head.
"Sakuno?"
"Yes?"
"How do mermaids have children?"
"Children?" she looked at him.
"Yes. Little ones. A baby."
"What's a baby?"
"I really wanted to have some books with me right now." He signed. "A baby is a small person. Like you and me, but, it is really small and does not talk or walk."
"What does it do?"
"Just cries, basically. And sleeps and eats. How do mermaids have them? Do you lay eggs or something? Like fish?"
"I am not a fish!" she protested again.
"I am sorry, I am sorry!"
"But, I saw little ones before. On the ocean."
"With other mermaids?"
"Yes. A big group. There were so many of them."
"Did you talk to them?"
"I tried but they couldn't understand me. Our tails were different." She lowered her face. "They talked to me, but I couldn't understand them either."
"Maybe you can only communicate between your own group."
"I was really happy when I was able to understand you, Ryoma." Sakuno looked at him and smiled.
"I am glad it happened too. Even if I was about to die."
"So, tell me more about the babies. How are they made?"
"Aaaah! Well…" he blushed.
"Yes?"
"People need to… have sex to make a baby."
"Sex? What is sex?" he could feel the sweat on his back. Why was he acting like a teenager? He was a grown man and he was a doctor! He had explained about pregnancy and birth to other people before! "Do you have sex, Ryoma?"
"Not at all!" he blurted out. "It is something very important and you should only do it with someone you love!"
"Love?"
"Yes! If you do it otherwise, a child can suffer."
He remembered when Ren brought a couple of prostitutes to his chambers and tried to force him to have sex with them. He was only 15 at the time and he was terrified.
He escaped to his sister's room and stayed there the whole night, crying in silence, in a mixture of embarrassment and fear. His father was traveling back then and he made Kaori promised she wouldn't talk to him about it.
The word "bastard" came to his mind once again and Sakuno noticed he looked troubled.
"Ryoma, what's wrong?" she touched his face and looked at him, worried.
Her sweet voice made him stop thinking about those bad times and he showed her a small smile.
"Nothing. I am okay." He hugged her tight, looking for some comfort.
They continued to stay there, silently holding each other, listening to the sound of the waves moving gently on the blue ocean.