Ren was sitting on the balcony of his room, looking down to the city. It was night, so all he could see was some laterns on. He was with a small sake bottle on his hand, drinking slowly. The young Muramasa's lord was wearing a long dark blue yukata and his purple hair moved with the wind.

A couple of days had passed already and he was sure Kaori would return home. He was expecting his older sister to return and he would make her beg a little, before accepting her back. But, nothing of that sort happened. He should know better. His twin has always been a strong-willed woman. She only had one word. There was why people on the state liked her so much. They knew they could rely on her and she would never make empty promises.

Things were so busy since she left. There was so much he knew nothing about. Many people would come to talk to him, during the day, bothering his late mornings and his free time. His humor was horrible. Between his new obligations and the money he spent on his parties and searching for the mermaid, the state's founds were low. He had increased the taxes for the crops on that spring and people were not happy with him. He couldn't care less. Taking another sip from the sake, he smiled. Muramasa was his to do as he pleased, if people were discontent, they could just left the state. Less people to administrate would mean less work anyway.

"Excuse me, Muramasa-sama." The tall guard appeared on the balcony. "Can I speak to you?"

"What do you want?" he asked, without looking at him.

"Sir, I need to deliver you some requests from your people. They are asking about the new teacher. Shuichirou-san's classes already lost two days of school."

"I already sent a notification to the other cities, that we are hiring. No one answered so far." he was annoyed. "What else?"

"The matter about the state's doctor as well. Since your brother left, people need to travel to the other cities to look for help. It cost them time and money. A pregnant woman and a child died yesterday, because there was no medical help."

"People do not want to come to Muramasa to work. Kaori made an offer and it is still up. It is not my fault."

"I see." He answered, quietly. "Well, that was all, my lord. Thank you for your time."

Ren was about to have another drink and the guard remembered something.

"Ah, Muramasa-sama, I am sorry for asking, but, Kaori-sama was seen going east yesterday. Did she move out with her husband?"

"What do you mean?" he finally turned around, surprised.

"One of the guards informed me they were on a horse traveling."

"Hire someone to follow them. And let me inform of what is she doing."

"Yes, sir." He said, before leaving.

###########

"I see." Sakuno said, looking up the ceiling. Ryoma was laid by her side, an arm in front of his face. His entire being was burning in embarrassed on what happened and he couldn't face her.

Sakuno was not affected at all by his enthusiasm on her fingers and didn't notice his awkwardness. She was feeling even more curious about his body reaction and made him answer many questions about sex, to his absolute horror. Ryoma knew she was not going to rest until her doubts would be explain and it was better for them to talk about that in privacy than letting her ask such things when his friends were around.

"There is so much I need to learn about human bodies." She looked at him. "Ryoma?"

"Yes?" he answered, depressively.

"I'm sorry. You seemed like you were in pain, your voice was different and your body was so stiff."

"You did nothing wrong." He took a deep breath. "All the reactions I told you about, they happen because I was feeling good. Very good. And, I have never experience such things with someone before, so… that is why it happened so fast." He wanted to disappear, being forced to talk about his virginity.

Sakuno came closer and held his face, her nose was against his jawline.

"I'm happy I made you feel good."

The feeling of inadequacy disappeared with her kindness. He finally looked at her.

"I am sorry I couldn't do it."

"You said we had time. That's okay." She brushed the sweaty bangs from his forehead.

"Sakuno."

"Yes?"

"I want to do things properly. I know it may be rushed, but…" Ryoma turned around and held her hand. "Do you want to get married while we are here?"

"Get married? Like Momoshiro-san and Ann-san?" the scarlet eyes were wide in surprised.

"Yes." He showed her a small smile. "Let's return home like husband and wife."

"That means to be with Ryoma forever, right?"

"If you want to." He brought her hand close and kissed it. "Do you?"

The mermaid held him very tight and grinned. She touched his face and kissed him deeply, feeling beyond happy.