Me: Woohoo! I love spring break ^^ Now I can write a lot. So yeah, here's the next chapter (I figured I couldn't let you wait that long after last chapter's cliffhanger.

And now: KIRINO!

Kirino: *jumps startled* What?

Me: Disclaimer please? *puppydog eyes*

Kirino: *sigh* Lotus Sword doesn't own us, enjoy this.

Me: Mou, can't you say that a little more cheerful? And don't call me Lotus Sword, it's so stiff.

Kirino: Then, can't you stop making me a merman?

Me: Hmm, I'll think about it. Maybe in a few chapters, kay?

Kirino: Yay! ^^ So minna, Att-chan doesn't own Inazuma Eleven/Go/Chrono Stone/Galaxy. This is just for entertainment. ENJOY!

Me: *sweatdrop* Wow, you really don't want to be a merman, do you?

Kirino laid on the rocks, disoriented, blinded and coughing. Something held his arms behind his back and pushed him to the ground. He struggled to get loose, but it didn't work.

"Get the Leader!" the thing that held him down yelled. Kirino was almost certain that it was a doublet- human. He squirmed and wriggled, but the human only pushed him down harder. He wanted to tell the man that it was a misunderstanding, that he meant no harm, but his coughing prevented him from doing so.

What happened? He was just swimming there, ready to break through the surface once more, when Shindou stopped him. Strangely enough, the boy didn't seem to want to go up. Then, something had touched Kirino's tail and he was pulled out of the water. It must have been this human, then.

His coughing slowly died down and he took his time to look around. It was some sort of camp, with thousands and thousands of tents. There were two larger tents in the middle of the camp, close enough to the stoves so the people inside could enjoy a hot meal, but not so close that they would be bothered by the smoke.

A man came out of one of those tents, rapidly walking up to him. The human behind him grabbed his arms and pulled him up so that he could face the man in front of him.

"I got one, Leader-sama," the man who held Kirino said proudly. "It swam right into the trap."

"I see," the one in front of him said. He pointed at Kirino. "You, what's your name and why are you here?"

Kirino opened his mouth, not to answer the question but to protest about the rude formulation of it. However, a splashing sound interrupted him before he could say anything. He looked to his side and saw how Shindou, Tenma, Shinsuke, Kariya and Hikaru climbed out of the water. "Shindou," he said before he thought about it. Said boy looked up and he looked startled when he saw Kirino's position.

The man now turned to Shindou. "Shindou Takuto, do you know this creature?"

Shindou glanced one more time at Kirino before he straightened his back and saluted. "Yes, Leader-sama."

"Then, what is its name?"

"His name is Kirino Ranmaru, Leader-sama," Shindou said without hesitation. Kirino felt betrayed. Why did Shindou tell all these things to that man without Kirino's consent?

"I see, and how did he come here?"

"He accompanied me and my men on our way back. Something happened in the cave and we met him afterwards. He helped us out and brought us here."

"Aha, I see," the man smirked before he turned to Kirino again. "I'll expect you in my private tent in half an hour for a full report, Shindou Takuto. Before that, refresh yourselves."

"Hai, Leader-sama." Shindou saluted again, which was copied by the other drenched boys, and he left after casting one last look at Kirino.

"As for this one," the man said and he smiled an unpleasant smile. "Take it two the second tent."

"W-wait," Kirino exclaimed as he was dragged away. "I-I actually need to go back right away. It's rather late and I'm sure the others will worry about me." The men that held him snickered at his protests, but didn't respond further. Kirino was brought to the second tent, which held some sort of aquarium inside. Without further ado, he was tossed in the water. The men left and he was alone.

He sat down at the bottom and thought about the situation he was in. What was happening? Why didn't those men listen to him? Why was he locked up in a small aquarium? When would he be able to go home? But most importantly, why didn't Shindou help him?

He knew the answer. He knew it, yet he didn't want to acknowledge it. He desperately tried to think of other possiblilities, but his brain kept on leading him back to that one and simple option. His father's words echoed through his mind. Oh, how many times had he heard those? How many times had he complained about them? How many times had he said that he knew them? That he wasn't a child anymore?

Yet here he was, locked up in a box, unable to return home. He gave up his search for better answers, for he knew that the only right answer was right in front of him. Why hadn't he seen it earlier? He sighed and closed his eyes, leaning back against the glass.

I've been tricked from the beginning.

It hurt.

"And you stayed underwater the whole time?"

"Hai, Leader-sama. Kirino gave us some kind of algea which enabled us to breath underwater." It was already dark outside, but Shindou was in the Leader's tent. He had to give a detailed report of their mission, about everything that went right and wrong. The Leader wasn't disappointed at all that his so-called hint to the merfolk village hadn't been in the cave. After all, he already had what he wanted.

He took a bite of his food. Although it was very well prepared and steaming hot, it tasted like ash to Shindou. He couldn't get rid of this annoying feeling in his guts. He thought about the merman, who he had betrayed to save his own hide. He felt so terribly bad for leading Kirino here that he couldn't enjoy his food.

"Is anything wrong, Shindou Takuto?" the Leader asked sharply and Shindou gulped. The entire time, he made sure not to show his feelings, but the older man had noticed them somehow. Nothing could escape from that piercing gaze.

"Nothing, Leader-sama. I think I'm just a bit tired from everything that happened today."

"I see. Well then, maybe it's time that you get your well deserved rest. Make sure that you and your men come to the second tent tomorrow at nine O'clock precisely, immediately after you finish your morning practice. I think that you all deserve a reward for what you did today. You are dismissed."

"Leader-sama," Shindou said as he stood up, bowed and left the tent. He walked over to his own tent, which he shared with no one at the moment. The thought of his sleeping bag was really tempting right now and he couldn't wait until he could finally sleep. Despite this, he slowed down when he passed the second tent.

This was where he and the boys had to gather tomorrow. This was also where Kirino was kept. Shindou wondered what had happened to the merman. Did they give him some food as well? He didn't think they did. Part of him wanted to enter the tent and let the merman eat, but another, far greater part of him was scared. Scared of what the Leader might do when he found out, but also scared of Kirino's reaction when he would see Shindou.

He started to walk again and reached his tent pretty soon. When he was finally in his bed, he couldn't fall asleep. Sure, he was exhausted, but his conscience wouldn't give him any rest. Every time he slept in, he thought about Kirino and then he was wide awake again. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts, he lectured himself.

He thought about the gristmill that was his home. He thought about how nice it felt to work hard in the mill or to bring the flour to the baker in the nearby villages. He thought about how hot it could be on a summer day and how the big apple tree next to the gristmill would provide shadows...

He thought about his wife, about how much he missed her right now. Oh what wouldn't he give to leave this dreaded army behind and go back to her?

But in the end, it was all in vain. As he fell asleep, his thoughts drifted back to the pink haired merman.

He didn't sleep well that night.

Kirino woke up from a sound very close to him. He startled and instinctively tried to swim away, but he bumped his head against one of the transparent walls. Great, so it wasn't just a nightmare, it was reality. He was really trapped in this cave. He turned around to see the man from yesterday. A wicked grin was plastered on the man's face.

"Good morning, Kirino Ranmaru," he said.

"Let me out," Kirino growled.

"Now, now, don't be so rude. Everyone here is delighted with your stay."

"With my captivity, you mean."

The man chuckled at Kirino's snappy replies. It must seem really funny to him. However, Kirino couldn't laugh at the situation. He was in a small prison tank against his will, far away from his home and his father. Speaking about his father, the king must be really worried by now. After all, Kirino had been gone for the entire night.

"You mustn't see it like that, Kirino-san." The man's words pulled Kirino away from his thoughts. "You are our guest at the moment. And you are going to serve a great purpose."

The expression on the man's face was so scary right now that Kirino backed away. "W-who are you?" he asked. "Why am I here?"

"The people here know me as the Leader, and soon the rest of the world will know me like that too. I will rule over all creatures on this earth. Not only over the humans, but also over the creatures in the seas and the skies. I will be all-powerful," he laughed. When he had calmed down, he pulled something from underneath his tunic. Kirino squinted his eyes to make out the details and saw that it was a silver necklace. It had five transparent stones as pendants. The rightmost pendant was dark purple coloured, the other pendants were colourless stones.

"And you, my dear Kirino," the Leader said. "You are going to help me with it." He took the colourless pendant next to the purple one and unfastened it. In mere seconds, he held the stone in his hand.

Kirino swam backwards until his back was against the wall. Last night, he had wondered what it was made of when he couldn't sleep. It seemed like ice, but it was much warmer. Now, with this maniac in front of him, those thoughts seemed so trivial. In fact, all his worries seemed trivial when he looked into the man's dark eyes.

"I-I refuse," he said. Damn that stutter. The Leader's grin widened even further.

"I'm afraid that you don't really have a choice." With those words, he placed the stone against the wall of warm ice. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but just as Kirino sighed in relief, a ray of light came out of the pendant. He couldn't dodge it anymore and as soon as it touched him, he felt so much pain that he could barely move. He screamed as his body made convulsive movements to escape the pain, but it didn't work. His heart sped up and a next wave of pain ran through his body. He had never felt anything like this before.

His body was freezing cold, but steaming hot at the same time. It was like he laid in a fire - at least, he believed that that was what Shindou had called it in an explaination. But not only his outsides hurt. His stomache ached as if he ate coral that had been expired for over a year and his head pounded like it was going to explode.

Was he going to die here?

After what seemed like an eternity, the light faded. However, the pain didn't. Yes, there were no more painful waves that attacked his body, but Kirino felt anything but fine. Exhausted from whatever it was that that man had done to him, he sank to the bottom of the tank. His eyelids were heavy, even though he just woke up, and he slowly fell asleep. The last thing he heard were the words of the Leader.

"Rest now, Kirino Ranmaru. I'll come again tomorrow."

Shindou and his juniors were waiting patiently outside the tent. It was precisely nine O'clock now, but the Leader was nowhere to be seen. Despite this, none of them even thought about pointing out that the man was too late. He practically held their lives in his hands.

They stood firmly at attention, but they got really nervous from the noises that came out of the tent. This was the tent where Kirino was held, and the painful screams they heard did anything but reassure them that the merman was doing well. His screames sometimes increased in volume and at those moments, he sounded utmost desperate. This went on for a few minutes and they heard how the sounds changed. In the beginning, the merman had sometimes yelled things like "please stop" and "no, no, no". Now, it was just clueless whimpering, as if Kirino had no idea anymore what he was saying.

Tenma, Shinsuke, Kariya and Hikaru grew nervous beside him, and Shindou didn't blame them. He was quite nervous as well. What was happening to Kirino?

Then, without warning, the screaming stopped. The only sound that was left was a soft wailing, barely audible through the thick canvas. When the tent opened and the Leader came out, Shindou was so shocked that he almost forgot the protocol. He quickly took a step forward, saluted, bowed and said: "Leader-sama."

"Ah, Shindou," the Leader said and he was suprisingly happy. A silver necklace laid around his neck, glimmering in the sunlight. Shindou had seen it before, but something was different now. First, the fifth stone was dark purple and the others were colourless. Now, the fourth stone was coloured as well... It was slightly pink, but the colour wasn't as intense as that of the purple stone.

Before he could think about this, the Leader's voice grabbed his attention again. "I see you gathered your men, that's good. Listen up men, I have a message for you. Because of what you did for me and the Army the other day, I am going to promote you. You won't have to keep watch at night in the cold anymore. Instead, the five of you are going to guard the merman in this tent. Make sure he eats enough and preserves his energy, am I clear?"

"Hai, Leader-sama."

The Leader walked away and the five boys turned towards the tent. They all thought the same thing: how would Kirino react when they entered? Shindou took a breath, stepped forward and shoved the canvas aside. What he saw shocked the living hell out of him.

Kirino laid on the bottom of an aquarium with closed eyes and a rapid breathing. The wailing was a little louder now and the merman's body was trembling uncontrollaby.

"Kirino..." He whispered. What have I done to you?

Me: Shindou, how could you?!

Shindou: *glares at me*

Me: Hehe, so yeah. Kinda odd twist maybe, because at first I had all those academic explanations (the two respiratory systems, the algea) and now I resort to magic... Oh well :p

Kariya: *reads the story* Shindou-senpai is married?!

Me: Yupp! ^^ But don't worry, I'll fix that. This is still a RanTaku-fic, minna!

Kariya: How are you going to fix that?

Me: *grins evilly* Remember what I told you at the start of chapter five?

Kariya: O.o Please leave a review, minna.