Work Text:
This was Bakugo’s favorite time of day. The sky set fire by the setting sun then reflected off the sea to tint everything in its reach a burnt red. Red being a huge juxtaposition to how fucking blue the ocean was. It was different than what he knew and he found comfort in it.
From his position his favorite perch, a rock that just broke the ocean's surface at high tide, he saw a boat which was out unusually farther than the fishing boats normally came. Bakugo hated the fishermen, when he was younger he would get in trouble for swimming up to the boats and tangling the propellers with seaweed. He’d retreat far enough so he couldn’t be seen but could still see and hear the fishermen’s anger and confusion over his antics. That went on until he was caught by his father and was chastised for nearly being seen by humans.
Since he’s been older he didn’t need anyone to tell him to keep his distance from humans, he would abide by that rule on his own accord. Which could attribute to why he didn’t like that the boat was out this far, invading on his domain even more so than fishermen normally did. He was slapping his tail on the surface rhythmically as he stared at the boat willing the sun to catch his rage and set fire to the boat like they did the sky.
The sun never listened to him, that bastard. Bakugo leaned his chin onto his hand, splashing himself with his tail. He liked the break from the ocean, but it made his scales itch to be out of it for too long. That’s what he was thinking about when he felt an object his his back. His defenses were immediately raised as he looked behind him, seeing nothing. He looked to the sky to checking for birds, the absolute pests would fuck with him from time to time when he was above the surface but he didn’t see any. Still distracted, he felt another thump on his back. He whipped around again, enraged, who would dare fuck with him like this.
He dove back into the water and immediately came face to face with a merchild laughing, holding a few clams against his chest. He let a gutteral noise to let the kid know he wasn’t pleased and they dropped the clams as they turned quickly to swim away. Infuriating Bakugo by continuing their laughter.
Bakugo swam after the youngling, oh he’d make sure they knew not to mess with him again. He was startled suddenly by resistance. Assessing the situation he saw his tail had been caught in a net, which he was easily able to tear apart with his clawed hand. The rage that had been set in him by the child boiled over onto the stupid fisherman’s net. He wrapped the rope once around each hand and pulled swimming down as he did. The others would be furious with him if they knew, but he could just make quick work of the human and no one would have to know.
Splashing signified his success as he went quickly to retrieve his victim, pulling him by the overall strap down so they couldn’t be seen. Bakugo turned the large man around, hand raised and ready to tear into his throat. He liked to look into the eyes of his prey, he was competitive in that way, always wanting his victims to see his face and know exactly who was responsible for their fate. But this time as he did, he hesitated. Red eyes stared back at him, similar to his own, but lighter. They were wild with fear and still beautiful enough to dissipate the burning rage Bakugo had felt in his chest since his evening was unceremoniously disrupted.
The man stopped struggling and his face softened just a bit, the stream of bubbles discontinuing from his mouth. They were suspended in the open ocean staring at each other, the human held in place by Bakugo’s webbed hand fisted in his shirt. He stared at the merman in bewilderment, then started struggling again, but in a different way than before. It was obvious he had absentmindedly tried to inhale, forgetting momentarily that he was underwater. Humans were so stupid, that’s something Bakugo had been raised to know and has had enough interactions to confirm first hand. That’s why he normally killed them and left them as an easy meal for any fish that can tolerate the horrible taste.
He couldn’t kill something so beautiful he decided and released his grip on the struggling human, sending him toward the surface with a bump from his tail and he turned to retreat to his home.
“You didn’t kill him.” A small voice noted from the side of him, causing Bakugo to stop momentarily. He found the source of the voice, it was the child from earlier he now recognized as one from his village. He was twirling and untwirling seaweed absentmindedly around his hands as he stared up curiously at Bakugo.
“I didn’t want you to have to see it.” He stated simply, silvery black scaled arms crossed over his chest.
“You’ve killed humans in front of the entire village befo-”
Bakugo cut the youngling off with a slap of his tail then continued to swim back towards home, not at his full speed to make sure the kid could keep up.
“It doesn’t matter, don’t tell the others what you saw.”
That night was rough for Bakugo. He was pissed off that a human affected him to this degree. He was pissed that all he could see was red until he opened his eyes back to the unrelenting blue of the ocean around him. Red hair, red eyes, red red lips, and they all swirled together in his head, more captivating that any sunset and far less peaceful.
There were no boats the next evening when Bakugo returned to the same spot. He felt let down, and pissed off for feeling that way. He stared in the direction of the sun. How dare they. How dare they mock him by painting their surroundings, tinting everything it touched with a warm hue. Making him feel completely enveloped in the warmth. He pushed off of his rock, escaping back into the water, making sure to leave a large splash so the sun would notice his departure.
Kirishima sat at the bar, the rest of his crew loud and drunken around him. They were celebrating their last night on this excursion before they returned home. Most happy about returning home to their families. He didn’t have that to look forward to. He knew he was going home to only a room with the air inside probably stale from being closed within it for three months.
He thought again about the… merman he saw. Or thought he saw? Maybe he imagined it. Maybe he hit his head as he fell causing him to hallucinate the beautiful boy- fish? Merman? He hadn’t had had enough to drink for this. He looked up to get the bartender’s attention when he felt a sturdy hand collide with his back. Kirishima looked towards the impact to see a large man with light hair sit next to him.
“You gave us an absolute scare then, huh, Kirishima?” His friend jeered happily, raising his near empty beer to the bartender asking for another.
Kirishima mimicked his motions before turning again and laughing, “I scared myself too, Testsu, thought I was fish food for sure.”
A roaring laugh belted from the man and Kirishima laughed softly to himself, knowing Tetsu well enough to know that whatever was talked about probably wouldn’t be remembered in the morning. They accepted their drinks from the burly man behind the bar and clinked their glasses before taking their first sips.
“To surviving a shark attack.” Tetsu said, bringing the drink to his smiling mouth.
Kirishima laughed before doing the same. “I doubt I was dealing with a shark.”
“You don’t know, did you get a good look at em?”
“I mean-”
“Must have been an absolute beast to have pulled you down, you’re rock solid.” Tetsu interrupted before taking a few gulps of his already half empty drink, and wiping his mouth with the back of his arm.
Kirishima thought for a minute and decided he really didn’t have much to lose in this situation.
“Have you ever seen… anything weird- on the water?” He asked staring into his drink, seeing the tiny ripples caused by all the movement around him in the bar, making him miss the sea already.
“Tons of weird stuff, I see Sero’s strange ass every day!” He yelled the last part causing a joyous uproar from their crew and a middle finger from Sero himself to be shown in their direction.
When it died down a little Kirishima continued in a hushed tone, bringing his head a little closer to Tetsu’s to keep the conversation a little more private. “I mean something you couldn’t explain. Something you just thought…” He trailed off. What had he thought beforehand? His thoughts were getting a little fuzzy.
“I don’t know where you’re going with this one, man.”
Neither did he. He decided that maybe it was best to just drop it. He should enjoy this time with his crew. They wouldn’t see each other for nine months, and they wouldn’t see this town again for a year. He needed to shake this off and chalk it up to what it was. Just a hallucination. A symptom of hitting his head too hard during a fall. He’d forget about it soon enough.
Bakugo swam quickly through the pillars weaving through to confuse the predator chasing him. They had gone after one of the children in the village, separating them from their father, it wasn’t often that merpeople were prey, but it happened once in a while. The village knew, if Bakugo was near, they had little to worry about. The son of the King and Queen, though he was known as more of a knight than a prince, had grown to be their protector. Their saving grace time and time again when any threat fell to their sunken city.
So he took the predator farther from the village so he could really take care of them. He’d been chastised one too many times by his parents for being too brutal in front of the younglings. He thought they could use a bit of a view into the real world, but they disagreed. As his parents he could argue. As his King and Queen he had few options.
He turned quickly on the animal, disorienting them with a smack from his tail. He then bared his claws and teeth, The fish was long and slim, but fast and agile; something Bakugo had never seen before. That didn’t stop him from sinking his claws into the sides of their face and pushing them away with his tail. Red blood swirling all around them. Intruding into his peaceful blue ocean and pissing him off further. He lunged forward to finish them off quickly, leaving before the sharks came. Though they had a healthy respect for each other, Bakugo didn’t want to be in the middle of a feeding frenzy.
It had nothing to do with him wanting to be away from the red blood swirling around him, not unlike the humans hair that had come loose from where it had been tied up on his head. It had encompassed him like an aura, so strikingly different and out of place.
Making his way back to the village he weighed weather or not he’d surface at sunset. Not to check for the boat, but to make the sun know he was still angry with them. It had been countless sunsets since the incident with the fisherman and Bakugo thought that he had probably been killed by a predator and if that was the case then what was Bakugo even thinking being hung up on someone so weak. He still knew though, he’d surface at sunset. He didn’t want the sun to think they had won.
Kirishima was helping Tsu on the farm today. He often did in exchange for renting the extra room in her home during his off season. He was mending the fence near the woods, the sheep crowding around him thinking that he’d pull food out of nowhere and feed them. Sheep were cute, but they were kind of stupid. He was nearly finished, checking over his work when he noticed the herd was leaving quickly, obviously spooked by something. He looked around and saw what they must have.
In the grass was a large snake. Kirishima had seen his fair share around the farm and had grown accustomed to them. They seemed to just be passing through, slithering their way right past him. He looked down, seeing the black scales almost glisten in the sun as they moved.
They triggered a memory, like things often did, of whatever it was he saw that day when he went into the water. He thought about the red eyes peering intensely at him, and he thought about the fear he felt thinking for a few moments that whatever the creature was it was definitely trying to kill him. But he didn’t. Why didn’t he? Why wasn’t Kirishima fighting for his life against him either, he wasn’t a weak guy, not by a long shot. So why when his life was on the line could he only think that the creature in front of him was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
It had been months since that day and only five more to go until he left again on the boat for another voyage. He desperately missed the sea and couldn’t wait to return to it. And to his crew. Something felt off, as it had his entire life, and the only place he found peace was on the water. That was probably why he had gone with the career he had instead of something more fruitful. The closest to peace he felt was when he was on the water and he wasn’t going to give it up.
Maybe that’s why his brain created some perfect sea boyfriend to fantasize about.
The snake slithered into the woods and out of sight and Kirishima began packing his things up tp return to the house for the evening. He hoped he would find him again tonight in a dream like he so often did. He thought in passing of the possibility off seeing him again this coming year. But he knew, logically it wouldn’t happen. He’s never going to exist anywhere but in his head.
Bakugo was pissed. He hadn’t been able to stay at the surface for too long, for the air was too cold. It was probably the sun trying to keep him away. It seemed like a desperate move on the sun’s part, so Bakugo decided it meant they were intimidated and good because they should be. When he got to his village he did his rounds around it, making sure everything was as it should be.
He saw the stupid green flash before he saw the face but he knew who it was by either indicator.
“I’m not here to mess around with you I’m tired.” He stated with a bored monotone.
“No, Kacchan,” He started, using the nickname he had given him as a child. “I was just curious. You don’t normally go to the surface during the colder times, but you’ve still been going up every day.”
“So what you’ve been keeping tabs on me then?” He asked angrily.
“No! No!” He drifted backwards slightly, obviously frightened as most people were of the prince when he was angry. “I was just curious!”
He paused for a second, obviously weighing what he was going to say next.
“There are rumors, you know.”
Bakugo turned his full attention to the other boy, flicking his tail only once, bringing him closer and leaving them face to face, Bakugo horizontal in a defensive stance. “What rumors?”
“That there was a human…”
He was getting more defensive, he knew that. What he wanted to do was tear this little bitch to shreds, but he’d be exiled for attacking his own, even with his high standing.
“Who told you this, Deku?” He thought to the kid, he was going to kill him.
“One of the younglings was talking about it. Most people chalk it up to a pup’s imagination! But…” He trailed off and Bakugo drifted backwards slowly lowering his tail into a less aggressive stance. Even though he couldn’t stand him, stupid Deku knew him better than anyone else.
“I pulled a fisherman from his boat… I didn’t think it’d be right to kill him since he didn’t intrude on his own accord.” It wasn’t a lie, but not the complete truth. He knew Deku could tell but he was smart enough not to say anything. He began to swim towards his home. “Anyways it was countless sunsets ago, back when the warmer times had just come. It’s nothing to think about anymore.”
He swam away before the boy could respond, swishing his tail aggressively knowing it would push the nerd back a little. Stupid Deku, thinking he knew him. Stupid sun, stupid Deku. Stupid human. Why couldn't the three of them just leave him alone.
Spring had just come, meaning Kirishima had deep cleaned his room and packed nearly all of his important belongings into one suitcase. He was going to leave to board the boat early tomorrow and the impending relief was so welcomed. He missed the water, and his crew. Three months of fishing out of eight different ports, an absolute dream he couldn’t believe he was paid for.
There was also the simmer of excitement when he thought about the possibility of seeing the merman again. Though he tried not to get too excited. There was just this burning in the back of his mind. Something telling him that he was real. Someone he had really seen. He turned in his bed and closed his eyes. The sooner he woke up the sooner he’d be able to get on the boat and think about something else.
Bakugo laid on his back on his rock, picking up water with his tail and slowly raising it above so the water ran down its length and onto his torso. While it was in the air above him he used it to block out the sun. Lately he’d been able to feel the warmer times returning, which he took to mean the sun was submitting to him as it should have the entire battle. The air felt the same as it did that day so many sunsets ago. It made him nervous. Still though there was no boat out too far in his ocean.
Kirishima stepped steadily onto the ship. This was their last port and he didn’t know how he was expecting to feel, but the nervous excitement seemed that settled over him as tried to fall asleep the night before seemed to be here to stay. It was a few hours before sunset, and they, like they had the year before, decided that they would go beyond the reef to maximise their catch.
It was there.
When Bakugo pulled himself up onto his landing his eyes immediately saw it, recognizing it on sight. He lowered most of himself into the water to avoid being spotted, lower body resting on the submerged section of the rock. His eyes squinted in concentration seeking out one human in particular. It wasn’t long before he saw him, strong arms working with one of the others to cast a net. The human smiled brightly at his fellow fisherman and heat raced through Bakugo’s entire being.
The human hadn’t been dead, no he was very much alive and very much in front of Bakugo. He was content to stay and watch the man move around the ship, watching him interact with the others and performing all of the tasks so skillfully and easily like he’d been doing this for a million sun cycles.
Several hours passed and the sun was just shifting into its golden hour, the transition from blue sky to the seascape being bathed in red was upon him. Fisherman had been pulling their nets in and not returning them and the realization that they were preparing to leave sent him panicking.
Kirishima assisted Tetsu in pulling in the last of the the nets. They had an excellent sized catch for the day and they were all buzzing with the tired excitement of a profitable day. He tried to stifle the disappointment he felt. Had he really convinced himself somehow that he’d come in contact with some beautiful merman that was going to come find him again after an entire year of being away? How foolish he’d been to let himself get his hopes up even a little.
They got the signal that the anchor was up and some of the crew went to start up the motor. There was the normal noise as it roared to life then a squeezing, sputtering sound- then nothing. Another attempt was made with the same result and the crew made gathered at the stern, a few trying to find the issue and the majority arguing over it.
Kirishima stayed back, not in the mood to argue. He looked at the horizon where the sun was sinking into it. The sky was losing its red tint and giving way to deep purples and blues. He wasn’t looking forward to being on the water after sunset, at least not this far out with an already exhausted crew.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Kirishima felt three points of impact on his back, quick in succession and with alarming force. He turned around quickly and was stunned.
There he was. Intense red eyes just peeking over the side of the ship, blond hair spiking in a halo around him despite being wet. He was there, he was real and he was right in front of him and boy, Kirishima’s memory had not betrayed how beautiful he was. They maintained eye contact for a few moments before Kirishima’s sense returned to him. He looked over to his crew to make sure no one saw what he could, but they were all still caught up in figuring out the issue.
Kirishima tried to will his feet to move but his knees were too unsteady. Red eyes found each other again and the merman lifted himself up just a bit, revealing his entire face and looking down at the floor of the ship then back up to Kirishima himself.
“Can you give me back my clams?”
His clams? Kirishima’s eyes fell to the floor where the merman had been looking moments ago and sure enough there were three clams sitting there innocently scattered a few feet from him.
“Did you…” His voice was hoarse and unsteady, so he swallowed to wet his dry throat and started again. “Did you throw clams at me?”
Bakugo rested his chin on his arms crossed on the ship’s edge and blinked once. “Yes.”
“W-why?”
“Because I wanted you to look at me again.”
Kirishima was at a loss. He was looking at the creature again after so many months of telling himself he had imagined him completely. “Well I- I am looking at you again.”
The merman slowly nodded twice. “You are. After you return my clams I’d like you to come with me.”
“Into the ocean?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t- I won’t be able to-“
The angry look on the merman’s face along with a slap of his tail onto the surface stopped Kirishima mid sentence. He looked behind himself to his crew who was lowering one man into the water to check the propeller. He turned back around and got closer to the creature.
“I couldn’t survive underwater, I wouldn’t be able breathe.”
“I know that, stupid human. I have a friend, she’s a witch.”
“How will I get to her?”
Bakugo thought for a moment.
“Meet me at sunset tomorrow, on that” He pointed with his tail towards the doc and Kirishima followed with his eyes. By the time he turned to look back at the merman he’d already made a silent exit.
“There was a shit load seaweed jamming up the propeller!” He distantly heard Sero yell as he was being hoisted back onto the deck.
Kirishima barely registered that they started back to shore until the lights from the city started to illuminate the deck.
Kirishima sat alone in his motel room staring at the three clams that sat still and innocent in a bucket on the nightstand. What the hell was he even doing? He had nothing to get back home to. Maybe there was something better waiting for him. Maybe.
Bakugo swam away from the cave in which his magic friend dwelled. She had agreed to keep his secret, as a favor from an old friend. He was smiling. Like he normally only did when he was chasing a predator, when he could feel victory just at his fingertips.
Kirishima took his shoes off and put his feet in the cool water to calm his nerves. He thought of his crew and how they were at the bar just up the beach a little exactly where he was a year ago thinking that maybe he had lost his mind. Now he was sure he had. He knew by now they would have noticed he wasn’t there, and maybe Tetsu would go to his room in search of him. But they wouldn’t find him there.
“Did you bring my clams?”
Kirishima jumped at the sudden disturbance to the quiet, looking towards it to see the merman looking at him with an unreadable expression.
He motioned toward the bucket, “yeah.. you left before I could give them to you yesterday.”
“I had to leave.”
“I remember.”
The merman swam backwards a little away from Kirishima before disappearing for a moment underwater. Kirishima barely had time to wonder what he was doing before he resurfaced.
“My friend has decided to help, but she can not communicate with humans.”
“What exactly are-“
“I’d like to take you as my husband-“
“Excuse-“
“You would be a fine king.”
“I would be a fine what now?”
This merman was out of his mind.
Or maybe Kirishima was. Either was this entire exchange was completely void of any logic and reason. The merman looked at him confused before submerging himself once again.
“My friend has told me our time is limited, do you accept my hand?”
Time froze around Kirishima. He was stood on the pier, bathed in red light, staring down a decision that seemed to massive to be left to him. He thought to the farm and the stale air in his room there. He thought about the sheep and the repairs that had yet to be done, and nothing about it pulled at any emotion in his entire being. Not the way the red eyes staring expectantly at him did.
“I do.”
Kirishima thought it was cute how hard the merman tried not to smile. Calm had settled over him, but Kirishima but think of one thing pulled at him seemingly out of obligation.
“Do you feel like this is fast?”
The merman looked confused, floating on his back, tail playing absentmindedly with the water. “This has taken an annoyingly long amount of time. I’ve already wanted you for several hundred sun cycles. I’m not interested in waiting any more.”
For decades townsfolk around that port would speak legends of the man that gave himself to the sea. Witnessed by his own fishing crew who had gone in search of him that night claiming something off about the man. But as they were just upon him the ocean claimed him for her own.
There were stories of sightings, but those were never proven or documented.
The more interesting stories were from his very crew themselves, but those wouldn’t be shared.
Tales of engine trouble or tampered with equipment only ever in that port alone. One crew member had even claimed to have seen the man once again emerge from the water, only now a little different.
But the rest of Tetsu’s crew would tell him merpeople don’t exist.
Still they couldn’t explain, after he had complained about someone throwing objects at him while his back was turned, three clams sitting still and innocent scattered on the deck of the ship.