Chapter 11 -
When he finally found the point in the scroll during which the author switched his focus to the ningyo, Inuyasha couldn't help himself but begin to read. Though he had told himself he wouldn't begin reading until he was back on the beach, the prospect was simply too tempting. The section was rich with illustrations and diagrams that had been compiled by whoever it was that had researched the merfolk long ago, and though the depictions were less than accurate, the accounts of the creatures' behaviors proved to be very through. Where there were drawings of the ningyo, they appeared rather fat in most cases, like bloated fish with the heads of ape-like men. Among the sketches was a single diagram that showed the way to flay a ningyo to be eating and listed the most supple and sweat meats of the body.
There was an all too familiar legend amongst the notes of a girl who had eaten the meat of a merman caught by the friend of her father. The girl had remained young and beautiful for over 800 years before simply disappearing like dust in the wind. Though entertained by the myth, Inuyasha had to snort at the fabrication as the legend had been dispelled many years ago after its first release when a storm of fishermen had taken to the bay to hunt for the 'fish-of-eternal youth'. When the claims of the first story proved false, the hunting of merfolk became a taboo and their poaching was immediately dropped across the entire continent, much to Inuyasha's current relief.
Further on through the scroll there was a depiction of a rhombus-shaped talisman that was said to transform the ningyo human, however years ago it had been lost in a horrible shipwreck to the deepest, darkest crevice in the bay. The mystical charm worked with contact, and any merman or mermaid who touched it would begin the transformation into human form. After the talisman was lost from the surface world, however, no records could be kept on it. It was theorized that it had been abandoned by the merfolk entirely because transmogrifying into a human at such severe depth would surely cause them to drown.
Reading on, there was an obvious change in authors as the style of writing switched from dominantly kanji to a mixture of katakana and hiragana. The second author spoke of his many hours adrift of the southern coast of Kagoshima. He told stories of how every morning he could watch the ningyo breach out of the water as all across the bay they hunted, schools of fish. He described the technique he observed as a group effort by the pod. Below the surface, the creatures would circle around a school of potential prey while one or two would attack from the surface with the extra speed given to them by breaching. The aim was usually to snatch a panicked fish in their sharp claws or teeth, tough occasionally the purpose was to disperse the school into the waiting hands of their clan members.
The author went on to describe a merman which he befriended who he affectionately named Aoihire. He described the ningyo as a "slender, streamline creature without a hair on his body save for a course mat atop his head" and went into detail about the squealing sounds Aoihire made and what different tones were thought to indicate. Most of these things the hanyou had already learned from the few days he had spent in Deidara's company. However one point did take him by surprise; the scripture told of the merman's apparent affinity for sugar and all things sweet from simple fruits to expensive bean-breads.
Whomever had been writing in the scroll presented his theory that because of constant exposure to salt and the tendency for fish to be a bitter and salty food, that the sweetness of sugars were a rare release from the monotony. Though this theory was correct in some way, Inuyasha couldn't help but also think of how extremely sensitive Deidara was to taste and how a strong sense of sweet could possibly cause a positive reaction as much as the taste of poison caused a negative reaction.
Still he read on and unrolled a series of diagrams that had been painted into the yellowed parchment. At first it was difficult for the hanyou to make heads or tails of the strange markings, most of which belonged to a series of seals written in some ancient dialect. Finally he reached a section of notes on the drawings which explained how these many seals were used to transform merfolk into humans. The scroll described a long process that could be also be applied in reverse to turn a human into a ningyo. Both involved having several different tattoos being burned into the flesh and were permanent. Inuyasha frowned slightly at the complex diagrams, but didn't dismiss it entirely.
Still the scroll rolled on between the half demon's fingers, revealing many more attempts at transmogrifying the creatures into humans. There were quite a few records of failed attempts which had resulted in three different deaths until finally a solution was finally reached. The researcher had finally come across a technique that could be safely applied to ningyo to temporarily change them into a human. Although the process was interesting, it was very complex and only thinking about all of the different symbols that would need to be painted on the sutra nearly gave Inuyasha a headache.
Unraveling more of the scroll again the authors changed, revealing the tiny handwriting that somehow reminded the half demon of Kagome's; perhaps there had once been an intellectual woman who had studies the ningyo. Unlikely. There were only a few articles that described the process of egg laying in the ningyo and how once an egg is laid in a pod how the dominant mail will claim it and fertilize it himself. Not that Inuyasha would have been able to tell the difference, but the few articles made no mention of the season of must or what happens when a pod has no alpha male.
The very last bid on the ningyo described their north and south migrating patterns much like the migrating of some species of tempered water-loving fish. Afterwards, however, the focus switched over to oni, a certain species of ogre-demons known for their horns and crooked fangs. With a satisfied grunt, the hanyou nodded and rolled the ancient tome back together, leaving it at the point where he had been reading about merfolk. Binding the paper together with the string that usually draped across his chest, Inuyasha tucked the scroll under his arm and looked up at the sky, gauging that he had several hours still before the sun began to set. He decided to take the time to gather provisions for camping on the beach for a while; he figured Deidara would be delighted when he returned with enough supplies to last him another week without being fed by the ningyo.
As he wandered into the quaint little village, he found Miroku leaning against the wall of a pottery store and telling the beautiful young shopkeeper of all his valiant deeds, all the while the woman giggled to herself and played coy. Inuyasha grunted and gave a quick flick to his friend's ear where he had a number of gold piercings, causing the monk to yelp and clasp his hand over the offended side of his head.
"Excuse me ma'am" the half demon grunted, "this lecher isn't giving you any trouble, is he?"
The young woman looked away and giggled quietly to herself, covering her mouth to hide her grin.
"Not at all, Master Inuyasha! He was only telling me of his many heroic battles with Naraku."
"And did he also tell you how Naraku was destroyed by the Shikon Jewel?"
"Etto… no, he didn't…"
"Good day ma'am." Inuyasha couldn't help but smirk victoriously to himself as he gave the monk's arm a good tug and dragged him out of the shop before he got a chance to tell the storekeeper more of his "heroic adventures."
"Why must you thwart my every attempt at finding a wife, Inuyasha?" the raven-haired man complained once he'd been given his limb back. The half demon only snorted and flicked his pointed ears in an annoyed response.
"Maybe it's because you already have a woman. All your flirting is starting to wear on my nerves." Miroku gave an indignant grunt and folded his arms.
"So, did you have a good, long chat with Lady Kaede then?"
"Nah, I got this scroll from her though." The half breed shifted the bundle under his arm slightly to show it to the monk, but gave him no further explanation. "Look, I'm gonna be camping on the beach for a while to study the merfolk…"
"That sounds great! It'll be just like old times, you and me, but without the burden of needy womenfolk! I've got a lovely tarp for just such an occasion back at monetary, I can –"
"Alone…" Inuyasha put his hand on Miroku's shoulder to stop his near joyous rambling and hopefully quiet him to a point where he could get a word in edgewise. "I'm going to study the merfolk alone."
Stunned, the other man nearly lost his balance as he took a pace backwards, his face revealing clear shock to the hanyou.
"Wh… if you're going alone, then what am I supposed to do?"
"Go marry Sango," Inuyasha growled with a bit of bitter humor. Of course he didn't want the two getting hitched while he was staying on the beach, he wanted to be there when his friends were wed, but he was getting rather sick of Miroku's lechery at the same time. Whatever the monk did, it better not be with Inuyasha, or any woman other than Sango… of that much he was certain. The younger man was quiet for a long while, looking down dejectedly for a while before replying.
"Alright, I get it. You want you alone time to look at the fishes. I got it. But If I come back with a ring on my finger and you missed it, then that'll be on you, got it?" With a wide, good humored grin the monk gave his friend a friendly shove before turning in the opposite direction and heading back towards the city of Yugata where Sango's current home resided.
Smirking and giving a satisfied nod, Inuyasha went about his own way, gathering all the food, shelter and bedding he would need. After traipsing all around town, he was back on his way to the bay with a loaded pack slung across his shoulders before the sun had gotten much further past midway across the sky. He had sacrificed much of the reward money he had received for slaying troublesome demons, but in the mind of the half breed, the expense was well worth it. By the time the skies had begun to turn into the beautiful pastel violets of late afternoon, Inuyasha had made it successfully back to the shoreline and unloaded his pack while Deidara waited patiently, giving an impatient squeak every now and again.
Among his spoils, Inuyasha had a gray tent that would shield him from the elements in the night, rations for a week and several less necessary trinkets. One of his favorite objects was a curved shaft of bamboo with the middle hewn out such that it served as a snorkel and would allow him to stay with his ears below water for much longer. Another thing he had thought to purchase was a blank roll of parchment, a calligraphy brush and an ink stick and well so that when he took the mind to write, Deidara would not have to draw in the sand. Thinking himself clever, the half demon had taken the advice of the ancient scripture and thought to buy sweet foods such as cherries, honey and raw sugar.
Not wishing to leave the antsy ningyo waiting any longer, the half demon quickly stripped away his clothing and, with a handkerchief full of cherries in one hand and his bamboo snorkel in the other, began fighting past the surf to where Deidara was waiting past the rough waves. When he finally arrived into calmer waters where the bay was chest-deep, the blonde merman let out an excited squeal and dipped underwater to pass through a very quick spin before immerging again and giving the half demon a wide grin. Smiling back, the hanyou shifted the package of fruit in his left hand slightly.
"Hey kid. I told you I'd be back. And lucky you, I brought you a present. Now close your eyes and open your mouth." There was an obviously shocked expression that danced across the young ningyo's face for a moment as he simply jumped to the conclusion that closing his eyes and opening his mouth would lead to yet another passionate kiss. In doing so, he shivered slightly in anticipation and his warm palms reached out to hold either side of Inuyasha's torso.
He was quite surprised, to say the least, when instead of the warm tongue he had come to enjoy being pressed past his quivering lips, came something smooth and foreign. Cerulean eyes immediately flew open and Deidara gasped, only to find Inuyasha smiling softly at him and pushing something strange into his mouth with his thumb and forefinger. There was a moment in which the blonde panicked, not knowing what to make of the new thing between his teeth, but just as he was about to fight back, the other man relieved his pressure and allowed the object to sit on Deidara's rough tongue.
"It's okay kid… it's food. Go ahead and try it." Hesitantly, the merman held the cherry on his tongue for a moment before tilting his head back and letting the little fruit slide down his gullet without so much as letting out the sweet juices. "H-hey!" the hanyou protested, taking a hold of Deidara's jaw as if in doing so he could have prevented the treat from being swallowed. "You're not supposed to swallow it right away, fish-brain. You chew it, like this." With that he demonstrated, popping one of the bright red cherries into his own mouth and chewing it carefully so as not to bite too hard on the pit. When he finally swallowed the mashed up flesh of the fruit, the half demon had a bit of trouble spitting out the large seed, causing some of the rose-colored juices to slip down his chin. "You gotta be careful of the pits though, you'll hurt your teeth if you bite on them too hard." With that he flicked the seed towards shore and dug in the handkerchief for another cherry.
This time as he pressed the red treat against the merman's lips, it was accepted though with a bit of nervous reluctance. Gradually Deidara began to chew, an action he was not at all used to as ningyo simply swallow their food whole down their wide throats, allowing the strong acids in their stomachs to wear away the bones and shells of their prey. As soon as the skin of the cherry was broken, the sweet nectar washed across the blonde's tongue and spread up to his lips, drowning his senses in the beautiful pleasure of sugar. For a moment, he was blown back by the startling sensation that flooded his sensory organ with the foreign, but very delightful taste of happiness. It was saccharine and tangy and strong, making Deidara suddenly shriek for joy and arch his spine backwards until he breached back into the bay and swam several enthusiastic laps around the hanyou before resurfacing. Reluctantly, the merman swallowed and did as he had been shown, spitting the large pit into his palm and tossing it into the brine.
"I guess that means you like cherries, huh?" Inuyasha couldn't help but grin, glad above all other things that he had followed the scroll's advice. "I've got plenty of them, so have as many as you want." With a bit of a dubious smirk, the half breed decided to save his other treats to be a surprise once the cherries had all been eaten. With a joyous squeal, the blonde snatched Inuyasha's shoulders and pulled him quickly into a powerful kiss, absolutely loving the feeling of the fruit juice that still lingered on the hanyou's lips.