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Chapter Text

It was a frightening morning when Izuku Midoriya first entered the world.

Booming thunder and blinding lightning had coalesced into a violent storm, the force of which battered the small, secluded cove that a small pod of mers were currently using as a nursery. The protective layer of foliage, which had once covered the shallows and the mers nesting within the warmer water, had been ripped away, leaving the pod exposed.

Inko curled her sleek, pink tail closer to her body. The action wasn’t for her own benefit, but rather to protect the small, fragile egg that was tucked close to her side. Next to her was her dear friend Mitsuki and her young pup, Katsuki, who had been hatched only a few months earlier. Usually, the youngster was a ball of ferocious energy, snapping and growling at anything and everything. But now he was silent, shivering slightly as he pressed himself into his mother’s tail at the sound of the storm as it picked up. Inko had urged them to go into the deeper waters and join their mates, who were off hunting, but both mother and son had insisted on staying. Mitsuki to provide support, and Katsuki… well, they didn’t know why the youngster had stayed, but he had thrown a fit when his father had tried to take him into the deeper water.

Another peel of thunder rang out, and Inko whimpered softly, the storm swallowing the noise. Oh, how she wished Hisashi hadn’t gone hunting with Masaru. Her mate always had a way of making her feel safe. Quietly, she hummed an old lullaby that her mother had once sung to her all those years ago. She missed her mother as well, but the aging mermaid had no desire to leave her own pod to travel with her daughter, so Inko would just have to rely on memories to squash down the feeling of loneliness that always seemed to follow her around. Mitsuki and Masaru were wonderful companions, and of course she loved her mate, but they couldn’t understand how she felt. Mitsuki, Masaru and Hisashi were all more solitary mers, and if Inko and Mitsuki hadn’t grown up together, they likely would have never made a pod. Inko herself was a dolphin mer, and thus was used to always having other dolphin mers around to play and chat with. None of her current podmates were very keen on playing with shells or trying to leap over waves, so Inko stopped giving into her urges to try and persuade her podmates into playing. Secretly, she hoped that her pup would take after herself more, so that she perhaps wouldn’t feel that kind of loneliness anymore.

Suddenly, Inko felt her egg shift, the shell bulging slightly as the tiny life inside fought to escape. She pulled her tail away and lowered her self down until she was eye level with the egg, the world around her seeming to shrink as all of her attention focused on the mint green egg that lay before her. Vaguely, she was aware of Mitsuki moving to give her space, but even that small fact became obsolete as the egg shifted again, a tiny claw piercing the outer surface of the shell. It flexed slowly, before its’ owner decided that the small action was not enough. More pieces of shell fell away as a tiny, pale hand pushed and pulled at the edges of the oval prison it was currently trapped in. However, it soon became apparent that the little pup inside the egg was struggling to break the shell down completely. Looking up, Inko realized that the storm had, inexplicably, started to calm, and that both Mitsuki and her pup were staring at the egg. Inko smiled softly and chirped at Katsuki, the blonde pup’s head whipping up to look at her.

“I think they might need a bit of help. Do you think you could help them out of there?” She asked, tilting her head towards her egg. Usually, she would do such a delicate task herself, but her hands were shaking violently right now, and she feared that she might cut her pup with her claws.

Katsuki looked towards his mother, searching for her approval. Any other time, he would have brashly charged head first into the task, but some part of the pup told him that this was a task that required a bit of caution.

Stern red eyes met his own, and his mother’s rumble of approval reached his earfins. “Be very careful brat.” She said, nodding slightly.

Katsuki bristled slightly at being told what to do, but he listened to his mother’s words. Cautiously, he crept towards the small green thing that he had previously thought was a rock. He hadn’t been sure exactly why Auntie Inko had insisted on watching over a green rock, or why today seemed different, but he knew something special was going to happen, and he was right! The rock wasn’t a rock at all, because as far as Katsuki knew, and he knew a lot, rocks didn’t have hands inside them.

With as much gentleness as he could manage, he pulled away bits and pieces of the not-rock until his finger brushed against something soft. A hand, smaller than his own, gripped his finger with surprising force. Green eyes met his own ruby orbs, and Katsuki let out a surprised chirp as he realized what exactly he was looking at. It was another mer, a smaller one, like himself. With new found excitement, the older pup pulled the younger one out towards the light that was now shining behind him. Dawn had broken through the storm clouds just in time to shine down on the newborn pup as it stumbled out of it’s egg.

Inko clicked in mild distress when both Katsuki and her pup went sprawling, but Mitsuki was quick to swing her tail around to catch them. Without thinking, she grasped her pup and pulled him out of the elbow-deep water, just in case he needed to breathe air like she did. The pup did in fact take a deep breath, spitting out a mouthful of seawater. Inko sighed in relief and giddy happiness. Her pup was a dolphin, just like-

Her thoughts were cut off by a gasp, her own in fact. A teal-ish green tail had wrapped itself around her arm, armoured scales covering it’s length. However, that wasn’t what caught her attention and caused her to begin to shake. No, the reason for her distress wasn’t because her pup looked more like their father, but because they didn’t look like a mer at all.

Four small legs accompanied the tail, the feet reminiscent of those belonging to the island lizards she had occasionally seen scampering around on the shores of beaches they visited. Tiny, almost opalescent claws scrabbled for purchase as the tiny pup took their first gulps of air, oblivious to their mother’s horrified expression. After only a moment, Mitsuki sucked in air between her teeth and swore something fierce.

“Mitsuki!” Inko exclaimed hysterically, clapping her hands over her pup’s earfins. Or at least, that’s what she would have done, if her pup had earfins, which they didn’t. Instead, what felt like soft, pointed flesh met her palms. Oh Gods what was wrong with her child?

“Shit! Fuck, sorry! But, just look at him! Her? It?! Shit, I don’t know!” Mitsuki cursed, waving her hands wildly.

Inko quickly checked. A boy. She… had a son. She had a son! He was hers, no doubt, the fluffy mop of green curls on his head was proof enough of that. And he had Hisashi’s freckles, so he was also most certainly her mate’s. So why did he look like that? Was it some kind of quirk mutation? Such things were very rare, but not unheard of. Still, one to this extent… it was unheard of.

“Oh my poor, sweet boy. I’m so sorry.” She sniffed, feeling tears well up in her eyes. They fell once her son turned his head to look at her, a warm smile on his face and the sun reflecting off his emerald eyes. She pulled him into a hug, feeling him nestle into her with a contented sigh.

“What are you going to do?” Mitsuki asked, her voice slightly grim, like she expected the worst answer. Pups that were too different than their parents were often rejected, and Mitsuki wasn’t sure how she’d react if Inko decided to leave her pup behind. Her own brat warbled, sounding confused and worried. She nuzzled him, trying to reassure him that everything was fine, even if it possibly wasn’t.

Inko tightened her hold. “I’m going to raise him. He’s my pup, and I am going to make sure he grows up knowing that he’s loved, even if he is a little… different.” She said firmly.

Mitsuki breathed out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad. So, what are you going to name the little tyke?”

Inko looked down at her tiny son, who blinked sleepily. Coming into the world was tiring, and the poor boy was having trouble keeping his eyes open. He yawned, showing off an already impressive set of teeth. That, pared with his claws, meant that he would likely grow up to be an amazing hunter. Hell, he’d be amazing at whatever he did, because to Inko, he was already perfect.

“I think… Izuku would be a good name for him. My little Izuku.” She crooned, nuzzling her pup.

“Izuku. Good name.” Mitsuki said, leaning down to look at the little greenette. “Hey there sweetie, I’m your Auntie Mitsuki.”

Her pup chirped angrily at being left out. Mitsuki huffed and lifted the brat up, his tail lashing around. “And this little terror is Katsuki. Don’t let him scare ya, okay?”

But for once, Katsuki seemed to calm, his fins folding down as he reached out for the other pup. Izuku fidgeted and reached back, holding onto Katsuki’s hand with a tired grip. The two seemed to share a moment, a quiet message that only they could understand being passed from one pup to the other. Katsuki squeezed Izuku’s hand back, a silent vow being repeated in his mind.

‘I’ll protect you.’

It was mid morning when Hisashi and Masaru returned from their hunting trip, the former rapidly beating his tail with visible excitement. He had a large, plump octopus grasped in his powerful jaws, it’s tentacles still thrashing weakly as it attempted to fight off the mer. His earfins rustled in greeting as he approached his mate, his excited tail wags calming as he drew closer. Her sleek tail hid his pup from view, and the slightly worried expression on her face causing him to pause. He dropped the octopus, the mollusc twitching on the soft, slightly mucky sand.

“Inko? Inko darling, what’s wrong? Is it the pup?” He asked quickly, his eyes scanning for any sign of the tiny life form that he knew should be there. He swallowed. “Did it… not make it?”

Inko quickly shook her head. “No, no Hisashi, he’s perfectly healthy! It’s just-”

“He? I have a son? Oh, Inko that’s wonderful! Here, let me see him.” The white haired mer interrupted his mate and, before Inko could protest, reached a webbed hand down and gently grasped the small, solid form that he felt. The tiny mass chirped as he was lifted from his warm spot by his mother’s side, his claws pricking Hisashi’s skin.

Hisashi’s wide grin dropped when he saw his pup for the first time. He narrowed his eyes as his earfins fell back in confusion. Inko tensed at his sudden mood shift, her hands raising slightly as an instinct to retrieve her pup from her mate bloomed within her. The feeling only intensified as Hisashi silently turned their son over in his hand, like he was inspecting some new, odd object or creature.

“...Inko, what is this?” He asked quietly, his face neutral.

“Our pup, Hisashi. Look, he’s got your freckles!” Inko replied, her voice dripping in hesitant enthusiasm.

“It has legs, my dear. This is not a pup.” Hisashi growled suddenly, his claws closing around the teeny creature. “But don’t worry darling, there’s always next year. You eat up, and I’ll take of this.”

Inko’s blood ran cold, and she could see Masaru tense in fear, slowly moving in front of his mate and pup, who were growling at Hisashi. “Hi-hisashi, what are you talking about?! Give me my pup back, p-please!” She begged, outstretching a hand. She nearly sobbed when Hisashi just pulled away, shaking his head.

“No my dear, as I’ve already said, this… thing is not a pup, and it certainly isn’t yours. I wont be gone long.” He said calmly, turning to leave.

“NO!” Inko snarled, lunging forward with surprising speed. She sunk her claws into Hisashi’s gills, forcing him to release her pup. Izuku squeaked in panic, his tiny cries reverberating around in Inko’s mind as she attacked her mate.

Masaru quickly gathered up the screaming pup into his arms, barking at his mate to do the same. Katsuki was also chirping rapidly, unused to seeing such violence. The blonde pup hid his face in his mother’s collarbone, his tiny earfins quivering.

Hisashi tried to knock Inko off him, but her sleeker tail gave her an advantage. She slammed him against the sand, screeching obscenities at him. Her claws torn into the vulnerable flesh of his neck, causing blood to seep rapidly into the water around them. Finally, Hisashi managed to get a hit in, his tail slamming into Inko’s side and sending her sprawling. He hissed in outrage, his powerful tail churning the shallow water violently.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?! You’re my mate! How dare you lay a hand on me woman?” He snarled, glaring at the smaller mer.

Inko shook herself, wincing as she felt the spot where she had been struck begin to bruise. It would leave a nasty mark, but it was nothing compared to what she had done to Hisashi. She could see the water around his mouth begin to boil as more blood flowed from his wounds. His quirk allowed him to breath jets of flame that burned brightly, his body producing a form of magnesium-like fuel that allowed the fire to burn despite being underwater. It was one of the most striking and terrifying things Inko had ever seen, and now it was being used against her.

Her only chance of beating him alone would be to evade him until he was forced to retreat to heal his wounds and rest. Without looking away from him, Inko ripped off the bracelet that sat snugly on her wrist. It had been the final courtship gift Hisashi had given her, a symbol of their status as mates. It was made of pearls and carved beach glass, and it had always made her feel so secure and loved. Now it felt like a handcuff, something that tethered her to the mer who wanted to kill her pup, so she was happy to shed it. The pearls and beach glass scattered in the churning water, becoming lost to the sea.

“You are no mate of mine!” She spat, her voice full of venom. “Stay the hell away from me and my pup!”

Hisashi bared his teeth at her shockingly disrespectful actions. “You’re delusional if you think that insignificant little abomination is going to last more than a week! Are you really willing to give up everything for something that will inevitably die very soon?” The mer hissed.

“His name is Izuku! And he will grow up to be the greatest mer this world has ever seen!” Inko growled back.

Her ex-mate launched himself at her with a snarl, his claws outstretched as a plume of flame escaped his jaws. He would have seriously injured Inko, but a blur of blond hair and angry orange fins barreled into his side, pinning him to the ocean floor. Mitsuki hissed at Hisashi as she slashed at his exposed side, her curved claws slicing through the softer tissue. The white haired mer barked in pain before swiping at his attacker. Mitsuki dodged the attack and slammed her tail down hard on Hisashi’s injured side, tearing the wound open further. The wounded mer actually yelped at that, and he was quick to dart away, his black tail swishing back and forth furiously. The water was heavy with the scent of blood now, and if the fight continued for much longer, it would no doubt attract sharks.

Hisashi growled loudly as he began to slink away, his pride having been wounded along with his body. “Very well, keep your precious Izuku.” He spat the child’s name like just saying it left a foul taste in his mouth. “But know this, if I ever come across that abomination again, I will not hesitate to rip it’s throat out.”

And with that, Hisashi retreated into the depths. The remaining members of the pod watched, their bodies tense as they waited to see if Hisashi would return to attack them again. He didn’t, and for that, Inko was grateful.

“Gods above, I never thought he’d react like that.” Masaru said at last, both pups nestled safely in his arms.

“Same here. Holy shit that was scary.” Mitsuki muttered, shaking her head. She turned back to her little family and quickly swam over to her mate, Inko following close behind her. Inko gently took her tiny pup into her arms and began nuzzling him, her eyes turning puffy and red as she cried in relief. A few scratches adorned her sobbing son’s form, but nothing that would leave a permanent mark.

Mitsuki took hold of her own pup, grooming his wild hair. Usually the little terror would fight her, but he was silent and still now, unsure if the danger was gone. He trembled slightly, pressing himself closer to his mother. Masaru nuzzled his wife, trying to calm both her and his own frayed nerves. The fight had rattled her, he could tell by the way her fins were flexing rapidly. After a few moments, the adult pod members heard a small, gurgling growl coming from Izuku’s stomach. In the terror and panic, they had forgotten why Masaru and Hisashi had left in the first place. Quick as could be, Masaru retrieved the octopus Hisashi had caught, as well as his own yellowfin tuna.

“Here Inko, your boy needs to eat. No point in letting this catch go to waste.” Masaru said softly, handing the octopus over to the shaken mother. She winced as she took it from him, her injured side starting to become more and more bruised.

“T-thank you Masaru, but we need to get going. The blood is going to attract sharks, and I’m not sure I can fight yet, not after what just happened.” She replied shakily.

“Relax Inko, we’ll deal with anything that tries to mess with you. We’ll leave after we feed the pups.” Mitsuki said reassuringly, before tearing off a chunk of tuna to mash up into bite size pieces. Katsuki perked up at the smell of food and began to chirp loudly, demanding that he be fed.

Inko eyed the octopus with distaste but bit down on it anyways, her teeth acting like a knife as she severed the tip if a tentacle. Crushing the chewy meat with her strong jaws, she began to feed Izuku his first meal. Secretly, she hoped that he wouldn’t take to the taste of octopus too much, as she wasn’t sure she could stomach having to taste it often. Luckily, it seemed like that wouldn’t ever be a problem, because as soon as Izuku began chewing, his tiny face scrunched up in disgust.

“Bleck!” The green haired pup retched, spitting out the mouthful. Inko had to stifle her laughter as she watched her son make different faces of pure disgust and disbelief. He turned and looked at her with a face that said “How could you do this to me?”.

“Do you not like it?” She snickered, tilting her head slightly.

“Eueck!” Was the only reply she got, not being able to hold back a few chuckles as she watched the pup retch again, his tiny tongue sticking out.

“Hah! Squirt really hates that shit, eh?” Mitsuki barked, not even trying to conceal her laughter. Katsuki cocked his head curiously, before he turned towards the fish that his mother had been feeding him. He ripped off a small strip and, before his mother could stop him, swam over to where Izuku was now floating, a grimace forming on his pudgy face as a few tears gathered in his moist eyes. Katsuki shoved the fish into Izuku’s face, letting out a short, sharp warble. The greenette blinked, his tears dispersing into the water. Hesitantly, he bit into the chunk of flesh, his eyes lighting up as he realized that this new offering tasted good.

Izuku trilled happily, his tail wagging back and forth. He eagerly inhaled another mouthful, only pausing when he started to choke. Inko gasped and patted his back, trying to get her son to cough the fish up. Katsuki, who had previously looked very pleased with himself for getting the newest pod member to eat, now was chirping at Izuku in what sounded like a scolding tone. After that, the blonde viciously tore the strip of tuna into smaller, more easily chewable pieces for Izuku.

Once the two pups had been fed, their mothers scooped them up so that the pod could begin the grueling journey that lay before them. Usually, once a nursery site had been chosen, a pod would stay there until all the pups were at least a year old. To leave a nursery, especially when the pups were so young, was a risky move. Without Hisashi, things would be difficult, and Inko worried about how the loss of his father would affect Izuku as he grew up. Briefly, she worried that he would also be lonely, as his differences would likely make others treat him poorly. However, that fear quickly melted away as she watched Katsuki once more wriggle out of his mother’s arms and dart over to Inko’s own, squeezing in beside Izuku and roughly nuzzling his green curls, marking the boy as part of their pod and accepting him as his pod brother. Izuku chirped and leaned into the warmer pup, longing for the comfort his new sibling provided.

Mitsuki and Masaru smiled at Inko, thrilled that her pup could calm their terror of a child. Hopefully, the greenette would keep their son from becoming too aggressive. In return, it seemed little Izuku would gain a powerful protector, as whenever a fish swam a little too close to the pair, Katsuki would growl and snap his jaws, his earfins flaring out as if to say “Back off! I’ll kill you if you touch him!”.

“Gods, nothing is going to be able to touch that kid. Didn’t expect the little shit to like him so much.” Mitsuki admitted.

“I guess my little is Izuku just naturally good at making friends.” Inko purred. “Isn’t that right sweetheart?”

She licked his wild hair affectionately, rousing a stutter-filled, unsure purr in return from her pup, the action instinctual yet still unfamiliar. Inko smiled at Izuku before fixing her sights on the open ocean before her. Finding a new nursery was going to be tough, but at least she and Izuku did not have to go through it alone. Mitsuki and Masaru would have her back while she recovered from both the physical wounds afflicted upon her by Hisashi’s attack, and the emotional ones that came with loosing her mate. Yet as she cradled the pups close to her chest, she couldn’t help but be grateful that the only thing Izuku seemed to have inherited from his father was his freckles and curly locks.

Chapter Text

As expected, the first few weeks were the hardest.

Without a secure, safe place to leave their pups, only one adult could go out hunting at a time. Katsuki and Izuku couldn’t defend themselves or flee well enough to avoid danger, so they had to have two adults supervising them at all times. The constant movement and infrequent meals was causing everyone a great deal of stress, especially the pups.

Mitsuki thanked the Gods for the existence of Izuku Midoriya almost daily, as the tiny pup had a calming effect on her son like no other, even if he didn’t realize it. Izuku, bless his heart, practically worshiped Katsuki, eagerly following the aggressive blonde without hesitation. If Katsuki wanted to go look at shells, Izuku was right there in the sand with him. If it was time to eat, the two were side by side and sharing whatever meal had been given to them. When it was time to rest for the day, there was Izuku, tucked in beside Mitsuki’s son and snoozing. Mitsuki didn’t even want to think about what life would be like if the two didn’t get along.

Katsuki, for his part, was a little monster. However, it soon became rather apparent that he was Izuku’s monster. Once, when the pod had been sleeping, a curious moray eel had wandered a little too close to Izuku, and had woken the pup up. Upon seeing a predator that could swallow him whole right in front of him, the boy had, understandably, screamed. It was a horrible, heart-stopping sound, and Katsuki had reacted immediately. Once the older male had identified the threat, it had only taken a second before he had pounced, a loud hiss passing his lips as he attacked the moray. Masaru had been quick to pull his savage son off the predatory creature, but not before Katsuki had managed to secure a chunk of the eel’s flesh in his jaws.

Currently, the two were playing with a particularly strong piece of seaweed, an end held tightly in both of their mouths as they tugged and jerked their heads, growling softly. Izuku suddenly darted forward, startling Katsuki, before snapping his head back, wrenching the seaweed free and making Katsuki fall face first into the sand.

‘Clever little shit.’ Mitsuki mused internally, chuckling as she watched her pup chirp up a storm, his fins ruffling as he yelled at a laughing Izuku, who only looked a little guilty.

Once Katsuki’s rage had calmed enough for their play to continue, Izuku set about collecting shells of all different shapes and sizes. He could only carry a few at a time, so his trips were short and frequent. He deposited them next to Katsuki, who began to sort and stack them, creating little piles. Soon, Masaru came over to watch, a fond smile on his face as he watched his son make little towers out of the shells Izuku brought him. The kind mer gathered up a few shells and offered them to Katsuki, who took them eagerly. He headbutted his father affectionately, earning a warm rumble in return. Mitsuki leaned over and nuzzled her son, smiling when she felt him nuzzle her back.

Izuku watched as his pod brother nuzzled his Mom. He understood that his blonde companion’s Mom and his Mama were two different people, despite their roles being practically the same. What he didn’t understand was why Katsuki had a Dad and he didn’t. Katsuki had told him that his Dad had always been there for as long as he could remember, and that Dad always seemed to be with Mom. So why was his Mama alone?

Izuku remembered someone with white hair and silver eyes being in his life at some point, but the few memories he had were mostly blurry. He had asked Katsuki if that was his Dad, but the older boy had quickly shook his head. He had gently touched the almost healed scratches on Izuku’s tummy and sides, saying that the man in Izuku’s memories was bad, and that he had hurt Izuku and his Mama, so he couldn’t be Izuku’s Dad because Dads didn’t hurt Izukus or Mamas.

He’d gone really quiet after that, and Izuku had received lots of warm, comforting cuddles from Katsuki, the other pup licking at his neck. Neither of them really understood the action, but it made Izuku smell more like his pod brother, which calmed them both. Izuku couldn’t place the scent, but it was nice, so he didn’t mind smelling like it. Now though, the thought came back to him. How had the Bad Man gotten close to Mama and himself? Why hadn’t Katsuki’s Mom and Dad done something? And where was his Dad?

Someone nudged him, and Izuku realized that he had gone still. Katsuki stared at him, his earfins pulled back slightly in concern.
“Alright?” He warbled, tilting his head.

Izuku looked at Katsuki’s Dad and frowned, inciting a confused look from the older mer. “Where my Dad?”

Katsuki shrugged. “Don’t know. Gone.”

“Why? Why gone?” Izuku whined. “Why leave Mama?”

Katsuki didn’t know how to respond to that. His earfins flexed as he stared at his friend before turning to look at his Dad, then back at Izuku. What could he say? Izuku’s Mama was really nice, so why would Izuku’s Dad leave? Katsuki couldn’t remember ever seeing Izuku’s Dad, now that he thought about it. He too, at one point, had assumed the silver eyed male was Izuku’s Dad, but upon seeing him hurt Izuku and his Mama, Katsuki only saw the man as a threat, and Dads weren’t threats. Gritting his teeth, he thumped the sand with his tail. He didn’t like not knowing important things like when they were going to eat next or where Dads went.

He could feel his Dad pick him up, cooing and asking Katsuki what was wrong, as if he was the one who needed comforting. Growling, he decided that Izuku’s question was an important one, as they often were, so he began pointing at Izuku, then at his Dad, before spreading his arms out.

“Wherbble?” He tried, not quite knowing how to shape the word on his tongue.

His Dad looked puzzled, so he repeated the action. Finally, the older mer seemed to grasp what his son was asking, and a look of sadness came over his face. Katsuki’s frown deepened, not liking the look on his Dad’s face.

Masaru glanced at his mate, who looked about as surprised as he felt.

“He’s asking where Izuku’s father is. What do I tell them?” He asked softly.

Mitsuki hesitated, before sighing. “The truth. Katsuki’s a smart pup, he’ll understand, and you know he hates it when we lie. Izuku… might be a bit too young to really understand, but if anyone can break it to him, it’s the brat.”

Masaru exhaled and nodded. Turning back to the two pups, he scooped Izuku up and held him to his chest.

“Well, Izuku’s daddy… wasn’t safe to be around, so we made him leave. I don’t know where he is now. Don’t worry about him, he’s not worth your time little one. Me, Mitsuki, your Mama and Katsuki are always going to be there for you, no matter what.” Masaru explained gently.

His words seemed to satisfy the boys, and they settled in his arms, resting their heads on his chest.

When Inko returned from her thankfully successful hunt, they told her about the incident. She had tearfully held her son close that night, much to Katsuki’s annoyance. Both pups were fidgety during the night, and come the morning, they were both very tired as well. Their mothers ended up carrying them almost the whole day. When night came once again, Inko settled them down beside each other, smiling fondly as they snuggled closer, fighting sleep even as their eyelids drooped.

“Would you pups like a story?” She crooned, laying down beside them.

The two boys nodded and wiggled closer, their tiny bodies pressed against her side as they looked up at the green haired woman. Inko cleared her throat, then began to tell her story.

“Long ago, the first Quirk user was born. He glowed with a brilliant, divine light. After him came others, each one blessed with a power beyond our understanding. Some could boil the water around them at will, while others could heal any wound with nothing more than a simple touch. These mers were both feared and revered for their powers, and as time went on, the amount of Quirk wielders grew.

Soon, Quirks became normal, and we learned not to fear those who had them. But as more and more of us were born with Quirks, it became apparent that mers who possessed powerful Quirks were becoming rarer. As a consequence, those who did have strong Quirks began wreaking havoc wherever they went, attacking both mers and humans. This frightened the humans, who had once peacefully co-existed with us, and so they began to hunt any mer they came across, regardless of whether or not that mer was using their Quirk for evil. This vicious cycle continued for many years, until they appeared.”

Both pups were enthralled by Inko’s story, and eagerly leaned forward, wanting to know who this mysterious ‘they’ was.

“The very first Pro Heroes, mers who wielded powerful Quirks, but sought to bring justice to all those who had been wronged. Their arrival brought about peace for a time, until the worst evil imaginable crawled out of the depths and began taking the heroes down, stealing away their Quirks and using their own gifts against them. The battle against this ancient creature waged for many, many years, persisting over many generations. But just when it seemed as though all hope was lost, our savior appeared.”

Izuku and Katsuki stared wide eyed, their hearts beating fast as Inko spoke. Katsuki barked softly, imploring the woman to continue the tale.

“His name was All Might. He came in a blaze of glory, bearing the most powerful Quirk anyone had ever seen. He managed to beat back the leviathan evil, sending it scurrying back into the deepest, darkest parts of the ocean. His victory ushered in an age of peace, one that persists to this day. Its thanks to him that we do not live in constant fear. Evil still exists, but when it is found, All Might and the rest of the Pro Heroes are there to snuff it out.”

Inko smiled as she finished the story. Both pups were staring at her, awed expressions on there faces. Izuku’s eyes especially were full of stars, and his body was vibrating slightly. He chirped softly, but excitedly, cuddling up to Katsuki, who chirped back, speaking in a language only pups understood. Finally, their eyelids drooped, and the two embraced the quiet oblivion of sleep. Gently, Inko plucked the sleeping pups up off the ground and carried them over to where Mitsuki and Masaru were resting. She placed the pups down in between them before settling down herself. Tomorrow they would have to brave the deeper waters in order to avoid a rather large human settlement, so she needed all the rest she could get. Closing her eyes, Inko followed her pod members lead and let sleep take her.

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Time Skip
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Inko sighed as she watched her son struggle to keep up, his little legs paddling as fast as they could while his tail whipped back and forth. Izuku was 4 months old now, but he had barely grown, and that fact worried her greatly. Katsuki, who was a month off from being twice Izuku’s age, was also a tad bit smaller than he should be, but he made up for it by being faster and stronger than any pup his age Inko had encountered. He was also far more aggressive, a fact that had been proven a little over 2 weeks ago.

Their pod had encountered another pod that was only slightly larger than their own, being made up of four adults and two pups. One of the pups, the rather lanky one, had slick black hair and an equally black skinny tail, but no real defining features aside from that. The other was chubby, and sported dull red wings that sported curved claws, a Quirk he had seemingly been hatched with. The boy used them like extra fins, not even bothering to flick his round, brown tail that sported a coating of dull, bumpy spikes. It reminded Inko of a puffer fish.

While Mitsuki, Masaru and herself greeted the other adults, their pups began to examine Izuku and Katsuki. The winged one chirped something in a slow tone, and the black tailed pup was quick to follow with a cruel sounding bark. Just as Inko turned to look and see what was happening, Katsuki’s loud growl rang out, mere seconds before the fiery blonde launched forward and tackled the pup that had barked, snarling and barking loudly. The pup yipped in surprise and tried to wiggle away, but the young Bakugou had a firm grip on him. Katsuki battered the boy with his fins. Mitsuki hissed and grabbed her pup, holding him by the scruff of his neck as he squirmed and growled. The noise was not very intimidating to an adult, but it made the other pups dash to hide behind their mothers. At that moment, Izuku crept forward, making an apologetic warbling sound. Upon seeing her son, the other adults hissed and backed away, their teeth bared in shock and disgust. The mothers held their pups to their chests and shielded them. Mitsuki stiffened and spat a few choice words that Inko desperately hoped Izuku wouldn’t mimic.

Upon seeing the aggression that had been sparked by his appearance, Izuku had shrunk back, looking wounded and ashamed. He tried to warble another apology, but his noises fell on deaf earfins. The other pod looked at them with disdain before quickly swimming away, not even bothering to look back. Katsuki forced his way out of his mother’s grasp and darted forward slightly, snarling and snapping at the receding mers.

“K-k-kacchan?”

All eyes turned to Izuku, and the tiny pup sniffed, looking utterly distraught as he reached out for Katsuki. His lip trembled and his eyes began to redden slightly as he cried.

“Kacchan!” He cried again, his voice cracking. Katsuki froze for a moment, stunned by hearing Izuku speak, before dashing over to his crying pod brother. The older pup wrapped his arms around Izuku and curled his tail around his lower half, pulling the greenette’s face into his neck as he let out a pup-ish rumble, the noise just barely audible to anyone who wasn’t Katsuki or Izuku.

Inko looked at the older Bakugou’s in shock. They had expected Izuku’s first words to be “mom” or “fish” or something of the like. The last thing any of them had expected was that the first real word the boy ever spoke would be an adorable version of his best,
and only friend’s name. Gently, she tried to take her sobbing pup from Katsuki’s arms in order to comfort him, but retracted her hand when Katsuki glared and bared his teeth, his instincts telling him to keep Izuku close to him at any cost.

“Holy shit, is he putting on a threat display?” Mitsuki asked, her voice full of disbelief. Katsuki met his mother’s gaze.

“Protect!” He growled. Then, he looked at Inko, his glare softening slightly. “Safe.”

Inko believed him.

“Kacchan” soon became both Izuku and Katsuki’s favourite word. The green haired pup would chirp it in an almost sing-song voice, and Katsuki would puff his chest out. Quickly, Katsuki took to calling Izuku “Izu” in return, and Izuku’s eyes lit up every time. Inko tried to get her son to say “mom”, but Izuku would only manage a nearly unintelligibly version of the title.

Katsuki could say a few different words now, but the most common ones were “mom”, “dad”, and, his very first word, “die”. Inko watched as the blonde pup repeated that last word as he play wrestled with his mother, building up the muscles in his arms and tail. Izuku was currently resting on her chest, nibbling on a crushed up piece of crab. After a moment, he tapped on her arm gently. When she looked at him, he pointed upwards, and Inko nodded. Izuku kicked his legs and paddled upwards, his tail lazily swishing back and forth.

Izuku broke the surface of the water and inhaled a breath of chilly air. The air had been getting colder as the months passed, and each time the youngster found himself wondering how cold it would get. Just before he slipped back down, he noticed something floating on the water’s surface. It was big, black in colour, and it shone in the daylight. It bobbed slightly, dipping up and down. Izuku stared at it, slightly mesmerized by it’s strangeness and constant movement. He wanted to go towards it, but thought better of it. His Mama would never let him swim that far by himself.

Diving back under, Izuku resolved to return to his place in his Mama’s arms for now, and investigate the strange, completely new thing later, once everyone was asleep.

Later that night, Izuku waited until he was sure everyone was asleep before slowly freeing himself from Kacchan’s arms. The older pup grumbled and shifted, but did not wake, and for that Izuku was grateful. He loved Kacchan, but he also knew that his pod brother would never let him go and investigate the thing he had seen. As quietly as possible, Izuku flicked his tail and paddled away, unaware that his friend had begun to come to.

Izuku breached the surface and took a breath, the cool night air filling his lungs. His second eyelids slid over his eyes and cleared away any water that had remained there. Just as he had hoped, the thing had remained where it was, bobbing up and down, nearly invisible in the dark of the night. For a moment, Izuku admired the stars overhead, watching as they twinkled brightly and reflected on the surface of the water. Far above, surrounded by the shimmering dots, was a thin waxing crescent moon.

Izuku had only ever seen the night sky once before, when his mother had accidentally woken both Kacchan and himself up when she had gone up for a breath of air. They had chirped questioningly at her until she broke and took them to the surface. Both of them had gaped at how much the surface world changed at night. The moon had been half full at that point, but his Mama told them that at some point, it would be full and bright.

Pulling his gaze away from the sky, Izuku set his sights on the thing that hadn’t moved at all aside from the gentle rocking motion caused by the waves. Staying above the water, he swam closer, his legs kicking excitedly. However, before he could get close enough to even think about touching it, something grabbed his left back leg. Izuku’s fearful yip was muffled by the water as he was dragged under the water. He thrashed and kicked at his attacker, before a familiar growl reached his ears.

Kacchan looked furious. His eyes were smoldering, and his chest heaved as he breathed deeply. His clawed hand dug into Izuku’s ankle as he growled louder, his earfins flaring out. Izuku whimpered, not used to being the reason for his pod brother’s ire.

“Izu, what are you doing?! This is dangerous!” He snarled, swatting Izuku with his tail.

“Ow! Kacchan, that hurt!” Izuku whined.

“Good! Maybe you wont be stupid again if it hurts.” The blonde growled in response. “What are you doing out here?”

Izuku pointed towards the surface. “I saw a thing! A new, really weird thing! I want to see it.”

Katsuki looked up at where Izuku was pointing. “Birds aren’t new, stupid. We see them almost every time we go up there.”

“But it’s not a bird! It’s big and black and it’s just sitting on the water not going anywhere.” Izuku insisted. “Look, I’ll show you.”

Katsuki shook his head. “We’re gonna be in a lot of trouble already, I don’t make it worse.” He grumbled.

Izuku frowned, before an idea popped into his head.

“Really? ‘cause I think you’re just scared.” The greenette purred teasingly. The youngest Bakugou visibly stiffened, before a snarl sounded out.

“Fucking fine! Lets go Izu!” Katsuki shouted, grabbing Izuku’s hand and dragging him along with him.

“Kacchan! Swear!” Izuku gasped. Katsuki merely growled in response, tugging him along harder.

Together, they resurfaced and looked towards the thing that Izuku had mentioned. For a moment, Katsuki’s fearlessness and bluster falters, his face scrunching up in confusion and tinged with fear, but he shakes the expression off like it’s water. Slowly, they swam forward, eyeing the alien object with wonder and suspicion. Tentatively, Katsuki reached forward and touched the smooth, black thing. It didn’t respond at all, and it was rather cold to the touch.

“There, we saw it. It’s not even that cool, so lets go before my Mom rips both our heads off.” Katsuki huffed, unwilling to admit that the object unnerved him.

Without waiting for Izuku’s response, he dove back down and began swimming away. He did slow long enough to make sure that Izuku was actually following him before increasing his speed. He knew that Izuku could not keep pace with him, a result of his strange anatomy. It was not the boy’s fault, but that didn’t stop Katsuki from teasing him about it occasionally.

“Kacchan! Kacchan wait for me!” Izuku chirped.

“Kac- hurk!”

Katsuki froze. He whipped around, his crimson eyes searching for his pod brother.

They found him.

Izuku’s body writhed under the restraint of something that Katsuki had never seen before. It looked like thin, woven, silvery seaweed that was coated in algae in some places, but that wasn’t what Katsuki was focusing on. No, his eyes were drawn almost painfully towards the not-seaweed that was wrapped around Izuku’s neck, causing the green haired pup to choke as he feverishly tried to free himself.

“Izu!” Katsuki yelped, rushing over to try and help his pod brother. He clawed and bit at the constrictive material, but it refused to yield, even as he tore at it ravenously with all his strength. For the first time in his life, he was glad that Izuku hadn’t been born with gills, as the not-seaweed was rubbing against Izuku’s neck rather harshly, turning the pale, freckled skin an angry red as it dug in deeper.

When it became obvious that his efforts weren’t enough, Katsuki began to panic. With no regards to his pride, he began to scream for help.

“HELP! MOM! DAD! AUNTIE! ANYONE! WE NEED HELP!” He cried, fear evident in his voice. He wanted to swim back and rouse his pod from sleep, but the fear that Izuku would die before he returned was too great, so he could do nothing more than try to bite through whatever it was that had a hold on Izuku. Briefly, he hoped that a hero would arrive to save his friend, but he pushed that thought aside. He couldn’t rely on heroes for this, even if he really wanted to.

Suddenly, Izuku was jerked back, a ragged cough escaping him as the thin material that was pressed against his neck dug in with so much force that it bled. Katsuki barked in alarm as Izuku was dragged towards the surface, his face contorted with pain. Desperate, he bit down on the not-seaweed and began to propel himself backwards with his tail. Distantly, he could hear the panicked calls of his pod as they tried to find their two missing members. Without releasing the silvery material, he began chirping as loudly as he could, trying to guide them.

His cries were soon cut short as he was pulled out of the water. As air filled his gills, he too began to choke, suffocating as he was lifted out of the sea. His eyes met Izuku’s, and he saw both panic and realization flash through his pod brother’s emerald orbs.

“Ka-kach’n, le’ go.” Izuku wheezed, pleading with what little breath he had left. “y’ll die.”

Katsuki shook his head as best as he could. He refused to let Izuku face all this alone, not when it was Katsuki’s job to keep him safe. He had promised Auntie Inko, promised himself, that Izuku would always be safe.

Unfortunately, Izuku didn’t seem to care about his promise, as with a muffled “S’rry Kach’n”, Izuku drew back one of his forelegs before striking Katsuki directly in the face, leaving a series of scratch marks on the blonde’s cheek. The pain and shock of Izuku’s last ditch effort to save his only friend caused Katsuki to unclench his jaw and fall back into the water with a wordless howl.

Izuku stared at where Katsuki had fallen, tears welling up in his eyes as his vision began to blacken. His air was gone now, the last of it having been used to apologize to Kacchan. He never thought that he’d have to hurt someone to save them. He wondered, as his vision dimmed completely, if heroes ever had to make difficult choices like that, and how they ever forgave themselves if they did.

A rough, calloused hand grabbed at the net, hauling it’s contents up and onto the deck of the ship. A tiny, unmoving lump was just barely visible in the nearly nonexistent moonlight. The owner of the hand unclasped a flashlight from their belt and turned it on, shining the beam of light onto the lump. Gradient green and turquoise scales shimmered slightly, as did the creature’s dark red back platting.

“What the fuck?” A deep voice breathed.

“Is it a mer?” Another, far more nasally voice asked.

“I think? I mean, it’s all fucked up below the torso, but I can’t think of what else it could be.” The first voice’s owner responded. They placed the flashlight into their mouth and began untangling the net, watching as the little creature took in a deep, shuddering breath.

“Christ, never seen one like that before. They just keep gettin’ weirder.” The nasally voice sneered.

“Well, maybe someone will want to stuff it or cut it open. Either way, it’s probably worth it to keep it alive. I’ll toss it in with the others when we get back.” The deep voice replied.

A violent shriek pierced the night air, startling the two humans. Something slammed against the hull of their ship, causing it to rock violently.

“Shit!” Both yelled. One scrambled to start the ship’s engine while other tucked the little pup under their arms as they went below deck. Another blow to the hull nearly sent the deep voiced human crashing to the floor, but they just managed to catch themselves.

The shallow water inside a small, dirty tank that had been bolted to the floor sloshed as the human opened the top and placed the pup inside, stopping just long enough to hastily tie some gauze around it’s neck. Hands gripped the tank as the boat’s engine started and they began to move. For a brief moment, their gaze flickered towards the thin window that lay just beneath the surface level.

Green eyes pierced through the darkness and into the human’s soul, their pupils nothing but hair-thin slits. They held a frightening amount of rage and sorrow, and somehow, the human knew that if that creature ever got the chance, it would not hesitate to tear his throat out.

Chapter Text

Hizashi growled for what seemed to be the millionth time today. He strained against the metal chains that kept him stationary, his tail shaking with the force of his muscles as he once again cursed his own foolishness. If he hadn't rushed blindly forward, perhaps he would still be free and able to call for back up. But how was he not supposed to react like that? He swore, up and down, that he had heard a pup crying out for help. As a Pro Hero, cries for help were something that he heard regularly, but there was something about the way that the cries had sounded so full of pain and fear that had compelled him to act irrationally.

Something moved on the other side of his glass prison, and Hizashi felt his body tense up. The room he was being kept in was dark, so he couldn’t see who, or what, was moving. He heard the muffled sound of a door opening slowly, as if whoever was on the other side didn’t want to draw Hizashi’s attention. Jokes on them, he always knew when someone was trying to be quiet, a talent honed by years of being around Shouta. He flicked his earfins forward, straining to catch any extra sounds that the room’s new occupant might make. To his horror, he heard the voice of the human who had not only imprisoned him in this living hell, but had also been taking samples of his blood.

“Did you find another one?” His captor asked.

‘Another what?’ Hizashi wondered

“Mhm. Somethin’ wrong with it though.” A new, deeper voice replied.

Silence reigned for a moment, before the first voice hummed.

“Interesting. Very interesting. Put it with the other pups.”

‘Pups!’ Hizashi’s mind kicked into overdrive as he began to struggle once again. There were pups being kept in this horrible place! Who knew what these monsters were doing to them!

“Oh, someone didn’t like that. Hmm, I wonder… Carson, turn on the light. I want to see how riled up we can get this specimen.” His captor said.

The second person grunted in acknowledgement, and before he knew it, Hizashi found himself being blinded by a flash of light. His pupils shrank before he closed his eyes with a loud hiss. Once the throbbing pain receded, he blinked away the dark blotches that filled his vision and looked towards the direction of the voices. His heart leapt up into his throat before plummeting into his stomach, turning his blood into ice.

An impossibly small pup wrinkled it’s nose and curled into it’s self, a shimmering green and red spiked tail curling over tiny, scaled legs. The pup’s lower half reminded him of a creature he had seen once during one of his rare trips into human society. It had been kept within a large enclosure, and one of the animal’s keepers had been feeding it in front of the audience. He remembered being in awe of the creature’s strong jaws and enormous size. If he remembered right, the humans had called it a crocodile.

He stared in shock at the pup, before his mind finally processed the situation the little one was in. Their neck was sloppily wrapped in bandages, and Hizashi could see that blood had seeped through most of them. The pup was small enough that half of it’s body would have fit into the human’s large hands, yet their captor was handling them roughly, gripping their chest and tail with far more force than what would have ever been necessary. An instinct that had been quietly building in Hizashi since he and Shouta had become mates roared to life, filling him with a need to protect the pup. He snarled and jerked his tail hard, not even registering the slight cracking sound that accompanied it. His earfins rattled in rage as he bared his teeth, his pupils turning to slits.

“Get your hands off of them!” He shrieked. A muzzle had been placed on him to quiet him and prevent him from biting them, but his Quirk-enhanced voice broke through the device and rattled the glass of his tank.

The pup jolted into consciousness at the sound of his shout, unintentionally flinching. The young mer began to wail in pain as the edge of one of their bandages caught on one of their claws and were pulled tight around their neck, aggravating the wounds that lay beneath. Hizashi froze at the sound, his mouth snapping shut in horror. He watched helplessly in terror as the human who wasn’t holding the pup grinned maliciously. He grabbed the now sobbing infant and held them up to Hizashi.

“Intriguing. You don’t know this young pup at all, yet you try to defend it as if it were your own. I wonder, are you all like this, or is it because you in particular are at the stage in your life where you would be having pups? So many mysteries. I wonder what you’re thinking right now.” The human pondered, tilting his head ever so slightly.

“I’m thinking that as soon as I get out of here, you are going to be deaf for the rest of your sad, miserable life.” Hizashi growled, despite knowing full well that the human couldn’t understand him.

He looked at the pup again, and his heart absolutely shattered upon seeing that the baby was trying to reach out for him, knowing instinctively that they would be safe with an adult. Hizashi wanted so desperately to reach back, but his hands were bound in front of him. He could only stare apologetically at the pup and try to make comforting sounds. However, it soon became obvious that the pup would not be able to hear him unless he shouted, and he didn’t want to risk frightening them again.

“Oh, now this is just sad. Alright, I’ve had my fill of fun for the day. Carson, clean this one up and put it in the pup tank. I’ll be back in about a week, but I assume that won’t be a problem?” The human asked, handing the pup back to the human who Hizashi guessed was Carson.

“Of course not boss. I’ll make sure everything runs smoothly while you’re gone.” Carson replied, taking back the pup who was now desperately trying to reach Hizashi, letting out weak chirps of fear. A cry of sorrow escaped the older mer’s lips, becoming muffled by his glass prison.

Hizashi’s instincts were screaming at him, but he could do nothing to heed their calls. He cried out in panic as Carson walked towards a set of double doors and away from Hizashi’s line of sight.

“No! No, leave them alone you sick bastard! Please…” His voice broke at the end of his plea. There were pups, little, potentially hurt pups in this place, and he could do nothing about it.

He thought back to why he had been patrolling on the day of his capture in the first place. There had been a sudden disappearance of young pups around different Pro Hero’s territories, including his own. Was this where they had ended up? Trapped in this Gods forsaken place with no one around to protect and comfort them? He lowered his head and glared down at his restraints. He would find a way out of here, no matter what. Those little pups deserved freedom at the very least.

Izuku breathed heavily as the large creature that had held him took him away from the loud mer that he had just been looking at. He had looked so scared and sad, yet his loud voice and obvious anger at the strange creatures that had captured them somewhat reminded Izuku of Katsuki, and that shred of resemblance made him desperately want to be close to the stranger. He could feel his body begin to shake violently as he hiccuped. The place he was in was dim and smelled horrible, and Izuku couldn’t suppress a gag as a sharp, acidic scent filled his nose and mouth. His captor said something in a language that he couldn’t understand before dropping Izuku onto a cold, gray slab of stone.

Izuku curled into himself as the things around his neck were removed. The smell of blood briefly overwhelmed his senses, before a soaked cloth that reeked of something Izuku could not identify was placed on his cuts. Immediately his wounds burned, and the greenette didn’t even try to suppress the shrill scream that tore up his throat. He tried to scramble away, his legs flailing uselessly as he tried to figure out how to move now that he no longer was in water. A calloused hand pressed against his lower half and pinned him to the stone, the creature muttering in it’s strange, rough language. Izuku sobbed as the cloth was rubbed over all of his cuts before finally being replaced by the same material from before. This time, the material was wrapped tighter, and it no longer stunk of his own blood.

After a moment, he was picked up again, but Izuku squeezed his eyes shut. He was in a world of pain, and he didn’t want to see whatever horrible thing was coming next. Then, he was suddenly falling, and his eyes snapped open reflexively as he yelped in fear. Water filled his vision just before he hit it, the sting of the impact barely even registering over the pain of his previous injuries. Izuku blinked, frozen in shock for a few seconds before his mind forced him to become aware of the fact that he had swallowed some water upon impact. He flicked his tail and surfaced, spitting out the water and taking a moment to cough. The action made his throat feel even worse than it already did, but it was necessary to insure that no water remained in his throat.

“Are you okay?”

Izuku shrieked and spun around, his legs kicking out as he attempted to swim backwards. A brown haired pup with equally brown eyes gasped and sunk down in the water, clearly startled by the sudden movement. Izuku’s breathing resumed it’s rapid pace as he stared at the new mer in front of him. Slowly, he nodded.

“U-u-um, I j-just swallowed some water. Wh-who are you?” He stammered, his voice shaky and raw.

The hazel eyed pup smiled at him. “My name is Ochako Uraraka, whats yours?”

“I-izuku. Izuku Midoriya.” He responded, calming down slightly. “Um, where am I?”

She frowned at his question, looking down sadly. “I don’t know. None of us do. All we know is that this is somewhere far away from home and that it’s the worst place ever.”

“We?” Izuku squeaked.

Ochako looked up and nodded. “Mmhm! There’s lots of us! Come on, I’ll introduce you to them.” She said, grabbing Izuku’s hand and pulling him under the water.

Izuku quickly spotted the others that Ochako had spoke of, as there was nowhere in their strange, tiny ocean to hide. There were seven of them, and they were all different types of mers. Izuku’s eyes widened as he took in their features, committing them to memory. They all looked at Izuku with wide eyes, looking surprised by his arrival.

“Hey everyone, this is Izuku!” Ochako chirped happily, pulling Izuku forward gently.

“Hi.” He said softly, wiping at his eyes.

The first of the group to approach him was the second biggest pup. He had deep blue hair and eyes to match. A long, blue sail with black and silver dots ran along the majority of lower half and ended near the end of his tail. Six small, shiny cylinders poked out of his tail on both sides.

“Hello! I am Tenya Iida, but you may call me Tenya, since I think we’re going to be stuck here for a while.” He said, his arms chopping through the water as he spoke. One of his arms was wrapped in the same material that Izuku’s neck was wrapped in, and the smaller boy chirped in concern.

“What happened to your arm?” He asked, his ears flicking back.

Tenya looked down at his arm and grimaced. “I cut it trying to escape those big monsters that brought us here.” He looked up at Izuku’s neck. “What happened to your neck?”

“I got stuck in something when I was exploring with-!” Izuku gasped.

“Kacchan! Oh no, he’s probably so worried! Oh, and Mama and Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru are going to worry too!” He put his face in his hands. How could he have forgotten his pod so easily?

Tenya crooned empathetically, his earfins drooping. “I know how you feel. My brother and my parents are probably freaking out right now. Most of our families almost certainly are.”

“Yeah, my mom and dad always seem to get scared whenever I wonder to far ahead, so I don’t even wanna think about how they feel right now.” A boy with yellow hair that had a black zigzag through it spoke up. His lower half was that of an eel, and it was black in colour, with a few zigzag stripes and small spots of yellow running along it. “Hey there, I’m Denki Kaminari, but just call me Denki!” He said, flashing Izuku a grin.

“I think all our parents are scared for us, kero.” A small, female pup added. She had big frontal fins on her lower half, and they almost seemed to work like Izuku’s own legs as she padded forward on them. Her tail was bright green with two sets of black and yellow stripes running down her sides, and her hair was green like Izuku’s, only hers was a darker shade. She looked at Izuku with large, dark eyes. “My name is Tsuyu Asui, but please just call me Tsu.

“Not mine. They abandoned me a few days before I got caught.”

All eyes turned towards the biggest pup in the group. He was skinny, unhealthily so, and he had dark bags beneath his eyes. He reminded Izuku of how his mother had looked during his early weeks of life. His purple hair was wild and unkempt, and his pupils were a startling white. His lower half was almost teardrop shaped and was constantly changing between a deep purple and a dull gray.

“I think my Quirk scared them, so they left me to die.” His soft yet bitter voice came again, and Izuku was filled with a deep sadness. Without thinking, he rushed over and hugged the bigger pup.

“I’m sorry your parents left. They’re bad for doing that.” He said, pressing his face into the other boy’s chest. He felt the pup tense, before slowly returning the hug, resting his chin on Izuku’s head.

“Wow, I forgot how nice hugs feel. My name is Hitoshi Shinsou, or, I guess, just Hitoshi now.” Hitoshi said quietly. Izuku hugged him tighter.

“I think that’s the first time you’ve spoken since you got here.” A calm, almost flat voice said.

Izuku turned his head and looked around. A boy with half white, half red hair, a lower half that reminded him of Auntie Mitsuki’s tail, and the prettiest eyes Izuku had ever seen swam forward. “My name is Shoto Todoroki, but just Shoto is fine.”

He extended a hand, and Izuku took it after a moment of confused hesitation. Shoto shook it once, and Izuku shook back, not really understanding the gesture.
The last pup to introduce themselves was a raven haired boy with a striped red shark lower half. He grinned and quickly swam right up to Izuku, causing Hitoshi to tense up and hug the smaller pup tighter.

“Hi! I’m Eijiro Kirishima, but a lot of the mers here just me Kiri, so you can too!” He chirped happily.

“Eijiro, only Ochako, Tsuyu, and Denki call you that.” Tenya argued.

“I told you that you could call me Kiri, and Shoto and Hitoshi don’t count because they never talk to me.” Eijiro argued back.

“I talked to you once.” Shoto said.

“Yeah, when you threatened to scratch my gills if I didn’t back off.” The raven replied.

Shoto blushed and rubbed his arm. “I was frightened, okay? I wasn’t really going to hurt you.”

“Hey, it’s no problem bro! I think we were all scared when we first got here.” Eijiro said, spreading his arms. “Right guys?”

A soft chorus of “yeah”s and “right”s sounded out. Izuku merely nodded. He was still scared, terrified even, but Hitoshi’s hug kept him calm and made him feel safe, or as safe as he could feel right now.

Suddenly, a looming shadow fell over them, and all the pups went silent, pressing themselves flat against the bottom of their tiny confinement. Hitoshi tried to hide Izuku with his body, hissing as a large hand reached down into the water. Unfortunately, their captor was unaffected by his tiny threat display and simply knocked the purple haired pup aside and grabbed Izuku by his lower stomach.

Izuku squeaked as the hand squeezed his tummy and pulled him upwards. Tenya and Kiri tried to nip at the hand, but their efforts were in vain. He wiggled and thrashed as he was ripped away from the comfort that he had just found, chirping loudly. He could hear the others calling for him, but the monster that held him snapped at them in it’s strange language, silencing them for a moment. As he was carried away from his new companions, he gave them a final, sorrowful goodbye chirp.

Carson grumbled to himself as he walked over to the examination area. He had forgotten to get information on the newest asset before he placed it in with the others, so now he had to listen to their pathetic noises. At least the one in his grasp had fallen silent. He glanced at a clipboard that hung on the wall beside the metal table. First on the list, figure out the sex of the asset. He grimaced and reached into a box of rubber gloves, grabbing two and pulling one onto his free hand, before switching and covering his other hand. Once that was done, he flipped the asset on its back and held it firmly as it tried to squirm away. A quick check proved the asset to be male, so he reached over to a jar on the examination table, grabbed a pen, and checked off ‘Male’ on the asset’s information chart.

The second step was identify the species. He didn’t even have to look at the asset to answer that one. He wrote down crocodile/alligator. Third up on the list was to identify any injuries or disabilities. Nothing seemed off about this asset, so he simply wrote that it had lacerations on it’s neck. Finally, he had to check if the asset was showing signs of any abnormal abilities. Carson grabbed a knitting needle and jabbed the asset in the stomach with it, not using enough force to break the skin, but enough to make the creature try and fight back. It cried loudly and flailed it’s legs, trying to scratch him, but nothing else. Satisfied, he picked it up and brought it back to the tank, tossing it in. The violet haired asset darted up and grabbed it, baring it’s teeth. The big one with blue eyes puffed itself up and swam in front of all of the others, growling and snapping at him as he left the room.

Izuku cried into Hitoshi’s chest, his tummy throbbing with pain. Hitoshi purred weakly and held him close. He heard Ochako coo sadly and whined as she began to groom his hair. More bodies appeared, and soon, almost the whole group was pressing close to him. Kiri eventually convinced Tenya to stop pacing and come join the huddle. Both boys wrapped their tails around Izuku and hid him from sight as they cuddled close. Izuku sniffed and sobbed softly, feeling exhausted, pained and hungry.

“Its okay. The monster is gone for now.” Tenya chirped quietly, rubbing Izuku’s back. He tried to emulate what his brother did for him when he was upset.

“I’m sc-scared. I wanna g-go home!” Izuku wailed. Denki pressed closer to him, nodding his head.

“Me too. I miss my mom.”

Kirishima nuzzled the blonde, grooming his hair comfortingly. Shoto, who had been the most reluctant to join in the huddle, wrapped his tail around Denki’s own.

“I miss my mommy too. Her hugs always made things better.” He admitted, his eyes becoming misty.

The others chimed in, mentioning their own loved ones as they tried to take their minds off of their situation. After a few hours of comfort and snuggles, Ochako and Izuku had to leave the huddle to surface for air. Wearily, they glanced around, trying to spot any danger. When none appeared, they took in a breath of stale,acidic air before ducking back down. Izuku heard his tummy rumble, and he pouted.

“I’m sooo hungry! Do we ever get to eat?” He asked, settling down on the cold bottom of the tiny ocean, leaning on his side. Hitoshi nodded.

“One of the monster’s puts some little brown things in here sometimes. They taste icky, but it helps with the hunger.”

Izuku scrunched up his face and sighed, staring up at the surface of the water. He thought about the night sky, letting himself imagine that he was somewhere else, anywhere else.

Anywhere but here.

Chapter Text

For the next two weeks, Izuku and his friends remained in their miserable, cramped tank. Their human captor did indeed feed them tiny pellets every other day, which was a far cry from the amount of food they should be eating. It was enough to keep them alive, but not enough to where they would have the energy to fight back much whenever Carson had to pluck them from the tank for examination. What the little pups didn’t know was that they were being put up for auction, and soon, potential buyers would be coming to look at them in order to decide which pup they might want to purchase. Hizashi was also up for sale, but most people who were looking to go behind the law’s back and purchase an illegal animal wanted to raise them from infancy, so not as many people would be interested in him. Carson had gotten a few messages, mainly from people who either wanted to eat the mer, or use him in illegal exotic fighting rings.

The ill-tempered human lit a cigarette as he waited for the first buyers to arrive. He had been surprised by the amount of people interested in purchasing the newest asset. Apparently, many of them found the pathetic creature to be “cute” or “outrageously adorable”. Personally, he didn’t see it. To him, it was just another whiny animal that he had to insure stayed alive and in marketable condition.

He took a drag from the lit cigarette, exhaling the smoke. He watched it mingle with his breath in the frosty air. The facility that housed the assets was far more north than he was used to, and the fact that fall was well into setting in didn’t help things. As time passed, he absentmindedly eyed the glow of his cigarette, his foot tapping with slight impatience. However, he didn’t have to wait for much longer, as discreet vans and cars began to show up. Men and women wearing expensive clothing exited their vehicles and began to form a small crowd. Carson removed the cigarette from his mouth and tossed it onto the ground, stamping out any embers that remained. He straightened his hair and fixed his collar before addressing the crowd.

“Alright ladies and gentlemen, form a line and follow me. Be forewarned, the asset just before we reach the pups is highly aggressive. It can’t hurt you, but it will try. Try not to startle to bad.” He said, making sure everyone heard him before opening the sturdy metal door that led into the building.

The group followed Carson into the facility, chatting among themselves.

“Oh, I can’t wait to see that little green one! He’s so adorable!” One woman squealed.

“I think that the brown haired female is pretty cute too. Would make a nice addition to my aquarium.” A man said.

“Do you think the one with the white pupils is blind? Or is it just part of it’s power?” Someone asked.

“The form said that the only thing wrong with it was a cut on it’s tail, so I’m going to go with the second thing.” Another person replied.

The voices were cut off by gasps and startled shrieks as they entered the room with the adult asset. It was thrashing around violently, trying to break it’s tail free of the restraints. It stilled upon spotting the room’s occupants, swirled lime green eyes staring at group of potential buyers with what seemed like confusion.

“Ignore that one, unless of course violent is what you’re looking for. The pups are just behind this door. You may handle them, but I do ask that you be mindful of their teeth and claws. Oh, and try not to aggravate any injuries they have.” Carson spoke in an uninterested tone. The adult asset’s earfins perked up when he spoke, before flaring out aggressively. It snarled and hissed, trying once again to free itself. A few curious customers stepped closer, but most were quick to follow him into the next room.

“GRAAARW!” A loud roar rang out, echoing around the room.

Carson clapped his hands over his ears and winced. The muzzle muffled most noises, but it seemed that the asset could force it’s enhanced voice through when it really wanted to. The few who had been brave enough to go closer to the tank immediately backed up and rejoined the group, holding their hands over their own ears. He grimaced as he remembered that he would need to take it off tomorrow in order to feed the damn thing.

“MOVING ON!” He yelled, quickly pushing open the door.

The group moved into the next room even as the adult asset screeched at them, eager to escape the loud creature. However, Carson didn’t notice that one of the group members stayed behind.

A woman, who was dressed in a comfortable red dress, approached the tank even as the creature within snarled at her. She took a deep breath before looking up at the caged mer.
“Hey, hey it’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.” She said, holding up her hands. “I’m here to rescue you from this horrible place. But I need to know, can you really understand me like the stories say?”

The mer blinked, his earfins perking forward as he stopped snarling and thrashing. After a long moment, the blonde haired mer nodded once, his pupils turning back into orbs.
The woman breathed a sigh of relief and wonder. “Okay, that’s going to make things so much easier. Listen, I’m working with people who are going to get you and those pups out of here, but I need you to promise me that you wont attack them.”

The mer nodded again, his earfins fluttering in excitement. She smiled. “Great. I have to go into the other room now, but I promise that none of the pups will be taken by those people.”

With that, she slipped into the next room, leaving the mer to go back to his task of freeing his tail.

Izuku was roused from his, fitful, uneasy sleep by Denki. The eel mer was rapidly nudging him, trying to get him to wake up. He hissed as he moved his head towards the blonde pup, the scratches on his neck aching as he shifted. They had been hurting for a while now, and the pain wasn’t going away.

“Zuku! Zuku get up!” He chirped, his earfins fluttering nervously.

The nickname had been given to him around a week ago, and was used by Kiri and Denki. Hitoshi called him Izu, and the others simply called him Izuku.

“Mnn, what is it Denki?” Izuku asked, sleepiness heavy in his voice. His ribs were poking out from his sides, and sleep no longer staved off the feeling of exhaustion that seemed to follow all of them around these days. His head was pounding, and he felt hot.

“There’s lots of monsters now.” He whimpered.

Despite being very tired, Izuku forced his legs to work as he scrambled upward, his pupils dilating. Now that he was more awake, he could hear Tenya, Hitoshi, and Shoto weakly growling at the tall, scary figures that now surrounded them. Ochako was floating over Tsu, trying to hide the dark eyed girl from view. Izuku pressed close to Denki, using the small electric shocks he was unintentionally letting off to help keep himself awake and alert.

“W-when did they get here?” He asked shakily, staring fearfully up at the surface of the water. He needed to surface soon, but his fear kept him from swimming up.

“I don’t know. I heard a loud noise coming from somewhere else, then they all just appeared.” Denki whispered. He started letting out small, frightened warbles. “I’m scared Zuku.”

“Me too.” Izuku whispered back. His eyes somehow managed to widen even further as a hand reached down towards him.

“NO! I DON’T WANNA GO!” He shrieked, chirping loudly in terror.

Denki gasped and tried to shock the hand, but the lack of food and sleep had sapped him of his strength and energy, so he was forced to watch as Izuku was dragged away from them once again. Like before, Tenya and Kirishima tried to help the green haired pup by tugging weakly at the hand, but even with Shoto joining their attack, their efforts did nothing.

Tenya cried in frustration and sorrow as Izuku was pulled closer and closer towards the surface. Kirishima’s sides heaved beside him as he panted with stress, his pupils little more than pricks of black amidst a sea of crimson. Shoto just stared at where Izuku was, his earfins flat against his head as he seethed with as much anger as his small body could handle over the fact that he couldn’t help his terrified friend. When the hand brushed against Izuku’s neck, causing him to yelp in pain, something inside the distressed pup snapped. Using what little energy he had left, he screamed in anguish and bit down hard on one of the large fingers, his claws breaking the skin.

And that’s when it happened.

Once his palms made contact with the monster’s skin, something poured out of his hands with alarming speed. On his left side, small bursts of yellow, orange and red flickered briefly, bubbles cascading upwards faster than Shoto thought possible. On his right side, a thin coating of a bluish-white substance spread across the monsters skin, crackling slightly.

Before he could even begin to understand what he’d done, the hand jerked violently, releasing Izuku and dislodging Shoto. Izuku was sent sprawling into the water, while Shoto was slammed against the invisible barrier that was keeping them trapped. He coughed, the water being forced from his gills. He sunk to the bottom, unable to move properly. His ribs ached, and his hands hurt a lot. He could hear voices, but he couldn’t understand what was being said. His head was filled with ringing, so he pressed it against the cool bottom of their container. His eyes slipped closed, and sleep took him.

Carson cursed loudly and ripped his hand out of the tank. Blood gushed out of the small bite wound, but that wasn’t what concerned him at the moment. His hand was simultaneously burning and freezing, and he was feeling very stupid and very angry. He should have known to wear gloves, especially around that asset. It’s dual hair coloration and heterochromia should have tipped him off that there was something dangerous about that particular asset, and now he was paying for his ignorance. A few customers gasped when they saw his injuries.

“That little thing did that?” A man with combed black hair breathed.

“Yes. Despite their appearance, these creatures can posses great power. Usually it doesn’t manifest till they’re older, but obviously there are exceptions.” Carson hissed, running his burn under cold water as he tried to pick the ice off his skin.

“Amazing.” A portly gentleman remarked, looking down into the tank. “I say, I may just have to purchase that exquisite animal. It would fit perfectly in my collection.”

“Eugh, too dangerous.” A snooty woman sniffed. “The two little green haired ones are far more preferable. They’re much more docile.”

“I think the one with the large fin could be a good breeder. Looks like it’s power has also already manifested.” A man with golden locks speculated, rubbing his chin. “And while it is rather protective, it doesn’t seem overly aggressive like that other one.”

“I kinda want to know what they taste like. Think they taste like fish?” A lady with silvery eyes asked. A few scrunched up noses were her only reply.

Carson growled slightly, feeling his hand throb with pain. “If you’re willing to pay for them, I don’t care what you do with them. Are we ready to start the auction?”

The group nodded, with the exception of one person. A smaller, less fancy looking woman with strawberry blonde hair and brown doe eyes waved her had with an air of dismissal.

“Go ahead, I’d like to view the assets a bit longer, if that’s alright.” She said, sounding almost bored.

Carson narrowed his eyes slightly but nodded. “Sure. Just don’t take too long or you’ll miss the opportunity to bid. Auction room is down the hall, first door on the right.”

The woman nodded and returned her gaze to the tank. Carson shrugged and ushered the other potential buyers out of the room. The auction room was farther in, and was much nicer than the containment rooms. With one final glance back, he shut the door when the last person had made it through the doorway.

Jacklyn sighed in relief when she heard the sturdy door click shut. Reaching into her pocket, she fished out her phone and sent a quick text to one of her co-workers. Now that she had sent confirmation that this was indeed the right building, help would be arriving soon. Tucking her phone back into her pocket, she looked around the room for a pair of gloves and some food. Even though the water was disgustingly cloudy, Jacklyn could see that all of the pups were starving, and most were injured. Her biggest concern, however, was the male pup with the crocodilian lower half. When their unsavory host had picked the baby up, she had seen the bandages wrapped around his neck. The skin near the bandages was red, hinting at an infected wound that lay beneath the wrappings.

After a few moments, she managed to locate a pair of rubber gloves and a bottle of brown fish food pellets. She grimaced at the piss poor food option, but it would have to do until she and her team could move the pups to their facility. She put on the gloves and unscrewed the bottle’s lid, pouring a generous amount out into her gloved palm. Walking back over to the tank, she gently lowered her hand into the water, making sure that she didn’t come too close to the undoubtedly traumatized pups.

Ochako cowered beside Izuku as they tried to wake Shoto from his sudden sleep. While she understood that they were all sleepy, this was no time to nap! Once again, Izuku nudged their friend, whimpering loudly.

“Shoto, Shoto get up! Please.” He cried, nosing his cheek.

A sudden noise caught all of their attention, and Ochako stiffened when she saw another one of the monster’s hands, a different colour than before, dip into the water. However, through the heavy scent of fear that clung to herself and her friends, Ochako thought she smelled food. Her mouth watered as the smell grew stronger. She glanced over towards Kiri, who seemed to have also smelled what she smelled. The redhead looked fearful, but when his tummy growled loudly, he slunk forward cautiously. She and Denki followed, just in case the hand tried to grab Kiri. Much to their surprise, the hand barely moved, only tilting slightly to allow them better access to the mushy brown food. Normally, she would have hated eating the mush, but now her tummy cried out for it.

Deciding that eating would be worth the risk, she nibbled on some of the offered food, not even tasting the soggy pellets as she began to take bigger bites. A less survival driven part of her mind took over her thoughts after she stopped feeling so empty, and she grabbed a few of the pellets to take back to her friends. Kiri and Denki followed her lead after filling their bellies a bit, scooping up armfuls of mush.

The trio distributed the food to their very grateful friends, but Izuku didn’t even nibble at it. He grimaced and turned away from the mushy pellets, even as his tummy rumbled loud enough for them to hear. Hitoshi grabbed a chunk of food with his mouth and nudged at the smallest pup’s mouth, trying to get him to eat. Izuku just whined and shifted again, curling his tail over his head. Hitoshi’s earfins drooped as he watched his friend refuse to eat even when the purple haired boy knew he was starving. Out of all of them, Izuku ate the least, slowly eating less and less as the days went on. He warbled in concern and tried again, nosing Izuku’s tail out of the way and pressing the chunk onto the other pup’s lips. A weak growl had him backing up however, and he decided that simply leaving the food where Izuku could reach it would be for the best. Slowly, he swam back over to the small pile of mush and tried to help Tenya wake Shoto up so that he could eat.

Luckily, the smell of food was enough to get the boy to awaken, and he eagerly began eating, letting out soft, happy chirps as he ate. Once he was done, he looked over at where Izuku was, frowning when he saw that the green haired pup wasn’t eating.

“Izuku, why are you not eating? Aren’t you hungry?” He asked, tilting his head slightly.

“Mnn, I can’t, M’ throat hurts too much, Shoto.” Izuku murmured weakly.

“Your… throat?” Hitoshi repeated, swimming back over. He reached out a hand to touch Izuku’s neck, but the other boy whirled around and hissed as loudly as he could, his face twitching with pain.

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” He snapped, moving away from Hitoshi. His eyes were glazed slightly, and he squinted, rubbing at his face.

“I- I’m sorry ‘toshi, I didn’t mean to yell. I’m just so tired and my neck really hurts…” Izuku’s apology was cut off as he fell over onto his side, his eyelids sliding shut as he fell into the darkness of unconsciousness, not hearing the panicked shouts of his friends.

“Shit.” Jacklyn cursed. She had been watching their fascinating social behaviors and had noticed that the littlest one was refusing food that was offered to him. Before she realized what was happening, he collapsed, causing the other pups to become distressed.

The sound of a door being kicked open pulled her attention towards the door she had come in through earlier. Men and women in police uniforms pointed a gun at her, before realizing who she was and lowering their weapons.

“Out that door and down the hall. They’re in the first room on the left.” Jacklyn said quickly, pointing to the other door. The police nodded and rushed over to the door, allowing members of her team to file in behind them.

“The smallest one just collapsed. I think he has infected wounds on his neck. Carl, Chloe, think you can set up one of the small transport tanks? We should quarantine him until Sunny can look at him.” She asked one of her teammates.

A young man and woman with matching fluffy blonde hair nodded and quickly left the room, rushing back out to their truck. The remaining three members set about gathering up any information they could find about the mers that were imprisoned here. While they handled that, Jacklyn reached back down into the tank and attempted to grab the unconscious pup. However, it seemed as though the other pups had reached their limits, as they all attempted to either shield their defenseless companion or attack her glove. The females and the heterochromatic pup laid on top of the green haired pup, while the rest of the group latched onto her glove and frantically tried to tear it apart. It broke her heart to see such young, intelligent creatures being forced to act feral and aggressive in order to protect their most wounded group member.

“Sorry little guys, but I have to take him. I promise you’ll be together again soon.” She said in a reassuring and apologetic tone. She reached in with her other hand, startling the pups that were guarding the greenette. They puffed themselves up and swiped at her. Jacklyn could see that they were hissing at her, their jaws open wide and their earfins were fanned out as far as they could go. The pups that were attacking her other hand noticed too late that their friend was being taken, so Jacklyn was able to get the injured pup out without risking her exposed upper arm.

As soon as the pup was out of the water, the sound of frantic chirping filled the air as the other baby mers surfaced, the water being churned as they swam in place. It took every ounce of willpower she had not to place the pup back into the water just to stop the sad, desperate noises. As she watched tears spill down the pup’s faces, she was reminded of why she wanted to take this job in the first place. These creatures truly were almost humans, and she was going to prove it. They deserved rights, and by God she was going to make the public see that.

Readjusting the pup, she walked through the door that led into the room with the adult mer. His eyes immediately locked onto the small figure in her arms, and a look of horror and shock came across his face. He pulled on his restraints, looking at Jacklyn with desperation. His tail was free now, the restraints having finally broken under the strain he had placed on them, and it was curling and flexing as he floated in his cloudy tank.

“Sorry big guy, but we need to bring in another truck for you. Don’t worry, I’m going to get this guy the help he needs.” She said, giving the mer a comforting smile. The mer still looked worried, but he bowed his head in reluctant acceptance, his earfins flicking in annoyance.

Jacklyn sighed and made her way to the next door, shoving it open with her shoulder and making her way down the final hallway. She could hear the police sirens as she pushed against the sturdy exit door. Flashing red and blue lights filled her vision as she made her way to the large truck that her team used for their retrieval missions. Chloe helped her up into the truck and showed her where they had set up the tank. Carl handed her a specially packed first aid kit.

‘Will he be okay?’ Carl signed, wincing as he looked at the terrible state of the soaked bandages.

“Yes, but we need to hurry and get him proper treatment. Can you and your sister go and help the others get the other pups into the main tank? Make sure you wear gloves.” Jacklyn signed back as best she could with an unconscious pup in her arms.

Carl nodded and began gathering some gloves while Jacklyn removed the thick gloves she had been wearing and focused on removing the gauze that had been wrapped around the pup’s neck. She swore under her breath when pus and blood stuck to the bandages as she pulled them off. As she had feared, their were several infected lacerations on the male’s neck, likely caused by a net. They hadn’t been treated properly, and no doubt were causing the poor baby to be in a lot of pain. His skin was warm to the touch, so she guessed that he had developed a fever.

“Oh you poor thing. Can’t seem to catch a break, can you?” She whispered. Gently, she set the pup down in her lap and put on a pair of sterile rubber gloves.

She grabbed the most mild sedative she had and flicked the syringe, making sure their was no air bubbles. She wasn’t a veterinarian or a doctor, but she was a nurse, and a mer’s upper half was practically the same as a human, so she knew where to put the needle. After a moment had passed, she set about cleaning the wound. She wiped away any pus and blood that was on the outside of the cuts before lightly squeezing them to get out any pus that was still inside. The wounds would need stitches and would definitely scar, but the back of a small transport truck was no place to be preforming such a potentially dangerous procedure. Instead, she would keep the pup sedated, and would put proper waterproof bandages over the cuts to keep them clean until they got to the care center.

As she finished applying the bandages, she pet the pup’s damp hair. The tiny baby shifted closer in his sleep, seeking out the source of comfort. As gently as she could, she lifted him up and placed him into the quarantine tank. He sank to the bottom and laid there, limp and almost dead looking. She slid the lid over the tank, secured it, double checked that the heater and filter were working properly, and finally switched off the tank’s overhead light.

After a few minutes, she could hear the sound of another truck pull up. This one was bigger, and Jacklyn was glad to know that the adult would be transferred soon. Not three minutes later, her teammates began to leave the building holding squirming bundles, followed by police officers as they brought out the people they had placed under arrest. Her team quickly rushed into the truck and deposited the pups into the bigger tank, removing the soaking wet cloths that they had placed on their necks. The little creatures floated for a moment, looking confused, before noticing that there were places they could hide in this tank. In the blink of an eye, all seven of them disappeared from sight, darting away to hide behind fake rocks or inside plastic logs.

As her teammates put away any paperwork they had found, she joined the team that had arrived to move the adult mer. She didn’t work with them often, but she sometimes spoke to them during break, so they weren’t total strangers. They wheeled a gurney that was covered in wet towels into the first containment room, and Jacklyn wondered briefly just how much this mer weighed. He had looked rather skinny, but his tail was still powerful and quite large.

“Hey big guy, I’m back! You ready to go?” She asked joyfully.

The mer gave her a look that seemed to say ‘You should already know the answer to that”, but she could tell that he was happy by the flicking of his tail and the ruffle of his earfins. She grabbed a step ladder and pushed the lid off the cylindrical tank.

“Okay buddy, we’re gonna have to grab you and pull you out, so try not to scratch us, okay?” Jacklyn warned. “Steve, come help me with his torso. Amir, Macintosh, get ready to grab his tail.”

“Yer sure he won’t attack us?” Macintosh asked, his strong Scottish accent tinged with concern.

“Yes, I’m sure. Ready?” Jacklyn replied.

They nodded, and with great effort, they managed to lift the blonde mer up and out of the tank. As quick as they could, they placed the now gasping creature onto the gurney and draped the wet towels over his gills. Jacklyn patted his tail gently.

“You’re gonna be okay now. We’ll fix you up and get you back to the ocean in no time. The pups too.” She said quietly.

The mer stared at her and exhaled loudly, his form visibly relaxing as he closed his eyes and lowered his head, looking utterly exhausted. She didn’t blame him. He had probably been fighting to escape for the entire duration of his capture. He deserved a rest.

“Come on. Lets get this guy into the tank. Is the main tank ready for the transfer?” She asked Steve.

The stout, black haired man nodded and began wheeling the gurney out the door and down the hall, watching as Jacklyn moved to the back to hold the mer’s curled tail.

“Yeah. The doc oversaw the whole thing and she said that they should be comfortable there while they recover. We puttin’ the babies in with this big fella?” He questioned, sucking in his gut as he squeezed through the exit doorway.

“Once they’re well enough. Some of them are in pretty bad shape, and will need to stay in recovery until they’re strong enough to be put into the main tank. Hopefully they get along with the other pups. I can’t believe there’s so many that have been taken away from their families.” Jacklyn sighed sadly.

“How many is there now?” Amir asked.

“12, if you count the ones that we’re bringing in now.” She replied.

“Jesus.” Steve muttered.

“How have so many gone missing? Shouldn’t their parents be watching them?” Amir pondered aloud.

“I think these sick bastards have been luring them somehow. My team found some video recording equipment that’s designed to work underwater, so maybe they’ve been recording and playing their parent’s calls.” Jacklyn theorized, grunting as they lifted the gurney into the back of the truck.

“Motherfuckers…” Macintosh growled, lifting the mer’s upper body into his arms as he helped the group placed the now sleeping creature into the tank. His eye’s flickered open for a moment, hypnotic swirls glancing around to look at his saviors, before closing them again, content with his new surroundings.

Jacklyn held the mer up as Amir set about removing the muzzle and hand restraints as the others secured the tank and collapsed the gurney, his eyes flicking over towards the sleeping mer’s face, watching for any signs of him awakening. After about 10 cursing filled minutes had passed, Amir proudly chucked the muzzle and restraints away, watching as they clattered on the floor of the truck.

“There! No more of those horrible contraptions!” He cheered, leaning against the tank as Jacklyn lowered the mer fully into the water, easing him onto the tank’s bottom.

“Great. The other truck has already left, so lets get going. We should be able to get back before dawn if we leave now. Who wants to stay back here with me?” She asked, shaking her wet sleeves and sending a spray of droplets everywhere.

“I’ll stay with ye lass. Steve, Amir, go jump in the front and get the truck started.” He said, settling down on one of the bolted down chairs.

Jacklyn slid down next to the tank as she waited to feel the rumble of the truck. Her eyelids drooped as she realized how tired she really was. She yawned and rested her head against the tank, blinking a few times. As the truck’s engine roared to life, she closed her eyes and let the familiar hum lull her to sleep as the vehicle drove away from the horrible facility.

Chapter Text

When Izuku awoke, he was alone.

For as long as Izuku could remember, there had always been someone with him when he opened his eyes. Now, there was nothing but silence. The only noise he could hear was the sound of his heart hammering against his chest. Looking around, he realized that ,one, there was something sticking into his arm, and two, he wasn’t in the water.

Indeed, instead of the comforting familiarity of soft sand, or even the chilly hard bottom of the tiny ocean, he instead was laying on something that he had never seen or felt before. It was soft, but not in the same way that sand was soft. The material was pink in colour, and had yellow starfishes all over it. The sight of the starfishes made Izuku’s tummy rumble, and he swatted one, eager to get it into his mouth. However, his claws merely caught on the material, revealing that it was, in fact, not food.

Izuku whined and lowered his head, noticing how his neck no longer hurt as much. There was a dull ache, but it was nothing compared to the burning pain it had been before. He stared straight ahead, looking at the multiple silvery stick-like things that were blocking his view somewhat. He chirped once, calling for his friends. No calls answered him, and that made him start to get scared again. He began chirping loudly, hoping that someone would answer his cries.

The sound of quick, consistent thumps reached his ears, and Izuku quickly found himself wishing that he had just stayed quiet, because the form of one of the monsters appeared before him. He backed up as much as he could before his tail hit a solid wall behind him. He breathed heavily as the monster did something that made the silvery sticks move aside before it ducked it’s head to look at Izuku. This monster was much different than the previous one. Instead of cold, cruel eyes, this monster had dark, glittering eyes that reminded Izuku of the sky at night. A smile was on the large creatures face, and that confused the young pup. He hadn’t known that monsters could smile.

It spoke in its weird language, but this monster’s voice was much softer, and it made no move to grab Izuku. Instead, it patted the ground in front of it, the soft material being squished down by it’s large, clawless hands. Izuku eyed the creature with suspicion, but slowly inched forward, keeping his head low as he crawled. The monster’s smile widened, and it reached into a tiny pouch on it’s chest and produced a strip something that was pale pink in colour. It held it in it’s hand, offering it to Izuku.

The pup sniffed the air, and his mouth immediately began to water. It smelled so good. He forgot his fear and pounced on the scrap of food, relishing the flavour as he scarfed it down. After two weeks of being inconsistently fed brown, icky mush pellets, a taste of fresh meat was much appreciated. Once he had finished, he licked his lips and looked up at the creature. Monster didn’t seem like the right word anymore, so creature would have to do until Izuku thought of a better name.

A few soft fingers pet his hair gently, and Izuku felt himself relax, leaning into the touch. It reminded him of how his mother would smooth down his hair before he went to sleep, and he let out small, happy chirps, closing his eyes as he felt a wave of calm wash over him.

The creature spoke again, and Izuku warbled in surprise as he was lifted up and into the air. However, the creature quickly moved him so that he was leaning against it’s chest, and he calmed once more. He felt safe like this, and now he could have a better view of his surroundings. This place was new, and Izuku instantly liked it better than the Worst Place, because this place was bright and colourful. Shells and shiny stones made pretty pictures on the walls, and there was no strong, stinging smell. Instead, the faint scent of the sea filled his senses, and he purred softly, feeling content.

The creature, who he decided to name "Smile", removed the thing that had been attached to his arm, which he was grateful for since it had begun to itch, and carried Izuku over to a big rectangle that had a shiny thing sticking out of it. The creature grabbed it and turned the object before pulling it forward. The smell of the ocean punched Izuku in the nose as they walked through the hole that had appeared, and he squeaked happily when he saw a big, open area. The creature set him down, and he ran for the water. Plunging into the warm water, he swam about happily, his tail whipping about. As he swam, he spotted a familiar mop of ebony hair. "Kiri?" He called, his voice squeaky. The other pup froze, before barreling towards Izuku. He yelped in surprise, but was unable to move out of the way in time to avoid being tackled to the ground. "ZUKU!" Kiri cried, bringing him into a crushing hug. The greenette squealed in excitement and wrapped his arms around the other's chest. "We all thought that you'd died! You've been gone for eight days, Zuku. Where did you go?” He cried, his voice muffled by Izuku’s hair.

Izuku’s eyes widened in surprise and he pulled back slightly. “E-eight days?! But, but I can’t remember anything about what happened after I yelled at Hitoshi… Kiri, what happened?” He asked, sounding utterly horrified.

“Once you fell over, one of the nice monsters took you away. We tried to stop them, but they tricked us and grabbed you before we could do anything. We all thought that you had died. Everyone was panicking, but ‘toshi was the worst. He wouldn’t stop screaming and clawing at the nice monsters when they touched him, but once they took us here, he kinda just… went away. He barely eats, and he hasn’t been talking to us lately.” The other pup explained, sounding very upset.

Suddenly, he gasped and held Izuku out in front of him, his eyes bugging out. “Ohmygoshohmygosh! The others don’t know that you’re okay! Come on, we have to tell everyone and introduce you to the new guys!” Kiri exclaimed, grabbing Izuku’s hand and pulled him along. The green eyed pup chirped in surprise but began swiftly paddling and moving his tail back and forth.

“New guys? There’s more of us?” He warbled in shock.

“Mmhm! There’s Momo, Hanta, Kyouka, and Mina! They’re all super duper nice and cool. You’ll love them, and I’m sure they’ll love you too!” Kiri chirped, his fins flapping in excitement. Izuku grinned and kicked his legs faster, eager to be reunited with his friends and ready to make new ones.

Tenya pushed around a moss ball, watching it tumble over the sand. This new place was amazing, but he couldn’t bring himself to fully enjoy it. Everyone who had been in the Worst Place felt the same, because they were missing a member of their pod.

A pod. When had they all decided that’s what they were? Was it that day when Izuku was thrown into their lives? Was it one of the many nights when they had all huddled together to stay warm while they slept? Or was it when their smallest member was taken away from them forever?

A pair of hopeful green eyes flashed across his mind, and the young Iida felt sick again. He had tried so hard to keep his friend safe, they all had, but it hadn’t mattered in the end. He had been too small and weak to save Izuku, and now they were all suffering because of that fact. Hitoshi had gone silent and refused to interact with anyone, even the pups they had met on their first day here, choosing instead to hide away in dark places, coming out only to eat. Denki moped about and slept more than he needed to. Kirishima and Shoto took to roaming the pool aimlessly, disappearing for hours on end. Ochako and Tsuyu had stuck close to him, and Tenya had been there through too many crying fits and nightmares to count.

Their new companions tried to offer comfort, but although they had come from a similar place, they hadn’t lost any members of their small group, so they couldn’t really understand how Tenya’s pod felt. However, they did help somewhat, and Tenya found himself enjoying Momo’s company almost as much as he enjoyed his podmate’s company. They came from similar families, and it was nice to be able to talk to a mer who had similar experiences. Denki seemed to be making fast friends with all of the new pups, and they were the only ones who could get him to stop sleeping and start playing. While that fact hurt Tenya’s pride slightly, he was glad that the eel mer did something other than lay on the sand and stare into space.

With a heavy sigh, the sailfish crossed his arms and rested his head on them. His earfins twitched slightly as a distant sound reached him. It sounded like Kirishima’s voice, which was odd, because Kirishima usually didn’t return for a few more hours. The voice came again, and this time Tenya raised his head and pushed himself up, pricking his earfins forward.

“-ve! Guys, Zuku is alive!” Kirishima’s loud, cheerful chirp rang out, and Tenya realized that he must be dreaming, because that was impossible. Yet, he couldn’t remember falling asleep. He rubbed at his eyes, but he didn’t snap awake like he expected. Instead, he remained as he had already been, awake. Which meant…

Tenya threw himself towards Kirishima’s voice, his mind not even registering the sound of his other podmate’s disbelieving voices. As the sand that had been stirred up by his sudden movement began to settle, he sucked in a sharp breath, becoming overwhelmed with emotion as he locked eyes with a pair of shining green eyes that were filled with happiness and relief.

“IZUKU!” He cried, the engines on his tail activating as he surged forward, tackling the smaller boy and pushing them both down into the sand. He felt Izuku latch onto him as they rolled into a sideways position, his tail thumping rapidly as he chirred in pure joy. His heart hammered against his chest as he pulled Izuku close to him, the crushing feeling of guilt and sadness finally fading away.

“Tenya? Tenya!” Izuku cried, nuzzling his neck and presenting his own so that the blue haired pup could do the same. Tenya had just pressed his face into Izuku’s neck when Ochako’s entire body weight slammed into his exposed side, sending them tumbling once again. She sobbed and repeated Izuku’s name through hiccuping gasps as she wormed her way into the hug, rubbing her cheek against Izuku’s, who also began crying at the action.

After only a few seconds, the embracing mers felt little shocks race along their skin as a crying Denki wrapped his arms around Izuku’s waist, his electric yellow eyes full of tears as he buried his face in Izuku’s hair, too emotional to speak. Kirishima tucked in beside the blonde, joining in the huddle. Tsuyu was the last one to join, since she had been the farthest away when they had heard Kirishima’s call. She was ribbiting rapidly, and her large eyes were becoming red as she latched onto him, her face pressing against Izuku’s tummy as she shook.

“You’re all here! You didn’t leave me!” Izuku sobbed, nuzzling whoever he could reach, his tail wiggling joyfully. “I was so scared when I woke up alone.”

“Of course we didn’t leave you! We would never abandon you like that!” Tenya barked, sounding shocked. He began to smooth down the other boy’s hair with his claws, brushing the wild locks. “You’re part of our pod, and I promise that we’ll do everything we can to make sure that you stay with us from now on.” He said in a quieter voice.

Izuku’s heartbeat increased at those words, and his big, wet eyes looked up at Tenya and the others with so much hope and adoration that it almost hurt.

“W-we’re pod? Really?! You mean it?” He whispered. The other pups nodded with as much enthusiasm as they could manage.

“Of course!” Ochako spoke up, her voice wobbly and scratchy. “We- we thought you died, Izuku! And, and we were so sad! It was like, like-”

Her sobs were interjected by Denki, who lifted his head slightly. “Like a piece of us had been taken away. All of us felt empty.”

“Especially Hitoshi, kero.” Tsuyu added, her voice sounding soft and muffled.

Izuku sniffed and looked around, his vision blurry from crying so much. He scanned over his gathered podmates, but he noticed that two of them were missing.

“Where is Hitoshi? And Shoto?” He warbled, confused. He looked around again, just to double check, but he couldn’t spot them.

Kiri rubbed his arm, his curved claws tickling his skin. “Shoto has been wandering around this pool like I have, which is how I found you, but ‘toshi… well, I told you how he’s been.”

Izuku warbled sadly and pulled away slightly, much to the discomfort of all the other pups. “Do you know where he is? I really want, no, need to see him. I needed to see all of you.” He purred and leaned back in to nuzzle his podmates. When Denki eagerly pressed his face against Izuku’s neck, he trilled happily when he realized that, for the first time since they met, Izuku’s scent was only slightly muddled by the strange white material that was wrapped around his neck, no hint of blood or sickness mixing in with the fresh, calming scent.

“Zuku, your scent is back to normal!” He purred, little shocks zipping along his tail.

“Was it… weird before?” Izuku chirped questioningly, his right eye closing as Tenya rubbed his cheek against his own, a light, citrusy scent washing over him.

“You smelled like you were sick, kero.” Tsuyu spoke up, pausing in her low, croaky purrs.

“I felt really bad for a while, but I feel much better now!” Izuku said in response, rubbing at his neck. “My neck still hurts a bit though.”

“Well, you did say that you had gotten cut there, so that makes sense.” Ochako added, purring and resting her face on Izuku’s collarbone.

Izuku hummed in agreement, before finally breaking away from the huddle. “Okay, I need to go find Hitoshi now. Can you guys go find Shoto please?” He asked, looking out across the expanse of the pool.
His podmates nodded and spread out in different directions, looking for their dual-haired friend. Izuku surfaced for a breath before beginning his search for the absent purple haired older pup.

Hitoshi stared blankly at the smooth surface of the rock that filled his vision. It wasn’t interesting in the slightest, but then again, nothing was these days. Interesting things happened, that he was sure of, but nothing was interesting to him.

He sighed, his gills fluttering slightly. His heart hurt, and he felt so tired, even though he spent most of the day sleeping. He wasn’t even interested in exploring his new home, which was much better than where he had come from. There were lots of places to hide, and the water was warm and clean and comforting.

‘Izu would have loved it here…’ He thought sadly, his eyelids sliding shut as he imagined how happy his dear friend would have been, how his green eyes would have sparkled in the light as he swam around, no longer trapped in a small, cramped space.

Maybe he would have started to get better, then he wouldn’t smell so sick all the time. Maybe his throat would have healed. Maybe…
He shook his head and buried his face in his scarred arms. Maybes didn’t matter anymore, because Izuku Midoriya was gone, taken away from Hitoshi by a creature too big for him to fight. His parents had been too big for him to fight too. Would Hitoshi always be too small and weak to fight back? Would he ever be able to save those he loved? Or would all his new friends, his only friends, be stolen away? He didn’t want that, didn’t want to be left all alone again.

‘But you’re alone right now, aren’t you?’ A cold, biting voice whispered in his mind. Hitoshi’s earfins flicked down as he whined, shivering slightly.

It was true. He had been alone for a while now, as he only crept out of hiding to eat. His friends, his pod maybe? They tried to get him to stay and to comfort him, but they didn’t really understand how he felt. They all lost Izuku, but others all had someone else, some loving sibling or parent, that would comfort them once they were reunited. Hitoshi? Hitoshi had no one. Izuku had been his comfort, the only one to give him the affection he craved so desperately. The younger pup hadn’t been afraid to snuggle up to him at night, tucking himself under Hitoshi’s chin and purring softly as they fell asleep. Once Izuku had arrived, the others had become less weary of him, and after a few days, they had joined in their cuddling, becoming a tight-knit huddle of warmth and freely given gentle touches. The sensation had been so alien to Hitoshi, yet he had embraced it hungrily.

He missed that greatly now. While the water here was warmer than the Worst Place, his small body isn’t built to retain too much warmth for an extended period of time without help. He shivered again as he pressed himself into the sand, frowning deeper as the gritty substance pricked at his skin. The familiar feeling of sleep tugged at him, and he welcomed it, not hearing the faint call as he drifted off.

Izuku chirped again, his little webbed feet paddling through the water as he searched for his missing podmate. Tenya had given him an idea of where Hitoshi may have disappeared to, so he prowled along a collection of dark gray rocks. Colourful starfish stuck to the stones, and Izuku’s tummy rumbled again. He swam closer to one of the bigger rocks and picked a large, dark red starfish off and bit down on the rough creature. He peeled off the bumpy exterior and scarfed down the morsel. His throat burned slightly, but his tummy felt heavier, fuller. Izuku licked his teeth and began hopping from rock to rock, crouching down and peeking under each one. Finally, he caught a glimpse of something that wasn’t sand or a prickly urchin. A light purple fin ruffled slightly in the faint current, and when Izuku ducked his head under the rock, he saw the boy he had been searching for.

Hitoshi lay asleep in the sand, his head hidden in his arms. Izuku trilled in joy and paddled over, his claws scraping at the sand as he moved close enough to snuggle up to the older pup. He nosed at Hitoshi’s cheek and purred loudly, rubbing against him as he inhaled the other pup’s calming scent. It wasn’t something he could identify, but it made him feel relaxed. The closest thing he could compare it to was the small flowers that his mother had shown him once.

Hitoshi shifted and wrinkled his nose in sleepy confusion, his senses dulled by sleep. Izuku reached up a clawed hand and gently bopped him on the nose, chirping excitedly. He snorted and growled softly, rubbing at his face. After a moment, white pupils met Izuku’s own, and Hitoshi froze, his breath hitching in his throat. His pupils constricted rapidly, and Izuku cocked his head with a silly smile and chirped at him again, trying to break Hitoshi out of his stupor. The older pup sniffed the water, and his pupils suddenly expanded from their pinprick state.

“Izu,” Hitoshi breathed, reaching out shaking a hand to touch Izuku’s face, who rested his cheek on the open palm. “Izu is that- are you really here? Or am I dreaming?” His voice broke at the end, tears beginning to form at the very edges of his vision.

“It’s me, I’m here. I’m real, okay ‘toshi?” Izuku replied, his own eyes becoming watery.

Hitoshi's body shuddered as he took in a deep breath, and before he knew it, he was wailing into Izuku's curly locks as he pulled him in
to the tightest hug he could manage. The greenette began to sob as well, a distressing yet relieving sound that had Hitoshi crying even louder. Izuku was alive, and that's all Hitoshi needed to know.

"Hh- heh- how? How are y-y-y-you..." Hitoshi's questions were muddled by his cries as he wrapped his tail around Izuku's as best he could.

"The nice creat- creatures saved me! I think they made me all better." Izuku replied, pointing to his neck, which was free of it's odd wrappings. "See? M-my neck doesn't hurt anymore!"

The purple haired pup nosed at Izuku's neck gently, needing to confirm for himself that Izu was alright. The scent of something fresh and alive filled his senses, and Hitoshi purred in content. Gone was the scent of sickness and fear, replaced by something far more fitting for the physical embodiment of all that was good in the world. Well, at least all that was good in Hitoshi's world.

The faint smell of fish hit Hitoshi's nose, and his stomach growled. The scent came from Izu's mouth, and it reminded him that he, and likely Izuku, had yet to have a proper meal today. Softly, he nudged Izu towards the exit of his little hiding spot.

"Come on, let's go eat. I'm starving." He said, reluctantly untangling himself from Izuku but keeping a firm hold on his hand.
Izu laughed as his own stomach rumbled. "My tummy agrees with you 'toshi! Let's go find the others and some food!"

Shoto flicked his tail lazily, scanning the sand for anything interesting. So far, he had managed to find a piece of driftwood that was shaped like a fish, a broken shell, and a piece of green coral. He thumbed the fish-shaped wood absentmindedly, stroking its smooth surface. He’d been through this area a few days ago, but he didn’t care. Being away from everyone else helped him forget. Forget about where he had come from. Forget about the friend he had failed.

His Quirk thrummed beneath his skin, new and wild. It itched to be released, to have Shoto use it to take out all of his pain and anger, but Shoto was afraid to activate his Quirk. It was powerful, and he didn’t know to control it. The power that flowed through his body frightened him, and he wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to bring himself to use it.

“SHOTO!”

The pup’s head whipped around, his eyes wide with surprise. Denki was racing towards him, a huge grin on his face. The shockingly energetic blonde stopped just short of Shoto and caused the other boy to back up slightly, lest he be shocked by the little sparks that were bouncing off Denki’s skin.

“Shotoyou’llneverguesswhathappenedit’sZukuhe’sherehe’s-” Denki’s rambling was cut short when Shoto slapped both his hands over the yappy, zappy pup’s mouth.

“You said Izuku… why?” He whispered shakily.

“Heb alibe!” Denki said, his ecstatic voice muffled.

Shoto’s earfins dropped in shock, along with his jaw. As his mind screamed in confusion, Denki grabbed his friend’s hands and began pulling him along. Shoto swam with him obediently, still not having fully comprehended what the other pup had said.

After a solid 20 minutes had past, the two of them finally reached the area where they usually slept. It was a small patch of sand surrounded almost entirely by tall kelp and smooth stones. They had dug out a shallow, mock nest that almost everyone piled into when it was time to sleep. Shoto’s wide eyes flicked over the nesting area, and found a mop of fluffy, bright green hair emerging from kelp. After a second, the rest of the owner followed, and the young Todoroki locked eyes with someone he thought he would never see again.

“IZUKU!” Shoto cried, his earfins ruffling in pure joy. The young pup’s head shot up and Izuku grinned hugely at the other boy.

“Shoto!” He chirped loudly, releasing someone’s hand and swam forward, his little legs furiously pumping as he propelled himself through the water.

Shoto trilled happily and pounced forward, grabbing Izuku and pulling him into a hug, nuzzling him fiercely. Izuku pressed his face into Shoto’s neck and began scenting him, rubbing his cheek against the soft skin.

“You’re alive, you’re alive…” He whispered, grooming Izuku’s hair with his claws.

“Hey, it’s Hitoshi! Hi ‘toshi!” Denki cheered, swimming over to the older boy, who had also come out of the kelp.

“Hi Denki.” Hitoshi said softly, nuzzling the blonde’s cheek. Denki chirped and nuzzled him back, before circling him and nudging his sides.

“Hitoshiiii, you look like you just came from the Worst Place! Have you not been eating anything?” He whines, flicking him with his tail disappointingly.

The rumble of both Hitoshi’s and Izuku’s stomachs had Shoto and Denki leading the other two pups towards where they were fed, chatting cheerfully with them as the others began to join them. Everyone eagerly greeted and scented Hitoshi, who was unused to all the attention being on him. Soon, they were near the edge of the pool, and Tenya, Kiri and Tsu surfaced, chirping loudly. The others waited patiently below the water, and soon the sound of other voices became audible. Izuku cocked his head and nervously moved behind Shoto and Hitoshi as four new pups swam towards them.

“It’s grub time!” A pink mer trilled loudly, twirling in the water. Her pink tail with black stripes accidentally whacked one of her companions, a pale, black haired mer with circular bumps on his arms and a long, black, yellow and white tail.

“Hey, watch it Mina!” He hissed.

“Oops, sorry Hanta.” Mina apologized.

A mer with purple hair, long string-like ear extensions, and a black and pink tail with large triangular fins sighed exasperatedly and swam closer to the final pup, a girl with long black hair and a black tail with a white stripe on both sides.

“Momo, they’re gonna start fighting again.” She said, her earfins flicking in annoyance.

“Just ignore them Kyouka, they’ll calm down once they start eating.” Momo said, giving her a smile.

The group paused all conversation upon seeing a not-so-hidden Izuku, who had curled his legs and tail up to keep them out of sight. Mina gasped.

“Oh. My. Gosh! Are you Izuku?! Denki told us all about you!” She trilled, rushing over and peaking over Hitoshi’s tail, who bristled at the close contact. The purple haired boy had barely interacted with the other pups, and he didn’t trust them.

Izuku nodded slightly and snuggled closer to Hitoshi, who nudged Mina back.

“Back off, you’re scaring him.” He growled in a flat tone.

"Aww but I wanna meet him! I thought you guys said he died?" Mina continued, tilting her head and gasping again when she saw Izuku's feet. She grabbed one and held it up, unintentionally flipping a frightened Izuku onto his back. "Whoa, what the heck are-"

"I said BACK OFF!" Hitoshi snapped, his earfins fanning out. Mina's pupils went completely white and she robotically moved back, much to the shock of everyone else. Once she was far enough away, Hitoshi looked away and blinked, subconsciously freeing Mina from his Quirk's control. He hated using it, but he felt justified in using it against someone who didn't know how boundaries worked.

"Hitoshi, was that your Quirk?" Tenya asked, a fish held firmly in one hand. The older boy nodded once, but didn't meet Tenya's gaze.

"Bleh, what was that?" Mina questioned, shaking her head. Momo eyed Hitoshi wearily and kept a comforting hand on Mina as she spoke.

"I don't think we've met. Who are you?" She asked, looking him up and down.

Hitoshi met her gaze and grimaced slightly. "Hitoshi... Shinsou. My Quirk is Brainwashing and I was born with it."

"Brainwashing... That's..." Izuku's voice piped up from behind Hitoshi, and he winced and braced himself for the inevitable disgust.

"That's so cool!" Izuku's eyes sparkled as he spoke, and Hitoshi felt a crushing weight lift off his chest. If Izuku liked his Quirk, then he didn't care what the others thought.

“It’s kinda scary.” Mina squeaked, ducking behind Hanta.

“You’re scary!” Izuku snapped back, still half hidden behind Hitoshi’s tail.

Before the two could start to bicker, Ochako popped up in between them.

“HEY! Can we eat first? I think we’ll all feel better if we have some fish!” She chirped quickly, holding a few fish in her arms. The pup’s earfins flicked out in intrigue, and everyone calmed down as they each gathered a few silvery fish to eat.

Izuku sat squarely in the middle of his pod as he ate his meal, cuddling up to Shoto, Tenya and Hitoshi. He was so close that he could feel the rise and fall of their chests as they breathed. For the first time since he had been captured, he felt completely at peace. The group occasionally offered strips of pale meat to each other, something that podmates did with each other. Once every rumbling tummy had been quieted, Izuku glanced over to the group of four pups who were laying a little ways away. He felt bad for snapping at Mina, so he tore off a chunk of his last fish and paddled over to her. She eyed him curiously, unsure of what the greenette’s intentions were.

Izuku set the chunk down on a stone that was sitting in the sand and backed away, scratching at the ground awkwardly. The pink mer sniffed at it, before purring and grabbing it with her sharp teeth. She smiled at Izuku, and he smiled back, no longer feeling a sense of hostility from the other pup. Mina ripped the chunk in half and offered one half to Izuku, who took it eagerly.

After they had all finished eating, the pups began to yawn and rub their eyes. Slowly, they all found a cuddle partner and began to drift off, holding onto each other so they wouldn’t be separated in sleep. Momo and Hitoshi fell asleep last, the two sharing a silent understanding of the other’s need to keep watch. Finally, the sound of their podmate’s quiet snoring lulled them into a dreamless sleep.

Chapter Text

Hizashi paced along the walls of his enclosure, his tail flexing as he moved back and forth. The urge to leap over the smooth, featureless walls was borderline maddening, but he resisted. He couldn’t let the humans know that he could change his tail into legs, and besides, the spell required for it to work was taxing, and he needed his strength for the long trip that no doubt awaited him when they finally released him.
Sighing, he slumped down and curled his tail around his wrists, rubbing at the ring-shaped scars that covered them. His bindings had sliced open his skin over and over during his capture, and he was worried that the ugly circles of marred skin would take a long time to fade. There was a similar, wider scar on his tail where the shackle had dug into his scales, but that one was less noticeable, as there were many scars that already littered his tail.

‘I hope Shouta doesn’t mind having to look at a few more scars.’ Hizashi thought to himself.

Suddenly, there was the sound of splashing coming from the surface, and Hizashi uncurled himself and peered upwards. A slim hand was patting the water, its owner trying to get his attention. He swam upwards, surfacing a few feet away from the edge of the enclosure. The human that had spoken to him the night that he had been rescued smiled at him warmly.

“Hey big guy, how are you?” She asked cheerfully.

He gave her a short trill in response.

“Good! Ready to go see those pups? The little one just got put in the pool a few days ago, and they all seems stable enough that we can introduce you to them!” She cheered, waving her hands.

Hizashi grinned and barked happily, his fins fluttering in excitement. Finally! He had been worried sick, wondering about what had become of the pups, especially the little crocodillian pup. If the humans were letting him see them, then that meant that they would be released soon.

The human dipped a towel into the water and held it out to him. Hizashi swam closer and let her drape the towel over his gills. She stood and motioned for Hizashi to follow him, so the Pro Hero hauled himself up and crawled across the smooth, cold floor. After a minute of crawling, the human led him to a sandy shore that led into the pups’ pool. He gave her another smile, before he plunged into the water. This pool was warmer than his own, so Hizashi had to float for a moment and let his body adjust. Once he no longer felt like he was going to overheat, he flicked his tail and began swimming through the clear, warm water. Hopefully, his appearance didn’t frighten the pups.

Izuku hummed as he bounced along the sandy floor, his little tail propelling him forward. Clutched to his chest were a few brightly coloured shells. Ochako and Momo had wanted to decorate the nests, so he, Tenya and Kiri had offered to go look for things to decorate with.

Stooping down, he plucked a shiny stone out of the sand and added it to his collection of neat things. It was round, smooth and pink, so he figured Ochako would love it. A little ways away, he could see another shell peaking out of the sand. With a little chirp, he hopped up into the water and paddled over, his webbed feet clawing at the water and pulling him forward. Just as he reached the shell, a sound caught his attention. It sounded like… singing?

Izuku had heard his Mama sing a few times, her voice always slow and calming, lacking words but getting emotions across regardless. This song was much the same, although it was deeper than his Mama’s songs. Curious, Izuku set down his shells and stone and swam towards the voice. It wasn’t a voice that he recognized, but he didn’t feel scared. Some instinct told him that he wasn’t in any danger. Still, his encounter with the scary monsters had taught him to be cautious, so as he got closer, he ducked behind a rock so that he would be out of sight.

He didn’t have to wait very long, as a figure swam past his hiding place. Izuku blinked in awe as the mer he saw the day he had been taken to the Worst Place. His curled, black tail had a line of white markings running down its sides, and large, plated scales ended abruptly on his stomach, revealing a stretch of smooth, pale gray skin that had a pouch. Two yellow dorsal fins fluttered in the current as the big mer moved forward.

Excited, Izuku chirped at the other mer, his tail wagging. The song stopped abruptly as the adult whirled around, his swirled eyes wide. The other mer was frozen for a minute, before he trilled and scooped Izuku up, pulling him close to his chest. The feeling of being embraced by an adult made memories of Izuku’s mother flow into his mind, and Izuku began to purr shakily, snuggling up to the other mer. He hadn’t realized it, but he was starving for some affection.

“Oh my Gods, you’re okay! You’re okay, you’re safe. I’ve got you.” The older mer soothed. Izuku’s tail curled around his wrist as he held on tightly, not wanting to be put down. He sniffed as he thought about his Mama, his eyes stinging as he began to cry silently.

“Oh dear. It’s okay little listener, it’s okay.” The other mer said, rubbing Izuku’s back with three fingers.

Izuku nuzzled the chest beneath him, shifting his body to get comfortable. A deep, rumbling purr reverberated throughout his body, and he felt his eyes drooping as he relaxed. He chirped softly and he lay still, his shaky breaths evening out again as they began to move.

Hizashi kept glancing down at the nearly snoozing pup in his arms. The scarring around the poor pup’s neck made him angry, and he regretted not being strong enough to break free of his confinement. If he had managed to free himself while being trapped in that place, the walls and floors would have been covered in human blood. Such thoughts may not have been very heroic, but he didn’t care. He knew that even All Might would have gotten needlessly violent if he had been in Hizashi’s place.

The little one shifted again, and Hizashi found himself automatically re-positioning the pup in his arms. He and Shouta had practiced holding pups in anticipation of one day having their own. A jolt of loneliness shot through him at the thought of his mate, and he exhaled softly. Sho never did like it when Hizashi came home late, as he worried for him. He couldn’t even imagine how frantic his mate must be. Hizashi hoped that Shouta wasn’t exhausting himself looking for him.

The sounds of squeaky clicks and chirps pulled him out of his depressed musings, and he realized that he had come across the rest of the pups. They hadn’t seen him yet, but the sound of their voices roused the little listener in his arms. He sat up and chirped at them, drawing their attention. All commotion stopped as they stared wide eyed at Hizashi. However, after a few seconds passed, two of the pups perked up.

“Mic!” One of the pups cried out, and Hizashi realized that he knew those pups.

“Shoto! Tenya!” He called, opening his free arm to pull them into a hug.

They were here! The missing Todoroki and Iida pups! Both families had been wracked with worry and grief, especially the Todoroki’s who had already lost a child. The loss of their first son had made both Rei and Enji Todoroki very overprotective of their remaining children, especially over their youngest, Shoto. The Iida’s weren’t negligent either, and they usually kept a close eye on their two boys, Tensei and Tenya. And yet, here they were before him, chirping and nuzzling up to him. As the other pups approached, he recognized more and more of them, although he didn’t know them personally. He had seen the little ones being carried by their parents or playing with their siblings around the large territory he had the other Pro Heroes protected.

In fact, he only didn’t recognize two of the pups. One was the small, green haired pup in his arms who was happily chatting with Tenya and Shoto, and the other was an older pup with purple hair, who was wearily observing Hizashi from his hiding place behind a jagged, brown and gray rock.

‘That will make getting them home easier.’ He thought to himself.

“Shoto, Tenya, are you and your friends alright? Are you hurt anywhere?” He asked.

The two of them looked at each other, and nodded sadly. Tenya held up a scratched up arm, and Shoto showed Hizashi still healing bruises on his back. The little greenette pup pointed at his neck, while the others pointed out their various injuries. Even the shy purple haired pup gently pulled his tail close to his chest, and Hizashi can see a cut in the pup’s tail fin.

Hizashi growled in anger, causing some of the pups to back away. He quickly changed his tone and begins to purr apologetically. He swept his tail around and pulled some of pups closer, his deep, rumbling purr reaching out and calming the jittery pups.

“It’s alright little listeners, my name is Present Mic, I’m a Pro Hero, and I am going to get you home to your families. Can any of you tell me your names?” He asked, his voice soft and comforting.
No one spoke at first, before a brown haired girl swam a little closer.

“Ochako Urrraka…” She mumbled shyly.

Another pup, a little blonde, piped up.

“Denki Kaminari!” He peeped.

“M-momo Yaoyorozu.” An older pup said.

This went on as each pup introduced themselves as well as they could. Occasionally, Tenya and the purple haired pup, who Hizashi learned was named Hitoshi Shinsou, would help some of the littler pups who couldn’t pronounce their names very well. By the time they had gotten through everyone, Hizashi knew where to find all but two of the pups’ families. Little Izuku and Hitoshi’s families remained unknown to him. When he asked where and how they had gotten caught, both had shied away.

“Come on little listeners, it might help me figure out where your pod is if you can tell me where you were when those evil people got you.” He pleaded, looking at both of them.

Izuku looked up at Hizashi and shrugged weakly. “Don’t know.”

Hitoshi, who had crept closer, looked down and mumbled something under his breath.

"Pardon?” The Pro Hero said.

“...They’re gone. Didn’t want me. Don’t want to go back.” The older pup said quietly, sounding very upset. “Said my Quirk is evil.”

Hizashi gaped openly at Hitoshi’s words.

“What?!” He exclaimed. “They… just left you?”

Hitoshi nodded and curled in on himself, not meeting Hizashi’s gaze. Izuku wiggled out of Hizashi’s arms and hugged Hitoshi, snuggling up to him and peeping quietly. Hizashi blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. Gently, he reached down and picked Hitoshi and Izuku up. Hitoshi flinched and shivered, but Hizashi soothed him by letting out a low, humming purr. He brought the two to his chest and nuzzled them.

“It’s okay. You don’t have an evil Quirk, and you certainly don’t need to go back to the people who made you think that. Me and my mate will take care of you from now on.” He said to Hitoshi, who blinked up at him with wide, wet eyes. He looked towards Izuku, who was also staring up at him. “You can stay too, until we can find your family. You won’t be alone, I promise.” He finished with a smile.

The two boys sighed in relief and wonder. To Hitoshi, the idea of a family who didn’t fear him, who loved him unconditionally, was world-shattering. He settled down on his new guardian’s chest, calmed by the fact that he wouldn’t be tossed aside and forgotten while all of his friends got to go home. The idea of having Izuku as a sort of pod-brother was exciting as well. It would be the two of them against the world.

Izuku, while deeply saddened by the fact that this Pro Hero couldn’t bring him back to his family, was excited to stay with him. Staying with him meant staying close to his new pod, and he wasn’t sure how he would ever be comfortable with leaving them, even when they did find his Mama and Kacchan and his Uncle and Auntie.

Tenya and Shoto told Izuku and Hitoshi all about their new guardians. The two learned that the mer holding them was called Present Mic, or Hizashi. His mate was also a hero, but that he didn’t like to be in the spotlight. His name was Eraser Head, or Shouta. Tenya assured them that although Eraser Head was grumpy, he actually was very nice.

“My Daddy says that he has sleeping problems.” The blue haired boy said.

“I like him already.” Hitoshi said with a smile. The older pup also had trouble getting a decent rest. He could nap, but a full nights sleep did not come easy. He found himself wondering if Hizashi’s mate would like him and Izuku. Hitoshi frowned slightly, feeling a bit nervous now. What would happen if he didn’t?

A Week Later…

Hizashi paced anxiously, his fins flexing as he stressed. He peered through the glass of his transport tank, trying to see where the pups were. They were being taken back to the ocean today, and although Hizashi was over the moon with happiness, he was also stressed a great deal, as he had been separated from the pups for the duration of the transport.

Huffing in frustration, he bumped his head against the glass wall and resisted the urge to shatter the glass with his Quirk. It had been hours, and he was tired of being stuck in a glass box. He rolled over and exhaled, closing his eyes and thinking about his mate and friends. He missed Shouta’s sleepy hugs, vanilla scent, and smooth skin that was peppered with pale scars. He missed Nemuri’s jokes and wacky stories. He missed his nest, with its sea sponge pillow that felt so nice to fall onto after a long patrol. He missed home.

The pups were probably so homesick as well. They were little, far too little, and most of them had likely never been more than a few meters away from their parents or an older sibling. He felt the most pity and sorrow for Izuku and Hitoshi, who had no one to return to, aside from him and Sho. Hitoshi seemed happy enough, slowly becoming more comfortable around Hizashi, but the little greenette pup still yearned for his family. He cried softly occasionally, his soft chirps breaking Hizashi’s heart. The Pro Hero wanted to be able to return the pup to his pod just as much as he wanted to return to his own, but he had no idea where the little one’s home was.

Suddenly, he fell sideways slightly, the water in his tank sloshing. Hizashi rolled over and looked around, his fins ruffling in confusion. After a minute had passed, the truck’s door slid open, and the bright orange rays of the setting sun refracted through the glass. The human woman who had been visiting him and the pups throughout the week stepped in and smiled at him.

“We’re here big guy! It’s time for you to go home!” She cheered.

Hizashi’s tail thumped against the glass of his tank excitedly, his heart rate picking up. Two other humans, who were far more muscular than the female, climbed into the truck lifted the lid of his tank, sliding in a tarp which Hizashi pulled under him, coiling his tail and shuffling into the middle of the plastic sheet. They hauled him out of his tank and dragged him down a ramp that had been set up. The smell of the ocean and the crash of the waves activated his instincts, and he clambered out of the tarp and sunk his claws into the wet sand beneath him. He ignored the burn of air in his gills and reveled in the feeling of freedom that had enveloped him.

The sound of peeps and chirps made him spin, and he growled softly at a lanky human who was holding a squirming bundle. The human immediately knelt down and placed the bundle down onto the sand. Another human did the same, and the bundles squirmed around until Hizashi unraveled them, revealing two groups of upset pups sitting in a small group of water. Quickly, he herded them into the shallows, all but tossing them into the water so that they could breathe. With a final look back at the humans who had saved him and the pups, he gave them a smile and a wave, nodding his head at the female human, before diving into the cool ocean water. The salt of the ocean embraced Hizashi warmly, welcoming him with open arms. He breathed deeply, taking a moment to take in all that he had missed. The tank he had been staying in had been nothing compared to the unending vastness of the deep blue he called home.

The chirping of pups brought him out of his blissful state, and Hizashi turned all of his attention to the group of little mers that had appeared before him.

“Okay little listeners, let's get you home.” He said, smiling at them.

One by one, he placed them either into his pouch or carried them in his arms. Once they were all snug and comfortable, Hizashi flicked his tail and they were off, finally starting their journey home.

Enji furiously threw the villain he had been battling into a large, solid rock. The rough surface tore into the other mer’s skin, no doubt agitating the various burn wounds that he had sustained. The Flame Hero didn’t care. His world had been a flurry of dullness and rage ever since his pup had been stolen from him. He couldn’t even blame anyone but himself, as he had been watching Shoto that day. He’d been distracted for a moment, a low tier villain had been stupid enough to try and attack the Pro while he had been guarding his pup, and hadn’t heard the sound of his mate’s call until after he had finished beating the villain into unconsciousness. The familiar sound had been warped somehow, yet it had been enough to persuade his young son to approach the boat that would steal him away only a moment later. The sound of Shoto’s panicked cries as a net wrapped around him would be forever burned into his brain.

Burnin, one of his sidekicks, cautiously approached his side, having finished taking down the villain she had been fighting.

“I can take these scumbags to the police if you’d like, sir. I’m sure your mate is waiting for you to come home.” She said, her earfins flicking in slight nervousness. Her boss had become far more violent, and although she didn’t blame him, he still made her nervous sometimes.

“... I think I’ll take you up on that offer. Thank you, Kamiji.” He replied flatly, his voice devoid of emotion. The younger mer nodded, and Enji turned towards the direction of his nest. With a flick of his powerful, flame-consumed tail, he was off, not even noticing the departing wave his sidekick gave him.

Once he was out of Burnin’s line of sight, he deviated from his original path, heading out towards the open ocean. As he did everyday, he was going to search for any sign of the boat that had taken his son. If he ever found it, he would burn every human on it alive, starting with their feet and working his way up. Shaking off his murderous thoughts, he focused on scanning the surface. It was almost dawn, and the first morning rays were shining down onto him, causing fractured beams of light to dance over his scales as he swam.

He searched until it was well into the morning, and the sun’s light had gone from a peach colour to it’s regular sunny yellow. The happy colours disgusted him, as they greatly contrasted his mood. The light irritated his tired eyes, so he gave into his body’s demands and shut them, holding them closed as he floated for a moment, taking the time to rub the grit out of his eyes. He hadn’t been sleeping well, and the wave of tiredness that had begun to lap at his mind was most unwelcome.

“-avor!”

Perhaps his exhaustion was worst than he had thought, because for a moment, he had thought that he had heard Present Mic’s voice. That was impossible, as he had been missing for months, likely caught by humans, the fool.

“Endeavor! ENDEAVOR!”

The Flame Hero’s eyes snapped open as he realized that he was hearing the voice of Present Mic. He whipped his head up, and his jaw went slack, his flames sputtering out as he froze in shock. Swimming towards him with a dopey grin on his face was one Hizashi Yamada, and in his arms were…!

“Yamada! Are those the missing pups? Where the hell did you find them?! And where have you been?” Enji shouted his questions, charging right up to the other Pro Hero. If he had found the missing pups then…
Enji’s heart stopped, than immediately started hammering against his chest as a tiny, red and white haired pup appeared from the other mer’s pouch. Heterochromic eyes met his own piercing blue, and Enji swore that, for the first time since Touya’s death, the urge to cry rose in him as his son stared at him, alive and, as far as Enji could tell, unharmed.

All at once, the little pup became a ball of pure motion as he barreled into his father’s stomach, his keening wails snapping Enji into action.

“SHOTO!” He cried, bringing his son into a tight, frantic hug. His son cried into his collarbone, his small body heaving with the force of his sobs. The pup disappeared underneath Enji’s hands, once again reminding the Pro Hero how very tiny his son was.

“It’s alright Shoto, I’m here. Daddy has you, and I’m never letting you go.” He whispered, nuzzling his baby.

He looked towards Yamada, beseeching him for answers.

“He was taken to the same place I was, a warehouse being used to run an underground exotic animal smuggling ring. Him and all these little listeners were being kept in pretty terrible conditions, and from what I’ve managed to get out of them, it was pretty traumatic. A lot of them had cuts that were infected, including poor Shoto.”

Enji grit his teeth and moved one of his hands away from a still sobbing Shoto. Sure enough, there was a cut on his tail, and Enji could see that it had needed stitches.

“I’ll kill them. I’ll find every single one of those bastards and I’ll rip them apart.” He snarled, pulling his son closer to him.

Yamada nodded, a dark look crossing his face. “Can’t say I would be inclined to try and stop you. Look what they did to this little guy. Poor thing’s probably no older than 4 months.” He gestured to a green haired pup who was looking at Enji with a mix of fear and awe. He could see numerous healing lacerations on the child’s neck, and he hissed in sympathy.

“Monsters. Those humans are villains through and through.” He paused, and mentally counted the pups in Yamada’s arms. “How many pups do you have with you?”

“Not including Shoto, 11.”

“By the Gods. I didn’t know so many were missing.”

“I know, it’s terrible. But they busted the ring, so the pupnapping should stop now.”

“Good. Gods, I still can’t believe he’s back. Thank you, Yamada, for bringing him back home.” Enji said, a sincere tone in his voice. The Voice Hero nodded.

“Of course. I think it’s time to get the rest of these little ones home, and I’m sure you’re eager to return to your mate.” Yamada replied with a smile.

Enji nodded. “I’m sure you are too. Safe travels and swift currents.”

“You too. Goodbye, Shoto.” The blonde said. The other pups chirped their goodbyes too, as well as their promises to meet up soon. And with that, Enji and his son left to go reunite with their family, the Flame Hero smiling the whole way.

Throughout the day, Hizashi tracked down each family, and returned homesick pups to their loving families. He’d never seen a member of the Iida family cry before, but that streak was broken today, as all of the Engine Quirk bearing mers turned into blubbering messes upon being reunited with little Tenya. Tensei openly sobbed, apologizing over and over for not watching the young pup better, despite still being a pup himself. Tenya just seemed happy to be with his brother again.

By the time the last pup had been returned to their pod, the sun was setting again, and Hizashi could almost hear his home calling him back to it. Only Hitoshi and Izuku remained with him now, Hitoshi lay snugly in his arms, sleeping like a newly hatched pup, while Izuku watched colourful fish swim by from the safety of Hizashi’s pouch.

As he swam over a reef, he spotted a large, somewhat familiar shape. He squinted his eyes, before trilling in excitement upon realizing who he was looking at.

“Yo! All Might!” He called, waving at the number one Hero.

The bulky mer paused, before jolly, booming laughter filled the reef. Within seconds, All Might was towering above Hizashi, although the sight did not frighten him.

“Present Mic! You’re back!” The buff mer cocked his head, looking at the two pups in Mic’s care. “And you have… pups? WAIT, did you find the missing pups?!”

Mic winced a little as Hitoshi shifted in his arms, and All Might noticed. He smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. Did you find the pups?”

“All of them, as far as I know. They were being held in a warehouse and they were abused. I’ve taken the others back to their families, but these two… are special cases.” He held Hitoshi up slightly. “This is Hitoshi. His parents abandoned him because of his Quirk apparently, so I’m adopting him as mine and Sho’s.”

All Might’s smile turned sad. “Cruelty is one trait we share with the humans, that much I am certain of.”

Mic nodded in agreement. He reached down with his free hand and gently plucked Izuku out of his pouch, who squeaked in surprise.

“This is little Izuku. We don’t know where his family is, so I was planning on caring for him until we can find them.”

The unsaid “if we even can find them” hung heavy in the air for a moment, but All Might’s attention quickly shifted to something else.

“Whoa, I’ve… never seen a mer that looks like him.” He said. Gently, he held out his hands to Mic, wanting to hold the pup. The Voice Hero hesitated, but finally relinquished Izuku to the number one Hero. The two stared at each other, trying to make sense of what they were looking at.

All Might, like Izuku, was an anomaly. His lower half was an amalgamation of different species, and no one could quite pin down exactly what he was made of, just like how no one could figure out his Quirk.
“He reminds me of myself…” The blonde said, not noticing the glow that was starting to form in his chest until Izuku started making grabby hands at something. Looking down, All Might let out a yelp as he saw colourful, glowing balls moving beneath his skin. One by one, they flew out of his chest, and he felt his very Quirk being ripped out of him, leaving him in a state of paralyzed shock. Hizashi gasped and backed away, shielding a still snoozing Hitoshi with his body.

The balls of light danced around Izuku, zipping in close randomly as if inspecting the pup. Finally, the largest ball, the one that glowed pure white, came close enough for Izuku to touch, so the little pup did.

One For All had not felt this strongly connected to a soul since its creation all those centuries ago.

There was something about this little creature that called to it, beckoning the Quirk closer. It could almost feel the goodness radiating from this creature's soul, and it reminded the Quirk so very much of it's first beloved user. Even now, after all this time, the gentle soul of it's first user that resided within the Quirk thrummed with life, and even he seemed fascinated with the creature's soul.
As the other souls awoke and saw the tiny creature, they awed and crooned at it, enamored by its "cuteness", as they called it. One For All did not understand at first, until its users shared the feeling through their link, and all at once it understood. The feeling that was created simply by being in the presence of the small life form warmed the Quirk, and it made a decision.

This creature made all its users happy, and its pure goodness made it worthy of reviving the power that the Quirk had to offer, so it would take this creature and care for it, just like it did with all its users. One For All focused on the creature's soul, and within a moment, they were bonded. A small, flickering orb appeared, coloured a soft, almost teal-ish green. It would take some time before this little one, who One For All now knew was called Izuku Midoriya, was able to use the gifts that the Quirk would give him, but that was alright. One For All was patient.

As quickly as they had appeared, the orbs shot back into All Might's chest, releasing him from his numb state of shock. He breathed deeply, clutching at his chest. Izuku warbled in concern and confusion, rubbing at the same spot on his own chest, a faint glow ebbing away into nothing. Hizashi hovered nearby, uncertain on how to proceed. Part of him screamed to take Izuku back, but another, deeper part said to leave the pup where he was.

“W-what just happened?” He managed to choke out.

“I… I don’t know. It felt like my Quirk was just ripped out of me.” All Might replied, looking down at Izuku.

“Your Quirk? How is that even possible?” Hizashi’s pupils constricted. “You don’t think that it’s… Him, do you?!” He said in a panicked whisper, drawing Hitoshi closer to him.

All Might shook his head, shifting Izuku so that he was tucked in his arms. The little pup rested his head on the Pro Hero’s bicep, looking up at him with shimmering eyes.

“No. I would know His presence anywhere, and that was not it. This… this was something else entirely.” He said, glancing down at Izuku. “Yamada, did I ever tell you how my Quirk works?”
Hizashi shook his head, moving closer slightly as he pricked his earfins forward.

“It’s a power stockpiling Quirk. It gets stronger with every new user, and a piece of the previous users lives within the Quirk. There were seven balls, and there have been seven users, not including me.”

“So what does that mean?” The Voice Hero asked.

“I don’t know. I think, for some reason, One For All has taken an interest in this little pup.” All Might lifted the pup up again. Izuku chirped softly, his small body dwarfed by All Might’s enormous hands. “And I can’t help but agree. There’s just something about him, I can’t explain it.”

Hizashi looked at All Might, who had a fond, dopey smile on his face, then at Izuku, who was happily chirping and patting All Might’s finger. During the time Hizashi had spent with the pups in their pool at the rescue facility, Izuku had always acted slightly wary around him, flinching away whenever Hizashi reached out to comfort. Yet here he was, completely calm in the presence of a rather intimidating mer. All Might was enormous, easily dwarfing Hizashi, and his odd appearance coupled with his size and booming voice was enough to make most criminals and villains pass out in fear. But there was no fear on Izuku’s face or in his body language, only excitement and curiosity. Hizashi wondered if he had been told stories about the number one Hero.

“Hey All Might, the little guy seems to like you a lot, and since the physical manifestation of your Quirk seems to have taken a shine to him, although I have no idea how that’s even possible, how about you take care of little Izuku until we can track down his pod?” Hizashi proposed, smiling at the two.

All Might blinked in surprise, not having expected Mic to simply offer to allow him to care for the green haired pup. He had been going to ask, plead even, but the Voice Hero had beaten him to it. The number one Hero looked at Izuku.

“What do you think little one? Would you like to come and stay with me?” He asked. He felt connected to the pup, and he could already feel himself becoming emotionally attached, but he wouldn’t force Izuku to come with him if he didn’t want to. His whole body buzzed with energy that somehow didn’t feel like his own as he waited for Izuku’s answer.

The boy looked at All Might, then back at Hizashi and Hitoshi. Hizashi nodded at him, giving him permission to do what he liked. The greenette mentally weighed his options, but a gentle, warm feeling that formed in the center of his chest compelled him to go with the large mer that was currently holding him. He peeped and snuggled into the Pro Hero’s hand, gripping onto one of his fingers as if to solidify his choice.

“Well that’s that then. We’ll have to meet up more often so that Hitoshi and Izuku can see each other. They’ve grown very close to one another since they were held captive together.” Hizashi said, moving to All Might’s side. “Goodbye little listener. Be good, alright? We’ll see you soon.”

Izuku chirped in confirmation and gave Hizashi a little wave. Hizashi waved back and swam off, disappearing into the now dark ocean waters. All Might and Izuku looked at each other again, and it was then that All Might realized that he had no idea how to raise a pup.

“Sssssshhii-” The blonde slammed his mouth shut, remembering that there was a very small pup present. “Shoot.”

Running a hand through his hair, he thought about what to do as he brought Izuku to his chest, the tiny boy yawning as an entire day of travel caught up to him.

“Wait… Mirai! He’ll know what to do, he always does!” All Might said, snapping his fingers. Spinning around, the Pro Hero and his tiny cargo set off towards the home of the one and only Sir Nighteye.

Shouta Aizawa prided himself on his ability to hide his emotions.

His face never showed what he was feeling unless he wanted it to, and there were only a few times that he could recall loosing control. However, that carefully honed skill had been violently wrenched away from him on the day that Hizashi, his mate, didn’t return home. Shouta had spent hours looking for him, then the hours turned into days, then days into months, until Shouta finally realized that he wasn’t going to be able to find his mate. He remembered blankly staring at the empty space where his mate’s sleeping form should have been. He also remembered the absolute breakdown that ensued that night. He had already been stressed, both by his seeming inability to produce pups and all of the disappearances that had been happening. Even a few Pro Heroes had lost their young pups, and the thought that whoever, or whatever, was taking pups that should have been impossible to steal away had gotten his Hizashi terrified Shouta.

Sighing, the raven haired mer rubbed at his bloodshot eyes. A cut on his arm needed tending, but exhaustion prevented him from treating the wound. He collapsed onto his nest, his pectoral fins sprawling out as he flopped onto the ground. Sand rose into the water, creating a dusty cloud that made Shouta sneeze. He had been patrolling more and more these days, not only because the disappearance of a Pro Hero caused a spike in crime, but because he needed to distract himself. If he was working, he couldn’t be thinking about Hizashi, and the fact that he might never see his mate again.

In the silence of his home, however, the thoughts came, and although he was beyond exhausted, sleep danced just out of reach, leaving the manta ray mer in a state of sorrowful tiredness. Shouta laid his head on his arms and sucked in a shaky breath, trying to hold back tears. He looked at where Hizashi usually slept, and Shouta knew instantly that tonight would be another tear-filled one. They often were these days.
The raven tucked his head into his folded arms and cried silently, his entire body shaking as he sobbed. The feeling of loneliness that constantly accompanied Shouta made itself known once again, and the man felt himself being wrapped in sorrow’s cold, stiff embrace. He blocked out the world as a hollow feeling set in, pressing heavily against his heart. If a villain were to attack him now, he wouldn’t even realize until it was too late. Shouta didn’t care. If he died tonight, at least he wouldn’t be so damn miserable anymore.

So caught up in his mournful cries was Shouta that he didn’t even realize that someone had indeed entered his home. The figure hovered in the water above him for a moment , before leaning down and laying a gentle hand on the other mer’s shoulder. Shouta snapped out of his sobs and scrambled upwards in a panic. His eyes glowed a ferocious red as he activated his Quirk, his head whipping around as he searched for the intruder. As the kicked up sand settled, he saw a cowering figure, their tail curled up over their underbelly, as if protecting something precious. They held their hands up in surrender, but Shouta was fully prepared to attack. Then he saw their eyes.

Luminous orbs of swirling lime and sunshine yellow met his own enraged ruby eyes, and Shouta immediately deactivated his Quirk. His hair dropped, along with his jaw, as he saw before him someone he had thought that he had lost forever.

“T-to be fair, I should have known better than to sneak up on you like that, but did you have to scare me like that? I almost had a heart attack, Sho.” Hizashi’s voice was shaky, yet humorous. To Shouta, it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.

“You… you’re…” Words escaped the raven, his mind racing as he tried to understand what he was seeing.

“It’s me Sho. I’m back, and I’m never leaving you again.” The blonde said, slowly uncurling his coiled body.

Shouta Aizawa prided himself on his ability to hide his emotions, but when he saw his mate appear in front of him, only a few meters away, he broke completely.

The Erasure Hero’s face crumpled as he sobbed again. He threw himself into his mate’s arms and buried himself in Hizashi’s neck, his broken cries coming in short, heaving gasps. The blonde threw his arms around Shouta and hugged him like his life depended on it, and in a few moments, Hizashi was crying too.

The two mates stayed like that for an unknown period of time, both of them just taking in the other’s presence and listening to the beat of their hearts. They may have stayed like that the entire night, had a tiny, sleepy squeak broke the night’s silence. Shouta pulled away from Hizashi in confusion. He looked around for the source of the noise, but he couldn’t find it. A look of sudden remembrance came across Hizashi’s face, and he blushed in embarrassment.

“Whoa, almost forgot! Sho, I have a surprise for you.” He said, reaching down to his pouch.

“’Zashi, what are you talking about-” Shouta’s hoarse voice was silenced as Hizashi produced a sleepy-eyed, purple haired pup. The youngster clung to Hizashi’s hand as the blonde moved him into a more comfortable position. He blinked a few times, before his eyes settled on Shouta. Instantly he was awake, and he pressed himself flat against Hizashi’s arm, glancing up at his guardian in confusion.

“Hizashi… what the fuck is- where the hell did you…?” Shouta stared dumbly at the pup in his mate’s arms. Why did Hizashi have someone’s pup?

“Sho, this is Hitoshi. Hitoshi, this is Shouta.” Hizashi introduced. Leaning in closer to his mate, he lowered his voice to a whisper. “His parents abandoned him, and then he was captured by humans, who practically tortured him and a ton of other pups. They left him to die, Sho. He doesn’t have anyone else, so I figured… we could care for him. Are you mad?” Hizashi’s earfins drooped as he realized what he was springing on his mate. While it was true that they had been trying to have pups for years now, a surprise adoption would be a big change in their lives.

Hitoshi, being the smart pup that he was, realized that the his guardian’s mate might not want him, just like his parents hadn’t.

“I-I leave?” He asked softly, looking at Hizashi, and then at the entrance to the cave they were now in.

The pup’s question broke Hizashi and Shouta’s heart. No pup, especially one that young, should feel like they weren’t wanted. Shouta shook his head and held out his arms.

“No sweetheart, you don’t have to go. Me and Hizashi are going to take good care of you, okay? You’ll always have a home with us.” The raven swam forward and gently scooped up Hitoshi, nuzzling him softly as Hizashi exhaled in relief. The pup nuzzled Shouta back, accepting him as his second guardian. Perhaps one day, he would see them as his new parents, but only time would tell. For now, he would let himself enjoy the sense of safety and love the two Pro Hero’s provided.

Together, the new family settled down for the night, Hitoshi snuggling up to Shouta and Hizashi as the two laid down on either side of him. The two mates intertwined their tails, feeling a sense of deep, deep peace at last.

Chapter Text

Mirai stretched and yawned, settling down in his nest. The day had been long, and he was exhausted. Being the sole sidekick of the number one Hero was amazing of course, and he was grateful for the opportunity everyday, but it was also a very demanding job. He sighed and rolled onto his side, wincing as his bruised muscles twitched in response. He had taken a hit in the side today, a medium sized boulder having being thrown into him by a villain with a rock controlling Quirk. His Quirk, Foresight, had been too busy warning him about a more dangerous attack, and he hadn’t seen the stone coming.

‘At least I can rest now.’ He thought, a slight smile coming onto his usually stoic face.

The silence of his home persisted for a moment, but only for a moment.

“Mirai!” A familiar voice called out.

Golden eyes shot open, their pupils constricting. His Foresight had not alerted him to any threat, so why was Toshinori here?

Mirai pushed up off the ground with his tail, looking up towards the hole that led into his nest. Bright blue eyes glistened in the dark, their unnatural glow always a comforting sight to Mirai. The mahi-mahi mer tilted his head in confusion.

“What?” He hissed, rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes.

“I need to talk to you!” Toshinori said, jerking his head back.

Mirai blinked but didn’t argue, rising up to meet his friend. Moonlight cast a silvery glow on them as he met Toshinori’s nervous gaze. He furrowed his brow in concern, his eyes flickering to a bright violet hue as he activated his Quirk. Toshinori quickly held up a hand to tell Mirai that there wasn’t any trouble. The sidekick blinked away his Quirk and looked at Toshinori in confusion.

“Mirai, do you remember when I told you about One For All?” The Hero asked. Mirai nodded.

“Of course. Why?”

“Well…”

“Toshinori? Is something wrong?”

“No! I just figured out something new about my Quirk.”

Mirai blinked again. “Oh? What is it?” He asked, getting excited.

Toshinori scratched the back of his head. “It’s… sentient.” He said.

The golden eyed mer squinted his eyes slowly, not understanding what he was hearing.

“Pardon.” He said, the word less of a question and more of a statement.

“It’s sentient. Alive.” The Hero repeated.

The sidekick of All Might himself, someone who had seen more than his fair share of oddities, and whom had heard even more strange sentences, was dumbstruck by the number one Hero’s statement. Finally, after much thinking, he spoke his masterfully crafted response.

“What the fuck?”

“Fuck!”

Two pairs of eyes shot towards Toshinori’s hairline. Nestled in between the two stocks of blonde hair that defied gravity was an incredibly tiny pup. Shockingly green eyes met Mirai’s own, and the sidekick felt his confusion double, perhaps even triple.

“Izuku!” Toshinori scolded. He plucked the tiny creature from his perch and held him in one hand. An extraordinarily odd lower half dangled loosely as the pup looked at the Hero, his little head tilted in confusion.
“Don’t say that word, it’s not a good one.” He explained. The pup nodded quickly.

Toshinori’s voice snapped Mirai out of the trance that he had been in.

“Toshinori, why is there a pup in your hand?!” He exclaimed, his earfins flattening.

“Mirai, this is Izuku. He’s my new charge, and he’s also how I discovered that One For All is sentient. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Present Mic. Oh! I almost forgot! He’s back, and he found all the missing pups! That’s where this little one came from.” He said, gesturing to Izuku, who stared up at the hero.

Mirai’s confused gaze softened.

“That’s great news! And of course I believe you, I always have and always will. But, how did that pup awaken your Quirk’s sentience?” He asked.

“One For All seemed to take a liking to him. It pulled itself out of me and went over to him.” Toshinori explained, shuddering.

“What? It can do that?!” Mirai exclaimed, reeling backwards.

“Apparently. There’s something special about him, Mirai. I just can’t explain it.” Toshinori said, looking fondly at the tiny pup, who yawned and snuggled into his new guardian’s hand. Mirai’s heart melted.

“Aww.” He couldn’t stop the coo as it passed his lips, although he did slap a hand over his mouth afterwards. Toshinori snorted in amused surprise.

“Was that a noise of endearment I heard just now?” He asked in a teasing tone.

“Shut it Toshi.” Mirai growled. Izuku’s eyes popped open as he chirped fearfully, not expecting the aggressive noise. He flinched and hid underneath Toshinori’s fingers. Mirai went pale, and Toshinori felt his mouth twitch for a fraction of a second, his teeth not even getting a chance to be bared. He would not bare his teeth at one of his dearest friends, even if his actions had scared the little pup in his palm.

“Oh dear! I didn’t mean to scare you little one!” Mirai fretted, his hands up in the water as he tried to discern what he should do.

Toshinori sighed. “It’s fine Mirai. He’s just a bit shy.” He uncurled his large, clawed fingers, revealing a curled up Izuku.

“Mirai does not mean you any harm, Izuku. He was merely responding to my teasing.” He explained.

Izuku peeked out and looked at Mirai, looking for some confirmation of the Pro Hero’s words. Mirai offered a small, comforting, apologetic smile. Izuku returned the smile, but made no move towards him until Toshinori nudged him gently with a knuckle. Izuku looked back at the blonde with uncertainty, but slowly he paddled over to the other mer. Mirai held the pup up by his torso, looking him in the eyes.
“Hello young Izuku. My name is Mirai Sasaki. I am All Might’s sidekick. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He said formally. Toshinori snickered, but Izuku chirped excitedly, his tail wiggling back and forth.
Mirai couldn’t hold back the grin that tugged at his lips. He couldn’t remember the last time he smiled this much.

“Well, I’m certainly glad you introduced me to this fine young man,” He poked at Izuku’s cheeks, who giggled in response. “but why now? Why not wait until morning?”

Toshinori scratched the back of his head, glancing away.

“Well… I realized that I actually have no idea how to care for a pup.” He mumbled, flushing red slightly.

Mirai looked up at him and frowned. “You took in a pup before you learned how to care for one? Come now Toshi, you’re smarter than that.” He scolded. He tucked Izuku into his arm, making sure that the pup’s tail wasn’t being squished. Izuku yawned and laid down on Mirai’s arm. “And just how are you planning on raising him, hmm? You can’t be the number one Hero and raise a young pup. He’ll be in constant danger the second it gets out that you’ve taken him in. What if a villain gets him?”

The Hero’s eyes narrowed, and this time, Mirai did catch a glimpse of his friend's wicked fangs.

“That won’t happen. Trust me.” He growled lowly, his eyes gleaming with a promise of immense pain to anyone who harmed the pup. Mirai felt a chill run up his spine.

All mer’s had their limits, a line between following their moral code and submitting to their baser instincts. Toshinori, being a Pro Hero, never harmed a civilian unless absolutely necessary, and even most villains received mercy. However, Mirai got the distinct feeling that if anyone went after little Izuku, not even Endeavor would be able to stop the carnage that would follow.

“Okay, but you still can’t take him with you on patrols! He’ll get killed out there!” Mirai argued. He sighed, looking down and shaking his head.

“Honestly Toshinori? I believe the best thing to do would be to leave Izuku in the care of someone else while we search for his- AHH!”

A small scream of surprise left Mirai’s mouth and he rapidly backed up. Toshinori, who had been seconds away from interrupting the other mer himself, was startled by the noise. Izuku too was startled, the snoozing pup starting awake and scrambling out of Mirai’s arms. Multiple brightly glowing circles appeared on on Toshinori’s chest. A few phased in and out of the Hero’s torso, and Toshinori found himself squirming, trying to rid himself of the alien sensation.

Izuku chirped in surprise when a tendril of white light appeared and gently wrapped itself around him. It pulled him back to Toshinori, resting him in the crook of the Pro Hero’s arm. Once he was settled, the colourful lights faded, and Toshinori stopped thrashing. He pulled Izuku in close to him, breathing hard as the phantom remnants of the feeling dissipated. The poor pup, who was rather tired and stressed at this point, whined fearfully, not understanding what was happening and why.

Mirai was quivering, his mind racing a mile a minute. What had he just seen? Was that One For All? Why did it react like that?

“W-well,” He gulped, his fins rustling as he swept some stray hairs out of his face. “I guess that option is off the table. How about we take a vacation instead? I think that you could use one right about now.”

Toshinori nodded silently, curling inwards slightly as he nuzzled Izuku, trying to calm both himself and the upset pup in his hold. He usually wasn’t affected by odd things happening, but this was something else entirely. Izuku chirped quietly, not knowing if the threat had gone, or why the Pro Hero was shielding him. Was there still danger?

Mirai ran a hand over his face, rubbing at his eyes. “It’s late, please, come in and stay the night. We’ll go see the Hero Commission in the morning to tell them that we’ll be taking some time off. Don’t worry, I won’t tell them about Izuku.” He said softly, gesturing for Toshinori to follow him inside his home.

The tired man nodded gratefully. With a single flip of his powerful tail, he was down near the bottom of Mirai’s nest. Settling down, he let Izuku pick where he wanted to sleep. The greenette, realizing that he was safe, relaxed against Toshinori’s crossed arms, his little head using the powerful muscles as a pillow. The Pro wasn’t nearly as soft or as comfortable as his Mama, but the sense of security he felt was indescribable. He knew that he was safe, and for the first time since he had been captured, sleep came easy to him. He was out like a light before Toshinori even closed his eyes.

Apparently, Toshinori was not the only one taking time off.

With many heroes now being able to focus on their job now that their young had been safely returned, the ones who had been working overtime were easily granted a few months leave. Heroes were still mers, and they needed breaks too. Aizawa and Yamada were also leaving for a bit, and as Toshinori swam by on his way back to his nest, he could see why.

Lovingly held close by Aizawa was a purple haired pup, his violet eyes sparkling as he chirped at his guardians. The two males smiled fondly at the youngster, nodding along as if they perfectly understood what he was saying. The boy pointed at different marine life, trying to pronounce their names.

“Turble!” He squeaked, waving at a passing sea turtle.

“Turtle.” Yamada gently corrected, smiling at him.

“Ohhh. Turtle!” The pup tried again, this time getting the word right. The blonde adult clapped.

“Well done Hitoshi! You’re so smart.” He praised. Aizawa hummed in agreement. The child looked up at the Hero like that was the first time he had been praised.

‘Actually, based on what Yamada told me, that might be the case.’ Toshinori thought sadly.

An idea struck him, and he decided to act on it.

“Present Mic! Eraser Head!” He called out cheerily, swimming over to them. Immediately, Hitoshi hid his face in Aizawa’s chest, and he saw the manta ray mer visibly stiffen. The younger mer had wanted pups for a long time now, and Toshinori would be surprised if parental instincts hadn’t completely consumed his colleague’s heart and mind. Yamada, seeing how his mate and adopted pup were reacting, moved in front of them slightly. He knew Toshinori meant no harm, but instincts were a powerful thing. Toshinori didn’t blame them at all. If Izuku had been with him, he likely wouldn’t have even approached.

“’Sup All Might? Aren’t you usually on patrol right now?” Yamada asked.

Toshinori hovered in the water and nodded. “Usually yes, but I just took some time off. I want to be able to spend time with little Izuku.” He explained.

Aizawa immediately perked up, his features contorted in confusion, while Hitoshi practically sprang out of Aizawa’s arms at the mention of Izuku’s name. Aizawa made a quiet noise of surprise and quickly brought Hitoshi back to his original place, holding the pup close.

“Izu?” Hitoshi questioned, his pupils expanding.

Toshinori smiled at the boy. “That’s right. I’m taking care of him now.”

Hitoshi stared at him for a moment, before lowering his eyelids slightly.

“Do good.” He said in a growly voice.

Toshinori blinked in surprise. The statement had a warning undertone, promising that if Toshinori failed to meet the pup’s demand, there would be dire consequences. Both of his guardians looked at him in shock and surprise.

“I will, I promise.” He said, resting a hand over his heart.

Hitoshi nodded, but Aizawa shook his head, still looking confused.

“I’m sorry, but who is Izuku? And why does Hitoshi know him?” He asked.

“Friend. Come from bad place. Misses mama.” It was Hitoshi who replied, pointing towards the surface.

Aizawa looked at Yamada, who had an unreadable expression on his face.

“Bad place?” Toshinori questioned, swimming a bit closer. Now his curiosity was worryingly peaked.

“The warehouse. He must be talking about the warehouse.” Yamada said, putting a hand over his mouth. Aizawa froze up, and Toshinori felt his fins rise in anger.

“You- you never did tell me where they took you.” Aizawa said. “I didn’t know there was another one like Hitoshi.”

“Mama not gone.”

The three adults looked down. Hitoshi looked back at them, his white pupils boring into them. “Izu taken from mama, not left.”

Aizawa looked at Toshinori, his gaze becoming hard.

“If his parents are still out there and are missing him, why haven’t you returned that pup?” He asked sternly, his tail lashing dangerously.

“I don’t know where they are! I swear!” Toshinori said, holding up his hands up defensively.

“It’s true! There’s no Midoriya’s around here.” Yamada quickly jumped in, soothing his mates ire. Aizawa blinked and backed off, rubbing the back of his head.

“Sorry about that. My hormones are off the shit right now. It’s part of why we’re taking time off too. Can’t go around ripping peoples throats out.” He said in a rare moment of sheepishness.

Toshinori waved a hand. “It’s fine. I understand completely. I almost bared my fangs at my own sidekick last night when he accidentally frightened Izuku.” He admitted.

Yamada laughed. “Oh man, you’re already super attached too, huh?”

The number one Hero nodded. “I don’t know why. I’ve only just met Izuku, but it feels like he’s always been under my care. It just feels… right. Good.” He said, smiling.

Aizawa nodded in agreement. “Well, since you’re in the same boat as us now, why don’t you and Izuku come with us? We’re heading southeast, to the shallows. No better place to raise young pups.”
“And who knows, maybe we’ll run into Izuku’s pod.” Yamada added.

That idea was both very appealing and utterly terrifying at the same time. He wasn’t Izuku’s father, yet he felt so attached to the boy. The tiny pup had wormed his way into Toshinori’s heart within seconds of meeting him, and he would be loathe to have to give him up. Not to mention, his Quirk may not even allow it, which would be rather hard to explain.

But on the other hand…

Izuku needed a pod, a family. If Toshinori could find Izuku’s pod, that would be the best possible scenario. He clearly missed his mother, if Hitoshi’s words were anything to go by. Doubtless he had a loving family out there somewhere, one who was grief-stricken by the loss of their pup.

Weighing his options, Toshinori finally nodded. “I’d love to travel with you. When do we leave?” He asked.

“In three days. Meet us at the drop off at dawn.” Yamada said, pointing towards their meeting point.

“Dawn at the drop off, three days, got it.” He replied.

With that, the mers said their goodbyes, and Toshinori resumed his journey with a heavy mind and heavier heart.

Chapter Text

Izuku yawned, slowly sinking back down from the surface. All Might, or, as he had taken to calling him, Toshi, was there waiting for him. The Pro Hero held out his arms, and Izuku eagerly swam into them. Toshi had told him that they were going on a very special trip today, and that they had to leave early. Toshi had said that they were going somewhere safe, where there would be other pups for him to play with while he searched for Izuku’s pod. Izuku was really excited, but he was also really tired, so he relaxed against Toshi’s chest, smiling when he felt the older mer’s powerful heart beat against his chest. It was like a wordless lullaby, soothing Izuku and gently pulling him into the warm embrace of slumber. He yawned and closed his eyes, leaving the waking world behind as he awoke in dreamland.

He dreamed of Kacchan, of playing with his pod brother. They swooped and twirled not in the sea, but in the vast expanse of the night sky. The moon, big and round, lighted their way as they danced happily. In his dreams, Izuku had a long, flowing tail that ended in a great emerald fin. The shiny scales of his dreamworld tail glistened like twinkling stars, each one a slightly different shade of green or turquoise. He laughed as his pod brother darted ahead, tempting Izuku into chasing him, and chase he did. For what seemed like hours, the two pups swam through the sky, each one trying to catch the other. In this place, Izuku won these games, because his tail didn’t hinder his speed. Kacchan didn’t mind, he never minded losing in Izuku’s dreams. He just smiled and said that he would be the winner next time.
That’s how Izuku always knew that he was dreaming.

The stars above twinkled in many different colours as Izuku settled down next to the other boy. They sat in silence for a little while, before Izuku finally spoke.

“I miss you. I miss you a lot.” He said softly.

Kacchan nodded. “I know. You tell me every time I see you. And every time, I say the same thing back.”

“That you miss me too?” Izuku asked, the beginnings of a tear forming in his eyes. The stars were beginning to blur, and he felt like he was getting heavier.

“Yup.” Kacchan replied. “I really do miss you, Izuku.”

Izuku looked at Kacchan, tears now slipping down his cheeks. The blonde was fuzzy around the edges, and sometimes, the colour of his eyes changed.

“I’m scared Kacchan.” He chirped sadly. “What if Tosh- All Might can’t find you? What if I forget what you look like and can’t recognize you if he does find you?”

The dream version of his pod brother could offer no real advice or comfort, he was only part of a dream after all, so he simply gestured to the world around them.

“Well, you’ll always have this place to help you remember. But don’t worry, you big crybaby. You’ll see me again soon.” He said reassuringly.

Izuku nodded, his eyes watery. He looked back at the sky, towards a moon that was now right before him. It’s light was almost blinding.

“Izuku… Izuku… Izuku…”

“ Izuku, wake up. It’s time to eat, little listener.”

Izuku’s eyes opened, the blue of his aquatic home greeting him instead of the dark of night. Ah, so he was awake then. He took a moment to yawn, stretch, and rub some of the sleep out of his eyes. He looked over to where the voice had come from, and immediately chirped in excitement when he saw the face of Present Mic. A black tail was curled around Izuku, and he realized that Toshi must have handed him over to the Voice Hero while he was asleep. Suddenly, he remembered that if Present Mic was here, then that must mean that Hitoshi was here too!

Looking around, his suspicions proved to be correct. Curled up against his guardian was a sleeping Hitoshi. His fingers twitched occasionally, and Izuku wondered if he was having a dream about hunting.

“Hitoshi!” He squeaked, flopping onto the bigger pup.

Hitoshi woke with a start and chirped in surprise. He seemed grouchy for a moment, but when he laid eyes on his “attacker”, he grinned playfully. He made a noise of ecstatic greeting and rolled onto his back, playfully nipping at Izuku’s tail. The two wrestled in a mock battle, Hitoshi having a clear advantage over his smaller opponent. He grabbed one of Izuku’s ankles in his mouth and swam in a tight circle, dragging the younger boy through the sand. In retaliation, Izuku let out a mighty war cry and chomped down on Hitoshi’s fin.

“H-hey now! Calm down you two. No breakfast until you settle.” Present Mic said, gently pulling the two apart. He nuzzled them, searching for any injuries. Aside from some very shallow bite marks, the pups were unharmed.

Izuku whined at his play being halted, but planted his rump regardless. His tummy was rumbling, and he did want to see what he would be eating today. He hadn’t eaten since dinner last night, and he was feeling rather hungry.

Soon, Toshi, Sir, as he liked to call him, and an unknown mer appeared from the depths. Izuku moved to hide behind Present Mic, feeling slightly unnerved by the strangers presence. He tucked his tail and legs out of sight and went still, trying to make himself as unnoticeable as possible. Other mers… didn’t usually react very well when they saw that he was different, and Izuku considered himself lucky that the friends and Pro Heroes that he had met so far hadn’t seemed to mind. He wasn’t about to push that luck, so he wiggled down into the sand and pressed his face into Present Mic’s tail.

Hizashi peered back at the little pup that was currently trying to make himself invisible, confusion clear on his face. Hitoshi draped himself across the back of his tail and looked down at his playmate, chirping at him. Izuku let out a small peep in return, and Hitoshi made a sad noise.

“What's wrong, little listener?” He asked, gently trying to lift the boy up. Izuku just shrank back, pressing himself deeper into the sand.

“Scared.” Hitoshi said, looking at the blonde with a heartbreakingly sad stare.

“Scared?” He asked. “Scared of what?”

His mate, Sir Nighteye, and All Might had returned at this point, each one holding a fresh kill. Shouta had a few plump mackerels in his grasp, Nighteye had a wriggling squid, and All Might carried a small shark in his mouth. He dropped the fish and cocked his head slightly, looking worried when he didn’t immediately see Izuku.

“Where’s Izuku?” He asked, his fins fluttering as he became nervous.

“He’s… trying to hide, I think? Hitoshi says he’s scared of something.” Hizashi explained. Shouta, Nighteye and All Might looked at each other in confusion.

“Did something happen?” Sir Nighteye asked. Hizashi shook his head.

“No, nothing. He just saw you three coming and dashed behind me. He doesn’t want to come out.” The Voice Hero replied.

All Might frowned and swam over Hizashi, turning around to face Izuku’s curled up form.

“What’s the matter little one? Did something frighten you?” He asked quietly.

Izuku lifted his head slightly, looking at his guardian with huge, watery eyes. He hesitated, then shook his head slowly.

“No?” All Might questioned, feeling even more confused. “Then, what’s wrong?”

“Stanger. Not like.” He squeaked.

Hizashi looked at his mate, who had just reached the same conclusion he had.

“He’s scared of… me?” He asked, feeling bad that he had somehow managed to frighten the pup.

“It’s not your fault, Sho.” Hizashi reassured. Shifting slightly, he lowered his head so that he was eye level with Izuku.

“Why don’t you like him, Izuku?” He asked softly.

Izuku shook his head again. “Not like me.” He chirped. He lowered his head and slowly extended a limb, flexing his webbed feet. “’cause not same.”

The last sentence was so quiet that the adults almost didn’t hear it. All Might’s face turned from one of confusion to one of deep sorrow. Hizashi, Nighteye, Hitoshi, and Shouta were also incredibly saddened by the pups words.

“Oh Izuku.” All Might said softly, his cerulean eyes shining with moisture as he picked the pup up. Izuku didn’t look the hero in the eyes, choosing instead to pretend that the sand below them was the most interesting thing in the world. The number one Hero held the little pup in both hands, lifting him up to eye level.

“Izuku, you don’t need to be ashamed of your differences. No matter what you look like, you will always be an amazing young mer. You did something incredible just by being yourself, and something tells me that you will continue to do great things far into the future. Your appearance does not define you.” He said, his words calm and kind. Izuku looked up at him with hesitant hope and wonder.

“P-pomise?” He chirped quietly. All Might nodded, giving the pup his signature smile.

“Promise. And if you need proof, just look at me!” He said, flipping his odd tail up so that Izuku could see it better. “I’m a patchwork of many different species, so many that even I am not sure exactly what I am. Others have tried to put me down ever since I became like this, but I learned to use my differences to my advantage, and someday, you will too.”

He nuzzled the pup, who reciprocated the affection happily. “And if anyone tries to make fun of you, we’ll set them straight. Isn’t that right?”

The others made noises of agreement. “Yeah little listener! Nobody’s ever gonna mess with ya with us around!” Hizashi said.

“Indeed, you will be well protected while you are with us.” Sir Nighteye added. “And don’t worry about Eraser Head, he would never hurt or mock you.”

“That’s right.” Shouta said, swimming closer to Izuku. “Hello Izuku, my name is Shouta Aizawa, or, if we’re going by our hero names, Eraser Head. I’m Hizashi’s mate.”

The ebony-haired hero pointed his tail at Hizashi, who smiled. Hitoshi chirped rapidly, saying something in a language only Izuku could understand. By the end of it all, Izuku was grinning and letting out happy chirps. He wiped at his eyes a few times, but other than that, no remnants of his previous sadness remained. However, the pups chirps were soon interrupted by a low grumble. Izuku touched one of his feet to his stomach and looked expectantly at All Might.

“Eat?” He asked innocently, his pupils expanding. The Pro Hero laughed and nodded.

“Yes Izuku, we can eat now.” He chuckled.

Izuku licked his teeth, dislodging bits of shark meat. He’d never had shark before, and while it wasn’t one of his favourite foods, he didn’t mind it. It reminded him a bit of the strip of meat that Smile had given him when he had first woken up in that new place. When he was done eating, Toshi ate the rest, bones and all. Izuku didn’t understand how he could do that, didn’t the bones poke him? Perhaps it was an adult thing, and he would learn to do it someday.

Now that everyone had eaten, it was time to move again. Izuku paddled his way up to Toshi and held onto the solid fin that sprouted from the blonde’s arm. It reminded him of his Mama’s fins, and he wondered if Toshi was part dolphin. The difference between Toshi’s fins and his Mama’s fins was that Toshi’s fins were on his arms and that they were covered in little silver scales. It was really cool.

Once Hitoshi had settled down on Aizawa’s back, the temporary pod set off. Izuku kicked his legs and whipped his tail furiously, even though Toshi was mostly just pulling him along. Still, Izuku didn’t want to spend all of his day being carried, so he continued on. Sir Nighteye swam next to him, checking every few minutes to make sure that he hadn’t fallen off. Izuku narrowed his eyes and swam faster, determined to prove their earlier words correct. He wouldn’t let his legs hold him back anymore. He would swim and swim and swim until he was faster than Toshi! That way, when he saw Kacchan again, he would be the one winning their races and games of tag.

Two Weeks Later…

Toshinori yawned as he swam forward, exhaustion pulling on his tail and tugging down his eyelids. They were making the final push to reach the shallows by daybreak, and the journey had left them all feeling drained. Izuku was paddling with all his might, just as he had been doing since breakfast, but Toshinori could see that he was about to drop. His movements were becoming sluggish, and he looked very sleepy. The pupish energy that usually followed him had been drained away by the day’s swimming.

Mirai swam up beside Toshinori, looking just as tired as he likely felt. He rubbed at his eyes as he spoke.

“Yagi, we need to stop soon. The pups haven’t eaten since breakfast.” He said, his tiredness seeping into his voice.

“I know, but we can’t stop here. The currents here are too strong, and I fear that the pups might get swept away.” Toshinori replied.

“How much longer till we’re in the clear?” Mirai asked

“I don’t know… hey Aizawa, how much further?” Toshinori called out. Since they had been traveling together a while, they had started to address each other by their civilian names.

Aizawa squinted at the sound of his name, then took a minute to think about Toshinori’s question.

“Hrmm, shouldn’t be more than an hour at our current pace. The shallows here are so secure because there’s a strange barrier of currents around them that keeps most predators out. We’re at the beginning of the barrier now, but the middle is where the currents are the worst. Be careful, and don’t let Izuku out of your sight.” He replied, rubbing at his face with one hand.

Toshinori nodded and gathered Izuku up into his arms. The pup let out a weak squeak of disagreement, but quickly quieted as sleep overtook him. That was good, because a sleeping pup was much easier to hold than one who was awake and wanted to explore. He’d learned that very early on. Pulling Izuku close to him, he flicked his tail faster, wanting to get through the currents as quickly as possible.

Hizashi let out a yelp as his tail got caught in another current. It pulled him backwards and jostled the pup that was tucked into his pouch. Hitoshi squealed in fear as he nearly fell out of Hizashi’s pouch, and the blonde scrambled to help the pup. Mirai darted forward and grabbed Hizashi, pulling him out of the current’s grasp.

“Come on! We’re almost out!” He cried, helping the Voice Hero to swim forward.

“What’s going on?! I’ve never heard of the current’s being this bad!” Hizashi questioned loudly.

“I don’t know! I’ve been here in the past with my old pod, and while the currents were rough, they were nothing like this!” Mirai responded, his earfins pinned flat against his head.

Hizashi could hear Izuku’s fearful chirps, and his muscles tensed, ready to dart forward if Toshinori lost his grip. It wasn’t likely, but it could happen.

“Look out!”

His mate’s voice made his head snap up, just in time to see a chunk of wood headed straight forward. He didn’t have time to dodge, and the broken plank smashed right into his face. The impact sent him spiraling, and he felt his blood freeze when he heard Hitoshi cry out, his voice fading as he was pulled away.

“Hitoshi!” Hizashi screamed, his head pounding as blood poured out of his nose and cut up cheek.

A sharp yell sounded out, and then he heard a sound that doubled his terror.

“EEEEEEEEE!” Izuku screamed, his tiny form getting pulled down into the depths.

“IZUKU!” A booming roar smothered his own shout, and Toshinori’s hulking form materialized beside Hizashi and Mirai.

“WHERE IS HE?!” The number one Hero shouted, panic having seized him in it’s vice like grip.

“I don’t know! He and Hitoshi just got dragged away!” Hizashi sobbed, feeling hysteric.

“AHH-!” Shouta’s cry was cut off abruptly, but before anyone could react, the reason smacked them in the face.

Literally.

As a large, rusted piece of metal smashed into the trio of mers, and Hizashi’s world started to go black, the last thing he thought about was how badly he had failed the little pup that he had sworn to protect.

Chapter Text

A wisp of shadow flickered in the dark of the lower levels of the sea, nigh undetectable. A figure seeped in darkness slunk through the night-dimmed water, their golden eyes flickering every so often as they stalked forward silently.

Kurogiri’s gaze sharpened as his prey came into view once again. He detested hunting this far up, but Tomura was too young to follow him down into the lower depths. Until he could handle the crushing pressure and biting cold, Kurogiri would simply have to cope.

A plump octopus bobbed up and down, oblivious to the fact that it was being hunted. It’s red colour made it stand out easily, and Kurogiri wondered if it too belonged in the deep. But he wasn’t about to contemplate it for too long, as it’s foolish decision would only make his task easier. Making sure he had a firm grasp of the octopus’s location, he activated his Quirk. The world blurred for a moment, and then the creature was brushing against his claws. He sunk his curved talons into the moist, soft flesh and tor into the animal’s brain, killing it before it had a chance to struggle. It wasn’t the largest meal, and he would need to hunt again soon, but it would suffice for now.

He decided to swim back for a bit, no use in wasting energy after all. As he swam, a sharp, earfin-pericing sound caught him off-guard. At first, he thought that it might be Tomura, and he wondered what on Earth could have possibly found the pup when he had taken such great care to find the perfect place to hide him. Then, he realized that the shout had come from the wrong direction entirely. Something tugged at him, an emotion that he barely felt at all anymore. Concern. Curious as to what could cause him to feel this way, he began to swim towards the direction of the scream.

Izuku shrieked in terror and flailed around, his tiny body caught in a tailspin. His vision spun as he was dragged away from Toshi and the others, spiraling as he fell down farther and farther. He had been ripped so suddenly from safety that he hadn’t had time to register what was happening and how to get himself out of harms way.

Eventually, he was flung from the current that had held him, and he rolled to a stop. Izuku’s screams faded into fearful whimpers as he realized that, while he was no longer tumbling, he was now very much alone. As he regained his senses, he realized that he had a cut on his arm, a bloody gash that was leaking blood into the water. It stung badly, and Izuku winced in pain. Looking around, he realized that it was darker here, and that he couldn’t see the surface, or, well, anything,for that matter. His body began to tremble as a chill set into his tiny bones, and he started to let out small cheeps. When no one responded, he increased the volume of his cries, until he was chirping as loud as he could, trying to find an adult.

After a few moments had passed, Izuku’s throat began to hurt. His calls became whimpers once again, and he curled in on himself. He didn’t know where to go, and he didn’t want to risk being pulled deeper by a current that he couldn’t see. He tried to scent the water, to search for any familiar scents, but he found nothing. Well… almost nothing. There was something that he could smell, but it was strange. It smelled like…

Izuku froze instinctively, suddenly becoming aware of how very exposed he was. Something was nearby. Something dangerous. As slowly as he could, the young pup turned his head to try and survey his surroundings. Just within his line of sight was a shadow, looming and circling around him. It was big, bigger than anything Izuku had ever seen, and it reeked of blood. The greenette began to breathe heavily, not having the foresight to worry about loosing too much of his oxygen reserves.

From the shape, he could see that it was a shark, but it was not one that he recognized. As it slowly swam closer, Izuku desperately tried to think of a way out of this situation, but with no Quirk to defend himself with and no adult to protect him, his chances of survival seemed to dwindle by the second.

The beast drew closer, and Izuku could see it’s gray skin, accented by a white underbelly. Scars littered it’s huge body, a particularly large one going over it’s eye. Izuku wondered if the shark could even see out of that black, dull orb. It nearly knocked Izuku aside as it brushed by him, it’s rough skin scraping against his scales. The sensation made Izuku seize up in fright, his body going rigid.

Suddenly, the shark turned towards him, and Izuku felt his heart stop. The massive creature beat it’s tail back and forth as it lunged for him. A jaw as big as the moon opened wide before Izuku, displaying row upon row of sharp teeth. Something burned in Izuku’s chest, and a flair of emerald and turquoise light burst out of his torso. The light blinded Izuku for a moment, but it also deterred the shark. It snapped it’s jaw closed and jerked away, circling back around as it shook itself. With nothing but his life left to lose, Izuku tried to make a mad dash to the surface. He swam with all his might, but he could feel the shark catching up. Soon, it would have him, and then he’d be dinner.

Just as he felt one of the shark’s teeth touch the tip of his tail, something barreled into Izuku’s pursuer, knocking it away from him. Izuku spun around, his eyes wide as he panted. Something was floating before him, a low snarl emanating from it. He said something, because he really wasn’t sure what.

It was a dark purple, black in some places, and it was always moving, like clouds or fog. A pair of pupil-less yellow eyes glared at the shark, and a clawed hand was covered in slowly rising blood. It lunged forward and grabbed the bigger beast by it’s gills. Izuku watched in a mix of fascination and horror as the new creature ripped out a chunk of the shark’s side, blood flowing into the water like a great cloud of crimson. The shark thrashed as it tried to escape, but the shadow being grabbed a hold of it once again and, with a surge of it’s powerful, flickering tail, it dragged the bleeding fish down into the abyss below. Soon, there was no trace of them, and Izuku was alone again.

The pup curled his tail around himself, clutching at his injured arm as he quaked in stress and fear. He didn’t know what to do, where to go. It was dark down here, and he couldn’t see anything in the nothingness. He peered down at the void beneath him and made a risky choice.

Izuku called out for the being that had saved him, hoping that it might be able to help him. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, before Izuku’s very eyes, the world seemed to bend, and then the shadow creature was back. It appeared before him in the blink of an eye, and Izuku squeaked in surprise. He shrank back a bit, becoming a ball of scales and fluffy green hair. The creature, mer-like in appearance, leaned forward and examined him. Wispy, clawed hands reached out and scooped Izuku up, bringing him up to eye level. They stared at each other, both not really knowing what to make of the being before them.

Kurogiri took in the pup’s appearance, tilting his head slightly. The little creature that he had rescued was… interesting, to say the least. For one, he had never once seen a mer that resembled him. Instead of an aquatic tail, this pup had a reptilian body, sporting clawed feet and a fin-less, scaly tail. Was it his Quirk? Or was this boy like him? An oddity in a world that resented those who strayed too far from the norm. Another interesting thing was that this pup was alone, all though he was obviously far too young to be left alone. Did this child have a pod?

He scented him, and recoiled in surprise. The pup was practically smothered in the scent of Pro Heroes. What was even more surprising was that the most prominent scent belonged not to some low-tier nobody, but to the number one Hero himself, All Might. An idea struck Kurogiri, and his eyes crinkled as he smiled deviously. If the heroes knew that a highly dangerous villain had managed to get close enough to a pup that was in the care of All Might, then panic and paranoia would surely grow within their ranks. He would do more, such as taking the pup with him to raise alongside Tomura, but he didn’t want to risk having the ire of so many heroes directly on him while he couldn’t retreat to the safety of the deep. No, he would simply scentmark the pup and return him to his neglectful guardians. However, if a scenario like this should ever happen again… well, Tomura had been saying that he wanted a sibling.

“Hello there little one. Are you all right?” He asked, feigning sweetness. The pup’s big, watery eyes looked down, and he shyly showed Kurogiri a wound that he hadn’t previously seen.

“Oh dear, that looks like it hurts. Let me help you clean it up so it doesn’t get infected.” He said, offering his help.

The boy hesitated, looking at the cut, before closing his eyes and nodding. He held out his arm and covered his eyes with his other arm. Apparently, this wasn’t the first time he had needed a wound cleaned. That thought made Kurogiri… angry, but he didn’t know why.

With a gentleness that he hadn’t used in years, Kurogiri licked the cut clean, making sure that he didn’t take too long. The idea of prolonging this pup’s suffering bothered him, although once again, he did not know why. Once was done, he brushed his hand over the pup’s face. The gesture was both to reassure the youngster and to rub his scent on him. Mer’s had scent glands in a few different places, on the point where their palms met their wrists, on both sides of their jaw, and directly under their chin.

“There, all done. Feel better?” He asked, tilting his head.

The pup uncurled slightly and nodded. He chirped happily, and his tail wagged slightly. How adorable.

Kurogiri blinked as that last thought processed in his mind. Where the fuck did that come from? Adorable? That wasn’t a word he used! Perhaps this pup had more of an effect on him than he had previously thought. Better return him soon then.

“Good. Now hold on tight, and I’ll bring you back to your… heroes.” He spat the last word slightly, but the pup didn’t seem to notice. He covered the boy’s eyes and activated his Quirk, focusing on reappearing higher up. Once they arrived, the sound of desperate shouts and a loud, echoing roar reached his ears. Shit, they were closer than he had expected.

“Okay, this is as far as I can take you, little one. Perhaps I’ll see you again someday. For now though, this is goodbye.” He gave the slightly disoriented pup a small wave, then warped away, reappearing back down in the deep. It seemed like he and Tomura would be having great white for supper tonight.

Toshinori let out another booming roar, calling for the pups that had been stolen away from them. A cut on his head was bleeding pretty badly, and half of his face was aching and starting to bruise. His chest was burning as well, and he could see the occasional brightly coloured orb becoming agitated beneath his skin.The chunk of torn up ship had knocked them senseless for a bit, but Toshinori was used to being hit hard. As soon as his vision stopped swimming, he had immediately gone about rousing the others. Yamada had become a blubbering, panicky mess, and his mate wasn’t much better. Currently, the two were wreaking their throats calling for their adopted son and young Izuku. Mirai was trying to follow the currents to see where the pups could have possibly gone, and Toshinori was using his adrenaline fueled strength to power through any currents that he came across.

“IZUKU! HITOSHI! CALL OUT IF YOU CAN HEAR US!” Yamada screamed, his enhanced voice traveling far out into the depths of the sea.

Then, much to everyone’s sheer relief, a voice called back. It was a little deeper than Izuku’s squeak, and it had a profound effect on Yamada and Aizawa. The two males were practically screaming as they dashed towards the source of the noise. As they swam, the shaking form of Hitoshi appeared from the darker water beneath. He was openly sobbing, and headed straight for his guardian’s embrace. It was Aizawa’s arms that he found first, and his little form disappeared as the ebony haired hero’s arms closed around him. Yamada was quick to follow, his tail curling around his mate as he drew them both into a tight hug. Toshinori could hear them whispering apologies and promises of safety to the pup, both of them nuzzling and scenting him.

Toshinori felt relieved that they had found Hitoshi, but they were still missing a pup. Suddenly, Mirai called out, his voice full of joy.

“I’ve got him! He’s over here!” He shouted, and Toshinori’s already hammering heart began to beat even louder.

He activated his Quirk and flicked his tail, appearing beside his best friend as water wooshed by, bubbles being formed by his speed. In his sidekick’s arms was a trembling Izuku, tears filling his large emerald globes.

“Izuku!” Toshinori cried happily, pure relief clear in his voice. The pup’s gaze found his as his head snapped up, and he started chirping loudly, making grabby hands at the hero. The blonde immediately complied with Izuku’s demand, taking him from Mirai and pulling him into a hug. He tucked the pup under his chin and let out a low, comforting rumble, trying to soothe the now hysterical baby. He went to scentmark him, as that seemed to be what calmed pups down, but froze when he smelled something on Izuku that made his blood go cold. It was a strange scent, cold and stale, yet almost smelling of fresh air and fire. It was a scent he recognized, but he never in a million years expected to find it all over his pup. Because that’s what Izuku was, a decision that he had subconsciously made the first night that they met but had yet to state aloud or fully accept himself.

“Mirai…” He started, his voice shaking as he tightened his hold on Izuku. The younger mer perked up at the sound of his name being spoken in such a shaken voice.

“Yes?” He questioned, his earfins fluttering in confusion.

“Do you smell what I smell?” He asked, looking down at Izuku. At this point, his quietness had caught the attention of the other heroes present, and Yamada and Aizawa both looked over, neither one moving as they continued to comfort Hitoshi.

Mirai looked perplexed by the odd question, but he scented the water anyways. His pupils constricted into slits when the scent hit him, and he hissed in shock and fear.

“Kurogiri?! Here!? But- but how? I thought we chased that bottom feeder back to the Abyssopelagic Zone? And to think he get so close as to scentmark Izuku, oh my Gods…” The golden eyed mer put a hand to his head. Upon hearing Mirai’s proclamation, Yamada and Aizawa became still as well, shock and traces of fear forming on their faces.

“Kurogiri? The Warp Quirk villain? That Kurogiri?” Yamada’s voice cracked as he asked a question he already knew the answer to. His tail curled tighter around his mate, and he pulled his family in close to him protectively. The events of today had pushed him to his limit, and if anything else stressful happened, he may just lose it. Hitoshi, sensing real fear from his caretakers, began to whine and shiver slightly.

“We can’t handle a threat like Kurogiri right now, not with the pups around, so we need to get to the shallows as fast as possible. Now that he knows we have pups, he’s probably going to try and use them against us.” Toshinori said, straightening up even as a shiver ran down his spine. “I don’t know how Izuku managed to get away from him, but I don’t want to wait around and find out. We can’t afford to wait and see if the currents calm down, so we’ll just have to power through. Aizawa, do you know how much farther we need to go?”

The Erasure Hero nodded, pulling his pup closer to him. “Not too far, if we really push, we’ll be through before midnight.” He said, nodding in the direction that they needed to go.

“Alright, let’s get out of here before something else goes wrong.” Toshinori replied. Making sure that Izuku was secure, he gave the pup a quick nuzzle before setting off, Mirai right at his side, constantly vigilante as he ensured that Izuku didn’t get pulled away again. Izuku, for his part, behaved remarkably well, given everything that had happened. He clung to Toshinori’s chest like his life depended on it, his little claws pricking the Pro Hero’s skin. Toshinori didn’t mind, if anything it was just another reminder that his boy was once again safe. It reassured both himself and his Quirk, which had calmed down by now.

Still, he couldn’t help but glance back discreetly every once in a while, half expecting to see a flickering shadow or a pair of glowing, golden, hate-filled eyes.

Toshinori grumbled and flopped onto the soft sand beneath him, his body screaming as it ached. Once the disturbed silt had settled, he pulled Izuku in closer to him, the pup now laying within his encircled arms. The boy was yawning and licking the last remnants of his dinner off of the corners of his mouth. Toshinori and Aizawa had managed to fight through their exhaustion and had brought down some passing turtles. Toshinori had ripped the plastrons off, exposing the soft, rich meat that lay beneath. Izuku had tried to insist that Toshinori and Mirai eat first, but the hero and his sidekick had quickly put an end to that. It was only after Izuku had devoured his share of the meal did Toshinori and Mirai start eating. It was a nice dinner, but he was too tired to really appreciate it.

Izuku stretched his legs and leaned on Toshinori’s forearm, his eyelids drooping as he yawned again. The stale scent from before made it’s way to the Pro Hero’s nose, and he curled his lip up as his anger bubbled just beneath the surface.

“Come here Izuku, I think you could use a bath tonight.” He said, pulling the pup closer.

Izuku squeaked in defiance ,as all pups his age were known to do, but didn’t have enough energy to try and wiggle away and escape. As Toshinori groomed the tired pup, he made sure to replace Kurogiri’s chilly scent with his own, feeling his muscles relax when he could no longer smell the villain on his boy. He payed special attention to a cut he found on Izuku’s arm, wanting to make sure that it had been cleaned properly. By the time he was done, Izuku could barely keep his eyes open. The tiny mer snuggled into the sand beneath him and sighed contently.

Unbeknownst to Toshinori, little Izuku was mulling over a thought in his mind. When Toshi and Aizawa had gone out to hunt, he and Hitoshi had a conversation. The older pup had been thinking about his guardians, about how different they were from his old family.

“They’re really nice,” Hitoshi had said, looking out at the horizon, “and they care about me. My parents never cared about me, I don’t think.”

Izuku had stayed silent, guessing that Hitoshi was almost speaking to himself more than he was Izuku.

“I think… I’m ready. Ready for them to be my new parents. I don’t want to think about my old family anymore, I just want to be with the one I have now.” He had said, smiling for the first time that day.

“So… you have two Dads now?” Izuku had asked, cocking his head.

“Yeah, I guess I do. Though, I’ll have to call one of them something else, otherwise everyone will get confused.” He hummed in thought. “Izu, what do you call your dad?”

Izuku had quirked an eyebrow and looked at Hitoshi in confusion. “’toshi, you know I don’t have a Dad. Only Kacchan ever had a Dad.”

“Yeah, but you have one now, don’t you?” The purple hair pup had said, looking back at his podmate. “You know, All Might?”

Izuku’s mind had blanked as he worked to process that statement.

“Is… is he? What makes a Dad… a Dad?” He’d asked, squinting his eyes in thought.

Together, they pondered that question. Neither one of them had much experience when it came to paternal figures.

“I think…” Hitoshi had started, “a dad takes care of you. He’s always there for you, and he makes you feel better when things are bad. He teaches you things, and helps you when you mess up. And above everything else, a dad loves you, no matter what.”

The purple haired pup had looked at Izuku again in that moment, his question in his eyes as much as it was on his tongue.

“So you tell me, what is All Might to you?”

Izuku looked up at Toshi, at the mer who had been taking care of him.

The one who had taught him to accept himself, to use his differences to his advantage.

The one who brought him food everyday and always watched over him.

The one who had cried when he had seen Izuku after he had been lost.

He was all of these things, but he was also something else to Izuku, something that the pup had wanted ever since he could understand that he was missing the one who was supposed to bear the title. Izuku knew what Toshinori was to him.

Letting out one final yawn as the mer above him wished him a good night, Izuku closed his eyes and, just before he drifted off to dreamland, spoke the sentences that would change his life forever.
“Goodnight, Daddy. I love you.”

Toshinori, who had just started to lower his head to rest, froze in pure shock. Mirai, who had been leaning against his side due to pure exhaustion, raised his head in surprise. The sidekick looked at his friend, who looked as though he had just been doused in snow, and smiled.

“Well, look at that. Congratulations, Toshinori, it’s a boy.” Mirai joked, before closing his eyes and laying back down.

Toshinori just stared at the curled up pup that was now sleeping on his arm, a warm feeling spreading to his entire body. His tail wagged slowly as he tried to suppress the pure joy that was taking hold of him. Lowering his head once again, Toshinori nuzzled the pup, his pup, and whispered a quiet “I love you too” in his ear. Filled with a mix of pride, exhaustion, nervousness, and pure ecstasy, Toshinori wondered if sleep would even find him tonight.

Shouta curled up next to his mate, Hitoshi settling down in between them. The pale pup laid his head on Shouta’s chest, but he didn’t immediately close his eyes like usual. Instead, he lay there on his back, looking back and forth from Hizashi and Shouta. Hizashi raised an eyebrow playfully, leaning down.

“What’s on your mind little listener?” He asked softly.

The pup stared up at the usually loud mer, his face screwed up in concentration.

“Try’n to pick.” Hitoshi replied.

“Oh? And what are you trying to pick?” Shouta asked, amused by the serious look on the boy’s face.

“Names.”

“Names for who, Hito?"

The pup pointed at Shouta, then at Hizashi. Shouta’s mate snorted and smiled wider.

“Buddy, we’ve already got names, what else would you call us?” He asked. Hitoshi scrunched up his face in thought, then nodded in seeming confirmation

“Dad and Papa.” He said, pointing once again at Shouta for the first word, then at Hizashi when he spoke the second.

The two mers gasped, their eyes becoming wide. Shouta felt his eyes begin to burn, and he knew that it wasn’t because of his Quirk for once. Hizashi’s lip started to wobble as he realized what Hitoshi had said, and his eyes got watery.

“O-oh? You- you want to call- call us that?” He asked, having to gasp for breath in between some words. Hitoshi nodded and smiled softly.

“Love you.” He said quietly, looking at the mers that he had now adopted back.

Shouta felt himself choke on tears as he tried not to let his emotions spill out. His mate, on the other hand, was now completely broken, and Shouta quickly activated his Quirk as Hizashi let out a happy, tear filled shout. He could hear their travel companions make tired, questioning noises from their position, but he didn’t really care. He was too emotional to really focus on much.

“Oh, we love you too Hitoshi!” Hizashi cried, hugging their son close to him. Shouta let out a shaky hum of agreement, afraid to do anything more. If they were home, he probably would have scooped his boys up and danced around the nest with them. But for now, he would settle for nuzzling and scentmarking his beloved and their pup, content with the fact that Hitoshi was willing to accept them as his family, even after the disastrous events of earlier.

Snuggling in closer, Shouta let a smile settle onto his face as he embraced his family, finally feeling that aching emptiness in his heart be filled.

That night, two families were made, and soon, one of them would be made even bigger.

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Art of Izu and the big bad shark! (no actual shark slander here, they're wonderful creatures!)

Chapter Text

Izuku’s tail flicked, his pupils becoming slits as he honed in on his prey. Letting out a small growl, he pounced, pinning the silver and blue thing to the ground. It twitched under his claws, but it couldn’t escape from such a mighty hunter. Putting all of his weight onto his prey, he began to bite it, before suddenly finding himself floating in the water as he was thrown upward.

He squeaked indignantly, glaring at Toshi, who was now smirking at the pup, waving his tail around in silent victory.

“Da-ddy!” Izuku whined, his cheeks puffing up in rage. How dare the Pro Hero stop his hunt?

Toshi just chuckled and used his great tail to pull Izuku close, scooping the greenette up in his arms.

“How about instead of hunting my tail, you go and play with your friends, hmm?” His Daddy suggested, nodding towards the south. Izuku nodded excitedly and nuzzled his adoptive dad, before paddling off to go find his friends. He still remembered the day that he had actually met his new friend and he reminisced as he swam.

Once they had all slept for half a day, their temporary pod had explored the area that would be their home for a while. Apparently, they weren’t the only pod in the area, and Izuku and Hitoshi had immediately taken a shine to the pup that they had met around 3 months ago.

Fumikage Tokoyami was a scrawny thing, and he had the head of a bird instead of a normal face. Like Izuku, he lacked earfins, instead sporting twin clumps of extended feathers on either side of his gray, downy head, and the two instantly bonded because of that fact. His tail was that of a scorpion fish, pure black in colour. At night, Fumikage practically disappeared.

Fumikage’s parents and his elder sister were also very nice. It was clear that Fumikage, or Fumi, as they liked to call him, had gotten his looks from his mother, as she also had an avian face. She and Hitoshi’s Dad hit it off pretty quick, as both were underground heroes. As they had talked, Fumi, Hitoshi, and Izuku had played a game of tag. It had been really fun, and Fumi’s pod promised to bring their son around often so that he could play with Hitoshi and Izuku.

Pulling himself from his memories, Izuku swam over to where he knew Fumi would be. He had a plan for what he wanted to do today, and he knew that the avian mer would be interested. It was still early, so they might need to wait a bit before collecting ‘toshi, as the older pup usually tried to get extra sleep in the morning to make up for the sleep he lost in the night. Unless the other boy exhausted himself, sleep seemed to evade him.

A black tail came into view, tucked behind a cluster of coral. There was something called a “coral reef”, as Izuku’s Daddy had called, around the area they were staying in, and it seemed like Fumikage was taking a closer look at it. Izuku smiled as he approached, his tail whipping faster now.

“Fumi!” He called, waving to the other pup.

Fumikage looked up and smiled, his beak curving upwards slightly. He couldn’t show emotion as easily as other mers could, but Izuku always seemed to be able to read him.

“Good morning Izuku.” He greeted, stretching as he rose up from his lowered position.

“Ready to go on an adventure today? I heard Sir talking about seeing something while he was out hunting near the edge of the reef, and I wanna see if we can find it.” He said, pointing out towards the horizon. Fumi frowned.

“I don’t think we should go out that far, Izuku. I mean, have you ever even seen whats over there?” The other pup asked.

“No, but I’ve been kinda near it, and the biggest thing I’ve seen was an eel.” Izuku made his eyes go wide as he pleaded. “Please, Fumi? We don’t have to go far, just enough to find whatever Sir was talking about. If we see anything dangerous, we’ll go straight home, I promise.”

Fumikage thought for a moment, before sighing. “Okay, I’ll go.” He relented, a small smile forming on his face.

“Yes!” Izuku cheered, pumping his fist. “Okay, we’ll grab ‘toshi soon, and then we’ll go, okay?”

Fumikage nodded, and the two swam off to find something to entertain themselves with until their friend got up.

Izuku led the way as the trio swam over bunches of coral and schools of colourful fish. Hitoshi rubbed his eyes and yawned, still not fully awake yet.

“So, where are we going?” The purple haired boy asked sleepily.

“To the reef’s edge. I think we should be getting close now.” Izuku replied, putting a hand above his eyes as he peered at the water ahead of them.

“Why are we going there?” Hitoshi questioned, frowning. “And isn’t that a bit far out?”

Izuku sighed. “Yes, it is kinda far, but I’m bored! My Daddy hasn’t let me do anything lately, and I need to do something fun before I literally die of boredom.” The greenette did a loop before continuing. “Besides, I heard Sir talking to my Daddy about seeing something near the reef’s edge when he was hunting, and I want to see what it is.”

Hitoshi was quiet for a moment, then he spoke again.

“Izu… isn’t this how you got caught by the monsters before? Exploring something unknown while you were away from your pod?”

Izuku paused at that statement, suddenly looking very nervous. Fumikage’s eyes widened.

“You never told me that.” The feathered pup said quietly.

Izuku looked straight ahead, and then back towards the direction they had come from. It would be so easy to turn around, and Izuku knew that he really should, and yet…

“O-okay, maybe, maybe we’ll just go to the edge and then stop. I mean, we’ve come all this way, don’t you wanna see what’s there?” He asked his companions. The two other pups looked at each other and shrugged.

“I guess so.” Fumikage said, swimming forward.

Izuku and Hitoshi followed close behind him, Izuku taking the lead once again. The three pups swam and swam and swam, the coral beneath them becoming sparser and sparser as they approached the edge.
Eventually, they reached an area with almost no coral, and Izuku pointed to a sand point. Lowering himself to the seafloor, he pranced forward and looked back at his companions.

“See? Isn’t this co- yeAUGH!”

Izuku yelped in fear as his foot met open water and he fell forward. Blackness engulfed his vision as a rush of cold water covered his body. He could faintly hear the calls of his friends, but only just. It was like all of his senses were being dampened by the silent, oppressive darkness. He could feel the slight pull of a current dragging him farther out slightly, but he couldn’t move to free himself from it’s icy grip.

Beneath him was a void darker than the darkest night. A huge, cavernous maw that seemed to swallow up any light that dared to go near it. Izuku swallowed hard as his heart began to beat fast. It was as if he was looking into the eye of a leviathan creature, and it was looking back at him. What disturbed him even more was that he swore that he could feel some sort of… presence. Like something was moving just beneath the blackness. Something alive and very familiar.

Izuku felt that sensation again, the one that had appeared when all of the pretty lights had come out to play with him, only this time instead of being warm and comforting, the feeling was cold and unnerving. A little voice in his head whispered to him as his feet began to go numb.

“Swim. He knows you’re here. If you stay here any longer, you’ll die.”

As if he had been slapped, Izuku snapped back to reality. With a screech of pure terror, the little pup broke free of the current that had dragged him far farther than he had originally thought. He thrashed his tail and clawed at the chilled water. As his muscles tried to seize up, he fought through the numbness and stiffness and madly scrambled for purchase that wasn’t there.

Just as panic was about to take full control of his mind, two pairs of hands gripped his arms and yanked him forward. He, Hitoshi, and Fumikage all went tumbling as they hit the sand. Izuku gripped the grains like they were his only anchor to the mortal world, breathing heavily. His eyes were blown wide and his pupils were practically non-existent as he trembled. Suddenly, hands were on his shoulder blades, but Izuku couldn’t will his head to turn. His muscles had gone stiff, and he was frozen in place by a combination of cold and fear.

“Izu? Izuku?!” Hitoshi shook him slightly, panic clear in his voice. “What happened out there? We tried to warn you that you were getting pulled out, but it was like you couldn’t hear us! You just kept staring downwards.” The eldest pup frowned in worry.

“We have to go.” Izuku trembled violently as he spoke, his words hardly rising above a hushed whisper.

“I agree, let’s go home.” Fumikage said, wanting to get far away from the edge.

“No. I can’t go back home, he knows I’m here now. If I go back, they’ll die too.” Izuku worked to get his legs to respond as he began to panic.

“What?! Who’s this “he” and why would everyone die?” Hitoshi was by Izuku side now, and his tail gently brushed against Izuku’s own. “Izu, you’re scaring us. Let’s just go back and tell the grown ups what happened. They’re heroes, after all, so they can protect us from anything!”

“Not from him, Hito.” Izuku’s pupils were little more than slits now, and he jerked his tail away as he finally got to his feet. “Not from him.”

“You don’t know that!” Hitoshi yelled, the stressful situation making him angry.

“Yes I do!” Izuku snapped back, whirling around to face his podmate. Hitoshi startled back, as did Fumikage. Neither pup had seen Izuku sound so angry and scared at the same time. Izuku’s chest glowed faintly, and it was only visible because they were near such deep water. Tiny emerald sparks snapped and danced between the spines on his lower back, and for the first time in his life, Hitoshi felt afraid of Izuku.

“I don’t know how or why I know but I do! I really wish I didn’t because I’m scared and I don’t know what to do or what’s going on and I just want to go home but I can’t!” Izuku’s voice broke and he roughly palmed at his tear-filled eyes as he began to sob. “All I know is- is that if I stay here, people I care about are going to get hurt really bad, and I can’t let that happen.”

He wiped away more tears and hiccuped, his chest heaving. Hitoshi and Fumikage were looking at him with a mix of confusion and fear. He didn’t blame them.

“I- I felt something while I was out there, and I can’t explain it, but I know it’s something evil. I felt it before, back when I was real little, but I don’t remember what it was. I remember white, and dark eyes, and pain, and then nothing. It’s all fuzzy…” He held his head with one hand as he turned away.

“I’m sorry I dragged you two out here. Please, just go. Go home before that… thing goes after you too.” Izuku pleaded, pushing off the sandy seafloor and rising up into the water and swimming away from his friends as fast as he could. The glow had died at this point, and the fear that had come with it dissipated as well. Hitoshi darted after his podmate, their avian friend not far behind. However, before they could reach Izuku, a low rumble shook the water around them.

The sand beneath began to shake and rise into the water slightly, stones fell off the edge, and any nearby fish scattered. All three pups tumbled around in place, disorientated by the alien feeling. Suddenly, a loud CRACK rang out, and a large chunk of the reef’s edge began to crumble, falling towards the deep. The now rapidly approaching blackness sent spikes of fear into the pup’s hearts, and the trio swam away as fast as they could. Hitoshi and Fumikage raced back towards the direction they had come, while Izuku swam southward, terror propelling him forward faster than he would usually be able to go.

Mirai stretched and yawned, the warm waters lulling him into a blissful half-awake state. It was mid-day now, and he figured that Yagi would be back soon. The big mer had left to go and hunt while Aizawa went to go look for the pups. Mirai wasn’t worried, there were no predators around here after all. He yawned again and snuggled down into the silky silt, ready to head to dreamland.

A rumble suddenly shook the earth, waking the sidekick up immediately. He shouted in surprise and flailed slightly, unable to steady himself. As he turned towards the seafloor, he flicked his tail back and forth and propelled himself forward enough to grab onto a large rock. He gripped it and shut his eyes, blocking out his dizzying surroundings. Once the rumbling subsided, he jumped into action.

He first checked in on Yamada, who looked incredibly worried. Apparently, neither his mate nor his pup had returned yet, and he was worried that something had happened to them.

“You check the eastern reef, and I’ll check the western.” Mirai said, giving the other male a, hopefully, reassuring smile. “We’ll find them, this area isn’t all that big.”

Once the Pro Hero was off, Mirai spun and swam in his chosen direction. Various clusters of coral and rocks had been disturbed, and he faintly wondered how that would affect the reef’s delicate ecosystem. As he swam, he began calling out the children’s names.

“Izuku!”

“Hitoshi!”

“Tokoyami!”

He repeated his calls until, finally, he heard a distant reply. He increased his speed, startling a nearby clownfish. Sure enough, there were the pups.

Well, two of them, at least.

Yamada and Aizawa’s boy looked haggard, eyes red from tears and a shake in his form. Tokoyami was gripping the other pup’s hand, visibly trembling with eyes the size of moons. However, one member of the trio was missing, and Mirai’s stomach dropped when he realized that the pup’s shakiness and fear might not just be from the earthquake.

As the pups buried themselves in Mirai’s chest, he looked down at them with an important question on his lips.

“Hitoshi, where’s Izuku?” He asked, trying to soothe the pups as best as he could.

Hitoshi seemed to become even more upset at that question, and that frightened Mirai.

“H-he’s gone!” The boy cried. Mirai’s blood froze.

“Gone?! Gone where? What happened?” He questioned, looking at the pups in his arms. “Start from the beginning.”

So Hitoshi did, to the best of his abilities. He told the sidekick about the trip to the edge of the reef, about Izuku falling off the edge, his breakdown and him emitting a glow and sparks, and then how they got separated before Hitoshi or Tokoyami could stop Izuku. By the end of it, both pups were wiping their eyes again, and Mirai was left in a state of shock. What he was hearing didn’t make sense, it just wasn’t possible, but the pups were young enough that they hadn’t developed an ability to lie yet. He had suspected that something bad might come of Yagi’s Quirk revealing itself to be sentient, but to this extent…

Perhaps he was wrong? Maybe all of this was pure coincidence, and wasn’t tied to the possible return of Him, but there was only one way to be sure, and he would need to find Izuku first.

“Okay pups, let’s get you back to your parents. Don’t worry, we’ll find Izuku.” He said in what he hoped was a comforting tone of voice. It was kind of hard to achieve that when, internally, Mirai was screaming.

“Pomise?” Tokoyami peeped softly. Mirai managed a half-grin and nodded.

“I promise. His daddy is the best hero I’ve ever met, and I know for a fact that he would search the entire ocean for his boy.” This sentence was one that he could say with confidence, because he was sure that was he was saying was true.

When the pups gave him hopeful smiles, he smiled back. However, as he swam as fast as he could back to their territory, that smile dropped as worry and fear sunk their teeth into him.

Toshinori had just brought down a sizeable shark when he felt the earthquake. It had thrown him off his balance and had made him lose his grip on his prey. As he righted himself, he felt a cold sort of feeling begin to form in the centre of his chest.

“Oh, what do you want now?!” He questioned aloud, snagging the tail of the shark. “I don’t have time to deal with your multicoloured bullshit.”

A circle of purple light appeared suddenly, glowing with such intensity that it almost hurt to look at. The circle expanded and washed over him like a wave. That cold feeling spread to his entire body, and the hairs on the back of Toshinori’s neck stood on end. A voice in the back if his mind screeched “Danger! Izuku’s in danger!”.

Toshinori’s blood froze and he dropped the shark as his eyes began to glow a mix of blue and purple. Yellow lightning crackled over his form as he activated One For All. With a flick of his tail, he launched forward, creating massive waves in his wake. Marine life scrambled to avoid the speeding mer as he flashed by, some getting shocked by the snapping lightning that danced along his tail and fins.

As soon as his temporary home came into sight, a dip in the seafloor surrounded by tall rocks and kelp that he had dug out himself, he spun his tail around and slashed the sand with one hand as he forced himself to slow. A rush of water swept by him as he came to a stop, but he didn’t even acknowledge it as he began frantically searching for his pup. The feeling of danger was only getting worse, and that was stressing him out greatly.

“YAGI! YAGI WHERE ARE YOU?!”

The panicked voice of his sidekick had Toshinori whirling around as fast as he could, and he somehow felt even colder when he saw the look on Mirai’s face.

“Mirai! Where’s Izuku?!” Toshinori asked immediately, gripping the smaller male’s shoulders once he had swam up to him.

“H- he’s missing! The pups went out to the reef’s edge and got separated during the earthquake!” Mirai said quickly. “But that’s not- Yagi, wait!”

Toshinori had activated One For All as soon as he got a location, but abruptly halted any movement when Mirai leapt in front of him.

“WAIT! That’s not the whole story! Yagi, Hitoshi mentioned things that even now I’m struggling to comprehend, but I think that… He has returned, and he’s after Izuku!” Mirai panted, out of breath from saying the long sentence without pause.

Toshinori thought that his heart may have just skipped a beat. Actually, it may have just stopped all together.

“What?” The Pro Hero had meant for the word to be a roar, but it came out as a choked squeak instead. Mirai nodded solemnly.

“I can’t confirm it until we find Izuku, but there’s enough evidence that I’m… I’m scared, Yagi. You know better than anyone how dangerous All For One is.”

The number one Hero shuddered at that name, and he felt his Quirk shiver in anger, his chest heating up slightly as a faint white glow flashed for a moment.

“I do. Mirai, go round up everyone. We need to leave as soon as possible.” Toshinori said, feeling One For All surge through him as he prepared to race to the reef’s edge. Going so close to that dark abyss was risky, given how fast he would be going, but he didn’t have a choice. He needed to find Izuku, and fast.

“Where will we go?” Mirai questioned.

“Farther south, and as far inland as we can go. I believe I heard Mrs. Tokoyami mention a large bay was a few days away from here. Start heading there, and I’ll follow you once I find Izuku.” Toshinori said. Mirai nodded, then, after a moment of hesitation, pulled his friend into a rare hug.

“Be careful Yagi. Who knows what that monster’s been doing all this time.” He cautioned, backing up.

Toshinori gave Mirai a signature grin, before he became ablaze in golden light. Mirai looked away as Toshinori shot off, being jostled by the wake that followed. Once he wasn’t spinning and cursing anymore, he set off on his task, praying that the Pro Hero wouldn’t encounter any trouble.

Izuku sniffed quietly, his legs burning with exhaustion. It was nearly dark now, and the rosy light of sunset made him feel afraid. He didn’t want to be caught out in the darkness all alone, but he supposed that he better get used to it. His stomach growled as he forced himself to keep swimming. He hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and he didn’t know if he could even attempt to hunt something with how tired he was. Faintly, he wondered how long he would survive out here if he couldn’t feed himself.

Suddenly, his feet touched sand, and he took in a shuddering breath when he realized that he had made it. Stepping forward, Izuku shivered as he stepped out of the water and into the cool air of the surface world. Gentle waves lapped at his feet as a sudden heaviness took over him. He collapsed forward, sand covering part of his face as he fell into the moist grains. A gust of chilly air had him wrapping his tail around his tiny body. He’d grown a bit since he’d been taken in by All Might himself, but he was still very small. He shivered and sniffed miserably. He didn’t feel very safe here, but at least whatever was after him wouldn’t be able to chase him out of the water.

As the sun slowly dipped below the horizon, Izuku tried to remember his earliest days, but they were just too fuzzy. Lowering his head to the cooling sand, Izuku sighed. If he could find Kacchan, maybe he would know. Kacchan always knew what to do. Looking up, he spotted a lone star twinkling in the twilight. His Daddy had once said that mers sometimes wished on stars, so he closed his eyes and wished really, really hard.

“I wish I could find my family again.” He whispered, thinking of his old pod. Kacchan, Auntie Mitsuki, Uncle Masaru, and his Mama. Oh, how he missed his Mama.
Tears slipped down Izuku’s cheeks, dripping into the sand and being swept away by the waves. He cried silently for a time, before exhaustion won out and pulled the saddened pup into sleep.

Katsuki grumbled and turned over for the umpteenth time. Sleep hadn’t come super easily since he had failed his only friend, his little pod brother, his Izuku. However, tonight sleep seemed to mock him as it stayed just beyond his reach. Sighing, he pushed himself up and quietly swam upwards. He closed his eyes as he breached the surface, before opening them to a world of endless black and twinkling white.

The sounds of the night proved that, like him, other animals were awake. These animals were always awake at night, of course, but that was neither here nor there. He stared up at the sky and wondered if Izuku could see the stars from wherever he was. Could he see anything? Or was he…

Katsuki shook his head. No. No! His pod brother was alive, and someday, Katsuki would find him and bring him home. He wouldn’t even be mad at him for scratching his face and leaving him all alone.
Scanning the night sky, he spotted a particularly bright star. It shone and shimmered beautifully, and Katsuki couldn’t help but smile. His dreams, the good ones anyways, were filled with stars just like that one. In those dreams, Izuku was tucked under his arm and was never more than a hair length away. They would sit and watch the sky, neither one speaking. Sometimes, the silence was nice, but most of the time he desperately wished to hear Izuku’s voice again.

His Auntie Inko had told him that you could wish on stars, and that sometimes, if you didn’t tell your wish to anyone, it would come true. So Katsuki stared hard at the shining light and wished.

“I wish that I could find Izuku. That’s all I want.” He spoke quietly, feeling his eyes start to burn with tears. Rubbing them away, he ducked back down to try and sleep once again.

And if that star shone just a bit brighter? Well, neither one of the pups were awake to see it.

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Chapter Text

Izuku awoke to something pecking at him.

With a jolt, he yelped before scrambling to his feet and scampered a few feet away. A plump seagull squawked in surprise and took off, flying away to find another source of food. His stomach grumbled angrily, and Izuku cocked his head as he pondered whether or not he could eat the gray and white birds. He’d seen other animals do it before, but how would he catch one?

Shaking off clumps of itchy sand that had stuck to his scales, he began to make his way down the shore. Cool water lapped at his webbed feet as he plodded through the moist sand as it sucked his feet down slightly. The sun had just begun to rise, but Izuku had little trouble seeing. He carefully made his way down the empty beach as he fought to ignore the pangs of hunger in his tummy. He’d become used to eating three meals a day, plus snacks, so his body wasn’t taking the lack of food very well.

Something poked the bottom of his right front foot, and he lifted it up in shock. He held the injured body part up against his chest for a moment, then dug into the sand when the pain subsided. A small crab flipped onto the beach as he scooped out a talonful of sand, it’s little prickly legs flailing as it struggled to right itself. Izuku’s ears perked forward, and he acted fast. He raised his tail up before bringing it down hard on the squirming creature. The crustacean’s shell splintered, and it’s movement’s slowed.

Izuku reached down, plucked the crab off the ground, rinsed the sand off in the ocean, the began nibbling at it’s minuscule bounty of pale meat. It wasn’t much, hardly even a snack, but it was better than nothing. Once he had sucked any remaining meat out of the hollow, rust-red shell, he tossed it aside and continued on.

Hours later…

The greenette panted heavily, his legs trembling as he walked. The sun on the surface was far from comforting, the glaring heat burning his delicate skin. It hurt to walk on the sand now, as the golden grains had become as hot, if not hotter, than the sunlight itself. Izuku struggled to keep his tail lifted off the ground, not wanting it to burn as well. The pup’s vision wavered slightly, but he kept it trained on the wavering blue line that was within his sight. His eyes had been tricking him ever since the day heated up, showing him water that wasn’t there. However, this particular patch of blue didn’t flicker when he moved his head, and he really hoped that it was real.

He shut his eyes and rubbed his throbbing head. He had moved farther inland when the waves had gotten bigger and stronger, but now he was beginning to wonder if it was worth the risk to make a dash towards the sea just to escape this unrelenting heat. As he crested a hill, his foot caught on a shell or stone, and Izuku tumbled into the hot sand. His already irritated skin spit in places, and the young pup screamed in pain. His scales protected his lower half, so his exposed torso suffered the hits instead.

Then, like a blessing from above, a cooling sensation washed over Izuku’s entire form. He gasped and sputtered, swallowing water. He surfaced quickly and began to hack and spit up the liquid that he had swallowed. Once the shock of landing in water faded, his raw skin began to burn anew. Izuku shook violently and he keened in pain, sinking back down under the water. He wanted to writhe away from the pain, but movement only made his injuries worse. He hadn’t ever experienced something like this, and his young, fragile mind didn’t know how to cope. It sent out rapid thoughts, trying to decide how to respond to the body’s distress.

Pain. Bad. Ouch. Ouch. Get out. Stay in. Hurts. Ow ow ow!

Izuku was trembling so bad that his teeth clacked together. His stomach rolled and constricted, and the poor, shivering pup vomited up everything that he had eaten recently. The gross liquid dispersed into the water, but Izuku barely even noticed. He pressed his face into the sand and closed his eyes, trying to block out the spinning world and searing pain. Regret coursed through him, and he sorely regretted not listening to Hitoshi. Maybe it was selfish of him, but he wanted to be back with his family.

“Mama… Daddy…” He called out as loudly as he could, which wasn’t very loud. Or, at least, he thought that it wasn’t loud. He couldn’t hear very well right now.

Much to his dismay, sleep didn’t come. Instead, he existed in a state of confusion, nausea, and a surprising chilly feeling. It was odd, because he knew that he was hot, he could feel the heat coming off his skin whenever he accidentally moved, so why did he feel so cold now?

Tomura stuck close to Kurogiri, bumping against his flickering form occasionally. His usually stoic guardian seemed tense, nervous almost. It made the pup feel nervous and slightly frightened, and he wondered what was causing it. It had started when the world decided that being stable wasn’t cool anymore. Their old home, a dark cave that had hid Tomura from any curious predators, had collapsed inward when the shaking started. If Kurogiri hadn’t been there, he would have been crushed for sure. Once the dust had settled, Kurogiri had said that they would have to move.

Tomura didn’t want to move! He liked his old home! There were so many places to hide in and neat little prickly sea urchins to bother. Sometimes, if he caught him on a good day, Kurogiri would even play hide and seek with him. Would their new home have hiding places? Where were they going anyways? It seemed like they were going up, which was odd, because Kurogiri hated the light. Usually, he’d grumble quietly about having to “endure the blasted sunlight” every time he went to go hunt.

“Kurogiri? Where are we going?” Tomura asked quietly, scratching at his arm.

Golden eyes peered down at him, and they narrowed slightly.

“Don’t scratch.” He chastised, gently pulling Tomura’s hand off of his arm. “We’re going to a secluded bay.”

“What’s a bay?” Tomura asked.

“It’s like a large pool of water. It’ll be much different from what your used to, as it’s not nearly as large as other bodies of water, and you’ll have to be careful not to get exposed to too much sunlight. It… can be nice, I think, but if you’re too close to the surface for too long, your skin will burn.”

“Oh.” Tomura squeaked. He knew what being burned felt like, because he’d gotten a little too close to a volcanic vent once. “Um, why are we going there if it’s so dangerous?”

“Because it’s far more dangerous to stay down here now.” Kurogiri replied, and Tomura thought he might have glanced back over his shoulder. “Something’s happened. I don’t know what, or why, but we need to get as far away as possible without drawing attention to ourselves.”

“Why?” Tomura felt curiosity course through him, mixed in with strands of dread.

“If Al- if my boss locates me, he might make me leave… without you.” Kurogiri said slowly, as if he didn’t want to speak the words.

The pup’s eyes grew huge, and he threw himself into Kurogiri’s side. The Warp Quirk user jolted slightly, not having expected such a reaction. His darkened heart told him to pluck the now shaking boy off, but something held him back. A voice, one that teased at the edges of his memories, demanded that he comfort his charge.

“D-d-d-don- don’t goooo!” Tomura sobbed, quivering. “I don’t wanna be al- alone again!” He hiccupped.

Kurogiri’s hand moved on its own, coming to rest on his own tail as he pulled Tomura against him in a tight hug. The distraught pup’s face disappeared into flickering shadows, his tail curling up as he cried.
“I- I won’t, I won’t.” The older mer was out of his depth here. “Tomura. Tomura Shigaraki look at me.”

The crimson-eyed boy sniffed and looked up, his slightly torn earfins drooped down as far as they could go. Kurogiri was relieved to see that, even in his hysteria, Tomura had the presence of mind to keep one finger lifted off of Kurogiri’s body. His eyes were watery and large, red rimming the ruby orbs.

“I will not abandon you. We are getting out of here, together. Understand?” He asked, curling his wispy tail around the boy.

Tomura sniffed again and nodded, wiping away his tears with a small, teary smile.

“Thank you, ‘giri.” He said softly, nuzzling the villain’s tail. Beneath the shadows that enveloped his entire form, Kurogiri felt his stiff lips twitch upwards into a smile.

“Come now, we best get going. If we keep a good pace going, we should reach the bay by sunrise” He used his tail to nudge the pup into moving, and Tomura obeyed. The little moray mer swished his tail back and forth, sticking to Kurogiri’s side like glue as the duo made their way upwards towards the surface, and hopefully, safety.

Tomura stared in awe at all the pretty colours that were all around him. Once they had reached the bay, Kurogiri had told Tomura that he could explore while he rested, as long as the pup didn’t wander too far. Kurogiri had been forced to use his Quirk multiple times in rapid succession as they had gotten closer to the surface, as a protective barrier of currents had been too strong for them to just swim through. Getting through the currents had exhausted his guardian, and he needed to recharge. So as Kurogiri slept, Tomura set off on his first great adventure.

Schools of striped fish darted away from his as he swam by, and he watched them as they swam in sync. These fish were shiny and vibrant, nothing like the eerie creatures he was used to seeing. Soft sea grass tickled his tail and stomach as he swam over it, and he even saw a curious little crab come out of it’s wonderfully swirled shell. Everything here was so alive.

Maybe that’s why what he found next stood out so much.

Just as he exited a particularly tall patch of grass, he spotted something odd. It looked like a scaly tail, flopped over and partially covered by sand. Emerald and turquoise scales shimmered in the light, accented by ruby back plates. The colours alone made the appendage interesting, but Tomura was extra curious because, unlike everything else he had come across, this tail was still and looked like it hadn’t moved in a while. Was the creature the tail belonged to dead?

Creeping closer, Tomura was surprised to see feet. He’d seen feet only once before, when his mother had brought him a sea bird to eat. These feet looked nothing like a bird’s feet however, as they had four talons and many little scales. Legs followed the feet, and then a torso with a pale green underbelly. Then there was…

Tomura gasped and startled backwards as he saw skin, most of it coloured an angry red and peeling in places. This wasn’t any old animal, this thing was a mer! Not only that, but he had heard about this particular mer. As he swam forward again, a mop of soft-looking green hair came into view, and Tomura knew that he was looking at the pup that Kurogiri had saved a few months ago. And if what his guardian told him was true, than this was All Might’s pup. But if that was the case, then where was the Pro Hero?

Tomura shook his head and brought himself out of his thoughts. What was he doing? This pup was obviously very hurt! He swam closer and circled the motionless boy. Tomura anxiously looked for signs of life, hoping that he hadn’t happened upon the corpse of someone who had died far too soon. He breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw the pup’s chest rise slightly. He was alive. Tomura could still help him. If All Might wouldn’t be his own pup’s hero, than he would just have to step up instead.

Kurogiri had said that this pup breathed air, so he needed to get him to the surface. However, he didn’t want to touch him, not only because of his destructive Quirk, but because of how his skin looked. It looked like… a burn. Was this the ‘sunburn’ that Kurogiri had warned him about?

“You must have been in the sun for a long time…” Tomura winced in sympathy as he circled around the other boy, trying to figure out how to help. “I’m sorry that heroes failed you too.”

There seemed to be nothing that Tomura could do himself, as touching the poor pup that lay before him would likely either cause him pain or kill him. As he fretted, an idea was zapped into existence in his mind. Hopefully, Kurogiri wouldn’t be too mad that his nap was being interrupted. Taking in a deep breath, he yelled as loud as he could, frightening all of the surrounding creatures.

“KUROGIRI! HELP!”

Kurogiri didn’t usually dream.

He wasn’t sure why, he’d seen enough horrific violence that one would think that he would suffer from constant nightmares. However, no bad dreams ever plagued him. When he did dream, it was usually just of colours that blinked in and out of existence. What he found interesting is that it was always the same two colours, a vibrant, sunshine yellow, and a raven black.

Today, however, the colours began to change.

Kurogiri watched as the blinking orbs of yellow and black became solid, then they began to morph into something new. Soon, they had formed what could only be described as silhouettes. They flickered slightly at the edges, but they were there. The yellow one had a long, curled tail, and it bounced around Kurogiri’s dream space with borderline infectious energy. The black one was much calmer, and sported a lower half that greatly resembled a stingray, or maybe a manta ray? A feeling of remembrance cascaded over him, but no memories surfaced. Did… did he know the mers that these silhouettes mimicked? He couldn’t recall seeing a seahorse or manta ray mer before.

The silhouettes approached him confidently, not a trace of fear in their movements. They existed in his presence comfortably, something that Kurogiri was not used to.

“Who- who are you? Why are you here? Why now, of all times?” He asked, reaching out for them. The two silhouettes reached back, ready to grasp his hand and give him the answers he desired.

“-GIRI! HELP!”

Kurogiri’s head snapped up violently as he was ripped from his dream by the sound of Tomura’s cry. He surged upwards and kicked off the seafloor with his tail. In an instant, he was racing through the bay’s warm waters, his heart pounding as he tried to imagine what could have possibly-

All of his thoughts came to a grinding halt as Tomura appeared in his vision, looking rather distressed. However, it was what the pup was hovering over that truly shocked him. There, lying motionless and looking more than half dead, was the same tiny pup that he had saved from becoming a shark’s late night snack. His skin was bright red, burned horribly by the sun’s rays. A few places on his back even sported patches of angry blisters. His breathing was shallow, and his ribs were starting to become very noticeable.

Kurogiri cursed loudly and quickly slid his hands underneath the unconscious pup’s body, his quick movement startling Tomura. He surfaced and held the pup’s head above the water, allowing the suffering boy to take in some much needed air. His breaths grew deeper, and he relaxed slightly, his ears and the tip of his tail twitching slightly.

“Poor child. I should have never returned you to those imbeciles. I am so sorry.” He said softly, ducking back down. He shielded the pup from the weak rays of morning light that were beaming down through the water.

The pup in his arms was in bad shape, and he knew that he didn’t have the right materials to treat his injuries. Scenting the water, he was surprised to find that All Might’s scent was practically none existent. Instead, the scent of a thriving forest met his nostrils, slightly accented by the chilling smell of the first frost. A cold feeling almost seemed to radiate from the boy, and Kurogiri couldn’t help but shiver.
As quickly and carefully as he could, he lay the pup down in a thick cluster of sea grass, making sure that the floating green strands hid him from view. Turning around, he was not surprised to see Tomura anxiously hovering nearby.

“Tomura, I need you to watch over him for a while. His wounds could very easily become infected and I must acquire medicine from the surface world. Try to act… like he’s your little brother. If anything comes near you that isn’t me, don’t hesitate to use your Quirk, alright?” The shadowy mer nudged his charge into the grass, making sure that he, too, was adequately hidden.

The older pup looked up at his mentor with determined eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll dust anything that gets close!” His bravado faded slightly as he emerged slightly from the grass. “Just, don’t be too long, okay?”

Kurogiri nodded and waited for Tomura to go back into the grass. Once he had, the super villain turned and headed for shore. It took only a few minutes for him to reach his destination, and once he did, he focused all his thoughts and energy on summoning the magic that would allow him to change. It’d been years since he last used this spell, but once you properly learned how to use a spell, it was nearly impossible to forget how to preform it. Taking in a deep breath, he waited for the inevitable jolt of pain that he knew was coming.

Sure enough, a line of white-hot pain spit his tail, pulling the appendage apart slowly. The mer growled and grit his teeth, his clawed hands being sucked down into the muck. His fins receded back into his skin, and his gills fluttered helplessly as they closed up. Powerful muscles were reshaped and repurposed, bones splitting and elongating as two legs were formed. As the last of his aquatic features disappeared, Kurogiri stood up, his flickering legs wobbling slightly. He wiped off the wet sand that clung to him, shaking out the feeling of pins-and-needles that had manifested in his new limbs.

“Urgh, I hate having to do that.” He growled. With one last glance back at the bay, Kurogiri set off to go look for civilization, and, hopefully, he would find some clothes along the way.

Toshinori’s eyes were locked on the balls of light that were guiding him forward, his focus as sharp as the edge of a blade. His mighty tail beat harder as every living thing got out of his way as fast as possible. It was as if his stress and ire were tangible things, and the surrounding sea life could sense their arrival. He’d been swimming all night and well into the late afternoon of the next day, not even stopping to hunt. The balls of light had appeared not long after he had left Mirai’s company, and he had never been happier to see the pulsing glowing orbs. Even his Quirk seemed to be on edge, as every time one of the glowing guides touched him, he felt a new wave of anxiety roll through him.

He slowed when he realized how close to the shore they were. There were a series of small pools and bays around here, could Izuku have taken up refuge in one of those areas? He could go on land, after all. The large white orb slowed as well, moving from side to side. Something was making it hesitate, but what? The pink orb zipped by and blinked rapidly, communicating, if Toshinori had to guess. The other orbs blinked back, then shot forward again.

Toshinori lunged after them, slowing down only when the orbs led him into water so shallow that his tail got stuck on a sandbar. Once he had wiggled free, he followed his Quirk into the lively bay. Fish darted away, hermit crabs ducked into their shells, and a rather bold lobster attempted to snip at his tail as he swam by. Toshinori figured that, if he did find Izuku here, he would come back and have himself a nice lobster dinner.

He couldn’t use his immense speed here, so he carefully maneuvered his way around coral, sharp rocks, and the occasional nesting nurse shark. The orbs gathered around a thick patch of grass, paused, then zipped back into Toshinori. He felt his power return, and, cautiously, he approached the sea grass cluster.

Tomura lay flat against the soft sand, his tail resting on his new brother’s lower half. A few specks of dust floated by, and he blew them away with his breath. Glancing over at his companion, he frowned when he saw that his face was contorting in pain and discomfort. Grabbing a rock, he gently eased it down beside the other boy’s cheek. The cool surface of the rock seemed to provide some relief, as the other pup’s face calmed as he leaned into the stone. Tomura smiled.

Suddenly, something brushed the sea grass aside! Whirling, Tomura bared his teeth at the potential threat, ready to strike it with his Quirk.

He froze.

There, floating right above him and looking both relieved and perplexed, was the number one Hero himself, All Might.

Tomura’s muscles seized with fear, and he suddenly realized how very small he was compared to the Pro. He meekly shrunk back, placing himself between his little brother and the towering behemoth. One touch, he told himself. Just one touch, and Hero society as the world knew it would crumble. But it would also only take a second for the Pro to end Tomura if he deemed it necessary. The Hero raised a hand, and Tomura hissed at him, his eyes narrowing as his tail lashed. He brought one hand down on a piece of sea grass and felt it crumble beneath his touch.

“Go away!” He snarled. Time. He needed to stall for time. Once Kurogiri returned, they would take All Might down together.

Upon seeing what Tomura could do, the blonde did flinch back, his earfins flexing as his mind worked.

“You don’t need to be afraid, I’m a Pro Hero.” He said reassuringly. Tomura noticed how his eyes kept flickering towards the pup behind him, and the moray mer bristled.

“I hate Heroes!” He shouted, advancing with a lunge. He swiped at All Might, but the experienced hero dodged his attack with ease. “Leave! Now!”

All Might recoiled in surprise. He hadn’t expected this level of violence! However, there was still a chance that he could deescalate this situation. Izuku wasn’t looking good, from what he could see.

“Okay, okay I will.” He put his hands up in surrender. “But I need to retrieve that pup your guarding. He’s my boy, and I need to get him help and take him back to his family.”

Tomura’s sneer turned even meaner, and he saw an opportunity to emotionally wound the Pro Hero.

“Oh really? He’s your boy?” The young mer flashed his sharp teeth as he spoke. “Than why did Kurogiri have to save him? Where were you then, hmm?”

The number one Hero froze at Tomura’s words. “H- how do you-”

“How do I know about that?” Tomura smirked. “He told me when he dragged home the shark that almost ate him.” Tomura’s tail flicked towards the unconscious boy.

“My guardian was kind enough to return him to you, and what happens?” His smirk turned into a curled lip of disgust. “He shows up once again months later, only this time he’s on the brink of death.” He spat that last word with venom.

All Might stood, dumbstruck. He tried to form a reply, but Tomura’s now smooth and calm voice interrupted him.

“So I’ll ask again,” he said, his voice dropping. “where were you? Because you certainly weren’t being a hero, or, at the very least, you weren’t being his.”

A beat of silence followed that. He could see the Pro’s earfin’s slowly fold back, and a jolt of blue flashed across his eyes. Tomura had riled the hero up, but with no back up, he was beginning to regret his decision. His Quirk alone made him a threat to the Hero, and he had only made matters worse for himself.

Something caught his eye suddenly, and his wavering smile returned full force.

“Oh, and one more thing.” He lazily pointed a finger at All Might. “You really should have been paying more attention to your surroundings.”

With that, Tomura flattened himself against the ground, just as a snarling, territorial Kurogiri slammed full force into the confused hero.

Kurogiri swung his tail around and smashed his weight against the Pro Hero’s side. His protective instincts were in full swing, and he blocked the grass patch with his body. All Might, for his part, looked just as enraged. He charged forward, managing to bite down on Kurogiri’s tail fin, tearing into it with razor-sharp fangs. The flesh beneath the shadows was cold, stiff, and odly shaped, and as a result the Pro couldn’t keep a hold of it when the Warp Quirk user punched him in the eye. The blonde hissed and released Kurogiri’s fin, giving the villain an opportunity to strike.

The shadowy mer sprung forward and tackled All Might to the ground. He pinned the Hero by his throat, his claws puncturing the exposed skin.

“This is all YOUR fault, isn’t it?!” He snarled, his shadows curling and flickering with rage. “What the fuck did you do that made him so angry?!”

All Might managed to get one of his arms free and he grabbed the villain by his metal neck supports, choking his foe. He threw him into the sand and rose up, blood streaming out into the water from the puncture wounds in his neck.

“ME?!” The Hero roared, his tail lashing. Kurogiri slunk back up into the water, his arm tucked against his chest like it was injured.

“I have done nothing! I haven’t been anywhere near the deep! It is far more likely you screwed up and pissed him off.” All Might spat blood, his fangs bared. If he had wanted to, he could have ended Kurogiri’s life once he had gotten a hold of him. Surprisingly, the villain wasn’t using his Quirk to win the fight, or even to escape. Instead, he just hovered there, his tail twitching. In fact… he almost looked confused.

“So… you didn’t antagonize him?” He asked slowly. “Did any other heroes go after him?”

All Might paused. He had expected threatening words or a vicious attack as a response, not questions.

“No?” He answered cautiously. Kurogiri raised the hand that he wasn’t cradling and rubbed at his eyes.

“Then we have a problem.” He growled, but the aggression wasn’t aimed towards All Might.

“Why would this bother you at all? Actually, why are you even here? You usually like to slink through the shadows.” The Pro Hero questioned, his tail slowly moving as he readjusted his position so that he was directly in front of the grass patch. In front of his pup. Kurogiri nodded towards All Might. No, wait, not at him, but rather behind him.

“You are not the only one who has someone who relies on you.” He said. All Might glanced back at the grass patch, and a feeling of understanding washed over him when he saw the previously enraged pup, probably around 4 to 5 years old, nervously flattened against the sand, his eyes locked on All Might. His tail partially covered Izuku, and it was easy to see that he was trying to protect the younger mer.

“I have been caring for him for a few years, and as he is too young to descend to the deep, we have been living farther up than I care for. Until now, All For One has had no reason to summon me. I had hoped that the solution to this problem would simply be a matter of killing someone, but it seems that is not the case.” The shadowy mer sighed, sounding tired. “I know you and the other heroes think me a heartless monster, and perhaps that is what I am, but I cannot leave him alone, defenseless in a world that has already deemed him a dangerous villain.”

All Might was shocked. For all the time that he’d known him, Kurogiri had been exactly what he had described himself as, a heartless monster. Yet here he was now, defying his master just to help some poor pup with a deadly Quirk. They were both in the same boat, All For One was threatening to break apart their families and hurt someone they cared deeply about.

“While I by no means like or trust you,” All Might started, “I can see that nothing good will come of us fighting. Right now, we have bigger problems. So… how do you feel about a temporary truce? If you stay here and don’t attack anyone, I’ll make sure no hero comes to bother you or your pup.”

Kurogiri tilted his head downwards slightly, considering the deal. After a moment of consideration, he nodded.

“Alright. Tomura, don’t dust him.” He called. All Might whipped his head around to see the ashen haired pup lower his hand. He flinched slightly when Kurogiri appeared beside him, the shadows licking at the Pro’s forearm like dark fire. He jerked his head towards the surface.

“Come. There’s still the matter of your terrible parenting skills that needs to be addressed.” He said, swimming towards shore. All Might bristled at the insult.

“Hey! I am a great parent!” He insisted.

Kurogiri looked back at him and squinted. “Have you even seen your pup? He’s in bad shape.”

All Might’s pupils constricted as he remembered why he was here. Spinning around, he took a good look at Izuku and sucked in water through his teeth.

“Oh, Izuku, what happened to you?” He asked sadly. He lay down and, as gently as possible, brought Izuku close to him. Kurogiri’s charge puffed himself up and bristled as All Might settled down next to him, clearly uncomfortable.

His poor baby’s skin was a raw red colour, and he didn’t respond when All Might shifted him. The Pro Hero’s eyes filled with tears as he looked down at the pup that he had promised to protect.

“My dear boy,” He choked, “I am so, so sorry. I should have never let you go off by yourself. I should have found you faster.”

He lowered his head in shame. “I should have made sure that you knew that you could come to me for anything, be it a little scrape or because your life is in danger.”

“True, you should have.” Kurogiri piped up, returning to the grass patch. He held a few items in his arm, and All Might recognized them to be made by humans.

“Whats that?” He asked.

“Things that will help that poor boy feel better. I have painkillers, medicine to help fight of infection, aloe, and some water proof bandages.” He said, handing the items to All Might. “Here, treat him before you leave.”

“Thank you.” All Might said sincerely. “Y’know, I don’t think you’re quite the heartless monster everyone thinks. I’d say that you’re acting quite heroic right now.”

Kurogiri tensed up at those words, then glowered at All Might.

“Never. Say. That. Again.” He seethed. Stooping down, he grabbed his pup by the scruff of his neck. “Say goodbye, Tomura.”

“Bye bye, little odd pup.” The older boy waved, looking rather sad.

Kurogiri shot the hero one last glance before he left. “If I ever find that pup in such a state again, not only will I take full custody of him, I’ll hunt you down and rip your throat out.” He growled threateningly.

All Might dipped his head slightly. “You won’t, trust me.”

“We shall see.” The villain said, before swimming off.

All Might exhaled, his muscles finally relaxing. Having a villain like Kurogiri near Izuku had made every hair on his neck stand on end. He had gotten extremely lucky today, and he knew something like this couldn’t be allowed to happen again.

As he took Izuku to the surface to apply the aloe, he thought about the fight that he had just had. So many things had happened quickly that it was hard to pick out details, but he distinctly remembered two things; that Kurogiri had actively chosen not to use his Quirk, and that the villain’s tail just hadn’t felt right. It was shaped all wrong, and the Pro Hero thought that he had tasted fur of all things! Shaking his head, he returned his focus back to Izuku. He gingerly wrapped bandages around his torso and arms, being careful not to disturb the sensitive skin too much. He would take the bindings off when they got to the bay where the others were.

“You poor child, you just can’t seem to catch a break, can you?” He said quietly. “Maybe… you’ll have better luck when you get back to your family. Maybe… I’m the reason you keep getting hurt.”

He sighed sadly and gently tucked his pup into his arms. With a flick of his tail, All Might and Izuku returned to the open sea, and as they did, something far away shifted slightly, sensing their return,

Chapter Text

Izuku trembled as he walked forward, feeling as though his entire body was being pressed down upon. Each step took great effort, yet he persisted. Something compelled him to move forward, pushing him to keep moving. The water here was dark and empty, void of any life and completely silent. The only sound was the thump thump thump of Izuku’s pounding heart. Finally, he reached a point where his foot no longer met ground. An inky blackness nearly swallowed the extremity, and Izuku was quick to pull it back with a muffled yelp. Slowly, he inched forward and peered down, down, down into the face of oblivion. The void stretched on forever, hungry and waiting. Although he was in water and could very well swim, Izuku somehow knew that if he fell, he would drop straight down into the dark’s gaping maw. He shifted nervously, unsure of what to do or where to go. This place felt important, yet he had never seen it before in his life.

Widening his stance, Izuku lowered himself down and, his voice shaking, chirped out a quiet “Hello?”

The void swallowed the sound.

The pup stood up again, confused and, honestly, very frightened. He wanted to go home now.

“D-daddy?” He called out to the empty water, hoping beyond hope that his hero would arrive and save him. Suddenly, a little light appeared from his chest, coming to rest on the tip of his nose. It glowed softly, and the tiny turquoise and green light was infinitely comforting to Izuku.

He tried to make his way around the edge of the huge… hole? Izuku wasn’t certain what it was, as it wasn’t very round. Instead, it was more line-shaped then anything. Creeping forward, Izuku and his little ball of mysterious light made their way around the edge of the “drop” as he decided to call it. Grains of sand flowed over occasionally, disappearing from view as they dropped into the nothingness. Just looking at the edge of the drop made Izuku feel sick, so he tried to focus on the light. It floated softly, weaving its way forward. He stared at it, smiling slightly as he walked.

So distracted was he by the mesmerizing light, Izuku failed to notice that, slowly, he had begun to turn. Suddenly, he was tipping forward, his feet slipping on the impossibly slick sand. Izuku screeched and tried to plant his back feet, but he found no purchase. The pup’s stomach dropped as he slid into the void, plummeting into a downward spiral. He screamed as he fell, or, at least, he tried to. No sound escaped his throat, no mater how hard he tried. He wasn’t in water, but he also couldn’t seem to find any air as he fell. Now not only was he terrified, but he was now suffocating as well. He clawed at his throat, his eyes wide and his teeth bared in terror.

Then, out of nowhere, he hit water once again. While this was better, he was still lacking air. Izuku spun around, looking for somewhere to surface, only to find that he could see nothing. All around him was pure darkness, impenetrable and frigid. A wall of void that crushed his vulnerable form with its immense pressure. Izuku’s light was gone, leaving him blind, defenseless, and, perhaps most horribly, alone.

Izuku’s claws had broken skin at this point, his frantic scratching having left his neck a bloody mess. He only knew this because he could smell the sickening scent in the water. Still, he continued to scratch at his throat, his mind screaming for oxygen.

“Izuku…”

The scratching stopped, as did Izuku’s heart. The noise that he had just heard reverberated all around him, rattling around inside his chest. It was nothing like his Daddy’s rumbling purrs, which could also rattle around quite a bit. No, this was a cold, cruel sound, and it made every inch of Izuku’s skin crawl. He didn’t dare turn around, not when he knew that whatever had made that awful noise was right behind him. Unfortunately, it seemed that his body had other plans, as he found himself rigidly turning to look behind him. Internally, Izuku was screaming bloody murder. He did not want to see! He didn’t! Why was he looking?!

His traitorous eyes forced themselves to stay open, despite their owner’s pleads for them to close, to block out whatever horror surrounded them. Before them was… was… was… nothing. Just darkness, as it had been before. If he had the air to do so, Izuku would have sighed in relief.

And then, the darkness was cut through by twin orbs of bloody scarlet red.

The poor pup nearly died right there, right then. Two eyes were now laser focused onto him, their luminance glow almost as terrifying as their monstrous size. Each eye was like crimson moon, lines of slitted night sitting directly in their centers. From the light of this monster’s eyes, Izuku could see row upon row of sharp, jagged teeth sitting in the beasts mouth, which was pulled into an unnatural grin. White hair framed the beast’s eyes and pale face, the red light reflecting off the bone-white strands. Strangely enough, this monstrosity had freckles that greatly resembled his own, though Izuku wasn’t sure how he recognized the detail through the heart attack he was currently having. He swallowed hard and curled up as tightly as he could when the creature tilted its head and leaned forward slightly.

“Well, I must say that I’m impressed.” The monster hissed, sounding amused. “I truly believed that you would have died by now. You should be dead right now.” Hatred filled the crimson eyes, burning Izuku under the intensity of the malicious glare. The boy quivered in pure terror, unable to do anything.

“You ruined the one of the few things that brought me true happiness in this world purely by existing. She chose you over me.” An earth-shaking growl sounded out. Suddenly, the thing changed it’s tune and laughed. A horrible, evil sound that shook the water around them.

“I wonder how that’s working out for her?” The laughter bubbled down to another amused hissing sound. “Although… perhaps she was right to challenge me.”

A cold, shadowy tendril shot out of nowhere and wrapped itself tightly around Izuku. The feeling burned, and he squeaked in pain.

“You’ve become rather interesting as of late.” Another, smaller tendril appeared, stabbing into Izuku’s chest and making him gag, along with reminding him that he was about to drown. The tendril held the small ball of light and held it up for its master to examine. The ball’s light shone through the darkness and even managed to pierce through the harsh glare of red that had been blanketing Izuku.

“It’s so strange… the fact that One For All simply chose you to be it’s next wielder. Or maybe… you’re more like me than I thought.” Those words struck a cord in the rapidly fading pup, and Izuku managed to muster enough willpower to shout “No!” in defiance. He was nothing like this creature!

The eyes blinked, seemingly surprised. “I see you also inherited the current wielder's blind confidence and the need to defy me. How annoying. I’ll have to remedy that.” The tendril squeezed harder, and Izuku’s vision began to go black. Just as his eyes began to close, a voice reached his ears.
“-ku! -zuku!”

“Izuku!”

Izuku gasped as his eyes flew open. His chest heaved as he realized that he could breathe. He greedily gulped in the air, his breaths deep and rapid. As he recovered from his horrible experience, he became aware of everything going on around him. Water, gentle and warm, lapped at his feet, playfully asking when he would return to the world just beneath the waves. The sun was just starting to come over the horizon, a bright crack of light that separated the sea from the sky. He was being held by someone, their hands larger than he was. He tried to look back and see who it was, but his effort was rewarded only with pain. He hissed and went still, now very aware of how much his skin ached. Wrappings were all over his neck and arms, and he could barely smell the salt of the ocean over the scent of whatever was underneath the material.

The person holding him breathed a sigh of relief and shifted Izuku so that the pup could see who was holding him. Any sense of worry melted away when Izuku saw the bright, sky blue eyes that belonged to one of his favourite people in the whole world. His tail wagged happily, and Izuku chirped in relief and delight. Toshi smiled down at him, water dripping off him. The sun’s first beams of light illuminated his relieved face.
“Good morning, little guppy. I’m glad to see that you’re feeling better. You had a rough night.” He said softly, gently nuzzling the pup. It hurt a little bit, but it was worth it for the comfort that the action brought. Izuku wrapped his arms around his Daddy’s neck and chirruped, tucking himself underneath the adult’s neck.

A strong arm draped itself over Izuku’s lower half, and the slight pressure was welcome, familiar. He could feel the Pro Hero’s pulse thudding in his throat, a comforting sound. Izuku sighed and relaxed, yawning. It was too early, in Izuku’s opinion, to be awake. His Daddy began rubbing his scales comfortingly, trying to will away any fear that might still remain from that horrible dream. Because that’s what it had been, right? Just a terrible, terrible dream.

And then, Izuku remembered why he had left his Daddy in the first place. The presence of that creature, that monster, had been what he had felt that day.

Izuku wiggled backward and, ignoring the pain that warned him not to push himself too far, flopped into the water. How far was he from shore? Were they already being hunted? Was it too late? These questions blared like alarm bells in Izuku’s mind, and the little pup didn’t want to stick around long enough to find out. He righted himself and tried to swim away, to find his way back to the safety of land, but he was suddenly pulled back. Clawed fingers gently but firmly curled around him, keeping him in place as he was brought back to his Daddy’s chest.

“And where do you think you’re going?” The Pro asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Izuku just squeaked in panic, wriggling as he tried to free himself. His skin felt like it was splitting open, but he didn’t care. He could deal with that later, right now he needed to escape. Didn’t his Daddy know what was coming for him?

“Easy there Izuku, you’ll hurt yourself if you don’t stop.” The number one Hero’s hold was ironclad, impossible to escape from unless he wanted you to. His voice was sad, and it almost sounded like there was a twinge of fear in there. That didn’t make sense, why would All Might be scared of something?

“What’s got you in such a panic, my boy?” He asked softly, lifting Izuku up so that he could look the greenette in the eye. Izuku looked at his worried guardian and waved his arms in a spastic motion, trying to covey the information he had and the Pro Hero needed.

“Monster! Coming to get me!” He said rapidly.

“What monster?” The blonde asked. The Pro hoped that it wasn’t who he thought it was.

Izuku flexed his hands, trying to think of how he could describe what he had seen. He got an idea, and pointed at the ground. His Daddy looked at him like he was trying to figure out if Izuku would try and run again. Once he was satisfied that his adopted pup would not, he released him. Once he was free, Izuku set about scrawling a picture in the sand.

Toshinori observed his pup as he drew, trying to figure out what exactly he was looking at. So far, Izuku had drawn two large circles. They were shaky and drawn with all the skill of a young child, but it was obvious that they were circles. Once he was done with that, the boy looked around, searching for something. Suddenly, Izuku darted forward, and Toshinori jerked forward, ready to snatch him back. Izuku wasn’t going to be leaving his sight for a while now, and his instincts screamed at him to keep him close. He wanted to be closer, but he also needed to see what had scared Izuku so bad that he had fled the safety of a pod of Pro Heroes.

It seemed that what Izuku was after was a red shell. He examined it, then swam back to his circles. Using his tail, he drew two more circles inside the circles he had already drawn. He placed the red shell inside one of the second circles. After that, he went about finding every red thing that he could, placing them in the second circles. After a while, it started to look almost like a pair of…

“Eyes.” Toshinori breathed. “His eyes.”

Izuku stopped in his feverish collecting and looked at his adoptive father with pleading and terrified eyes. So Mirai had been right, he was back, and Izuku had somehow gotten close enough that he knew that All For One’s eyes were a blazing crimson red.

“Oh, son. Come here.” He said, opening his arms. Izuku paddled over as quickly as he could, pressing his face into the scales on Toshinori’s chest. The Pro held his pup, a comforting rumble sounding out from his chest.

“I don’t know how or when you encountered that monster of a mer, but I understand now why you ran like you did.” He said, looking down at Izuku. The pup sniffed and looked up at him, his pupils huge as his eyes became shiny with tears. “But you don’t have to be afraid, because I am here. I’ll always be here, whenever you need me to be.”

Izuku sniffed again, his lip wobbling as he started to cry. Toshinori soothed him and settled down onto the seafloor.

“Do you want to know something? I’ve met that monster before, back when he roamed free. I fought him, and though it was hard, I managed to beat his ugly mug into the deepest parts of the ocean.” Toshinori said, activating his Quirk so that his power crackled and snapped between his fingers. “And you know what? I’ve only gotten stronger. So I promise that if All For One dares to even try and do anything to us, I’ll beat him back once again, and this time, I’ll make sure he can never come back up.”

The pup stared up at the Hero with wonder in his eyes. He wiped away his tears and gave Toshinori a weak, wobbly smile.

“R-really?” He asked in a quiet voice.

“Really.” Toshinori flashed one of his signature grins. He rose up off the seafloor and tucked Izuku into the crook of his elbow, holding him against the side of his chest.

“Now, how about we go catch up with the others? They’re all very worried about you, and I think you’ll like our new home.” He said, nodding towards the direction that they needed to go. Izuku yawned and nodded sleepily. Toshinori didn’t blame him for being tired, it was very early, after all.

“Get some rest, pup. You need it.” He said quietly, and, with a flick of his tail, the duo was off.

It took about a week to reach the bay, but Toshinori had already known that it would take a while. Kurogiri had thought ahead about having to carry items underwater, and so along with all of the medical supplies, he had also left behind a small, waterproof pouch to carry them in. Toshinori made sure to treat Izuku’s wounds twice a day, once when he woke up and again before he went to bed. He also had stocked up on small snacks so that they hadn’t needed to hunt the first day of their travel. Hunting took much more effort now, not because the hunt itself had become more difficult, but because he had the overwhelming need to be sure that he had found the perfect hiding spot for Izuku before he left, and even then he had trouble leaving the pup unattended.

Originally, he had tried just bringing Izuku with him, but hunting required patience, which was something Izuku was still developing. Toshinori understood this, but that didn’t change the fact that he simply couldn’t hunt while Izuku was with him. Therefore, the hiding places had been necessary, and that meant that they were delayed getting to the bay. However, they had managed, and now it was only a matter of finding the other members of their pod.

Toshinori let Izuku ride on his back while they swam, the pup’s minuscule weight not slowing him down in the slightest. He let out a bark every five minutes or so, trying to figure out where the others may have decided to stay. Izuku chirped as well, trying to help Toshinori. The Pro Hero couldn’t help but smile every time he heard the little sound. He wondered if Izuku would have a fierce roar when he got older, or if he would always have a more mellow tone.

Toshinori called again, and his earfins pricked up when he heard a call in response. Izuku sucked in a breath and let out the loudest chirp he could muster, trying to let the other mer know where they were. Once again, someone called back, and soon, Toshinori saw his sidekick swimming quickly towards them.

“Yagi! Izuku!” He yelled happily.

“Mirai!” Toshinori boomed back.

“Sir!” Izuku added cheerfully.

The mahi-mahi mer was pulled into a bone crushing hug, coughing as his longtime friend squeezed the life out of him. He managed weakly hug the bigger mer back, wheezing slightly. He glanced around, looking for the little pup he had heard. Sure enough, Izuku popped his head out from behind Toshinori’s back, and Mirai’s eyes grew huge when he saw the poor state Izuku was in.

“What happened to Izuku?!” He questioned anxiously, pushing away from the hug. Said pup nestled up to Mirai, and the mer instinctively held onto him.

Toshinori growled lowly. “You were right, All For One is back, and he somehow scared Izuku so bad that he fled to the surface. My poor boy got horribly sunburned and had a terrible case of sun poisoning, so bad that he was unconscious for a bit.”

Mirai gasped. “That’s terrible! He’s lucky you found him before anyone else did.” The younger mer looked at the bandages covering Izuku’s form. “But, how did you manage to take care of him and go to the surface world for supplies?”

The Pro Hero winced slightly and exhaled a breath. “I didn’t.”

“What?” Miari questioned.

“I didn’t find him first, Kurogiri did.” He said.

“WHAT?!” His friend shrieked. Izuku startled at the loud noise and perked his ears up to listen to more of the conversation.

“I know! I know! But he didn’t hurt him! He was actually taking care of him! Not only that, but he’s acting a a guardian for another, older pup as well. Kid nearly turned me to ashes…” Toshinori shuddered. “Something’s changed in him. He’s actively trying to avoid All For One, he’s taking care of lost pups, he even offered to agree to a truce! I don’t know why, but he seems to be getting… better.”

Mirai had, while Toshinori had been talking, slowly raised his hand to his temple and was now massaging it as he tried to process what he had just heard.

“So, your telling me that Kurogiri, a notoriously cold-blooded, cruel, unfeeling super villain, is now… turning good?” He asked, sounding incredibly tired.

“I don’t know about that, but he’s definitely not looking for trouble. And he seems to be doing a pretty good job at raising the pup he’s looking after, the boy was perfectly healthy and looked well fed.” Toshinori said, shrugging slightly. “Anyways, we agreed to leave each other alone. We don’t bother him, he doesn’t bother us.”

“I don’t like this. Everything’s changing so fast.” Mirai said, sighing.

“I know, but maybe this change is good. Try to look on the bright side, old friend.” Toshinori said with a grin.

“Yagi, our worst enemy has been reawakened and even his right hand man is running from him. He’s hunting your pup, and, if we find his pod, he’ll be hunting them too.” Mirai scowled. “Forgive my pessimism, but where is the fucking bright side?”

“Fffff-” Izuku started, but a sharp glare from Toshinori silenced him. Then that glare was turned on Mirai, who chuckled nervously.
“Sorry. Where is the fricking bright side?” He tried.
“Better. And the bright side is that All For One hasn’t tried anything yet, and that we’re all here and alive. And if he tries anything, I’ll beat him to a pulp. No one is going to mess with my family.” Toshinori smiled, showing off his sharp teeth. Yellow light flickered over his tail fins, reminding everyone of how much control Toshinori had developed over the decades.

Mirai huffed and handed Izuku back to Toshinori. “Okay, okay, I trust you to keep everyone safe. Just don’t get too cocky.” He flicked the Pro playfully. “I’ve seen you go overboard with that Quirk of yours, and every time you do, you end up in some silly position. Do you remember the time you boosted yourself right into that tire and got stuck?”

Toshinori’s cheeks flushed red. “We don’t talk about the tire incident.”

Mirai rolled his eyes and turned around, looking back over his shoulder. “Come on, everyone’s worried about you two, and I’m sure Izuku would like to see his friends again.”

Mirai was, of course, right. Tokoyami and Shinsou both tackled the little mer when they spotted him. Shinsou, especially, was very emotional, crying into Izuku’s hair as he held him, his tail colour fluctuating between a deep blue and an electric yellow. Izuku was eager to receive the attention, snuggling up to his friends as Toshinori explained the situation to the other adults. Faces paled and eyes widened in horror, and both set of parents moved closer to their children.

“Toshinori,” Yamada hissed quietly, “are you sure we’ll be safe here?”

Toshinori nodded. “We’re far enough inland that I struggle to swim through these waters. There’s no way All For One can reach us here, and Kurogiri is actually going out of his way to not draw attention to himself. As long as we’re careful while we’re hunting and always have someone watching the pups, we’ll be fine.

The other heroes seemed to relax at his confidence, although Aizawa still looked somewhat nervous, his eyes flicking towards the open sea.

“Still, maybe we should keep heading towards shore. The more distance we can put between us and the open ocean, the better.” He said.

No protests met his idea, so the adults herded the pups together and began their journey to the shallows.

Katsuki swam lazily through the shallows, the warm sunlight shining down on his glittering tail. A flash of yellow caught his attention, and he grinned when he saw a fish swimming rapidly away from him. It was headed towards the open ocean, a place he was forbidden to go near, but he wasn’t worried.

He’d catch that fish in no time! After all, how fast could one fish swim?