Chapter Text
After what happened at the beach with Aizawa U.A. had decided to get him out of the city. At least for a while until things calmed down.
And what better place than the ocean?
A private ship had left the coast with Aizawa, Mic, Midnight and Class 2-A. Why the Class? To prevent people from using them to lure Aizawa.
The rest of U.A. would give their best shot at coming to an agreement with the government. After people saw just what the erasure hero was capable of the turmoil against him had decreased a lot from the public in general.
The government though was still testing U.A.'s patience.
Getting Aizawa into the ship had been harder than expected but after Midnight knocked him out it was easy peasy.
Easy peasy until he woke up.
After he woke up he got so mad at everyone he refused to leave his room.
And it had been two days since their departure.
Mic was starting grow concerned.
Even more so because it didn't made sense at all for Shouta to be acting so skittish towards the ocean.
And thus he decided to approach the subject.
~
Aizawa was mad.
Though more than mad frightened was what he felt.
The smell of the ocean. The sound of gulls. The ship breaking through the water.
It made his skin crawl. It made him feel so tense he hadn't left the corner of the room. All curled up and hiding his face. Begging for this to be a nightmare.
It was amusing though.
Pathetic even.
How the ocean was so able to scare him.
But it also hurt.
Because he knew there was nothing for him in there.
And that was so scary and painful.... And even then... that wasn't even his first fear...
What frightened him the most was that there was nowhere for him to set foot. What if.... What if he just started sinking into the abyss? He had no tail to swim with. He never bothered to learn how to swim with legs because to be honest a part of him didn't felt at ease with that.
He was a merman but he didn't knew how to swim.
How hilarious.
As he hears the door open he can't help but feel his breath hitch. Flinching and tensing up before remembering he wasn't there anymore. He looked up in order to be met with the sight of Mic.
-Hey. Are you okay? You haven't come out of your room since we left. Are you still mad about it?- Asks the voice hero as he sits infront of him. Just a few feets apart. Giving him space. His voice is soft. Gentle.
Aizawa doesn't answer. He just hides his face once again between his knees. Hugging his legs closer.
He wasn't mad about this.
He was scared.
Hurt that he got forced in here despite the fact that he hadn't wanted to come. Hadn't wanted to do this.
But U.A. had been nice with him. Were doing their best to protect him. He shouldn't be so ungrateful. People didn't like ungrateful people.
If he made them mad he could get sold out.
He didn't want to do that.
People were mad enough after what he did at the beach. But things had been fuzzy and all he had been able to feel had been pain and anger. Feelings that humans brought upon him for too long.
But Hizashi had done it.
What he had so long craved for without realizing Hizashi had given it to him.
An apology.
A sincere apology.
One that would allow him to know that not all humans were made out of greed.
Hizashi hadn't left. Not even after he almost struck him down with a lightning. None of them left.
It made him wonder if this was real.
He looks up once again. Peeking from behind his knees.
Hizashi was still there. So close yet so far away.
The memories of strong but gentle arms hugging him flooded his mind. It made his heart flutter and his chest hurt. But it also felt so warm.
Hizashi saved him.
None of them ever gave up.
He outstretched his arm. Hand reaching for Mic's. Taking it into a light hold.
The hand that pulled him out of the darkness.
And so for the first time in a long long time a set of words crawled out of him.
-I'm scared.
He didn't look up as he said so. Those words were words a weak person said.
But he was tired.
Tired of pretending.
Tired of being strong.
Of being seen as someone unable to feel.
Of having to keep up a wall to protect himself.
A thumb rubbed soft circles around his knuckles. It felt weird and it made him want to take his hand back but another part of him liked it. It felt comforting in a way.
-Why?- Mic's voice was soft as he asked so. Having Shouta admit such a thing felt wrong. So so wrong. And it hurt.
-The sea.... I'm scared of the fact that I no longer belong there. Of sinking to the bottom of it. Of the darkness. Of the cold. Of finding out that I no longer have the ability to survive in there because no longer do I know how to swim.
Each word that came out of the erasure hero's mouth made Mic's chest tighten. Anger also bubbling up. Because it was both painful and infuriating to hear. Painful because Shouta sounded so vulnerable.
So lost.
Infuriating because people's stupidity drove him to this. Chaining him to the surface. Scaring him with a place that he should feel the safest at. A place he should be dying to be at.
-Shouta-
-Can I please be alone now?- Cut off Aizawa. He didn't want to listen to Mic's pitiful words. He knew what he was.
No human. No merman.
No longer did he belong somewhere.
He didn't need pity.
Mic for his side sighs but He still leaves him be. He didn't want Shouta to be like this. He had gone through so much. He had thought that he would be more at ease in the ocean but it seemed to have had the opposite effect. He needed to fix this.
But how?
They were in the middle of nowhere. Would be until things got better on land. He wanted to do something in the meantime to help Aizawa. To give him something back....
As he reached the pool an idea struck him.
-That is!
Kaminari who had been crouching at the edge of the pool met his demise when Mic's sudden shout almost gifted him a heart attack.
-That is what?- Wonders Midnight from her chair where she had been dozing off.
-We are gonna teach Aizawa how to swim.- Dictates Mic like that was the best idea ever which in his defense it was. The pool was huge. With ten feet of depth. It was perfect.
-Swim....?- Ashido wasn't the only one giving Mic a weird look. Because why in heaven would he come up with that idea? I mean. Aizawa was a merman wasn't he? Why would he need-
-Don't give me that look. I'm not stupid. No matter how much I look like it. Shouta said that he doesn't know how to swim so we are gonna give that ability back to him.- Tells Mic firmly.
The class and Midnight blink at that.
Aizawa had said that the humans stole his tail which meant he had permanent legs.... So he didn't knew how to swim....?
It made sense though. And it also felt wrong for some reason.
It felt like cutting the wings off a bird. De-clawing a lion. Stealing the fangs of a snake.
-I'm in.- Agrees Midnight firmly.
-Me too.
-And me.
The whole group ends up joining in. Aizawa would learn how to swim even if that was the last thing they did.
Mic for his side grins.
Now all he had to do was tell Shouta.
~
-No.- Aizawa's voice rang across the room after Mic's words left his mouth.
He wasn't gonna go through with this idea. It was stupid and not pleasing at all.
-Why not?
-.... Because the closest I've willingly come to a body of water is the bathtub...- Mutters the erasure hero. His memories towards bodies of water had turned sour with the years. He hadn't been in the water outside of his bathtub in years.
Because all bodies of water were wither destined to make him sink to the bottom of darkness and cold or were just tanks. Tanks where chains and flashes awaited him. Hands grabbing him.
He didn't want that.
-But wouldn't you like to learn how to swim? Wouldn't you like to be able to swim in the ocean again?
Aizawa flinches at that. Curling in on himself.
No.
He didn't.
Because the ocean was so big, dark and cold.
When he first escaped from the claws of humanity he had seen himself in the need to swim with a pod of whales. Because no pod of merfolks wanted to take him in. The pods had decreased in number. Not wanting to be in big groups so as to not attract human attention.
Children were being separated from parents. Wives and husbands taking each one a kid if the Families were too big.
Families breaking apart. Friends bidding eternal goodbyes.
All in order to survive.
And Aizawa was left to live with whales. But even then the ocean had been too frightening. Had begun to appear frightening to him.
So he went ashore and got caught again.
The ocean was unforgiving.
He didn't want to go back to it.
Was Mic trying to get rid of him? Was that why he wanted to teach him how to swim or was he mocking him?
-Don't mock me. I don't need your pity.- Snaps the erasure hero briskly as he gets up from his corner. His chest hurt and his throat burnt with the sudden need to cry but he ignored it. He had been feeling on edge lately. No matter how much he wanted to mask it it still slipped from his grasp.
-I'm not mocking nor pitying you. I just want to help you. It's not fair that you can't swim nor for you to be afraid of the ocean. I want to help you overcome that fear by teaching you how to swim.- Tells the voice hero as he cuts the other's escape by standing infront of him. Arms outstretched at his sides. Needing to stop him but not knowing how to do it without touching him.
Touching.
Even if Shouta had been initiating the contact more than... ever at all. He had also gotten more skittish. Jumpy. He didn't want to make him uncomfortable.
Aizawa for his side looked at Mic straight in the eyes. Searching for any signs of lies.
But there were none.
Just honesty and concern.
He glanced down.
He didn't like the idea. Didn't felt comfortable with it.
But a part of him was craving it.
-I will think about it.- Is his choice of words as he looks up. Mic smiles at that. So bright and full of pure joy it made Aizawa look down once again. Hand pressing against his chest.
He wondered if he would be able to voice these feelings one day.
To tell Mic the words that he knew the blonde deep deep down craved for.
The ones Aizawa couldn't bring himself to voice out.
Scared to break the dream.
~
At night Aizawa lays on his bed. Thinking about the pros and cons of what Mic wanted.
What if he just couldn't swim anymore and just sank like a rock to the bottom of the sea? He didn't want to sink. The sole thought made his skin crawl and an overwhelming wave of anxiety crush his chest.
For one side he would be subjected to the criticism of being a merman and not knowing how to swim. Water was his element. His home. He should know how to survive in it. He would be seen weak. Would be seen pathetic.
But for the other side there was that overwhelming craving of wanting to learn how to swim. Because as stated before water was his element. His home. He couldn't avoid it forever. Didn't want to avoid it forever.
No matter how much he lied to himself about it.
But water scared him too.
Because all he could think of was darkness. Coldness. Loneliness. Hands touching. Flashes. Sound waves hammering against his eardrums. Blood. Chains. Suffocation. Sinking.
He didn't want that.
Water was his strength as much as it was his weakness.
So hilariously stupid.
Still...
He would do it.