Me: It's been a while :p I hope you still enjoy this story! So yeah, it's spring break here in the Netherlands, so I may update a little more often..

ON WITH THE STORY! I don't own IE, enjoy!

"I... I can't believe it, it really worked," Shindou breathed in awe. He looked down at the merman, who was panting heavily and looked really tired. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine..." Kirino replied and he flashed them all a half-smile. "Just a bit tired, that's all. I'm just glad I could help."

"You already helped us so much... First you save our captain and now our companion," Hikaru said and Shindou nodded in agreement.

"Hikaru is right, I don't know if we'll be able to thank you properly, but..."

"Don't mind it," Kirino said, slightly blushing. "I'm just as glad as you are. I learned so much about doubletailers today, it's amazing."

"What are... doubletailers?" Kariya asked curiously. Right now, the five of them were sitting on the ground, their eyes on the merman in the water.

"Eh? W-well, doubletailers are... erm... you are doubletailers, actually," Kirino started awkwardly. "The merfolk don't know much about your species, so we gave you a logical name. You've got two tails, right? Therefore, we know you as doubletailers... But what do you call yourselves then?"

"We're humans," Shinsuke said.

"Hu...mans?" Kirino repeated, tasting the word on his tongue.

"And we don't have tails," Shindou continued. Kirino gave him an odd look.

"But you-"

"We call them legs, we use them to walk around."

"Legs? Wait, then are your fins different as well?"

"We don't have fins either," Tenma giggled. "We have feet... And toes." He took off his footwear and showed Kirino his bare foot. The latter was obviously shocked about what he saw, since both his mouth and his eyes were wide open. He slowly extended his hand to touch Tenma's foot, only to retrieve it as soon as the boy wiggled his toes.

"So you don't have gills, you don't have tails, you don't have fins and you apparently don't have scales either... Strange," he said.

"No, we don't have scales," Shindou smiled. "This is our skin." He extended his hand so that the merman could touch that as well and his skin started to tingle where Kirino touched him. Kirino's wet hand left a trail on his arm, but Shindou didn't mind.

"Amazing," Kirino breathed in awe, and Shindou couldn't help but laugh a bit. Everything that was so normal for him was so strange for the other. They remained silent for a little while, giving the merman time to formulate his next question.

"Are... How is... What about your tongues?" Kirino finally blurted out and he recieved five confused looks, so he tried to explain it. "Are they really... silver?"

"What? No, no they're not," Shindou hurried to reply while Hikaru stuck out his tongue to illustrate the matter. "Why did you think that our tongues were silver?"

The merman flustered and lowered himself a bit as if he tried to hide in the water. "No particular reason, really," he muttered, but his red cheeks said otherwise.

Shindou thought to himself that Kirino looked rather cute like that and before he could feel ashamed of his thought, he let out a chuckle. "It's alright, just tell us."

"Well, where I come from, there's a saying... about you..." Kirino started, not looking any of them in the eye. "It goes like, ehm... 'Doubletailers have silver tongues that lure you into their webs of lies.' Everyone who goes to the surface is told a million times not to talk to your kind. It's... dangerous."

There was an awkward silence, which eventually got broken by Shindou. "And in spite of all those warnings, you still decided to safe us and help us, even if it meant that you had to endanger yourself,"You're heart is in the right place, Kirino."

For some reason, Kirino's cheeks heated up at the comment. "Thanks," he muttered.

"Maybe you could help us one more time?" Shindou started. "You see, those attackers cut our rope, so we can't get out of here anymore. But can you..."

"Hmmm, if I can find enough of those algea for all of you, we could get out the same way as I got in. There's a narrow tunnel at the bottom of the lake. I'll get some extra algea for you, so that you won't need to get up immediately after you left the cave. After all, who knows whether those men are still around or not?"

"If you could do that, Kirino, you would help us so much," Hikaru smiled as he jumped up. Kirino smiled back.

"Yosh, then I'll go now. I'll be right back!" Kirino replied before he swam away from the edge and dived to the bottom of the lake. Shindou didn't move, he just kept on staring to the place where he last saw the merman.

"Captain?" Shinsuke's soft voice made him look up into the eyes of his four juniors. "Captain, are you really planning..." He didn't finish his sentence, but he didn't need to. Everyone knew what he was thinking.

Shindou sighed before he got up. "I'm afraid we don't have a choice," he said while looking out over the water. "Our fate was sealed the moment we met him." Those last words were muttered to himself, but the others could hear them. They joined their captain as they stared at the lake, rather sad about what would happen next.

It took Kirino half an hour to collect enough algea for the five doubletai- I mean humans. They had to practice a bit with them before they entered the water and Kirino advised them wherever he could. "Remember," he said when they were ready. "You must stay calm and just sink to the bottom. Since you can't see underwater as well as I can, I'll guide you through the tunnel. Then, we'll swim a few miles to the east, to where your camp is located. I have a clear image of where it is now, so we must be able to reach it pretty soon. Is there anything else that we are forgetting right now?"

"I think we have everything, Kirino," Shindou smiled. Kirino smiled back, but then he noticed the hint of sadness in the other's eyes.

"What's wrong, Shindou, you seem a bit down."

"Ahaha, it's probably nothing, Kirino-san," Tenma laughed nervously.

"He's probably scared of getting in the lake again," Kariya added.

Kirino squinted his eyes when he looked at Shindou again and found that the boy wouldn't look him in the eye. Then he smiled reassuringly. "It'll be okay, Shindou. I know the way like the back of my hand and I'll help you if something goes wrong, alright?"

"No, it's not that..." Shindou muttered softly, but the merman heard him.

"Than what is it?"

Shindou flinched and smiled apologetically. "A-ah, nothing, Kirino. Sa, let's get going." And with that, he jumped into the lake and let himself sink. The four other boys followed his example and soon, Kirino was the only one with his head above the surface. Something about their behaviour bothered him. It was almost like they didn't want to get out of the cave. But that was ridiculous, right? He sighed, shook his head to erase the thought and chased after the others. He probably misunderstood them. After all, he didn't know that much about humans.

He saw them a few feet below him and quickly caught up with them. He studied their faces, interested and a bit amused. It was obvious that this was a whole new experience for them and that they didn't know how they should respond to it. "It's okay, you're doing great," he said and then he saw how their expresions became a bit more relaxed.

His heart ached when the thought about their departure in the near future. He only knew them for a few hours, but they were so nice and trustworthy... Especially Shindou. He didn't like the fact that he would never see the brunette again. Whenever he looked at the boy, he would feel something that he felt never felt before. No merman or mermaid he ever met had ever made him feel this way. And he was scared that he would never feel like that again after he departed with Shindou.

And that was when he made a decision. He wouldn't just lead these humans to the surface. Instead, he would bring them back to where they belonged and would stay with them for as long as possible. After all, his encounter had proven that rumours about the humans weren't true. What harm would there be in staying with them a little longer and learning a bit more about them? And he had to admit that he was rather curious about other humans as well.

.

But, as many humans know, curiosity killed the cat...

When they reached the bottom of the lake, Kirino started to look around for the tunnel entrance. Shindou and the others remained where they were, unable to make out anything in the dark. "Tenma, I'll take you out first, okay?" There was no relpy, since Kirino was the only one able to talk underwater, but Shindou knew that Kirino did this so they could follow what was going on.

One by one, they were led out of the cave. Shindou was the last and he waited patiently for Kirino to fetch him. He thought about what he should do. He had to make Kirino stay with them for longer, but how could he arrange that when he couldn't even talk?

"I'm back," the merman whispered. Next, Shindou felt something on his arm that softly dragged him through the darkness.

"Kirino," he said, although it sounded strange because of the air that escaped from his mouth when he opened it. It took him a few seconds to regain his breathing and he was grateful that he hadn't spit the algea out. He wanted to go on with his struggle to voice his request, but something touched his lips and stopped him from doing so. He suddenly realized that it was Kirino's finger that closed his mouth.

"You shouldn't talk. You might lose the algea and now that I know what that kissing thing means to you, it will be awkward to save you again that way." He paused. "Actually, it's a good thing that you can't talk now, since you won't be able to object to my plan."

His plan?

"I have decided to accompany you a little longer. After all, I'm really curious about other humans and there is still so much to learn." The merman sounded like a little child in a candy store and Shindou couldn't help but smile about this. He could clearly imagine what Kirino's face would look like right now.

I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore, he thought, but he wasn't relieved or happy. Why? The merman had, though unconsciously, solved his problems, so he should be happy, right? But deep in his heart, he knew he was fooling himself. He wished that something went wrong, something they couldn't do a thing about. That way, the Leader wouldn't blame them and Kirino... Kirino would be safe...

The silence went on for a few more seconds before the merman pulled him along. Kirino kept on talking to him and gave him simple instructions. It didn't last long before Shindou got out of the cave, followed by the merman himself. The six of them swam to where the Army's camp was. It was late in the afternoon, so they could still make out the details of their surroundings and Shindou would have enjoyed the wonderful view if it wasn't for the weight on his shoulders.

They changed their traveling style after a few minutes, since Kirino got annoyed by their pace ("Aargh, why are humans so very slow?!"). He grabbed Shindou's left hand and Tenma's right hand and told the others to grab a hold. Suddenly, he dashed forward, using strong movements of his tail. At first, the five humans were startled by this speed, but they soon adjusted to it and enjoyed the ride.

About an hour later, they reached the camp. Shindou's heart grew heavy, for he knew what this meant. He knew that there were always people fishing to enhance their scanty meals or, more often, because they were commisioned by the Leader to catch creatures like mermen and mermaids... Even he could make out the noose in the water, a piece of one of the leader's traps.

Kirino however didn't notice it because he was too tired from the trip. "It's alright," he panted and smiled. "You can go up already, I'll catch up with you once I'm calmed down again." He sat up and prepared himself to swim to the surface.

Shindou's world slowed down. Could he really do this? Kirino helped them out so much... If it weren't for the merman, he and Kariya would've been dead already. And Hikaru, Tenma and Shinsuke would have died as well eventually. Shindou owned Kirino his life... He couldn't betray him like this, could he?

No, I can't.

His hand lashed out and he grabbed Kirino's wrist. The latter looked down at him in surprise. "Kirino," Shindou said, struggling with the words.

"You know you shouldn't talk. We're here, so if we just go to the surface, we'll-"

"Listen to me!" The words were stern and fierce, and Kirino fell silent. Shindou didn't know this, but no one dared to use that tone against the merman prince at home and he was shocked that Shindou did. Said boy was trying to get out the words as quick as he could, but it took time to regain his breathing.

Kirino's position was almost vertical now. His face looked down on the five humans while his tail was directed to the surface. It was just mere inches away from the noose, yet the merman didn't seem to notice. It frustrated Shindou that he couldn't warn the other. The person that was operating the trap must've noticed them, since the noose was slowly moving closer to Kirino's tail.

No! Shindou thought. "You need to get awa-"

He wasn't interupted by the lack of oxygen this time. He was interupted by the startled scream that left Kirino's mouth after the noose suddenly enclosed his tail and he was pulled out of the water.

I'm just gonna end it right there! ^^ CLIFFHANGER!

Review please!