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“Remind me again why I let you chucklefucks talk me into this?”
“Because it’s supposed to be fun! Day drinking on the beach, the sun, the waves… day drinking on the beach…”
“You said that twice hon”
“Well, that’s one of the whole reasons we came down here! C’mon Bakugou, it’s spring break! Live a little”
Mina’s hip collides with Katsuki’s and his eyes roll so far back in his head that, for a second, he fears they may get stuck like that. He feels the sweat drip down, forming a puddle in the divots of his back, and he sucks in a calming breath.
“Mina,” he grits through his teeth “I’m simply stuck on the fact that the four of us are crammed into one shitty motel room like a can of fucking sardines… and it doesn’t even have a working a/c!”
Mina winces “Okay, so it’s not a five-star hotel, but the only thing we need the room for is to sleep! We’ll just open the windows at night…” she makes her way to the singular window in the room and attempts to open it. She pulls up hard, the paint line on the window sill cracking at the force. It makes a horrendous screeching noise as it opens little by little. She looks back and the rest of the boys with a bright smile, perspiration beading on her nose from the effort it took to jimmy it open “See? A little fresh air will do wonders!”
Katsuki closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose “You like these people, you like these people, you like these people-” he whispers over and over again, the mantra being the only thing that keeps him from flying off the handle. The others look at him like they’re waiting for a bomb to go off and destroy everything within a 10-mile radius.
“Mmmmm. Mhm.” Katsuki says finally, smoothing the heels of his palms over his eyes “Everything’s fine, I’m good” he takes another deep breath, letting the anger and irritation flow out of him like a river just like his therapist taught him “I came down here to fish at dusk and that’s what I’m gonna do. All I ask is that you idiots give my space in the evenings”
“Sure dude!” Eijiro answers, beating the others to the punch.
“Yeah, go have your.. guy time, or whatever. I don’t want to be around smelly bait and fish anyways” Mina chimes
Denki nods in agreement “Do your thing bro. Besides, I wanna hit the bars at night and go cruising around for someone to give me a little island loving if you know what I mean-” he puckers his lips and makes exaggerated kissy noises.
“Oh please” Katsuki snorts, shutting Denki up with a palm to his face, simulating the feeling of holding a basketball “Like you’d be able to get anyone to go home with you. Your idiotic pickup lines make everyone run for the hills”
“Ey, dhere nut dhat pad” Denki mumbles from beneath Katsuki’s hand
“I’m sorry?” Katsuki grins, leaning his ear closer to Denki’s covered face “I didn’t quite catch that”
Denki forcibly removes the hand from his face, gasping in air “I said, they’re not that bad. Right guys?” he looks expectantly at Mina and Eijiro, waiting for them to jump to his defense.
Mina averts her eyes to the ceiling and Eijiro clears his throat nervously, then checks his imaginary watch on his wrist “Gee would you look at the time it’s already 7:45, shouldn’t we get going babe?”
“Oh, you’re right Ei! We need to go scope out the bars around here” Mina grabs Denki and drags him out the door “We’ll be back later Kats!” Mina hollers back to him “Oh, and don’t you dare make the room smell like fish or I’ll gut you like one!” she threatens cheerily, waving over Denki’s limp body.
Knowing she may follow up on that threat makes Katsuki shudder, she’s a crazy one… that’s for sure.
After a few minutes of peace and quiet he lets the tension seep from his shoulders. He’s finally alone, and he knows just how he can unwind. It takes him mere minutes to change clothes and gather up his gear before he’s out the door, the salty air and sea breeze hitting him square in the face.
He’d scouted a good place to fish when they drove in and he set off in that direction, using landmarks he’d jotted down earlier as his guide. Was it the best method of traveling? Of course not. Did it work like a charm every time? Fuck yeah it did.
He comes upon the pier he’s seen earlier just as the sun was lowering to rest over the top of the water, bathing everything in shades of lavender and gold. He loves sunsets like this, ones where the sky was reflected in the calm waves and the crickets took over the gulls' duty of chirping into the misty air. Yep, nothing gets better than this.
First things first, he needs to catch some bait fish. He hikes down to the end of the pier and is satisfied when he finds himself alone. Setting down his things with a hollow thud, he checks his net for any tears or rips that might’ve happened on the trip down. Finding none, he casts it out into the violet-colored water and plops down, happy to wait until he feels it pulling.
It’s only a few moments later when he feels the line tugging, he pulls it up immediately, but he looks at it perplexed when he finds nothing in there. He checks over the net before tossing it back out again.
He feels the tug again right after casting and once again he pulls it up to find nothing “What the hell…” he wonders aloud.
The next time, he casts it in a different direction, figuring that maybe it was getting snagged on something at the bottom. When he feels the tug again, only seconds after throwing it in, he gets irritated and drags the net back in a little more violently than necessary.
For now, he’s deemed the net a failure, and he chalks everything up to not knowing the currents around these parts. He resolves to use a lure instead of live bait for tonight, and he’ll try the net again tomorrow when he has a better layout of the area.
After securing the right lure on the end of his rod he casts it out, the line making a whistling noise as it leaves the spool and floats in the air like a strand of spider silk. It makes a satisfying plop in the water and Katsuki grins. Perfect aim.
Moments after casting the line tugs, hard. The spool starts unraveling almost faster than he can reel it in. A fucking monster fish must be at the end of the line, and he grunts with the effort it takes to pull it in. The fiberglass rod is nearly a semi-circle with how much the fish is jerking around, and he fears if it yanks any harder it might snap in half. He feels as if he’s playing tug of war and the fish is winning.
It’s latched, and then gone in the same breath. The sudden disappearance of the weight nearly sends Katsuki tumbling onto his ass. He heaves in a few breaths and curses, he really wanted to see what was on the end of it. He’d never felt anything so strong before, and clearly, he was no match for it.
He shakes his head in irritation but also excitement. He’s gonna catch that damn fish if it takes him all trip long.
By the time he’s packing up his things and heading back to the motel, it’s nearing 9 pm. He dials Mina to see which lame-ass bar they’d ended up at and makes plans to meet up with them in half an hour.
All the while he’s unaware of a curious pair of eyes peeking above the water, watching his retreating form. Maybe if he’d noticed them then, the next few days would be a little less embarrassing.
_____
“Izuku… you know you’re not supposed to get this close to the pier” Ochako chides him nervously “It’s dangerous! What if one of the humans with the funny-looking poles spears you, or worse, they capture you and take you to- ”
“Ochako please” Izuku interrupts her “I’m not going to get caught, I just like watching them”
“Izuku…” she whines, and when he doesn’t concede to her wishes she huffs, little bubbles escaping her mouth as the water moves around her “Fine, but if you aren’t back when the moon is at its zenith, I'm telling her”
Izuku turns so quickly to look at her that his neck cracks “You wouldn’t” he dares
“I would”
After a brief staring contest between the two, Izuku gives “Fine, I’ll be back later. Just… don’t tell my mom, you know how she gets”
Ochako nods “You know what to do if you get spotted right? Drown them and-”
“- drag them to the depths so they may be sacrificed to the goddess” Izuku finishes, his tone bored as he repeats the mantra he hears everyday “I know the drill”
Ochako sighs but turns to leave anyway, her blush-colored tail shimmering beautifully in the water as the rays of the setting sun reach it “Please be careful” she says in lieu of goodbye.
Izuku waves her off with a smile “Always am”
After she leaves, Izuku swims slowly up to the surface, angling so that when he breaches he’ll be hidden behind the support columns of the pier. After surfacing, he surveys the surrounding area and finds it completely desolate. Great, he thinks, I came all the up here for nothing. He’s turning to leave when he spots it from the corner of his eye. Coming up the pier’s walkway is the most gorgeous human Izuku’s ever seen.
His fair hair catches the dying rays of the sun dying the strands golden and his piercing crimson eyes turn into pools of molten lava. Izuku is smitten at first sight. It’s only after he admires the strange man’s beauty does he notice the pole sticking out over his head. So, he’s one of them. The barbarians that snatch the ocean life up and slice them open, as if they have no care in the world that they’re living creatures.
Izuku likes to watch the humans piddle around the pier. The tiny ones are the most intriguing because they point and scream at every little thing from the seagulls in the air to the crabs scuttling underneath the beams. He finds it funny the way they laugh at the jumping dolphins and flopping fish. Izuku likes to watch the humans sure, but he hates the ones with the hooks.
That’s why he likes messing with their shiny little contraptions. Once they go in the water it’s fair game for him. Even though this human is stunning and may even rival the ocean goddess in beauty (he wouldn’t dare say that aloud though), he’s no exception.
As soon as Izuku sees the net fly into the water he’s darting out quick as a marlin to grab hold of it. He gives a little tug and waits for it to be yanked from his hands like it always is. Once it’s ripped from his clutches he waits in anticipation for it to be thrown again, the humans are usually non-deterred the first couple of times around.
As expected, it hits the water once more and sinks right in front of him, he pulls it, and like clockwork, it’s torn from his hands. He can hear the human pacing around above him, the wooden planks creaking with his shifting weight.
“-the hell?” he hears the human say, the water distorts his voice but not enough that Izuku can’t hear how confused he is. He lets out a small giggle, shooing the fish away from the area so none of them get caught.
When the net is cast this time, it’s on the opposite side, and Izuku is slightly impressed. Most of the barbarians keep casting in the same place and then get upset when they don’t catch anything. Seems this human has the beauty and the brains.
He chases after the net, keeping in line with the shadows of the pier so he’s not spotted by the human, and grabs it before it has a chance to hit the bottom. His momentum must’ve been enough to jerk the line and before he knows it, it’s being pulled from his hands. Much more aggressively than past times might he add. He can’t help but snort at the clear irritation of the human.
When the net doesn’t come for a while, Izuku wonders if maybe he’d given up and left. The next second he hears the tell-tale screeching of the weird pole thing the barbarians are fond of and he waits to see which direction it will land. There.
It’s a good distance from the pier and Izuku figures he’ll be obscured from view way out here, so he grabs the shiny thing, being careful of the hook, and pulls with all his might. He’s snapped other poles like this before, he’s much stronger than most barbarians. This time though, this time is different. He actually feels some pullback from this human. Interesting.
He decides he won’t break the pole this time to see if the human will return the next day. Izuku lets go of the line and the shiny thing is ripped from the water. He peeks up at the surface just in time to see the human stumble backward and curse. He snickers at the sight.
He’s about to turn and leave when he actually looks at the man’s face, he seems… excited. Izuku hangs around and watches him pack up and leave, he follows silently as he walks back to the grassy shore. He doesn’t know why, but he has a gut feeling this man is different. Better somehow, than the other barbarians.
He decides to find him the next day… just to observe, he tells himself. He makes a plan to go to the beach first because most humans are pretty predictable when they’re near the ocean, following the same patterns over and over. Izuku knows he’ll be there.
_____
By the time he and the idiots are turning in for the night (all piled in very uncomfortably to the same bed) it’s nearly 1 am. He’s bone tired as he shuts his eyes and attempts to fall asleep to the symphony that is Denki and Eijrio’s snoring.
“Wakey wakey!” Mina greets, way too chipper in his opinion for someone who could barely walk in a straight line last night.
Katsuki grunts and sits up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes to make his glare more effective “I don’t know why I let you bastards talk me into staying out that late. With your ‘oh one more shot, one more shot’ bullshit” he pitches his voice up in a terrible imitation of Mina “yeah ‘one more shot’ my ass”
Denki groans as the morning sunlight assaults his eyes “I think we went a little too hard on our first day here”
“I second that” Eijiro says weakly from his spot on the floor (Katsuki has no idea when he got there since everyone was in the bed when he fell asleep)
“C’mon you guys! We’re at the beach” Mina whines “Put on some sunglasses and your swimsuits and let's go!”
It takes another hour of mumbling and grumbling before Mina is able to coax them out the door and into beach chairs. She places a seltzer in their hands but the boys gag at the sight of more alcohol. She shrugs and sips on her own drink, relaxing back as she sunbathes. She might just be a devil woman Katsuki thinks, at least she’s not sizzling in the sun.
It takes approximately 18 minutes before Katsuki is sweating up a storm “I’ve got to get in the water, I think I’m actually melting” he informs everyone before taking off towards the waves.
“Wait up!” Denki hollers out “I’ll come with you” he jogs to catch up to him, kicking up sand in his wake.
“Dude” Denki starts as they wade into the water “You can’t leave me alone with them! I’m the biggest third wheel when I’m by myself and I really don’t want to see them sucking face” Katsuki opts to stay silent as Denki rants but he lets him tag along anyway.
When it happens, they’re about chest-deep in the water, the waves rocking them to and fro. Something brushes up against Katsuki’s leg, sleek and long. Way too big to be an ordinary fish.
Katsuki screeches “HOLY FUCK” and jumps up onto Denki in a koala hold. Denki wobbles with the added weight, windmilling his arms to stay upright and not topple both of them into the roaring whitecaps.
“WHAT?!” Denki panics, whipping his head back and forth to search for whatever it is that made Katsuki freak out “WHAT IS IT??”
“SOMETHING TOUCHED MY LEG, IT WAS HUGE AND SLIMY AND-” Denki’s snickers cut Katsuki off “Why the hell are you laughing at me!” he asks indignantly.
“Dude” Denki huffs out through his laughter “We’re in the ocean it was a fish!”
Katsuki slides down from Denki’s back, the tips of his ears burning in embarrassment “That was not a fucking fish. It was as big as a damn shark!”
“Sure” Denki snorts “Whatever you say… scaredy Kat”
Katsuki huffs and starts stomping back to the shoreline as best he can submerged in several feet of water. He drops himself next to Mina, stray water droplets flinging off of him and landing on her bare legs in the process.
“Do you mind?” Mina says lifting her dark glasses to reveal her eyes “The water will make me burn faster”
Katsuki looks at her incredulously but swipes his towel across her leg anyway to dry the beads of water. He’s not always an asshole and, contrary to popular belief, he does care about his friends. He’s just… more of an action type of guy than a words type of guy. They understand.
“What was with the screaming and the-” Eijiro gestures in some wild way that Katsuki interprets as him clinging to Denki.
Katsuki groans and throws his head back “There was something in the water, it brushed past my leg and- I don’t know, freaked me out I guess”
It was at this moment that Denki decided to stroll up “It was a fish” he laughs “I was out there right next to you and I didn’t feel or see a thing. It was probably just a school of fish or something that happened to swim past you”
Katsuki remains unconvinced “Whatever” he grumbles
“But seriously you guys, you should’ve seen how scared he was-”
“Shut up Denki!” Katsuki screams “Go build a sandcastle or something”
“Sure, whatever you say… scaredy Kat” Denki smirks, before pulling Eijiro up off his beach towel and towards the wetter sand so they can construct a sand fortress (“shut up Mina, it sounds cooler than sand ‘castle’”). Katsuki rolls his eyes and avoids the wet sand being flung in his direction with ease.
As he lay in the sun, listening to the chatter of his friends and the rolling waves he knows one thing for certain. Whatever was in the water was no fish, and he was not quite ready to venture back into the water again to find out what it could be.
For whatever reason it felt like danger was stalking just beneath him.
_____
Izuku woke up bright and early so that he could spend the day at the beach looking for the intriguing human from last night. After sneaking out through the kelp grove and dodging his mother, he went to his spot at the rocks on the far end of the beach. No humans ever dared to come this far over, the waves smashing against the rock would turn any human into fish food.
Izuku planted himself on his favorite rock, smoothed out from all the times he’s been here as a pup observing the humans in their tiny cloth coverings splashing around and playing with the sand. They reminded him of dolphins in that way, always keen to jump around in the waves.
His tail flicked languidly against the white sea foam, his dark green scales blending seamlessly with the water. His mother always said she was glad he had a darker-colored tail, it blended better with the water whereas Ochako’s pretty pink, or Shoto’s stunning white stuck out.
Izuku always wished for a brighter color though, as it was now he was as plain as a sea cucumber, just a lump of something making its way across the ocean floor.
He was shook from his thoughts by the sound of humans arriving on the beach. He ducked a little further down so they wouldn’t be able to see him. If there was one perk of having dark green, well everything, it was that when he surfaced and his hair dripped with water, he could camouflage against nearly anything.
The sun was at its zenith and he’d been at the same rock for hours, scanning the swarms of humans over and over again to see if he’d somehow missed the fair-haired man from yesterday. He was about ready to sink back in the water in defeat when he saw it. Saw him.
There he was walking on the white sand, talking with other humans. His pod, Izuku assumes (or whatever the human equivalent of that was). He observes as the man and his, friends? Izuku thinks that was the human word for it, sit down on something he’d come to know as beach chairs. Why they needed those he had no idea. If they wanted to be at the beach they should sit in the sand, Izuku thinks the sand feels nice on his skin. But he digresses.
It didn’t take long for the man with the crimson eyes to make his way into the water. Perfect, Izuku thought, this is my chance to observe up close and personal.
Izuku dives into the water and snakes his way around the other humans, mindful of their kicking feet. If only they knew he was lurking down here beneath them and with one pull he could drown the lot of them. He’d never hurt them of course, because unlike some of his previous pod mates, he didn’t like taking life.
He makes his way far enough in to find the man and his friend standing side by side. The water is murky and the waves are just forceful enough today that he can probably get close and they likely won’t notice him.
Izuku creeps his way closer to the man’s legs, resisting the urge to reach out and touch him. He’s so caught up in the fact that he’s merely a fins length away from him that he doesn’t pay attention to the shifting current, which sends him crashing into the human.
He’s quick to maneuver his body away from the man, his tail skirting across his legs instead. He sees the man startle at the surprise touch but doesn’t stick around long enough to see if he looked down.
Racing to the edge of the kelp forest he stops to catch his breath. He miles away from the beach and in the safety of his pod's territory. That was way too close he thinks to himself, heart nearly beating out of his chest in both terror and excitement.
He’d never actually touched a human before, albeit by accident but still. It was exhilarating, and Izuku knew in that moment that he had to see the man again. Even if he never knew he existed, he still needed to see the man again. Just once more, he told himself, once more and my curiosity will be satiated.
_____
Izuku waited for the human to appear at the pier again that evening. He was hopeful he would show up even though he’d toyed with him the night before. He didn’t seem like the type to give up easily so Izuku was almost positive he’s show up again.
After a few minutes of waiting, lo and behold the pretty man was once again walking up the pathway to the pier, his funny pole being carried in his hand. Izuku hid behind the column, content to just watch him and see what he was planning to do.
Unlike before, the man didn’t cast his net. Instead, he opted to start with the pole and shiny thing, flinging it out into the water. It only took a few moments for the line to pull and Izuku could see the human grimace with the effort it took to bring in his catch.
He seemed satisfied with himself once he brought the fish up to the wooden decking, its poor body flopping around at the loss of water. Izuku was suddenly struck by the thought that it could be him one day flopping uselessly up there. The image alone is almost enough to scare him back home, but he holds himself in place, straining to see what the man would do with the creature.
To his surprise, the man unhooks the fish and softly tosses it back in the ocean where he sees it swim away with not a care in the world that it was just violently ousted from its home and then released.
Most of the barbarians he’s seen before have either put the fish in buckets and then carted them off somewhere, or slit the fish open right there on the spot and used it’s insides for bait. The first time he saw that when he was a pup was when he decided to call these types of humans barbarians.
This human though, he was different from them. Izuku had a gut feeling the night before but this confirmed it for him.
He was so caught up in his own head that once more, he failed to pay attention to the currents. He was unceremoniously swept from his hiding place under the pier, and straight into the eyeline of the human he’d been secretly following.
Izuku was starting to wonder if the ocean goddess had a problem with him and was determined to dispose of him. Because once the human locked eyes with him, he was sure he was destined to be a goner.
He was frozen in fear, he knows he should be swimming away but silently watching a human, and being spotted by a human were two very different things. He closed his eyes and waited for the net to entrap him, but the only thing that permeated the air between them was deafening silence
Followed by “WHAT THE FUCK”
_____
Alright fucker, Katsuki thought as he marched toward the pier for the second time, this time you’re mine.
With all of his gear strapped to his back and his rod in hand, he felt like he was ready for battle. This time, he decided to start with his rod first, foregoing the net and the live bait completely since the monster fish had responded well to his synthetic lure the first time.
He cast his lure out in the same direction as yesterday, hoping that the same fish was lurking around somewhere. It didn’t take long for his line to start bobbing with the tell-tale weight of a hooked fish.
This one wasn’t nearly as strong as the one yesterday and he felt a little disappointed. Still, reeling it up on the pier made it obvious that it was quite a big catch. He takes a moment to be proud of himself before unhooking it and tossing it back where it belongs.
He’s tying a new lure to the line when something in the corner of his vision catches his attention. Someone is floating like a buoy in the water, staring at him like a deer in headlights. Katsuki’s mind panics
“WHAT THE FUCK” he screeches “ARE YOU OKAY? ARE YOU DROWNING!?” nice line of questioning dipshit, he chides himself.
When the person still hasn’t moved an inch in the several ensuing seconds, Katsuki makes a decision “Oh screw it” he mutters to himself before diving off the pier into the dark water below.
He reaches the person in record time and moves to grab them, realizing that as he gets closer he can see that it’s a man. His frantic paddling must alert the man because he snaps his eyes open, pure horror making its way across his face.
“Hey are you-“ something smacks his legs beneath the surface of the water, effectively cutting him off. It feels like the same thing as yesterday and he stares down at the water, body tense with the knowledge that a shark or something more menacing could be stalking them both right now.
Squinting against the glare of the setting sun, Katsuki is able to make out the strong pumps of something dark and solid treading water with him. Trailing his eyes up the appendage he sees where the… tail, is connected to this man’s upper body. Moving his eyes up further he sees the frightened eyes of the man… the fishman.
The last thing he sees before his vision goes black is those eyes.
_____
“- I hope I didn’t kill him, oh god it was only a little prick- oh my god-”
The frantic muttering of someone nearby makes him come to. He shoots up in shock, wondering where he is and why he’s soaking wet and laying in the sand.
“-oh thank god you’re awake” A voice says, letting out a relieved sigh
Katsuki whips his head to find the voice, and he’s still very shocked to see the fishman laid out on the sand next to him. He flicks his dark tail up and down lazily as if it were a twitch that was uncontrollable.
Before he can get a word out the man is apologizing “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to stick you, it was pure instinct!”
Katsuki looks at this person with wide, unbelieving eyes but the man continues on unaffected by his stare “See, I have this thing on my tail” he lifts his tail up to show Katsuki that between the lower fins, something sharp was protruding, resembling a swordfish bill “It secretes poison when I’m threatened and I guess by some animalistic instinct I stuck you with it-”
“Who- what are you?” Katsuki interrupts, finally asking the question that had been stuck in his throat.
“Huh?” the man’s mouth hangs open, and Katsuki can tell by the way his pupils dilate that he just realized Katsuki is actually there
“Oh I should- I should go. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be here at all” the fish mumbles, sliding himself backward on the sand (very awkwardly) so that his tail is deeper in the ocean.
Katsuki watches completely mute, his eyes move from the beautiful, shiny green tail, to the upper body that’s human. He finds an alluring pair of sparkling emerald eyes and stunning sea-green hair that has droplets of water hanging from it like crystals. He also observes the cute little freckles dotting his cheeks and nose like constellations. He’s positively dazzling.
Before the man… fish? Whatever, can move entirely back in the water he finally finds his voice
“WAIT” Katsuki yells, a little desperately “Are you… real?”
The man looks slightly surprised to be addressed again and seems to debate whether to answer him from the way he rocks his body back and forth
“I’m… real” he says finally
Katsuki inhales sharply “Okay… okay. You’re real” Katsuki lets out a laugh bordering on hysterical as the man watches him with pursed lips “I mean, you read about these things as a kid… fish people-”
“That’s not what we’re called!”
“- but you never imagine in a million years that they still exist. They were supposed to be extinct centuries ago!” Katsuki’s wild eyes lock onto unamused green ones and he falls silent.
“Are you done?” The man asks in a huff
Katsuki nods sheepishly
“Good, because first of all, we’re Mers. Got that? Mers. Second of all, the only reason your kind think us extinct is because centuries ago they nearly hunted us to the brink of death” he says with narrowed eyes, his small fangs (that Katsuki just noticed) glinting in the moonlight.
Katsuki gulps, suddenly feeling very exposed in front of this clearly predatory creature
Then the mer laughs, and Katsuki makes a confused noise “You should see your face- oh it’s too good” he wipes a tear from his eye as he settles down “There’s no need to be scared, I won’t eat you, or drown you, or whatever horrible things our kind has been said to do to humans”
Katsuki feels his anger rise “I wasn’t scared!” he snaps
“Sure” the man says sarcastically
“I wasn’t”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night”
“What’s your name smartass” Katsuki suddenly asks, surprising them both
Once more he can see the internal debate happening before he says “Izuku… it’s just Izuku”
“Izuku” Katsuki tests the name on his tongue “A pretty name for a pretty mer” Izuku’s face colors completely red “I’m Katsuki”
“Katchki” Izuku tries “Katshki” he groan “Sorry, some things are harder for me to pronounce. I’m pretty fluent in most human languages but it’s hard to annunciate sometimes because I’m self-taught”
Katsuki’s impressed, he’d hardly realized the mer had a slight accent, some words getting stuck in his mouth like thick honey.
“You taught yourself Japanese?” he asks “So do you speak a different language then?”
Izuku considers the question “I suppose you could say that. We don’t ‘speak’ in a way that uses words, we’re much like the Leviathans in that matter”
“Leviathans?”
“Um, I believe humans call them whales”
“Oh… so you use like, echolocation and all that shit?”
“Not quite” Izuku answers, then he closes his mouth, a series of clicks and whistles emanating from deep within his chest. The sound vibrates Katsuki’s bones and rattles his brain.
“Translation?” Katsuki asks with a laugh, his body still ringing from the guttural sounds
“I said ‘hello’” Izuku chuckles “That’s how we greet our pod mates”
“It’s pretty fucking loud” Katsuki jokes “I’m sure the entire island heard that”
Izuku’s eyes widen “I have to go” he says, pitch rising in panic “I’m such an idiot, my mom surely would’ve heard me” he explains, more to himself than to Katsuki
He shimmies his body the rest of the way in the water and turns to dive back under. Katsuki shoots off the sand and grabs his arm before he can do so.
“Will I see you again?” he asks, his red eyes boring into green ones
Izuku lets out a light breath before hesitantly nodding
“I’ll be at the beach at dawn. Meet me then?” Katsuki asks desperately
Once again Izuku nods, and Katsuki relinquishes his hold allowing him to dive into the inky black water.
Katsuki watches as he goes, his tail surfacing every now and then like a dolphin leaping. He’s completely entranced.
The only thing on his mind, as he dusts himself off and wrings the water from his clothes, is that he has to see him again… has to see Izuku again.
_____
Izuku tossed and turned all night, his stomach brimming with nervous butterflyfish trying and failing to escape their net. He can’t believe he talked to the gorgeous human, to Kacchan, let alone agreed to meet up with him again. If his mother ever found out she would be inconsolable.
He decides to sneak out before the moon disappears from the sky, leaving behind the shell that signaled he was going hunting. If his mom came looking for him, she would hopefully leave him alone for the day assuming he was finding provisions for the pod.
Now to convince his shadows of this
“I know you guys are following me” Izuku states into the seemingly empty kelp forest
He hears twin sighs “We’re just worried Izuku” Shoto’s monotone voice rings out behind him
Izuku turns, the sudden motion making his hair swish “I’m just going hunting, I’m perfectly capable of doing that by myself”
“Izu…” Ochako starts, twiddling her thumbs nervously “You’ve been going near the shoreline a lot lately… are you sure you’re okay?”
Izuku relaxes his face, lying has never been his strong suit but he can’t tip them off “I’m going hunting, I’ll be fine”
Shoto and Ochako share an unconvinced glance but allow him to go anyway “Izuku” Ochako calls to his retreating form “Please just be careful”
“Always am”
Swimming at his top speed allows him to reach the beach in mere minutes. He peeks his eyes above the water, making sure no other humans are in sight, before venturing closer. He spots him on the far end of the cove. Speeding up to gain momentum he pushes his body out of the water with one pump of his tail, arcing over the top of the waves in a graceful jump. He wanted to alert him of his presence of course, but he also wanted to show off.
He pops his head back up “Kacchan!” he says delightedly
He sees Kacchan watching him with his eyes blown wide “Who’s ‘Kacchan’?” he breathes out
“It’s you silly” Izuku smiles “Since I couldn’t pronounce your name I had to call you something. I started calling you that in my head and I guess it stuck” he finishes sheepishly
“I didn’t think you’d show” Kacchan says suddenly “Even though you said you were real I had a hard time convincing myself I didn’t just hit my head or something”
“I’m still real” Izuku chuckles
“I can see that” Kacchan says, a grin tugging at his mouth. Before Izuku can get another word in, he’s wading out into the water, fighting against the current to reach Izuku.
Knowing there’s a strong rip current that flows through this cove makes Izuku panic, he quickly swims toward Kacchan “Wait stop!” he grabs onto his body, tail snaking around his legs to keep him anchored in place “The currents are too strong here”
Kacchan opens and closes his mouth, but no words come out, and Izuku finally realized he’s trapped the man in what his kind deems as a ‘mating hold’. He unwraps his tail quickly, his face going up in flames.
“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to grab you like that”
Kacchan clears his throat “It’s fine” he says gruffly “I just didn’t expect it”
Izuku hesitates for a moment before he wraps his tail around his legs once more, treading the water for both of them. He tries not to think about his pod mates would view this.
“Whoa” Kacchan exclaims, reaching a hand toward his neck where his gill slits rest “I didn’t see these last night…”
He lands a soft hand on his neck, just shy of the actual slits “It’s- I- they’re sensitive” Izuku breathes “Please be careful”
Kacchan seems enraptured, but he takes his hand back anyway “You really are part fish huh”
Izuku laughs “What gave it away?”
Kacchan snorts and shakes his head “You’re a smart aleck you know that?”
Izuku grins “I’m not entirely sure what that word means, but if you mean I’m funny then yes, yes I am”
The sky changes from rich pinks and purples to a hazy yellow and blue, signaling that their meeting needed to end. The two look at each other, the waves lapping at the shore and the calls of the gulls being the only noise to permeate the deep silence.
Kacchan breaks first “I told my friends to meet me here later… I said I was going for a run on the beach”
Izuku nods, knowing that it meant Kacchan’s people were coming soon and he needed to hide. He swims him closer to the shore and releases his tail from around his legs, the scales becoming cold from where his body heat had rested.
They reluctantly say their goodbyes and Izuku watches as he stands on the shore, his footprints making indents on the wet sand. Right… they were of different worlds, he almost forgot for a second when it was just the two of them floating in the water.
He shakes his head to get rid of the thoughts and turns to head back to his territory to actually hunt but a sudden idea makes him stop dead in his wake.
Kacchan was still going to be here, on the beach and probably in the water. Nobody said he couldn’t hang around for a while. He grins in excitement.
_____
After his morning with Izuku, Katsuki is in a significantly better mood than he has been on the entire trip. He likes Izuku’s sass… and his face (sue him, he’s pretty okay?). If his therapist heard he was attracted to an extinct sea creature he’d probably be locked in a room of padded white walls. He resolves to keep this between himself and the waves. He’s not crazy… just curious.
Katsuki spends an hour or two on the beach alone, thankful he brought a change of clothes to sit in while he waits since the chilly sea breeze was unforgiving of his wet state. Once he hears the sound of people trickling onto the sand he glances around for his friends, hoping that they brought the beach chairs so he didn’t have to keep sitting in the sand like an idiot. He spots Mina first, her neon pink hair hard to miss against the neutral background
“KATS!” she says gleefully, waving like a madwoman. She rushes over to him, panting slightly after running on the traction-less sand “Man, when you said you were going for a run this morning I didn’t think it’d be at the ass crack of dawn!”
Eijiro and Denki file in behind her, snickering at Katsuki’s slumped form in the sand “Damn dude, your hair” Denki laughs, pointing at Katsuki’s wild spikes.
Katsuki whips his hand up to his hair, trying the smooth it out the best he can “It’s the fucking humidity and the wind” he grouches at them, failing to mention that was probably like that because of how it dried after he got it wet this morning.
He stands up and heads toward the water without another word, figuring he’d conversed with them long enough.
“Wait up Kats!” Mina hollers, and when he turns around she’s holding a volleyball “I figured we can play a round in the water and then in the sand” she smiles brightly at him
He turns back around to continue his march to the ocean but waves them over to him with a flick of his hand. He hears them trample in behind him like a pack of elephants, sending water and sand in every direction.
“Okay” Mina starts once they’re waist deep “Obviously Ei and I are on a team, so that leaves Denki and Kats together”
“Gee, who could’ve seen that coming” Denki mumbles under his breath, the sound of a ball smacking his face and then landing in the water has everyone cracking up. Denki whips his head up to glare at Mina who just winks at him.
“Oh it’s on” he declares
“Bring it” Mina challenges him back
They’re halfway through their game of volleyball, Katsuki and Denki are winning of course, when he feels it. Something is snaking its way around his ankles. He’s about to yelp when he realizes he recognizes that texture, those sleek scales.
So either Izuku is lurking around below him, or a monster fish is about to bite his legs off. He really hopes it’s Izuku.
“I’m gonna take a quick dip” he tells his friends “I need to cool off” they barely wave him off, too busy with their trash-talking to even notice he’s slipped away.
Katsuki ducks his head under the water and opens his eyes, the saltwater immediately stinging. Through his blurry vision, he makes out Izuku’s long body, his shimmering green tail giving him away once he’s under the water.
He surfaces, content with the knowledge that it is Izuku and not some sea monster. He’s not stupid, he knows Izuku could drag him under and kill him instantly, but he has the gut feeling that Izuku is non-threatening even though he looks like a skilled predator. He won’t hurt him.
Katsuki goes back to his volleyball game, but the tail never leaves his leg. Simply dodging and moving as Katsuki moves to recover the ball. It’s almost scandalous, Katsuki thinks, knowing he’s keeping a secret from his friends about the Mer that’s nearly caressing his leg. He finds he doesn’t mind all that much, besides, the touch from Izuku is… nice. Reassuring in a way.
When they get tired of playing in the water Katsuki reaches down and pats his tail, signaling to Izuku that he’ll be getting out for a while. Izuku uncoils from around him and Katsuki takes a moment before striding to the shore.
They stay a little while longer before heading back to the motel and getting ready for dinner. The entire time Katsuki sits at their restaurant table, his mind is in the ocean. Wondering what Izuku is doing, and if he’ll see him again at the pier tonight.
Katsuki can’t take off fast enough after they eat, running back to the motel to grab his gear before heading to the pier. His friends dismiss his strange behavior, figuring he was just tired from the day and wanted to be alone and unwind for a while. They merely say their goodbyes to his hastily retreating form.
Katsuki runs the whole way, his heavy steps thudding on the wooden planks as he books it down the pier. He scans the area and doesn’t see Izuku outright, but knows that he must be here. He casts his line in immediately, hoping that the shine of the lure would capture his attention.
He sits on the edge, his breaths coming heavy from exertion, and waits. He waits until he sees a dark shadow moving in the water, one that he can easily decipher now. he waits until he feels the familiar tug on his line. Then he smiles.
_____
“Kacchan” Izuku pops his head up, a wide grin adorning his face “I hoped you’d be here”
His face shifts into a smirk “Course I’d be here”
Izuku beams, his swishing tail under the water must catch Kacchan’s attention because he shifts the subject immediately “Oh, and by the way, what was with the clinging today?”
Izuku blushes “Uh, I don’t know, I just like being near you I guess” he rubs his wet curls sheepishly
Kacchan snorts “I almost tripped on you so many times today, it’s a wonder no one saw you”
Izuku scoffs playfully “I’m pretty good at blending in, being plain has its perks” he says, self-loathing sneaking into his tone at the end.
“I don’t think you’re plain” Kacchan says seriously
“What?”
“I think you’re the most stunning person I’ve ever laid my eyes on, even though you’re not technically a person you’re- well, you get it” Kacchan finishes, cheeks burning pink like a sunburn.
Izuku opens and closes his mouth like a blowfish. He’s only ever been called plain, ‘oh Izuku you’re so good at blending in!’, ‘Izuku! How do you camouflage like that?’. He’s never stood out before, and here was this human telling him that he was the most gorgeous thing he’d ever seen. Izuku covered his face with his hands, recoiling into himself, unsure of how to respond.
“Um, thank you” he finally says, the words muffled as he speaks from behind his hands. When he has the confidence again to face Katsuki, all he sees on his face is smug satisfaction. That makes Izuku blush more, but he can’t stand the silence anymore so he decides to take matters into his own hands
“What is that thing?” Izuku asks, pointing to the pole that Kacchan holds in his hand
“Oh this?” he holds the item up for confirmation and Izuku nods “it’s a fishing rod, it makes reeling in the line and lure much easier”
“Lure?” Izuku questions
“The thing at the end of the line that attracts the fish”
“Oh, it’s the shiny thing!” Izuku says excitedly “That’s how I know you’re here, because of the shiny thing sparkling in the water”
Katsuki laughs and then turns somber “Izuku…” he starts, hesitation clear in his voice, Izuku cocks his head in confusion and the sudden shift in the air “I’m going home tomorrow”
Izuku’s heart sinks like a rock “What? What do you mean?”
“I mean… I don’t live here Izuku. I’m just on vacation” Kacchan explains
“Oh… well, will you see again in a few days?” Izuku asks hopefully
“No Izuku… I don’t know when I’ll be back” Kacchan says, averting his gaze
“Wha- but you will come back, won’t you? Please say you’ll come back” Izuku cries out, he’s only known Kacchan a few days, and there’s still so much he doesn’t know… will he not even get the chance to find out more? Is this the last he’ll see of him?
So many questions are running through his mind, but Kacchan interrupts them “I promise I’ll come back, I don’t when… but I promise I’ll come back here… back to you”
Izuku’s mouth wobbles, but he nods his head anyway. The rest of the night is spent with a heavy veil hanging over the both of them. They talk later into the night than they ever have before, finding out more about each other’s origins, their fears and nightmares, their hopes and dreams, what makes each other laugh and what makes each other sad. So many things were crammed into that evening, both of them silently fearing they’d never be able to talk again.
“It’s late Izuku” Kacchan finally says, when the moon is at its Zenith. Izuku distantly remembers that he should’ve been home ages ago, but he can’t seem to care.
“Promise me again”
“Huh?”
“Promise me again” Izuku says a little more forcefully “Promise me that you’ll come back, that I’ll see you again”
Kacchan looks at him, determination burning in his eyes “I promise”
Izuku watches as Kacchan packs up for the night. They bid a somber farewell to one another before he’s forced to watch as he walks in the opposite direction. His heart tugging like Kacchan’s line as he gets farther and farther away.
Izuku ducks back under the water before the salty tears have a chance to fall.
_____
Several months later
This time when Katsuki steps foot on the island he’s alone. The salty air and the cool sea breeze welcome him back like an old friend.
Once he drops his shit off at the apartment he’s leasing for the unforeseeable future, he makes a beeline to the pier with only his rod in hand.
He skids to a stop before he can run off the end of the pier and searches in vain for that head of green hair, the shadow in the water, anything that tells him Izuku is here. When he finds nothing, he heaves his line out into the water, hoping that the shiny lure (Izuku’s favorite) will catch his attention.
He waits for hours… his mind making up stories about how Izuku was captured and taken somewhere, or he was dead somewhere on the bottom of the ocean, or worse he imagined the whole thing and uprooted his entire life for a psychological break!
Katsuki is so caught up in his head that he doesn’t notice the incessant tugs at first. It’s only when it line pulls so hard it almost snaps does he whip his head to the water. There’s the shadow! The shadow he knows is him.
He reels him in faster than he’s ever done anything in his life. He can see Izuku’s tail breaking the surface as he helps Katsuki along.
When his green head finally pops up all Katsuki can think to say is “Gotcha, hook, line, and sinker” which in hindsight, is pretty cheesy but he doesn’t have it in him to care.
“Kacchan!” Izuku hollers “You came back!”
“I promised didn’t I?”
Izuku smiles, his eyes shutting in pure joy as a few tears make their way down his face “Yeah you did. Welcome home Kacchan”
He is home, isn’t he? It’s about damn time.