Chapter Text
Eijirou has a schedule.
Shota Aizawa, his caretaker, keeps him on a routine for a very good reason. The study of new sea life that had been discovered produced Eijirou as a special case. The study took years to conduct and there were still many unknowns.
Like why Eijirou's hair went from a stark black to a blinding red within 24 hours. Or how his flat teeth became sharp like a shark's over the span of a week. No matter, though. A mermaid's mannerisms and behavior were more important than characteristics that could be analyzed later.
Today is no different for the redhead. The alarm in the room he's in goes off right at 9 am, making the mermaid stretch his arms over his head with a big yawn escaping him. The sound of the door opening gets his attention and he happily swims where the glass separates him and his caretaker.
Except this time, there are guests. Or… workers? They are wearing something similar to Aizawa.
And by the looks of things, they are a very unique group. Three different people stand in front of his tank, the bright pink looking human bouncing on her toes. Eijirou hears her faintly exclaim something he can't decipher and shakes the man next to her happily. She reminds Eijirou of the salmon he occasionally eats.
The second human is bright yellow, staring at Eijirou like he is a treasure. There's a weird jagged line of black amidst his blond locks but Eijirou dismisses it, not caring that much.
The third seems more laid back, like Aizawa but lankier and plain faced. He examines the mermaid with interest but not as excitedly as the other two humans. His foot taps along the ground in a rhythm Eijirou wishes he could hear.
Just as fast as they entered, they exchange a few words with Aizawa and then they're gone. Eijirou frowns. He doesn't get a lot of engagement with others during the day since Aizawa is mostly off doing his other job, so it's a bit disappointing to see them go.
"They'll come back." Aizawa's voice sounds over the intercom, allowing Eijirou to hear him. "They're going to take care of you in the mornings now to help out. They are still in training so be nice to them, got it?"
The redhead had learned to understand their language after years of confinement so he nods and watches his caretaker ready his breakfast. He's not so bad as to scare away the new humans. He didn't have a lot of interaction, after all. He wanted to make a good impression.
Aizawa pulls out a bucket, a ghost of a smile lifting on his lips at Eijirou's excited movements. "Ready for breakfast?" he mouths, knowing full well what the answer is. Eijirou trills happily, swimming up to the top of his tank where he meets Aizawa face to face, showing off his pearly teeth and greeting him with a short mrrp !
It's 9:32 am and he's handfed his favorite meal. His tail splashes along the water while he listens to Aizawa drone on about his work that Eijirou will never understand.
Having new guests frequent his tank makes Eijirou unbelievably happy.
The three come back around half an hour after he's done eating his breakfast. The pink one– Mina, he comes to find out– sits with him and tells him a story to keep him entertained. Some words she uses (totes, gucci, and fam are a few) don't register with Eijirou but he tries to stay focused on the story anyways. The way she flails her hands around and grins shows him that the story is a good one.
The yellow and onyx ones – Denki and Hanta– talk with him and laugh at his "tricks" he learned. At one point, Denki fishes (heh) out a piece of jerky from a bag he had in his pocket. "Eijirou, have you ever tried this?" He questions, dangling it over the redhead's mouth. The smell is distinct and animal-like, something Eijirou hasn't had before. It makes his mouth water.
He chirps and lifts his head to grab at the piece of meat with his sharp teeth. A soft hum comes from him, swallowing down the piece of food in two chews.
Denki jerks away in shock, hand yanked back and eyes wide. He doesn't look afraid. More impressed than anything. "Dude, you could bite someone's hand off like that." He says in awe.
Eijirou's ear fins droop. The idea of hurting a human taking care of him would break his heart.
This makes Denki wave his hands in panic, "not like that! It's just… your teeth are so sharp. I like them. They're interesting."
The complement brings the light back into Eijirou's eyes, showing off his pretty chompers. They laugh and start to tell Eijirou about things in the outside world.
His sharp teeth are on display for his new friends, head laying on his hands, purring when they are given permission to rub where his scales connect to his gills. It's his favorite spot.
It's 12:37 pm and Eijirou decides that he likes these humans very much.
"Come on Ei." Aizawa coins the nickname he gave him. "It's Wednesday. You know they're going to be in here any minute."
Eijirou dreads this. These particular humans disgust him. When they come in, it's like the air is sucked out of the room. Or so Aizawa says; Eijirou doesn't need air after all.
They poke and prod at his skin and scales and even his gills, getting samples for their tests that need to be done again and again and again . The redhead wishes he could tell them to knock it off, that it's been eons that they've done experiments on him and they should be done by now, but his vocal chords do not work the same as theirs. Anytime he has tried speaking, it comes out as a short cry.
So he doesn't talk much. Not unless it's to himself or his little Octopus friend, of course. (It's a recent gift but Eijirou adores it, lovingly calling it "Red" and watching as it moves around the tank to adjust to his surroundings.
It isn't a lot but it's the thought that counts for the mermaid. There isn't a lot that he can do in his large tank by himself so having something to keep him company is a very nice gesture.)
In any other place or scenario, these monsters (who don't deserve to be called humans) wouldn't last a moment. He doesn't want to hurt people unless they treat him like shit first, and they haven't stopped since day one. If it wasn't for Aizawa keeping watch, or telling him to behave, the whole tank would be off limits to anyone from that point. And he'd be euthanized, which has been used as a threat in the past when he snapped at one of them.
It's 3:43 pm when they finally leave and Eijirou makes a noise that resembles a groan. Aizawa pats the top of Eijirou's head that is raised at the top of his enclosure, humming in agreement. "I know, kiddo. I'm hoping we can get you out of here soon."
He's said the same thing for a while and it's always postponed because they "need more tests". More of whatever they can get their grubby hands on.
Eijirou slumps until only his eyes are out of the water, expression downcast. He's never getting out of here.
Eijirou settles down for an afternoon nap, cuddling the small little octopus that wraps her tentacles around his arm. His hair flows in the soft current that his tank is set with. His eyes become hooded, growing heavy as he watches the fluorescent lights leave a pretty shine along the side of his tank. With a soft snore, Eijirou is sound asleep.
…
It's 5:39 pm when Eijirou's eyes slide open at the muffled sound of Aizawa shouting at someone. His octopus friend has gone out of sight. He rubs the sleepy from his eyes, scanning the area to see what's going on.
There are several guys in front of his caretaker, one trying to placate the situation while the others mess with bags they were bringing in.
Then Eijirou pans his sights over to a very large, very intimidating looking box. Inspecting it, Eijirou finds that it's see through, something causing a ruckus from inside of it. Ever the curious one, he decides to get a closer look.
He places his hands on the glass of the tank, face somewhat squished to see what's going on. His breath catches. What he sees is ethereal.
In the box sits a gorgeous, pale-colored mermaid.
He's never seen one in person before aside from himself. His eyes do not move away, instead examining the creature with interest.
His blond hair swishes through the water, tail moving around in irritation. He looks like he has no wish to be in it, like he was moved against his own accord.
Eijirou feels his lunch almost surface at the idea. All that time ago, all he could remember was hitting his head and waking in the tank he's in now. The other aspect was knowing how to speak a language Aizawa couldn't and still can't understand to this day.
This is new. This mermaid looks his age, mature enough to be on his own. So did they sneak up on him when he wasn't focusing or doing something else?
Another thing Eijirou notices is how fucking angry he is. He's knocking into the glass like it'll shatter if he uses enough force. His teeth are clenched together, expression livid.
But not once does he open his mouth to object. Not once does he shout in frustration. He's quiet.
The workers holding his box slam their hands along it that causes the blond to jolt, stopping his motions immediately with a silent humph. It makes Eijirou's stomach whirl uncomfortably. Why is Aizawa allowing this? There has to be a reason.
He watches as his caretaker places one hand over his eyes and points towards his tank with the other. Then the box is being ushered over to the tank opening. Eijirou blinks in confusion. What are they planning?
Then with the strength of six workers, they unlatch the top and tip the box over, water escaping and a large impact of another body slams into the tank. Eijirou hasn't even made a noise of exclamation before the whirl of the other mermaid flies past him, immediately going into the shadows without so much as a webbed hand lifted.
Eijirou feels frustration simmer in his chest and swims up to where the humans are. Happy with the shock on the men's faces, he bares his sharp teeth and hisses in warning. He may not be able to do a lot but he knows that his appearance was still scary to several people.
He's proud as they scurry away from his tank, seeing his caregiver's disapproving glare. He doesn't care though. The other new mermaid needed to be tended to first.
Slinking into where the part of the tank is shadowed, Eijirou squints to see where the blond had hidden. He shuffles through the piles of rock, brushing the bits of decor scattered along them. It isn't long before there's a faint glow that catches his attention that slowly gets brighter the closer he gets.
And that's when he comes face to face with the most beautiful thing he's ever set his eyes on.
Eijirou should've been threatened by the eerie bulbs of light surrounding the other mermaid, coming off of him in the form of antennas. It makes his pale body shine in the dark of the alcove. Something is sticking out of his earlobe, like an earring of sorts. He's sat on a patch of coral, arms crossed along his chest, his crimson eyes staring daggers at him, almost glowing.
He's pretty.
"Uh," Eijirou starts, unsure what to say. What if they have a language barrier like him and Aizawa do? He clears his throat and tries it out anyways. "Hi." He says meekly, chuckling nervously, "My name is Kirishima Eijirou." He pauses, hoping to get some sort of reaction from the blond but he just continues to stare, unblinking. Eijirou takes that as a good sign and goes on, "I know you're probably confused. I know I was when I got here a while ago. But it's actually not that bad once you get used to it. Just uh, if you have any questions, you're welcome to ask–"
"Do you ever stop talking?"
The raspiness of the other mermaid's voice stops Eijirou in his tracks. His eyes go wide, gazing at the blond in shock. "You… you can understand me?"
"Duh." He says matter of factly, "I'm just like you , dumbass. Why wouldn't I understand you?"
Well that's unnecessarily rude. "I dunno, man. I…" Eijirou pauses, tail flicking back and forth anxiously, "it's been a while since I've been able to talk to anyone. I got excited, 's all." And adds a timid, "sorry," for extra measure.
Now he's embarrassed. It's the first person he's actually spoken to someone in forever and he's gone and goofed it up. No matter. He has a need to know more about this stranger. "What's your name?"
The blond's lip curls, "none of your business." It makes Eijirou jolt back like he'd been slapped. "What's it to you anyways? You wanna fight, Shitty Fins?"
"No!" Eijirou raises his hands in surrender. "Honestly man. I am not here to hurt you or anything like that." The blond stares skeptically, eyebrow raised like he doesn't believe the redhead. "I get that all of this–" he gestures to their surroundings, "–is really jarring. So I thought that… you'd like a friend?"
As of right now, he isn't sure how to feel about the guy, so he ends the sentence as a question. Despite the blond's gorgeous looks, his personality has been absolute garbage ever since they began talking to each other. Who knows if that will change. Eijirou hopes it does.
The mermaid scoffs, turning his head away from Eijirou. "That ain't gonna happen. Before you know it, I'll be out of here."
He won't be. Eijirou has tried.
They both go silent for a moment. The water filter bubbles away in the far corner of the tank. Eijirou's eyes avert to the side. Maybe this was a bad idea…
Then the blond speaks up, his voice low. "Bakugou Katsuki."
Eijirou's head jerks back towards the other mermaid. "Huh?"
"My name." He mutters, fiddling with one of the antennas coming off his body. "You asked what it was. That's your answer." He expands his dorsal fin as a threat, "Now leave me the fuck alone."
Eijirou mutters to himself about how vulgar the blond's words towards him are. If he were used to conversing with others, he'd speak up about it. But it's been too long. Openly talking to someone like him is a miracle in itself. He'll take the curses over the lack of interaction any day.
Deciding to abide by Bakugou's wishes, he nods shortly before he twists around and swims back to the spot he frequents.
It was for the best to give Katsuki some time to process his capturement anyways. Eijirou remembers the first weeks when he woke in his tank, alone and afraid. Aizawa coaxed him out of his shell, helped him grow accustomed to his new surroundings by running his calloused hands through Eijirou's black locks and cooing out words he hadn't understood back then.
Settling down on his comfortable rock, he stares over to where Aizawa is still standing, hand to his ear and speaking. Even through the film that the water makes, he can see the anger etched on his face, much like it was with Bakugou's earlier.
Bakugou Katsuki. Someone who is the same as him and uses the same words. Someone who can swim around with him. Someone who can eat food and chat idly with him. A small smile lines his lips at the thought.
It's 6:30 pm when he realizes… he's not alone anymore.
The next few days are… difficult.
Katsuki is not getting accustomed to this "living in a tank" thing. As a matter of fact, he's doing everything he can to piss off anyone who gets in his way, hoping that it will help him escape. Eijirou has received the brunt of it, mostly because he's the one residing within the same space as Katsuki.
It's not all bad though. Eijirou is used to this kind of behavior from the scientists/monsters/"humans", so it doesn't phase him all that much. Red however, the poor thing, stays by Eijirou's side in fear the blond will lash out at her. He sighs and pets her on top of her head in reassurance that he'll protect her.
One day when Mina and Denki are feeding Eijirou, they bring the mysterious blond up between conversations. "I've been meaning to ask." Mina points over to the spot Katsuki stays in. "Is he always this broody, Kirishima?"
The redhead responds with a shrug, opening his mouth to accept the chunk of mackerel offered to him. Broody isn't really the word he'd use. More… asshole-ish. Yeah, that's it.
Denki hums, mostly to himself as he buries his gloved hand into the bucket once more to grab a handful of fish. "He does know he needs to eat, right?"
Katsuki hadn't eaten since he was brought in, probably another way of protesting that will inevitably blow up in metaphorical flames. He has to eat at some point or he'll go belly up.
Eijirou doesn't want to see that happen.
Mina and Denki make more remarks over the new mermaid, feeding Eijirou the rest of his meal and rubbing his tummy and rolling their fingers delicately over his favorite spot by his gills, pulling a loud rumbling purr from his throat.
Once they get up to leave, Eijirou chirps to grab their attention and nudges his head towards the partially empty bucket. Mina and Denki stare in confusion before it dawns on them what he's insinuating.
Later that evening, Eijirou grabs the armful of fish and brings it right outside of the alcove Katsuki is in. "Hey, Bakugou." He says quietly. "I brought you some food. Figured you were hungry."
"'m not. Fuck off." Katsuki growls. "I don't need that shit."
"That's alright." Eijirou recalls when he did the exact same thing all that time ago. "I'll leave it here in case you change your mind."
The next morning Eijirou wakes to find the food missing and the fish bones hastily but not well-buried in the sand. It brings a smile to his face, saying nothing about it when two piercing red eyes watch him swim off to do his own thing.
Eijirou plays with Red most of the time. The fish tank that's connected to their shared space overflows with different kinds of fish but he cannot stop from gazing over at the alcove, anticipating when Katsuki comes out next. He never does.
Until a day comes that that all changes.
Eijirou is mindlessly floating around the tank, lost in his thoughts. He hums a small tune that he overheard Mina using when she took care of him that morning. Red flutters around him, seemingly content in the peace surrounding the two of them.
"Oi."
Eijirou startles, twisting around in a panic at the sudden deep voice right behind him. Red speeds off, still on edge by Katsuki's behaviors. "Jeez, man!" He clutches his chest, "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"I wasn't sneaking, weirdo," Katsuki rolls his eyes, "We live together, for fuck sakes."
He has a point but it is still shocking. Eijirou exhales, bubbles falling from his lips. "Fine, fine. Did you need something?"
"I'm bored." Katsuki says, crossing his arms along his chest. Eijirou watches mesmerized as small dots line the apples of Katsuki's cheeks, beginning to glow as his eyes avert to the side. "Thought I'd… fuckin' take you up on your offer."
The redhead tries to recall what it was he offered up. It's hard for him to remember what happened five minutes ago, let alone something that occured days prior. And then it hits him. "Oh!" The glare Katsuki sends his way makes him lower his voice a fraction with a giant smile, "You want to be friends?"
"I don't need friends. I just don't have any other choice." Katsuki mutters, but his body language says otherwise. The glow on his cheeks grows brighter, going to the tips of his ears and across the top of his chest. "So. How long have you been in this hellhole?"
The redhead stares for a solid three seconds before he is giggling, watching Katsuki's face become a flurry of bright dots. "The fuck are you laughing at?!"
"Man you just… haha!" Eijirou grins amused. "You're terrible at starting a conversation, y'know that?"
"Fuckin'– whatever!" Katsuki puts his hands in the air, "if you're gonna be a prick about it–"
"No, no! I wasn't. I promise. I uh… It's just been a while since I've talked to anybody." Eijirou says, counting the years off the top of his head. "But let's not talk about that, okay? Tell me about yourself."
Katsuki huffs but settles onto Eijirou's rock, leaving enough room for the redhead. "Sit your ass down then."
They sit and chat idly for a few hours. Eijirou doesn't have much to say with his lack of activity and strict schedule, which saddens him a little. Here he is trying to make a new friend and he sounds like the most boring individual Katsuki has ever met.
Katsuki makes up for it though. He has loads of stories. He tells Eijirou about his family, where he grew up and the others that his mom "forced him to play with". Eijirou jokes that this 'Deku' seems nice and he would have loved to have known someone like him.
The chime of a bell pulls both mermaids out of their conversation, Eijirou's stomach growling at the sound. "Ooh! Dinner time. Oh man, I didn't even realize how long we've been talking." He rubs his tummy absently, tail swishing up so he's in a vertical position. "It was nice er… hanging out with you, Bakugou," He says sincerely, "thank you."
Eijirou is hypnotized by the glow on Katsuki's cheeks at the remark. "Yeah, yeah, idiot." He raises his hand to gesture to the top of the tank, "Go get your food."
"Want me to bring you something back?" Now that they were on talking terms, he figured he'd ask.
Katsuki hesitates and then nods, waving his hand in goodbye, and he's off to his cave, his antennas guiding his way.
Eijirou smiles and heads up to see Aizawa. It's 8:32 pm and he thinks everything will be okay.
"So I've been meaning to ask," Eijirou scrapes at a chunk of algae sticking to the rock, staring up at Katsuki, "what are your shinies for?"
Katsuki, who was messing with his hair absently, freezes and turns his head, "my what ?"
"Y'know…" Eijirou lifts his hands and wiggles his webbed fingers all over the place, "the little antenna things you have. The shinies."
"First of all, they're not shinies, or antenna things ." Katsuki corrects him. "They're my lures."
"Tell me about 'em, then." Eijirou crosses his arms on top of the rock and lays his head on them, not even attempting to correct himself.
Ever since he and Katsuki started talking a week ago, Eijirou listens intently and hangs on to every word the blond says. He likes hearing a voice that's not his own. He likes to hear someone respond instead of speaking to an empty void or a voiceless octopus (sorry, Red) to pass the time.
Katsuki is, in a weird way, entertaining. Being confined to a tank like this doesn't take away the way Katsuki's eye twitches anytime Deku is brought up in any story he tells. Or the way he dramatically flails his arms around, the lures mimicking the crazed motions.
But the shin– sorry, the lures – have always intrigued Eijirou. They have since he saw Katsuki for the first time.
Katsuki says they're unique. He's a mixed breed so there were some traits passed down onto him which is why he has them. He explains that they're meant to attract prey and flickers one as an example.
Eijirou is fascinated by the information, smiling softly. He's happy his new friend has some interesting things about himself.
"What about you?"
The question throws Eijirou off, smile dropping a fraction. "What d'you mean?"
Katsuki moves his arm up and down gesturing towards Eijirou's body. "Tell me about things you have. Your teeth are pretty fucking cool. Ain't seen nothing like 'em before."
His… teeth? "They're just sharp, I guess," With the attention brought onto him so suddenly it brings a soft blush to his cheeks, "they didn't used to be like this though."
"No shit?" Katsuki laughs, "There's no way you had regular ass teeth. What, did you sharpen them with a rock or something?"
The joke pulls a snort from Eijirou. "No, nothing like that. They started changing over the course of a few days and have stayed this way ever since." He opens his mouth to show all the pretty serrated chompers that looked dangerous in the light. He clamps his mouth shut with a sharp snap, "had to get used to them pretty quickly."
"Anything else?" Katsuki asks, leaning back on his hands against the rock and flicking his tail back and forth. "What about your tail?"
"Hm?" The redhead turns his gaze down to it, "I mean it's nothing special."
Katsuki gets off the rock and swims closer to Eijirou. Without any warning he skims his webbed fingers along the brown-red spots coating only half his tail. It makes Eijirou shiver. "This isn't a common thing, Kirishima. I think that's pretty fucking special."
"That can't be true." Eijirou sounds breathless. "You live with a zillion people." He chooses to stay in present tense.
"Zillion isn't a word, dumbass." The tone is littered with amusement. "Has it always been like this?"
"Yeah. Can't think of a time it wasn't." Why is Katsuki so invested in spots? There has to be a reason, right? "Is that a bad thing?"
Katsuki stops and raises up. "Not really. You might be a mixed breed too."
Eijirou is curious. "What is a mixed breed? Are they different mermaids from different places?"
"Nah. It's a mix of animal and mer-person." Katsuki says, "hell, you could be part shark or something." He flicks his lures. "I'm part angler. Or so I've been told. I don't know if that is true or not."
He isn't sure what an angler is, but it sounds super badass. Him being a mixed breed would explain his sharp teeth too. "Do any others have their hair turn a different color out of nowhere?"
The blond blinks, pointing at the redhead's locks, "that's not natural?"
"Nope." He pops the 'p'. "It started turning red one day and then it stayed like this." He likes the color. It brings more light into the tank as weird as that sounds.
Katsuki hums, "suits you." He mutters, the dots on the blond's face lighting up for a moment until they disappear.
Eijirou feels his stomach whirl with something he's never felt before. It isn't hunger or anything like that. This is different.
It goes away after a moment, Eijirou wondering where it even came from but his thoughts are derailed when Katsuki brushes his hand across the side of his face. "Oi. I'm bored. Let's talk about something else."
He dismisses what happened and smiles, easily changing the subject. He'll worry about the fluttery feeling in his tummy later.
"Come on Ei." The sentence that Eijirou dreads the most. He groans into his arms and flicks his tail in frustration. "Don't make this difficult. It won't take long."
He glares at the glass separating him from his caretaker and then sighs resignedly.
They come once every month and each time it felt like barely a day passed before they were testing on him again. He's so exhausted. He hardly had any sleep last night so his energy is zapped. Regardless, he follows the order and goes to swim to the top when something grabs onto his bicep, stopping him.
Eijirou swivels around, about to attack whatever touched him but stops part way when he sees it is just Katsuki. The blond stares at the bags sitting under the redhead's eyes. "Where are you going? He's never used that thing before."
Eijirou knows he's talking about the speaker. "I've gotta…" he realizes that Katsuki has no idea what is going to happen since he has yet to deal with them, "...I'm doing these tests. A bunch of humans come in and experiment on me. Take my blood and all that."
"The hell do they think they are? You're not a monster ." Katsuki snarls, "I'll kick their asses."
"Don't do that, man." He doesn't say that he attempted to do so years back, "I don't want you getting hurt."
"Are you saying they've hurt you before?" The blond looks incredulous. "The fuck–"
"Bakugou." Eijirou gets his friend's attention by grabbing onto the hand that had yet to let go of his bicep, "I'll be fine. I've been dealing with this for a long time."
"But–"
"The last thing I want is for them to attack you." Eijirou steers the blond backwards towards his cave. "Stay hidden while they're here." When he feels Katsuki is back enough for his body to be cloaked by the darkness, he pushes a bit more onto Katsuki's hand. "Please."
Katsuki's eyes flit over Eijirou's face and he drops his head. "Fine," He lets Eijirou go, slinking more into the rocks, "just know that I won't hesitate to poke someone's eye out if I have to."
Eijirou grins. He doesn't doubt that.
The tests are, as always, excruciating. It's like they have a personal vendetta against Eijirou when they see him.
His scales throb with pain. His arms sting like a bitch after one human wouldn't leave them the fuck alone.
Unfortunately for Eijirou, a lone, crazy scientist was dead set on getting Katsuki to come out. They were all about telling the facts of this "specific specimen", saying that Katsuki had more years in the sea while Eijirou did not due to his upbringing in solitary so they needed to run all sorts of tests on him.
To their credit they tried several tactics, but in the long run, the blond was slick and fast. The tank was large but he was agile, slipping right through the humans' hands.
A small smile toys on the redhead's lips. Katsuki is like him in the sense of going against the humans that do not have any good intentions. Aizawa, Mina, Denki and Hanta are the exceptions for Eijirou. Maybe Katsuki can come up and meet them instead of having the redhead bring his meals down to him when he's done eating.
Aizawa bends down over the curve of the tank as they leave (with the one scientist murmuring curses all the way out the door), praising Eijirou like he normally does by bonking his fist on the top of Eijirou's head softly. "Good job, kiddo. You did it again."
Eijirou goes to chirp as a thank you when a flattened mat of blond hair breaches the water, only up to where crimson eyes and pale ears are exposed to the air. Eijirou looks pleasantly surprised, smiling. He can finally introduce the man who's been in his life for a long time. "Hey, Bakugou," He says quietly, resting his arm on the outside wall of the tank, "this is Aizawa."
Eijirou enjoys watching the staredown between the human and mermaid. Both of them look like they're telepathically communicating with each other, expressions unchanging. Aizawa has an open aura about him, showing that he means no harm (despite his fist literally sitting on top of Kiri's head) which is a very good way to test how they will work with one another.
Aizawa opens his mouth, "Hey uh," He pauses and thinks for a moment, turning towards the redhead, "Eijirou, does he have a name?"
Eijirou scrunches his face up and tries his hand at sounding out Bakugou's name in Japanese. "Bah–khu–goe…?"
"Bakugou?" Eijirou trills happily knowing his pronunciation got through to the man. "Gotcha. Well then, Bakugou," he turns his head over to the blond, "I'm sorry you were thrown into this. I tried negotiating with them but they're just assholes who care about money and fame."
Aizawa sees the look of confusion cross the blond's face, tilting his head over to the redhead for translation. Eijirou happily gives it to him, the human watching him slowly understand.
Katsuki stays in his position, still very guarded but allowing Eijirou to assist in translating Aizawa's words.
Aizawa pinches the bridge of his nose for a moment before continuing, "Anyways, I've been taking care of Eijirou for years here. He's sometimes a pain in the ass–" Eijirou lets out a noise that sounds like he's offended, "–but he's a good kid. It took him years to let me in to take care of him, so I can only hope that you can learn to trust me too."
Katsuki grunts after everything is told to him through Eijirou, not moving otherwise. Eventually the caretaker moves away, stretching his back with a solid pop that's followed with a pleased groan. "I gotta head home, Ei," He gazes over at Katsuki before asking, "you gonna be okay with him?"
Eijirou chirps and nods, flicking his tail in farewell as the man waves and locks up for the night.
They stay there for a long moment, looking at the door Aizawa left through. Eijirou sighs, placing his arms onto the edge and putting his chin on top of them. Then he shifts his head a fraction, making eye contact with Katsuki who rises to have his head all the way above the water. "Did you like him?"
"Hm. He's not like those other dickheads." Which is Katsuki-speak for 'he's cool'. "I still don't trust him."
"I don't expect you to," Eijirou assures him, "You have a right to feel that way."
"Why do you ?"
From the very beginning, Aizawa treated Eijirou like he was his own kin, teaching him Japanese and learning what his favorite foods were to make sure he got them often. And without fail, every single Wednesday at the beginning of each month, he would run his hands through Eijirou's hair after the tests were done, saying that he did a good job. He could tell that Aizawa hated it but he couldn't do a thing about it.
Eijirou contemplates how to word it. It's hard to explain all the feelings and thoughts he has for Aizawa as the person who has cared for him since day one. He settles with, "We understand each other, even if we don't really speak the same words. He treats me fairly like I'm one of his own rather than some creature. He has never once been mean to me since I've been here and… I can't thank him enough for that."
The redhead sees Katsuki's brows furrow, opening and closing his mouth like he's figuring out what to say. Then he does. "How long have you been here?"
Eijirou's shoulders hike up to his ears. He'd asked that the second time they ever talked, so why ask again? Shrugging it off, he lets out a fake laugh, "Bakugou, you already–"
" How long ?"
Eijirou shrinks under the other mermaid's crimson eyes that shine with unwavering conviction. Katsuki tsks, "Your human said "years" when you told me what he said. Stop fucking dodging."
Eijirou tries to change the subject. How did he not catch the slip when he was translating? Damnit. "It's getting late, huh?" He slumps under the water and begins to swim away. "We should sleep. Especially you. You'll hate yourself if you don't rest now."
Katsuki follows, his lures glowing in the dark of the tank, "I don't give a fuck about that." He rakes a hand through his blond hair, "I've been here for a month and I'm already going crazy. I know you're not admitting the whole truth when you said you haven't spoken to anyone in "a while". Don't think I forgot about that. So I ask again – how long have you been here?"
Why does it matter? Eijirou feels anger and sadness simmer in his stomach. Katsuki goes to grab at the redhead's arm, sputtering when Eijirou yanks out of his grasp violently. "What the hell–"
"Bakugou," Eijirou says sternly. Katsuki doesn't miss the wobbly tone, " drop it ."
But Katsuki is nothing if not stubborn. "Not until you tell me."
"I'm serious."
"So am I. I don't understand why you have to hide it–"
"You'll never understand, Bakugou, so shut up already–"
"Just fucking say it, Kirishima!"
"EIGHTEEN YEARS!" Eijirou shouts. His eyes go completely black, hair billowing around his face and baring his sharp teeth in defense. He's furious but it's not really directed at Katsuki. It's more like he's upset at something or someone else entirely.
"Eighteen years ago, they took me from my home. Away from my family and my friends. I've been here ever since, being used as a stupid science experiment for greedy humans to do whatever they want with me." His eyes fade back to their original color, lower lip wobbling. "A-Are you happy now?"
That is enough for the blond to go silent, exhaling harshly. "I'm–"
"Goodnight, Bakugou." Eijirou shoulders past Katsuki, instead moving to another part of the tank that neither of them frequent that much. He doesn't even move to his rock that he loves, making it known he wants nothing to do with the blond right now. He hears Katsuki swim to his cave after a moment without another word.
Eijirou cries until he falls asleep.