Water That Goes Crazy (JenLisa)

7

By the time we finally reached the shore, the area was covered in darkness and the only sounds we could hear were the waves. I slowly lift my body out of the water. The cold sea breeze caressed my skin and made me shudder.

Lulu cautiously sticks her face out of the water while surveying the surroundings a little behind me. After confirming that there was no sign of anyone, she finally sat up.

Lulu's scales reflect the moonlight and shine dully. I'm fascinated by them for a while. Lulu smiled at the dumbfounded me and pointed at a certain point. At her fingertips was the hovel where I live.

"Could it be that.... were you looking at me?"

Lulu laughs.

It may not have been in vain that I was calling out to the sea. But I was at sea only during the daytime. Lulu must have come only at night because she was afraid of people.

If I had stood on the shore at night, I might have been able to meet Lulu sooner. Lulu walks towards the shore with familiar steps. I think she has probably walked along the beach like this many times before.

On the other hand, I could only move jerkily, as if my body were bound by lead chains. I hate that I feel as if I was reminded of the existence of gravity.

After confirming that I started walking, Lulu smiled and turned back towards the sea.

I hurriedly pulled Lulu's arm.

"You are coming with me too. Me and Lulu, we're going there together."

It seems that Lulu was just trying to take me home alone. I tried again with gestures to tell Lulu that I was going to live with her.

I don't know how much she understood, but after a while, Lulu nodded and held my hand, and headed toward the house.

It was a town where no one would go out at night, but just in case, we avoided the residence and took a detour to return home.

The house I lived in was a shabby place just for sleeping, but Lulu walked around the house curiously looking around and touching various things.

I take off my wet clothes while looking sideways at Lulu. Then Lulu quickly ran over and touched my skin with her cold, finned fingertips. My skin without scales must be rare to her. As I endured the tickling feeling, I gently let Lulu touch my skin until she was satisfied.

When Lulu let go of my skin with satisfaction, I pulled her arm and moved to the bathroom. For now, I really want to wash away my sticky body due to seawater. I want to wash my body with warm water, but first, fill the bathtub with lukewarm water that is almost like cold water.

And when I put Lulu in the bathtub, which was starting to fill up a little, she happily slapped the water while looking a little cramped.

I take a warm shower. The body, which has been cold to the core, gradually warms up. I'm cold-tolerant, but I can't endure being in the ocean the whole time and being exposed to even colder sea breezes.

Considering that I was half-finished with the functions of a fish, that may be why I am more resistant to the cold than the average human being. Still, looking at Lulu, who doesn't seem to feel cold at all, I realize that I was an incomplete failure after all.

As Lulu soaked herself in the bathtub, which was filling up with water, she watched me curiously as I stretched out my hand to wash my hair and body. And when she reaches out and touches the hot water, she wide her eyes and retracts her hand. I knew it, that she was not good at hot water. Then Lulu timidly stretches out her hand again, touches the hot water, and quickly withdraws her hand. Lulu repeated that over and over again and burst out laughing.

If I live with Lulu from now, I have to get to know her better. Also, I have to make Lulu remember everything about living on land.

When I got out of the bathroom and wiped my body with a bath towel and put on my clothes, Lulu looked at me with a puzzled look on her face.

"Now, let's wipe your body and put on clothes, shall we?"

Then I put a bath towel on Lulu's body, and Lulu jumped out of the dressing room with a giggle and ran around the room.

"Hey, take it easy."

Unlike in the sea, it was easy to catch Lulu who couldn't move her body the way she wanted. When I wipe Lulu's body, she rolls over with a squealing laugh as if it's tickling.

The color has finally returned to the world that lost its color after being separated from Lulu. I tried to make Lulu wear her clothes, but she didn't like it, so I gave up trying to wear them on her.

Then when I lay down on the bed, Lulu lay meekly next to me too. Still, Lulu looked a little restless, so I hugged her and stroked her hair like I did when she was young. Then, as if finally relieved, Lulu buried her face in my chest and began to make her sleep.

Looking at her peaceful sleeping face, I fell into the abyss of sleep in no time. By the time I woke up, it was almost noon. After all, it seems that I was quite tired from walking around the seabed.

Lulu was nowhere to be found on the bed, so I hurriedly looked around the room, but I couldn't find her. I got up from my bed.

"Lulu? Lulu, where are you?" 　

"Lili"

Lulu's voice, answering my voice, echoed from the bathroom.

Lulu was soaking in the bathtub she filled herself with water. She must have seen me doing it last night and she remembered.

"You were here, I was scared because I thought you were gone." Lulu smiled when I called out to her. I left Lulu in the bathroom and called my lawyer.

"Hello, can I move to the place I asked for already?"

Even if the requirements were suddenly cut out, the lawyer didn't look surprised and replied, "Yes, you can move anytime."

In order to find Lulu, I had a place to live in a seaside town a little further south than here. Luckily, it's bigger and nicer than this hovel. The house had been vacant for a long time, so it had been remodeled, but it seems that it has also been completed.

"I plan to move over there in a few days." 　

"Got it."

After hearing the lawyer's reply and hanging up the phone, Lulu came back to the room dripping water. I hurriedly went to get the bath towel and hung it on Lulu. She's not trying to escape from bath towels today. But she looked down and had a gloomy face.

"Lulu, what's wrong?" I asked, and Lulu held her stomach.

"Uhh... I'm hungry... food..."

It looks like she's hungry. I feel like I'm hungry too when I mentioned it. I don't stock food in my house. Besides, I don't know what Lulu can eat, so maybe raw fish like sashimi would be better. I slowly persuaded Lulu to wait for me at home many times before heading to town.