Ren stopped by the door of Kaori's chambers, looking at his older sister putting some clothes together inside of a small bag. He had just woken up late in the afternoon.
"What are you doing?"
"I am leaving." She replied calmly without looking at him, folding a yukata.
"What do you mean?" he leaned on the door and his pink eyes narrowed.
"I am going away. With Shuichirou."
"What?!"
"Why are you surprised?" Kaori finally looked at him. "I told you we were getting married."
He walked into her direction and grabbed her wrist. Kaori's calm was not shaken.
"You are going to leave your home because of him? Remember your position! Are you getting married without a proper ceremony, without your brother present?!"
"Why would I want you anywhere near me, Ren?" she moved her arm and freed herself from his hand. "You said you are going to find someone to violate me."
"You embarrassed me in front of everyone!"
"You embarrassed me every day!" her words surprised him. "I am ashamed of you. You are irresponsible and cruel. Muramasa deserves better. Up until now I was always working for you, taking over your responsibilities, hoping that you would change, but now I realize that there is no way for this to happen." She closed her bag and looked at him seriously. "I cannot bear this situation anymore."
Kaori started to walk away.
"Let's see how long you can take being the wife of a mere teacher, living on his ridiculous shack."
She stopped and turned around, smiling at him.
"I love him. Anywhere by his side is good enough. It is a pity that you will never experience this, brother. You make it impossible for anyone to care about you."
His sister left and Ren's anger built up on his head. He started to break the objects on her room and scream in frustration.
############
"Are you ready?" Ryoma asked to Sakuno. They were on his small boat, a few meters from the beach. He said he needed to fish and she offered to help him. She was sitting on the other side with a happy smile on.
"Yes!"
"I will be here waiting for you. Good luck."
She removed her yukata and dived into the water. It was a nice fresh day and the sea was calm. He was able to follow her for a while, but soon she disappeared by going deeper.
It didn't take long for her to return with a big tuna fish on her hand, dropping the fish on Ryoma's boat and surprising him.
"Here, Ryoma!" she said, with a smile.
"Wow!" the fish was about 1 meter long and was jumping strongly inside the boat. "It is huge!"
"Is it okay?"
"It is more than enough!"
She grinned, proud of herself.
They returned home and Ryoma started to clean the fish with Sakuno watching him, sitting near the kitchen. He pulled the organs out, cut the head off and started to make the fillets.
"Where did you learn to do that, Ryoma?"
"My father liked to fish. He always took us when he had spared time." He said, without taking his eyes off from the fish. "He also taught me how to cook. He used to say it was a useful and necessary skill, no matter who you were."
"Us?"
"My older sister and older brother."
"Where are they?"
It happened a long time ago." Sakuno noticed some sadness on his voice. "It was before my father passed away."
"Passed away?"
"He died." he said, quietly. "He closed his eyes and never opened them again."
"Were you sad?"
"I was. Very much. I was already a doctor when it happened, but I was not able to help him."
"A doctor?"
"Someone who takes care of people. Who knows how to use medicine and stuff."
"That is why you took care of me." She smiled.
"Yes." He replied, gently.
Sakuno watched him continue to cut the fish and she thought the movements of his hands were agile and precise. When he finished there was about 10 big pieces of meat cleaned and prepared. Ryoma picked up a small box with salt on it and rubbed the meat with it.
"What is that?"
"Salt. It will help preserve it for tomorrow, so I can take it to the next village."
"Village?"
"Ah, that is right." He looked at her, worried. "I will have to leave you here alone for a day or two. Are you going to be okay?"
"Why?" the mermaid was sad.
"Because there are people there." He covered the fishes with a clean cloth and washed his hands before coming near her, sitting in front of her. "I will have to walk around there for a while, to exchange the fish for some food and herbs. We will need them until is warm enough to prepare the vegetable garden again."
"Vegetable garden?"
"I have a little one in the back of the house. I grow some things there, like small pumpkins and daikon."
"What are those?"
"You will see when they grown. But they are very good on taste." He caressed her hair. "Would you help me out to plant them?"
"Yes!" she grinned. Their conversation stopped with the loud growl of her stomach and Ryoma chuckled.
"Is it almost dinner time." He stood up and showed her a small smile. "I will prepare fish soup for us. I hope you like it."
###########
Ryoma was pleased to see Sakuno enjoying his food so much. She ate eagerly and he was still amused how she learned about using the hashi so fast.
"Is is good?" he had prepared soup with cooked fish stock and there was some fried fish skin and beautiful pieces of the fish belly with a layer of its fat. He seasoned with some dried herbs he still had and mushrooms he picked up from their trip to the hot spring.
She shook her head positively, before picking a big chunk of rice and eating it.
"What did you use to eat? When you were at the sea?"
"A lot of things." She answered after swallowing. "But, the things you do are so good!"
"I can teach you to cook if you want."
She looked at him with big, sparkling eyes.
"Really?!"
"Yes."
"Thank you, Ryoma!" Sakuno smiled and he was certain she was the cutest thing in the entire world.
They had an arrangement since she started to talk that he would cook and she would mind the dishes. After she finished fixing the kitchen up, they sat on his futon, watching the sky from the opened back doors of the house. It was a beautiful night with many starts. Sakuno leaned on Ryoma's chest and he was embracing her.
"Ryoma, take me with you." She said, after a long period of silence between them. "To the village."
"But, there are many people around. Are you sure you will be okay? You cannot just take your clothes off and jump into the sea like you do here."
She turned around and looked at him.
"I will do as you say. Don't leave me behind, please."
"Aren't you going to be afraid?"
"I will be with you." Her hands touched his face and she smiled.
"Okay, then." He touched her hair. "It will be a good opportunity to arrange some clothes for you. You have being using mine for a while now. You deserve something new and beautiful."