Hello Minna!

I'm so so so so so so so sorry for not updating for so long! (For this fic and in general...)

I'm unfortunately starting to lose interest in this fandom but I shall NEVER abandon it! It just means that I need some time to get back into it :D

School has also been a huge b*tch! So I'm pretty busy since it's the last semester of the year...

BUT to make it a little up to you I made this chapter extra long! So I really hope you guys enjoy this and don't lose faith in me!

Because my motto is: When I start a fic I'm going to finish it!

Alright now all that has been said; Tsurugi disclaimer!

Tsurugi: Sekami-chan does not own me nor the entire Inazuma Eleven GO series!

Oh yeah by the way for anybody who is interested, they are around the age of 16/17 so still in college but not that old that they live by themselves and stuff ;)

"Alright I suggest we do it on the grass outside. So if you fall you won't fall that hard," Tenma said with a smile.

Shindou and I agreed, I carried Shindou to the backyard and put him down on a bench. Shindou looked with scared and slightly curious eyes at the grass below him, unconsciously pulling his legs a little higher. A thought popped up inside my head and a smirk made it's was on my face. Without warning I grabbed one of his legs and pulled it down, letting his foot touch the grass.

Shindou gasped in shock and tried to pull his leg away but I held a firm grip on it.

"Kyousuke let me go! This is not funny! That green stuff is scary!" Shindou kept yelling at me.

"Don't worry! Look it's not doing anything to you, now is it?" I asked him.

Shindou's struggles eased and he slowly and very carefully looked down. I saw how his facial features changed from fear to pure curiosity and I slowly let go of his leg. Once I had let it go Shindou didn't retreat, he even moved his leg a little. The grass tickled under his foot and he pulled back, until curiosity beat him again and he slowly let his leg down until his foot was flat on the grass. He spread his toes and let the grass stroke his foot, slowly getting used to the unfamiliar feeling. His second leg soon followed and he moved them slowly chuckling at the tickling feeling.

Tenma and I watched as Shindou slowly started to investigate our world. It was admiring to see that such a small and boring thing like grass could be so strange and even scary to him. Thinking about that, the most normal and small things must be like alien things to Shindou. Shindou looked to me once showing his bright smile and I couldn't help but smile back.

"What is this green stuff?" Shindou asked us.

"It's called grass, it's some sort of plant I guess?" Tenma spoke before me.

"It looks a bit like seaweed but then smaller and it feels completely different." Shindou commented.

Shindou started to look around more but I caught his attention before he could find something interesting.

"I thought we were on a mission, weren't we?" I asked looking at Tenma.

"Oh yeah, you're right! We were going to learn Shindou-san how to walk! Alright, first you need to learn how to stand." Tenma said.

"Really, you can drop the '–san' Tenma." Shindou replied with a small smile.

Tenma showed Shindou a cheeky grin and accepted. Tenma walked closer to Shindou and showed him how to do it, telling him that balance was the most important.

Shindou slowly stood up with our help and we held him steady by holding onto his arms. When Shindou stood completely still we slowly let go. Shindou kept his balance for a few seconds before he lost it and tumbled backwards. I reacted fast and took hold of his left arm while my other arm wrapped around his back and pulled him against my chest. Shindou leaned against me, slightly panting and I could feel his heart thumping in his chest.

"It's okay, you did great for a first time." I complemented him.

Shindou nodded slowly and calmed down soon after. We repeated the process and after a few times Shindou finally stood straight without falling.

"Yes, that's it!" Tenma yelled in excitement.

A big smile crossed Shindou's face as he stood on his own without our support.

"Alright, now we are going to teach you how to walk." Tenma said, quickly moving on.

Tenma showed Shindou how to walk, telling him that balance was still important but also things he needed to pay attention to; like that he doesn't stand on his own feet and that he doesn't stumble over them. I grabbed Shindou's right arm and Tenma Shindou's left arm. After taking a breath of air Shindou slowly began to walk, placing foot before foot. I saw the uneasiness in Shindou's face as he wasn't used to two legs that moved separately. Sometimes Shindou would fall but Tenma and I always pulled him up again and after a while, and a lot of practice and stumbling, Shindou managed to walk on his own without falling. And this time it was me who yelled out of excitement.

"You did it Takuto! You are walking!"

"I did it.. I did it, I'm walking! I did it Kyousuke!" He hugged me tight and I returned the hug, burying my hand in his greyish-brown curls. He let go of me and turned to Tenma, a big smile on his face.

"Thank you so much for helping me. I don't know how I can ever repay you," He said.

"Don't worry about it. I mean we're friends now right?" Tenma replied with his famous cheery voice.

Shindou smiled.

"Right!"

"Actually I think I know something you can do to repay him," I said.

They both looked at me.

"How?" They asked at the same time. I leant over Shindou and whispered something in his ear.

"Really? Yeah I could do that but are you okay with that?" He asked.

"Sure I don't mind," I said.

"Uhm guys, what are you talking about?" Tenma asked, his voice slightly suspicious.

I looked at my watch before turning back to Shindou.

"We could do it now. They probably don't know you're missing yet." I said, completely ignoring Tenma's question.

"Sure! Come on Tenma, let's go!" Shindou agreed, grabbed Tenma's wrist and pulled him along.

We started walking towards my house, since biking was totally out of the question and besides it was a good exercise for Shindou. Shindou was now able to walk but he still stumbled every now and then, probably because he still needed to get used to moving two legs separately, and I made sure to catch him every time. Tenma kept asking questions the whole way but Shindou and I kept our mouth shut.

After a few minutes of walking we arrived at my house. I unlocked the door and we got inside. Shindou dragged the still confused and slightly suspicious Tenma towards the swimming pool. The sun was shining brightly and reflected on the water as Shindou stopped in front of the swimming pool.

"Could you please just tell me-" Tenma was silenced as Shindou's lips landed on his. The kiss lasted for just a few seconds before Shindou pulled back.

"There, that should do it." He said.

When Tenma realised what had just happened he blushed like mad covering his mouth.

"W-what t-the h-hell was t-that f-for?!" He yelled but it was muffled due to the hand in front of his mouth. Then his expression changed to fear and he removed his hand while spinning around to face me.

"P-please Tsurugi d-don't hurt me!" He screamed and I just shrugged.

"Why would I hurt you?" I asked.

The confusion was clearly visible on Tenma's face.

"Maybe I should explain now," Shindou began thinking of the best way to explain this.

"I kissed you so that you can breathe underwater. This way it is much more fun to swim! As to Kyousuke's reaction: he didn't mind because first, it was his idea and second, it didn't mean anything. So this is to say my thanks, to swim together while you can breathe underwater!"

Tenma nodded still a bit confused but it looked like he got the big picture.

"Couldn't you have explained this earlier to me?" He asked desperate.

"Why? So we would miss that funny expression you made? No way!" I said laughing.

After laughing some more Tenma and I went inside to change into our swimming gear. Shindou said he didn't need any as he would get his tail when his skin would come in contact with the water. When we came back we saw Shindou was already in the swimming pool, his tail almost blending in with the tiles inside the pool, his scales just slightly darker. I saw he made some gestures with his arm but nothing seemed to happen and he punched the water frustrated. I gave Tenma a look that told him I would handle it as I silently climbed in the water together with Tenma and went over to Shindou. When I reached him I softly hugged him from behind and I saw a tear making its way down his face.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked him. He quickly wiped the tear away before turning in my embrace so we faced each other.

"It's nothing.. I was just trying something," he said and I saw the distant look in his eyes.

I knew there was something he wasn't telling me but I decided to let it drop, he would tell me when he was ready. Shindou snapped out of his stare and looked up at me with a sly smile.

"Anyway I don't believe I have given you the ability to breathe underwater yet," he said the sly smile turning into a playful one.

"Oh I'm pretty sure you have but I don't mind a second try, just to be sure." He wrapped his arms around my neck and kissed me passionately.

Shindou broke the kiss and I nuzzled his nose some more, not wanting to lose the contact just yet, but Shindou broke the contact nevertheless and turned towards Tenma. I did the same and we found him staring at Shindou's tail, Shindou chuckled at the look Tenma was giving him and asked:

"You want to touch it, don't you?"

Tenma looked up surprised and nodded shyly. Shindou casually went over to him and held the end of his tail in front of Tenma's face, the royal blue scales reflecting the sunlight. Tenma looked at the scales with utmost concentration and slowly reached out his hand but stopped midway looking to Shindou once more for a final confirmation. Shindou chuckled before giving it.

"It's okay, I don't mind. Kyousuke has done it a lot of times; I remember how he blushed like mad the first time," he said with a little teasing tone in his last sentence.

"Takuto..." I wanted it to sound warning but it came out more like whine.

Tenma chuckled at that but then his attention went back to the tail in front of him once more. He slowly reached out his hand again, this time not hesitating, and touched the shining scales.

"Wow, your tail is really smooth!" Tenma said amazed.

After Tenma was satisfied Shindou put his tail back in the water and seemed to remember something as he started to search something on the bottom of the pool. After a few minutes he finally came back up and held a royal blue scale in his hand.

"I already thought I had lost one," he said.

He reached his hand out to Tenma.

"Here, you can have it!"

Tenma took the scale and looked at it astonished.

"Thank you so much! But what about Tsurugi?" He asked.

"Oh don't worry. I have my collection in my room." I said teasingly, giving payback for the touching comment earlier.

The blush that crept on Shindou's face was totally worth the splash of water that I received afterwards.

"You only have to keep it wet, that's all." Shindou said.

Tenma nodded and I climbed out of the pool.

"I'll get you a glass of water to put it in for the meantime," I said and walked towards the house.

While I was pouring the water into the glass I couldn't help but imagine how Shindou would react to the tap. I could see him looking in astonishment as the water appeared out of nowhere, or at least in his opinion, and couldn't help but smile thinking it would be so cute.

When I came back outside I saw Tenma was chasing Shindou, though it wasn't really fair because every time Tenma came near Shindou would swim away with the amazing speed that his tail granted. I noticed Tenma had laid the scale on the edge of the pool and put the scale in the glass before putting the glass on the table inside. Once I was back at the edge I saw Shindou had stopped just below me and hadn't noticed me yet. An idea popped in my mind and I jumped into the water, wrapping my arms around Shindou's waist and held him tight.

"Got you," I whispered in his ear.

"Kyousuke! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" He yelled.

Tenma had reached us by now, he was totally out of breath. One of the reasons was probably that he still needed to get used to breathing underwater.

"I'm sorry, let me make it up to you," I said with a teasing voice.

I started to kiss him behind his ear and slowly went down until I reached his neck. A small moan escaped from Shindou's lips and he quickly covered his mouth. This only encouraged me and I kept kissing his neck.

"K-Kyousuke, n-not now!" He weakly protested, going completely limb in my embrace. I kept on going until I heard a loud couch not far from us. I looked up and saw Tenma awkwardly looking away.

"Alright, let's continue this tonight," I whispered seductively in Shindou's ear. This lead to a yelp and a heavily blushing Shindou.

We swam a little longer until we needed to go back to Tenma's house. They would probably notice Shindou's disappearance soon so I stayed home waiting for the people who would search for Shindou.

They came around 10 pm, they questioned me and searched the whole house. I was happy I'd thought of the box of scales, I had put it somewhere save just before they arrived. After they couldn't find anything they left around 10:30 pm. When I was sure they were gone I quickly packed a pyjama for me and one for Shindou, a spare pair of clothes for me and some money. I thought I should buy Shindou some proper clothes that actually fit him, tomorrow would be the perfect day as it would be a Saturday. I left a note for my parents that I was staying at Tenma's, locked the front door and headed towards Tenma's house.

When I arrived I rang the doorbell. Tenma opened the door and immediately bombarded me with questions about how it went.

"It went fine, I don't think they suspect me. But I have this feeling they will come back... Where's Takuto?" I asked.

"He fell asleep on the couch."

We walked to the living room where Shindou laid on the couch, fast asleep. I couldn't help but smile at his peaceful face.

"Tenma could you maybe take my suitcase upstairs so I can carry Takuto?" I asked.

"Sure, no problem. He sure is lucky to have a lover like you." Tenma replied and winked at me.

I blushed, muttered a 'shut up' and walked over to Shindou. I carefully picked him up and he stirred a bit. I couldn't help but chuckle at that, he could be so cute sometimes. Unfortunately he woke up when I laid him on the bed as he slowly opened his eyes.

"Kyousuke? Where am I?" He asked confused and sleepy.

"Don't worry I brought you to the guest room. Now go change and go back to sleep, tomorrow is going to be a busy day." I said to him while I handed him the pyjama.

He stood up walked out of the room and came back fully changed a little later. In the meantime I had also changed and lay already on the bed. He snuggled up next to me, a small habit which I could get used to.

"What are we going to do then, tomorrow?" He asked.

"Well I'm going to teach you, together with Tenma, how to walk up and down the stairs and how to run if you're okay with that. And I wanted to take you to the mall tomorrow to buy some clothes that actually fit you," I said.

"Sounds fun."

He yawned and turned around. I wrapped my arms around him, pulled him close and buried my face in his neck as he placed his arms on my arms.

"I love you Kyousuke," he said with a sleepy voice.

"I love you too Takuto."

I stayed awake for a little while longer, just thinking about everything that had happened. Things had surely taken a weird turn. Just a few months ago I would have called you a complete lunatic if you told me I would be in love with a merman that I had saved from the bad people in the aquarium. But here I am, lying in bed with that merman who I loved and had saved from those bad people. After a few minutes that felt like hours I finally fell asleep as I listened to Shindou's soft breathing.

I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

Please let me know what you thought of it and most importantly what you think will happen next!

Bye!

Xx Sekami-chan