I'm sorry about this. I was inspired by reading several Mermaid fanfics on here. I decided that I wanted to do something realistic, you know. How Mermaids really are. They aren't all happiness and undersea royalty. Oh! And there isn't enough puffshipping on here. [ lawl ]

Ryou watched the party at the shore as he floated along a string of rocks that jutted into the ocean. It appeared to be somebody's birthday, but he wasn't sure who. Everybody seemed joyous, even the tall brunette who hardly smiled. The one who looked happiest of all was the one who Ryou was always watching. Then again, he always looked happy. His deep, brown eyes were glinting in the sunlight, as he celebrated something with his friends. His dirty blonde hair was messy from the playful wind that blew over the ocean today. The blonde leaned down to his friend, a much shorter boy with spiky, colorful hair. He pecked him on the cheek, then ran off to hug a girl with long, auburn hair. She smiled at the blonde, laughing when he told her something.

However, Ryou was frowning. The blonde and the short boy were very close, as Ryou had been observing every time he spied the blonde on the beach. Ryou didn't like the short boy because of this, he wanted to be close to the blonde. He had a happiness Ryou was jealous of, and he felt that if he had been human, then maybe he would be happy towards Ryou as well. But alas, he wasn't. He had cold, pale skin covered in a thin layer of scales, with a light pink tail to match. His white hair was stuck to his skin, as he has just been underwater minutes before. His green eyes were the brightest feature Ryou had, except for when Ryou became too warm and his skin turned pink. Ryou watched the blonde continue to fool around with his friends, while he desperately wished to be up there with him. Nobody acted like that to Ryou. The kingdom under the sea was a joyous place, but when Ryou showed up they just stared. They looked at the boy with hate in their eyes, but Ryou had no place else to go except for the Kingdom. He lived just outside in an underwater cavern, but people still vandalized it when they could. He was a freak in their kingdom, not only because his genetic abnormality, but because he had been cursed. He found an ancient relic a few years back, but this relic was cursed with a vengeful spirit. The spirit had killed, vandalized, and stole things. Less then a year ago he had managed to finally rid himself of this spirit though. He wasn't sure how, but he knew it was gone and he was glad. People completely blamed him for everything that had happened, though. So he was an outcast now, not that he had ever been too popular to begin with.

Ryou watched the blonde, and sighed. His skin was getting dry and uncomfortable, and no matter how much longer Ryou wanted to watch his blonde, he had to get underwater again. He sank into the sea, but was suddenly hit by something he had never thought of before. He was only a few feet underwater, so he popped his head back above the surface. He could still see the blonde, but Ryou's frown was deepened. His blonde and the short boy were kissing now, while some of the friends looked embarrassed, while others looked on and laughed at the couple. Ryou was determined to go through with his idea. He would make the blonde his, once and for all.

Ryou dove into the sea, swimming as fast as he could. He took just over an hour to reach the kingdom, and another five minutes to find the library. He looked through the countless scrolls and volumes written in several types of ink, on several types of pages. He fingered through the thin seaweed scrolls, flipped through pamphlets scratched onto thin planks of wood, and finally found a book on ancient merfolk history written on seal-skin. He took the book and left the library, having had the book approved for check out by the library clerk. He swam in a hurry, his tail almost burning at his pace. He made it to his cave without anybody saying anything to him, choosing to ignore him this time. He looked through the book slowly, finding the chapter about their ancient songs. Merfolk used to take humans as they pleased in the old days, singing them songs of love and taking them under the sea to live with them forever. They stopped this practice though, because it was unfair for the humans. Most of the humans died in the sea, but Ryou skipped that. He knew it already. He was only after the songs. The book had a few of the popular ones, mostly about the human's beauty. Some were of the paradise under the sea, others were about how they would be happier with the merfolk. Ryou found one that he felt fit him best, a song about becoming less lonely through love. He studied the book for days, singing to himself in his cave, only leaving to catch food to eat. Finally, after nearly two weeks, he felt he was ready. He knew the song word-for-word, and had every lilt and change in pitch perfected. He swam up to the surface, to the beach the blonde so often visited. His blonde wasn't there, though. It was nighttime, of course.

Ryou sat at his usual post by the rocks, this time choosing to remain underwater except for his head. He waited for days, only being interrupted by his need to eat. He caught small fish near the beach, even managing to get a crab once. Finally, three days later, his blonde showed up. Ryou was thrilled, his skin tingling under the warmer surface water. He swam slowly towards a nearby fishing dock, not wanting to be spotted by the blonde just yet. The boy was alone this time, a surprisingly calm look on his face. Ryou watched him from the end of the dock. He shuffled through the sand, watching the sun rise for a while. Ryou finally sighed, deciding that if he didn't do it now, he would just chicken out. He called out to the blonde, his heart racing, "Hey!". The blonde looked around, not having seen anybody on the beach. Ryou poked his head up from the end of the dock, not letting his tail under the water. "I'm over here!" Ryou was going to sing to the boy, not even bothering to talk to him. But he wanted to hear him talk to him without knowing him, a sort of fresh start for the pale mermaid.

The blonde finally spotted him, walking over to the dock. Ryou listened to his boots echo under the dock, his skin tingling again. "Hey... you need my help, man?" Ryou stared at him for a while, having frozen. He had never been this close to a human, his blonde much less. He was suddenly more nervous then he had ever been in his life. The blonde, however, was made nervous by the pale boy's silence. He bent down, closer to Ryou, "Are you alright?" Ryou couldn't help the pink from filling his cheeks, "I... What is your name?" The blonde was taken aback by the question, also curious about the boy's strange accent. He hadn't really heard anything like it before. "Uhh... My name is Katsuya Jounouchi. Eh... what's yours?" The pale boy couldn't help but blush harder, deciding the name was wonderful. He looked up at the blonde, at Jounouchi, trying to make his mouth work properly. "M-M-My name is... Ryou. Bakura. Ryou Bakura, I mean. I'm sorry, I'm just... cold." Jou 'ahh'ed like that excuse explained everything. He held out a hand to Ryou, "Well then get out of the water before you get sick! Come on, I'll help you out." Ryou was so tempted to take the boy's hand, so much that his arms ached from the feeling.

Ryou resisted the urge though, and began to sing his song. At first, Jou wasn't sure what to make of the sudden singing, whether to laugh or to listen. He had no choice though Ryou's soft voice was almost too quiet , but Jou felt like the each word resonated inside his head. The song's tune wasn't fancy or complicated, but Jou listened to this simple song like he was at a concert. He'd never heard a song as beautiful like this. The song had Ryou's desired effect, his blonde staring at him like he was looking at an angel. Ryou took Jou's hand, and helped him step off of the dock. He held the boy's head above the water, even though Jou could still swim. They smiled at each other. Ryou was the happiest he had been for a while, and looked back at Jou, still holding his hand, and began swimming across the surface of the water. Ryou swam instinctively towards his cave, Jou following without a thought. Finally, Ryou knew he was above it, even though there was no sign of it from this high up. There was nothing else around them, except for sky, ocean, and the rare bird that flew by. The beach was long behind them. Ryou stared long at Jou, who stared right back with love in his eyes. "Hold your breath, Jou. Your new home isn't too much further." Jou nodded, not knowing what he was agreeing to. Ryou slipped into the ocean, still holding tight to Jou. He swam deeper still, not looking back, knowing that Jou was still there. Jou was swimming without complaint even when his lungs burned for air that didn't exist under the sea. Ryou didn't notice, though. He didn't notice when Jou's grip on his hand loosened. All he cared about was getting his blonde to his new home. Finally, they had arrived to Ryou's cavern. He ushered Jou's now-lifeless body into the cave, and sat him in a corner as a child does to a cherished doll. He stared at the boy. He realized he was dead, but he didn't care. Ryou leaned over slowly, and kissed Jou's cold lips. "Now, we can be together, always."