Chapter Text
Izuku was born on a hot summer day in Los Angeles, in which he spends one day in the hospital with his mother before he could go home to Malibu. Ever since he was a day old, Malibu was his home. They lived in the outskirts of the city since an ocean view was just impossible to afford. Not that Izuku minded—every time he wanted to go to the beach, he could grab his bicycle and cycle the bit, usually with Ochako at his side.
Ochako was the person he knew the longest beside his mother. Initially, the house belonged to Ochako’s grandparents, but they moved to somewhere smaller and where everything was on the same level. No pesky stairs to climb. Ochako’s family moved in when Izuku was four, and it wasn’t hard to become friends with her. She had a bubbly personality, an easy-going attitude and was easy to get along with. They met Eijiro when they got their first swimming lessons at six years old. Everyone went to the same school, rich and poor all mixed in. Eijiro wasn’t much of a talker at first, but with two friends like Izuku and Ochako, it didn’t take him too long to thaw out of his shell, and now they were here.
“It’s a good day for surfing,” Eijiro chirped as they rocked up to the beach, they were one of the first to arrive for today’s surf heats. “Good waves, good weather, not too many tourists.”
“Because this is technically private ground, and tourists aren’t allowed here,” Ochako pointed out as if Eijiro didn’t know.
After finding a spot to sit and lounge for a bit, they dumped their bags and pushed their surfboards into the sands. Eijiro had a tacky surfboard, with flames, bright colours and a chaotic vibe. Ochako had a simple pink surfboard that was a little worn around the edges, and Izuku had a matching green one. His mother had painted a few flowers on it, making it easier to separate his board from the rest of them.
“I think I’m going to catch a few waves before the competition starts,” Eijiro said, tossing his shirt away so that he was only sporting a pair of board shorts. “Who is going to stay guard?”
“I will stay here,” Ochako offered. “Since I can prepare after today’s competition.”
“Sweet,” Eijiro said, pumping his fist in the air. “We might win this thing this year.”
Izuku nodded and awkwardly returned Eijiro’s first bump. He felt a little more nervous than Eijiro, despite knowing that the odds were in their favours. Their biggest competition had moved on to another competition, too old for this one. Nonetheless, he had been having trouble focussing this season, wiping out several times during practice. He blamed on the looming thing that he called college. While Los Angeles wasn’t far from home, he couldn’t bring his surfboard with him, or his friends for that matter. Everything would be so far away, and Izuku doubted he could make time to visit home much. College was supposed to be more difficult than high school, and his friends would stay here. These thoughts kept him up till late hours and caused his mind to wander while surfing, which wasn’t ideal.
Unzipping his sleeveless hoodie to make it a little more breathable, Izuku spotted the bottle of sunscreen his mother had snuck into his bag.
“Sunscreen?” Izuku awkwardly offered, picking up the bottle and waving it around.
Somehow, he doubted that any of them could get more of a tan than they currently had. Izuku had a pretty brown tan, the only place where his natural skin colour showed was underneath his board shorts, which he refused to take off in public. Despite that, he technically knew the importance of applying sunscreen regularly and that skin-cancer was a real thing.
“Only if you do my back,” Eijiro chirped, making a poor attempt of reaching the middle of his back. The guy was just lazy.
Izuku threw the bottle at Eijiro, “do it yourself!” he said, laughing as Eijiro let himself being hit in the chest. He fell dramatically to the ground, clutching his chest and crying for help. Nobody batted an eye at him.
“You guys are idiots,” Ochako shook her head in attempted disappointment, but she was still laughing. She did pick up the sunscreen and started to apply on herself.
Altogether, it took them over half an hour before Izuku and Eijiro hit the waves. The half-hour was spent on the sunscreen war, and the heated discussion about Izuku’s hoodie—Eijiro claimed it was a fashion statement, Izuku agreed, Ochako thought that it makes him look like a stereotypical surfing dude. The waters technically were still empty, but Izuku knew that in a matter of hours, it would be crowded with people.
~*~
“Kirishima scored an eight after his successfully executed tube ride,” the announcer shouted. Izuku and Ochako cheered as Eijiro waved excitedly. “Next up is another member of team Malibu, give it up for Midoriya!”
As excitement turned into awkwardness, Izuku picked up his own surfboard and jogged towards the water. Passing Eijiro, the two of them shared a high-five that let Izuku’s hand tingling. Once he was in the water, Izuku felt his nerves flare up, making him feel a little ill. The wind made the waves rougher than he liked, and during practice, he had wiped out a couple of times. Ochako hadn’t made him forget that. Not that he could blame her since Izuku refused to tell them anything. They thought he was going to the community college here in Malibu and not to Los Angeles. They thought he would be sticking around for at least four years, like them.
Picking a wave that wasn’t too rough, Izuku let himself being swept up in it. At just the right time, he got on his feet, finding the balance almost at once. Despite his jitters, the surfing itself never been the issue. Surfing was like second nature by now, just like swimming, walking and biking. It had been the tricks that have been causing him problems. It has been while trying those he either had wiped out or made mistakes. Poor landing, standing wobbly on the surfboard, sometimes landing on one knee for support. These mistakes cost him a lot of points.
Going through his routine, Izuku was relieved that his first couple of tricks, while somewhat easy, went well. It gave him enough confidence to try more complicated things. After a successful 360, Izuku spotted the opportunity to do a tube ride. The wave was nearing its end, the top finally giving in to gravity. Lowering his body to shift the centre of gravity, Izuku nudged the board in the right direction. He could hear the announcer vaguely say something, but he had long ago learnt to tune it out. The last thing he wanted was to be distracted by something the announcer would say.
The wave was slowly closing on in him, saltwater hitting his face making his eyes sting. Refusing to close his eyes, Izuku focussed on the light at the end of the tunnel. If he managed this without any wobbling or lousy posture, it would ramp up his score. While he hadn’t made many mistakes, he also was aware that his performance was a little lacklustre for someone his level.
He let out a whoop of relief when the wave crashed behind him seconds after he had left its tunnel. The crowd cheered too; his execution almost flawless. He kept on casually riding the wave, letting the noise crash over him. The shouts of the announcer finally reaching his ears. To his horror, Izuku realised they weren’t talking about his tube ride.
“Did everyone see that? Did his hair just green?” one announcer asked. The other shouted along, keeping up the story that Izuku suddenly sported a green hair colour, wondering if it was a part of the routine.
Feeling as if everyone’s eyes were on him, but for all the wrong reasons, Izuku decided to go the coward’s way out. Mid-wave, he jumped off his board. If someone would ask him why he did it, he could just say that he lost his balance. As he hit the water, a sense of relief swept over him.
If there was a thing that made him feel safe, it was the water. It was a ridiculous thing since the ocean was vast, uncharted and dangerous. Still, it always had helped him with his anxiety. The clear view of the ocean floor and the quietness caused his anxiety to melt away slowly by little. He never told his mother about this since the ocean always made her sad. Izuku figured that it had something to do with his father, but he had stopped asking after him a long time ago.
With his anxiety in check, he decided to check out his hair. He couldn’t shake off the comments, though it was likely a trick of the light. It wasn’t a trick of the light. Among the black was a quite noticeable green colour. Checking out a couple of other curls, there was green everywhere. Had he woken up like this? Was this a big joke? Izuku wondered how anyone managed to bleach his hair and dye it without him noticing and doing such a good job. Eijiro had told him plenty of his hair dying woos, especially having to use bleach.
Izuku’s whole train of thought stuttered to a halt when he realised something was wrong. That something was that he should have resurfaced a long time ago. Technically, he should have drowned by now, or at least starting to feel lightheaded. He felt neither. Anxiety aside, he felt utterly peachy. Since the day couldn’t get any weirder, Izuku opened his mouth and took a deep breath. Instead of hacking up a lung from the saltwater he just inhaled, he felt his chest rise, filled with air (and foremost, oxygen). As he took a couple of more successful breaths, he started to wonder if this was all a fever dream. The green hair? The breathing underwater? Maybe he had wiped out and hit his head on something.
Swimming to the surface, Izuku gasped for breath as he emerged. Looking around, he couldn’t find his surfboard. He did see Eijiro and Ochako peddle towards him, twin looks of concern of their faces.
“Are you okay?” Ochako asked, being the first one to arrive. Izuku hauled himself partially on her surfboard. “You were underwater for awfully long.”
“I’m fine,” Izuku reassured her. “You know I can hold my breath well.”
It was at least half the truth. No way he was going to tell her that he could breathe underwater, she likely would think he was crazy. He felt that he might be crazy or still dreaming.
“They gave you a 7.5,” Eijiro told him as he too met up with Izuku, dragging Izuku’s surfboard along with him. “Which should’ve been more. Your execution was pretty much flawless.”
“And some of my tricks were beginner level,” Izuku pointed out, letting go of Ochako’s to climb on his own. “It’s normal that these don’t get an amazing score.”
Ochako steered the conversation into another direction. “Nice hair you got,” she said. Izuku wasn’t surprised she had noticed. He doubted that anyone hadn’t noticed.
“It matches your eyes,” Eijiro pointed out. “It looks good on you. I’m just surprised that you dyed your hair. How did you hide this from Inko?”
“Agreed, green looks good on you,” Ochako said. “It’s just a bold colour to go for.”
“I didn’t choose this colour, it just happened.” Figuring that nobody would be listening in—unless he suddenly spoke fish and there were fish listening in—Izuku told them about what just happened to him. The sudden change in hair colour, the fact he could breathe underwater.
“I have a theory, and it’s absolutely crazy,” Eijiro said, eyes sparkling with excitement. Eijiro’s theories usually were crazy, so that was nothing new. “But didn’t you recently turn eighteen? Sixteen and eighteen are the years crazy things happen. Random powers, prophecies, a sudden destiny.”
Ochako laughed loudly. “Eijiro, those are in stories. This isn’t Harry Potter.”
Eijiro shrugged. “It’s a possibility,” he said. “It’s a little weird, his hair suddenly turned green, and he can breathe underwater. Before you know it, he can talk with fish.”
“Would that make him Aqua man?” Ochako asked, sounding quite serious.
Eijiro let out an interested ooh. “That would be awesome, though.”
Izuku tilted up his head to the sky and wished that he would wake up tomorrow and everything was just a dream. If it wasn’t, please don’t let him be able to talk to fish, that would be mortifying. Green hair was already bad enough, but he could blame it on a dye job gone wrong and dye over it. Nobody had to know he could breathe underwater. But if fish could talk to him, how was he going to deal with that. Ignore them while they called him broccoli hair and throw other insults at him? Imagine him arguing with a clownfish. He wondered how that would go over with most people.
~*~
Izuku was glad that his hoodie had a hood, so he could hide his mop of unruly, black and green hair. Eijiro had given him two thumbs-up when they split groups, and Ochako patted him on the shoulder in an encouraging manner before she disappeared into the house next door. His mum raised an eyebrow at his decision to wear his hood up indoors but didn’t comment on it. Instead, she asked how the heat went.
“We got second,” Izuku told her, putting his surfboard away in the linen closet. “I let my nerves get the better of me.”
His mum sighed. “Is it still about college? I know you want to study here in Malibu, but I think it’s for the better. You’re so smart. You always can visit at the weekends, and it’s easy to stay in contact with everyone nowadays.”
He took his seat at the dining table, wondering if he should start to argue with his mum, again . His mother had insisted that he should go to Los Angeles for college instead of here. That way, he would actually meet new people and hopefully find a hobby beside surfing. According to her, the education there was better too. Izuku didn’t felt the need to change up his hobby or friend group but had been unable to really say no to his mother. It felt like she already had sacrificed so much for him. She had been a single mum for his whole life, and she did allow him to surf. It was no secret that she didn’t like the ocean, that it only brought her grief.
They idly chatted during dinner, Izuku telling him about his own heat and the heats he had watched, how he already had ideas for future heats. His mum, in return, told him about her own day, the friends she chatted with, the food she had bought at the farmers’ market.
As the chatting got more animatedly, Izuku accidentally tugged off his hood in his wild hand motions, fingers sticking behind the rim. His curls immediately fell into his face, some going as far as poking his eyes. Pushing it out of his face, Izuku froze when realisation hit him. He had been trying to hide his green hair. Glancing at it, he noticed that it was even more apparent now his hair was dry.
“What happened to your hair,” his mum asked, voice squeaky. “Did Eijiro dye it?”
The ‘yes’ was o the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t say it. He didn’t like lying to his mother, and it wasn’t a good lie. They didn’t have the time to dye Izuku’s hair. He would have to bleach it and dye it green, which took a lot of time. Additionally, today had been a competition day, and Izuku never skipped a competition day unless he was completely bed-bound, and that didn’t happen often.
“It just, happened,” Izuku said quietly, twisting a curl between his fingers. He wondered how it actually looked, if he ever dared to seek out a mirror. “When it got wet, I think. Eijiro joked that it was a sign of my pending destiny.”
His mother looked as pale a ghost, fiddling nervously with her fork. It didn’t take him long to realise that she probably knows more, looking at her guilt-stricken face. If she had known that this could happen, it could explain many of her actions. Why she wanted him away from the ocean, why she sent him to Los Angeles for college. Everything to keep him away from the ocean, especially around this time, when he was entering adulthood.
“Mum?” Izuku asked in a whisper, hoping that it prompted her to tell him more.
“I hoped that it never happened to you,” his mum admitted, clasping her hands together. “But you just love the ocean too much. It’s time that I finally explain everything.”
Was there an explanation for this all? He hadn’t been surprised that Eijiro started to talk about destiny and fate and all that stuff, he always had a wild imagination. But his mother always had been honest with him, just like he was honest with her. Was she going to feed him a story, as if she was telling a child about Santa Claus?
“When I met your father, I didn’t know, and he never told me at first. Only when things got serious, he told me about what he was.” Her hands were shaking, tears welling up in her eyes. “I didn’t care that he was a merman. I loved him, and he loved me. But at some point, he had to go home. His mother-figure had passed away, and he had to take over her duties. I was heartbroken, but accepted it. We never got married, nor did we ever talk about getting married. Then, I found out I was pregnant with you, despite all the precautions we took. We weren’t even sure if we could get kids, since he was, you know.”
Izuku wanted to laugh in his mother’s face, which he didn’t do because he loved her. But this was ridiculous. His father, a merman?
“Half a fish?” Izuku asked. His mother laughed a little in response.
“Yes,” she admits. “I managed to contact your father, and he visited a couple of times. He was willing to even bring you back home with him, to live underwater. But you were born with two legs, so we figured you would be better suited for living on land. Your father wanted to stay here, but couldn’t because of his duty, so I decided to raise you alone. Your father only visited once after, giving me the necklace you’re currently wearing. I haven’t seen him after that.”
His mother sounded so sincere that Izuku wished he believed her, but he couldn’t. This was absolutely ridiculous. His father, half a fish? Even so, why couldn’t he have visited? Still, he hated to think that the reason he never met his father was that he had a ‘job’. What kind of job did someone have that you can’t even visit your son, even if it’s for a day each year? Was he a king or something like that? Of course, it was possible that he just was embarrassed to have a half-human son.
“I’m sorry,” Izuku said, shaking his head. “I just can’t imagine that there are merpeople and that my father is a merman. It probably is just all a mistake. Maybe I have some weird decease that turned my hair green.” Even if such a disease did exist, there was no explanation for his sudden underwater breathing skills.
A sad smile was painted on his mother’s lips. “That’s okay. I didn’t expect anything else from you.” There was a hint of pride in her voice. “You always like to gather the facts. I will do the dishes.”
Izuku felt guilty. His mother deserved better than him. She probably would love Eijiro, who would have run with it, calling it awesome and be proud of it. But Izuku just wasn’t sure about the whole thing. It sounded like a stretch, but he also knew that he had passed the age that his mother could tell him white lies. He was old enough to think for himself.
He was halfway up the stairs when his mother shouted after him. “Make sure you don’t stay up too late!” she called.
Izuku was caught off guard, not having realised that his mother knew exactly what he was planning on doing. He was going to do internet research, a lot of it, and maybe chat with his friends. He wanted to discuss what his mother told him and hear other perspectives. Maybe even Eijiro thought it was crazy, though he was the last one to admit that something was too crazy.
“I will!” Izuku shouted back. “I promise!”
~*~
He broke his promise and spend up until four in the morning browsing the internet. Despite his best attempts, he could find little that agreed or disagreed with his mother’s story. There were small blogs that told about mermaid sighting in the area of Malibu, and some claimed that at adulthood—eighteen years old—merpeople would get their second hair colour. The whole ‘mating’ part that followed haunted Izuku in his sleep. Not that he could sleep anyway. There were just too many things going right now.
This situation could be an elaborate prank, but too many things just didn’t line up, like the sudden change of hair colour, or the fact that he could breathe underwater. The idea he had dreamt about this shattered when he woke up with still partially green hair—his hair looked more green than black, to be honest—. When he met up with Eijiro and Ochako early for a swim, Izuku still was able to breathe underwater. It started to get more likely that his father might be a merman after all, though it still freaked him out.
At the end of the day, after Ochako’s successful surf meet, they had gathered on their usual ‘rock’. It was a small rock-formation to poked out of the water close to the beach. It wasn’t particularly popular with the tourists since it was far away from all the main facilities, and the climb was a little bit tricky. Not tricky enough to keep Izuku and his friends from visiting it, claiming it as their spot. It was peacefully quiet, having a place to talk in private, bask in the sun and hide from any responsibilities.
“I think it’s pretty cool,” Eijiro said, lying flat on the rock. “That you’re part merman. Imagine how much of the ocean you can explore? Not to mention that you would be a hit in the movies as a stunt double.”
“Not with my green hair,” Izuku pointed out, tugging on one of his many green curls. “People will think I am weird.”
“It doesn’t look bad on you. It could have been a lot worse, like when Eijiro tried out blue hair,” Ochako pointed out.
Izuku remembers the brief moment Eijiro decided to have pale blue hair. It had been a weird blend between a pale blue and grey and Izuku had been relieved when he decided to go red and stuck with that.
He wondered if he could just dye his hair like Eijiro had done. Just dye it black again, and nobody would notice him looking anything but ordinary. He liked to be ordinary. Being ordinary withheld people from looking at him, asking him questions about. Izuku was a bit of a boring person, and while technically the green hair ‘spiced-up’ his appeal, he just feared to be called something cruel like ‘broccoli head’.
Lying flat on his tummy and looking out onto the water, Izuku noticed there was movement underneath the surface, causing the water to ripple. He wondered if it was a seal or sea lion, which lived among the south coast of California. This rock was a nice basking spot, though they never had seen seals here before.
“Guys,” Izuku said, beckoning them to look at what he was seeing. “I think we have a visitor.”
Ochako and Eijiro laid down next to him, peering over the edge of the rock at the dark blob that grew bigger by the second. When it broke the surface, Izuku expected a seal or sea lion to pop up. He was ready to start aw-ing. Instead, it was a human face that popped up.
Izuku’s first guess was that it was a girl, with her soft, round face and long hair. Wet, it was an almost black colour, but Izuku knew that it could dry up lighter. The details of her face were hard to read. Izuku figured she had dark eyes and they were a little bit big.
The girl grinned up at them. “You’re Izuku?” the girl asked, clearly addressing Izuku.
While Izuku nodded, both his friends were left confused.
“You can understand what she says?” Eijiro asked, confusion written all over his face. “She sounds like a seal.”
“It’s a little weird,” Ochako admitted. Unlike Eijiro, she didn’t seem to be confused or put off by it. Instead, she had this starry-eyed looking in her eyes that Izuku was familiar with. She thought the girl in the water was cute!
The girl herself didn’t seem to be able to understand human speech either, as she cocked her head and stared at Ochako and Eijiro with curiosity.
“Can you come up? It’s accessible from the back,” Izuku asked, thumbing to the other side of the rock.
After nodding, the girl disappeared underneath the surface.
Eijiro nudged him with his elbow. “Dude, you just spoke fish,” he said, and when Izuku looked at his friend, he was grinning brightly.
“Seals are technically mammals,” Izuku pointed out.
He hoped to gloss over the fact that he suddenly was able to speak another language. This merman stuff started to become more plausible by the second and Izuku wasn’t looking forward to what he would discover next. The moment that girl uttered that he was the chosen one, he was going to throw hands. He didn’t want to become some chosen hero, he just wanted to stay here in Malibu and surf. He liked to surf; he was good at it. While he never struggled with school, he hadn’t found anything he wanted to aside from surfing. He wasn’t even sure what he was going to study in college.
“What did you tell her?” Ochako asked. She was still peering at the water.
“I told her that she could come up from the back,” Izuku said, only then realising the fault in his plan. “Though I don’t know if she has legs.”
“I do,” a soft voice said. Scrambling up and looking at the ‘entrance’ side, Izuku saw a small hand waving frantically. “Help,” the same voice added.
Together with the help of Eijiro, they hauled the girl up on the rock. She was indeed pretty short, short enough that Izuku could rest his head on top of hers. Her hair was green-coloured and really long. Like he had noticed before, he saw that her eyes were a little big. She was sparsely clothed, wearing something akin to a short dress that was made of—
Was that animal fur? Not only was it impractical in this weather and around the water, Izuku wondered why she decided to wear animal fur. It never got cold enough in California to warrant it, and the choice to make it a dress was weird.
“Is that seal fur?” Ochako asked, hurt evident in her voice.
“It’s my seal skin,” the girl corrected, hugging the dress closer. Only now Izuku realised she was holding it. Izuku had seen the same with girls and towels. Maybe it even was a towel.
“Seal skin?” Eijiro parroted, more curious than repulsed.
She gave the three of them a blank look. Then she gave Izuku a pointed look as if it was all his fault. “Didn’t your mother tell you anything?”
The answer was clearly no. Why would his mother tell him about girls living in the water and carrying seal skins with them? Izuku wouldn’t have believed her to begin with since it all seems too ridiculous until he saw it with his very own eyes.
“I’m a selkie,” the girl said, tightening her grip on her seal skin. “Half-selkie, technically. We can shift between seal and human, when we become human, we ‘shed’ our skin.”
It seemed that the three of them came to the same realisation at the same time, only their reactions were greatly different. Eijiro let out a loud ‘awesome’, Ochako grew scarlet in the face, and Izuku just wanted to jump into the water and hide his embarrassment. The girl was naked underneath that towel, and honestly, the only one who was interested was Ochako.
The girl’s cheeks were a little red too, but she held firm. “Nonetheless, I’m here for Izuku.”
Immediately, Izuku feared the worst. Was she there to arrest him? Maybe he hadn’t been allowed to tell Ochako and Eijiro about the whole merman business. But why would she arrest Izuku in broad daylight? There were two eye-witnesses that sort-of had signed up for this. Or, what would be even worse, maybe she was his betrothed. It would mean his father would be important, though, and he could hardly imagine that.
“It’s about your father,” the girl continued and when none of them spoke up. “We really need your help.”
Of course, his father would only bother to contact him when he really needed help. He shouldn’t have expected anything more from him since he never had cared about Izuku whatsoever.
“Why now?” Izuku asked.
“Because you’ve grown into your powers,” the girl said immediately. She must have prepared for Izuku’s hostility. “You finally can go to Oceana, throw Endeavor of the throne and claim it as yours.”
Well, that was the last thing he expected to hear.
“The throne?” Izuku asked in disbelief.
“Yes, your father, All Might, used to be the king, but when he disappeared, his second in command took over. Endeavor is ruthless, and he’s slowly killing the kingdom. His Merillia isn’t strong enough. I believe you’re the only one that can reclaim the throne, now All Might is gone,” the selkie explained unblinkingly.
“I’m not doing it,” Izuku said, sitting down on the rock. He tried to make it look like he was defiant, but actually, he was shaking. His father was king? In a kingdom called Oceana? His mother had managed to seduce a king? He was proud of that; his mother was a beautiful human being.
The girl looked exasperated. “Why not?” she asked. “It’s your kingdom! Don’t you want to save it?”
Izuku reached out to his necklace, the one that he had gotten from his father according to his mother. It always had been something of comfort, but right now, he was just frustrated with it.
“I never have met my father in my life,” Izuku said, tugging on the cord. “He was apparently too busy running a kingdom, and now he’s probably dead, killed by his scumbag second in command. I don’t understand why you only come to fetch me now since Endeavor is killing the ocean and all.”
“We didn’t know,” the girl said softly. “We didn’t know he had an heir. All Might never told anybody that he had an heir. There were rumours, of course, but nobody knew for sure. It honestly was for the best, because Endeavor likely would have tried to get rid of you.”
He shivered at how casually the girl talked about death. Still, he didn’t feel blessed that nobody knew he existed. Izuku tugged his necklace free, looking at it. The only reminder he had of his father. His father, who lived in an entirely different world than him. His father, who left a mess behind when he was most likely killed. His father, who never even spoke to him or showed that he cared. His father, who let a crazy guy on the throne that likely would have pleasure in killing Izuku and his mum, just because he was in the way.
Izuku wondered why he should care about his father and his world. He didn’t own anyone anything. He didn’t even know this girl! She just randomly showed up and expected him to save the world!
“I’m not going,” Izuku confirmed, tossing the necklace in front of him. “I don’t care.”
“Izuku,” Eijiro said, his voice filled with disappointment.
Izuku looked up, glaring fiercely at his friend when tears brimmed in his eyes. “I want nothing to with it,” Izuku said, picking up the necklace and hurling it away. “It’s not my world, and I refuse to take part in it.”
There was much more to it all. It frightened him. He always struggled to fit in. He had a mother that ‘didn’t know’ who the father was, his family was far from rich, he spent most of his high school years putting his energy in surfing and not his studies. Not that it matters, since he was still on the top of his class. Not the very top, but he passed easily, pissing others off. He just a knack for studying, absorbing information quite easily, especially if it interested him. He knew that he wouldn’t fit in with the people at college, especially not now he had green hair. People will always judge him, and it didn’t help that he knew nobody there. How would he fit in a world that wasn’t even close to his own? He didn’t have a tail. People would immediately notice. Not to mention that he would have to blunder his way through it all, in the hope that nobody would notice that anything was off.
It was eerily quiet, and Izuku wondered if his outburst was too much. He felt a little childish for it. He could just have said no. He didn’t have to toss the necklace, the only thing that he had from his father. He regretted throwing it since it now likely was broken.
“I’m sorry,” the girl said. “I shouldn’t have put such a burden on your shoulder.”
Izuku sniffed, trying to wipe away a couple of his tears. “I’m sorry that I can’t be the hero you want me to be.”
Eijiro cleared his throat, unnecessarily loudly. It wasn’t subtle, but it worked. Everyone looked at him. He pointed to something the rest clearly couldn’t see. Maybe it was because Izuku was seated, the girl had her back to it, and Ochako was unfortunately short.
Walking towards the other edge of the rock, Izuku saw that his necklace had landed there. It was a really lousy throw. Admittedly, he was only looking briefly at the necklace. He spends more time at the swirls of blue and the image the necklace projected.
“It’s All Might,” the girl gasped, covered her mouth in surprise. “He’s alive! But he looks terrible.”
Izuku had to agree with her. The man in the projection was tall and lanky. His frame was bone-thin and all sharp angles. His eyes were partially sunken in, and his blond hair drifted lifelessly around him. It looked like the man was looming thread, his fingers brushing against the thread as he spun it around.
“What is he doing?” Eijiro asked.
“He’s spinning Merillia,” the girl said, her voice filled in awe. “The sea’s life force. But where is he?”
Izuku couldn’t answer that. The projection didn’t show anything beyond the skeleton figure that was his father. There wasn’t any likeliness between the two of them, and he wondered how this was a man his mother would have fallen for. But maybe Izuku was seeing him at his lowest, weak and barely alive.
“How is he even alive?” Ochako asked, voicing the question that was on Izuku’s mind.
“Because he’s the king, of course. He’s strong,” the girl answered, though she didn’t entirely seem to believe it herself.
He didn’t look strong right now. But it gave Izuku an idea. If this man was the king of the ocean or at least part of the ocean, it meant he held a lot of power. Maybe he could Izuku out with his issue. Perhaps he could get rid of his green hair and weird merman abilities. But for that to be possible, he actually needed to save this guy. But maybe it took him a day or two, and he could go home, free of green hair and a future of mockery.
“I will do it,” Izuku said. Three sets of eyes immediately looked at him, surprise painting their faces.
“You will?” the girl asked. Her whole being was screaming hopefulness.
“Yes.”
Eijiro slapped him on the back roughly, cheering. “I knew you were a hero deep down; you just needed some convincing.”
Izuku put on a grimacing smile. They agreed that Izuku would meet up the girl—who finally introduced herself as Tsuyu—tomorrow at the beach around this area. She would bring him to Oceana, give him a disguise because his legs would stand out like a sore thumb. This gave him the time to mull over it and tell his mother than he would be spending the next couple of days under the surface, trying to save his father and a kingdom.
After saying goodbye to Tsuyu, the three of them returned back home. Eijiro lived in a massive villa in the centre, a place that could fit a family of eight but only housed Eijiro and his parents. Eijiro promised he would wave him off, and that he would look after his mum. Ochako laughed and said the same. The moment Eijiro was out of earshot, Ochako whirled on him, gaze serious.
“You don’t want to actually go,” she pointed out, pressing a finger against his chest. “You just want to free your dad to get rid of all this.” She pointed at his hair.
Izuku shrugged guiltily. “I just don’t want to look like an idiot.”
“You won’t. You just have to give yourself more credit. You’re a wonderful person. I’ve seen your application for the Los Angeles college, and I think they will accept you there with open arms. You’re likeable, and I think many people agree with me. And, I believe that the green hair suits you. Like, in a couple of years, I probably would have forgotten you have actually black hair.” Ochako said everything in one breath, jabbing her finger against Izuku’s chest until it started to hurt. That girl was really fearless.
Not sure how to answer, aside from a ‘well, you’re wrong’, Izuku once again shrugged and turned his back to his best friend. It was weird. They always could talk with each other, knowing each other on a level that Eijiro couldn’t even reach. Izuku wasn’t surprised that Ochako had figured out his dilemma, though it made him feel guilty that he left her in the dark. Why did he stop confiding in his friends?
They continued in silence, wishing each other goodbye at Ochako’s door. When he told his mother about today, she didn’t even try to convince him not to go. She just smiled and ruffled his hair, saying that she had feared that this would eventually happen. Izuku wished she had tried to stop him, he especially wished that she didn’t look so proud of him. His intentions were entirely selfish, and he wondered if his mother was even aware of that.