Into the sea with you - RUINENE (AU)

CH 2

(Author's Note: Like I said before, the plot of this may differ from the original plot of the little mermaid and characters may act different here rather than the original stories due to it being an AU! And warning of slight AkiAn, EmuKasa, & MizuEna references within this chapter!)

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"Tsukasa-kun!!!" yelled Emu Otori upon seeing the three of them enter the palace. Emu lived at the palace along with the royals, knights, and other workers since she was the daughter of the head of the entertainment facilities hired by the royal family. She ran to hug the knight who was now yelling at her to get off. "Oh! Good morning your highness, who's that with you?" Emu screamed upon seeing the stranger clung to Rui's arm. "Ah good morning Emu-chan! This is a girl we found lying on the beach, we are assuming she is lost as she is unable to speak so we do not actually know," Rui replied with a smile on his face. "Wonderhoy!!! Come with me, let's get you changed into a clean outfit then!!!" Emu screamed optimistically, taking Nene's hand and dragging her away. "The girl's probably so confused and scared right now, imagine a stranger just yelling and your face then dragging you away..." Tsukasa said as he watched the two vanish into the large halls of the palace. "Just Emu being Emu, how nice of her to already befriend the girl!" Rui responded completely ignoring what Tsukasa just said. "Ah, it's almost time for breakfast, I'll warn the others, your highness..!" Tsukasa said to the prince as he left from beside him to wake the others.

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"Mizuki, Akito, Wake up!" yelled Ena Shinonome standing in front of the knights' quarters of the palace. Ena Shinonome was the royale painter of the palace and her younger brother Akito Shinonome was a knight there along with Mizuki Akiyama. "Ughh, shut up Ena just two more minutes.." said the sleepy Akito putting a pillow over his ears. Soon after, Tsukasa had joined Ena to wake up the two sleeping knights. "OKAY, OKAY! I'M UP, YOU HAPPY?" yelled Mizuki, finally getting up grumpily. Ena just smiled at them as they left to go get ready for the day. Akito got up shortly after, and the four of them headed back to the dining hall of the palace for breakfast.

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"Perfect! You look so cute uh nameless-chan!" Emu squealed after seeing how the 5th outfit looked on Nene. Nene looked into the mirror and felt content with her appearance so she smiled back at the Emu. "Let's go head down for breakfast, I'm sure everyone is waiting for us!" Emu said as she once again grabbed Nene's arm to drag her away. Not too long after, they had arrived downstairs just in time for breakfast. From a distance, you could notice the Shinonome siblings fighting with each other for the last pancake left with Mizuki cheering Ena on, and Rui and Tsukasa chatting away at a more empty table, and the palace chefs and maids rushing around to get everything ready. "Let's go sit with Rui and 'Kasa!" Emu cheered as she walked with Nene. Just the mention of his name lifted Nene's spirits, and she happily nodded and the two went to sit down with them. "Morning guys! Mind if we join you?" Emu said to the two boys who were once chatting now looking at the two girls who had just arrived. "We're actually in the middle of a very important conv-" Tsukasa started only to get cut off by Emu who said "Thanks! Why don't you sit here, and I'll go get us some food!" to Nene standing beside her. Tsukasa sighed as Emu rushed off once again and Nene sat down across from the two, more specifically in front of his highness, Rui. Wow, Emu sure did a good job, she looks so cute, Rui thought as a faint blush appeared on his ears. "Ah, we really need to find a translator for you.." Tsukasa said seeing Nene, "That reminds me, lady An of the other kingdom's advisor, Kohane is said to do wonders with this sort of thing."

"Really!? Then we should reach out to her as soon as possible!" Rui said firmly almost instantly after Tsukasa had finished what he was saying.

"LADY AN!?" yelled the ginger knight sitting at another table spitting his juice out, "what about lady An, did something happen to her!?!?"

"Ah, nothing about her, don't worry about it Shinonome-kun!" Rui said, smiling at the worried boy with a face full of concern.

Akito sighed as his elder sister Ena began speaking shortly after, "Akito, I've told you before, stop crushing on lady An, we all know she's too good for you..."

Akito crossed his arms before saying, "Firstly, I DO NOT like her!!.. and are you sure there surely isn't a possibility at all.. for us I mean?... not that I like her..!" with a disappointed face.

"Ah, chill out Ena, let the boy dream," Mizuki said while slightly chuckling and patting Akito's back.

How cute, even if the chances are low, it's nice of him to admire her so much, Rui thought smiling then took another glance at Nene sitting in front of him.

"Oh, have you guys met her yet? This is a girl me and Tsukasa found stranded on the beach, we don't know her name yet as she is speechless but we're trying to reach out to Miss Kohane to help us in translating!" Rui said, referring to Nene who hadn't met the others yet.

Akito took a quick glance at the girl and didn't pay much attention while Mizuki and Ena had made their way over to greet her formally with high spirits.

"I'M BACK!!!" Emu yelled, arriving with trays of food in her hands for herself and Nene. Emu handed Nene's plate to her and Nene stared at it for a bit before taking a bite, as a new environment comes with new food so she was not used to the typical breakfast food that people ate here. "Hm, is there an issue?" Rui said, noticing her strange behavior, "are you allergic to anything?" Nene shaked her head and took a small bite of the pancake sitting on her plate before holding her cheek in joy from the delicious taste and smiling widely and taking a few more bites. She's so adorable.. I can't shake this feeling, she reminds me so much of someone... Rui thought while admiring the cute girl in front of him.

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"So, what's on the agenda today your maje-, Rui!" Tsukasa asked Rui who was resting on an armchair in the throne room. Even though Tsukasa was just Rui's personal knight, sometimes he was more of an advisor reminding Rui of everything and telling him to stop when he was doing stupid things. "I dunno, I guess we have to choose some of the decorations for the ball next week.." Rui responded inattentively, "Oh! Have you spoken to Lady An yet for an appointment meeting with her and Miss Kohane?"

"I'll be sure to get to it right away, thank you for the reminder your highness!" Tsukasa said as he hurried off to complete the task.

"Call me Rui!" Rui yelled at him who had already vanished into the halls.

Nene, who had been exploring the palace alone due to Emu having to help her parents with some things, just happened to walk into the throne room at the time and stared in admiration at the massive size and breathtaking decorations and furniture not noticing the purple-haired boy who watched her with a smirk plastered on his face.

"It is nice, huh?" Rui asked, referring to the throne room while scaring the girl who thought she was alone.

Having Rui talk directly to her with just the two of them alone gave Nene some slight shivers which led into her nodding in response to Rui's question shakily.

It must suck, not being able to talk, I bet she's upset from being lost from her family and friends, I should try to cheer her up, Rui thought, "say do you play any video games? I have a huge collection if you'd like to play!" he asked the girl.

Nene tilted her head to the side indicating that she was confused.

"You must not know what video games are, come with me, I'll show you the palace's gaming room!" Rui said as he took a hold of Nene's hand leading her to the gaming room.

Nene slightly opened her mouth as if she were gasping from this sudden motion from Rui and her ears turned slightly red as she followed him, hand in hand.