Sanada offered them appropriate thanks before he took the tray and turned around to head back to the pond. He hoped this would be satisfactory enough for the creature, but he was fairly confident this would do.
He balanced the tray carefully in one hand as he sank down beside the pond again. He was much less than graceful as he just barely managed not to spill the contents of the tray on his way down. “I just assumed you have an appetite for fish, based on what you said about the koi,” he explained.
Akanashi raised his head and smiled when Sanada returned, placing the tray near him. The food smelled amazing, especially the fried fish, and he was very curious about the white rice within a small brown plate.
"Ah, thank you!" he spoke, dragging himself on the edge of the pond so he could use his hands freely, reaching out for a piece of fried fish. "Truth be told, there isnt much else in the sea to nibble on, aside from fish!"
He took a bite of the fried fish, making pleased noises as he chewed it. Seems he'd never had cooked fish before, only raw, which also raised a question regarding how well would his body receive the cooked food.
"This is so good!" he chirped, relishing the new flavours that assaulted his mouth.
One small octopus within the seafood bowl tried crawling out to make an escape, yet the boy was quick to grab it and stuff it in his mouth, chewing it calmly while some of the left out tentacles stuck to his cheek and nose, as if one last ditch attempt at pulling itself out of the ningyo's mouth
Sanada watched with a peaceful expression. “Yes, I assumed you might have been tired of raw fish,” he humored. He placed his hands folded in his lap. Naturally, his eyes darted to the ningyo’s tail again. It was stunning, and definitely eye catching.
"Mn, though not all fish tastes the same" he commented, with his mouth half full, holding the rice bowl.
Soon enough, he'd finished pretty much everything there was on the tray, sighing happily.
"Thanks for the meal!" he chirped, swaying his tail around. "I needed that"
It had been some time since he'd had anything to eat, or so he felt. He had no idea why he felt this hungry nor what the reason was behind his unwilling fasting - there had to be a reason, its just he'd forgotten it.
“That makes sense,” Sanada nodded. He sat up to shift into a more comfortable seating position, as the previous one had become to grow almost painful. He pulled his curved leg forward in front of the other. “You’re very welcome,” he replied with a humored curve of his lips. “It looked like you did. When did you wake up?” He added, “Last night or this morning?”
Akanashi placed all the used dishes back on the tray, stacking them in a neat pile before pondering on the man's question.
"Hmm, i think i woke up a little before dawn, but snoozed a little until the sun rose up. I had this splitting headache that just would not go away -" he answered, lightly massaging his head with hesitant moves. "It's still there but its not that bad anymore"
He lightly swam by the pond's edge, resting his arms on the stone slabs
Sanada carefully pushed the tray away from the water, just to a more flat ground level to keep it from tipping over. He tilted his head a little at Akanashi’s headache, but he wasn’t surprised it had occurred.
“Do you live with any other of your kind?” He wondered, refocusing himself to the more important questions. The rational part of his brain insisted that learning more about this mysterious species as a whole was more important than asking an individual strictly about himself.
"Other?" he repeated the question, staring ahead like trying to recall something, lightly pressing his temple. "I… I dont remember. I dont think i did."
It wasn't excluded for the head injury to have caused some memory loss, but for the young ningyo it looked more like a case of amnesia. Could he have really forgotten his way of life in the ocean? And if so, just how much had he forgotten?
"I dont have any memory of anyone else like me, and if i did meet one at some point, i cant remember… Sorry"
He rested his chin on his folded arms, feeling sad for not being able to answer the man's question
“You don’t?” Sanada furrowed his brow curiously. These ningyo’s could either be solitary creatures, or this specific one could have lost his memory. He rubbed his chin with a hand. On to the next question. “Is this language we’re speaking your native language?” He questioned, tilting his head into his hand, propping it up. “Or did you have learn it?”
"Hmm, i… dont know for sure." he replied. "When you started talking to me i understood you right away, so i suppose it could be my native language. I dont remember having to learn it."
Yet another hole in his memory. This mermaid most definitely lost his memories after the storm, otherwise he would have been able to recall such a thing like language
(Sorry!)
Sanada stretches the corner of his lip, narrowing his eyes in focused thought. This must have been some issue with being washed up on shore, having hit his head on a rock or something. Perhaps, hopefully, his memory would gradually come back. “Does your head hurt?”
Akanashi gently rubbed the back of his head, as if looking for the source of the pain.
"Yeah… It's not as bad as it was when i woke up, but its still there… Kinda feels like i dipped my head in ice water, you know?"
He pulled himself up on the edge of the pond, finding a way to sit comfortably whilst partially exposing his soft underbelly, the tip of his propeller fins still in the water.
"It feels very weird." he continued. "I can't remember anything other than my name. Not even what i had for dinner yesterday"
“Well, it makes sense.” Sanada shifted around again to keep his legs from falling asleep. “It looked like you were quite badly wounded… Actually, doubt you even had dinner yesterday. By supper time you were already washed up on shore, or in this pond. Either way you were unconscious.” He smoothed back his hair with a hand, as it felt it was becoming messy already. He did have to keep up appearances, even to a ningyo.
The mermaid shook his head, looking at the stone in front of him, lightly frowning with his white eyebrows.
"It's so weird. The fact that i cant remember anything… What if i was a bad person?" he murmured, mostly to himself as he rested his head on the ground. Unlike Sanada, Akanashi did not seem too bothered by his own hair that was starting to become frizzy due to drying up after being in salt water for a long time. It looked kinda funny in a way.
"So, what do you want to do with me, now that you have me in your pond? I can't grant wishes, you know" he stated, smiling a little bit at the last part as if he'd made a joke
Sanada laughed a little, pulling up one knee to rest his chin, “As opposed to the common legend. Do you have any magical abilities at all? I am quite curious. Along with many other people, but I don’t think others would be as polite in asking you as I.”
The boy chuckled slightly, swaying his tail to stir the water.
"I don't really remember that either, sorry." he gave a guilty smile. "I really do not know what i can do, or even if i can do anything. Maybe i can grant wishes, but i dont remember how"
He rested his chin on his arms, a little bummed out at his memory loss. Not remembering absolutely anything was starting to get a little frustrating.
Sanada pulled his lips down into a frown. Well, this ningyo wasn’t very helpful, at least with its memory loss. Maybe his memory would come back with time, or maybe he needed more conventional, medical means. “So…you don’t know anything?” he reiterated. “Not even if you have a surname?”
The boy looked down at the stone and grass in front of him, sighing unhappily.
"Nope. Nothing."
Just how hard did he hit his head against the rocks? It was also pretty scary - his whole life, completely erased, just like that.
"I'm really sorry there isnt much i can tell you, i simply dont remember anything, even if i wanted to"
He let himself slip back into the water, until the lower half of his face was hidden behind the rock edge of the pond.
"Aside from my name, there really is nothing else." he murmured, looking away with sadness in his eyes.
A short pause ensued between them as the mermaid meditated over his memory loss and what to say next. Eventually, his vision snapped back into focus and his gaze rose up to meet the other's.
"Say, will you show me around the palace later? I've never seen one on the inside." he chirped, the earlier sadness vanished into thin air
Sanada blinked, surprised by the sudden change in emotion. He opened his mouth to answer him, but it seemed something wasn’t adding up. The ningyo had a tail, how could he show him around the palace? “I- hm.” After a few moments he gathered his thoughts for a better composed answer. “I suppose I could, in the sense that I’m allowed to. But… how would I possibly transport you around the palace?” He raised an eyebrow.
"Hm?" he hummed, before looking down at Sanada's legs then at his tail and making an "oooh" sound of realization. "This? Oh, don't worry about it, i got it."
He turned with his back against the pond wall, holding on to it with his hands; from the looks of it, he was trying to lift his tail towards the surface, except when he finally did it was not the graceful elongated fish tail with shiny white scales that appeared above the water, but a thin white leg with remnants of white scales on his calves.
"See? Now we match!" he smiled his usual bright smile as his newly appeared pair of legs continued to disturb the water's surface.
Sanada was stunned into silence, watching the scene with round eyes. “I—ah- wow,” he gasped. He brought his hand to his chin, rubbing it as if it hurt. He collected his thoughts after a moment. “I thought… I thought you said you didn’t know if you had any magic.” He supposed this would make it easier to hid the ningyo for the general public.
"Ah, i did? Huh, that's strange; i never thought of this as magic, it's just something i can do" the boy replied, looking down at his legs, like he'd just been told they should not be there.
He looked back up to Sanada, with his blueish eyes.
"Is your chin okay? Did you hurt yourself?" he questioned, innocently as a child, reaching up to touch him.
Eventually, Akanashi crawled out of the pond, standing up hesitantly. Now that they were one next to the other, it was revealed the boy was roughly the same height as Sanada, perhaps a few inches shorter; but their height comparison would have to wait, as the ningyo was pretty much naked and thus had to be offered a cloth to cover himself with - he did not seem to be bothered by the lack of clothes, most likely resulted from the fact he did not need any in general, as he dwelled underwater.
Sanada shook his head and stood up. “No, no. My chin is just fine.” His hand traveled from his chin up through his hair, trying to wrap his mind around this. He could walk all along? “I… suppose I should get you some clothes, hm?” He briefly glanced over the ningyo’s new appearance. It was strange, and surreal to say the least.
The ningyo agreed to his suggestion, and waited patiently until he was finally brought something to put on for now, wrapping it around his body lightly with secure gestures - so he was at least familiar with clothing, meaning he wore them at some point.
No longer in the water, his hair had started to dry, slowly forming stringy waves towards the tips as it lay loose on his shoulders; it could have been from the sea salt embedded into it or possibly the pond water, who knew?
"So, will you show me around now?" he chirped, grabbing on to one of his arms like an excited little child.
Yeah, sure, but how about a warm bath and some proper clothes first?
Sanada chuckled, “I suppose so, but you’ll need… proper clothes first.” The ningyo needed his own clothes fit specifically for his small frame. But in the meantime Sanada’s own clothes might work well enough for a single day while some clothes were being tailored. “I’ll take you to a tailor first, and then I’ll show you around the palace.”
Hearing the plan for today, the boy nodded and followed Sanada out of the inner garden, all the way to the tailor. Once there, the man did a pretty fast job at measuring him - after all, he was only a few inches smaller than Sanada and had a more slim build.
Once the measurements were done, the two were able to finally take the tour that had been promised to the ningyo. He seemed really excited to be able to go exploring, following the man closely, scanning his surroundings with curious eyes
After the tailor, Sanada led the boy back to the main part of the castle. “Was there, or is there any specific part you would like to see first?” He offered. He considered bringing him to his quarters for a moment, just to see if there were any of his clothes that the ningyo might find more comfortable in the meantime where the other clothes were being tailored.
