mizuxfem!oc
The Ningyo (人魚, "human fish") is a creature with both human and fish-like features.
Many fishermen who find these creatures caught in their nets throw them back into the ocean.
For if a ningyo is caught, she will bring misfortune and cal...
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CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: NEEDY _______
She thinks it's the rabbit from the story...
Hah.
They were back on the ship now, sitting under the sparkling stars on the deck. The newly-strayed rabbit sat comfortably on a makeshift alter created by the fluffy woolen coat Sogo once wore. That pesky girl kneeled in reverence in front of the rabbit. In front of it, she lay three offerings: half a cabbage, a luminescent seashell, and a chain bracelet. Candles were lit around them ceremoniously.
She prayed deeply, forehead to the wooden deck, and whispered out nonsense. Mizu watched her, not surprised by this new stunt at all (but at the very least entertained). She crossed her legs and leaned forward, her cheek pressed against her knuckles.
The ship reeked of opium, thanks to Fowler's pipe. It pissed her off tremendously. This bizarre spectacle was great to keep her mind off breaking that pipe, though.
"When you're around, I find I'm never bored."
"Shhhhh! Don't disrupt my prayers!"
"Forgive me for taking you away from... Bunny Mass."
"SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH."
The lunar rabbit lounged like it was on top of the world. Its snout and neck were stained red, and its hands some places pink, from the garden snake's blood. It groomed itself as Sogo's head stayed glued below its little paws like she was an inferior mortal.
Mizu stifled a laugh deep in her throat. She reminded her so much of Ringo, a much smaller and feminine version of him. Likely, they'd get along famously.
Thinking of Ringo formed a pinch in her heart. He and Swordfather both thought she died in that fire.
She not once wondered if she'd ever see them again either because she knew the answer.
She looked up at the stars, the same ones they were looking at right now.
Whatever happened to Taigen? Did he escape?
And what about Akemi..? Is she happy now, though I disappointed her?
Lost in her thought, she heard gentle movement, and she turned her eyes from the stars.
Sogo gently got up from her bowing position and carefully lifted the rabbits from its woolen altar. She stood before Mizu, who was sitting down, so the rabbit and she were eye-to-eye. Its deep red eyes were like the firey tunnels of the shogun's castle. A fire that raged for three days. She could hear the crackling smoke and smell the smog.
The bunny wiggled its cute little pink nose.
Yuck. She found its very existence annoying.
"...We found this thing eating a garden snake, right? But aren't rabbits vegetarian?"
