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Kirishima Eijirou had never worked in an aquarium before, and he’d never thought that he would. Although he’d always felt drawn to the ocean, aquariums were places that made him feel incredibly uncomfortable. Whenever he walked through them it was like he could feel the tons upon tons of water just aching to be free, and don’t even get him started on the fish. Paying too much attention to them made him want to do something stupid like free them, something that would definitely cost him his job. Forget the fact that he was no expert on different kinds of fish and might end up killing them if he let them go in the wrong place (Ok, he might have put a lot of thought into this). He would’ve quit a while ago, but it was a small town and there weren’t many other options that Eijirou hadn’t yet exhausted. So yeah, even though Eijirou hated his job, it paid well, and he wanted to juice it as long as possible. (Who cared if it made him feel trapped and stagnant, like the mind-addled fish that would bump against the glass of the tanks whenever Eijirou walked past?)
Apart from the gross custodial parts of his job (little kids really needed to stop puking in the touch pool), it was hard to believe that it was too bad of a place. Sure, the fish and sea-dwelling animals were trapped, but Eijirou made sure they were well-cared for whenever he got the chance. But there had always been rumours. Whether they were true or not was another matter, but the gossip came from coworkers and managers alike; the aquarium was funded by a local university, and often science professors on sabbatical and the odd ichthyologist would come and study the sea life. This, in and of itself, wasn’t weird at all, but the rumours went beyond that.
The strong smell of chemicals was more and more common the closer one went towards the science wing that was closed to the general public, and many doors were locked firmly when in use. It wouldn’t have been that weird, if not for the odd noises that people could hear sometimes when they were walking that section of the building. Whatever the scientists were studying apparently sounded a lot more human than their past test subjects.
Eijirou wasn’t one to believe in petty gossip which was why, when his manager, Iida, asked him and his coworkers to make sure a box of new equipment got to one of the back offices before going home, he was the one burdened with the task. Everyone else exchanged glances silently before making a bunch of excuses about why they couldn’t possibly do it, looking at him out the corner of their eyes all the while. They probably knew he would do it if they made him feel like asking them to would be an inconvenience, and he rolled his eyes, irritation leaking into his expression.
Eijirou sighed, heavily. Looks like it was going to be a late night for him, he probably wouldn’t get the chance to do it before closing. “I’ll do it,” he said brightly, trying to mask his annoyance in front of his manager.
Iida took it in stride, smiling formally and thanked him, before heading off to lead another tour of the exhibit. Kaminari grinned at him apologetically before following him out of the room and Eijirou made sure to stick out his tongue at his retreating back. Asshole.
That night found Kirishima walking through the brightly lit, chlorine-smelly hallways of the science wing, a box of supplies clutched tightly in his arms after the rest of his coworkers had clocked out for the day. The building was just a degree colder than what would’ve been pleasant, and Eijirou could feel goosebumps lining his arms like a second skin. Although there were no windows in this part of the building and the lighting was bright enough to hurt if you were stupid enough to look at it, the shadows of the carts that lined the halls were long, and honestly? A little bit creepy.
The smell of chlorine grew stronger as Eijirou made his way towards the offices, and the only noise was the sound of his footsteps echoing off the walls and breaking up the thick silence. Most of the doors to the different labs that lined the hall were closed and their lights off, and the building felt empty in the worst way possible. Then there was a loud BANG, like something falling off of a table, from one of the nearby rooms, and Eijirou flinched so hard that the box fell from his hands and crashed to the ground. Muffled conversation sounded from one of the rooms down the hall.
Eijirou laughed breathily, feeling jittery at the sudden rush of adrenaline running through him and stooped down to pick up his box. He didn’t think that there was supposed to be anyone there that late, but obviously, he was wrong! He rounded the corner, still feeling a bit nervous, but curious all the same. Was everything going okay in there? At least he knew it wasn’t a break-in, this place was fortified to hell and back. Sure, that had been startling, but at least - oh shit, what the fuck was that.
Something moved, something near the vending machines at the end of the hall (apparently scientists liked granola and banana milk-to-go? disgusting), something had moved. Eijirou felt a shiver go down his spine because what the actual fuck. He set his box down on a nearby cart and crept towards the vending machines at the end of the hall. Had something escaped from one of the labs? He didn’t really believe in supernatural shit, but this felt too much like a horror movie to him. Had the scientists injected a seal with some weird chemical and accidentally started the fucking seal zombie apocalypse?
… Ok, Eijirou could recognize that was stupid...
But goddamn, the lab was just the right place for ground zero of the seal apocalypse.
He finally made it to the end of the hall, and a small twitch drew his attention. Was that… a fin? On the floor, on the other side of the vending machine, something that looked like a huge tail curled in on itself, snake-like. The scales were a deep orange trimmed with gold, with darker patches of scales that shimmered in between green and black like a large koi. The actual fins were silky looking, iridescent when the bright hallway light shone through them. There was something off, though. The scales looked dry, and when the tail moved again whatever was hiding behind the vending machine flinched and let out a weird, pained hissing noise. He pushed himself forward; whatever this was, it was in pain, and if he could help then he absolutely wanted to.
What was connected to the tail made Eijirou stop dead in his steps because… well there was no way that what he was seeing was real. The tail, long and brightly colours, faded into the torso of what looked to be a person about Eijirou’s age. Their skin was a warm tan, littered with scales that shone like pale freckles up their arms, on their chest, on their cheeks. Their hair was pale as corn silk, almost too pale to be, well, human. Pearly fins lined the backs of their arms and in between their fingers, and when they finally turned and noticed Eijirou standing there, stupified, their eyes were a bright, blood red.
Instantly, a deep churring noise, almost like a growl started up from their throat. Their facial features were angular and vicious, and the sudden lengthening of sharp claws should’ve had Eijirou terrified, probably would have if not for the slight tremor that ran through the creature. They obviously posed a threat, but they were scared, eyes wide and wild like a cornered animal.
Slowly, Eijirou raised his hands to show he was unarmed. He had no idea if this thing could understand him, so he kept his voice light and soothing. “I’m not going to hurt you, it’s okay.”
“Yeah fucking right!” The creature warbled back like their voice hadn’t been used in months.
Eijirou was surprised they could speak. Though the creature looked to be half-human, they looked more monstrous than human. Curved claws and arms lined with glinting gold scales proved that well enough.
“I swear I mean you no harm, I’m sorry I startled you,” He said calmly, “What are you doing?”
The mer bared their teeth at him, that strange, growling, cicada-like hiss rising in their throat again. “Trying to get out of this hell hole, what the fuck does it look like?”
Eijirou looked up to one of the cameras hanging in the upper corner of the end of the hall, motion-activated and pointing straight at them. He would be shocked if nobody was watching the two of them right now. “I don’t think that’s gonna work out this time, sorry dude.”
“What? Why? Do you think I’m not a challenge? I’ll fucking fight you right now, I’ve killed a couple of those stupid humans and I’ll kill you too if you don’t let me go!” The fins on the side of the creature’s face flared out like rays of sun around their head, probably a defence mechanism, but Eijirou found it beautiful.
“That’s not why, it’s just that they already know where you are, I’d be surprised if this wasn’t one of their stupid tests,” Eijirou pointed to the camera, and the creature looked up at it. “Plus you look like you’re in pain, do you want me to help you back to a tank? That tail can’t be doing too well right now.”
The creature let out a couple of nervous clicks, still staring up at the camera. “They can see through those?”
“Probably, just let me check.” Eijirou took a step away from the creature and then back, and the camera followed him. It was on. They were definitely watching.
All of a sudden, Eijirou felt a spike of anger, more intense than he ever had before. This fish, person, whatever they were, was terrified, and now that he was closer he could see the small cuts and bruises that marked their body like a patchwork quilt. Their tail was dried out so badly that whenever they moved, little drops of blue-green (blood??) fluid leaked out from under the scales. Despite the snarl on their face, they were still shaking, and making a low noise, almost like an agitated purr, that he hadn’t noticed before.
“Well?” The mer growled.
“I would be shocked if they weren’t watching, this must be some kind of test on you. Sorry, dude.”
The mer slumped against the wall, the fight immediately leeching out of them. “I’m never going to get out,” they muttered, before saying it again, a bit louder, “I’m never going to get out!”
“What? Of course you will!” They had to let them go at some point, didn’t they? They should when they were finished testing! Wasn’t there some kind of law regulating those kinds of things?
“Do you really think that?” their voice was cold and hard despite how the words didn’t seem to fit properly in their mouth. “I don’t even know how long I’ve been here. Every goddamn morning they wake me up with sharp things and tests that hurt more and more with every day that passes. I’ve been planning this escape for months, and now you’re telling me that not only did they know, but they let me go through with it because they wanted to use it as another one of their sick tests? Please fucking enlighten me on how I’ll ever get out of this bullshit torture cycle because I’m so fucking close to just giving the fuck up!”
Eijirou could feel himself tearing up, and he reached up to wipe them away. “I’m so sorry-” “DON’T YOU DARE LOOK DOWN ON ME.” the mer interrupted, eyes like rusted iron, their face furious. Their dry tail lashed around them, smearing that thick, teal liquid all over the white tiles.
Eijirou stayed silent for a moment, before quietly, “I’m not pitying you.” He raised his hands in front of him again, “I just wish that there was some way I could help! You’ve obviously been through a lot, I just don’t want you to have to deal with this shit anymore!”
The creature grabbed the front of his shirt - when had they gotten that close? - and yanked him down so that they were face to face, blocking them both from the camera with the back of Eijirou’s head. “You wanna help? You really wanna help? Then listen to me fucking closely.”
Eijirou nodded, swallowing thickly.
“Set a fire. A big fire. And then get the fuck out of here.”
“What the fuck, dude?! No!”
“No, listen to me!” The mer’s hand tightened in Eijirou’s shirt. “Today’s proved I’m not fucking getting out of here, so please just do this for me. I don’t want any of my family to get hurt because I was stupid enough to get caught by fucking humans of all species. Fire will kill me quickly, burn up all of the evidence that I was ever here, then none of their information from their stupid fucking studies will get out. My family will stay safe.”
Eijirou felt a lump growing in his throat, his eyes watering again, “There’s gotta be another way,” he pleaded, but he knew somehow that there wasn’t. The mer was a fighter, that much had been clear from the moment he’d seen them, but their posture spoke of someone so mentally tired and broken down by the world that they were about to give up. And Eijirou was certain that that was something they would never be able to forgive themself for doing.
“ You said you’d help me,” they pleaded, brows furrowing in pain and exhaustion, “This is the only way. I’ve spent too long hoping to get out of here only for it to not work when my plan was supposed to be perfect. Please. Do this for me.”
Eijirou searched their eyes and found only fear. They were scared. They were terrified that Eijirou was going to turn his back on them, leave them alone with those scientists again. He found himself crumbling under their gaze, and he slowly let out a heavy breath and nodded.
The mer looked relieved. “Bakugou,” they said.
“What?”
“It’s my name, dumbass. Not that you’ll need it for much longer.”
Eijirou’s face fell. “I’m Kirishima.”
Bakugou smirked, and the smile made his eyes shimmer eerily for a moment. “When I let you go, run away like I’m attacking you. Got it?”
He nodded again.
“Good.” And before Eijirou could react, Bakugou leaned forward and pressed a small, featherlight kiss into the corner of his mouth. “And thanks, Kirishima.” Then he was pushing him away, smirk changing into a fierce glare, his claws lengthening as he lunged after him, and Eijirou took off down the hall, mind swirling through fog as he attempted to make sense of what had just happened.
He got fired from the aquarium, though that had been the least of his worries. While the police couldn’t convict him for turning off the fire response system and starting a couple of fires in the labs without evidence, the higher-ups at the labs knew it had been him. He wasn’t sure how, all the tapes had been destroyed in the fire, but there was no doubt in his mind that they knew. It didn’t help his case at all that the only things he could remember with perfect clarity from that night were red eyes, the press of cool lips on the side of his mouth, and an inhumane screech, both pained and horribly, terribly relieved.