Me: Okay, I'm back again! Happy Valentine's Day! ^^ I hope you all got lots of roses and cards and chocolats and stuff. And if you didn't, well... Join the club! *high fives with the computer screen*

Saryuu: You know, if you break your computer, you can't write on.

Me: Shush, Saryuu. What are you even doing here? Go back to your own story!

Saryuu: *sweatdrop* alright, alright, geez! *leaves*

Me: okay, I finished this a few days ago, but I wanted to post it today 'cause I want to post something on Valentine's day :p Ghehehe. It's not all that romantic or Valentine-y, but yeah... Enjoy!

Oh yeah, and I don't own!

"C-captain?!" Tenma exclaimed. "Is that really you?"

"Uh, yeah," Shindou replied, still panting a little. A soft moan dragged his attention. "Kariya? Are you alright?" he asked worriedly while he got up and came closer to his juniors.

"I'm perfectly fine, Captain," the boy replied through his gritted teeth. His cheeks were wet from the tears. "It's just a scratch."

Shindou looked at the boy's left leg and his face went pale. The wound was seriously bad and Kariya would most certainly die if it wouldn't be treated. He reached for his backpack, which contained his emergency first-aid kit, but he felt nothing. His heart went cold when he realised that it now laid on the bottom of the lake. Even if he would be able to get it, everything would be soaking wet. Moreover, it would be salty as well, so it would hurt an awful lot when the bandages would be placed on the wound.

"Kariya, I'm... I'm sorry. I should've been more careful. I thought that we were completely safe, but they..." Shindou said with tears in his eyes. If he had been more careful, then his junior wouldn't be about to die. He knew deep in his heart that he could never have forseen this, but he still blamed himself. He looked up when he felt Kariya grabbing his hand.

"It's alright... Captain... We knew that it was... dangerous... I'm not blam-... Blaming you..." the boy smiled although tears still streamed down his face. Shindou looked him in the eye while squeezing his hand.

"You're one of the bravest men I have ever known, Kariya."

The other boy nodded in response, a half smile on his lip. "Now tell me, Captain... How is it you... you're still alive? You've been gone... for a long time..."

Shindou looked around to find his other juniors staring at him with curiosity as well. He took a step back so that he could look them all in the eye. Before he said something, he closed his eyes and rubbed them with his fingers. When he looked at the others again, a tired smile was on his lips. "Would you believe me if I told you that I was saved by a mermaid's kiss?"

Kirino was just beneath the surface and he could clearly hear the conversation of the doubletailers. He had intended to leave and hide as soon as the doubletailer was on land, but his curiousity was too great. He wanted to know more about the that specie, so he stayed just below the surface and eavesdropped on them.

He didn't feel like he was entranced or lured by their voices and this reassured him a bit. It was his intention to stay just below the surface and not make further contact, but then he heard what that one doubletailer said.

"Would you believe me if I told you that I was saved by a mermaid's kiss?"

That one statement just made his blood boil. A mermaid's kiss? Before he could stop himself, he broke through the surface, placing his lower arms on the edge and resting on them. "Excuse me?!" he shouted from the top of his lungs, causing the doubletailers to flinch and turn around. Kirino wanted to say more, but the switch between his respiratory systems prevented him from doing so. He coughed while he almost collapsed. He felt a hand on his arm and looked up to see the worried eyes of the doubletailer he just saved.

"Are you okay?"

Kirino, suddenly remembering the rumors about the doubletailers, got a bit scared. He had a moment of weakness and the creature in front of him might take advantage of that. Besides, it was now talking to him! He pulled his arms back and swam away, though he kept his head above the surface. He stopped in the middle of the lake, coughing until his lungs were working properly again.

The four doubletailers stood on the side of the lake while the fifth one sat behind them, leaning against a rock. "It's okay, we won't hurt you," the all too familiar doubletailer said.

"I can't believe it, a real mermaid," the smallest one sighed in admiration. That little remark caused Kirino's anger to return.

"Do I look like a mermaid to you?" he asked. The doubletailers looked at each other in confusement before returning their gazes towards Kirino.

"Aren't you?" asked one of them.

"Of course not," Kirino growled while swimming closer until he was just a few feet away from them. They still couldn't reach him there and he didn't have to yell so much. "That's one of the worst insults I have ever heard. I am a merman."

"A mer...man? So you are male?!" the small doubletailer exclaimed in surprise. Kirino gritted his teeth in annoyance. Of course he was a male, wasn't it obvious? Back home, everyone knew that he was a merman. Stupid doubletailers.

The familiar one knelt down before Kirino and smiled. "I'm sorry, that was an honest mistake from our end. It was really dark down there so I must have mistaken you for a mermaid. I'm sorry about that."

Kirino eyed it but didn't say a word. He quickly backed away when the doubletailer reached out its hand. The creature looked at him in surprise, but then it smiled its warm smile again.

"Don't worry, everything is going to be fine," he said. "I'm Shindou Takuto, what's your name?"

Kirino eyed the outstretched hand suspiciously before he carefully answered: "Kirino Ranmaru." He decided to keep the fact that he was a prince to himself. Who knew what the doubletailers would do with that information? He glanced at the hand again, which hadn't moved anymore. He was curious, so after a few seconds he asked: "What's with the hand?"

The doubletailer in front of him looked confused at its hand and then back at him. "It's a handshake. You know, for when you introduce yourself?" Kirino shook his head in confusion. He had never heard of such a thing. The doubletailer smiled that sweet smile again. "Come on, give me your hand," he said. Kirino looked at his own right hand and hesitated. Everything in his body screamed do swim away and leave the cave, but his curiosity screamed even louder to stay. He knew that he would never get a chance like this one again, and maybe he would discover something really important about them! So he slowly placed his hand in the doubletailer's hand and waited. He was relieved when all that happened was a slow movement up and down, before the creature let go of his hand. He exhaled, not realizing that he held his breath during the action. He had to admit that he had expected to be dragged out of the water and captured or something like that, but nothing of the sort happened.

He was introduced to the other doubletailers as well and they all gave him one of those weird handshakes. Matsukaze Tenma. Nishizono Shinsuke. Kageyama Hikaru. Their naming system turned out to be the same as his: surname first, then the first name. Kirino saved this information in his head, determined to mention it in the report about. These three doubletailers insisted that he called them by their first names and Kirino agreed to it, thinking that it might be a strange habit. The merfolk never called each other by their first names, unles they were family, really close friends or lovers or something like that. But he was pretty sure that he wasn't anything like that to the doubletailers. But yeah, as he thought before, maybe it was just a strange habit of theirs?

He then glanced over to the fifth doubletailer, who was sitting against the wall. The creature saw him and flashed him a tired, painful smile. "Kariya Masaki is the name," he sighed slowly. "So... you were the one... making out with our... captain, weren't you?"

Kirino frowned at the statement. Making out? "What is making out?" he asked confused. The creature on the ground looked a bit confused. This was clearly not the reaction he had expected.

"Making out means... kissing," Shindou said with a small blush on his face as he remembered what happened in the lake. Kirino stared at him for a few seconds, studying his blush, before he asked his next question.

"And what does kissing mean?"

It remained silent in the cave while all the doubletailers stared at him. He started to feel uncomfortable.

"Eh?! You don't know what a kiss is?" Shinsuke exclaimed with widened eyes and he exchanged glances with the others. Kirino shook his head.

"So, what is it?"

"Kissing is... like... er..." Hikaru started.

"It's something you do with your loved one," Shindou explained while his kind looking eyes bore in Kirino's. "You place your lips on their lips and keep it there. It's like... a sign of affection."

Kirino's cheeks heated up and he lowered himself slightly in the water, until only his eyes were above the surface. Shindou chuckled at his reaction and motioned him to get up again. "It's okay, you didn't know that. Besides, you saved me, so thank you for that."

Kirino nodded and lifted himself again. But there was one thing he had forgotten...

Using his arms on the edge to keep him above the surface, he coughed for a few moments until his lungs started to work again. "Darn lungs," he muttered before he looked up at the doubletailers. They all eyed him with worry written over their faces.

"Are you okay?" Tenma asked and Kirino nodded.

"I'm fine, it's just those damn lungs need to start up again. I haven't been to the surface all that often, you see, so my lungs are not used to working. Every time I start breathing air instead of water, well... That happens. But I believe I'm getting used to switching. It's getting easier every time."

"That's great to hear," Hikaru smiled.

Kirino wanted to say something, but he was interrupted by a painful yelp. They all turned around to Kariya, who had produced the sound. Kirino suddenly noticed how pale the creature was. "Are you alright?" he asked worriedly.

Shindou moved over to the smaller doubletailer and placed his hand on his forehead. The creature's eyes were closed and he was breathing shallow. Kirino wondered if the creature had even heard him at all.

"As you can see, he isn't," Shindou said. "He was hit by an arrow." At Kirino's questioning look, he pointed at the piece of wood in the younger one's left tail, which was clearly out of place. "But we have nothing to treat his wounds, so it doesn't look good for him..."

Kirino watched as Shindou let his voice fade away. He saw small drops of water appear in the corners of the creature's eyes. He wanted to ask about it, but he refrained from doing so. It was clear to him that Shindou was mourning over his dying friend and it wouldn't be polite if he asked about such trivial details.

An idea popped into his mind. He wasn't sure if it would work with doubletailers, but it was worth to try, right? For some reason, he didn't like the sight of Shindou being sad. He inhaled and looked at the other creatures.

"There might be a way..."

Me: DUN DUN DUUUUUN! :D Yay, Kariya is going to be safe again! At least, I hope so... Maybe it won't work out! MUWHAHAHA!

Kariya: You're the worst, Att-chan! *pouts* Why are you even so happy, you're the one who made me injured in the first place!

Me: *puts on innocent smile* Whatever are you talking about, Kariya-kun~? It were those men on the ledge, remember? Are you now getting amnesia because of blood loss~?

Kariya: *growls*

Me: Anyways, you may have noticed that Kirino starts to think different about the doubletailers... In the first half of this chapter, he thinks of them as 'beings' and sees them as 'it' instead of 'he'. This changes in the second half and I did this on purpose, 'cause I think it shows how Kirino starts to see them as equals... It's like: at first he thought of them like we would think about other animals (dogs, cats, monkeys, you name it). Later, he realises that they are actually just like him and he starts to see them more as persons.

Hikaru: Please leave a review, minna!

Me: HIKARUUU! *hugs him*

Hikaru: Ehh? *sweatdrops*