Chapter Text
‘There is no greater pain in this world than the heart of an immortal being bound to a mortal soul, for when the mortal is lost the heart breaks for all eternity’
It was a lesson that Bakugo Katsuki had heard a hundred times over, the tales of the immortals of the ancient times, the ones who had grown so old that they had become the movement in the air and the pull of the oceans, and he had always scoffed at the idea that a creature who had been given eternal life could be so stupid as to waste it on a mortal. It was a mistake that he wasn’t likely to make.
He stretched his huge wings, preparing for another day of hunting, of soaring through the skies with the sun in his feathers and the ocean at his feet. It was the perfect life, for one such as him. To fly, to see the world, to grow his mind and his body into his ultimate self so that one day he might soar high into the sky and take his place in the sun. His bright orange and red plumes spoke of his destiny in the skies, but he was in no hurry to get there. A Phoenix, after all, had all the time in the universe.
He flew low, dipping his feet into the cool water, his head thrown back in a laugh as he wove this way and that, almost playful. A small island approached, a cove of rocks collected upon it. It would make for a good resting place for the afternoon. He circled the land, checking for signs of creatures who might mean to harm him, though with the might of the sun in his wings there were few who could, and touched down on warm sand.
He would have to tell the others about the small quiet land. The breeze played through the rocks just enough to make the ferns sway. The trees that clung to the beach were heavy with soft green fruit and small fish coasting through the shallows. He wouldn’t stay long, it wasn’t in his nature to rest anywhere for more than a day or two, but it would be a good place to remember, to visit when the summer evenings were long before stars shone clear and bright in the skies.
He stretched out against one of the rocks, his wings spread wide, sighing as the sound of the waves lapping against the sand calmed his busy mind. He was dozing, near sleep when he was jerked to consciousness by someone nearby clearing their throat.
“I don’t mean to be a bother,” came a sweet voice from the water. “But you’ve stolen my seat.”
Bakugo looked around, searching for the source of the voice until his eyes landed on the top of a head poking out of the water. Huge round brown eyes peering at him through the shallows.
“Tch, I don’t think you can own a rock, brown eyes. Find a new place to sun yourself.”
“I’ve asked you really very nicely,” the head rose up a little and Bakugo saw a rounded face to go with the eyes, a cute pink flush on her cheeks. His chest lurched, as though someone had placed a hand around his heart and squeezed.
“Who are you?” he whispered, all sense of annoyance at her interruption gone.
“My name is Uraraka. I live in this cove, and you’re in my spot.”
Against his better judgement, Bakugo moved, sliding to the side and indicating for her to join him. He was staring like an idiot, he knew he was, but it felt as though his entire essence was being drawn to her. Even his wings turning her way. Who the hell was she?
Uraraka moved slowly towards the beach, uncertain of her new guest, unable to control the thumping in her chest. Adrenaline, perhaps, at finding someone in the cove where she had never seen another creature. Her eyes flicked over his tight body, lingering on the rippling muscles of his chest, the broad shoulders where gold and red wings flared out behind him. He hummed with power, a deep old magic that she had never even believed existed.
“I’ve told you who I am,” she said, pulling herself up out of the water and stretching across the sand, her tail flicking in the shallows. “It’s only polite that you repay the gesture.”
“Bakugo,” he said, his mouth dry. “Katsuki.”
He was raking his eyes up and down her body. Soft and smooth by every measure. Her chest became a stomach that he ached to touch, fading into deep glossy scales that swooped into a sleek tail. Bakugo had seen many mer women in his centuries flying over the oceans, but he had never seen one like her. Her fins were light, wide and colourful, and near translucent in the sun. His fingers twitched as he imagined them running through his hands like fine silk.
“I can’t help but notice, Bakugo, that you’re staring at me. Am I the first of my kind that you’ve seen?”
“Tch,” he rolled his eyes, trying to remember anything about himself before seeing her. “Obviously not. I’ve lived for centuries already and you think I’ve never seen one of the Finned? Bit of a stretch there, cheeks.”
“Did you say centuries?" Uraraka was taken aback. “But you don’t look much older than I am now.”
“I mean I’ve died a few times, sure. But…” he eyed her with a smug smile. “You don’t know what I am, do you.”
“I know that you’re pretty sure of yourself for someone who has walked into another person’s home as though it was theirs to take.”
Bakugo stretched out, having recovered somewhat from the initial shock of being presented with such a magnificent creature as her.
“How about you tell me what you think I am, I’ll give you three guesses.”
“I’m not interested in guessing games, Bakugo,” she folded her arms, frowning at him in a way that made him want to kiss his way down her frowned forehead until she laughed again. What was happening to him? Maybe it would be best for him to move away after all, to leave and not return to the cove and the woman who made his chest feel as though he was about to fade into ash.
“Well then I guess you’ll never find out.” He stood up, stretching his arms and his wide wings in unison, turning to wink at her with his most charming smile. “See you later, Cheeks.”
He took the to the air, his heart pounding, a confused weight in his stomach that he couldn’t explain.
Uraraka watched as the red and orange wings vanished into the sky. He’d been a strange man, very strange, but there was something about him that drew her in. She hoped that he would come down to her island again, sit and talk with her for longer about…well anything really. She felt strangely sad at his absence, a feeling that she couldn’t quite place her finger on, as though a piece of her had been taken away.
With a long sigh she slipped back into the water, diving deep to swim a while between the fish. A pastime that had so often comforted her doing nothing to ease the tension in her body, the strange urge to scream though there was nothing the matter.
Perhaps she should leave the cove, seek others of her kind and forget all about the strange winged man.
But maybe she would want a few days to see if he would return, first.