It was still on the early hours of the day and the sun was not even completely out yet when Ryoma felt light kisses on his face. His wife was already up and her hand swept across his chest inside his yukata.

"Ryoma, wake up." She whispered on his ear.

"Sakuno, what is wrong?" he asked, extremely sleepy, still with closed eyes.

"I want to make love." Her voice was extremely sweet. Since Ryoma taught those words to her, she loved the way they sound. But, at such circumstances was not romantic at all and her husband was completely awake in seconds.

"What?!" he whispered. "We cannot! Kaori and Shuichirou-san are on the next room!"

"They are still sleeping." Her lips brushed his neck. "Please. I miss you."

Since his sister and brother-in-law arrived they were not engaging in intimate acts like they used to. Ryoma had to admit having sex was extremely addictive and his gorgeous wife was now kissing his chest and making it extremely hard to think straight. And it was not even full moon nights yet!

"I miss you too." She smiled and kissed his mouth, but he had to stop her for a moment so he could explain. "If we are doing this, we cannot take our clothes off entirely and we have to be quiet, okay? And we cannot take long too."

"Okay!" she was plenty satisfied and Ryoma was more than ready. He covered them both with the sheets and kissed her deeply.

It was almost a sacrilege to rush things with her. Sakuno's arms were around his shoulders. His lips touched her slender neck and one of his hands untied the obi of her yukata. He placed himself between her tights and was about to reunite their bodies. When Ryoma touched his wife's breasts, wanting to kiss them, she trembled in pain and covered her chest with her arms.

"What happened?!" he whispered, extremely worried, pulling the sheets from them to see her better. They were now sitting in front of each other.

"It hurts." The discomfort was all over her beautiful face and he felt horrible for hurting her. "When you touched them, it hurt."

"I am so sorry." He was heartbroken. "Maybe it was because of all that time you spent on the beach yesterday. You are going to the sea when the sun is high in the sky, it not good for your skin."

"You think?"

"Yes." He looked at her figure, since the yukata was opened. "And… they are a little bigger, right? Your whole body is curvier." He smiled. "You also have been eating a lot lately."

"Is it ugly?" she was worried.

"Not at all." Ryoma pulled her close and kissed her, being careful with her chest. "You are even more beautiful."

Sakuno giggled and kissed him back, urging him to continue from where they stopped.

Not wanting to hurt her again, they made love laying on their side, with Ryoma holding her from the back while the sun started to appear on the skies. Sakuno bit her lips to avoid moaning and Ryoma suppressed a cry of climax clenching his teeth. It was rushed and crazy and the young human had a silly and satisfied smile on his face when they finished.

"That is a great way to start a day." He whispered, making his wife smile. Now she was laying in front of him and caressed his silky short hair while he went back to sleep, enjoying the last minutes before the proper wake up time.

#############

The rest of the day was pretty regular and night came quickly. Ryoma prepared some soup with the clams Sakuno had caught earlier with his net. Kaori and Shuichirou were already having dinner when he went after his wife. She was supposed to be back from the bath some time ago. He found Sakuno sitting on the back porch with her eyes closed in discomfort, holding a wood pillar.

"Sakuno! What' wrong?!"

"My head is spinning." She answered with a weak voice. "And my legs are weak."

"Your skin is cold!" He said, touching her. "Do you need to go to the water again?"

"It…it is not that."

"Wait here!" he entered the house like a lightning bolt, surprising his sister and his brother in law, going straight to the medicine shelves.

"Ryoma, what happened?!"

"Sakuno is not feeling well!" he said, pushing things around, looking for some specific herbs.

"What is wrong with her?" Shuichirou asked, concerned.

"I don't know!" he finally found the medicine he was looking and rushed back to her, together with them.

"Sakuno, look at me. Did you eat something strange at the sea? Did you step on something?"

"No." Ryoma touched her face and examinated her eyes. The scarlet eyes were heavy.

"Kaori, bring me all the sheets you can find."

"Yes!"

"I will start the fireplace."

"Thank you, Shuichirou-san."

The young human wrapped his wife inside the sheets and put her on his arms, taking her to the living room.

He sat with her on his lap.

"You are going to be okay, Sakuno."

"Ryoma…what's wrong with me?"

"Why is she cold, Ryoma? Is there anything else we can do to help?"

"I do not know!" he was terribly nervous. "I never dealt with such a thing! She is never cold. Even when she was in the sea during winter."

"Sakuno-san, are you hungry? Do you want to try to eat something? You had nothing to eat after lunch, maybe…"

"Good idea." Kaori stood up and filled a small bowl with the clam soup. "Here"

Before Sakuno could even taste it, the smell of it entered on her nostrils and she felt a revolting sensation on her stomach. She pushed Ryoma away and vomited on the floor. It took her a while to stop and her red bangs were covered in cold sweat.

"Sakuno-san!" her sister-in-law helped her to clean her mouth with a small cloth and brought some water on a cup for her. "Here, drink it slowly."

"What should I do?" Ryoma was desperate. He had never seen her so sick.

After finishing drinking the water, Sakuno stood up in silence. There was something different on her expression and it surprises them.

"I need to hunt." She said, without any emotion on her voice.

"What do you mean, Sakuno-san?" Shuichirou asked.

"I need to hunt." The mermaid repeated herself, before walking towards the door and opening. She started to run towards the water and Ryoma was after her.

"Sakuno, wait! Wait a minute!" Sakuno was standing already naked near the waves. "What…what is happening?!"

"I need to go." She looked at her husband and her eyes were completely white and she was expressionless. She entered the sea and disappeared inside the waves.

"Ryoma, what is going on?!" Kaori asked, finally arriving to her brother's side. He looked extremely confused.

"I…I don't know."

"Is hunting normal for her?" Shuichirou asked, trying to see Sakuno on the ocean.

"No! Since she is here with me, she only eats the food I cook, she loves it. She is eating more lately, saying the food tastes better and she even gained a little weight. And now she is nauseated and vomiting, I…"

"Ryoma…" his sister looked at him, seriously. "Is there any chance your wife is pregnant?"

"Eh?!" the blood completely vanished from his brain with Kaori's question.

"That would make sense." Shuichirou agreed. "How long are you two together?"

"No, there is no way! It is impossible!"

"Why? Aren't you married?"

"We are not married that long! And we did not do anything that could result on a pregnancy before!" his face was extremely red having to say those things out loud to his sister and his brother-in-law. "There must be another logical explanation." he sat on the sand, placing his hands on his face, trying to find some answers.

Kaori kneeled in front of her brother and cupped his face, forcing him to look at her.

"Ryoma, calm down and listen to me. You are a doctor, you know the symptoms. And you married a mermaid; nothing here has a logical explanation. Can you be absolute sure she is not pregnant?"

"I… I cannot." The golden eyes were wide in panic. "But… it is not supposed to happen. For me and her, to have a baby, is impossible!"

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of a loud thing reaching the sand. When they looked, Sakuno was there, with her face and arms completely covered by blood. On her feet there were the remains of a seal, just the last half of its body. Her eyes had returned to normal and she looked at her husband with a heartbroken expression.

"What do you mean, Ryoma? We can't have a baby?"