On Board
Hope filled the hearts of the friends below the surface as they waited in silence. They could hear humans speaking to each other, but none of them could understand what was being said. Shouto was trying to identify any words, but it had been too long since he had anything to do with humans. The dread was pooling in his gut knowing that his secret was about to be revealed, but he focused on determining if Midoriya was still alive. There was nothing more they could do.
Midoriya was feeling a rush of emotions, held in a small wooden tub and completely unaware of his friends below. He knew he should be fearing for his life, that at any moment he could be killed or sold for his scales. He had heard the stories of what happens to mer-folk when they get caught, but he could never believe it would happen to him; certainly not like this. He was in shock, not only had he been captured but it was his childhood bestfriend, the same man who pulled him into the ocean so many years ago. The same man who taught him about the human world, the same man who promised they would sail the world together.
The same man who left without saying goodbye.
Midoriya was naïve, he was overly optimistic and looked for the good in every possible scenario, but he knew this wasn’t a happy reunion. The other humans seemed overjoyed they had caught him, he struggled to remove the nets and only got himself tangled further. He was crying and wailing for his friends when a large human walked over, intimidation radiating off him. The man knelt down to look at him, touching his shoulders before lifting his chin up. Midoriya had squeezed his eyes squeezed shut in fear, refusing to look at his captors as he heard them speak.
“Careful captain! We don’t know what magic he has, he might try to attack and escape!”
The first voice came from his left, but the man speaking in front of him made his eyes snap open, looking with harsh red.
“He won’t. Set sail, Kirishima, prepare the tub and move him. We’re headed to Adrines.”
Midoriya was frozen as the man, walked away. He felt the ropes against his skin be cut and a large man haul him across broad, muscular shoulders. He was carried into a dark space on the ship, his thoughts dizzying and tears leaking down his cheeks. The voice was unmistakable, he would recognise it anywhere, and the hair and appearance matched, but it couldn’t possibly be his Kacchan, right? Kacchan had brown eyes, eyes filled with life and sincerity. This ‘Captain’ had red, hateful eyes; the glare bore into his soul and shattered his best memories.
When Izuku was placed in the tub, he regained some fight and started thrashing as his adrenaline kicked in. All he got was a deep chuckle in response as a small light was lit and the man left, trapping him in a dark room by himself. Midoriya cried, he didn’t have any magic like his friends. Even if he did, he couldn’t get himself out of this room. He was hopeful that Kacchan would come in, that they could talk and he’d be reassured that everything was ok. But it didn’t happen.
Midoriya had no way to track time, it felt like he had been in the room for years. The humans would come into the room at different times, to feed him or put more water in the uncomfortable tub. But it was never Kacchan. He would try to talk to them when they came in, ask questions about what they wanted or where they were, but he never got a response. The bottom of the tub was covered with his scales as he stayed there, hopeless and unable to do anything but wait.
He didn’t realise he fell asleep and was startled by the humans yelling, he felt the swaying of the ship stop and figured they had reached wherever he was being taken. Anxiety immediately consumed him, his heartrate picking up as breathing became harder. His scales continued to fall, an aching numbness all over his tail. He started crying again, his head spinning as the fear took over. After what felt like an eternity of panic, the door opened once more and he froze. He saw Kacchan enter, his footsteps were loud and he held that same glare towards Izuku; there was no way this was the same man who he grew up with.
He pulled out a stool and sat near the tub, never looking away from Midoriya. Midoriya trembled, holding back everything he wanted to ask, everything he needed to say. He waited until the other man spoke.
“Of all the fucking mermaids, of course it had to be you.” Katsuki spoke, gritting his teeth as if the very sight of Midoriya disgusted him. Midoriya could do nothing but whimper, wishing to sink deeper into his cramped tub. The words confirmed who the man was, but it only hurt more. Kacchan had never used that tone with him, even at his angriest moments; Midoriya didn’t know how to respond or if he even should.
“My crew and I need a mermaid who can actually do things, yet we get a useless thing like you. A magical creature without any fucking magic!” Katsuki snarled, watching every movement the merman made.
“Please let me go.” Midoriya whispered, not intending to say anything and hating himself as soon as the words left his mouth.
“Hah?!” Katsuki yelled. “You want me to let you go?! The first mermaid we get after years of searching, and you think I will just release you?!”
“Please Kacchan, please let me go! I don’t even know where I am or why I’m here, and you haven’t seen me in years! Please…” Midoriya sobbed, his memories conflicted over who this man was. He continued to ramble, begging for this situation to be over, begging to be set free, begging for an explana-
SLAP!
Midoriya felt his cheek sting, shock taking over as he froze. He felt his head being tilted up to meet Katsuki’s eyes once more, a cold, sick feeling pooling in his stomach as he stared into the hateful red. Katsuki spoke clearly, voice quiet but firm and threatening.
“Don’t call me that. You don’t deserve it.” He said, sitting back down to stare menacingly and continue.
“Everything is your fault. You’re the one who got me into this mess, so you’re going to be the one to get us out of it. If I could do it without you I would, but you’re the only one on this ship who can breathe underwater.” Midoriya was confused, trying to process the information to no avail. Kac-Katsuki was the one who left him without warning, Midoriya didn’t do anything. He didn’t realise he had spoken out loud until he saw the anger rise again in his ex bestfriend’s eyes.
“Are you that fucking stupid?! You’re the one who left that day, and you’re the one who was spotted and about to be hunted! I had to save your ass, and because of you I’m like this! I’m a fucking freak now, my family wanted to kill me Deku!” His name was spat, making Izuku flinch, bracing for another hit. He couldn’t understand what was being said, he had no idea he had been seen! He started to cry again; he couldn’t help it. He didn’t know he had hurt his old friend, was this why his eyes were red? Everything was too much, yet he couldn’t leave it. It was a bad habit of his where no matter the situation, he just couldn’t stop until he had all the information. So he spoke timidly, taking the chance to once again stare into Katsuki’s red eyes.
“What happened?” His voice was full of fear and he didn’t expect this version of Katsuki to answer him. Surprisingly, he did.
“The old witch happened. She was going to hunt you, the men wouldn’t say no. I tried to stop her. I heard about it from my boss, there was a green mermaid sighting in the waters and the men were being gathered to hunt and capture it. I knew it was you. I went against the witch, I blew up the path to where you and I would meet and she saw me. She put a curse on me. She said she’d remove it if I retrieved this thing for her, then she put a bounty on me. I’ve never gone back.”
Midoriya could hear the hurt in his voice, his childhood friend reappearing as he spoke. It crushed his heart even more, watching Katsuki sit in silence, clearly reliving painful memories. He had heard about the witch, not just from Katsuki but from his community too. Everyone knew the rumours of the powerful old human who hunted mer-folk. They say she started by collecting old scales, then moved to killing many at a time. Some people assumed she had died years ago, since less mer-folk had gone missing or been found dead. But others, like Izuku, knew she was alive and even more heartless than ever. There were stories in his community about what this woman could and would do.
Old man Yagi, his kind elderly neighbour, would tell him and his friends about how she could wipe out whole villages with a glance, that life around where she walked would suddenly drop dead. His favourite story to tell was one of caution, any mer-folk she caught would be held captive to be experimented with. He remembered asking what kind of experiments, and his friends laughing off the horrific examples. They didn’t have proof the witch existed, so they couldn’t understand how evil she was. Deku didn’t have proof that any of the stories about her were true, but hearing from Kacchan about the cruel things she did to humans, he wouldn’t put anything past her.
A sinking feeling of guilt spread through his body. He truly believed this woman was terrible, and because of him his oldest friend had been forced to suffer at her hands for years. Kacchan was the one who saved his life, who taught him things about a world he could never know; the one who accepted him when no one else did. He never meant to be seen, he shamed himself for being so careless. But he was safe, and had been all this time, because Kacchan protected him. Kacchan had sacrificed his life for him, and from the look of him now, he had clearly suffered because of it. Izuku knew he wasn’t brave enough to stand up to the witch, and he certainly wasn’t strong enough. But Kacchan wasn’t asking him to. He said he was the only one who could breathe underwater, and if that would help his oldest friend then he would. He knew he was useless at most things, but he owed it to Kacchan to try.
Midoriya took a deep breath, moving closer to the edge of the tub to place a hand on Katsuki’s knee. The man seemed surprised when he looked up, his face instantly turning into a harsh glare. Izuku cut him off before he had the chance to say anything.
“I’ll do it.” Katsuki looked shocked for only a moment, instantly scowling with eyes full of hatred.
“You don’t even know what ‘it’ is! You’re always so fucking stupid, jumping into shit you don’t even understand!”
“I don’t know what ‘it’ is, and you’re right, I don’t understand. But you’re only in this mess because of me, you saved my life and protected me. I owe you for that, so I don’t care what you need me to do. I’ll do it.” Midoriya’s eyes filled with determination, he was still scared but he wasn’t going to change his mind now.
“And if I ask you to do something that could get you killed?”
“You won’t. I trust you Kacchan.” Their eyes were locked again, challenging each other to break. Midoriya knew Katsuki was searching for hesitation, for any signs that he was lying. But they both knew he wouldn’t find it, Midoriya had made up his mind and there was no changing it now. Katsuki was the first to break, turning his head sharply with a sound of annoyance, his posture holding his dignity and strength.
“I told you not to fucking call me that.” There wasn’t much bite behind his words, and Izuku just grinned for the first time since he was caught, trying to ignore the rush of feelings and the racing of his heart. He wanted to ask more questions, to talk more with his Kacchan while he wasn’t the angry captain from before. But as he was preparing his words, he heard familiar voices yelling. A woman started yelling for Katsuki as the door slammed open, a cold wind blowing in. Midoriya’s eyes widened as he looked at the figure in the doorway. It was a human, with no clothes on which seemed strange, but that wasn’t what shocked him.
Piercing blue and grey eyes stared at them both, red and white hair that was perfectly parted down the centre, and an old scar on the left side of his face. Confusion took over Midoriya once more as Todoroki charged towards Katsuki, who had unsheathed his sword and stood. Midoriya screamed as they moved to attack, ice covering the room and blocking every swing of the sword. The men both pushed on and while Todoroki could certainly hold his own, he was unsteady on his feet and spent more effort defending. All Midoriya could do was beg them to stop, unsure of who he was trying to protect or how this was even possible. He only knew it was his fault.
Todoroki froze the ground, holding Katsuki’s place still for a moment as he took the opportunity towards Midoriya. He held out his hand expectantly and glared when Midoriya hesitated.
“We don’t have time; take my hand we have to go!” He yelled, but Midoriya just shook his head.
“I can’t” He started, but the moment of hesitation was all it took. Katsuki had used the hilt of his sword to break through the ice and was attacking, his speed increasing and becoming harder for Todoroki to dodge. Midoriya was panicking as he watched, tears spilling once more as he heard the distant cries of his other close friends.
“Enough!” A voice boomed, a purple glow surrounding both men as a man entered, the rest of his friends being carried by the other crew members behind him.