Chapter 14

Mr. Shark was excited to call his friend to tell him about his mission. Prior to the call, he went out with Mr. Snake to investigate a boat that was smuggling something disguised as gemstones. It turned out to be mermaid purses of bamboo sharks.

In most species of sharks, only a few could lay eggs while great whites such as him were born naturally. However, they had a price to pay:

Survival of the fittest.

He couldn't recall having any siblings but he knew he was full when he was out into the world for the very first time. When he was recruited by Mr. Wolf, he considered the gang to be his family. Mr. Piranha was like the brother he never had.

But here, Mr. Piranha was situated at Mr. Snake's house with Mira after something happened at the young woman's house. It broke his heart to see her scared and he wanted nothing more than to tell her that everything will be okay.

Or was it?

"Hey, man! What's up?" Mr. Piranha greeted him from the other side of the screen. Mr. Shark was sitting near the docks after his mission with Ms. Tarantula, where they intercepted a boat that was smuggling a few exotic pets in fish barrels.

"Just wondering' how you're doin'," said Mr. Shark. "Is Mira there?"

"Oh yeah! Mira, do you wanna say hi?" It warmed his heart when the young woman approached the screen and shyly waved at him. "Hey there, Mira. Got everything at the apartment? Hope Snake's not giving you a hard time."

Mira shook her head, giggling silently. He thought to himself, on how cute she was whenever she smiled or when those eyes were sparkling over something as simple as a swim in the sea. Speaking of which, he wondered if he should visit them since he was done with today's mission.

"How did it go?" Mira asked softly. He returned a smile, causing her to push back a bit of her hair behind her ear. He began to tell her and Mr. Piranha about the mission. Besides that, the rest of the gang were informed about Mira's situation via Rani.

'A family should be a safe place and space. Must be really bad if Rani was exiled while Mira ran away,' the great white thought to himself. He felt sorry for Mira, his gut telling him that something within that family was the reason Mira was afraid to talk.

Mr. Wolf had informed the gang to monitor the family for anything suspicious while protecting both Mira and Rani. He knew the latter was capable of defending herself since Mr. Snake and the police chief were training her.

Mira on the other hand, needed help. Both Mr. Shark and Mr. Piranha would take turns protecting Mira from any followers that seemed to be connected to the family. Since he and Mr. Snake went their separate ways, he decided to swim to a local bar to order some takeout fish tacos.

Little did he know, someone is taking his time taking a lot of photos...

...

Mira almost jumped out of her skin when the doorbell rang.

She knew both Rani and Mr. Snake had their own individual keys, so who was at the door? Peering through the keyhole, she sighed with relief as she unlocks the door. It was none other than Mr. Shark in a cute beanie with a matching set of baggy clothing that hid his find and any traits that were shark-like.

"Wait, you can see through my disguise?" he asked incredulously as she immediately locked the door. Mr. Piranha's jaws dropped at the sight. "That was SHARK?! I swear, I thought it was one of your relatives looking for you!"

Mira began to giggle, which was silent to hear except for bats. However, that doesn't deter both of the fishes. "I'm glad you're here safe and sound," said Mr. Shark, taking off his disguise. "Anything new, my man?"

"Nothing," Mr. Piranha shook his head. "Wolf said we have to stay put since we don't know who would be after her."

Mira sank into the sofa with her knees close to her chest. It was a big risk to ask for help outside of her comfort zone, let alone run away without leaving anything behind. She prayed that her family doesn't find her or stopped calling her every second.

It was the first time she had not touched her phone for the whole day.

In her so called 'freedom', she was tempted to do something but was afraid of the consequences. Somehow, Mr. Shark sensed what she was feeling and asked, "Are you okay, Mira? Is there something that you want to do?"

She hesitated before nodding slowly. Mira took a piece of paper and wrote down what she wanted to say:

Can we please go swimming at the sea?

Both the shark and piranha smiled until a phone's ringtone ruined their little moment. Mr. Piranha cursed under his breath when he answered the phone. It was from Mr. Wolf, who needed his help with another mission. "Sorry guys, but I'll just have to leave you two to it. Stupid Wolf asking me to go on a mission..."

He lapsed into mutters and mumbles before heading out by flushing himself down the toilet. Mira was horrified until Mr. Shark assured her that he will be okay. "He does that all the time," Mr. Shark laughed. "Just be careful the next time you're on the toilet seat."

Once the coast was cleared, Mira and Mr. Shark carefully went to the beach in disguises so that no one would recognised them. The young woman felt comfortable wearing a face mask while she held onto Mr. Shark's cotton shirt.

For a shark as big as him, he could fit into a potato sack and could still pull it off.

'He looks so handsome,' she thought to herself when she looked up to see his relaxed expression while keeping a lookout for anyone suspicious. Between the two fishes that she was happy to call her friends, she felt more comfortable around the great white shark.

It was not because Mr. Piranha had a wild temper, but Mr. Shark's laidback attitude made her feel calm, like the waves of the ocean washing over her. Suddenly, she accidentally bumped into someone. She raised her hands as a form of apology until she saw the figure's face.

Letting out a small 'eek', she clung closer to Mr. Shark, who narrowed his eyes at the figure who grinned at them. They steered clear of the man until they were safe near the beach. "What a creep! I mean, did you see those eyes? I bet there's nothing but a void in those beady black holes..."

Mira shuddered and nodded in agreement. The figure that scared her looked like a slim version of Dr. Robotnik from the Sonic the Hedgehog game with the same hairstyle and those beady black eyes behind John Lennon sunglasses.

In fact, that man was staring at them until he was out of sight as they reached the beach.

Since there weren't many people about late at night, Mira began to shed out of her disguise to reveal her one-piece swimsuit while Mr. Shark only had his swimming trunks. The two of them entered the sea, goosebumps began to form on her skin.

She loved the cool, salty water as she began to do a few laps and dove to find anything interesting. Swimming felt free, without anyone controlling her as the sea carried her far away from it all.

No expectations.

No arguments or shouts that were the common music at home.

No wrinkled hands that laid upon her.

Mira then began to paddle over to Mr. Shark, who was just floating around on his back. With a cheeky smile, she swam behind and began to splash a great wave of water of him. He sputtered from the surprise splash before giving her his own grin.

"Ooh, you're gonna get it now!"

It was the first time Mira felt like laughing. Not the soft, gentle giggles she would emit every time she was taken to any social gathering, but a full-blown laughter then echoed the empty beach and the stars in the sky.

Sometimes he would splash her while she swam away giddily or she would climb onto his back and began to thread her fingers lightly onto his dorsal fin and near the corner of his eyes. Before he knew it, she had flipped him over so that his pudgy stomach was exposed to the surface, putting him in a zen-like state.

Was this really okay?

"How do you know where to find my weak spots?" Mr. Shark asked while panting. They decided to take a break by resting at the seashore. His two fins were wrapped around her waist while Mira laid her head on his soft stomach.

"Research," was her only reply. The vibrations of his laughter was enough to make her prop herself up to meet his gentle eyes that looked down on her. "You know, I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, Mira. I think you made the right call to swim out here."

She wondered if he could hear her heart flutter. This night swim was no one but her own choice, which felt scary yet she had never felt so good. To top it all off, she shared this moment with someone she could trust.

"Mira," Mr. Shark called her gently. "Are you okay?"

Slowly, she leaned forward until she cupped both of her hands over his snout and planted a soft kiss that lingered for a while.

Aww, isn't that sweet? Sorry if updates are slow because I had a lot of things to deal with in life. I hope after reading this chapter, you get yourself a nice drink, have a good rest and unwind before getting ready the next day

Thank you, guys!